Claire simply couldn't believe it... Where did the time go? The September long weekend was past, the kids had been back at school for a few weeks and now Halloween was approaching. Was she getting old? she wondered. Did time actually speed up after you hit 40? She didn't like to think so, but...
With just a few days to go until Halloween, Claire was rushing around, trying to find the kids some decent costumes to wear. For the first time, she and Steve weren't going to have to entertain them for Halloween. After a few years of going door to door, trick or treating, the kids were old enough to have a Halloween party at school, complete with costumes. And afterward, a friend from down the street had invited the kids for an evening party.
And wouldn't you know it, she thought, after years of turning down adult Halloween party invitations because of the kids, they weren't invited anywhere this year. No doubt because they had turned everybody down for so long. Oh well, maybe something last minute would happen.
Finally, Steve thought to himself, no Halloween with the kids this year. No bundling them up for the cold, no standing out in the street while they collected their loot from the neighbours, no picking through candy to make sure nothing dangerous was tossed in with it. And no invitations to lame parties... He and Claire could stay home and relax; let somebody else entertain the kids for the evening. Hmmm, he wondered. Halloween was on a Monday this year. Could there be a Monday Night Football game on? He hoped so.
Jillian, of course, wanted to be a puppy. She loved animals and always wanted to be a puppy. James was a little older and a martial arts fan. He, of course, wanted to be a Ninja again. Claire had found a couple of suitable costumes and, with a school pamphlet in hand, decided that, for safety's sake, she'd facepaint them, rather than have them wear masks. Masks didn't offer much visibility and she wanted the kids to have a safe and fun holiday. Looking over the paints in a local store, she picked out a couple of packages with suitable colours – there'd even be enough for her to paint her own face in order to hand out candy at the door.
Damn it, thought Steve. He was all set for a quiet Halloween night with beer, pizza and football. But when he had mentioned his thoughts to Claire, she hit the roof. Just because the kids weren't going to be home and nobody had invited them to a party didn't mean they couldn't enjoy Halloween. Whatever. So now he was in charge of carving the Jack O' Lanterns, one for Jillian and one for James, to put in the window on Halloween night. The kids always had their own. Worse yet, Claire expected him to come up with a stupid costume so they could give candy away at the door. Shit. What a waste of time.
Claire was fuming after the argument with Steve. Beer? Pizza and football? Just because nobody had invited them to a party? No way was Steven going to get off that easy. She was going to get a big bowl of Halloween candy to hand out, she'd get a good costume and they'd have fun together. It was settled.
The morning after the argument, Claire was getting ready for work and trying to find something to wear. Steve was downstairs with the kids, getting them breakfast before he left for work. Standing before the full-length mirror on her closet door, she stopped to look at herself. Her shoulder-length black hair had no grey in it and her body, on close inspection, hadn't sagged too much despite the two kids, she thought. Still looking in the mirror, she undid her bra and tossed it on the bed, then slid off her panties. Gazing critically once again, she noticed some sag in her breasts and a little tummy bulge that hadn't completely gone away after Jillian's birth. The legs were still very good, she thought, and the fine hair of her pubic patch was still jet black. All in all, she thought, still pretty fuckable for an older woman.
Striking a couple of poses before the mirror, she pondered a costume for herself. Lifting her breasts, she thought of the kids' costumes and smiled. She knew what she was going to do for a costume this year.
After waiting in line at the grocery store, where pumpkins were in short supply because he had left buying them until Oct. 29, Steve looked at what he was left with. One small pumpkin, kind of lopsided, could have a tiny scary face carved into it. The other one, big, but kind of flattened on top, would be okay with a wide face cut into it. Sighing, he figured Sunday football games on TV would be put on hold while he carved the Jack O' Lanterns for Monday night. And as to a costume? He had no friggin' idea.
Driving home from work on Friday, the 28th, Claire stopped in at a sex shop she'd noticed en route. She'd never darkened the store's door, but she knew what she needed for her costume.
"What can I do for you," asked a Goth-y looking clerk behind the counter.
"Oh, just looking," said Claire, walking away from the young man who she thought had leered at her. Walking down the aisles, she took in the dildos, French Maid costumes (which she pondered), porn videos and sex games. A little embarrassed and flushed, she finally found what she wanted near the back of the store. Body paint. The kids' facepaint had given her the idea and Steve's crankiness about having fun on Halloween had given her another. She was going to wear nothing but body paint when she went downstairs Halloween night. That'd show Steve. She'd tease the hell out of him for being such a poor sport.
But what colours? Looking at a shelf beyond the paint, she noticed a couple of cat masks and a half-face tiger mask. Yes. Orange and black it would be. She'd be a sexy tiger, that would work. She picked up half a dozen large containers of paint. She had no idea how much a person might need, and was too embarrassed to ask the Goth behind the counter. And if she changed her mind, she wanted other colours, just in case.
At home after dinner, with Steve in front of the TV downstairs and the kids playing noisily in their rooms, Claire pulled out her cache of body paint. Opening the orange, she applied some to her arm, trying to figure out how much it would take and how long to apply it. The bright orange went on smoothly and felt quite nice, actually. This would definitely work, she thought.
During the typical busy weekend, they did some shopping, took the kids to swim lessons and, as he had feared, Steve was stuck carving Jack O' Lanterns on Sunday during the football games. Still, once he got carving, he settled in and kind of enjoyed himself, though he'd never admit it to Claire. The small pumpkin had a tiny devil's face, with horns, cut into it, while the big one had long narrow eyes, fangs and a triangular nose. Sitting them on a bookshelf, he thought they looked just fine. But when Claire called from the kitchen to ask whether he had a costume or not, he swore to himself, but said, "yeah, sure. What do you think?"
Looking at the pumpkins, he had an idea. He'd just cut the bottom out of the big one and wear it like a stupid costume. That should be good enough for Claire. Even kinda artsy, he thought. That night, he found a tub of the body paint on the floor of their closet. Must be what Claire was going to use for the kids' costumes, he thought. Although this was green and they were going as a puppy and a Ninja, so it didn't quite make sense. Looking at the green paint, an idea occurred to him. A pumpkin head and the pumpkin plant would be? Green, of course. Laughing to himself, he knew what his costume would be. The big pumpkin on his head; the green paint all over the rest of him. That'd show Claire he could come up with a good costume on his own. And if she wanted him to hand out candy, well, he couldn't very well scare the neighbourhood kids, could he? That'd work.
Halloween morning was a busy one, what with getting the puppy and Ninja in costume and off to school. From after school until 8 p.m. though, the kids would be at the neighbour's house for dinner and the Halloween party. Claire fussed with their facepaint and costumes and finally pronounced they were ready for Halloween. She and Steve gave each other a peck on the cheek on the way to work.
After work, they were both home for dinner and Steve whipped up some scallops and linguini in white wine sauce which was delicious. Looking across the table, Claire said, "I hope you have your costume ready."
"Of course I do. Do you?"
"Of course. And I'm going upstairs right now to put it on. Don't come up there, it's a surprise."
