Page 33 of A Hot Sauce Halloween

We finish getting ready, each one of us barely keeping our eyes open. I shuffle toward my side of the bed and grab the covers to turn them down.

“Ah—!”

I gasp at rubber spider resting by my pillow.

Jake chuckles. “Gotcha.”

I pinch it and toss it away. “Very funny.”

He grabs his side of the covers and turns them down, revealing the even bigger, hairier spider I hid earlier.

“Agh!” he yelps, instantly closing his eyes in shame.

“Gotcha,” I say, smirking right back.

“Okay…” He picks it up, recoiling from it as he drops it to the floor. “Truce?”

“Truce,” I repeat. “Until next year.”

He raises his hands in surrender. “Until next year.”

We slide into bed and flick off the light. Jake raises his arm and I naturally slide beneath it, welcoming that wonderful feeling of weightlessness and trust. I exhale softly, relaxing into him as he pulls me in a little closer to rest a hand on my belly.

“I love you,” he says. “Both of you.”

I turn my head up, locking lips with him. “We love you, too.”

My foot twitches as something glides up the arch toward my toes. I gently kick at him, assuming him and his sneaky toes are to blame.

“Stop it,” I say, chuckling. “That tickles.”

“What tickles?” he asks.

It happens again and I tap his chest. “That.”

“Anna…” he says, his own foot flinching. “That’s not me.”

We both freeze.

I jolt up fast, hopping back into the headboard as Jake launches toward his lamp.

The light illuminates her little face. Charlotte giggles from the edge of the bed and runs away, bolting down the hall back to her room.

“Uh-oh…” I whisper, glancing at Jake. “What have we done?”

We stare at each other, barely blinking as her giggle echoes through the house.

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