Page 189 of The Broken Aztec Princesses

He still wouldn’t let it go for very long. This morning, when I tried to put on his dinosaur costume, he refused to leave it behind, so we ended up improvising with a dinosaur cowboy costume. I pulled a pair of blue jeans over his costume, and he was wearing the hat over the head.

“I can’t because it would scare people.”

“Cowgirls don’t scare people, Mom,” he explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“I do,” I growled at him, making him giggle. At least that was back. He was slowly turning back into my sweet, happy Adam. It was a relief, considering Cade never called me back.

I somehow managed to keep him away until almost dinner time without him suspecting anything. Once Violet texted me that they were ready, I sighed with relief at not having to come up with something random I needed from another store and headed back.

“Hey, buddy! Wanna come in here and help me finish these Halloween cookies I made for us, while Mom goes and gets into her costume?” Violet walked out of the kitchen when we entered wearing a pair of homemade bunny ears and tail, drawn-on whiskers and a pink nose. She was wearing a white tank top, and white leggings to finish her costume.

I walked into the kitchen with Adam to see what they were doing, and found Chris wearing a flannel shirt, overalls and a straw hat I recognized as mine. Some sort of netted contraption in his hand finished his costume. I started laughing at the image he was presenting, and he shifted in his overalls, blushing.

"I have two questions. Why do you own overalls? and What are you supposed to be?”

“I don’t own overalls,” Chris defended, continuing to blush, while Violet started giggling.

“I made them last night,” she explained.

“And, what is he supposed to be?”

“A bunny wrangler,” Chris answered with a smirk, sending Violet a heated look that made her blush and busy herself with the cookies.

“Damn, you guys are cute. I’m going to go change. Make me a cookie, Adam.” I kissed his happy cheek and left them to decorate the cookies Violet made. I owed my sister big time.

Being a cowgirl had been Adam’s idea, and he was lucky I secretly stole one of Cade’s button-downs a while back. I tucked it into my blue jeans and put on a hat I’d bought at the dollar store today, along with a sheriff’s star. I didn’t have cowboyboots, but when I pulled the jeans down my over-the-knee boots, it looked close enough.

I walked back down to the kitchen, and Violet passed me a blank cookie and a bunch of colored frosting she’d made.

Chris and Adam were making Frankenstein cookies together, while Violet’s looked... “Damn, Vi. You’re really good at that.”

“Art is my thing, remember?”

After we finished decorating the two dozen cookies Violet made, she put them in a tray and handed it to Chris.

“Wanna go watch a movie, Adam?”

“Can we watch a Halloween movie?”

“Umm...” Violet’s eyes flickered up to me and I gave a small shake of my head. If we watched a horror movie, Adam wasn’t going to sleep at all tonight. “We’ll look but if it looks scary, I can’t watch it. I won’t sleep otherwise, okay?”

“Okay!” Adam ran ahead into the room, and all I heard was a “Wow!” as we hurried behind him.

Violet and Chris had done an amazing job decorating the room. If a hundred people flooded the pack house right now looking for a Halloween party, we would be ready.

“Wow is right!” I answered, giving Violet and Chris a thank-you hug. “Let’s get this party started, Monkey!”

Chris pulled out his phone and clicked a few buttons on it. The Monster Mash blasted out of his phone speakers and Adam started jumping around to it. Violet was soon joining in, and thankful that no one was here to see me, I joined soon after.

We danced for ages, munching on the snacks and food Violet and Chris spread out on a table. I was about to make Adam sit and watch a movie when a song came on that caught my attention.

I turned and glared at Chris as the words to Achy Breaky Heart began.

“Oooh, Adam. Your Mom is going to show us how to line dance. Grandma made her take lessons when she was growing up.”

“This is sort of a country-themed Halloween party,” Chris reminded me with an unrepentant smile.

“I hate you both so much, right now,” I growled at them.

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