You Stayed With Us

Boo Crew

Lisa's POV

Weekends were supposed to be for rest. For peace. For maybe, if the stars aligned, a nap. But in my life? This weekend were for dressed up in glitter, fake blood, and plastic vampire fangs.

We were going to the mall. To buy Halloween costumes.

I already knew this was a mistake.

"Dada, can we go now? Can we go now? CanwecangoNOW?" Nathan was bouncing on one foot in the hallway, his sneakers squeaking against the floor. Noah was beside him, swinging Cooper's leash even though Cooper was definitely not coming with us.

Scarlett was twirling in her little pink hoodie, chanting, "COSTUME, COSTUME, COSTUME," like she was leading a toddler cult.

Meanwhile, Jennie was calmly putting on lip gloss like she wasn't about to march us into the seventh circle of parental hell.

"Ready?" she asked, smiling sweetly at me.

"No," I muttered, but we went anyway.

The mall was already crowded, the Halloween store flashing neon pumpkins at us like it knew we were weak prey. The second we stepped in, the twins bolted down the aisles like unleashed puppies. Scarlett gasped dramatically at a plastic skeleton, screamed "FRIEND!" and ran straight into the maze of racks.

And that was how I started my cardio session for the day.

"Scarlett! No—don't touch that! Nathan, put down the sword! Noah, that's not a hat, that's a cauldron!" I was weaving between racks of polyester superhero suits, tripping over fake cobwebs, while Jennie and Ella strolled off like they were in a Chanel boutique.

I caught a glimpse of Ella holding up a witch costume in front of a mirror. "Mom, does this look too... like, basic?" she asked Jennie with complete seriousness.

Jennie tilted her head, her hand on her chin like she was styling a fashion shoot. "Hmm. Maybe try the vampire one too. You want something chic."

Chic. She actually said chic.

Meanwhile, I was dragging Scarlett out from under a shelf where she was whispering secrets to a plastic pumpkin.

The twins eventually found the costume section labeled "Funny" and of course, that was the beginning of the end.

"Dada, I wanna be... a hot dog." Nathan held up a giant bun-and-ketchup suit like it was the holy grail.

"Yeah but I wanna be a taco," Noah argued, holding up a giant foam shell that looked like it weighed more than him.

"Guys, you can't both be food—" I started, but then Scarlett waddled out of an aisle wearing a shark fin strapped to her back and yelled, "I'M BABY SHARK! DOO DOO DOO—" at the top of her lungs.

...Okay, so maybe they could.

"Fine," I sighed. "Hot dog, taco, and baby shark it is."

Jennie came over just then, holding Ella's hand like they'd just walked out of a fashion show. Ella had decided on a sleek black vampire dress with a cape, dramatic makeup kit included. She twirled in front of me.

"Well?" she asked.

I blinked at her. "You look like you're about to steal everyone's lunch money and then their souls."

Ella grinned. "Perfect."

Jennie smirked at me. "See? We were productive."

"Productive?" I wheezed. "Scarlett's in the shark aisle trying to bite strangers, the twins are arguing about who gets to be 'the cooler food,' and I think I sprained something chasing Noah under a rack of Spiderman suits."