You Stayed With Us

Trick or Trouble

Lisa's POV

Halloween night.

The air smelled like sugar, pumpkin guts, and bad decisions. Every house in the neighborhood was glowing with fake cobwebs, creepy skeletons, and those twelve-foot skeletons that made me question if people had part-time jobs just to afford Halloween props.

And us? We were about to unleash pure chaos into this otherwise peaceful street.

Ella stood proudly in her vampire costume, cape flaring dramatically every time she moved like she was auditioning for a Dracula reboot. Nathan and Noah—my beloved twin hot dog and taco—were already bouncing around like caffeinated squirrels, and Scarlett, my baby shark, was stomping her tiny feet on the sidewalk singing "doo-doo-doo" at full volume.

Meanwhile, Jennie was standing there in her sleek, sexy black cat costume—ears, tail, whiskers, the whole nine yards—looking like she belonged at some runway party, not wrangling four kids on a suburban street. And me? I was in a banana suit. A full, bright-yellow banana. Every time the breeze hit me, the costume flapped like I was about to peel.

I still don't know how I lost that battle.

"Mom, take my picture with Dada!" Ella tugged Jennie's arm, pulling her toward me. "I look cooler than her."

Jennie smirked and raised her phone. "You do look cooler than a banana."

"HEY," I shouted, chasing after the twins before they bolted into the road. "Bananas are terrifying. Haven't you ever seen Minions?"

The twins ignored me, screaming "CANDY! CANDY! CANDY!" like a war chant as they sprinted toward the nearest house. Scarlett waddled after them with her shark tail bouncing, yelling, "WAIT FOR ME! SHARK NEED CANDY TOO!"

I chased them, banana flapping, trying not to trip over myself while Jennie laughed behind the camera.

By the time I dragged the twins back, Jennie was still snapping pictures of Ella, who was now posing like she'd been born on a red carpet.

"You see what I deal with?" I asked the Jennie.

She didn't even look up, just muttered, "At least you're potassium-rich."

Before I could think of a comeback, a car honk signaled the arrival of the rest of the circus. Jisoo came stomping down the street in her giant cockroach costume, waving her bug arms. Rosé floated next to her in fairy wings that glowed under the streetlight. Kai showed up looking far too serious as a priest, and Taehyung waddled in dressed as a purple Teletubbie, sunroof of the car blasting "Spooky, Scary Skeletons."

"LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!" Jisoo roared, flapping her antennae like she was about to take flight.

Scarlett gasped, pointed dramatically, and screamed, "MOMMY, A BIG COCKROACH!" before hiding behind my banana suit.

"It's just auntie Jisoo, baby," Jennie said, already pinching her nose. "Though... same thing, really."

Jisoo gasped in fake offense and chased after Jennie with her bug legs until Rosé whacked her with her fairy wand and yelled, "Cockroach be gone!"

It was chaos. And we hadn't even reached the first house.

We finally wrangled everyone onto the sidewalk, pumpkin buckets in hand, and started the trick-or-treat route. The first few houses went smoothly—until the twins spotted a yard full of fake tombstones and a plastic zombie.

"Woah! Touch it, Nathan, touch it!" Noah said, poking at the zombie's leg.

"No, you touch it!" Nathan shoved him back.