Cool Girl

29: Halloween

I'm perched on a kitchen stool finishing tomorrow's homework before Ben and his family arrive for dinner at our house. Seb's on candy duty so he's stationed in an armchair in the foyer doing his school work. At intervals the doorbell rings and I can hear the shouts of laughter and the children yelling 'trick or treat.'

At some point Sebastian comes to the kitchen and complains, "If I see one more Darth Vader, I'm going to get biased and give him no chocolate bars."

"You were Darth Vader for Halloween when you were ten." I remind him.

"Please don't remind me." He sighs and walks back out.

"Is the food ready?" Mom walks into the kitchen as I'm neatly filing away my homework. The chef tells her that it is just as the doorbell rings again.

But I know that it's not children trick or treating because different voices drift to the kitchen.

Mom and I walk to the front door to greet the guests. I say hello to Mia, Conley and Lola before my eyes take in Charles.

"Charles!" I exclaim as I take in his Halloween costume. "What a cute little Superman!"

I lift the nearly three year old boy into my arms and kiss his chubby cheek. He's wearing a Superman cape over a red jumper.

"Do you want candy?" Seb offers him the candy bowl and Charles picks out a Mars bar.

As everyone walks into the house, I set down Charles and he hurries after Mia and Conley. Now I finally turn to Ben.

"Charles gets a kiss and I don't?" He pouts.

I laugh and kiss his cheek, "There you go."

"That is not what I had in mind." He shakes his head at me as he pulls me in for a kiss.

When we join the others, mom and Mia are chatting in the kitchen as the chefs lay out dinner. Conley is talking to Sebastian and Lola while Charles is sitting on the floor eating his chocolate.

"Hazel, can you call and check on Daniel?" Mom asks me.

"Right here." His voice says from behind me. "I'm so sorry that I'm late."

He thumps Ben on the back as he walks past us to meet the guests. Soon we're all seated at the dining table enjoying dinner. Sebastian was relieved of candy duty as mom bestowed it on a butler for the rest of the night.

There's a break in conversation when Mia turns to Ben and says, "Can you take Charles trick or treating? He's been begging me all evening."

"Why can't Lola take him?" He asks, his fork frozen midair.

"Because I have plans with my friends." Lola replies.

I can feel Ben's frustration but I take his hand in mine under the table and give it a little squeeze. "It's okay. Ben and I'll take him."

"You don't have to..." Ben starts but I interrupt, "But I want to."

He gives me a small smile as Mia thanks me and I turn to Seb, "Come with us."

"Me?" He raises an eyebrow.

"Yes, you." I smirk, "We're taking little brothers trick or treating."

"No thank you. I still have school work left thanks to the children who kept interrupting me." Seb complains.

Ben laughs at this, "Now you know how Hazel felt last year."

Sebastian and I alternate candy duty between us each year and last year I had two tests the next day which I barely managed to pass. And Ben knows this because he came over to keep me company the day I got the checked tests back, I spent at least two hours complaining and crying over how I barely passed.

Dinner ends and everyone disperses. Lola leaves to meet her friends, Sebastian heads to his room and the parents stay at the table for coffee while Ben and I take Charles out.

"We can take my car." I announce since Ben carpooled with his family when they came over.

We drive to the denser parts of the city where the streets are closer together so it'll be easier to walk about. I find an empty parking spot by the side of the road and on the third try successfully parallel park between two already parked cars.

"Finally!" Ben throws up his hands as I turn off the ignition and give him a high five.

Ben takes Charles's hand and then we start towards the first house of the street. The streets are bustling with children in costumes, holding their little candy baskets. We come across a house with carved pumpkins filling the front lawn. I hand Ben my phone and he takes a picture of Charles and me.

About an hour into the trick or treating, Mia calls and lets us know that she's coming to get Charles since it's nearing his bedtime.

We go back to the car to wait for them to arrive. When Mia and Conley pull up beside us, Ben helps Charles into their car and I promise to drop off Ben by eleven.

"Can we get hot chocolate?" Ben asks when we get back into my car.

"Yes please!" I nod eagerly and begin to drive towards the nearest Dunkin Donuts. We go through the driveway and get our hot chocolate.

"Yum." I sigh in approval after I take my first sip. The rich drink is exactly what I needed after the chilly night.

"Ben..." I say at the exact same time that he starts to speak too.

"You first." I say and take another sip of the hot chocolate.

"I'm going to Miami next week to see my father." He sighs, looking down at his hands.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask him.

"The last time I saw him was in court three years ago when he was released on parole." Ben looks up at me.

"He did kidnap me." I shrug with a small smile. This makes Ben smile too.

"I still can't believe he did that." Ben shakes his head.

"Are you nervous about seeing him?" I ask.

"I honestly don't know how I feel about it." He replies.

I reach across the console and cover his hand with mine. "How would you feel if I went with you?"

"Hazel, I'm going to Florida." Ben reminds me.

I smile and nod, "I know. The thing is I'm going to Miami next week too."

"For real?" Ben looks at me in surprise.

"Mom has a meeting there and dad has been really overworking himself so she's convinced him to take a little break and Sebastian and I are just going to tag along." I explain.

"You'd really go with me?" Ben asks.

"What do you mean? Of course I will." I say.

"No, I mean. Are you sure you want to see him after the trauma he put you through." Ben asks.

I sigh and look down at my hands, "I still have nightmares from time to time about four year old me with strange men asking me questions and me crying for my parents but I can't let my fear overshadow the fact that he's nothing more than a man. Besides, I love you too much to let you face him alone."

"I love you too damn much." Ben whispers as he reaches across the console and kisses me.

I pull back and look at him with a smirk, "I'll accompany you on one condition."

"What?" He asks, his arm still draped across my shoulders.

"Fly out to Miami with me." I plead.

"Say no to an opportunity to fly in a private jet? I think not." Ben smiles at me as I grab his shirt's collar and pull him in for a kiss.