“And what about me?” Derek’s voice pulls my attention, and when I glance up, I stare in shock at the sight before me.
Derek dressed as Elsa is going to live in my brain for the rest of my life. He has on a stark white wig that is braided down the side, and his shoulders nearly burst out of the tops of the dress he’s wearing, the blue fabric visibly stretching.
There is a white shimmery fabric that drapes behind him, gliding smoothly as he walks.
It is amazing.
“Wow, Derek! You look great,” Molly compliments, looking at all three of us. “The perfectFrozentrio.”
“Yeah, man. You could moonlight at birthday parties in that thing.”
“I really could.” Derek flips his hair, giving him a serious look. “Thank you for noticing. Now”—he looks down at Rora—“let’s make some magic happen.”
The night kicks off, and hordes of people crowd the street, flooding in through the hardware store. Derek and Rora guide the people into the entrance of the little maze I put together, with copious amounts of help from Derek, his friends, and even my parents, who come by to help. Then, when the guests exit, they get candy from me.
I spent all night last night—no sleep, just pure adrenaline and caffeine—putting together little bags with a few pieces of candy each. I don’t need anyone digging their hands into a bowl and spilling it everywhere.
People come out the exit giggling like they just had a fright, and I smile brightly, handing out the bags and looking at Derek, who is beaming with pride and playing around with my daughter. It feels like a special night, and by the time we’ve run out of candy, there’s still a solid hour left of trick-or-treating to take Rora to.
Derek locks up, and we each take a hand of Rora’s, swinging her between us for giggles until we get to the next shop and she gets her candy bucket out, work mode activated. Derek and I talk to some of the owners as wewalk, and there’s a small-town feel when we learn names or hear them saying our own. It makes me feel like I’m part of something I’ve never been before.
As we walk behind Rora, Derek reaches over and grasps my hand, tugging me closer, and whispers. “Thanks for letting me be a part of this.”
Unexpectedly, tears well in my eyes, and I have to blink them back.Tears? Seriously? Get a grip.
“Of course.” I swallow and get myself together. “Thank you for wanting to be a part of it. It’s not every person’s dream to date a single mom.”
“Are you kidding?” Derek scoffs, tossing his Elsa bangs out of his face, and I smile at this goofball of a man I call mine. “It’s absolutely my dream. I don’t have to wait to do the fun stuff because her presence makes it so we can. Also.” He snaps his fingers, moving on to another subject before I can even fully comprehend that he said we were his dream. “There’s an apple-picking orchard I thought we could go to. Load up and do some desserts. We have Friendsgiving the Sunday before Thanksgiving, kids invited, and then, of course, I told your mom I was bringing apple pie.”
I pause for a second, keeping my eye on Rora and glancing back at Derek. “You’re coming to Thanksgiving?”
I can see the visible nerves on Derek’s face, and he swallows, nodding slowly. “Yes. Your mother invited me.” Then, because he’s Derek, he says, “Is that okay with you? I just assumed you’d be okay. And I guess I didn’t ask if you’d come to my family’s, but I was hoping.”
Nerves or butterflies or something else bubbles up in my stomach, and I take a moment to deduce what the heck I’m feeling. Excitement, I think. Someone to spend the holidays with. I mean, we were doing Halloween, but Thanksgiving was a bigger deal. He’d be meeting my grandma, and once he did, there would be no going back.
“Of course I want you there,” I answer, watching the tension ease out of him and a happy grin cross his face. “I can’t believe my mother beat me to the punch.”
“Well, she’s obsessed with me, what can I say?” he answers, making me laugh.
We finish up the trick-or-treating and head home, Derek driving us since he was the one who picked us up earlier, and we arrive just in time for the pizza I ordered to arrive. We queue up a movie in the living room and use the coffee table for dinner tonight. Rora makes it ten minutes into the movie before passing out, her costume still on.
“Guess she’s tuckered herself out,” Derek says and stands up. He’s changed back into his normal clothes, and it makes it easy for him to lift her up, carrying herdown the hall. I follow, undressing at least her costume for tonight and leaving her normal leggings and shirt on.
We both stand by the door and watch her for a second. She moves, reaching over and grasping Theodore and Meeps, the elephant Derek got for her at the farmers’ market, and I watch as he smiles at the sight.
We head back to the couch, where he plops down, grasping my hand and pulling me down on top of him. I was still in my costume, too tired to even think about changing.
“You know, I always thought Anna was hot,” Derek grumbles, running a thumb over my cheek. I look up at him and lift a brow.
“You had a thing for a cartoon?”
He rolls his eyes. “Please. And you never have?”
I bite my lip and shrug. “Well, I mean, I’d have to be blind if I hadn’t noticed Tarzan.”
“Tarzan, huh?” he says, his eyes looking me over. “I guess I know what I’m doing next Halloween.”
I laugh lightly and look at him. He’s already looking at me so intently, and I can’t resist anymore. Our date was so long ago, and I feel like I literally crave this man I’m lying on top of. I reach up, my hand going over his cheek and into his hair as I pull him to me and seal our lips together.
