Alex's POV

I walked hand in hand with John, his wedding ring grazing my fingers as our arms swung, up the porch steps of my old house. When we got to the door, I rung the bell. There was about thirty seconds of commotion before the door finally opened to reveal a short, curly-haired boy dressed as an astronaut opened the door.

"Happy Halloween Daddy! Happy Halloween, Papa!" Phillip exclaimed, hugging both me and John around our legs.

"Happy Halloween, Phillip." I laughed as John ruffled his hair.

"Are Mama and Mommy here?" I asked, looking around the foyer.

"They're in the kitchen." Phillip responded, skipping into the living room and watching 'It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!'

We let ourselves in, walking towards the kitchen in the back of the house. We overheard Eliza and her wife's whispers through the doorway.

"I don't understand why we need to spend every Halloween with them." Eliza's wife, Maria, said.

"Come on, babe. For Phillip." Eliza said as John and I walked into the kitchen.

"Hey, guys!" I announced our presence. Eliza turned around to face us from her place at the sink, her very pregnant belly slowing down any movements that she made. Her black and white cow costume made her explosive belly even funnier.

"How many weeks until your due date?" John asked.

"Two." Eliza smiled, rubbing her belly.

"I still can't believe were this close to the end." Maria smiled, putting her hand on her wife's belly. John and I smiled and looked away, giving the two a moment of privacy.

"Are you nervous?" I asked after an acceptable amount of time had passed.

"A little," Eliza admitted. "I mean, I know I've done this once before with Phillip, but that was six years ago, so-"

"Mommy! Mama! Daddy! Papa!" Phillip bellowed, running into the room. "Can we go trick or treating now?"

"Sure, buddy." I laughed, grabbing Phillip's candy bucket off the kitchen table with my free hand. Maria picked up the witch hat she wore every year and put it on her head. John and I were already in our costumes - bacon and eggs. Maria thinks its dorky that we do couples costumes every year, but Eliza thinks it's cute. Those two couldn't be any more different, yet they were still perfect for each other.

We walked out the door and down the block, Phillip stopping at every house to trick or treat. John and I admired the decorations as we went. Every house seemed to be more extravagant than the last.

Once we could tell Phillip was starting to get tired, we guided him back to the house carrying his overflowing candy bucket for him. By the time we got back, he was half asleep in John's arms.

John and Eliza both went up to put Phillip to bed once we got back to the house, and Maria and I sat in uncomfortable silence in the living room, Maria glaring at me.

"I don't like you." She said.

"So I've heard." I countered.

"You hurt one of the people I love most in this world for a petty, selfish reason, and I don't think I could ever forgive you for that."

"...Ok..."

"But," She sighed. "I've decided to make nice with you."

"Why?" I asked, dumbfounded. In the five years that Eliza and Maria had been together, Maria never liked me. She always would give me disapproving looks or seem pissed off whenever I was around, so this was one of the last things I was expecting.

"Eliza's gonna have the baby soon, and even though you and John aren't going to be her parents, you're still going to be around. And God knows we're gonna need help with Phillip." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "I love that kid, but god he's a handful."

"I hear you." I laughed.

"Anyway," She continued, "There's no good reason for me to hate your guts anymore."

"...Ok..." I said again tentatively, sensing a 'but' coming.

"But... I also will never like you. I just need you to know that."

"Ok," I said definitively this time.

John and Eliza came down the stairs, and I hopped up off the couch, waving to Eliza and Maria as I went. John and I walked out the door, hand in hand.

"So, guess what." I started.

"What?" John asked as we climbed into the car.

"Maria told me that she doesn't hate me anymore."

"Wow." John smiled, and I swear I felt my heart stop. We've been together for almost seven years now and my heart still always stops when John smiled.

"I know." I agreed after I came back to reality.

We spent the rest of the car ride in a comfortable silence, occasionally humming along to the Halloween songs on the radio.

When we finally got home, we got out of the car and sat down to watch TV on the couch.

"What do you want to watch?" John asked, holding up the remote.

"Nightmare Before Christmas," I said without a second thought. John laughed and put our favorite Halloween movie on.

As I snuggled down into my husband, I felt a sense of calm wash over me. I savored it as the opening notes of 'This is Halloween' began to play.

(A/N - The end! First of all, The Nightmare Before Christmas is the BEST Halloween movie ever, and I will take that to my grave. Secondly, thank you all so much for sticking with me through this story, and a special thanks to HamiltonAsparagus commenting on almost every chapter and just genuinely making me smile. I'm gonna take a break from writing Hamilton for a while since I'm just so busy, but feel free to check out my other stories or PM me if you just want to talk. Anyway, I love you all so much and thank you so much for reading. Kisses! -LilluvM)