Hello! Yes, you're seeing it right: it is a Halloween fic in May (time is an illusion anyway, especially nowadays). This was supposed to be about 1k shorter but it got a little away from me. I blame my friend Amanda for sending pics of twin babies in skeleton pajamas.

Enjoy, guys :)

The moment he steps into his house he hears the noise coming from one of the bedrooms, which is a regular occurrence. It's rare to hear peace and quiet these days.

As usual, he calls out Donna?, only to hear a string of Daddy! in response and as usual, he follows the noise, stopping right at the threshold of their children's bedroom to admire the view. No matter what they're doing (and usually it's Donna playing with them, waiting for him to arrive so they can tackle bath time together) they stop to run after him, usually to dance around in front of him or babble incessantly or hug his leg until he picks them up. He absolutely loves it.

(It still does make his heart beat a little faster when he remembers this is his reality, even after a couple of years of marriage and kids.)

This time is no different and as soon as he's into view he hears the cheering as if they haven't seen him in a week, not a few hours. Although only his daughter runs to him this time and he crouches down to hug her.

As he looks at her outfit, he remembers: it's Halloween, they're supposed to go out. Last year they'd stayed home; one of the twins got sick and Donna decided just to dress them in skeleton pajamas, promising them she would take them out the next year (though he doubts they would care if she didn't keep her words – still, he wouldn't expect anything different from her).

He takes his daughter in and while her outfit looks like her usual winter clothes, there's something a lot more composed to it. Apparently all ready, she's wearing a dark blue coat on top of a white long-sleeved blouse, white gloves, dark blue skirt, and leggings and black shoes. Her strawberry blonde hair is pulled back in a bun, and a tilted black hat decorated with little fake flowers and cherries on top of it.

He fixes the hat and touches the little red bow tie on her neck, thinking it suits his daughter much better than grown men.

"You look so beautiful." And she does, even if he has no idea what she's supposed to be dressed as. She beams and while her smile is just like his, there's something so inherently Donna about her whole demeanor that it always takes his breath away.

Over her head he sees his wife on the bed, finishing up the last touches on their son's makeup – makeup?

"Uh, Donna?"

He looks at his wife's back to him, and he can see she's just getting some black powder lightly on his face and neck.

"Daddy!" His son smiles and he grins back at him; he feels the kid's energy radiating off him, he's dying to run to him as his sister did, but he sits obediently for Donna.

"Hey buddy, why's mommy getting you all dirty?"

"He's supposed to be sweeping chimneys," she answers for the toddler, smirking. He gets up from the floor and carrying his daughter to put her on the bed, next to an umbrella and a black handbag which he figures is part of her costume though it looks too big for her. Now closer, he takes in his son's costume – black shoes, pants, dress shirt, and coat with a red scarf around his neck and a black beret next to him, along with a weird-looking brush. He guesses it's to sweep chimneys.

He looks adorable, but it all seems way too much for two-year-olds.

Harvey has an amused frown on his face as Donna gets up and he finally takes a look at her costume. Apparently, all dressed up already, he chuckles at how boring she looks. A gray, long-sleeved blouse, an ugly checkered vest, dark pants, and loafers. Her hair was all curled under a black beret. He fingers a curl and smiles at her.

"When did you even have time to do all of this?"

She smirks at him and shrugs. "I'm Donna, honey." He gives her a look; he knows she can do anything she sets her mind to, but he also knows the reality of getting two two-year-olds ready, all alone. "Rachel took the day off too and she helped me." She gestures to the kids. "So. How do they look?"

"Not that they don't look cute because they always do, but are you sure this is all necessary?" He receives a brief glare in response, cut off by their son messing with the scarf around his neck and grabbing her attention.

"Uh-uh, baby boy. Leave it there." She grabs their son's hand and drops a noisy kiss on it and turning to Harvey again. "And yes it is. You know I go all out on Halloweens and this is the first they're starting to get an idea of it. I want it to be perfect."

"Donna. They're two."

"So?" She's looking herself over on the mirror now, smoothing her clothes with her hands.

"They won't last five minutes in it. Look, they're already trying to mess with their costumes." He watches his son once again playing with his scarf, but he doesn't look like he's trying to take it off so he let him be.

Through the mirror, she gives him that look when she knows he has a point but she isn't ready to budge. "They'll be fine. That's enough time for pictures and a handful of people to see them."

"A handful of people or that woman from down the street?" He narrows his eyes and remembers a few weeks before when Donna came home pissed as hell because some woman was giving the twins backhanded compliments, and Donna wanted to prove her that her children are perfect angels – which he thinks it's silly now and they should probably just leave the issue alone, lest it turns into a much bigger thing but he's positive he would have done worse if he had heard whatever the woman said, so. He can't really blame Donna.

Guess they are turning into those parents.

She turns back to him, ignoring his question. "I know when you're stalling. Go get ready."

His shoulders sag and he twists his mouth in distaste, trying hard not to sound like his own toddlers. "I can't go like this? I'll go dressed as… A businessman."

"No, because you'll love it when people congratulate us on our amazing family matching costumes. Besides Michael Banks is a child, Harvey, not a businessman."

"Who?"

"Mary Poppins." He gives her a blank look. "Don't tell me you've never seen it."

Harvey shrugs. "I've seen clips?"

"Oh my god." Keeping an eye on the kids quietly playing with their toys, she comes closer to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "You know, sometimes I think you came out of your mother's womb like a boring middle-aged man."

"Hey. I'm not middle-aged yet."

"Whatever, old guy," she chuckles and points to their daughter, "So. Mary Poppins, the magical nanny –," to their son, "Bert, her friend –," to herself, "Jane –," and finally to him, " and her brother, Michael. The kids Mary Poppins babysits."

He nods in understanding, looking over the kids again and remembering once or twice how he's seen a poster or a scene with Julie Andrews. In his opinion, Donna did a great job. Though he suspects she would do a terrific job no matter what costume they wore.

Hands at her waist he squeezes her lightly, lowering his voice. "Does that mean I can't say you look hot in that?"

"Ew." She wrinkles her nose, but she's smirking. "Now go get dressed. And no complaining or I won't let you get me out of this later."

He groans in mock disappointment, drops a kiss on her lips, and leaves the bedroom.

30 minutes later and they're out the door. Harvey wears a brown cardigan, striped dress shirt, ugly tie, and brown pants. He and Donna look pretty boring comparing to the kids but he guesses that's the point – he's certain Donna doesn't want to give that woman more reasons for backhanded compliments. He walks carrying his daughter in one hand and her purse and umbrella in the other, while Donna holds their son's hand while he tries to walk without tripping on the chimney sweep brush on his free hand.

Of course, Donna's right – it does give him a rush of pride to hear people congratulating them for how adorable their kids look, or how amazingly done all of their costumes are, or their ability to keep them dressed for longer than five minutes. He might not really get the point of Halloween still, but he's sure about to start caring now.