Page 5

Carly

October 31 st , 2024, Halloween night...

Checking myself in the mirror, I couldn’t believe I let Drew talk me into this. I loved that boy, but sometimes I wondered if he inherited his father’s twisted sense of humor.

Shaking my head, I turned away from the mirror and shouted, “Drew, hurry up or you’re going to miss all the fun!”

Checking my outfit one more time, I rolled my eyes when I heard him thundering, or more correctly, flying down the hallway with his black cape behind him. “I’m ready!”

Smiling, I chuckled. “I see that. I must say, you look very dark and dangerously handsome.”

“Batman is not handsome, Mom,” he huffed. “He’s rich.”

“My apologies.” I sobered, then curtsied before him. “And what do you think of my costume?”

“You look great!”

“Well, since you’ve decided to be the caped crusader of Gotham City tonight, I thought I’d join you on your mission to save the city from all the goblins and ghouls. So, are you ready to single-handedly save the city tonight?”

“Yep!” Drew smiled up at me, holding his empty candy bag high.

Shaking my head, I grabbed the keys to the apartment and opened the front door. Drew wasted no time rushing out into the hall while I locked everything up tight. It was one of the few nights we could actually be out in public without taking the chance of anyone recognizing us, and I, for one, planned to enjoy every minute.

Drew talked animatedly as the elevator descended, regaling me with the latest adventures of his favorite caped-crusader, and while I listened intently, I’d never been so happy when the elevator doors opened into the lobby.

The apartment building’s lobby was surprisingly ordinary. No cobwebs, skeletons, or ghosts—just the usual clean, almost sterile appearance. There were no kids running around, laughing and screaming at everything they saw. In fact, minus the two men sitting behind the security desk, no one would ever know it was Halloween.

Taking my hand, Drew and I exited the building and made our way across the street into Central Park. I had read in the Times that the city was hosting a children’s Halloween party, with several business and vendors offering to cater the event. It was open to the public, and the city assured that local police, first responders, and firefighters would be on hand to monitor the night’s festivities.

The city had turned Central Park into a spookalicious night of fun, games, food, and all things that go bump in the night.

Making our way through the throngs of people and excited children, I couldn’t help but notice how many first responders there were. It was almost as if the city had completely shut down and sent everyone here to protect tonight’s event. I guess in a way, it made sense with all the children running around, including some without parental supervision.

“Mom, look!” Drew shouted excitedly, pointing to a rock wall. “Can I please?”

“Sure thing,” I said, holding his hand tighter as we made our way through the crowd.

“I wanna go!” a little girl dressed up in a Disney Princess outfit cried as her father held her hand tightly. Strapped to his chest was a very small panda, sleeping her way through the chaos. He kept his eyes on the rock wall where two girls dressed as goblins were slowly making their way up.

“I can climb too!”

“Not tonight.” The father sighed, reaching down to pick up the child. How he pulled that maneuver without waking up the baby strapped to his chest, I would never know.

“There you are.” A beautiful woman smiled as she walked over, pushing a very big stroller with two small toddlers snuggled together, sleeping peacefully. “Are you guys ready to go?”

“As soon as those two get their butts back on solid ground.” The man smirked, smiling at the pretty woman.

They were a lovely couple from what I could tell, but with six kids, I wondered how they did it. I only had Drew, and sometimes I feared I was doing everything wrong.

“Here, let me take her,” the woman said, reaching for the sleeping toddler attached to his chest as the little girl in his arms huffed angrily.

“Daddy, I climb now?”

“No, sweetheart. It’s getting late.”

“Man, this place is a madhouse,” another man said, walking over and shaking his head as he reached for the pretty woman, kissing her lips.

Huh? I thought she was with the other one.

Then again, maybe they had one of those new socially acceptable modern families.

Not that it mattered.

Who was I to judge?

I was a single mother, living in hiding from a past I had nothing to do with.

When the two goblin girls descended, Drew rushed over to the firefighters and waited his turned to be hooked up to the ropes.

“Dad!” one of the goblins squealed. “I made it to the top!”

“I saw, kiddo. You did great.”

“We’re gonna take the girls back home. It’s getting late.”

“I wanna climb!” the toddler in his arms cried.

The woman smirked. “Why don’t we take the girls, and you stay, so she can have a chance of climbing?”

“You sure?” the man asked worriedly. “They are all hyped up on sugar and junk food.”

“And it won’t be the last time. Girls, let’s go,” the woman firmly ordered in that motherly take-charge, no-butt’s-about-it tone. The two goblin girls took her hand as the other man pushed the stroller with the sleeping babies, leaving the father with his eager daughter.

I watched when he put her back on the ground and she rushed over and stood next to Drew, who smiled down at her.

“I can’t say no to her,” he said, stepping closer to me.

Looking up at the man, I nodded. “I know what you mean. I only have one, and he gets away with murder.”

“The three young girls are mine. The oldest and the two babies sleeping in the stroller belong to my best friend and his wife. The woman is my girl’s aunt. We kinda co-parent all of them.”

Smirking, I admitted, “I was wondering if you were one of those new socially meshed families.”

The man chuckled.

“MOM! LOOK!”

Turning back around, I watched as Drew took his time making his way up the rock wall. What also caught my attention was he was helping the little girl as well. She did everything Drew instructed her to do.

“You’re raising a good Batman,” the man acknowledged.

“Thank you.”

“So, does Catwoman have a Catman?”

“No, it’s just me and Batman.”

The man extended his hand and smiled. “I’m Chris.”

Taking it, I replied, “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Mom!” Drew shouted, running over, wrapping his arms around me. “That was so much fun!”

Smiling down at him, I said, “It sure looked like it.”

“Daddy. I climbed too!”

Chris bent down and picked up his daughter, hoisting her high in her arms. “I saw, and you had Batman with you to protect you. That was pretty awesome.”

Turning back to me, Chris added, “Well, I better get this little princess home. Thank you, Batman, for looking out for my girl. Gotham City was lucky you were here to save the night.”

Drew smiled up at the man as I watched them both disappear into the crowd.