Next year.
My heart gave another lurch.
“I’m thinking Spice Girls,” Gigi murmured.
“Weren’t there five of them?” Gwen kicked the fridge door shut with her foot and joined us at the counter. Her bell sleeves were so long, they dragged across the floor when she tipped her torso sideways to lock eyes with the couple in line behind Gigi and Rory. They were beginning to look impatient.
“This is kind of an emergency,” she informed them solemnly, as though we were discussing nuclear codes instead of costume options. “We’ll be with you as soon as we can.”
“Seriously?” the man groused.
“Are you aware we have an excellent selection of crystals with calming properties?” Gwen did her patented gameshow host hand-flourish. “I particularly recommend the blue lace agate for you, sir. It’s a natural mood balancer. Inspires tolerance and patience…”
I clamped my lips together to keep from laughing.
The man looked absolutely baffled when Gwen turned away from him and resumed our conversation without missing a beat.
“How about Teletubbies?” she asked Georgia. “There were four. Laa-Laa, Po, Dipsy, and the scary one.”
“Tinky-Winky?”
“Like I said, the scary one.”
“Can you imagine trying to sit down in those things? Or use the bathroom?” Gigi looked aghast. “Pass.”
“Okay, then you suggest something.”
Gigi’s brows were furrowed in thought. “What aboutTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?”
“Possible…” Gwen’s lips twitched. “Though I’m not sure Graham will approve a costume that involves nunchucks.”
“That’s probably a good call on his part,” Gigi murmured.
“How about the Flintstones?” Gwen gestured toward her hair. “I could be Wilma.”
“And who are we supposed to be?” Gigi jerked her thumb at me. “Barney and Fred?”
I snorted out a laugh.
“Relax, Bam-Bam,” Gwen said breezily. “We have a year to brainstorm. We’ll come up with something better.”
“Mooooom.” Rory, who had until this point been waiting patiently, began tugging on his mother’s arm. “Let’s goooo, already! We’ll be late for trick-or-treating!”
“It’s not even close to dark, bub. We have tons of time.”
“But Declan and the older kids are all going to leave without me if I’m late!”
“They won’t. I promise. But if they do, who cares?” She bumped her hip playfully against his. “You and me will walk house to house just the two of us, like we did last year and the year before and… Yep, every other year since you were born.”
Rory looked positively horrified at the idea of trick-or-treating with his mother while his big brother had fun without him. “Mooooom! I want to go on my bike with Declan! You promised I could, you can’t take it back now!”
Gigi looked up at the ceiling for patience.
I glanced at Rory and whispered conspiratorially, “You want a hot chocolate before you go?”
He licked his upper lip, which still bore traces of his Snickers binge. “Duh!”
“Are you trying to kill me?” Gigi lamented. “Moresugar?”