Free Wilder Family Halloween by Christina Dodd Page A

”
    “As he should be, to have two fine children.”
    “— And we will all look forward to this birth in the spring. Now go put the tray in the living room
    before the guests arrive!” She walked around him into the kitchen to polish off the final preparations
    for the party.
    He followed her, intent on getting to the root of this mystery which Zorana had set before him.
    “Firebird?”
    She turned to him, glowing with the blessing that carrying a child bestowed. “Yes, Papa?”
    “What is your mother wearing to the party?”
    “I don’t know, Papa. She wouldn’t tell me.”
    “Humph.” Turning, he went into the gigantic living room Zorana had decorated with warm colors,
    comfortable furniture, large area rugs, and lots of pillows and pictures.
    But he had done his part, too, dangling skeletons from the high ceiling, draping spider webs over the
    lamps, and carving fearsome faces into pumpkins grown in Zorana’s own garden. Now the lights
    were low, the pumpkin goblins glowed … and only his family realized that goblins were real and
    terrifying, and haunted the winter night.
    Well. After the great battle the Wilders had fought to break the thousand-year-old deal with the devil, maybe a few of the neighbors had figured out there was more to fear in this land than what they
    could taste and smell and hear. But they nobly pretended they knew nothing of the Wilders’ contacts
    with the Other World, and gave generously of their friendships anyway.
    He placed the platter on the tall buffet, poured a shot of vodka in each glass, and wondered why
    Zorana had made such a mystery of this costume she had created, and why it was taking her so
    long to dress. In mere moments, the guests would arrive, and it was not like his woman to be late.
    At the sound of someone walking gingerly down the stairs, he turned and saw his daughter-in-law,
    Ann, dressed in a kangaroo with a joey in her pouch.
    “Ah, my darling Ann.” He waved her over. “You know what Zorana is wearing to the party, don’t
    you?”
    “No, Papa, why? Wouldn’t she tell you?” Ann came to his side, taking care not to trip over her own
    big, fuzzy feet.
    “No,” he said grumpily. “She said she would wear a costume appropriate to her role in the family.”
    Smart-mouthed Ann said, “Then maybe she’l be a cook or a mechanic or a gardener or a
    housekeeper or —“
    “Here.” He picked up a herring from the platter of appetizers and stuck it under Ann’s nose. “Eat this
    and be quiet.”
    Turning pale, she pushed it away. “No. Please. Papa. It makes me sick.”
    “Sick? Why would a herring make you sick? It has never made you sick before.” Leaning down, he
    peered into her suddenly shy eyes. “You are expecting!”
    “Sh!” She covered his mouth with her hand. “Yes, yes, I am, we’l have a baby in the spring, but
    Jasha and I were going to tell you and Mama together.”
    “Don’t worry. It will be our secret.” He watched proudly as she went to the kitchen to help Firebird
    spoon sour cream over the varenyky with cherries.
    The front door slammed, and Konstantine’s last two daughters-in-law ran in from the barn, their noses red with the brisk October autumn.
    Tasya held a handful of straw, and she stuffed it in her chick costume. “This stuff pokes right through the cloth and scratches me,” she complained.
    “Would you rather dress as a princess?” Karen asked.
    “No.” Because Tasya had truly once been a princess, and she wouldn’t trivialize the grief that honor
    had brought her. “But Karen, you are a beautiful mermaid.”
    “Thank you.” Karen had been raised by her father to be a tough woman, a construction manager in
    the world’s most dangerous places. It was in one of those places she had met Adrik, and been held
    captive by him, and hated him. It was only after she had escaped, and he had been sent to the
    world’s darkest pit of despair, that he had learned to be a man worthy of her.
    Their courtship had