Isaiah
Somehow Isaiah had thought the first time he let Kelli blindfold him would be for a much more exciting reason than this. He sat there impatiently waiting for her to tell him he could take the blindfold off.
“Okay now.” Her tone was downright giddy.
He took it off and let his eyes adapt to the light. When they did, he took in his sexy-ass smiling girlfriend from top to bottom. She wore knee-high black high-heeled leather boots over skin-tight black high-waisted leather pants. A red open coat appeared tailored to fit her perfectly, tight at the waist but flared out past her hips. Underneath it, she wore a flowy white silk blouse and topped off the entire costume with a big floppy red hat.
“I thought you were gonna be a witch?”
Her smile flattened as she tilted her head. “I am a witch, Theodora from Oz the Great and Powerful.”
Isaiah wracked his brain to try and remember which of the witches in the movie ever dressed like this.
“This is the costume she was wearing in the beginning of the movie when she first meets James Franco.”
Isaiah didn’t miss the sinful smirk as she turned to model it for him from all angles. She looked hot. He’d give her that. But this wasn’t the costume he’d imagined when she gave him a hint as to what they were dressing as for his uncles’ Monster Mash.
“She later turns into the evil green witch you probably remember most.” Kelli still wore that evil grin even as she started toward the door. “I like that her love for Franco—or rather The Great and Powerful Oz—is what turned her evil, even if I believe she was just misunderstood.”
“Kel,” he said as it suddenly dawned on him. “This isn’t your way of—”
She shushed him as she rushed over to his wheelchair next to the sofa where Isaiah sat. “Just wait ’til you see this.”
Before he could say anything more, she rushed out of the room, pushing the chair. A few minutes later she pushed it back in the room and Isaiah’s mouth fell open.
“That’s ridiculous.” Isaiah stared at the impressive but ridiculous contraption Kelli had put together. “I’m not wearing that. I don’t need to be in a wheelchair.”
Ever since he’d mentioned there’d be a costume contest at this thing, she’d been working on theirs for over a week in the great room, the one room he hadn’t been allowed to even peek into. Now he knew why.
“Isaiah, you promised.”
Isaiah glared at her playfully, even as he sat there knowing that as soon as he lost this argument he’d be sitting in that ridiculous thing. He kept insisting he didn’t need to be in it anymore because he really didn’t. Yeah, his surgery wounds still hurt when he walked too long, but he’d be fine. Of course, Kelli had a way of convincing him to stay in it longer than he cared to.
The contraption she’d made was a huge yellow basket that encircled the wheelchair. On top, it had a big fake balloon with painted words that read: Oz the Great and Powerful.
Before he could even begin with his list of objections to this, she pulled out something from the basket. “And this is your costume!”
Kelli held up a black tux like the kind the guy wore in the movie: long coat, bow tie, top hat and all. The moment he shook his head she pouted, setting it back down, and sauntered toward him slowly, looking wickedly sexy as she bit her bottom lip. “When you insisted on going to this thing, even though you’ve only been out of the hospital a few weeks, I assured your very concerned brothers and sisters that I’d make sure you behaved and made you stay in your wheelchair.”
When she reached him, she tilted her head sideways, making him breathe in deeply. Well, shit, she already looked hot in the damn costume. Did she have to do the pouty thing too?
“Please?” she said, bending over then dropping down to her knees.
She reached for his zipper, making him swallow hard. “The treats will start early this Halloween if you just say yes to the costume.”
Isaiah gulped, glancing up at that ridiculous costume she’d be wheeling him into Manny’s backyard in. The moment he felt her unzip him his eyes were back on her. She’d taken off the hat so he could see exactly what she was doing. He watched as she pulled him out and licked around the tip very slowly, making his eyes close and his entire body shudder.
Then she had the nerve to stop and gaze up at him, fluttering her lashes. “Yes?”
~*~
Kelli
As Kelli rolled Isaiah into his uncles’ backyard via the driveway, she smirked, thinking of his warning. She and Isaiah, who she’d been coaxing into staying off his feet the past few weeks, had been doing a lot of board game and video game playing. He now knew just how competitive she could be.
Remember Kel, the games and contests at the party are all in fun. You’re not going for gold medals.
Obviously, they wouldn’t be participating in the sack races he told her they’d had last year. But he did mention other less physical challenges like the caramel-apple-eating contest. Kelli had no intention of making a pig of herself her first time at his family’s gathering as his official girlfriend. But at least she was fairly certain their costumes were sure wins. Isaiah’s was anyway.
The first to spot Kelli and Isaiah as they rolled in were Moe and his uncle Manny, who was dressed like the penguin from Batman.
Isaiah groaned the moment they started laughing. “Of course, it’d be these two who’d spot us first.”
“Looks like someone’s in it to win it.” Moe laughed.
Isaiah rolled his eyes, nodding. “Yeah, she is. This was all her.”
Moe and his uncle walked up to them as Kelli tried to make out Moe’s costume. He wore a simple black suit with a white shirt, no tie, and a red handkerchief in his coat pocket. Most notably, his hair was spray painted in a salt-and-pepper look to give him the appearance of an older man, and he wore an equally salt-and-peppered but neat beard and mustache.
They eyed him a bit longer, even as Moe spun around for them to behold the whole costume and held out the cigar he was holding. His cousin smirked, posing for a moment.
“Who are you supposed to be?” Isaiah asked as Moe and Manny surprised Kelli by greeting her with a hug and kiss.
Manny was about to say something. “No, don’t tell him,” Moe said. “He has to guess.” He turned to Isaiah. “I’ll give you a hint.” He turned to Manny with a silly smile then back to Isaiah and Kelli. “I won a lifetime achievement award . . . twice.”
Manny wheezed, tapping Isaiah on the shoulder. “This kid has a load of them.” Isaiah shook his head, but to Kelli’s relief, he, too, didn’t seem to get what Moe was supposed to be.
Manny tapped Isaiah again. “Listen. Listen.”
“If opportunity knocks and I’m not home”—Moe smirked playfully at Kelli then winked—“opportunity waits.”
Once again, Isaiah’s uncle was wheezing before Moe could even finish. Kelli and Isaiah exchanged confused glances.
“Oh my God,” Isabel, Moe’s wife, said as she walked up to them. “How perfect is this?”
She too hugged and kissed Kelli then Isaiah, admiring their costumes as Kelli explained how she made the hot air balloon. Isabel wore a short sexy green dress with the Dos Equis emblem in the front and a hat that looked like a beer bottle cap.
“Superman has pajamas with my logo on them,” Moe said, reaching out for Isabel by the waist and pulling her to him.
Manny could barely breathe now. “Oh God,” Isabel said, shaking her head with a smile. “He’s gonna do this all night.”
Kelli still didn’t get it, but thankfully Isaiah squeezed her hand and explained. “The most interesting man in the world.” Manny’s laughter was getting contagious because even Isaiah laughed now. “The guy from the Dos Equis commercial.”
“Ah!” Kelli said, nodding. “Well, I have to admit you do sound very interesting.”
Moe leaned into their circle to get closer to Kelli. “Are you kidding me? Sharks have a week dedicated to me.”
“Alright, alright,” Isaiah said, laughing. “Stop before Manny messes his pants.”
“He doesn’t even like Dos Equis,” Isabel said with a laugh.
“Babe!” Moe said with feigned exasperation. “Don’t give away my secrets!”
“Your son’s on the pot,” Isabel said as they all started walking further into the backyard. “Go see if he doesn’t need the most interesting man in the world to wipe his butt.”
There was no shortage of oohing and aahing at Isaiah’s and Kelli’s costumes. Though more than once Kelli had to explain who she was.
Nathan showed up in his firefighter turnout pants. Only instead of wearing the yellow coat, he just wore the suspenders over a snug white wife-beater that showed off that upper body, one he noticeably worked hard to maintain. Kelli would never admit it to Isaiah, but between the muscles, tattoos, and the soot he’d smudged all over his arms and even his stubborn chin, Nathan looked like something out of those hot firefighter calendars. His date wore a tight, short, white dress with black polka dots, matching polka dot doggy ears, dangerously high red patent-leather heels, and a thick red leather spiked dog collar.
Kelli didn’t miss the way Isaiah smirked casually, shaking his head and giving Nathan a knowing smirk when he first walked up to them and introduced them to Paris. As worried as Isaiah had been about Nathan still being in a funk about the accident, he seemed fine to her. The investigation was officially over. It was ruled just that—an unfortunate and tragic accident. But Isaiah worried Nathan was holding in how he really felt about the two deaths.
“Where’s your turnout coat?” Isaiah asked, peering at his brother.
Nathan pulled at one of his suspenders with his thumb. “I thought it was too much, too heavy. You know . . . ’cause I’m hot.” He turned to Kelli with a smirk. “Tell ’em, Kelli.”
Feeling her face heat, Kelli smiled. This was something Nathan had started to do just after Isaiah had been released from the hospital. He seemed to get a kick out of razzing Kelli, despite Isaiah giving him the evil eye each time. Thankfully, his date Paris smiled, glancing around seemingly oblivious to Nathan’s crack.
They made their way through the backyard full of family and friends. Isaiah hadn’t been kidding about his uncles going all out. The entire backyard was smoking with fog. The buffet table had what appeared to be a dead man on it. It was stuffed jeans and a shirt with holes strategically cut out to fit the bowls of food. So his stomach looked like his guts with the bowl of cooked sausages. The container in the head area had spaghetti and meatball eyes. The rest of the buffet table held an assortment of different spooky-themed foods. Kelli grabbed a hotdog wrapped in what appeared to be a croissant, but it’d been wrapped so it looked like a mummy.
The dancing started, and Kelli was blown away by how into it Nathan and Moe got. Sadly she and Isaiah didn’t do any dancing, but she enjoyed watching the show Nathan and Moe put on. Like Isaiah, they both had highly talented hips.
Then the contests started. Kelli and Isaiah sat with his siblings, their Moreno friends, and all their spouses—in Nathan’s case, his date Paris. The first few contests were mostly for kids—musical chairs, apple bobbing, pin the face on the pumpkin—until they got to one Emi and Olivia said they were in.
“Oh, I got this,” Emi said, handing the baby she was holding to her husband.
“It’s on,” Olivia said, standing up.
“Oh no,” Addi, AJ’s wife, said as she and their little girl Clair grinned. “No one can beat us when it comes to pumpkin carving.”
“I think they have you two,” AJ said, bouncing their baby girl on his lap. “You should see the pumpkins they carved at home. These two don’t mess around.”
Isaiah gave Kelli a pleading simper, but she stared at him unbelievingly. “I have to be social,” she whispered with a smirk. “I can’t be the only one sitting this out.”
“Nathan’s chick isn’t doing it.”
“That’s because she’s too busy making googly eyes at your brother to notice there are any contests going on.”
One glance their way and Isaiah nodded in understanding. She kissed Isaiah before standing up, but he tugged her hand. “It’s all in fun. You don’t need to get all intense about it.”
Kelli laughed. “I know. And I don’t get all intense.”
Isaiah’s mouth fell open, and she giggled even as she made her way to the carving table. “Here you go, sweetheart,” Isaiah’s uncle Max said, placing a pumpkin in front of her as she reached the table.
“Only rules,” Manny said loudly from the top of the long table, “are you can’t trade your pumpkin out. So if you mess up, figure out how to get creative and fix it because you only get the one pumpkin. And Izzy,” he added with an overly menacing sneer, “let’s keep it clean. There’s kids here.”
Isabel rolled her eyes as everyone laughed and Manny wheezed. Kelli glanced up and met Isaiah’s eyes as Manny finished up explaining the rules. The way he smiled at her took her breath away. Was she really here? She still had to pinch herself every morning she woke up next to him.
The moment Manny blew the whistle to start the carving she was at it, carving the circle around the top to start. There was so much laughing, cheering, and clapping she hardly noticed the lights had been dimmed as she raced to get the circle carved on the top of her pumpkin.
For a moment, she took a deep breath and slowed a little, remembering Isaiah’s words. Don’t get so intense.
She glanced up at him, and he laughed, shaking his head. One gander around the table and she saw no one was near as close to carving the top off their pumpkin as she was. She noticed the sweat above her lip then wiped it. She had to giggle when she saw Isaiah was watching her so closely he noticed too and laughed.
That’s when she also noticed the spooky and Halloween-themed songs had slowed to something slow and . . . romantic? As she carved, she realized the song playing was “I Won’t Give Up,” the song Isaiah now called their song.
She slowed her carving, looking up at Isaiah, but his only reaction to the song was to raise his brows in a “What do you know?” type of way. Glancing around the backyard, she saw that everyone was still very much into the carving, and it seemed only she had noticed the odd choice of song.
But she kept going and finally got the circle carved all the way through. Feeling the thrill of competition because she was the first to finish this part, she pulled it off. To her surprise, the usual seeds weren’t inside the pumpkin; instead, there were rose petals. She glanced up, wondering if this was a gag. Everyone else had stopped carving, and then she saw Matt and Lori. He smiled and Lori waved with a bright smile. She’d seen the couple wearing the spooky hockey masks earlier, but she’d had no idea who they were.
Still confused, she was distracted by Manny, Max, AJ, and Nathan, who were each lighting one of the four big pumpkins in the center of the table then began turning them around one by one so she could see them. The music playing got louder as she read the words carved into the first one they lit.
Kelli
Confused, she turned to Isaiah, who only shrugged as if he had no idea what was going on either. He motioned back to the table, so she glanced back to see Max turning the second one.
Will you
Instantly, she began to feel choked up. She brought her hand to her mouth as she turned to see Isaiah smiling even bigger. No way. This was insane. She glanced around at his smiling sisters. She bit her bottom lip, willing herself to keep it together as AJ turned the third one.
Marry me?
Isaiah had told her it’d be coming soon, but she didn’t think it’d be this soon. She wiped her eyes because she didn’t want her sight to be blurred when they turned the last one. She couldn’t imagine what else it’d say. Then Nathan turned it, and Kelli read the only word on it.
Please?
Again her hand was at her mouth, and it surprised her to see Isaiah standing now. “Look in the pumpkin,” he said as he walked toward her.
She did even as her hand trembled. Aside from the rose petals, the only other thing in there was a piece of paper. She unfolded it and read the handwritten note.
Even if the skies get rough,
I won’t give up on us.
God knows you’re worth it.
The lyrics to their song. The music stopped playing, and when she turned to him, he was already getting down on his knee. “I’ll never give up on us again, Kel. Please say you’ll marry me.”
Kelli nodded adamantly, trying her damnedest not to ugly cry because it really felt as if she were about to. Thankfully, he stood up after he slipped the huge rock on her finger, and she was able to bury her face in his chest. Figures he’d use her competitive streak to trick her. The music started up again as they were surrounded by everyone congratulating them.
Hearing each one of his siblings welcome her to the family felt surreal. Even AJ gave her a crushing hug. When they finally had a moment alone to breathe—when what happened really sunk in—Isaiah leaned his forehead against hers.
“The last couple of weeks trying to recover from this injury should’ve been miserable. Instead, they’ve been the best of my life because I’ve had you with me. I can hardly wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Once again she was a blubbering mess. And Isaiah kissed her gently. “Don’t cry,” he whispered. “Just promise me you’ll never give up on us. No matter what.”
“No matter what,” she said sniffling. “I’ll never give up. I love you forever, Isaiah.”
“I’ll love you forever, Kel.”
The End