(no subject)

"You can't have it both ways." Guppy says firmly to Fry, as he pats Gil's back gently post-feed. "It's Halloween party at Beavers tonight. You can either go in a costume, or you can go in your Beavers uniform, or you can not go, but all the other Beavers will be going in costume."

"Why do they have to wear costume?" Fry complains.

"Because it's their party." Guppy says, patiently.

He watches his young son make a rather agonised decision. Fry is old enough now to understand that a person in a costume is still the same person, and not be as freaked out about it, though he still likes to know who is who under the mask. Finished with feeding Gil, he gently clips the small person back into the sling on his front, which is still the place he prefers to be.

"I will wear a costume." Fry decides.

"Great. But Mum's not got time to make one, so we'll have to go to the supermarket." Guppy says.

"Do I get a costume too please?" Coral asks, tugging his trousers.

"Yes you can have one too."

"Me! ME!" Brooke yells. "I want one!"

"Please. All right!" Guppy holds up his hands. "We'll all go while Mum is at the hairdressers."

How hard can it be? Guppy reckons he's going to have to get the hang of having all four kids at once in public at some point.

Gil begins to grizzle when he gets put in the car seat, so he gets Coral sat next to him next so that she can sing 'Twinkle twinkle little star' at him, then loads up Brooke. Fry, who can get into his own seat, gets in the front.

"Daddy, when will I be big enough to go in the front?" Coral asks, as Guppy slides into his own seat.

"When you're tall enough to have a booster seat without a back." Guppy replies. "Then you and Fry will take in turns."

It feels like a military operation to get to the supermarket. But the new seating arrangement has its benefits - Fry is no longer next to his siblings, which means the end of in-car fights between him and Brooke. And at the other end, Fry and Coral manage to wait patiently for the younger two to get unstrapped again.

"No!" Brooke protests, when Guppy gets out the pushchair. "Me big!"

Guppy considers for a moment, then caves in, and straps the grizzly baby back into his favourite sling so he can hold Brooke and Coral's hands. Sorted.

"What's this one?" Fry asks, pointing at the costume.

"A vampire." Guppy says.
"Are they dead?"
"Yes."
"What's that one?"
"A zombie."
"Are they dead?"
"Yes. Are you going to reject all the costumes that are of something dead?"
"Yes." Fry says, seriously.

"Okay." Guppy looks around at the other costumes, and picks one up. "Look, a super hero."

"It's red." Fry shakes his head. "I don't wear red. Can I go as a policeman?"

"You could if your costume at home still fitted." Guppy says. "I don't see any police costumes here."

"I could be a detective and wear a shirt and a tie." Fry says.

"Okay." Guppy smiles. "If you can wear a tie for Halloween you can start wearing your school tie." he adds, since Fry has previously flatly refused to put on his school tie, and it's probably time to try again.

"Daddy." Coral tugs his belt again. "What are the girl costumes meant to be?"

"Er..." Guppy peers at them, picking them off the shelf. "We have witch and... 'spooky girl'."

"What's that one?"

"That's Princess Jasmine, I think it's in the wrong area." Guppy says. "But you can have that one if you want. Or one of the ones in the 'boys' costume area."

Coral hesitates. Princess Jasmine is tempting, and there's a sad lack of pink dinosaur costumes which is what she had been hoping for, so she goes for 'spooky girl'. Maybe Mummy can make her a pink dinosaur costume when she has more time.

"Dad." Fry points. "Brooklyn's in that box."

"What box?" Guppy spins around, suddenly realising he let go of Brooke when he picked up the costumes. He spots her just as she climbs into a big crate of pumpkins, and dashes over to stop her as she pushes her feet against the side she climbed in on.

The thick cardboard starts to tear...

As the pile of pumpkins starts to shift under the toddler, they seem to gather momentum, and Guppy manages to grab her just as the pumpkins begin to escape from the box, rolling all over the floor.

Fry, fretting that they're going to get in trouble, starts flapping his hands and whimpering. Guppy, hearing the noise over his attempt to stop the pumpkins, looks over to make sure he's not about to kick off. A woman near him stares at him flapping, then grabs both her children by the hands and hurries them away, which for the time being is probably easier than them being next to him.

"We're going to get arrested!" Fry wails.

"No we won't, it's okay." Coral says, going back to him, picking up a sparkly ghost from the shelves. "Can you tell me how many sparkles there are on this?"

Guppy feels a wave of relief at this cunning intervention on Coral's part, and turns his attention back to Brooke.

"Brooklyn." he says sternly. "That was very naughty. You know you are not allowed to climb in the shop. It's very dangerous."

"Fry did it!" Brooke points.

"Fry did not do it, I just saw you." Guppy says, even more sternly. "Now go and stand with your brother and sister and do not move until I have picked these up, or there will be no Halloween costume for you."

***

"Did you get on all right with all four on your own?" Fran asks, plaiting the blue and green streaks into her newly trimmed hair.

"Fine. Few teething problems." Guppy says, casually, chopping up one of the pumpkins. "No actual injuries. Had to buy a few extra pumpkins."

Fran snorts, and starts heating up Gil's feed.

"We'll get the hang of it, you know." she says. "It's just a case of getting back into equilibrium."

"I feel like I need retraining for Brooke." Guppy comments, putting the pieces of pumpkin into the oven to bake. "Coral was a star today."

"Yeah, I'm glad the Beavers let her join in the party." Fran says. "Our older two are growing fast, huh?"

They consider this for a moment.

"Wonder what it'll be like when they're all teenagers." Fran ponders.

"Chaos."

"More than now?"

"Almost certainly. Wouldn't have it any other way."