Max crouched down toward her level. “I never used to, but I think I could get the hang of it this year. What do you think?”
She threw herself at him, holding him tightly. “Mommy used to love Halloween.”
He put his hand on his niece’s back, not sure what to do. This was all new territory to him.
Raine came to the main door, wiping her hands on a towel. She smiled at him and put two thumbs up.
He didn’t know why it made him feel a little more confident with Raine’s approval, but it did.
Max pulled the little girl closer to him. “Your mom was always a sucker for dressing up. I remember growing up, she would spend weeks before Halloween trying to pick out the perfect costume.”
“She did?” Lake asked.
“Yes. Er … would you like to see some?” His niece pulled away and tilted her head to the side.
“I have some pictures.” There wasn’t much of his life growing up he kept, but pictures had been difficult for him to throw away.
“I’d love that.”
She took his hand, and Max saw this as a sign to move forward.
“I’ll get you two some hot chocolate,” Raine said.
“Yes!” Lake fist-pumped the air. “She makes the best hot chocolate in the world.” She pointed for him to come down to her level, so he did. “But don’t ever tell my mommy. I don’t want to hurt her feelings.”
He smiled, not sure what to say. His sister had passed, and her feelings wouldn’t be hurt.
Walking to the office, he picked Lake up, then placed her on the sofa before going to the far bookshelf. He hadn’t looked at pictures in a long time. Even when he pulled the photo album out of the box to put it away, he didn’t linger unnecessarily.
With the album in his hands, he sat next to Lake and placed the book on her small legs. “There,” he said.
She opened to the first page, and he had forgotten it was taken during Halloween. “Is that my mommy?” she asked.
“Yes. I think that year I went as a scarecrow, and she went as a witch.” He had forgotten about dressing up himself for Halloween.
“Mommy looks funny.”
He smiled.
Raine came through twenty minutes later as Lake was only a quarter of the way through the photograph album.
“My mommy was pretty,” Lake said.
Raine chuckled. “I’ve got you some hot chocolate. I’ll go and organize dinner. Don’t forget to wash up afterward, Lake.”
“I won’t.”
Max watched Raine leave the room, admiring the curves of her ass as she did.
“Look, look, there’s another one,” Lake said.
He looked down at the pictures to see his sister in a mermaid costume. “Do you think I can be a mermaid?”
“I think you can be whatever you want to be. Your mom loved life, sweetheart. She loved to have fun, and I bet she would love to see you enjoying it again.” He had no idea if he was making sense to the young girl. Talking to children hadn’t been something he practiced, and it had been years since he was a kid.
Lake got to the end of the books, which completed at least five Halloweens and Christmases.
“I miss Mommy,” she said.
This was uncharted territory for him. “Er, I smell dinner, so I bet it’s not long until it’s ready. Why don’t you go and wash up and I’ll see how dinner is doing?”
Lake nodded, looking a little numb.
He winced as she put the book on the sofa and stared toward the door.
“Lake, sweetheart.” He picked up the book. “Why don’t you take this upstairs so you can look at it anytime?”
Her eyes lit up just a little, but he’d take it.
She rushed to him, wrapping her arms around his legs once again then taking the book from him. “Thank you, Uncle Max.”
He nodded his head and watched her go.
Max took one look back at his office before heading toward the kitchen where Raine was cooking. She was stirring inside some large pot with a wooden spoon when he entered.
“How did it go?”
Max told her what happened. Even down to Lake asking him not to tell her mommy.
“What do I do?” he asked. “Do I remind her that her mother is … dead?”
“Lake knows what happened to her mother, Max. It doesn’t mean she doesn’t still talk to her.”
“Isn’t that like … I don’t know … bad?”
“I don’t think it’s bad. Lake asked me if she could still talk to her mother. How she wanted to tell her about her day. She wanted to do it before she fell asleep, late at night. I didn’t see a problem. I’ve also asked Lake that when she wants to go and visit her mother, she can. She doesn’t live too far from where she was laid to rest.”
“You don’t think Halloween is bad for her?”