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Little four year old Callista was bouncing around Feral's apartment like a small rubber ball. This was her first Halloween and she was beside herself with excitement.
With a great many of the major omegas gone for good, the Katizens of Megakat City could finally do many of the normal things some of their neighboring cities and those living out in the country had been able to do for years...like enjoying trick or treating on Halloween.
Feral sighed as he tried to get her to calm down as he helped her dress in her costume. His very bright little she-kat had made it clear she wanted to be dressed like Queen Callista, her namesake.
The idea got into her head from her father regaling her with tales of the Queen and what life was like in Medieval times but unlike most kittens her age, instead of being bored and not paying attention, little Callista understood and hung on every word. She was very intelligent and had recently tested out at the level of an eight year old.
So the parents, with Chance incognito, went searching for the perfect princess style costume that could be converted to what Callista envisioned but without success. Finally, she drew a picture so they could see what she'd been trying to describe. It would require a seamstress doing it but Halloween was just two days away.
When Feral explained the problem to his daughter, she simply crossed her arms and said reasonably, "I know you don't like doing magic, mommy, but could you do this for me, please?"
Feral could only stare at her in surprise. 'How the devil did she know I could do magic? I've done my best to hide that from her.'
His mate laughed and shook his head.
Rolling his eyes, Feral gave his mate a disgusted look. He simply shrugged and spread his paws in a 'what do you want me to say,' kind of look.
Having no answer to that, Feral looked down at his daughter who waited patiently while her parents spoke in that silent language of theirs that adults that were close had.
Sighing, he gave in. "Fine, just this once." Concentrating on the image, he made a gesture and the costume she'd drawn came to life along with a gold tiara, wand, and a pair of dainty gold shoes.
"Oh mommy, it's wonderful," Callista cried, hugging her mother's legs hard before running to the couch where Feral had conjured the outfit. Carefully, she picked it up as if it was very delicate and precious, then hurried off to her room. When she returned, Feral and Chance just stared in amazement.
"Oh Callista, you look so beautiful...just like a Queen," Feral said, warmly, no longer regretting doing this for his lovely daughter.
"You look even more incredible than the Queen herself, honor, honey," her father said proudly, a huge grin on his face.
Callista blushed at all the compliments. She loved how the dress fit her so well and how much like a Queen she looked in the mirror. She could hardly wait to show it off.
So now it was Halloween night and his little Queen was flittering around the room, too excited to sit down and eat her dinner.
"Callista, you have to eat before we go..."
"But, I'm not hungry!"
"Callista..." her mother growled, warningly.
"Callista, you heard your mother, come sit down." Her father pulled the chair with the booster seat out and pointed at it, his gaze stern.
Sighing and feeling a bit put upon, she finally sat down and began to eat her food hurriedly.
"Slow down...a stomach ache will ruin your fun before you get to enjoy it," Feral warned gently as he too sat down.
Dinner was filled with conversation on the day's events, mostly from Callista about her play group in the morning and with Professor Hackle in the afternoon.
When dinner was finally done and she had gone potty and washed up, she was now impatiently waiting until her parents were ready to leave. She was bouncing on her toes and babbling excitedly.
Since no one was aware that Feral's mate was Chance and only a tiny few were aware it was T-Bone, the tabby decided to dress up as Zorro. He looked very dashing with his mask, cape, boots, and sword.
Feral admired his mate's look and gave him a coy look that said later it would be their turn for fun. Chance gave his mate a warm kiss to seal the deal. Callistia just giggled at the two of them.
Her mother had no desire to dress up so wore a plain yellow polo shirt and black slacks for their foray. They had decided to do the apartment building first then the local neighborhood. After that, they would all get into Feral's hummer and head to the park where the Mayor had set up a small carnival for the little ones to enjoy.
As they prepared to leave the apartment, Callista halted them all with a firm declaration. "Mommy, I want to look magical, like the Queen."
Feral stared down at her in confused surprise. "...look magical? I'm afraid I don't understand, honey."
"I want to glow with magic...please mommy!" She gestured with her paws from her head to her toes.
"Uhh..."
"Go ahead, love...no ones going to know and it means so much to her," Chance coaxed. They did their best not to spoil their daughter but on such a special occasion, he thought an exception could be made to make her night memorable.
Frowning, Feral wasn't certain this was such a good thing but with his daughter giving him that wide pleading look, he couldn't find it in him to refuse. Sighing, he thought about what he wanted to do and was extremely careful how he worded his request. Gesturing lightly with his paw, he cast a light spell on Callista.
Hurrying to a nearby mirror, Callista stared at her image. Her mother had opted to make her little wand glow with a blue light and her crown glow softly with an inner light of its own. The jewels that decorated the gown she wore, also were softly glowing.
It wasn't exactly what she wanted but it was good enough. Grinning in delight, she turned and smiled hugely at her mom.
"Thank you, mommy. I look soo cool...let's go...I can't wait to get some candy," she said, happily.
"You do look spectacular, honey." Chance whistled his appreciation and opened the door so they could leave.
The night went well with Callista collecting a lot of candy and toys by the end of their walk. Still excited and alert, though she should really be getting very tired, they stopped at home to leave her goodies then piled into the hummer and headed downtown.
The park was packed with hundreds of kittens running around and enjoying themselves. Callista went on a few rides, a couple with her father, played some games, then there was the costume contest toward the end of the evening.
Callista signed up and soon she and fifteen others stood on stage with the Mayor while people voted for their favorite. No one knew anything but the kittens first name so there would be no accusation of favoritism about a council member's kitten being picked over the local grocer's. After being looked at for more than ten minutes, the kittens were set free so the judge's could tally the votes.
Feral and Chance took their daughter to a quiet area to enjoy some hot cider and a hot dog.
"Hello, Commander. Glad to see you out enjoying yourself and how are you tonight, Callista?" The pleasant voice of the deputy mayor said, coming up behind them.
"I'm fine...I'm having lots of fun...you like my costume...I'm supposed to be like Queen Callista!" The kitten burbled in a rush.
"Really? That's so cool and I love your costume. Did you know, I'm a descendent of the Queen," Callie said, giving the kitten a warm smile as she crouched down to be eye to eye with the excited kitten. Tonight, she was wearing a princess type gown, herself. With her hair swept up, a small silver tiara on her head, she was breathtaking.
Callista's eyes widened with awe. "Really! Wow that is cool! You look a lot like her and are just as beautiful too."
"Why thank you and so do you, especially the way you glow so brightly. You're like a star out of the heavens," Callie said. Callista was a favorite of hers. She felt Feral and T-Bone were the luckiest Kat's in the world to have such a beautiful and bright kitten. She was almost jealous of their good fortune and hoped she too would be just as happy one day too.
"Thank you. My mommy did this for me because I wanted to look magical like the Queen," the kitten said rather seriously.
"Truly. Well you are one very lucky kitten to have a mommy who is so talented."
Callista nodded, smiling.
Callie gave Feral an arched eyebrow, surprised he had used his magic. He shrugged and smiled a 'what can I say, I'm a sap for my daughter,' look. She could only shake her head and chuckle. Feral's kitten did indeed have her parents wrapped around her tiny finger. She knew Feral didn't like using the magic he'd been forced to learn when he'd been kidnapped into another dimension but she felt he was a very lucky Kat to have such a talent. She sometimes wished her magic wasn't dormant but then shook the idea away as she had enough on her plate without that too.
Suddenly, the Mayor took the stage and announced, "if I can have your attention, please...we have the votes tallied."
It took several long minutes before it quieted enough for Manx to be heard. When he had enough of the people who were involved and interested in the contest, listening, he announced the winner.
"It gives me great pleasure to tell you who has won the third runner up award ... Jamie Liger ..." A cute little tom was brought up by his parents. He wore a very well done robot costume and received a small trophy and a bag of candy. The were moved to one side of the stage while the Mayor called, "second runner up ... Alice Strikar..." Another young kitten, dressed up as a witch, in a very realistic outfit, smiled shyly at the Mayor while gripping her mother's paw as she accepted a small trophy and a stuffed animal. She and her family moved to stand next to the third place winner. "And now for the first place winner...Callista Feral."
Feral and T-Bone were surprised. Though he wanted to stay by his daughter, he opted to remain on the ground as Feral helped his excited and thrilled daughter up on stage. She walked up to the Mayor and grinned up at him.
Manx smiled hugely at the beautiful little kitten. He might not care for the gruff Chief Enforcer much, but he had a special place in his heart for this little kitten that he saw only occasionally but who had made such a big impression on him. It was a good thing he wasn't the judge because he would have voted for her in the first place so he was glad the judges felt the same about her as he did.
So with great pleasure, he leaned down and gave her a much larger trophy, a stuffed bear, and an envelope with ten dollars in it. Everyone, cheered and clapped for all the winners and pictures were taken with the Mayor.
After that, the carnival finally began to close and people headed home. Feral was carrying his little Queen in his arms. Callista was exhausted and could barely keep her eyes open. Her father carried her winnings as well as a few things she'd won (with her father's help) from the games.
"You were wonderful, sweety." Feral hugged his daughter close and kissed her on the forehead.
"I was Queen and the trophy proves it," Callista burbled happily. "This was the best Halloween, ever!"
"It certainly was, honey." Chance chuckled as they got into the hummer for the ride home.
They were home in very little time but it was long enough for their daughter to crash. When Feral parked the car and went to remove their daughter from her seat, the kitten was frankly asleep. Her little head was tilted to one side with the crown threatening to fall off it, her mouth open and drooling a little as a small snore escaped.
Smiling tenderly down at his daughter, he carefully removed her from her seat and cradled her in his arms.
"Poor thing is completely tuckered out," her father chuckled as he followed with their things.
"Yes, she is. What a night it's been."
"Yeah but lots of fun. I never had a Halloween like this when I grew up. I'm glad our kittens can have one now since the danger has been reduce so much," he observed as he opened their apartment door then locked it behind them.
"I agree, it was a wonderful thing but I'm wiped too. I couldn't believe she could stay up so long."
"Too excited to crash until she was good and ready," Chance snickered, setting his daughter's trophy on her dresser so she could see it when she woke tomorrow and placed her stuffed bear on the bed.
Feral sighed as he lay his daughter on her bed and stared down at her. Shaking his head, he decided to use magic to remove her clothes rather than disturb her too much. With a quick flick of his fingers he sent the costume and all its accessories onto a hanger in the closest, removing its eerie glow. He made a sleeper appear on his daughter then pulled the kitten's bedding over her. The two quietly left the room to its oblivious sleeper.
"Now its our turn to head to bed, love," Chance purred, wrapping his arms around his mate and giving him a passionate kiss.
"Hmm, yes...sounds like a good idea," Feral purred.
They undressed each other and slipped into bed. They made gentle, slow love as they were really tired and were soon asleep in each other's arms.
It had been a truly fantastic Halloween.