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‘Twas the night before Halloween, Debbie had left Franny to spend the weekend at her uncles' place and for most of the day, the three of them spent shopping for costumes and decorating their apartment with some spooky decorations. By the time Ian and Mickey put the last finishing touches of the fake cobweb around the living room, Fanny had drifted away to snooze-land.
“Hey Mick, come and look at this” Ian whispers softly, careful not to wake Franny up.
“What is it now, firecrotch? I told you already the jack o'lanterns look gr-”, instantly his face turns soft by looking at his niece drooling all over their new couch.
“Maybe we should take her back to our room”, Ian says, already going to pick up Franny to place her in their room. Maybe they could sleep on their couch just for tonight.
Once Ian had tucked her in and made sure Franny didn’t stir awake, he and Mickey spent their time cuddling together, watching Saw just to celebrate the Halloween spirit a bit more. Suddenly, a scream came from their room, (and fuck Ian for teasing him for maybe flinching a little when he heard it) followed by a little body running towards them and hiding under their blanket.
“Hey, Fran, what happened?”
No answer. Just a stream of tears flowed down her cheeks, staining Mickey’s sweatshirt.
“Alright lemme try,” Mickey lifts Franny’s head so he can see her more clearly. “Ok, lil’ red why don’t you tell your favorite uncle what happened”, giving more of an emphasis on favorite - at which she laughs, remembering her uncles’ ongoing feud on who's the favorite even though they already know the answer to that, which is the both of them.
“W-when I woke up, I saw a-a ghost behind the curtains” she said between sniffles.
“I’m sure there’s nothing there Franny, it’s probably just a shadow of a tree or something.”
"No, but Uncle Ian, there really was a ghost. I saw it with my own eyes!”
“Okay, how ‘bout we both check it out and you stay here ok?” Mickey assures.
“No. I’m scared, I wanna stay with you Uncle Mickey”
With a sigh Mickey let Franny bear hug his leg until they reached their room to check for ‘ghosts’.
“See nothing here” Ian coos, lifting the curtain only to make a show of nothing being there, so Franny could go back to sleep and he could go back to cuddling the shit out of his husband.
“But...but I swear I saw something moving” she mumbles.
“Like Ian said Fran, maybe it was just a shadow. Why don’t you go back to bed alright.” Mickey says, guiding her towards their bed. “Do you want the light on?”
“Okay.” Franny sighs. She could maybe give it a one last try and if there is a ghost, this time she could at least take a good look at it.
It had been 20 minutes, or so she felt like it had. Her eyes were wide open, looking for anything supernatural. Then there it was, the ghost was back, she could see its black color in contrast to the very light curtains.
Franny slowly got out of the bed, walking backwards as if the minute she turned her back the ghost would disappear.
“Uncle Ian, look look LOOK! It’s back” she says frantically, dragging Ian’s huge arm that should be way too heavy for her to pull.
As they reach the room Ian goes to say something, however, before he could even get it out Franny shushes him telling Ian to be quiet or ‘it’ would go again.
They slowly tiptoetowards the window, and as they come closer Ian starts to see ‘it’, maybe Franny wasn't lying after all.
“Hey, Fran, why don’t you call Uncle Mickey too.” he says, keeping his voice low so wouldn’t scare whatever the hell that was.
“Are you serious Ian you too, it’s probably a shadow” Mickey says as he enters the room, rolling his eyes.
“Would you just shut up and come here. Quietly” he whispers.
Once Mickey got close, he could finally see what the whole commotion was about. There really was something.
“Huh,” Mickey says, a bit surprised. “Open the fuckin’ curtain let's see what this motherfucker wants”
And Ian does just that, although very slowly, to “keep the suspense”.
“A kitty!!” Franny squeals.
Oh.
That was totally not what they were expecting. It was a black cat with piercing green eyes - just like someone else Mickey knows - and Franny was in love with it the minute she saw it, all the fear of a ghost gone, vanished into thin air.
“Can we keep it? Please”, shooting the best puppy eyes she could pull up.
“Well, I don’t think your mommy would allow that Fran,” Ian resonates.
“Pretty please. maybe you and uncle Mickey could keep it, even call it Minne!” she says, excitement running through her.
Both Ian and Mickey share a look. There’s nothing they could do now, could they? They both know how tight their niece has got them wrapped up around her finger,
“Alright we’ll keep her, only ‘cos we have no choice, but the minute she fucks our house up, she’s gone alright” Mickey says trying to sound stern, though both Franny and Ian know he’s lying.