Miriam and Jack (Aunt and Nephew)

The doorbell rang just as Jack finished taping the last cobweb to the banister. He’d spent all afternoon turning the house into something resembling a haunted house, stringing fake skeletons from the staircase, smearing the windows with red-tinted corn syrup that looked disturbingly like blood. It was his one night of the year to go all out, to indulge in the chaos his aunt Miriam spent the other 364 days erasing from their lives.

He swung the door open with a grin, expecting the neighborhood kid or maybe some other trick or treater. Instead, he found his aunt standing on the porch, arms crossed, face set in that familiar stone-cold scowl. The evening sun caught her high cheekbones, giving her that regal, unapproachable look that made her students call her “the Ice Queen” behind her back. She was still in her work clothes, a cream blouse stretched tight across her generous chest, the buttons looking like they were one deep breath away from popping.

“Jack, what is this mess?” she demanded, stepping inside without waiting for an answer. Her heels clicked sharply on the hardwood floor as she surveyed the living room, lips pursed. “I leave for one teacher’s conference and come home to a haunted house? I thought I told you, no Halloween decorations. This is not a frat house.”

He rolled his eyes, closing the door behind her. “It’s Halloween, Aunt Miri. It's only for one night a year. Chill.”

She turned to face him, dark eyes narrowing. “Don’t ‘aunt Miri’ me. You’re eighteen, act like it. This,” she gestured to the plastic tombstones and flickering orange lights, “is childish. And what is that smell?”

“Uh, maybe it’s the fog machine?” he offered, scratching the back of his neck.

Miriam sighed, the kind of long-suffering exhale that usually preceded a lecture about responsibility and maturity. She reached up to loosen the tight bun at the nape of her neck, letting her thick brown hair spill down in waves that framed her face and brushed against the tops of her breasts. It was the one moment of softness she allowed herself after a long day, and Jack tried not to stare as she ran her fingers through the strands, unwittingly drawing attention to the full curves beneath her blouse.

“Take it down,” she said firmly. “All of it. I’m not having the neighbors think we run some kind of carnival.”

Jack’s shoulders slumped, but he wasn’t ready to surrender. “Come on, it’s not that bad. Look, I even got you a costume!” He darted past her to the couch and snatched up the red, blue, and gold package he’d kept there earlier. Holding it up with a hopeful grin, he added, “It’s perfect for you. Wonder Woman. You know, strong, powerful, takes no crap. Sound familiar?”

Miriam’s expression shifted from irritation to disbelief. She snatched the package from his hands and turned it over, her face darkening as she took in the skimpy illustration on the front. The costume was less “heroic Amazon” and more “adult film parody”, the bodice cut low and the shorts so short they barely deserved the name.

“Are you out of your mind?” she snapped, shoving the package back at him. “This is not a costume, it’s lingerie. I would rather burn the house down than wear this trash.”

“Okay, okay, dramatic much?” Jack muttered, but he knew better than to push further. Miriam had a way of shutting down arguments with a single look, a skill honed over years of teaching teenagers and living with one.

She turned away, already unbuttoning her blouse as she headed toward the stairs. “I’m going to shower. When I come down, I want this place looking normal again. And if I see even one plastic spider, you’re grounded for a month.”

Jack watched her go, the tight skirt she wore today hugging the round swell of her hips as she climbed the stairs. He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t noticed how his aunt filled out her clothes, especially after she’d taken up swimming last year. Her body was lean and toned, but with curves that made his friends whisper inappropriate comments whenever she dropped him off at school. He shook his head, pushing the thoughts away. This was his aunt, for God’s sake.

The doorbell rang again, this time with the distinctive chime of the Ring doorbell camera. Jack sighed, figuring it was probably the neighbors. He grabbed his phone and checked the app, expecting to see someone in a costume.