Meet the Howlters

This Is Halloween

YEAR: 2022

[Dan's POV]

"Phil!"
"What?"
"Are the kids all dressed?"
"Yeah!"
"Did you call Louise to make sure it's okay if we come over?"
"Yep," he smiled as he walked into the room with Delilah in his arms.
"Look how cute you look," I smiled as I played with her feet.
"She's all ready to go to her first Halloween party, yes she is," Phil cheered as he bounced her up and down. "So where's Winnie?"
"Sleeping in his swing," I said as I got a cup of Ribena.
"We better get going," Phil said as he put Delilah in her carrier.
"But I just poured my Ribena!" I whined.
"Put it in the fridge! Come on, I don't wanna be late,"
"We're always late," I sighed as I placed my cut in the fridge.

Once we grabbed the kids and hauled a cab, we began driving to Louise's house. It was a long car ride, considering Delilah wouldn't stop crying. Once we got to Louise's little house we made our journey to the front door. Phil and I were both very hesitant to knock on the door. We stood there, frozen for a few moments until Darcy opened the door.

"Hi..." Phil awkwardly said.
"Who are you?"
"I-I'm Phil, and this is my husband, Dan,"
"Why are you here?"
"Your mum said we could come over,"
"Hold on," she twisted her face, "MUM! TWO PEOPLE ARE HERE TO SEE YOU!"
Louise rushed over to the door to see what her daughter was yelling about.
"Dan! Phil!" she gave us a hug, "It's been too long!" she smiled. "You guys remember Darcy don't you?"
"How could we forget her?" Phil smiled.
"Come in guys, Tyler and Troye are already in the living room."
"You just brought all the gays along haven't you?" I laughed.
"Guess I have," we walked into the living room.
"Hi boys," Tyler cheered.
"Hey," we said as we set the carriers down.
"You have two! I'm jealous," Tyler chuckled.
"We have one on the way," Troye smiled.
"Well, hopefully," Tyler said.
"What do you mean hopefully?"
"Well we put an adoption application in, they said we'd hear back by tomorrow,"
"Where are you adopting from?" Louise asked.
"A place in New York," Tyler smiled.
"Well best of luck to you," Phil pet Tyler's back.
"Thanks...so who's who?"
"The girl is Delilah and the boy is Winston,"
"Of course," Tyler rolled his eyes and gave us a warm smile. As we talked kids began to ring the doorbell.
"I got it," Louise said as she answered the door. "Hey, do your kids wanna go out?"
"When is Darcy going out?"
"We were gonna leave in a few minutes. You're more than welcome to join us,"
"We'd like that,"
"Do you have strollers?"
"Yeah, little ones,"
"Let's go," she handed us little bags. "See you two later," she waved goodbye.

As Phil and I walked with the kids, Louise and Darcy, we got a bunch of dirty looks. Phil just rolled his eyes and continued holding my hand while I felt awkward and out of place. Sometimes I regret coming out.

"Hey Dan," Phil said.
"Yeah?"
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah,"
"You can't lie to me Daniel Howlter,"
"Fine...I feel like everyone's judging us,"
"So what? Let them judge! Its not our fault they're homophobes!"
"Phil...I-I wanna go back home..."
"Dan, don't let them ruin Dil and Winnie's first Halloween!"
"Yeah...you're right," I sighed.
"I know I'm right," he held my hand tighter and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
"GET OUTTA HERE YOU HOMOS!" a few teen boys yelled.
"YOU GET OUTTA HERE! WE DON'T TOLERATE PEOPLE LIKE YOU!" Louise fought.
"What are you gonna do about it lady? Huh?" they cackled.
"Phil, I wanna go home," my eyes became glassy as my voice shook.
"Yeah...let's go..." we began walking back to Louise's house.
"Do you feel good about yourself?" she yelled go the teens.
"Yeah," they laughed as they did a stupid hand shake.
"Those two...homos...have done so much! They wrote a book, they created a world online where people feel safe! How dare you insult them!"
"Ow...we're so hurt," one sarcastically retorted.
"People like you disgust me! C'mon Darcy," they continued walking.

Once Phil and I got back to Louise's house I began throwing stuff across the room.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Phil yelled as he stopped me. "Its okay," he gave me a tight hug.
"Get off of me!" I cried while pushing him off.
"Dan, I know you're upset, but you need to calm down!"
"Why! Phil, I've been dealing with the same shit my entire life! Being called a queer everywhere you go, everyday of your life, since the age of 5 get really fucking annoying!"
"I know Dan-"
"NO YOU DON'T!"
"What's going on in here?" Tyler asked as he rushed in.
"Tyler, tell Dan, he needs to calm down,"
"Dan honey," Tyler said in a sweet voice, "don't let those jerks get to you, I've been dealing with this for...longer than Phil has been on YouTube," he laughed.
"Dan," Phil stepped in again, "I don't like this version of you...I need my happy bear back..." I gave Phil a smile and a big bear hug. "I love you bear,"
"I love you too."

We headed home before Louise got back; hopefully Tyler or Troye told her where we went. Once we got home we took the kids out of their costumes and set them down in their swings. We turned on Winnie the Pooh, and began making them some food.

"Here," Phil said as he handed me a bottle.
"Thanks... Hey,"
"Yeah?" he said as he ran the bottle under warm water.
"Sorry for today..."
"Sorry for what?"
"The way I acted at Louise's..."
"It's fine, I know how hard your childhood was...plus, everyone needs to flip out every once in a while," he smiled.
"You, uh, you called me bear," I blushed.
"Yeah, so?"
"You haven't called me that in years..."
"Well I felt like bringing it back," he gave me a quick kiss. "C'mon," we walked into the living room so we could feed the kids. We began feeding them and watching Winnie the Pooh. Without even realizing it, I began looking at Phil. "After all these years you're still my heart eyes Howell,"
"Well, Howlter now,"
"Love you big bear,"
I gave him a quick kiss, "I know."