"I can't believe I was stupid enough to let you talk me into this," Mike muttered as he adjusted his blond wig.

"Hush," Ellen told him as patiently applied his makeup. "You look adorable."

Mike sighed in resignation. "I don't want to look adorable. Nobody better take my picture."

Ellen laughed softly. "You don't have to worry about that. Lisa's parties are always low key. Just be wary of the ghosts."

"Ghosts don't bother me," he said. "As long as they don't bother me, I won't bother them."

She finished with his makeup. "Please promise me you won't cause any trouble tonight."

"I will not cause trouble," he told her. "Did I tell you how beautiful you look? Just like an angel."

She smiled softly and leaned in to kiss him when they heard laughter from the doorway. They both looked up to see Micky in the doorway, already dressed in his werewolf costume. "I wish I had a camera right now," he said.

Mike glared at him. "If you did, you'd be dead."

"But you look so cute," Micky said.

Mike growled and jumped up to go after Micky, but Ellen stopped him. "He's not worth it," she told him.

Micky nodded. "Yeah, I'm not." He paused. "Hey, that's not nice."

They all laughed then, breaking the tension. "It's almost time to go," Ellen said, looking at her watch. "Are Peter and Davy ready?"

"Yeah," Micky replied. "I think Davy was having trouble with his teeth."

"Bela Lugosi didn't need fangs," Mike said. "Neither does he. Don't need him scaring Sammy."

"He's too young to understand fear," Ellen said.

"He's my son," Mike said. "He understands fear."

"No use arguing about this," Micky said. "We have a party to get to."

They took Sammy to the babysitter and arrived at Lisa's party half an hour later. There were a lot of people already there, most of them they had never met before, or at least only briefly. Lisa greeted them at the door. "Ellen, you look incredible," she said. "I just hope none of the real ghosts mistake you for one of their own." She looked at the other. "Einstein," she sighed. "Perfect choice, Peter. A werewolf again, Micky? Where's your imagination? The fangs are a bit much, Davy. Learn a lesson from Lugosi." She stopped when she got to Mike. She couldn't suppress a giggle.

"I challenged Ellen to a game of cards," he explained. "I lost."

"Well, Mike," she said. "You look really cute. I guess Ellen never told you she's an expert at cards."

"No, she didn't," Mike replied.

"You never asked," Ellen said. She was an expert card player, but this time she had cheated a little bit. She just wanted to see Mike in a dress.

"You do look cute," Lisa said. "Not many men can wear a dress."

"Thanks, I think," Mike mumbled. Desperate to change the subject, he asked, "Is this house really haunted?"

"Well, I've heard weird things a lot," Lisa said. "Maybe just my imagination, though."

"Probably not," Mike said. "Do you know anything about the history of the house?"

Lisa shook her head. "No, I don't. Why are you so interested in this?"

"My new hobby," Mike said. "Did I ever tell you what happened to me when I was in jail last year?"

"No, you didn't," Lisa said. "What happened?"

"Mike, please don't tell her about that," Ellen said. She wanted to forget that time Mike was in jail and what she had to do to get him out.

"Okay, maybe I won't tell you," Mike said. The wig was really bothering him. How could women stand to have their hair so long? "Is it okay if I take a look around? This is a really interesting house."

"Sure, no problem. Just be careful if you go to the attic. A few loose boards up there," Lisa told him.

"You want to go with me?" he asked Ellen. She nodded and hand in hand they headed upstairs.

"Why did you want to explore the house?" she asked. "You can't be that interested in the ghosts."

"I am," he said, "but I'm more interested in you." He smiled at her and put his arm around her waist. "Want to risk the attic?"

She thought about it for a minute. "Can you make it worth the risk?"

"Oh yeah," he said. "Besides, I know you cheated at cards. You owe me."

"How did you know I cheated?" she asked.

"It's impossible that we both would have had the Ace of Spades," he told her. "Just don't do it again. I don't like wearing a dress."

"I promise," she told him. "No more cheating."

"Good," he said and kissed her.

Behind them a door opened and they stumbled into the room. It was decorated from a hundred years before. "Wow," Ellen said, glancing around the room, "this is really nice."

"Yeah, it is," Mike said, pulling his wig off. "Better than risking the attic."

They kissed again, more passionately this time, tongues tangling together. He slowly unzipped her dress and pushed it off her shoulders. He felt like he hadn't made love to her in years. True, their time alone had been considerably reduced since Sammy's birth a few months before. He wanted her.

They finished undressing each other and he carried her to the bed. "You are so beautiful," he told her. He gently caressed her breasts, taking a hard nipple in his mouth. She moaned softly. "How do you want it? Fast, slow, in between?"

"Just make it good."

He entered her slowly. She called out and he quieted her with a kiss. He didn't need anybody checking on them and interrupting them.

Slowly they moved together, bringing each other to the heights of pleasure. They rested for a few minutes and then redressed and went back downstairs to the party.

Slowly, one by one, the ghosts emerged from hiding. "What was that?" one asked. "He was wearing a dress."

"It's Halloween," another replied. "It was a costume."

"Well, in my day, men never wore anything like that."

"And in your day, people didn't do what they did, either."

Another ghost appeared. "I like his style. She's a lucky woman. Reminds me of my husband. Too bad we didn't get to spend eternity together."

A male ghost appeared. "She's a beautiful woman and she obviously enjoyed him. Such a beautiful couple."

The ghosts all nodded in agreement and went back to hiding.