Robin sighed as he carefully analyzed his reflection in the large mirror  hanging near the front door.

The Robin staring back at him wore a a deep emerald suit Holly had tailored for him, with an intricate green cameo of autumn leaves fashioned as a bolo tie, which was adorned with jewels resembling raindrops dangling below. The interior of the suit jacket was a dark crimson interior that matched his vest, which had been decorated with intricate beading of dark flowers crawling up from the sides and across the front of his chest. Strings of jewels, resembling spiderwebs covered in dew, draped off the shoulders of his jacket.

Robin mindlessly fiddled with his coat jacket, his dark eyes roaming over his costume, seemingly finding a new detail in its design each time he looked closer at his reflection.

A dark curl fell into his eyes, causing Robin to blink in irritation as he pushed it back into place, donning the wide-brimmed Stetson hat with intricate beading that matched his vest.

Robin looked again at his reflection, and almost laughed at himself in the mirror. He didn't look bad; the colors of his jacket seemed to complement the undertones of his dark skin, and make the deep caramel color of his eyes more noticeable, but he still felt like he was wearing a silly costume. This suit was far from his usual formal attire back in London, which usually consisted of a simple black and white tuxedo, with an occasional small rose in his pocket as his only accessory.

Robin drew imaginary guns in the mirror as if he were a fearsome cowboy before chuckling at himself and shaking his head. He was almost glad his brother wasn't here yet. Otto wouldn't hesitate to tease Robin relentlessly for dressing so eclectically.

Still, Robin found the outfit growing on him each time he glanced at his reflection.

Suddenly, a small gasp came from the top of the stairs.

Holly stood at the top of the stairway, her hands covering her open mouth in awe. She wore a beaded cape, a larger and more complete version of the bejeweled spiderwebs that fell off Robin's jacket, which lay over her long, velvet, emerald coat. As she descended the stairs, Robin saw that underneath her coat she wore a dark crimson dress with matching floral embroidery on the bodice as that on his vest. Hanging from her waist was another, shorter, bejeweled spiderweb cape, that swayed with her movements. Similar to his Stenson, Holly had her hair donned in an emerald velvet short top hat, with floral beading along the underside of the brim, and small trails of the spiderweb gems along the outside rim. She wore a brown fur muff, but with one of her hands exposed, he saw that around her wrist was a cameo bracelet that matched his bolo tie.

"You truly are the handsomest man in all of the Great Plains." She said with a small laugh as she continued to admire her work from the top of the stairs "I thought it before, but I am sure of it now."

Robin quickly lowered his hat,  trying to hide his reddened ears as she made her way to the bottom of the stairs and began walking toward him. She gently grabbed his shoulders, causing him to jump in surprise, exposing his blushing face, which had turned a similar crimson to his suit vest. Robin hoped Holly couldn't feel his racing heart under her fingers as she turned him to face the mirror again.

Fortunately, she seemed more focused on admiring her hard work, as she stood speechless at the their reflection. Her face filled with glee and pride as she reviewed their outfits.

As Robin looked back at himself again, and watched Holly position herself beside him, fiddling with the jewels on Robin's shoulders, he could see her vision. The two of them standing together made their individual outfits look avant-garde, as if they were visiting a king instead of attending a barn dance.

Robin looked like someone more confident than he could give himself credit for. He slowly straightened his shoulders, puffing out his chest, knowing he had to be confident to sell Holly's handwork to the people of Adel.

"I'm so glad you seem to like it! It looks perfect on you," Holly said as she detangled some pieces stuck together on his coat sleeve. Robin looked down at her with a grin, which grew at the sight of her excited smile as she smoothed down his fixed sleeve before moving to his other side.

A stray hair fell into her face, and she shook it away to not be distracted from her task, but it fell right back into her eyes once again. Holly tried to blow it away again, but this time, Robin reached out to move it, lightly using his fingers to comb it back into place.

"Hey!" Jo yelled from the top of the stairs, "How come I'm not matching?"

Robin and Holly's attention quickly shot to the staircase as Jo huffed down the stairs in a light blue and purple dress. Green and white leaves were carefully embroidered onto her bodice. Although beautifully done, the work was noticeably different from Robin's and Holly's.

Holly let out an amused laugh. " The last time I made our outfits match, you cried and said it was the most humiliating thing that had ever happened to you."

"I was seven," Jo said defensively. "I've grown up since then."

Holly smiled and exchanged a knowing look with Robin. "Of course, I'm sorry. I should have asked if you wanted to match. I will make sure you are matching next year."

"But we are going as a family this year!" Jo whined, looking between the two of them. "It won't be the same..."

Holly gave Jo a small smile before bending down and straightening out her dress. As she tugged at the material, the dress's colors changed to emerald, and the stitching rearranged into flowers. Tiny diamond spiderwebs dripped from her shoulders, mirroring the ones that hung on Robin's jacket.

Jo let out a cry of glee and twirled in a circle. The jewels of her outfit shimmered in the low light of the hall.

""It's only an illusion, Jo. So don't let the other kids touch the beading or the jewels. Their fingers will go right through them," Holly said, standing up and straightening her own dress. "But you will still match us for the rest of the night. How does that sound?"

"Thank you, Miss Holly!" Jo said excitedly as she tried to play with the jewels, her fingers weaving in and out of the illusion. "Can we take a photograph of us in our outfits? So I can have it while I'm in California?" Jo asked shyly.

"Sure, Jo," Holly said, patting the young girl on the shoulder, her smile growing as she turned to Robin. "Is that okay with you, Robin?"

Robin nodded, and Jos grin grew into a giggle as she rushed up the stairs, and hurried to her room to grab her camera.

"We'll take it in the drawing room," Holly said, lightly tapping Robin's arm as if inviting him to follow her.

Holly carefully took a seat on the light blue settees in the corner of the drawing room, rearranging her dress so it would sit right for the photo. Robin walked around the rear to stand behind her as Jo came back down the stairs. Jo quickly set the camera on the hearth and angled it towards the settee before hurrying over to sit at Holly's feet.

Holly looked up at Robin again, her eyes filled with happiness and gratitude, before grabbing his hand to put on her shoulder. Robin gave her a small smile in return as he readjusted his hand, holding hers for a moment longer than necessary before letting it go.

"Wait!" Jo shouted, quickly standing back up. "We can't forget Cookie." She cried as she ran out of the room, returning quickly with the small dog that had no doubt been sleeping peacefully in a sun spot only a moment ago.

"Of course we can't! Sorry Cookie!" Holly said with a laugh, reaching for one of Jo's hands and placing it in her lap as Jo sat back down, one-handedly wrangling the dog on her lap. Jo had to command the sleepy dog several times to sit before Cookie finally lay down with a huff in the small girls skirt.

"Ready?" Jo asked, rearranging her skirts as to not hide Cookie.

"Ready!" Holly chimed.

As Jo quickly counted down from three, and the flash hit his eyes, Robin felt a pang of sadness, as he realized he didn't want this time at Sunshine Acres to come to an end.