A/N: I love writing Joel & Wednesday!
Merry Christmas!
"Wednesday's bringing a boy home." Grandmama said as she sat herself down with Morticia and Gomez. Gauging Gomez' reaction was amusing for Grandmama; his eyes bulged slightly, his mouth gaped, cigar almost dropping from his lip until his hand automatically caught it and he was frozen for a moment.
"Oh really?" Morticia's light inquisitive tone turned Grandmama's gaze to her instead.
"So it would seem. Someone she met at camp." The old woman shrugged and Morticia frowned. That dreadful place made her wince internally, especially at the memory of all those unfortunate young men who would never understand the pleasures a young woman like Wednesday would offer them. All their athletic physiques and uncontained enthusiasm had given Morticia a headache. How could Wednesday have chosen one of them?
Then it clicked.
"Ah! The young gentleman that came to Fester's wedding?" Morticia's smile widened and Gomez finally seemed to relax.
"He was a very nice young man." Gomez puffed again on his cigar and Grandmama nodded.
"If his name was Joel then yes, that's him."
"When's he due to arrive?"
"In about fifteen minutes, Wednesday has accompanied Lurch and Pugsley to collect a Mr Glicker from the railway station." The old woman shrugged and she dug around in one of her pockets for a spider snack.
"What?! But we haven't invited any clan members over to welcome him! If he is to be a part of this family then there must be others here!" Gomez jumped to his feet and went to hurry to the archaic telephone when Morticia stopped him.
"Gomez, darling don't you think you're overreacting. Wednesday has simply invited a friend from that ghastly camp we sent her to. Why don't we have a nice quiet family gathering? We'll ask Margaret and Itt if they wish to join us. The poor boy is so young, we must not overwhelm him."
Gomez, stymied by his wife's response had paused and was frowning at his beloved.
"But why so small an event?" He was almost pouting but Morticia was smiling and she moved towards him taking his hands in hers.
"Gomez do you remember Cousin Balthazar?"
"The first or the second?"
"The second. Do you remember his wife?"
"Yes, they came to our New Year party."
"Do you remember how she joined the family?" Morticia said patiently.
"Vaguely; she was very nervous if I remember, when Balthy danced the Mamushka she almost fainted when he swallowed the sword?"
"Exactly, that was her first time meeting the family and Aunt Ida and Uncle Mortimer threw an Addams wide party and the poor girl didn't know how to cope. It was me who stopped her bolting straight for the door never to see Balthazar again." Morticia explained patiently.
"But they adore each other?" Gomez was still frowning.
"Exactly, but because she was so clumsily introduced to the family she almost never became an Addams. Let's not do that to our Wednesday. Especially when her and Mr Glicker are so young." Morticia said softly and although Gomez was disappointed that there was to be no party, he could understand his wife's logic.
"I suspect that's why Wednesday didn't tell us Mr Glicker was coming." Gomez grumbled putting the phone back on the hook.
"I imagine so. We both know our daughter; she always has something up her sleeve."
"I remember when she was five, she used to keep dynamite up her sleeve." Gomez said fondly. "Okay, if I cannot throw a party, then we can make sure dinner is superb. Grandmama shall we? Get Fester, this shall be a family affair!"
~Addams~
"Are you family always like this?" Joel asked as Wednesday showed him up to his room.
"Normally there's a lot more of them." Wednesday said as they climbed the tower.
"Oh, where are they?"
"I made sure my Father couldn't invite them."
"Why not?" Joel frowned as they kept climbing.
"Meeting the Addams clan requires a lot of socialising. It's not for the faint-hearted." Wednesday knocked on the bedroom door, which then opened of its own accord. "You're in the room above me. If anything goes wrong I'll hear it."
"Anything goes wrong?" Joel frowned, staring into the gloom of the room.
"We think the ghoul moved out, we're not entirely sure."
"Right…Goodnight Wednesday." Joel decisively stepped past her, into his room and closed the door behind him. It had amazed him being in the Addams household; his asthma hadn't played up once, nothing had made him itch nor brought him up in hives when really the house should be his deadly enemy. Wiping a finger through the dust on the surface, he found his suitcase on the bed and frowned in the dark. He brought a torch with him, and after five minutes of fumbled searching through his clothes he clicked the beam on. Helpfully supplied by the bed was a candelabra and a box of matches. Lighting the various candles that dotted around the room, it felt much cosier already and Joel unpacked the necessities, resolving to do the rest by daylight tomorrow.
Sitting on the bed, he stared at the relics that surrounded him. From the brief but dramatic tour Mr Addams had given him, many of the rooms were filled with knick-knacks and oddities. His mother would have had a fit at some of the things that lurked on shelves and in dressers, and with that thought Joel laughed.
He didn't hate his mother and father but he always felt out of sorts around them, more so after Chippewa ended and he had had to return home with them. He had missed Wednesday dearly, and his new found rebellious streak was welcomed by his father and admonished by his mother.
Stretching back on the bed, ignoring the slight cloud of dust, Joel stared up at the cracked ceiling and smiled. He had never felt more at home than he did with Mr and Mrs Addams; they had asked if he was okay through various points of the night, Mrs Addams particularly, but it hadn't felt like fussing or nagging. She showed genuine curiosity to see if he was okay with the Spider Soup or the Creature Meat & Eye-Nettle pie, all of which he was fine with, though dubious at the names and the aesthetic, each dish had been surprisingly tasty.
He could get used to living with the Addams Family.