Okay, I got this idea from the Big Bad Beetleborgs episode "Ghouls Just Want To Have Fun". I only own my OCs and I'd like to add Janelle and Anastasia to those OCs. Vamps belongs to guestsurprise, who gave me permission to use him, and Big Bad Bettleborgs belongs to Saban.
Also, part of this story was inspired by the Disney movie "Under Wraps". If you haven't seen it, you should. It's a really great movie!
The Housekeeper's A Keeper
Missions were beginning to pile up for the aliens, as was work for the women who lived at the Grant Mansion. While it was summertime, work picked up quite a bit, even for Rachel. As a result, the housecleaning was almost going down the drain, although the women tried to keep up with it, but after working hard every day, they were exhausted.
Vamps came in to the living room to see Rachel vacuuming and she stopped the vacuum when she saw he wanted to talk to her. "Hey, Vamps, what's up?" she asked.
"Rachel, I think I know a better way to keep ahead of the housecleaning than having you and your sisters doing it after you've all had hard days," he said.
Rachel smiled. Vamps and the other aliens were always looking out for her and her sisters. "What do you have in mind?" she asked.
"A housekeeper," he said. "We could hire someone to come three days a week to clean the Mansion and work it into sections, since the Mansion is huge."
Rachel looked doubtful. "That's a good idea, but I don't think anyone will want to come clean a haunted house," she said. "The Grant Mansion's 'haunted' reputation keeps a lot of people away."
"True," he said. "But I was thinking it would be someone who would come when only a few of us were here and we could hide away so we wouldn't be in the way or scare the housekeeper."
Rachel gave it some more thought. "Well, okay," she said. "I'll put up a help wanted poster in town, but I really don't think anyone will answer."
"It never hurts to try," Vamps said gently.
Seeing he had a point, she nodded and accepted a hug from him, which helped her feel a bit better.
A car slowly moved into town and stopped at a local restaurant and a young, twenty-year-old woman stepped out and helped her six year old daughter out of the backseat. "May I have a grilled cheese sandwich, Mommy?" the little girl asked.
Her mother smiled. "Let's see if they have it, sweetie," she said.
They went in and the cozy restaurant made her feel welcome, which was a pleasant feeling for a change. After ordering dinner, she saw a message board filled with advertisements, but one paper listed a job. Hope filling her, as she was looking for a job after her ex-husband had kicked her and her daughter out of the house, she grabbed it and took it back to the table.
"The Grant Mansion," she read on the paper. "Housekeeper needed for three days a week."
Housekeeper. She could do that. And she saw the pay the owner was offering was reasonable too. She'd have to find an apartment or a hotel to stay in.
"I don't know if I'd go there," said the waitress as she brought their order. "The Grant Mansion is the town's haunted legend."
"What?" asked the young woman. "What do you mean?"
The waitress glanced around and then looked at her. "Word in town is that it's crawling with monsters and evil things," she said. "My brother went up there and hasn't been the same since he came back looking like he was near death's door with his white face and shaking."
The young woman looked at the job again. "Are there other jobs in town?" she asked.
"Sorry," said the waitress with a gentle head shake and headed off to fill other orders, leaving the young woman to decide she wasn't going to let a silly rumor stop her from getting the job. It would do for now.
After dinner, she and her daughter got in the car and headed out to the Grant Mansion, driving through the wrought-iron gate and pulling up to the huge house. It looked like it had five floors. "Wow, it's big," said her daughter.
"That's why they wanted someone to come three days a week," said the young woman as she saw someone come out of the house. "That must be the owner."
She got out just as the blonde-haired girl came up to her. "May I help you?" she asked.
"Yes. I'm looking for the owner."
"That's me," said the blonde girl. "Name's Rachel Jocklin. And you?"
"Janelle," she said and they saw her daughter come out. "And this is my daughter, Anastasia."
Rachel smiled. "Welcome to Staybrook," she said. "Are you by chance here about the housekeeper job?"
"Yes," said Janelle. "Is it still available?"
"Yes," said the owner of the Grant Mansion who then looked thoughtful. "You're not from around here, are you?"
"No." Janelle looked a bit sad. "We're from Wisconsin."
"Wisconsin? You're a long way from home," said Rachel, who then saw Janelle look very defeated. "Trouble at home?" she asked gently.
"Daddy kicked us out," said Anastasia, who looked sad right then.
Rachel's heart went out to them. "Come inside," she said and took them to the living room. "I have a spare room for you two and you can start tomorrow if you'd like."
Janelle looked at her. "Start…as your new housekeeper?" she asked.
Rachel nodded. "The job's yours, hon," she said.
Surprised, but very grateful, Janelle grabbed a couple suitcases and set them in the room Rachel showed them. Anastasia looked outside. "There's a swing set, Mommy," she said. "Maybe Miss Rachel will let me play on it."
"Maybe," said Janelle, glad to see her daughter seemed okay with staying there for a bit.
A week later, Janelle wasn't regretting taking the job because Rachel was a kind employer and let Janelle use the kitchen, which made her happy. She felt a little bad about only cooking for just her and her daughter, but Rachel said that she was often up early cooking for her family, who ate earlier and came home very late, which made Janelle feel less guilty.
Then, one day, Rachel had to attend a meeting at the college. "I'll be back in a few hours," she said to Janelle. "Will you and Anastasia be okay here for a bit?"
"Sure," said Janelle. "I'll just do some cleaning."
"But it's your day off," said Rachel.
"I don't mind."
Rachel nodded in agreement. "Okay," she said. "Take care."
She then headed out and Janelle started cleaning while her daughter quietly read some of her books in the hallway outside the room her mother was working in, pushing her glasses up on her face. She didn't mind wearing glasses. She liked them.
She then got up and curiously moved upstairs, wondering what all the rooms were when she heard someone behind her and whirled around to see a mummy looking down at her. Afraid, she screamed and ran.
Janelle was vacuuming and didn't hear her daughter screaming, nor did she see the ball of green slime watching her closely.
Anastasia kept running, losing her glasses in the process, but she didn't stop to grab them, but then she couldn't really see and suddenly felt something wrap around her and stop her from running. She squeaked, but her eyes were wide with fear as the mummy brought her to him and brushed a bit of hair out of her face, gently replacing her glasses back on her face. The six-year-old was a bit stunned that he gave her back her glasses.
"T-Thank you," she squeaked out and then squeaked again when he held her in a gentle embrace and carried her to a room that looked like a lab. Anastasia tried to squirm, but the mummy put her on one of the lab tables and strapped her down, making fear fill her again and she whimpered, ready to cry.
"Hush, little one," said the mummy in a deep, but soothing, voice, making her look up at him fearfully as tears started to fall a little, but she saw him shake his head gently. "No tears now."
She gazed up at him and he placed a hand on her shoulder and she tried not to flinch. "I'm not going to hurt you," he said, his voice still deep and soothing as he began gently stroking her head like a father would to calm a child. She looked up at him and he gave her a gentle smile.
"What is your name, sweetheart?" he asked.
She looked at him and shook her head, refusing to talk. He chuckled. "No?" he asked, but his voice was still gentle. "Well, looks like you need something to help you out of your clammed-up state."
Anastasia gave him a fearful look but then giggled when he began tickling her. She then tried to not laugh, but he didn't give up. "Tickle, tickle, tickle!" he chuckled. "You think you can stay clammed up while being tickled?"
He chuckled again as he watched her try to get away. "This Tickle Monster's going to make you laugh yourself silly," he cooed teasingly.
Anastasia gave up because the tickles were not only making her laugh harder, but she also knew that tickle monsters weren't scary and her young mind told her that if this monster was a tickle monster, then she didn't have to be scared of him. So she laughed harder as he tickled her tummy.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! S-STOHOHOHOHOHOP!" she begged.
He chuckled. "But that laugh of yours is just too cute," he teased lightly before blowing raspberries into her stomach, making her laugh harder.
Janelle stopped the vacuum and heard her daughter laughing and was about to find her when something green wrapped around her. She gave a start and a part of the slime came up and splashed gently over her mouth, acting like a gag. She then saw its head. "Easy," he said.
It was a shock she couldn't handle. She fainted.
Janelle woke up hearing familiar giggles and found herself strapped to a table and saw her daughter in the arms of a mummy while the same slime monster that had captured her was tickling Anastasia's knees and the four year old was laughing and trying to squirm away, but the mummy had her in what looked like a secure, but gentle hug. Anastasia then saw her mother wake up. "Mommy! You're awake!" she said through her laughs.
The green slime monster stopped tickling the young girl and turned to Janelle, who was too startled to see them to demand they let Anastasia go and cringed when the slime monster came closer. "Looks like she's going to go into shock again," he said and started tickling her. Janelle, surprised, began laughing and wondered if these monsters were just costumes, although they looked real and so far they were just tickling her and her daughter. That certainly didn't put them in the bad monsters category.
She felt her captor stop tickling her and release her and the mummy brought Anastasia over and handed the little girl to her. Janelle hugged her daughter and looked at the two monsters curiously and heard them chuckle.
"Hey, we might look like monsters, but we're definitely not evil," said the mummy. "You must be the new housekeeper Rachel told us about."
Janelle looked at them. "You…live here?" she asked.
"Sure do," said the slime creature. "Been here ever since we met Rachel. She's like a sister to us."
They saw the young woman was trying to wrap that around her mind. "You get used to it after a while," came Rachel's voice as she came in. "I see you've met Snare-Oh and Goop." She then turned to the monsters. "And I thought you two were on missions," she said to them, looking a bit stern.
"The missions finished today," said Snare-Oh. "I think the Incurseans will leave Earth alone for a long time."
"I wouldn't bet on it," said Rachel.
"Well, maybe we'll have some peace and quiet for a change," said Goop. "While the days may go by more slowly, we don't have to worry about evil aliens taking over."
"True," agreed the owner of the Grant Mansion and she then turned to Janelle. "I hope my brothers treated you well."
Janelle stood up. "They scared me a little," she said. "But when I saw Anastasia wasn't scared of them, it put them in another light. And I don't think evil monsters would tickle their captives."
Rachel smiled. "My brothers are funny like that," she said, earning a noogie from Snare-Oh while Goop playfully poked her stomach, making her giggle. She then looked at Janelle who looked at her.
"I guess this is why that waitress said this place was haunted and that her brother wasn't the same after he came up here," she said.
"Waitress?" asked Goop. "What was her name?"
"Paula, I think," said Janelle.
"Oh, we know her and of course she'd say that," said Rachel. "Bet she didn't tell you why her brother wasn't the same after that."
Janelle shook her head. "Why?"
"Her brother's name is Nathaniel," the older woman explained. "And he used to be my sister's boyfriend, until she found out he had three other girlfriends. She left him and he kept bothering her. Well, the reason he hasn't been the same, is because he ran into one of my brothers, who is very protective of my sister."
"Ah, yes, I remember that one," said a deep voice and Janelle gasped to see a vampire come in, but he looked quite futuristic. He smiled at Janelle and Anastasia. "Ah, you two must be the new housekeeper and her daughter Rachel told me about."
"Yes," said Janelle, a bit surprised.
He smiled again. "Don't be alarmed," he said. "I'm harmless, unless someone hurts one of my family."
"Daddy? Are you here?" asked a young voice.
"Down here, pumpkin," the alien vampire called out and turned to accept a hug from his daughter. Janelle was a bit stunned and Rachel smiled.
"Whampire is my brother who scared Nathaniel and he'll be my brother-in-law soon, as he's engaged to my sister," she said. "And that's Megan, their adopted daughter."
Whampire lifted Megan into his arms and she smiled happily. Janelle smiled too. "Well, if an alien can be a father to a child, then I highly doubt he can be called a monster."
Megan giggled. "Daddy's not a monster," she said confidently. "Well, maybe a tickle monster, but not a scary monster."
To prove his daughter's point, Whampire began tickling her and she giggled and squealed happily as her giggles made the others smile.
After Rachel took them to the living room, she told Janelle about her family and another alien came in, only he was a suit of armor. He moved towards Janelle. "You couldn't be the new housekeeper," he said in surprise. "Because you're much too beautiful for that."
She would have taken offense, but then realized he was flirting with her and it stopped her cold. Rachel smiled at seeing Janelle's shock. "P'andor, don't overwhelm her," she said. "Janelle's been through enough scares for today."
"Oh, that wasn't my intent," he said. "I just fail to see how such a beautiful woman would be willing to do such a job as housekeeping. Surely being a model would suit her beauty better."
Janelle didn't know what to say and hung her head. "A job's a job," she said. "And I'm not picky about it. As for being a model, maybe long ago."
She stood up and walked out. "Oh, dear," said P'andor. "I must have opened an old wound without meaning to."
"P'andor, I sure she knows that," said Rachel gently, knowing the alien hadn't meant to hurt Janelle's feelings.
Later on, Janelle had finished the chores and looked in the mirror. "Could I have been a model?" she asked herself and did a couple poses. She then sighed. "He was just flirting. He didn't mean any of it."
"Au contraire," came the voice of the one she had just been thinking of. "I meant every word of that."
She turned to see him and had time to only gasp when he took her in his arms, holding her as a lover would hold their lover. She was too stunned to move.
"You are beautiful, Janelle," he said. "You could definitely be a model. You're certainly not afraid of hard work and that is one of the qualities of a model."
He had a point there and she looked at him curiously and he answered her unanswered question by stepping out of his containment suit. She was a little stunned, but amazed as he explained the suit kept his radioactive form contained and he couldn't be out of his suit for long periods of time or it would put his family in danger. She smiled at that.
It was about six months later that Rachel was watching Anastasia, who was playing with Sparkle and Tina, when P'andor walked in, carrying Janelle. Rachel knew immediately.
"I need to update the wedding list, don't I? she said, but she was also smiling.
"Is there room for one more?" asked P'andor.
"When it comes to family, there's always room for more," said Rachel with a huge smile and turned to Janelle. "Welcome to the family, sister."
Janelle smiled as Anastasia cheered happily and ran through the Mansion, shouting the exciting news that she had a new daddy and that her mommy and new daddy were going to get married. Her announcement made everyone laugh and Janelle hugged P'andor as he held her and kissed her, gently grasping her left hand where a beautiful ring sparkled in the light; both the kiss and the ring from P'andor proving to Janelle that she was definitely a keeper and he planned on keeping her forever and ever. And his kisses of love further proved that point.
The story of where Whampire scares Nathaniel into not coming back to the Grant Mansion is "Bats What I Like About You" by newbienovelistRD. It's a great story to read! :)
Please leave a review, but no flames!
GoldGuardian2418