"Spookums"

New York City in the summer of 1992 was hot enough to peel paint off the walls.
At least that's what if felt like to Audrey Spengler, wife of Egon and mother to two month old Iris.
She was sure it was her hormones to blame for the mini heatwaves that would ripple through her skin at odd hours of the day and night.
She fanned her face with a copy of Parapsychology Monthly while reclining on the couch in her lounge room, Iris suckling hungrily from her breast.
Audrey relished in her duties as a mother.
It seemed to come naturally to her, although she had feared for the worst after a turbulent pregnancy.
It helped too, that Iris was such an easy baby.
She was quiet, rarely letting out more than a whimper when she needed something.
Audrey found herself waking in the middle of the night just to check on her, to make sure she was still breathing.
Egon would smirk, convinced it was the irrational fear of a new parent, or possibly just her crazy hormones.

Things had changed so much in the last two months since Iris's arrival.
Egon, after his long disappearance on a ghost busting mission only a few months prior, had resumed his position at Columbia University while still researching and maintaining equipment with the Ghostbusters on the side.
He'd felt ghost busting, with all its potential dangers, was too risky with a wife and child at home (although he did sometimes have a twinge of longing for the adventure of it all). His employment at Columbia had also put an end to his strange night-time hours at the Firehouse, which suited his perfectly as he wanted nothing more than to get home to his family every afternoon.
Audrey, meanwhile, had put her teaching on hold to raise Iris full time.
She was more than happy with the arrangement but during the daytime hours when Iris was asleep, she'd find herself longing for some adult interaction.
She'd begun contemplating doing some further study while she had the time.

Audrey awoke with a start as a key turned in the front door signalling Egon's arrival home.
Did I just fall asleep, she asked herself as she peered down at Iris, who was still feeding.
A newborn baby meant stealing sleep whenever possible, even unintentionally.
"Look Iris, Daddy's home!" said Audrey in a singsong voice to Iris as she sat up, cradling Iris gently in her arms.
"Good afternoon, how is everyone?" asked Egon as he bent over the couch and kissed Audrey's forehead before stroking a hand through Iris's thick black hair.
"We're good. Currently having an afternoon snack, as you can see," replied Audrey with a smile as Egon placed his briefcase down and hung up his jacket.
Audrey began to break out in a sweat at the thought of wearing a jacket in this heat.

Once she was fed, Audrey handed Iris to Egon.
Egon held her over his shoulder and tapped her back gently as he paced around the room and spoke to her softly about his day.
Audrey was surprised by how quickly Egon had taken to fatherhood, especially considering how awkward he could be with people sometimes.
As a father he was gentle, loving and endlessly patient.
Egon had even surprised himself at the overwhelming feeling he had to protect his family, a feeling so primal, so unexpected.

Audrey stood up from the couch with a yawn and began heading to the bathroom for a shower.
"Have you noticed she does that?" asked Audrey as she paused to observe Iris.
"Noticed what?" replied Egon with a wince as he tried to peer over his shoulder, expecting to find a trail of fresh vomit down the back of his shirt.
"How she seems to stare at things that aren't there," replied Audrey as she followed Iris's line of vision to a bare white wall. "I've noticed her doing it quite often."
Egon turned around to face the wall.
Iris, now facing away from the wall, began to squirm in Egon's arms, desperate to see the wall again.
"Odd" replied Egon with a furrow of his brow as a number of theories began to circulate through his mind.

When Audrey returned from the bathroom, freshly showered and feeling almost human again, she found Iris lying on a rug on the floor with Egon peering over her, PKE Meter in hand.
"What are you doing?" asked Audrey, thinking Iris had just become a new science experiment.
"Audrey, I don't want to alarm you but I think Iris might be sensitive to supernatural phenomenon" he replied matter-of-factly, looking up from the readings on the PKE Meter.
"What?" replied Audrey, completely confused by what Egon was saying.
Egon lay down his instrument and carefully picked up Iris, passing her to Audrey.
"See how she's drawn to certain spots?" he asked her as Iris began to stare at the wall again. "When I run my PKE Meter over the area, it brings back a reading. Nothing major, a class one at best, but still something. Iris seems to recognise the energy."
"What does that mean? Is she okay? Is she safe?" asked Audrey, looking down at the chubby faced baby in her arms, a rush of worries overcoming her.
"She's completely fine. Just an interesting observation, that's all. It's as if she's intuitive to spiritual presence" he replied as he rubbed his chin in thought.
"I wonder what Ray would think of this..."
"I don't want Iris to become an experiment, Egon," replied Audrey.
"Oh no, of course not" answered Egon as he placed a reassuring hand on Audrey's back and kissed her cheek.
He looked down at his daughter, her eyes bright blue and alert as she looked up at him.
He wondered what it meant.
Did Iris have a gift or was it just the untainted openness of a child that allowed her to see apparitions?

In the months that followed, Egon and Audrey observed Iris carefully.
It soon became evident that Iris did indeed have a gift for spotting ghosts – a prospect that delighted Egon yet terrified Audrey.
Either way, it earned baby Iris a nickname – Spookums.