Blue Diamond
by
Owlcroft

A/N: Written for CK. Thanks for the support – and Chazz says hi!

Beetlejuice was alone in his lab when he heard footsteps that he recognized. Chazz was descending the stairs – not skipping lightly as he usually did, but treading deliberately. Beetlejuice turned from his workbench to face the bottom step. "Anything wrong?" he said as soon as he saw his son's face.

Fourteen-year-old Chazz smiled. "Nope. Just wondered if you had a couple of minutes."

"Are you missing Trix?" Beetlejuice asked. "I am." He sighed quietly. "Years of knowing she'd go away to college and it still . . . All the thinking ahead and preparing you do; it doesn't help."

"She likes it though, Pop," Chazz reminded him. "She think the classes are interesting and she's doing okay."

Beetlejuice nodded, still glum. "So. You want to talk about something? Your juice or school or . . . something else?" He waved a hand and two comfortable armchairs appeared. He lowered himself into one as Chazz plopped into the other. "We, uh . . . . we had 'the birds and the beetles' talk a couple of years ago. You come up with some questions or anything?"

Chazz shook his head. "Nah," he said, sounding like his father. "I already knew some of that, you know, before you told me about it. From the other guys at school. Sometimes it seems like it's all they talk about." Chazz paused, then plunged ahead. "It's just that I figured everything out. Finally. Have you checked my juice lately?"

"Not for a few months, I guess. You want me to look now?" At his son's nod, Beetlejuice half-closed his eyes and sensed for Chazz's juice. "Whoa!" he said suddenly, eyes flying wide open. "When did that happen?"

The sandy-haired teenager grinned at him. "Nice, huh? It sort of . . . coalesced a couple of days ago. When I was thinking about what I wanted, or needed, to do."

"It's like a blue diamond. Not a pool of water any more. It . . . sparkles now, more like mine." Beetlejuice withdrew his scrutiny and looked at his son. "Did you feel it happen?"

"Huh-uh. I was just sort of thinking about stuff, you know, the future and what I want to do and it was just there, all of a sudden, when I realized how I wanted to help people. To be a doctor." Chazz still looked cheerful, but it was a thoughtful smile he wore now. "I knew the helping part all along. But I didn't try to figure out how before. I just let it happen. You know."

His father nodded. "But when it came to you, the doctor idea . . . it just popped into your mind? And your juice changed?"

"Yup. It's really great to know when you've got it right." Chazz's smile dimmed a bit. "I, um, hope it's okay. With you? My being a doctor?"

"Okay with me? Chazz, anything you decide to do is okay with me, as long as it's what you really want. Or need to do." Beetlejuice stared at his only son. "I think I might even be prouder of you than I am now. You'd be a great doctor."

Chazz's smile stayed small. "I'm thinking family practice. In a small town with a hospital nearby. I know I can't use my juice to heal people, but it will help in diagnosis and fixing – healing – is what I have to do." The smile faded completely now. "And I, uh . . . have something else I ought to tell you. I didn't want to say anything until I was sure, but . . . I am now. Sure, I mean." He took a deep breath, then said, "Pop, I'm not attracted to human girls." He looked down at his tightly clenched hands.

Beetlejuice opened his mouth and then realized he didn't know exactly how to say what he needed to. So he went to his knees beside his son's chair and pulled him into a hug. "That doesn't matter to me, chick. It won't matter to your mother. We just want you to be happy. If you're interested in guys, then that's okay."

"Um, not exactly," Chazz was returning the hug but released his father and pushed him back far enough to watch any expression that formed. "It's not guys, Pop. It's ghouls and ghosts. Girls here in the Neitherworld."

The expression that formed from the original concern was puzzlement that became surprise. Beetlejuice stayed silent for several moments, then cocked his head. "Are you sure?" Then he answered his own question. "'Course you are, or you wouldn't have said anything." He considered for a longer while, then added, "It's okay with me. It's fine. You know we'd never dictate to you about something like that. But . . . if you meet somebody that you're really serious about," he hesitated then went on, "if you marry someone from here – do you know what that means? Long-term; really, really long-term, I mean."

Chazz grinned at him. "It means I'd be almost as happy as you and Mom." He pulled his father back for another hug and held it. "It means I'd stay here when I die. It means you wouldn't lose me like you will Beatie." He made the hug a fierce one when he heard his father gulp, then sniff, then gasp. He held his father until his breathing was more regular again and pretended not to notice the quick swipe at the eyes.

Hoarser than usual, Beetlejuice told him, "We weren't sure you two had thought about that." He returned to his chair, running his hands over his face as surreptitiously as he could. "Your mother and I, we don't talk about it. Can't bear to. Oh, chick, don't let that make your decisions for you. All we want is for you to be happy. Really. Find the right person, that's all. Like we did."

"I will. I promise. I just wanted you to know where I'd be looking." Chazz considered for a moment, then asked, "Do you want to tell Mom? Or should I? About both things."

"You tell her about the doctor part." Beetlejuice looked away for an instant and sniffed and wiped his eyes again. Then, "Let me tell her the other one. That way, we can . . . we can . . . she can cry all over me when she finds out." He laughed suddenly. "Why do people cry when they're happy? I've never figured that out." He grinned almost normally at his son. "But then I've never been good with feelings." Another quick eye-wipe and another, whole-hearted cackle of laughter.

Chazz shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "I disagree." He studied the far wall of the lab for a moment, then said, "You called me chick a little while ago. Twice. It was nice to hear again." Chazz's smile was soft, gentle.

His father snorted. "I did? It was? Hmm." Beetlejuice had always endeavored to understand his children's wants but still retained an innate insecurity about emotions and emotional reactions. Somewhat shyly, he said, "You notice I stopped kissing you goodnight when you were twelve. I figured you wouldn't want me to any more."

"I want you to always kiss me, Papa." Chazz leaned over and planted a quick buss on his father's cheek. "I love you, you know. And you promised me I'd always be your kid."

Beetlejuice pulled his son back and kissed him on the forehead. "And you always will be. Always."