Development
by
Owlcroft

A/N: This is so fluffy it might just float away if you're not careful.

"Well, the day has finally come," said Lydia, walking into the lab. "I just got a call from Monica that all four of the kids were teasing Poopsie. Again."

Beetlejuice sighed heavily, then muttered something unintelligible under his breath that sounded a bit like, "That rotten dog." He scowled then proceeded to take off the rubber apron he used in his lab when dealing with acids. "My turn, huh?"

"Yep. That was the deal." Lydia came over to him and kissed his cheek. "If you don't ever handle any of her . . . misadventures, then I become the bad guy. Come on, Beej. You can do this."

"Yeah, okay." Beetlejuice grimaced, then asked, "Monica and Flubbo have her waiting for me?"

His wife nodded. "They've already sent their three to bed in disgrace, so scoot on over there."

He did scoot on over to Flubbo's and found him and his wife, Monica, waiting with Beatie in between them.

"Eyewitnesses, huh?" he asked the grown-ups.

Flubbo nodded and pointed at the cow skull-shaped house across the road. "Monster's already waiting for you. We've apologized and he's being pretty decent about it, considering it's the second time."

Beetlejuice looked at his only offspring and frowned for a moment before picking her up. "Come on, Beatrix. We have to go apologize, too."

Five-year-old Beatie clutched him around the neck and shoved her head under his chin. "Papa, do we have to?"

"Oh, yeah, we have to. You did tease that . . . that Poopsie, didn't you?" He floated toward the wooden fence where the Monster Across the Street waited for them both.

Beatie turned her face into her father's shoulder and said softly, "Yes."

"Well, then," her father told her, "we have to say sorry. You know that, and you remember we told you not to tease animals, right?"

"Uh-huh," was the barely-heard response.

"Monster," said Beetlejuice as a greeting. "I hear Beatrix was teasing your dog earlier."

"A-yup, it was her and the other three all together." Monster looked at the small child hiding her face. "Miss Beatie was kinda hanging back a bit, but she did do some of the yelling and she was sorta pointing a stick through the fence at my little Poopsie."

"Beatrix, did you do that?" Beetlejuice was calm and serious.

"Papa," his daughter shook her head then clutched him tighter. "Papa, I didn't hurt him. I wouldn't hurt him."

Beetlejuice looked at a tiny pointed ear, so much like his own, buried in hair as dark as Lydia's. "That's kind of not the point, is it? But we came here to apologize. You want me to go first?"

Beatie raised her head a bit in surprise at that but said nothing.

"Monster, I have to apologize for what happened this afternoon," said a solemn Beetlejuice. "It's my fault for not being a better papa to Tr – to Beatrix. I'm still learning how to be a papa and it's not easy sometimes, but I should have made it clearer to her about teasing animals. So I'm sorry for what happened and I'll try to do better at being a good papa."

"Way-yull, I have to say that's a mighty fine apology, and I accept it." Monster gave Beatie a sympathetic glance and started to add, "I'm sure Miss Beatie didn't mean – "

Beetlejuice glared at him and gave him one sharp shake of the head.

"Ah, I mean, I . . . I'm sure Poopsie's okay and it won't happen again." Monster seemed to stare at his former neighbor and then shrugged as if asking if that was all right.

"I think we need to hear Beatrix say that." Beetlejuice shifted his daughter around a bit so he could see her face. "Beatrix, it's your turn."

Beatie gave him a woebegone look, sniffled, and said, "I'm sorry, Papa. I'm sorry, Mr. Monster. I won't do it again, but . . . oh, Papa, please call me Trix!"

At that, her Papa closed his eyes and cuddled her closer. "Oh, Chickie-Trix, I just called you that to make sure you were paying attention this time. You know you're my Trix, and . . . can you say those words for me?"

"You love me, Papa," she answered immediately.

"Yes, I do, Trix," he told her gently, "I do, and I always will. Always. And I'm not mad at you. But do you remember what we told you when you found that rat in the alley?"

Beatie thought for a moment, then answered, "That it could bite me and make me get sick."

"So there are reasons why you learn not to tease animals, okay? Besides the fact that it's not right and not fair, it could be dangerous." Beetlejuice gave her a small smile then kissed her forehead. "Okay, Poopsie's not dangerous, and he's a really attractive target – I mean, he's . . . um, right there out in the open, you know, available. But I know you won't do it again and if Monster will accept your apology, it's all over with."

Monster shuffled his boot-clad feet a little and cleared his throat. "Aw, shucks. I shorely do accept that really nice apology, Miss Beatie, and I know you won't do it again, too. So we're square with each other."

Beetlejuice whispered to his daughter. "Say 'thank you' and let's go home and see if Mama can make us feel better."

ooooo

Beatie was upstairs in her room with her latest coloring book, which featured spiders and flying insects and various reptiles. Lydia was sharpening a pair of fabric shears. Beetlejuice had put his folded arms on the kitchen table and rested his head on them.

"It was awful! Please don't ever make me do that again!"

"Beej, you know it was necessary. How bad could it have been anyway?" Lydia tried out one of the blades and appeared to be satisfied with it.

"I called her 'Beatrix'," Trix's father groaned. "I told Monster I was a bad papa and it was all my fault."

Lydia looked at him, open-mouthed. "That was brilliant! You are so good at this!"

"That wasn't brilliant! It was . . . mean. I made her feel guilty about me, not about what she did." Beetlejuice put his hands over his head. "I am so bad at this, babes."

"You made her feel bad about disappointing you, which is fine. Beej, I told you once you'd be an adorable father and you are."

Beetlejuice made moaning noises and grabbed at his hair. "It ought to be . . . we ought to be able to . . . just tell her, without being mean to her."

"Um, we did that, remember? After the rat? And this is the second time she and Flubbo's kids have gone after Poopsie – "

"Rotten little dog. Kind of a dog. Don't know exactly what, but rotten little dog-thing," was heard in a mutter from the head still resting on the table.

Lydia smiled at him in commiseration and got up to rub his back. "I know it's hard. Maybe especially hard for you. She's kind of been Papa's little girl all along, hasn't she?"

He sighed and lifted his head. "Because I wanted her so much for so long. And she looks just like you. She even acts like you, Lyds. She's so smart and . . . she's already fearless. Look at the way she was playing with that stupid rat. She gets into trouble and then she's all sorry and her sad little face makes my heart hurt and I – " He put his elbows on the table and his face in his hands. "She was . . . I think she thought I didn't . . . you know. I had her say the words so I could tell her I did and I felt so awful."

"It's because you do love her so much. You think I don't know how it feels?" Beatie's mother pulled her husband to sit up straight and hugged him. "Maybe it's harder for you since you haven't got as much experience with love, Beej. But you're a good father and she does know you love her and we'll both get better at this. We'll have to." Lydia kissed the top of her husband's head. "We'll have twice as much trouble when this one is born." She patted her stomach, then grinned and walked over to the sink, leaving Beetlejuice stunned and staring.

When Beatie came downstairs at suppertime, her parents were still snuggled together in her father's chair and he had to juice up a meal for them.