An approximate two full weeks had passed since the whole wedding incident with Betelgeuse. Two! Whole! Weeks! And fifteen year-old Lydia Joyce Deetz could not stop thinking about the demon. She knew for a fact that he was gone for good and was very thankful for Barbara for riding that Giant Sandworm into the house when the latter did.
Who knows what might've happened if Lydia was officially married to someone like Betelgeuse.
She most certainly did not want her future to rely on that factor.
Lydia released him from Adam's model of Winter River for one reason and one reason only: to help her put an end to the Exorcism that Adam and Barbara were essentially forced to go through. That unexpected exorcism was just one amongst the few topics that both sets of her parents often tried to avoid talking about.
Although, now that She thought about it, she was pretty sure it was because the four of them wanted to avoid the onset of any tension.
One of the other topics that Lydia and her family generally tried to avoid bringing up was none other than Betelgeuse himself. They still all remembered the events that had transpired that one day and they all were desperately trying to not think about him. Despite Lydia's two sets of parents managing to stop thinking about Betelgeuse, Lydia, herself, was definitely still having a lot of trouble. She was still thinking about Betelgeuse and she didn't know why.
A knock sounded on Lydia's bedroom door and the teenager turned her head. "Who is it?"
"It's me, Barbara!" Lydia's pseudo ghost mother shouted from the other side of the door. "You coming down for dinner, Lydia?"
Was it dinnertime already? Lydia glanced over towards the alarm clock sitting on her bedside table, sighing when she saw it read 6:15pm. Had she...had she really been in her room all day?
"Yeah!" Lydia shouted back to Barbara, turning to leave her room.
Lydia preferred the Maitlands over her own dad and her stepmom, the latter two of whom were both shocked and a little hurt by this at first but eventually got used to that. But still, to prefer dead people as parents over your real dad and stepmother was unusual. But they knew what the fifteen year-old girl wanted. And they went along with it.
This offered both couples a great chance to get to know one another better and they eventually became close friends. And they came up with a deal. The Maitlands could take care of Lydia whilst Charles and Delia went on vacation together.
"Ah, Lydia," Adam spoke up, his eyes focusing on the teen as she and Barbara made their way down the stairs and into the dining room. "There you are. We were worried about you all day. It's not like you to just decide to spend a whole day sitting in your room. Is something the matter?"
"Nothing's the matter, Adam," Lydia grumbled quietly. The male ghost just chose to ignore that.
Lydia sat herself quietly down at the dining table and just stared, sadly, at her food, deciding to pick at it rather than eating. This worried both sets of her parents. Lydia wasn't normally like this. According to the Maitlands and to Delia, the teenager was very rarely quiet. To them, it was very unlike her to not say a single word. Lydia was usually a very talkative person, chatting away and telling Adam, Barbara, and Delia various stories about her childhood. They liked it when she told them those stories and it served as a chance for them to get to know her better.
But today, it was obvious something was up with her.
"Lydia," Barbara glanced to the sulking teen, using her ghost powers to put down the fork she had been holding. As they were ghosts, she and Adam didn't really need to eat. But they often insisted on joining Lydia, her dad, and her stepmom at the dinner table. It wasn't like the Deetz minded. "You seem down today. "Is there something bothering you?"
Lydia rested her head on the table and groaned, closing her eyes. "I'm fine, guys. I really am."
"You don't look fine, Lydia," Adam countered. "Whatever it is you're thinking about, it looks like you're trying not to think about it. It's not Betelgeuse you're thinking about? Is it?"
"I said I was fine!" Lydia shouted, standing up and storming up the stairs and back to her bedroom. A loud slam was heard as she shut her bedroom door behind her in a fit of anger.
Charles glanced around the table, eyeing Delia, then Barbara, and finally, Adam. "I wonder what's up with her," he sighed, placing down his fork. "She hasn't thrown a tantrum this bad since she was three."
"I'm sure she'll be fine after some alone time, Charles," Adam reassured, placing an icy cold hand on Charles's shoulder. Charles flinched at the coldness of the touch. "I can tell from her that she's been thinking about Betelgeuse."
"Why?" Barbara spoke suddenly, resting her hands on the dinner table. "She can't possibly be thinking about Betelgeuse. I got rid of him when I rode that Sandworm into the house."
"I know, Barbara," her husband sighed. "We're still cleaning up the mess that was left behind from that. Also, we still have yet to fix that hole that Sandworm created in the living room floor. It's best we do it sooner or later. The last thing we want is anymore people," he gestured to Charles and Delia, "dying."
"Adam, honey," Barbara giggled softly, elbowing her husband. "We died by drowning. Remember."
"Oh right," Adam chuckled, face palming.
Barbara stood up and made her way over towards the stairs. "I'm going to go check on her," she shouted. "Make sure she's doing okay."
"Okay!"
Barbara hurried up the stairs, her worry for her pseudo daughter growing. Seeing Lydia storm off after a fit brought the female ghost back to some of the memories that she had of her childhood back when she was still alive. When she was around Lydia's age, it wasn't that uncommon to witness any one of her five younger siblings throw tantrums. She, her two older sisters, and her parents had all grown used to it rather quickly. Who knew what they would've whined about next. The last tantrum Barbara could remember was her youngest sibling complaining nonstop about not wanting cousin Jane to come over for a visit.
She stood outside Lydia's bedroom door and took a few quiet deep breaths before knocking on it..
"Lydia?" She asked.
Lydia sat alone in her room, her back to my door and her dark Brown eyes focused solely on her window, the latter of which she was sat in front of, her hands resting against her chin. She did not want to talk to Adam, Barbara, Dad, or Delia. Nor did she want any of them to know that Adam was, in fact, right about her thinking of Betelgeuse. She did not want any of them to worry about her. She wanted them to know she was okay.
Her eyes widened in shock as she heard the sound of knocking on the other side of her bedroom door. "Barbara? Is this you, again?"
"Yes," Barbara's voice became concerned. She feared what the fifteen year-old was going to say next.
"GO AWAY!" Lydia shouted, slamming a fist into her side of her bedroom door.
"LYDIA JOYCE DEETZ!"
Barbara furiously placed her hands on her hips and phased herself through Lydia's door. Lydia panicked and turned to face her. She wasn't expecting her ghost mother to get that angry with her. Barbara was usually very sweet for a ghost. She rarely got angry.
The same could be said for Adam.
Barbara sat herself down on Lydia's bed and patted an empty spot next to her for the teen girl to sit in. As soon as the fifteen year-old girl sat down, Barbara turned to face her, a clear unhappy look plastered on the latter's face.
"I don't appreciate your tone, young lady."
"B-Barbara?!" Lydia whimpered, startled by her ghost mother's sudden outburst.
"I...I," Barbara gasped. "I...I'm so sorry, Lydia. That was unexpected."
"I know, Barb," Lydia chose now to scoot a little closer to her regretful ghost mom, resting a hand on her shoulder and smiling at her. "It was an accident. What made you do that?"
"My youngest brother, Grady," Barbara chuckled then sighed, cracking a small smile as she glances down towards Lydia's bedroom floor. "I remember the last time that he threw a tantrum as bad as the one you threw in the dining room. My cousin, Jane was coming over for a visit and he didn't want her to come at all. He screamed and stormed upstairs half an hour before she arrived."
"That must've been embarrassing for her," Lydia giggled. "Right?"
Barbara nodded. "Yes. He refused to come downstairs until she left."
"Tell me about it," Lydia sighed, focusing her attention away from Barbara. "When I was younger, around the age of nine or ten, I used to do something similar to your brother whenever my cousin Sarai came by for a visit. I never got along with her for some odd reason. I didn't know why."
Barbara laughed. "Have you seen her at all lately?"
"No," Lydia let out another sigh, refocusing her attention on Barbara. "I haven't seen or heard from her since I turned thirteen. Don't know what happened. I never pressed my dad for any details."
"Tell you what, Lydia," Barbara pulled the fifteen year-old into a hug. "The next time Adam and I go to the Netherworld, we'll mention this to Juno."
"Who's Juno?"
Barbara laughed softly, running a hand through her curly, dark Brown hair. "Juno is our caseworker. If there are files for your cousin, she'll most likely have them."
"Thanks, Barb," Lydia smiled.
"You're welcome, Lydia."