Chapter 34: Ten Years Later...

(Epilogue)

Lydia sat at her childhood dinner table in Winter Rivers, hearing the crackling of fresh bacon and eggs. She smiled, sighing to herself as her eyes moved across the table. Adam sat tinkering with a small model ship, tediously attempting to place the last glue-encased piece through the neck of the bottle, while her father sat reading the morning paper.

"You want scrambled again, Lydia?" Barbara asked, flipping the ever-crisping bacon over.

"Charles, you just HAVE to see my new piece!" Delia came rushing in, apron covered in blood-red paint, which sort of made her look like a mass-murderer. It also sort of made Lydia snigger. "It's called Doom from the Womb!" she posed, arms out, in what seemed to be pure pride and cathartic bliss. "Just imagine this...we are born...to die...To suffer...To-"

"Yes, darling." Charles shot Lydia another sweet holy terror, not again look, before standing up to go lay eyes on the potential abomination her step-mother had birthed into existence.

Delia used to be a living hell for her in her early years, but as she'd matured in life, she'd grown to love the woman. What used to be annoying in the past, had become amusing as an adult. And after death, it was just plain fucking hilarious.

Lydia sighed, sipping on hot coffee and feeling grateful for being able to see and enjoy her family while BJ was away. BJ. Oh. God. Ten years had been coming up, now quicker than ever, and she'd come to a staggering realization as her eyes locked on the nearby calendar. She didn't know how the blue hell she'd done it, but she'd miscalculated his release date by one day. One day too late. She stiffened in her seat, full of panic.

She'd planned on meeting him upon his release tomorrow. But it wasn't tomorrow. It was today. As in a few hours ago. TODAY.

Lydia stood abruptly. "Um...Barbra...That won't be necessary...I gotta go...I kinda forgot something at home..."

"Now, Sugarpie, don't rush off!" Charles, returning from Delia's dose of fresh hell, commented as he stepped back into the kitchen.

"I know, Dad. I'm sorry, but it's really important..." Oh, shit, Lydia swallowed hard. She'd not once told them about her...uh...spouse...and just who it was. And she instantly fucking regretted it.

At the time, it just seemed a hell of a lot easier to not tell everyone in her family, since they all pretty much hated his guts. Maybe she should have spent at least the last year trying to convince them BJ was a good guy.

"Well I gotta go...I'll be back later-"

And that's when she stopped, frozen in place, ready to shit her pants in every sense of the word.

"Ah, ah, ah, Mrs. Juice!"

It was Beetlejuice. Standing right in front of her, casually adjusting the cuff of his grimy suit.

"Shit! I'm sorry. I thought that was tomorrow." she whispered apologetically, trying to be quiet enough so that her family wouldn't hear.

Not that it would help, as they were all staring, wide eyed, and mouths gaped to the floor.

"Well, wifey, we'll just have to work on our communication! Heh, three hours outta the brig, an' we're already gonna have to go to couples' therapy! Nah, I'm just shittin' ya, Babe. But, like seriously, where the fuck were ya?" he leaned in, seeming a little disappointed.

"Um...here?" she replied, wincing and feeling really uncomfortable right about now.

"Ah, let bygones be bygones, my fair lady! AH! Chuckie, ole' boy! Or should I just call ya Pops? Dad? Pappy?" Beetle ran over to a mortified Charles, shaking his hand so hard that Lydia feared he might break it. Charles simply looked to Beetle, mouth still gaped, completely at a loss for words. "What, Chuck? Don't remember me? I'm yer son-in-law. Unless ya wanna' just call me son, and, just for the record I haven't actually deflowered our young Lydia...yet." he leered, giving Lydia a sly wink.

Delia, who just scurried back in, immediately took one look at Beetle and passed out, falling to the floor with an unceremonious thud.

Barbara, fork ready in hand, marched up to Beetlejuice. "Just what the hell are you doing here?!"

"Well, Babs, if ya haven't figured it out yet, we got hitched! Fer real this time! HAHAHA!" he laughed in her face, causing her to scowl deeply at him.

Adam stood, his soft look of disappointment already crumbling Lydia inside. "Is this true, Lydia?"

Barbara quickly turned her attention back to Lydia. "No way! This...This pervert..." she spouted, poking her fork at him for added emphasis on the pervert part. "Probably weaseled his way in. He probably forced her into it!"

"Barbara...no..." Lydia spoke softly, shaking her head, bracing for backlash from all sides.

"No! No, what?!" Barbara yelled, confused.

"We are married. And it was sorta...my idea...in a way..." she admitted, wincing. She briefly looked to Beetle, who's snigger turned to a glare when it met her eyes. Inside of her mind she could hear his voice: "Maybe ya shoulda told 'em about me, Dearie..." .

Lydia sighed, "Sorry..." she mouthed to him.

That's okay. You can make it up to me later...Formed in her mind, followed by a leering wink from her other half. Yep, pervert was about right.

She watched in horror, along with the others as Beetle grabbed her father's discarded newspaper off the kitchen table. He casually hummed to himself, stretching and pulling up a chair beside Adam's. He slowly seated himself, completely and purposely creating a spectacle as he sat down among her appalled family. He reclined back in the chair, propping his muddy boots on the table, and dropping copious amounts of filth in the process.

"So, uh, what's fer breakfast?"

The End

(For Now...)

Hello all! I'd like to thank everyone who made it this far. I hope my little fic entertained you. If not, I'm just grateful you tried it out. As I said, I wrote this a while back (maybe 2016-2017ish), and I just never really posted it. I loved both the movie and the cartoon (which I watched after school a lot in my childhood). I'm especially fond of the movie, and I find Beetlejuice to be absolutely hilarious, and Lydia was just awesome! It's one of my favorite movies of all time! I do have a sequel to this if anyone is interested, and I'll probably post it later on. I simply couldn't leave the idea of them together hanging like this. It was too tempting to go further. I tried to hurry and post the rest of the original, as I started a new job and the hours are a bit erratic. I was afraid I'd fall into not posting or writing again, so I just put it all out there. Anyway, a great big thanks to all who have taken the time to read this. I'd love to know what you think of it!

Thanks everyone. Take care.

I'll see ya around ;-)