March
Lydia was at a meeting of her workshop employees in New York that evening. She'd had to leave directly after dinner was over, so Beetlejuice and his daughter played for three hours until it was her bedtime.
Once she was pajama'ed and the mandatory story had been told, Beetlejuice bent over to kiss Trix goodnight.
She put her arms around his neck and told him, "Love you, Papa. Love you more than Mama."
He startled, then took her arms from his neck to hold her hands. "Chickie, you don't mean that."
"Uh-huh," she told him. "Love you more, Papa."
Beetlejuice thought frantically, unsure of what to say and how to say it. Finally, what he did say was, "Why?"
Trix screwed her tiny mouth to the side and half-closed her eyes in thought. "I think . . . it's 'cause you're here with me. You always are. Mama's busy; she's busy all the time."
"But she's busy . . ." He caught her up in his arms and settled her on his lap. "Trix, chickie, Mama's busy making a living, to take care of us. She works so that I can be here with you and I know that she'd rather be here, right now and always, instead of working. She . . . feels the same amount of what I feel for you; don't you know that?"
"You love me, Papa. Lots and lots. But if Mama loved me so much . . ." Trix stopped to think for a few moments. "Couldn't somebody else do the work? So she could be with us?"
"Oh, my sweet chick. How do I explain this?" Beetlejuice snuggled his daughter closer, then said, "You know that Mama's going to have the baby in a few months. So right now she's extra busy trying to get everything all set up so she can take some time off when the baby comes. And there's lots of stuff that only she can do, like this meeting tonight. She's in charge of things, see?" When Trix nodded, slowly, he continued. "So in a couple of months, when everything's all arranged, Mama will be able to be here more and take care of both of us, the way we want her to." He tucked her head under his chin and squeezed her gently. "Trix, you didn't know this, but it hurt me when you said . . . what you did. It made me feel really bad because it's so unfair to Mama. Now that I've explained it a little, do you still feel the same way?"
Trix considered that for several seconds, then shrugged, then shook her head. "No-o. I think maybe . . . maybe I love Mama just like I love you. But if Mama wants to be here with us, then why can't we help her so she won't be so busy?"
"Well, I try to. I do all I can to help, but maybe we can both do a little more. Maybe you can help me cook dinner until the baby gets here. What do you say?"
"Okay," she said happily. "And Mama will be glad we cooked 'cause we're really, really good at it."
Beetlejuice scrutinized her closely. "Hmm," he said. "Maybe I'll let you – just as a favor, you know – set the table instead."