September

Beatie knew her alphabet. In fact, she was learning to read. Her parents read to her all the time, and helped her spell out the words. So she wasn't intimidated by the thought of first grade at all. Kindergarten had prepared her for being away from home, too, so the real trauma of the first day of school was felt by Beatie's Papa.

"I know, I know," he moaned. "She has to go, but dear one – this is school! It's all day! Kindergarten was just three hours and I could pretend she was taking a nap or something. This?" He put a hand to his forehead and moaned again.

Lydia looked at him with some sympathy and some tolerance. "Beej, you're acting like she's going away for a year. It's school. We have to act like we're happy so she'll be happy to go."

Beetlejuice just looked at her glumly.

She sighed and put her arms around him. "You knew this was going to happen. Didn't you prepare yourself at all?"

"I tried. Thought I had. A little." He sighed, deeply. "Guess not."

ooooo

He packed his daughter's lunch himself, her favorite cheese sandwich and a small box of raisins, and he put in a little cookie shaped like a heart. Being a total mushbrain when it came to his wife and his children, he kissed the heart tenderly before placing in his daughter's 'Munsters' lunch box.

Lydia took Beatie to school after her Papa, trying hard to be stoic, had kissed her good-bye. Beetlejuice spent the rest of the day cuddling Chazz and looking at the photos of Trix he had on the walls of his lab. Lunch was an unhappy affair; Beetlejuice had no appetite and Lydia not much of one.

"My darling, what are you going to do if Beatie goes to college?" Lydia toyed with her green salad.

Beetlejuice picked at his fried fungus, then looked up at her hopefully. "Maybe she'll fail first grade," he said.

She laughed at that, then sighed. "It is hard. Do you want to pick her up this afternoon?"

He shook his head. "Nah. Stick to the plan. You've got this week and next week's mine." He reached a hand out to her across the table. "Thank you. For helping. Trying to make it easier."

Lydia smiled at him, holding his hand tightly. "This is just the first milestone, you know. I hope they don't get any harder." She caught her breath then, and gripped his hand hard. "Until . . . you know."

He nodded, silently. They each held the other's hand a little tighter.

ooooo

When Lydia arrived at Beatie's school, her daughter was waiting for her and flew into her arms, shouting gleefully. "Mama, Mama! School is so much fun! I made two friends and Miss Bryant is so nice, and we learned to count to ten in Spanish!"

Beatie was just as happy and excited when she got home and Papa held out his arms to her. "Papa! I'm home! And school is fun and I love it and I can't wait to go again tomorrow!"

Beetlejuice picked her up and tossed her in the air, laughing, then hugged her. "That's great, Trix! I'm glad you're back . . . and I'm really glad you had a good time." He set her down, grinning in response to her joy. "Go put your stuff away and you can help me start dinner, okay?"

"'kay," she said, still beaming. "And I'll teach you to count to ten in Spanish!" Off she raced to the stairs, chanting, "Uno, dos, tres – cuatro, cinco, seis!"

Lydia went to her husband and gave him a commiserating smile. "I'm glad she likes school. I don't know how long that'll last, but Beej – it's a good thing."

"Yeah. At least she's happy. And I guess," he sighed, "that's what matters." Beatie's parents hugged each other until she came back down the stairs, still counting.