Work Text:
“Barbara, trust me, she’s fine.” Adam stared after his wife, worriedly watching her doing her nightly pacing. “Don’t worry. Nothing’s going to happen to Lydia overnight.”
Barbara stopped mid pacing and turned, floating there as she glanced at her husband. “But you don’t know that, Adam! Literally anything could happen to her. Like what if she—”
“Barbara, slow down. Relax.” Adam floated over to her, putting a hand on her shoulder when she resumed her pacing and muttering. “I’m sure she’ll be fine by the morning. Time passes by quickly for us and, before we know it, it’ll be morning.”
“True, but then something could happen to her and we won’t know.”
“Barb, calm down,” Adam said as gently as he could. “If something happens to Lydia, she’ll come up to the attic.”
“Like when she had all those nightmares about Beetlejuice after he left?” Barbara fretted.
“Yeah, but her dad and Delia took her to a therapist regarding that.”
“The one nightmare about her mom that upset her so much, she couldn’t go back to sleep and wanted to spend the rest of the night in the attic with us?” Barbara continued. Though it didn’t hurt, she was pulling at her hair now and starting to look stressed.
“Yeah, but…” Adam started. He didn’t get to finish. Barbara grabbed a hold of his shoulders and looked even more stressed than she was before.
“How am I supposed to know if she’s okay or not if I don’t check on her from time to time?!”
“She’ll come up to the attic, often in the middle of the night, and tell us,” Adam reminded her. “Mostly you.”
“But that doesn’t mean I don’t worry about her on a nightly basis, does it?” Barbara let go of her husband’s shoulders and stepped backwards a little but still looked at him with worry.”
“Barb, you spent ages worrying about her and checking in on her on a nightly basis because of what Beetlejuice did. I assure you that she’s fine now.” Adam looked down for a moment or two. “You really don’t need to worry about her.. Trust me on this. Let’s just wait till morning to talk to her about it—”
Cut short by fingers snapping and the loud sound of poofing, Adam paused for a moment and returned his attention towards what was in front of him. Finding nothing but an empty area. Not a single sign of Barbara anywhere.
“Barbara?” he muttered out, letting out a quiet sigh as he shook his head. “Oh dear god…”
The words ‘please tell me she didn’t’ ran throughout his mind.
Knowing exactly where his wife teleported to, Adam snapped his fingers and teleported out the attic. He sighed, and shook his head when he reappeared right outside Lydia’s bedroom on the second floor to find Barbara floating just inches from its door with her hand reaching out for it. The look of panic on his wife’s face seemed to be masked.
“Barbara, I told you. She’ll be fine.”
Barbara’s hand now gripped the doorknob, and she turned it a little. “Come on, Adam. Can’t I just check for once.”
“She’s a teenage girl. Not a newborn baby.” Adam floated over to Barbara, draping his arm around his shoulder and leading her away from their somewhat daughter figure’s bedroom door. “Now come on, let’s head back up to the attic.”
But, Barbara still seemed insistent on checking up on Lydia anyway. She floated back over towards Lydia’s bedroom door, phasing halfway in through it and finding Lydia fast asleep in her bed. A small smile on her face. Barbara phased back out through Lydia’s bedroom door and turned to Adam.
“You’re right, for now. But what if something happens to her later,” Barbara said, lowering her voice to a whisper. “Before you say it, I know she’s a teenager but that doesn’t mean it’s not okay for us to check on her from time to time.”
Adam nodded. “Wanna head on back up to the attic— Barbara!”
That last word was shouted out from worry. Barbara was standing over by Lydia’s bedroom door again and, with a flick of a wrist, she opened Lydia’s bedroom door; it’s creaking waking Lydia up in an instant. The previously sleeping teenager sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes and focusing on the Maitlands.
“What?” She looked from Adam to Barbara, as she pretended to get out of bed. “Is it morning already?”
“No.” Adam rubbed at the back of his head. “Barb decided it was all of a sudden necessary of her to check on you every night. She’s worried something’s going to happen to you.”
“Well, you know her don’t you?” Lydia blew a loud, amused snicker out of her nose, glancing towards Barbara for a moment before turning back to Adam. “She’s always like that? Always the worrier?”
“Hey! That’s not true! I don’t do it every night!”
“Says the ghost who spent every single night of the first few months following Beetlejuice’s departure checking on me constantly and worrying something was going to happen to me overnight,” Lydia said in a far from sarcastic tone, rolling her eyes. She glanced back at the Maitlands, focusing solely on Barbara.
“Hey! You were tricked and lied to by that psycho of a demon who later attempted to force you into marrying him.” Barbara said, giving Lydia a serious but calm look. “I saw no other reason as to why I couldn’t check up on you constantly. I just needed to ensure you were safe and nothing was going to happen to you. So, you okay?”
“I was and promise you I’ll be fine….” Lydia paused and hid the fact that she rolled her eyes from the Maitlands. “And I was fast asleep before you guys happened to wake me up. I could hear you guys outside my room.”
Adam and Barbara shared a look, nodding to each other before turning back to Lydia.
“Well, we’re sorry we disturbed you, kiddo.” Adam gave his somewhat daughter figure a small smile as he floated back towards her bedroom door, which she returned.
Barbara, on the other hand, stayed floating in place; the same serious but calm look from earlier still present on the ghost’s face. She grinned cheekily at Lydia and the teenager did the same.
“Now, young lady,” Barbara chipped in with an amused chuckle, winking at the teenager. “We’ll leave you be. Feel free to come upstairs if you need anything. But, for now, you must promise you’ll fall right back asleep.”
“Yeah… Not a chance,” Lydia said in a far from sarcastic tone, nodding regardless.
Her statement was met with a stern, steely look from Barbara, who hid it with a light giggle as she slowly started to close the door.