Chapter Text
The Maitlands were nice to everyone in the house, that was one thing everybody could agree with. But the person who they were the nicest to was Lydia. It was easy to tell, when Charles was at work they helped her with her homework, they watched horror movies with her despite being scared at the smallest jump scares, and whenever Lydia was upset, they could tell and they were there.
This began to spark a little bit of wonder in Lydia, she always knew they were nice, but why were they giving her special treatment? One day, after a particularly hard thinking session, she decided to ask them. She walked downstairs and saw the couple on the couch watching something on T.V.
“Hey, can I talk to you guys about something?” The goth girl asked. The couple looked at her and paused the T.V and invited her to sit down with them.
“Of course, anything.” Barbara replied, patting the seat in the middle of them. Lydia sat down between the spirits, resting her head in her hand. “What did you want to talk to us about?” Barbara questioned, wondering what Lydia wanted to talk about.
“Well....why are you guys so nice to me? I know you’re nice to everyone who lives here, even Beej, but I've noticed that you’re like...extra nice to me, if that makes sense.” Lydia pondered as she looked at the spirits, hoping for a good answer.
Adam looked down at the girl and spoke “Well, it’s true that we’re nice to everyone.” Adam proudly stated, smiling at his wife and Lydia.
“Don’t act so proud, honey.” Barbara teased, playfully smacking Adam’s shoulder. “Well, remember when you met us, we told you we never had the chance to have kids?”
“Yeah?” Lydia replied, cocking her head to the side, wondering what that had to do with why they treated her that way.
“Well, we could have had a child...” Replied Adam, with a frown on his face. “Before we died, we were pregnant, we were so happy, but then... something came up and Barbara...” Adam choked back the words, not wanting to say them.
“I... miscarried, it was tough, but we fought through it, and we were okay after that.” Barbara finished the sentence, rubbing Adam’s upper arm in a comforting matter.
“I- I’m sorry... I shouldn’t have asked.” Replied Lydia with a shameful look on her face. “Do you two need a minute, I can leave if you-”
“No, stay, the story isn't over yet.” Barbara replied, grabbing Lydia’s arm to prevent her from leaving. Lydia sat down and Barbara continued: “Well, after we died, we were in a really dark place. But then, you and your family moved in. It felt like an instant connection. We felt like you were the daughter we never got to have.” Barbara finished, looking at Lydia expectantly.
“Woah that's.... a lot to take in....” Replied Lydia. “I also felt that connection.” Mumbled the teenager, wanting to get that off her chest.
“How so?” Asked Adam, curious about how she felt.
“Well... When my mom died it was a lot to take in, I felt alone, like nobody would understand me or what I was going through. But then when I found you guys, it felt like somebody would listen, and hear what I was saying. Back then it was basically a crime to talk about mom, but then you made that dad joke and it felt....natural? Like we were meant to have that connection, and it felt good to have someone to rely on and who would listen to me.” Lydia answered sheepishly. “So... thank you for being there.”
Barbara could feel her heart swell with what Lydia said. She didn’t know if Lydia felt a similar way about them as they did for her. “Lydia... you’re one of the best things to happen to us, our afterlives would have been so hard without you here.” Barbara cried, hugging Lydia. Adam soon joined in on the hug. It felt right, something about the three of them hugging felt right.
“Do you guys know what they call someone who illegally brings hugs across countries?” Adam asked, Lydia and Barbara gave no reply because they knew what was coming up next. “An international snuggler.” Adam grinned at his joke, while Lydia and Barbara let out some light laughs.
“Again with the dad jokes?” Lydia said sarcastically, causing a laugh to escape both of their mouths. The three sat together for a while, on the couch just enjoying each other’s company.
“Hey Lydia, want to know something?” Asked Barbara.
“Sure,” Replied Lydia, raising an eyebrow at Barbara. Barbara scooted closer to Lydia and wrapped her arm around Lydia’s shoulder. Barbara nodded at Adam, Adam nodded back and smiled at his wife.
“We realized the strangest coincidence, when we were going to name the baby we would have had, you want to know what we were going to name it?” Asked Barbara.
“Sure, I’d love to.” Answered Lydia, with a curious look in her eyes. Barbara smiled at Lydia, brushed her hair out of her face and spoke.
“Lydia,”