Chapter Text
Winterfest. The festival the school holds every year the day before break to show parents the work their child has done over the years. This was the first year her mom hadn't been. Even when she was sick last year she made a point to show up in her wheelchair. Lydia remembered the pity looks she got from her classmates, some snickering to themselves, others just plain sorry. She didn't care. Her mom was there to see her accomplishments.
And now here she was. She tried to skip it, but her father said that she had to come to school. And if she went to school, all her rides back home were staying, so she was staying. And of course, her dad was busy doing…
Whatever.
He just said that he was 'busy' and he wouldn't be home until late.
Years prior she would show off her art, but she wasn't feeling very… artsy these past few months, so she didn't have much to show. But, she did decide to sell some food at the Makers Market. Might as well since she couldn't get out of staying anyways.
She could take the bus back home before the festival, but she thought that maybe she could make some money in her dads selfishness.
The Makers Market was exactly what it sounded like. Kids would make, bake, or cook things and sell them for prices of their choice for parents (or other classmates) to come In and buy. She had made some cookies and brownies with the Maitland's in hopes to make a little extra cash to get them a Christmas present, along with her dad.
So, she set up an entire table, a red plastic tablecloth draped over it, different varieties of cookies and brownies sprawled across on napkins, priced at 2 dollars per treat. She thought that was decently reasonable. They were rather large and homemade.
But as she watched the parents pass by her food for almost an hour without a single glance, instead heading over to their kids to praise them for the work…
She felt empty.
She stared down at her legs, her black fishnets and black boots layered on her black dress accurately representing how she felt right now.
She watched as kids, older and young than her showed their mothers around, their smiles and praises, their hugs. Her throat got tight but she sucked in a breath. She wouldn't cry here.
She wanted Mama to be here.
It was silly, she knew that, but before last year she took for granted how her mom would come and look at her work. Even if it was just a stupid watercolor.
She took a deep breath and forced her head back up to look at the passerby's that ignored her. Lydia tried to not let it bother her. It was fine.
More for her, she supposed.
That's how Mama would see it.
After almost another hour, someone came and bought around five cookies, and a few more bought one each, but at the end of the night she was left with around the same amount she came with. Lydia tried not to let it bother her. Or, At least, she pretended it didn't.
God knows her father would have a fit if she started moping around again. He's getting better but…
It's still hard around him.
She took the bus home with her backpack home, and carried home the treats. She got to the nearest bus station near her house and had to walk ten minutes in below freezing weather with just her coat. When she finally got to her door her hands were so cold she was surprised she didn't have frostbite.
She set down the food to open the door, before picking it back up and entering inside.
Dad still wasn't home.
Honestly, that might be for the better.
Lydia set down the food on the dining table and let out a quiet sigh. "Today sucked, Mom." She muttered to herself. It was stupid. She knew her mom couldn't hear her. But it helped to talk to her still. "You would have loved these cookies. I probably wouldn't have even been able to attempt to sell them, they would have been gone before I had the chance." She smiled to herself quietly at the thought, before reality came back to her. She took off her shoes at the door and headed upstairs. Her head throbbed slightly from how loud it was at the school, and how tired she was from spending twelve hours straight there.
She threw herself onto her bed, ignoring the fact it was only around eight. Shit. She hadn't eaten, had she?
Fuck eating.
Not like there was anything anyway. With dad still…
God, he was probably on a date with Delia.
She honestly was kinda mad at herself for not picking up on that sooner.
She groaned at the thought. She knows she let Delia stay after everything, but sometimes, such as these, she REALLY regrets that decision.
So… long story short, nobody bothered to make her anything to eat. She would ask the Maitland's but it was likely too late.
But she also knew that the Maitland's would 'scold' her for not eating.
She let out an annoyed sigh and forced herself off of her bed and headed up the stairs, knocking on the door gently.
"Lydia, is that you?" Barbara asked.
"Yeah." The young girl confirmed.
"What do you need, sweetheart?" The ghost opened the door and looked at Lydia before frowning. "Is everything okay?"
Did she really look that lousy. Whoops.
"Dad is gone with Delia for the night and forgot to leave food, or even money out for me to order something. Can you make me something please? I'd do it myself, but the thought of doing anything hurts my brain."
"Of course. Any suggestions?"
"I don't care." Lydia said, exhausted. "Something edible, and filling. I haven't eaten since 1 in the afternoon."
"Well, that's no good, is it." Barbra said, exiting the attic and closing the door behind her. "Let's see what we have."
Barbara led Lydia into the kitchen and began to search around. Lydia sat down on the little island area that her dad set up shortly after they moved. The Maitland's had very much expressed their disrate towards it, but after so long they gave it a rest.
She looked in the freezer and smiled. "Burger? Your dad left patties."
"Are they vegan?" She deadpanned. "I cannot stand another beyond burger."
"Looks like it." Barbara said as she looked at the package. "Doesn't say beyond meat on it."
"Then yes." She said, before tacking on a quiet "Please."
"Great." Barbara took the burger patty out of the package, grabbing a pan and cooking it on the stove. While that was happening she got some American cheese from the fridge and waited to put it on until most of the burger was cooked. Lydia watched as her food was prepared, forever grateful that Barbra was here to do this with her.
Once the food was finished, Barbara grabbed a plate from the cabinet, put a burger bun down, placed the burger on along with the cheese and finished it off with the top bun. She pushed it over to the girl.
"There you are, we hope you found our service delightful." Barbara teased, acting as if she were a server at the resturant. "Is there anything else we can get you, Ma'am?"
"A water, please…"
"Of course." Barbara grabbed a glass from a different cabinet and filled it up with the tap. She once again pushed it towards Lydia.
"Will that be all?"
Lydia smiled. "Yes, thanks."
She took a bite of the burger. It was the best thing she had ever eaten. Or, maybe that was just because she was so hungry she was shaking but still, without all of that, it was still amazing.
"Thank you. It's great."
"I'm glad you like it. I'm sorry your dad didn't leave you any money."
"He probably just assumed you'd take care of it." She muttered, resisting the urge to roll her eyes.
"Well I don't mind."
"I do. He's still my dad. He's still supposed to take care of me. Leaving twenty dollars for a pizza is nothing."
Barbara ran her hands up and down Lydia's arms, sighing. "Well, this is Charles. It's very in character for him."
She nodded. Before she knew it, her food was gone. She wasn't hungry anymore either.
She really needed that burger.
She got up to put her two dishes in the sink before she heard the door open and close.
Of course NOW he comes home
"Lydia! Good evening." Charles greeted.
She pursed her lips. "Hey, dad. Home so early?" She tried to act nice, and ignore the anger that was boiling up in her chest like a volcano about to explode.
"Well, Delia wasn't feeling well, so I decided to head home early."
Right.
Delia.
Delia Delia Delia.
All he ever talked about anymore. While he didn't flat out refuse to talk about her mom anymore, he talked about Delia way more.
She could have sworn he didn't do that with mom.
"Great." She muttered, practically slamming the dishes into the sink. She was honestly surprised they didn't break.
"Lydia, be careful with the glass." Charles admonished.
She muttered a half-assed apology and headed up to her room. As soon as she turned off the lights and got under the covers, she fell asleep.
Lydia was startled awake by the sound of muffled retching coming from the bathroom. She groaned and forced herself to turn to her side, trying to ignore it and go back to sleep. She checked her phone.
It was six in the morning.
She assumed it was Delia, seeing as Dad said that the wasn't feeling good last night.
As awful as it sounded she wished that she had school that day so that she didn't have to deal with Delia while she was sick. She stuffed her face in her pillow, trying to ignore it.
It didn't do anything. She heard her father get up and go tend to her, which made her… for lack of a better term, sick.
She dragged herself out of bed, realizing there was no way in hell she was going to fall back asleep. When she looked down she realized she never got dressed the night before. She quickly changed that and got into cleaner clothes, deciding not to shower as she did the morning before.
Not like the bathroom was exactly free at the moment.
She headed out of her room and glanced at the bathroom, before looking away when she saw dad holding up Delia's hair.
Like he did when Mama was sick.
She went downstairs to try to get away from the noise and…
Maybe wait on breakfast.
Or just not eat it.
Both weighed to be sound options.
She tried to clear her face of the annoyance before the Maitland's could start worrying about her.
Despite getting ten hours of sleep, she was still incredibly exhausted. She could hear Charles and Delia talking upstairs, but she decided that she didn't care about what. She realized that she'd been standing in the same spot for around five minutes and made her way to the couch, turning on the TV and guiding the remote to Netflix, and turning on reruns of some sitcom she and her mom used to watch as background noise.
She wasn't really paying attention to anything in particular. She sat on the couch and her mind wandered.
Eventually, dad came downstairs and saw her on the couch. "Good morning, Lydia."
"We still haven't put the tree up." She commented, looking at the empty part of the living room.
"We will later." He brushed off. There was a tinge in his voice she couldn't quite place.
"Christmas is in less than a week." She grumbled. "You've said that three times."
"Lydia, we do not have time."
"Oh, cause you're too busy taking care of Delia." She hissed. "And work? Always work!"
"That's-"
"All you do is tend to… her, and when you're not you're trying to sell some one story house. You said you'd get better! Things would be different!" She pleaded.
"They wil- They are."
She stared at him for a long while. "Sure, dad." She said sarcastically. "Whatever you say."
"Lydia, I'm doing my best." Charles huffed.
"You were never like this before." She said quietly, staring needles into his eyes. They both knew what she meant. "I don't even want the tree anymore."
She figured Delia was done throwing up and had went back to bed, or perhaps gone to meditate or something, so she stormed back upstairs, crossing her dad and went back into her room, closing the door hard without slamming it.
She stared at the ceiling. Anger filled her chest the more she thought about it. After everything they went through. Fought a literal demon, and things were barely different. All he did was put pictures of Mama back up, and agree to talk about her. But it still felt like she was invisible.
Delia.
It was always fucking Delia.
Or, his boss calling.
And now apparently they're too busy to put the goddamn Christmas tree up.
She'd leave the house and go on a walk to clear her mind but it was ten degrees outside. Lydia took a deep breath to try to calm herself down but it did no good. Eventually, as if she was being led like a puppet on a string, she made her way up to the Maitland's attic again. Over the past few weeks it felt like they were the only people in this house that cared about her.
She knocked gently before opening the door. "Dad's being a jerk again." She muttered as an entrance.
"What did he do?" Adam asked, frowning.
"It's what he hasn't been doing." She picked at her clothes. "It's five days to Christmas and we haven't set up the tree. He says we're too 'busy' despite making a date night specifically for Delia last night. Oh, and don't forget him making sure to miss Winterfest for it."
"I'm sorry," Adam sighed.
"It's not your fault." She huffed. "I'll be fine. What are you two doing?"
Being around the two ghosts made her feel slightly better. Atleast, it dissolved her anger into mildy heartbreak.
"Nothing much." Barbara answered.
"Hm. No crafts for Christmas?"
"Nothing you won't find out about soon enough."
"Barbara!" Adam admonished, but there was no threat in his tone. "Nope, nothing at the moment." He said, playfully.
"Mhm, sure." Lydia played along. "I believe that."
"You'd believe it more if Barbara hadn't said anything." Adam said with a playful glare.
"Probably." She shrugged, sitting down on the floor. "Delia's sick."
"So we heard." Adam said.
"I hope she's alright." Barbara said sympathetically.
Lydia rolled her eyes. "She's probably using one of those healing crystals or something. I assure you she's fine."
The couple laughed.
"Probably the lack of protein." Lydia muttered.
"I'm sure she knows how to stay healthy in her own ways."
"I'm not." Lydia deadpanned. "I once saw her get so close to a candle that was burning to smell it she almost caught her hair on fire."
"So long as she doesn't burn our house down." Adam joked.
"Maybe dad would buy the old house back." She muttered. "But then I wouldn't see you guys, either so…"
"Win Lose?" Adam suggested.
"Yeah."
Footsteps came up to the attic, and her father opened the door. Lydia held in a groan as she looked at his suit he apparently got changed in.
"Lydia, I have to go run an errand, I trust you'll be okay with Delia and the Maitlands?"
"Work?" She deadpanned, opting to look down, as right now it was much less aggrivating than her fathers eyes.
"Actually, no. Just- need to pick something up."
"Let me guess, I still can't come."
"Lydia-"
"You have time for this, for Delia, but somehow not the tree, and certainly not for your own daughter."
There was a long pause. Lydia debated looking up for a moment before opting to keep her eyes where they were.
"This is not up for debate." He settled on. "I will be back, and I expect this attitude be gone when I arrive."
He left without another word.
She gritted her teeth, remaining silent as she stared at the ground.
"Lydia, I'm sorry." Barbara started.
"Atleast he told me he was leaving this time." She said, anger pooling out of her mouth like hot lava. "Most of the times he just goes unannounced."
"Why don't I make you some food?" Barbara sighed.
"I'm not hungry." She excused.
"You still need breakfast. Come on."
She sighed, getting up and following them. She sat at the dining room table and said nothing. She could hear the Maitland's in the other room rattling pots and pans, but she paid it no mind. She laid her head down on the table with her arms folded and closed her eyes. She imagined her mother was in the kitchen. The speaker playing her favorite song as she made her breakfast for Lydia before school, the house smelling of pancake batter and syrup. The anxiety and her stomach for the test in five hours melting away as she felt her mothers embrace.
She was brought back to reality by Adam saying something. She lifted her head up slowly, wishing to go back to that false reality, but knowing it was no use.
After an unknown amount of time, Lydia was presented with a plate of three pancakes, coated with enough syrup for seven pancakes.
"Thanks." Lydia said, grabbing a fork and piercing the food. She ate quickly, not realizing how hungry she took her first bite. The Maitland's watched, conversing to themselves.
When she was done, Barbara took her plate. "Do you want more?"
Lydia shook her head. "I'm full."
Barbara nodded and smiled, heading into the kitchen and rinsing the plate off. The ghost came back shortly after. "Do you feel a bit better?"
"A little." She admitted. "I guess I was hungry."
"Barbara always knows." Adam teased, ruffling her hair.
Lydia let out a playful "Stop!" as she giggled, fixing her hair once Adam unhanded her. "What was that for?"
He shrugged. "Your hair looked too neat."
"I haven't even brushed it."
"Doesn't matter. Too neat."
Lydia giggled again, consciously fixing her hair.
The door opened and Charles walked straight upstairs to… wherever. She tried not to pay too much attention to it.
"What's he in such a rush for?" Barbara wondered.
Lydia rolled her eyes. "Just trying to get away from me." She shrugged.
Delia and Charles's muffled voices could be heard upstairs. Lydia closed her eyes, still extremely tired from getting up at six in the morning. It was only around eight now…
"I'm gonna try to go back to sleep. Not like anyone's gonna bother to wake me up." Lydia said as she got up and went back to her room.
"LYDIA!" Her name being called jolted her awake. Her heart was racing. Eventually she realized what it was and sighed, checking her phone. She'd slept until 11 this time. She forced the covers off of her to go see what her dad wanted. It probably wasn't worth waking her up for, she was sure of that.
She made her way downstairs, looking down at Dad and Delia standing together, almost timidly.
"What?" She groaned.
"We… have some news." Charles started. Delia looked up at him lovingly.
Lydia took a deep breath.
She plopped down onto the couch. "What is it?"
Charles and Delia both moved to where Lydia could see them.
"You know how I've been sick lately…"
"Yeah?"
"We did some tests, and it turns out that-" Charles cleared his throat. "Delia is pregnant."
The words echoed in Lydia's head. She laughed nervously, hoping he was joking. "Alright, funny joke, now what's this really about?" She asked, praying that that was all this was.
"This isn't a joke, Lydia." Her father confirmed.
"w- h- how?"
"We're not sure." Delia said. "But isn't this wonderful! You're gonna have a new sibling!"
No. This was NOT amazing.
The world felt like a dream. This wasn't real. The edges of her vision turned blurry as a loud ringing sound began to play in her ears. She felt herself begin to breathe heavier.
"n- no…" She started. "No. Why-" She tried but she couldn't get words out. She looked up at them, anger and despair present on her face. "That's what this was all about!?"
"Lydia I know-"
"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" She snapped at Charles. "You said things- things would be different, and- and now- Delia's- It's been less than two years, dad!" She pleaded.
"I understand things are difficult, and I understand that you're upset, but this is a good thing! The universe gave us a blessing!"
"In what world is this a GOOD thing?!" Lydia cried, fuming. But she couldn't find a solid reason as to why. She knew… why, kinda, but she couldn't put it into words.
"Lydia…" Delia started.
"No. No. I never should have let you stay." Lydia hissed, looking at Delia, hatred in her eyes.
"Lydia, do not talk to your mother that way." Charles scolded.
The whole house went silent. It seemed even the appliances caught the hint. It was clear Charles instantly realized what he said.
Lydia felt like she was going to be sick. "Delia…" She forced out, her voice low but growing. "Is not my mother. She will NEVER be my mother." Lydia got up, practically screaming now. "A- and that- that thing inside of her is NOT my sibling."
Delia looked genuinely hurt, for a moment Lydia felt bad. But she was far too angry to care.
"I wish that I had never been born." She said quietly, but the house was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
"Lydia-" Charles started.
"NO!" She cried out. "You said things would be different, but they haven't changed AT ALL! You still ignore me, you're still too busy at work to do anything with me, and now, this. Maybe, if I was never even here in the first place, things would be better for you. Since you've made it so clear that I don't even matter."
She stormed upstairs, fully slamming her door before turning her back to it, and slowly sliding down and hugging her knees, crying into them.
After everything. Jumping into the netherworld, risking his life, the trauma they both held from Mama…
Did it mean nothing?
Was that whole experience washed away now that Delia was having a kid? Now that he could finally replace her with a happier kid that wasn't broken?
What was the point of all of what she went through if nothing was going to change.
She groans again dropped her head back against the door. She wished that she had never got out of bed. Maybe if she had stayed there none of this would have happened.
She was so tired.
She forced herself up and trudged over to the bed and collapsed face first onto it. Her sobs grew louder as now she was muffled by the pillow, with less fear of anyone hearing her. She stayed there for a little bit until she… fell?
She let out a surprised and pained yelp when she landed on the floor. Though, it did shock her enough to stop her crying. When she opened her eyes again and found herself in a completely different room. The entire thing was empty.