He Blew It

Several years later . . .

"There we go." Beetlejuice saw his latest human victims, running for their lives out of the house he promised to get them out of. All that was left now, was to get the check. But first?

He juiced to a particular school, not in Winter River. Pretty good timing. He looked in the door. No one ever saw him, it was the easiest to visit.

Astrid was working on something at a desk with the rest of her classmates. She looked sort of like Lydia, but her intelligence was higher in the science areas. "You will ace that thing, Astrid." Man, could she pound those numbers.

Looking in on Lydia was more difficult, it would have to be off in a corner since she could actually see ghosts. He caught her making lunch at home.

He never stayed long. Never wanted a client to complain. Just a few minutes each time.

Like it or not, even with the scares, he was still connected to Lydia. Even when he ignored her, she was still there.

He had even come to care about Astrid, through the feelings he felt through her. Every painful moment she had. Every excitable thing that happened. Even when she was scared.

He did the opposite when she was scared than he did with Lydia. He didn't make her feel just better, he bolstered that self esteem! Even getting bullied with all the crap Lydia caused from the show, she'd stay strong. Gave her a thousand ideas about overpowering. Gave her confidence in their future's being grim because of their own meager accomplishments. Gave her tips on distractions and solutions. He wouldn't let her grow up weak. Physical daughter or not, he was there for every important moment of her life. He was there better than most fathers, so he took the role without even thinking about it.

And there was no way that the infamous Beetlejuice's only daughter was gonna get scared easily. Especially with a mom who connected with the other side. Hell, even when she died and had to deal with the neitherworld, Astrid would be able to handle the pressure, not buckle like a lot of newcomers.

He returned to get his check, and to get called back to his home.

"Ah, there we go." Beetlejuice looked at his handiwork. He made a headspace room.

He made mental snapshots of what he could. There were pictures of Lydia sharing watermelon with their daughter, to the terrifying looks that ended her marriage to Richard. Well, not really the marriage itself ended, but the love was gone. With Beetlejuice either staying away from her presence in the Neitherworld, or scaring it, that love connection disappeared. She thought she fell out of love with her husband.

Which he didn't feel bad about one bit.

Lydia raised Astrid now. Their daughter was getting bigger with each picture. She was a lot like her mom, yet nothing like her at all too. She wasn't interested in the supernatural at all, she was probably going to grow up a fancy scientist of some kind. She was still a smart kid, and still had a connection, whether she knew it or not. One day? She was going to see ghosts. He could pretty much bet on it.

Without having to feel some mixed up love emotions, he eventually tried to communicate with Lydia again. Nicely. He tried to make her feel better after her husband had died. Her walls were down too, feeling more depressed and alone.

But. Just like last time.

There was another snake in the grass she thought she had feelings for, although not nearly as strong. He stopped bothering her form in the Neitherworld immediately when he realized what he was doing again.

Although? Lydia was starting to get stronger in her connections. He swore that, maybe, she was actually starting to see him back in the real world, the same way he saw her in the neitherworld.

She really seemed to notice him more than once.

But when he saw the latest obituaries and saw Charles Deetz in it? Heh. Mother and daughter were coming home to Winter River.

He had to take that chance. Especially with Delores, his soul-sucking wife after him.

After another unsuccessful wedding . . .

It almost worked? Not really. When she finally did it, when his name was finally called?

It wasn't from her! She was actively trying to stop it. Astrid almost said it but it had to be her yuppie lover Rory that said it. After all these years, when he finally got a chance to talk with her face to face, it wasn't because of her!

After all that waiting. He was left with unresolved feelings that made his feelings of anger and frustration triumph over actually talking to her, and . . . it eventually made her give birth to his inner child.

In strides of doing 'good', he probably didn't pull it off so well. She left, of course. He got one more shot though.

That curious daughter of theirs got mixed into trouble, and Lydia was giving him his chance to get in as a husband again.

Almost there this time. As an adult, she had to understand contracts better. She knew what the hell she was putting up. Lots of things were still messing around with the wedding though. His unresolved feelings once again still interrupted things. It had him doing a musical number before the wedding with everyone. His ex-wife was chasing him down to kill him. Delia and Charles were dead. Asterid was almost lost.

In the end, he just couldn't convey what happened right. He would have plenty of time after the wedding, but Astrid figured out the contract was invalid, and Lydia lightly told him she wasn't marrying him and said his name three times.

Ending it all. Again.

Now, it was down to nothing. It was down to some slim chance of something supernatural messing with her again. Nothing was on the horizon though, that stuff didn't just happen to people regularly.

Most likely. He blew it.