A Fair Trade - Ch 7

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to the Beetlejuice franchise nor do I make any money from this.

-I was going to wait until Friday to post this chapter, but today is my birthday and I'm in a good mood, so I thought I'd share.-

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The next morning was like any other morning for the tiny family and no signs that the couple had even argued the night before. The young mother made breakfast like usual, then her husband took his leave with a kiss and a wink.

After Betelgeuse had gone, Lydia had cleaned up their messy little girl and then went about her daily morning routines. About an hour before noon, she found herself carrying a basket of clean clothes into the living room and dropping her butt on the couch. Setting the basket next to her, she turned to the side table to grab the remote to change it to another kid's show that didn't want to make her throw up the last of her breakfast. Her gazed slid over the table and halted on the phone.

The fight and the conversation from last night came to the forefront of her mind and she wondered if it wouldn't be better to just call her family and get the shit over with. She bit her lip and weighted her options; either they would be upset, or they wouldn't be? Plus, even if they did end up being mad at her, it wouldn't be the end of the world. Sure, she would be hurt, but she would have her husband to help cushion the fall. Her dark eyes closed for a second, then sucked in a few calming breaths, as she thought about her poltergeist and his words. Betelgeuse had been right when he said that all that mattered was that they make each other happy and all the rest was insignificant. If her family couldn't respect the way her life was heading, then they didn't deserve to be in it.

Okay, well hell, she was going to do it. She was going to call and tell them. Dear someone, please help her… Reaching over, she picked up the phone and with shaky fingers, dialed her parent's number. Her heart slammed against her chest, as her hand became clammy, while she waited for someone to pick up. The phone rang in her ear once, twice, and by the third ring, the familiar voice of her stepmother came on the line. "Hello Deetz residence, Delia speaking."

Lydia felt her throat tighten, and she struggled to speak. "H…h…hi Delia. Um…could you get Dad and the Maitlands? I…have something that I need to tell you guys." She knew that she wouldn't be able to hear the ghostly couple over the device since they weren't strong enough to make contact via the phone, but she wanted them there, nonetheless. It felt wrong to just tell her parents and not her ghostly ones. They deserved to hear it from her own mouth and not from Delia or her fathers.

On the other side of the phone, she could hear the panic that had taken over Delia's tone when she spoke next. "Lydia dear, what is it that you need to tell us? Did something bad happen? Are you and Lucinda, okay?"

Her nerves were quickly replaced with slight irritation as her stepmother ignored her request. For fuck's sake, she just wanted to get this over with! The need to snap at the woman was great, but Lydia bit her tongue and tried to move the conversation along. "We're okay, I promise. I just have something that I'd like to tell you guys all together. It is quite important though, so could you go and get them please?"

Her stepmother seemed to hesitate for a second, as if she were going to push for more just like Delia always like to do, but instead she quietly agreed. "If you're sure that you're okay, then I'll go get them. Just let me transfer you to your father's office."

Lydia appreciated the worry, but her and Lulu were good. Hell, they were more than good. "Okay, thanks."

The clicking sound of the changing of lines came then went. Suddenly her father came on the line and called out to her. "Hello? Lydia? You there, pumpkin?"

Hearing her father's voice seemed to calm some of her nerves and she relaxed slightly. "Hey dad. How you been?"

"I'm good. I just been busy with work and helping Adam with his model. Oh, Delia has me on a new diet to help lower my blood pressure and…." She heard Delia cut him off and snap at him lightly, telling him to put the phone on speaker so that they call could hear her. She heard the pressing of buttons, then her father's voice was back "Can you hear us, pumpkin?"

"Yeah, I can hear you just fine."

Delia's voice sprang out from the speaker and cut to the chase "Now Lydia my dear, what was it that you wanted to tell us?"

The nerves that had died down, began to flare up again and caused Lydia to swallow roughly, before continuing "Well…you see…um…I got married…" There she said it and it was like a ton of bricks lifted from her shoulders. Wow, why didn't she do this before? Hmm…Her husband had been right…She wouldn't tell him that, though. No, she didn't need him gloating around the house and gloat he would.

Suddenly there was a lot of yelling on the other side of the line, causing Lydia to pull the phone away from her ear and cringe. Her irritation reared its ugly head once again, and she had bite back the urge to snarl at them. Shit, they didn't need to fucking yell. "WHAT! WHEN? WITH WHO?"

It was Delia's worried voice that asked her the question she knew they would ask. "Lydia Deetz, you didn't marry him, did you?" Lydia knew when Delia said him, she meant Luke. After the incident, Delia refused to address her ex by his name and she said he didn't deserve her respect for what he did her kid and grandbaby. That was another time that Delia had shocked her with her words.

Lydia sighed and answered her worried stepmother. "No, I didn't marry Luke and um...it's Geist now, not Deetz..."

"Geist? What kind of last name is that? Just who is this man that you married?" Delia's voice shot out again and Lydia knew she couldn't tell them that she had married the poltergeist that had once terrorized the family, especially over the phone. It just didn't feel right to blurt something like that. She had enough respect for the both of them to know that they deserved the truth in person.

"Have we met him before, pumpkin?" She ignored her stepmother's questions and answered her dad. "Yeah, you've met him before briefly, though it was a long time ago. We've been seeing each other for some time now." So, she skirted around the truth on this one. It wasn't a lie and it wasn't the full truth, but it would have to do for the time being.

Delia jumped in and asked another question. "Why the shotgun wedding? Are you pregnant?"

Pregnant? Where did Delia get that? Why does everyone think that if you have a quick wedding, then you must be pregnant. Sure, she hadn't been feeling good and was moody as hell, but that didn't mean she was pregnant. Her nauseous stomach rolled and Lydia paused in thought. No…that's not fucking possible…She couldn't be….Right? Oh shit, shit, shit, shit! She didn't need this right now, not when she is dealing with them. Her brain can only compute so much and she was at her limit. Lydia shoved her new revelation and her panic away and denied it, "No, I'm not pregnant and the marriage was a spur of the moment decision at the time."

"At the time? Just how long have you been married for?" Delia questioned sharply.

Okay, now was the time that it might get messy. She ran her small hand through her dark strands and hesitantly spoke. "Well…you see…we wanted to have time to get things settled before we told anyone. We've been married for three months now…"

"WHAT!" More yelling came over the line and Lydia winced. Seriously, would they stop with the fucking shouting?! She could hear them just fine without it.

The young woman once again pushed back her rising irritation and tried to smooth things over by admitting defeat and throwing herself to the wolves. "Sorry, I really am! I know that it was a long time to wait and tell anyone, but like I said, we wanted things to settle and have time to adjust. We would like to come and visit so you can all meet. I was thinking soon, if that is alright with you guys?"

The excited shout of Delia's came through the other line. Apparently, that was all it took for Delia to forgive her. "That sounds like a wonderful idea! How about this weekend? Would that work for you both?"

Lydia had no clue, but agreed anyway to speed up the conversation. "Yeah that should be fine. How about Friday at noon?"

The sound of Delia clapping her hands together echoed in her ear "Oh, that would be perfect. I'll make lunch for us!"

Umm…When did Delia start making lunch? When did Delia start cooking period? Lydia shook away the thoughts and hurried to answer her waiting stepmother. "Sure…" She needed to get off the phone before they realized that she never really told them anything about her husband. "Sorry to cut this short, guys, but Lulu seems to have woken up from her nap and is a little cranky. It was good talking to you all and we are sorry that we didn't let you guys know sooner. We will see you this weekend." They seemed to buy the excuse easily and let her go with no more questions, much to Lydia's surprise. "Okay pumpkin…" Her stepmother cut off her father like always "Lydia dear, we will see you this weekend at noon and don't be late." She said that they wouldn't be, then they all said goodbye.

She quickly hung up the phone and tossed it on top of the clothes in the basket. 'Oh my god.' Lydia thought to herself as she let out a ragged breath and fell back against the cushions. It was over with, well part of it was anyway. It would be easier to handle them in person and Betelgeuse would be there to help her. He would help her, right? Shit, he would behave himself, wouldn't he? Fuck, she really hoped so.

Her stomach rolled nauseously again, bringing her back to the thoughts she had pushed aside and ignored. She covered her arm over her eyes and bit her lip nervously. Pregnant? Was it possible that she was? Betelgeuse had never said anything, so she had never thought about using any protection. She assumed that they were okay on that aspect. Shit he was dead after all. The dead couldn't reproduce, right? Another sigh left her, and her stomach rolled some more. Pregnant? Oh god, what were they going to do if they were? They haven't even been married for that long and Lucy was only 8-months-old. Shit! Would he be pissed? Would this be too much for him? Would he want to leave? Her stomach continued to churn as she worried about how she was going to tell her husband and what the poltergeist would do.

Lydia wasn't sure how long she had sat there for, but it must have been for some time because she heard her husband's voice calling for her from the kitchen. She quickly sat up and silently cursed herself. Damnit, she had forgotten about lunch. The sudden urge to cry slammed into her and she buried her face in her hands. Ah crap. Here was the roller coaster of emotions again.

"Babes?" She heard her husband come into the room and the sound of his heavy boots slapping against the wooden floor as he drew closer.

Once the poltergeist got to his clearly distressed wife, he knelt down and pulled her hands away from her face, his tone infused with concern "Baby? Hey, what's wrong?"

Tears pooled in her brown eyes, as her lip quivered and she debated on which subject she should go with first. Yes, her parent and the visit were important, but not as important as the possibility that she could be pregnant. "I…" Swallowing thickly, she struggled to carry on. "I think… I might…" She hiccupped and cried some more, as she continued. "be pregnant…"

The poltergeist froze, his mouth dropping open for a few seconds, before he shook his blonde head and questioned his little wife. "Come again, Babes?"

She tried to repeat her words through the tears and the sniffling. "I…think…I…might…be…pregnant."

"Pregnant?" Betelgeuse parroted back to her, but said nothing else as he stared at her in shock.

She shook her raven head and peered at her stunned husband, confirming his words. "Yes, pregnant."

He blinked at her and copied her one more time "Pregnant?" Nodding her head, she just replied with another confirmation in a hushed voice "Yeah…Maybe…" Several minutes passed and Betelgeuse still hadn't said anything back. He just continued to stare blankly at her as if his mind had crashed and required a reboot.

The mood shift that had so suddenly come over the small woman began to dissipate just as quickly, leaving her with red eyes, a stuffy nose, and a severely shaken husband. Worry started to settle over her, as she watched the unusually silent specter. Normally, she couldn't get this man to shut up and now, well he was quiet as the dead. Oh, the irony in that thought since the man in question really was deceased. Why was he being so quiet? Shit! Did she break her husband? Oh my god, did she just break the most powerful poltergeist by telling him that she might be pregnant? She pulled her hand from his and raised it to his face, whispering softly to him "Betelgeuse?"

His name seemed to snap him out of his shock and his focus turned back to her. He licked his lips and his Adam's apple bobbed as he struggled to swallow. "Pregnant?"

Relief washed over her, as he finally responded, but had to bite her lip when the only word to come out was the same word he kept repeating. The situation itself wasn't funny, but Lydia was beginning to see the irony in it. She couldn't help it, moments ago she had been just crying and losing her shit and all her spectral husband kept saying was the word pregnant. Lydia bit more of her lip to try and stop the amusement that wanted to surface, but failed miserably, when a bunch of giggles spilled violently from her.

The poltergeist watched as his wife suddenly broke out into a fit of laughter and soon found himself barking out a laugh of his own at absurdity of it all.

When they both settled down, Betelgeuse sat back on his heels and thought about what his little wife had told him. "So, you could be pregnant?"

Lydia ran her hand through her hair and answered softly. "Yeah. I didn't think about it until Delia had said something and the more I thought about it, well it does kind of fit. I haven't been feeling good and I've sure as hell been moodier than usual."

He snorted in agreement but didn't fall into the unintended trap. The poltergeist wasn't going anywhere near that shit and instead he commented on the part about her stepmother "So, you talked to Red?"

Oh shit. Did she say that she talked to Delia? Fuck, she did a Freudian slip. Well, she did need to tell him about it, so the slip of the tongue wasn't a bad thing. Sure, she had wanted to focus on one thing at a time, but she'll take what she can get. "Yeah I did…."

He cocked his blonde head and raised his brow at her, while his tone colored with curiosity "Whatcha talk about, babe?"

Oh, he was waiting for her to say something like nothing much and then he'd say, why didn't you tell them Babes? Ha this time she did, so he could go sit on it. "Actually, I told them that I got married."

He let out a whistle and grinned at her. "No shit, about fuckin' time. How'd they take it?"

They didn't have a meltdown, though that could still happen, they did still have the weekend after all. Her gut twisted, and she knew her husband wouldn't like what she said next. "Better than I thought, though…I didn't tell them who I married…"

His brow furrowed, and he frowned at her, while he slid a hand roughly through his hair. "Babe, Seriously, what the fuck?"

"I was going to tell them, but it just didn't feel right." She gave him a nervous smile and continued on "They did invite us this weekend and I told them that we would go. I thought it would be better to tell them in person. It's the right thing to do, Betelgeuse."

He didn't say anything for a few minutes, then he sighed loudly and reached out to tuck of a piece of hair behind her ear. "If that's what you want, babe, then we will go see the fams and tell them in person."

Her eyes lit up and she questioned him in surprise. "Really?"

Betelgeuse shrugged his shoulders, as he replied, "Why the hell not?" He then quickly broke out into a laugh, while rubbing his hands together in glee. "I can't wait to see their fuckin' faces when they see me. Do ya think I could borrow your camera, Babes?"

She stared at him, a frown and raised brows marring her features, as she shook her head. "No, you cannot, and you are going to behave, aren't you? Betelgeuse, I don't think I can handle any more stress. Not with them not knowing that you're my husband, Lulu being fussier than usual and the possibility that I could be pregnant…" She pointed to her stomach and bit her lip, while giving the poltergeist a pleading look.

A sigh of frustration sprang from him and he rubbed a hand over his face, before answering his tiny wife "Fine, I won't do any shit to them." Another sigh left him, while he forged on with his words "So, we should probably go get that test, right?" He gestured to her stomach. "To see if my kid is a brewin' in there."

Her hand rested on her belly and her gaze went from her husband to her churning stomach, as she shook her dark head in agreement "Yeah we probably should."

The poltergeist stood up and adjusted his suit as his gaze found hers "Okay sweets. I'll be back." He bent down to give her a kiss and then blinked out of sight.

Once her husband was gone, Lydia turned to where Lucy was and realized that she had fallen asleep while everything had been going on. She ran her hand through her dark hair, as she got up and moved to cover her daughter, then went to go make some lunch for them.

By the time that she had lunch on the table, her husband was back with a plastic bag in his hand. He lifted it and sneered at the bag "How many fuckin' types of pregnancy tests do you women need? Seriously, babe. Fuckin' ridiculous."

Her dark brow cocked, as he handed her the bag, then made his way to his waiting lunch. Lydia held the bag with both hands as she peered into it. As her husband stated, he had indeed gotten several different tests and some condoms. She pulled out the prophylactics and held them between her fingers. "Why do we need condoms?"

Betelgeuse looked up from his sandwich and grinned at her "That's for if we're not knocked up. You know safe sex and all that fuckin' jazz." He gave her a wink, while he bit into his sandwich and groaned in delight.

How could this man be so calm now, when not even a couple of minutes ago he had been the complete opposite? How did this man function? It was like the information was processed and now he was okay with it all. Was he not worried? Did he even care? Everything could change for them and here he was eating his lunch like it was a normal day. Seriously, what was going on in that head of his? Lydia rolled her eyes and shook her head as she dropped the condoms back in the bag and turned to go to the bathroom to take one of the many tests that the poltergeist had gotten.

Minutes later, while looking at the little white test now resting on the back of the toilet, she groaned at how long it seemed to be taking. 3 fucking minutes. It was feeling more like an eternity and staring at that damn stick wasn't going to make time move any faster.

She twisted around to leave the small room and jumped when she spotted her husband leaning lazily against the now open door. When the hell did he come and How did he get the door open without her hearing it? What was he now, Houdini?

His gruff voice reverberated throughout the room as he spoke "How long do ya have to wait, Babe?"

She crossed her arms under her chest and huffed in exasperation "3 minutes."

"And how long has it been?" Was he trying to irritate her? Probably not, but it surly felt like it. She frowned in frustration and stomped her tiny feet. "A minute. One goddamn long and stretching minute!"

Betelgeuse's lips twitched quickly in amusement, before he motioned for her with a tilt of his head "Come here, baby."

A frown still marred her face, as she released a small sigh and made her way to her husband. When she reached him, his hand snagged out and grabbed her waist, pulling her flush to his chest. He grinned down at her and messed with his annoyed wife a little bit "Now it's probably been two minutes." Annoyance sparked in her eyes and she tried to pull away. "Not funny asshole!" The poltergeist laughed, then leaned down to rest his forehead against hers, as he spoke, "Hey seriously though, relax, sweets. No matter what that fuckin' stick says, we'll deal with it together. I'm not goin' anywhere, okay?"

Her annoyance disappeared as her husband went from aggravating to caring in a single stroke. Her tone losing its edge as she sighed in relief from his much-needed words. "Okay."

"Good. Now go check that damn test." He spun her around, pushing her towards the applicator and giving her ass a quick smack. She jumped at the contact and glanced over her shoulder to give her husband a glare, which he just returned with a grin and wink at her.

Releasing a sigh and a roll of her eyes, she turned back to the task at hand and made her way to the toilet. Her stomach twisted in nerves, as she gingerly picked up the stick. Looking down with shaky hands, she took in the results. 'Oh god.' She thought to herself, as she spied two little lines in the applicator. She was indeed pregnant. They were pregnant. Holy shit!

Her husband's voice came over her shoulder, causing her to jump once again and tilt her head up to see him peering over her body. "So, what do two lines mean, sweets?"

How was she supposed to tell him? Should she just blurt it out just like ripping off a band aide or…Oh, she knew exactly what she was going to say to her dear poltergeist. A smirk threatened to tease her lips as she batted her eyelashes innocently and responded with a hint of playfulness in her tone. "That we're not going to need those condoms…"

Seconds later, Betelgeuse's boisterous and rough laughter could be heard echoing throughout the house.

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-So what do you think? I thought having a pregnant Lydia and a baby would be enough drama for the little family. Raising a kid is fucking tough, but throwing in a pregnancy in the mix makes it even more complicated. It is also fall and we all know that it's a big time for colds.

I have a question for you all. How do you think Neitherworld(Netherworld) is spelled? I've seen two different ways and I'm wondering which one is the correct version to use?

well I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and please don't forget to review. :)

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Last Chapter "A Fair Trade - Ch 6"  BGLD Next Chapter "A Fair Trade - Ch 8"