Out of Sight, Out of Mind//A Beetlejuice Fanfiction

||Chapter Forty Three|| A Tearful Reunion

Emily's eyes opened and she sat herself upright, pushing her long, blonde hair out of her eyes, and looked around at her surroundings. The first thing she noticed was that she was in an unfamiliar place, though she recognized Charles and Lydia almost immediately. Three out of the other four people in the room she didn't recognize and when she spoke, her tone was nothing but confused.

"Charles, Lydia? Where am I?" Her attention flicked to Delia, Adam, and Barbara. "Who are you?"

Charles moved a little towards her. But before he could even do or say anything, Lydia made to rush forwards, tears in her eyes, throwing her arms around her mother. Emily was taken aback by that, but eventually returned the hug. Charles sat himself down on the floor next to her, resting a hand on her shoulder.

Delia, the Maitlands, and Betelgeuse stayed standing off in one corner and allowing Charles and Lydia to have this moment with Emily. But when Lydia turned her attention over towards them and motioned for them to come and join them, they politely refused - saying that she and her dad needed this and that they didn't want to make things awkward. Lydia understood why, but she still wanted them to be a part of this too.

They relented a few minutes later, coming over to join them.

Charles, Emily, and Lydia soon parted, Charles and Lydia both standing up and moving off to the side and Emily now, once again, looking up at Delia and the Maitlands with a confused look on her face. "Like I asked earlier, who are you?"

"I'm Barbara, and this is Adam and Delia. I'd assume that you already know who Betelgeuse is." Barbara helped up Emily and very gently led her over towards the nearest couch with Adam, Delia, Charles, Lydia, and Betelgeuse following. Emily sat, looking from one person to the other.

Emily nodded, giving Barbara a thankful and soft smile. "It's so nice to meet all of you and yes, I do actually know Betelgeuse. He was among one of the first to greet me when I first arrived to the Netherworld." Betelgeuse's hair color briefly turned a shade of light purple at that and Emily looked around the house some more, then she turned her attention back towards Charles. "Where am I?"

Charles looked nervous, unsure of how to explain to Emily that he and Lydia had moved houses. And that he'd remarried. It wasn't that Emily wasn't going to mind any of that, but Charles stayed silent for a while longer.

Then Emily, taking immediate notice of Charles' unsure facial expressions, eventually caught on. "Wait? Charles, Lydia, did you move?"

Charles bit his lip, trying to find the right words to say, then he let out a sigh. "Yes, we did. I was unsure of whether or not I should tell you.... everything that happened to us after your death.."

"Everything... that happened to you all?" Emily's gaze flicked to Delia, instantly noting the engagement and wedding rings on the latter's finger. "Charles..." Emily looked back over towards him. "It's okay. I don't mind at all if you remarried or if you moved houses. What matters is you moved on."

"You.... don't?"

"I don't," Emily affirmed. "Although, I'd like to know what exactly happened afterwards. You are telling me the whole story. Now!"

Charles looked around at everyone else in the room, all of whom looked to be agreeing with Emily. After a while, he let out a sigh and plopped himself down on the couch next to his first wife. Lydia walked over soon afterwards, plopping herself on the couch on the other side of her biological mother. Adam and Barbara stood to one side of the couch whereas Delia and Betelgeuse stood to the other.

When not one word was spoken, Emily tapped Charles on the shoulder he turned to look at the specter of his late first wife. Lydia had her head resting against her mother's shoulder, and she didn't seem to want to let go of or lose her again. Which all five adults in the house found to be adorable.

Charles looked away for a brief few moments, then turned his head to look back towards Emily. "Well, for starters... let's just say that Lydia didn't take your death quite as well as I thought she would. I found Delia whilst I was looking online for a therapist or something to help Lydia. But I didn't want Lydia to know quite yet what Delia and I were doing in Delia's spare time. She found out what was going on earlier than I thought she would, but I'll get to that point later on."

Emily nodded, motioning for Charles to continue when things fell silent again.

"So, after a while," Charles spoke up again. "I was talking with Delia and we both thought it was necessary for us and Lydia to move from New York to small town Connecticut. Our first full week here? Well... you can imagine how crazy things were at the start before turning out good at the end."

"Go on," Emily urged when Charles fell silent. "What happened?"

Charles opened his mouth and was about to speak up again, but then closed it when Lydia spoke up.

"Can I tell it, dad?" Lydia asked, looking over towards him. Charles' attention flicked from Emily to her before he looked back at Emily, who nodded. Charles turned his attention back to Lydia.

"I... guess," was all he said, rubbing at the back of his neck.

"Yes!" Lydia both quietly and exuberantly cheered to herself, pumping her fist in the air. Her attention focused towards her mother, who was now looking towards her as well - even more curiosity indicated in her expression. "So, after my dad, Delia, and I moved here..."