(Lawrence) Betelgeuse "Beetlejuice" (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
creepyoldguy) wrote2021-09-18 12:15 pm
creepyoldguy) wrote2021-09-18 12:15 pm
A Pet for Lydia (1 of 2)
The first hints of change were starting to creep into the oak trees that dotted the landscape around Winter River. Some of the maples too, were boasting a slight yellow tint to their leaves. September, was an unusual month, caught between summer and autumn, and at one time, Lydia had loved it, because, it also brought her mother's birthday.
Emily, never one for mundane tradition, spent her "birthday month" doing things for other people. Buying the car behind theirs coffee, or, once, going into a seedy biker bar and paying off a Hell's Angel's member's tab. (Charles nearly had a heart-attack over that one.) She also would bring donations into the local animal shelters, with the promise to Lydia that someday, they'd get a pet that needed them.
Someday never came.
As much as Lydia wanted to carry on Emily's tradition, it felt empty, hollow, without her. She couldn't find the joy that her mother always brought, that always radiated from her. It felt fake, it felt wrong without her. Lydia wondered if Charles felt it too. While he'd been better about talking about Emily, he still was more reserved on the topic than she would have liked.
But, it was a start. And it was genuine effort on her father's part, so, she forgave him.
On the 19th, her father came into her room, holding a paper in his hands. Lydia looked up from her phone, raising an eyebrow when he coughed awkwardly. "Lydia...I know this time of year has been difficult. It's....been hard for me as well. "
She set her phone aside and sat up on the bed, surprised at the admission. "It sucks," Lydia said quietly.
Charles nodded, twisting a corner of the paper he held. "It does. Which is why I was thinking we should do something in honor of her. She...Emily always wanted us to get a pet. But, she felt dogs and cats were too--"
"Mainstream." Lydia felt her lips twitch into a smile that her father mirrored.
"Yes, that. Well, it so happens, that Delia--" Lydia's smile waned at her father's mention of her stepmother. "Delia found a rescue that I thought...well it sounded so much like something Emily would do...."
Charles handed her the paper. Little Stinkers Skunk Rescue.
"A skunk?" Lydia's eyes lit up and she swung herself off the bed onto the floor. "Really?! Delia thought of this?!"
"She did. She thought a pet might bring a calming energy into the home--" Charles blinked in surprise when Lydia hugged him tightly, like she used to. Before everything had changed for them. And changed them. It made a lump in his throat, but, in a good way, as he hugged his daughter back.
"I love it! Dead Mom would have flipped out! It's perfect! Of course she'd have wanted a skunk---can we go today? Oh my god, we have to give it a good name. Can we get a baby name book on the way?"
"I--I don't know if a baby name book is entirely appropriate for a skunk, Lydia, but.....sure." He saw so much of Emily in Lydia's eyes, and such joyfulness there, how could he say no?
Emily, never one for mundane tradition, spent her "birthday month" doing things for other people. Buying the car behind theirs coffee, or, once, going into a seedy biker bar and paying off a Hell's Angel's member's tab. (Charles nearly had a heart-attack over that one.) She also would bring donations into the local animal shelters, with the promise to Lydia that someday, they'd get a pet that needed them.
Someday never came.
As much as Lydia wanted to carry on Emily's tradition, it felt empty, hollow, without her. She couldn't find the joy that her mother always brought, that always radiated from her. It felt fake, it felt wrong without her. Lydia wondered if Charles felt it too. While he'd been better about talking about Emily, he still was more reserved on the topic than she would have liked.
But, it was a start. And it was genuine effort on her father's part, so, she forgave him.
On the 19th, her father came into her room, holding a paper in his hands. Lydia looked up from her phone, raising an eyebrow when he coughed awkwardly. "Lydia...I know this time of year has been difficult. It's....been hard for me as well. "
She set her phone aside and sat up on the bed, surprised at the admission. "It sucks," Lydia said quietly.
Charles nodded, twisting a corner of the paper he held. "It does. Which is why I was thinking we should do something in honor of her. She...Emily always wanted us to get a pet. But, she felt dogs and cats were too--"
"Mainstream." Lydia felt her lips twitch into a smile that her father mirrored.
"Yes, that. Well, it so happens, that Delia--" Lydia's smile waned at her father's mention of her stepmother. "Delia found a rescue that I thought...well it sounded so much like something Emily would do...."
Charles handed her the paper. Little Stinkers Skunk Rescue.
"A skunk?" Lydia's eyes lit up and she swung herself off the bed onto the floor. "Really?! Delia thought of this?!"
"She did. She thought a pet might bring a calming energy into the home--" Charles blinked in surprise when Lydia hugged him tightly, like she used to. Before everything had changed for them. And changed them. It made a lump in his throat, but, in a good way, as he hugged his daughter back.
"I love it! Dead Mom would have flipped out! It's perfect! Of course she'd have wanted a skunk---can we go today? Oh my god, we have to give it a good name. Can we get a baby name book on the way?"
"I--I don't know if a baby name book is entirely appropriate for a skunk, Lydia, but.....sure." He saw so much of Emily in Lydia's eyes, and such joyfulness there, how could he say no?