There's a Kid Version of Betelgeuse at our Door! What Do we Do? (Kid!Beej AU)

|Chapter Four| Dear Lord This Demon-Child Needs Therapy

The kid demon couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned in the bed the Maitlands had set up for him. It was the middle of the night and little Beej had woken up sixty times in the past two hours.

Horrifying images, well, memories, flashed through his mind.

He let out an ear piercing scream and awoke the Maitlands.

They ran towards him, worried as hell.

Barbara scooped him up out of bed. "Little Beej, is everything okay?"

"N-n-n-n-no..."

He clung close to Barbara, clearly scared of something but the two worried ghosts weren't exactly sure what it was.

"What's wrong?" Adam asked softly.

"I-I-I had a nightmare," the kid demon managed to say, starting to shiver and shake.

"Oh, sweetie, I'm sorry. What was it about?" Barbara sat down on the kid demon's bed and ran a hand through his hair. It kinda and did remind her of all the times she and Adam helped Lydia out when she had a nightmare.

"M-my mom..."

"What was she doing?"
.
"She was mad at me... really mad..."

"Did she hurt you?" asked Adam, also sitting on the bed.

A nod.

Since they didn't need to sleep, they stayed with the terrified and shaking kid demon all night long, comforting him and making sure he was doing okay.

The next day...

The kid demon was jumping on the couch with Lydia watching and giggling whilst all the adults were in the kitchen, making breakfast. Both Lydia and kid Beej wanted pancakes that day, which seemed like a good idea. Well the Maitlands were mainly making the pancakes with their powers whilst Charles and Delia waited at the kitchen counter.

Little Beej stopped jumping on the couch and turned his attention over towards the two busy ghosts, fascinated by their powers. "They ghosts."

Lydia chuckled. "Yes, they're ghosts."

"I like ghosts! Leslie is super nice!"

"Leslie?" Lydia asked.

"Miss Argentina!"

"Oh."

The kid demon smiled.

He was pretty hyper.

He was bouncing around the living room and all four adults were trying to calm him down and avoid yelling. It did not go well, in Charles' case that is.

"ENOUGH!" Charles yelled.

Everyone else froze, turning to stare at him. His face was red and he seemed to be huffing and puffing. The kid demon suddenly became nervous, running over to where Lydia and the Maitlands were standing and hiding behind Barbara, peeking out at Charles.

"What was THAT for, dad?" demanded Lydia. She seemed to not be as equally red in the face like her dad was but she was just as upset and concerned for little Beej like Adam, Barbara, and Delia were.

"I-I... uh???" Charles backed away.

Delia led her husband out of the room, taking him upstairs. "Charles, calm down."

Beej was shaking.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry-"

"It's okay." Barbara turned and kneeled down so she was looking kid Beej in the eye. "He's gone upstairs to calm down. Hopefully it won't happen again."

Lydia looked a bit upset. For some reason, she felt like she was at least partially at fault.

"Lydia, sweetheart, what's wrong?" asked Barbara as she and Adam turned to the upset looking teenager, the kid demon in the female ghost's arms.

"I feel like I'm at fault here," murmured the teenager.

Barbara handed little Beej to Adam and moved to pull Lydia into a hug. "Lydia, you aren't at fault here. You didn't do anything wrong."

Lydia nodded sadly as she wrapped her arms around Barbara, wet and hot tears still staining her face.

"It's ok, I've got you."

Charles was pacing around the room.

Delia watched him. He seemed to be a little calmer, which was good. Him yelling at kid Beej was unexpected. Did Charles forget that they had all agreed to no longer yell at the kid demon? It sure seemed that way.

"I can't believe I did that," Charles groaned, running a hand through his hair.

"Neither can I." Delia sighed, closing her eyes and shaking her head from side to side. "But it was an accident, Charles."

"And an accident I need to fix." Charles turned and headed downstairs, now completely calm, with Delia following closely behind him.

Beej shrunk back, terrified, as Charles walked back into the living room.

He hid behind Adam but the male ghost pushed him out from behind him and put him in front of Charles with his powers when the living male kneeled on the floor. Delia stood over near Barbara and Lydia, both of whom were still hugging.

"Little Beej," said Charles, reaching out a hand to touch the kid demon's shoulder, not really noticing him flinch away from the contact. "I am super sorry for yelling at you. It was a total accident and it never should've happened. Do you forgive me?"

The kid demon did not know what to say at first, but then jumped into Charles' arms with a smile on his face. "YES!"

Everyone smiled at the interaction, glad that everything could be sorted out.

Later...

The family was watching movies on the couch. Betelgeuse had been utterly fascinated by Disney films. Betelgeuse wanted to watch "Nightmare Before Christmas" as did Lydia and they were currently watching that.

"This is one of my favorites." Lydia smiled.

"I like it!" The kid cheered.

Soon, the movie was over and the Maitlands and the Deetzes looked over at the kid demon to find that he was asleep on the couch, his head resting against Lydia's leg.

"Aww," all four adults say at once.

Charles smiled, picking up the small demon.

He carried him upstairs to the guest room whilst everyone else watched with a smile on each of their faces.

"Sleep tight," said Charles as he tucked the kid demon into his new bed.

And kid Beej really did have a good nap. No nightmares about his mom whatsoever.