ETA: I've never written a Coraline-centric fic, because I was afraid I couldn't give her the depth I felt she deserved. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Red, Phoenix, eris and others who have made me look at Coraline in a different, maybe more sympathetic light. You've taught me a valuable lesson about snap judgements in characterization and I thank you.
Please...enjoy.
Usual disclaimers apply.
ONE HAPPY FAMILY
Penni Turner sighed, caught between exasperation and amusement as she knelt and pulled weeds from the flowerbeds. Her daughter had insisted on "helping" her in the garden, since she was now four and a big girl. Beth's idea of helping was to chase the birds away from the feeders and to pull up everything that was green as she chattered incessantly at her mother. Once Penni had had to stop what she was doing and patch up a skinned knee when Beth had tripped over the garden hose. Right now, the little girl was "watering" the trampled plants that remained with an old dusty watering can she had discovered in the garage.
Penni's eyes misted as she thought of how much Dan would have enjoyed watching his daughter revel in everything she discovered in her little world. Daniel Turner had passed away the winter before, three days after New Year's Day. Beth was too young to understand why her Daddy didn't come home anymore, and Penni had swallowed her own grief in order to make her little girl's life as happy and as normal as possible. She blinked the sudden tears away and smiled at her blonde daughter.
"You're getting more water on your shoes than on the flowers, baby."
Beth grinned up at her mother, grubby fingers locked tight around the handle of the plastic watering can she was using. The bright green can was almost as large as the little girl, and the front of her pink denim short-alls was soaking wet from her efforts to be helpful.
"I'm helping, Mama."
"Yes, you are," Penni said as she dropped a kiss on Beth's dirt-smudged nose. "Unfortunately, you're watering yourself more than the flowers."
Beth looked down at herself and giggled. "All wet, Mama."
Penni stood up slowly. She brushed the dirt and grass from her knees, then gathered her wet daughter into her arms. "Come on, Bethy-bug...let's get you clean and dry and then feed you some lunch."
"I want peanut butter on my sammich," Beth demanded as her mother settled her on her hip.
"What do we say when we ask for something nicely?" Penni chided, a gentle reprimand.
Beth wiggled and laid her head on Penni's shoulder. "Please can I have peanut butter, Mama?"
Penni hugged the little girl closer. "Good girl." She headed for the kitchen and Beth's favorite lunch of a peanut butter sandwich with the crusts cut off and handful of potato chips. "If you eat all your lunch like a big girl, we'll go to the museum later. Ok?"
"OK!" Beth crowed happily. "I wanna see the 'saurs!" The dinosaur exhibit at the Museum of Natural History was Beth's favorite place to visit. When Beth was a little older, Penni would take her to the park at LaBrea and show her the tar pits.
Her mind already on Beth's peanut butter sandwich, Penni failed to notice the slender brunette leaning against the oak tree across the street, watching their every move.
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Protected by dark sunglasses and a hat with an over-sized brim, Coraline stood in the dubious comfort of a leafy tree's shade. Her attention was riveted on the tiny girl who danced and played while her mother worked in the dirt. She was charmed by the little blonde's spirit and joy in life and laughed along with Beth when the child chased fluttering birds and make them fly away.
Coraline wrinkled her nose as she observed Beth watering the flowers. Surely she could care for this child much better than her mother could - why, she was letting the girl get her clothes wet! And filthy as well, she thought, cringing as Beth wiped dirt-encrusted palms on the front of her pink outfit. Coraline barely refrained from rushing over, draining the mother and spiriting Beth away.
Patience, she told herself. It would do no good to frighten the child by killing the woman in front of her. If she was to be Beth's new mother, she would have to earn the child's trust. Plus, she had learned from experience that stealth was of the utmost importance.
Beth would learn to love her new mother--and father.
Sadness flitted across her flawless face at the thought of Mick. He had made good on his decision six months ago to leave and not return and she had been desperate to find a way to convince him to come home. She sniffed derisively; Josef certainly hadn't helped by encouraging Mick on his ridiculous idea of being a full-time private investigator. Mick using his skills to find the lost was amusing when her darling needed a hobby - it had distracted him enough to keep his hatred of her and himself at bay for periods of time. However, when it took his attention away from her permanently, the joke ceased to be funny.
You took my family away from me - past, present and future. I'll never forgive you for that.
An idea had hatched in her clever brain a month after Mick had left. If he wanted a family, she could build a family with him. For him.
She had thought to get him a son, one with hazel eyes and dark curls like his own. Mick may be a vampire, but he was still a man - men longed for progeny to carry on their name. Armed with that knowledge and after careful consideration and searching, she had found the perfect child - but she had miscalculated. When she had taken the boy from his front yard, he had put up a loud fight and had drawn attention to them. By that evening, the police had been notified and neighbors had joined the hapless parents in searching for their son.
The boy had turned out to be most difficult. He had screamed and cried for his mother, in spite of her efforts to calm and soothe him. He wouldn't eat and he wouldn't settle down to sleep. When his incessant crying had become unbearable, she had taken care of the problem and returned him to his parents.
She was highly indignant at the local media's description of the kidnapper as a monster. The boy hadn't suffered at her hands and she had given the parents something to bury, hadn't she? She hadn't even taken a taste of his blood, even though the temptation of innocence had been almost too much to resist. The parents' grief had confused and irritated her - after all, they simply could give birth to another child. Her job was much more difficult; she had to start from scratch with planning and searching for another perfect child.
A boy had been far too much trouble - Mick would have to content himself with a daughter. Something instinctive warned Coraline to find a girl that resembled her as little as possible. It would do no good to have Mick reject the child outright because she looked too much like Coraline - or worse, have Mick transfer too much of his affection from her to the child. It had taken her several weeks, but she had finally found the perfect girl. Blonde hair and blue eyes, with a smattering of freckles across her pert nose, she lit up the air around her with the innocent power of her life's energy.
The tinny music of an ice cream truck interrupted Coraline's train of thought and suddenly little Beth burst from the front door of her home, a few coins clutched protectively in a tiny fist. Her mother was slow to follow and Coraline's eyes silvered behind her sunglasses. It would be such an easy thing to snatch the little girl from where she stood and slip away. She watched Beth bounce on impatient feet, clad in a clean and dry pink sundress, waiting for the colorful little truck to stop in front of her.
Coraline couldn't resist getting closer to her new daughter. Keeping a weather eye on the Turner house, she sidled up to Beth as the ice cream man slowed, then stopped in front of the little girl. Beth pointed at a picture of a Fudgesicle on the weathered board and carefully handed her money to the young man behind the wheel. As the ice cream man handed Beth her treat, she tore off the wrapper and began licking the chocolate ice cream enthusiastically.
Coraline grimaced as the ice cream melted and dripped down Beth's hand, but she smiled brightly at the child. "Hi. Does your ice cream taste good?"
Beth looked up at the strange woman, her smile fading. "I'm not s'posed to talk to strangers."
"It's ok, honey." Coraline knelt and ran her hand over the little girl's blonde curls. "What's your name?"
Beth shivered and wanted to run back into her house and crawl into her mama's lap. The strange lady was pretty, but her eyes were mean behind her dark glasses. Beth didn't like it when the lady touched her hair; her hand was cold and Beth was scared.
"Beth!" Penni rushed out of the house when she noticed the dark-haired woman talking to her little girl. "What did I tell you about talking to strangers?"
Beth started to cry and dropped her ice cream on the sidewalk as Penni swept the girl into her arms. Coraline swallowed the growl that wanted to burst from her lips at the stupid woman's interference and gave Penni her sweetest smile.
"I'm sorry - I didn't mean to scare your daughter." She thought up a quick lie. "She reminds me so much of my niece, I had to come over and talk to her." Coraline turned the smile on Beth, but she frowned and burrowed deeper into her mother's arms.
"I'm sorry to disturb you. Have a good day." Coraline made her quick exit before the human could pepper her with questions. Penni watched the mysterious woman disappear around the corner, then set Beth on her feet and grabbed her hand.
"In the house. Right now." Her voice was clipped and rough from fear. "Mama told you not to talk to strangers and you disobeyed. No more outside today and no dinosaurs."
From her hiding place around the corner, Coraline could hear Beth's howls of protest at being confined to the house and denied a visit to the museum. She watched Penni pull her daughter into the house and observed Beth fighting her mother's grip. Beth's plaintive promises to be good almost broke Coraline's undead heart.
Such cruelty, punishing a child because she was inquisitive. Coraline was more convinced than ever Beth was going to be better off with her, and Mick was going to be so pleased. His soft heart would melt when he saw what a good mother Coraline was and how much Beth loved her. He'd pull Coraline into his arms, kiss her tenderly and tell her how much he loved her. He would be so thankful that she had found a way to make a family with him.
A loving smile crossed her face as she pictured Mick sweeping his new daughter into his arms.
Mick was going to be a wonderful father.
