Chapter Text
"Uncle Ray, when did you know you loved Grandpa?"
Ray looked up from the paperback novel in his hands and turned to the diminutive girl sitting by his side. "What makes you ask, squirt?"
"Just curious." She said and he could tell that it was more than just curiousity that had sparked the question.
"C'mon, you can tell me." He coaxed.
For a moment, Phoebe glanced away, looking torn, before she opened up. "There's this girl-"
There it was. A smile spread across Ray's features at her honesty. "A girl, huh?" He asked in a teasing voice.
"She's smart and she's funny and she's really pretty and she said she thought my joke was funny." Like a dam had burst, Phoebe couldn't stop herself from sharing with the older man. She couldn't have gone to her grandpa about this, it was too embarassing. She liked Ray and she trusted him. He was her favorite uncle.
"What's her name?" He asked. He was still avoiding the first question, instead letting the smaller Spengler to focus on her crush instead.
"Molly. She's got blonde hair, but it goes blue at the tips and green eyes that sparkle when she laughs and she's a Libra with her moon in Leo and Aquarius rising and her favorite book is Bridge to Terabithia and-" Phoebe cut herself off, blushing slightly. She was rambling a bit now, she realized, but she had been captivated ever since the other girl had told her she liked her joke. She couldn't remember which joke it was, just that Molly's green eyes had lit up like Christmas lights and she had let out a high, airy laugh when Phoebe had told it. She had called her funny and Phoebe knew she didn't mean funny the way that people usually meant when they spoke about her, funny as in odd. Ever since then, she had filed away all the little details she could about Molly that the other girl shared with Phoebe.
"She sounds special." Ray told her. "To answer your question, squirt, I think it was when we were both in college." Spengs had been so handsome, yet so awkward, he had caught Ray's eye immediately. They had bonded over their beliefs in the paranormal very quickly, often trading books on the subject back and forth and sharing their theories with one another. He smiled at the memories before he looked back at Phoebe. "Your grandpa probably knows the exact date and time he fell in love with me."
Phoebe smiled at that. Yes, that did sound very much like her grandpa.
"So are you going to talk to her more?" He asked, giving her shoulder a tiny nudge with his own.
"I don't know." She admitted, lowering her head. "Should I?"
"Give it a shot. Can't hurt, right?"
Chapter 2
Summary:
Ray wants to do something nice for Phoebe. Egon agrees to help. Two heads are better than one after all.
Notes:
This is a sequel to kahhotqueen69's fic Shivers. If you haven't read that yet, go do so. It's an amazing read and one of my favorite Ghostbusters fics.
Chapter Text
"Ow."
"Egie? Everything alright?" Ray called out to the other man.
"Everything's fine, Raymond." He assured the other man as he dug out the antiseptic and began to clean the small cut he had just received as Ray entered the room.
"Could we talk?" Ray asked him.
"What's on your mind?" Egon asked, turning away from the invention he had been fine tuning to give his partner his full attention.
"I wanna do something for Phoebe." He told the other man.
"Something? As in-"
"I wanna get her a stuffed animal."
"Is this about-?"
"Yes." Ray confirmed. A few months ago, Egon had woken in the middle of the night to find Ray inconsolable and his beloved Dopey Dog missing. It had turned out that Phoebe had taken the stuffed animal for her own experiment, to 'see what it was like sleeping with a stuffed animal', in her own words.
"I think that's a sweet idea." Egon admitted with a slight smile. It never ceased to amaze him how thoughtful his Raymond could be to others.
"The thing is, I don't know what to get her." Ray went on. He had wracked his brain over and over, trying to come up with just the right animal to gift to the young girl.
"Hmmm," Egon said thoughtfully. That was quite the challenge. "Don't worry. I'm sure we'll find just the right creature." He assured Ray.
A smile of relief came to the other man's face before he hugged Egon. "Love you, Spengs."
"Love you too."
Chapter Text
Chapter 3:
"Dad? Dad?" Luckily, Callie only has to say it twice before both he and Phobe look up, twin lights shining into her face. "Whoa!" She blocks her eyes from the brightness as they peer at her curiously. It's sometimes a little creepy how much they look alike, she thinks. "I have a date tonight," She doesn't say it's with Gary; the look her daughter fixes her with says she already knows. Something about getting turned into a demon dog kind of bonds you, she thinks. "And I was wondering if you and Ray could watch the kids?" Even at fifteen, she doesn't trust Trevor not to do something stupid. Hopefully between the two men, they can coax the kids into a quiet night of movies and inventing, and she won't have to worry.
"Of course, we can." Egon responds. It's never a pressure to watch the kids. Phoebe is a joy in ways he was still learning about, and Trevor could be brighter than he liked to let on. He and Ray adored spending time with the kids. Plus, this will give them time to continue to observe Phoebe in their search for the perfect stuffed animal for her.
Relief comes to Callie's face when he says this. "Thanks, dad. you're a life saver!" She says before she turns to go and leave him and Phoebe to their...whatever. As long as it doesn't burn the house down.
"Don't be yourself!" Phoebe calls to her retreating back almost playfully.
--
--
They've been through two ghost movies when Ray offers Phoebe to pick the next movie.
"Really?" She asks excitedly, pushing her glasses up her nose.
"Sure, squirt. Go for it." He laughs. "Oh no," Trevor groans, but his tone is playful which means he's not being truly malicious to his sister.
A few minutes later, Phoebe returns with a DVD case. She holds it like she doesn't want any of them to see what it is and Ray can only guess. Some scientific documentary? No, she'd be proud to share one of those with her family, if only for them to understand her mind better. As if he didn't already understand the way the young girl thought, given that Egon had often thought in the same way that she did. Horror movie, he wondered. After bagging her first ghost and facing down a literal God, he didn't think she'd hide that choice either.
While the cogs in his mind were turning, the movie finally began. When he saw the animated characters on screen, he was truly surprised. Aside from a few traits, Phoebe's interests had almost seemed adult at times. He had chalked it up to her high IQ of course, given that from what Egon had told him, he hadn't had a very normal childhood himself. Yet sitting in between him and her grandfather, the young girl's eyes lit up as she watched the animated figures on the screen.
When the little girls on the screen chased away millions of what appeared to be little black puffballs, she looked transfixed, he noted. It was then that he shared a look with Egon without her turning her head to either of them.
Maybe they now knew what sort of stuffed animal to gift her. Not an actual animal, per say, but perhaps a creature from what appeared to be one of her favorite films.
Notes:
I am so sorry that it's taken so long for me to write this next chapter. There was a tragedy in my life, and I lost my childhood best friend to a sudden car accident, so I have been putting off this chapter for a while. I only picked it back up today to distract myself. So sorry if anyone's been waiting with bated breath for this series to continue.
Chapter Text
Chapter 4:
"Hey,"
The sudden voice makes Phoebe jump slightly from where she's sitting on the porch, her face buried in a novel Uncle Ray had gifted to her, one that he "thought she'd like", and when she raises her head and rights her glasses, she's surprised to see Molly standing at the bottom of the steps, squinting up at her with a pair of sunglasses perched on her head. The wind is sending her hair dancing over her shoulders and Phoebe doesn't understand the reference on her t-shirt, but Molly looks so pretty right now, she honestly doesn't care.
"Hi," Phoebe forces herself to say. "You're at my house." Good one, Phoebe, she scolds herself.
"Yeah, I had my friend's sister drop me off. I've always wanted to see this place up close." Molly says and when she smiles, it reminds Phoebe of the mischievous spirits she's read about in folklore. She could definitely see Molly being a Puck type of character.
"You gonna invite me up?" She teases, startling Phoebe back to reality.
"Do you want to come up?" She asks.
"Don't mind if I do." Molly picks her bag up off of the ground and slings it over one shoulder and walks up the front steps until she's standing on the old porch and glancing around. "This is so cool." She breathes before she looks back at Phoebe. There's a moment as they stare at one another, and Phoebe takes in Molly's dip-dyed hair and the freckles that dance in spots across her nose and the way her lips quirk up even when she's not smiling. "You know, a lot of kids think this place is haunted." She points out.
"Impossible." Phoebe says before she can stop herself.
"Yeah, I kinda figured. No way a place owned by a Ghostbuster would be haunted. He'd nip that in the bud." Molly says.
Before Phoebe can say more, or better yet hang onto Molly's words, the door to the porch opens and her grandfather pokes his head out. "Phoebe, your mother says-oh." He stops when he notices Molly, who just waves blithely.
"Hey, Dr. Spengler." She says brightly.
"Hello." Egon says, his voice completely serious as always before he focuses on Phoebe. "Your mother says dinner is almost ready. Is your...friend staying?"
Phoebe fixes her bespeckled face onto Molly. "Would you like to stay for dinner?" She asks and her voice sounds strange to herself.
"I could eat." Molly says, smiling again and Phoebe forgets to breathe.
Chapter 5
Notes:
I apologize for the late fill. My two best friends of 16 years have abandoned me and it's left me feeling a little hollow. But I wanted to write something new and so I chose this fic.
Chapter Text
Egon blinked in the darkness as he reached out, expecting to find Ray lying beside him, to tug him closer. Instead, there was nothing. Reaching for his glasses on the bedside table, he turned on the light and slid his glasses on. Indeed, Ray wasn't curled up in bed beside him or sitting up the way he sometimes did when he had been bothered by a dream.
Sliding on a robe over his care worn pajamas, the lanky man began to inspect each room of the house, until he saw the glow of a cigarette as he peered out the swing door into the night. Opening the door, he took a seat next to Ray.
"I thought you quit." He said. In anyone else's voice, it might have sounded stern. In Egon's voice, it was a gentle chiding.
"I did." Ray replied. His hand was shaking as it held the cigarette.
"Raymond," Egon said gently.
"You were gone. It wasn't a coma. You were dead. You...You died, Egie." There's a strain in Ray's voice that makes Egon wrap his arms around him.
"It was just a nightmare. I didn't die. I'm right here." He said, trying to soothe his partner.
"It felt so real. It was so awful. You never got the chance to explain yourself. We never got the chance to apologize for not believing you-"
"Water under the bridge." Egon insisted, turning Ray to him to cup his cheeks before he began kissing him. Ray eagerly returned the kiss, never mind that he smelled like cigarette smoke. It was something Egon had come to concider as just another part of Ray.
kahootqueen69 on Chapter 1 Fri 24 Dec 2021 05:53PM UTC
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lunabelieves on Chapter 1 Fri 24 Dec 2021 05:56PM UTC
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kahootqueen69 on Chapter 1 Fri 24 Dec 2021 06:04PM UTC
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s4dlik3_mrme on Chapter 1 Fri 24 Dec 2021 09:43PM UTC
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Loewenflamme on Chapter 1 Tue 29 Nov 2022 06:32AM UTC
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kahootqueen69 on Chapter 2 Sun 26 Dec 2021 10:25PM UTC
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Loewenflamme on Chapter 2 Tue 29 Nov 2022 06:32AM UTC
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overfortyrecidivist on Chapter 3 Sat 07 May 2022 07:39PM UTC
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despanningstijgt on Chapter 3 Sun 08 May 2022 11:42AM UTC
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Loewenflamme on Chapter 5 Tue 29 Nov 2022 06:30AM UTC
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