#IWTKYS Janegon AU

[inevitablemoment]

Love Me Whatever (Forever)

Word Count: 485

Warnings: Mentions of past spousal death from cancer

Fandom: Ghostbusters

Pairings: Egon Spengler x Janine Melnitz

Yay! This is my first time writing for Janegon, and I’m so excited! I mostly wrote this as a gift for @ariel-seagull-wings, so I hope you enjoy it!

Set in my AU where Cathleen still dies, but Egon keeps custody of Callie and ends up remarrying to Janine. This fic is set on Valentine’s Day 1985, so Callie had her fourth birthday the previous month.

I mention an OC of mine, Janine’s sister Pauline Melnitz, briefly.

Enjoy!

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“Again, I am sorry that we had to postpone date night again,” Egon apologized as he brushed Callie’s hair.

“Egon, I told you, I’m not mad,” Janine reassured him. “I’m the one taking all the calls, so I know how exhausting it’s getting. I’m just glad we convinced Peter to hire Pauline as extra help.”

Even though Callie’s focus had mainly been on the cartoon that was playing on the TV, she did speak up. “I like Pauline-- she’s funny.”

Janine smiled. Pauline had once entertained the idea of becoming a teacher, but decided that she would be all in on her dream of becoming a famous novelist.

“She told me that you went to Disneyland,” Callie told her.

“We did,” Janine recalled. “I got to meet Cinderella-- I almost fainted!”

Callie laughed at Janine’s exaggeration, and Egon set the brush aside.

“Okay-- bath time,” he told Callie.

Callie made a whining noise. “No!”

In her short years of living, Callie knew that each step in her nighttime routine was a step closer to her bedtime.

“Callie, please-- you do this every night, and it hasn’t changed anything before,” Egon tried reasoning with her, even though it never worked in the past.

“No!” Callie repeated.

“Hey, Callie, how about I give you your bath, and your dad and I will read you two books before bed?” Janine suggested.

Callie considered the offer before saying, “Okay.”

Janine was able to keep Callie entertained in the bath with her bath toys and telling her another story about her childhood Disneyland vacation. Callie always loved hearing Janine talk about her childhood in the same way that he loved hearing Egon’s stories about growing up. And Janine fulfilled her promise; she and Egon each read a book to Callie.

Both Egon and Janine kissed her goodnight.

“Good night, baby,” he whispered.

“Good night, Daddy,” Callie said.

“Good night, Callie,” Janine smiled.

“Good night, Ima.”

Both Egon and Janine froze as they began to walk out of Callie’s bedroom.

Ima.

That was Hebrew for “mother.”

Janine looked at Egon, trying to read his expression to guess what he would be thinking about his child calling his girlfriend of barely three months “mommy.”

She remembered when she had first entered the firehouse when she had found the ad in the paper, and she had seen Egon trying to entertain this beautiful child. Egon had described Callie as being the image of her mother, but Janine could pick out the pieces of him in her visage and personality easily.

Janine didn’t ever want to disrespect Cathleen’s memory, but she knew that it was also true that Callie barely had any memories of her mother. Cathleen had been diagnosed only a few months after Callie’s first birthday, and died two months after her second birthday.

But, somehow, she still felt a sense of pride at Callie’s words.

A sense that she was... cherished.

[inevitablemoment]

Hey, @ariel-seagull-wings, I was scrolling through Pinterest, and I found this really cute picture that reminds me of my "Egon raises Callie and re-marries to Janine" AU.

[inevitablemoment]

I'm mostly a Janegon fan, but your OC ideas are sweet, I specially like the fact that Cathleen is a storyteller.

Have you watched the series The Nanny?

There is an episode where Mr Maxwell Chefield (Charles Shaugnessy) is about to marry the titular Nanny, Mrs Fran Fine (Fran Drescher), and there is a sweet scene where he talks to the spirit of his deceased wife and she blesses his new marriage, saying that, from the afterlife, she sent Fran to his life to bring joy for him and the kids.

In the series, is also shown that while married to Maxwell and having adopted his children, Fran never asks them to forget his first wife their birth mom. When the children miss the original Mrs Sheffield, Fran watches a video tape recording of her with them, and also dedicates jewish prayers to her memory.

In an AU where Egon keeps custody of Callie and happily marries Janine after proccessing the grief for the death of Cathleen, could you envision a similar dinamic between them?

(Sorry that this took me so long to answer)

Thank you so much! I like Janegon, too, but I'll admit that I've kinda grown attached to Cathleen, so I've gotten focused on my AU where Cathleen lives. But I did make a Janegon playlist that you can listen to here.

I got the idea of Egon falling in love with a storyteller from the musical, Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier. That musical in general made me just love with the idea of a STEM geek and a literature geek finding love together.

Oh, I love The Nanny! I have a lot of memories of watching reruns of it on TV Land on Saturday mornings back in second and third grade, and then watching my recording of the episode about Maggie's wedding when I was home sick one day. I was recently able to get the complete series boxset from a Half-Price Books store during a vacation earlier this month.

This ask actually helped me create this AU, as I always have considered what my take on "Egon keeps custody of Callie and ends up with Janine" would be.

(Not-so-brief summary under the cut)

As Cathleen died when Callie was only a year old, Callie can't remember her mother. She knows her from photos, home movies, and stories that her father and her uncles tell her, though. Callie is a few months away from her fourth birthday when the Ghostbusters team is first formed and Janine is hired to work as their receptionist. One of the things that attracts Janine to Egon is seeing how, underneath his reserved and stoic exterior, he's a devoted father to Callie. Janine connects with Callie, who immediately imprints on Janine like a baby duck.

Egon slowly opens up to her about how he struggled adjusting to life as a single parent after Cathleen's death, and the tense custody battle between him and Cathleen's parents. Their friendship builds into a romantic relationship, and they end up marrying in 1986.

The only time that Callie ever felt insecure regarding Janine's love for her was after the birth of her half-sister, Lily Esther Spengler, in 1987. She began to feel now that Janine had a child that was biologically hers, then she wouldn't be as loved as she was before. Janine took her aside and reassured her that she loved Callie. Three years later, Janine and Egon welcomed a third daughter, Vanessa Ruth.

After the move to Summerville, as in my Cathleen Lives 'verse, Callie's main grudge with her father is that he uprooted her life over something that may or may not happen, and burned every bridge he had when no one but Janine believed him. Callie ran off to her maternal grandparents' new home in Chicago and refused to return home. She cuts off contact with her father and half-sisters, but only occasionally speaks with Janine over the phone.

Following the defeat of Gozer (I haven't decided whether it's Callie, Lily, or Vanessa who gets possessed by Zuul in this 'verse), the surviving members of the Spengler family reconcile.

[inevitablemoment]

Seasons Always Change

Word Count: 705

Warnings: Past spousal death, mentions of ovarian cancer, cemeteries/graveyards

Fandom: Ghostbusters

Pairings: Egon Spengler x Janine Melnitz, Egon Spengler x Cathleen Paige (past)

I was in the mood for something a little angsty, so I thought I’d dip my toes back into this ‘verse.

————————

Janine pulled her coat further around her body to further protect herself from the January chill. She followed Egon and Callie through the gates of the cemetery. Memories of her grandparents’ funerals, and her father’s funeral only a few years ago, entered her mind as she felt that familiar chill that definitely wasn’t from the weather.

When she had arrived at work, she had noticed that Egon had been a little more withdrawn than normal. He had been reluctant to leave Callie when they got a call, despite Janine’s reassurances. Callie’s preschool was still off for Winter Break, so Janine did her best to entertain her. Eventually, she had run out of games, and Callie had been more than content to draw with her crayons at Peter’s desk.

Janine had gone in to check on her, and asked what she was drawing.

“A birthday card,” Callie answered.

“Oh, who’s it for?” Janine asked, thinking that she was making it for a friend at school.

“Mommy,” Callie said.

Janine froze for a moment. Of course, the topic of Egon’s late wife came up, whether it was Egon or Peter or Ray mentioning a fond memory of her, or Callie asking questions about her due to having barely been two years old when she died. It was a delicate topic, and she didn’t want to poke at a wound that had barely healed. Both Peter and Ray had expressed surprise that Egon would want to dive into a relationship again, but Ray quickly did damage control by telling Janine that it wasn’t a commentary on her as a person.

“You’re making a card for your mommy?” Janine tried to keep her voice neutral.

For Callie, it was just a fact of her life that her mother was gone and that her father was raising her on his own. Most of the other kids at her preschool had their moms pick them up or waiting at home for them, so the wish for her mother to be there obviously came up sometimes. But otherwise, she had time to adapt the reality of life without Cathleen, and was content with her father and her uncles.

“Uh-huh,” Callie replied. “Today’s her birthday.”

“It is?”

“Later, Daddy’s gonna take me to see her,” Callie added. “And he’s gonna give her flowers, and I’m gonna give her this card.”

Janine had been surprised when Egon asked her to join them at the cemetery. They had only been together for a couple of months, and she didn’t know if he or Callie would be comfortable with his new girlfriend intruding on such a private family moment. But she accepted his offer because she wanted to support the both of them.

As she followed them, she was quick to spot a simple, marble headstone. At the top was an engraving of a rose lying in the spine of an open book, with the words below:

CATHLEEN SPENGLER

Beloved Wife and Mother. A Storyteller.

Jan. 2nd, 1945 - March 8th, 1983

Egon knelt down, brushing his hand against the cool marble as if stroking Cathleen’s cheek and setting the bouquet of violets, pink carnations, and snowdrops before the headstone. “Happy birthday, Cath.”

Janine tried not to eavesdrop as Egon talked to his wife’s headstone. Most of what she just picked up was him talking about Callie, how she was doing in school, and how much they both missed her. Callie set her birthday card, depicting her and Egon outside the firehouse on the front, and Cathleen in her wedding dress on the back. Callie began to chatter on about what was going on in her world, and about the business from her perspective.

“Janie!”

Janine looked up upon hearing Callie call her name and subconsciously took a step forward.

“Do you wanna meet my mommy?” Callie asked.

Janine’s face started to feel hot, and she started to get that feeling that she might not exactly be wanted here. She looked to Egon for some sort of approval, and he carefully nodded. She knelt down next to him and laid her gloved hand on top of the headstone.

“Hello, Cathleen,” she said, sounding a little unsure. “I’m... I’m Janine.”

I’ll look after them both. I promise.

[ariel-seagull-wings]

@bixiebeet @amalthea9 @professorlehnsherr-almashy

I'm mostly a Janegon fan, but your OC ideas are sweet, I specially like the fact that Cathleen is a storyteller.

Have you watched the series The Nanny?

There is an episode where Mr Maxwell Chefield (Charles Shaugnessy) is about to marry the titular Nanny, Mrs Fran Fine (Fran Drescher), and there is a sweet scene where he talks to the spirit of his deceased wife and she blesses his new marriage, saying that, from the afterlife, she sent Fran to his life to bring joy for him and the kids.

In the series, is also shown that while married to Maxwell and having adopted his children, Fran never asks them to forget his first wife their birth mom. When the children miss the original Mrs Sheffield, Fran watches a video tape recording of her with them, and also dedicates jewish prayers to her memory.

In an AU where Egon keeps custody of Callie and happily marries Janine after proccessing the grief for the death of Cathleen, could you envision a similar dinamic between them?

(Sorry that this took me so long to answer)

Thank you so much! I like Janegon, too, but I'll admit that I've kinda grown attached to Cathleen, so I've gotten focused on my AU where Cathleen lives. But I did make a Janegon playlist that you can listen to here.

I got the idea of Egon falling in love with a storyteller from the musical, Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier. That musical in general made me just love with the idea of a STEM geek and a literature geek finding love together.

Oh, I love The Nanny! I have a lot of memories of watching reruns of it on TV Land on Saturday mornings back in second and third grade, and then watching my recording of the episode about Maggie's wedding when I was home sick one day. I was recently able to get the complete series boxset from a Half-Price Books store during a vacation earlier this month.

This ask actually helped me create this AU, as I always have considered what my take on "Egon keeps custody of Callie and ends up with Janine" would be.

(Not-so-brief summary under the cut)

As Cathleen died when Callie was only a year old, Callie can't remember her mother. She knows her from photos, home movies, and stories that her father and her uncles tell her, though. Callie is a few months away from her fourth birthday when the Ghostbusters team is first formed and Janine is hired to work as their receptionist. One of the things that attracts Janine to Egon is seeing how, underneath his reserved and stoic exterior, he's a devoted father to Callie. Janine connects with Callie, who immediately imprints on Janine like a baby duck.

Egon slowly opens up to her about how he struggled adjusting to life as a single parent after Cathleen's death, and the tense custody battle between him and Cathleen's parents. Their friendship builds into a romantic relationship, and they end up marrying in 1986.

The only time that Callie ever felt insecure regarding Janine's love for her was after the birth of her half-sister, Lily Esther Spengler, in 1987. She began to feel now that Janine had a child that was biologically hers, then she wouldn't be as loved as she was before. Janine took her aside and reassured her that she loved Callie. Three years later, Janine and Egon welcomed a third daughter, Vanessa Ruth.

After the move to Summerville, as in my Cathleen Lives 'verse, Callie's main grudge with her father is that he uprooted her life over something that may or may not happen, and burned every bridge he had when no one but Janine believed him. Callie ran off to her maternal grandparents' new home in Chicago and refused to return home. She cuts off contact with her father and half-sisters, but only occasionally speaks with Janine over the phone.

Following the defeat of Gozer (I haven't decided whether it's Callie, Lily, or Vanessa who gets possessed by Zuul in this 'verse), the surviving members of the Spengler family reconcile.

[ariel-seagull-wings]

Oh. My. Goodness...

I didn't even made a request, and yet you dedicated your creativity and patience to write this beautiful gift for me?

Thank you so, so much 😚 😀 😍 🤩 ☺

My favorite moment is when Callie calls Janine "Ima".

@bixiebeet @spengnitzed @slimerspengler @professorlehnsherr-almashy @amalthea9

Love Me Whatever (Forever)

Word Count: 485

Warnings: Mentions of past spousal death from cancer

Fandom: Ghostbusters

Pairings: Egon Spengler x Janine Melnitz

Yay! This is my first time writing for Janegon, and I’m so excited! I mostly wrote this as a gift for @ariel-seagull-wings, so I hope you enjoy it!

Set in my AU where Cathleen still dies, but Egon keeps custody of Callie and ends up remarrying to Janine. This fic is set on Valentine’s Day 1985, so Callie had her fourth birthday the previous month.

I mention an OC of mine, Janine’s sister Pauline Melnitz, briefly.

Enjoy!

————————

Continuar lendo

[ariel-seagull-wings]

@inevitablemoment

That's so wholesome!

Hey, @ariel-seagull-wings, I was scrolling through Pinterest, and I found this really cute picture that reminds me of my "Egon raises Callie and re-marries to Janine" AU.

[ariel-seagull-wings]

@bixiebeet @spengnitzed

Hey, @ariel-seagull-wings, I was scrolling through Pinterest, and I found this really cute picture that reminds me of my "Egon raises Callie and re-marries to Janine" AU.