(Kicks down inbox door)
Can you do Elizabeth and William having a tea party? Or do I need to come back with a better writing prompt??
Gladly :D
[This is a semi-good timeline, William's downfall isn't imminent, but Mrs. Afton has died and he's struggling to keep things together on his own]
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William Afton found himself slumped on the couch after work. It’s not that today had been a particularly hard day, or that last night had been a particular late night, but one can only take so many hard days and late nights without feeling a blow to one’s sanity. He was tired, sure, but more so because of bad news and not specifically because of effort on his part.
Business hadn’t been very good, animatronics had been breaking down for seemingly no reason. One of the pizza ovens catching on fire didn't help. With employee morale suffering it was up to him to keep his chin up and show everyone that things would turn around soon. There didn’t seem to be anyone to tell him the same.
He watched the afternoon sunlight play on the wall. It was odd to be home so early, but frankly he had run out of reasons to stay late. He could have helped Henry with repairs but after being scolded by customers over errors that had not been his fault, he just didn’t have it in him. So there he was, slumped back and staring at the wall, a feint wave of nervousness thrumming through him and preventing him from a much needed nap. “A cup of tea would do some good.” He muttered. It was too early for whisky.
A set of little footsteps scampered into the living room. He didn’t look to see who it was, but the sudden little girl on top of him made herself quite clear.
“Daddy!” Elizabeth called. “Daddy I finished cleaning my room!”
He straightened, or tried to, at least. “Did you now?” The request had been less about the necessity, and more about keeping Elizabeth from being underfoot for a few minuets while he tried to stop his head from spinning.
The girl stopped trying to strangle him and sat next him, beaming. Her smile faded when she saw his face. “Are you ok? Why are you sad?”
“I’m not sad, sunshine.” He tried to force a smile for her.
“You look sad.”
He dropped his head back against the couch. “It’s nothing. Just… just busy.”
Elizabeth looked like she was thinking hard. “Are you busy now?”
“No. If I was busy I wouldn’t be staring at the wall.”
She brightened. “Does that mean you can play with me?”
“That all depends on how long until-” As if to answer before his sentence was finished, the sound of a small boy calling for help sounded down the hall. William heaved a sigh and went to check on Evan. Nothing was wrong, but the little thing was awake and decided he was done with sitting in his crib alone. Michael was spending the afternoon at a friend’s house, but that friend had no interest in the younger sister, and no one wanted to deal with a toddler. William also did not want to deal with a toddler, but he had no choice. While Evan was set up with a bowl of apple slices to keep him busy, Elizabeth looked up at her father hopefully. He only noticed because she had gone several minuets staring at him without breaking attempted eye contact.
He tried to stifle his sigh. “Is something wrong, love?”
“Daddy can you play with me?”
“Play what?”
That wasn’t a ‘no’. Elizabeth darted to her room and came back with her arms full of pink plastic dishware which she began to arrange on the table.
“What’s all this then?”
“We’re having a tea party!”
“You can’t put tea in plastic cups, sunshine. It’ll damage it.”
“It’s not real tea, daddy. It’s pretend tea. Everyone knows that.”
“Funny you suggest a tea party,” he said, crossing his arms in mock concentration. “I could go for a cup myself.” He leaned down to her. “Do you know how to have a real tea party?”
She thought a moment. “You need guests. And… everyone dresses up fancy, and there’s lots of tiny cookies!”
William nodded. A memory he had not fully blocked out drifted into his mind. It was the image of a rose garden in spring. The rest of the yard had gone wild, or died. He didn’t know because he wasn’t permitted to look. The guests were lots of ladies his mother seemed to hate, yet insisted on hosting anyway. He was never allowed in, of course. But he had watched from his window many times. At the time, he was more interested in the frogs and dirt, but no one would want a ‘sick little nuisance’ wandering around anyway. He shook the picture from his head before it had the chance to turn painful.
Despite his little daydream, Elizabeth had continued rambling on about what would make a tea party perfect, and ended with “but we can’t get all that, not right now.”
“Maybe not, but we can do something with what we have.” He got up to root around in the pantry for a secret stash of sweets his own trio of nuisances were not tall enough to see. If he was going to have a tea party, even just to humour a needy 7 year old, he was going to get real snacks out of it. “You can have pretend tea any time. You can only have real tea with me.”
Elizabeth’s eyes sparkled seeing the little tin of cookies. “Where did those come from?”
“Now, now. These are for special occasions.” They weren't, but he didn’t like the idea of having to share. “Can you get the kettle out and fill it up?”
The little girl nodded and scampered to the cupboard. Evan had been nibbling his apple slices and didn’t seem to be paying any attention.
Why was he doing this? Was it only because he wanted an excuse to break open the cookie jar? Maybe. But seeing Elizabeth happy was probably the best thing to happen to him all week. William watched the kettle while Elizabeth kept peppering him with questions.
“Did you do this in England?” She asked.
“Do what?”
“This! People from England like tea but you don’t. Why?”
“Coffee wakes me up better.” He hoped he would not have to explain further. He did.
“Boys don’t like tea parties, do they? Was it different there?”
“Well, boys weren't allowed in. Besides, the kind of tea party you like is very different then back home.” He had not meant to say ‘back home’ but it came out anyway. Was that house his home? Or had he only called it that because it was so much better then what came after? So much better then the basement...
William's thoughts and Elizabeth's questions were cut off by the whistle of the kettle. He opened the latch and reached for the cupboard. “Sunshine, can you get a blanket to sit on? Proper tea parties are usually held in the garden. Well, we don’t really have a garden, but it’s a nice enough day.”
She nodded and obediently went off in search of a blanket. Evan was not done with his apples, but looked up expecting to be taken out of his high chair. William stroked the downy hair. “I won’t be having you wander around with hot water right here.” He said, and set the tea brewing.
“Found one!” Elizabeth called a few minuets later.
“Excellent timing.” The tea was just about done.
They spread the blanket out on the back porch and carefully set out a pair of mugs. Evan was supplied with a sippy cup and some juice. Elizabeth dressed herself up in a plastic tiara, and William put his sparkly work tie back on.
It was nice, he supposed. The weather was clear and Elizabeth was overjoyed to have time with him. Evan was too busy wandering around the back yard and throwing sticks to be paying any attention. Most 3 year olds are not expected to have very good party going manners, according to Elizabeth. This was most clear in the way the little boy toddled up with leaves in his hand to show off.
Sure, business was probably going to suffer until they sorted out the marketing, or until Henry got those glitches in the animatronics ironed out. But for once, William was able to remember he had a life outside of work. Maybe this was important too. He was glad that if Michael had to miss out, it was a ‘dumb girl thing’.
Finding ways to appeal to all of them was getting harder as interests evolved. And, as much as it tugged at his the back of his mind, it just wasn’t possible to give each one of them as much time as they needed. Even now, he wasn’t able to fully focus on Elizabeth, and he suspected she noticed how often he kept glancing around to make sure Evan wasn’t putting dirt in his mouth. All the same, he hoped she appreciated this. When his thoughts wandered back to his negligence, a happy yap, usually accompanied by a poke or playful touch, brought him back to the present.
Evan very nearly did get away with eating a rock if Elizabeth had not darted over to tell him how impolite it was. When the tea was drunk and the sun began to set, William tucked the remaining sweets back in his secret part of the top shelf. Michael came home not too long after.
For reasons William could not explain, he was glad to have all three of them there at supper with him. Somehow all of them together felt... oddly whole. He had been making little effort to do more then keep them all alive in the two years he had been raising them alone. He couldn't do more then that. Not without feeling like he was going to crack and that all that pent up poison would leak out and cause him to do something drastic. But somehow, this little rest sparked some form of affection he had been close to forgetting.
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