Chapter Text
The pizzaplex was super busy for a Tuesday evening. Gregrory ended up wandering around, pressed against the wall to stay away from as many adults as possible. Maybe it would be a good idea to just hang out with Sun in the daycare today. Turning on his heel, Gregory ran face first into a wall of metal.
“Whoa! You okay Squirt?”
Gregory looked up to see Monty towering over him. “Yeah, I’m okay.” He said while clutching his forehead. It was nothing a little ice wouldn’t fix.
“Hey, to make up for it, do y’wanna go play some Gator Golf? My treat.” Monty said, pulling down his glasses and winking. He was acting odd, a lot more mascoty than he normally did.
“Sure.”
“Great!” Monty led Gregory over to the elevator, skipping the line to get in fast.
Once they were in the elevator, Monty dropped the act. “Thanks for playing along, kid.”
“No problem… but why am I here?”
“If we accidentally bump into a kid or we see them get hurt we have to give them free admission to our games. It’s part of this place trying to make us seem non-threatening and junk.” Monty explained.
“Ah, okay.” Gregory shuffled his feet awkwardly. He hadn’t talked to Monty as much as the others, and now suddenly he was going to play golf with him. Not the worst way this day could have gone, but definitely not the best. It was going to be horribly awkward.
The doors opened and the two stepped out, heading straight past the counter into the course. Monty produced two golf clubs from who knows where and handed one to Gregory.
“Get ready to lose, squirt.”
Gregory raised an eyebrow. “Bold words for someone who lost a go-kart race to a child. Multiple times.”
“Unlike go-karting, golf takes skill.” Monty smugly replied. “Which you have none of.”
“Oh you’ll eat your words Gator.”
“Try me—“ Monty paused. “What’s your last name?”
Gregory paused. He hadn’t told anyone his last name in years. Even Alan thought his last name was “Smith”. That was the safest thing to use, it was generic and wouldn’t actually lead them back to anything relating to him. But this was Monty, someone who Freddy trusted with his life. Someone worth a chance. Besides, he would tell Freddy his last name, and it would be weird if he had to explain to Monty why he gave him a fake one.
“…Forester.” He said, staring at his gold club. “It’s Forester.”
“Alright Forester, you’re going down.”
Gregory lost horrifically, not understanding that a lower score was better in golf. (Which was stupid, in his humble opinion. Why would they change up the rule established in every game and sport every just for golf.)
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“Okay, I’ve been brainstorming all day!” Chica said, sliding down into the Daycare’s ball pit. The pizzaplex had just closed, and she and Sun were meeting up to discuss presents to get for Gregory.
“I’ve had the best idea as well, well, well!” Sun cheered, rushing up to meet Chica. They grabbed her arm and dragged her over to sit together on the floor.
“You go first.” Chica said.
“Okay, Okay, Okay! Gregory loves drawing, so we could get him something to put all of his pencils and crayons and pens and stuff in! And we could make it cool and sparkly!”
Chica clapped her hands. “That’s such a good idea!”
“What was yours?”
“Well, I had a kid show me drawings in their sketchbook, and I thought that Gregory might like one! Because then he would have a place to put all his drawings.”
Sun laughed. “That’s a good idea as well! Which do we pick, pick, pick?” They contemplated the decision.
Chica smiled widely. “Why not both?” They stared at each other for a moment before laughing. Sun bounced up into a handstand.
“I’ll go get the glitter glue! We can start now!”
“Alright!“ Chica got up to follow.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Vanessa’s voice carried down from above, and Chica looked up to see her.
“Vanessa, hello! What do you mean?”
“Do you two even have the things you want to decorate?”
Sun stopped and stood up. “Do we not have them in a storage closet somewhere?”
Vanessa laughed. “Not everything is in a storage room. If we have anything like that it’s probably already Fazbear Entertainment branded.”
“Well then…” Chica said, running through their options. “Could you get them for us? I can find a way to pay you back!”
Vanessa shrugged. “Sure, I don’t mind. But do me a favor and see if Gregory wants anything else, okay? I can’t figure out a gift for the life of me.”
“No problem, problem, problem!” Sun said, standing back up.
“Perfect. I’ve got to go clock in, have a great night.” Vanessa said, waving as she left.
“So what now?” Sun asked.
“Hmm…” Chica looked around the room. “Oh! We could make everyone Christmas cards!”
Two hours and four packs of paper later, Chica and Sun were finishing up the last of the cards. It started with a friendly competition to make Monty the best card, and quickly devolved into a contest on who could make the most to hand out to the daycare kids. They were mostly Christmas themed, but there were some other holidays in the mix as well. All of the animatronics were programmed with initial basic knowledge about a lot of things, including Christmas, but they hadn’t known about any other winter holidays until kids started telling them. They would listen intently to stories about menorahs and oil, unity cups and corn, wreaths with candles in them and white gowns, and shows with candies and coins. It was endlessly fascinating, especially to Chica and Sun. Every year they learned something new, and every year they got to make kids light up with joy at being recognized. Chica couldn’t help but smile at the memories as she colored in the kinara on her card.
“Chica? Are you in here?” Freddy called as he entered the room.
“Down here Freddy. Come join us!”
A few minutes later, Freddy came out of the employee’s entrance. (His shoulders were too wide for the slide, which was a shame. The slide was super fun!)
“Do you need anything?” She asked.
“No, I simply wanted to know where you were. I have not seen you since this morning.”
“Would you like to join us?” Sun said. “We’re making cards!”
“I would love to.” Freddy said, grabbing a sheet of paper and meticulously folding it in half.
Chica peered over at his design, watching him write “Happy Hanukkah Rockstar!” in navy on the front.
“Hey, Freddy?” She said.
“Yes?”
“Why did you switch from calling the kids ‘superstars’?”
His crayon stilled. “I am— unsure. It just does not feel right.” Then, almost as if he didn’t realize he was saying it, he added; “I already have a Superstar after all.”
Chica smiled and went back to her card. It was sweet how much Freddy cared for Gregory.
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It was ten days until Christmas, and she still didn’t have anything for Gregory. At this point she was going to have to just buy him a toy or something, which killed her a little. She always sewed her Christmas presents, it was kind of her thing. Sammy was keeping her company in her sewing room, doing her collage work.
“So, did you ask your mom if I can come for Hanukkah again this year?” Vanessa said as she sorted through fabric. Plenty of colors and textures that Gregory would enjoy, but nothing to make them into. Shoving them back, she went back to the half finished dress she was making for her sister, Wendy.
“Yeah, she told me to tell you to stop asking permission. You’re basically family at this point.” Sammy laughed. “I think she might like you more than me.”
“No way, your mom adores you.” Vanessa said, fondly thinking of Mrs.Obadia. “Oh, you’re good to come over for Christmas as well. We’re doing it at Wendy’s place this year.”
“How are we doing travel, then? Because Hanukkah starts on the twenty-fourth this year.”
“Their houses aren’t that far apart, right? It’s only like a fifteen minute drive.” Vanessa put the dress down and looked back at Sammy, who was still hunched over her laptop. “And don’t do that, it’s horrible for your back.”
“You’re one to talk.” Sammy said, fondly rolling their eyes. “If that works, do you think we’ll have time to stop by the Pizzaplex?”
“We should, why?”
“I got Gregory a present.”
“What did you get him?”
“A bed.”
That threw Vanessa off. “What?”
“Like, a bed frame. It even has some storage built in underneath.” Sammy looked up from her laptop. “I told you he needed a proper bed.”
“Yeah, I just didn’t expect you to go out and buy one yourself. I was going to pick up my old bed and mattress from my parents place.”
“Well, we still need the mattress.” Sammy said, laughing. “And bedding. Sheets, blankets, all that stuff. I’m going to see what I can find after the holidays are over and things start going on sale.”
Lightning struck. “Oh my god!” Vanessa shouted.
“What?”
“I can make Gregory a blanket! That’s what I can make!” Quickly running back to the fabrics she had, Vanessa started pulling some out. “I’ll have to go out and buy different fabric for most of it, but I have some colors in here that would make for a great top layer, plus maybe I can do some felt illustrations? That would be fun.” Vanessa spoke as fast as the words came to her mind, ideas overflowing.
“You sure you’re going to have enough room for all this fabric? It’ll take over your apartment soon enough.” Sammy joked. It was true, Vanessa had more fabric than she could use in a month. But what could she say? After finally being able to throw herself into her hobby after years of mind control, she was allowed to splurge a little.
“Well, hopefully my new place will have more room.”
“You’re moving?” Sammy sounded shocked. Vanessa looked back at them.
“Not far, there’s a family in the apartment complex next door that’s going to be moving out in May, and they asked if anyone wants it. I think they just inherited a ton of money too, they’re keeping it paid off with the landlord for like, the rest of their contract.“
“Holy shit that’s a good deal.”
“I know! The master bedroom is the perfect size for a sewing room too. Plus it’s three bed, one bath, so I’m going to have a guest room too. Or maybe a place for a kid.” Vanessa hadn’t meant to speak the last part out loud.
“A kid?” Sammy smirked.
“Not Gregory! Well, technically yes Gregory for when there’s big maintenance days and stuff but more like— I’ve signed up for some parenting courses.” Sammy was quiet, laptop closed, paying full attention to Vanessa. “You were right, I don’t know what kids really need, I’ve been flying by the seat of my pants and that’s not fair to the kid. Plus… I don’t know, I've just been thinking about the future more.” Vanessa’s face burned. She didn’t admit that those thoughts about the future always featured Sammy by her side, living in a nice house or condo somewhere in town. A living room full of toys and sewing room full of commissioned dresses, fabric and supplies from floor to ceiling. It wasn’t realistic, but it made Vanessa warm and fuzzy when she imagined it.
“You’ve gone soft, Abernathey.” Sammy said.
“Oh you’re one to talk Mx. Never-Going-To-Collage.”
“Alright, you almost dropped out of high school, I don’t want to hear it.”
Vanessa scoffed and went back to sorting through fabric. “You’re the worst.”
“Love you too.” Sammy responded.