Work Text:
Memory File Loading
Memory File Loaded
November 11th, 1978, Afton Household
It was a cold fall evening, a few days after Michael turned 12, when Henry had knocked on the door, William letting him in. Henry was in tears, as Michael remembered it. His father had closed the door behind Henry, gently leading him to the couch before sitting him down and hugging him. William looked over at Michael, who was standing in the doorway idly, simply looking at the scene, William then told him to go make a cup of tea, so he did.
Michael took a kettle and poured some tap water into it before setting it on the stove to boil it. After a few minutes, and after he was sure the water was done boiling, he took the kettle off the stove and grabbed a small mug from the cabinet. He got a tea bag from a box next to the stove before putting it in the mug and pouring the hot water in. He let the tea sit for about a minute before sliding the sleeves of his red hoodie over his hands and picking up the hot mug. He was just about to turn the corner to the living room when he heard talking. Michaels curiosity got the best of him so he decided to eavesdrop a little bit on the conversation going on in the next room over.
“She left me William! S-she left me because of how I gave up the children to you!” Michael furrowed his eyebrows, ‘What children? What does Uncle Henry mean?’ “That’s quite selfish of her, to leave you because you wanted [Redacted] and @#$+& to have a safe and happy life, just like I told you they would. And, hey, I wasn’t wrong, they are extremely safe and happy.” Michael almost dropped the mug that was in his hand when he heard him and his brother's name. ‘Wait, Henry’s my dad? I mean, I knew I wasn’t genetically Fathers child but I didn’t realize @#$+& was too.. Wait that means Henry’s my Dad and @#$+& is actually my brother, while Elizabeth and William aren’t even related to me… oh my gosh, why wasn’t I told this?!’ All of this hit him like a train, he was still for a moment before remembering his current task. ‘I’ll think about this after giving this to Uncle Henry- err- Dad? Augh I don’t know.’
Henry was about to say more before Michael entered the room. “Here is your tea..” He paused for a moment before looking directly at Henry, giving him a look that told him he was pissed “Dad.” The word was said like he was trying to verbally stab Henry. William's eyes widened and Henry froze. Michael, not even waiting to get a response, put down the mug and stormed out of the room and to his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.
Michaels bedroom walls were painted a desaturated red, if you couldn’t tell by now red was his favorite color. His floor was regular wood and his bed, which was right by his window in the corner across from where his white wooden bedroom door sat, had navy blue bed sheets with matching a pillowcase on his soft pillow and royal blue covers, at the end of the bed was a laundry bucket, where his worn clothes were dropped into at the end of the day. There was a wooden nightstand next to where his bed sat with a lamp on top of it. Next to his door was his dresser where his clothes were stored, and about a meter to the left of the dresser was where the closet sat, nothing much in it except some old boxes with clothes that no longer fit him. His room was actually quite small, and clean, surprisingly enough.
It had been about an hour since his little outburst, at this point the sun was already set and he was looking out the window at the stars that scattered the sky above him when his door was open, the light from the hall intruding into the darkness of the room. Michael just kept staring out the window as he heard two pairs of foot-steps come up from behind him. “[Redacted]-” Henry started before he was cut off by Michael “Don’t call me that.” He knew it was risky, and honestly a really bad time, but he felt a bit guilty and he figured if he found out their most protected secrets, he would share his. “Uhm, what?” He heard Henry inquired. Michael let out a breath ‘okay now or never’ “It’s Michael, now, I would like to be known as Michael.” He could practically feel the two mens gaze over him “ [Re]- er- Michael, please look at us” He slowly turned around before looking up at the two men. Michael looked like he was about to break down at the slightest hint of displeasure towards his words. As if reading his mind, William scoffed before stating “I think I speak for the both of us when we say you have our full support, if you wish to be a boy then so be it, we can talk about this later and maybe get you some more comfortable clothing afterwards, but right now we want to talk about the outburst you had earlier.” Michael looked shocked for a moment before nodding for one of them to continue.
“I know this is likely a lot for you right now, [R]- sorry- Michael but we’re sorry that we didn’t tell you sooner, you should have been informed of your genetic parents, especially because you knew them.” Henry said, putting a hand on Michaels freckle stained cheek endearingly, stroking it lightly. “I agree with Henry, and if you wish to, you don’t have to call me by any father-like labels, can call Henry by one instead.” William explained. Michael thought it over for a moment “It’s okay,” he started with a soft smile “, and I think I will continue calling you Dad, I'll just call Henry papa! Now I have two dads!” He gave them a little smile. “Okay, thats just fine with us.” Henry said, smiling back at him. Michael just smiled and slid over to the edge of his bed and hopped off, running to his door “Bye Papa and Dad! I’m gonna go see what the twins are up to!” He scampered off, feeling satisfied, but most of all he couldn’t wait for that conversation he would have later.
Memory File Ended