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He woke up on the couch and looked around…
He saw beer bottles on the ground and the TV was still on. When Pump looked at the time, it was midnight.
At first he was worried because he thought that Belladonna was still up, but he realized that she fell asleep earlier. The man sighs and covers his face.
It’s been two months since Skid’s death. He’s been with his lover for years and thought he could be with him forever. Just holding him and feeling the warmth…
Now it just feels cold…
Pump uncovers his face and stared at the photo. He grabs the frame and brings it close.
It was him, Skid, and their three year old daughter…
“ I just wanted to watch our kid grow up while we grow old, Skid. I’m sorry you have to miss that. “
He puts it back on the table and got up. He might as well clean up the mess he made. He walked out of the living room and already see his kid out of bed “ Bella, what are you doing? “
“ I-I don’t wanna sleep… “
“ Bad dream? “
“ Mhm… “
“ I have some cleaning up to do, so just wait in my room okay? “
“ Okay… “
She walks away while the adult walks into the kitchen. Despite his partner’s unexpected death and the stress he had to put up with, he certainly won’t give up.
He’ll keep going and make sure that his child is safe, so nothing and no one will hurt her. He doesn’t want her death to be same as Skid’s…
“ Daddy? “
“ Hm? “
“ Do you h-have… um… I don’t know what it’s called, but you do have anything you got when you were young? Do you still keep them? “
He sat up on his couch and responded with “ … Those are called Momentous and yeah I still keep them. They’re very important to me and your Father. Did you want to look through them? “. The child nodded as her Father picks her up…
“ Yeah… we could look through some… “
—————————————————————
“ This box is dirty… “
“ Mhm… sure is… “
Pump felt awkward coming to the attic just because he wanted to look through the memories of his loved one…
He tried to reassure himself that it was fine and there was nothing to worry about…
“ Hey Daddy, I think I found a picture of you… “
“ Oh really? “
He walks over and bends down. He smiles and replies “ The boy with the big ugly poofy hair is me. The girl next to me is your Aunt Susie. “
“ So like… when you were younger? “
“ Yeah… I was seven when that photo was taken. “
Belladonna looked in the box and asked “ Skeleton Dad said that you two would always celebrate spooky month. “. Pump nodded and got up. He walks over to another box and opens it “ Yup. I wore a pumpkin costume and he wears a skeleton costume. “.
He pulls out a skeleton mask and gives it to his kid. She stares at it and asked “ Did you still celebrate it even when you’re grown up? “
“ We grew out of it… sorta. We still watch horror movies in October. “
“ Were you always scared of those kind of movies? “
“ In the beginning? Yes, but I got over it in my teen years. “
Belladonna nodded and sees a box with her name on it…
Belladonna’s Box
“ What’s that box doing there? “
“ Me and your Dad set that up when you turned 3. It only has some baby stuff though. “
“ Eww baby stuff. “
“ Well that what I said when I was your age. “
She laughed at the joke and kept looking through the box…
The adult looked at the costume that caught his eye. He walks over to it and grabs it…
“ So… you like my costume? “
Skid gasps as he hugs the chubby child “ You look so spooky for the spooky month! You wanna get some candy? “. The younger one nodded and the two ran off…
“ Hey Daddy, what are you holding? “
“ It’s my costume that I wore when I was seven. Usually people would wear costume on Halloween, but me and your Dad wore our costumes outside of October. “
“ You think it still fits? “
“ Nope! I got older and fatter. I also don’t want to rip this. “
He puts it down and grabs the pumpkin mask “ I’m surprised I still have this, but then again it’s very important to me. “. The five year old then spotted yet another box and said “ That has a note on it! “.
A what?
The man looks at the note and grabs it…
I’m not even sure what to name this…
Eh… if Belladonna gets some more stuff and she doesn’t use them anymore, we’ll put it here.
Signed,
Skid
So… just a empty box? Cool.
“ Hey Bella, this box is empty. Your grandma Lila must have had this in her home before. “
“ Cool… I’m gonna wear it now. “
She grabs it and puts it over her…
…
And now she’s in the box considering she’s tiny and small. Pump grabs the object over and said “ You’re so silly sometimes. “. Belladonna giggles and her Father picks her up “ I think I still have that family photo album. Wanna help me look for it? “
“ Yay! Treasure hunt! “
And so the two started to look until Pump opens a box with some toys. Some of them were from his childhood that he holds dearly.
The child walked up to him and asked “ Do you have any toys that you still keep? “
“ Well yes, but actually no. “
“ … “
“ Basically… me and Skid had a doll called a Happy Fella, but… “
“ We can deal with it, Mom, it’s just a doll. “
The doll was swinging the knife around, so he can kill them…
Yeah that thing needs to be destroyed.
“ We do not speak of it… “
After the moment of awkward silence, Pump holds up a box and asks “ Anyways I found the album. I can look through it and you can ask about some of the pictures okay? “
“ Yay! Photo time! “
Pump picks his daughter up and walked downstairs. Taking care of his child and being a widow isn’t going to be easy, but he’s going to make sure to protect her with his life.
…
It’s a promise he’ll never forget.