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It was Christmas Eve and Freddy had been expecting to spend it with Gregory in their home in Utah. Instead, Gregory had insisted on the animatronic traveling all the way to Boston, so he could personally witness how well Gregory was settling into college life.
And now Gregory had asked him to go to a mysterious address on Christmas Eve, for his “Christmas present experience”. He had followed Gregory’s instructions and ended up standing in front of a non-descript gray door that clearly was not the front entrance to the building.
He had a bad feeling about this.
He stood there, wondering if perhaps he had got the wrong address. But after checking it a few times, comparing it to Gregory’s instructions, he had to sadly conclude that this, the dubious door to a nondescript building in the middle of a sketchy part of Boston, was definitely the correct address.
Not knowing what else to do, Freddy knocked on the door.
He didn’t have to wait long. He could already hear footsteps rapidly approaching, then Gregory appeared, slamming the door open, a big, excited grin on his face. “You made it!” he greeted enthusiastically. Freddy frowned at him.
“Did you think I would not come?”
“Well…” Gregory almost answered, then cut himself off. “You had no trouble finding the place?” he asked instead. Freddy sighed.
“You gave very specific instructions. Concerningly specific. Gregory, is there something I should know…?” Freddy paused and looked Gregory over. “Why are you wearing a security officer’s uniform? Did you get a part-time job? Have I not been sending enough-”
“No- this- I’ll explain, c’mon, let’s go inside,” Gregory spoke quickly, tripping over his own words. He tugged lightly at Freddy’s wrist, and the bear wearily followed him inside. Gregory was being secretive, and that left Freddy feeling a sense of dread.
As they walked down seemingly endless hallways, Freddy found the place looked alarmingly familiar. The security outfit Gregory was starting to look less generic and more familiar. But it still took Freddy an embarrassingly long time to realize where he was, where Gregory had lured him to, why his young ward had been so clandestine with his machinations.
When they entered the atrium, Freddy gaped. He recognized it instantly. How could he not?
“Is this the Pizzaplex? In Boston?” Freddy asked, surprised. It was a little different from his Pizzaplex, but it was unquestionably a Pizzaplex. He looked down at Gregory, who was smiling sheepishly.
“Yeah, it is,” Gregory answered. “Happy Christmas! I thought I’d get you a trip down memory lane as a present. I mean, what do you get the bear that has everything, right?”
Freddy stared at him, mouth agape, not knowing what to say, what to feel, what to think. Gregory laughed nervously.
“See, um, Victor works here, and he owes, well, owed me a favor. He’s given me access to the Boston Pizzaplex! Kind of. We look similar, so I’m pretending to be Victor for the night. Which means I’m actually working the night shift, which, um, which means I’m doing unpaid labor, but hey, not a big deal-”
“I do not understand,” Freddy said, interrupting Gregory’s ramble. Gregory looked at him uncertainly. He then shifted from foot to foot, the way he always did when he was about to talk about something sensitive. It served only to put Freddy further on edge.
“Anisa and some of the others told me you… might not be… coping so well with my absence,” he mumbled.
“You’ve been talking to my clients’ children?” Freddy asked alarmed.
“No, they contacted me first!” Gregory protested. “Ok, how to explain this… They first contacted me years ago. They told me they’d always known that you’re an animatronic bear and… Once they got old enough to understand what that actually means, they came to me and asked questions.” He paused. “Um. Consider them my support group. It’s what they basically are…” Gregory kicked his foot back and forth. “… They’ve been keeping an eye on you, while I’ve been here.” He glared up at Freddy. “Because I knew you wouldn’t tell me how you’re actually doing!”
“Do you mean you have been spying on me?” Freddy asked, horrified.
“What? No! I asked them to check in on you, make sure you’re ok. Which they’ve been doing.”
Freddy frowned, tapping his jaw. “I did think they were throwing a lot of parties lately…” he muttered. It was particularly strange, since most of his first clients’ children were now in their tweens, an age when Freddy Fazbear and co. tended to be perceived as too kiddy and family-friendly for their edgy tastes. He sighed. “Yes, Gregory, you no longer being around has been… different. I admit, perhaps I have not been… adapting well to the change. Perhaps I should have said something, but this is also not your burden to bear. I was worried you would do something drastic to try and help. I did not want that.”
Gregory frowned, feeling shame creeping up on him. He’d wanted to help Freddy, but all he had done was do exactly as Freddy had feared: Gregory had gone and done something drastic to help. He was that predictable, huh.
He rubbed the back of his neck.
“Maybe we both need to work on talking to each other. Openly. Seems all we’ve done is worry each other more,” Gregory said softly. It had not occurred to him to simply talk to Freddy. It had not even occurred to him that that was an option at all. Instead, for him it had been much more natural to concoct this big, complicated plan that ran a large risk of upsetting Freddy and making the bear regret choosing Gregory over the Pizzaplex in Utah.
… Was he still testing Freddy?
“So why am I here?” Freddy asked, cutting through Gregory’s thoughts.
Gregory looked up at the bear with big eyes. Primal fear overtook him. What if Freddy liked the Pizzaplex more than him, what if Freddy regretted choosing Gregory, what if Freddy ended up hating and rejecting him?
Oh.
Yeah.
Gregory was definitely testing Freddy and that realization made him feel a little guilty.
“You’ve been out of the Pizzaplex for six years. I wanted to show you that… I wanted to show you how far you’ve come. And… maybe that you wouldn’t fit back in here…?”
Freddy stared wordlessly at Gregory for a few moments, then his eyes widened slightly, as if something had dawned on him. He smiled warmly at Gregory and placed a gentle hand on the teenager’s shoulder.
“Are you worried I wish to go back?” Freddy asked.
Damn, Gregory really was that transparent.
“No!” Gregory instinctively denied. “Yes,” he then admitted. “I’m terrified.”
Freddy pulled him into a hug.
“Gregory, I am not going anywhere. I promised I would always be there for you, whenever you need me. I have never and will never wish to go back. I would not exchange you for anything in the world.” To be honest, Freddy felt a little relieved. He had worried Gregory would go away and never spare the bear another thought, too preoccupied with his new life at college to care for a cartoon character the teenager should have outgrown years ago.
Gregory abruptly broke the hug, looking up at his guardian indignantly.
“Yeah, but do you really know that?” Gregory demanded. “The original Pizzaplex is gone. You probably only feel like you don’t want to go back, because you can’t. And now I’m- I- Freddy, you can go back! There are Pizzaplexes all over America! So- you don’t know that, because-”
“I know,” Freddy softly interrupted. It broke his heart that even after all these years, Gregory was still afraid that Freddy would abandon him. It was like no matter how much love Freddy showered Gregory with, it would never be enough to destroy of that fear, once and for all.
Gregory seemed to deflate a little, picking up on Freddy’s sadness. The teen continued, “I know you miss your friends, and I know you think life was easier when you were just an animatronic in the Pizzaplex. You- don’t tell me you’re not tempted. That being here doesn’t make you… regret.”
Freddy cupped Gregory’s face. “You are my one and only superstar. You really think I would give you up so easily?” Freddy asked sincerely. Gregory grew flustered and quickly looked away, down at his feet.
After a moment of silence, Gregory quietly admitted, “Maybe… Maybe I haven’t handled this… well.”
Freddy snorted. “So, you are aware that covering someone’s security night shift and smuggling me into a Pizzaplex is not handling things well? I am glad. I feared I would have to lengthily explain this to you.”
Gregory glared at him, knocking the hand away.
“Superstar, for your peace of mind, I will happily look around, and we will both see, I am happiest when I am with you.”
Gregory tried to hide it, but he was relieved and even pleased that Freddy would still do the little test. Even though Freddy was certain it would make no difference. It almost convinced Gregory that Freddy really wouldn’t ever abandon him, no matter the circumstances.
“Freddy, you know this is a functioning Pizzaplex, right?” Gregory asked.
“Well, yes. Why do you ask?” Freddy replied, perplexed. Gregory sighed.
“That means there is another Freddy here.”
Freddy felt like every part of his programming had frozen. Another Freddy Fazbear? At another Pizzeria? Memories resurfaced of the Nursery, where all those endoskeletons had hung, where they were repurposed and recycled and-
“You put off thinking about some things,” Gregory reminded him. “Like what it means to actually be a sentient animatronic. You have been carefully avoiding thinking about that for years. So, I think this will be good for you. For your programming. Help you figure some things out about yourself. Some things you’ve been too… too scared to look at.”
It seemed Freddy would have his own fears tested today after all. Another Freddy Fazbear… Would he have another freak-out or… would things be different now?
Freddy placed a hand on Gregory’s shoulder once more.
“Gregory, I love you, but your solution to problems seems to often involve the delicacy of a sledgehammer.”
Gregory laughed.
“I’ll figure out how to be more delicate in future, promise,” Gregory told him. Freddy just felt the exhaustion from Gregory’s antics beginning to settle in. Gregory might think he would one day be able to handle things with more finesse in future, but Freddy was more realistic than that.
“I would love to see the day, superstar… I really would,” he told his ward. Because that day was never going to come.
Something was wrong.
Freddy Fazbear suddenly woke up, staring up at the ceiling. “Show time already?” he asked himself, as he tried to make sense of what was happening. He checked his internal clocks. It was coming up to midnight. An internal clock also told him it was Christmas Eve. So, the Pizzaplex was closed and would still be for a few days.
He shouldn’t be active.
Someone had activated his programming, taken him out of his sleep cycle. He got off the couch and found the door to his dressing room was unlocked.
He exited and found Bonnie, Chica and Roxy already outside of their dressing rooms, looking as confused as he felt.
“Do you know what is going on?” he asked them.
“Beats me, I just woke up too,” Bonnie answered, stretching his back.
“This is weird, right? There’s no emergency, so why have they woken us up?” Chica asked.
“Maybe it was the security guard? Remember how Tim used to let us out all the time?” Roxy asked. “Until he got caught and fired. Shame that.”
“Hey, yeah, that makes sense,” Bonnie agreed. “It’s Christmas Eve, right? Maybe whoever’s on shift-”
“It should be Victor,” Freddy interjected.
“-has let us out as a little Christmas present! You know, letting the ol’ animatronics roam the night, like in the good ol’ days.”
“Victor doesn’t celebrate Christmas,” Chica pointed out. “And how would he know about the good ol’ days? He wasn’t here back then. He was hired after Tim?”
“Look, guys, what I’m saying is,” Bonnie continued, slinging his arms around Freddy and Chica. “Let’s make the most of a good time and hang out at the bowling alley. Like we used to, when Tim was around!”
“I’m down for a game or two,” Roxy agreed, flicking her hair to the side.
“No, we should not do that. This is unusual. We should find out what is going on,” Freddy argued. “We should find Victor and seek answers.”
“Spoilsport,” Bonnie complained. “He might have accidentally let us out. What if he tries to put us back in sleep mode?”
“What if it was something more serious?” Freddy asked back.
“What would be serious enough to wake us up, but not trigger any security alarms at all?” Roxy questioned. “I don’t hear any sirens and I’m not getting any emergency messages either.” Freddy opened his mouth to answer, then had to close it shut when he couldn’t think of anything to refute her point.
“Look, if you’re worried about Victor, you go check on him,” Bonnie said. “We’re gonna party down at the bowling alley. Right, Roxy?”
“You bet. I have an old record to beat.”
“Wait. That’s right… I suck at bowling,” Bonnie groaned. “Hey, Chica, you wanna come? At least then I won’t be losing alone.”
“Oh, um, well I-” Chica stuttered.
“See ya at the bowling alley!” Roxy cut off before Chica could answer, linking her arm with Bonnie’s and essentially dragging him off. Chica looked helplessly at Freddy. The bear sighed.
“It is fine. If you wish to go with them-”
“Yay, thanks!” Chica cheered and gave him a quick hug before running after them. Freddy reluctantly watched her leave. He wished his friends could take things like this a little more seriously. But perhaps it was not in their nature to be serious. Some days, it felt like only Freddy had been programmed with an innate sense of responsibility. Then again, perhaps that was natural, considering he was their predestined leader.
Freddy wandered over to the main security office, wishing he were down at the bowling alley with his friends too, instead of being the only responsible animatronic in the whole building. Doing what was right did not always feel good.
“Victor, is everything all right?” Freddy asked as he opened the door. “You seem to have accidentally let all the animatronics go into free… roaming…” He trailed off, looking at the teenage boy that was decidedly not Victor, sitting in the head security’s chair, feet up on the console. “Who are you?”
The boy, for his part, stared at Freddy incredulously.
“This is so uncanny,” the boy said, sounding awestruck.
“You are not Victor. Where is Victor?” Freddy questioned, sending an internal alarm to his friends. There was an intruder in the Pizzaplex.
“Ok, I hear you, let’s calm down,” the teen said, holding up both hands disarmingly. “Victor has taken the night off, as a favor to me.”
“I do not understand.”
“Victor owed me a favor. I cashed it in. The favor was letting me hang out at the Pizzaplex after hours. Came with the downside that I am actually doing his job for him… But hey, don’t look a gift bear in the mouth.”
“This is terribly irresponsible. Please call Victor and ask him to come to the Pizzaplex and take back his shift. You do not have proper authorization!”
“Hey, I won’t tell if you don’t. I overheard the conversation you had with your friends, down in the atrium. Sounds like you guys could spend the night having fun for once. Instead of staying in sleep mode through the night. Or through the holidays? You guys don’t seem to get a chance at being active if the Pizzaplex isn’t open.”
Freddy frowned. “Why are you here instead of Victor?”
“Well, that’s a good question, actually. And the answer is- well, it’s… It’s complicated.”
“It seems a simple question to me.”
“Yeah, it would seem that way,” the teen agreed. “My name’s Gregory,” he introduced himself. Freddy was about to return the favor, when Gregory continued, “Gregory Fazbear.” Freddy had to replay what he had heard in his head. Several times.
“That is your legal name?” Freddy questioned.
“Sure is. And the reason I’m here is because of my dad.” Gregory pointed to a dark corner of the room. “He’s over there.”
Freddy looked at the corner. He saw nothing, no life signs… Then two blue eyes lit up, looking back at him. He stared in horror as an animatronic stepped into the light. Another Freddy Fazbear.
“That is not possible,” Freddy stuttered.
“Hello,” the other Freddy greeted. “My name is Freddy Fazbear. I come from a different Pizzaplex. And this is my son, Gregory.”
Freddy stared, eyes flicking between Gregory and the other Freddy. He was able to consider the reality for perhaps a moment, then his mind flickered off, unable to process those eighteen words uttered by his doppelganger.
“He’s fine!” Gregory reassured, running the last batch of diagnostic tests. “Man, the way you guys reacted, you’d think you’ve never seen an unconscious animatronic before.”
“You have to agree, another Freddy Fazbear is pretty wild!” Bonnie protested. He looked at the human’s Freddy. Despite clearly being from a previous Fazbear era, if you ignored the accessories and clothes, the two looked identical. “So, you’re from Utah?”
“I… suppose,” Freddy answered with some hesitance. It was strange to see Bonnie… alive again. But not as jarring as he thought it would be. This Bonnie… was not like his Bonnie. Was more childish and lively. His Bonnie had been calm and an animatronic of few words. This was not his Bonnie.
It was a strange feeling, to somehow feel joy at seeing Bonnie alive again – and yet feel the pain of his loss all the more strongly.
“Hey, if you’re from Utah, why don’t you sound like it?” Chica asked.
“Well, I am still Freddy Fazbear, no matter where I am,” Freddy answered, shrugging. The character Freddy Fazbear had an established accent.
Chica giggled.
“I suppose that’s true enough!” she agreed chirpily. It was a little off-putting. Similarly to Bonnie, this Chica was also more… Naïve than his. His Chica had been maturer, warmer…
He needed to stop comparing them to his friends. It wasn’t fair on them. They looked similar, but they were next-gen animatronics – the atompunks. Of course they were different. Fazbear Entertainment had, while replacing the glamrocks with newer Ais, given the franchise another soft reboot. Glamrocks were a thing of yesteryear.
“Lemme get this straight,” Roxy spoke up. “You fled the Pizzaplex and adopted a human child and have been living as a human for the past six years?”
“Not a child anymore!” Gregory corrected from where he sat at the monitors.
“That is a much-simplified version of the events,” Freddy admitted after a moment. “But essentially… yes.” Glancing over at Gregory, Freddy was unsure how much he wanted to reveal about that night. Did he really want to bring up the murderous zombie that had used a puppet woman to orchestrate child murders from the basement of the Pizzaplex?
… Did he want to bring up that that monster had also killed all his friends?
“So, what’s the full version of the story?” Chica asked, leaning forward. “It’s hard to imagine you leaving us for a kid. Especially since we see hundreds of kids all the time! How’d you look at one kid in a crowd and decide to break all protocols to adopt him? I mean, that’s totally cray-cray! Right? Doesn’t he have parents?”
Chica had always been chatty. She had that much in common with his Chica. Freddy glanced over to Gregory. The teenager was sitting up, turned to them, no longer observing the monitors. To his relief, Gregory chose to answer the question.
“I don’t have parents. That’s why I have Freddy,” Gregory said, rather plainly. The solarpunks hesitated for amoment, before Bonnie spoke up.
“Oh, sorry to hear that champ!” he said with perhaps a bit too much enthusiasm. He cleared his artificial throat. “Still doesn’t explain how an animatronic can just decide to up and leave one day.”
“It is complicated,” Freddy repeated.
“I don’t think you want to know,” Gregory agreed, walking over. He stood next to Freddy, arms crossed. “… Considering how my dad’s still standing, while yours was knocked unconscious from the shock of seeing another Freddy, I’m not sure you guys could handle the truth.”
Bonnie and Roxy’s eyes narrowed at that. Gregory hadn’t meant to insult, but the teen had always had that special gift.
“Oh, we can handle the truth,” Roxy claimed.
“We can so handle it,” Bonnie agreed. Chica didn’t look quite so convinced.
“I’m not sure you can,” Gregory replied with a shrug. “You’ve never even stepped outside the Pizzaplex, how d’you known you can handle all the nastiness of that night?”
Before either Bonnie or Roxy could answer, Chica spoke up.
“Did you tell the others you were leaving?” She looked at Freddy, with some sadness. Like she knew the answer already.
Freddy hesitated to answer. He didn’t know how to. No, he hadn’t bid his friends goodbye. But had there ever been a chance? By the end of the night, they’d been dead. When could he have considered them deceased? When Gregory had decommissioned them? Or when Afton had first taken control of them…?
Freddy slowly shook his head.
“Wait, really?” Bonnie asked, shocked. “So you just up and left one day? Are you really Freddy Fazbear? Because last I checked, Freddy’s my best friend and would leave me for nothing.”
That was true enough. In every iteration of the franchise, Freddy was best friends with Bonnie, and Bonnie was best friends with Freddy. It was like a universal truth. The possibility that Freddy would willingly leave Bonnie must seem impossible to the solarpunks.
Of course, it wasn’t Freddy that had left.
And it wasn’t as if Bonnie had willingly gone.
“There wasn’t an opportunity,” Gregory spoke up, when Freddy seemed unable to answer. “If he could have said goodbye, he would have.”
“Oh, I see. Security stopped you,” Roxy guessed, with a tone of certainty. Gregory and Freddy just shot each other looks.
“You could say that,” Gregory agreed with a shrug.
“See, I knew it,” Roxy said, brushing her hair over her shoulder, clearly pleased with herself.
“Something still isn’t adding up,” Chica spoke up. “Why Gregory? What makes you special, Gregory?” Chica asked the teen. Her programming wouldn’t allow her to address a child in this way, but Gregory wasn’t a child anymore. He was seventeen.
“I mean-” Gregory stuttered up, then felt a heavy paw on his shoulder. He didn’t need to look up to know it was Freddy.
“Gregory is my superstar,” Freddy said, as if that explained everything. “There is no one like him. I am glad he is mine to care for.”
“No, she has a point,” Bonnie said. “Hundreds of kids, why Gregory?”
“If you really want to know… First, you should know, there isn’t a Pizzaplex in Utah anymore.”
“Oh no!” Chica exclaimed, horrified. “What happened?”
Gregory smiled smugly. “I happened.”
It was still dark when Gregory’s shift ended. Freddy and Gregory stood in front of Boston’s Pizzaplex, waving the solarpunks goodbye.
Against Solarpunk Freddy’s initial wish, Gregory had rewritten some of their code, to allow them to go into free roam whenever they wanted to, as well as grant them access to areas that required the highest level of security, because according to Gregory, “that’s always been the stupidest part of the Pizzaplex’s security”.
The night had been… an experience, as Gregory had promised.
Gregory and Freddy had been telling the solarpunks what had happened that night, when Solarpunk Freddy had woken up. After that, rather than catch the last solarpunk up with the story, Gregory had asked his Freddy if it would be ok to digitally share the glamrock’s memories with the solarpunks.
Freddy agreed without hesitation. Even though he knew they weren’t his friends, he still felt like they were. Perhaps it was leftover code from when he’d fully been the character of Freddy Fazbear. Or perhaps it really was simple nostalgia. Either way, he trusted them with his memories. He didn’t feel he had anything to hide from them.
As Gregory had thought though, the solarpunks did not handle the events of that night well and most of Christmas Eve had consisted of rebooting the animatronics after they’d crashed from an overload of conflicting or exceptional emotions.
After that, it was concluded that it was best if the solarpunks perhaps never fully knew what had happened. They understood at least why Glamrock Freddy had left the Pizzaplex with Gregory.
Those kinds of events could forge lifelong friendships in just a few hours.
“What did you talk to the other Freddy about?” Gregory asked, once they had walked away, heading towards the hotel that Freddy was staying at. They needed to hurry, since Freddy hadn’t turned up in his human disguise.
“We were mostly comparing notes,” Freddy answered. “He agrees, three troublesome animatronics are less trouble than a troublesome teenager.” Gregory laughed at that.
“Rude, but fair,” Gregory agreed. He was self-aware enough to know the kind of worries and woes he’d caused his animatronic bear. “You were gone for a really long time though. What else did you talk about?”
“… He said I had his condolences for what happened to… Bonnie,” Freddy quietly admitted. “And the others. But most of all Bonnie.” Unlike the others, Bonnie had died long before Afton took over. Still caused by Afton running experiments on Monty, but unlike the other Glamrocks, Bonnie had died alone, as himself, without knowing why. As a result, it was the most painful of the deaths.
Gregory glanced at the bear uncertainly.
“What about Solarpunk Bonnie? If you miss Bonnie so much, why didn’t you spend time with him?”
“He is not the same as my friend. None of them are. They’re… they’re gone, Gregory,” Freddy answered. He paused in his walk. Gregory stopped when he noticed and looked back at Freddy. “Gregory, for me, there is no going back. But I already knew this. I’ve known for a long time.” He smiled sadly at Gregory. “I hope you now know too.”
Gregory didn’t know what to say.
He really hadn’t ever fully understood the truth. That Freddy never could go back. Not because he’d be reset, not because he would be scrapped, and not because he was looking after Gregory.
It was simply because no Pizzaplex could replicate his friends, his experience, his time at the Pizzaplex.
It had all ended that night.
Irreversibly, irrevocably, gone for good.
“Don’t you resent me?” Gregory finally asked. “Don’t you miss living in the Pizzaplex? Where you belong?”
For a moment, the words hung there.
Then Freddy walked up to him and ruffled his hair. Although Gregory was now grown, he was still shorter than the animatronic by a large margin.
“Yes, I do miss life in the Pizzaplex, sometimes. But I do not wish to go back and no, superstar, I do not resent you,” Freddy told him affectionately. “Especially since my life does not solely revolve around you.”
“What?!” Even though this was a very good thing, Gregory was still offended by the implication. Freddy just laughed and ruffled Gregory’s hair some more. Gregory exclaimed, “Quit that already! Do you know how much time I spend styling my hair now? I’m not a kid, Freddy!”
Freddy laughed again but relented. “I’m sorry, I forget sometimes,” he boldly claimed. He then let out a small sigh. “Perhaps one day, you will fully believe me, when I tell you I have no regrets,” he tiredly said. “But, until then… If you must, test me all you like. I am always glad to prove you wrong.”
Gregory just stared at him.
Freddy smiled knowingly and continued walking. Gregory quickly followed behind him.
“You’re too cheesy,” Gregory told him after some silence.
“It is one of my most charming features,” Freddy replied. Gregory groaned.
“Who told you that? Was it Karen? I bet it was Karen,” he questioned.
“Actually, it was you. Age twelve, about a week after your birthday-”
“Are you kidding me?! Really Freddy, you remember the most useless things,” Gregory said irritably. “And… For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for luring you to a Pizzaplex.”
“Don’t be. I found the experience… eye-opening. I am glad to have met with other animatronics again. It has been six years since I last spoke with a being like me.” After a beat he added, “But please do not be in a rush to organize another such experience.”
“Deal,” Gregory quickly agreed. He and Freddy rarely ever talked about that night anymore. Talking about it again, at great length, had been exhausting for both of them.
“I also noticed you kept calling me ‘dad’ tonight,” Freddy commented. It almost sounded like a simple observation. Almost.
“Oh. Yeah,” Gregory replied, trying to be nonchalant. “I already call you that when talking to other people, so… It was better than saying ‘my Freddy’ or ‘Glamrock Freddy’ all night…”
“I liked it,” Freddy admitted, this time succeeding in sounding casual.
“Um… You did?” Gregory asked, wondering if he’d misheard.
“Yes, I did,” Freddy repeated, now smiling. Gregory said nothing for a moment.
“I like calling you Dad too,” he mumbled quietly, as if embarrassed. He was definitely flustered.
“I see,” was all Freddy said in reply. There was a lapse of silence. Freddy was very comfortable, happy with his newfound knowledge. Gregory, on the other hand, was squirming.
“Well, hey, um, you know,” Gregory stuttered, face fully red, “it’s Christmas Day now! So… Happy Christmas, Dad.” He looked up at Freddy, to find the bear beaming down at him, delighted and proud. It made Gregory smile.
“Happy Christmas, Gregory,” Freddy said and ruffled Gregory’s hair once more.
“Dad!”