Disclaimer: American Horror Story belongs to Ryan Murphy and FX. The song lyrics belong to Leadbelly and/or Nirvana. I only own Frances Langdon.

Violet smiled as she held the squirming bundle in her arms. She was exhausted yet ecstatic. She was reclined back on the bed, looking down at her child. Tate sat on the bed beside her, smiling.

"Hey there, Frances…" Tate wiggled his finger at the baby. Frances gazed up at him. "Hey….look. She knows her name!"

Violet giggled and Tate leaned over to kiss her. "You did a great job, Vi." Tate took the baby from her, and gazed down into her brown eyes. Frances was simply amazing. The perfect mix of her parents. Violet sighed and yawned, she was worn out from labor.

"Tate…could you put Frances down? I'm tired…so tired." Violet rolled over on her side. Tate patted Violet's head and grinned.

Tate got up and walked into the hallway to Frances' nursery. The baby had stopped squirming and was totally sedate in her father's arms. Tate stepped inside the dark nursery and shut the door.

"Hey baby…Welcome into the world, I guess. It's not….much of a world in here." Tate whispered to Frances. "Frances, as your father, I'd like you to know that I've done some things I'm not proud of. We're trapped here, honey. It's all my fault. But I love you and your mommy very much…" He stopped and looked up at the Mannerist paintings that hung on the nursery walls. He gulped.

"I hope that one day you can forgive me for my mistakes, sweetheart…" Tate kissed Frances' cheek and laid her in her crib. "Night-night, Franny. I love you."

Tate slowly walked out of the nursery and ever so quietly shut the door behind him. He didn't want to awaken any evil that still may remain in Murder House.

He then went to join Violet in sleep.


At midnight the clock struck twelve times. Frances kept on sleeping contently. Wind rattled the windows. The infant hardly moved. The door creaked open. She remained unmoved.

Shadows surrounded the crib. A pair of hands gently picked her up. Frances awoke.

"Hello, sweetie…" a voice hissed. The voice belonged to a girl, a young woman. She gently rocked the child in her arms and grinned. "Look at her guys. Ain't she something?", the girl laughed, a sick, twisted laugh.

"We aren't gonna hurt you, Franny. Not yet, anyway." a blonde girl stood next to the one holding Frances. In all, there were six people in the nursery. "Can we hurt her now, Chloe?" "I don't think we should…" a tall boy shook his head in disagreement. His hair was long and stringy. "C'mon, she's a baby." Frances began to whimper.

"Shut up, Kevin. You're an asshole." Chloe spat. Kevin nodded and touched Frances' head. "We can't go easy on her. But we're not here to do anything tonight…."

Steph and Amir nodded in agreement. "He took our lives…it's best we make him suffer…" Steph whispered.

"Shouldn't we just go after Tate?" Kyle Greenwell, the jock, was trying to figure their chain of logic. Jawless Amir just shrugged.

"We're not goin' after him and his bitch tonight!" Chloe hissed. Frances began to cry. Chloe smiled. "Awww, poor baby! Chloe's sorry…" She stroked Frances' cheek, and her jagged nail caught the fragile baby skin. A small cresent of blood appeared on Frances' left cheek. Chloe stuck her finger into her mouth to taste the drop of the child's blood on her nail. "Mmm…"

Chloe laid Frances back down in her crib. "Thanks, baby. We're gonna leave now. We'll be back soon. I promise."

Chloe and the rest of the Westfield ghosts slipped back into the night.

Tate was awoken by Frances' howls. He jolted upright and scrambled into the nursery, throwing the door open. Something was echoing in his head. A voice not his own. He picked up Frances and held her close.

"It's okay, baby. Daddy's here, Daddy's here….shhh…." Tate bit his lip as Frances continued to cry. Tate looked at her closely, and saw the cut on her cheek. Did I do this…? Oh, no….Tate shuddered as he clung to the baby. He took Frances and went back to his and Violet's bedroom.


"Vi…Violet." Tate shook Violet awake. He felt tears coming, but held them back.

"What, Tate…" Violet groaned and turned over to see Tate on the verge of tears holding a whimpering Frances. "Wha-what happened?"

"I'm a bad father already…" Tate hung his head in defeat and shoved the baby in Violet's arms. "I scratched her….I didn't mean to. I'm sorry…" Tate said. Violet gave him a look.

"Tate, calm down. I'm sure you didn't do it on purpose. Maybe it was a nail loose in the crib…" Violet rocked Frances in her arms. The baby had now ceased crying. "See? She's just fine."

"But Vi, I heard something. In my head…Laughing…" Tate finally began to cry. Violet set Frances on her stomach and wrapped an arm around Tate, pulling him close to her.

"You're fine, Tate. You're just worked up over being a new dad is all." There I go again, sounding like Dad…

"Franny's gonna be fine?" Tate asked.

Violet nodded. "I'm sure she will." Violet picked Frances up and kissed the wounded cheek. Tate smiled, then began to cry again. "Oh, Tate…Tate. It's not your fault. Stop it."

Tate reached for the baby and held her close. "Daddy's gonna be okay, Frances…." He whispered and patted the baby's head. Frances yawned. Tate inhaled his breath, and began to sing in a low, hushed voice: My girl, my girl, don't lie to me…Tell me where did you sleep last night? In the pines, in the pines, where the sun don't never shine, I will shiver the whole night through….

"Tate." said Violet. "That song…"

Tate kept on singing, rocking Frances. My girl, my girl, where will you go? I'm going where the cold wind blows…..

Violet shivered. "That song's so creepy…."

"I like creepy. Heh. Violet, will she forgive me?"

"Of course she will. She loves her daddy…"

Tate grinned. "It worked. She's sleeping now. Can she sleep with us tonight, Vi? I don't feel good about her sleeping alone tonight…"

"She already is." Violet whispered. She stroked her husband's head. "Tate?"

Tate looked at her. "What?"

"You're safe, Tate. You have me, Frances. No ones going to hurt you…" Violet pulled Tate close to her. "You're going to be fine…" Violet began undoing the buttons on her antique nightgown.

"Hmmm. Violet…" Tate moaned softly as he pressed his cheek against the warm skin. She was right. He had his family. He was safe for now. He opened his mouth. "Mmmm…."

A/N: I'd like to thank my darling BFF Amber for helping me on this fic….I love her and every single Violate shipper out there! Also, I really don't care if I get bad reviews. At least it's better than none.