She had always looked beautiful to me. Giant, yes. But never scary. That smile was welcoming and always present. Daddy said she looked a little like my Mum. I don't think she really does. Not from the few pictures I've seen, but she would soon become something like a mother in my eyes. I was never allowed very close to her. I always had to stay just inside the room and watch from a distance. Daddy said that i would distract her, whatever that meant, and that i would be in big trouble if he caught me anywhere near the stage. Maybe he got protective because i liked her more than him. Or maybe he was just being a jerk like normal. Either way I tried to stay out of sight, out of trouble. Somehow she would always notice that I was there though. Her eyes would focus on me and she would smile brighter, sometimes she would wave me closer. I was too scared of Daddy to go too far into the room, and I guess she figured that out pretty quickly. Her smaller robots, the Bidybabs, would come over and talk excitedly with me whenever I was there. Always asking questions on when I would finally come in, what was my father like, and if Baby was my favorite. They were constantly asking things about me too. Did I have siblings, did I like Baby's singing, and after a while of talking with them, they asked if I was their friend now. I had laughed and said of course I was. The biggest one had hugged me tightly in a grip that felt like static was racing through me. Then he was racing off yelling at his sisters as the curtains closed on the last performance. I could have sworn that I saw sparks fly from his hands as he raced off behind the stage. I should have told Daddy, but what he didn't know couldn't hurt him right? It wasn't like they were going to kidnap and murder me. We were friends! I trusted they would never hurt me.
I was there everyday. Standing in the doorway that led to Circus Auditorium and playing with the Bidys. Soon they were luring me in closer and closer to the stage. It wasn't long before I was finally right at the edge of the stage. From there she was even bigger. I had never really noticed the small details from the doorway. The little bells on her shoes chimed softly when she shifted. The way her faceplates moved in small ways that made her look like she was actually singing. She looked almost human from here. She almost looked like she was alive in a way, not entirely a robot. The song ended, and her eyes darted around the mostly empty room before she crouched down as close to my level as she could get. "Hello Rosemary, good to see you're no longer stuck in the doorway. I hope you liked the show." And with a wink she straightened as more kids flowed into the room. I stared at her, shocked and frozen in place. I only snapped out of it when a kid shoved me aside to see better. Normally a fight would have started but I couldn't bring myself to. so instead I stumbled out of the auditorium trying to figure out what just happened. She could move and talk outside of her program. She knew who I was, had overheard it from the few times I had to remind the Bidys. She remembered it too, she wasn't supposed to do that. But worst of all, she had been watching me.
Daddy couldn't understand why I avoided Baby's shows for the next week. He knew I was always asking to go in and be part of the shows, to be go in and actually see her. I had been too scared to tell him why. He would punish her in some way like he did us. He would change her too, and then she would forget. She wasn't supposed to act like that, it scared me a little. But a tiny bit of me wanted her to stay aware of who I was. I didn't want her or the Bidys to forget me. My brothers weren't the best friends and I didn't even have any besides them. I didn't want to lose my new friends this soon. I wandered the hallways of the pizzeria, listening to the other kids while I thought. My feet seemed to automatically take me to Baby's room. I hesitated at the door like I had before the Bidys drew me in, before I got brave. Baby was where she always was, singing happily to a group of kids staring up at her from in front of the stage. The Bidys were racing around as usual. Playing games with each other and the quieter kids. It was like nothing had happened or changed. Maybe Daddy had found out anyways, and I had been erased from all of their minds. I went to turn around and go back to another room when a jolt of static tingled through my arm. Electro beamed at me, and started dragging me further into the room. "Come on! Come on Rosie! Mum is gonna do something special next!" I let myself be dragged, a happy smile plastered on my face. They hadn't forgotten me!
It was the week before my birthday when I noticed that Baby was acting weird. She seemed jerky, like her servos had locked up and she couldn't move right. She sounded strained too. Almost like she was forcing herself to perform like normal. No one else really seemed to notice besides me and the Bidys. Maybe they didn't come around as often, or they just were too caught up in the performance to care. I watched from my spot from the table farthest from the stage, slightly worried about what was wrong with her. I didn't pay attention to the heavy sound of footsteps behind me until I felt a hand clasp my shoulder. It was the kind of grip that rooted you to a spot, the kind that hurt and made you want to run, but you couldn't. I turned my head with a smile. "Hi daddy!" He grinned down at me. He always seemed creepy to other people. You almost never saw his eyes because of his hair, and even if you did, they were an odd silver color that glinted almost evilly in the light. His voice rasped a little as he spoke, a side affect of late nights and too much work again. "Little Rosie. You get your wish for your birthday this year," he grinned wider, showing too many teeth. "Your birthday party will be with her." he pointed at the animatronic I had been watching. I beamed at him and twisted out of his vice-like grip to give him a quick hug. I knew that he would let me have my wish! He did always say he wanted the best for us. And with Baby at my party, nothing could happen that would make me any less happy. Everything was going to be perfect.