A/N: Here's a cheat sheet for people who haven't read Adorable and Fluffy (if you've read it already/want to jump in blind, feel free to skip):

-This story draws from the FNAF games, the FNAF books, and Dayshift at Freddy's. Henry Miller and William Afton worked together to kidnap children, experiment on them in their underground lab, and eventually kill them. Henry killed himself.

-Mike and Charlie got married, changed their name to Schmidt, and had two kids of their own: Sammy and Beth.

-In the previous story, Mike and Charlie found William in the Springbonnie suit trapped in Fazbear's Fright and brought him home to live with them in the garage. Hilarity (read "a lot of pain and some soft moments") ensued before he finally passed on to be with Henry and George in the afterlife.

-Michael was scooped and inhabited briefly by Elizabeth. Now she lives with them in spaghetti form. Mike is a little zombified, but he's hanging in there.

-No one can see Henry, William, and George's ghosts except their family and a neighbor named Jack Kennedy.

Thank you for reading!

"You should go without me tonight, Will. Better to let their memory of me fade. It's more logical that way. Less messy."

"But we've been talking about this all summer. I thought you were excited."

"I was, but…"

"What about your grandkids? Don't you think they want to meet you?"

"Well…"

"And Charlie. What about Charlie?"

"Charlotte hates me."

"She misses you. …And if I show up without you, well, she has an ax."

"I don't know, Will…"

"Please, Henry…for me?"

—

Fog moved into Denver the moment the sun went down. It sat in thick patches in downtown and the suburbs alike, sticking to the red, orange, and yellow deciduous trees that lined the sidewalks. Under the streetlights, parents walked with their children dressed as astronauts, superheroes, supervillains, aliens, or ghosts, holding plastic jack-o-lantern-shaped baskets full of candy.

The Schmidts' neighborhood was an especially popular place to trick-or-treat. It wasn't one of the notoriously wealthy neighborhoods, but the area was safe, most houses were decorated, and at least two-thirds of the families living there had small children. There was no guarantee that trick-or-treaters wouldn't get the occasional apple or pencil in their candy basket when knocking on doors in that neighborhood, but most doors opened when they were knocked on and each trick-or-treater was met with excitement and showered with compliments about their costume.

In the process of helping Beth and Sammy get their costumes on, Mike and Charlie had answered the door and handed out candy seven times already. Sammy took this as a sign that they were late and needed to hurry up and get out there before the candy was gone, but Charlie assured him that just because some kids were early didn't mean that they were late. Michael laughed at this as he worked on Beth's costume and thought that he could have done with more of those kinds of assurances as a kid. Beth was nearby slashing the air with her foam sword, wearing her t-rex mask and boots and Michael commented that when her costume was all put together, it would look really cute.

Beth stopped slashing and stared at him, exasperated. "I told you a thousand times, Dad, it's not supposed to be cute. It's supposed to be scary. A scary dinosaur princess."

Michael chuckled to himself as he sat hunched at the kitchen table hot gluing the final sequins on the torn and artificially bloodied ballet tutu with crocodile-patterned spandex underneath with thin, bandaid-wrapped fingers. "Okay," he agreed. "I'll stop calling it that, then. Honey?" he called to Charlie. Charlie looked up from where she was kneeling in the entryway strapping knee and elbow pads into place on Sammy's Halloween costume while he stood obediently still.

"Yeah?" she replied.

"Beth's a scary dinosaur princess," said Michael. "Not a cute one. Got it?"

Charlie smirked. "You say that like it's news to me," she said. "You're the only one who keeps calling it cute."

Michael gave a playfully dramatic sigh and slumped in his chair: a little too dramatically, he realized, when the stitches down his torso pinched. He pressed a hand to the outside of his sweatshirt and massaged the pain away. That happened sometimes still, but not nearly as often as it had before his father and sister patched up the holes inside him left by the cable-woven endoskeleton.

"Lizzie!" Charlie called down the hall. "How's it coming? Need help zipping or tying anything?"

Mike heard Elizabeth's bedroom door open and the soft, slightly metallic sound of her cloth and cable feet walking across the hardwood floor. She peeked around the corner of the wall at first, the glow from her purple eyes reflecting off the kitchen window, but then she finally emerged fully. She had insisted on making the costume herself rather than choosing one from the store and, unlike Beth or Sammy's, there was nothing scary about it. Intentionally, that is.

Because her body was made of loose cables, she could unwind and reshape it at will, and this time, she had made her body tall and thin with a slight beer belly, rather than the four-foot body that fit inside the Raggedy Ann doll. She wasn't wearing the doll tonight. She was wearing a pair of purple bellbottoms with suspenders, a ruffly white shirt, rabbit paw gloves and feet, and an easter bunny head. When Mike had asked her what she was going to dress as, she said the easter bunny, but with the way she had shaped her body, it was clear who she had really dressed as. Seeing their father recreated in front of him, even imperfectly, sent chills up Mike's spine and made him ache deep inside.

Beth caught sight of her and her jaw dropped. Charlie gave Michael an uncomfortable look. "That's so cool, Lizzie!" Beth said. "How'd you get so tall?"

Elizabeth rubbed her arms self-consciously. "We've changed our mind," she said. "We want to be a princess like Beth. This costume is stupid."

There came a knock at the door. Mike started to stand up, but Charlie got up faster with a "I got it, hon," slipped her wizard cloak on, and grabbed the candy bowl.

"But you worked so hard on it," said Mike. "You really look great, sis. Honestly. I think the easter bunny would be proud."

Charlie opened the front door and was met with an explosion of child voices screaming, "Trick or treat!" She complimented them on their costumes and offered the candy for their taking.

Elizabeth looked at Mike, and then at the children on the front step. "We don't want to wear this anymore." She took off the rabbit gloves and dropped them on the floor, revealing tightly wound cable hands. "It makes us sad. And we don't want to scare the other kids."

Mike smiled sadly at his sister and eased to his feet. He understood completely. She missed William—they all did—but even though they knew he had changed, that he cared about his family enough to make the effort to change, to seek help, to keep trying even after multiple failures and hurts, what he did in the past was still a sore spot. By the time he passed over into the afterlife last winter, Mike hardly remembered William the child murderer from the eighties and was just sad to see William his dad go. However, when he saw Elizabeth's costume, he couldn't help but be drawn back to his own childhood, watching William entertain children in his Springbonnie suit, children he would later kill and experiment on with Henry. It was good that Elizabeth had wanted to feel closer to their dad by copying his costume, but if it was bringing up too many bad memories for her, there was no shame in changing.

"Beth?" said Mike. Beth stopped stabbing the couch with her foam sword and looked up. "Can Liz wear your princess dress from last year?"

"Yup," Beth balanced her sword on the back of the couch and led Elizabeth up the stairs. As they walked, Elizabeth slowly removed the rabbit head, revealing a tangle of cables and two glowing electronic eyes. Sammy ran after them, determined not to be left out.

It had taken a long time for Elizabeth to get comfortable with having Charlie and the kids see what she looked like underneath the doll skin she always wore. After leaving Michael's body, she had only removed her skin for the surgery and then never again. She didn't take her cloth casing off for many months and it took lots of negotiating and reasoning to get her to remove it long enough for Charlie to wash it. She stayed in her room under the covers the whole time and only came out when it was ready to wear again. But on Beth's birthday that April, something had changed. Michael didn't know what exactly, but he saw it in the way she watched the birthday cake as they sang, the candlelight making her sewn eyes shimmer. Though her doll face didn't emote, it looked pensive, withdrawn, like she was realizing for the first time that, someday, her playmates would grow up and leave her behind.

The very next morning, she had come out of her room wearing a dress, holding the doll skin, and told Michael that it was dirty again and needed to be washed. She started experimenting with different shapes, pretending to be older sometimes, copying Charlie's form and sitting at the table asking for a cup of coffee and a newspaper, and younger other times, copying Sammy when he was a year younger when they had met and pretending she didn't know how to read. She even tried to form her body into a large dog and chase Beth and Sammy around the backyard, but having them run away from her screaming, even just playing, got old quickly and she never did it again.

Mike sat at the table again and Charlie sat across from him with the candy bowl. She unwrapped a fun-sized Butterfingers as Mike glued the last few sequins onto Beth's dress. "Think she's okay?" Charlie asked quietly.

Michael glanced back up the stairs to make sure Elizabeth wasn't listening. "I think she's still working through stuff," he answered. "Like all of us. But she'll be okay."

Charlie placed her hands on Mike's and smiled. "Like us," she added. She kissed him gently. "We'll be okay, too." She laughed, licked her thumb, and wiped chocolate off of Mike's lower lip.

Mike pretended to be shocked. "I can't have food," he said in a serious whisper. "Are you trying to poison me?"

"You caught me," she chuckled, wiping off the last traces of it. "Care to risk it again?"

Mike grinned. He leaned in for another kiss when the doorbell rang. Charlie started to stand up but Mike held her hands. "No I got it," he said. "It's Halloween. A zombie mummy man's exactly what they're expecting to see. I will need to take that candy from you, though. And your cape."

Charlie laughed and sat back. "If you gotta."

Mike stood up with the candy bowl, took his baseball hat off, and slipped Charlie's wizard robe on. He didn't know what he was supposed to be, but at least his sunken, cracked flesh looked like a costume of some sort. He made a playfully ghoulish face at Charlie who waved him away. He was still smiling when he opened the door but his smile immediately disappeared. He dropped the plastic bowl with a hollow thud and the candy spilled all over the doorstep. Only one of the three translucent figures standing there was a child, and standing at the front, finger poised to ring the doorbell again, was—

"Dad." Mike's voice came out as a hoarse whisper, as though the scooper had gotten his lungs after all. Before him on the front step were three ghosts: William, Mike's little brother George, and a man with his back turned looking up at the moon. William stood there motionless for a moment, smiling but looking embarrassed like maybe he had presumed too much or had come at a bad time. He looked the way he had the last time Mike had seen him, except he was no longer injured or bleeding. His skin wasn't blotchy or scarred and his clothes weren't torn. He looked the way he had the last morning Mike had seen him alive, wearing his favorite purple shirt with the tiny embroidered yellow rabbit on the pocket he was so proud of. His lucky shirt.

"Mike," he said quietly. He lifted his arms as though he meant to hug him, then lowered them again, worrying that a hug might not be welcome. Mike stepped forward and embraced him. William's body wasn't solid, but it had a little weight, like an air current or a magnetic field. He felt his father's long arms wrap around him.

"Welcome back, Dad," said Mike. Deep relief pierced his artificially preserved heart. Before stepping into the portal to the afterlife with George, William had promised Mike that he would visit as soon as he could. Mike said he'd hold him to that, but they both knew William wouldn't be coming back. Ghosts didn't come back once they properly moved on. Or so Mike had thought, but he must have been wrong. Mike wondered if William had been working to figure out how to do it ever since they had separated. He hoped his father hadn't broken any afterlife rules to make it happen.

"You look great. Sturdy," William said, pulling Michael out of the embrace and putting his hands on his shoulders. He looked long and hard at him, as though drinking it all in. He pressed a couple fingers to a cut that had opened up in Michael's cheek last month; Mike had been careful not to tear it any further and most days kept it protected from the air with a wide bandaid—he didn't want it opening up all the way through to his teeth—but that night, he had forgotten to put a new one on. "You holding up okay? Do we need to fix anything while I'm here?"

Michael chuckled and guided his hand away from his face. "I'm fine, Dad. Recovery was slow, but the surgery was a success. The IV's been helping, too."

William gave a long exhale and smiled wide. "Thank god," he said.

"Hi, Mike!"

Michael crouched to George's height and gave him a hug. "Hi George. I'm so glad to see you again. You been taking care of Dad over there?"

"As much as I can," said George. He reached for William's hand and William took it.

George looked exactly the same as Mike remembered; the same clothes he had died in and everything. However, unlike then, even though he was still the same six-year-old kid, he had developed a calm sort of knowing confidence. It was George who had come to guide William into the afterlife, and Michael had a hunch George was the one who had sent the ghosts of William's victims to visit him.

When he was alive, George would never have thought to do something like that, but death did strange things to a person; while George's new power and wherewithal were somewhat unnerving, they seemed overall positive. William needed the structure, at least; he needed someone looking out for him. If William had been truly alone in the afterlife like he had feared, Mike didn't think even afterlife rules would be able to curb his destructive tendencies. But tonight, they looked great—whole and healthy. All of them, even the man with his back turned. Michael wasn't sure who it was, but something about him was familiar.

William stepped back and put his hands on the shoulders of the other man, whispering into his ear. The man mumbled something back that William didn't appreciate. Flashing his customer service smile at Mike he hunched closer to the man and whispered more harshly.

"Who's at the door?" Charlie asked, coming over. Michael stood slowly with George's help; George apparently had no trouble moving things in the physical world.

"Dad's back," Mike announced excitedly. "And George, my brother. Can you—?" Charlie nodded numbly, staring at the visitors. Mike smiled in relief. "Good. Awesome. And…Dad, um, who's this?"

William smiled worriedly, glancing between the man and his family. "Why, this…this is Mr. Miller—er, U-Uncle Henry." He guided the man to turn around, and the man did reluctantly. He had his shoulders hunched up around his ears and his face was angled down so low all Mike could see was his hair and the ridge of his glasses. William noticed the discomfort of everyone around him and his anxiety spiked up another notch. He looked desperately at Charlie. "I-I told him he had to come tonight because…because I figured you'd, um, you'd want to, um…" As he spoke, he became less and less confident that he had done the right thing. His eyes were getting rounder, his smile was getting tighter.

Mike wished Charlie would say something to diffuse the situation, but she was too stunned. He couldn't blame her; her father had lied to her—lied to everyone—about his involvement in the murders, and then had taken his own life. Like Mike, she had never had the opportunity to fully heal. But Mike also knew that William could only take uncomfortable silence for so long before he started reverting to bad habits. Henry didn't look all that comfortable either; seeing Mr. Miller, the man who never made a mistake, never apologized, never lost his temper in public, looking so destabilized made Mike feel like he was standing on sand, like he was one step from tragedy. He wanted the pressure to end but he couldn't just invite them in if Charlie wasn't okay with it.

Mike rubbed her back encouragingly. "Okay?" he asked under his breath. She didn't answer for another long moment. William started picking his nails, Henry turned his face away. Finally, she nodded and wiped her eyes.

"Okay," she agreed quietly. She looked up at William and George, at Henry. She crossed her arms uncomfortably. "Wanna come in?" she offered. Henry looked up briefly, shock sparkling in his green eyes, making the jaw under his beard soften. Charlie stood closer to Mike to allow them room to pass. Without waiting for them, she hurried through the entryway, wiping her eyes again covertly, and jogged upstairs to tell the kids.

The ghosts stood motionless in the entryway as though they were a matching set, among glitter and foam swords and spilled candy. George eventually wandered away and up the stairs; while he was apt to surprise the kids, Mike wasn't all that worried about him. His concern was focused mainly on the fact that Dr. Henry Miller was standing in his house. He didn't know anything about Henry's journey after death. He didn't know if he was the same manipulative cold person he was in life, or if like William, he had grown, softened with the help of others. He liked to think William wouldn't have brought him back unless he was safe, but William wasn't always the best judge of character.

William glanced around the room at all the pieces of Halloween scattered around. "A-are the kids making costumes?" he asked to fill the silence. "Did they go trick-or-treating?"

"Not yet," answered Mike, still staring at Henry, who straightened a little taller and walked silently over to inspect the glue gun on the table. "We were finishing up their costumes and then we were going to go out."

William's face fell a little, looked a little panicked. "Oh, I-I see—"

"But you'll have plenty of time with them," Mike amended quickly with a reassuring smile. "They've missed you."

William relaxed a little. "I've missed them, too. All of you. You wouldn't believe how much."

"I know, Dad," Mike said. "We've missed you, too. How long are you staying? Are you here for good?"

"Just tonight, unfortunately. Just Halloween," William muttered, pushing a piece of candy around with his shoe. "George says those're the rules unless there's a…an emergency. Of some sort. Like a death."

Mike thought about checking in to make sure his father wasn't considering manufacturing emergencies in order to visit his family more often, but he decided to let it be for now and trust that, through his and Jack's sessions last year, he already understood why doing so would cause more harm than good. Mike felt something squishy under his slipper and, finding a crushed piece of chocolate stuck there, he knelt slowly and began putting the candy back into the bowl. William crouched to help him.

"Elizabeth sure did a number on you," Henry spoke up. The warm, full sound of his voice sent a jolt through Michael's body, and for a moment, he was a kid again at Freddy's, listening to Henry on stage in the Fredbear costume wishing a boy happy birthday in the voice he used that seemed to say, "I'll pretend to care if it's important to you." Mike had to struggle not to stand up and tuck his shirt in.

"It was a…" Mike paused. Henry was looking at him now, his hollow, ghostly eyes just as sharp as they were when he was alive. "A misunderstanding," he finished. William looked between them nervously.

"You made it to adulthood at least," said Henry, squeezing a drop of hot glue onto the linoleum. "You survived."

Mike watched unhappily. "Charlie did too," he said.

Henry hesitated and set the glue gun back on the table, a pensive look on his face. "I suppose," he agreed quietly.

Mike didn't know what to say to that, so he said nothing at all. William couldn't stand the silence, though, and nearly vibrated with the effort of changing the subject. Children filed by outside, giggling and teasing and making each other shriek. Both Henry and William glanced up at the window, at the shadows that flitted past. William quickly scooped the rest of the candy into the bowl and helped Mike to his feet.

"But I wonder," Henry continued before anyone could stop him. "If any of us really survived at all." Mike and William looked at each other. A dog barked from the neighbor's backyard.

"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!" Elizabeth came running down the stairs in loud, metallic thumps. She was wearing Beth's old princess costume, a bright blue puff of fabric with white ruffles sewn along every hem and crease. Charlie and the kids were close behind. William stood up just in time to catch Elizabeth as she launched herself at him. His hand slipped through her arm at first, but he caught it the second time around.

"Wow, look at you!" William exclaimed as he spun her above his head. She laughed, her purple eyes glowing, neither of them too concerned that her cables were showing. "Cute as candy and twice as sweet!" Henry stood back against the kitchen table, staring horrified at Elizabeth.

Mike pretended not to see and plastered a smile on his face. "You look great, Liz," he said. Elizabeth beamed at him, still hanging off their father.

"Thanks," she said.

Beth and Sammy broke free from behind Charlie and ran giggling and screaming at William. "Grandpa Will!" they squealed and William had barely enough time to disentangle one of his arms from Elizabeth to make room for them. They clamped to him like starfish and he held them tight, kissing the tops of their heads over and over.

Charlie stood removed from the scene, her face and features hidden outside the reach of the ceiling fan's light. Mike closed the distance between them and held her hand supportively. Still standing back against the table, with hollow eyes burning dully like coals that had almost gone out, Henry stared at Charlie so intensely it was as though they were the only two people in the room.

"Charlotte," he greeted quietly, like a nod.

Charlie hesitated before responding. She squeezed Mike's hand. "Dad," she said just as quietly.

"I, uh," Henry stepped forward, an inviting hand out. "I missed you." Charlie stepped back, so he stopped and put his hands into his pockets self-consciously. She didn't respond again, so he disengaged.

His gaze drifted over to Beth and Sammy who were still hanging off of William, telling him in rapid-fire everything they had done since he went away. Things that included starting second and fifth grade and going to the pumpkin patch and learning how to rollerblade. Elizabeth told how she had grown taller and therefore she was a teenager now. William didn't know how to respond to that last assertion and covered them in blanket praise. George stayed back by Mike, a smile on his face but Mike could tell his brother felt out of place.

"George, Henry, and I have been busy this year, too," William said, looking back at George. "Though it's a little tricky to explain what we've been doing and where we've been going. Things like time and space are kinda fluid in the afterlife."

"Really?" Beth asked, interested. Elizabeth stared at him intently, desperate to hear more.

"Dad, can we keep afterlife talk to a minimum please?" Charlie asked.

Henry gave her a strange look, as though he was shocked that she had awarded William such a title. Didn't they know what a maniac William was? it seemed to say.

"Don't want to confuse the kids," Charlie continued.

William nodded in agreement and playfully pretended to zip his lips.

"Did you go haunt castles?" asked Sammy.

"Or!" Beth excitedly flung William's arm up and down in a wave. "Or did you possess anyone like a demon?"

"Beth…" Charlie rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"Beth," Mike said more quietly, unable to keep the chuckle out of his voice. "Where do you pick this stuff up?"

William glanced at Henry uncomfortably. "No," he answered. The way he said it made Mike think such a thing was possible and that maybe they had encountered spirits who did just that. "Uh, no. No, we didn't. We just…we just walked around and learned stuff. Well, sorta walked. The land kinda folds in on itself and sometimes you have two mornings right in a row without any night in-between and—" Charlie gave him a warning look. "All that to say, no. Possession and hauntings are pretty frowned upon once you've already crossed over. They see it as backtracking."
"Who's 'they'?" asked Beth.

William glanced worriedly at Charlie then smiled back at the kids. "S-so, um, what are you all supposed to be? I'm seeing some kind of dragon, sci-fi, and ballerina theme going on?"

The kids proceeded to show off their costumes and explain the intricacies of their backstories. Henry watched from what seemed an insurmountable barrier, as though the earth had split and his and William's families had ended up on one side and Henry on the other, watching they careened away from him.

"Hey, uh, Henry," Mike spoke up. It felt strange calling William's work partner by his first name. Henry looked up, shocked that someone was talking to him. "Want to meet your grandkids?"

Henry glanced between Mike and Charlie, either for permission or to catch their reaction; Charlie's expression matched Henry's own heavy-browed concern, while the grimace that tugged at Mike's split cheek looked more and more like William's "let's all get along" smile. Henry nodded almost imperceptibly and pushed up from where he'd been leaning on the table. Mike nodded back and grabbed Beth and Sammy's hands. Charlie stepped forward and stood near them and partially in front, ready to shield them if need be.

"Kids," said Mike. "This is your Grandpa Henry." Sammy and Beth looked up at Henry's ghost uncertainly. Henry was standing with his hands in his pockets; he somehow managed to look both awkward and arrogant at the same time. "Grandpa Henry," Mike addressed him. Henry's eyes snapped to him. "This is Elizabeth and Samuel. Beth and Sammy for short."

Mike didn't know what he had expected to happen once they were introduced—Henry crouching all of a sudden to the kids' level and speaking to them in a kind and honest way didn't seem likely—but he didn't expect the expansive silence that followed. He had expected Henry to at least put on the pizzeria owner face and tone, an exaggeratedly high and loud voice, silly words, and inviting gestures. But he didn't. Instead, he stood there with his hands in his pockets, staring down at them. Mike was about to say something else, just to break the excruciating silence, when Sammy broke away from him giggling, ran at Henry, and latched onto his leg.

All the adults jerked in reaction and even William looked ready to pry Sammy off if Henry lashed out. But luckily, because Henry was a ghost, there wasn't much he could do to harm Sammy even if he had wanted to. And from the way he had taken a step back and braced himself against the table, it didn't seem like he wanted to.

Henry's ghostly essence rippled slightly as if in an unseen wind, the untucked shirttails of his plaid shirt swaying against his jeans. Mike was still amazed by how he and William didn't have their mortal wounds anymore. To look at them, you wouldn't think either of them had died traumatically, definitely not by a stabbing robot and a springlock suit. William looked much healthier since he had passed on in the garage last year and clearly whatever had gone on in the afterlife was good for him. Mike hoped the same was true for Henry.

When Henry saw that his grandchild wasn't going to let go, he patted him stiffly on the back and slowly crouched to his level.

"I had a son named Samuel," he said flatly, harshly. "You're named after a dead child. Did you know that?"

Charlie made a move to pull Sammy away.

"Uh-huh," said Sammy. Charlie paused. "Me and Beth both are. Mom and Dad told us." He looked back at Elizabeth who was hanging off of William. "But the dead Elizabeth came back, so now there's two of them." Elizabeth gave him a thumbs up. He looked back at Henry and to everyone's surprise, he patted the top of Henry's head. "I'm sorry you lost your kid."

Henry's expression hadn't changed, it was still a stern frown, but small trails of black liquid began seeping out from under his glasses. He removed his glasses and wiped them away with his thumb and forefinger before anyone saw. "I did some bad things before you were born," he told Sammy, avoiding eye contact with Charlie. "But I'd like to be your grandfather if you…don't mind."

A bright smile of understanding slowly crawled onto Sammy's face; he gave Henry the biggest hug he could manage with arms that didn't reach all the way around his torso. "I don't mind," he said. Henry was stunned at first, but finally, awkwardly, he returned the hug.

Beth approached them. "Me neither," she said. She crouched to their height and wrapped her arms cautiously around them. Sammy mentioned how cool it was that they had two ghost grandpas and Beth agreed. They hugged him tighter but ended up falling through him to the floor. Henry helped them up, asking if they were all right, but they just laughed, earning an introverted grin from Henry.

Mike held Charlie close, their fingers interlaced as they watched. William hovered nearby, grinning from ear to ear. "I told him he had to come with me," he said, crossing his arms triumphantly. "He was worried you didn't want to see him, but I-I said you did and that you already forgave him."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Charlie replied, eyes locked on her father. William's smile faded and he said no more; he stepped away to give her and Mike space.

Mike was sad Charlie still felt uncomfortable around her father but he understood. It had taken a long time for Mike's stomach to stop clenching, to stop waiting for William to snap and go on another killing spree. It had taken regular discussions and William having months of therapy with Jack before Mike could finally relax around him and see his odd behaviors—the shaking, the whiplash mood changes, his discomfort around sharp objects and other people's children—as leftover trauma from a hard, self-destructive life rather than a warning sign that his violent tendencies were returning. Mike had seen William make progress slowly and with steady determination and it was that process that convinced Mike that William was now safe to be around.

Charlie didn't have that with Henry. She had known him as a perfect, if overworked, father who would never hurt a fly, let alone kidnap, experiment on, and kill five children. He was perfect and then he was dead and Charlie'd had to find out about his murderous side from a suicide note and a police investigation. She hadn't gotten closure, hadn't found him in a rotting suit in a boarded-up horror attraction like they had with William; she hadn't gotten to know her father after death. In fact, tonight was the first time she had talked to him since he had called her the night of his suicide to tell her he loved her.

As far as she knew, as far as any of them knew, Henry hadn't changed at all. He was happy if a little stern with his grandchildren but he had been that way with Charlie, too, as well as with Mike and his siblings. He was a master of manipulation and honey-colored lies; if he could cover up an underground lab, pseudo-scientific experiments, and a string of child murders while giving interviews for nice write-ups in the local newspaper, he could hide anything.

The only person who might know the truth of Henry's transformation or lack thereof was William. He knew Henry better than anyone and it seemed like they had spent a lot of time together in the afterlife. Mike needed to talk to him privately and Charlie needed time alone with Henry; she needed to get a read on him and if she deemed him safe, they needed to begin healing their relationship. But how to do that with a house full of nosey kids? Mike had an idea.

"Dad?" he said. William paused in his conversation with Elizabeth and looked up. "What do you think about coming trick-or-treating with me and the kids?"

"Yes, Daddy, please!" Elizabeth said, jumping up and down. "Come with us!" Beth and Sammy detached from Henry and joined in, begging William to come. William was obviously pleased with all the attention.

"Of course I'll come!" he said, wrapping his arms around all three and lifting them an inch or so off the floor while George watched nearby. "We'll both come." He grinned at Henry. "Won't we?" Henry had stepped back and his form was distorted by the kitchen light, as though he was preparing to disappear. George noticed his discomfort and left William and the others to go check on him.

"I'm fine," Henry said quietly to George. "Not excited about going out where it's loud and busy, away from the house. But," he looked up at William. "if everyone wants to go, I guess I could—"

"Actually," Mike cut him off as friendly as he could. "Charlie and I were thinking that Dad would come with me and the kids and then it might be nice for you and her to stay here and catch up." Charlie gave Mike a long, confused look. Mike leaned over to whisper in her ear. "We'll only be a couple hours," he said. "If I talk to my dad and you talk to yours, maybe by the time we get back, we'll know whether or not he's safe."

"He's not," Charlie whispered back. "But you're right. Better to do this without the kids around, just in case." She sighed and squeezed Mike's hand, in comfort or punishment he couldn't tell. "You owe me one."

"He might surprise you," Mike said.

Charlie smiled sadly. "He already did." She pulled free from Mike and stepped forward, head held high. "Dad," she said sternly, the word heavy on her tongue. "Want to help me clean up while they're gone? Then we can talk."

That tone of voice had scared William when she used it on him; it had made him clam up and retreat as if he expected her to hit him. But with Henry, his face brightened up and his cold, disdainful expression softened into hope. He stood a little taller like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Charlie was his family, his home, and this was the most comfortable he had been all night.

"I'd like that, Charlotte," he replied in the same matter-of-fact voice she had used.

Mike dressed into an old ratty hoodie, a pair of ripped, muddy jeans, and put patches of red paint on his face and hands in a lazy attempt at a zombie costume. Charlie said it wasn't funny but laughed anyway. Beth put on the final layer of her skirt, Sammy strapped two foam swords to his belt, and Elizabeth draped a white, faux fur shrug over her shoulders. Charlie distributed the plastic jack-o-lantern candy baskets that had been drying on the rack by the sink.

George watched this all happen quietly and, while he'd never say anything, it was clear Mike's little brother wanted to go trick-or-treating for real, too. Mike cut two eye holes in a white sheet from the linen closet, dug a fourth candy basket out of the garage, and gave both to George. George looked up at Mike like he was surprised Mike had guessed what he had been thinking, then happily put on the sheet. As long as nobody realized there were no legs sticking out from under the sheet, George looked like any other trick-or-treater.

Mike gave Charlie a hug and a kiss, said, "You got this," and told her to give him a call if anything happened that made her want him to come back, anything at all. Charlie agreed and wished him luck with William.

"Ready to go, Dad?" Mike asked.

William and Henry had been standing close together whispering. William gave Henry a quick, awkward hug, told him to have fun and promised him everything would be fine, then hurried to join Mike and the kids; there was no hiding how excited he was. Even so, William looked back at Henry four times before the door was finally shut.

A/N: Give William a candy basket, Mike, you know he wants one. It's dark out and no one is going to notice a candy basket floating on its own.

I'm excited to be back in the world of Adorable and Fluffy and I hope you are too! This was meant to be a one-shot, but it was getting too long, so I had to split it into chapters. This will probably be 2-3 chapters total.

Thank you so much for reading!