She had been unpacking old boxes when she found them. In the years following her father's death, Christine had sold all the furniture, but had inherited all his things in dozens of boxes. She had been unable to bring herself to unpack them. Once, a few weeks after they had delivered his things to her college room, she had tried. But she had only sobbed herself silly after pulling out one of his jackets and then sent them away in a storage shed.
It wasn't until ten years later that she had had the strength to open them again and try again.
Things were very different a decade later. Instead of struggling to pay for college and to pass her classes, she lived in an enormous house designed by her very skilled husband. She had graduated with flying colors, and instead of touring the world as her father had once hoped for her, she had settled down and become a wife.
Christine wasn't angry about it, she had never liked crowds, never really liked singing for them. Erik had asked her many, many times that she was sure she did not want to pursue her career. But Christine was very insistent on it.
She did, however, write songs and post them on YouTube once in a while. Erik had built a wonderful, very professional, studio in their house that they both enjoyed very much. Erik would help her with the background, but by and large, the songs were all hers.
And then there was Aria. They hadn't really expected Aria, Erik had made it quite clear that they would not be able to have children. But she came, and she had brought quite a lot of stress and anxiety with her. Mostly for Erik.
Erik loved Aria, he loved her with every fiber of his being. But he had been so terrified that he would pass on his "curse" to her. Had refused to touch Christine during the entire pregnancy and had led to many arguments. Once, (after drinking his way through a bottle and a half of very expensive wine.) he had refused to believe that the pregnancy had happened at all.
It wasn't until he saw her, red and screaming in her crib that he finally released his fears. All at once, he settled into being a father as well as a husband.
A decade later, she was a wife, mother, composer and house keeper. She was very happy with her life, expect for one thing. It was part of her personal pride that she always kept her house spotless, and yet there were those numerous boxes that were in the basement that had many, many, things that needed to be gone through because she was afraid that they would make her remember her father.
One day, with Aria away at preschool and Erik delivering some plans he had made, Christine made up her mind to tackle the job.
She made three piles, Keep, Donate, and Throw away in the movie room floor. (The storage room was just adjacent to it.) She set to work.
It was shocking how fast it went once she started. She donated most of her father's clothes to charity, Erik certainly had no use for clothes worn by a man a foot shorter and considerably more boxy than him. They were easier than she expected. They smelled like dust and neglect, not her father anymore.
His things were a little harder, but she wiped away her tears, took a few pictures here and there and sorted the rest away.
By the time she had to pick Aria up, the Donate and Throw Away piles were teetering mountains in the movie room. Aria was delighted, laughing and trying on clothes six times too large for her.
The Keep pile was relatively small. Picture albums, her father's music, her mother's jewelry, a few keepsakes. But when Christine found the Mr. Roger tapes she knew so well, she took the whole box of tapes and set it there.
The next day, she drove Aria to preschool again, then to the nearest Goodwill to drop off her donations, and to buy a cassette player.
After that, not much changed. The Mr. Roger tapes joined the movies that lined their walls. The pictures joined the other albums that Christine had made, the keepsakes scattered around the house. Occasionally, Christine would wear her mother's earrings. But the boxes and boxes of things were gone, and Christine had the satisfaction of a job well done.
Three months later, Aria wasn't feeling so well.
Christine came into her daughter's very pink and princessy room, pulled open her curtains while singing the "Wake up song".
Instead of her little girl's voice joining her, it croaked across the room. "I don't want to wake up Mommy."
This was very unusual. A quick hand against the forehead showed that Aria had a burning fever. The thermometer showed that she had a temperature of 101 degrees Fahrenheit. Erik called the hospital in panic, only to be told that there wasn't much they could do, but told him to try to keep her hydrated and to keep an eye on her.
It was Daae tradition that when one was sick, you were allowed to eat and drink as much soda pop and ice cream as you wanted while sitting on the couch and watching Mr. Rogers.
So Aria was set on the couch in the movie room with numerous blankets and pillows, soda in her sippy cup and ice cream in her bowl. Christine pulled down the Mr. Roger tapes and set them playing in front of Aria.
It was wonderful, old memories just came streaming back with every episode. Aria quite liked them as well, though she didn't think it quite as exciting as Sesame street.
After four hours of this, Christine snuck upstairs to find Erik.
He was in his office, writing out designs for some building the government wanted. Christine laid a hand on his should and said quietly. "Could you please watch Aria while I go to the store?"
He nodded, tossing his pencil on the table and standing.
She took him downstairs, where Friday the Thirteenth was insisting that the birds needed to sing perfectly. Erik actually blanched. "What is this?" He sputtered.
Aria's head lifted from her pink pillow with Moana on it. "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, daddy." She took a drink from her sippy cup. "We're in the Neighborhood of Make Believe, that's King Friday the Thirteenth."
Erik's mouth turned down. "It is so... juvenile." He said, frowning as he looked at the screen. "Wouldn't you prefer National Geographic darling?" He asked.
"No thank you." Aria said politely, her eyes still on the puppet on the screen.
Christine rolled her eyes, despite her husband's criticism of her favorite childhood tv show. "I'll be back in a few hours." She said, reaching up to kiss Erik on the chin and moving upstairs.
Shopping took longer than expected, as always. She got stuck in rush hour on the way home, then she spent an hour bringing in and sorting all the groceries into the kitchen. After she finished she realized it was getting to be seven. She tip toed downstairs to see if Aria was hungry for supper, quite expecting National Geographic or some other show that Erik approved of playing.
Instead, she heard "It's Such a Good Feeling" echoing from the room.
She came in to find Mr. Rogers ending the show, and Aria asleep on Erik's lap. Erik was transfixed by the screen, his golden eyes following every movement of the man.
A tear ran down his cheek as Mr. Rogers spoke.
"You always make each day a special day. You know how: By just your being you/yourself." Mr Rogers said. And he looked out the screen, almost seeming to be looking at Erik. Erik choked back a sob, another tear streaking down. "There's only one person in the whole world that's like you, and that's you. And people can like you just exactly the way you are."
Christine blinked rapidly, tears coming into her own eyes as Mr. Rogers bid them goodbye and walked out the door. The cassette ended, and the screen went to the fuzzy static.
Erik didn't move, tears streaking down his face as he looked at the screen, Aria still asleep in his lap.
"Erik." Christine said softly.
He twitched, his head turning to Christine. His eyes shone bright. Christine went to him, taking a tissue from a box as she went, she began dabbing at his face.
Erik spoke, his voice raspy. "He- he-"
Christine kissed his forehead, continuing to dab away at his tears. "He was a very good man."
"Y-yes." Erik grasped her hands, kissing them, he held them to his face and wept.
Aria felt much better the next day, but Christine decided that she should still stay home. Once again she sat on the couch with Mr. Rogers playing in front of her.
She was well enough that Christine didn't feel the need to have anyone sit with her, but she saw Erik creeping downstairs anyways. When she brought Aria's lunch downstairs she found Aria singing along with Mr. Rogers, with Erik sitting next to her.
Christine set the plate sandwiches and cut apples, she heard Erik lightly humming to the music.
"Having a good time, darlings?" She teased.
"Yes." Aria said, she began chewing on her apple. "Mr. Rogers can play the piano like Daddy." She announced.
"Mm mmh. Very high praise. How about you Erik?"
Erik shrugged, but looked away from the screen guiltily. "His use of puppets is very creative."
Christine leaned over to kiss them both on the tops of their heads. "Do you want anything to eat, Erik?" She asked as she kissed his.
His eyes were already going back to the screen. "No. Thank you darling."
Aria was sent to pre-school the next day. Mr. Rogers was put away on the shelf again. Christine rather forgot about him as the weeks passed.
Then she found Erik half asleep on his desk, he had been working very hard to keep up with a few deadlines, she didn't think he'd eaten in two days.
He lay on his papers, his hand tapping out some song, his eyes watched them . Christine put a hand on his back. "Perhaps you should come to bed darling." She said gently, he didn't like being told when to sleep.
"Christine." Erik said suddenly. "Do-do you think he would have liked to have been my neighbor?" His voice was quiet, so very innocent.
It was moments like these that made it very easy for Christine to imagine Erik as a young child. A small thing, with wide eyes that wanted to learn everything. She wondered how anyone could have treated him as horribly as he did.
Sometimes she thought that the small child in him had never left. She thought so then, as he wondered. She realized that he was tapping out "Would you be my neighbor?" on his desk.
"I think he would have been happy to be your neighbor." Christine said gently. "I think he would have wanted everyone for his neighbor."
Erik's eyes closed, some tension seemed to have gone out of him. "I don't know why, but when I watch that- that show." He whispered. "It feels good, it feels like someone cares. I- I never thought..."
He trailed off, Christine didn't bother to finish his sentence. She wondered if Erik had ever watched T.V as a child, and if he had, how he would be different if he had discovered Mr. Rogers earlier.
She placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know. I think we'd better go to bed."
He nodded. "Y-yes. Of course."
From then on, whenever Aria was feeling ill, Christine would put on Mr. Rogers, and Erik would creep downstairs to watch it with her. He never tried to start it on his own, as far as Christine knew. But he fully enjoyed watching it with his daughter.
Christine thought it was good for him, to regain some of the childhood he could never have.
Eventually Aria grew older and she didn't want to watch Mr. Rogers so much. Luckily for Erik, Charles came into their lives. They weren't ever sure if they'd meant to have him or if he'd been an accident. Either way, he was there, and he was very welcome and very loved.
Charles loved Mr. Rogers. So much so that he would watch an episode almost every day. Erik couldn't afford to spend every episode with their son, but he certainly came very close. Sipping apple juice and sitting on Erik's lap was one of Charles favorite things to do, besides learning the Aria would fall under the simple spell of him once again.
Christine mostly just brought everyone snacks and set in another cassette when no one wanted to get off the couch.
Eventually, the cassettes became so worn that Erik ordered the complete series on Dvd so that they could continue watching their favorite episodes.
When the movie documentary about Mr. Rogers was released, Christine quickly ordered a copy and sent Aria and Charles off to Nadir's house so that she and Erik might watch it alone.
They curled up next to each other as they watched the story about Mr. Roger's Neighborhood.
Christine wasn't exactly sure how many times both she and Erik cried, but their eyes were certainly sore by the end.
When Charles grew up and stopped watching Mr. Rogers, and eventually he did. Christine often caught Erik looking mournfully at the neglected Dvd's. Once, just to treat him, they had a date watching some of the old episodes.
She kept and eye on Erik as he watched episode after episode. She didn't think he was entranced by the puppets, or the script, or the set. But he loved the simple kindness that each show radiated. The simplicity of being loved and respected.
He needed more of it in his life, even if it was from a simple children's show. She only wished he'd known it before then.
Dedicated to Mr. Rogers, who helped inspire millions of children to be kinder and more loving. Thank you for all the joy you helped spread!