Well, this was a long time in coming, and it kinda fought me a little before I had some breakthroughs regarding some of the staging, namely that it takes place not long after Henry and the demons escape the studio. Hoping it works well! Just to clarify, Bendy and the Ink Machine is the property of themeatly, and the Ink Family AU is the brainchild of xdreamer45x on Tumblr. Go check them out, they make some wonderful stuff!

Linda:

Though the house was a far cry from the studio, Mama couldn't bring himself to be entirely at ease. While there were no monsters, no malformed once-people that wanted to get at your food, or pools of ink that could risk you falling into the slurry of what was left of the studio workers, it definitely had its own challenges.

First thing was the wildlife. Squirrels and birds might not be the same as Searchers, but they were everywhere. Henry and Linda even encouraged them to be near the house with the bird feeder. Mama found himself tolerating it because Bean liked to watch the little creatures, the bitty ink demon chirping back at the birds and eyeing the squirrels with overeager wiggles. Thankfully after the first impact with the sliding glass door, Bean had learned to just watch.

But out of all of the changes that living in the house had wrought, Linda was probably the biggest, because while the birds and the squirrels, and any other humans, were firmly on the outside, Linda was an active part of the house and very important to its upkeep. Henry would go off to a place called 'work' and Linda would be the one getting things like food, or paper towels, or toilet paper which seemed like the exact same thing but was only supposed to be used for the bathroom for some unfathomable reason.

Though, if Mama were pressed, he'd admit that Linda wasn't…awful. She was no "Alice", and if anything she made noise moving from room to room so he knew where she was and how to avoid her if need be. Perhaps he would have been entirely content to avoid her if it wasn't for an afternoon during the first spring that they'd come to live with the Steins.

It was after Inky had become somewhat less of an annoyance, to the point where Mama wasn't growling or frowning every time he saw the other ink demon, but for the moment Mama couldn't have said exactly what they were. Friends didn't seem to fit right, but he wasn't sure he wanted to get too close yet.

He had been sitting in the living room, Bean taking a nap against him when a thump came from the second floor. It wasn't quite loud enough to shake the house, but it was definitely loud enough to get Mama's attention. Henry also wasn't home, Inky out in the backyard, so that left…

Getting carefully to his feet, the stockier demon plodded up the stairs, doing his best to avoid waking up the still comatose Bean. He wasn't hearing anything that sounded like trouble, but the sudden quiet didn't feel right after that kind of noise.

Besides, if something was wrong, better that someone take a look sooner rather than later. This line of thought led Mama to the room across from Henry and Linda's bedroom, a sort of designated art room that sometimes felt a little too much like the old studio. Only sometimes though, and more in superfluous ways. There was paper everywhere, pens, an art easel set up against the wall where someone drawing could easily look out of a nearby window. The walls though were a much cheerier blue, a far cry from the sepia-toned environment of the studio. The difference was enough to coax Mama a little over the threshold, the demon looking over at the source of the noises.

Linda had been in the process of getting some boxes down from a shelf, a couple already on the floor next to her, her arms just about to reach for another that looked rather heavy.

For a brief instant, Mama had a slight crisis. She hadn't seen him yet; he could easily leave her to whatever she was doing with those boxes. But the last one looked heavy, dragging on the shelf as Linda tried to pull it to the edge.

But she'd done just fine getting the others…

Though if this one fell while Linda was getting it, and she was hurt, then Henry would likely be unhappy about it. That thought drove Mama forward, Linda jumping as the box she was attempting to get down was abruptly grabbed out of her hands. Not that the ink demon felt the need to leave the poor woman in suspense, Mama easily handing it over once he was sure it was no longer a danger.

"Oh!" Linda looked more startled by the sudden presence of Mama, to the point where he couldn't help worrying that she might start screaming, but the surprise easily passed into a calmer smile.

"Thank you."

The gratitude caught Mama off guard for a moment. Not because he didn't know what it meant, but because it was a rarer thing coming from someone else, to him of all people.

It struck him dumb enough that he stayed put long enough for Linda to open the box she'd been getting, Mama shifting from stunned to confused at the presence of what looked like a collection of ornate books, colored paper, and weird-looking scissors.

"They're scrapbooking supplies," Linda started, easily noticing Mama leaning over the contents of the box, cocking his head like a bemused cat. Not that that cleared up the mystery, the ink demon's head popping up to look at her with an equally bewildered stare. "Here, I'll show you."

Mama followed her to a nearby table, watching keenly as a book with a felt cover was drawn out and opened. The presence of pictures caught his attention, making him lean in as he considered the people depicted. Even though they looked younger, Mama recognized Henry and Linda. The pair were smiling, dressed in white clothes, standing outside of what looked like a building. There were a few other people standing around them, looking older, though Mama knew he'd never seen them before.

But, he thought as he looked closer, there were little things. The older man on the left had the same nose as Henry, the woman on the right looked very much like Linda. Just, little things like that that made Mama wonder.

"It's our wedding album." Linda explained, reaching over to turn the page to a new picture. Mama wasn't sure what exactly a wedding was, but he did notice the distinct monochrome clothing that everyone was wearing. Linda in particular was wearing a white, flowing dress that made Mama think of the flowers growing in the garden outside, Henry dressed in what looked like a black suit that, in a strange way, felt similar to the little devil character he'd helped design.

The similarities were charming in their own way, Mama growing more besotted by the pictures as he flipped through the pages on his own. Linda had moved away to do something else, leaving the demon to peruse. He flipped through page after page, the pictures outside the building turning to ones inside the building, with at least one depicting Henry and Linda, in the earlier described clothes, standing in a large room that was vaguely reminiscent of Heavenly Toys, but much cleaner and more ornate.

"The wedding pictures are always my favorites; I like to take them out to look at them from time to time. It's nice to remember." Linda spoke up, digging through a box and taking out what looked like a blue book. This she set in the middle of what looked like a mess of art supplies and paper, and while that was interesting on its own Mama couldn't help being drawn in by what she'd said before.

Looking up at the demon's confused noise, Linda went on.

"Oh, a wedding is when two people…promise to live together, and take care of each other. It's a promise to be there, even when it gets difficult. To create a family."

The words were ones that, in a strange way, wormed into a spot in Mama's mind, sticking there like a rare find for him to turn over and over later on. Examine them from every angle, hide away in a nest like something truly valuable. Briefly he caught a glance of the gold band on Linda's finger, glimmering slightly as she moved the album away. He'd remembered seeing the same on one of Henry's fingers, he just…hadn't really put much thought into it until now.

"Hey," Linda suddenly spoke up, getting Mama's attention. "Would you be interested in making an album of your own? I've got plenty pictures of Bean here…"

Mama tried not to look too eager when he nodded.

Thankfully there hadn't been any more mix-ups with the train schedule, Henry being very happy to be walking through the door under his own power rather than needing to rely on a pickup. In the lower light of the afternoon, the artist briefly spotted a long shadow playing across the kitchen floor, having only a slight start before he recognized the figure as Inky.

The lankier demon, for his part, cheerfully whistled at Henry's return, plodding his way out into the front room and nuzzling into his hair as he gave the artist a hug. The demon's "speech" wasn't something Henry was entirely good with yet, but he definitely recognized a heartfelt "welcome home" when he heard it.

"Glad to see you too, bud." He replied, patting what he could of Inky's head. "Where's everyone else?"

The lankier ink demon pointed for the stairs, something that was a little bemusing to Henry at first but, yeah, that made sense, they'd gotten the demons situated up there. What was a little surprising was that Linda wasn't in the kitchen, usually that's where she was by the time he made it home from work…

Thanking Inky, he headed up the stairs, hearing rustling and talking coming from the art room, as well as a few telltale squeaks.

Oh right, Linda had said that she wanted to work on a new album today. But, who could she be talking to? It definitely sounded like her voice…

Henry drew level with the door, peeking in and immediately feeling the strangest mix of amusement and slight awe. Linda had all the scrapbooking supplies set out on the table in front of the window, a scrapbook clearly in the process of being assembled. But what was truly bizarre, and kind of good to see, was that Mama had apparently decided to join her. The stockier demon watched attentively as Linda demonstrated how to put a border on one of the pictures, taking clear effort to replicate her careful movements.

Bean was playing with some balls of paper on the floor, Mama glancing down to check on him before holding up the finished page to Linda, a rare smile playing across the stockier ink demon's face.

"Very good work!" His wife praised, grinning at Mama. "Do you want to try sticking it to the page now?"

The ink demon gave an answering nod, watching Linda place hers on the page she was making before attempting it himself. It was decidedly funny to see the normally grumpy demon concentrating so keenly on the act, almost like he felt he had to get it completely straight on his first try, but Linda hardly begrudged him for it, or really said much of anything until Mama actually moved to show her the finished product. Which made sense, as for all the demons knew or didn't know about the world, Mama was the one that probably wouldn't like the notion of having his hand held, in either the literal or the teaching sense of the phrase.

But, at the very least, the stockier demon wasn't unopposed to being taught new things, or change overall, which was likely good news for at least one member of their newly expanded little family. Though Henry's thoughts were interrupted as Bean turned in the direction of the door, giving a happy trill at the sight of the artist. Mama and Linda both looked up at the sound, Mama's smile definitely smaller than Linda's but the fact that it was present at all was definitely heartening. Bean, for his part, had no compunctions nor reservations about skittering right up to Henry's pant legs, jumping up and down in an effort to get the artist's attention.

Not that Henry was going to deprive the little one, especially when Bean was practically toppling over with the effort of trying to jump. Leaning down, he managed to snag Bean and lift the small demon into his arms, meeting Linda and Mama's grins with his own.

"Hey, how's the album coming along?"

"Pretty good so far, and Mama's making wonderful progress on his too!"

"Mama's working on an album?" Henry asked, moving a little closer to see the contents on the table. And indeed, he recognized the pictures in the album that Linda was working on, there was Daniel and Amy on their first days of school, smiling brightly with their brand-new backpacks as they were off on a new chapter in their lives. Of course, that had been years ago, the pictures slightly discolored with age, both of their kids having gone off and started their own families a year or so back.

But, while Henry had been expecting that one, what sat in front of Mama on the ink demon's side of the table caught his attention. It looked like Linda had managed to get through about half of her album already, Mama had only gotten a page or two in, but the pictures were almost mirror images of each other, just different in content. Instead of an image of a human child, the picture in question depicted Bean, the little one, standing at the back window and looking out at what must've been a very rambunctious squirrel. It couldn't have been taken that long ago, though Henry could have some appreciation for the idea of preserving memories, particularly the better ones.

Especially when considering where the demons had come from. It was a little bit disheartening that Inky likely didn't have a place in there yet, but Henry did spot another picture that had been likely taken by Linda, of Inky quietly sitting alongside the nest Mama had made in the living room. Mama was asleep, Bean tucked in next to him, but Inky was quite awake, looking down at the pair with a genuine, happy smile as he essentially stood watch.

Henry pretended he didn't see Mama looking over that picture with a more contemplative, quieter air a little while later, but he couldn't help exchanging a knowing grin with his wife. Perhaps the extra pages in Mama's new scrapbook would be put to a good use after all…