Mable: Time for someone's birthday!.. About a month early, but close enough. XD Enjoy!
Going Home in a Box
Chapter Sixty
Charlie didn't remember what day it was until she almost tripped on the little wrapped box outside of her bedroom door. Nobody had mentioned it the day before, though considering the surprise of a gift that might've been the point. She picked up the gift and stepped back in to sit on her bed and open it. Inside a bed of wrinkled up tissue paper was a pocketknife. One of those ones with the faux-wooden body and two unfolding blades, one smaller than the other.
She knew exactly who it was from even before she saw the note. Though the note got a little laugh out of her.
"See you at the party. -Mike"
Only Mike could leave such a cryptic little tag behind. She eagerly folded the knife back up and slipped it into one of her upper pockets. She could already tell that was going to come in handy someday.
Then Charlie stepped out of her bedroom and started down the hall and into the living room. Almost immediately being blindsided by a black shadow around the corner before smacking into her, pulling her into a tight hug.
"Morning, Mari," she greeted knowingly.
"Good morning, Charlie! And happy birthday!" the Puppet chimed happily. He pulled back with a smile. "Are you ready for the party?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," Charlie joked.
Marionette chimed a little and finally released her so she could make her was into the living room. She looked around to see that some of the little ones were around, Max as usual, Michael on the couch, but no sign of Mike.
"Where's Mike?" she asked.
"Out running. You just missed him," Marionette answered.
"It doesn't matter how far he runs, eventually he will wind up back here," Michael remarked. He was sitting on the couch but totally engrossed in his sketchbook, scribbling away even as he spoke.
Marionette gave a half-amused and half-dismissive little sound and wave, then made his way into the kitchen to get ready for the day. There would still be a workday ahead of her birthday party, which was fine with her. She was taking the day off and didn't mind waiting around a while before being pushed into a different kind of spotlight.
She sat down on the other side of the couch, catching a glimpse of Michael's sketch as she did. It was a halfway finished drawing of what looked to be Lilium. She hated interrupting him but spoke up.
"Think you could spare a moment for the birthday girl?"
"Charlie, I would always spare a moment for you. Unless my show's on, in which case you will have to wait like the rest of the world," he replied.
"So… two requests," she began. He glanced up and saw her tilted smile.
"Oh Lord, I know what one of them is," he wearily said.
"Come to the party with us?"
"Must I?"
"You don't have to… But I want you to," Charlie said, her voice edging a little closer to pleading.
He sighed. "Very well. The other request?"
"I decided on the body modification I want, if you and Ennard and Fritz are willing to help me get it," Charlie said.
This took him completely off guard. Possibly Max too as his eyes flickered over to them. Likely because it had been a while since she last brought up her ideas of editing her body, but she had still been thinking about them and made up her mind.
"I need feet."
That confused Michael even more. As far as he was aware, most of Charlie's brainstorming had been about cosmetic enhancements. This was a much bigger upgrade entirely.
"What made you decide on that?" he asked.
"I just thought about all the fun Baby and Jessica would have dressing me up. I never was one of those girls who was really into shoes, but I could learn!" Charlie joked. Then clarified, "Because I was thinking about it and I'm walking on these points with no protection. Eventually they're going to wear down and reach my endo underneath. They already feel a little rough at the ends." Charlie bent her leg and felt over the end. "Legs or not, this body wasn't built with walking in mind."
"That is a good point. Sooner or later, that would have to be addressed, but are you prepared for an alteration of that magnitude?" he asked seriously.
"Not really. But I'm also not prepared to be running one day and having the end of this casing tear," Charlie admitted. "This comes before how I look."
"I think it is a wise decision. Alright, we can pull Fritz and Ennard aside and discuss it later. Does Mari know?"
"Yes," Marionette called from the kitchen.
"I ran it by him and Mike last night and won them over, but I know they're worried about something going wrong."
"Anything can go wrong when we're talking of welding an ankle joint onto the end of a leg, but we can make this work. Just try not to rough yourself up anytime soon. This may take some time to plan out," Michael said.
Charlie smiled back. "Sure. Thank you for doing this."
"It's no trouble. At least it's in my field of work," he replied.
Seeing a moment free, Daisy walked around the end of the couch flanked by Rose and Forget-Me-Not and offered a handmade card up to Charlie.
"Aww! Thank you, girls," Charlie said appreciatively.
She opened it up to see they had drawn a picture of her holding a bouquet and surrounded by a frame of flowers. For a bunch of tiny dolls who acted like little girls, they drew surprisingly well. Alongside the picture was a little poem:
If birthday wishes were flowers, we would pick a dozen for you.
We would plant you a garden and water it too.
Until a dozen sweet peonies and sweet pea filled the flowerbed.
Then we would weave you a crown to wear on your head.
She wasn't sure if one of them wrote it, or all of them, or even if it was Jeremy, but she found it endearing and her smile spread.
"Oh, girls! It's beautiful. I love it, thank you," she said. She then slid down to the floor and gave them all a little group hug. Daisy and Rose eagerly hugged back while Forget-Me-Not gave her a cool little pat on the arm, always the rebel.
The moment was nearly interrupted by another card being stuck in Charlie's face.
"Now look at ours!" Button cried. Bow reaching over her shoulder to hold out her own as well. Plushtrap and Lilium soon appeared with there's.
All at once she was swarmed by a small group offering up birthday cards. She took it in stride and began to look at and appreciate them one at a time.
Meanwhile, Michael felt eyes on him and looked over his shoulder to see Marionette leaning over the back of the couch and looming over him with an eager smile. He sighed and looked back to his sketchpad.
"Yes, I'm going," he affirmed.
"And I'm glad to hear it! It's going to be a lot of fun."
"You better have hired a clown," Michael remarked, which got a laugh and chime out of Marionette. The rabbit smiled on the inside.
Mike didn't really take lunch breaks. Since the pizzeria was constantly going and it was important to have everyone working to their fullest at the busiest time of the day, 'lunch' came down to Mike grabbing a slice of pizza and eating it wherever he could. In the Prize Corner, in the corner of the dining room, while breaking up two kids fighting over tickets, and he didn't have a problem with it.
Today Mike was taking a real lunch break, and he was taking it to go visit Charlie's Aunt Jen.
It was always a risk to show up at Jen's, but Mike was thinking about her and felt obligated to at least check in on her. In case she was alone, in case today was hard. It was a surefire plan until he pulled up to the house and recognized another vehicle alongside Jen's.
That was Clay Burke's car.
Mike had half a mind to suddenly spin the car around and high tail it out of there. He considered it for a long moment, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, and then finally pulled up behind them. He knew if he left that he would regret it later when he was mulling over how she was holding up. Besides, it wasn't like things were bad with Clay. They got along alright enough; it was just always incredibly awkward.
But he could tough it out. No doubt Clay would do the same if in his situation. He got out of his car, walked up to the front door, and knocked.
It wasn't long until Jen answered the door. Much to his relief, she looked a lot better since the last time he had seen her. He could tell she hadn't cried recently either and she welcomed him with a subdued smile.
"Mike, it's good to see you," she greeted. She opened the door for him. "Why don't you come in?"
He noticed that she didn't question why he was there, but he didn't ask. Instead returning the greeting and coming in, being led into the dining room. Clay was already seated with a glass of iced tea, of which Jen herself had one at her seat too. He seemed a little surprised to see Mike's arrival. Or maybe a little more confused than surprised, but he welcomed him too without question.
Mike briefly considered making a joke about following the detective's trail, but quickly decided this wasn't the time or place. He could pull it out at the party; he was counting on Clay being there.
Once they were settled in and he was holding his own glass of tea, Mike broached the conversation gently.
"How have things been going?"
"Better. This is just a hard day for me," Jen admitted. "But I've been getting out again. I think Charlie would've been happy to hear that."
"I'm sure she would," Mike agreed. He considered his words over a sip of tea before going for it. "…I'm going to be going to college at her university."
"I didn't know you enrolled," Clay said. There was a tone in his voice. Not of suspicion, not confused, but surprised. Not police chief surprised either, it was almost sounded fatherly in a way. The surprise of a father who could've never expected his son to enroll in college. "When do you start?"
"This fall. It's not going to be easy juggling it and the business, but I think I can manage. I've got Fritz and Jeremy offering to help take up the slack."
"You don't strike me as the type to take the easy road. You'll pull through, and you'll come out of it for the better. A diploma can open a lot of doors for you," Jen said. Her usually somber features still showing supportiveness. A far cry from the worst-case reaction he prepared himself for.
"How are you paying for it?" Clay asked, always the realist.
"Barely. I'll make it work. Like she said, it'll open doors for me. Or keep our doors open," Mike said.
"What are you planning to study?" Jen asked.
"Mechanical Engineering. It goes with the job."
The conversation continued for a while longer. In meandered around, usually sticking to lighter topics after that. Mostly a lot of small talk, save when Clay decided to drop the bombshell that his wife and him were going to couple's therapy. Which made Mike almost instantly feel awkward, but he covered it up well enough. The conversation cooled for a while, but eventually the heaviness returned with one specific topic.
"I'm not sure what to do about the house," Jen finally brought up. Her eyes down-casting before she looked out at the window at the barren land just past her garden. "I was having a hard enough time selling it before the twister hit. Now I'm going to have to do major repairs just to get it back on the market."
"I'm surprised there hasn't been offers for the land alone," Clay remarked.
"…There have been, but I don't want to sell it just to have it bulldozed," Jen admitted. Clay didn't expect this answer from his expression, and she gave a slight shrug. "Maybe I'm getting sentimental, but I just… Maybe if Charlie was still here, but she loved that house. I could go the rest of my life without stepping foot back into it but getting rid of it after she fought so hard for it… But now it's not as easy as selling it and moving on. Now I'm going to have to make a tough choice either way, and I'm not getting any younger."
Clay tightened his jaw and looked down into his glass of tea. The ice cubes melting and bobbing as he swirled them around. The room uncomfortably quiet and stuffy as those words hung overtop the table.
"…I'll take it off your hands."
She snapped her head back and her eyes to him. All it took was one look at his face to realize that it wasn't just an offer to appease her feelings. He was considering it.
"Clay, you can't do that."
"I can. I want to. Like you said, you're not going to be able to sell it in this state and you don't need the hassle of dealing with repairs. I have the means and the time to do."
"What about Betty? What's she going to say?"
"Let me worry about that. Let me do this for you, and Charlie."
It was clear from his voice to his gaze that he wasn't backing down on this, so Jen did. She smiled a small, solemn but thankful one. After a moment she reached forward to lay a hand on his, and in that moment, it looked like she may cry.
"Thank you. I'll give you the information of the realty. We'll have to go through there, but I don't see any reason we can't," she said. Her breath hitched briefly before she managed another, "Thank you."
"You're welcome, Jenny."
Meanwhile, Mike sitting there processing the information. In a matter of seconds Charlie's house went from being unsellable to demolition inevitable to suddenly in the hands of Clay Burke. All the while he just sat there and listened with not much reaction.
Until he realized that Charlie was going to be pretty happy with the results, then he smiled as well.
They stuck around for a while afterwards chatting. There was a change in Aunt Jen, and not just because of the relief of figuring out what to do about the house. Mike could tell just from how she was talking the whole time that things were better. She was still in mourning, but she was at a stage of recovery. She was somewhere bearable.
Finally, he dismissed himself to leave, and Clay decided to take his leave as well. Jen walked them to the door and said her goodbyes.
"Mike, don't be a stranger. You're welcome to come by whenever," she offered.
"I will. I'll try. Thing have just been a little busy," Mike said almost apologetically. A sharp contrast against the fact that he almost didn't come today.
"…Charlie would be proud of what you're doing. She always knew what she wanted and took it when she could. Seeing you do the same… it would make her happy. Don't ever think otherwise," Jen assured him. He gave a sad smile in return.
"Thank you, Jen. She'd be happy for you too. I'm sure she'd be worrying about you."
"Well… she doesn't have to worry about me anymore. I'm finally finding peace," Jen said. "…I know you loved her, Mike."
"I do," Mike agreed. Then he realized his mistake. "I mean…" He caught himself again, considered his words, and finally clarified. "I do."
Jen smiled at that. "I do too."
"Take care, Jen. I'll see you around."
"You too, Mike. Take care of yourself."
Though everything had been said, Mike felt strange as he wandered back to his car. As though the conversation was still hung in suspension, as though he needed to spin around and quickly add an addendum of some kind, even though he knew nothing was left to say. He got into his car and sat there for a moment before starting it up and turning around, losing himself in his thoughts as he did. He soon deciphered what was bothering him.
All the pain that woman had to go through, and it could all be alleviated by one confession. Was it fair to let Jen continue to mourn when it would be so easy to reintroduce her to Charlie and have her see that she was still alive? Mike wasn't sure. So many people had been able to accept this whole 'living animatronic' state easily enough, maybe drawing the line here wasn't right when even his own mother knew of Charlie's fate.
Though that wasn't Mike's decision to make. In the end it was Charlie's, so either way he started to drive away from the house. It wasn't something he would bring up to her on her birthday of all days, but maybe someday in the future.
Mike wasn't even back to the highway when he unexpectedly heard a slight honk behind him. He looked into his rearview mirrors just in time to see Clay put his lights on.
"What?" he asked out loud. To no answer, save Clay's lights remaining on. Mike's befuddlement slowly dropped into an 'are you serious?' look as he pulled over onto the side of the dirt road.
Clay turned his lights off as he got out of the car and began walking over. Mike started to roll down his window only to catch sight of Clay crossing behind his car through the rearview mirror and rolled it back up again. Clay let himself into the passenger's side door and sat in the seat before shutting the door behind him. They sat there quietly for a moment. Clay looked to Mike, who quirked a brow questioningly.
"Thanks for coming out here," Clay said, answering the unasked question.
"It's no problem. I wanted to check in."
"That's good. Jenny doesn't get too many visitors. I'm glad she's getting out, but it's good for her to know that she has us in case she doesn't," Clay said. "She cares about you."
"I noticed." Mike smiled a little. "And she barely knows me… Well, maybe it's because she barely knows me."
"Maybe she looks at you and sees Charlie," Clay said distantly. Something he immediately snapped out of. "Sorry, I was thinking out loud."
"Thinking the same thing I was… Have you ever thought about telling her?" Mike asked. His voice growing quieter as he did.
Clay inhaled deeply and shook his head.
"No… Jenny's not the kind of person who would take it well. Because it wouldn't just be that Charlie's still alive. It would be that Charlie's trapped in a form that limits her ability to live, that she would have to learn the truth about Freddy's, about Henry, about her father, it would be too much for her to bear. It is easier for her to handle Charlie's passing, even if it means Charlie must live without her."
Mike wanted to argue, but he knew in his gut from the look on his face and the sureness in his voice that Clay knew what he was talking about. That wasn't the only thing that backed it up either.
"I think Charlie understands that. She's never said she wanted to tell her."
They sat in the quiet for a long moment. Well, quiet except for the hum of the air conditioner running. The beating May sun could turn his car into a sweatbox in a matter of minutes, especially out in Silver Reef.
"Are you coming to the party?" Mike finally asked.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world."
"Planning on showing all of us up with your gift?" Mike asked with a small grin.
"I was thinking it might be best to keep this under wraps until the deal goes through. Just in case something comes up."
"On your end? Because I'm pretty sure Jen wants this thing done and over with as fast as possible."
"Red tape can show up anywhere. No end required," Clay replied. Which Mike didn't argue with.
They said their goodbyes and he got out and started around the back of the car. Mike was about to pull off when he noticed Clay coming back up the side of his car and rolling down the window, the older man leaning down.
"By the way, this is technically a thirty zone. You wouldn't know from the lack of signs, so I'll let you off with a warning."
Mike didn't know what was worse. The fact that he sounded exactly like a cop or that he smirked exactly like his dad used to.
Marionette had gotten plenty of help setting up for the party. Not only from who was already there either. Marla and Jessica had made it to Foxy's nearly minutes after they closed and helped as well. They put up extra balloons and streamers, pulled a few of the tables together and laid out fresh tablecloths and table toppers, and prepared a separate table for gifts. Marionette himself laid down the first gift and from that point onward it began to fill up with every arrival.
Scott arrived sooner than he had expected and brought Ennard, Baby, and Bonnet in tow. To which Ennard immediately got a little too into the party planning and the decorations doubled tenfold. Poor Marla probably had no clue that her enthusiasm was able to get over-thrown by an overeager clown, but she handled it like a champ. In contrast, Baby was rather quiet, unsettled. It took Marionette's coaxing to get her to set down the gift she had brought, which she had nearly been clinging to- likely the source of her trepidation.
Unfortunately, the moment she did, and right as Marionette was assuring her with a brotherly pat on the arm, Carlton decided to insert himself into the situation.
"Hey, Baby! I saw you at the fair. You were really good!" he chimed up.
"You did not," Baby said reflexively. She stared at him with slowly widening eyes as reality sunk in. "…You all saw, didn't you?"
"Sure. All twelve of me," Carlton quipped.
"Thank you, Carlton. That's very kind of you to say. If you're not too busy, would you mind trying to get the confetti bag away from Ennard I'd do it myself, but I've got my hands full and have no time for shenanigans," Marionette dismissed in a friendly tone.
Carlton caught on and gave a thumbs up before heading off. No doubt to be sucked into whatever plan Ennard had cooking up. Marionette then turned back to Baby.
"Don't be embarrassed. You put on a fantastic show on stage! You can't blame him for taking notice."
"I just hadn't considered that all of her friends might see it," Baby murmured.
She looked around at the group, noticing that they were all here. John was trying to help Mike move a table into the back- she didn't know why, but it was because it was wobbly, and they were moving it to be looked at later. Lamar was over keeping an eye on assumedly Marla's brother who was playing a two-person game with a little blond girl, Jason and Chrissy respectively. Carlton was now as stuck with Ennard as Marla was while Jessica looked on in mild amusement.
Jessica looked as perfect as she had the night Baby met her, which stirred up an amount of self-consciousness and jealousy that was so noticeable that Baby was able to put it back into check. Jessica wasn't a rival for Charlie's friendship; she had to share.
"…Jessica's here, I see," Baby remarked, disguising her inner thoughts with an aloof tone. "You should keep a close eye on her. Ennard's going to try and set her up with Michael."
Marionette let that thought roll over him. Charlie's dear friend Jessica, a smart and sophisticated young woman with a mind as open as her heart, and Michael, who they nearly had to forcibly roll off the couch to agree to come to this party.
"…I'll keep an eye on that."
For a while, things continued like normal. Jeremy brought his mini-matronics to the pizzeria where they immediately began to run the place like they owned it. Somehow this was still a nice addition, giving the place a true birthday party feel.
But they weren't the only ones Jeremy brought. Marionette didn't notice at first, but Michael was standing off in the hallway, secluding himself for as long as he could. The Puppet discretely greeted his brother and then gave his distance, as to not encourage him to bolt out the back door- which was likely why he was hanging out beside it. Though it wasn't long before Scott paused his conversation with Clay long enough to point him out to Ennard who dropped everything and went to find him.
Ennard saw Michael haunting the hallway and practically lit up. "Hey, Bunny Buddy! I didn't think you'd show up!" He hustled over and pulled him into a hug, then drew back into a one-armed one. "Whoa, you smell like the whole forest today."
"Yes, well… I knew people would be eating," Michael mumbled.
"Ha ha, good! And good timing, because I've got someone I'd like you to meet," Ennard invited. He tried to pull the rabbit along, but Michael caught that tone and decided to stay rooted where he was.
"Let's put a pin in that for now and take a look at this," he quickly changed the subject. He held the sketchbook out for the clown to see his designs, to which he took instant interest in.
"Ooo, and this is…?"
"This is Charlie's late birthday present," Michael revealed. He traced the design of the possible ankle joint with his pencil. "And the fix of her only design flaw."
Ennard's eyes literally did glow in intrigue at such a suggestion. The job laid out before him stealing his full attention. "Oh, we can do that."
"We can do anything with enough parts, but we only have one shot and limited supplies. So, we need to make it work," Michael instructed.
Ennard hummed and both looked down at the sketchbook. Ennard's fingers tapped on his shoulder pensively, slowly, and then rolled one last time before he looked up at the bunny.
"…You want to come meet Jessica?" he asked excitedly.
"No."
But he wasn't the last to arrive. Natalie brought Chance in closer to go time. He helped hold open the backdoor for her as she carried in a big box, then proceeded to stop and stare at Michael for a long moment. Michael refused to look up, but Ennard matched the gaze and with his permanent grin seemed to challenge the black bear to do something. He didn't though and whatever was going through his mind was a mystery. Natalie's goading broke up the moment.
Though unlike Michael, Chance was surprisingly a little more social. He still parked himself off to the side, but he would engage with anyone who approached. Fritz did at first to bring him up to speed, then he briefly got in a conversation with Lamar when he walked over to watch the kids playing their game. They were uneased by him at first and his occasional cough but warmed up soon enough.
Once he was alone, Marionette decided it was only polite to approach and greet him.
"Evening, Chance. Thank you for coming. Charlie will really appreciate it," he said with a warm smile.
"Anything for that kid," Chance said. "But if it's alright with everyone, I'll be keeping to myself most of the night."
"Of course. Don't feel pressured to mingle, there's plenty of people to distract themselves," Marionette offered.
Chance nodded and looked around at the people. The lid lowered on his one good eye, and if the Puppet didn't know better it seemed to be a somber look. He tried to not look at the other eye, it tended to make his head buzz.
"Are you alright, Chance?" he asked gently.
"I'm just thinking. About birthdays, about today… About family and things," Chance said vaguely. That gave one possible clue.
"…About… Sammy?" Marionette dared to guess.
"How'd you figure it out?" Chance asked tiredly.
"It was a lucky guess."
"Don't tell Charlie that I'm sulking because of him. This is supposed to be her day. She's getting a chance to have a birthday after her day of death. People don't get chances like that, and I don't want to start planting ideas about Sammy in her head," he insisted. Though his firm tone faltered once more. "But I'm thinking about him. Where he is, what he's doing. If he's even still here… Have you got any leads?"
"We have a few…" Marionette said vaguely. "There are possessed animatronics at the Pizzaplex and at least one of them doesn't seem to recall who he is, so… We'll find him eventually. If we don't, we'll know he's moved on."
"…It's strange. I don't know whether to hope he's beyond this or hope he's still here so I can see him one last time," Chance admitted. "…But I suppose either would be better than never knowing."
This was a bad conversation to have, Marionette realized quickly. Conversations like this often led him to doing rash things he hadn't thought through yet. He suppressed it for the moment with the knowledge it would crawl back up.
But before anything could come of it then, Mike breezed in and laid a hand on his shoulder to get his attention.
"I'm going to go pick up Charlie," he said. Marionette smiled and nodded, and Mike slid his arm around him and into a quick hug before going. Just from that motion alone he realized he had been watching. "Want to come with me?"
"No, you go ahead. It will give me a few more minutes to finish things," he said. Assuring him that he didn't need the out but appreciating the offer.
It did give him reason to excuse himself from Chance without him finding it suspicious. Though likely he wouldn't either way. It was just Marionette overthinking it, like he would continue doing so sporadically for the rest of the day.
It didn't take long for Mike to drive back home and pick up Charlie. Much to his amusement she had decided to wear her El Chip's Fiesta shirt under her jacket- to get in the 'party mood' as she put it. She was somewhere between excited and anxious, leaning mostly towards the former and feeling the tenseness of a ring constantly pressing in her chest. Like at any moment she might say something a little too loudly and have a jingle fall out with it. Which only intensified as they drove up.
The feeling nearly doubled as they walked in through the backdoor into a remarkably quiet and dark hallway. She knew what was coming just as well as Mike did, her leading the way down the hall as he followed with an anticipatory smile.
The moment Charlie stepped into the room the lights were flicked on and a chorus of voices called out.
"SURPRISE!" Along with a few variations or additions of, "Happy Birthday, Charlie!"
Charlie's face broke into a grin and there came the jingling without any chance of controlling it. "Aww, you guys!"
Marla made it to her first and pulled her into a tight squeeze, which Charlie returned. She only pulled back to give Jessica a chance. Baby started to roll in closer, but hesitation had her keep her distance, while Marionette popped up alongside Mike behind her, welcoming her with a quicker hug from behind.
From that point Charlie was basically just whisked away into a sea of voices and friends. Going with where the tide took her, which landed her in a seat at the head of the party table. Some of the others took seats around it but a majority of them were kind of just standing or sitting wherever they could manage. It was crowded in a remarkably pleasant way. For someone like Michael it was stifling, explaining why he kept as far out of it as possible, but for Charlie it was exhilarating.
Charlie wasn't exactly the type to reveal in being the center of attention. In fact, she had become flustered and self-conscious by such in the past, but being surrounded by so many friends and family members that were there for her made her feel almost giddy. Loved.
In that moment it felt like something that had been missing inside of her had been fulfilled.
That was even before the cake had been brought out. To which there was a cake, even though only a fraction of the partygoers could eat it. It was more the design and ceremony aspect that mattered. Which did hold up as it was a beautiful cake.
The cake was chocolate with vanilla icing. With wavy green stripes around the sides of the cake and the top ringed with little dollops of green, yellow, and orange which were topped with multicolored sprinkles. 'Happy Birthday, Charlie!' was written out in cursive in bright green frosting in the center. It was surrounded by a ring of birthday candles that was only broken by a two and zero candle at the top above the message.
The most unexpected request of the evening way when Chance sort of cornered himself at the kitchen door and silently confiscated the cake before Tabby could bring it out, much to the woman's relatively lukewarm confusion. Much to the immediate horror of anyone who realized that a bear with a semi-clumsy grip and a microphone in one hand was now carrying the birthday over by himself. Yet somehow, somehow, he pulled it off. As the lights were dimmed, he set down the cake in front of her.
She was one of the most surprised by him bringing the cake and looked up at him. To which he gave a stiff little pet to the top of her head.
"Happy Birthday, Kiddo."
Charlie wasn't sure why such a simple gesture made her feel like she could cry. She wasn't even sure how he could put aside so many of his feelings to act as though they weren't what they were. But he did, and she smiled without tears.
"Thanks, Grandpa."
It felt like Marionette's heart was clamping in a vice. Or more likely, his comb was getting stressed by the tension in his music box. Seeing the scene hurt, and the nostalgic glow of the candlelight wasn't helping matters. He too kept smiling until the feeling passed.
Charlie made her wish on those candles before waving out the flames. She wished for more birthdays like this, the first thing she could think of on the spot. In hindsight, it was a pretty good choice, and she smiled as she watched the cake get cut and divvied up.
The party settled into a casual buzz for a while after that. Considering that there was a good chunk of people in the room who couldn't stand each other, somehow they managed to keep far enough away that nothing came of it.
Eventually Marionette got the ball rolling again with a casually suggested, "Let's do gifts." Not even loud enough for everyone to hear, but picked up by those at the table and ran with. He pushed up and off his chair and headed to the gift table.
"Have her open this one first," Natalie suggested, moving a few gifts to uncover a larger giftbox wrapped with cloud and balloon themed paper. "Sunny dropped it off at my office last night, so it's likely from him and Jake, maybe Freddy too."
Marionette gave an agreeing, cheerful chime before picking it up. It was a little heavy, but he couldn't judge what was inside it from that alone. He carried it to the table and set it down in front of Charlie.
"This is from Sunny and Jake," he introduced.
Charlie was a little surprised they had gotten her a gift at all, but she eagerly pulled back the wrapping paper to see what was hiding underneath. She then used her new pocketknife to cut open the box on the inside, happily flashing it off to her friends before continuing to get the box open. Inside she was surprised to see a bunch of weirdly shaped small gifts tucked inside of a bed of tissue paper.
On top laid an envelope labelled 'Happy Birthday!' with a couple of sun, cloud, and smiley stickers. She pulled that out first and opened it up- it was closed with a sticker of a cartoon Sunny's face- and pulled out the card. Surprisingly, the card itself did not have Sun or Moon on it and instead was decorated with a towering birthday cake on the front. It read: "I got you a layer for every year!" On the inside was imprinted: "Hey, it's your Sweet Tooth's birthday too. Happy Birthday!"
Above and below the simple message were two entries with distinct handwriting, one by Jake and one by Sunny.
The above one read: "To Charlie: we know you like getting hands-on so we got you a gift you could put together yourself. Happy Birthday!"
The bottom read: "Happy Birthday, Jingle Bell! I hope this little guy brightens up your life as much as you brighten up ours!"
"Huh," Charlie said.
She set the card aside and picked up a present from the center top. It was mostly rounded in shape and a little weighty. It felt like it could've been made of some kind of metal, so her immediate guess was that they gave her a toy or statue that she could put together.
She was almost right, as she realized when she peeled back the wrapping paper and saw two dark eye sockets staring back at her. It was almost a little unsettling, like she was holding a skull. Jessica, who was seated to the right, shot her eyebrows up at it.
Charlie quickly finished unwrapping the object and realized it was a white head with pink circular cheeks and the upper half of a purple mouth with a little black nose. There were slots for ears, a hole on the top of its head for something to screw in, and the empty eye sockets. It was an entirely disassembled little animatronic from the looks and size of it.
"I think it's a Freddy. The shape sort of fits and I think this screw on the top is for a hat," Charlie said, turning the head over in her hands.
"That's definitely a Freddy!" Marionette agreed. He leaned over her, hands resting on the table beside her. "How peculiar! I didn't see anything like this at the Prize Counter. I wonder where they found it."
"Probably at our house," Mike quipped under his breath. Jeremy grinned from beside him.
"Did they wrap every individual piece?" Jessica asked in disbelief. She pinched a small gift between her fingers and lifted it out of the box before realizing from the shape that it was likely an ear. "Okay, yes. Yes, they did."
"Sunny's got a little too much time on his hands," Charlie joked.
"But not enough to put it together himself," John playfully added on.
While this conversation was going on, Ennard migrated his way around the table and alongside Baby. He gave her a little tap on the shoulder.
"Get your gift," Ennard whispered out of the corner of his mouth to Baby. Baby, who had been standing stiffly beside the table with her hand and claw resting before her, caught on and silently rolled off to do so.
While she did that, Charlie managed to find a differently wrapped gift hidden in the corner of the box. This one orange with lightning bolt shaped patterns on it and a blue ribbon. There was a matching blue envelope carefully taped to the side, which Charlie removed and opened up to revealed yet another birthday card. This one showing the Glamrock band posed to perform on a neon blue background, all in eager poses. It read: "Rock out on your birthday…" Opening it up revealed the second half: "Because that day a star was born!"
Like with Jake and Sunny's card, Freddy and Gregory had both signed it. Though they signed it underneath the wording.
"Here are birthday wishes from Gregory and Freddy Fazbear! I hope you have a super-cool day, birthday girl!" was signed with an autograph quality 'Freddy' following it.
Gregory's was less flashy but more telling: "Happy birthday! Freddy let me pick it out and I got you the cool one!"
With that promise, Charlie tore away the wrapped to reveal a box advertising a plasma ball on a lightning bolt shaped black stand. She had to admit it did look cool, and she was about to cut it open when Baby rolled up to the table with her gift. Marionette moved aside so she could take his place and Charlie moved the box of parts onto the floor beside her, turning her full attention to the clown and her multi-color dotted gift.
"This is from Scott, Ennard, and I," Baby introduced. Though from the fact that she introduced it alone and Ennard wasn't chiming in with any comments, Charlie had a hunch maybe she was the one who had chosen the gift.
Charlie thanked her and was eager to start peeling away the wrapping paper. Anticipatory anxiety balling up around her music box got her to start talking, "Any hints?"
"Every woman should have an accessory that matches them," Baby said coyly.
That almost cleared things up. Now Charlie was thinking it was going to be a purse or a handbag, something she had never really gotten into the habit of using but could've been useful. That is, Baby would know that she carried everything in her jacket, and she was also the one who was always flipping through magazines rife with handbags and other accessories, so it all fit that that was what she got her.
Charlie wasn't exactly sure how she would feel trying to carry a purse around, but she trusted that Baby would've picked out something sleek and elegant.
Or she thought that until she pulled back the tissue paper and saw what looked like a bright yellow plastic carrying case.
"Apologies about the color, but I knew you would care more about what's on the inside."
With that coaxing, Charlie reached in to pick the case up and out of the box, only now realizing the weightiness to it, and set it down on the table after pushing the box back and having it taken away. She unlatched the case and opened it up.
It was a soldering gun. The whole package with everything it needed tucked carefully alongside it. The full kit. Charlie audibly gasped at the sight of it.
"Whoa- Baby!"
"Do you like it?" Baby asked. Her voice hopeful, as though her reaction alone didn't give it away.
"Like it?! I love-!" Charlie paused momentarily to consider before getting up from her seat. "I love it! Thank you!" she enthused as she pulled Baby into a hug.
Baby gave the quietest squeak. So quiet that Charlie couldn't tell if it was from her speaker or a joint from her hugging too hard. After a hesitation, Baby hugged her back with her good arm.
"What is it?" Marla asked, leaning forward on the table to try to see.
"It's a soldering gun!" Ennard chimed in. "Basically, the thing that burns other things together."
"Ben, my God. You couldn't have been more vague if you compared it to a real gun," Michael muttered beside him.
"Where'd you get it? Stan's?" Fritz quietly asked Scott.
"Smiles and Servos."
Fritz hissed sympathetically. "That must've cost a fortune."
"Nah, we got the friend discount because I know the owner."
"How's Jack doing? It's still Jack, right?" Chance asked from behind them, making Scott jump a little.
"He's okay. He's, uh… He lost his two front teeth in a boating accident. So, he's got a little bit of a lisp now."
"Yeah, that sounds about right."
With all this going on, Baby tapped Charlie on the back.
"That's enough. They might start to get ideas," she warned.
"That what, I like my gift?" Charlie joked back. She did finally pull back though. "Which I do. I love it, and I'm going to use it so much you're going to have to get me another one next year."
Baby gave a little scoff and lightly shoved her shoulder to nudge her back down into her chair. She then watched and reveled in Charlie eagerly taking out the soldering gun to look it over. No putting on appearances, she genuinely liked the gift. Baby, who was very in control of her image, could barely contain her giddiness but did so to keep up appearances. Especially when it took Charlie a while to move on from it, mind already lighting up for what she could do with it.
Though this wasn't the only 'accessory' she got. Shortly after that, Chrissy got Marionette's attention with a little tap of her own and he accompanied her to get Charlie her gift. Like she had gotten for Marionette's last birthday, it was a large, pretty ribbon to make a bow out of. This one a satin pink color. Charlie knelt for her so she could tie it just above the bell at the end of her prong. Both showing it off and showing off her improving bow tying skills.
More gifts were exchanged. Jeremy had gotten her a video game, some sort of sci-fi platformer that she was genuinely intrigued with, and Lamar had gotten her fancy looking leather-bound journal. Slowly the gift pile was diminishing behind them. Mike half-expected Clay to whip out the information about the house, especially once he caved and pulled up a chair to sit down, but he didn't. He couldn't risk having to take it back later.
"Okay, so, uh… John. You want to go?" Marla offered. He quirked a brow but went along with it. He inhaled deeply and reached into his jacket pocket.
Baby caught one sight of the flat jewelry box he pulled out and could just feel her claw starting to clench. She wasn't sure if she wanted to role her eyes or panic.
"He got her jewelry. Of course," she thought. Scoffing inwardly at the thought. "And after she said she just wanted to be friends. What is he thinking?"
He came over to Charlie's opposite side with a slightly goofy smile on his face, which looked like it was perhaps turning the slightest bit pink unless she was imagining it.
"Maybe he's trying to win her back. A big grand gesture to leave her swooning," Baby considered. She swallowed back down that thought instantly. "Don't be stupid! And don't be jealous. I don't own Charlie. We're not even going steady. If he wants to try to double-down and get her back then he can go right ahead," she corrected herself. She sent a less than impressed glance down at the box. "…But he will have to try much harder than that, hmm?"
He handed the box to Charlie to which he thanked him. She was a little slow in opening it- Baby noticed, she was watching like a hawk- but she opened the lid and revealed what was hiding inside. It was a bracelet.
Though instead of a gold or silver bracelet studded with gems or other shimmery delights, it was a leather bracelet. It was comprised of a few woven strands that braided together and topped with a few turquoise beads and a bronze tree shaped charm.
"Oh no," Baby considered. "It's sentimental."
"Oh wow. This is beautiful," Charlie said. She lifted it in her fingers to study the charm.
"I know you were never big on jewelry, but I saw it and it made me think of you. It looked like something you might wear," John offered.
"A tree?" Charlie asked. There seemed to be almost a knowing tone in her voice.
"It's the tree of life," John clarified, rubbing the back of his neck as he did. That pinkish hue now a little more apparent. "You don't have to put it on."
"I want to! Here, let me just… Do you mind-?"
"I've got it."
John helped Charlie put it on. It was able to be tightened all the way to fit her slender wrist, with some beads dangling below and the bronze tree above her wrist like a clockface. She admired it before looking up to him with an appreciative smile.
"I love it, John. Thank you."
"Don't mention it," John replied.
"That looks really good on you," Jessica complimented. "You would think that the brown and black would clash, but that's just a dark enough shade that it still works. And bronze was a good choice with the material."
"What do you think, Baby?" Charlie invited her in.
"I think it looks lovely on you," Baby agreed. She then made a bold move. "And so does this-." She reached up and gently flicked Charlie's bell with a soft ting.
"Hey, quit it!" Charlie laughed.
Baby chuckled a little in her chest and rested her hand on the back of Charlie's seat.
Then she looked up and met John's gaze heads on and stared him down for a few very long seconds. John seemed surprised, then uneased, and then finally broke eye contact when Jessica started talking and looked away.
Baby wasn't jealous, she was just meeting the competition head on.
That being said, Charlie did continue wearing the bracelet, so she must've liked it to some degree. There was some sort of inside joke about a tree, but she could probably ask later. Once she could figure out a way to ask without it sounding prying or needy.
Eventually they got to the final gifts of the evening. Marla had a gift that she was so excited about that she kept hinting to it, but wherever it was it wasn't on the table. The only thing left on the table was the gift Marionette put there himself. He carried it to the table and set it out in front of Charlie. A flat box wrapped in simple white paper and tied with a red ribbon- a Freddy classic and a Foxy current.
"This one was a collaborative effort," Marionette offered. He looked to Jessica who smiled, lifting her cheek from her hand to raise it in admission.
"You two got a gift together? Now I'm curious," Charlie said. She began to draw the paper away as Marionette stood between her and Jessica, his fingers laced in anticipation as he waited for her to get the box open.
She lifted the lid and was nearly struck silent at the folded-up jacket peeking up from the box. She lifted it out and quickly noticed the similarities between it and the one she was wearing. The pockets, the hood, even the material felt very close to the real thing.
The notable difference being the coloring. Instead of dark green, the jacket was black with white accents. The flaps of the pockets were white, the bottom edge and cuffs of the sleeves were white, there were white stripes around where the elbow would be, and even the hood was white. The hood was bigger too, with an opening in the back. Clearly so she could put her prong through, but also big enough that she didn't have to. The only clash from the black and white color scheme being a horizontal green stripe around the waist.
"It's my… it looks just like my jacket," Charlie said in shock. She folded it open in her hands and studied the details closer. "It does! It looks just like my jacket! I can't believe this! How did you get this?!"
"Same place that did mine," Foxy chimed in. "And it was my idea to getcha a uniform, so count me in on that collaboration."
"You see, the only problem with your jacket is that you haven't been able to wear it into work. So, I wanted to get you one that you could. It's not a replacement! Just something that we knew would be you."
"And we knew the only way we were ever getting you out of that jacket was to get one exactly like it and pull the whole switcharoo," Jessica said with a wink.
"It's perfect! I'm going to try it on right now," Charlie gushed. She slid off her jacket- Baby offered up her hand and Charlie gave it to her- and slid the new one on. It was sized slightly differently and not as well-worn, but it was comfortable. It was nice. "I can't believe it, but it really is perfect. It fits great!"
Marionette gave a delighted chime. "Perfect! Now, don't feel pressured to wear it-."
"No pressure, I'm wearing this all the time," Charlie proclaimed. Hands on her hips, she looked down at the jacket with a wide grin. "How's it look on me?"
"It looks like it was made for you," Mike quipped. "Seriously though, it looks great."
"Ya see, Mari, I told ya to get one too. He blew off the idea like a foul wind. Money 'an all that," Foxy remarked to Jeremy.
"Because we've been making bank since Freddy's opened up," Fritz sarcastically agreed.
"We've been making more this month than last month. 'Bout time he stopped runnin' around naked."
"Aren't your pants painted on?" Mike asked.
"Of course ye'd be against it," Foxy retorted.
"There's kids here," Jeremy warned. "I should know. Most of them are mine."
"What else is in here?" Charlie asked. She had been so swept up by the jacket that she noticed there had been something folded underneath it and partially hidden under tissue paper. She started to peel it back to see what almost looked like a sleeveless something, long enough to be folded over itself. Marionette quickly crinkled the paper back down.
"Oh, you can look at that later. That's just a bonus," he waved off.
"Mari, was that a dress?" Charlie asked in befuddlement.
Marionette was silent with his static smile. Charlie looked to Jessica questioningly.
"Don't look at me," she declined.
Charlie looked back to Marionette to see a much more sheepish smile on his face.
"For special occasions! Like parties or… funerals," he attempted to assuage.
"Are funerals special occasions?" Charlie asked, amused.
"It depends on if we get to take the guest of honor home with us," Mike remarked. This got some funny looks. "Okay, yes. That's a little dark. But there's a big difference between a death and an extended afterlife."
"Aye. Ye might get a new crewmate out of it," Foxy chimed in.
"You two are singlehandedly killing this party," Max called from under the table somewhere.
With the distraction of that awkward conversation, Marionette hastily brushed up the box and closed it back up.
"W-Well, don't worry about it! It was just an impulse buy. I certainly wasn't trying to push you into anything," he fumbled out.
"No, wait. I didn't say I didn't want it," Charlie interjected.
Marionette looked utterly surprised by this, still clutching the box to his chest. She reached out for it and he handed it back over, and she lifted the lid to peek in again.
"I mean, I can't say I'll ever wear it, but… hey, you know, why not? Maybe someday," Charlie said with a shrug. She closed the box and held it under her arm. "Thank you, Mari. For them both."
Marionette trilled happily. "You're very welcome, Charlie."
"You too, Jess."
"Don't mention it," Jessica replied.
"That was the last gift, right? Okay, then it's time for the big surprise!" Marla announced. Carlton backed her up with a little drumroll on the table with his fingers. "We rented a cabin and we're whisking you away for the weekend."
"Because the best gift we can offer is getting you away from this place," Carlton joked. He sat there a moment before adding, "Just kidding, Boss."
"No, you're not," Mike remarked.
"It's okay, Carlton. We won't fire you. We'll just break your spirit through manual labor," Fritz joked. He then winced and turned away, muttering to Scott as he did, "And I probably shouldn't have said that in front of his dad."
"Oh no, don't worry. Clay's familiar with the Freddy's work ethic," Scott half-joked. Though it sounded tired enough to be fully true.
Though all that was ignored at the center of the party, by Charlie herself. The idea of going away for a weekend somewhere that wasn't just Scott's and with her old friends was both exciting and immediately panicking inducing.
"What do you say?"
Jessica looked on-board and John had a smile only a shade off the one he gave when he was handing over his gift. It felt like everyone was waiting for her answer, so she didn't even give herself time to think.
"Sounds good! I'm in."
She could think it over later- and she had a couple of days to do so- but for now, she wanted to keep the party going for as long as she could. She wasn't alone, she was surrounded and loved, and she felt more alive than she ever had on this day.
It was the best birthday she had ever had.