Chapter 3
Before her stood three beings made of metal, one looking like the sun, another like the moon, and the third being tall and looking like a combination of the other two. Rachel noted their clothes looked a bit filthy and needed mending. "Well, what have we here?" She asked, setting down her hammer and going up to the sun one, taking a closer look at him. She then saw his hand had something on it and grabbed his hand, moving it closer to herself, noticing the arm wasn't stiff. "Joints? Well, you're just full of surprises," she said aloud before noticing what was on the robot's hand.
It was paint. Pink paint at that.
The same color as her daughter's room.
Rachel jumped back and, seeing a heavy shovel nearby, she grabbed it and held it like she'd swing it. To her shock, the robot flinched and gasped, his eyes wide before he scampered backwards, away from her. "No!" He pleaded before he crashed into a bookshelf and some books and empty cans crashed down on him.
The young woman stood still for a moment before coming closer, still holding the shovel. As she towered over him, the sun robot flinched again, whimpering and holding an arm up to shield himself. Rachel took a deep breath. "How did you get that paint on your hand?" She asked firmly.
He looked up at her fearfully. "I...I...I just wanted to help!" He blurted out. "Didn't want...to be useless!"
Rachel blinked. "What do you mean?" She asked, still on guard.
The robot shifted and suddenly, a book fell down on him and hit the rays around his head, one of them falling off. "Ouch!" He exclaimed, holding the side of his head where the ray had fallen out.
The young woman looked at him and she set the shovel down. "Let's get you out of the splash zone and you answer my questions, deal?" She said.
He looked up at her before nodding, flinching as she got closer and began clearing away the books and empty cans. Once the items were off of him, Rachel reached down and took the robot's arm. He flinched and whimpered, but she gave his arm a gentle tug. "Come on," she said, her voice level.
He stood up and looked at her before seeing her pick up the ray that had fallen from his head and she took a deep breath before indicating to a nearby chair. "Sit," she said.
She noted he scrambled to do so, as if afraid she'd hurt him if he didn't do as she told him to do. Taking another deep breath, she turned to him. "Were you in my daughter's room?" She asked, pointing to his hand that had the pink paint on it.
He nodded. "Yes, when you were painting it," he admitted. "I just wanted to help. I haven't been in her room since."
"Then who rearranges her toys?"
"Um...my counterpart," he said, glancing at her shoulder.
Rachel's six sense went off as she sensed there was someone behind her. She curled one hand into a fist before ducking and turning fast, grabbing the robot that had been behind her and surprising him to where he fell down with her locking her legs into place around his sides, trapping his arms.
The robot looked at her in shock and she realized she was looking at the very same face she had seen on the jester doll her daughter had. "Moon?" She asked.
He looked surprised she knew his name and she clarified. "My daughter mentioned you the other day," she said. "Was it you that got her the apples and peanut butter?"
"Yes," he said. "I noticed it was a favorite snack of hers on your second day here."
Just then, Rachel saw movement and glanced up to see the biggest robot moving towards them. He had four arms and was approaching slowly. She looked confused until she realized he was trying to intimidate her. "Nice try, big guy, but you don't scare me," she said.
He paused and looked at her. "Let Moon go," he said firmly.
Rachel narrowed her eyes at him before looking at Moon and getting up, releasing him before she turned to the bigger robot and reached behind her, feeling her hammer by her hand and she grabbed it, ready to battle. The sun robot whimpered and Moon went over to him, holding him comfortingly.
The stand off continued for a moment before Rachel broke the silence. "You just going to stand there? Or are we going to dance?" She asked.
The tall robot gave her a confused look before a sharp clang sounded behind Rachel and she jumped, turning around fast and backing up a bit as she saw the tools to the side had fallen over. Letting out a sigh, she relaxed a bit. "Good grief," she said.
A rumbling sound behind her made her freeze before she sighed in exasperation. "Oh, right. Almost forgot about you," she said sarcastically before turning fast and jumping at the larger robot, forcing him to catch her. When he did, she froze, which he noticed. She looked up at him. "What is that sound?" She asked.
"What sound?" He asked, confused.
Rachel looked up at him before turning her head and resting her ear against his chest. She felt him freeze before she looked up at him again, her face filled with shock. "Did you...carry me last night?" She asked.
His eyes widened. "How...? You were asleep," he said.
She blinked. "I...think I might have woken up a bit, but was on the edge of sleep and waking up completely," she said. "I sensed someone was carrying me and...I heard that sound I just heard now. It sounded like a heartbeat, only with a mechanical ring to it."
He looked stunned and she noticed now that he looked a bit scuffed up. "Hey, how about you put me down and I'll see about getting you guys fixed up? I might even be able to mend your clothes too," she said, gently patting his arm.
He gently set her down and she went over to Moon. "So, I know his name, but what do I call you two?" She asked, gesturing to the sun one and the taller robot.
"Sun," the sun-themed robot said, still sounding fearful.
"Eclipse," the taller robot said.
"Alright. Sun, Moon, and Eclipse. Let's get you three out of this room and somewhere a bit bigger so I can fix you up," Rachel said.
They looked at her in confusion before she took Moon's hand gently and gave it a light pull. "Come on. Molly will be there too," she said. "And I think she'll be thrilled to have three best friends."
"And you?" Moon asked. "You're...okay with that?"
Rachel smiled. "Well, let's see. You haven't harmed my daughter. You've all been helping out with the house. And you didn't hurt me either just now," she said. "I think if that had been your intent, Eclipse wouldn't have let me go."
"She's got a point," Sun said before wincing as he held the side of his head where the ray had fallen out. "Ow."
Rachel went over to him and took a look at the damaged area, surprised to see some wires sparking. "Oh, that's not good," she said. "Looks like when the book fell on you, it snapped a few wires here. I've got some extras upstairs."
With that, she guided them to one of the rooms she was still working on. She was thinking of making it a craft space, but for now, it was storing her tools and other stuff she needed for fixing machinery or building stuff. She patted the makeshift table she had created from a large, rather thick, plank of wood and three sawhorses. "Hop up," she said to Sun.
He carefully sat down on it, looking nervous. Noting this, Rachel got to work, fixing the ray back into place and then grabbing a bucket, filling it with hot water and soap. Sun looked confused before he flinched as she began cleaning his arm. She glanced at him as if silently asking if he was okay. Still looking nervous, he nodded, giving her the okay to continue.
Rachel shook her head and gently squeezed his hand. "Sun, relax," she said. "It's just hot water and soap. Nothing bad."
"It's not that," he said.
"It's your touch," Eclipse said, making Rachel look at him in confusion. "We've been mistreated before and would be hurt if we didn't sit still."
The young woman's face reflected understanding and she gently squeezed Sun's hand again. "I'll be careful," she promised before going back to cleaning Sun.
He sat still, but giggled a bit as she scrubbed over his stomach, which made her pause. "Wow, your touch sensors are set to maximum?" She asked, amazed.
"Y-Yeah," Sun giggled.
She smirked. "If you don't hold still, I'll scrub your stomach with this sponge," she said teasingly.
"Eek!" He squeaked, trying hard to hold still as Rachel continued cleaning him.
"You're just as squirmy as Molly is," she said jokingly.
"Hey!" Came Molly's voice as she came in and she gasped at seeing Moon. "Moon!" She said happily, running up to him.
He scooped her up into a hug. "Hello, little one," he said.
Molly then saw Eclipse and shrank back against Moon, who rubbed her back. "It's okay," he said reassuringly.
Rachel noticed that Molly was afraid of Eclipse. "It's okay, sugar dumpling," she said. "Eclipse is really nice, as is Sun. They're Moon's brothers."
Both Eclipse and Sun nodded and Moon went up to Eclipse, hugging him. The larger animatronic hugged him back and gently ruffled Molly's hair. She looked at him and then blinked. "You have four arms!" She said in surprise.
He chuckled. "Yup, so I can win tickle fights against my brothers," he said.
"Hey!" Sun protested lightly, making Molly giggle.
Rachel chuckled at their playful banter. "Alright, boys, let's focus on the matter at hand," she said. "Eclipse. Moon, can you two watch over Molly while Sun cleans up? You all can take turns watching her while I get you three all fixed up."
Nodding, Moon and Eclipse watched over Molly as she brought them over to the play area Rachel had put up for her. Sun watched them before Rachel lightly tapped his hand and held up a pair of striped jester pants that looked much like his own, except not as poofy. "I know it's not quite the same, but that way I can mend the ones you have on. Even wash them too."
He nodded and looked pensive. "Um...is there a changing room?" He asked.
She pointed to a corner where was looked like a decorative wall was set up. "Just open the middle like a door and close it behind you," she said.
He did as she said and was relieved that she was truthful. He quickly changed before coming out with his other pants. She motioned to him to put them in the laundry basket beside the decorative wall. "Alright, can you tell Moon it's his turn?" She asked.
He nodded and went to get his counterpart. Both Moon and Eclipse were checked over, given a good scrubbing, and given new clothes while Rachel promised to fix their clothing too. Moon told her a bit more about how the first owner had purchased them, but then abandoned them, to which she promised she wouldn't do that.
"What if our former owner comes back?" Eclipse asked as she was scrubbing one of his right arms.
"Well, to my understanding, he passed away and he had no family, so there's no one to say they have a claim on the house and the former owner of the place didn't know about you guys, right?" Rachel asked.
"No, she didn't," the taller animatronic said.
"Then, since you three were here when I bought the house, that makes me your guys' owner by default," she said. "But you guys don't have to stay in one spot. This is your home too, so you can go anywhere in the house you want."
Sun and Moon looked surprised at that. "Really?" The former asked.
"Really," she said with a smile.
Eclipse relaxed at that, something she noticed and smiled. "Hey," she said, taking one of his hands. "We're family now. If you guys have any worries, you can talk to me, okay?"
As she finished scrubbing Eclipse's arms, she felt arms hug her from behind and she looked to see it was Sun, who looked at her with hope. "You really mean it? For real? No take backs?"
She smiled and hugged him. "No take backs," she promised.
He hugged her tighter. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He said happily, making her chuckle as she lightly tapped his arm.
"Sun? A little too tight," she said gently.
He immediately let go. "Sorry," he apologized.
"It's okay," she said, smiling.
Moon and Eclipse smiled too, the latter keeping an eye on Molly as she climbed up the former's back, giggling as he stood up, pretending to me a hunchback, making the child giggle again.
Rachel smiled at that, looking forward to seeing how things would go now that they were a family of five.
Looks like Rachel has gained three brothers and Molly now has three uncles. :) Molly will call them her uncles later on.
Please leave a review, but no flames!
GoldGuardian2418
