Chapter 5

Rachel had gotten the week off of work as her boss had insisted she take some time off. "You deserve it for completing those jobs over the past two weeks," he said, which made her smile as she now would have some time to do some projects at the house.

And to have a talk with Sun.

The young woman had noticed that Sun was always nearby and eager to help out, which she didn't mind, but she had also noticed how the house had not been dusty at all for the past month and the dishes had been done by the time she woke up in the morning. And she had noticed at night, his battery seemed lower than it should.

She now walked in through the front door of her house, once again seeing it was spotless and she peeked into the kitchen, seeing the kitchen was spotless and dishes done. "Okay, I need to talk to him," she said to herself before going to find her daughter, who was with Eclipse at the moment as they were watching a movie.

Seeing her, the larger bot paused the movie. "Your mom's home," he said to the girl sitting next to him.

Molly beamed and jumped off the couch where she and Eclipse had been sitting. "Mommy!" She said happily, running up to her mother, who scooped her up into a hug.

"Hi, sugar dumpling," the young woman said. "Guess what?"

"What?" The child asked.

"Mommy has the next seven days off of work."

Molly gasped happily. "You'll be home?" She asked.

"Yes," Rachel said. "My boss kindly gave me some vacation time."

The little girl beamed happily. "Can we go to the amusement park Moon was telling me about?" She asked hopefully.

Rachel looked up at Moon, who looked a bit sheepish. "There is a nearby amusement park opening soon and I was telling her about it," he admitted.

The young woman smiled. "When is it opening?" She asked.

"This Friday."

She nodded. "Then we'll make it a family day on Saturday. All five of us."

Eclipse and Sun were stunned and Moon looked hopeful, which told Rachel that the three probably hadn't been allowed out of the house in a long time. "You didn't think Molly and I would go and leave you guys behind, did you?" She asked, her tone gently teasing. "Molly wouldn't let me hear the end of it."

The child giggled. "You guys have to come!" She said to the three animatronics before she gave them puppy eyes. "Please?" She said cutely.

Eclipse chuckled. "Can't say 'no' to those puppy eyes," he said, playfully booping Molly on the nose.

"You really mean it?" Sun asked hopefully to Rachel.

"Yes, Sun. I mean it," she said. "No take backs."

She had learned a while back that if she said that, it cemented her promises and boys would be assured that she'd never go back on her promises. Moon hugged her, to her surprise, but she hugged him back. "Thank you," he said quietly.

Rachel smiled and leaned her head gently against his. "You're welcome, Moon," she said. "You guys can ask me anything and if it's within my power, I'll do it for you three."

Eclipse also hugged her. "It's just been so long since...someone's been nice to us," he said.

The young woman felt saddened for them and hugged him back, silently vowing that she'd never let them feel left out or touch-starved again. They were her family, practically her brothers. Molly decided the atmosphere was too serious and climbed up onto the couch before jumping up on Sun's back.

Startled, the animatronic tried to catch her while trying to keep his balance, but he ended up falling into the giant bean bag in the living room. "Oomph!" He grunted in surprise as he landed face first so that Molly wouldn't get hurt. The child giggled at that and squealed as Moon lifted her up into his own arms.

"You little rascal," he said playfully as he tickled her sides and stomach, making her laugh and curl up in his arms.


The next day, after breakfast, Rachel decided it was time to talk to Sun. "Hey, Sun?" She said, making him look at her. "Could you help me with some things today?"

"Sure!" He said brightly.

They went to the craft room and Sun watched as Rachel got to work on mending the clothes the animatronics had been wearing when she first met them. "Sorry it's taken me so long to get to this," she said apologetically.

"It's okay," he said. "You were busy with work and providing for us and your daughter."

She smiled before taking a deep breath, sewing for a bit before she looked at the animatronic. "Sun, have you been cleaning the house every day for the past month?" She asked.

"Yes," he said, smiling before looking worried. "Did I miss a spot? I can fix it."

She shook her head and put a hand on his arm. "Sun, I worry that you're doing a bit too much," she said. "The house doesn't need to be cleaned every day."

He looked at her. "But...what if Molly gets sick?" He asked.

Rachel set aside her mending and took Sun's hands. "Sun, it's just the five of us in the house," she said. "Molly's not going to get sick if you don't clean the house everyday. You can clean it once or twice a week and we'll be fine."

He looked worried, to which she gently cupped his face with her hands, rubbing his faceplate soothingly. "Sun, while I don't mind you helping, I noticed your battery is wearing out every day and that's not good," she said.

"But...I don't want to be useless," he said, tears gathering in his eyes.

"You're not useless, Sun," Rachel said. "Whoever told you that was lying. You are one of the most helpful people I know."

He looked up at her and she smiled. "Please, Sun, don't wear yourself out like that," she said. "Instead, how about you pick a day or two where you do cleaning? Like one day, you get the top floor and another day, you get the bottom floor. And you and I can take turns on doing the dishes."

He looked at her. "That...would be okay?" He asked.

"Yes," she said, smiling.

Sun had tears in his eyes and hugged her tightly. "No take backs?" He asked tearfully.

"No take backs," Rachel promised, rubbing his back. "Now, let's finish up the mending and then I have something for you."

"You do?" He asked in surprise. "What is it?"

"I'll show you after the mending is done."

It thankfully didn't take long for the mending to finish and Rachel reached for a box nearby, opening it and showing it to Sun. He gasped in happiness as he saw it was new ribbons that matched his, Moon's, and Eclipse's color schemes and the ribbons had new bells on them too.

"You...You got us new ribbons and bells?" He asked, eyes shining with happiness.

"Yes," she said, smiling. "And this is for you too."

She pulled out a homemade pirate outfit. "Molly told me how you two always play pirates and I figured that you should have a proper pirate costume too."

Overcome with emotion, Sun hugged Rachel tightly, making her wince a little, to which he loosened his hug a little. "Sorry," he said apologetically.

"It's okay," she said. "Don't ever be sorry for feeling grateful."

She then pulled back gently and picked up the mended clothes and box of bells and ribbons. "Now what do you say we surprise Moon and Eclipse too?" She suggested.

Moon was not only happy that Rachel had mended the pants he had been wearing when she had first found them, but he was also touched that she had gotten them all new ribbons with bells. Rachel helped him and Sun put the new bells and ribbons on before she turned to Eclipse, who was stunned to see she had gotten him the ribbons and bells too.

"This...This is more than...," he trailed off.

"Eclipse?" Rachel asked gently.

Sun looked saddened and placed a hand on Rachel's shoulder. "It's the first gift he's received in a long time," he said softly. "Not even our first owner would give us gifts."

"He often kept us hidden," Moon said sadly. "We were just...things."

The young woman felt tears sting her eyes and she sighed. "You're more than just 'things'," she said. "And you guys more than deserve gifts too. You're family to me and Molly and I always take care of my family."

Four arms wrapped around her and she saw it was Eclipse, who had tears in his eyes. "Oh, come here, big guy," she said softly, hugging him and he returned the hug.

"You've done so much for us," he said softly.

"That's what a true family does, Eclipse," she said before looking at the ribbons and bells. "Do you want some help putting those on?"

He nodded and she, Sun, Moon, and Molly helped put the ribbons on, the small child actually tying the ribbon on quite neatly as did the other three. "There," Rachel said with a smile.

Moon hugged her again. "Thank you," he said.

Sun hugged her too. "Is it okay if we go over a schedule for the cleaning?" He asked.

"We can do that, yes," Rachel said with a nod. "For now, I'm ordering Chinese food and we are watching movies for the rest of the day."

Molly's eyes lit up and the animatronics chuckled before they got everything set up for the family night.


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