The Fall of the Aftons

040: William Afton

Half of a year turned into one year. One year turned into two. And before they all knew it, Terrance turned fifteen and Michael was six, nearly seven. The little guy was already in fourth grade! He was a year younger than everyone else--only because the preschool that William had tried to enroll him in had claimed he didn't need to go to pre-K. The workers at the preschool were so confused about how he was so intelligent for such a young kid, but William knew why. Michael was so brilliant because he had been reading books, books, books, books, and more books since before he was even adopted. Not to mention that the summer before the year he was meant to start preschool, he had completed every single of the academic workbooks he asked for the year before. The workbooks that he had received went up to third grade.

"What?!" Henry shouted, utterly flabbergasted.

William scrambled to cover his loud friend's mouth. Everybody in Fredbear's turned to the two friends, gave a slight shrug at the interruption, then quickly went back to whatever they had been doing before.

"Come on, Henry! You can't be so--" His sentence cut off when he felt Henry lick the inside of his hand. William yanked his hand away, shaking it with disgust. "Ew, what the fuck?! Henry!"

"That kind of language is not allowed at Fredbear's Family Diner," Henry said with a smirk.

"I don't give a shit," William grumbled. "I'm one of the owners. The rules don't apply to me." He wiped his hand on Henry's chest to return the slobber to its rightful owner.

Until he realized...

Henry's chest.

He didn't know why that made him panic so much, but it did. He immediately yanked his hand back, his movement ten times faster than when Henry had originally licked his hand. His face flamed as he shamefully muttered, "Sorry."

Henry shrugged. "I don't mind."

William ignored the mischievous smile implanted on his friend's face. "Why are you so surprised?" he asked. "I already have one."

"That you got four years ago!" Henry countered. His voice was a lot louder than it needed to be. As a result, the people in the diner stared at them again. He irritably muttered something under his breath, grabbed William's hand, then stalked through the hallway and shoved William into the supply closet.

"Hey, it's almost been five years!" William continued once Henry shut the door and turned on the lights.

"No, it's been almost four and a half," he countered again. He rested his hands on his hips as a smug grin unfurled across on his handsome face.

William crossed his arms over his chest. "Four and a half equals four-point-five. Four-point-five rounds to five, you git."

"But it hasn't even gotten to four-point-five yet, Will," Henry reminded him. He sounded slightly disappointed as his smug grin melted into a sad frown.

"It's just that... He seems so lonely," William mumbled. He looked at his feet as he leaned against the door. "Terrance is always out with Apollo, Kate, and Stephanie. Michael doesn't have any friends other than Noah, but he hasn't been able to come over because his mom just died a few days ago. He hasn't even been at school, according to Michael."

"Oh, poor Noah. I saw an obituary in the newspaper, but I haven't read it yet since we've been so busy. I haven't had the time." 

"Yeah. She died giving birth to her last daughter. But the baby was born so prematurely, so it's not likely that she'll live, either." William shook his head, shaking himself out of his digressing thoughts. "That's not what I'm trying to say. I want another one, and I'm asking you for your advice. Should I wait, or should I go for it?"

Henry shrugged. Those cursed shrugs of his. "I can't make that decision for you, Willy."

William's cheeks flamed. "Don't call me Willy!"

"Oh, but why not? It's fun seeing you so embarrassed!" he responded, laughter filling his teasing words.

"Damn it, Henry--just shut up and help me already!" William exclaimed. He sounded like a whiny toddler. "Should I or shouldn't I?"

Henry sighed, then chuckled sadly. "William, I shouldn't make that decision for you. It's not right. I don't know you like you know yourself." He sighed again. "How long have you been contemplating this?"

"Almost six months," he answered indifferently.

"That means the reasons you gave me are based on what's been going on now. What were the reasons when you first started thinking about this?" Henry asked. He carefully sat down on the cold checkered tile, then patted the space to the side of him. William sat down where Henry's hand had indicated. 

"I just... I just like kids. I've always wanted them. When the doctor I took Michael to helped me realize I could adopt kids, I realized that I don't need some wife I won't love to have kids. Is that so bad?"

Henry thought quietly for a moment or two. He intertwined his hand with William's and gave it a caring squeeze. "It's not bad. It's not bad at all." He chuckled. "You're trying to give kids the proper home they need and long for. And that's an amazing thing. I'm just trying to make sure you're not jumping in head first and adopt too many at a time."

William exhaled a quiet sigh. "Yeah. I guess you're right."

"But remember, I'm not telling you that you can't adopt another one. You know that, right?"

"I know," William told him as he gently rested his head on his friend's shoulder. "I feel so bad for Michael. Terrance won't even walk him home from school anymore!" He sighed again, wishing he could take a bloody nap. "Not to mention that Terr's falling down the same rabbit hole I went down when I was around his age."

"Really, now? What makes you say that?"

William chuckled, thinking back to his high school days. "The way he acts around Apollo is the main one."

He was proud of his nephew. He would never be upset about it. But it was still irritating and sad, knowing that Terrance was going to have to endure the same things he had.