The Fall of the Aftons

162: Elizabeth Afton

Elizabeth's new foster family wasn't all that bad. She had a foster mother, father, and sister. It was weird having a mother and a sister since she'd never had either of those things before. Having a sister was especially weird because her foster sister, Caramel, didn't care for Elizabeth very much. Every interaction with her was tense and awkward. The foster mother, though, was usually nice.

Even though she didn't want to be in a foster family, it was much better than the foster care center. There was plenty of food to eat, there weren't any mean girls to bother her, and her foster parents were a lot nicer than the caretakers. But, even though it was better here than the foster care center, she wanted to be with Michael, not with people she barely knew.

Thankfully, though, they were nice enough to bring Beth to Circus Baby's, just as Michael promised they would. And once her birthday finally came, she couldn't wait to see her brother again.

"Mikey!" Elizabeth exclaimed gleefully once she finally found her brother in the huge building of Circus Baby's Pizza World. She sprinted over to him and tackle-hugged him around the leg, nearly knocking him over.

"Hey, birthday girl!" Michael exclaimed softly, kneeling to her height to give her a proper hug. "Happy birthday! How's your special day been so far?" he asked, a wide smile on his face.

"Good! I got to eat birthday cake-flavored pancakes for breakfast today. They were really good!"

He laughed softly, ruffling her hair. "I'm glad you liked them. I take it your foster family has been nice?"

"Yeah, they're nice. But they won't take me to any of your restaurants to see you!" she said, frowning. "I miss going to Fredbear's and Fazbear's with you for work."

He chuckled softly. "I know you do. But it's okay. I'm sure I can call your foster parents and ask to bring you here some of the days I'm scheduled to work here."

"I can't wait for your birthday next year. Then you can take care of me again," she said, grinning, hugging him tighter for a moment before backing away. She looked around, noticing that the two of them were just a few yards away from Funtime Freddy's stage. "Why are we by Freddy? You usually supervise Ballora since she can't see."

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "He's been glitching out recently. I've been watching him all day so I can figure out what makes him go on the fritz. That way I can repair him once the restaurants are closed for the day."

"Happy birthday, Elizabeth," a familiar voice said from behind her. She turned around to see Noah standing behind her. "How's your birthday been so far? Got any cool presents yet?"

"No, not yet. But it's been awesome!" she said, grinning.

He smiled softly. "Your foster family been treating you well?"

She nodded. "Yup! They've been super nice, especially today since it's my birthday." She glanced at Michael, then looked back to Noah. "Have you been treating him well?"

"What are you—" he started but stopped when he looked at Michael. He nodded his head towards Michael for clarification, then gave her a small, nervous smile when she nodded. "Y-Yes, I've been treating him well. He deserves it, anyway, so why wouldn't I?"

"The Wrights had been trying to get both of us to foster, but the people you're with now beat them to it," Michael explained, chuckling. "The Wrights have been my foster family for a few weeks now."

"So you've been living with the Wrights?" Elizabeth confirmed.

"Yes, I have," he said, chuckling.

~ ~ ~

Elizabeth peeked her head out from behind the wall, staring into Circus Baby's stageroom, watching as her favorite animatronic stood idly.

"Daddy isn't watching."