Found Family

Chapter 1: The Hawthornes

Hawthorne had been an extremely well known name in the town of Newport, Minnesota. They had built designs for cars, traffic lights, home appliances, you name it. The head of this family was none other than Henry Hawthorne, an MIT graduate and the proud owner of over 15 patents. His life was practically perfect. He had a wonderful wife at home, 2 beautiful children, and a modest home for his happy family to live in. However, this all came crashing down on one fateful day, when he met the business man known as William Afton.

Their relationship started off smooth and well-intentioned. William had big aspirations to run a set of pizza chains that catered to entertaining children. The idea was rather lucrative in theory. The only snag was that William wanted robotic mascots to perform, and he didn't have a single clue on how to go about making them. This was the real reason he had come to Henry in the first place. After seeing Henry showcase a wide variety of robotics at a conference, he was sure that was the business partner he had wanted to pursue. After some in-depth discussions, budgeting, and blueprinting, Fredbear's Family Diner was born. 

The first couple of years in business were fantastic. People were flooding through the doors on a daily basis, money was coming in, kids were loving the animatronics, and he had even made some pretty high-tech mascot costumes to boot. Henry had to admit, it was some of his finest work. With William's expertise in business and people, it had truly taken off. 

On an evening of June, 1975, Henry and William were having dinner at an upscale restaurant. His wife, Ellen, had agreed to take on the kids for the evening so they could have a business meeting. After all, the health of the business was important for the health of their family. Henry was currently nursing a small glass of Cabernet, waiting for Will to pull up their projections for this upcoming year. 

"The numbers are great, Henry. Nothing to be concerned about there. The only concern I have is the fact that we're not seeing any new faces. It's been the same people for the past 2 years. Think about it. Eventually, those people will grow up, won't have any kids to bring to Fredbear's anymore. You catch my drift?" William opened with, pulling out a folder from his bag that he had brought along. Henry could do the math, make no mistake about that. It's why he practically took over all of the company's finances and ordering forms. 

"What do you propose we do then? I'm not the ideas man, Will. You know this." He sighed, rubbing his temples. Of course he caught William's drift. The man was basically spelling the end of their hard work if nothing changed. But what could be done about it? It's not like they could just shove fliers in everyone's faces and things would start turning around. Besides nobody reads fliers nowadays. A slow grin soon spread across William's face. It was that same grin he had whenever an idea was blossoming in that mind of his. 

"We introduce more friends to the gang. I know we've got a bunny and a bear. Kids LOVE bunnies and bears. But you know what they also love? Foxes, chickens, variety, flavor! Kids eventually get bored of the same old things. So, what I'm thinking is that we build some new friends, yeah?" Excitement lit up the man's face, giving him a sense of life that Henry hardly saw outside of the diner's office. This was something he believed in. 

Henry sighed, clasping his hands together. "Will, the budget is tight as it is. Even if I wanted to, I don't think we could. Besides, refreshing those high-tech suits should be all we need to bring in new faces. Update them a bit, right? If they're old and stale, surely some updating will bring some life back into it." He wasn't lying either. With business plateauing out in the recent months, with the introduction of a slow-season with school starting up, the budget was looking quite slim. The look on William's face was all he needed for the other man's thoughts on the situation. Displeased. 

"Henry, we've been in business together for 2 years now. And I've done business for close to 15 years. Let me take a look at the budget. I'm sure I can find some wiggle room. I really do think this will work..." William pleaded, already having a copy of the budget in his bag. Henry was afraid of that. Telling William 'no' had always been difficult for him. After all, who was he to turn down a man of vision? With the wave of a hand, Henry allowed the other man to plead his case. With the flash of a smile, he leaned over and produced a projected chart of the company's finances. This was going to be a long evening...