Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A cabin of cedar and pine stood as a beacon of warmth among blankets of snow in the shade of the evergreen trees. The wooden awning over-top the front door was lined with Christmas lights, twinkling as they remained unperturbed by the wind. The interior lights shined and illuminated the outside furniture and the pathway stones that were barely peeking out from freshly shoveled snow.

A gruff older man walked up the front steps, setting a snow shovel off to the side as he opened the front door. He was covered in powder from the snowflakes floating down from the pine needles and he shook it off like a dog would water. He pulled off his knit gloves. Red calloused hands showed just how soaked the articles were before he moved to pull off his stocking cap and unravel the scarf tucked into his jacket and nestled tightly to his nose.

The pitter-patter of steps came from the creaky wooden boards above as a small set of feet ran down the stairs. A horned head with pie-cut eyes and a huge grin greeted the man as the toon ran over, tugging on the hem of the older man’s coat. He chuckled. “Give me a minute, Bendy, just hold on.” He moved, shrugging the coat off as the little toon took it.

The little devil seemed to have found an old sweater lying about the cabin, hand stitched and clearly too big for him. It draped almost below his knees in length, and the sleeves were falling over his hands and dragging across the floor. Despite this he was still able to take the man’s jacket, fiddling with the scrawled out mark on the cleaning tag labeled ‘Henry’ before doing his best to shake it out and run it over to the coat rack. A couple of steps up on a chair and the little toon was able to toss it onto the hook. He hopped down, peering up at Henry as he finished putting everything else off to the side. His nose was red and his eyes squinted slightly as he smiled. “I see you’re able to get around more easily.”

Bendy nodded, tugging on the man’s free hand. He frowned for a moment, feeling the cold radiating from it and he stared as his brows furrowed, changing his mind seemingly mid tug as he went from pulling Henry towards the stairs to dragging him towards the fire instead. He laughed, letting the toon tug him along. “I’m not that cold -- I was prepared!” he insisted but Bendy wasn’t completely buying it, pulling the man by the fire before throwing a blanket at him. He kept laughing, moving the blanket around his shoulders before his eyes caught sight of the pine tree on the far side of the room.

The tree was decorated with a variety of ornaments. Metallic orbs caught the light and seemed to sparkle with it. There were a couple of simple stuffed dolls with halos and wings. Those were sprinkled about in good number and Henry could feel a small twinge in his chest at what they meant. Tinsel was sprinkled around the needles as it seemed to reach for the top of the tree -- unadorned, as it was.  

Bendy followed his gaze, almost jumping as he rushed to the tree and quickly began to set aside the broken pieces of ornaments and the clumps of tinsel that had seemingly missed their mark. He turned and gave Henry a sheepish grin. Henry hadn’t even noticed the mess until the toon had drawn attention to it and he shook his head with a bemused smile. He wrapped the blanket around himself tightly, looking between the couch and the rocking chair as if pondering where he might want to relax before he felt another tug, this time from the end of the blanket.

Bendy’s grin was broad but shaky as he held up a five pointed star. His feet seemed to toe at the ground as he pointed back at the tree.

Realization dawned on Henry then and he patted the toon’s head, a gentle rub between the horns as Bendy relaxed. “Need help there, kiddo?”

He nodded, skipping towards the tree as Henry followed. He hoisted Bendy into the air with a single huff, moving him close enough to the tree to be able to top it with the star. It was a simple thing -- metallic and gold and practically made of glued together, crumpled ole aluminum but it still made a good topper. He set the toon down, who beamed and looked to the star, a single gloved hand gripping the edge of the blanket as he stood by the old animator.

Yeah, it was a nice tree. Henry paused in his thoughts, once again remembering the couch and the chair before another idea came to mind. He started walking, Bendys grip slipping from the blanket as he moved. “It’s cold in here, ain’t it? I got an idea to get us both warmed up.” Bendy’s head tilted, curious as he followed Henry out into the tightly knit kitchen. He hopped up onto one of the chairs, standing as his hands rested on the table -- his body waist height to the edge. He watched the human meander about the cabinets as he grabbed a couple of mugs and placed a pot on the stove. A jug of milk was taken out of the refrigerator and poured into the pot as the heat was turned on. It was only when the chocolate was taken out of the sideboard cabinet that the toon’s curiosity got the better of him and he smacked the table to get the man’s attention. His hands went by in a wave, a question flitting about as his fingers moved in sign and Henry placed a finger to his lips in a motion for silence. “You’ll see.”

Chocolate was grated into fine bits and set off to the side. Mini marshmallows were grabbed in fist fulls out of plastic before being sprinkled into a bowl. An old wooden spoon was taken from its holder on the counter before being dipped into the milk with slow stirring motions. Every once in awhile Henry would lift a bit of milk to taste, humming as he did so before the temperature was just right and he put the chocolate in, stirring some more as the milk darkened and browned. Bendy tried his best to peak from the table but couldn’t see much more than the small plumes of steam as they rose up from the pot.

Henry turned the heat off with a click he moved to pour the drink into the mugs. Some of it spilled across the counter and the toon sprung into action, jumping down from his chair and running to grab a towel before handing it off to the animator. Henry thanked him as he cleaned the spills up. Soon after the mugs were moved to the table and Bendy hopped back up into his chair, staring at the cup that was slid over to him. The scent wafted with the vapor and the devil watched as the man slid a chair out to sit down and plop a few sticky marshmallows into his own cup.

The man took a sip and contently closed his eyes. It took a moment for them to peak back open, brow raising at the toon that only seemed to be staring at him as if he’d grown an extra head. “Well?” He spoke, a lilt to his voice as he slid the bowl of marshmallows over and motioned towards the drink.

Bendy frowned, looking towards the mug with furrowed brows as he picked it up with over-sized mit's. He watched what looked like white foam swirl atop the mixture before pressing it hesitantly to his lips and taking a sip.

A warm sweet sensation washed over him and he let it sit for a bit before swallowing it. He felt tingly and the warmth that spread from the base of his fingers down his arms and radiated out from his belly seemed to agree with the pleasantness of the drink. He beamed and Henry chuckled, taking another sip of the cocoa. “Thought you’d like it. It’s hot chocolate.”

Bendy seemed to take this in for a moment, looking down towards the mixture as he took another sip. It was only after he had swallowed this bit that he had looked to the balls of sugary fluff still on the table and decided to plop some in. The spoon sitting in the glass suddenly seemed to make sense, and he spun it, watching as some of the marshmallows would duck under the liquid before popping back up, drizzled in milky chocolate. He even watched as Henry seemed to scoop up some of the cocoa in the spoon and pour it over the sugary floats before he did the same. They squished and puffed in his mouth with the taste of cocoa. It was nice.

The afternoon passed by in warmth as the fire was stoked and the days chores tackled. Dusting and cleaning among other tasks and Bendy helped too -- taking a feather duster as he went around the very bottoms of book shelves and chairs. He even managed to disturb a mouse before Henry got them to go upstairs to dust instead.

Henry moved around boxes, setting them aside in the storage space as Bendy freely explored the one room he had yet to be in since they’d gotten to the little cabin. Looting through boxes but always picking items up gently, inspecting them before putting them just as they were. He even found a teddy bear, so dusty that a puff of the specks came flying out and he tilted his head, wiping the bear off before setting him on top of another box just above his head. He leaned up on tip-toes, patting the stuffed animal between the ears before he kept looking around through the boxes. His hand brushed against something and he looked more closely before grinning.

Henry was stacking another box up to deal with later. He swiped a hand across his brow -- his aching body a sour reminder of just how old he was getting as he felt a tug. He looked down.

Bendy was still wearing the same sweater he had on before but this time he was wearing more. A pink hat, frilled with white feathers sat on his horns and covered up one of his eyes. He also had on an apron not made for his frame -- the white material was splotched with different shades of color, worn and used. The neck loop hung around a shoulder, big enough for his head to fit through but not small enough to stay on his body. The rest of the apron was dragging across the floor and the toon had to be careful not to step on it. He raised up his arms, sweater covered hands clasping the ends of the apron that should have been tied around his waist.

Henry’s heart swelled, and not just from Bendy standing on his tiptoes, hands reaching upward as far as he could stretch. The little toon was practically playing dress up with the old articles that had been lying around for years untouched. Seeing them being used again after all this time was a little bit nostalgic and he bent down, picking the little devil darling up in his arms. “Having fun?” The toon nodded vigorously while Henry just raised a brow. “You sure you want that hat?”

Bendy almost seemed to huff, cheeks puffing out before he adjusted the frilly thing on his head, tilting it back to a more acceptable angle with the aprons ties still flopping around in his hands. He grinned triumphantly, hands on his hips as the hat fell back down over his eye and Henry laughed. “Fair enough,” He spoke, carrying the toon out of the room. “But if you want an apron we might have to get you a different one, that one definitely doesn’t fit.”

__

If they noticed the blue of the sky turning to fuchsia neither mentioned it. They were once again back in the kitchen, the smell of tomatoes made their way around as Bendy stirred the soup. It wasn’t bacon soup -- the toon couldn’t even find any bacon in the fridge, much to his own dismay, but Henry had promised that this new combination was just as good. He did his best to believe him but he couldn’t help the skepticism he sent through his eyes whenever he glanced at the man beside him.

Bread and cheese in a pan with a little bit of butter coating the outside edges, a sandwich if Bendy ever saw one. But he wasn’t sure why it’d go well with tomato soup, much less why you’d put it in a pan.

Somedays he wished the studio had had more promotional food items.

The table was set and the water was poured -- cheese melty and hot poured out between toasted slices of bread as Henry cut the sandwiches in half. Bendy rested his head on the table, watching as pickles were sliced and placed around the edges of the plate as a decoration before it was set in front of him along with a small bowl of the tomato soup. It certainly smelled nice if Bendy could say anything about it at all and he pulled his sweaters sleeves back, the excess material bunching up at his elbows as he picked up a sandwich half and dropped it back down onto the plate in the next instance.

“Careful, it’s hot!” Henry smiled, blowing on his own sandwich before tentatively picking it up. Bendy watched as Henry dipped it into the soup, letting the excess dribble back into the bowl before taking a bite of the meal. The old animator knew he was being watched, for even with his eyes closed he gave a content hum and touched his middle finger to his thumb. “It’s great,” He spoke, mouth full and he swallowed. “Try it. Grilled cheese is great with tomato soup.”

Bendy looked down, blowing on the grilled cheese before he picked it up -- just as slowly and delicately as Henry had. His head turned as he dipped it into the soup, raising it as he watched the droplets plop back into the bowl before doing it again and raising it to his mouth. He bit into it, cheese hot but less so then it was as it melted and flowed with the creamy soup. He swallowed, his mouth feeling oily and he wiped his mouth on the back of his gloves before dipping the entire sandwich in the soup up to his fingertips. Henry only smiled as he watched, the toon eating one half and then the next and then holding up a half of a pickle as it flopped over and touched the back of the little demons hand. He looked at it, looking to the soup and before Henry could tell him no he dipped it in and ate it like that as well, unperturbed and Henry laughed. “Well, that’s one way to eat a pickle.” He hummed, looking at the remaining slice of dill on his own plate before trying what Bendy had done. Strange, but not bad. Bendy beamed.

__

The stars were just beginning to come out when they found themselves wrapped up next to the fire. Henry had managed to find a comfortable enough position by the flames and between him and Bendy was a box of graham crackers, a bag full of (bigger) marshmallows and a couple bars of chocolate. Metal prods usually used to stoke the fire were being used as roasters instead, and Bendy watched as the flames lapped up and made the marshmallows puff up more and more. He took his out of the flames when it caught on fire, however, and the ink running down his brow signaled his panic even as Henry leaned over and blew out the flame. The smell of carbon made Bendy’s face scrunch up and Henry laughed. “Still edible,” He commented mid bite on a marshmallow as he stuck another one on the prod and shrouded it in the flames. Bendy watched as it also caught on fire but Henry let it go like that, letting it get a nice coat of charcoal before blowing it out. “You ever made s'mores before?”

Bendy shook his head, poking at his own marshmallow as it stretched and dripped onto the floor and stuck more readily to his fingers. Henry smiled, eyes crinkling. “Here, let me show you. They’re really good I promise.” A graham cracker was fitted with two little rectangles of chocolate, fitted then with the charcoal-mallow before being squeezed in between another cracker. The melty goo overflowed off the edges and Henry licked his fingers of the excess before taking a messy crunch out of the s’more. Marshmallow stuck to teeth, the cracker becoming harder to hold onto as a couple of pieces fell to the floor and he pulled it away, chewing. Bendy almost seemed to laugh himself though no noise came out and he quickly moved to do the same thing Henry had.

He was beginning to think sweets might be his new favorite kind of food. With company, anyway.

__

It was late as the stars fully took over the night sky that Henry had finally fallen asleep. He was tucked in, courtesy of the little darling devil himself as the toon rested against the cold window, sitting on the sill with another hot cup of cocoa (he’d insisted). A knit beanie was pulled over his horns, the tips only slightly poking out at the top and he had the over-sized sweater pulled over his knees to the cuffs of his shoes. His feet slid a bit as he adjusted them, and he let his face rest against the cool glass, the contrast between the cold and the heat radiating from his hands soothing in its own way. A couple of white streaks flew by in the sky, drawing the attention of pie cut eyes as he watched the specks sparkle.

He breathed against the glass, a puff of condensation wafting over it as he thought back to the pools of ink. How under the dim lighting it too sparkled and flowed…

But even as he thought about it, it no longer scared him -- not up here. Not where the sun would rise and warm his skin, even if the night turned into something similar to what he had been through it was always infinitely better. The moon was a beacon -- a beacon of hope -- and it always signaled that the sun was still there, even as it floated among the murky darkness.

Murky darkness that had shades, that had color , and that could no longer hold him down to the Ink machine, hold any of them down to the Ink machine. To a sickening game that none of them wanted to play.

He breathed in and out. He thought about blankets of snow as they were in daylight -- so bright and more white then he’d ever seen in his life. He thought of the even smaller bright white rabbits, hopping to and fro in fluff and mush as they skittered along the snow drifts. He thought of Henry, safe and sound who started to snore on his place on the couch and he shook in a giggle that would never sound out from his core. Hot cocoa was wrapped in hands that radiated the coldness of ink, of ink that enjoyed warmth, and he closed his eyes. The window fogged up with each exhale, and dripped with the steam wafting up from the mug.

He never even realized that it had been Christmas eve as the jingling of bells drifted him off to sleep.

Chapter Text

He breathed in and out. His limbs were heavy as he slowly rose from slumber, eyes still closed. Bendy could feel the sun on his cheeks and he wanted to enjoy the warmth for just a bit longer. He readjusted his legs, moving to nustle up to the window when he felt something cold and wet spill onto his lap.

Bendy startled and jumped up. A clunk resounded from the floor and he raised his arms, looking down at the mess he had made of himself. The remnants of last night’s cocoa had soaked into the sweater and had dribbled out onto the hardwood. As he peered at the mug, he could tell there was a crack on it.

Ink dripped from his brow as he ran through the living room, feet padding from hardwood to carpet to tile as he made it to the kitchen. Henry stirred, feeling the gust of wind at the toon’s mad dash. He rubbed his eyes and stretched, head turning to where the toon had taken off to. The blanket that he had been lovingly tucked into slid off his shoulders and down to his lap. The couch creaked as he moved to stand, and he could hear the sound of running water as he approached the threshold to the kitchen.

Bendy was standing on a chair, hands stretched out under the water. Henry squinted and stared but wasn’t quite sure what the toon was doing. “Bendy?”

The devil jumped, water splashing, as he quickly turned the sink off and turned around. Ink was dripping from his brows and he gave an uneasy smile. He was clinging to the edge of the sweater, which was still dripping and stained. It was partially scrunched up in his hands in a poor attempt at hiding the damage. Henry noticed the light brown stain and he peered back out into the living room. The mug from last night had fallen onto the ground. Cold cocoa had pooled near it.

Realization relaxed Henry’s features as he turned back to look at Bendy. “Spilt the drink, huh?” He gave a lighthearted smile.

Bendy shifted from foot to foot. He fidgeted with the sweater before he lifted his mits to sign, ‘It’s not mine. I ruined it. You’re not mad?’ Ink was dripping onto the chair as he continued to fiddle with the hem. He shrunk inwards.

“Why would I be mad?” Henry chuckled as he walked over. He rested a hand on Bendy’s shoulder. “It’s been ages since that old thing was worn. I’m just glad it’s getting some use. You like it, right?”

The ink started to slow down Bendy’s brow. ‘Yeah, it’s soft and warm.’

“Keep it.” Bendy looked up at him and Henry smiled. “Really. Who knows, maybe you’ll grow into it.” The toon furrowed his brows at that. Henry just laughed.

__

The rest of the morning was filled with the smell of breakfast and hard work. It was a small meal: fluffy scrambled eggs with a side of toast and a glass of milk. They both inhaled it before going off to work.

Ashes had to be cleaned out of the fireplace from the previous night. Crumbs had to be swept and sticky marshmallow had to be scrubbed up off the floor, but it wasn’t just by the fireplace where they had to clean. All around the living room they doubled down on dirt and grime. Bendy even had to go clean up the broken ornaments he’d kicked off into a corner as well, much to the toon’s dismay. Even if he wasn’t in trouble for the broken ornaments, he still felt bad about breaking them in the first place.

Time flew by in a breeze and before they knew it there was a knock at the door. Bendy grinned from horn to horn, quickly running the bin in his hands back to its rightful corner, before dashing to the door. He beat Henry to it, swinging it open with a flourish to the faces of Allison and Tom.

Tom was mid-knock at the door. He blinked, frozen in surprise for a moment before he shook his head and looked down at the toon. A scarf was wrapped all around his muzzle and face, and a straw hat was pulled down over his head to cover up his ears. Allison stood beside him. The wrinkles on her face crinkled as she smiled at Bendy. Her horns were covered by her own straw hat adorned with pink flowers. She had on a scarf as well and a jacket that looked a day off the factory line. They were both bundled up for the winter chill as apparent by the cloudy puffs that wisped through Tom’s scarf.

Henry was rubbing his arms down as he approached the door with a bright smile. “Allison, Tom! The roads give you any trouble?”

“Henry!” Allison greeted warmly with her arms outstretched. They hugged as Bendy darted out the door into the snow. Tom jumped, giving a disgruntled grumble, and Henry peered over Allison’s shoulder at him. Bendy was making a beeline for the open trunk of the vehicle teaming with plastic and paper bags. He was grabbing as many as he could carry before rushing them inside.

Henry playfully scowled. “Bendy!”

Allison laughed. “It’s ok, really. We were just going to make sure you knew we were here first before we carried them in.” Bendy came running back outside. His foot caught the ice at just the wrong angle and he waved his arms in an attempt to keep his balance but Tom was able to grab him before he fell over. The toon gave a sheepish smile to Tom’s exasperated scowl before hurrying with more careful steps to the trunk. Allison smiled at their interaction before her eyes widened. “Tom! Where did we put that one bag..?”

Tom’s eyes widened in alarm. He rushed down the front porch to the car, passing Bendy as he did so. He rummaged through the trunk before placing one pack in particular under his arm.

Henry’s eyes followed him, laughing as he realized what they must have been talking about. He also noticed just how many bags there were. “Well, it’ll be a feast to remember.” His voice was alight with humor and he stretched. “I should help out too. These old bones’ve got some strength in them yet.”

___

Bendy’s the one to bring in the last bag, placing the plastic on top of the kitchen table. He peeked out over the sea of groceries with a grin. He could hear Henry’s voice out in the living room, presumably talking with Tom, as Allison’s sorting through the cupboards and putting stuff away.

Allison was humming a soft tune when she felt a tug from the hem of her dress. She looked down and smiled. “Well hello there!”

Bendy started pulling then, trying to get her to move, and she chuckled but remained firm. “Now, now, I need to start getting ready for dinner.” Bendy frowned but then grinned as an idea came to mind. He pointed to himself and gestured to the rest of the kitchen. She raised a brow. “Would you like to help?” Bendy’s grin only widened.

Allison looked around, spying a particular bag on one of the counters. She picked it up, leaning down as she handed it to Bendy who took it eagerly. “Sort through these for me?” He nodded, taking everything out of the bag as they both moved around the kitchen to put everything away.

The first couple of items Bendy pulled out and put away without pause. Some cream cheese, some shredded cheese, a bag of apples. Then he found the bacon. A light bulb lit above his head and he quickly ran to Allison, jumping up and down on his tiptoes, raising the bacon up above his head and stretching, stretching.

Allison looked down and upon seeing the bacon gave him a bemused smile. “Yes, I see you found the bacon.” Bendy pushed it towards her and she took it, laughing. “We’ll have it later today, I promise.” He shook his head, speeding off in an audible zoom. Allison blinked as a puff of cartoony smoke formed in his wake and the devil returned, a couple bars of chocolate in hand, and he shoved them at her. He waved his hands too rapidly for Allison to be able to catch what he’s signing, and then he pointed to the bacon and the chocolate both with a big grin.

“What’s all the ruckus about?” Henry walked in and Allison felt relieved because she had no idea what was going on. Bendy turned to Henry with a wide grin and his fingers flew by in another flurry of sign. After he finished Henry laughed. “Slow down, slow down! I only caught part of that -- what about bacon and chocolate?”

Tom walked up beside Henry, watching with a flick of his ear and a question in his eyes as Bendy huffed and retold his idea for a third time. He made an exaggerated motion with his hands, signing in the vocal equivalent of pronouncing every syllable just so he knew everyone would get what he was saying. Or at least Henry would, at any rate.

“Chocolate… bacon?” Henry furrowed his brows.

Allison’s mouth shaped into an ‘O’ before she smiled, finally understanding. “You want chocolate covered bacon?”

Bendy clapped and snapped his fingers as he pointed to Allison and nodded. He looked between Henry and Allison, eyes beaming. Tom gave an amused smile and patted Henry on the shoulder. He threw his thumb back into the living room before he walked out, leaving a confused Henry in his wake. Henry opened his mouth, pausing as he closed and reopened it, gaping like a fish. Bendy looked expectantly up at the old animator, seemingly oblivious to the nature of his silence.

“Oh, don’t worry Henry, I can make that.”

Henry looked to Allison, confused, perturbed and just all around flabbergasted. “You sure..? I mean -- is there any extra?”

“Plenty.” Her eyes sparkled. “When you’re cooking for the little devil darling, you can’t not have extra,” She laughed, “ Especially on Christmas.”

Henry sighed, rubbing his head. Bendy was excitedly jumping around as they spoke, and he had to put a hand between the devil’s horns to get him to be still. “Alright, alright, settle down.” He spoke to the toon who looked back at him innocently. “We’ll make bacon chocolate.”

Bendy quickly signed, correcting him, and Henry sighed again as Allison chuckled. “Ok, chocolate covered bacon. I really don’t know what the difference is…”

__

Pots clinked around in the afternoon dinner prep. Water was boiling on the stove, and a smaller bowl with the chocolate in it was being placed on the top. “To melt it,” Allison spoke as she looked down at Bendy. “It’s a double boiler. Makes sure the chocolate melts and tastes better than if you were to use a microwave.”

“Microwave’s faster!” Henry called from his spot at the kitchen table. He had a loaf of white bread off to the side with a toaster sitting right next to him. Two slices of toast popped up and he grabbed them, setting them on the cutting board as he sliced them up into chunks and put them into a bowl.

Allison pouted. Tom was silently laughing on the other side of the table. He had his arm halfway up a raw turkey. “What have you been teaching Bendy these last couple of days?”

“It doesn’t take a couple days to teach someone how to use a microwave!” Henry laughed. Bendy watched as Allison and Henry went back and forth. He was standing on a stool beside Allison and his eyes peered back at the chocolate. It was already melting. The pan next to it sizzled and popped as the bacon cooked and Bendy pulled on Allison’s arm to get her attention.

“Ah, the chocolates almost done. Thank you, Bendy. Could you get the pan with the wax paper?”

Bendy nodded, hopping off the stool. Behind him, he could hear a plop of something going into the trashcan as Allison’s voice rose. “Tom! I need the giblets for the gravy!” Bendy reached, stretching on his tiptoes to grab the tray at the edge of the counter. He stumbled a bit when he grabbed it but made his way to Allison all the same, handing it to her. Allison sighed, but smiled when Bendy came back towards her. “Thank you.”

Tom’s head was barely poking out from over the table, the giblets plopping back down onto the table as Henry chuckled. “You’re lucky that’s a new trash bag.” Tom grumbled, ears flattened downward and twitching. “Oh come on, turkey duty isn’t that bad.” Tom raised a brow. “What, you wanna make the stuffing? I’ll trade.”

Tom diligently went back to cleaning out the turkey.

Bendy slid the stool over as Allison placed the tray on the counter by the stove. He climbed back up it as she took the bacon off the heat and placed it on a cool burner. The smell of bacon had already been wafting through the room but being this close to the source was making Bendy’s mouth water. He would have squealed if he were capable of sound when she handed him an extra strip, and he stuffed the whole thing into his mouth. The greasy, salty, savory taste coated his tongue and lingered even when the bacon was gone.

He watched Allison place the remaining slices onto the wax paper. She put on mits for the second one, pulling the bowl out of the pot before pouring the melted chocolate over top the bacon. The chocolate pooled around the strips, some unable to keep themselves onto the raised edges and bumps but that didn’t seem to bother Allison. She flipped them, taking a spoon as she scraped and poured the excess chocolate over and topped each off with what remained out of the bowl.

“And now we wait for it to cool.” She smiled and Bendy frowned. “Yes, there’s more waiting.” Bendy looked up at her with wide eyes, surprised, like she had read his mind, ”I need to wait for it to cool and then put it in the fridge to be eaten later.” Bendy stuck his tongue out. She patted his head. “Oh it’s not that bad, promise.” She gave a wary glance towards the tray. Cold bacon wasn’t that bad. Chocolate covered bacon? Allison had a feeling she’d be eating her words later.

__

Between losing ingredients and dealing with a mischievous Bendy, they were finally able to finish baking the turkey stuffing. As Tom carefully slid the turkey into the oven, Allison turned to Bendy. “You wanna go check on the bacon?”

She didn’t have to tell him twice. He darted to the fridge, opening it and proudly taking the tray out. He kicked the door closed behind him. Henry had already cleared a spot on the table as Bendy put the tray down. He climbed onto a chair just as Henry and Allison appraised it.

“It… doesn’t look bad.” Henry remarked as Bendy took a strip off the tray. The chocolate was cold between his fingers and the bacon didn’t flop over or anything, almost like a bacon thin bar.

“Looks like it cooled enough.” Allison commented.

Bendy poked at it a bit more before taking a bite off of it. The bacon crunched between his teeth as he chewed. Cold bacon grease coated sections of the strip in chewy bits. The chocolate itself came off in chunks and melted as he shifted it from cheek to cheek. All in all, he liked it, though he thought it’d be better if it was still hot. Bendy glanced up to see that Henry and Allison were also trying slices, both of them more tentatively than he with smaller bites. Allison put hers down. Henry laughed. “I’m out,” she gave a lopsided grin. “It clashes too much for my taste.”

“Well…” Henry chewed, taking another bite. He could practically feel Bendy’s expectant gaze on him. He swallowed. “It’s not bad.” Bendy beamed. “I’m not sure if I’d have it again though.” Bendy frowned. “But if you like it, we can make it again. Later.” Much later, if Henry could get away with it. By the sparkle in the toon’s eyes, he wasn’t sure how long he was going to be able to delay that ‘later.’

Tom was hovering by the door, watching them and shaking his head. Allison spotted him out of the corner of her eye and moved to grab him before he could meander out of the kitchen. “Now, now, Tom,” She smiled, almost devilishly, and Tom’s ears flattened. “Everyone should try it, right?”

Henry gave a smirk of his own, watching Tom as he was put into a chair. He glared at Henry. “Yeah, Tom. Try a piece.”

He huffed, picking a strip up. His nose wrinkled but he ate it like a trooper -- putting the whole thing in his mouth as he chewed. He grimaced.  He stood up to grab a glass of water and Henry and Allison burst with laughter. Bendy frowned. It hadn’t been that bad. He felt like he was missing a joke somewhere...

__

It didn’t take long after that for Allison to kick everyone out of the kitchen so she could keep preparing the meal. They tried sitting in the living room at first but the smell of the food was torturous, so they all decided to go outside.

Bendy stretched his arms out to each side as Henry put a jacket on him. He put the beanie on and over Bendy’s eyes, who silently laughed. Tom was rolling his eyes as he walked out the backdoor with a snow shovel. Bendy was wrapped up with a scarf before chasing after his heels, plopping into the snow with little preamble. He poked his head out, snow popping up along with him and he grinned.

Henry stood at the door, bundled up himself with a book under his arm as he moved to sit in a chair. Bendy looked at him and Henry waved him on. “Have fun.”

The snow was so deep in places that at first Bendy had a hard time getting around but that didn’t deter him in the slightest. He carved out his own path, settling to make snow angels and tunnels in the snow big enough for him to get through without the snow seeping into his socks. He crawled through the end of one, carving out another exit point, and his head popped out of the snow under the trees. His gaze was pulled skyward.

Evergreens reached to the edges of the sky and yet, despite their foliage, he could see the bright light and the clouds they stretched past. Bendy stood in awe for a few moments.

And then snow plopped down on him from one of the branches. He got out, climbing out of his tunnel as he shook the mush off his head. He also shook his beanie off and it went flying into the snow. A bunny was nearby, watching him, and Bendy could have sworn it was laughing at him.

“Bendy!”

Henry’s voice called from the distance and the bunny went running. Bendy quickly managed to get out of the snow, grabbing his beanie as he jumped down and slid through his makeshift tunnels to get back to the house. 

Henry was there, standing with a wooden sled by the backdoor. Bendy got to the stairs, staring at it. There were reins and it was big enough for two people. It was clearly old -- the polish had mostly faded from the wood and black marks had sprung up around it. Despite that, it didn’t look like it had molded or otherwise degraded, and it wasn’t even splintering. As if it had been bought and used only once.

“I found this ol’ thing lying around.” Henry patted the top of it. “Figured you might want to use it.”

Bendy took it eagerly, looking to Henry expectantly. He didn’t even need to sign as Henry seemed to understand what he was asking. “Oh, I’m too old for stuff like this unfortunately.” He chuckled and Bendy frowned. “Oh, but I bet Tom would sled with you!”

Bendy turned his sights on Tom. Tom looked up, an ear pricking upward at the mention of his name. Bendy rushed to him through the freshly shoveled snow, the sled dragging behind him. The wolf gave the animator one disgruntled glance as Henry sat back in the chair. Henry simply gave a thumbs up before going back to his book.

The devil snapped his fingers, signing to Tom. ‘Play, play!’

Tom looked disgruntled, setting the snow shovel down. Messily he tried to sign back. ‘Work. Snow. Night.’

Bendy shook his head, signing the same words again and Tom sighed. He wasn’t getting out of this, was he? He raised a finger before picking the snow shovel up and walking towards the house. Bendy cheered.

Nearby was a hill, big and clear enough that one could sled down it without running into any trees, so long as you went down at the right angle. As Tom soon realized, with Bendy at the reins, this was going to be a learning exercise. Their first go ran them into one of the trees before they picked up too much speed which was good. The impact wasn’t doing wonders for Tom’s back but he’d live. Bendy seemed more ecstatic by it though, as they were both fine from the impact and he dragged the sled back up to the top. The toon’s excitement was only partially contained as he waited for Tom to catch up to him. Standing he managed. Standing still he did not.

The next couple of runs they managed to get further and further down. Bendy liked to take the faster routes and Tom practically clung to the sled out of fear. This, of course, faded over the runs and on the last one they went farther down then they had ever gotten…

...and clipped the edge of a tree trunk, hidden by the snow.

The sled abruptly turned, careening to the side, and Tom went flying. It was one of the only times he hadn’t held onto the sled and he regretted it instantaneously. He went tumbling in the snow before finally coming to a stop a few feet away.

He took a deep breath and Bendy was almost immediately over him, brow dripping as ink stained the snow. He huffed, giving the toon a thumbs up as he moved to stand with a grunt. He’d be sore for a while, but he was ok. That didn’t stop Bendy’s droopy shoulders, or the way the excitement practically bled out of him with the ink that left the snow underfoot black.

The toon had grabbed the reins of the sled and started to drag it back up when Tom caught up to him, picking the toon up from behind. Startled, Bendy turned around as Tom hefted him up over his shoulder with one arm. He patted the toon’s head again -- no really, he was fine -- before he looped the reins of the sled over his other arm and started the uphill trudge through the snow.

Bendy gave a small smile. His eyes were droopy and his body was a little tense but he slowly relaxed. At least he knew Tom was ok.

___

The sun was falling ever closer towards the horizon as they all entered the kitchen. The warmth permeated the air there, and it was a welcome surprise as the aromas of a Christmas feast filtered throughout the cabin.

Allison was placing the last dish on the table, smiling as they all walked in. “Let’s dig in!”

Bendy took a seat in between Henry and Tom as he looked out at all the dishes. The turkey was the centerpiece, with slices of meat set off to the side of it. It was stuffed to the brim with the stuffing Henry had helped to prep earlier, and it overflowed out onto the dish. Next to the turkey were the rolls, steaming and freshly pulled out of the oven. There were also green and black olives in their own little dishes near a jar of mini pickles. A bowl of gravy and mash sat side by side, steam flowing off of them in waves. There were even candied yams, decked on top with gooey sticky marshmallow. Bendy’s mouth watered.

“Green bean casserole! Oh, Allison, you shouldn’t have!”

“Well, you said it was your favorite. I couldn’t not include it.”

Bendy blinked, eyes turning to the remaining dish on the table. Oh yeah, he’d missed one. His eyes turned back to the basket of rolls and he stretched across the table, grabbing the basket. He placed three onto his plate before he felt a nudge. He looked over to see Tom, hand outstretched. He handed the basket to him.

“Bendy, you want some sweet potatoes?”

He eagerly nodded, plate raised up high as Henry plopped a big spoonful of it down. Henry also put a large slice of turkey on his plate, but Bendy decided how much mash and gravy he wanted. He frowned when Henry plopped down the green bean mush though.

“Eat it, it’s good!” Henry grabbed a spoonful off his own plate, chewing as he hummed. “See?”

Bendy stuck his tongue out and slid it the outer edges of his plate as far away as he could get it to keep it from contaminating the rest of his food. Regular green beans were already bad enough.

“So Henry, what will you do with this old place?”

“Hm?” He swallowed. “What about it?”

“Well, I’m surprised it’s still standing at all, let alone has anything in it. How long have you owned it?”

“Used to belong to my grandparents way back in the day. I used to use it with… well… other family, before everything else happened.” His smile was tight.

Allison waved him off before he could say anymore. “Oh, don’t worry about it -- I was just a little curious.” She hummed, eyes roaming over everybody at the table. “How’s the food?”

Bendy smiled, bits of turkey stuck in his teeth as he gave a thumbs up. Tom had a roll stuffed in his face as he grunted in reply. She chuckled. “Oh honey, I already know you like it.” He grunted again, shaking his head as he put down his fork. She frowned. “Do you… not like it?”

He shook his head harder and noticed Henry and Bendy were staring at him curiously. He raised his hand, thinking as he attempted to sign. ‘Good. Green. Meat, yes.’ He paused, trying to think of the words before he gave up, grabbing one of the large turkey legs before taking a huge bite out of it.

Bendy’s eyes were sparkling on the other side of the table and he started signing in a flurry. Henry laughed. “He’s proud of you, Tom.”

Tom only grumbled between bites of turkey. Allison smiled. “Well, I’m glad you like it. Thank you for trying to sign. This is the word for ‘green’?” Allison held up her hands, mimicking the motion. Tom nodded but Bendy stood up on the chair, correcting her on the exact way it was done. “But I pretty much did that, didn’t I?” Bendy shook his head. “Goodness, this is more complicated than it looks.”

Henry chuckled. “Yeah it takes some getting used to.”

_____

As Allison had prepped most of the dinner, Henry and Tom were left with clean up duty. Bendy wanted to help as well but Allison pulled him out. “Oh don’t worry about them. I have something much more fun to do.”

Bendy wasn’t quite sure what she had planned but his curiosity prevented him from protesting. She sat him down in front of the coffee table in the living room. There was already a spread of some sort of craft there.

“We’re going to be making corn husk dolls!”

There was one plastic container filled with water. Strips of dried corn husks were soaking in it. Lots of them. Some were even dyed different colors. There were twine and two pairs of scissors. Some of the strings were already cut as well. There was also yarn and felt closed up in separate containers off to the side. Allison was already rolling up her sleeves, dipping her hands into the water and pulling a few of the dripping husks out when Bendy was finally able to get her attention. His eyes held a question and he looked confused, trying to sign and Allison put a hand overtop of his. “I don’t expect you to already know how to make these -- here, let me show you. Take four husks out of the water.”

Bendy looked down at the water, hesitating a moment before dipping his hands into it. He pulled out four yellow strands of husk. He smoothed his fingers over them. They felt a bit slimy.

“Now put those strands together, and tie a bit of twine about an inch down from the top. I have some cut right right here.” She picked up a smaller piece of the cut string and handed it to him. “We’re going to make the head of a doll -- oh! Did you want to make a male or a female doll?”

Bendy tilted his head. Allison’s smile reached her eyes as she looked at him expectantly. Bendy tried to sign and Allison carefully pursed her lips. “Ah… perhaps this might be easier; hold up a finger for female, two for male.”

Bendy held up one finger. “Ok, you’re going to want six husks then take two more out. Do you need help making the knot?” Bendy shook his head. “Ok, when you finish with it, pull the longer ends over it and tie it again about an inch down, like so.” Allison demonstrated and Bendy copied her, hands slipping on the knot and he scrunched his brows but managed to get it. Allison chuckled. “It does get a bit harder when your hands are wet.”

It also didn’t help that Bendy had bigger hands and fingers, but he wasn’t sure how he’d be able to get that point across without being able to sign or write.

“Now we want to make the arms.” Bendy started to drag the rest of the husk up, and Allison started shaking her head. “Oh, no! We use those for the legs later. We’re going to be using different husks for the arms.” Allison took a husk out. “Watch what I do.” She laid it flat on the table and rolled it up. Then she tied a piece of twine to either end, leaving a bit of space on either end before she put it in between the husks just below the head on her doll. “See? Just like this.”

Bendy watched her, an idea forming in his head as he looked back to the soaking husks. He picked through them, taking out a single black one before he rolled it up and tied either end. He grinned when he finished assembling it. Allison smiled back. “Good good -- I forgot to mention you could use the colored ones. So then you tie around the waist, and since you’re making a girl you spread the husks out at the bottom and trim them so they make a nice dress.”

Bendy seemed to beam at this but paused. He looked into the bin of husks, taking more of the black ones out and placing it over the doll. He smoothed them out, trying to cover up all the yellow bits and making his own dress before tying it off at the waist.

“Good good, just like that. Now you can decorate it…” But the toon was already pulling out more of the black husk. “But remember we also need to dry it so it’s easier to put some of the other stuff on it.”

Bendy was spreading the husk over the head, cutting it to make it shorter and making hair for the doll. He furrowed his brow, looking at what was arranged to try and put it on.

Allison watched him, her eyes softening as Bendy arranged the hair on the doll. “Might have to wait for it to dry for that one. Glue won’t stick otherwise.” She set her own doll off to the side. “We just have to wait for them to dry like this, see?” She placed her hands on her knees, moving to stand up. Bendy noticed and came around to help and she gave him a smile. “Thank you, dear. I’m going to head upstairs for a while. Did you want to..?”

Bendy jumped up with a grin, feet padding on hardwood as they started to clunk up the stairs. Allison chuckled.

___

The sun is setting as Henry and Allison move around upstairs. Dust wafted in the haze of the setting sun past a half masted curtain into a room with more boxes than floorspace. Creaking knees moved another box back onto the floor with a huff. “I still don’t know what I’m going to do with all of this but…” He leaned backwards, hands on the base of his spine as he cracked his back. “If there’s anything you want, feel free to take it back to the farm.”

“Are you sure?” Allison was in the far corner, among the free walking space Henry had carved into the room the other day. In front of her was a lidded box with a bouncy flap and in her hands she delicately held a dusty book. Gloved fingers swiped caked gray dust off the cover. A girl with blonde hair and swirling braids that fell down her shoulders popped on the page. A little golden dog on a leash with a black collar had his tongue sticking out. A fine line pressed her lips as her eyes softened.

“It’s a miracle any of this stuff is still here.” A burst of air past his lips as he wiped his brow. Henry leaned forward on a stack. “Honestly? I only just moved all of these in here yesterday so we could use the rest of the house,” a chuckle, “or upstairs at any rate.”

“These stories…” Allison flipped through a book, her fingers tracing lines of words on yellowing pages. She turned to him. “There’s albums in here, too.”

“Oh?” Henry raised a brow, walking over. “Photo albums?”

“I haven’t looked at them yet but…” She turned to look at him.

The hairs on Henry’s arms turned white in the light as calloused hands pulled out a leather bound book. The cover had dust lining where the previous books hadn’t been touching it, caked just as much as the children’s stories in Alison's hand. He didn’t move to open it.

Allison stood beside him, her eyes darting down to the cover. In fancy lettering done with a thin marker were the words ‘Year One.’ Henry thumbed through the pages on the side, his nail ticking off pages stuffed clearly with photos, bulking the book up in size. He found one in particular and opened it. A blank page. His thumb ticked off the rest of the blanks as he flipped through it before he closed it and put it back in the box.

“Henry..?”

“We can add to that later.” He turned to Allison, a smile spreading over his face. “If you want that, you can have it.” He tapped his finger on the book she had in her hand, his fingers leaving prints in the dust there.

Allison blinked slowly and nodded. “A-Alright…” She gave a slight frown. “I didn’t mean to…”

Henry shook his head, waving a hand. “S’alright. I told you you could look around, so look around.” His smile was lopsided. “Really. I’d rather the stuff in this room get some use--” He felt a tugging at his pants leg and he looked down.

Bendy was there, having entered the room without so much as a single peep. A loop ringed book was in his hand. It was newer looking than the rest of the items in the room. Henry smiled. “I see you got your trusty coloring book there.”

Bendy nodded, opening up to a page to show it. It had smudged a lot, sticking to the page in front of it -- the little toon had forgotten to let the ink dry completely first --  but the shape of a flower with a long nose was visible, with crudely drawn arms and legs. Bendy tapped a clean finger on it.

“Yes I see, it’s a flower.” Bendy furrowed his brows and tapped incessantly at a single spot in the inkless loop of a petal. Henry raised a brow. “It's a flower with a nose..?” Bendy stomped his foot. He closed the book and held it under his arm and signed. “Oh! You want colors! Crayons, markers, hm.” He placed a hand on his chin in thought.

“Aha!” Allison lightly clapped her hands together, a smile on her face. “Is that all? I brought a few with me. They’re downstairs.” Bendy raised his arms up in victory. “I’ll meet you there, alright?” He nodded eagerly and turned, running out of the room. She moved to follow him, placing a hand on Henry’s shoulder, her voice hushed. “I’ll keep him busy. Feel free to look through the mementos.”

Henry’s brows rose. “I--”

“Tom won’t interrupt either.” She winked. “Feel free to look as long as you need.” She waved a hand as she walked out with the door clicking closed behind her.

Silence beckoned as steps faded away. A rough yet soft sound of leather on cardboard sounded as Henry took the album out of the box and opened up to page two.

__

The sky melded with a freshly fallen sun. Ink finger-paintings were stashed away to dry with smudged yellow marker adorning a few of them. Outside a metal basin was roaring with flame as Tom tossed in a few more logs. Sparks and smoke intermingled on a breeze that filtered skyward.

Henry and Allison spoke nearby. Their voices were pleasant, their laughs reassuring to Bendy as he stared into the flames. He bounced up and down in the metal chair, still full of uncontained energy. His eyes roamed to the paper bag full of treats -- s’mores, he was sure of it -- until Tom reached into the back and pulled out a pack of hotdogs. An explanation point appeared over Bendy’s head as his brows rose.

“Hot dogs? Really Tom?” Allison looked to him, exasperated and yet there was a smile on her lips, a fondness in her eyes.

Tom blew air from his muzzle, lips flapping like a horse as he set the dogs in his lap and took out a pocket knife. A clean cut into the sealed plastic around the dogs and he plucked one out with his fingers, spearing it with a stick before dousing it in the fire.

“Ya know the charcoal rule doesn’t apply to dogs,” Henry spoke up. Tom’s ears twitched.

Bendy’s chair clacked and shook as he scooted across the grass and past Henry and Allison before settling down next to Tom. Bendy sat his mitts in his lap, his eyes staring at the hotdog.

The skin bubbled as Tom turned it around in the fire. Pie-cut eyes met pie-cut eyes and Tom gestured to the pack of dogs, a brow raised. Bendy grinned and nodded, hands raised. Tom pulled his stick out of the fire, biting the dog off it in one swoop. His jaws smacked, making a popping sound as he slid another dog out of the pack and skewered it. He handed the stick to Bendy.

He took it, staring at the dog precariously stabbed at the end of it. It was a bit lopsided, poked on sideways, but Bendy placed it in the fire like Tom had. Unfortunately Bendy’s guess was right and the dog fell right off -- into the flames to turn to charcoal. He frowned.

There was a crinkle of plastic as Bendy turned his head. Tom had the hotdogs in hand and he was shaking them a bit. Bendy looked to them, then Tom, before taking the stick and stabbing one of the dogs. With a bit of shaking he got it out of the bag with a grin before putting it back in the fire.

Pleasant conversation stirred the back of his mind as the fire crackled and the smoke stretched into the sky to mingle with the stars.

___

The scritching of an old pen filled the quiet in the room. A candle sat nearby, a light to the large empty bedroom for two. Henry tapped the pen to paper, his other hand holding his chin. Something’s missing… but what?

A loud knock sounded by the door. “Come in.” Tom stepped in, a small unwrapped box in hand. “I’m almost done, just set it on the desk.” Heavy footsteps and the box was placed by the top. Tom peered over his shoulder, a brow raised, and Henry couldn’t keep looking at the paper as he looked at him. “Do you think I need to add anything to this?”

Tom stared for a moment, eyes scanning. He shook his head. “You’re sure?” A nod. He made a writing motion and pointed at Henry. “I know, I know.” Henry put pen to paper, signing his name in his regular signature. He blew gently on the paper to dry the ink as Tom popped the lid off the box. “I can’t control the speed at which ink dries, Tom, don’t rush me.”

Tom huffed and rolled his eyes. He waved a hand before walking out of the room. The door creaking but not clicking shut, a sliver open as candlelight spilled into the hall. Henry dabbed a finger at the ink, seeing that it’d dried enough before folding the paper up as much as he could, tiny enough to fit into the gift they’d all gotten just for a certain someone.

__

Bendy waited anxiously in bed, staring up at the ceiling of a room with a dying candle. His sweater had been freshly dried and clean and he wore it rolled up to his wrists. The day had been full of food, fun, and love, and yet he still wanted more: the traditional story that Henry usually told before he went to bed.

Or, Bendy thought as the door creaked open, the traditional Christmas Day gift. He sat up, beaming, as Henry walked into the room, a small package in hand. The door closed with a creak, heavy padding footsteps making their way over to a chair which slid loudly against the floor.

“Let’s see now…” Henry spoke as he sat down, chair creaking in protest. “The story I have tonight is a short one. You still want to hear it?”

Bendy nodded rapidly, his eyes going to the small package that sat in Henry’s lap. It was a small thing with simple paper wrapping over it. Bendy stared at it as if he was trying to put a hole in it.

If Henry noticed, he didn’t mention it. “Well then… There once was a boy about as tall as you are. He loved to dance and prance through fields of ice and snow. He smiled bigger than even the tallest ever trees, and had an appetite to rival the forest's mightiest wolves. And,” Henry picked up the box and handed it to him, “he wore his heart on his sleeve, and kept his family close to his heart.”

Bendy took it and ripped the paper off. A small white box met him and he pulled the lid off to find a silver colored locket with a chain. The locket was oval shaped, intricately engraved. He took it out of the box, turning it this way and that. It had a bit of weight to it, and felt cold even through his gloves. He opened it and smiled.

A photo of all of them, standing and smiling. Allison and Tom to either side of Henry, and Bendy in the front -- his face clearly in the picture, his arms raised high. The picture seemed a little bit bulky in the locket, but he didn’t pay it any mind. He looked up at Henry.

“And close he did.” Henry responded, a soft smile greeting him. “Now, if you don’t want to wear it I’d understand--”

Bendy flew forward, hugging Henry and taking the wind out of him. He’d jumped off the bed and into the man's lap, empty box and tattered paper discarded in favor of arms wrapped around the neck of a man he considered his father. Henry gave a hearty chuckle, patting him on the back. “I guess that means you like it?”

More than Bendy could put into words. Or sign.

“Here,” Henry brought the locket around Bendy’s neck, clipping it into place as the chain links clinked together. Bendy looked down at it, a hand turning it to and fro. He admired it for a moment longer before he bounced back onto the bed.

Henry cleared away the box and paper and set them off to the side. The covers were tucked around him after he crawled under, head on the pillow. He cranked the music box on the windowsill and it started to play Boris’s Sheep song. A whoosh of air and the candle was out with a puff of smoke. “Good night.”

‘Good night,’ Bendy signed back in the dark. He closed his eyes as the door clicked shut. Sheep danced behind his eyelids as the gentle tune lulled Bendy to dream land, his hand gripped around the familial locket. His holiday treasure.

__


Ben. D Stein
If you’re finding this now, you’re probably taking the picture out. Do you have a family of your own you want to put in here now? Though you could be opening this for an entirely different reason. Surprise! We’re so proud of you. Unlike us you’ll probably go on for leaps and years farther than we could hope to see. I hope you were able to find someone to spend the rest of your days with, and maybe even adopt your own kids. Although I guess it’d be a surprise to find out you could draw up your own!

Know that even if we’re not around anymore that we still love you. Don’t forget that.
~Henry