The Fall of the Aftons

076: William Afton

About a month passed since Michael started year seven in school and Evan started year one. Though, had William allowed it, Michael could've been in year eight right now. Over the summer, William had received a phone call from the school's principal, Miss Lucasson. She and all of Michael's previous teachers had discussed Michael's academic intelligence and concluded that, since he was noticeably smarter than all of the teachers he's had before, he should skip a grade. William loved the idea--he'd noticed Michael's raw intelligence days after he'd adopted the boy. But it wasn't safe. Michael was already being bullied because he was the youngest kid in his class and the so-called "teacher's pet." How much worse would the bullying become because he skipped a grade due to his talents?

He didn't want to take the opportunity right out of Michael's hands, though. So he asked Michael what he wanted to do. Michael was genuinely surprised but ecstatic, extremely impressed with himself. But he declined the offer. He said that he didn't want the attention drawn to him and make the bullying worse. So he decided that he would do all of the Honors classes that were available to him, but he wasn't going to skip a grade. He wanted to stay right where he was.

At the moment, William was driving to the park behind the Center to pick up Michael and Evan from school. Michael had often been bringing Evan to the park since Evan always had a ton of energy after school, so they'd walk to the park instead of waiting for William to pick them up from the school.

When he arrived, he parked along the street, surprised to see Michael and Evan chatting with Miss Iaea with somebody in her arms. Chuckling to himself, he got out of the car and made his way over to Michael and Evan.

"Daddy!" Evan exclaimed happily when he spotted William walking over to him and his big brother. "Hi-hi!"

William laughed softly and lifted Evan off of the ground. "Hi, buddy. How was your day?"

"Good!" He grinned, then turned to Michael, outstretching his arms.

Michael chuckled and gently took Evan from William's arm, resting the small boy on his hip. Evan giggled happily and rested his head on Michael's shoulder.

"Hello, Mister Afton," Miss Iaea greeted kindly. "How have you been? It's been a few years since I've last seen you."

"Hello, ma'am," William replied, a slight chuckle in his voice. "I've been doing well, thank you. You?"

She smiled. "Before July, I've been doing great. Then this little stinkerbutt comes along and starts to cause chaos among everything in the Center!" she said exasperatedly, laughter filling her words. She moved the little one in her arms, revealing a female baby with lively green eyes and a handful of bright strawberry blonde hair on her head.

"Aww, she's a sweetheart! How has she been causing you so much trouble? She's so little," William mused, looking closely at the little girl.

"She's also an asthmatic, so every time she starts weeping, the girl nearly suffocates herself. And she hates being left alone, even if it's for one second, so she's constantly crying. I'm so tired of having to buy her new inhalers every four or five weeks." She sighed, then laughed. "Oh well."

Evan pointed to the little girl. "Wha n-nay?" he asked curiously.

"Hmm?" Miss Iaea hummed, confused. "What did you say?"

"He asked what her name is," Michael clarified.

"Oh!" She laughed softly, adjusting the little girl in her arms. "Her name is Elizabeth. Elizabeth Robin Whittaker. She just got here in late July, eight days old. She's just over a month old now."

"S-So coo!" Evan exclaimed excitedly. 

"What?" William asked his youngest son. "What did you say?"

"He said that Elizabeth is cute," Michael responded.

"Why do you talk like that? Why can't you talk normally?"

Evan's face reddened with embarrassment before he hid his face in Michael's shoulder.

"Don't be so impudent," Michael told William. "He just has a speech delay. It happens sometimes. He's already embarrassed enough--why do you have to embarrass him more?" He carefully set Evan down on the ground and ruffled his little brother's hair. "Do you want me to push you on the swings?"

Evan grinned and nodded his head excitedly, then took off.

Michael turned to William with a cold glare. "Don't be insensitive like that again. He's trying really hard to learn how to speak 'properly'"--he finger-quoted with a slight roll of his eyes--"so don't be cruel. Frankly, it's stupid how everyone is expected to talk perfectly as soon as they're no longer a toddler. We're children. We're not perfect, and we shouldn't be expected to be so. People should just let kids be kids."