Chapter 3: Family Matters
Slowly, but surely, Mrs. Schmidt began to thoroughly enjoy being with the animatronics. Her favorite by far seemed to be Chica, who eagerly ate up all of Mrs. Schmidt's stories about Mike, much to the guard's chagrin. The two also held a shared interest in cooking, although Mrs. Schmidt was more of a desert person.
"But of course, our little Mikey refused to put on his pants, and ran out of the front door with just a shirt on!" Mrs. Schmidt finished, and she and Chica shared a laugh, although Chica's was more at Mike's expense. Mike frowned.
"Mom, c'mon, I was like, three!" he complained. Chica laughed anyway.
Mrs. Schmidt also really liked Bonnie, calling her "a sweet little thing," ignoring the fact the rabbit towered over her. Bonnie didn't care, and loved sharing stories of when they could move around as they pleased. She even remembered a story that had Mike in it.
It was Mike's second visit to the pizzeria in as many days, since it was summer break and both of his parents had to work, and his fourth overall. By now, he had made friends with one of the staff, a waitress named Denise. The boy had also achieved the status of "regular," and was recognized by the animatronics.
"Hello again, Michael!" Freddy greeted, tipping his hat.
"Hi Freddy!" Mike replied, and Freddy continued on his way, having arranged a simple game to be played with Foxy.
It was one of the fox's favorites, and was essentially a scavenger hunt throughout the restaurant. Freddy would keep the children distracted while Foxy ran around hiding little trinkets, some in plain sight, others masterfully hidden. The pirate would then assume his post in Pirate's Cove, and give little clues as to where they were. Whoever found them got to keep them.
With Foxy serving as a clue giver, Freddy and another staff member (usually Denise, who didn't mind the robots) would police the pizzeria, breaking up scuffles over an item, and making sure nothing got broken. The game was popular with the children, since there was a desirable award, and the entire thing felt like an adventure! This was also its appeal to Foxy.
When the game got into full swing, Mike wandered around. He had no desire to play, instead using the distraction of the event to talk with the usually swarmed mascots. Chica had decided to visit the Kitchen, so that left Bonnie.
The rabbit enjoyed watching the game progress, but hated it when Foxy would make her guitar one of the clues. She noticed Mike walking towards her, and she waved.
"Hi Mike!" she said, "Back again?"
"Yup," Mike replied, sitting next to Bonnie, watching the game as well. It got particularly interesting when one child kept just narrowly missing an eye patch.
Foxy had hidden it rather obviously, placing it around the head of a cardboard cut-out of Freddy that was used to promote the restaurant's birthday packages. The poor kid never noticed the bear sported only one eye, and would constantly walk back and forth between the cut-out and the Cove, clearly not getting whatever clues Foxy was telling him.
Eventually, it seemed to click, and the kid dashed out from the Cove, happily claiming his new pirate garb. Mike and Bonnie both cheered at the child's success. Bonnie looked at Mike.
"Why aren't you playing?" she asked.
"I dunno," Mike replied, "I just didn't want to."
"Foxy might appreciate it if you visited," Bonnie suggested, "I don't think he knows you're around, and I'm sure he'd love to know!"
The fox, however, did know Mike was there, having spotted him while hiding the items. Getting up and leaning through the curtained doorway that separated Pirate's Cove from the rest of the restaurant, he gathered a few of the players.
