Alone With Them

Chapter 3

"Good! Can I have waffles now?" he said, using one hand to rub his tired eyes.

"Yes, you may," she laughed. Chancellor beat Cathryn to the food by a second, and threw one waffle on his plate before yelling about how hot they were. Mom helped him cut his food while Cathryn dug into her breakfast. While they ate, her mom told Chancellor the schedule for the day.

"We're going to meet Uncle Brandon after I get back from work, and he's going to take you back to his house," she told him while he stuffed his mouth full.

"Buh I don wan yu oh," Chancellor said, maple syrup dripping down his chin and waffle pieces protruding from his mouth.

"What?" Cathryn chuckled. He swallowed before he tried again.

"But I don't wanna go!"

"Why not, buddy?" her mom asked, her voice soft but full of excitement as she spoke to him. "You'll have lots of fun at Uncle Brandon's house. And you'll be able to play with your cousins. Joan and Andrew will be there; of course, they're a little older than you, but I think Henry will be your age soon." Andrew was three years older than Cathryn, and she hadn't seen him much since he graduated. She would have to stop by to hang out, that is, if Mom and Uncle Brandon let her.

"Henry!" Chancellor exclaimed. "Can he come play over here?"

"No, you're going to see him at his house."

"No! I don't wanna do that!"

"Hey," Mom tried. She moved closer to him so he could see her face, which might have been a bad idea since he almost took her eye out with his fork. "We're going to meet him and your cousins at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza."

"Freddybear's pizza?" Chancellor yelled in excitement. "I want to go! I wanna!"

"We'll go later," her mom laughed. Cathryn wasn't sure how to feel. She hadn't been to Freddy's for a long time. She remembered going as a child to watch the "life-like" animatronics, but as she got older they started creeping her out. Not to mention that the pizza kind of sucked.

"Can I just stay home? You could have some pizza delivered to the house for me," Cathryn asked, but her mom shook her head.

"No, we're going as a family. Besides, this will be your only chance to see your cousins this week."

"But I haven't seen Andrew in forever," Cathryn complained. "Can't I hang out with him tomorrow, too?"

"You'll see him tonight."

"But Mom! Fazbear's is full of really greasy pizza and other bad foods. What if I'm trying to be healthy?" Cathryn knew it was a horrible excuse but she couldn't come up with any better ones. She wasn't sure what it was, but she didn't want to go to Freddy's. It was for kids; she was too old to enjoy going there anymore.

"Are you trying to be healthy?" her mother asked skeptically.

"No," Cathryn mumbled, rolling her eyes when her mom wasn't looking. "But what if I was?"

"You're not, now stop complaining about it. Besides, you're not in a position where you get a say right now." Cathryn shoved some waffle in her mouth to keep from talking back to her mother. There was no need for her to get into more trouble.

"Okay," she whispered to herself after a while. Soon everyone was done eating and Cathryn rinsed off her dishes before putting them in the dishwater.

"Cat," said her mom's voice from behind her. "We need to finish talking about last night." Cathryn inwardly sighed before turning to face her mom. "I decided your punishment last night after you went to bed–"