When the last stitch is set, Teddy wakes up and sees his creator. She is large, compared to him, and her hands are deft as they tie off the thread and set aside the needle. She picks him up and places him gently in a box, saying, “Oh, good, done in time for the party.” Then, looking down at him with a wry expression, she adds, “You be good to my little cousin, now.”
Teddy vows that he will be. That is his purpose, set in him with every stitch, stuffed in with his soft filling; that is the meaning of his existence. He will be good to a child.
The next morning, a little girl opens her birthday present and squeals in glee. Teddy, clutched firmly to her chest, concentrates on holding still and not hugging back, though he wants to desperately. This is his person, he knows, the child he is meant for, and he promises his creator and himself that he will love her for ever and for always, until his stitches break and he ceases to be.
He sleeps beside her for years and years, clutched to her chest in nightmares, wept on in sorrow, told secrets and stories after lights-out. He speaks sometimes to the other toys in the room, but he cannot help feeling special: he is her Teddy, and she loves him best of all; because he was handmade and filled with love, and they are only store-bought toys, hard and unyielding plastic, and do not understand.
When she is grown to womanhood (as young women do), he does not share her bed anymore. But she places him on a shelf to watch over her, and he sits quiet and content to observe. When she is particularly happy or sad, she will take him down and hug him, and he is always there for her, comforting and steady as he ever was.
She brings him to college, and he sits on her desk and watches her learn about friends and boys and chemistry, water polo and hiking and literature. Her roommate smiles and him and puts her own worn stuffed cat on the shelf beside him, and they become good friends, the cat and Teddy, over four years of watching their girls grow.
He sits on the girl’s dresser when she gets her own apartment, watches her become a businesswoman, confident and competent in her tailored suits. He watches as she brings home boyfriends - one, two, three - and finally as Boyfriend Three becomes Fiance becomes Husband. He sits on her dresser until the day her eldest daughter is born, and his owner puts him gently in the crib beside the sleeping baby and says, “You be good to her, Teddy. She’ll need you.”
Teddy vows that he will be. That is his purpose, set in him with every stitch, stuffed in with his soft filling; that is the meaning of his existence. He will be good to a child.
The next morning, a little girl opens her birthday present and squeals in glee. Teddy, clutched firmly to her chest, concentrates on holding still and not hugging back, though he wants to desperately. This is his person, he knows, the child he is meant for, and he promises his creator and himself that he will love her for ever and for always, until his stitches break and he ceases to be.
He sleeps beside her for years and years, clutched to her chest in nightmares, wept on in sorrow, told secrets and stories after lights-out. He speaks sometimes to the other toys in the room, but he cannot help feeling special: he is her Teddy, and she loves him best of all; because he was handmade and filled with love, and they are only store-bought toys, hard and unyielding plastic, and do not understand.
When she is grown to womanhood (as young women do), he does not share her bed anymore. But she places him on a shelf to watch over her, and he sits quiet and content to observe. When she is particularly happy or sad, she will take him down and hug him, and he is always there for her, comforting and steady as he ever was.
She brings him to college, and he sits on her desk and watches her learn about friends and boys and chemistry, water polo and hiking and literature. Her roommate smiles and him and puts her own worn stuffed cat on the shelf beside him, and they become good friends, the cat and Teddy, over four years of watching their girls grow.
He sits on the girl’s dresser when she gets her own apartment, watches her become a businesswoman, confident and competent in her tailored suits. He watches as she brings home boyfriends - one, two, three - and finally as Boyfriend Three becomes Fiance becomes Husband. He sits on her dresser until the day her eldest daughter is born, and his owner puts him gently in the crib beside the sleeping baby and says, “You be good to her, Teddy. She’ll need you.”
And he is.
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AAAAH! No one's ever filled a prompt for me before! And this was SO CUTE! XD You are my favorite forever.
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