Gustave,

I hope all is going well for you. I appreciate the fact that you are worried about me but there is really no need. Everything is actually going quite smoothly in your absence. I have been getting a lot of work done recently and actually keeping to the deadlines I give. There is this one design that has been giving me trouble, but I should be alright to get it done on time. You know I manage to do that most of the time. Another thing you should be quite proud of me for is that I am becoming surprisingly comfortable with answering the phone and having proper conversations with clients. Don't be too surprised if you come home and I am able to run the company on both the social and physical end of things.

I am sure you do not only want to hear about the business though, so I'll change topics for your sake. I know you are probably wanting to hear about Madeleine, but there is not all that much to tell you. She is doing quite well with her pregnancy, which is all that we can ask for, really. She is worried about both of you, obviously. Though in all honesty, I think we should be more worried about Charles. Not only is he in absolute hysterics about having to get things ready, but Maddie is also going through mood swings and such. Needless to say, he is walking on broken glass around his wife. Actually, to clarify that, we all are. One can never truly know what will set her off - any little word or facial expression that we think means absolutely nothing either makes her cry or sends her into a fit of anger. You really should consider yourself lucky that you aren't here to see her like this, though we know it will all subside once the baby arrives. On that note, there is a little contest going on to see if the baby will be a girl or boy, so if you would care to participate, please tell me your guess. Personally, I think - and hope - that it will be a girl. Madeleine deserves another girl in the house to distract her from the disruptions known as the rest of us.

I haven't seen much of Lara lately but I believe she is doing well. She worries for your safety, as we all do. Even Sasha does, considering that she only knew you for a short while before you left. She has taken to sleeping in your room, so don't be too surprised to find small tufts of her fur scattered about when you get home. On top of that, it seems that she has claimed that bed for herself when she isn't sleeping in my room, so you will likely have to fight for the right to sleep there again. Nadir has been coming over regularly, as usual. Between the two of us, I wonder if he even knows what his own home looks like anymore. He has attempted to help wherever possible with work, though I haven't much need for it. Though from what I hear, his own little security business has been doing well. I don't see how, considering that he doesn't leave my house, but I am happy for him regardless.

I am curious to know everything about what they are having you do. I know you were sent off to work on their engineering projects, but they never specified what exactly you were to be making. Don't spare a single detail. I do hope that you and William have been keeping each other entertained and out of trouble. Please tell him that I miss him as well and I look forward to a rematch of our chess game when he gets back.

I love you more than anything, my boy. I cannot wait for you to come home.

- Your Father

~~~~~

Hello Uncle,

I hope you are doing well. I heard your business has been a great success while I've been away and I am very happy for you. Things are going alright here; they tend to keep us rather busy working on the project at hand. I am truly sorry but I am not allowed to tell anyone what I am doing here, not even family. I really would like to tell you all, as I think you'd all find it quite interesting, but I am bound to protocol. William is also doing well - it seems that the army was the only way for him to start giving into authority. They put him in his place rather quickly in that respect.

Uncle, I have been wanting to ask you about something. I recently received a letter from Papa that I found very concerning. I honestly believe he's lying...isn't he? He went on for about a paragraph and a half about how he was doing perfectly fine and he has been productive at work. I think what really pushed it past the point of belief, though, was the fact that he mentioned improvement in his interactions with clients. I would love if that was our reality, but we both know that it wouldn't happen seemingly overnight. I would greatly appreciate it if you could tell me how he is really doing. I would like to think he wouldn't lie to me, but sometimes I really don't know. In all honesty, I thought he was a better liar than that; it was quite ridiculous to read. I know he doesn't like people looking after him but he is going to have to realize that it is for his own good. I am glad you are there with him as often as you are.

With deepest gratitude,

~ Gustave

~~~~~

Hello Gustave,

I am thankful to hear that all is going well for you. I believe we are all curious to know what you are working on but I understand if you are not allowed to share that information. In regards to William, I am glad someone was able to teach him some discipline, because God knows nobody here was capable.

In regards to your father, I wish I was not the one who had to tell you the truth, but I think we both know he will not. I regret to inform you that he is, in fact, lying to you. I believe it is because he doesn't want you to worry. Though to be frank, I am worried about him, so you have the right to as well. I have seen your father at his very lowest but this is a level I had yet to see until now. It is almost like he has stopped functioning entirely - he eats only out of necessity and barely speaks a word to anyone. He has been having trouble sleeping as well, so much so that it's glaringly obvious. I arrive some mornings to find him hunched over the kitchen table with his eyes barely open. I try and ask him why and he simply says, "Gustave" or "Nightmares." I do not know what he is seeing in those dreams but one can only imagine. On those days I try to take him to his room to sleep yet he refuses; he has been sleeping in your room instead. It seems that is the only place he can sleep where the nightmares are tolerable. When I ask him what I can do to help, he does not say a word. He either stares into space or goes into your room and pulls a well worn copy of The Wizard of Oz off the shelf. Perhaps you can share with me the significance of that particular book, as it is lost on me. He would have been correct in telling you that my security business is doing well, but he is the one I am keeping safe. Though Sasha seems to be doing my job for me when I am not around; she is always right by his side and she comes to get me if he needs me when I am there.

I have known your father for a long time and one thing he will never ask of anyone is help. He does not want you to worry. In fact, he does not want anyone to worry. In his mind, nobody should be held responsible for him except him. Something you must understand is that that is the only way he survived for a large portion of his life. He is not used to people caring about him consistently. You are the reason he started taking care of himself again, so without you here, he seems to have reverted back to his old ways.

I do not tell you this as a way to get you home sooner. You have a job to do and you need to be there to do it. However, you deserve to know the truth. Maybe if you tell him to take care of himself again he might actually listen, for my words seem to be falling on deaf ears. Please take care of yourself.

~ Nadir

~~~~~

Uncle Nadir,

I knew he was lying but I didn't think it was that bad. I really wish Papa wasn't so stubborn. I will try to tell him to get better, but who knows if he will listen to me? I think the worst part about all of this is that I wish I could say I was shocked. Something in my gut told me that he was lying but my heart still held out hope that he wasn't. I'm not angry at him for doing it I just wish he hadn't. It is of no help to him if he is hiding things like this from me. I wish I could come home tomorrow and be with him, to be with all of you, for that matter. But, I know you are right. I was called here for a reason and I cannot leave until my job is done.

I cannot express how grateful I am for the fact that you are there with him. I hate to think what he would do if he was alone. In regards to that book, you should know that Papa and I used to read it together when one of us wasn't feeling well. It became a sort of tradition.

Please tell everyone I am okay and that William and I are keeping out of trouble. On the topic of WIlliam, you should know that he resents your comment about him being impossible to discipline.

~ Gustave

~~~~~

Hello Papa,

This is actually very hard to tell you so I will just be blunt. I know you lied to me. I was told everything that has been actually going on at home. Don't be mad at the others - I asked them to tell me. I know you didn't want me to worry and I am sorry I didn't believe you, but something seemed very off in your last letter to me. I am not upset with you for lying, so don't start feeling guilty about that. I just wish you would have told me the truth the first time. You should know that I am worried and I would have been either way, so telling the truth would not have made much difference.

I know you are not used to having people who care about you, and I know it has been just you and me for a long time so it must be an adjustment not having me around. However, I do need you to take care of yourself, if not for your own sake, but for mine. It has been an adjustment here as well not having you around all the time. It feels so strange that the only way I can talk to you is through letter. You cannot imagine how hard it has been to not be able to tell anyone what I am working on. I am so used to being able to tell you everything and now I am being forced to keep this secret.

I need you to promise me that you will take care of yourself. That means eating regularly and taking care of your personal hygiene. Talk with people, please. I know that Maddie has been there and so has Uncle Nadir. Even talk to Sasha if nobody is around. I have been told that dogs can be very good listeners. I want to ask you to sleep regularly as well but neither of us have ever kept a normal sleep schedule so I would sound like a hypocrite.

I don't say this in order to sound like a boss or to make you feel like you are incapable of living without me. I just need to know that you are taking care of yourself beyond just waking up in the morning.

I love you very much Papa.

~ Gustave

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Hey everyone. Hope you enjoyed this set of letters. Not going to lie, the first one was really hard. Considering I was trying to write Erik as two things he most definitely is not, happy and a bad liar.

Stay amazhang,

~ Buddy_2002 💙💙💙