Inspired by this headcanon
When Anderson was four, he wasn't called Anderson at all. and when he was four, a lot of significant things happened in his life. His mother died for one.
But money was tight.
have the very best. Sometimes Dick was the only reason he went to his job. Because he loved his son. And he wanted him to have the best in life. But Dick didn't want to sleep without Ben with him. He just couldn't. He would sit up in his grandmother's living room, waiting for his dad to pick him up, take him home, where he would go into his dad's bed, and sleep their, his father chasing away any nightmares that threatened the little boy.
Ben just wanted the best for his son.
So, one day, on the weekend, Ben took Dick to a storage locker, where most of his wife's things had been put, when he couldn't look at them, and took Dick to a box of Amelia's mother's baby things, and he took out a patchwork blanket, made from scraps of fabric important to his wife. A scrap of her onsie as a child, and some of her wedding dress, a little of this, and some of that, and it was made for their baby. his precious Dickie. And he gave it to his son. And Dick slept with it. Dick, he loved it to death. He loved it until it began to fall apart, and his grandmother hadHe was distraught.
to patch it up. he proudly showed to everyone who was interested, and he took it with him everywhere with him,because Mummy made it. He showed his preschool teacher, and he showed the lady in the train station who played the Piano so beautifully, he always had to stop and admire the lovely playing, and he showed his best friend, Tiffany, and he showed it to the boy with the cat next door, and everyone knew it was Dick's blankie, and it was his prized possession.
Dick slept with it every night, until he was eleven.
When he was eleven, he lost it.
he was terrified, but he was able to sleep without it. As long as Pere tucked him in, of course. And even the, he still had nightmares, but they went away. And they found Blankie, in the end. Poor Blankie got lost in the mess of clothes in the corner, and wasn't found until Ben cleaned his room out.
Even now, Blankie sits on the end of Anderson's bed, with a few squares he'd added of his own. A piece of his son, Benny's baby clothes, and a piece of the woman who played the piano in the train station's glasses cloth, she'd given it to him after he'd asked for something to add to his blankie. And there was a piece of his father's wedding tux, and there was a piece of his eleven year old sheets, and the discolored faded scrap of wedding dress. Everyone thought it was a bit funny, but to Anderson, it was the most beautiful thing in the world.