A/N: So here we are. It has officially been over a year since the release of Undertale. Can you believe that, in just one year, this game has taken the greater part of the internet by storm, with the fans creating all the different AUs, animations, fan songs, boss battles, and everything else? And it's understandable; the game inspires people's imaginations (as any good work should, in my opinion) and gives us characters we can empathize with. Some may think it's just a fad that'll pass, but to paraphrase a certain Van Halen song, only time will tell if it stands the test of time. We might as well enjoy it now, right?
Now for a very important author's note: this fic is based on the universe of the story "Happy Family" by Sunfreckle (and don't worry, I got permission to write a derivative). As such, some of the things in this fic (original characters, names for certain canon characters, etc.) were taken from that fic, and it might be a little confusing if you haven't read it yet. I'll do my best to briefly explain things in this story for those who haven't read it, but if you want to fully understand, you'll have to read Sunfreckle's story. (Seriously, read Sunfreckle's story; it's great if you need some cheering up or if you just want to read something lighthearted.)
Courtesy link to Sunfreckle's story: s/11798050/1/Happy-Family
Please also note that, while this is based on Sunfreckle's work, there were some characters and other things that I came up with on my own. I'll do my best to note these at the end of certain chapters.
Just like in the original fic, the pairings will be Alphys/Undyne, Sans/Toriel, Mettaton/Papyrus, Asgore/OC, and Frisk/Monster Kid (who, in this verse, is called Manny and is male). If you don't like the pairings, I'm afraid you'll have to take it up with Sunfreckle. It's her verse; I'm just writing a derivative work of it.
One last warning: even though this is mostly lighthearted, there are some feelsy moments here and there. Even so, enjoy the fic.
Sunlight streamed through the windows of a house not far from Mt. Ebott. It was very peaceful and quiet inside, the silence only broken by Toriel, who was humming to herself as she stacked some blueberry pancakes on a number of plates. She placed some sausages and eggs next to each stack, and after setting them on the table, poured some drinks: orange juice for herself, ketchup for Sans, and chocolate milk for the children.
Well, technically, they weren't really children anymore, but like most parents, Toriel would always see them as her children no matter how old they got.
After setting the table for breakfast, she made her way to one of their rooms. On the way, she remembered the circumstances that led up to this day. Her children had been only nine years old when she had told them they couldn't attend Mettaton's party on New Year's Eve, and they were just as upset as one could imagine. (Of course, given the accounts from some of their friends who had attended the party, including her now-brother-in-law Papyrus, she had made a pretty good judgement call in that regard.) As a consolation, Mettaton had offered to arrange a special party for when the kids turned eighteen years old.
And today was finally the big day.
She walked up to the bedroom door and gave it a few gentle knocks.
"Frisk? It's time to wake up, my child."
From the other side of the door came a groan. "Huh? It's morning already?"
"That's right, my child." She opened the door just a crack. "I've made blueberry pancakes. Why don't you go tell Asriel that breakfast is ready, while I go see if Sans needs any help bringing in the mail?"
"Okay."
As Toriel left, Frisk walked out of their room in their blue pajamas, letting out a yawn. They had grown to be rather tall and slim, and still had shoulder-length brown hair.
Upon making it to their brother's room, Frisk knocked on the door. "Asriel?"
No response.
They cracked open the door and looked inside. "Hey, Asriel!"
From the looks of things, their brother was still fast asleep.
Frisk walked over to his bed, being careful not to trip over the guitar case on the floor, and tried to shake him awake. "Wake up, sleepyhead!"
"...Hmm?" Asriel poked his head out from beneath the covers; not only had he gotten taller and a bit more muscular, but his horns were growing as well.
"C'mon, Mom made breakfast! Aren't you hungry?"
Asriel closed his eyes again. "Just five more minutes..."
Frisk chuckled. "Well, okay. But if your blueberry pancakes get cold, it's on you!"
As Frisk left the room, Asriel suddenly sat up. "Wait, what was that you said about blueberry pancakes?"
Not long after the kids made it to the table and started eating breakfast, Toriel and Sans walked in through the front door, each carrying a bunch of envelopes.
"Morning, kids. Lots of stuff came for you." Sans walked over to show them what he was carrying, and Frisk and Asriel's jaws dropped at the small pile in his hands.
"Is... is all of that for us?" Asriel asked.
"Well, a couple things came for Tori and me. But other than that..." Sans paused to wink. "...you pretty much mailed it."
From the living room, Toriel giggled. "Sans, you are such a card!"
The kids half-chuckled, half-groaned at the puns.
With a smirk, Frisk leaned in close to Asriel. "If Papyrus were here, he'd be freaking out right now."
"Heh, yeah..." Some days, Asriel (as well as Frisk) really missed having Papyrus in the same house; Papyrus had started living with Mettaton shortly after the two made their engagement official. But at the same time, Papyrus came to visit regularly, and he kept in contact with them so often that it was almost like he'd never left. In fact, he would even stay with them whenever Mettaton had to be away from home for a while.
After Sans and Toriel put the envelopes on the living room table, they went to eat breakfast with the children.
"So when was Pap gonna pick you up again?" Sans asked as he started in on his pancakes.
Asriel swallowed a bite of sausage. "Sometime around eleven. We're gonna be at that pizza arcade downtown with Undyne, Alphys, and the twins."
Even though Mettaton's party would be just a little more low-key than most of his parties, being a party especially for the kids' family and all their friends, many of them had still agreed that the atmosphere wouldn't be quite right for Undyne and Alphys' four-year-old twin sons. Incidentally, even the twins themselves agreed with this; Kaoru thought the tons of people and loud music would be a little scary, and both he and Hikaru were averse to the idea of having to wear fancy clothes and (for the first part of the party) sit around while the grown-ups talked about stuff. So to avoid leaving the twins out, their mothers were going to take them to a family-friendly pizza arcade where they'd meet up with Frisk, Asriel, and Papyrus, and the seven of them would eat lunch together.
Toriel sipped some of her juice. "Have any of you ever been there before?"
"Nope," Frisk said. "But a lot of parents gave it good reviews online, so we're not too worried."
"Well, if you're sure..." Toriel was hoping she could see the reviews herself.
Sans leaned over to her slightly. "Don't worry about it, Tori. If it got good reviews, it's gotta be a little slice of heaven."
Frisk started snickering. "Dad..."
After the kids finished breakfast and washed up, they decided to start going through the birthday cards. They were sitting side-by-side on the couch, looking through the piles.
Frisk picked up an envelope. "What's this? 'From Lita and Phil'? This one's yours, Az." Lita and Phil were two siblings that Asgore and his live-in girlfriend Katla had briefly taken in after their parents were hospitalized. Fortunately, the parents made a full recovery, and the two were able to go home shortly afterward. In the meantime, both Asriel and Chara (who had come back to life, and was determined to make up for her sins) had made friends with them, and they all kept in contact from that point on.
Asriel took the envelope, and glanced at the next one in the pile. "'From Manny'?" He smirked. "Definitely yours, Frisk!"
"Hey, he's your friend, too!"
"Yeah, but he's your boyfriend."
There were more cards from Laura, Darren, Jamie, and some other school friends. One of the next cards intrigued the two; it came from the temmie who ran the Tem Shop.
When Frisk opened the envelope, they saw that it came with two checks inside, as well as the card. "Huh? What's this?"
Asriel took the checks out, and when he saw the amounts on them, his jaw dropped. "Th-that's a lot of money..."
Frisk read the card. Temmie had been so thankful that Frisk helped her pay for college all those years ago that she was going to return the favor for them; one of the checks in there was for Frisk, and the other was for Asriel.
"Wow!" Frisk grinned. "I'll have to write her a thank-you note after I deposit this."
"Yeah..." Asriel's voice sounded a little more distant.
"Huh? What's wrong?"
"Nothing. It's just..." Asriel let out a sigh. "I want to make everyone proud, but I don't know what I want to do with my life. What if whatever I major in ends up becoming the daily grind instead of a dream job?"
Frisk put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, you have plenty of time to decide. There are some people who don't decide on a major until their junior year of college. At the very least, you should knock out your general studies; maybe take some electives and see what you like doing."
Asriel faintly smiled. "I guess I could give it a try."
They continued going through the piles.
"Here's one from Chara," Frisk said as they held up an envelope.
Asriel smirked. "She told me not to open that one until the day of the party. We should wait until we see her later today."
"But it is the day of the party..." Frisk looked confused.
"Yeah, I know. But remember how she pranked Tice last Christmas when he couldn't wait? She might have done something similar for this card; why else would she tell me beforehand?"
"Hmm..."
"Think of it this way: even if it's not a prank, we can thank her in person as soon as we read what's in the card."
"Good point." Frisk gave the envelope to Asriel, who set it aside.
Now they were getting to the cards from some of their closest friends and family members. There was one from Undyne and Alphys, with a couple of simple drawings in the corner next to their signatures, along with the letters "K" and "H". Gaster also sent a card, as did Katla and Asgore. Katla's brother Roy and his husband (and fellow former royal guardsman) Ralph were among those who sent cards, not only because Frisk helped them get together, but also because, given how close Asgore and Katla were, it would most likely only be a matter of time before they married; if and/or when that happened, Ralph and Roy would become the kids' new uncles.
Meanwhile, Toriel had given them each a very simple hand-drawn and handwritten card, and Papyrus' cards (though a bit more flashy) were also hand-made.
"Now for this big envelope..." Frisk opened up the manila envelope addressed to them; it was considerably larger than the other ones.
Asriel looked up from reading a card from his friend Jim. "Let me guess: Mettaton's card?"
Frisk retrieved the large card from the envelope and opened it. "Whoa...check this out!"
When Asriel looked over, he too was amazed. It was indeed Mettaton's card, but there was a twist: every other human and monster who hadn't sent an individual card (and even a few who had) had signed this card. Some had even left little comments next to their signatures; it almost resembled a page in a yearbook.
Asriel looked up from the card. "Heh...we're gonna have a lot of thank-you notes to write, huh?"
"No kidding. And we haven't even gotten to the presents yet!" Frisk leaned back, thinking of what presents they might get at the party. "Wait a minute..."
"Huh? What's up, Frisk?"
Frisk had a perplexed look on their face. "We got cards from everyone except-"
"Me? Don't worry, kiddo, I got your cards right here."
Frisk yelped a bit at Sans' sudden appearance. "W-where'd you come from, Dad?"
Sans shrugged. "You'll have to ask your grand-dadster where Papyrus and I came from."
"I think Frisk meant right now," Asriel said with a chuckle.
"Yeah, I know. I was just putting the finishing touches on your cards." Sans took the cards out of his pocket. "Here. Have fun."
At first glance, the cards appeared to be the ace of hearts and the king of clubs, causing the kids to start snickering. Once they got the cards, though, they saw that they were actual birthday cards that just resembled playing cards. Frisk got the ace of hearts because it resembled their soul, while Asriel got the king of clubs because he could pull off some great dance moves at parties.
"Thanks, Dad!" Frisk gave Sans a hug, and Asriel followed.
Sans returned the hugs. "No problem. And if anyone doesn't like the cards I gave you...well, they're just gonna have to deal with it."
The kids laughed again.
"Seriously, though, happy Frisk-and-Asriel-day."
"Thanks," the kids said. Usually, "Frisk-and-Asriel-day" wasn't a thing; the two celebrated their respective birthdays on separate days most of the time. However, since they were turning eighteen this time around, and since Mettaton had promised them a huge party, they were willing to make an exception for this year.
Once they were done with the hug, Frisk looked up, their hand curling into a fist. "I just know this is gonna be the best day ever...Az and I have been waiting for it since we were nine years old." They were determined to make it the best day of both of their lives.
For a little while afterwards, the kids went off to do their own things. Asriel listened to some music in his room and tried to play along on his acoustic guitar (one of the many hobbies he had picked up over the years), while Frisk watched some television with Toriel. During this, they pulled up a review website on their phone, and Toriel saw that the pizza place had indeed gotten good reviews.
Finally, at around eleven, they heard a car pulling into the driveway, and a horn beeped a couple of times.
Toriel recognized the sound of the horn. "I think Papyrus is here."
"Yep! I'd know that horn anywhere!" Frisk got up and went to tell Asriel that Papyrus had arrived, while Sans and Toriel went to answer the door.
Papyrus got out of his car and went up to the doorstep. "Nyeh! Good morning, everyone!"
"Morning, bro." Sans gave Papyrus a hug.
Toriel smiled. "Good morning, Papyrus. Frisk went to get Asriel; they'll be back in a second."
Right on cue, the kids came back into the front room and ran up to the doorway; they were wearing their shoes and their moped helmets. "Hey, Papyrus!"
Now it was their turn to get a hug from Papyrus as he grinned at them. "Good morning, and happy Frisk-and-Asriel-day! We are going to have a wonderful birthday lunch at the pizza arcade!"
"Yeah! That sounds like fun!" Even though he was in his late teens now, Asriel had never lost his taste for arcade games, and neither had Frisk.
"Indeed!" Papyrus motioned to the car. "Well, shall we go? We don't want to keep our friends and your little cousins waiting."
"Sure don't!" Frisk paused to give Sans and Toriel a hug, followed by Asriel doing the same. "Bye, Mom! Bye, Dad!"
"Have fun, kids."
"Take care of yourselves!"
"We will!" The kids got onto their mopeds (since Papyrus' car was only a two-seater) and followed Papyrus as he drove off.
From inside the house, Toriel watched them. She hadn't been sure about the mopeds at first, but since the children had been using them responsibly, she was gradually warming up to them.
They truly are two of the most wonderful children I could have asked for...
After they were out of sight, she returned to her seat on the couch. Their cat Sir Pouncival promptly jumped up into her lap and curled up for a brief nap. She gently stroked his ears, and he purred.
"Hey, Tori?"
Toriel looked up. "Yes, Sans?"
Sans walked over and took a seat next to her. "I was just thinking...thanks for making me promise to protect Frisk when they fell down." He looked up. "I mean, even now I still sometimes have nightmares about what that kid could've done. I know I shouldn't, since they stopped the resets, and so none of it's gonna come true, but..."
He sighed. "It's just, when I think of what they could have done to you, or Papyrus, or anyone else...even though I try not to think of it, sometimes I still get bad dreams..."
Toriel put an arm around Sans. "It's all right, Sans. Everybody has nightmares now and then. The important thing is that they're not true. And Frisk didn't want them to come true, either; they would not have ended the resets if that were the case."
Sans looked up at her. "Trust me, Tori, when I heard Frisk tell me that there'd be no more resets...it felt like the biggest weight in the world had been lifted off my shoulders. This whole family thing was already nice, but after Frisk made sure it wouldn't get taken away from all of us..." He grinned. "I knew I was really gonna like being a dad."
She smiled back at him. "So, that's when the idea started to pop out at you?"
For a brief moment, Sans laughed at the bad pun. He then snuggled a bit closer to her. "I love you, Tori."
Toriel nuzzled the top of his skull and gently kissed him. "I love you too, Sans."
While she had been a bit nervous about a second marriage, and he had previously not been interested in any relationships, every time the two shared a little moment like this, they both knew marrying each other was the right choice.
Sans grabbed the remote. "Hey, you want me to turn on the TV? There's this really funny show I thought you might like..."
"Of course, Sans."
And so the two watched the funny TV show for a while. They hoped the kids were having just as much fun as they were having.
A/N: And there's the first chapter. I hope there was an adequate amount of humor and fluff for all of your bad-day-fixing needs. I even included some Soriel, even though I normally don't feel strongly about shipping that pairing (Alphyne and Papyton are the only main-character pairings I strongly support in the fandom; while I'm open to Soriel, I'm also open to other pairings featuring those characters).
The stuff I came up with on my own include Asriel's new guitar hobby, as well as the characters Lita and Phil (who won't be showing up later in the story) and Tice and Jim (an original Ice Cap and Pyrope, respectively; we will meet them in a later chapter).
I don't know which funny TV show Sans and Toriel were watching; you can use your imagination for that one.
See you in Chapter 2, where the kids have their birthday lunch.