Looking back, Nickname Dreemurr found it amazing that she had managed to finish her schooling at all, let alone as well as she did.
"Oh, for goodness' sake!" Frisk said sharply when she brought this up, the night of her graduation. "It wasn't that bad, Nickname!"
"I seem to recall there being police on my first day!" was her reply, and Frisk sighed, unable to refute that. Granted, there had to be some police on this same day, but she knew that there were considerably less than there had been on that day.
Her almost-cousin Basket, eleven now, was laughing at this point. She had Undyne's laugh, but also the tendency to snort like Alphys. They'd spent six years together at school, and Bass had seen enough to know how beloved - and slightly coddled - Nicky was at school. She was, after all, surrounded by family, just like Bass was, herself.
"Oh, shut up, Bass," she grumbled, giving Basket a shove, which only resulted in a slight stumble instead of a fall like she'd hoped. It also brought more laughter from Bass, who now had to hunch over to stay upright.
Asriel was sitting on the couch, his head in his hands, while Alphys tried to talk to him; he wasn't taking her graduation too well, filled with disbelief that not only was he old, but so was Nicky. Sometimes she didn't get it, either, still amazed that she'd made it to seventeen at all.
"It's okay," Alphys was saying to him gently, patting his back. "R-really. It's okay."
Asriel said nothing, but his shoulders shook a bit. Nicky was about to go to him, but Undyne stopped her. "No, kid," her aunt said sharply. "Trust me." Because Nicky did, she obeyed, but it still hurt to see her dad that way.
Frisk adjusted her hat again, and Nicky sighed. "Mami, stop."
"Can't do it," Frisk replied with a smile. She brushed non-existent dirt off of her robes. "I'm your mother. It's my job."
"Is Papi okay?" Nicky asked her.
Frisk paused, her eyes flicking over. "He'll be fine," she said slowly. "He's just... shocked."
"Bad shocked or glad shocked?"
"Bad," Basket snorted. Undyne gave her a glower, and she shut up with a blush, her face going red. Basket loved to test everyone - except Undyne. Of the two, Undyne refused to stand for Basket's sarcasm and dry humour, recognising it as her own and thus finding it ineffective. Alphys, however, was the opposite: she loved it when Basket was a smartass, and usually laughed or encouraged it without realising it.
"Both," Frisk answered honestly. "But don't fuss, Nicky. You know your papi."
Nicky did; that was why she was worried.
"Damn, graduation..." Undyne broke in, giving Nicky's shoulder a squeeze. "You're so old!"
Basket opened her mouth, then shut it, her eyes sparking and her lips trembling. Her restraint, so rarely seen, made Nicky smile.
Frisk noticed and sighed, giving Undyne a sour look. "Don't give them ammunition," she advised.
Undyne looked at her daughter, who was looking away in faux-innocence, still biting her lip to keep quiet. Her tail, however, wagged slightly, which only broke the illusion.
"Who raised this child?" Undyne sighed, rubbing her forehead.
"Your wife," said Frisk with a grin. Undyne looked over at said wife, who had heard that and was now looking over with a blush, before looking back at Asriel.
"And you!" Basket added with a scowl. Undyne grinned at her, then grabbed her into a tight hug, one that not only silence Bass, but made her blush even redder. "Mom, stoppit!" she grumbled, her voice carrying a slight whine.
Nicky laughed, unable to help it. At the sound, Asriel looked over with a small smile, and she smiled back, feeling better at the sight. If she thought about it, she could remember a similar evening, one with similar results - but different, newer circumstances.