Sorry about there being no update yesterday! I was out of the house from dawn 'til dusk, and I was so tired by the time I got back that I just conked out. I just woke up a couple hours after falling asleep remembering that I had a chapter to post. I got a minor concussion on Friday so I keep forgetting things! Haha well anyway, better late than never!

I hadn't had any idea what I was getting for Christmas, since I didn't ask for anything. I expected a couple sweaters from Mom and a CD from Dad, but that wasn't what ended up happening.

My Dad got me a premium subscription for the blog site I used, which meant I had more flexibility with page design and could create a custom URL. It hadn't even occurred to me to ask for something like this and I kinda flipped out while Mom got all quiet and broody in the corner.

My mom got me a new pair of Docs, saying I needed some color in my wardrobe. My normal pair was just plain black while these were dark purple.

Keely pulled me into her room so I wasn't in front of the extended family when I opened her gift: a t-shirt that said "Ask Me About My Cock" that had the face of a rooster printed on the inside if you pulled the shirt over your head. My mom came into the room after a minute thinking that my raucous laughter might have been me dying. Sans would get such a kick out of this.

Then I got a nauseating floral dress that was at least two sizes too small from my aunt and uncle that thankfully came with a gift receipt, an urban photography book from my other aunt, a fuzzy blanket from my mom's parents, and a wad of cash from my dad's mom. Along with the candy that had been in my stocking, I'd have quite the haul to take back to Ebott.

I spent the evening of Christmas writing a blog post announcing that I was getting a new URL and figuring out how to make sure the old URL redirected to the new one in case people didn't get the memo. I'd save the pimping out of my blog for another day.

The day after Christmas was mostly spent by the fire with the family. Mom was in an especially good mood the past couple of days, which gave me some hope that things would turn out okay with my friends, whom I'd called on Christmas Eve to invite over for Sunday. Papyrus was so excited and I felt horrible—he'd overheard the argument I'd had with my Mom, but he didn't understand the implications the way the others did. He was so thrilled to meet 'the human's family' and I didn't have the heart to tell him how badly it might go. I just told him to maybe save the hugging for a later date, since I didn't want him breaking any ribs.

"What do you mean? I, The Great Papyrus, would never hurt your family!"

That was when I figured out that Papyrus had no idea how strong he was and that his painful hugs were, in fact, an accident.

How he could be that strong and not know it I couldn't fathom, but after some thought it made a little sense. I'd seen a some of what Sans could do and he could fuck shit up if he wanted. If Papyrus were capable of getting angry the way Sans did, who knew what he was capable of.

The thought made me uncomfortable and I shoved it away the moment it came.

Sunday morning came and I realized I didn't really know when my friends were planning on coming. Sans was the only number my family had, so I texted him and asked, but he didn't answer, as per fucking usual. I should've bothered to ask for Papyrus' number. If a time came when Papyrus didn't reply within a minute, I'd be seriously concerned he had died.

I told both my parents that the word "boyfriend" was entirely forbidden. They thought it was because I was embarrassed but it was actually because I hadn't quite told the others we were even dating. Whoopsies.

I spent the morning helping my Dad in the backyard—it was his constant project and he'd gotten some seeds for Christmas that he couldn't plant until some weeds were eradicated from the area—and all the while hoped I'd be able to hear the doorbell when it rang.

As it turned out, I heard them far before the doorbell rang.

"Thank you very much for transporting us, taxi man!" I could hear Papyrus yell it all the way from the back yard.

Oh Jesus. I shot up and ran through the side gate.

I hadn't bothered to ask how they were getting here. I almost thought Sans would just teleport them, but it looked like they had, in fact, called a taxi, as Papyrus' exclamation had implied.

I watched as they piled out of the car. I didn't know whether they'd thought to bring human money, but I didn't ask. I went over to the driver's side and asked how much it was and the look on his face like he'd just had the strangest customers of his life made me give him a really big tip.

"RILEY!" Papyrus said as he picked me up. I huffed out a breath as he tried to kill me with love and Undyne slapped my back.

"You think your mommy's gonna piss herself when she meets us?" she asked.

"I certainly hope not," I wheezed, and Papyrus took the hint and set me down.

"I apologize," he said, sounding just a little timid. "I was trying to be gentle."

"No problem," I said, rubbing my sternum. I took another look at Papyrus and realized with a start that he wasn't wearing his battle body (AKA a costume he and Sans had once sewn together that became his favorite outfit) or even a sleeveless shirt that said cool dude and stunner shades. He was in a baggy red jumper (no ugly designs on it) and jeans and Sans was wearing the same thing, except his sweater was blue. I couldn't figure out who had gotten who to dress appropriately, since I expected Sans to be in sweats and Papyrus to be in booty shorts and it didn't occur to me that anything else might be a possibility. Not that I really cared what they wore on any other day, but I figured that this would go better if they were dressed somewhat normally… and maybe not in something that was called a battle body in front of the woman who was afraid the Monsters were here to start a war in the first place. But hey, this was a good omen, right? It meant everything was going to go smoothly.

But seeing as Papyrus was currently running around the front yard calling everything he saw cool while Undyne laughed so hard she couldn't breathe, I wasn't so sure that was possible.

I sighed heavily. "This was a bad idea."

Sans heard me even though I wasn't necessarily talking to him and he grinned. "Definitely. Lucky for you I forgot my joy buzzer. That's what happens when I wake up before noon."

I rolled my eyes. "Come on. Let's get inside."

My mom walked in from the kitchen—even though Keely and I cooking had been part of the deal, she had insisted upon helping—when she heard Undyne saying the place was 'pretty damn sleek" and she just stared for a long moment at the assembly. A tall fish, an even taller skeleton, a short skeleton, and an even shorter dinosaur was not the company she was expecting.

And to my horror, the first thing Papyrus did was start towards her quickly.

Please don't hug her please don't hug her please don't hug her…

He reached forward and took her hand before she had a chance to withdraw, shaking it vigorously. "Riley's mother, it is very nice to finally meet you. You are very pretty. I like your apron. I also have an apron. My name is Papyrus and your daughter is my best friend, other than my brother Sans, of course, because family is very important. Are you cooking? Is it spaghetti? I love spaghetti. Did I tell you that you're pretty?"

She stared up at the skeleton with her mouth open and her eyes wide.

After a moment, she gained her composure. My well-raised mother was nothing if not couth. "Papyrus, was it? Very nice to meet you, young man." She shook his hand and gave him a grin.

I was almost waiting for someone to say that he was actually several centuries older than her and I was relieved when nobody did it. One piece of culture shock at a time.

The others approached and introduced themselves. Undyne managed not to curse or give any friendly punches. I didn't expect Alphys to do anything ridiculous anyway, but it turned out she was so nervous that she just said her name and left it at that.

Then it was Sans' turn and I crossed my fingers. I'd told my parents my new boyfriend's name so she'd know the moment he introduced himself. Sans, please, for the love of god, don't have a whoopee cushion on you.

Sans walked up to her and took her hand. "You have a beautiful home. Thank you so much for inviting us."

I felt my jaw drop and my mom looked a little surprised herself. "Oh. Yes, of course."

"I know you haven't seen the best of Monsters so far, but I hope to show you that we aren't all the same."

I wanted to kick him for a second for saying it… until I saw the look on her face.

I watched as she blinked in surprise, an epiphany flashing visibly across her face as she made the connection—that her prejudice against them was the same as any other prejudice in the world.

After a pause, she said, "You have nothing to prove to me. My daughter has good judgment. If you've befriended her, you're worth knowing."

Sans' grin widened into that extra charming one, the one nobody could resist, and if I wasn't completely mistaken, my mother blushed a little.

"Don't know about good judgment," Sans teased. "I'm trouble, I assure you."

Okay, Mom was definitely blushing now. Jesus, what the hell world had I fallen into?

Then, the fucking ham, he lifted up her hand—which was still in his—and kissed her knuckles.

Mom's mouth moved like she might say something, but nothing came out for a moment. Undyne was not-so-slyly covering her mouth to keep from laughing and Alphys had gone red.

"Ooh," Papyrus chirped, "there's a man gardening! I want to see!"

Luckily, that broke the spell. Sans let go of her hand and she looked over to Papyrus. "That's my husband. Go outside and introduce yourselves if you'd like."

"I shall, Riley's Mother!"

"Shelly," she said.

"Shelly!" Papyrus cried. "I, The Great Papyrus, like your name! Come on, brother, let's go look at the flowers!"

They all started towards the back of the house and I was about to follow them when Mom put out a hand to stop me. I thought I was going to get a scolding for not warning her, but her face was soft and I knew what she was going to say.

I didn't make her do it.

"Sometimes you gotta see things to get it," I said. "It's okay. There's no hard feelings."

After a moment she smiled and nodded, giving me a quick hug before following me out into the backyard.