I'm back from vac8ion. Sorry i was in yellowstone. But here's the chapter. It's really long though. heads up.

~UC


Sollux finished setting the table. Everything was ready. The dinner was still cooking though. Mr. Captor sat down with his coffee, Mrs. Captor was fixing up dinner, his Grandpa was in the corner deciding what hat he should wear, and Mituna was doing God knows what with whatever the hell that object was.

"Now I want you all on your best behaviour," warned Sollux, "You guys all know Aradia. Sure it's been a few years, but you like her, right?"

"Yes Sollux, we know Aradia," replied his mother, "However, I still think she's a bit…you know…"
"Reckless. Sloppy. Dirty. Careless," his father rambled. Sollux sighed.

"She's calmed down after her accident," said Sollux, "Just…promise you won't make her uncomfortable?"

"Why would you say that?" asked his mother, "Do we embarrass you?"

"Yes, but that's not what I'm talking about," he stated, "You know what I'm talking about. Don't interrogate her or make her feel intimidated. You know it's bad when the only one I can trust is Mituna." Mituna laughed in agreement.

"Was that a crack?" asked his father.

"Who still uses that expression?" Sollux scoffed.

"I don't care for your tone boy," scowled his father.

"Oh You don't seem to care for anything as of lately," Deuce remarked.

"Gramps, are you staying for dinner?" Sollux asked.

"Of course!" he replied, "I want to meet this girl you knocked up!"

"Don't waste your time, papa," said Mrs. Captor, "I highly doubt this girl has any class."

"You're the ones to talk about class! And you know, I could call her right now and cancel this dinner," said Sollux, "I really don't think you're ready for-" There was a knock on the door. "Shit…"

"Sollux! Your mouth–"

"Oh my God. Really?"

"Listen you–"

"Who's getting the door?" Mituna asked. Sollux sighed and moved towards the door.

"Be nice!" he scolded. He opened the door and changed his mood completely. He forced a smile. Aradia was wearing one of the sweaters Kanaya made for her. Her cheeks were rosy from the cold. Even though it was October, it was unusually chilly.

"Aradia! Come in!" he welcomed. She entered. "Aradia, you remember my parents and Mituna." She nodded. Sollux's parents got up and went to her. Sollux's mother awkwardly shook hands with her while his father just nodded. Mituna gave her a hug. Aradia smiled. Sollux took Aradia's coat and hung it up. A tiny man tugged at Sollux's pants.

"Oh! And this is my Grandpa," he said.

"Oh! I know Aradia!" said Deuce, "I work with her dad! I gotta give her a hug!" Deuce's shortness only made him able to hug her legs. She smiled

"Nice to see you too deuce," said Aradia.

"Come and sit down dear," invited Sollux's mother. Aradia and everyone else obeyed. Aradia struggled with pushing her chair in without bumping her stomach on the table.

"Oh Aradia, you are so big!" Mrs. Captor commented, "How far along are you exactly?"

"Seven months," she replied.

"Only seven months?!" Sollux's mother gasped, "Well you don't look seven months. You look like you're about to burst!" Aradia blushed.

"Well, twins do require a lot of room…" Mr. Captor nearly spat out his coffee.

"I'm sorry, did you say twins?!" he asked.

"Yes. I'm having twins. Didn't Sollux tell you?" Aradia asked. Sollux felt the room all stop and glare at him. His face flushed and he laughed nervously.

"Well, we all know now," his mother broke the silence.

"So, Aradia…any news from the old neighborhood you used to live in?" Mr. Captor asked.

"Dad!" Sollux warned.

"Um…"

"Oh… I'm sorry to bring up a sore subject," apologised Mr. Captor.

"No, it's okay," said Aradia, "Actually I haven't really been there in years, so I wouldn't know. I've been living on campus for years and my family moved out of there years ago."

"You have a roommate?" asked Deuce.

"Why yes I do," said Aradia, "Her name is Terezi Py-"

"Terezi!" Mituna exclaimed, "That's Tulip's sister!"

"Latula Pyrope's sister. Yes," confirmed Aradia.

"Latula is a nice young woman," said Mrs. Captor, "I've never met her sister though."

"Oh. Speaking of which, how is your family, Aradia?" Clubs asked.

"They're okay. You know how my dad is and I don't speak to my sister Damara much, mostly because I can't understand her," Aradia laughed a bit, "Ever since she went to Japan her English has never been the same. Also she's been at her dad's the whole summer."

"Her dad's?" asked Mr. Captor.

"Oh, yeah. She and I are technically half sisters," she said.

"Oh…Well, how's your mother?" asked Mrs. Captor trying to change the subject.

"Um…"

"Mom!" growled Sollux.

"What?"

"My mom died when I was young," replied Aradia. The Captors' faces fell.

"…Oh. I'm very sorry about that," she apologized.

"It's okay. It's totally understandable," she replied.

"How's Terezi?" Mituna asked.

"She's fine," replied Aradia, "Though I don't talk to her much because I n-"

"Oh! I forgot we had soup! I'll bring that out!" interrupted Sollux. He gave her an uneasy look before he left.

"So, Aradia…" began Sollux's mother, "What are your genes like?"

"What?"

"What should I expect the children to look like?" she restated, "I know you are giving them up for adoption, but I'm curious what they would look like?"

"I don't know. Curly hair is one thing my family has. That's pretty much it, really. Nothing too special," replied Aradia. Sollux came back in the room.

"Not too special? Oh Aradia, you are so beautiful. Surely you must pass that down," Deuce replied. Aradia blushed.

"Aww, you're too sweet," she replied.

"I can't hold curls in my hair for five minutes," commented Mrs. Captor, "So I don't know how the curly hair gene will play out."

"Too bad they'll be ruined by my ugly qualities," commented Sollux.

"What do you mean?" Aradia asked.

"Tritanopiaruns in the family. Then there's my eye color. Or eye colors. I also had these huge front teeth as a kid-"

"You still do!" laughed Mituna.

"You do too MT," commented Sollux. Mituna frowned.

"Are the eyes common?" Aradia asked.

"Well, I have different colored eyes. My mom has blue, my dad's are kind of reddish brown, and MT has Gold. It's a mutation I guess," he replied, "And unless they get your perfect teeth, they're going to have braces. Also my skin complection is pretty bad, bipolar disorder, not to mention my-"

"Oh hush! You're perfect to me," interrupted Aradia. Sollux blushed a bit more. "But yeah curly hair is the main thing because I'm–"

"Hey! Um…let's talk about how Rose and Kanaya are going to adopt them," covered Sollux.

"True. You never told us anything about the people these children are going to," said Mr. Captor, "What are they like?"

"Rose is my second cousin, remember?" Sollux reminded.

"Rose Lalonde?" her mother replied, "It's her? What a coincidence! I don't really know much about her at all though. Or her spouse."

"They're both very sweet people. Kanaya's a nurse and Rose is a psychiatrist. Kanaya is very loving and actually seems like she would be the best mother in the world," elaborated Aradia, "She even made me this sweater. She's great at making clothes. She does it for a hobby. I assume you've met rose at least once. But I couldn't think of anyone else who deserves a child more than those two."

"Wait, you said Kanaya was a she?" asked Mr. Captor.

"Yes."

"And Rose is also a female?"

"Yes…"

"O-Oh…um…" Suddenly there was a ding to ease the tension.

"Oh the dinner is finished!" Mrs. Captor said getting up from the table. Sollux and his father exchanged a glare, Aradia sighed and put on a smile, Deuce fiddled with his hat, and Mituna, well, I don't think Mituna even knew what he was doing at the moment. The smell of perfectly baked salmon filled the room. Aradia felt her stomach bubble. Oh no! Not now! Why does it have to be now? Why here? The last thing I need to do is throw up on their carpet. She covered her mouth trying to force it back. This is not working!

"You okay?" Sollux whispered. She shook her head. Sollux helped her up. "Bathroom is down the hall to the left."

"What's going on?" Mr. Captor asked. Aradia left the room as fast as she could.
"I think she's feeling a bit sick," replied Sollux. Mrs. Captor came out with the salmon.

"Where's Aradia?" she asked.

"She felt a little sick I guess," repeated Sollux.

"Oh. I really should have guessed this would happen," she replied, "What are we going to do?"

"Don't worry. She just gets sick for a while and then she's fine being around it afterwards," explained Sollux. His mother sighed. "I'll go check on her."

He went to the bathroom and knocked on the door.

"You okay in there?" he asked. He heard retching from inside the bathroom.
"Getting better."

"I came prepared for this, don't worry," he assured.

"Thanks…"

"No prob–" He was interrupted again by gagging. "…lem." He heard her sigh.

"They hate me, don't they?"

"I don't think they hate you," said Sollux, "I know they're a bit uneasy, but I think they hate me way more than they hate you right now."

"You haven't told them about us moving in together yet, have you?"

"No…and I may have not told them…a lot of things. But this is enough for them. Do you really think they want to hear that right now?" Sollux elaborated, "Oh hey parents! I know I haven't seen you in months and I know I just told you I got drunk and fucked my best friend one night and now she's carrying my children. I know it's a lot to take in, but don't worry. I also left the woman I've been dating for two years and I moved in with my pregnant friend who is now my girlfriend! And by the way I'm an Atheist too!"

She then came out of the room.

"Let's just, try to have a nice dinner, okay?" said Aradia. He nodded. The two then returned to the table.

AT: hey. I know it's like really awkward that I'm texting you

AT: you know instead of you texting me?

AT: but um I haven't heard from you in a while?

AT: And I'm kinda worried?

AT: I haven't really seen you in a while

AT: Vriska?

AG: can you not text me

AT: alright, I'll call you

Tavros then pressed the call button. It didn't take long for Vriska pick up.

Tavros, when I said don't text me I meant don't talk to me, dumbass.

Vriska we need to talk. Please?

*sigh* what about?

Do you think we can meet up this weekend? I want to talk about this in person.

I can't. I'm booked with work this weekend.

Oh…uh, what about this–

Work. Tavros, I work all week this week.

Okay this is, um, this is kind of ridiculous. You don't need to work three jobs.

Tavros–

I get that you lost your job after the accident, but you're not supporting children. You don't need to work three jobs. Why do you feel you need to?

Tavros! You do not understand!

You're overworking yourself. Despite what others might think, you really don't deserve that.

No! Don't say that! Ugh! Why can't you just say that you hate me like everyone else? I ruined your life! And the only reason I'm working three jobs is because…

What? Vriska?

Nothing. Tavros it's nothing…

Tell me!

Alright fine! It's to help you get into that project.

What project?

That thing with the stem cell research! How that one guy was doing this thing where he was going to repair a spine with stem cells! I wanted to sign you up. To make up for ruining your life…

But it costs $100,000!

Not anymore. This guy used to be my neighbor when I was a kid. So he cut the price a bit for me. Now it's down to $73,000. Now since Dr. Zahhak couldn't find anyone for that program he's lowered it a bit to i think sixty something thousand.

Vriska…you really don't have to–

Tavros, I got to get back to work.

But–

Bye.

Wait! I–

She hung up.

_


Everyone's dinner was almost finished. They had barely said a word to each other throughout the meal. There was a few "Sorry about that"s and some "Have you heard that…"s, but nothing too important. Finally deuce couldn't take it anymore and broke the awkward silence.

"How did your father react to the news?" he asked, "Droog must have been in ruins."

"I can answer to that," said Sollux. Aradia giggled. "It's not funny! He came at me with a cuestick! I thought I was going to die!" Deuce laughed along with Aradia.

"When you finally told us, well…we were rather surprised," annotated Mr. Captor, "We heard you were having a child, so we assumed it was with Feferi. And we were happy at first because we thought that you would finally propose to her."

"I did propose dad," replied Sollux.

"And what a happy day that was," he remarked.

"Do you know who Feferi is Aradia?" Mrs. Captor asked.

"Yes ma'am. I do know," she replied.

"She was so sweet and kind and she was about to inherit a baking empire! Could you imagine all the money Sollux could have made?" she continued.

"Mmhmmm..." Aradia began to eat quicker.

"I mean I didn't think Sollux would ever find someone to settle down with. Let alone a super model," continued Mr. Captor.

"Mmhmm…"

"But when we found out the truth, we managed to... stay calm…"

"Stay calm?!" scoffed Sollux, "If you call knocking me unconscious calm then you were fucking serene!"

"Sollux!" his mother gasped.

"You will apologise right now!" demanded his father standing up from the table.

"I'm sorry dad," he began, "I'm sorry you overreacted." Aradia gulped. Mr. Captor then went to Sollux's side of the table. Sollux stood up.

"That was the last straw boy," he growled.

"What are you going to do about it?" Sollux snapped, "You going to solve your problems like a child instead of thinking it out like an adult?" His father then struck him across the face so hard, Sollux fell to the floor. Aradia gasped.

"That mouth of yours is going to cost you some day," his father warned.

"I think I'm already at rock bottom," said Sollux getting up, "Nowhere to go but up." He rose to his feet. "Come on AA. Let's go." Aradia slowly got up and followed Sollux to the door.

"I-It was nice meeting you all. In spite of what happened...by the way there might be a mess in your bathroom..." Aradia tried to brighten the mood a bit before disappearing out the door. Sollux turned back for one last message.

"Oh and by the way, we're living together," remarked Sollux. He then slammed the door behind him.

_


"Eridan?" Feferi called, "I thought I'd stop by on my day off." She looked around the house. "Eridan?" It was 10:00. It wasn't like him to sleep this late. She quietly crept up the stairs.

As she got to the hallway heard a whistling sound echo down the hall. She crept towards the room where the sound's origin was. She slowly opened the door. She giggled at the sight.

Eridan was asleep at the desk, still dressed in his sweater and striped hipster pants, glasses still on. He was slightly snoring and made a loud whistling sound when he exhaled. Feferi always found that adorable. He was drooling a bit on the papers scattered beneath him. She examined the papers. She sighed.

He's been working really hard on this citizenship thing, hasn't he? She put a hand on his unstyled, yet still slightly greasy hair that was loose and scattered across his face. I guess we both are working hard.

_


The car ride home was awkward as hell. Everything was silent. Aradia was too afraid to say anything to bring up a sore subject. She had no idea that kind of thing went on in Sollux's house. Sure she'd see him with physical marks, but Sollux got picked on so much it was hard to tell who gave him what bruise. She just assumed it was Eridan with the occasional other person who was associated with him. Aradia couldn't take the silence. She opened her mouth to say something.

"Before you ask, yes, he did treat me like that when I was a kid," Sollux spoke up before she made a sound, "It was never bad though. Just a few slaps was all. Nothing serious. Like I said, they're really old fashioned. And It was never daily. Half of the time he was being a strict tightass and the other half we actually did something stupid."

"Nothing serious?"

"Yeah. Well, sometimes it was a ruler. Sometimes there was a stick, but that was for Mituna until his accident. At age 13 I got that when I tried to do a backflip and put a hole in the wall," Sollux laughed, "That was my stupidity. The belt was for when my mom punished us or when we did something really stupid. I only got that for really dumb things like crashing our home computer." Aradia smiled a bit. "The only thing serious was when I got hit so hard I lost consciousness for a minute. That happened three times. Once I tried to run away from home. Deserved that. Second one, I went to a party and didn't come home till 5 am. The third time was when I told them about our situation."

"I'm sorry," replied Aradia.

"My parents never beat us. They hit us," said Sollux, "There's nothing to be sorry about."

"I can tell they care for you though. Even if you can't see it, they really do want what's best for you," stated Aradia, "Though, what's best for you would be marrying Feferi, I guess." Sollux pulled into the car park.

"Hey! She broke up with me! So they'd have to talk to her about that," he said, "And maybe they aren't the best thing for me right now. I wonder if they had considered that!"

"Sollux? Can I ask you something?" Aradia asked.

"What?"

"Do you really like me, or is it just because you need to 'take responsibility'?" Aradia asked.

"Aa, You ask me this all the time. I've always given you the same response. Do you not believe me?" he was getting a bit mad.

"No no. It's just…sometimes I find it hard to believe I'm actually with you," she admitted, "It's not you, it's me and me having a crush on you since like high school and it feels like this is a story. A cheesy story, but one nonetheless. And my concern for you. You've been really off lately…"

"I have good reason. I have two jobs, two babies on the way, you, and this whole father thing all on my plate. My mood has mostly been tossed around with it," he elaborated.

"How do you think I feel?" Aradia remarked, "Then again, I tend to handle things better."

"I don't get what you are saying. Are you saying you don't trust me?" he asked.

"No! Just…I'm sorry. I should have never brought it up," she excused, "I don't know. It just kind of feels like…like you're having second thoughts. You've kind of been distant from me lately. It feels like you're keeping something from me. I know it sounds unreasonable, but…I don't know. That's the way I feel I guess."

Sollux suddenly stopped the car in the middle of parking. "Sollux?" He then finished pulling into the spot and put the vehicle in park. Aradia began to feel a bit guilty for asking the question.

"Well, I can't have you thinking that," he said, "you're right. I haven't been exactly honest with you. If you want to know the truth, I'm so terrified." He sighed. "Alright there's…something else you should know…"

"What?"

"I've sort of been keeping this from you for…quite a while. For a few years actually," hesitated Sollux, "And it's been on my mind recently…I've never really told anyone this. Do you need to promise not to tell." Aradia stared at him with interest.

"Of course! I promise!" He sighed.

"Alright. Do you remember the day of the accident?"

"Which one?" giggled Aradia.

"The one that put you in a coma."

"Not really," she replied, "That day is so fuzzy."

"You know what happened? Or what do you remember?" Sollux asked.

"I remember what I was told. Apparently it was raining hard and Vriska drove us all four back drunk from a party. She told me that she and Terezi were tipsy and apparently I was wasted as fuck. I remember she got a new car so there was no way Tavros was driving. I heard Tavros was next to me and Terezi was in the passenger," she recalled, "Apparently Vriska slid off our lane, started spinning, and we slid off the road and everyone rolled down Scratch Hill until they hit a tree. I heard the tree crushed Tavros's spine, the broken glass got in Terezi and Vriska's eyes, and that they had to cut out Vriska from the car because her arm was pinned back by the metal. The metal tore out a lot of nerves I guess. Tavros told me everything since he never fell unconscious throughout the accident. He said he had to crawl through the wrecked car to honk the horn because it was dark and the Fire Department couldn't find them," she recalled, "Apparently I was shot out the window somehow because I wasn't wearing a seatbelt. They said I had a hard landing on the road. I guess I smashed my skull. and then I blacked out for over a year apparently. That's all I know about what happened that day."

"You're missing something," Sollux commented.

"What am I missing?" Aradia asked.

"You didn't slide off the road," he added, "You slid into another lane and another car slammed into you. Then you were launched out the window while everyone else spun off the cliff."

"Oh how do you know the details? You weren't there," she replied.

"Actually...I was," he answered.

"What?"

"I was there."

"How were you there? You weren't with us. How could you–"

"Because that guy Vriska slid into," he swallowed a bit, "That was me."