***Hello, everybody! Here I am, back to this story! This may or may not be a good chapter, but here you go. Kids and house pets belong to me, Alphys and Undyne belong to Toby Fox, and let's roll into it!

Chapter Fifty-Three: Jack-Jack, Row

Jiro was now six months old. He had yet to walk, but he was crawling around the house just fine. He was babbling profusely, and he learned to sleep through the night. That last thing was a blessing for every other person in the house.

After getting off maternity leave, Alphys had enrolled Jiro to stay in a day care that had kept Arrow as a toddler. She and Undyne fell back into their rhythm from when they first became parents.

Jackie and Arrow had well-adjusted to a third child. Arrow was happy for a little brother, and another guy in the house. Even if that other guy was still an infant. And Jackie was happy for the sake that she thought Jiro was absolutely adorable.

Jiro loved his little duck toy Duckie, but another thing he loved to play with was Sukoshi. Perhaps because they looked somewhat similar, both being dinosaur monsters. Sukoshi didn't like it, if his squeaks and attempts to get away from Jiro really meant anything.

Yes, things had gone well. Something new was about to come up, however.

Arrow found it entertaining to watch Jiro both play with blocks and play with Sukoshi, who was unwilling to play along. "Sorry, dude, you can't run," Arrow said when Sukoshi tried to run behind him (as he was sitting on the floor) for cover. So, Sukoshi went back over, to his great dismay, to be at the mercy of Jiro.

"Row."

Arrow raised an eyebrow. "Was that you?" he asked, looking at his brother. "Row!" Jiro insisted, pointing to Arrow. Sukoshi was happy to be spared for a few moments, trying to sneak out of sight and into safety. "One sec," Arrow said. Then, he got up and ran off to the kitchen.

"What's up?" Jackie asked, looking up from where she was being helped with homework. Alphys looked up as well.

"Jiro just talked! He said my name! Sorta... but still!" Arrow said frantically. Jackie dropped her pencil. "I-I'll go get your m-mom," Alphys said. Then, she went off to the upstairs.

Jackie followed Arrow to the living room. "Did you really speak, little buddy?" Jackie asked. She sat down next to Jiro, as did Arrow.

"Jack-Jack," Jiro said, pointing to Jackie. He pushed his duck toy forward. "Duckie," he said. Jackie cautiously pulled the duck toy closer to her. "Thank you," she said, being careful.

Jiro loved his duck toy more than anything, and he would do anything to keep it to himself.

It was around that time that Undyne and Alphys came back. They sat down as well. "So, you can finally talk. Eh, squirt?" Undyne said, clearly proud. "A-according to Arrow, h-he can," Alphys claimed.

"Row," Jiro said after hearing Arrow's name. "Told you," the older of the two hybrids said. "Can... you say my name again?" Jackie asked. "Jack-Jack," Jiro said. He crawled over and took back his duck toy. "Duckie," he said. "I'm not shocked," Jackie said.

Jiro crawled over to Alphys and looked up at her. "Momma," he said. "Y-you got it," Alphys said. She hugged Jiro, giving him a kiss on the forehead before putting him down on her lap.

But, he didn't stay there long. He crawled over to Undyne. "Yeah, squirt?" Undyne said. "Mom," Jiro said simply. "You're one a roll today, huh? Atta boy," Undyne said proudly. She tried to be gentle as she patted Jiro on the back.

"What was my first word?" Arrow asked now that they were on the subject. "Spear," Undyne recalled. And she seemed happy with that. "Sh-she said it a-a lot, and she u-used them a lot in her m-methods of p-p-parenting early on," Alphys explained. "But he turned out fine, now, didn't he?" Undyne said smugly.

Alphys sighed, but she was still smiling. Undyne hugged her from the side, kissing her forehead.

Jiro didn't pay attention to the affectionate display of his parents. Rather, he crawled over to his sister. "Jack-Jack?" he asked, tugging on the leg of her pants.

"Yeah?" Jackie asked. "Suko?" Jiro asked, looking around. This prompted Jackie, Arrow, Alphys, and Undyne alike to all look around. "I don't know where he is," Jackie said.

Jiro frowned. He crawled back over and sat on Alphys' lap. She held onto him.

Arrow, however, then spotted Sukoshi. The house pet, who was hidden under the couch, held up a finger to his lips. Arrow nodded and turned back to his family.

"Yep, he must've gotten pretty far away."

***Jiro can speak now! Well... sorta. Anyways, I know this chapter wasn't much, but I haven't been feeling well for the past short while because of reasons I don't wanna disclose. And I'm sorry if I got any facts wrong about how much Jiro would be able to say; I'm not a mother. That aside, be sure to leave a review on the way out, and I'll see you all in the next one! Bye!