You wipe your hands on a dish rag, taking a step back to look over the freshly cleaned kitchen. It's taken a while to get some of the long lasting and questionable stains out of the counter top, and maybe you were still finding bottles in every nook and cranny, but at least it was all sanitary.

You tie off the last bag of decomposed food that's been in the fridge for who knew how long and walk it outside. The trash can out there was now overflowing with bottles bags from your day of cleaning. You'd have to check the pick-up schedule because if no one came to grab it anytime soon you'd have to take it to the dump yourself. You didn't want the front yard looking trashed when you tried to rent the place out.

When you get back inside you find your mother standing in the kitchen, looking it over. You watch her as she wipes her fingers over the counters and peers into the empty sink. Her hair was still damp from just getting out of the shower. You take a deep breath and sigh out in relief when you don't smell any kind of alcohol.

"I haven't seen this place looking this clean since we first moved in." She turns and smiles at you. It was weird seeing her smile. "How're you doing buttercup?" It was weird hearing that nickname.

You smile back.

"Doing great, actually. Other than Frisk's room, everythings done." She nods along, taking another glance around. "You ready?" She meets your eyes, the eyes that match her own, and she manages a weak smile as she nods.

"I guess so." You walk her to the living room and have her sit on the freshly steam-cleaned couch.

Today marked the third month since the barrier had fallen and monsters had been released. While the town, and really the world, were still reeling, your life was still chugging on without pause. Between moving the monsters up, helping Frisk and King Asgore with meetings with every political figure out there, and staying to help the Mayor of your town handle the human citizens, you had no time to breathe. You had to quit the jobs you weren't already fired from after being in the Underground for so long. Luckily you were still able to go back to your college classes and were still working through those. When you finally did get to breathe, your attention was taken up with the state of your home.

The first thing you did when you came to the surface was race down the mountain to the house you'd left behind. You had left for the Underground with Frisk after knowing that your mother had overdosed in town later that day. You had tried to change that outcome by talking to her but you could only do so much. You didn't know how it'd turn out until you returned. Part of you expected to find a body in your home or to find a report on your door to phone in to the police.

What you found instead was a sobbing woman in your dirty, destroyed living room sobbing as she clutched a bottle in one hand and a photo of you and Frisk in the other. When she'd seen you, there was another wave of tears for a whole new reason. That morning, while your monster friends awkwardly watched, you held your crying mother as she sobbed that she thought she lost you. That she thought you had finally left her, too. She cried that she'd be better, she wanted to be better. She wept her apologies out onto your shoulder until she'd passed out. Then, you'd gotten Undyne to carry your mom to the couch you cleared off. You stayed behind as Frisk took the monsters to the mayor that first day, not wanting to leave your mother alone when she woke up sober.

When you weren't helping the mayor sort out housing, or helping the monsters trade their gold in for the correct currency, you were at home taking care of your mother. For her to get better it was a day to day uphill battle. A dark part of you honestly thought she'd give up after a week. After all, you and Frisk had grown up with her and she'd never found the will to change after everything she'd done to the both of you.

You were happily proven wrong.

From AA meetings to finally going to the doctor and eventual regular visits to the local therapist, your mother's internal war eased. You saw her sober maybe once a month back before the Underground. Now, she was nearly sober everyday. You were still getting used to your mother being the mother you'd grown up with before Frisk. Even then you're not sure she'd ever get back to who that was. You're mother wasn't perfect and there was still a very long way for her to go, but she was trying.

That's all you ever wanted.

While you stayed with your mother, wanting to support her and look after her, Frisk stayed with Toriel. It was a decision made as soon as the barrier fell, but it was implemented when Toriel saw the state of your home that first day back. She originally pushed for you to come with her too, even if for the first month her and many of the monsters stayed in hotels, or underground, until enough apartment buildings and homes could be built. You had turned her down, of course.

Frisk, when they weren't being flown out by government officials, came often to see you. When your mother began to become regularly sober, Frisk even came to see her, too.

There's a knock at the front door. It opens before you even think to step over to open it.

Frisk hurriedly runs over to you, hugging you tightly as their way of saying hi. You laugh and pick them up as you watch Toriel duck through the doorway.

"Morning Frisk, Toriel."

"Good afternoon, child." She corrects sweetly, coming over to wrap you in a large hug. When she steps back she smiles and nods towards you mother. "Good Morning to you as well." Your mother offers a stuttering nod, still intimidated by Toriel's height. You mom gestures to the couch across from the coffee table and Toriel took a seat.

"Good Morning, ms. Toriel." You mom murmured. You looked between the two staring women before you turned to Frisk.

"There's some juice in the fridge. Grab that and some cups for everyone, yeah?" Frisk hums a reply as they hurry off.

Sitting next to your mom you pick up the folder on the coffee table and put it in her hands. She stares at the manilla folder for a long time before giving a weak sigh.

"I assume you've already filled out your paperwork, ms. Toriel?" Tori gave a stiff nod. You look between the two again. You really weren't sure what to say.

Your mother traced her fingers over the folder before putting her free hand onto yours. She squeezes it gently.

"Please take care of them." She whispers. When she looks up to Toriel, there's tears in her eyes. "I wasn't good enough to 'em." She squeezes your hand tighter. "I don't deserve my kids. I know that much. I don't deserve this chance, but since I was given it, I'm going to take it." She meets Toriel's look and, since stepping into your home, it's the first time Toriel smiles at your mother. "Take care of them until I can be good enough to be with them."

"They will be in caring hands, I assure you of that." Toriel replies soothingly. When your mother extends the folder out, Toriel takes it, but also takes up your mother's hand. "It is hard to change. The first step is wanting to… and many people do not. Thank you for wanting to change." You squeeze your mother's hand back and she looks at you when the first tear rolls down her cheek.

"Everything's going to be okay Mom." You whisper. "You'll be back in no time. I'll be waiting for you until then, you know. I'll always be waiting for you." More tears spill and she pulls you into a tight hug. Over her shoulder you look to Toriel, who smiles warmly at you.

When you pull away, Frisk comes back into the room with a jug of milk in their hands and a few bowls. They set them down and Toriel laughs.

"I couldn't find the juice. Or the cups." You snort and pull a bowl over. Frisk happily pours you some milk and then climbs into your lap. When they notice your mom wiping away tears they reach up to help her. "What's wrong?"

"Mama's gotta go away for a bit." She explains with a wet voice. Frisk looks between you and Toriel.

"What does that mean?"

"I'm sick, Frisk." You mom says. She starts signing as she speaks. It's rough and she doesn't know most words as she'd only just started learning, but the sentiment was there. "Emotionally sick. I need to go to a special doctor that can take care of me. So that I can get better."

"But you're leaving? For how long?"

"I… I'm not sure. Ms. Toriel will be taking care of you until I come back." Frisk studies your mother's wet face for a quiet moment. They then lean forward and hug her and you see her shocked look tucked over the kids shoulder. When they pull apart they smile happily.

"That's alright. Take your time, mom. I'll come home when you come back."

When the representative comes to pick up your mother, the only other person to shed any more tears is her. She hugs you and Frisk goodbye and you help her with her small, singular bag. The rehabilitation center had all necessities taken care of, but your mother insisted on bringing photographs and other memorabilia.

The representative reassures you again that your mother will be well taken care of and after the first couple of weeks you'll be allowed to visit.

Your mom thanks Toriel again for agreeing to be the legal guardian of Frisk, so they wouldn't be sent away to their father. Wherever he was.

Without any relatives, if your mother had gone to rehab, Frisk would've been sent away. It's why you'd brought up Toriel the day after your mom said she wanted to get better. You know your mom could see how attached Frisk already was to Toriel, more so than they ever had been with her. It was awkward when Torial first met her, when she was a tearful drunk, and it was even more awkward when they met and she was sober.

Toriel was kind, but she was obvious about her dislike of your mom. You couldn't blame her. When you asked her to take guardianship of Frisk she agreed before you even gave your reason. When she found out it was because your mother wanted to rehabilitate, she'd doubled down.

It's why when your mom finally got in the car, waving goodbye, you and Frisk didn't shed a tear. Instead you waved her off until the car disappeared and then you walked the kid back inside.

"Ready to pack?" You asked as the child began bouncing with excitement. They raced off to their room while you and Toriel followed behind.

"You did a splendid job cleaning, I barely recognize it." She pats your back approvingly. You snort and just nudge her.

"It took a tiny bit of elbow grease to get the twelve year old beer stains out of the rug, but I think I handled it pretty well." You gesture her ahead as you two get into Frisk's room.

"You could have always called for help, child." She said but you shrugged her off. It would've felt wrong for your semi-adoptive mother to help clean up your birth mother's mess. Plus, there had been some messes you didn't want your other family to see.

Frisk is at their bed, trying to stuff clothes into their suitcase neatly. Toriel makes a noise as she quickly stops them and starts teaching them how to properly fold.

"I've taught them before, they just don't like doing it." You laugh when Frisk sticks their tongue out at you.

"Oh but it makes it all look nice, Frisk." The child makes a face at the clothes folded in their bag.

Turning away from them, you head over to Frisk's wall of drawings. All of these half scribbled and, later down the wall, more fully realized doodles, had been burned into your mind the moment you had seen them. You could remember every time you'd seen a new one hung up. You remember staring at some of them far too long on days you came to get laundry.

They told stories. Sad stories. Short stories. Stories that weren't stories to anyone but the people living in the hell house. Some were simple with a family of four with the tallest member crossed out. Others were frowny faces, angry faces, and red marks. Most were scribbles of black over pictures that had been happy. You followed the stream of pictures until you came to Frisk's desk on the other side of the room.

There, amongst crayons and pencils, was an unfinished drawing of a smiley faced girl and a baseball bat. You can't help but smile as you pick it up.

"Frisk." You call to get their attention. They happily turned from Toriel, who was still trying to get them to fold. When they see the drawing in your hands their smile widens. "Do you want me to take these down and pack em up for you?" They shake their head.

"I don't want to take any of the drawings." They sign.

Toriel looks over between you two, seeming to just notice the pictures. She sets down the shirt she'd been folding to head to the wall. Frisk frowns and follows her.

"My, what beautiful drawings." Toriel comments. She admires the art and Frisk looks nervous. When she turns to you and sees the one you're holding she gasps. "This is just too wonderful, Frisk." She takes it from you to admire up close. "May I keep this?" When she looks around to Frisk, you notice the kid blushing.

"Okay." They sign weakly. Toriel happily slides it into one of the pockets in the suitcase before helping the kid close it and zip it up.

"All done?" You ask. Frisk takes another look around the room before grinning and nodding. They take the hand Toriel offers while you grab their bag. As the two quickly head out back through the house you pause in the doorway and cast one more look make into Frisk's room.

Since Toriel had already given an entire room to Frisk (and you, even though you turned it down) the moment she bought her house, they didn't need most of the things here. It'd laid untouched and nearly forgotten the moment Frisk entered the Underground. You think this may be the first time they've stepped into it since they returned.

It felt weird knowing Frisk wouldn't come back.

You turn off the light and shut the door.

Making sure everyone was properly tucked into the car, you head off. Off towards the newest addition to your once sleeping town.

It was the "monster neighborhood", as it'd been nicknamed. At the moment it was an accurate description, because all of the new buildings had all been placed in that area were for the moving-in monsters. It was technically a private neighborhood that anyone could move into. You hoped once everyone settled, diversity would spread naturally through your town and everyone would integrate naturally between. Though you were happy that everyone had a place to live now, and you were trying to stay positive, you carried a bad feeling in your gut about putting all the monsters in one area of the town, separating them from everyone else.

You park in Toriel's driveway. Her house, a very roomy two story, looked about as inviting as any newly built house could. You hoped that once she added her own touches to it, it'd be less daunting.

You took Frisk suitcase up to their room, following their excited rambling of signs as best you could over their shoulder as they led you in.

While the outside of the house looked like all the other copy and pasted versions in the neighborhood, the inside was just as warm and cozy as Toriel's place had been Underground. It was nice seeing how much Frisk you could see inside of it already. Crayons littered the floor as you followed them. Toriel brought up the back, seemingly trying to clean as she went.

"This is my room!" They beamed as they presented the large, spacious area. It was bigger than any room the either of you ever had growing up. You set their suitcase down as you admired how much they'd moved in.

They already had new drawings taped up to their walls, along with some other memorabilia of letters and pictures. The pictures seemed to be framed photos they'd taken on their phone from the Underground that Alphys printed out for them.

There were a few of you, never facing the camera, always caught unaware.

Those ones were the closest to Frisk's bed.

"-And this area," They continued as you tuned back in. They gestured to a corner that had been kept relatively clean. "Is where I'll put the dog bed."

"Ah right, the dog bed." You repeated.

"The dog bed?" Toriel interjected. She was currently placing all of the crayons and pencils she found in the hallway back into Frisk's desk. She gave a bewildered look over to Frisk who nodded, completely serious.

"Sis said we could get a dog when we got back to the surface." All eyes turned to you and you laughed nervously.

"Oh well. I mean I only said that because-" You start, but nearly choke on your words as Frisk's face completely fell.

"I can't get a dog?" You quickly look to Toriel for help, but she crosses her arms and gives a pressed smile and you know you're on your own. You give another nervous laugh, looking between her and the pouting kid.

"Of course you can!" Toriel clears her throat. "Later! I promise you and I will go out and get a dog sometime soon, alright?" Frisk frowns, looking between you and Toriel. They huff, but nod and you deflate. You'd definitely have to talk to Toriel about this later. Hopefully out of earshot.

Frisk waves to get your attention again. "Pinky promise." They hold out their smallest finger, staring up at you intently. It was a face that let you know they'd hold this promise over your head. You shake their pinky with your own, sending an apologetic glance to Toriel.

"Pinky promise." You swear. "But you have to be patient." They nod quickly, already pulling away to move back over to their suitcase. Toriel sighs and shakes her head but her smile is enough to let you know she wasn't upset with your promise. Instead she steps over, hand on Frisk's back, and starts helping them unpack.

"Child, will you be staying?" Toriel asks hopefully. You glance out one of the windows, seeing the setting sun, and then back to the pair.

Seeing them together for some reason made you feel out of place.

"No, don't worry about me. I'll just head home now." Immediately Frisk bounds over to you, wrapping their arms around your waist. They squeeze you tightly and you lean down to hug them back.

"Are you sure?" Toriel asks again and you give her a reassuring smile. "Alright… Know there is always a room here for you."

"Thank you Toriel." You run your hands through Frisk's hair and then kiss the top of their head. "I'll come by tomorrow around lunch, after my shift."

"Can we go help the monsters tomorrow?" They ask when they pull from your hug. You ruffle their hair.

"Of course."

You hug Toriel and Frisk goodbye. On your way out Toriel stops you to pull tupperwares of food from her fridge. Apparently she'd made and packed you food so you'd have a home cooked meal while alone. You hug them tightly to your chest as you leave and climb into your car.

As you pull out of the driveway, waving goodbye to Frisk and Toriel who waited in the doorway, a thought crosses your mind.

You really did want a dog.