Family Gardening Day
Finally got to writing something again, since the weather has been pretty nice, and I have finally gotten to do some gardening lately, I would write something in the spirit of that.
On a beautiful spring morning, Frisk and his monster friends/family were in the kitchen, sitting at the table and having a breakfast of waffles topped with chocolate syrup.
"Tori, these waffles are scrumptious," Sans told the goat mom, complimenting her cooking.
"Thanks, Sans," Toriel said. She then explained, "I've heard that humans eat waffles all the time, so I just thought I should try my hands at making them."
"Well, they have really turned out alright," Gaster replied.
"Even now," Alphys expressed. "I still can't believe it. How humans and monsters have grown accustomed to each other's food."
Everybody nodded, agreeing with her. There was silence for a few moments before Frisk spoke up.
"You know?" Frisk stated. "Since today is the first day of spring break, I was thinking we should all do something fun together."
"That's an awesome idea, Frisk!" Asriel exclaimed.
"I agree!" Undyne yelled.
"Any ideas?" Papyrus asked the human boy.
Frisk thought hard about it. "Hmm... something outside."
"Oh, I know!" Asgore offered. "I have been meaning to get around to gardening and I've heard that the greenhouse has finally opened, perhaps we could make a day of that?"
"That does sound nice," Toriel said. "The weather is perfect for that."
"Oh, yay, I've been ready to plant flowers since Spring started!" Frisk rejoiced.
"And vegetables!" Asriel added. "We gotta plant some vegetables!"
"Well," Toriel voiced. "once we are done eating, we can be on our way."
"Yay!" the kids cried joyfully.
"Ah, if we're gonna be gardening," Undyne announced. "Papyrus, you and me, lemonade detail!"
"Oh goody!" Papyrus said gladly. "We finally have a chance to use the new juicer!"
"Pffff! Who needs a juicer," Undyne said proudly, flexing her arms. "when I got these on hand?"
She then kissed both of her closed fists.
Once breakfast was finished and the table was cleared, the family piled into the SUV and made their way to the greenhouse. As soon as they got there, they found that half the neighborhood must have had the same idea, as the parking lot was close to packed. Unsurprisingly, the scent of flowers filled the air, carried by the gentle breeze.
"Ah, it really is a beautiful day out." Toriel sighed.
"Not a cloud in the sky," Asgore stated contently.
"I hope it doesn't get too hot," Undyne said, securing her sunglasses over her eyes. "I remember how I fainted back in the Underground when chasing Frisk through Hotland."
"Good thing I set up that water cooler near the lab," Alphys replied. "Frisk took a tumbler of water and used it to revive you."
Frisk said nothing, but smiled, remembering that day very well.
"So, are we looking for anything in particular?" Sans asked from under his hoodie hood.
"Well, we want stuff for each side of the house," Asgore said. "And the planter boxes, so, just enough to fill all the space."
"Color coordination is also imperative," Toriel added. "So, whatever flowers we get will be paired by color, wherever we plant them."
Asgore stopped in front of the display rack of seed packets and plant bulbs.
"What kind of vegetables should we get?" he inquired.
"Well, we, of course, need to do tomatoes." Toriel attested. "No vegetable garden is complete without them."
"Hey, Mom, look!" Asriel noted, grabbing a pack of seeds. "Carrots! Your favorite!"
"Whoa!" Undyne declared. "They have purple sunflowers!"
"And white ones!" Papyrus added. "We should plant some!"
"Is that all right with you guys?" Sans asked Asgore and Toriel.
"Of course we can get some!" Toriel said.
"There's plenty of room along the side of the house for them," Asgore affirmed.
The family spread out to get a better look at the greenhouse's wares, it was surprisingly orderly, despite being so busy.
"Oh! Here are the flowers that can go in planter boxes!" Frisk noted as he and Asriel approached a display table. "Wow, there are so many!" the human child conveyed. "How will we choose?"
He then noticed that Asriel was staring wide-eyed at the table, completely stunned. Frisk glanced at the table in front of him and instantly noticed what Asriel was staring at, a golden flower. Frisk wanted to say something, but, quickly found himself transfixed as well, as memories relentlessly flooded his mind.
"Children, are you finding anythi-" Toriel called as she approached the two petrified children.
She immediately found herself in the same state as her kids, once she saw what they were staring at. Soon after, they were joined by a curious Asgore, who flinched at the sight of the golden flower.
The family remained in position for a good while, before the flower suddenly moved aside, seemingly on its own. They then noticed Sans standing next to them, his hand raised and glowing, indicating that he was the cause of the flower's movement.
"Look!" Sans said, pointing at the plants that had been behind the golden flower. "Succulents! Perfect for a planter box!"
"Yes," Toriel uttered gladly. "Yes, they are perfect, let us get some of those."
"Here's a pretty purple one!" Asriel said, grabbing a succulent.
"And a bluish one!" Frisk noted, grabbing another succulent.
At the next table over, Papyrus picked up a pot with a small plant in it.
"Sans, is this another succulent?" he wondered.
"No, Papyrus," Sans informed him. "That's a cactus."
"Really?" Papyrus responded. "Wowie! I didn't know they came this small."
The family continued to peruse the greenhouse, then, after nearly two hours of browsing, they had a cart, plus a few baskets, full of gardening materials, flowers, and plants.
"I... hope we didn't get too much," Gaster stated awkwardly.
"I hope we got enough," Asgore remarked.
Once the family returned home, they immediately unloaded all of the gardening supplies, flowers, and other plants to prepare for the garden.
"Okay, children," Asgore asked. "would you like to help me bring out the gardening tools?"
"Yeah!" Frisk and Asriel answered gladly and quickly headed for the garage.
"All right, Papyrus." Undyne declared. "Lemonade time, let's go!",
"Okay," Toriel told them. "But, go easy on the sugar. In fact, leave out the sugar and we can add our own amount, as we drink it."
"Yes, ma'am." Undyne and Papyrus responded, then hurried into the house.
"Please." Toriel implored Sans "Protect my kitchen."
"On it," Sans assured her, before heading into the house.
"I'll get the towels ready." Alphys sighed, following the short skeleton.
As soon as the gardening tools were brought out, Asgore, Toriel, and the two young children went about preparing the planters and flower beds for the new flora. Frisk helped Toriel fill the planter boxes and pots with potting soil, while Asriel helped Asgore till the large flower bed in the yard, prepping the dirt for the new flowers and vegetables.
Once the garden in the yard was cultivated, Asriel and Asgore joined Frisk and Toriel in filling the planters.
"This little box is what we're putting the succulents in, right?" Frisk asked, holding up the little black, rectangular box.
"Yep," Toriel said. "That one will go on the porch."
Frisk and Asriel dug holes in the dirt, while Toriel and Asgore carefully removed the succulents from their display pots and placed them in each hole made. Soon, they had the first planter filled.
"I think I am going to see how things are going in the kitchen." Toriel voiced. "I'll be right back."
Upon entering the kitchen, Toriel was surprised to find Undyne intensely cutting lemons with... a knife, with a bunch of towels lining the floor around her feet. Equally surprising, though relieving, all the same, was the fact that the kitchen was completely in order.
"Hey, everyone." Toriel inquired. "How are things going?"
"All good," Undyne said, fiercely cleaving another lemon in half. "Lemonade will be ready in no time."
She handed the lemon halves to Papyrus who was holding a bowl full of halved lemons.
"Undyne agreed to not use spears as long as we could still juice the lemon manually." the tall skeleton stated.
"Not that I had much of a choice, since those two wouldn't let me make a single spear." Undyne groaned, pointing towards the kitchen table, where Sans and Gaster were sitting.
"There's a rack of perfectly good, recently cleaned knives right there and by God, they're going to be made use of." Gaster contended.
After slicing one last lemon, Undyne grabbed the glass pitcher from the back corner of the counter and placed a small strainer over it. As Undyne proceed to squeeze the lemons over the pitcher, Toriel headed back to the garden.
"Everything is in order inside the house," Toriel told her ex-husband and her two children.
Back in the garden, Asgore and the kids were hard at work, getting things planted in the garden and planters. Asriel and Asgore had a row of tomatoes and pepper plants planted in the garden and were now setting up plant cages around them.
"I hope these keep the bunnies from eating our plants," Asriel said, testing a cage's stability.
"If they don't we'll find a way to make them more secure," Asgore stated.
"Oh my," Toriel expressed, walking back into the backyard, "you three worked fast."
Sans was sitting on the porch, watching Frisk plant flowers in the planters.
"Do these look right, Toriel?" Frisk asked standing next to two full small planters and one bigger one that was already half full.
"Yes, good job, Frisk," Toriel affirmed, "now let's get this one set."
"You too, Sans," Frisk prompted, grabbing the short skeleton's hand, "plant with us."
"Ah, okay, okay, kiddo," Sans chuckled.
Frisk and Toriel continued to dig holes in the planters while Sans used his telekinesis to gradually place flowers in the holes. At the same time, Asgore and Asriel started planting green bean seeds.
Moments later Undyne and Papyrus came outside.
"Hey guys," Undyne announced, "lemonade is ready whenever you're wanting a break."
"Garden with us!" Frisk uttered, holding a garden trowel.
"We still have plenty of flowers to plant," Asriel said.
"Oh, okay," Undyne replied, "I could use some fresh and exercise."
"Me too," Papyrus said.
Undyne wasted no time turning over the old soil in the flower garden by conjuring and flinging numerous spears. needless to say, said method resulted in much-misplaced dirt, which Papyrus recollected and evened out with a shovel.
"Is that good enough?" Undyne asked Asgore, who had been covering the kids so they would not get dirt on them.
"Yes, Undyne," Asgore answered, "that should work."
"All right," Undyne voiced, "hand me the shovel, Papyrus, I'll dig the holes and you can put the flowers in."
"Can do," Papyrus said, handing over the shovel.
"I'll help!" Frisk called, running over to the big garden with Asriel.
"Me too," Asriel said.
Together, Undyne and the two young children began to dig holes in the dirt, while Papyrus placed a flower in each one.
"What flowers is this again?" Papyrus wondered as he secured one in the dirt.
"I think it's a zinnia," Asriel stated.
"Whoa!" Frisk suddenly uttered.
As the human boy pulled his hand from the dirt, he revealed a plump, wiggly earthworm between his thumb and index finger.
"It's a big one," Frisk giggled
"That means the dirt is good and healthy," Asriel affirmed, "it's gonna be a great growing season."
Frisk placed the worm back in the dirt, away from where they were planting so it would not get hurt.
Once every last plant and flower was planted, the family finally decided to take their long-awaited lemonade break, pulling up the lawn chairs to relax in the yard.
Frisk was holding a fresh glass of lemonade that Undyne had poured for him and watching as the fish woman added sugar to it.
"Is that enough?" Undyne asked Frisk, after adding two spoons of sugar to his lemonade.
Frisk took a small swig of his drink.
"Try one more half a spoon," he requested.
Undyne filled the spoon with a small amount of sugar and dumped it into the human child's glass.
Frisk took another drink.
"Perfect," he said happily, licking his lips.
"I can't believe we got everything planted so fast," Asriel commented, looking at the garden as he took a sip of lemonade.
"Well, we worked real from the moment we got home with everything," Asgore said, stirring his lemonade, "so it's no surprise."
"The only thing we have left to do is water everything," Undyne noted.
After having lemonade, Toriel went inside to start making lunch, while Asgore got to work filling watering cans with the garden hose.
"Do you think this will be enough?" the goat man wondered.
"That should be enough," Papyrus voiced, "we'll refill as we need."
"I can just use the hose for the big garden," Undyne offered.
Frisk and Asriel got to work watering the flowers in the smaller planters, while Asgore and Sans helped water the plants and flowers in the bigger planters. As he watered the garden along the house, Papyrus noticed that Sans was using his telekinesis to move his watering can to water what was in the big planters.
"Really?" Papyrus asked dryly.
"Hey, I'm helping aren't I?" Sans retorted.
"You never cease to amaze me," Papyrus replied back.
It is nice to finally get something done again, I have been a bit distracted lately, so, hopefully, good things can come of this.