Calliope sighed contently as her cheek pressed against Sam's scarred chest. Her fingers lightly traced the uneven, almost pearlescent skin there. Certain places made him shudder but she avoided them today so as to let him continue to sleep peacefully. It had been almost 2 hours since Russ and Clara had left. They would most likely be going for lunch around about now.

Sam's earlier joke about returning to his work after 5 minutes had thankfully been just that, a joke. Because the past couple of hours had been blissful; lazy love-making and much needed rest.

But alas, chores still needed to be done and it was best to do them now while the place was quiet.

Sliding quietly out of bed, leaving her husband to slumber, she tiptoed out of the room and into the kitchen/lounge.

She had already tidied away all of Clara's toys, sorted Sam's notes and tidied his office and was prepping brunch when he finally came to join her.

"You should have woken me," He yawned, kissing her on the shoulder on his way to slide into a stool at the breakfast bar that separated the lounge from the kitchen.

"You needed the extra rest," she replied, pushing a plate of toast and eggs towards him with a smile.

And as his drowsy head turned left and right, she then pushed the glasses he was looking for towards him too. He threw her a thankful smile and they both laughed at the cliché scene.

The couple spent the rest of the afternoon working on the balcony. Sam finished his report while Calliope created a lesson plan for the week.

They'd both finished their individual tasks and were huddled up on the couch when the front door opened and in rushed a windswept Clara, tailed by a sun-kissed Russ.

His face was apologetic when Calliope's eyes darted between him and her daughter's sullied sun dress.

"Mommy! Daddy! Look what I found you!"

Sam placed down his novel as Clara poured colourful shells and pebbles into his cupped hands.

"Heya, kiddo! Oh these are cool, huh?" He chimed as his daughter settled in between him and Calliope. Russ plopped into the armchair opposite them. He had really caught the sun on his nose and cheeks, they glowed in a pink hue under the lamp light; Calliope and Sam had drawn the curtains earlier.

"They're lovely, darling! We can clean put them in the bathroom." Calliope commented, hugging her warm, little body against her, glad that she was home safe and happy. The fact she was covered in dirt and sand wasn't an issue. Russ picked up on this and immediately relaxed.

"I found a really pretty shell that looked like your scales mommy!" Clara continued, "but we met this weird lady who wanted it for a necklace, so I gave it to her."

"Weird lady?" Calliope repeated, squinting her eyes as she cast them towards Russ. She wasn't wearing her eyewear, he froze immediately under her gaze. Calliope had always been weary of strangers approaching them. Being such a famous family meant she found it hard to trust peoples' intentions.

"What weird lady?" She held him with her quirk as she listened to Clara's explanation. Sam simply smirked as he stayed quiet, pretending to inspect every shell and pebble intently.

"She was really nice! She had a funny voice!" Clara chirped.

Calliope's eyes fell back to her daughter's, releasing Russ from her quirk and allowing him to say his part.

"Her name's Penelope," Russ said after clearing his throat. Her rubbed the sting from his eyes away as Sam chuckled lightly. Calliope immediately felt bad as she listened to him continue.

"She's from Ireland. She was collecting shells on the beach too. She makes jewellery from them."

"I see," Calliope muttered and cast Russ a look of apology. But he merely returned it with an understanding smile.

The next 30 minutes was spent listening to Clara relay every detail that had happened that afternoon; where they had lunch, what they had eaten, the colour of the ice cream Russ had bought her, the size of the random dog they had seen...

"Sounds like you and Uncle Russ had lots of fun!" Sam grinned.

"We sure did," the relative in question responded, taking the tea Calliope had made him from her. The stroke of her hand across the back of his neck as she passed was another subtle way of apologising for her earlier actions.

"C'mon, darling," Calliope called, holding her hand out to Clara who was perched on the couch with her dad.

"Let's get you cleaned up. Bring your shells."

And as she led her daughter to the bathroom for a bath and some fresh clothes, the two brothers settled into their chairs with cups of hot tea in hand.

"So, Penelope, huh?" Sam began with a sly grin. Never had he heard Russ speak about a girl before. His younger sibling, despite having gained the attention of women throughout his entire life, had always been rather bashful when it came to the subject of the opposite sex. Sure, he had had the occasional girlfriend, but nothing ever serious enough for Sam to ever learn much about them. Looking back, the older sibling could only really remember the faces, but not the names, of two girls Russ had dated. One in high school and the other a couple of months before Calliope joined their team as an apprentice.

Meaning...Boy, his younger sibling had been single a long time.

"It's about time you started putting yourself out there," Sam commented, sipping his tea with one hand while bouncing his slipper on one foot.

As expected, Russ went all quiet and shy. It was rather amusing really to see his 6f4, well-built sibling's shoulders hunch bashfully at the thought of dating.

"What was she like?" Sam pressed, "Clara made it sound like you spoke quite a bit."

Russ scoffed, his breath making the steam of his tea to swirl away from his lips.

"Yes, Clara and Penelope did speak quite a bit. But as soon as she found out we were Gasters, she didn't stick around."

Sam noted the hint of disappointment in his voice when he said this. The older sibling had figured his brother's blossoming hero status was one of the reasons why he simply chose not to pursue any romantic relationships.

The problem with being famous was that it either attracted people who wanted something from you, or scared away people who wanted absolutely nothing to do with you. The latter may well have been the case today.

Despite seeing how much Russ adored his life as a pro-hero, Sam had noticed a long time ago that his younger sibling would sometimes watch him and Calliope go about their daily, married life with a vacant look of curiosity and longing.

Clearly, his brother was torn between pursuing his goal to become America's number one hero, and settling down with a family like his older brother, who had set aside his life of fighting villains shortly after receiving the news he was going to become a father. Though, on some occasions, Sam would reclaim his former hero identity 'Sans' and fight along side his wife and brother if things got really desperate. The Skelebros and the hero Medusa would be a team once more.

Ignoring the sad look in his brother's eyes, Sam continued in a casual note.

"She's from Ireland, did you say?"

Russ roused from his trance and nodded with a small smile.

"Yeah. I found it hard to understand her at first."

Sam chuckled, "eh, you never were good with accents."

"Clara told her you both sounded funny," Russ smirked.

Sam rolled his eyes at his daughter's uncapped cheekiness. Sometimes, his own daughter would mockingly repeat words back to him that he pronounced differently from her and her mother. Calliope would attempt to chastise her behind a withheld smile.

"Honestly, that girl..." Sam sighed, shaking his head.

Russ grinned. "Penelope didn't seem to mind. She was very sweet, actually."

Sam's brows shot up at the latter part of the sentence.

"Was she now..." he commented, the corner of his lip twitching.

Russ frowned in response to his brother's suspicious regard.

"Don't do that." He grumbled.

"Do what?"

"Assume."

"Ah, c'mon bro. Lighten up."