The sun was setting on the beach, but Toriel's family was still out having fun.
Sans and Papyrus were building sandcastles under the supervision of Flowey and Grillby. Or rather, Papyrus was building a sandcastle as Flowey criticized his work. Sans had made a dumpy pile of sand, then crawled into Grillby's lap and fallen asleep immediately afterward. Asgore was enjoying a book. Mettaton had been dozing off and on all day as he sunbathed, and Napstablook was lying right beside him. Alphys was burying Undyne in the sand. And Toriel sat under her beach umbrella, watching it all.
Well, not really. She was mostly watching her girlfriend, Lulu.
Lulu was helping Frisk look for seashells. Toriel smiled as the two bent down, Lulu handing Frisk something large and white. Frisk bounced in excitement, then ran up the beach to show Toriel.
"Goodness, my child! What a beautiful shell!" Toriel exclaimed as Frisk gave the object to her. It was an iridescent flat shell, almost perfect except for a few jagged edges. "We will certainly have to take this one home."
Frisk nodded, then looked back at Lulu, who had stayed back by the water. Then they signed at Toriel. Gonna ask her?
Toriel blushed and looked away. "Soon, Frisk."
"Toriel, darling, you said 'soon' five hours ago." Mettaton rolled over and peeked at her over the top of his sunglasses. "We'll be packing up soon. It's now or never."
"Oh, are you guys talking about—?" Undyne sat up suddenly, sending all the sand flying and startling Alphys. "I don't say this often, but—" She inclined her head toward Mettaton. "He's right, you know. You said this would be the perfect place to do it…"
"I know what I said, Undyne, but—" Toriel began.
"You remembered the ring, right?" Alphys chimed.
Toriel looked over in her tote bag, where a little velvet box lay in an inside pocket. "Yes, but—"
Sans opened his eyes. "Come on, Tori. You were real excited about it this morning, where'd all that go?" His permasmile grew slightly wider. "You don't have to be nervous about it, I asked Grillby and it all went fine."
"Sans, you haven't asked Grillby yet," Papyrus scolded.
"Oh, yeah." Sans twisted himself around to face Grillby. "You wanna get married?"
Grillby blushed a fiery red and flicked him on the head.
Toriel ignored their antics, her mind a blur of nervous excitement. "Oh, I just—I don't know. Being girlfriends is nice, but I'm just a silly old lady… perhaps marriage is too ambitious for me. There's no guarantee she'll say yes."
"Well, yeah. That's what's fun about it."
"Hush, Sans! You're not helping!" Papyrus stood up and planted himself in front of Toriel. "Now, you listen to me, Ms. Toriel!" He cleared his throat suddenly. "If you please. You are not a silly old lady. Well… sometimes you are silly. And you're much older than most of here. And you're definitely a lady. But you are also more than that! You are a beautifully kind and wondrously talented person! You are a fantastic mother and a brilliant teacher! You can cook like nobody else I know, except me! You have always lent a listening ear when someone has a problem, and you have lifted us all up out of the depths of our despair at some point or another! Lulu would have to be an utter fool to say no to you!" He put his hands on his hips and nodded fervently.
Toriel blushed. "Well, thank you very much, Papyrus, dear… but still… perhaps it is just too soon to consider marriage, instead…"
"Toriel, it has been nearly five years. When you look at each other… I see the love we once had." Asgore's voice was gentle, tentative. "It is not too soon for the two of you. You should not pass up this opportunity."
Toriel looked like she wanted to retort, but she sighed instead. "Do you really think so?"
"I think you should do it," Napstablook piped up shyly.
"That settles it. If Blooky thinks you should do it, then you should." Mettaton stood up decisively.
"Come on, Mom, let's get it over with already! You don't have anything to lose!" Even in his annoyance, Flowey sounded a little excited.
Frisk looked deep into Toriel's eyes and nodded encouragingly.
Toriel smiled and chuckled. Then her chest swelled with determination. "Alright. I'm… I am going to do it!"
Frisk clapped happily and grabbed the ring from the tote bag. Mettaton grabbed one of her hands, Undyne stood and grabbed the other hands, and together they pulled her out of her chair.
Together, everyone went down to the shoreline, Frisk and Toriel leading the way. Frisk slipped the box into Toriel's swimsuit pocket before skipping ahead and surprising Lulu.
"Well, it's about time you came back—" she said, before turning and seeing everyone else following. "Wait, what's going on?"
"W—" Toriel couldn't get her voice to work. She cleared her throat. Papyrus and Alphys pushed her gently from behind, and she stumbled forward as Frisk bounded back to the group to watch.
Lulu caught Toriel's hands and pulled her up. "What's going on, honey?"
"Well, I—I—" Toriel cleared her throat again. "I just—I had something to ask you."
"Okay." Lulu kept holding her hands and waited patiently.
"I—" Toriel paused and breathed deeply, gathering herself before she continued. "I think—I love you."
"You think?" Lulu teased.
"I know I love you." Toriel smiled. "You've been such a joy to me these past years—someone who makes me laugh, who—who gives me a shoulder to cry on, and you've been so loving to Frisk and Flowey too. You've… you've been exactly the kind of partner a lonely old lady needs… and I hope I have been the same to you."
"Aw, Tori… trust me, you've been all that and more to me." Lulu squeezed her hands and smiled tearfully. "After my last partner… I never thought I'd feel this way again." She glanced out over the sea, then looked back to Toriel. "So… what did you want to ask?"
Toriel let go of Lulu's hands and fumbled in her pocket. "I wanted to know—wanted to know if you would accept this… a token of how much I love you…" She grabbed hold of the box and opened it, revealing a beautiful, shining purple alexandrite stone. "…and how much I'd love to spend the rest of my life with you."
Tears began falling down Lulu's face, and she clapped a hand over her mouth, unable to speak. She could only nod.
Toriel leaned down as Lulu stood on her toes, and they pressed their lips together, unaware of the rest of their family whooping and hollering until they broke apart. "I feel so silly now… I was terribly afraid you would say no," admitted Toriel quietly.
"Oh, baby… how could I refuse? You mean more to me than anyone else." Lulu took the ring and slipped it on. "It's beautiful… and so are you."
"We told you it would turn out fine!" Papyrus exclaimed loudly, coming up to hug the two of them along with everyone else.
"So you all knew about this, huh?" Lulu laughed, squished tight against Toriel.
"It was an accident. I told Frisk and Flowey first because our marriage would affect them the most, and then they took it upon themselves to break the news to everyone else," Toriel explained, giving the two kids a stern look. Frisk and Flowey both smiled innocently.
"Well, y'all did a fantastic job of keeping the secret from me!"
Everyone laughed, and as the last rays of sunlight disappeared on the horizon, they walked up the beach to pack their things and go to their condos for the night, Toriel and Lulu wondering what wonders tomorrow would hold for them, and what adventures married life would bring.