A girl.

It was a girl.

Gaster had a little girl growing in the tank.

If Gaster was to be completely honest at this point… he was floored! He had so many emotions going through him that he didn't know which one to act on first! There was joy and wonder, as well as shock and terror that poked out more than the rest though.

Gaster was overjoyed the moment he found out the human was a girl. He wasn't even checking for gender when Gaster found out. He had been taking notes and walking past the tank when he caught out of the corner of his vision the child stretching it now slightly longer limbs. And well… Let's just say Gaster read enough from his human books to know the child was a girl.

He felt wonder at the thought of one day bringing this, his, little girl home and introducing her to Sans and Papyrus. How would his boys react to Gaster bringing home a small babe, a human one too at that, and saying that she was now their little sister? Gaster has for a long time seen the human child as his own, but would his boys see her as family?

Gaster felt fearful for multiple reasons. He was afraid of what some monsters would do when they found out about the child. Afraid of what Grillby and his boys would say and that if they may not accept the child. In almost everything Gaster thought up it brought fear to his soul. Would monsters attack his family in anger? Would the child be taken from him? So many scenarios and not all of them were good.

But Gaster had to remind himself that the Royal Family was also raising a human child and the monsters that lived in Home were now finally starting to accept her. Chara turned out to be slowly bringing hope to the monsters and many thought she was the angel that was prophesized to free them all. It had started out slow, but the monsters of the underground were beginning to think of humans differently; all thanks to a child.

So… maybe his child would bring hope too? Possibly even more so seeing as she was an even closer bridge between monsters and humans. She did, after all, carry part of Gaster's genetic makeup.

She.

Just acknowledging his human child's gender made him smile and give a soft chuckle. It would be different and difficult raising a girl after having two rowdy boys, but Gaster was looking forward to it. She would be spoiled rotten, Gaster knew that much was certain, with him as a caregiver and with Sans and Papyrus as older brothers (if they accepted her that is). His little girl would never know true sadness with them around to protect her and make her happy.

And Gaster could just imagine the things Grillby would do for the little girl.

Gaster was still worried how the fire monster would take the news, when he told him, but something told the skeleton that Grillby would understand. Besides, Gaster knew how Grillby spoiled his own little sister so it gave him ideas what the living flame would do with his child. Grillby could never say no to his sister so Gaster knew his little girl would probably have him wrapped around her little finger.

She'd have everyone under her control with her looks alone, Gaster thought as he stared down at the DT tank fondly. The child's features were starting to become more noticeable, she already had thick brown locks of hair growing from her head, and everything screamed heartbreaker. Gaster was more than positive that she would be able to bring the mightiest of men down with just a sideways glance when older.

Though small and young, Gaster could make out the details that would grow into gentle and smooth features that in both human and monster terms were considered beautiful. Imagining how she would have boys chasing after her to only have both Sans and Papyrus and himself and Grillby to scare them off made Gaster laugh.

"Yes, it won't be much longer now." Gaster said as he placed his hand on the glass. "You'll be able to finally meet everyone in person and get to know them as they do you."

Love. Meet. Soon?

"Soon my child," Gaster said with a chuckle at his little girl's eagerness to see everyone. "very soon."

They would be nearing the eight month in just another week and so far everything looked fine. There were no complications or deformities to be seen and that was a relief to the skeleton. Even if the child had been born with something that would make her life difficult, something that Gaster couldn't fix, he would still love her no differently.

Looking at the clock Gaster saw that it was about time for him to leave. He had promised Grillby he would take him and the boys out tonight, and if he wanted to keep that promise he would have to leave quickly.

"Sorry to cut our time short, but Grillby will have my head if I'm late." Gaster said as he gathered up his belongings.

Gaster still wasn't quite sure what he would call this thing between him and Grillby. He guessed it would be considered dating but it didn't feel like they were; it felt beyond that actually. The pair went about their lives like normal, but they tended to see more of each other now. One would stay at the others for a few days, family outings were becoming regular now, and they had even gone to using pet-names for each other.

Grillby had taken to calling Gaster 'Dingy' (much to the skeleton's animosity but he said nothing to the flame monster) and Gaster just shortened up Grillby's name to Grillbz or Grill.

Things at home could never be better for Gaster, and as he gave one final goodbye to his human child, his little girl, he looked forward to spending some time with his sons and Grillby.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"I don't know about you Dingy, but I thought it was rather funny." Grillby said as he tried, and failed miserably, to hold back the snickering he was making. "I mean, how many monsters can say they've gotten their son's hand stuck in their own?"

Tonight… had been a disaster, in Gaster's mind.

He had first taken Grillby and his sons out somewhere nice to eat. The underground didn't have much to offer but there were a few places that could hold their own. That hadn't been so bad, except for when a Sans had secretly snuck a whoopee cushion under him right as he sat down.

Gaster had never been so flushed in the face before and Grillby said he wished he had a camera to capture how purple Gaster's blush was.

After that, things only went worse for the older skeleton. Once dinner was over with, Grillby suggested taking the boys to the local park to burn off some energy. Gaster had thought the idea was grand and the park was filled with plenty of young monster children for his sons to play with. Everything seemed to being going well for the time being, until Papyrus had been carried off by one of the older children and was used to play hot potato; him being the potato.

The small boy thought it was the best fun he had ever had, to the other members of his group though it was a horror. It took all of them a good ten minutes trying to snag Papyrus away from the other children before Sans ended up using his magic to levitate his brother away from the others. Finally able to calm down for a moment and not have a metaphorical heart attack, Gaster scolded the other children but it seemed as though they did little listening as they quick ran off to play again.

From there the four left the park, just enjoying a silent walk together. But the silence was short lived when they happened upon the Royal family also out for a walk. It wasn't bumping into them that was the problem, well in a way it was. Asgore and Gaster hadn't been looking where they were going and bumped into each other. That in turn caused Sans' hand, which Gaster had been holding, to somehow get lodged into the hold in the elder's hand.

It took help from Grillby and Toriel, with Papyrus, Asriel, and Chara cheering the adults on, to get Sans and Gaster apart.

The whole incident was just one big embarrassment.

"It was horrible!" Gaster shouted as he covered his face in his hands. "How can I show my face to the King and Queen again without this night looming over me?!"

"You worry too much Dingy." Grillby said as he took the skeleton's hand in his own. The warmth he offered seeping into Gaster and relaxing him. "I doubt Asgore will even remember this. He did hit his head pretty hard when he fell."

"I thought it funny!" Sans said with a big smile. Papyrus was resting in his arms as the older brother turned to look at the adults. "You could say… I had a handle on the situation."

Groaning from the very bad pun, Gaster found himself smiling. Of course Sans would find something good in this whole mess. Both his sons were always positive balls of energy, it didn't matter if their day had been absolutely horrible, they would always find something great about something. And in a way, Gaster was grateful for this. It always brightened his day seeing his sons' smiles and their beaming energy.

"I guess tonight wasn't too bad." Gaster said as he allowed the moment, the only good one tonight, to sink into his mind. His sons were off ahead of him by a few feet and Grillby was next to him while still holding his hand. This was…nice.

"See," Grillby said as he nuzzled into Gaster's skull. "You just need to lighten up a bit."

The snort from Sans was enough to tell the adults that he had overheard the pun and from the slight, albeit tired, groan Papyrus had also heard it.

"With you in my life, I think I have." Gaster said, not even realizing what he said. When he did he felt his face blush. Gaster wasn't as affectionate as Grillby, and saying things like this were strange to him. He did care for Grillby; it was just difficult for the skeleton to show his deeper emotions.

"I must be a good influence then." Grillby said as he gave Gaster a kiss on his cheekbone.

"What you two are is being gross!" Sans said as the white lights in his sockets rolled. "YUCK!"

"Yeah," Gaster said as he found his gaze falling back onto Grillby with a tender smile. "Yuck."

"Indeed," Grillby said as the flames of his face burned a soft pink. "Yuck."

The rest of the walk back to Snowdin went quietly, except from the disgust gagging sounds Sans would make whenever he found his dad and Grillby nuzzling or kissing each other. The small skeleton loved both Gaster and Grillby but he swore they were doing this mushy stuff on purpose just to irritate him.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The night had led to Grillby staying at the skeleton household that evening. The flame monster had insisted on him sleeping on the couch, usually Sans gave Grillby his bed and just slept with Gaster, but Gaster… had offered his bed instead.

The two older monsters had been together for a few months now and though they were far from any intimate actions, sharing a bed didn't feel wrong. So as the pair resting in the bed, Grillby pressed into Gaster's back, everything seemed perfect. The warmth the living flame gave off lulled Gaster off faster to sleep than he had ever done and Grillby was content with just holding the skeleton close as he fell asleep.

It seemed as though nothing would wake the pair from their peaceful rest… until Gaster shot up with a gasp. There was an immense pain assaulting his soul and it caused Gaster to grip at his ribcage with ragged breathing.

"W-what is…?" Gaster choked out as the pain ebbed, if only slightly, and he looked around the room. Nothing seemed out of place, Grillby was still resting peacefully, and Gaster didn't hear anything from Sans and Papyrus room, so what could have caused him to…

Pain! Hurt! Help!

The human! Something was wrong with the human child and it was calling to Gaster and sending him the pain it felt. Jumping out of bed, Gaster accumulated his magic together and teleported himself to the labs. Once inside the building Gaster wasted no time in running to his office. The pain in his soul, the pain his human was feeling, came back though and it made his fall to his knees just as he made it to the door.

I'm coming! Just hold on!

Gaster hoped his message got through to the human's soul, but when he didn't get a response his worry only worsened. Pushing himself back up, Gaster rushed into his office and ran into the separate room where the DT tanks and the human were. Once in the private lab, Gaster felt his body tense up.

The magical barrier around the child was a compressing around the child and she was flaying her tiny arms and legs out in an attempt to stop the squeezing.

Gaster tried to stop the process, but for some unknown reason his magic wasn't responding to it; the barrier was no longer in his control. Rushing up to the tank, Gaster placed his hands on the glass. The pain was back and it took everything in Gaster's power to not fall over from it. It felt as though someone was holding his soul in their hand and slowly squeezing it.

The human child side of their bond was weakening and Gaster could no longer hear her.

She was dying.

"I-I need to get you out of there." Gaster managed to say as he looked around for something to break the glass. If the situation was dire he would have drained the DT and raised the glass to remove the child, but he did not have the time for that. Spying a chair off to the side, Gaster ran over to it and picked it up.

Raising it in the air, Gaster took a running start at the tank before he swung the chair at the glass.

At the moment of impact, the chair sent the glass scattering to the floor and the DT flooding out. Shards clattered, liquid sloshed, and pooled around Gaster but he did not care. Dropping the chair, Gaster took a couple attentive steps to slowly peer into the now broken tank. The pain the human had shared with him was gone, but when he found what lay at the bottom of the vat new pain replaced it.

Lying in a small pool of the liquid DT was the child. With the DT no longer able to suspend it and stabilize the barrier the child lay there stilly. Her tiny red soul fluttered dimly in front of her chest, having been brought out when Gaster attacked the tank, and it flickered in a sickly manner. She did not move, she did not cry, all the child did was lay there unmoving.

Her brown locks were clinging to her body, sticky with DT, and her light tan skin was speckled with droplets of the liquid that housed her for the past many months. Gaster knew her chest should be rising and falling with each breath but… it didn't.

She wasn't breathing…

She wasn't responding to Gaster's tearful pleading over their special bond.

Her red soul was giving flickering wildly now, about ready to give up; to be snuffed out like a candle.

Gaster's little girl was not going to survive.

"No… No please don't do this." Gaster cried as he reached into the broken chamber and pulled the tiny baby out of it. Holding the child to his sternum, Gaster didn't care if the liquid determination singed his bones; not if it prevented him from hold his daughter. "Come on little one, you need to breathe."

But Gaster got no such response from the child. She just lay limply in his arms; her soul's light slowly going dimmer.

"Please, don't do this." Gaster pleaded as he pressed his forehead to the child's. "Not after everything we've been through… don't leave me."

Gaster didn't know when the tears started but he didn't care either. His mind was elsewhere. The memories of when he found the new soul inside his own, the day he put it in the tank, the moment he was able to create a body for the soul, all those memories and more blocked out everything else.

Gaster had known a few monsters in the past that had lost children, he had seen how painful it had been and he prayed that he would never have to feel that pain. It looked as though that he did not pray hard enough.

"Please, whatever divine being is out there… don't take her. Don't take her from me before I even got to truly know her." Gaster prayed, though he didn't believe anyone would listen.

For what seemed like ages Gaster just knelt on the floor crying. He had lost feeling in his bones due to the DT but he didn't care. He didn't care that determination was not safe for monsters. He frankly didn't care about anything right now.

His world, which had been nothing more than lighthearted and wonderful mere hours ago, was now cold and depressing. All the work he had done to keep this human, his human, his daughter safe was all for not. He had allowed himself to get attached to his creation when many other scientist probably wouldn't have and now he was paying the price.

Gaster didn't want open his eyes, because he knew all he would see was a soulless body and a dead child. He didn't want to see the lifeless body he had grown to love, had grown to calling his child, and just be reminded that she was gone. But when what sounded like a small sneeze caught his attention he dared his sockets open.

The soul was gone, as he expected it to be, and the body of the child still lay unmoving. Her long brown hair covered her face and Gaster found himself brushing it aside. Her eyes were closed and it made Gaster wish he had seen what they're color was. Would they have been green, blue, or brown? Would she have been blind or be able to see the world?

Rubbing his thumb on the cold cheek of the child, Gaster felt his soul starting to shatter. Maybe he had not heard anything, was it just possibly his mind playing tricks on him?

For a few minutes Gaster stared down at the still body with a blank expression.

Still no movement.

Letting a sigh escape him, Gaster was about to emit defeat when he heard the noise again. He was for sure it was a sneeze now. Staring back down at the child, Gaster felt his soul flare up with hope. Could she be alive?

Gently rubbing his hand across her chest, Gaster recalled from one of his books how this had to deal with something concerning breathing. He was certain at this point but he had to try! Rubbing gentle circles over the soft, damp skin, Gaster nearly clattered into a pile of bones at what happened next.

The child… she coughed. Again she coughed. Cough. Cough. Cough!

Soon the coughing fit brought up a bit of the DT from her lungs, the liquid must have blocked her airways, and once free of the blue fluid she emitted the highest pitched wail she could. Gaster wanted block out the sound, his hearing still sensitive, but he cared less about his hearing at this point.

She was alive.

The human was alive.

His daughter was breathing and alive!

Finding himself laughing like a mad man, Gaster watched as the small child continued to cry while she thrashed her tiny chubby arms around.

"Y-Yes! That's right, breathe!" Gaster cried out as he took one of the child's arms in his hand and nuzzled it. "Cry as much as you like, fill your lungs."

The moment the child heard Gaster's voice, she opened her eyes. Her crying had died down to soft whimpers and tears slowly started to fall from her eyes. They were a misty blue in color. They were beautiful.

"You're beautiful." Gaster said as he felt the child wrap her tiny fingers around one of his own. "So beautiful."

"She is indeed a heartbreaker," Gaster thought as he pressed his forehead to the child's. "She already has me wrapped around her little finger with just looking up at me."

The child hiccupped, her whole body jolting from it, but she did not look away from Gaster; her eyes glued to him.

Gaster found his gaze unable to look away from her either.

She was alive.

His daughter, his precious little girl, was alive and finally here.

Well...

this was an emotional chptr wasn't it?

had y'all going there for a bit at the end, didn't I?

I also made some art if you guys want to see it.

its on my deviantart account ( bluejay1995 ) and is called

Still Born

Until next time,

Girl Supersonicboy OUT!

(The S.S GrillxGast has gained some new shipmates I see as well! Welcome aboard crew!)