Chapter 10: Heartbeats (P, S, W.D., OC)

Two screams pierced the dark night, startling three skeletons out of a sound sleep. "What happened?" Papyrus asked in alarm.

"Sounds like Sarah's children," said Sans.

Gaster quickly led them to the twin's room and opened the door, seeing both the little ones crying harshly, tears rolling down their faces. "Oh, dear," he said. "Poor little ones must have had a bad dream."

Papyrus went over to the little girl and picked her up. "Shh. I've got you, little niece. Uncle Papyrus is here," he said soothingly, rocking the little girl gently. Sans had picked up the little boy and was doing the same thing.

"Hey, buckaroo. Uncle Sans is here. It's okay," he soothed the baby boy.

Gaster watched as his brothers comforted the twins, who began to calm down as Papyrus and Sans gently wiped away the tears from the little faces and continued rocking them. "Maybe we should put a nightlight in for them," Papyrus suggested.

"That might help," Gaster said in agreement.

Sans then noticed how the little boy had turned his head so that his ear was to the skeleton's chest and he seemed to be listening for something. "What are you listening for, kiddo?" He asked curiously.

"Your heartbeat."

At that answer, the three skeletons turned to find Sarah standing in the doorway of the children's room, looking tired, but smiling. "Babies love hearing someone's heartbeat," she explained. "It's the one thing that can always soothe them and help them fall asleep."

"Really?" Papyrus asked as he noticed the little girl had her ear pressed to his chest. "They can hear our heartbeats?"

Sarah nodded. "Babies have exceptional hearing," she said with a smile.

Sans noticed how Sarah's son was falling asleep on him. "Do they fall asleep listening to your heartbeat too?" He asked curiously.

She nodded again. "Yes," she said. "It's how I get them to fall asleep for the night, or to get them to take a nap."

They then noticed how she looked a bit sad. "Sarah?" Gaster asked gently.

She smiled, a few tears in her eyes. "I remember sometimes my dad would hold me when I was little and I would listen to his heartbeat," she said.

The skeleton brothers remember her telling them about her father and Gaster moved closer to Sarah, pulling her into a hug. "I know it's not the same, but…," he trailed off as he noticed she placed her ear to his chest. She smiled as she heard his heartbeat.

"Each heartbeat is a bit different, but it plays the same, soothing song," she said to him.

Papyrus looked down at the baby girl and saw she was sound asleep. Chuckling, he gently placed her back in her crib, placing the blanket over her gently. Sans did the same with the baby boy.

Sarah then looked at the three. "Sorry they woke you up," she said, looking very contrite.

Gaster simply hugged her. "It's alright," he said. "You had a hard day at work and were exhausted when you got home."

"True," she said. "But usually I'm able to wake up when they cry."

"Sarah, you're not raising them alone anymore," Sans said to her. "We don't mind helping you with them."

"You're practically our little sister," Papyrus said with a smile.

"And we think of your children as our niece and nephew," Gaster said, rubbing Sarah's back soothingly.

Smiling, she just stayed in his hug and felt Sans and Papyrus hug her and Gaster as well. She then smiled as she heard not only Gaster's heartbeat, but Papyrus' and Sans' as well. "No wonder the children fell asleep so fast," she said as she suddenly yawned.

Chuckling, Gaster picked her up and was about to carry her back to her room when the twins woke up again, whimpering. "Oh, dear. Looks like they woke up again," said Gaster.

Sarah smiled a little. "They don't want to left alone," she said, remembering how she had often comforted her children after they had nightmares.

Papyrus picked up the little girl and suddenly perked up. "How about we do a sleepover?" He asked with a smile.

Sans chuckled, as did Sarah and Gaster. "Alright, but who's bed do we crash on?" Sarah asked.

"Mine's big enough for all of us and then some," Gaster said as he picked her up and carried her to his room, with Sans and Papyrus behind him, carrying Sarah's son and daughter respectively.

Sarah saw Gaster wasn't kidding about his bed being big enough for all of them. It was huge! Gaster gently set her down and lay down beside her while Sans lay down on Sarah's other side with the little boy on his chest and Papyrus lay beside Sans with the little girl on his chest. Sarah smiled as she saw the children were falling asleep again.

"Thank you, guys," she said, smiling in contentment.

"Anytime, Sarah," Sans said and his brothers hummed in agreement as Sarah and her children fell asleep to the sound of the heartbeats of the three skeletons that she called her family.

I think I now understand what some writers mean when they say they died of cuteness overload, because I believe I've just done the same. :)

Please leave a review, but no flames!

GoldGuardian2418