One World, Many Souls

by Halloween Witch

With a quick use of Sans' magic, we had returned to our home on the surface. The lovely three-story home sat quietly among the trees under the moonlight. Sans always loved to teleport just outside the door and glance at it before walking in. He was a little less lazy since coming to the surface. So much to learn. So much to do. So much to love. SEQUEL TO "TWO WORLDS, TWO SOULS"

37. A Gift to You

One World: Many Souls

Chapter 36: A Gift to You

Papyrus' Point of View:

"Daddy! Lilly! Wake up! Its Christmas!"

I groaned loudly at the sudden weight that dropped onto my pelvic bone. It was nothing to be surprised about. Christmas was a favorite day for my son. Gifts, special food, and spending time with his beloved family members? Who could resist?

"Merry Christmas, sweetie." Lilly was the good soul who rose first to greet Impact. "Did you remember to wait until at least seven to let your father and I sleep in?"

"Yep! I did! See?" He pointed to the clock beside out bed. "Its past that!"

My eye lights flashed as I came into waking before looking at the clock my son pointed to. He was, indeed, correct. It read that it was twenty passed seven. Truly I was surprised he gave us an extra twenty minutes…

"Good job!" I felt the bed shift and Lilly pulled Impact off of myself while I slowly began to sit up. "Why don't you go down to the kitchen and I'll be right there behind you! We're not going to eat too much because Aunt Angel is making some amazing food for Christmas dinner. Okay?"

"Yes, Lilly."

"Good, go on now."

"But Daddy isn't awake yet! His eyes are missing!"

I shook my skull for good measure and my eye lights flashed at him. He squealed and giggled as he watched me attempting to wake up.

"Good morning, Impact. My apologies son. It was a late night for us at work."

"Its okay, Daddy. But we gotta move!" He rushed around to my side of the bed to pull me from the ever so comfortable covers. "Aunt Angel wanted us there to open presents from Santa. A-at ten!"

Lilly gasped, playing along with the young boy. She quickly came to my aid and picked up Impact into her arms. Myself released from his hold. "You're right! We need to get going! How about you and I make some quick breakfast while Daddy gets into the shower to wake up more?"

"Yeah! Can I have egg on toast?"

"Of course, you can! You want them sunny side up so it's a little goopy?"

"Yes please!"

"Alright then!" Lilly hurried to the door of our home and gave me a sideways glance. "We'll see you in the kitchen."

"Of course, thank you my dear."

"Its not a problem, love."

Oh, how it made my soul just utterly ache when she said those words…

Lilly then proceeded to leave the master bedroom with Impact in tow so that I could wake up and compose my thoughts. Though I was much more awake than I had been for a long time. The night had been late at the restaurant. We were running a Christmas Eve Special that lasted until near eleven. Lilly and I returned home quite late and only just got into bed past midnight when Impact was already fast asleep in his room.

Even though I was exhausted from the day before, I could hardly sleep that night. The anticipation and the worry that settled into my soul were like a terror. It wouldn't release me or allow me to move past it while it was within my grasp. Lilly and I… we'd been together for near two and half years. She was an important part of my son's life… she was integrated into our family so well…

I thought… maybe it was time…

On a rare day where my dear Lilly wasn't around, Impact and I went to a ring shop and looked for one to gift her. The ring I'd gotten many years ago I'd sold due to the bitter memories that were accompanied with it. So, Impact and I together looked for one that we could put on her finger. With my son's help we found a diamond ring that looked absolutely lovely. On a rose gold colored band sat a single diamond on top with two emeralds on either side of it. It was no surprise that green was Lilly's favorite color. The small green stones actually were almost the same size as the diamond itself, and then very tiny diamonds were crested into the ring band all the way around.

Impact thought it was perfect for her. He was right, and I was thankful I'd saved up quite a bit of money from my savings for it. Along with the ring, I had paperwork for Lilly to adopt Impact. Impact loved Lilly in his life, but never understood why she wasn't 'Mommy'.

I had never lied to my son, I told him that his birth mother left many years ago. That she wasn't a nice person. I didn't tell him all the details. Those would wait for when he was older, but the basics were… right for him to know. I still neglected to tell him who his biological mother was. And when he heard that, he said that Lilly felt like his mother and wanted her to be that. So, we hashed out this little plan with Angel and Sans involved for this very day.

But I didn't want to pressure her, I wouldn't ask in front of the family. It would be in private with just myself, Impact and her.

I could feel my soul vibrating with every fiber of my being. I was nervous, I was scared. I was praying to anyone that would hear me that this wouldn't be like the last time. I couldn't let my heart and Impact's be broken, not again.

But… I had to be brave… I couldn't achieve anything if I let things get to me.

"Daddy?"

I lifted my head quickly as Impact came back into the room. I didn't even realize I was holding the ring box in my hands before the hiding spot I'd put it in. The adoption papers were right below it still in the drawer.

"Impact… sorry son… I was just thinking." I glanced to the open doorway and pointed to it. "Go ahead and close the door. I need to talk to you about our secret mission."

Impact quickly nodded and closed the door to my and Lilly's bedroom. When the door quietly closed, Impact came running over to me with confusion in his eye lights.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh Impact… Daddy's just nervous about today."

"Ner…vous…?"

"Yes, I'm a little scared."

"Why? Won't Lilly say 'yes' to you and me?""

"Well…" Oh how could I put it gently? "I don't know… I hope she does. But I don't know. And that's what scares me…"

"She'll say yes, Daddy!" Impact stood by me, crawling up my lanky body to give me a proper hug. He certainly obtained his positivity from me. "I know she will! Be happy Daddy!"

I let out a deep breath and nodded to him. "Of course, son. Now, go eat breakfast with Lilly. I need to get ready and then you do too, baby bone."

"Yes, Daddy."

Impact left me then and I almost groveled when he was out of sight. I was glad that Impact had the will to keep pushing me forward. I would need every ounce of it to be brave today, and ask the second woman I came to love to marry me…

Later That Morning:

"Here's another one for you Daddy!"

"Mommy! I love it!"

"Thank you, Uncle Papy! Aunt Lilly!"

"G.G.! What did you get!"

"Gram, you spoil me rotton!"

"So pretty!"

"Mama!"

"Dada! Pwe!"

It was absolute pandemonium at my brother and sister's home. They were the ones to host Christmas in their house that year and we have five children five and below. Eras, Impact and Arial had just had their fifth birthday. Compared to the younger twins who were roughly two and a half, Calibri and Constantina were just as lively as their older siblings and cousin. They all rushed around with the colorful decorations, presents, and I knew they would be hungry soon from the lovely feast I knew Angel was making.

I did offer to help, but my sister kindly said I cooked all the time and that she could do it for a change. And it was something she'd been wanting to do for a while with Frisk just a short distance away trying to swipe a few bites. Never did any of us dream that we would have such a big family then. Grandmother was there to watch all the little ones with us with a beaming smile at the chaos they caused. After all that had happened to every one of us, having such a large family was almost like an unbelievable dream…

It also kind of astounded me just how good of a father my brother was. He was so content to be the near stay at home dad and work with them constantly. He only worked two or three days a week, and it was never for many hours. His schedule he'd wrap around Angel's or even Grandmother's if she had the time for her great-grand babies.

Of course, we had staff to watch the little ones too, but we tried to do as much of it as we could ourselves. It was harder with Lilly and I a couple towns over, the restaurant was actually close to Angel's home rather then our own. And… that led to another surprise I had for Lilly.

Grandmother had gifted myself a section of her land only a short walk away from Angel and Sans' place. We would have an acre between us of trees and coverage for privacy, but the close distance made it so that it would be easier to travel to each house or the restaurant with ease. Impact had just started school with his cousins and perhaps having them all travel together rather than meeting at school would make things a tad easier.

I'd yet to make any plans of how I wanted the house built other than a similar master suite and office set up as Angel and Sans had theirs. Lots of bedrooms for friends to stay over, or family, and a large kitchen and plenty of space to host parties on days off. But… if Lilly agreed, I wanted her involved in the design. She would make it beautiful, functional, and it would be both of ours…

I really wanted that… I wanted it all to work out… Yet I was still terrified of what would happen shortly.

"Oh shoot!" Angel was the one to call out and this was the signal for me to be ready. "Lilly, would you mind going up to my bedroom and grabbing one final present in my office? I left it on my desk."

"Sure! Not a problem." My girlfriend stood up quickly to hurry where the stairs were to the second level.

"Oh, here, let me help you, Lilly." I stood up quickly to follow her, but turned back to my family. "We'll be right back."

All adults in the room gave me quick thumbs up or bright smiles, ushering me off toward my girlfriend. I could see Impact trying to keep quiet while Angel called him over so she could give him the papers to offer Lilly later… if she said yes.

"Oh I could have done this, you don't have to join me if you wanted to stay with your family Papy." Lilly commented softly once we got to the third floor away from the others so we were out of ear shot. "I know you don't always get to see them with how busy you are with our restaurant."

"Its fine, I was hoping to chat with you anyway."

"Okay, what do you want to talk about?"

"Let's make sure we can find that gift of Angel's and then I'll bring it up, I don't want to hold back the party."

"Oh Papy, I hardly think they'll be too upset if it takes more than a minute. What's on your mind?"

I was nervous as she pressed me lightly when we got to the second floor. Passing by the room that I'd given up that Angel's twin girls then shared, I sucked in a large breath before trying to touch the subject slowly.

"Well… with Impact growing so quickly and him now in school, and the two of us working… I was thinking of perhaps moving closer back to our family for their assistance. With Sans being home most of the time, he's been excellent with helping and watching the children. And while perhaps him teleporting saves time and energy, I do hate to ask more of him now with so many things on his shoulders. Being closer would allow us to help them, and them to help us. And Grandmother would be able to assist too."

"So, you're thinking about moving us back into their home or looking for our own place in this area?" Lilly actually took the idea fairly well. She actually turned around before heading for the second set of stairs to the third level to look back at me. Her hand landed in my own and she gave me a soft smile. "Have you been thinking about this for a long time?"

"A…" I hesitated, looking away for a moment before turning back. "A few months…"

"Okay, well I think it's actually a good idea." Lilly gave me a swift kiss to the jaw before stepping toward the third floor. "Angel and Sans have been really helpful with Impact when they're free. But have you looked at the housing market? Last I looked places were getting up in price now. Even our apartment building is going to increase rent in the next year."

"Yes… that was one of the reasons I began looking. I… thought maybe a house would be better…"

"A house?" Lilly paused to take a second to look at me. "While a lovely idea, I don't think I've seen many for sale now since monsters came to the surface and bought most of them up in the surrounding heart of Terians land."

"Well…"

"Papy?" Lilly stopped as she got to the top level when she saw my hesitant face. "What's going on?"

"Um…" I had to pause before moving forward. How was I to word what I had planned? "P-perhaps I may show you?"

Lilly said not a word but kept a curious look to her while I led her through Angel's office that showed the front of her house. Just out of the corner of her window could logging equipment be seen, though not in use during the holiday. Lilly carefully looked at it before she gapped and gasped at me.

"You don't mean-?!"

"Grandmother wanted to gift us a piece of her land that would be only an acre away from Angel and Sans should we ever need them. Or her."

"What?!" Lilly again looked out over the distance to see where it was. She saw the trees dividing us between the properties and the path being made between them. I saw her smile and it brought even the tiniest relief to my soul. "You're really planning our future… this is… amazing!"

"I-I figured you would help me with the design and layout, as well as color." Rubbing the back of my head, I showed her a hesitant smile. "You know more of those features then I do."

"Of course! Oh, this is amazing!" Lilly couldn't help but look between myself and the land every few seconds. I could already see her mind was working so diligently as it always did. "How many acres do we have?"

"The same as Angel and Sans, about ten."

"Really?" Her smile was absolutely stunning and it brought more ease to me as I watched her gaze out. Her thoughts must have been racing a mile a minute before she looked back. "Is Gram clearing the land for us now?"

"Yes, we should be set to begin preparing the land for building within a month. So that will give us some time to begin working on designing our home. My list of requests are small, just plenty of rooms, a large kitchen, and plenty of space to celebrate with guests. Beyond that, you are welcome to design and decorate as you wish."

"Oh, I can't wait to start designing it!" So, my first surprise didn't seem to go over too badly. It made me breath a bit easier at that. "Perhaps we could work on some design ideas once the little ones settle down tonight?"

I smiled at her with a bit more ease in my jaw. "Of course, my dear."

"Oh Papy! This is lovely, don't be so nervous about giving me a gift. I'm thrilled!"

"Speaking of gifts…"

But this was where I turned nervous again. Lilly nodded after I said what I did and she hurried to Angel's desk where the so-called final gift was that Angel asked for her to gather. When Lilly found the small box, she smiled when she found it until she saw the tag that was attached. "To Lilly, From Papyrus" was written on it.

"What?" Lilly opened the box then to see the engagement ring inside that I'd prepared for her. When she lifted her eyes to see me, I was not above, but rather, bent on one knee before her. A sharp gasp came from her and she nearly dropped the item in her hands.

"Lilly… you have become part of my world in these last few years… part of mine and Impact's life. You make every day brighter and… while I am terrified to put myself out there again after what happened with Mettaton, you're worth more than anything to try regardless. On this bent knee, I ask you-"

"Yes!"

"W-what?!" I blinked, not even able to finish the speech I'd spent forever on working. Though, perhaps it was for the better since I was struggling with asking her.

"I'll marry you! Oh my god… does Impact want me to be his mom?! Can I? I-is that okay?!"

Such relief fell over me that I shot to my feet and hugged the woman I held dear so close. She squeaked at the sudden movement, but soon hugged me back just as strongly. I pulled back just long enough to take the ring from the box and set it on her finger. Lilly beamed at the sight of it there. A deep kiss came before I could stop myself.

I was just so happy…

"Oh! Um… there's one more surprise…"

"What?" I could see she had become a sobbing mess against me. "What other lovely thing do you have planned for me? We're getting a lovely home built for us that we can design, I'm going to be your wife… what else?"

"Impact!" My loud voice carried so easily through the house. "It's time for your gift son!"

"Daddy! Lilly!" My little boy squeezed into the room I'm sure with the help of Angel or Sans who brought him up and helped him in the door, though hid to keep this a private matter. "She said yes?! I can give her the paper?!"

"Yes son," with a wide beaming smile, I nodded to him. "Go ahead!"

Lilly bent down quickly to his level and held her arms out. "What in the world do you have for me, baby bone?"

"A-ado-ada…" Impact looked up at me for help.

"Adoption."

"Right! A-dop-tion! Papers!" Impact handed over the stack of papers to Lilly who looked nearly ready to fall over. I watched her barely able to touch the very papers she was looking over carefully. "Daddy said that my real mommy left a long time ago… but you were always like a mommy to me, Lilly. I want you to be my mommy. W-will you?"

"Oh Impact…" Seeing the woman I loved cry so many happy tears, I knew that everything was going to be okay. "I've always wanted a baby boy like you… you want to be my son?"

"Yes!"

"Of course, I'll sign them!" Lilly swiped him up in her arms so easily along with the papers before turning to me. She tried to speak through her tears, and it looked like she was having a rough go of it. "Love… I need a pen…"

"Of course."

Oh, how I was thrilled that things were much different this time around. The woman I loved said yes to me, she said yes to my son… we'd soon have a lovely home together… I could hardly wait for the beginning of our forever to be together…

Witch's Note:

Oh! What a sweet chapter! Here we are with seeing just how much Papyrus has grown! How sweet! He's finally ready for that step in his life. He took a brave leap of faith and landed safely this time into the gentle arms of Lilly. I can't tell you how happy this makes me to see him starting on a path to be truly happy!

And look at cute little Impact! At five years old he's so mature and eager to spend time with his soon to be new mommy. And a new home for them gifted by that of Grandma Terians! They're gonna build a home! How fun is that! And be neighbors to Angel and Sans! But the family has always been close knit. It makes sense that they'd want to be as close as possible.

Now then, as per last chapter you guys gave me a whole bunch of guesses as per what you thought Angel's pregnancy. Lots of really wonderful guesses! Lots of horrifying guesses! XD Poor Angel... especially since she already has four kids. How many will truly be the total?

Welp, at least this pregnancy will be found out shortly! Next chapter you'll be hearing what she's having! And what a fun chapter it's gonna be!

No telling!

Mystic Girl: (She pops her head out of her secret passage to my room, peaks her head out so she can lean her arms on my carpet to talk with me. The charred remains of whatever she was working on fell onto my carpet that she touched.) And that's my chapter to chat with the readers, right?

Me: (I raised an eyebrow at her.) Yes, we did agree to that. Also, don't get soot on my carpet, I just cleaned that yesterday.

Mystic Girl: (Slowly and carefully she pulled back from where she was resting her arms on my carpet. Carefully she receded down into the tunnel, closing the lid over her head until there was just a crack.) Sorry... (The trap shut and I could hear her making her way back down to the work she had to do.)

Me: Oh well, now then! Let's move onto Reviews!

Thechaosmaster: Oh what a guess! I don't want to tell you if you're right or not, but like I said before, some of that information will be revealed next chapter and then more so later. But your guess is a single boy, and that he's named Fonte? Interesting.

To be perfectly honest, going through all sorts of different font types to figure out good names for the kids and what not was a hassle! I remember and you can even ask Mystic Girl about how tedious it was to go through all the styles, get a list together of what we thought sounded good, and then narrow it down to the kids as we were creating these chapters! It was insane... and a lot of research... especially since the style of writing needed to match the kids.

And those targets... I'm honestly getting kinda worried to where they left to. I haven't seen them for a handful of chapters, and the waiting is making me worried, even if good things are going on in the lives of our friends in story...

Shadow8Phantom: Very true Shadow! Very true. I know I already have my game plan for when I have kids and a permanent form of birth control when I'm done... Sadly, Angel can't do that due to their souls making a spark that could be born like what happened to Papy, which is why it falls on Sans to get himself taken care of.

But yikes, that didn't work. So your guess is another set of twins then? Interesting. Any more of an inkling on how those twins may be? I'm just curious before I give out any more details in a future chapter that would either prove you right or wrong. Triplets would be crazy if she ended up with that many, and that would put her at seven kids. Holy moly!

But we'll just have to find out!

Yes, Angel and Sans are trying to teach the kids young how to be good. In some ways, their parenting will work out well, but in other ways, they'll have issues that come up that you and the others will see later. Never a perfect teaching style.

MysticBoywastaken: Oh, so you're on the triplet train? Man, imagine if she did have that many... XD

I sadly can't say now if you're right or not, but you'll find out shortly. The kids are getting older and it won't be much longer before we see more. The eldest of the kids right now would be between five and six, while the second twins would be about... two? Right around there, roughly. If your guess was right... that would be a LOT of kids under the age of five in one house... damn... XD.

Alright! Another chapter done and soon we have another little one running around! And you guys better hold on, because some of the struggles that Angel will face with a blended family is about to come to fruition!

Love you all and see you next week!

Halloween Witch and Mystic Girl