"...and that's how Monsters have magic" Toriel finished reading the section to Chiwin.
The girl's eyes sparkled from the new information given to her. "Whoa! That is so cool!"
"I'm glad you liked it, dearie" the goat mother gently pat the head of the little girl, making her giggle before fixing her glasses.
All of the Six Human Souls were playing around the house. Chiwin, as mentioned, was sitting on Toriel's lap as the goat mother read her a book on Monsters, specifically the chapter about how they have magic. Jenna was looking out the window every now and then to keep an eye out for 'danger' while also trying to put a puzzle game together. Amariah was practicing ballet as she tried to copy the movements made by the people on the video she was watching. Wyatt was trying to draw on a sleeping Sans' face but was being blocked by Zed while Alex was in the kitchen, cooling the new brownies he baked.
The only ones who weren't in the house were Frisk, Chara, and Aida. Frisk was out playing with Monster Kid while Chara and Aida were out on a stroll for some air and showing the robot around the city. Flowey was by a window, getting sunshine and occasionally speaking with Jenna.
"Even you hate him, huh?" the Patience child asked the flower.
"Yup, you?"
"Why wouldn't I? He killed me, and several others living in here, and one other was almost killed! I can still feel the trident from his attack!" she shuddered from the thought. "I'm surprised mom gave him a chance"
"I feel you. He almost turned me into Golden Flower Tea before he realized I was alive!"
"Seriously?"
"He couldn't see my face at first"
They both shared a little giggle before she spoke again. "But, be honest with me: Would you prefer Sans to be our new dad?"
"Didn't you hear me back at the meeting?"
"Right" she nodded.
"I mean, look at what the competition is all about! Asgore killed literally almost everyone in here atleast once, while Sans here kept his word when he promised to protect Frisk. Yes, he almost got me and Chara, but we made up!"
"I see what you mean" she turned to see Chiwin with Toriel as she continued to listen to their mother. "Chi here sure is more of a child, really, than all of us"
"Let her be. She's the one who took her death the hardest. She can't even look at a picture of him without freaking out"
"Point proven" she sighed before taking her binoculars again and looking around.
"On the plus side, she's like the Human version of Alphys considering she made that from scrap" the flower mused.
Jenna managed a smile before turning back to her task. Her eyes darted around to look at all her surroundings. Nothing unusual. Left...flowerbed. Right...birds making a nest. Top...Asgore in her face. Down...spider on the grass. Wait WHAT?!
She brought her binoculars up again as she came up face-to-face with two ruby-red eyes. She slowly put them down before looking to see if it was true. Oh the horror! She gulped as she turned paler than a ghost.
"Oh, hello there! Jenna, right?" the Monster gave a friendly smile to her.
Regardless, she grabbed the window shade from above and pulled it down as fast as she could before yelling at the top of her lungs. "ENEMY IN SIGHT! ENEMY IN SIGHT! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"
At her alarm, the Six Human Souls just went into a frenzy to get away. They all bounded up immediately and ran upstairs to make their 'fort'. Flowey just made a run for it using the wheels again while Toriel took a deep breath before regaining herself from what happened.
Sans groaned as he calmed down. "Argh...what happened?"
Toriel was about to speak before knocking was heard on the door. She opened the door to find Asgore outside.
"Hi Tori!" he greeted politely.
"Oh hello, Asgore. Please, come in"
He went inside before he asked. "Thank you. By the way, I just saw one of the Human Souls, the light blue one with a ribbon, looking at the window with binoculars. When she saw me, she closed the window and I heard yelling from inside. Is everything okay?"
"Oh, that was Jenna. I don't really know. She just yelled something about 'running for our lives' and everyone else ran upstairs screaming"
Sans couldn't control his laughter. "So that's why"
"What?" Asgore asked.
"They're still scared, and when she saw you, she made sure everyone 'goat' upstairs!"
Toriel couldn't hold back her laughter. The pun was too funny. Both she and skeleton laughed for a while as Asgore sighed. Only when she recovered from it did she lead them both to the couch as she sat on her regular armchair. She had called them both for a little talk about how the Human Souls and Chara were reacting lately and about how well the two were doing.
Flowey suddenly wheeled himself in, carrying three brownies on separate plates. "Alex made them, but I think he forgot about it when he ran up screaming like he was gonna die...again. Better let them cool off before digging in"
"Oh, thank you, Flowey" Toriel thanked the flower as she took a brownie on a plate and pet his petals. He smiled up at her. He then wheeled himself over to Sans and let him have one, and then also let Asgore take the third. He shot a glare at the goat Monster while he picked it up. Asgore flinched before the flower wheeled himself out of the room.
"Um, Sans, have you seen my coffee? I could've sworn I put it right here" Toriel checked the table beside her chair.
"Looking for this?" he playfully waved a mug of coffee with the words "Best Mother Ever" imprinted.
She shot him a playful glare as Asgore shot a real one.
"Oops! Looks like I 'mugged' you for your coffee cup!"
She burst out laughing as Asgore groaned while Sans levitated her cup to her table. The goat man tried to see if he could counter it.
"I'm guessing you still have a 'ton' more where that came from, right?" he tried.
Toriel looked confused. That was when he realized he messed it up.
"You're gonna have to excuse Asgore here, Tori. He's having a hard time trying to 'espresso' himself"
The pun sent her into another laughing fit. "Sans, I feel I'm going to die from laughter!"
Both laughed for a while as Asgore laughed awkwardly while gritting his teeth to avoid lunging and attacking the skeleton beside him. A faint groan was heard from the kitchen.
Toriel calmed down before she wiped a tear and spoke again. "Now, you two boys know why I have called you here, correct?"
"Yes, of course, Tori" Asgore gave a shy smile.
Sans nodded.
"I know that you have noticed some sudden 'changes' in the Human Souls, and Chara these past few weeks. And that we now have a new addition to the household. I suppose you're wondering how this was all happening" she started.
Both nodded.
"Well, I didn't suspect it at first, but it became clear that one time with Chiwin when she first saw Asgore again. I thought it only affected her, but I guess all the other children are all on agreement of it. I believe they are still scared of Asgore because they think he will kill them again"
The Monster in question hung his head low in shame.
"I'll try and see if I can convince them you're no danger now, but I'm not so sure if it would take full effect. You may have also noticed that Chara has now taken to calling you by your name instead of 'Dad' now"
He sighed.
"Well, you see..."
"HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! IT BURNS! WHY DID I DO THAT?! HOOOOOOOT! TORIEL, HELP MEEEEEEEEE!"
The goat lady immediately sprung up when she heard pained cries of help coming from the kitchen.
====================================================
Chara, the things I do for you
Flowey blew his leaf hands in a frantic attempt to cool them down. Plants and fire never mixed well. This was one reason he was sometimes upset he stuck in the body of a flower. But still, Chara's reason was about to be told and he had to resort to drastic measures.
"Flowey, let me see that" Toriel spoke gently as she kneeled down to check him.
He shook his head as he tried to hide them by putting them behind his stem body.
"Flowey"
He refused to show his face.
She sighed. "Asriel"
He shot up when he heard his old name. How did she know?
"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone" she whispered. "Please. I'm your mother. Let me see what's wrong"
He sighed as he showed his leaf hands to her. She took them gently to inspect. They were both a little burnt from the heat of the pie, but nonetheless, fine. She then allowed her healing magic to flow until she restored it to normal.
He watched as she did this. It had been quite a while since he was called by his former name and was shown this love from Toriel. Despite now being able to feel, he didn't want her to know who he really is. He could only guess that he may have overheard that one time with Chara before the rehabilitation. He was happy to be able to feel love again, especially from his mother.
She soon checked his leaves again and saw that they had returned to their normal green foliage. She let go so he could see for himself. He turned them around and was very happy to see he wouldn't worry about them being cut off.
"You'll be fine, Flowey. Just, don't try to get the pie next time, unless you're wearing oven mittens, okay?"
He nodded with a smile. "Thanks, Toriel"
She gave a kind smile before petting his petals, making him smile as well. She then started back to the living room where Asgore and Sans were. The flower was about to try and make up another excuse to stop her, but it seemed like he didn't have to anymore.
Only Asgore sat on the couch now, Sans nowhere in sight. Toriel was about to speak and ask why or what happened when the goat man walked up and spoke to her.
"Tori, Sans has left with no words" he spoke gently.
She felt a wave of dread crash onto her. That couldn't be true. That just couldn't. Sans would never leave without speaking. She felt her tears rise up and she couldn't hold them back. Asgore immediately went up and hugged her gently.
He used a paw to wipe away the tears on her face. "Toriel, my Queen, you don't deserve Sans. You don't deserve a coward who walks away without notice"
Flowey glared angrily. He was about to try and summon one of his vine walls, but he saw something on the table beside Toriel's chair. He wheeled over and used a vine to pick it up. He brought it back down to find it was a note. He gasped slightly when he realized who wrote it.
"Toriel, it's from Sans!" he brought it up to her face.
She calmed down a bit when she heard him. She steadied herself before she reached over and took it. She'd recognize the handwriting anywhere.
Sorry I had to leave. Maybe tomorrow or something? See ya, Toriel
-Sans
At those words, the goat Monster felt something click inside her. Sans, her pun buddy and friend, didn't want to be just friends anymore. He called her by her full first name, rather than her nickname.
"Tori, please don't cry"
"Don't call me that, Asgore!" she yelled as she pushed herself away from him.
She now knew who she loved. She had made up her mind. She loved Sans.
=================================================
Evening had settled. Today was a disaster. And the failed meeting with Sans and Asgore was only the tip of the iceberg. Toriel tried to find Sans, but she couldn't. She first tried his house, then Grillby's, even asking Papyrus, but the skeleton couldn't be found. Upset for what happened, she just returned home sadly. Asgore wanted to stay so he could help her, but Flowey made it clear they would have none of it. The children just tried to help their mother.
Finally, the door opened and Frisk came inside.
"Oh! Hello, my child" she greeted her, trying to sound as normal as possible.
Frisk didn't answer. She just passed by and climbed upstairs.
They were all confused as to what was going on. Why did Frisk seem upset? Why did she ignore Toriel? Where was Chara? Toriel soon had to put the Human Souls to sleep. As she was coming back down to clean the mess the kids made, she heard the door open again. This time, it was Chara.
"Hi mom" she greeted.
"Oh, hello, my child"
"Need some help?"
"Yes, thank you"
Chara then proceeded to pick up the mess that the kids made. She and her mother made sure everything was back to normal before they both went upstairs to get to sleep. Technically, Chara went up since her mother wanted to finish up and let her children get a good night's sleep.
Yelling was soon heard from upstairs. It was only one voice, and she was about to go up and see what was going on, but it soon stopped, and a door slammed loudly. Not too long after, footsteps were heard, a sound of sniffling with them. The owner of the sounds soon made themselves known.
"Chara? My child, that's wrong?" she fretted over the half-demon.
Chara was a mess. Her eyes were red from crying and she had a red hand marking on her cheek. She sobbed into Toriel's shoulder. Flowey was upset and worried for her as he wheeled around them to see what was wrong.
"...Frisk..." she choked out.
"She did WHAT?!" Flowey was surprised at what he heard.
"Shh, it's okay, my child" Toriel cooed. She waited until her daughter finally calmed down before speaking again. "How about you sleep in my room tonight? Would that be okay?"
She sniffled as she picked up Flowey as he put a leaf hand on her swollen cheek. The heat radiated off it. His eyes read worry and concern for his sister. She nodded slowly, and he followed. Toriel then led her upstairs to her room. She then made enough space for her daughter to climb in as Flowey was set down on the nightstand.
"Goodnight, my child"
"Goodnight, mom"