A Different Kind of LOVE

Chapter 8

It had been a few months since Sans had been sent to Underswap with his two sons, as he now fully considered them. Red and Fell had gotten stronger and healthier the longer they stayed with the Swap brothers, so Sans ended up moving in with them permanently, Stretch proving more than once that he was to be trusted, whether it be saving Red and Fell from encounters with the Doggi, to helping Sans himself when he would wake up with night terrors from his old life. Blue got on Fell's good side, often taking him on his patrols once Red trusted him enough to let him do so.

Sans eventually learned what had happened to Fell before he had found them, and if there wasn't a lack of ways to get back to his home timeline Sans would have gone back no hesitation, ready to dunk the monsters responsible. It had been a way too close encounter with several of the dogs and Grillby himself when they were going through his trash for food. Fell had gotten thrown into a brick wall fairly hard, knocking his skull. He had stayed conscious long enough to run with Red to the forest, where he blacked out and had essentially gone into a coma. They had been in that clearing for three days before Sans had found them.

True to his promise, his sons never went hungry, never wanted for warmth or comfort, and never had to worry over each other again. Sans made sure they had anything they could want, honestly spoiling them, but doing so gave him a continued reason to keep on living. Before he had met Red and Fell he was ready to die, to let go of his determination to stay alive in his hellhole of a universe. His brother didn't love him, everyone he knew wanted to kill him, and his only friend he had was a crazy, mad scientist who had failed monstrosities down in the basement. He had no reason to stay alive, and so had given up, reaching out for the one, minuscule light he could find, a way to get away from it all. And instead had found two tiny skeletons, identical to him and his bro, who turned his life upside down.

Sans had been ready, completely prepared to die, to dust, to let go of his hope of a better life. Red and Fell had all but forcefully pushed that hope back in him, crawling their way into his soul and taking up residence in a way that, if they ever left, there would be a hole he could never fill.

Living in a peaceful world was strange. Having two tiny skeletons for children was strange. Sharing his space with alternates of himself and his bro was strange. But it was a good strange. A welcomed strange. Sans could never have wished for a better life than what he had now. And yet, here he was, sitting on the couch, Blue and Fell in the kitchen making tacos while Blue sang loudly, Red perched lazily on his shoulder, Stretch on the other end of the couch flipping through channels, and Sans couldn't be happier.

"You okay, Papa?" Sans looked to his right, noticing that Red was giving him the intense stare he used to see if he was lying about his state of health. Sans chuckled and nodded, nuzzling his son slightly before turning his attention back to the TV.

"Yeah, Red. Everything's just peachy."