W. D. Gaster - An Undertale Story

Chapter Seven

   "Dad!", Sans shouted excitedly when Gaster entered the door to his house. "Dad, you're back! And so early!"
   "Yes, I know.", Gaster replied. "There was just... a... problem. But we should be perfectly fine!" He didn't want to tell Sans or Papyrus about the human. He knew that children could be curious, and he didn't want to risk having one of his sons looking for the human. "May I see Papyrus?"
   "Yeah, dad. I'll go get him!", Sans said, darting out of the room like a bullet. Gaster smiled. Sans had always been hyper as a child. If there was something new to him, he would figure out everything he could about it. If there was a problem, he would try to fix it. He would get excited about anything, and wouldn't refuse to learn anything new. Gaster had realized how much Sans was like him, and he loved that.
   Papyrus, on the other hand, must've acted too much like his mother. Papyrus, like Sans, would get excited about things. But he also wanted to be in the Royal Guard when he grew up, battling invading humans or crazy monsters. Papyrus had quite an imagination, and definitely came with the enthusiasm to match. Papyrus and Sans's mother had been the same way. Gaster loved how much Sans and Papyrus reflected their parents's personalities.
   "Dad! Dad! I cut my arm earwier!", Papyrus yelled as he ran down the steps, Sans right behind him. Papyrus was only two years old, so all of his "L's" sounded like "W's". To Gaster, he thought it was a miracle Papyrus could speak as many words as he could at only two years old. Papyrus ran up to Gaster and hugged his legs, due to being a short child. But Papyrus was definitely taller than Sans was at his age. "Yeah, I was pwaying with the action figures you got me, and one of them had a sharp piece on them! I accidentawy cut my arm, but Sans heawed it with magic!"
   Gaster smiled. "I'm glad you're okay. Are you still in any pain?", Gaster asked, just to be sure that nothing else was wrong. Papyrus shook his head. "Good." Gaster hugged Papyrus tightly, feeling the beat of Papyrus's soul against him. Papyrus hugged him back, then saw the black clock on one of the walls.
   "Dad, what are you doing home so earwy? I'm gwad you're here, but it's onwy 6:00 PM. You're normawy not home untiw 9:00 PM.", Papyrus said with curiosity. Gaster chuckled at Papyrus's question, not only by how he said it, but also at how the question reminded Gaster of himself as a child.
   "Reasons, Papyrus, reasons. You don't have to know. You're only a child, after all.", he replied to Papyrus's question. "So, what would you kids like for dinner?"
   "Spaghetti!", Papyrus shouted with enthusiasm.
   "Ketchup!", Sans said with a smile on his face.
   "Ketchup?", Gaster questioned. "What kind of dinner is that?"
   "A good one, if you ask me.", Sans replied simply. Gaster had no idea why, but Sans had always been obsessed with ketchup. The same went for Papyrus and spaghetti. He shook his head at the silliness of his children.
   "How about we make...", Gaster tapped his chin, trying to think of something that would please both of his sons. Then it came to him. "Meatloaf and spaghetti noodles! That way you both get what you want!" Sans and Papyrus smiled. Sans did a sort of "happy dance" while his brother laughed in the silly, high-pitched voice of his. Gaster smiled at his sons, thankful to have them in his life. If something ever took them away, he would fight to the death to get them back, just like any other parent would.

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   "Dinner!", Gaster called out from the kitchen. He heard the two doors of his sons's bedrooms sling open, then loud, thundering footsteps as they ran down the stairs. He set two plates with food down on the table. Papyrus's plate, which was red, had mostly spaghetti and a small side of meatloaf. Sans's plate, which was blue, had mostly meatloaf covered with ketchup and a small side of spaghetti. Gaster had put equal portions of both on his own plate.
   Sans and Papyrus slid into their chairs and began to eat quickly. "You guys act as if you haven't eaten all day.", Gaster said. He noticed Sans look down after the statement. "Sans..."
   Sans immediately looked up. "Okay, okay, I forgot to make me and Paps some cereal this morning and forgot to heat up noodles for lunch, but it's not that bad!", Sans said quickly with a worried voice.
   "Sans!", Gaster said, raising his voice slightly. Papyrus touched his hand lightly, causing Gaster to glance at him.
   "It's fine, dad. After aw, he's onwy four years owd.", Papyrus said, not wanting Sans to get yelled at. "Anyway, I'm fine." Gaster nodded. He looked at Sans, who was looking happily at Papyrus.
   "Sorry, Sans.", Gaster said. Papyrus must hypnotise me or something. I mean, I'm apologizing to my son, he thought to himself. They all went back to eating. Sans kept talking about how he couldn't wait to go to Kindergarten next year. Papyrus kept talking about how cool Sans's powers had been before. Gaster spoke about him finishing the CORE, but told nothing about the human that Asgore had talked with him about.
   After that, the trio decided to watch their favorite show on television, "Tales From The Crypt". Sure, the show was creepy, but Sans and Papyrus never seemed to be scared of anything. After that, they watched the first "Back to the Future" movie, it being one of Gaster's favorites. Sans always said that Doc Brown reminded him of his dad. Gaster smiled every time he said that, Doc Brown being his favorite character.
   Then it came to be 9:00, Sans and Papyrus's bedtime. Gaster let them both change into their pajamas while he turned all of the lights and electronics off downstairs, leaving only a burning candle in the dark room in case one of the skeletons woke up in the middle of the night. "Dad!", Papyrus shouted, obviously ready for his bedtime story.
   "I'm coming!", Gaster shouted back, beginning to walk up the stairs to the second floor of the house. He heard a "yay" from Papyrus and laughed at the excitement. He went to Papyrus's door, which was covered in posters, stickers, and even little notes. He opened the door to find Papyrus already snuggled up in his racecar bed, holding his storybook up in the air. Gaster grabbed it from the child's hand and sat down on the bed next to him.
   He opened the book. "Once upon a time...", Gaster led with, reading the story about friendship to Papyrus. Then he finally got to the words "the end", sighing. Papyrus was snuggled close to Gaster, but not yet asleep.
   "Hmm... Read it again!", Papyrus exclaimed.
   Gaster chuckled. "No, silly!", he said. "Your brother needs me to put him to bed, too! I'm sure he's tired!" Papyrus made a childish sad face. "Come on, Papyrus. I could always just use a sleeping spell on you. But those aren't very comfortable. In fact, they suck. My mom used them on me when I wouldn't sleep, so I'm sure you can sleep easily on your own." Papyrus still seemed sad.
   "Look, you can read a few words already, right?", Gaster asked. Papyrus nodded. "Alright, try to read the story yourself. I'm sure you've memorized it already anyway.", Gaster said with a chuckle. Papyrus had the storybook ever since he was born and Gaster always read it to him, every night. Papyrus nodded at the idea, happy to try something new. Just like his brother, Gaster thought. "Goodnight.", he said as he left Papyrus's room, closing the door behind him.
   He then walked to Sans's room. He opened the door and Sans was on the bed, covered in blankets, ready for his nightly song. "Come on, dad! I've been waiting for 5 more minutes then usual!", Sans whined.
   "Sorry, I was talking with Papyrus.", Gaster replied. He sat next to Sans on the bed. He placed his hand on Sans's arm. "Are you ready for your song?" Sans nodded, closing his eyes.
   Gaster started his song.
   "When the light is running low
   And the shadows start to grow
   And the places that you know
   Seem like fantasy
   There's a light inside your soul
   That's still shining in the cold
   With the truth
   The promise in our hearts"

   He paused for a second, as he always did at this part of the song. Then he began to sing again.

   "Don't forget
   I'm with you in the dark"

   Sans smiled. "Dad, do you promise to always be here for me?", he asked.
   "Of course!", Gaster said. He kissed Sans's forehead lightly. "Goodnight."

(THE SONG IN THIS DOES NOT BELONG TO ME! IT IS "DON'T FORGET" BY TOBY FOX FROM THE DELTARUNE SOUNDTRACK! THANK YOU!)