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Babies were always abandoned in the Underground. Either from a lack of power, the family getting dusted, or outright neglect. It was out of pure spite Sans didn't let the same thing happen to Papyrus when he was a baby bones. If he was being honest, Sans never wanted to become a father. Even when the human walked into their lives, he didn't think he wanted to breed her. Sure she was bound to make powerful spawn, but he already felt old at the age of 250. Pumping her full of his corrosive magic just didn't appeal to him.
Not that he thought of her in a romantic sense. He used her to get his rocks off and vice versa. At the end of their romps, she got out of bed and back to the couch in the living room. He was more than content with how things were, and wasn't eager to see them change. However, fate had always had it out for him, so it was no surprise that things changed in the worst way possible.
Sans raised a brow bone as he walked into his living room, snow melting off his jacket and getting water everywhere. He was used to walking in on strange things, like Papyrus mending the human's sweater, but this was certainly an oddity. The human sat on her couch, with a tiny skeleton monster bundled in her arms. It was wrapped up in one of Papyrus' old capes, and had a cup to its teeth. The air smelled vaguely of bleach, she must have tried to clean it as well.
She looked up from the tiny bundle and smiled. "Heya, Sans. Look at who I found." She adjusted the hold on the toddler, turning it to face him. "Aren't they cute?"
"no." He stalked over and grabbed the baby by the skull, snatching it from the human. "you can't just steal brats. if someone wanted to leave it-"
"You raised Papyrus."
"we had the same dad." He spat, eyes narrowing. "it's different."
The sound of the door slamming open then shut again stalled the argument. In the doorway Papyrus loomed over all three of them, his own military coat dripping water onto the floor. His empty sockets took in the room, before they narrowed. "SANS, WHY ON EARTH DO YOU HAVE A CHILD."
"human brought it home." He passed the child to his brother. He raised it up to his face, his unamused expression deepening when the baby squealed. "just dust it."
"No!" The human scrambled off the couch, and latched onto the taller skeleton's arm. "I found them, so I should be able to keep them. That's the rules around here right, finders keepers?"
"NO, THAT'S NOT THE RULES." He dropped the child into the human's arms. "HOWEVER, I WILL NOT DUST THE CHILD."
"Thanks, Pa-"
"YOU WILL."
Her mouth opened and she took a step away from him, holding the cooing skeleton close to her chest. "What?"
"A CHILD CAN NOT FIGHT BACK, AND IT WILL BE EASY TO DUST." Papyrus explained. "YOU ALSO CAN GAIN MORE LV BY DUSTING A CHILD."
"That's sick."
"THAT'S LIFE."
The woman was quiet for a moment, her hand petting the tiny skeleton's skull, before she looked back to both of the brothers."If I pay off what you owe Muffet, let me keep the baby."
"WHAT?"
"the hell are you talking about?"
"You owe Muffet some money, right? Well I'll give you the funds to pay it off, in exchange," She held up the baby again. "you let me keep them."
Sans cursed under his breath. That was a hard bargain, he had to take out a loan from Muffet to get this place, and almost fifty years later he still couldn't pay off her never ending debt. He knew the human was pretty good at making money and striking deals, she claimed it was her job on the surface, so he bet she could pay it off in no time. Daily rising interest rates be damned.
But then there was the question as to who birthed the baby. Skeleton monsters were a rare breed, and very powerful, he didn't want to have one knocking on his door because there was some kind of misunderstanding....
Then again, Muffet had developed a taste for marrow recently.
The skeleton sighed and flopped onto the couch, upsetting a pile of clean clothes. "keep your brat," He ignored cheer and his brother's indignant squawk. "but it's your responsibility."
"Deal!"
Over the next few week, Sans watched the human take care of the tiny skeleton. Just like he promised, Sans didn't give a lick of help to the human. Papyrus, on the other hand, was far more curious and forgiving than Sans had thought. He even told the human the new addition's gender, male apparently. Sans watched the both of them from his place on the couch. The human had the 'bundle of joy' in her lap while feeding it some smashed peas. Her back was to him, but her shoulders were relaxed and voice high.
She must have been happy.
Sans yawned and hauled himself off the couch. As he passed by the two, he felt a pull on his shorts. He glanced down, just to stare at the human. "Can you get Ariel's blanket from your room?"
"the hell were you guys doing in my room?"
"Papyrus sent us in there." She tightened her hold on the kid. "Please? I'll make you dinner when I put him to bed."
He sighed and jerked himself away from the human. "fine, fine. lucky i care."
"Thanks Sans." She turned her attention back to the baby. "Say thank you to Uncle Sans, Ariel."
He rolled his eyes and continued his trek up the stairs. He went to his bedroom, and immediately spied the pink blanket among all the other junk in his room. He grabbed it off the bed, before getting his intended target, cigarettes. He pocketed them before going out into the hallway, and nearly collided with his brother. He hissed and glanced up at him, and had to fight down a growl. His brother was staring down at the living room, watching the human play with the baby. There was a smattering of red along his cheekbones, and the glare on his face had softened somewhat.
Sans knew his brother had always been smitten with the human, but it was only increasing since the brat was brought into the house. It made sense, in a way, for Papyrus to suddenly act that way. He was a very dominate monster, so it probably appealed to his instincts to see the subject of his affection playing with a kid, even if it wasn't really his.
Sans maneuvered around his brother, and went down the stairs, tossing the blanket onto the human's head. The baby squealed, but was otherwise undamaged. He barely heard the thanks she gave before he went outside, slamming the door behind him. He got the small box out of his pocket, along with the dented lighter. He put one of the cigs between his teeth and lit it up.
In the span of twenty minutes, he managed to go through a quarter of his pack.
When he was finished with the last one, for now, he extinguished it on the old banister, before heading back into the house. The smell of cornbread and bacon wafted through the air. The baby was deposited in the small drawer that was his bed, and Papyrus was on the couch, reading a book but peeking at the child occasionally. Sans shuffled to the kitchen, his hands deep in his coat pockets and teeth gritting together. The complaint on his tongue died, when he caught sight of the human. She was cooking dinner as she promised, but there was something he couldn't place. Something that warmed his bones and sent a flurry of magic to his face.
"Sans?"
He growled and looked away to the cracked clock on the wall. "you done?"
"Just about," He heard the oven squeak open, and a flood of heat fill the room. "Just gotta cut the corn bread. You can go sit down if you like. I've got it."
He glanced back to the human, just to see her handling a huge knife. He felt his soul wither, and he summoned his magic, causing the knife to float from her to him. She raised an eyebrow, but said nothing when he walked over and cut three uneven pieces. "there." He threw the knife into the sink. "let's eat."
The next few months dragged on in a similar manner. Sans found himself becoming more and more distracted by the human and her spawn. Whenever he saw another male monster with her and the brat, he felt his magic boiling in his bones. Even his brother, who actually liked her, was only a tolerable presence. He inhaled some of the smoke, enjoying the light sting it made against his magic. He had started spending more time outside lately. The brat was making attempts to talk, and it sounded like nails on a chalk board.
He opened an eye and frowned when he saw his brother come out of the house. His arms were crossed and his glare was in place. "SANS, I WISH TO SPEAK TO YOU ABOUT THE HUMAN."
He let smoke curl out of his eye sockets and nasal cavity. "yeah?"
"I WILL BE INSTIGATING A BOND WITH HER TOMORROW." He said, gaze pointedly away from him. "IT HAS BEEN ON MY MIND FOR AWHILE NOW, BUT WITH MY PROMOTION TO CAPTAIN, I BELIEVE I CAN TAKE CARE OF HER FINANCIALLY."
"why're you braggin' about it to me?" He extinguished the butt of his cigarette. "you're getting what you always wanted. don't need to come to me about it."
"THAT IS TRUE, BUT I THINK YOU SHOULD INITIATE A BOND WITH HER AS WELL."
"..."
Papyrus gestured put to the rotten town they lived in. Even though it was almost curfew, a few monsters still milled about, trying to get last minute things done before the patrol was set loose. "THERE IS FILTH OUT THERE THAT WOULD TRY TO TAKE THE HUMAN AWAY, EITHER THROUGH SEDUCTION OR FORCE. I REFUSE TO ALLOW THAT TO HAPPEN. SO WHAT BETTER WAY TO KEEP THE HUMAN SAFE THAN BY HAVING TWO OF THE MOST POWERFUL MONSTERS AS HER BOND-MATES?"
"you're assuming i even wanna be her bond-mate."
"OH, COME OFF IT SANS." His brother faced him for the first time, the glare deeper than before. "YOU AND I BOTH KNOW YOU DESIRE TO HAVE HER SOUL AS YOUR OWN. THERE IS NO SHAME IN BONDING WITH A HUMAN, IT WOULD ONLY PRODUCE POWERFUL OFF SPIRNG."
Says the person who refused to even use her name. The skeleton sighed and dug his hands into his pockets. Sure, he liked the human. She made for decent company when she wanted to be, and could cook better than the Boss. However, there was still one tiny detail his brother was forgetting. "she's gonna want to go home, boss. she's just gonna leave us behind and go to the barrier one day. she's staying now because she's got that brat as a distraction, but when it grows up?" He shrugged. "she's gonna back up and head to the barrier. then what's gonna happen to us? probably gonna turn to dust the minute she crosses."
"SANS."
"yeah?"
"THIS IS WHY YOU WILL NEVER ADVANCE BEYOND A SENTRY." Papyrus said. "YOU LACK INITIATIVE." He turned on his heel and opened up the door. "SHE WILL NOT LEAVE US. NOT SO LONG AS WE PROVE OURSELVES TO BE WORTHY BOND-MATES."
Sans watched his brother go back into the house. The human sat on the couch with the small skeleton on her lap, her smile becoming warm when Papyrus walked over to her. For a moment, Sans wanted nothing more than to become her bond-mate, to be able to claim her in the most intimate way possible. But for now, he was content in letting it be a far off dream that wasn't likely to become part of reality.