When Blue gets pregnant, it’s the happiest day of their lives.

Blue and Swirlby had spent eons dating, to the point the others were literally begging them to just get it over with and get hitched already. Stretch found it hilarious while Muffet, quiet and calculating seamstress she was, kept annoying them to hurry and get married so she can make some wedding outfits.

They’re married long after Swirlby’s sweet shop was set up, and not too long after Stretch had gotten the position of sentry in the Snowdin forest. He himself seemed to have a small secret he wasn’t up to sharing, but Blue didn’t press. It didn’t seem to be something bad, like the whole ‘smoking’ stint he’d pulled, and whatever it was put Stretch in a good mood, so he let it slide.

Blue split his time between ensuring Stretch was okay now that he was technically alone in their old home for the first time in years, and spending a grand old time in Swirlby’s home moving in his items and camping out on the couch with the sparkling bright orange flame who had the silliest pair of glasses and loudest outfit he’d ever seen!

He fell harder and harder in love every day of course!

(Strangely, Stretch seemed fine being by himself, so perhaps this too was a good thing. Not that he’d leave his brother to his own devices for long! But a little personal space never hurt someone.)

But not too long into their marriage, Swirlby raised up the idea of a little sparkling.

“IS THIS YOUR PARENTS TALKING THEN?” Blue teased, making the other fluster as he mixed a bowl of dough for some cookies they were making, while Blue cleaned dishes.

“No! Well, yes, a tad, but you know how big families are, they always want more and more children around.” Swirlby set the bowl on the counter, his bright blue sleeves rolled up to his elbows, the swirling glasses slipped to the edge of his nose. Coupled with his jack-o-lantern mouth, he made a very hilarious figure. “But well! Wouldn’t that be divine? Having our own little spark running around? Feeding them sugary sweets?”

“NO SWEETS UNTIL THEY’RE OLDER!” Blue pointed a soapy spoon at him, seemingly amused. “HMM. WE’LL HAVE TO PREPARE FIRST! I HATE GOING INTO ANYTHING WITHOUT PREPARATIONS!”

“Of course, love!” They nuzzled noses playfully and laughed, continuing their adventure in cooking.

The first thing they did was prepare all the books about fire elementals they could grab. Sadly, as Stretch and Blue were the only skeletons around, they didn’t have anyone to ask about traditions and things like that.

But that didn’t stop them! They dove in eagerly, deciding between certain rooms on what could be a good nursery/bedroom and what couldn’t. They had two guest rooms (perhaps...more kids...in the future? They’d have to think about it…), but only one was closest to their bedroom. With the help of some of the Royal Guards, the Cati of Snowdin, they managed to pull out the large bed and chair and things that babies and children just did not need yet!

They stuck it all in storage, and between Undyne and the Dump (and severely scrubbing everything squeaky clean), they had a good partial nursery together!

The walls were mint green with little waves of fires doodled on them, a stable crib Undyne and Stretch had grouped up to make together that was a beautiful dark brown with a little carved soul at the top, a rocking chair that had to have a rocking part replaced, and several baby books scattered around.

Perfection!

...but then...how???

Blue made a face as he flipped through one book. “I’M NOT QUITE KEEN ON THE MORE...THAT PART OF IT.”

“Yes, it’s quite…” Swirlby waved a hand, grimacing. “Ehh. There’s not another way?”

“HMM…” Blue bent over the book, leaning on Swirlby as they sat on the couch. Happily, a warm arm encased him, and he cuddled up even closer. “THERE HAS TO BE SOME KIND OF WAY...MWEH, PERHAPS WE’LL ASK UNDYNE!”

“That sounds like a plan! Now...cookies?”

“COOKIES!”

~~

“Well-well, um, yessss...seeee,” she stammered, her pretty red hair in a ponytail as usual, fingers dragging through it constantly. She always wore the same labcoat over a tank top and leather pants, her own glasses slipping down despite her pushing them back up. “There’s a reaally old way but uuuuuhhh, dunno if it works.”

“WHY NOT?” Blue asked, swinging his legs on the stool where he sat as she darted around, fixing papers and books and the like, still adjusting her hair constantly. He always thought it was a nervous thing, as she liked to curl the strands around her fingers and pull, hard if she was really anxious, but she didn’t do it when her and Stretch were busy blowing things up.

Huh. Odd.

“Well, well, you know, uh,” she laughed nervously, holding a book up in front of her, blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes. “Well...monsters don’t...really us-use that method anymore...it’s be-been a while since the last s-soul child was born.”

“HM,” Blue tapped his gloved hand against his teeth in thought. “ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT ASRIEL? THE LITTLE BOY?”

Said little boy was the most darling child around...and the youngest in Snowdin. He was a goat monster, with rock magic powers from his father. Asriel followed Alphys like a little duck when she came by. So adorable!

Undyne bobbed her head. “Y-Yes, it’s been several dec-decades, you know Boss Monsterssss age slowly.”

Right. That was true. He pouted. “WELL. IT WOULDN’T HURT TO TRY, RIGHT?”

“...maaaaybe?” She laughed nervously and Blue puffed, striking a pose. 

“EXACTLY! WE JUST HAVE TO FIND OUT!”

“Y-You have to um...find...ifyou’recompatible,” she squeaked out, and he laughed, clapping her shoulder and nearly making her topple over.

“OF COURSE WE ARE! WE’RE MARRIED! MWEH! NOW! YOU WANTED ME TO TAKE SOMETHING TO BROTHER?”

“Ye-Yes!” She squeaked, darting away from his hand to grab up some weird invention or another. Blue never was sure of what they did together, but they had fun so who cares!

~~

The first time they try, it’s...well...it’s a failure! But that’s okay! Failing is one step closer to succeeding! 

So they...try again.

...and again.

...and then Swirlby hunkers down for the ‘Winter’...so they can’t try for a little while.

Blue’s left wondering...is it him? Is it...something wrong with his magic? What was it Undyne had said, they had to see if they were ‘compatible’? 

He stared at the pepper he was chopping up, wearing his pink cooking apron Stretch had playfully given him years back, not entirely focused on cooking now. Swirlby was still resting up, and he could hear the crackle of his flames, filling him with warmth.

He shook his head, using the sleeve of his shirt to rub at his eye socket. No, he should focus on cooking for now! And then, the rest later!

He went back to chopping, although not as fast, and not as energetic.

It’s during Spring, when Swirlby pops out in a flourish and is nearly zooming around the house in expanding energy, that they try once more. Maybe it was because Swirlby was just so close to his ‘downtime’ that it didn’t work?

Blue happily climbs into his blue and white pajamas, making sure he was all buttoned up. Swirlby wore a nightgown to bed with polar bears on it and a night cap, making him appear even more cartoonish to the casual observer.

His glasses would be folded up on the bedside table, his bright yellow eye pips flicking around. Everything was blurry, he had explained, and they’d never been able to fix it conventionally, so glasses it was.

For now, Blue settled into the bed, pillows stacked around him with the blanket up over his waist, patting it excitedly. It was his favorite, with little bones on a blue background. “READY?!”

“Of course!” Swirlby climbed in, kneeling next to Blue on the bed with a smile, happily holding his hands. “Okay so...deep breaths!”

Blue nodded, even if he didn’t necessarily need to breathe at all, it was still a calming thing to do. “OKAY! LET’S DO IT!”

Between them, their souls popped into being, making them both blush despite how many times they had seen one another’s soul.

Blue’s was a gentle robin’s egg blue, an odd little curl to the tip of the soul. Swirlby’s was beautifully bright yellow, with an orange hue to the middle, as if an expanding fire itself attempting to escape its confines.

Together, they would press the souls together.

It was an experience, for sure!

It was...warming and cozy, the way the two souls pressed against each other. They could feel one another, which...wasn’t too unusual. They were pretty attuned to one another anyway, Blue able to appear just at the right moment when Swirlby needed a liquid handled, or Swirlby able to cheer him up even if Blue never told him when he was feeling down.

The magic swirled between them, somehow warmer than Swirlby himself (who was pretty scalding, suffice it to say).

...and then it...sprinkled between them in a small shower of light. Pretty...but an obvious failure once more.

Blue frowned, slumping as Swirlby leaned in, kissing his head. “It’s okay, Blue! We have plenty of time, we shouldn’t fret!”

“I KNOW...IT’S JUST...ANNOYING, I GUESS.” he sighed, letting Swirlby take his hand to kiss the back of it as their souls, finished now, disappeared back into their bodies.

“How about instead of work, we play hooky and...go to that new thing Napstaton has? The mud bath thing?”

“YOU WANT TO?” Blue asked, blinking. Anything remotely sluggish or ‘watery’, Swirlby hated with a passion. But he nodded, smiling.

“Of course! I bet it would be fun and we could eat cucumbers together!”

Blue smiled, happily giving the other a kiss. “MWEH! YOU’RE SO AMAZING! GREAT IDEA! WE CAN RELAX AND THEN TRY AGAIN...LATER!”

“Later,” Swirlby echoed, and they spent the night giggling and kissing and talking about all the fun they’d have the next day before drifting off to sleep.

Except...Blue got sick.

~~

Blue sat on the edge of the tub-his tub, mind you, Swirlby’s was at the other side of the room-breathing slowly. He felt nauseated and dizzy all morning, but had shooed Swirlby on to ensure Muffet could watch his shop for the day. He slipped off the edge onto the floor, pressing his head against the cold porcelain. “COME OOOON,” he whined out, his gloved hands pressing against it. “I WANNA GO HAVE FUN,” he pouted, stifling a hiccup of sickness.

The last time he got sick, his joints ached as well, and it ended up being a small growth spurt. But his joints didn’t hurt. He was just really, really tired and really, really dizzy. He shook his head. “A BATH ALWAYS HELPS ONE’S FEELINGS,” he muttered, shifting to sit up away from the tub.

He pulled off his gloves, shakily folding them and slipping them up onto the sink, undid his bandanna, then slowly pulled himself up off the ground. He had to shut his eyes tightly at the wave of dizziness, and plunked around on his armor and pants to strip off. He clumsily turned on the water, pulling himself into the running hot water.

He panted, out of breath. He’d never felt like this before! Maybe he should go see Undyne, she was pretty smart and could reason this out better than he could. He grunted, pushing himself up from his side out of the water a bit, holding his hand to his mouth. Urgh, what a feeling…

And then he saw it.

Blue didn’t often summon his ecto, if...ever. There was one time he did, just to show Swirlby, who had kissed over his belly, resulting in a tickle fight leaving them breathless and happy. But other than that, there was just no need. After all, he was a muscular skeleton!!

Except for now, with his slightly flat tummy, light blue from his magic, with a tiny little bobbing soul inside.

Oh. Huh. 

...wAIT-

~~

Undyne had quickly, and thankfully, provided him a small trash can to heave up excess magic as Swirlby rubbed his back. Those warm hands were literally magic, no matter what he said…

“Hu-Humans have um, they can have-uh, well it’s...a lot of sickness??”

“BUT I’M NOT HUMAN,” Blue whined, his arms over the trash can, his face flushed with sweat as he panted. “SO WHY AM I SICK?”

“I-I uh…” Undyne fiddled with her fingers, shrugging. “Bad luck of the draw, B-Blue. Some people are g-genetically disposed to...things of this n-nature.”

Swirlby frowned, nodding slowly. “So what can we do? He’s miserable…”

“H-Hang on,” she skittered away as Blue pouted over at Swirlby.

“THIS WASN’T HOW I THOUGHT WE’D START OFF,” he mumbled, and Swirlby kissed his head.

“Don’t worry, a few bumps in the road, we’ll start evening out, hm?”

Blue giggled, leaning into him with a sigh as Undyne came skidding back in with a packet of...candy? “I-It’s Ginger,” she explained, handing it to him, “it’s meant for na-nausea specifically.”

“THANK YOU, UNDYNE,” Blue smiled at her, popping a candy in his mouth. “OH THAT’S HOT!”

“Yeah,” she laughed, smiling. “Mm, nothing m-more to do, unfortunately, but just ah, watch them, come ba-back if you’re feeling any different.”

“Got it,” Swirlby nodded, helping Blue stand up slowly, a hand on his shoulders. “You’ve been an excellent help, Doctor!”

Undyne’s face erupted in a blush, and she hid her face into her sleeve with a squeak as they left. Blue sighed, gently placing the trash can to the side for Undyne to toss away once they exited the doors, crossing his arms in the heat. “VERY NOT FUN,” he grumbled as Swirlby kissed his head.

“Is it the being sick or being forced to lay down for a little bit?”

Blue’s blush told him everything and he laughed, happily sweeping the other up into his arms despite his sputtering. “Well! This just means I get to pamper you AND our new baby!!”

“SHHH!” Blue poked him, puffing up his cheeks. “MWEH! YOU HAVE TO KEEP IT A SECRET, THEY SAID!”

“...who??”

“THE BOOKS!” Blue nodded. “IT SAID TO WAIT FOR...SOME WEEKS TO TELL!”

“Why?” Swirlby pouted at the thought that they couldn’t tell their friends and family.

Blue blinked, still holding onto Swirlby’s shoulders as he was trotted around Hotland. “...I DON’T KNOW, ACTUALLY. PERHAPS IT’S AN OLD TRADITION?”

“Sounds boring. Let’s have a big party and tell everyone!”

Blue hummed, tapping his finger on Swirlby’s shoulder before nodding. “MWEH! YOU’RE RIGHT, THIS IS GREAT NEWS! A PARTY IS NEEDED!!!”

A party would certainly be needed, as the road ahead would be more bumps and potholes than either one of them would know of.