AN: I don't want to spend too much time introducing this story, because I want to let the first chapter speak for itself, but a couple things: one, while I am I'm full support of agender Frisk, I do write her as female in this fic (in order to separate her from another incarnation of Frisk in a different fic I am drabbling with), two, since I've already written about thirteen chapters of this fic, it's going to be a long one and I hope to update at least twice a week, which should be fun. Thirdly, this fic is probably going to get a rating change in the future, but that I'll leave up to how the story develops. Lastly, while I do have Papyrus speak in ALL CAPS, there's too much Sans dialogue for me to stand him speaking in all lowercase, so forgive me.

Chapter One – The Cinnamon Scented Truth

Despite how much she missed her family, Frisk was not excited to come home for winter break. It wasn't that she had made great friends that she would miss (because she really hadn't) or that she really wanted to continue working towards her major, but because, well, she knew as soon as she got back home, she wouldn't want to come back.

Her attending college had really been her Mom's dream. Tori had raised her while going to college herself, in order to become a teacher (which she did on top of both her queenly and motherly duties), and couldn't imagine a world where Frisk wouldn't attend as well. While Frisk was perfectly content to take the job Grillby had offered her and spend her life with her immortal family and friends, the Queen of Monsters would have none of her excuses. She wanted to give Frisk the chance to see the world, rather than spend her entire life in just the tiny section that the majority of the monster race inhabited.

And it wasn't to say that Frisk completely flopped her first semester. She had people that she ate with at lunch, and she had maintained decent grades in her classes, despite how many weekends she spent at parties, trying to avoid being lonely in her room, because coming home every weekend would have disappointed her parents terribly. But, truth be told, Frisk wasn't interested in seeing the world. She believed that people left home because they wanted something more, and Frisk had everything she ever wanted. Friends, family, a happy home. That is all she ever dreamed of when she climbed Mt. Ebott alone, all those years ago, and now she had all that and a lot more.

Only now, as she looked down at the pregnancy test in her hands, she realized that she had something she didn't want, as well as a whole new host of reasons why she should have never left home.

"HUMAN. WHY ARE YOU SO SILENT. IS SOMETHING WRONG?" Papyrus asked, turning his attention on her instead of the road. He had driven the three hours to come get her, as Frisk hadn't brought her car to college, and while she hadn't meant to give her friend the silent treatment, she wasn't exactly being the best company either.

"I'm okay, Pap. Just a lot on my mind."

"WELL IT IS A LONG DRIVE, SO GO AHEAD AND UNLOAD IT."

She couldn't tell Papyrus. Not until she decided how she was going to handle this. Papyrus was the best friend she could ask for, but he was horrible at keeping secrets.

Only that begged the question. Who could she tell first? Her first thought was to tell her Sans, because she told him most everything (over skype, every night that he wasn't working and she wasn't partying, to the constant annoyance of her roommate), but this? She wasn't sure.

"YOU FAILED A CLASS, DIDN'T YOU? I, PAPYRUS, HAVE NEVER FAILED AT ANYTHING, BUT I AM SURE THAT IT REALLY BOTHERS YOU TO HAVE –"

"I didn't fail, Pap, but thanks. I did pretty well this semester."

"I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT! THIS CALLS FOR A CELEBRATORY DINNER. WHERE SHOULD WE STOP?"

"I'm not really hungry. Maybe later though." However, she really, really had to pee. Which was annoying, because they had only been on the road about half an hour and she knew she had gone before they left. "Can we hit a rest stop though?"

"NO GAS STATION SNACKS. I CAME PREPARED WITH HEALTHY ALTERNATIVES."

Frisk loved Papyrus, she really did, but it was going to be a long drive.

Frisk sat politely though the homecoming dinner that her parents had prepared, even enjoying herself at times, especially when Pap and Undyne got up to their usual antics. She had missed them all so much, after all, and even with everything that had gone on the past semester weighing heavily upon her, she felt more relaxed than she had in ages. She had missed being home terribly, after all, and while Fall Break hadn't been that long ago, it wasn't nearly enough.

She looked up from her reverie to see Sans watching her, a glimmer of concern on her old friend's face. Her stomach entertained a small flutter of emotion, which wasn't new, but wasn't helping matters, because every time his eyes met hers, she had wanted to tell him everything. She smiled, hoping to dispel his concern, but should have known better.

"Why the long face, Frisk?" Sans asked. "I thought you were a human, not a horse."

"SANS." Papyrus was unamused as usual, but Frisk chuckled at the joke. "IF THEY WON'T TELL ME THEIR PROBLEM, THEY CERTAINLY AREN'T GOING TO TELL YOU."

"Are you having problems, dear?" Her mother asked, concerned. Suddenly all eyes were on her. Her stomach turned and she felt a heaviness in her chest.

"I- uh – um- no. I'm just… heh… tired. Just tired. Long semester, you know." She was breathing harder, but she tried not to let the panic show. The last thing she needed was for her panic attacks to rear their ugly head. But she had beaten them down once, and she could do it again. She hoped.

"Of course, dear. We won't keep you up too late then." Her father said, and never had she been so grateful for him. Of course, he knew something was up, but her parents always knew.

"Thanks. I uh, didn't get a lot of sleep while studying for finals and it's finally catching up to me." She said, which was a blatant lie. Frisk had barely studied, but the exhausted college student gambit seemed to be working.

While Frisk was never really happy to see her friends leave, it was nice to be able to retreat to her room and collapse on her bed. Her old room was exactly as she left it, slightly cluttered and smelling softly of cinnamon (she made a mental note to thank her mom for picking up more cinnamon wax for her wax burner).

She was half asleep on her bed, when she heard a soft knock at the door. She considered pretending to actually be asleep, but against her better judgement, murmured "Come in."

To her surprise, it was Sans, rather than her parents. She sat up to give her room to sit by her.

"I know you think you need your beauty sleep, but I realized I forgot to give you your going away present when you left for college, and figured it was time to get around to it."

Frisk giggled at her lazy friend. "You could have saved yourself some shopping and made it a Gyftmas present at this point."

"I didn't think of that. Nevermind then."

"Nope, you're already told me, now you have to get me another present." She grinned.

He handed her a small package wrapped in newspaper comics. "Eh, I could always just add my name to whatever Papyrus gets you when he isn't looking."

"I'm surprised you don't do that anyway."

"It's because he caught on that I'd been doing it, and now he hides them. It's more of a hassle to find his weird hiding places than just go shopping. Besides, I already got you something for Gyftmas."

Frisk felt a slight blush in her cheeks. "You really don't need to get me anything, but thank you."

"Stop pretending you don't love it when people buy you things and unwrap your gift."

"If you insist." She replied, doing as he asked. It was a framed photo of her and Sans crossing the finish line of the three-legged race they had (by some grace of god) won at the Royal Picnic last summer. In the background, she could see Alphys struggling to keep up with Undyne – who was gaining on them, and Papyrus dragging along Mettaton, who was waving at the paparazzi alongside the race route rather than pulling his own weight. Frisk couldn't smiled wide at the memory. "It's perfect. Thank you."

"I figured you could keep it on your desk to remind yourself that you're a champion."

"I don't know if winning a three-legged race makes me a champ, but thanks."

"Well I'm always rooting for you." Good old Sans. He always knew what to say.

Overcome by emotion, Frisk wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in the space between the fuzz of his coat and the bones of his neck. He held her tight, and for the first time since she had left for college, she felt like everything was going to be okay.

"I missed you." She murmured.

"I missed you too." He replied pulling her closer. Her stomach fluttered again.

"Do you want to tell me what's wrong?" He asked after they had pulled apart.

She frowned, looking down at the hand that had almost instinctively landed on her stomach. Traitor. "It's nothing."

"Frisk, I haven't seen you so bummed out since your hamster died."

She had forgotten all about Snowflake. The little white ball of fluff lasted all of a week in her care. Which wasn't exactly a comforting memory, considering the looming responsibility. Of course, she had been about twelve or thirteen at the time. "This is ah, a little more serious than that."

"Ah, I had figured your dorm goldfish had died. Anything other than that isn't in my area of expertise. Guess you're on your own."

"I had realized that you were an expert pet mourner."

"Papyrus has had 13 fish and 3 pet snails to date. And an ant farm."

"I thought he still had the ant farm."

"The ant farm, yes. The ants, no."

"I knew the ants at that picnic looked familiar."

"We won't go into that. Anyway, what was the fish's name?"

"You just want me to tell you my problems so you can prove Papyrus wrong."

He shrugged. "You caught me."

Frisk smiled. Maybe she could tell Sans. He had been her partner in crime since day one, after all. And while he may not be the most understanding, at least at first, he would be the most supportive. And, most importantly, least likely to spill the beans.

"Can you keep a secret?"

"We both know I'm too lazy to tell anyone." Coming from anyone else, it wouldn't be reassuring. But from her favorite skeleton, she knew she was in good hands.

Only now, her voice caught in her throat, panic rushing to the surface as she considered saying the words out loud.

"Breathe, Frisk." He took her hand in his. His touch was as soothing as ever. "Whatever it is, it's going to be okay. I promise."

She took a deep breath, and then another.

"Slowly."

She couldn't believe she was being coached in breathing by a being with no lungs, but it wasn't the first time. He did breathe himself, after all. Somehow. "Promise you won't judge?" She half whispered.

"Of course not."

"I'm pregnant."

Oh god she had said it. Her throat tightened up completely and her vision went fuzzy.

"Frisk, breathe." He grabbed both of her hands tight, grounding her. "Breathe, sweetheart. Breathe. Hey, focus. Focus on me, okay? I know I'm not the cutest, but I'm better than whatever you're panicking about." He pressed his forehead to hers, holding the back of her head in one hand. She nodded slowly, her breath coming out in squeaky little gasps.

"I see that violin in your throat still needs tuned. I thought your college had a music program."

Frisk smiled weakly, one hand pressed to her hammering chest.

She was mostly calm before Sans brought back up the subject that had panicked her. "So you're having a kid, you said?"

She nodded.

"Frisk, that's… that's pretty awesome. You've already found your soulmate. And I know it's a little early to have kids, like Undyne and Alphys are just starting to consider it, and we haven't even met the lucky human, but uh-" Despite the fact that he was encouraging her, he seemed a little said.

Wait. Soulmate?

"Sans, uh, humans don't have kids the same way monsters do. Like, I know monster pregnancies are a result of love and magic, rather than-" She knew that most monsters could have sex too, even though it was usually quite different from the human variety and didn't result in children, but.. how was she going to explain this one. "The human way is a bit more, um, physical in nature and not necessarily involving love.. at all.." She avoided Sans' gaze, shame burning on her cheeks.

He was silent for a moment, apprehension creeping into Frisk's chest. "That explains why there's so many humans."

"Thanks, Sans." Tears bit into her eyes.

"That's not what I meant, hon." What was with the pet names tonight? She wasn't that fragile.

"I know. It's just… I feel so stupid."

"Hey. Come here." He pulled her into his lap, and she rested her head on his shoulder. She loved the way they cuddled when one of them was upset, their safe closeness was one of the best parts of their friendship. "Tell me what happened, okay?"

"It's not important." She murmured into his shoulder. "I was at a party, and I was awkward and lonely and he was cute and confident." It wasn't the first time she had slept with someone she barely knew.. she had been making that decision a lot, while trying to find her new place in the world. "I don't even remember his name." She was pretty certain she knew which one it was, but that didn't matter, really.

"I can't really imagine you ever being awkward and lonely."

"I uh, kept that part out of our Skype calls. I didn't want you to know how unhappy I really was."

He petted her back, and she felt herself getting drowsy. She hadn't been sleeping very well lately, but curled up in her best friend's arms, she wasn't sure how well she could stay awake. "I could tell, but I figured if something was really wrong, you'd tell me."

"I know. I should have…" She paused. "I just figured if I kept going to parties, I'd wake up one day and I'd have friends." She let the tears fall. "I knew leaving was a bad idea."

"Hey, at least you gave it the old college try. But you're home now, with your real friends, and that's the important thing."

"You're the best." She gave him a squeeze.

"Nah, I'm just really good at pretending."

I hope you enjoyed, and please be sure to review and tell me what you think!

-TigerLily