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Mettaton stared flatly at the cereal box that, just a minute ago, had been concealed by wrapping paper. He looked up at Undyne - who, according to the tag, had been responsible for giving him the present.
"Bran flakes, darling? Really?"
"But they've got a bold new taste!" After laughing for a second, Undyne smiled at him. "Seriously, though, look inside the box. I promise there's no cereal in there."
Reaching inside, Mettaton felt around for something - and his hand brushed against some jewel cases. Upon gently sliding the cases out of the box, he found several CD albums belonging to a couple of bands he'd wanted to listen to.
"Oh...?"
Undyne nodded. "And these are supposed to be high-quality masterings. I don't know that much about audio stuff, and I didn't know if it mattered that much to you, but just in case..."
With his eyes scanning the song listings on each album, Mettaton smiled. "Thank you so much, Undyne. This is going to be quite lovely!"
Papyrus gave Undyne a confused glance. "Was the cereal box really necessary, though?"
"Yep!" Undyne snickered. "Come on, that look on his face was priceless!"
Nervously laughing, Alphys grabbed the next present, a rather large box, and handed it to Papyrus. "This one's for you, Papyrus. It's from me."
Papyrus took the box and began to unwrap it, soon discovering that it was actually two boxes. "Nyeh?" Once enough of the wrapping paper was off, he pulled out the boxes and looked at them side-by-side; they contained two identical car seat cushions.
"I... I know how much you have to physically work all day, being a mechanic and stuff..." Alphys knew from building Mettaton's bodies that it could be exhausting work - and Papyrus had chosen it for his day job! "So I got you these cushions for your car. You can make them warm - and they're supposed to also have a massage function? I got you two so you could install the other one in the passenger seat, in case Mettaton needed it too."
She soon found herself pulled into a big skeleton hug. "Wowie! Thank you, Alphys!"
Mettaton nodded with a sincere smile, joining in the hug. "Yes, thank you, darling. You're much more thoughtful than you give yourself credit for."
Alphys, sandwiched between her best friend and another good friend of hers, let out another nervous laugh.
This little gift exchange continued for quite a while. Undyne received a set of wrestling DVDs from Papyrus (he said it would help her study different techniques), while Mettaton gave her some especially comfortable pillows for when her job as a wrestler left her exhausted. Meanwhile, Mettaton gave Alphys some comfortable and very warm winter clothing - given that Alphys easily felt tired in the cold, she definitely appreciated the warmth - and Papyrus gave her some accessories for her prized video game console, including a gift card for the console's virtual store. Papyrus' gift from Undyne was a casual winter outfit that somewhat resembled armor (complete with a sweater that read "Royal Bard", in reference to Papyrus' more recent hobby of playing the guitar), and Alphys gave Mettaton a portable charger, in case he ever ended up somewhere that didn't have a convenient place for him to charge.
Once every present had been revealed, the four spent some time talking to each other about their plans for the holidays. Everyone - not just them - had been quite busy as of late, so the gift exchanges were staggered out for different groups that were available at the time. For some reason, Alphys seemed just a little more nervous than usual, as if she had some kind of secret; Papyrus also seemed apprehensive, but to a lesser extent.
Finally, after watching a Christmas movie together, the couples parted ways for the evening, with Alphys and Undyne driving home. Papyrus stood outside and waved goodbye until he couldn't see them anymore; when he headed back inside, the first thing he saw was Mettaton grinning at him with his hands behind his back.
"Ready for my present, sugar skull?"
Papyrus eagerly nodded, and Mettaton brought out his hands from behind his back, revealing a somewhat small, flat box. Carefully removing the wrapping paper, Papyrus eyed the DVD case, particularly the title on the homemade cover: "Stimming and ASMR with a Killer Robot".
"I filmed quite a few segments for this DVD. I just thought that, if you ever felt tense while I was away, even if it's just for a few hours, you could watch this and think of me."
"Thank you, Mettaton!" Papyrus gave him a big hug; as much as he loved to work hard, he had to admit that there were times when he, too, needed a break from things. And knowing that Mettaton made a DVD just to help him relax made him feel very special.
"You are very welcome, my beautiful sweetie." Mettaton gave Papyrus' forehead a few kisses.
After a few minutes of cuddling like this, it was time for Papyrus to give Mettaton his gift. He headed up to his and Mettaton's room for a brief minute before returning downstairs with a small pouch.
"Oh? What's this?" Mettaton raised an eyebrow; what could be in a pouch that small? The only thing he could immediately think of was jewelry - and those usually came in boxes, not pouches.
Papyrus handed him the pouch. "Open it and see!"
Mettaton did so, and upon seeing two flat objects inside, he was initially confused. As he took them out and inspected them more closely, though, his jaw dropped. "Are these... plane tickets?"
With an eager nod, Papyrus explained. "I heard about this lovely ski resort, and I thought you and I could go there early next year!"
"And just in time for Valentine's Day, too, according to the date..." Mettaton could already imagine himself and Papyrus speeding down the slopes and laughing together, and drinking hot chocolate as the snow fell, and cuddling in front of a fireplace. He got so wrapped up in his little fantasies that he only just remembered that Papyrus was wondering what he thought of it; with that, he looked at Papyrus and smiled. "Well, darling... I think this proves it."
"Nyeh? Proves what?"
Mettaton threw his arms around Papyrus and pulled him onto the couch. "That I have the best husband in the world, of course!"
"O-oh!" Papyrus let out a laugh. "Are you sure of that? Because I'm pretty sure I have the best husband in the world!"
With a chuckle, Mettaton kissed Papyrus a few more times. "Let's just say we're a gift to each other..." He shifted his position until he and Papyrus were comfortably cuddling on the couch before pulling up a blanket. "Merry Christmas, my love."
"Merry Christmas, my beautiful, special star..."
Papyrus closed his eyes, enjoying the physical and emotional warmth as Mettaton began to softly hum a Christmas song.
"Mew Mew Kissy Cutie: The Movie? Midnight premiere?"
Undyne couldn't help but laugh at her wife's loss of composure. "I thought you'd like that, Alphy! And this is supposed to be the big-screen debut of one of Mettaton's cousins, so it's really gonna be awesome!"
"Thank you, Undyne!" Alphys wrapped her arms around her and held her close as they lay on the bed; all the while, her own soul was gently pounding. She had something very important to tell Undyne, and the time to tell her was fast approaching.
Oh god, I hope she's ready for this... I know she wants this, but what if she's not ready for it right now? What if it's too soon, or what if she... what am I saying? Of course she wouldn't give up. But still--
She suddenly yelped as she felt her wife's finger boop her nose.
"Did the excitement go to your head, nerd?" Undyne playfully laughed and kissed Alphys' head-crest.
Alphys let out a laugh of her own, though a little more nervous. "I... I just... still have to give you your present, don't I?"
"If it's ready, then yeah, lay it on me!" Undyne put her hands behind her head and stared up at the ceiling. "But if it's not ready, then don't worry. I know it'll be awesome when it's finally here!"
But what if it's both at the same time? Regardless, Alphys cleared her throat. "Okay!!! Well then!!! ...Can you give me your hand, Undyne?"
"Sure." Undyne let Alphys grab her hand.
"And close your eye?"
She did so. "It's closed."
Undyne could feel Alphys gently moving her hand before setting it down on something... something familiar.
"You can look now."
She opened her eye, and saw that her hand was resting right on Alphys' stomach. As her mind put two and two together, she found herself looking back and forth between her hand and her wife's face.
"You... you mean you're...?"
Alphys nodded, and that was all she needed to do.
With a bright laugh, Undyne pulled her close and gave her some firm cuddles, kissing her all the while. "This is awesome! We're gonna be the coolest moms ever!"
As she returned the cuddles, Alphys felt some tears leaking out of her eyes. Ever since she'd cured the Amalgamates, she and Undyne had wanted to start a family of their own. They'd been trying for nearly a couple of months at this point - and now, their wish was going to come true. Alphys had just recently found out, and she couldn't think of a better Christmas gift than this good news.
Undyne seemed to agree, pulling Alphys closer and gently stroking her stomach. "Oh my god, Alphys, I love you so much..."
"I love you, too, Undyne..." Alphys trembled a little. "I just hope I can be a good mother."
"As long as you do your best, I'm sure everything's gonna be just fine."
Smiling from the reassurance, Alphys gave Undyne a kiss of her own. "Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, nerd." With a grin of her own, Undyne looked down at Alphys' stomach, continuing to stroke it. "And Merry Christmas to you, too. This time next year, you're gonna get to celebrate it with us! We can't wait for you to meet everyone - your awesome uncle Papyrus, your grandpa Asgore, your cool cousin Frisk..."
As Undyne continued talking about her hopes for the future, Alphys smiled. Her life hadn't always been easy, but with the help of all of those people - her wife included - she'd been growing more and more confident in herself.
Eventually, the three of them drifted off into a comfortable sleep, eagerly anticipating what tomorrow would bring.