Chapter Text
Ford gripped the dash as Stan's El Diablo screeched into the parking lot.
“Stan! We're not going to help anyone if you kill us before we get there!”
“I’m not going to apologise for being excited. Now get your butt out of the car. We're here.”
“Remind me why I agreed to let you drive?” Ford mumbled to himself as he got out of the car.
“Cause your car got eaten by ‘Steve,’ and you’re not aloud to touch the Stanley Mobile. You can complain all you want, but you’re more reckless behind the wheel then me.”
“I am not!”
“Are too, now let’s go!”
“Are too..’ How old are you, nine?”
“Hurry up Poindexter! If we miss this, I’ll hold it against you forever!”
“Alright. I’m coming!”
After pulling a brightly colored gift bag out of the trunk, he followed Stan in to the hospital. He wasn’t surprised to see Stan at the welcome desk, already badgering the receptionist. When he saw Ford, he grabbed his arm and practically dragged him to the nearest elevator.
“The lady at the desk said we can’t go in ‘til it’s over but she gave me the floor where their room is so we can wait in the waiting room on that floor.”
“That's probably where everyone is anyway. Well, expect David. He'd want to be with Linda.”
“Heh, yeah if he didn’t get kicked out for getting sick. Can’t this thing go any faster?”
“Stan, these things can take hours. I doubt we'll miss anything.”
“You said that at the border. Still doesn’t change anything.”
Ford laughed to himself. He was just as excited as Stan. It wasn’t everyday you got to be a part of something like this. Through, he supposed, if you were a nurse or doctor,(medical doctor that is) that statement was no longer true.
On the way to the waiting room, they passed the giant window that let relatives look into the nursery. Stan waved at a cute nurse that was cuddling a newborn. Ford rolled his eyes, good naturedly.
Really? She's got to be twenty years younger than you.
‘More like sixty. I was waving at that cute baby.’
We’re not that old.
'Speak for yourself. Forty-eight sure feels old.’
We’re only Forty-six. Now I know you’re doing it on purpose.
They rounded the corner into the waiting room. Shermie was the first to see them. He smiled as he limped over, leaning heavily on his cane.
“You made it! I was starting to worry about you little twerps.”
“Shermie, we’re taller than you,” Ford deadpanned.
“Maybe. But you're always gonna be my baby brothers.”
“You shouldn’t have been worried,” Stan added with a shrug. “Even when ignoring the speed limit, it still takes a couple hours to get from the middle of Oregon to this part of California. What did you want us to do? Build a teleporter and beam ourselves directly here? Don’t answer that. Ford already tried.”
“It kind of worked.”
“The goat has two heads now, Ford. Plus it could only go five feet away.”
“That qualifies as 'kind of worked’.”
Stan rolled his eyes at that and choose not point all the many ways that no, it does not qualify as ‘kind of worked.’
“Is Ma here yet?” he asked, in an attempt to change the subject.
“Yeah. She had to step outside after the doctor told her she couldn't smoke in here and Margaret went to look for coffee.”
“Yeah, we both get that.”
“Has she said anything else about moving out here? You know, since…”
“Since the funeral? No. I don't think she's ready to think about that yet. It's only been a few months after all.”
“I don’t blame her. It took us weeks to even move after what happened.”
“Sherman Daniel Pines! You sit down before that leg gives out!”
They turned to the door to see their mother standing there, hands on her hips.
“Ma, I’m fine. I told you wat my physical therapist at the VA said, sitting down all the time hurts it more than anything.”
“Is he being stubborn again?” Margaret came up behind her mother-in-law, holding a small tray of styrofoam cups.
“Yes. He's just like his father.” Their mother smiled fondly. “I do wish the old grouch had hung on long enough to meet his great-grandbabies.”
“Wait,” Stan said. “ Babies? Plural? As in, more than one?”
“Shermie didn't tell you boys?” Margaret asked. “Linda's having twins. They’ve known for a couple of months now, so I’m surprised.”
“And no one thought tell us that the next set of Pines twins was going to be born why…” Stan asked dubious.
“It must've... slipped my mind?” Shermie said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.
“Uh-uh,” Margaret said teasingly, as she stepped into the room. “So, how are things in Oregon? Have you found Sasquatch yet, or whatever it is you're looking for?”
Stan cut in before Ford could answer. “No. But there's all kinds of other weird crap up there. Oh, the gnomes wanted us to apologise to you for the whole Queen thing.”
Margaret laughed. “How are those pointy headed jerks?”
“Same. Short and annoying.”
“Tell Jeff 'no hard feelings’. And I’ll bake him a blueberry pie next time I’m up there. How about your students, Stan. Any future pros?”
“Probably not.”
“You should've seen it when he set up a ladies’ self defense class,” Ford said. “I never knew there were so many single ladies in Gravity Falls!”
Their laughter was cut short by the appearance of a nurse in purple scrubs. “Pines family?” she asked with a bright smile. “If you'll come with me, I have a couple of little ones waiting to meet you.”
“So soon?” Shermie questioned. “You said there was complications.”
“ Complications? ” Ford and Stan echoed together.
“Um, yeah. Apparently, Mason, that's the boy,” Shermie quickly clarified. “The cord was wrapped around his neck.”
“We thought we were going to have to perform a C-section,” The nurse continued in a slow calm voice. “But, --it was the strangest thing-- it looked like his sister untangled him. You've got a couple of fighters on your hands, Mr. Pines.”
They followed the nurse to a room. She knocked on the door before poking her head in. “You have visitors,” she said. “Feeling up to it?”
“Of course,” David said as he walked to the door. He hugged Shermie and Margaret. “Linda is still a bit loopy from the epidural, but you gotta see these kids. They're beautiful.”
“They take after their mom, then?” Stan asked, smiling to show he was teasing.
“Uncle Stan, you never change,” David said, playfully punching his arm.
Stan laughed softly as they followed David. He led them over to a crib where two newborns lay, one wrapped in a pink blanket, the other in blue.
“Everyone, meet Mabel and Mason Pines.”
'Mabel?' Stan directed the thought to his twin. ‘That sounds awfully close to..’
I know. That was on my mind as well.
“Uhh, why’d you name them that?” Stan asked only vaguely nervous. “Is there a reason or…”
“Well as you know, it’s a Pines-Family-Turdiation to name twins with like sounding names, so as soon as we found out we were having twins, Linda and I started discussing like sounding names. Mabel is actually named after Linda’s grandmother. It really seems to suit her too.” He picked up the boy--Mason--and handed him to Ford. “Cradle his head.” David instructed before returning the cribs to retrieve the girl, who he handed to Stan.
Stan. Look at this!
'What?’
Stan peeked over his brother's shoulder. On the baby's forehead, was a perfect shape of the Big Dipper constellation.
“Is that-” Stan didn’t finish, knowing exactly what it was.
Ford nodded anyway. “The Big Dipper.”
“Interesting birthmark, huh?” David asked. “Linda's already called him her 'Star’, but I’ve been calling him 'Dipper’.”
“They’re both my little twins of the stars. My precious little two. David, let’s give them middle names after stars or planets! They can be our little Astral Twins.” Linda muttered in a slightly tippzy and daysed voice.
“That sounds perfect.” David kissed his wife gently on her forehead. “How about Polaris for Mason, since it's the beginning of the Big Dipper constellation?”
“We can give Mabel, Venus or Ursa. the Big Dipper is a part of the Ursa Major constellation after all. But Venus is such a nice name and it represents the Morning and Evening Star. Some of the Brightest Stars and stars that are seen first almost every day at Dawn and Dusk. She’s already so bright that she can light up at night or in the day.”
“Venus sounds perfect.”
“Mabel Venus Pines, and Mason Polaris Pines. Perfect.”
As if in response, Mabel yawned and her eyelids fluttered slowly open. She stretched her arm up as she yawned, and ended up socking Stan right in the jaw.
“Ow. This girl's got one heck of a Right Hook.”
David laughed. “Yeah. She's a protector. Dipper started crying, but stopped right after she grabbed his hand.”
‘Remind you of anyone, Sixer?’
I’ll admit, I’m starting to wonder.
“Does Map..uh, Mabel have any neat birthmarks?” Ford asked. He ignored the dirty look stan shot him at the near slip.
“Oh yes,” The nurse replied. “Her’s is on her back. She has to mirrored birthmarks there that I think looks like twin mermaid tail fins, but the doctor thought it looked like butterfly wings. They’re quite large for most birthmarks.”
“You’ve got to see it,” David said as he came up and turned the baby slightly in Stan's arms and pulled the blanket down. “She's our little angel.”
The darker skin of the marks covered almost all the little girl's back, being seperated by her spine.
'You don't think these kids could be…’
‘Yeah. Let’s talk about this later.’ “Wanna trade?” Stan asked aloud .
“You two have had your turns. Let their great-grandma have a chance,” their mother said, coming between the older twins.
“But I want to hold Mason while he’s still that cool blue color.” Stan objected.
“And don't forget about grandparents,” Shermie added.
David laughed again. “Why don't you just toss 'em around like you're playing Hot Potato?”
“Not with my babies,” Linda murmured sleepily.
“I was joking, dear don’t worry I won’t let anything happen to-- Stan where are you going with Mason? How did you even get a hold of Mason?”
Stan stopped at the door. “Um, you have to take babies for walks, right?”
Ford took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “He's not a puppy, Stan.”
“Actually taking babies for walks or trips outside is very soothing for them,” The nurse interjected. She quickly turned her gaze into a sharp glare. “But not until they’re older. They have to be with the mother right now.”
“Eh. Can't blame a guy for trying.” ‘I’m still not letting go of him yet and anyone who tries will have to fight me!’
If you insist, but the smart money's on Ma.
‘‘No, she’ll go after you first. She’s always wanted a daughter. Through it might not be so much as her fight you as so much as her fighting Mabe l. Mabel really seems to like your hand. Don’t see her letting go of that anytime soon.
Ford looked down to see Mabel's tiny hands wrapped around his extra finger and middle finger, a smile on her face. She was clutching it rather tightly to her chest and cooed at him when she saw him watching.
Well, it's fitting. I believe I’m firmly wrapped around her fingers. Only makes sense for her to hold mine.
‘I’m fine with kidnapping them and taking ‘em back to orgen if you are.’
We are not kidnapping infants. We will, however, extend them an open invitation to visit.
'Fair enough.’ “Hey, if you ever need a morally-dubious Babysitter, feel free to give us a call. We’ll be here as soon as we can! And you can let them come visit whenever they want!”
“When they're a little older,” David said. “The fresh air in Oregon will be good for them.”
“ I hate to cut this short,” the nurse interrupted, “but Mrs. Pines needs her rest, as do the little ones.”
“Yeah, me and Ford have to book a motel for the night anyway.”
“You know you're more than welcome to stay with Margaret and me,” Shermie said, standing with a wince. “We’ve got plenty of room.”
“No I think a private room would be better. We have some things we need to work out.”
“Alright. But you're still coming to dinner tomorrow night, right?”
“I don’t think so,” answered Ford with a sad smile. “We want to be back before night fall so we’ll have to leave early. We will be here for breakfast though. Sorry we’ll miss the, what was it you were calling it? Naming-gathering?”
David shrugged. “That works. We just wanted to have special dinner to celebrate the Twins. They’re too young to have a birthday party, besides today’s been enough of an ordeal. Since neither of us are religious, we wanted the party to be just about them coming into the world being given new names. Without everything that comes with a true Christening.”
“Makes sense.”Stan said with a small shrug.
“Well, sorry we will have to miss it.” Ford said again handing Mabel gently over to the nurse. Stan started to leave, but stopped when Ford cleared his throat.
“Oh, right. He's so little, I forgot I had him.” He sheepishly handed Mason to the nurse, trying to avoid her disapproving glare.
They pulled into the driveway of their house in Gravity Falls in the early evening.
“Nice to see Fiddlenerd didn't turn the place into a giant robot,” Stan said as he climbed out of the car. He stretched, not liking the way he heard his back pop, but he let himself believe it was just due to all those hours in the car. “Guess we should start unpacking huh? Ford?”
He looked up to see Ford, leaning on the car watching the sunset. “It's funny how things work out, isn't it?”
Stan nodded and turned to watch the orange and pink hues. There was going to be a harsh storm tomorrow, he could see the clouds on the horizon, but right now the sky was gorgeous. “Yeah. It is.” He chuckled to himself with a small shake of his head. “The universe is nothing if not ironic, ya’know?”
“This time, they get to be regular kids. After everything they went through, they deserve, no. They earned that.”
“Yeah they really did. They sure are something aren’t they? I mean, wow . Reincarnation. Never thought that salamander was completely serious.”
“Neither did I, to be perfectly honest.”
They stood in silence for a while watching the sky change. Then Stan muttered something just under his breath that Ford didn’t quite catch.
“I’m sorry, Stan. I didn't hear that.”
“Eh, not important,” Stan said turning back to the trunk and pulling out their suitcases. “I’m going to head in. You comin’?”
“In a moment.”
“Alright. Don't stay out too late,” Stan said as the first rumble of thunder sounded across the sky. He paused and frowned at it. Maybe that storm was closer than he thought but that shouldn’t have been right. He shrugged and headed back into their shack. Ford smiled as he watched the last of the sun slip below the horizon. Venus was bright tonight. How fitting.
He was unaware, however, that just beyond the treeline, hidden by the dense foliage, a pair of cold dark eyes were locked firmly on him. A six fingered hand clutched the branch below the figure as it watched Ford turn and walk back inside. As soon as he was completely inside, the figure unfurled a pair of large bat wings and took off into the night.