It seemed like any old December day in Dipper and Mabel's hometown. The memories of the mysterious adventures of a quiet little Oregon town known as Gravity Falls had been behind the twins for a couple of months now, and while they hadn't told their parents the full extent as to what all they did there, it sure had been a bumpy ride.

While Mabel always saw on the bright side of everything and would likely go back in a heartbeat, Dipper definitely was happy to be back in his town where all his friends and most of his family were. Which is why he was a little bit disappointed when his parents sat the two of them down and delivered them some news.

"Your father just got a call from his boss. He's pushing a last-minute business trip on both of us." The twins' mom said, twirling her hair with a sigh.

"Like, when exactly?" Dipper questioned, not liking the tone of his mother's voice.

"December 21st through January 2nd."

"WHAT?!"

Dipper and Mabel both hopped out of their seats and yelled out in horror simultaneously.

"But that's..." Mabel started, her normally-happy face turning glum.

"...almost all of Christmas break." Dipper finished, the expression on his face now looking sorrowful as he let out a deep sigh. "So you mean you're both going to be missing Christmas?"

"No, no, don't think of it as 'missing Christmas'." The twins' father stated, forcing himself to smile. Dipper saw where Mabel got her optimistic nature from. "Think of it as simply 'delayed Christmas'. We can still unwrap presents and the like when we get back."

"Yeah, I guess...it just won't be the same, though." Mabel sighed, beginning to go into a Sweater Town-level depression at the thought of not being with her parents on Christmas. "But if you guys aren't here on Christmas, where are we gonna go?"

"We've already spoken with your great-uncle - you know, Grunkle Stan?" The twins' mom said, as the name brought a cringe down Dipper's spine. "He said he would have plenty of room for the two of you."

"Really? Grunkle Stan? Yay!" Mabel yelled, her optimism suddenly flooding back to her. Dipper simply groaned, which Mabel slugged him on the arm for. "Come on, Dipper, you don't like Grunkle Stan?"

"No, no, it's not that." Dipper replied. "I like Grunkle Stan. I just think it'll be weird spending Christmas with him is all..."

"Don't be such a downer, Dipper." Mabel teased, making some sort of raspberry sound with her mouth. "Sure, it's not as great as having Mom and Dad around for Christmas, but if Dad's gotta go on business, there's nothing we can do about it."

"Yeah, Dipper, why can't you be more like your sister when it comes to things like this?" The twins' dad questioned, looking at Dipper and speaking to him in a tone that made him very uncomfortable. Dipper knew that it was a good-natured statement, but he and his sister were two completely different people.

"Honey..." The twins' mom whispered to their father, realizing that Dipper was feeling uncomfortable. Their dad said nothing more as their mother continued on. "I'm sure you guys will have plenty of fun in Gravity Falls, and when you get back we'll all have plenty of fun together as a family."

"Tell ya what," The twins' father started, "how about when we get back we can build one of those big gingerbread castle kits?"

Mabel gasped in joy. "You mean the really expensive ones Mom never lets us buy?"

"Honey, I don't think-" The twins' mom started.

"Yes, of course!" The twins' father exclaimed, seemingly just as excited as Mabel was. Dipper and his mom seemed to be on the same side; that much money for something that'd be eaten whole in three days top just seemed silly.

After Mabel and her father got lost in their own conversation about giant gingerbread castles, the twins' mom let out a sigh and placed her hand on Dipper's shoulder.

"I'm really sorry about this, Dipper." Dipper's mom said to him in a low tone. "But hey, hopefully Santa will be able to find you in Gravity Falls and you'll get that nice detective kit you wanted, right?"

Dipper could tell she was forcing herself to smile, so he forced himself to smile back just so she'd feel a bit better. They both knew the situation sucked. Grunkle Stan was a total cheapskate, and would likely end up giving them toothpaste or something like that in their stockings.

Plus there was the whole Santa thing. As Dipper was starting to get a bit older, his belief in Santa was starting to slip a bit. Certain parts just weren't adding up; for example, how a big fat guy like Santa Claus managed to slip down their small chimney without waking the whole house up.

Dipper kept his disbelief a secret, though. It would only make Mabel think of him as even more of a fuddy-duddy, and it'd possibly have to make him accept the fact that he wasn't a kid anymore. So he pretended to believe fully in St. Nick, and simply let out a"Yeah, hopefully..." to his mother, still forcing himself to smile.

The next three days were a blur to Dipper. These three days were the last days of school before winter break - but Dipper really had lost all interest in break. He'd only have a day and a half to relax at home, and then he'd be shipped off again.

Mabel, on the other hand, was bouncing off the walls, constantly revising her Christmas list, eating candy canes, and forcing the living room television to play nothing but made-for-television Christmas specials. At least Grunkle Stan wouldn't put up with that.

But as far as Dipper was concerned, this was going to be a very, very crummy Christmas. Grunkle Stan was likely coming up with some ridiculous Christmas-themed tourist trap that they'd all be slaving away at for weeks nonstop, and it simply wasn't going to feel like the holidays.

If only he had known what he knew later about Gravity Falls and Christmas time...

A/N: And so begins our holiday fic, with Dipper having a bit of the case of the blues. However, I can promise that things will look up again for him in future chapters.

If you liked this chapter, please R&R. It'd really make my day. See you all next time!