Dipper awoke one morning to the worst pain he had in his life. He was always a bit of a sickly child. He bruised easily, didn't have a strong immune system, and, even when he got a full night's sleep, still had permanent bags under his eyes.

This was different, though. His entire body hurt, especially his side, and he felt like he was burning up and freezing cold at the same time.

He figured that he would need to stay in bed for several days as whatever ailment he had ran its course through his body. He didn't mind too much, though. Unlike his twin sister, he could keep himself occupied reading books and jotting notes down in his journal. He loved exploring the outdoors for the oddities of Gravity Falls (especially with Ford's mentorship), but he was also the type of kid who liked being secluded indoors every now and again. All he needed was some peace and quiet…

"GIVE ME AN W! GIVE ME AN A! GIVE ME A K! GIVE ME AN E! GIVE ME A U! GIVE ME A P! WHAT'S THAT SPELL?"

Dipper groaned. This has been how all his mornings began since Mabel was accepted on the cheerleading team. He usually put up with it because of how happy she was that she made it. But he was not in the mood for it this morning.

Mabel may be energetic, but she was also deeply compassionate. Upon noticing her brother was ill, she snapped out of her cheer routine and went to her brother's side.

"Oh my gosh, Dipper! You look sick, and not the cool type of sick either! Don't worry! Nurse Mabel is here to make you feel better!" she assured as she bounded over to his bedside and began playfully poking and prodding trying to figure out what exactly was wrong.

"Oh…" Dipper moaned. "Not so rough Mabel."

"Rough? I'm hardly touching you," Mabel said becoming even more worried. Dipper wanted to calm her fears, but he felt too bad to make much of an effort.

At that moment, Stan came in. "What's going on kids? Remember today is the anniversary of the shack. I need you two to help out with all the extra customers,"

Mabel playfully raised her eyebrow. "Are we really going to have that much extra business today? I mean it's not like you're having a sale or anything,"

"You know I don't believe in sales. I got something better in mind. This year, you two are gonna be wearing these." Stan pulled two t-shirts from behind his back that read For Every Purchase You Get These Two Adorable Kids Closer to College.

Mabel gave a giggle, but her smile dropped. "I'm sorry, Grunkle Stan, but Dipper's sick, and I've got to be his nurse today."

Stan looked over at Dipper. The poor kid looked awful. Not only did he look terribly sick, but his eyes were pleading Stan for some privacy. He loved his sister and was touched that she was so willing to help him, but sometimes Mabel's "help" could be a bit excessive.

Stan gave the boy a small smile. "You go ahead and rest, champ. Mabel, I really need your help today. Those puppy-dog eyes of yours could sell fire to the Devil. Besides, don't you wanna show off that slight-of-hand technique I taught you?"

Mabel was about to protest that nothing was more urgent than caring for her brother, but Stan cut her off with a compromise.

"Tell you what, you help me out, and I'll let you be Dipper's official caretaker, bringing him soup and checking on him and stuff. Didn't you say you were gonna write some cheers for the shack to annoy…um…I mean inspire the customers to buy more stuff?" Stan figured he could play into Mabel's new found passion.

"I'll be fine, Mabel, I promise," Dipper added.

Mabel didn't want to leave her brother's side, but she also suspected Dipper really wanted some peace and quiet to heal, so really the best way to help him would be to leave him be. "Okay, Grunkle Stan."

"That's my girl, now let's get down there and put the fun in no refunds!" Stan said as he escorted Mabel out the door. Before he followed her, he looked at Dipper. The kid did look seriously ill. He considered canceling the shack's anniversary to get Dipper to a doctor. "You gonna be okay, champ? I can have Wendy drive you to a doctor. Everyone knows she ain't gonna do anything else around here today."

Dipper didn't want to be a bother, and he also didn't want to worry his family. He wanted to show he was strong enough to get through this naturally. "Nah, Stan, go on down and con like there's no tomorrow!"

"Alright, just promise to let me know if you need anything, okay?"

"I promise," Dipper said, but he crossed his fingers. He didn't want to trouble anyone over what he was certain was a simple virus.

"Good, I'll have Mabel bring you some soup later. Don't worry, I'll make sure she knows that I need her back downstairs ASAP," Stan said with a wink.

Dipper smiled. Even though Stan was acting nonchalant, he could tell his adoptive was legitimately concerned about him. "Thanks…Dad."

Hearing Dipper call him that always filled him with pride. He loved both his adopted children equally, but he bonded more naturally with Mabel. He was happy that even though their relationship had a little more road bumps, Dipper has grown to love Stan as his father.

A few hours later, Mabel headed upstairs to bring Dipper his lunch, but when she opened the door she was in for a shock.

Dipper was sweating so hard that his pillow was soaked, and he didn't respond when she spoke to him.

"GRUNKLE STAN!"