Summary: Henry frets over Mabel and the triplets.
Henry sat slouched in a hospital waiting room chair. His legs were just a little too long for his feet to rest comfortably on the floor. His elbows spilled over to the neighbouring chair's arm rests. Mabel was in a room down the hall getting examined, after coming in with stomach cramps. She didn't seem too worried, but Henry had worked himself up into a lather worrying about her and the babies.
In the chair to his right Soos sat thumbing through a Women's Day magazine. He had offered to drive him and Mabel to the hospital when Henry's car had refused to start. Every once in a while he'd hum to himself and dogear a page. Henry wondered, with a distant sort of interest, if he planned on taking the magazine with him when they left.
In the chair to his left, Henry could feel the almost presence of his brother in law. Others seemed to feel it too. Even though every other seat was taken, the chair remained unfilled.
Henry closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he was met with the unmistakable grey-scale sprawl of the dreamscape. Though the vague layout of the hospital remained, his and Dipper's chairs were the only two in the room. The others had all disappeared along with their occupants. Dipper floated an inch or two above his chair in an imitation of sitting. He had the posture of a businessman, legs crossed, one hooked over the other, his hands folded in his lap.
"What have I told you about putting me to sleep without my permission?" Henry asked, crossing his arms over his chest and turning his head to face Dipper. There was a hint of teasing to his voice, punctuated with a steely edge that Dipper couldn't quite place. Dipper tilted his head a bit to the left, and smiled.
"Well Mabs isn't really here to relay my requests," Dipper started. A shadow passed over Henry's face, and the waver in his voice clicked in Dipper's mind. Worry. The trickster grin on Dipper's face melted seamlessly into a soft smile, and his voice lost the sarcastic quality it usually held.
"I just have a quick message."
"Oh, um, okay," Henry said, wondering what was urgent enough to put him asleep, but not enough to tell Mabel. "What is it?" Dipper had to fight down the urge to exclaim 'You're a dork!', to at least attempt to stay serious. A pinched grin passed his face despite his best efforts.
"I'm getting a summon. They're rather," Dipper stopped for a moment. He worked his jaw as if trying to figure out the best adjective to use. His nose wrinkled as words like 'stupid' and 'annoying as hell' rolled through his head. "Persistent." He finished finally, with a flourish of his hand. "I'm going to have to go, so tell Mabel for me if I'm not back by the time she is."
"Why don't you just go tell her yourself?" Henry asked in response. Dipper shifted, an uncomfortable expression settling over his features.
"She's in there getting examined by a gynecologist, so I'll pass." Dipper snarked, rolling his eyes, and sticking his tongue out like a child. "Just tell her."
Before Henry had a chance to respond, he opened his eyes to the blinding florescent white of the real room. He stifled a laugh, and shook his head at the now, empty seat to his left. Henry's mood lifted, and he filled the rest of the wait for Mabel with conversation with Soos. When Mabel came into the waiting room with her doctor, anxiety bloomed in Henry's heart again. He got up and joined her as she said goodbye to the doctor.
"Everything alright?" Henry asked, as the doctor retreated back down the hallway. Mabel smiled, and pulled her sweater back on over her head. The front was knitted with a little extra room, and decorated with three piglets playing.
"Yup!" She cheered, pulling her hair up out of the collar. "Something called 'Braxton-Hick' contractions or something. They're totally normal." Relief flooded Henry, as Soos joined them to leave. She glanced around, and frowned.
"Dipper got summoned." Henry said, soft enough that nobody else in the waiting room would hear. Mabel nodded, and they walked out of the waiting room. Soos dug through his pockets for his keys, the magazine he'd been looking through folded under his arm.
"It was nothing serious, but I'm glad you were worried about me." Mabel smiled, and laced her fingers through Henry's own.