Stanley was standing in the hallway of his and his brother's home, holding the phone to his ear. He was trying his best to keep the other speaker calm. But it didn't really seem to have any effect.
"Please Cathy, wind down some will you. I'm sure that things will go back to normal soon enough."
"No you don't understand, Stanley. We can't handle it, this, anymore. Over and over again we have tried to understand, to have patience, to get any help that is possible to get. But nothing is working." The voice in the phone broke down in to blubbering sobs, making any other comments none understandable.
"Hey hey it will be okay. There is no need to cry, you will be fine, everything will be fine." More crying but in a higher pitch. "Even if things seems bad now so doesn't it mean that things will remain that way. Look, what about I do you a favor, can you let your brother do you a favor Cathy?"
There were some hiccups but he did get a vague humming of a 'yes'.
"Good. Then what about you let me look after the kid for a while? Send the kiddo over to the Mystery shack to spend the summer. Maybe the new scenery will help and if it in the end doesn't so will you and your mate at least gotten a break from it all. Is this okay for you, do you think that you can agree to this?"
"Y-yes. T-that sounds g-great." Some sniveling was heard before continuing. "F-fantastic actually. Lets d-do that. I will just inform Tom first. T-thank you Stanley, and sorry for t-troubling you and your b-brother with this."
"Hey what do you have family for? But it will be just me in the start, Ford is on a mission for some university right now, but he will be back somewhere in about the middle of summer."
"Okay. Still thank you."
"Don't mention it." The phone call ended and Stanley went to make some preparations for the guest. He didn't hesitate for a second that they would say no to the offer. His nephew and niece-in-law really do need a break and he is sure they will take it.
It was around two weeks later that he stood by the bus stop, waiting for the child to arrive. The buss came and out came a boy dragging a big pack bag on wheel, he was dressed in shorts, t-shirt, vest, normal shoes and socks, and on top a cap which shadow managed to cover his eyes as he was staring in to the ground.
"Welcome to Gravity Falls kiddo, I'm your great uncle but you can call me Grunkle Stan. Hope you will find this your best summer ever."
"…" The boy wasn't answering but looked over slightly to his side. Stan was a little unnerved by it but waited a beat. The boy chuckled. "You are right Mabel." He looked up smiling as he got eye contact with Stanly. "You forgot the 's' in kiddo Grunkle Stan. Mable and I make 'two' kids so it's plural."
"…Of course, sorry kids Grunkle is getting a little foggy on the whole math thing. Well lets get you settled in then. I prepared the attic as a bedroom for you both so I hope that you can get along well enough for that, Dipper, Mable."
"Sure we can. We have shared a room for the bigger part of our lives anyway. Right Mable?"
"…"
Dipper laughed. "Exactly. Hey Grunkle Stan is it okay for us to explore around the house when we are done putting in the bags?"
"Sure, just be careful that you go to deep in the woods. It can all look the same in there so it's easy to get lost."
"Okay. Mable may not be the most reliable in orientation but you can count on me." He looked over his shoulder. "…" Then he frowned. "That is so not true. I would have gotten us out that time in seconds, if somebody hadn't decided to use the map as a coloring picture."
Stanley simply kept up his smile as he led the boy to the attic. In there stood two beds prepared, one with blue cover and the other with a pink one. He watched as the kid went for the blue bed to put his bag under, while declaring that he was alright with the blue one and had no interest in the pink one. The boy talked some directed towards the pink bed before turning towards Stanley, telling the grown up that 'they' were going out now.
It wasn't until the child was well off out of sight that Stanley let his smile slip. He looked towards the bed with nothing neither on it or under it. "Is it really that bad to let him pretend for just a little while longer? Just because everyone else misses her doesn't mean he have to feel that pain too."
He turned away from the room and went back down again. Hopefully this summer would lead to something that would be good enough for the child to keep with him even after it ends.
