"Dipperrrrrr…" Mabel whispered, lightly rubbing her dormant lover's shoulder, who laid on his side, facing away from her. He wouldn't budge.
"Dipper! Dip! Dippy! Dippo! Dip-man! Dippingsauce! Wake up!" Her hushed please were quickly becoming less and less quiet, and her nudging turning into a not-so-gentle shaking of his arm. With a weary yawn, Mabel's hairless teddy bear stirred, pushing himself up and supporting himself with his two elbows.
"Jesus, Mabes, what time is it?" groaned Dipper, glancing at the digital alarm clock on the drawer beside the bed.
1:00 A.M.
"Fourth Meal time." replied Mabel in a demanding voice. Dipper turned his head to look her in the eyes. She was staring right back at him, laying on her side, propped up on one arm, looking suspiciously like a beautiful French girl, even in her two-sizes-too-big Ducktective tee.
"Little Sam is hungry and so am I" she pouted. Dipper tilted his head to the side, brow furrowed, as if to utter an unspoken "Are you serious?"
"You know I have work today. In like. Seven hours. Right?" he mumbled. Mabel dipped her head in a little nod, mouth and eyebrows tilted into a smug smirk, brought her free hand to her stomach, and gave her sizable belly a satisfied pat.
Dipper let out a defeated sigh.
"What do you want?" he grumbled.
"Chinese. Preferably dumplings. Ooh! And rice! Fried Rice!" she exclaimed, the promise of food exciting her very pregnant body a bit too much. Dipper slid off the bed,
"You know we have a leftover cheeseburger, half a burrito from tonight, two pints of Ben & Jerry's, and at least five slices of pizza from yesterday in the fridge" Dipper asked, practically rhetorically, knowing full-well that Mabel knew full-well that this was the case, and that arguing against this was a lost cause. He had already pulled on his jeans and slipped into his sneakers, and was in the process of zipping up his sweatshirt.
"Mhm" Mabel hummed. She had already found her bedside bag of Doritos, which she had been saving for nighttime Hunger Emergencies. Dipper fished in his pocket for his keys. He found them quickly, and, pulling on his Pine Tree hat, he admired Mabel, stuffing her face with corn chips, fingers and mouth stained with orange powder already. He couldn't help but stare.
"Oh shit, you've got the chips out. This is serious, then" he remarked flatly. Mabel nodded enthusiastically between crunches, forcing Dipper to smile despite himself. He turned for the door, fumbling with his keychain until he found the remote key to his car.
"You're lucky you're so beautiful, Mabel, else I wouldn't torture myself like this for you," Dipper muttered under his breath, knowing full well that wasn't true. Mabel's heart fluttered, smiling inwardly at how sweet her Little Dipper was. And just as quickly as this feeling came, it was replaced with cravings for Chinese food.
"Don't forget the dumplings Dip-dop!" she called as Dipper closed the door behind him. He shook his head at himself.
"The things I do for you…" thought Dipper.
Seven closed restaurants, two refusals of service, one hundred and twelve texts from Mabel changing and confirming the order, and being pulled over by the local police for suspicious activity, Dipper finally had in his hand the plastic bag containing the key to Mabel's happiness. This included an order of chicken fried rice, beef Lo Mein, two orders of beef Jiaozi, a crabrangoon, and of course, an order of fried dumplings.
Eye sunken, bones aching, palms and neck sweaty, Dipper kicked open the door to the house and shouted to Mabel, "I have returned, and I bring fourth meal!"
Mabel's eyes lit up as she saw her Dippingsauce burst into the room triumphantly. She gave him a sheepish grin and scratched the back of her head. Truthfully, she had lost her craving for Chinese food a good hour into the wait for Dipper's return.
She stared at him and saw his desperate, expecting look, waiting for her approval. Now that the scent of Chinese food and its fried greasy goodness had gotten to her, she had found her appetite again. She dropped the ice cream scoop she had been using to shovel Rocky Road into her mouth. She couldn't just turn her nose up at the food Dipper had spent so much blood, sweat and tears trying to get her. She put on her best excited smile and cheered for him.
"Thankyouthankyouthankyou Dipper!" she squealed, snatching the plastic bag, ripping it in half and popping open the Styrofoam container to the fried rice first. Mabel took a moment to greedily take in the look and scent of this meal before digging in. She devoured the rice, slurped the noodles, and swallowed each dumpling in one bite each.
Dipper smirked contentedly, opening his own small container of orange chicken, eating at a much slower pace than his pregnant lover. He had done well.