Everything looked so different now. The town, the woods, the sky, Stan used to take them all for granted. He supposed it was because he thought he would be seeing them for many more years to come. But now, his days were numbered.

The doctor's words were replaying in his mind.

"Stan, I am very sorry to inform you..."

It was supposed to be a routine checkup.

"So, how long do I have?"

"A few months at the most. I'm sorry, Stan."

He reached the Mystery Shack. Soos was outside giving a tour. Stan decided to stop and watch him. Really watch him. The trees weren't the only thing Stan has under-appreciated in his life.

"Mr. Pines?" Soos spotted him. "What are you doing over there?"

Stan realized how strange it must look for him to be lingering near the edge of the woods. "Sorry, just watching. Don't let me interrupt."

Soos addressed the tour group. "Everyone, this is the original Mr. Mystery, Stanley Pines. Let's give him a round of applause."

The tour group politely complied. Stan would normally soak up any praise he got, but right now he just wanted to sink into a hole.

"When he went sailing around the world with his brother, he gave the Mystery Shack over to me."

"Why you?" One kid in the group asked. "Is he your dad or something?"

Stan may have well been his father as far as Soos was concerned. But he knew Stan probably didn't feel the same way. "Well, technically…"

"Yes."

Soos did a double take. Did Stan just say…?

"When I retired as Mr. Mystery, I wanted to keep the business in the family, so I gave the Shack to my boy over here." Stan put his arm around a star-struck Soos. "And I gotta say, he's made me very proud."

Soos' lips trembled as tears flowed from his eyes. The tour group chimed in with a unison, "aww," at the moving scene and gave a much more enthusiastic applause.

Soos, still bawling, addressed the tour group again, but never took his eyes off Stan. "That…that concludes…our tour, dudes…please…browse our gift shop…we're…we're having a sale on…on…novelty bobble heads."

The group headed to the gift shop leaving Stan to calm down a weeping Soos. "Alright, Soos, settle down. Let it out. Come on."

"Did…did you really mean all that stuff, Mr. Pines?"

"Yes, Soos, I did. And I haven't been your boss in years. Call me Stan."

"Dude, calling you Stan is awesome, but…it would be more awesome if I could…call you…Dad?" Stupid Soos. Stupid. Stan said something nice. Don't push it.

"Sure."

"Wha…really? I can call you Dad?"

"Yeah, it has a nice ring to it." Before Stan could react, he was engulfed in a bear hug that felt like his bones were being crushed. "Okay, Soos, loosen up. I don't wanna die ye-"

Reality hit Stan like an oncoming train. He suddenly remembered the news he just received, the reason why he was being unusually sentimental.

"Sorry, Mr. Pi…I mean, Dad." Soos released Stan. His smile dropped when he saw the melancholy expression on Stan's face. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, just got a bit of a headache. I think I'm gonna go inside."

"Okay, I gotta another tour soon. See you later…Dad." Soos giggled in delight at being able to call Stan, "Dad."

Stan watched Soos walk away before quietly saying, "See you later, kiddo."