HAT: The last chapter! To be honest, the chapter before this was more emotionally taxing than this one, but overall, this entire story's been the most emotionally taxing thing I've ever written so... yeah. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Gravity Falls- Alex Hirsch does- and the one OC in this, I don't own either (she belongs to jamiekinosian on tumblr). I simply own the plot of this story.
The next morning I wake up and I'm underneath the covers- someone must've come in and tucked me in. Probably either dad or Great Uncle 'Ford when I think about it. Grunkle Stan moved on, so he couldn't have possibly done it (but then again, it's Gravity Falls so many things are possible).
With a quiet groan, I sit up and rub my eyes. I feel tired, but I guess that's what happens when you cry all night over the death of your great uncle while he comforts you.
I saw Grunkle Stan last night.
I look around for him, trying to find any sign that he's there, but when I don't see him I feel my heart break a little. I had hoped so much wake up and find him there even if I knew that he probably moved on already.
Before emotions can constrict my chest anymore, his strong scent washes over me and I feel my shoulders relax and a smile tug at my lips for the first time in what felt like forever and a day. I get the feeling I would've been wallowing around for a lot longer if Grunkle Stan hadn't shown up last night.
After sitting there for God knows how long, I make my way to Grunkle Stan's half bathroom- too risky in running into someone in the other restroom- and I clean myself up as best I can. My eyes are still puffy to show that I'd been crying all night long, but at least they're no longer red. As I observe myself- even after cleaning up- I realize I look exhausted. I know crying takes a lot out of a person, but still. I hadn't expected anything like this.
My stomach grumbles and I remember that I skipped lunch and dinner (grief has a funny way of filling someone up even if their stomach's completely empty). Guess I should get something to eat.
I can almost hear Grunkle Stan's sarcastic comment to that thought- I'd been around him enough over the years to know what he'd most likely say.
Without any hesitation, I make my way downstairs and I hear morning chatter. I don't know why, but I stop to listen to what they have to say- their voices are pretty low. It's as if they weren't trying to disturb someone that was in the living room instead of me when I was all the way in Grunkle Stan's room.
"I don't think he's gonna come out for a while," Mabel's voice says.
"Well, considering how he took the news and how he's been lately, I don't expect him to even eat a solid meal for a few more days," dad replies.
I hear a sigh- though I can't tell if it's dad's or Great Uncle 'Ford... possibly the latter, but their sighs are uncannily alike- I learned from within the first week of Great Uncle 'Ford being home when Mabel and I were twelve.
"We've gotta get him outta this funk," Mabel insists.
"Mabel, sweetie, things like this take time," dad assures.
"Your father's right. Give him a few more days and then you can start being a little pushy," Great Uncle 'Ford advises.
"But-"
I decide then to walk out and I'm unsurprised at their shocked faces when I walk in. Of course they wouldn't expect me to come downstairs for some food after my behavior last night and previous nights of denial and stubbornness.
"Morning," I croak.
"Morning," Great Uncle 'Ford says.
"What're you doing up?" Mabel asks.
I shrug and grab some cereal. "I got hungry so I came down here to eat."
I hear dad clear his throat. "What she means is... we weren't expecting you up this early."
Suddenly I wonder if they could hear me crying and talking to Stan last night. It hadn't crossed my mind until now.
For a moment I don't know what to say or how to react. So- instead of making stuttering for a comment I grunt in a Grunkle Stan-like fashion, "Didn't think I'd be up this early either."
"... How ya feelin'?" Dad asks hesitantly.
"I'm feeling..." How am I feeling? "Better."
Compared to how crappy I felt last night, I feel fantastic. I still feel like crap, but my chest doesn't hurt so bad and I'm not crying like a baby anymore. That's definitely an improvement.
"Better as in better or better as in better?" Mabel asks while eyeing me.
I roll my eyes and say, "Better as in better... did we run out of cereal?"
"... sorry, bro-bro."
"That's alright," I say and put away the bowl and spoon. "What else is there for breakfast?"
"We've got breakfast bars," 'Ford offers weakly.
I grab two and pour myself a glass of milk- after checking to see if it was expired of course- and then dig into that. It should hold me over until lunch- or at least that's what I'm hoping. I don't wanna have to eat again until then- it'd be too troublesome.
"So, what're the plans for today?" I ask.
"Well, we were planning on holding this off, but... we're going to be reading the will today," Stanford says slowly, watching my face carefully.
If the funeral and Grunkle Stan's ghost hadn't solidified his death, this sure did.
I choke down my emotions and nod while saying, "Okay... better sooner than later."
I quickly down my milk and wash out my glass. I want to go and take a shower- hopefully by now my eyes aren't as puffy as before. We don't talk much after that, I go straight to the attic and grab my clothes and then go to the bathroom. I take my time doing everything- I don't want to rush it, but I definitely don't want to prolong it too much which is why I give myself twenty minutes instead of my usual ten (at most) that I allowed myself throughout the years to save Grunkle Stan some money.
Twenty minutes to myself before I have to go back down and interact with others- maybe more before we have to read the will.
It doesn't seem like enough time, but I end up downstairs fully clothed and refreshed to find everyone there already- including Soos and his small family and Wendy as the only new additions.
"Uncle Dipper!" their four year old girl shouts while running over to me.
"Hey, Ley," I say with a smile, feeling a bit of pain in my chest- Soos and Melanie had named their girl Stanley which is painful to say the least.
"Are you feeling better?" she asks, hazel eyes big and concerned.
I forgot that I had an emotional breakdown at the funeral right in front of her and everyone else.
I manage a smile and I ruffle her hair, "Yeah, I'm fine. How're you holding up?"
Stanley shrugs. "I'm doing fine."
I pick her up and decide that I wanna hold her like a teddy bear for now- to have at least one Stanley with me. After getting comfortable on the floor in the living room. Notably, Grunkle Stan's chair stays unoccupied and even Great Uncle 'Ford- who was about the only other one that regularly sat in it other than Grunkle Stan- stays standing to read the will instead of sitting like he should in his old age. None of us say anything- after all it's his decision.
"Might as well get this outta the way so I'm gonna skip all the formalities," Great Uncle 'Ford reads- yep, Grunkle Stan wrote this himself. "To Soos, Mabel, and Dipper, I give my business. You crazy kids scam as many people as you can and do it for cheap, too. To Soos, I give my fez, cane, eyepatch, and title of Mr. Mystery. To Wendy I give my knife and gun collection- I know how much you wanted them after finding them. To Mabel, I give all of my clothes and blankets and any material you can use to make something beautiful (yes, that means pretty much anything for sculptures, too, have at it my little artist). To Dipper, I give my car- take good care of her, she's been through a lot. To little Stanley, I give five... Wait when did he-? Never mind... To little Stanley, I give five hundred thousand dollars for her education and the stuffed beavercorn that she's been wanting since she was a baby. Stanford, I give you the Stan O'War- take a break and sail or something. To Alex, I give my watch and gold chain collections- your obsession with my sh- things (Stanford doesn't want to curse in front of little Stanley) can now be rewarded. As for the rest of my fortune, divide it evenly between yourselves and use it however you wish. Now quit moping and be greedy gremlins and take what's yours."
Even in his will he somehow finds a way to make us smile a little. I have to admit, my jaw does drop at the large amount of money he's given solely for Stanley's education. I could say that this is blatant favoritism towards the one that shares his name, but what's the point? We all know that as soon as the girl was born, she stole his heart (though he still holds a high fondness for Mabel and no one can claim differently with the way he dotes- doted on her).
"I'm rich!" Stanley crows, jumping up excitedly and looks like she wants to leap up and hug the person that gave it to her, but her hazel eyes tear up immediately afterward.
I hug my honorary niece when she starts to tear up. She probably wanted to hug her "Grandpa Stan" and tell him "thank you" but instead had to come to the realization that she can't because he's gone. I know the feeling. I murmur assurances to her, but she's shaking like a leaf.
"We didn't get to fight to the death to see who got to keep the name," she whimpers quietly.
Grunkle Stan often boasted about that- how when Stanley turned thirteen the two of them would fight to the death to see who got to keep their name. Stanley would always boast about she'd earn her name and she was excited about her thirteenth birthday (even if she knew they wouldn't really fight to the death). It's heartbreaking to know that she'll never get the chance to spend her thirteenth birthday with her Grandpa Stan.
"Hey," I murmur and pull away enough to look at her face and I don't speak again until she's looking at me. "It's gonna be alright... y'wanna know why?"
"Why?" she asks quietly.
"'Cause I'm gonna fight you on your thirteenth. After all- it wouldn't be fair for a big, strong girl like you to go against an old timer like the Stans."
"... should I be offended?" I hear Great Uncle Stanford ask the people nearby.
"Maybe?" Dad says and I can imagine him shrugging.
Stanley smiles up at me- it's still pretty sad and not as big as usual, but it's still a smile- and asks, "Will y'do the voice?"
"You mean this one?" I say, doing my Grunkle Stan impression- a fairly good one if I do say so myself.
"Uh-huh," she nods.
"Of course- I'll even put on the full get up, too," I reply in my normal voice, feeling a bit of hope spark in my chest.
"Thanks, Uncle Dipper," she says and- unexpectedly- gives me a kiss on my cheek.
I can't help the smile that tugs onto my lips. "No problem, Ley. Anything for my girl."
That sounds so much like Grunkle Stan talking to her that I'm almost convinced he temporarily possessed me in order to tell her that. Almost. I hardly ever call her "my girl" since she's always been Grunkle Stan's (even if she's her parent's, everyone knows that she's always been Grandpa's baby) but... for some reason I feel like she is "my girl" now. It's almost like Grunkle Stan didn't give me just his car, part of his business, and some of his money, but he also entrusted me with his precious grandchild.
I'll take care of her, I promise him as I bring her into a hug.
Somehow- in all of the madness and grief that I'd been wallowing in for the past few days- I managed to be put back together enough to look after Stanley. Even though Grunkle Stan came to me in my time of grief- and I feel he legitimately wanted to help me- I think he did that so that I could be there for Stanley... and I don't mind that at all.
You're gonna be alright, kid... you're gonna be alright...
Hat: *pops out of nowhere* Surprise! Miss me?
Stan: I can't believe you killed me again.
Hat: At least it was of natural causes!
Stan: Yeah, yeah... this was a real tear-jerker, do you know how many people you made cry?
Hat: ... aaalll of them?
Stan: *opens mouth then closes it* ... okay, so technically that's right.
Hat: One of those people happened to be me when I wrote it. When I was writing this, I was in a fairly emotional state when writing this, actually... I- uh- I went through a loss myself probably not even a week before I started writing this so it wasn't all that hard to write emotions of turmoil... it was a good way to get out my emotions to be honest.
Stan: Yeesh... you alright, kid?
Hat: Oh, yeah. Aside from the usual angst from looking at stuff from this fandom, I'm pretty good. I just reeeaallly need to focus on those humor fics that I started on.
Stan: Yeah, you kiiinda do. Anyway, we through here? Gotta get back to a tour in about five minutes.
HAT: *nods* Yeah, you go on ahead.
Stan: Review, everyone.