HAT: First, this chapter was inspired by a few pictures I found on Tumblr (even though I don't have one)... You know what I love? That most people don't read the top thing up here. You know what I also love? Luring readers into a false sense of security before blindsiding them... If you read this, review and let me know, if not... *laughs/cackles evilly*
Disclaimer: ... *looks at angry Alex Hirsch* I don't own Gravity Falls... just the plot to this story. Happy now? *watches him give a smile and a thumbs up*
It took a few mote days for him to get better, but everyone was glad that he was past it. As soon as he could he went right back to work and wouldn't take no for an answer despite his brother's protests that he should take another day to rest. And then came the slumber party...
"Please?! Please, wear it! I made it for you," Mabel begs.
He sighs and takes the pajamas. "Fine..."
He walks into his room and changes into his new green pajamas with golden dollar signs scattered all over it. He doesn't want to do this necessarily, but because he loves his niece, he's willing to suffer through it so that she can be happy.
The things I do for love, he thinks and then goes back into the living room.
"Yay! Do you like it?"
"Um... generally," he murmurs. "Why do you want a slumber party with me?"
"I've had slumber parties with my friends and my brother and now I want one with my Grunkle Stan. It's just one, please?"
"Okay, kid... so... sleep?"
"No! First we've gotta do makeovers!"
You've gotta be kidding me. "Um... okay..."
The girl pulls out the makeup kit and smiles. "Pucker your lips!"
"Why would I-?"
"Pucker!" Something inside of him says, "you punk" to him as he puckers his lips like ordered. Bright red lipstick is applied to his lips and then he rubs his lips together when ordered again. Soon he's told to close his eyes and he feels all sorts of gunk being applied to his face over the next several minutes and soon he hears Mabel going through her things nearby and soon he hears her say, "Okay, open your eyes."
He opens his eyes and immediately promises himself that he will never let his brother see him like this. "Wow... sweetie... um..."
"Whaddoyouthink?" She asks.
"Kid, get this offa my face," he replies bluntly.
She pouts. "You don't like it?"
Crap, she's about to cry, he thinks and quickly shakes his head. "It's not that- I'm gorgeous- but I just don't want anyone to see... me... like this.." A heavy sigh. "Fine, I'll keep it on."
"Yay! Now you put make up on my face!"
"You must've lost your mind."
"Please?"
He shrugs. "Alright, you asked for it."
Stanley picks up a light pink lipstick and applies it to her lips first. After that he's at a loss. He picks up mascara and then uses that on her eyebrows- he's never done this so he doesn't know. Next he picks up the blush and applies it both to her eyelids and her cheeks. It's a disaster, but he does what he can to make her look decent... it doesn't work. It looks like makeup had a mishap on her face. After a few moments he feels like he's done and shakes his head. He is the most incompetent man when it comes to make up.
"What do I look like?" Mabel asks.
"Um... here," he says, handing her the mirror.
She looks in the mirror and laughs. "You did better than I thought you would. Wanna take a picture with me?"
"Sure," he shrugs and smiles next to her.
"Say Pines girls!"
"Pines girls," he says with a sigh, not bothering to smile at all.
"Now let's do each other's hair!"
Now that he can do. "Can we wash this off first?"
"Sure, here's a makeup wipe," she replies and hands him said item.
He wipes off his makeup until he's sure there's no trace of it- and for some reason he feels like he still has mascara in his eyelashes even though nothing comes off when he wipes at them anymore. Next he wipes Mabel's face and then he sits against the recliner and spreads his legs so that his niece can sit in front of him and he can get to her hair.
"Whaddoyou want done to it?"
"Pigtail braids!"
"Okay," he grunts and separates her hair. Once that's done he braids her hair on the left first and then the right. She picks up the fished braid and observes it while he moves onto the right side of her head and begins to detangle her hair to start the next braid. She looks up at him and smiles and he smiles back. "What?"
"I didn't expect you to be so good at braiding hair."
"I've got a lot of hidden talents," he shrugs.
The reason he's so good at braiding hair is because he was forced to learn how to make a girl's hair look good when his little girl got older. She would have him braid her hair in multiple ways and he could do hair fairly well. He would do her hair in the mornings when she was very small and then do her hair when she wants to do something special when she goes out with her friends- he could do a lot with hair and it was something that he prided himself on as a father. He had started with the Barbie doll practice hair and then learn from there- even had Manly Dan's wife teach him (she was a sweet lady). Unlike hair and some fashion (he could tell when something was ugly or didn't go with their skin tone), makeup wasn't his forte. She hadn't quite gotten to the makeup stage when she died.
Don't go there, don't think about her, he thinks, but it's too late. Guilt is already stabbing his heart. Instead of focusing on that he listens to Mabel giggle as she tickles her nose with her own hair.
"Now I do your hair!" Mabel insists and climbs up on the recliner with a brush at hand. "How do you want it?"
She starts brushing his hair back and he shrugs. "I dunno. Something classy!"
It doesn't take her long to get his hair slicked back with the sides of his hair brushed down.
She puts the mirror in his face. "What do you think?"
He grins while taking her ankles and pulling her so she sits on his shoulders and stands abruptly. "It's great! I could run for president with hair like this!"
"Let's dye your hair pink and put glitter in it! Imagine how incredible you'd look!" Mabel asks while squeezing his cheeks
He imagines it and likes what he sees, but he knows how long it takes to get hair dye out and he also knows that it takes even longer than that to get glitter out of hair (and everything for that matter). "I'll admit, I'd look pretty fantastic but not gonna happen."
"Oh, c'mon... pleeeeeaaase?"
"Nope! Never," he says and then jostles the girl on his shoulders. "Let's get something to eat and go to bed, huh?"
"Can we have chocolate-"
"No. Not after last time," he grunts.
She pouts. "Fine."
After eating reheated pizza Stanley starts towards his room only to find Mabel trying to keep her head up while her body tries to go to sleep. He smiles and picks up the girl and her cheek rests on his shoulder. He did close up shop a little late and the slumber party got started until ten- she often goes to bed at twelve at the latest- so he expected her to go to bed not long after they started their slumber party.
"You're getting too old to do this," he grumbles, but he doesn't know who he's directing this statement to: Mabel- who was twelve and only going to get heavier as she grows- or himself- as he's an old man and shouldn't be carrying children all that much. After walking a few feet he feels her grip tighten on his pajama shirt and he lefts go of her to find that she doesn't need his arms for support- but his neck does so he supports her weight again. "Guess we're sleeping in my room."
He goes into his room- cleaned the previous day- and pries her arms from around his neck and sets her on the bed. Once she's under the covers he tucks her in and then walks to the other side of the bed and sits down. He turns off the light and takes off his glasses before lying down and pulling the covers over his legs and then up to his stomach. Not even two seconds later she's cuddled up to him with her face buried in his side.
He smiles fondly and ruffles her hair. "G'night, kid... sweet dreams."
-A Few Hours Later-
"Grunkle Stan! Grunkle Stan, wake up," the tearful voice of his great-niece begs as his chest is pushed on by tiny hands.
He opens his eyes and finds Mabel shaking him with tears streaming down her face. "Whoa, what's wrong kid?"
For a moment she stays still and stares at him and then she throws herself at him and sobs into his jacket. "I-I h-ad a nigh-ightmare that you-ou died!"
"Daddy, I had a dream that you died!"
No, not again, he thinks as he hugs the small twelve year old. "You're fine, it's okay, it's just a bad dream."
And this is my worst nightmare happening all over again... The image of his daughter flashes in his mind, the scene of her death... his heart jerks and he hugs the girl slightly tighter. I'll protect you, Mabel, I swear.
HAT: Now, some of you might not know what that dream means to Stanley. If you want to read about it, go to There's A Reason For That and read chapter 3? *looks* Yeah, chapter 3. If you're going to read, stop reading here... Now that they're gone, for those of you that don't want to bother: His daughter had a dream that he was gonna die, but she died in his place. Another reason why this impacts him so much is because his daughter was twelve at the time and now Mabel's twelve.
Mabel: Do you hate Grunkle Stan or something?
HAT: He's my favorite character... I do a lot to my favorite characters. I can just do a lot to his past because they left a gap and has lived longer... you, not so much quite yet.
Mabel: Wow.
HAT: Wanna go get ice cream after you say the thing?
Mabel: Yes! Review, please, everyone!
HAT & Mabel: *run to get ice cream*