HELLO DON'T KILL ME PLEASE I HAVE AN EXPLANATION.
So, I know I took to long to update this story, but honestly, it was because the last chapter was weird for me to write and I focused more on writing for myself, last year was... something I hope doesn't happen again.
Anyway, I was checking my e-mails and I got the notifications of some of you writing a review and people adding this to their favorite stories and that made me soooo happy. Thank you so much!
I will finish this, I promise.
Also, I know there are some things in the story that I will clarify in future episodes, and I know this chapter is a little short, but the next ones will be more interesting:)
Now, enjoy!
Chapter 12: Invitation
It wasn't as if the Pines family didn't like visiting the Northwests.
They hated it.
Alex could remember that, since he was a little boy, his mother would make them visit his grandparents in hopes that they would act kind to her kids. However, everytime they went to their mansion, she got disappointed and Dipper had to comfort her.
It didn't matter that Dipper and Mabel, along with Ford and Stan, helped them in the past, they didn't like the choice of Pacifica marrying Dipper and having a family with him, especially after Lizzie was born.
"You know the plan, girls." Alex said to his sisters "We go, we eat, and we leave"
"Got it" said Lily in agreement with a nod of her head "I just want this day to be over ."
"This is the worst day of the year" Lizzie expressed with a sigh.
"I know" Alex agreed "But this is important for mom, so..."
The three siblings got out of the attic and went to the living room.
"Alex" Dipper took his oldest kid to the kitchen, so they could speak in privacy "Remember to control yourself"
"Er, I know that, dad." Alex replied with a frown. He hadn't had any incidents since that afternoon in the cinema; of course, a few times he had been close to do something by accident. The sound of the bracelet refrained him the urge of make disappear the gnomes in the thin air when they tried to stole a pie Lily had made, but apart from that, he had been just fine.
"Alex" Dipper looked at him way too seriously "We are going with the Northwests."
Alex almost replied with an impatient "I know" when he realized why his father was so serious about the subject.
The deals he made with the Northwest when he was Bill Cipher came to his mind, If his grandparents realized that there was something else going on with him…
"Got it."
"Wear the bracelet all the time" Dipper pleaded his son "I managed to convince Ford that you can remove it from your arm while you practice, but if he ever finds out that you used your powers without the bracelet, he will have to take other measures."
"I know," Alex said in a tired sigh. "Although it's a bit frustrating that I can only use my powers to help Lily cook under his supervision."
"It's for security, Alex, including yours" the man reminded him.
The Pines, except for Stanford and Stanley, arrived at the Northwest's house, a smaller mansion than the one they had before. They were greeted by an old butler, who guided them directly to the dining room.
"Hopefully, this will be fast," Lizzie said softly and Alex simply nodded in response to what his sister said.
"Family," Mr. Northwest greeted them emotionless with that word, while Mrs. Northwest only nodded at them.
"Mom, dad" Pacifica smiled slightly at them, "we haven't seen each other for a long time, how's it going?"
"Everything is going perfectly, our guest list increased this year".
Their annual party. When they lost their mansion, the Northwests lost many guests, however, as their fortune increased, they gradually regained some of their recognition.
Of course, they were never invited.
Dinner was delicious, of course, but all that failed to compensate the anger caused by the snarky comments about Dipper's work and the personality of each of his and Pacifica's children. Every time Mr. Northwest looked at Lizzie with disdain, Alex's bracelet could be heard.
"What's that?" Mrs. Northwest once asked.
"I don't know, dear."
"I have to go to the bathroom, excuse me
Alex got up and left the dining room, ignoring the curious look of his grandparents and his father's worried frown.
The boy didn't even go to the bathroom, the closest room he found was the kitchen, he just got in there because he knew he would get out of control, and he preferred to lose his mind away from everybody else.
The boy quickly took off his bracelet, ignoring Dipper's words from earlier; he didn't want that his dad's alarm went off in front of everybody else.
Just when he took off his bracelet, Alex looked closely at the dessert on the kitchen's table.
Carrot cake, his mother hated carrot cake, and his grandparents knew that; that was enough for Alex to decide to set the small table on fire.
He made an important note to himself: He needed to learn to control his emotions and he would never tell Ford about the small fire he caused.
Immediately the boy opened the sink and made the water go to the fire.
Of course, after several failed attempts he realized that he did not know how to fully control his powers, so he panicked and used the extinguisher like any normal person would.
The boy, completely untidy, sighed in relief when he saw that the fire had stopped and decided to actually go to the bathroom.
But he didn't notice that someone else observed everything that happened.
Alex looked tiredly at the clothes in front of him, all the suits looked the same! Did he really needed to buy one?
"Alex! What dress do you prefer?"
The teenager turned to see Lily holding two identical dresses, the only thing that changed was the color, one was dark green and the other was bright red.
"I like red better" the boy said with honesty to the girl, who smiled brightly.
"I was thinking the same thing!" the girl laughed with joy and ran to the fitting room.
At the end of the dinner, everyone was surprised that Pacifica's father invited them to the party, it even seemed that his wife was surprised.
Pacifica immediately accepted the invitation, and the next day he took them all to buy new, expensive and elegant clothes.
The most enthusiastic with the idea were her mother, of course, and Lily, who, seeing all the dresses she could choose, immediately took a bunch of dresses that she liked to try them on. Lizzie, on the other hand, also looked happily at the dresses, but was more selective than her sister, and not so many called her attention.
Dipper immediately chose a suit, but Alex did not understand what the differences between each were.
"Alex, the fabric changes, now, you don't really have to choose a black one" his father told him when he saw his frustrated son looking at a pair of suits "I think they have other colors".
"I thought that if it was formal event, I should wear a black suit, shouldn't I?" Alex looked at his father while raising an eyebrow.
"Usually, yes, but I doubt that you care about that detail" the man smiled at him "why don't you go and look at those other suits?"
The boy accepted, and walked to the other side of the store; his father was right, there were blue, gray, purple suits… he honestly wondered in what kind of occasion those could be used.
He was going to turn around in defeat when he saw the beauty that convinced him that the party wouldn't be so bad after all.
"Why do they take so long to be ready?" Dipper complained for a thousandth time, sitting on the couch in his new suit.
"I thought that women taking a lot of time to get ready was a myth," Alex commented, seeing with satisfaction how his yellow jacket looked with his black pants and shoes from all angles while adjusting his bow tie "I just need a hat and I would have the perfect look "
"And I would have flashbacks, so I think your suit is enough," Dipper said, half jokingly, half seriously. Honestly, he didn't think that that yellow suit would be the one his son was going to choose, but once he thought about that again, his choice was to be expected.
"Dad! How do we look?"
Lily and Lizzie were coming down the attic stairs at that time. Lily had the red princess cut dress that Alex chose and Lizzie had a dark purple dress that was less fluffy but with a brighter fabric. Both had their hair combed in an elegant bun
"You both look beautiful," Dipper smiled brightly at his daughters.
Pacifica came down, wearing a beautiful emerald green dress and Dipper immediately positioned herself next to her, before giving her a sweet kiss on the cheek.
"Shall we go?" Dipper asked, while Lily released an expression of tenderness while Lizzie and Alex simply smiled.
The five left the Shack, and went to the mansion without any inconvenience.