After the funeral, steps were taken by all four family members to piece their lives together.
Dipper started school right away. He grieved by keeping himself as busy as possible. However, he made sure he was there for his sister. He opted out of taking advanced classes like he did in Piedmont to be in the same classes as Mabel so they could be together.
Mabel still primarily grieved by lying around and not doing much of anything, but seeing Dipper putting so much effort to be there for her gave her the motivation to try to carry on with her life as normally as possible. At the very least, she attended school with Dipper, so his academic sacrifice wouldn't be in vain.
Ford had taken on the grunt of the housework while Stan could focus on running the business to make sure they had enough money for the kids. Ford wasn't used to domestic life, and the survival skills he's picked up the past forty years weren't going to be much use being a guardian to two orphaned children.
But household chores weren't the hard part; it was how to an emotional support system for them.
Stan had the advantage of knowing the children longer. While Ford had made some progress with Dipper, he still struggled to overcome the emotional hurdles between him and Mabel. Not wanting to risk a chance of ruining a potential relationship, he decided to give Mabel space until she became more comfortable around him.
Stan had made the biggest change by far. Upon returning from California, it was like Mabel and Dipper hardly recognized him. He was still a master conman, gruff and tough while at work, but when he would engage with Dipper and Mabel, he was far more tender, understanding, and loving than they had ever known him. He would hug them frequently, ask how they were doing, and would even do things like tuck them into bed at night.
The weekend of Ford's and Dipper's trip had come. He was excited to spend some time with the boy. Mabel was kind enough to pack snacks for them, she also gave them a thermos of Mabel juice. Ford had been unfortunate enough to witness her creation process on the drink and would rather die of thirst than to drink it, but he took it to try to be polite regardless.
"Thank you, Mabel, dear. This was very thoughtful of you."
"You're welcome, Grunkle Ford."
An awkward silence came between them. Ford felt guilty about leaving her behind. He really did enjoy her company. He considered inviting her for the one-millionth time.
"Mabel…?"
"Yes?" She asked as her face slightly lit up.
For whatever reason, Ford concluded it wasn't the right time. She wasn't as interested in science as Dipper was. He didn't want her to be bored and have a miserable time. That may just drive her further away from him. He couldn't risk that. He would rather wait and find something he knew she would enjoy.
"Keep Stan out of trouble while we're gone, okay?"
Mabel's shoulder dropped in disappointment. She thought for a second that Ford was about to invite her.
That was silly. Why would he want her to come? He hadn't wanted her around before, and there was no reason it should be any different now.
"I'll try my best," she said with a forced smile.
He and Dipper were heading out the door when he turned around and gave Mabel a second glance. He couldn't help but notice she seemed disappointed. Did she want to come? She was still giving a smile that Ford suspected was a fake one. It made him want to ask so many questions.
Would you like to come with us?
Would you like us to stay here?
Do you want to talk about anything?
And the question that plagued his mind most of all.
Do you know how much I love you?
He wanted so badly to be able to vocalize any one of these questions, but the words were lodged in his throat. It was so terrible that he could rattle off countless facts and statistics with elegance but couldn't tell his own niece how much he cared for her.
He did the only thing he knew what to do when confronted with an uncomfortable situation: he turned away to bury himself in his research.
With that, he left behind the girl who will soon need him more than ever.