The big day had finally arrived. Stan and Ford planned a huge event to celebrate. The whole town showed up. It meant a lot to Stan that, even though he hadn't quite shaken the whole con man thing, the town cared about his family.
The large crowd made Stan and Ford a little more nervous about the surprise they had for the kids. They had been talking about it casually before everything that had happened with Brad. But nearly losing Mabel brought about a sense of urgency. They needed to do this.
"You ready for this, Sixer?" Stan asked trying to push the nerves down.
"You bet I am. Let's get this adventure started." Ford said giving Stan a high six.
"Okay, then, here we go." Stan went up to the stage he set up for the event and spoke into the microphone. "Attention, everyone! We have an announcement to make!" Stan shouted to the crowd. They fell silent and gave the man their full attention. "So, um, thank you all for coming out today to the grand re-re-opening of the Mystery Shack! Now with even more mystery! Remember we put the fun in no refunds!" The crowd laughed. Stan was still a businessman through and through.
"But today really isn't about me or the Shack. Today, it's about these guys." Stan gestured to Dipper and Mabel who were blushed slightly. "These kids came to stay with me over the summer, and boy, what a summer that was! On top of a bunch of crazy stuff I'm still not sure was entirely real, one very real thing that did happen was, with the help of these crazy kids, I was reunited with my brother: the best friend I thought I had lost forever."
The crowd went, "Aww." Ford, in particular, was touched by this.
"But then, something awful happened: their parents, my nephew and his wife, passed away in an accident."
The crowd looked at the twins sympathetically. They saddened slightly at the mention of their parents.
"And just like that my brother and I became more than just summer guardians. They came back to me not for a vacation, but for a new home….and a new family. It may not be the best home and Ford and I may not be the best family, but I wanted to show them that no matter what, that I'll always…that we'll always…dammit! Ford, take over. I got something in my eye!" Stan turned his back to the crowd to "get the thing out of his eye."
Ford cleared his throat and looked at the children. "Dipper, Mabel, will you come over here, please?"
Confused, Dipper and Mabel came on stage with their uncles. Stan had "gotten the thing out of his eye" and turned back to face the twins.
Ford bent down and placed a hand on both of your shoulders. "You know how much we love you kids, right?"
"Of course, Grunkle Ford," Mabel said.
Stan spoke again, his voice threatening to crack. "We know we can never take the place of your folks."
"Never," Ford reiterated.
"And we would never try to. But Ford and I…we love both of you kids like you were our own." Stan bent down to be level with them. "And we'll never let anyone take you away from us. Because you're our kids."
"Yes, and we thought it might be…prudent," Ford cleared his throat as his voice threatened to crack as well. "To…make it official."
"What do you mean?" Dipper asked.
At that moment Ford handed Stan two stapled stacks of forms. Stan took a deep breath as he held them out for the twins to see.
Mabel raised an eyebrow. "You want us to do your taxes for you?"
Ford gave a watery laugh. "No, sweetheart. Just read it."
Dipper looked at the first page and read it out loud. "This is a petition to the state for the…" the word caught in Dipper's throat.
"What, Dipper?" Mabel asked.
"For…the adoption of Mason and Mabel Pines…" Dipper's lip trembled. "By Stanley Pines and Stanford Pines."
Mabel put her hands over her mouth. The whole crowd went, "Aww."
Dipper flipped through the forms. All the information had been filled in already, except one thing was missing.
"It's not official until we sign it," said Ford. "We didn't want to do it without your permission."
"So, uh, what do you guys think?" Stan asked as he twiddled his fingers.
The crowd watched the younger twins apprehensively. They appeared to be in shock. They looked up at their uncles, who were waiting with bated breath for their answer.
"What do we think?" Dipper asked as tears formed in his eyes.
Mabel looked up at her Grunkles with tears in her eyes, but for the first time in a while, they were clearly tears of joy. "I think Dipper has a pen in his pocket."
Sure, enough, Dipper indeed had a pen in his pocket and handed it over to Stan. Neither men bothered to hide their tears now. Stan made Dipper turn around and used his back as a writing surface to sign the forms. He gave the papers and pen to his brother and he used Mabel's back to write his signature as well.
When he was done, the crowd broke into a thunderous applause. But the Pines family were so overjoyed to be an official family at last that they hardly noticed the crowd. The kids jumped into the arms of their Grunkles and adoptive fathers. The old men held on tight to their beloved son and daughter. Never to be torn apart.