When I realized that August 31st was both Dipper and Mabel's canonic 23rd birthday and the birthday I made up for PJO's Octavian, I realized I would not have enough time to write a fic for both of them. So I smushed the ideas together :D
Octavian didn't like horror movies, but he did like children's shows with horror themes. When he became a parent, he was looking forward to showing his kids his favorite shows as soon as they were old enough.
And when Isabel was 11 and Adrian was 8, Rachel finally gave him the go-ahead to show their kids all the classics.
He started with Gravity Falls, choosing to save Over The Garden Wall for the fall. It was August now, the perfect time for a goofy summer show they could watch when it was too hot to play outside.
Isabel liked it more than Adrian did. She'd always wanted a twin, having invented an imaginary one named Marjorie when she was younger, and was now enjoying watching Mabel and Dipper live out her twin dreams. Isabel was a lot like Mabel, after all, a bright and friendly little girl who loved to create art and spread color and joy in the world.
Adrian didn't like the show as much as his sister did, but he liked spending time with daddy and Izzy. While Octavian and Isabel watched with rapt attention Adrian would curl up in daddy's arms and quietly play with his trucks and dinosaurs. He had really liked Land Before Swine though when they'd watched that episode.
If Isabel was a cheerful, chaotic, extroverted explosion of color, Adrian was their neat, introspective, introverted little poet. He liked reading and writing more than other forms of art and he spent a lot of time in his own head.
Octavian loved both of his children more than anything in the world, other than Rachel, and he was so glad that he got to spend time with both of them while sharing the things he adored.
And when they reached the end of the series the discussions started. Every detail that had stuck out to Isabel became their main conversation topic while they were getting ready for bed. They talked about Blubs and Durland's relationship, which Stan was better, and theories for what would happen when the twins went back for the following summer.
Then, right before the end of August, Isabel had a very important thought.
"Daddy?"
"Yes, Sweetpea?"
"What day is your birthday again?"
"August 31st."
Isabel nodded smugly. She'd been right.
"Daddy, you have the same birthday as Dipper and Mabel."
Octavian lit up. "Oh! You're right! That's pretty cool."
Isabel nodded. She'd already thought her daddy was cool but now he was even cooler.
"We gotta celebrate their birthdays too," Isabel said.
Octavian nodded as if that was a given.
That was how Octavian had a Gravity Falls-themed 36th birthday party, with his kids, Rachel, his brother Caesar, and a few of their other adult demigod friends and their kids. It was a little silly, but Octavian liked it. When he'd been thirteen, like Dipper and Mabel at the end of the show, he hadn't gotten to have childish parties with his family. He hadn't had a family or a childhood. But now he had a family and friends, and his kids were getting to have the life he'd never had. And that was worth celebrating.
