Hi again! New chap! Drawings already in deviantart!
Because these idiotic but loving parents deserve recognition .
So let us talk of the old days~
Mabel and Dipper laughed as they jumped over their parents' sleeping forms. Shermie and Abi groaned loudly as their teens curled up next to them. "We've decided to bother you for breakfast!" Mabel snuggled next to her mom, tickling her with her long brown hair. "Get off me, Mason!" Shermie groaned louder when Dipper pulled the covers and his naked chest was exposed to the chilly morning air.
"What do you want from us!?" Abigail complained. "It's too early for this!"
"We want food!" "Fooood!" "FOOOODDD!" The twins moaned at the same time, Mabel rubbing her mom's cheeks. Shermie managed to throw his son off him and covered his face with his pillow. If he couldn't see them, they couldn't see him. "There's cereal, feed yourself." He mumbled.
"Uncle Seb made us pancakes when we stayed with him~" Mabel lifted the pillow from his face.
"Well, if that's the case you can go live with Uncle Seb and never come back!" Abigail taunted. The twins gasped and hugged her. "Nooo!"
At the end, the parents had to wake up to feed their demanding children. They have been doing it for 14 years and in a month, it'd be 15 years. Time had passed just so, so fast… Shermie looked at his children with a grin, (teenagers~, they were teens now, not kids. Mabel always reminded him) as they ate their breakfast. Like shit, they were almost to the age he was when he had them...
"So what do you want to do for your birthday?" Abigail asked. "We talked to Dillon and he wants to see everybody again so we gotta go in a few weeks to Gravity Falls and we will stay there like 3 weeks." Dipper nodded. "Last time Dillon was sung in August, this time is the other way round! And if we go in July, dad can be sung happy birthday too!"
The parents smiled and Mabel continued. "I also want to go to Gravity Falls because I wanna see Candy and Grenda!" Mabel said, her mouth full of bread. "And Dipper SURELY wants to see Pacificaaaa~!" The girl punched Dipper's arm, who embarrassed, punched her back.
"OW!" Mabel complained with an angry pout, rubbing her hurting arm. "Dipper! Don't hurt your sister!" Shermie scolded. "But she hit me first!-and she's doing it right now!" Dipper motioned at Mabel, repeatedly hitting him. "Mabel, don't." Abigail scolded.
"But, well, I do...want to go to Gravity Falls...but ALSO because I'm determined to show you a monster this time!" The teen clarified. Shermie laughed, "Sure, kiddo, I'll ask your uncles if they can go."
Mabel blew a raspberry. "HAH! They ARE going, it's not even an option~We have their presents. If they want them, they have to go!" She waved a dismissive hand. Abigail laughed softly at her daughter's antics. She reminded him of Shermie, he could be so dramatic sometimes.
Vacations were different ever since Shermie and Abi sent the twins to Seb that one year. Dipper didn't consume himself day and night playing video games (he still did, but less), he instead wrote and read a lot. What he WROTE was worrying, but at least his brain wasn't rotting in front of a screen. Mabel was the same, always sweet and kind to everyone, but she came back pretty interested in Karate and Shermie was more than happy to teach her self defense and how to break someone's hand in an emergency.
They were so proud of the twins, they've grown and changed so much...They weren't much younger than them, but the couple would do anything for their children. Despite everything they went through for them, they couldn't imagine life any other way. Mabel and Dipper were far too important to them.
Abi left for her morning shift at the hospital (not without a kiss from her kids and husband) and Shermie claimed the living room as his to work on his latest assignment. Lucky kids had vacations. Not them though. They had to work forever. Heck, He'd been working ever since he graduated and even before that. Shermie winced a little at the thought. Part time jobs, long nights of working, studying and caring for the twins… his childhood pretty much ended at 15 because he was expected to be a father. Shermie smiled nostalgically. It was hard. He was a kid, but he couldn't be a kid anymore. Not when he and Abigail had a responsibility.
At some point in the evening, Mabel poked her head into the room. "Hey, papa~ Jenny's mom will come pick us up to watch a movie with my other friends and we're gonna eat there! She'll bring us home tonight!"
"Wait. And who gave you permission?" Shermie raised his glasses questioningly. Then Dipper appeared. "You? We're asking you?" Both grinned widely. Shermie rolled his eyes. "Very funny…"
"Pleeaseee? We haven't gone out with friends in ages!" Dipper begged. "Cute cartoon movie!" Mabel added. Their dad sighed in defeat. "Ok. Do you need money?" "Nopey, it's a birthday party! Jenny, remember? Came to the house once. Thought you were our older brother." That...wasn't a rare occurrence...
"Oh." Shermie nodded with a bark of laughter. "Ok, yes, I remember. Alright, text me when you're there and when you're coming back." The twins cheered and ran away. Shermie missed the time when they needed him, even though he always teased them saying he was glad they were leaving home soon. That wasn't true. There was a time when he complained because he had to drive them everywhere because they were useless babies, but now they could do things on their own and he wasn't needed at all and it made him feel very weird.
He distracted himself with his work, feeling old and sad for missing his little twins under his legs, begging to take them to the park and 'pway'...
"Shermie, you ugly thing, where are our spawns?" The green eyed-man jumped with a loud scream at the sudden voice. He looked back and saw his wife laughing. "Hello, ugly witch, why are you here, you ruined my peace~" The young parents laughed before kissing each other on the lips. "I'm not early, you're in your Pj's at 5pm. I looked for the twins and they aren't here?"
"They left...a few hours ago to watch a movie with some friends…" All by themselves… Abigail checked her phone, no messages from the twins, and pouted. "Have you eaten? Let's order something." 30 minutes later, the two were sitting in front of the TV, munching on their hamburgers as they watched a movie. It was all...so quiet.
"It's so weird to have the house all for ourselves, huh?" Abigail asked. "Yeah, usually the twins are somewhere screaming or making noise or singing disney songs… or setting the curtains on fire..." Shermie agreed. Seriously, what was Dipper even thinking to do with all those candles!? Abi nodded slowly. "Yeah...but we let them get away with too many things...Even the curtains thing! And bringing home that pet pig!" She laughed, eyeing Waddles who was napping on his bed in the living room. At least he was a small pig (relatively speaking). Shermie grumbled. Fat naked jerk... "They're cute though, we can't say no to them...even less when they were little, they were so cute…"
A commercial of diapers eventually interrupted their movie and Shermie and Abi shared a weird look before Abi spoke. "I don't want another baby…" The young woman said quickly. "Ugh, thank god! I thought I was getting it all wrong." The young man threw himself back. "It's just...I can't believe how fast it all was…" Abi nibbled a french fry. "And now the twins feel so grown up…" Abi hugged her husband.
"I think it's my brother's fault, for having babies now and reminding us of what we lost~" Shermie took a hand to his forehead and the dark-haired woman laughed. "You're right, it's ALL their fault…But we worked way harder…" "We had it HARDEST!" Shermie laid down, pulling Abi on top of him to kiss her. His hands roamed down to her thighs as Abigail stuck her hands inside his shirt to feel his abs.
As much fun as they could have together, their first time was stupidly stupid, alcohol was stupid, they were stupid, and the product of it scared the living shit out of both of them. She got pregnant, and they recognized they totally fucked up. Shermie always blamed it on his rebellious, angry- with- the -world phase, when he submerged himself in his karate lessons, violence, alcohol and even some drugs. He wasn't proud to admit it. And it was all because he wanted to be as far away from his family as possible. He also blamed Abigail for following him and agreeing to do his dumb stuff when she was the goody two shoes, but that didn't work either, that only earnt him a slap.
"Oh. My. God~ Abigail ended up being such a slut~" One of THOSE girls used to mock Abi when they were still in New Jersey. It was known that Abigail was a good girl, A+ student, and the other kids just got the perfect excuse to mock her.
"Fuck off!" One of Abi's friends had flipped that other girl off and led their friend away, her eyes full of tears and about to cry. "Don't listen to her, we all know SHE'S the real slut, and a bitch!"
Shermie's friends, all but a few, just thought it was hilarious to tease him to no end. "You're so fucking stupid." "If I were you, I'd say that kid isn't mine and call it a day, you seriously want a brat to ruin your life?!" "Yeah, I'm not gonna help with shit, you should have asked me for a condom first!"
His real friends always reassured him that even if he WAS stupid, it was his brat and he should take responsibility, but they were going to be there for him, not to help changing a single diaper, that was HIS problem, but EMOTIONALLY be there for him. Despite everything, Shermie was grateful for the support.
Shermie sighed. Man, it felt both so long ago and so recent. "Where did the years go?" He wondered. Abigail hummed as she laid against his chest. "I think we did well for ourselves, all things considered." "I think we did...I mean, the kids are alive~" Abigail hit his chest softly, dumb man, before she laid down again. "I'm proud of ourselves…" Abigail yawned and snuggled closer. Her shifts were so irregular, she had a night one just yesterday...Tired…
"No~ Abi, no! I need to work~" Shermie tried to stand up but failed. After an exaggerated huff, he got comfortable on the couch, with an arm wrapped around Abi so she wouldn't fall (it had happened), and he closed his eyes, just for a bit. A little nap couldn't hurt...
/-/- /
It wasn't even 5 in the morning when Shermie and Abi opened their eyes. The twins were sobbing and only Abi's parents' shouts managed to wake them up. "Kiidds! The babies are crying!" Abigail whimpered as Shermie covered himself with the blankets. No! He was tired! It wasn't fair, they haven't had a single good night in months, and they were just so tired…
The two teens angrily marched up towards the babies' room. "Please, stop crying, we all just want to sleep…" They cradled the small babies to themselves. The boy closed his eyes for a second and almost fell to the floor with Mason. "Give him a bottle, dumbass." Abi snapped as she adjusted Mabel in her arms and tiredly lifted a part of her shirt.
Shermie blinked blearily and stumbled over to the cabinet where they kept the baby formula. "Wish I could just hold him to my chest and feed him…" Shermie grumbled. That was much easier and less work. Babies did the job themselves and Abi could sleep. Bottles meant holding it for them and making sure he didn't drop the bottle on their tiny faces. Mixing the bottles was so annoying. And he needed to heat up the water, but not too hot and not too cold. Ugh, he was too tired for this shit right now…Stupid...dumb...bottles! Ugh, it was alright as it was!
But~ it really wasn't. It was too hot and Mason cried even louder when it burnt his sensitive tongue. Shermie wanted to cry too. "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry, Mason, I'm just… so tired…I'm so sorry..." Shermie whimpered. He looked over to see Abi passed out with Mabel suckling on her chest. Uggghhhh… Shermie whined loudly, stomping the floor with a foot, went over and pulled Mabel off, placing Mason down there instead. "Here, you've had enough, give your brother some"
Mason was still whimpering because his tongue hurt, but he was hungry too so he suckled and cried even as he did so. Shermie held Mabel up and tried to burp her. She was fussing, she wasn't done eating! But Shermie didn't care, he was tired. He just wanted some sleep. He burped Mabel and put her back in her crib, laying down next to Abi on one of the many pillows scattered around the twins' room and passed out.
He and Abi woke again to Mabel and Mason's cries. Mabel was still hungry, she couldn't go back to sleep, and Mason had slid off Abi's chest at some point and had been lying on an awkward angle on the pillow for a while. Shermie and Abi started crying themselves, Shermie even louder. He had SCHOOL in the morning! He was struggling in class as it was!
Abigail's parents eventually came over, and took pity on the dead-looking teenagers, carrying the wailing and upset babies. So, as good, grandparents, they helped to feed and put the babies back to bed so the poor teenagers could get another hour of sleep before school. Or well, Shermie could, Abi's classes were in the afternoon-night.
School was living hell. When they made their little arrangement to not miss their education, they thought it was genius, but now the teens regretted everything. Waking up early to go to school was hell. When Abi was pregnant, they studied together but not anymore! He'd been here for less than a year in California and everyone knew him already, they called him "the teen father". The friends he had were nice, but he couldn't even enjoy breaks or lunch. If he wasn't falling asleep in class, he was sleeping at the nursery, or the principal's office (who became nicer to him after having a child of his own) or in drastic cases, a closet room or the floor.
Then, as soon as school was done, he had to fly to his part time job, where nasty people ordered him around, everyone complained, and his short patience was tested. He HAD to though, and he HATED it! "Sheerrmie!" A girl called him as he sprinted out. "I'll be organizing a party, it'll be great! You can bring a guest!"
Shermie stared at the paper with the saddest expression in the world. "I...I can't...We have to take care of the babies and my in laws refuse to babysit…" Some kids also teased him about being married, but some kind girls liked to ask him to show them his ring, thinking it was all really romantic. It wasn't valuable as shit. They won the pair of rings in a fair they went to together back in New Jersey. His was a silver painted metal ring with a little blue plastic oval on it, and Abi's was the same but the 'jewel' was pink and heart shaped. They liked their 'wedding rings'. Not only because buying a fancy ring from the jewellers was a freaking ripoff (they didn't have money for those, they didn't deserve them, and cheap rings were simply better anyway), but because their parents thought it suited them.
They were kids getting married for playing adult...
The girl smiled sadly. "Right, you have brats, huh? Well, maybe next time."
Working was so hard. He had to take energy drinks and coffee CONSTANTLY or he'd pass out at the counter. He was so tired of this, he wanted to sleep, he wanted to go out with his friends, he wanted to go to parties! His life was RUINED! He wanted to be a kid again!
And after work, his father in law would pass by to pick him up to go home. He knew Shermie was tired and doing his best, so he earned a free ride home from the stern man. By the time he was home, Abi was long gone to her afternoon classes, and Shermie stayed at home...with Mabel and Mason…
He dragged himself to their room, and smiled softly at his gurgling 4 and a half month old children. As much as his life was HELL, he couldn't blame the kids. He loved them so much. The teenager sighed as he leaned against the crib and closed his eyes. Maybe… just a little nap… he had homework but he could do that later. Sebastian had told him that no matter what, he had to graduate high school, something that Seb never got to do. So Shermie wouldn't give up on that. Not ever!
It was nice enough that Abigail's parents allowed them to keep the kids in their house. Shermie's own father had pretty much told him 'you're on your own' and kicked him out. His Ma, bless her soul, had wanted to keep them, to keep at least one of her children with her… but Filbrick had refused. Poor Kari was alone now, Stan was missing, Ford was dead, Seb was somewhere in Oregon (living in the same freaking house where Ford was killed!), and now her last child, Shermie, had been disowned as well. After the huge argument THAT created, Kari had finally left her husband.
She told Shermie, during one of their phone calls, that the only reason she'd stayed had been for her sons. And now that Filbrick had essentially rid himself of them all, then she had no more reason to suffer Filbrick's presence anymore. Shermie knew his Ma was living with Carla now, she had a baby just a month older than the twins, Stanley's son... Shermie shook his head to get rid of the sad thoughts. They came to visit sometimes, but travelling all the way to California was hard on her and Shermie didn't feel well being with Carla...He was never close to her and...and the last time he saw Stanley... Shermie told him to fuck off… He was still ashamed of that and he didn't want to show his face around Carla...
Shermie woke with a jolt when the twins began to cry again. He had begun to slip and half his body was crushing them. He rubbed his eyes, yawned, and pushed himself to his feet. "Hey~ I'm sorry, do you want dinner? It's dinner time right?"
He went to the cabinet to get some formula, but found it all gone. He groaned loudly. Fuck, he remembered just now that he said he was going to buy more…Why didn't Abi leave milk ready?! How selfish! She could make it for FREE. Just because she didn't want to do her job and milk herself, they had to buy formula and make HIM prepare it!
When the twins were properly fed, bathed (with help from his mother in law, bless her soul too), and put to sleep, Shermie could finally start solving those 30 math exercises he had to present tomorrow...and that stupid essay he had been pushing off... He felt like crying again. This was so HARD. Sometimes he called Sebastian for help but his brother wasn't much better at school work than he was and Shermie didn't want to bother him.
He thought of Mason and Mabel though. They needed him to graduate. They needed both of them to graduate and work and be someone to continue giving them food and buying them clothes and diapers. They were so, so small…
So Shermie sucked it up and opened his math book. He had homework and he better finish it! For his babies' sake...He fell asleep on the table as soon as he finished his homework, drooling a bit. Abigail returned home late, exhausted at the mere thought of waking up in a few hours to feed the babies. But the twins' beautiful sleeping faces made all this sacrifice worth it. She kissed their foreheads, and kissed Shermie's forehead, before going to sleep.
-.-
The twins started walking at some point and the teens couldn't believe it. They went from useless limp demanding babies to slightly bigger babies who wanted to see and grab everything! It was...amazing...If it didn't mean running after them to stop them from pulling cables, tablecloths and sticking their fingers into the plugs.
"And, I'm not kidding, he turned red crying his eyes out because I didn't allow him to put his pacifier inside the plug! So I'm an asshole for stopping him from killing himself?!" Shermie complained to his big brother over the phone. "What an asshole~ Let him die if he wants to." Sebastian cackled. "SEB!"
"Ok, geez, I'm kidding, don't let your spawn die…"
Shermie rolled his eyes. Seb didn't know. Seb didn't understand what it was like to watch over the kids, to worry about them hurting themselves or breaking something...while feeling stupidly proud of it at the same time…
Abi and him had returned to high school together. Now that the babies didn't need to be fed every second, Abi could go to school at the regular time with other high schoolers. It was so weird to return. In her afternoon school, there were adults, but now she was back to school with sweaty and gossiping 15-16 year olds she didn't know, but they knew her: She was Pines' wife , she had had kids with him and had to get married, she had been going to an afternoon school because of their kids and now she was back to normal school.
Abigail tried her best to ignore the gossip. She stuck with Shermie of course and his friends, and eventually made some great friends herself. There were moments where they felt...normal again. They weren't endlessly tired anymore because the kids could finally sleep all night long, they had more energy during the day; they joked around with their friends, worked together in dumb school projects, talked about the latest cartoons, and they felt...normal again.
Of course after returning from work, everything changed. They had different responsibilities than their friends. Shermie's friends could play video games for hours, he had to play with little dolls and bright toys with the twins. Abi's friends got together and talked about boys at school and read magazines, she had to feed the babies.
One of their friends complained about how he wanted to grow up so his parents could buy him a car, another complained about wanting to finish school already to go to college. Abi and Shermie were terrified of that. That had had to grow up earlier to be parents, growing up more meant more responsibilities, for them and for the twins, they didn't want that.
One day, as they were all walking out of school, Abi and Shermie paled when they saw Abi's mom's car parked there with a big smile, and she had brought the babies ...
"What are you doing here?!" Shermie hissed, pulling at his hair. Mason blinked as he looked around until he finally spotted his parents. He smiled widely, proudly showing off his new white teeth and babbled loudly. "BA! MAMA!" He reached for the teens. Abi and Shermie winced a bit as the other teens, also getting out of school, saw them, snickered and gossiped.
"Mom! Why did you bring them?!" Abigail wailed as she strode up to pick up her babies. She patted Mason's head softly, but she felt weird now that her classmates were seeing her.
Her mom smiled, not noticing or not caring at their embarrassment. "You forgot? The twins have a check up today. We agreed I was picking you two up to take them."
Shermie and Abi looked at each other. Oh...So that was why they had a free day today. They had forgotten WHY they asked for a day off work… "Wait, so we aren't going to the cinema anymore?" One of their friends pouted. Shermie pouted back. "Sorry man, we have stuff to do."
The young couple pouted hard all the way to the hospital. Not fair. They had been looking forward to it all day! Shermie looked at Mabel, chewing on her fist as it was the only thing she could do on her car seat, and he smiled a bit. "We can always buy the movie later, no?" He whispered at his wife and kissed her nose. Abigail laughed. "Yeah, besides, the theater will be packed, it'd be nicer to go after the first show anyway."
The twins didn't like the doctors. They fussed a lot, tried to hold each other's hand to not be separated and brutally attacked by the mean man (doctor). Shermie and Abi had to hold them still for the check up. They were getting some vaccination shots today. They screamed to call their parents' attention to save them, but Shermie and Abi sat with their eyes closed. Nope! They were not seeing the needle! Just do it already! The doctor raised an eyebrow when both the couple and the twins started crying when they got a shot. Abigail's mom facepalmed.
"You did a very good job, kids, so brave!" The doctor later congratulated the sniffling twins and gave them a lollipop. Mason and Mabel gasped and started to lick their candy, their previous nasty experience forgotten. Then, the doctor looked at the pouting teens and chuckled. He had been the twins' pediatrician since they moved to California, and knew them and the teens very well. "They're very healthy babies, Abi, Shermie. You're doing a very great job too!" He offered them lollipops as well. They were not the first teen parents he had met, he had worked with some teen moms, but they were the first who were together and lived together to raise their kids.
Abi shrugged with a small smile and sucked on her lollipop too with some tears still fresh in her eyes. Listening to her children cry was more heart wrenching than she thought. They hadn't come to their check ups for a while, her mom volunteered for most of their shots. Shermie looked at his lollipop and pouted. "Can I get a red one?" The doctor laughed loudly and kindly changed the green candy for a red one.
"Is everything going well at home? How do you see the twins?" The teens looked at Abi's mom to reply, but she shook her head. She wasn't the mom, they had to learn to speak to the doctor already. "They have teeth now, and it hurts to...you know…" The girl muttered. The doctor nodded. "You can start changing it to just bottles if you wish to stop breastfeeding them, with time your milk supply will be completely cut, or I could prescribe you a pill." Abi blushed even more. Ugh, hearing the terms out loud was so embarrassing … She wiggled awkwardly and stared down at her chest. Ugh again. Getting used to feeding the babies was horrible. Her body was used to it now and she didn't feel all bloated anymore, but still , her milk would leak if she didn't feed them and that sucked. At least Shermie was always there for her when she felt bad.
They talked a bit more about Mason and Mabel, their diet now that they were 1 year old, their height, weight, vocabulary and walking. The two were growing quickly. Just yesterday they were little beans and now they were loud, shrieking and curious babies.
After what felt like an eternity, the family could finally go home. As they asked for a day off work, they had their evening off, which meant they both planned to use it to sleep, but the twins had napped during the way home, and they wanted to play now. Abi's mom waved and went to nap herself. Being a granny was tiring, even if she was only in her early 40s.
Shermie and Abi sat down on the floor, yawning, as the twins crawled around curiously. Shermie yawned and closed his eyes for a second, when suddenly, a small weight fell on his legs. He looked down, his green eyes lighting up when he saw Mabel on top of him, giggling. "Papa!" Shermie's heart warmed up, proud that his baby managed to walk all the way towards him, and cradled her to his chest to give her a kiss. "I love you, pumpkin…" Mabel giggled and grabbed his nose.
-.-
Shermie and Abi assumed that because the kids were older and less troublesome, it meant they didn't have to stay EVERY day to watch the twins playing or drooling over themselves. Their class had organized an amazing trip for everyone, going to Xtreme Park, full of roller coasters and other 'xtreme' rides that promised to make you throw up.
They assumed Abi's parents would act like good grandparents and let them have fun, they were so excited to go and spend a day with their friends!
They assumed wrong.
"MOM PLEASE!" Abi cried, tears welling up in her eyes. Shermie stayed quiet, doing his best not to argue with his in laws and focused on keeping his angry tears from falling. He didn't want to seem ungrateful. Her parents had taken him in, gave them a place to live and roof over their heads (after he got their little princess pregnant, he only expected his dick to be chopped off). But this was just… so unfair!
"Parenting is a full time job." Abigail's dad said solemnly. "Maybe once you're older and more responsible, we would feel alright with letting you go off and have fun while we babysit, but that is then and this is now." The man placed his hands in his hips. "You two were just going to leave your children with us? Just to go off and play around in some reckless, dangerous theme park?"
"What if you get hurt, or sick?" Abigail's mom said. "More than that, we aren't some free babysitters for you to dump your children on whenever you want." She shook her head. "You want us to babysit? You're going to have to pay us." Of course her mom didn't care about the money at all, she wanted the teens to learn to be responsible, the children didn't stop being their responsibility just when they wished for it.
"You're their STUPID grandparents!" Abigail screamed. "You are SUPPOSED to take care of them! My Grandma did it! And she didn't ask you to fucking pay her!"
"Watch your tone with us, young lady! Who do you think we are?!" His dad shouted loudly and Shermie flinched. He already understood they weren't going, he had been reprimanded worse by his own father for less significant things, but Abi was just...different. Her parents liked her. She wasn't afraid when they raised their voices at her. She could scream back. Shermie and his siblings had never been able to talk back to Filbrick.
"We are responsible! We work for them and study! Why can't you do this dumb favor for us!? We-We never get to do anything!" Abigail stomped her feet.
"You're going to spend 20 dollars each for the entrance fee, plus whatever things you want to buy inside, which is always expensive. Do you think it's responsible to waste that money? You ONLY work for your kids! Kids you had after being the most irresponsible you could have EVER been, Abigail! It's both YOUR job to feed and care for the twins! I guess us helping you with everything ELSE doesn't count as a 'dumb favor' now does it?" Her mom hardened her glare. "We're the one's giving you the money to buy their diapers and formula. We're the ones who're paying for YOU two living here."
"Uurggh! What. Ever!" Abi stomped towards the door. "Shermie! Let's go!" She shrieked, a sob escaping her throat. Shermie winced and when he didn't obey, Abi left, cursing angry. He turned to look at his in-laws. "...we've been working really hard. We just… wanted to take a short break. Just one day…" He told them quietly.
Abigail's mother sighed. "We know. But you need to learn this. You can't just keep relying on us. You're going to have to do this on your own eventually." She sent a sad look at the door Abi stormed through. "You won't be with us for much longer, you know that, right?"
Shermie angrily wiped his tears from his green eyes. He knew that. School will soon end and after college he didn't expect his in laws to have them in their house, even when they still could. He and Abi were expected to be adults after that… To pay their own bills...and taxes...and pay for the twins...He nodded. "I know…" Abi's dad left, upset that he had to shout at his only daughter (the last time he shouted at her was when they found out she was pregnant) and Abi's mom hugged Shermie, seeing how distressed he looked.
"We're sorry, but I'm sure your mom would say the same…" Shermie accepted the hug before pulling away. He knew. Ma would say the same, she also wanted him to be responsible for his own actions. "I-I'll bring Abi back."
He went outside and saw her curled up by the entrance, snuggling into her jacket as her tears streamed down her face. Shermie sat down next to her. "...Am I grounded?" She asked, barely noticeable. "I don't know, they never said it." Shermie wrapped an arm around her.
"I want to go!" She complained and the boy whimpered. "Me too…"
"If we go, they'd still should have watched the kids…" Abi suggested but Shermie sent her a look. "That would be irresponsible…" Shermie snuggled closer. "We shouldn't have had kids, we were so stupid.. " the girl muttered. The teens stayed outside for a while to chill (quite literally it was really cold outside) before they returned to the house to curl up on their bed and warm up. They were sad, but resigned. Their parents were right...Mabel and Mason came before anything else.
When the couple went back indoors and heard the babies squeal in joy at seeing them, it made the disappointment of missing the field trip more bearable.
-.-
"I can assure you the answer is not that." One of Shermie's friends deadpanned. "Dude, it is!" Abi laughed. "You are not changing the symbol here. Negative and negative becomes positive."
"Oh. Right." The boy scratched his answer out as Shermie smugly kissed Abi's nose. So intelligent~
The two were going to school together again, and were doing homework together with some friends. It was a Saturday, the only time they could have friends over. During the week they had to work, but they were used to it, had been doing it for 2 years now.
"Mommy, daddy, wha you doin?" The 4 teens screamed when the tablecloth was pulled down and one of their glasses fell, spilling the soda everywhere. Luckily, the glass didn't break.
""MASON!"" Abi and Shermie scolded. "Look what you did, booger!" Shermie groaned. Mason pulled at his shirt. "Wante to see…sowy." Mabel ran into the living room, dragging a Bardie the dinosaur doll by his leg (making Abi's friend coo) and went to pull Abi's hand. "Mommy! Hungwy! I wanna appel!"
Abigail rolled her eyes. "Alright sweetie. I'll go peel some apples for you." She got up and headed to the kitchen, Mabel squealed and ran after her. Shermie was wiping the soda off the floor. Thank god it was a wooden floor and not carpet. Mason was wiggling, sad that he messed up something. Shermie saw his expression and sighed. "I'm not THAT mad. Just be careful next time, alright kid?" Mason nodded, looking up at the table. "Wha you wowkin' on?"
"We're doing homework, baby, for school." Abi's friend picked Mason up to hug him. They were so adorable, twins were always adorable. "S'cool? Daddy and mommy go ther'!" Mason informed her, and the girl cooed. "Shermie, don't worry about him anymore, I'll adopt him!"
Shermie took off the wet tablecloth and laughed. "Ok, I can give him to you. Look at his forehead, it's funny." The girl lifted Mason's curly bangs, making the toddler smile, and she gasped. "Oh my god~" The other boy leaned in to see. "Is...that a birthmark? Or your other kid drew that on his forehead?"
"Birthmark. It's cute." Shermie said, not noticing Mason was reaching for their notebooks and pencils.
"I don wan appel like tha'! I wan' big appel!" Mabel screamed from the kitchen. "M big!" They could hear Abigail laughing. "Okay sweetie. Yes, you're a big girl." While the teenagers were distracted, Mason got ahold of one of the notebooks and stared at it. It was filled with scribbles. He saw a pencil and took that so he could add scribbles too!
Mabel came back to show everyone her peeled apple. "Lookie! Daddy!" Shermie's friend couldn't help but grin. It was always so funny to hear the kids call his friend that. "It looks delicious~" Mabel offered it to him and he took a little bite to please her. "But we need to finish our homework, go watch Bardie with Mason, go~" Shermie grabbed his other toddler, put him on his feet, and shooed both kids out. They knew how to restart the VHS. Abi and him sat down on the table again and the other boy screamed when he saw his notebook had been scribbled on. "Shermie!"
The teen groaned. "Aaarrghhh! Just do it again, man, he didn't know… and it's not like he covered up your answers." The twins did this all the time though! Despite telling them NOT to mess with their school work they STILL did it! Mabel once drew all over Abigail's report, and used their notebooks as personal coloring books. Worse of all, his in-laws supported all this! Even when they knew it pissed the teen parents off!
The triplets would have smacked his head if he had done that, especially Ford, definitely Ford...Shermie smiled with nostalgia. But his mother-in law didn't like that kind of 'barbaric raising'. That was just how Shermie grew up, he didn't know another way. But he was trying hard to be patient, he didn't want to be like his father, Seb was sure he wouldn't be, so he had to prove his big brother right. Besides, Filbrick was a dick and Shermie wanted nothing to do with him. Not even his parenting tactics!
"Urgh, still, he's an annoying brat." The other teen complained. Shermie glared and leaned over the table to scribble on his friend's notebook. He could complain all he wanted, but no one else talked shit about his babies. "I'm more annoying!" He now covered his answers.
"DUUUDEEE! WHAT THE FUCK!"
Abi and her friend laughed.
"I'll pick you two up when you're done." Abi's mom poked their noses. "Mom~ Do we HAVE to? You can stay too…"
"Um, going to parents meeting is your responsibility...And from what I remember, you didn't need my help to get pregnant and have two kids." Abigail's mom scoffed. Shermie groaned loudly. "K! We get it!". The teens got out of the car, grumbling and embarrassed. They were in their last year of school, and Mabel and Mason were in preschool, and apparently parent meetings were a thing?
The guard at the entrance looked at them weirdly but indicated where the Butterflies classroom was. Of course there were a few moms and dads there. "Hi, um...we came for the parents meeting?" Abi asked sheepishly. They didn't even know the twins' teacher, her mom brought them in on their first day.
The teacher blinked, assuming these kids were the older siblings and had been sent in by their parents to get some seats while they parked the car, looked down at the list. "Name?"
"Mason and Mabel Pines." Shermie said, shuffling his feet. All the other parents were adults! The teacher nodded and allowed them in.
Shermie and Abi stayed quiet as the parents talked to each other about how their kids were the best and how they needed to organize a party for everyone. The teens smiled a bit. Mabel would love that. She liked to make friends...
Eventually everyone was inside and the teacher started talking. She was going to start introducing herself and getting to know the parents until Mabel and Mason's parents came. After all the presentation, in which the teens weren't even given the chance to speak, she addressed the kids. "Hi, excuse me, are your parents going to come soon?"
"Our...parents?" Shermie asked confused. "The twins' parents, I'd like to start talking about the things in the schedule. "Oh…" Shermie blushed a bit. "We-We're their parents…" He gripped Abi's hand under the table when all the other adults in the room turned to stare wide-eyed. "O-oh…" The teacher wavered. "But, that other woman-"
"That's my mom." Abigail sighed. "I can't drive yet, and I had school so my mom dropped them off." She noticed some of the other parents gaped, others shook their head, apparently disappointed, others smiled gently.
"Ok so...You-You can start with your schedule, or something, ma'am…" Shermie smiled a bit. The teacher nodded, apparently still in shock, and started talking. She mentioned things like having the immunization record completed, kids bringing normal bottles and not feeding bottles anymore, having to be potty-trained those who weren't, because it wasn't a nursery and they weren't nannies, bringing aprons to not get dirty when using paint and molding clay, and for boys to cut their hair. Then she asked the parents to ask their questions.
Abigail frowned. "Why do the boys have to cut their hair?" Mason liked to keep his hair long, to cover his forehead. It was mainly because Mabel would poke his birthmarks, she thought they were funny. She was starting to call him Dipper after her grandad, Abi's dad, told her Mason's birthmark was shaped like that constellation.
"It's just to have some order and cleanliness. Little boys run around and they get too hot." She explained.
"But he likes his hair that way." Shermie argued back. A man laughed. "Kid, shut up and just listen to the teacher, you're closer to the kids' age to know what's better." Shermie was taken aback by the mean comment, and he turned his hands into fists, he wasn't going to fight with him, he didn't want to get in trouble. Abi patted his arm. "He gets really upset whenever he gets a haircut. It should be fine as long as he's clean, right?" She asked.
The teacher sighed a bit. "We can talk about it later, ok sweetie?" Abi pursed her lips and nodded. She hated to be patronized, but she agreed with the teacher for now. There were another basic questions asked and then there was a small break before everyone had their turn with the teacher to ask personalized questions about their kids and to know how they were doing.
"Coofeeee~" Shermie whispered to Abi, who smiled excitedly as well. "We need coffee. Now." They had to finish some homework after this, so they needed to NOT sleep. They went to the table with the coffee and a few parents chuckled when they saw the teenagers filling up their Styrofoam cups. "Kids and their coffee." One man shook his head. Shermie ignored him, responding would mean he couldn't continue drinking this magical life giving substance, he loved this so much~ The first time he tried coffee (he smiled sadly, it was Ford who let him try a bit from his cup), he despised it...What a FOOL he had been as a child...
"Gasp!" Shermie finally came up for air. "Woo! This is some good stuff!" He stretched and threw back the rest of his cup, licking at it to try and get the last bits. Abi's chuckles where interrupted when a woman nearby frowned. "You're teenagers, it's not healthy to drink coffee-"
Shermie turned to her and gave her a deadpan stare. "I have to wake up at 6 AM to go to school until 2 PM. Then I go to WORK until 7 PM. Then I have to take care of the kids, do my homework and then, if I'm LUCKY, I can get to bed by 1. Then I have to wake up at 6 again the next day." He twitched before he refilled his cup, never breaking eye contact with that woman. He brought the cup up to his lips and sipped loudly. "I'll drink this AAALLL I want." The woman gasped offended and Abi grinned widely. Oh Pines and their sassiness…
They then waited for their turn, drinking coffee and eating some cookies. Abi looked around. The twins said they had a little friend, but she didn't know who his parents were. One by one, the other couples exited the classroom and left, leaving a few other parents and the teens. Shermie was getting impatient. He wanted to go home now! He knew the twins behaved and had good grades. What. Else?!
A mother sat down next to the teens and smiled. "She's taking her life in there, huh?" Abi looked up at her and nodded. The woman leaned closer. "To be honest, those parents who just entered are the parents of a really annoying girl, she fights others and think everyone works for her...I've known them since babies, my daughter went to daycare with her as babies…her parents are no better." She nodded. "They're entitled and horrible. The man who told you to shut up earlier is that naughty girl's father."
They talked for a bit more when finally, the young couple were called in. Shermie and Abi threw their cups away, waved at the nice mom, and entered the classroom again. The teacher smiled at them. "Well...Hello, um…" She trailed off, she didn't even ask for their names before! The teens smiled. "I'm Abigail, he's Sherman." The woman nodded and checked her papers. "Well, Mabel and Mason are doing really well. Mason works dutifully and Mabel always volunteers to give the class an example of the activity. They're pretty sweet kids and they're very obedient."
She handed them their report cards. Mabel's was full of B+ in the activities, like cutting straight lines, or recognizing the shapes and colors, and Mason had full A's, except in cutting. It made Abi coo.
The teens smiled proudly. Those were their babies~
"Though, Mason is still a bit shy, and he doesn't want to work with anyone but his sister...I've been trying to pair him with other boys, but he doesn't like it."
"Oh. Well yes...Mason is a very reserved child." Abi squirmed. "It's not wrong, but if you could help him socialize more, it would be better." The teacher told them. The teens nodded, hiding a yawn behind their hands. God they were tired.
"Also, despite the fact that Mabel is nice to everyone, sometimes she fights with other girls, um, the parents of this girl said her daughter came home bruised." The teacher winced. Abi gasped. "What? Mabel? Well, I know she doesn't always pay attention to what she hits when she flails around, but I've never seen her hurt anyone before!"
"Have you seen Mabel hitting her?" Shermie asked the teacher with a raised eyebrow. The woman winced a bit. "Well, I've seen her playing roughly, but never hitting on purpose. The girl told her parents it was Mabel."
Abi and Shermie shared a look. "We'll talk to her, but we still don't think Mabel was hitting on purpose. But if she is playing too roughly, we will let her know that she shouldn't do that."
The teacher nodded, relieved that these parents were at least going to talk to their kid about it. She's had to deal with other parents who refuse to believe their child could be anything but perfect and refused to even listen to the complaints. She adjusted her glasses and got to the next point she wanted to talk to the Pines about. "While the twins are doing very well in their class, they don't pronounce words as well as the others. Mabel's handwriting is also very hard to make out."
The teens wiggled. "The kids are just 3...Isn't that, like, normal?" The teacher waved her hand in a 'more or less' gesture. "She needs to improve, there are books you can buy her where she can practice her calligraphy."
Abi and Shermie simply nodded.
After an awkward moment of the teacher presenting them some papers and asking "Can you sign yet?" And Shermie answering "Abi is 18, I'm still 17.", Abi's mom picked them up. She had a good laugh when Abi told her they were mistaken for the older siblings.
"Look at the bright side, everyone will always think you look amazingly young!" They didn't mention the other things they were told, they were worried as it was.
They went to the twins room, they had beds now, and found them sleeping, Dipper was upside down, hugging his plushie and Mabel was drowning in her plushies (half of her collection was actually Dipper's, he didn't mind, he didn't need that many). Abi freed Mabel from the plushie pile and Shermie carefully tucked Dipper in. It was amazing how they were toddlers now, they could finally sleep all night long, aside from those "Mommy, daddy, wateh pwease!" interruptions.
"Goodnight, babies…" They went to their room to finish that chemistry homework they had. Both groaned but didn't complain aloud. The babies were worth the effort, they'd go to more parent teacher meetings for them.
Most of the problems could be solved. They asked Abi's mom to take Mason and Mabel to the park to socialize more, they found the books for Mabel, but when they asked about the hitting problem, the little girl shrugged. "She poking Dippe's fowehead and only I can do that but I not hit, just push, but I didn' huwt or make heh fall."
The argument that came after with the other parents was so bad, two grown up adults shouting at the teacher and the scared teens about how they were lying brats and should be expelled for harassing her daughter, that Abi's parents had to get involved because the teens were getting eaten alive by the angry older parents.
They didn't like this, they should be doing fun things now, like teens their age, not fighting with some crazy dicks over Mabel apparently bullying her daughter which wasn't true at all! Mabel was the sweetest baby! Mabel at some point cried at the accusations, which made Mason cry in distress too, and Shermie wanted to see blood spill after that.
They eventually solved this, luckily, and proved that family was just lying! One of the teacher's assistants told them that she saw the other girl poking Mason's head even when he asked her to "Pwease stop!" and that Mabel had been defending her brother. It was all very stressful for the teen parents, but...it felt nice to know they were in the right, and that they managed to get their revenge for making their precious adorable babies cry.
-.-
It took so long, but they were finally graduating high school, after what felt like an eternity. Shermie saw his favorite big brother again (who cried during the entire ceremony) and they celebrated with pizza, which the twins loved.
They had been thinking and they needed to study. They couldn't work as a cashier or waiter forever. College was too expensive and long, but going to an institute might be the best option. From there, they could take courses and essentially get the training they needed for their career without the whole college experience. Abi wanted to go into nursing. Shermie was going for programming. With technology and the internet becoming more important, many companies needed people who knew how to code. Shermie would be able to get a better job that paid more than just minimum wage. Abi had always wanted to go into the medical field, and she was glad she would be able to be part of it.
"You'll do great, kiddo." Seb had told Shermie when he called to tell him the news. "Now your in laws will be stuck with babysitting." Shermie laughed, "Don't think so. Abi's mom is glad to be with them but as soon as we step a foot inside the house, the twins are our responsibility, tons of homework or not."
"Well, the kids are lovely, Mabel gave me a delicious imaginary cookie!" Shermie snickered at that. "-I don't think they give you much trouble anymore?" Seb had pointed out. Shermie laughed. They did, they were curious about everything but...he liked being with them and teaching them stuff, he loved their awed faces when he did a magic trick or when they told him about the latest episode of Save-Ums. "I love them, Seb…"
If high school was hard, the institute was way worse. They had even more things to do and they still had their responsibilities at home. People didn't judge as much as in high school though, they always said they were brave for having the kids and raising them. They said they admired them. Shermie even met a few other young parents. Of course, they had their kids after high school, but it was nice to be able to trade tips and tricks with them.
Shermie was up long hours into the night studying. He couldn't rely on Abi's parents forever. He needed to get a good paying job, he needed to do what he could to care for his children. Shermie only realized he fell asleep on his desk when Mabel and Dipper woke him up by throwing a blanket over him. When he jolted awake, Dipper had said "Sowwy, we dot you woked cold." Shermie stared down at his kids and… he just… loved them so much. He knelt down to hug the two of them. "Thanks, but shouldn't you two be in bed?" Shermie tried to hold back his tears, didn't want to give the kids the wrong idea. Mabel pouted. "But you be'in bed too!"
Shermie laughed. "Alright, you got me there. Let's all go to bed." He carried his giggling children back to their room and passed out, draped over Mabel's bed, using half her blankets. He had to admit this was pretty nice, they were like hot water bottles. And he had it relatively easier than Abi, medicine sucked and she had a lot of things to read and memorize.
But. Not everything was hardships and struggle. The good thing about being parents is that they could dress up their kids however they wanted and no one could say anything! Every holiday, Abi's family joined together and the girl enjoyed presenting her baby boy with the lamb costume Seb designed for Mason when he was a baby. Every year he got a new one for his moment to shine !
Everyone squealed over how adorable he looked in his lamby costume~ Shermie loved his presentations, they're were so funny. He took photos, he would keep them for posterity and mock Dip-Mason when he was older. Damn it, the nickname was catchy. They could also dress the twins up in paired costumes for Halloween! The best part of that was how Shermie could keep a portion of the twin's haul for himself! FREE CANDY!
Well, at least until the twins realized their father was taxing them for taking them trick or treating. Abi scolded him when he did that, but she didn't complain when she ate the candy with him...What a little hypocrite~
-.-
"Daddy, can we go to the park?" Mabel pulled his sleeve as he worked on writing the programming codes he had to learn. "Tell mom to take you." Was Shermie's response.
Dipper and Mabel whined. The nickname already stuck. They were 5, and their speech problem had been fixed. The extra help was paid for as a gift from Abi's parents. Shermie loved them so much~ "She said to not bother her and let her sleep."
"Well, I need to finish studying, I've got an important exam, do you want me to graduate and get a job?" Mabel pulled her ponytail. "But you grade-ated."
"From high school." Shermie rolled his eyes and went back to studying. "But we really want to play…" Dipper pulled his sleeve.
"Dipper, not now!" Shermie sighed. "Look, if you give me a few hours of quiet so I can finish this assignment, we can go to the park for a little bit." Shermie tried to negotiate. Mabel looked impatient but Dipper nodded and pulled on his sister's hand. "Come on, Mabel. We can go play with your dolls."
"I love to play with my dolls! We can make a tea party too!" The twins ran away and the young man smiled a bit. Kids… He focused even harder on his work now, he had to finish this to take his babies to the park, they were so excited to go and they deserved it...
Shermie would love to procrastinate all day and relax...Call some friends and go out with them and Abi to have lunch or some drinks, he only had to finish this and he could be free for the day like everybody else his age...but he couldn't…He had to finish and take care of the twins, he wasn't like everyone his age; he had two little kids who depended on him to finish and take them to the park to have fun and DAMN was he taking them to the park!
After a few hours, he finished and the twins jumped on his back to be carried. ""Paarrkk!"" Shermie laughed and made horse noises. "Let's gooo! Neeighh!"
As Shermie dramatically pushed the twins' swings making 'whoosh' sounds, Mabel squealed. "You're the bestest daddy in the whole worrlldd!"
Dipper's swing hit the young man's stomach and after a grunt, Shermie looked at Mabel with wide green eyes. "You...you really think so? I-I bet there are others who're better…" ...others who were older and more capable of caring for them...
"Nopey! You are the very best! You and mommy! Because you do evewything for us and granny says you're very responsible and you buy us ice cream!" Mabel giggled as she kicked her legs.
"And you always plays with us even when you have homework. Doing homework is vewy important." Dipper supplied, kicking his legs awkwardly to try to swing himself, but failing. The little boy looked up. "And you study a lot because you're smart like mommy, she knows all about the body and you know everything about computews."
"O-Oh…" Shermie licked his lips and stayed silent. He...really didn't know what to say to the kids. Did-Did they really think he was smart and the-the best...the best dad?
He wanted to punch something, like a tree, his emotions were a mess and he just...just...He ended up hugging the twins, ignoring their complains as he crushed them. "You are also the bestest kids in the world, even when you drive me insane…" Shermie sniffled and Mabel and Dipper giggled.
"Can we get icecweam?"
"...Ok…"
-.-
It took a little longer than expected, but Mabel and Dipper proudly showed off at school when they were in 1st grade that they were moving to a new house. It was small, but it was amazing for them. Shermie and Abi had finally being able to move to a house of their own and the twins were young, but they understood their parents were awfully proud, so they were proud too. They'd miss Granny and Grandpa though.
Shermie and Abi hugged and thanked their parents for all the help they received from them, even for the house. The young woman was clinging to her dad as Shermie sobbed over his in-laws. He loved them so much! "Thank you! Thank you! I don't know what we'd have done without you!"
"Probably nothin'." The older man chuckled and patted his back. "You're welcome, son."
Shermie excitedly called his older brother to visit him. He had a new house! They worked hard for it! He wanted Seb to see it! But Seb said he was too busy...He hadn't seen his niblings in years either. He knew Seb kept in touch with Carla and her kid...The twins didn't know about their cousin, it was...sad for Shermie to think about Ford and Lee…
Well, didn't matter, he knew Seb still loved him and the twins no matter the distance! Besides, his mom visited from time to time to tell him how proud she was of him...and that was always nice…
His mother-in law still babysat the twins for them, but of course life was much easier now that he had a car and could actually drive and move around on his own. Shermie and Abi had stable jobs, most of their friends were just finishing college, and the young couple worked to fit as many courses as they could take and pay into their packed schedule. They wanted to be better, to improve, to learn and study and be someone for their children who were not babies anymore, but curious and beautiful kids.
Mabel was just like him, a free spirit, crazy, strong, loved unicorns and bright colors, Dipper was more quiet, he got allergies more easily than his sister (Though both their allergies act up around the same time) and he loved reading big books. He was a nerd like his mom~ Shermie usually repeated that when he teased his son, but Dipper didn't seem to know what nerd meant yet. Good, he would surely get annoyed once he knew.
The twins usually didn't get in trouble, but there were times they seemed to want to give their parents heart attacks at the young age of 23. Like when they were in 2nd grade. It was photo day, October was making itself present by making it colder every day. Abi wrapped Dipper in a very warm jacket because he was sick, "Mommy will give you allergy syrup~" "...The one that tastes like strawberry?" "That one, yes." as Shermie finished combing Mabel's hair. He had years of practice and he finally did a decent job. "Pigtails done!"
"I love them!" Mabel squealed and hugged her dad. "Come on, Dipper! We'll be Late!" She grabbed his wrist and pulled him away.
The parents expected a nice photo from them, but they only got two half shaved kids when they came back home. ""AAAAAAHHHHHHH!"" "What have you DONE?!" Where the fuck did they even find a Goddamn shaver?!
Watching Mabel and Dipper grow up was an adventure of its own. They were their children, and did everything they could to make them happy. They continued having courses at night, improving themselves just for them, to get better jobs, and get paid better so they could give them some nice stuff here and there.
They bought Mabel a huge knitting kit when she asked, and she absolutely loved it, she spent hours practicing and making lots of colorful scarves. They bought Dipper the collection of books he always wanted and the two always felt warm in their hearts when they saw their little boy curled up on a pillow, reading and chewing a pen.
They were very curious kids though, with a lot of imagination, and they weren't afraid to lay down on the mud to look at bugs or insects. Or play in the rain, jumping on water puddles without proper boots, just their sneakers. They had left Abi's side many times when they went shopping and the poor woman panicked every time until she found them hiding in the clothes stacks, or trying to get cereal from high shelves, or on the other hand, scared because they couldn't find her, thought they would be lost forever and started crying for her in a corner, with a loud "MOOMMMMYYY!"
Shermie and Abigail were proud of their little twins, how close they were. Mabel always defended Dipper when kids laughed at his adorable birthmark, and Dipper was always nice and patient with his wild twin, played with her and cured her scratches with a band aid and a kiss.
But they'll never forget when Dipper was 11 and he burnt down the curtains and the couch. Apparently, he had drawn a freaking PENTAGRAM with chalk and the candles he put on the floor to summon a GHOST, and Mabel had been helpfully recording everything, because they needed to see any supernatural events.
Of course the twins were grounded.
That same year, Abi claimed she needed a break from parenting and Shermie suggested traveling. They started saving up for it and planned a nice trip for summer of next year. However they needed to know who would watch the kids.
"I can call Seb!" Shermie smiled, but Abi wasn't sure. "They haven't seen each other for years...Are you sure he'd want to do this? My mom said they can take care of the twins." They deserved this trip, and her mom recognized they had been doing great! She even supported them going on this trip, the twins were 12 now, more than old enough to be away from their parents for a while without issue.
The young man nodded eagerly. "Don't bother your ma, it will be a great time for them to catch up! I'll call Seb immediately."
Of course Shermie forgot to call for weeks and only remembered to tell Seb he had sent his precious bundles of joy his way when he was about to board the plane.
"Plleaaasseeeeee!"
"Ugh...Ok…"
Seb obviously accepted! Just like Shermie knew he would! Because he was the best big brother ever! Abi rolled her eyes at him. They almost missed their plane because of his stupidity…
They had the time of their lives there. They were young and wanted to explore. They had cheap accommodations but they enjoyed every second of it. They had fun whenever the hotel staff, tour guides or whoever asked if they were married. Shermie and Abi would laugh and say yes, have been for 13 years. The people were always surprised because of how young they were. The best part was when people asked if they had kids. They all cooed and said it must have been hard leaving their babies behind. Shermie always said "It was hard, we miss them every day, but they're almost 13 now, they need to grow up."
Their faces were priceless .
Despite how much fun the couple had on their own, they missed their kids so, so much. They hugged them tight when they saw them at the bus station waiting for them, and they all had a good laugh when they realized the twins were also tanned from their outdoors adventures, just like their parents.
Their greatest proof of love was Waddles. Shermie reluctantly agreed to keep the pig despite how he explicitly said he didn't want pets in the house (though he should have suspected this would happen, what with how much Mabel loved her grandparents' pet cat). But Mabel clearly loved that animal. She even showed him a creepy sweater she knitted for her pig with her face on it, and he ended up agreeing to let her keep it.
Just because Mabel was his princess.
Dipper was loudly jabbering on and on as he shoved a book with a pine tree on it towards Abi. "Mom! Mom! You HAVE to read what I learned this summer! I have a journal now! Uncle FfffffSebastian helped me make one!"
The young parents rolled their eyes fondly.
Shermie blinked out of his reminiscence.
Now the twins were almost 15...It's been two years since the twins came home babbling about monsters, two years since Shermie's older brothers returned from the dead. Two years since his family reunited once and forever more. Lots of things have changed, but a lot remained the same. Shermie and Abi Pines would still kill for their kids, whether they were 5 or 50.
Many have judged them in their past, and criticized them for even wanting to keep the babies instead of putting them up for adoption. It could have been an option, but they didn't want to. Many ignored how stupidly brave those two 15 year old idiots were, not only to be teenage parents, but parents of twins at an age where they should have been complaining about cleaning their rooms.
They sucked up and ignored the whispers, insults and mocking because they were determined to be someone for their kids, because they loved them, because caring for their children was more important than being called irresponsible, whore, fuckboy, stupid...
Those precious children were worth the sacrifices.
/-/-/
Abi rubbed her eyes and yawned loudly when the sound of her ringing phone woke her up. Shermie was still passed out, making a very good pillow. The woman reached for her phone on the table and first saw the hour. It was 7 pm, they had napped for a while and were still sleepy. Her eyes widened when she realized it was a missed call from Mabel.
She called her daughter back and Mabel picked up. "Hi, mommy!" "Hi, sweetie, sorry, we fell asleep? Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, we're at our friend's house, but her mom's car broke down and we need a ride home, she can't take us anymore." Shermie rubbed his eyes and blinked at Abi when she nodded. "Ok sweetie, send me your location and we'll pick you up." Abi hung up and poked Shermie's sleepy face. "Hey, honey, we gotta pick the twins up from their friend's house."
Shermie yawned and rubbed his eyes. "I'm hungry though…" "We can go eat out." "Pizza?" "Pizza."
The twins asked if they could give another friend a lift home and the young parents agreed. After saying bye to their friend, Shermie asked the twins if they had dinner yet. "No...can we get pizza?" Mabel smiled and Shermie laughed loudly. "That's MY daughter!"
They all went to Pizza Hot and the four happily munched on their pizza as the twins told them about the great movie they watched and how much fun they had. "And-And then my friend stood up and all the popcorn spilled and we were laughing so, so much! And a friend almost pissed herself and I was choking with popcorn!" were only a few of the many things Mabel told them. Their parents smiled at them lovingly.
"So, we'll tell your uncles to get ready to go to Gravity Falls?" "Yes!" "I'm SO going to show you the monsters THIS time!" Dipper waved a breadsticks at Shermie, who rolled his eyes. Ok. Fine.
Abigail giggled and ran a hand through Mabel's hair (used to it having glitter). "We love you, you know that?" Abigail smiled. Mabel slurped her cheese and grinned widely. "We know, mom~ We're amazing!" She nudged Dipper as he sipped his soda. The boy laughed. "We love you too, mom, dad."
Mizuuma: Awwww, poor Shermie and Abi went through so much~
Blue: :)
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