Slices of Life and Family

by bluefrostyy

PART 3 of The life of Sebastian Pines! (Read that first, I doubt you'll understand what's going on) The story follows Seb's life after Gravity Falls. Bill was defeated, but the Pines family still have thousands of adventures together. Old characters will come back, new characters will make an appearance, all to accompany Seb through his journey as a human (Cowritten with Mizuuma)

7. Ci-Cipher's back!

Hello new chapter! we hope you suff-I mean, like it!

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"No! No! Let me go! Don't do it! Please!" Seb sobbed as the bullies dragged him across the empty hallway. "Aaawww! The cyclops gonna cry! Look at the poor little girl!"

They pulled off his eyepatch and threw it away and used duct tape to force his eye open. "Now everyone can see how ugly you are! Disgusting!" They finally came to stop at a closet.

Seb sobbed loudly, pleading for someone (ANYONE) to see and come help him. But why would they? He didn't deserve it, he was just a bother, he wasn't worth it…As they tied his hands and feet together, the boy saw a glimpse of hope. "Ford! Ford help me! Do something!" The teen sobbed.

The teen with glasses remained still as the laughing bullies covered Sebastian's mouth with duct tape. "This way is better, Sebastian…" Ford put his hands behind his back. "Monsters like you deserve to be locked up…" They were now placing duct tape over his eyes. Before the piece of duct tape left him blind, Sebastian saw Stanford grin. "Oh, don't worry, I'll take care of your kids, make sure they're fixed."

Seb only screamed as he was left blind and thrown inside the closet. His daughters, his daughters were going to-! He needed to-he had to! His cries were muffled by the duct tape. Zoe! Zully! Ford was going to do something to them-!

'You've always been so useless, Sebastian...Pathetic, garbage, filth...Thinking you could get rid of me~ You don't deserve it, you're a demon, a monster, can't protect your kids, piece of shit.

Leave me alone! You were gone! You can't hurt me anymore! You're GONE! I'm not a monster! Seb tried holding his head but his hands were tied. He banged his head against the closet door instead.

'You'll always be Bill Cipher. That's why your brother doesn't trust you, that's why he wants to fix the broken children you created! Aren't you ashamed?! Creating monsters like YOU?! You are so selfish! Disgusting! Why didn't you stay DEAD!? Everyone would have been better without you!' A very familiar voice grew louder and louder with each word.

"Hahahahaha!" Seb blindly looked up in the darkness, but he could feel the horrible brightness emanating from behind his forcefully closed eyelids. "You didn't think you got rid of ME so easily, DID YOU CORNCHIP?!" The shrill voice guffawed as Seb screamed, utterly terrified. No, Bill was dead, he should be dead! Seb killed him!

"I want what's MINE! YOU PROMISED ME YOUR BODY! And if I'm not getting it! ...Dear Fordsie still can get me two very nice new meatsacks to use~"

"NO! Don't touch them! No! No no no!" Seb screamed. This couldn't be happen, it couldn't-

"Gasp!" Seb thrashed around in bed before he fell over the side, crying out as he hit the ground. Wanda was up with a jolt, looking around to see what was wrong. "Seb?! Seb, are you ok?!" She got out of bed and ran over to Seb who was curled up on the floor, crying his eye out. "Baby, it's ok, I promise, it was a nightmare, you're here, you're at home Seb, everything is ok…"

"Cl-Clos...closet…trapped…" He whispered in a terrified little voice. "No, you're not trapped, you're in your room, we were sleeping remember? It wasn't real, not real…" Wanda held Seb's head as he cried. He didn't know what was real, he didn't want to hear Bill2 ever again, please, make it not real, he couldn't take it anymore, he couldn't!

"G-Girls…Wh-Where…" Wanda kissed his cheek. "They're in their room, sleeping, they're safe." Linda warned Wanda that healing was a long process, Seb could be fine for months or it could even be years, until he had a horrible breakdown, seemingly going back from his progress. "But all of that is part of his healing process, Wanda, a bad moment doesn't mean he's not healing, he is. You just have to be there for him at every moment."

Wanda got really worried for Seb, but she knew Linda was right. Besides, Seb might be deeply terrified at the moment and confused, but he was not having an actual panic attack and she was grateful for that. Wanda helped Seb stand and they walked to the kid's room. Seb watched the sleeping babies in their crib, Zoe kicking her leg and Zully snuggling next to her clutching a yellow baby blanket. He relaxed a little. "T-they're okay?" He whispered.

"Yes. They're fine." Wanda held him close. "They're safe. It was just a nightmare." Seb trembled a little but finally calmed down. "I was so scared." He admitted. Wanda kissed his cheek and led him back to bed. "Do you want to talk about it?" Seb curled up next to her, his head hidden between her arm and breast. "I'm scared…"

"I know…" Wanda kissed his forehead.

"I-I don't want the kids to be in danger...be-because of me…" "They won't." "Bill is going to hurt them…".

Wanda had to stop with that. Bill? The triangle man thing? But...Seb said he was dead. His brothers said he was dead, heck the kids said he was dead too! Seb almost died killing him!

"He can't. You were the world's hero and killed him."

"He will be back, he will, Wanda! And Ford is going to give them to him!" Seb was ugly crying. His argument with his brother was still fresh in his mind, despite having been weeks already. The kids could be monsters, and Bill wanted them as well to get his powers back! He still didn't get why Ford would do that, no one understood their subconscious, but he felt his brother didn't love him, that he didn't trust him, it was logical in his mind that Ford would do that to hurt him.

Wanda frowned.

Miles away from them, Stan groaned loudly when his phone rang, startling him, Carla and little Diego who slept in his crib in the room with them. "What?!" He asked the other person moodily. Dammit Diego was crying now...

"Help me. Seb is feeling really bad…"

Stan jolted. Again? He sighed and went to the bathroom so the conversation wouldn't bother his wife and kid. Carla was busy rocking Diego and feeding him so he wouldn't be needed for now.

"He had another attack?" "No, luckily no...But-But he's been having nightmares since he came back from Stanford's house…"

Stan groaned. Dammit Ford! What did he do this time?! There must be something here. They had been getting along well. Something must have happened. "I'm gonna have a talk with Ford. See what he's done this time."

"Thank you…" Wanda sniffled. "I can't make him go to sleep…" Stan rubbed his eyes. "Well...When we were kids I scratched his head, like, er, scalp massage, he likes that…" He usually did that when Seb came into their room, trembling and scared from a nightmare or a scary sound he heard.

Wanda nodded. Sebastian did enjoy his cuddles. "Alright, I'll go try that. Sorry for bothering you so late." Stan laughed. "It's fine. You're taking care of my little brother, that's more than enough for me to forgive you for wakin' me up at night."

The blonde smiled tiredly and hung up. She went to the kitchen to make some warm chamomile and Seb drank it slowly. "...It doesn't have sugar…" Seb whined. Wanda deadpanned as she sat down next to him. "This is for you to sleep, not wake up more." The brunet pouted a bit more but finished his drink before hugging Wanda close to himself. Wanda wiggled so she could be the one hugging him. Perks of being almost the same height.

She stroked his curls, rubbing his scalp like Stan said and she could see him visibly relax. "...Sebas...You-You know that sometimes…family is not always good to you, right?" Seb nodded with his eye closed. "...If you feel...maybe, that some other family member makes you feel bad, then you have no obligation to bear with them, ok?" Wanda whispered. She thought Ford was kinda cute as a kid, but he had always been a bratty, selfish and self-centered kid. (She always felt like he thought he was better than everyone else just because he was a genius.) She didn't like how he talked about Seb when he was kicked out of his home. If he wasn't a great brother like Stanley was, the brother Seb needed right now, she saw no reason Seb had to tolerate Ford's attitude towards him.

Seb bit his lip. "It's fine. Sixer and I are…" he sighed. No. Linda had told him that lying about how he felt wasn't healthy. "No, he-" Seb trembled. "He told me the kids had to be fixed. Like there was something wrong with them, since they had… demon powers."

Wanda gasped. "But...YOU have powers...it makes sense they have powers too." Wanda whispered, without stopping stroking his hair. "He-If they were demons-" Seb sniffled loudly. "Like like he said! I-I'd still love them! So, so, so, so much!" Seb let out a broken sob. "I wouldn't hurt them! They-they're my daughters now! Nothing else! I wouldn't-I wouldn't hurt them! I'm not like Filbrick!" Wanda's green eyes welled up with tears as well.

"And-And I'm NOT going to let ANYONE touch them!" He growled. "I'd kill whoever tries to harm them if it's necessary, even FORD!" Wanda held him, whispering a soft "Shh, shh~". He couldn't think of murder, she didn't want that. Eventually, Seb passed out, completely drained out, but the blonde still had trouble succumbing to sleep.

Stanford better get his shit together. She didn't care if he was her (future) brother in law and Seb absolutely loved him blindly, if he dared to hurt Seb again or bad talk about HER daughters, he'd have more to worry about than just some silly demons.

-.-

Shermie called to tell them they had to go to Gravity Falls to greet the twins and Dillon for their birthday. "And mine!" He added. His birthday was also in July and many liked to forget that.

"Are you feeling up to going?" Wanda asked, worried. Seb rolled his eye. "I'm not a baby, Wands~ I'll be fine…I didn't have a panic attack last time did I?" He grinned down at Wanda, who narrowed her eyes. "That doesn't change anything. I worry about yo-" She stopped when Seb pressed his lips against hers, effectively shutting her up. "I'll be fine~" he insisted. "It's nice that you care but I can handle this. Please?" He gave her a puppy dog look and Wanda sighed. "Alright."

Of course Seb was adamant to go. He didn't want to see his triplet so soon, not after how much he was hurt by his words (He was being mean though, Ford apologized, he was just been selfish), but...he wasn't going for Ford, he was going there for his little brother and niblings. He was visiting THEM and celebrating for them! He could ignore Stanford.

Just like he did for almost an entire month.

Zully and Zoe found themselves ONCE AGAIN trapped in a seat with mommy and daddy. Why were they here again?! They always appeared in that house with the yard and trees after coming out, Isher's house. But why didn't they just sit in their carseat like they did when going to the supermarket or grandparents' house with daddy and be done with it? What was different from sitting in this place?

Zoe wiggled impatiently in Seb's lap. They had earplugs now, so their little sensitive ears didn't pop. Now that she was pain free and couldn't busy herself crying, she was very bored. "Bah! Ah bah bahh Blaaa! buuH!" She babbled loudly, trying to reach the window. The man sitting in the window's seat looked at the couple with a frown.

Zully was simply resting their head on mommy's soft chest and suckling their pacifier The baby side-glanced at daddy trying to keep Zoe from crawling over that man and let out a soft sigh. Silly daddy. Zoe couldn't be stopped~ Like when she escaped from their crib. Zully had been scared and squealed loudly to indicate they thought it was scary so Zoe should feel the same, but Zoe didn't. She wasn't afraid of ANYTHING.

"Urgh! You know what?" The man exclaimed, tired of Zoe's little hands pulling at his shirt to try to get to the window, before standing up and glaring at Seb and Wanda. "Change. I didn't even want the window anyway." He grumbled. Wanda smiled gratefully at him and they moved a seat to the right. Seb to the window, Wanda in the middle and the man in the hallway seat. Zoe gasped in awe as she stared out of the window. Pretty! She wanted to grab the white fluffy things!

Wanda ended up having a blast with the man, who was apparently from her college a couple years older. Seb felt ignored, and then very offended when Zully needed a new diaper and Wanda sent him off. "Why me?!" He complained. He huffed and went with the blond baby to the bathroom, gently rocking them when they started whimpering. "I know, sweetheart, I'll clean you up in a second." He whispered lovingly and kissed their round cheek.

Even if he hated changing diapers, his time wearing diapers was one of the WORST years in his life (and he had been beaten up to pulp with a belt in the back and face, so that was saying A LOT). He felt dirty and pathetic, he wouldn't put the twins through that.

Seb laid down the baby on the changing table and strapped Zully to it, wouldn't want them to fall! "Alright, let's clean that dirty butt~" He laughed. Zully gurgled happily. Zully watched their dad make funny faces as he changed their diaper. The baby blinked, opened and closed their hands when they started warming up. Seb had just finished putting the last tab in place when his baby's hand caught on fire. Seb frowned, but didn't have much time to dwell on it when he noticed Zully holding a corner of their blanket.

And then the smoke detector went off.

Everyone in the plane jumped at the sudden loud noise and Wanda facepalmed when she saw the flight attendants running towards the bathroom with fire extinguishers. What happened this time?!

Seb had frantically managed to put out the fire in time, absorbing the fire, so the women were only just confused when they saw the man's eye glow blue for a second before going back to normal.

"Are you ok? How did the alarm go off, sir?" A male flight attendant asked suspiciously. Seb blushed a dark red, especially when he realized he was being stared at. "I-I have no idea, it just happened."

"Do you know it is illegal to smoke on a plane?" One of them said sternly.

"I don't smoke." Seb groaned. He picked up Zully, who had started crying at the loud noise and rushed to his seat.

Wanda gave him a questioning look as he winced in his seat. The crew started examining the bathroom for some cigarette trace because the man wasn't caught in the act, and later asked to examine their hand luggage. Nothing, no cigarettes or lighters, just baby formula, diapers, baby clothes, wallets, keys and cell phones.

"We're sorry for the inconvenience." A flight attendant smiled sheepishly. They finally figured it might have been some sort of malfunction of the sensor from the baby powder or something and apologized to the father for suspecting him. Wanda looked at Seb and shook her head fondly. She didn't blame Seb though, she knew the babies' powers were unpredictable. Zoe and Zully were peacefully sleeping in their arms, allowing them to nap in peace until landing.

-.-

"Yay! You're finally heeree!" Mabel roared as she ran towards her youngest uncle. Seb cried as he was thrown back at the force of the now soon to be 15 year old Mabel's tackle, but luckily didn't fall since he was carrying Zoe on his chest. "Woah! Shooting Star!" Seb shouted with laughter.

Waddles ran around Seb, oinking loudly, very happy to see the man again. "Can't believe it! He likes you more than me! And I feed and clean this pig every day!" Shermie exclaimed from the house.

Seb laughed loudly and freed Zoe for her to crawl and walk around as Wanda did the same for Zully. Then, he hugged his little brother. "Well, I saved him from being a pterodactyl's snack~ Of course he loves me~ Everyone loves me!" Seb smiled widely. Linda said he was amazing…~

Shermie rolled his eyes.

Dillon came out of the house with Dipper (those two had become very good friends, Seb was glad; he liked seeing his two oldest nephews getting along), and the two teens rushed outside to meet him. "Hey Uncle Seb!" The two smiled.

Dillon was wearing a green sleeveless shirt with black shorts while Dipper had a short sleeved blue shirt and grey shorts, still wearing the hat Wendy gave him that first year. Mabel was as colorful as ever, with a pink long sleeved crop top, a light purple top and jean shorts. She was wearing bright earrings and a bright blue hairband. Her sneakers glowed too. Of course.

"Hey~ How's my favorite nephew!?" Seb opened his arms wide and grinned like the demon he was. He just loved seeing the world burn. Dipper and Dillon shared a look, Shermie crossed his arms unimpressed, before the two started pushing at each other to get to the man first. "MOVE IT!" "He knew me first!" "We FOUGHT a DEMON!" "He's MY godfather!" "AAHHH!"

"Mwahahaha! Fight! Fight! Fight!" Seb cheered on the teens. Mabel picked up Zully when they were distracted and was now carrying the annoyed baby in her arms as she giggled at her brother and cousin. "Look at them battle for the title of favorite nephew, right Uncle Seb?" Mabel asked smugly. She would never lose her title as favorite niece~ She was the only girl! Hah! Unless Uncle Ford had kids but that wasn't happening in a million years!

"Hey~~~ You are TOTALLY right, Shooting Star!" Seb pointed at her. "You should suck-up to me to choose my favorite nephew!" Wanda shrugged helplessly when Shermie sent her a weird look. "What do you want me to do?" She asked with a deadpan look.

"What? We are not going to suck-up to you for-" Dipper deadpanned but Dillon grinned widely. "Yes we are~!" Dipper gasped. NO! This was the key day all over again!

Seb tutted at Dipper. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, you really haven't learnt anything, have you, Pinetree~ Dillon is winning!" Dillon stuck his tongue out at his younger cousin.

"Ok, we are going to suck up to you…" Dipper grumbled. Seb laughed. "Hey, I am feeling quite thirsty, I wonder if my favorite nephew could make me some lemonade…" The teens rushed inside, screaming and punching each other to get to the kitchen first. "MOVE!" " MOVE FIRST!"

Shermie shook his head as Wanda couldn't help but giggle. She knew Seb was just messing around with the two kids, he loved them both the same. "You are an evil man, making my baby suffer." Shermie told his brother with narrowed green eyes. Seb winked at him. "We all know my favorite is Diego~" He joked with laughter before running inside. Shermie huffed and picked up Zoe who was walking away, all while Mabel laughed loudly. "Come on, sweetheart, who has a very mean dad~? You? It's you~" Shermie cooed at Zoe, gave her a kiss which made her squeal, and walked inside with Mabel and Wanda.

Seb stopped dead in his tracks when on his way to the kitchen, he stumbled upon Stanford. Seb had been hoping to avoid him during these weeks...but he had forgotten this was in fact, his house.

Ford, for his part, gave Seb a polite nod before walking away, unsure how to broach the topic. He had done many more examinations on what little DNA samples he had from his nieces and still had inconclusive results. The Weirdness from Zully and Zoe were a different color but it was still similar to Seb's. Zully's Weirdness was… actually MORE similar to Seb's than Zoe's was and that didn't make any sense at all. Unless it was just proof that Zully was in fact Bill Cipher...

Ford was getting nightmares about it. Little Zully's eyes glowing yellow as she laughed in that horrible voice as Bill returned through her… Ford sighed. If Sebastian would just… let him perform his in depth examination then he could finally get some peace of mind.

Seb watched his oldest brother walk away and slowly relaxed. Well. This was going to suck. Maybe he should just avoid Ford for the duration of their stay.

He talked to Linda about it and she told him that it wasn't right for his brother to treat him like a monster, or act as if the babies were wrong in some way. "Either you two can talk this out between yourselves, or, if being around him stresses you out, get some space between you two. At least for a while." Linda had told him. She was quite worried but was also beginning to think that perhaps Seb's oldest brother took after their father in some way.

If Filbrick had called Sebastian a demon all their lives, it made sense that his brothers might have unfortunately internalized this toxic mentality as well.

Frankly, from what Linda was learning about Sebastian's childhood, it was a miracle that Sebastian had grown up to be such a gentle, sweet man.

In truth, Linda told Seb that ignoring the issues between him and his brother wasn't healthy, but when Seb refused to address it, she knew that perhaps making Seb keep his distance would allow him some time to calm down and think about it some more.

Seb sighed, leaning against the refrigerator. It wasn't fair. Why was Sixer always such a…

The boys rushed up to him, having missed the confrontation with Ford, and presented their lemonades to him. Seb genuinely smiled. He didn't have to be sad. Even if Ford and he were...in a kinda rough moment, it didn't mean he didn't have the rest of his family with him.

"What do you think?!" "You like my lemonade more?!" "No! Mine!" "Who wins?"

"Ooh~ Are you making drinks~?" Stan entered the kitchen with a smile, carrying Diego who was suckling on his bottle. Dipper rolled his eyes as Dillon laughed. "No alcohol."

"Bah, then why are you making drinks anyway?" Stan scoffed, not seeing the point in being excited about virgin drinks. Seb took Diego from Stan's arms, confusing the poor baby (daddy? When did he put that on his eye?! Aahh?!) And the infant gave Seb his bottle. "Diego wins!" Seb grinned as he snuggled the mini-Stan.

""What?!"" Dipper and Dillon wailed.

-.-

The older twins and Dillon had a nice time in town. After the celebration at home with all their amazing family, who came to say hi to them (and most importantly, bring them presents!) Wendy and her friends invited the younger twins and their cousin to the Woodstick festival. Wendy was 18 now, just like her friends. Besides being taller (and more hairy, Mabel pointed out in the boy's case), the group looked just the same as they were when they were Mabel and Dipper's current age.

"Duudeess! Remember when you two were like super tiny!?" Nate laughed, ruffling Mabel's hair and making her huff. "I'm STILL taller than Dipper!" Mabel proudly announced, making her twin roll his eyes and Dillon laughed. Well, not for longer. Dipper was still growing, Mabel didn't seem to be growing as much anymore. Dipper was hopeful that he would end up taller than her.

"Well, not anymore! They're teens through and through!" Wendy punched Dipper's arm, they were almost the same height. The boy rubbed his arm and nudged the red-haired. If he was honest with himself, he still thought Wendy was quite a pretty girl, and she was always going to be his first silly boyish crush…

"Aaaahh! Hi, Paazzzz! We were waiting for you SINCE FOREVER!" Mabel squealed loudly and Dipper's eyes lit up.

But he had Pacifica now...and he loved her.

The blonde rushed towards him and hugged Dipper, and the boys all made mocking "Ooooh~" sounds. "Little Dipper's in looveee!" Robbie teased before Tambry, without looking up from her updated phone, nudged him in the ribs. "And you aren't?" Robbie flushed but gave his girlfriend a peck on the cheek.

Nate, Lee and Thompson burst out laughing.

They spent the entire day together, enjoying the nice music and kind of missing fighting with the Love God, he wasn't here (that they could see). Laying down on a huge blanket, simply watching the fireworks, Mabel laid down on Dillon's lap and looked up at him. "How are things going? Are you ok with little Diego now?"

The teen flipped Mabel's long hair over her face (a move Dillon learned from Dipper). "Yeah, I think we're fine now…" Mabel parted her hair. "Like, Diego is adorable, and I can't help but be fond of him…" Besides, mom and dad still treated him the same, so it was no problem. Dillon was relieved that getting a baby brother hadn't changed things.

Dipper was laying down with Pacifica and he was shyly stroking her hair. "I should tell my family we're together now…" He just...wasn't ready for all the TEASING! He'd never hear the end of it, with Uncle Seb, Stan...and Dad! Being assholes!

"Yeah, same...My parents are not gonna like it at all..." Pacifica trailed off before grinning. "That's why I love our relationship~"

Dipper rolled his eyes. "You better not just be dating me because it'd piss your parents off." Pacifica laughed, snorting lightly. "Oh please~ I wouldn't go through the effort if I didn't like you." Dipper blushed. "Th-ThAnks" He said with a squeaky shy voice.

They went to hang out at Wendy's house, Dillon was cheering with Nate and Lee at Thompson to do something stupid, per usual. Wendy's brothers left them alone and Dan was working. Mabel loved how well Dillon got along with their friends, she loved the fact that they could be together and not make it awkward at all. Like that one time in a friend's house back in California, her cousin was there and it just didn't feel right.

They were setting up for a movie now, Pacifica was helping Mabel make popcorn and Dipper was with the red haired teen choosing a movie. "Ooh~ We can watch this, sounds cool…" Dipper rummaged through the Corduroy's collection.

Wendy crouched next to him and pursed her lips. "Hey, man, question…" She tried to act as casual as possible, like she always did, but she was worried. "Is Mr. P ok?" Wendy had known Seb for years, probably more time than the twins, and he had always been a crazy crazy dude. Crazy but nice. It's not like she had never seen Seb angry or sad...but he looked...weird. Didn't seem… alright.

Wendy didn't know how to explain it. He was clearly in love with his girlfriend and daughters, and Wendy was so happy for him, but after that summer, after Seb almost DIED, and he moved away...He didn't seem...like he always did. He felt more...exposed, like he had been so strong before, nothing really affected him, and now she felt like this strong barrier just...broke.

Dipper looked at her. "Um, yeah? Yeah! Uncle Seb is fine, he's doing pretty well, why?" Wendy shrugged a bit. "Don't know, maybe I'm just seeing things? I don't know, my brain is melted from being under the sun so long!" She laughed.

They chose a movie and after it finished (and everyone ate all the snacks), the cousins went back to the Shack. Dipper was exhausted but even after making his way to the attic, he couldn't help but overthink Wendy's question. Why was she asking that? Was Seb really ok? What if Wendy saw something he and everyone else didn't?

Back in his room, Sebastian finally tucked Zoe to sleep and curled up next to Wanda, who was falling asleep. He didn't like not talking to Ford again. It was so stupid. They were supposed to be good now… He should trust him now, they were supposed to be best friends now...Why did all this have to happen?! What did he do wrong now? Seb took deep breaths to calm down as tears threatened to fall. No. No. He didn't need pills, he wasn't having another attack ever again.

Wendy wasn't seeing things. Seb really wasn't ok. He was not having another panic attack, because he was suppressing everything, trying to act as careless as he acted before any of that summer happened. Seb could have a big smile and dorky attitude naturally before, because everything was hidden in him, his problems were buried, and his panic attacks and fears were dealt with by hurting himself, screaming and clawing at himself until he was satisfied. He seemed better by being more messed up.

He couldn't do that now. He couldn't hurt himself, he was suppressing his emotions when he felt close to an attack and his deep traumas and secrets had been brought to the surface with his sessions. He was in the middle of a process of healing, he was finally going through the right path, but it was a rough trip. And he couldn't hide it all like he used to. He wasn't able to fake smile as well as he had before, so even though he was now doing better, he seemed worse. He wasn't supposed to act strong anymore and fake smile, he was supposed to overcome the hardships, heal, forgive himself and BE strong, smile for real.

But the only way he could do that was working on a better way to deal with his anxiety, and suppressing WAS NOT it. It was the easiest way for now, and because it was working, Seb went along with it. It was not healthy, Linda had already told him, he needed his pills, he needed to practice with her techniques, but Sebastian was a Pines, and Pines were stubborn mules.

It wouldn't be long until something broke Seb again and sent him spiraling down…

-.-

Seb was chatting with Mabel the next morning. "So...yeah, um I have this shite called...A...AH? AD? Whatever, it means I can't pay attention for shit and it's hard for me to stay put…" Seb accentuated the statement with a bouncy leg.

The still 14 year old girl gasped. "ADHD! I knew it!" She hit a fist against her palm. "Well, now that you know, are you getting help for it?"

Sebastian shrugged. "Well, not much I can do about it. I've just been trying to keep myself focused through my own efforts." Mabel frowned. "But isn't there medicine you can take for that?"

Seb sighed. "I don't need pills like some…" ...broken "...child. I'm an adult now. I'm better at just reminding myself to pay attention." He placed a hand on his chest and looked dramatically off to the side. "I've got self control now."

Mabel frowned. "Well, if you're sure." She hugged her favorite uncle. "I'm glad you finally know for real. I heard that knowing is the first step to getting better." Seb smiled and hugged his niece back. She was taller now but still the perfect size for a hug. "You heard that somewhere or are you just making it up as you go?"

Mabel chuckled. "You'll never know~" She wiggled a bit. "Have you told everyone else?" The girl asked.

"For what? No, it's fine this way." Seb waved a hand. "Don't go around telling everybody, Shooting Star!" He warned. Mabel nodded slowly,and of course, she wouldn't tell everybody…

Just uncle Stan~ He wasn't everybody!

Who told Seb to teach the twins to find double meanings in sentences? It was his own fault that Mabel had learned how to lie without lying.

While Sebastian rocked Zully, they were cranky as hell and couldn't go back to sleep, (If Seb didn't stop this, Zoe would wake up too and destroy everyone's eardrums) Stan stormed up to him and hugged him from behind. "Aah!" Seb cried, so startled that even Zully stopped crying. "I know now Seb! The twins mentioned it that summer when you turned small and cute and now that I know for sure, really, so many things from when we were kids make much more sense...I-I should have told you, I should have known before! I should have done something, it wasn't your fault...But I'll be here for you now, forever!" The strong man hugged his much smaller brother to himself.

"...What are you talking about? Have you been drinking with Shermie again?" Seb sputtered.

Stan ignored his question. "Why don't you tell us things?! You're not alone, you stupid knucklehead! You have to tell us what's going on with you!" Stan finally released him and grabbed Zully who was now sucking their thumb, slowly calming down. "I'm taking her!" The man sniffled, (though he would deny it if anyone asked). "Until you learn to trust your brothers!"

Seb watched his triplet walk away with his baby. What the fuck? What just happened?!

It took him a while to discover (Dipper told him) that Mabel snitched his diagnosis with Fez and Fez told everybody, even mom, the last person Seb wanted to worry. Kari later hugged him tight, sobbing loudly on his shoulder. "Oh, Sebas! I-I'm so sorry! All-All those years!" Her baby had a condition and she never knew! His hyperactivity growing up, his-his lack of attention… She sobbed again. Filbrick had never cared to let her get Sebastian examined, she hadn't even known that had been an option! His teachers had never suggested it and Kari had never thought of it herself. And she was kicking herself for being so stupid!

"Don't cry, Ma. It ain't your fault. It's not a big deal…" Seb winced a bit. He hated seeing his mom so sad, but she was crying for nothing. Everyone was being weird about this (Thanks, Mabel!) Shermie even pulled him close for a hug, whispering that he knew Seb was never a bad kid. Why did everyone have to make such a big deal out of it? Just because his brain was stupid didn't mean he had some kind of life threatening condition or anything! It made him feel rather uncomfortable to have everyone treating him differently, as if knowing that there was something wrong with him made any difference. He was messed up this whole time, it wasn't like he'd only JUST got ADHD...

"That's not it." Kari sniffled. "I just failed you so much as a mother. I wasn't able to do anything for you!"

"Hey, now THAT'S BULLSHIT. You were the best mom. You always held me and took care of me and… and…" Seb flushed and looked away. "And you taught me how to l-love, I NEVER would have thought I would do that as a human and- and thanks to you, I-I learned to be more human and I love you and my brothers and you haven't failed anything!" He held his mom as she sniffled and ran a hand through his now brown curly hair. Kari liked how he looked blond, it suited him, but he looked nice either way. "I love you too, darling...I love you all…" Kari kissed his cheek, smiling slightly when he smiled. If only she had been... stronger, if she had tried harder, if she had done SOMETHING to help Sebastian...She stood there while her baby suffered under her own nose. Lying, like she used to do, and sometimes still did...Lying that everything was fine, lying to herself, thinking things would change…

And-And knowing now that Seb went through so much...from a condition no one knew he had...All those times he was shouted at for moving so much and not paying attention...all those times SHE shouted at him…She could have, SHOULD have done something, gotten him to a doctor to see what was wrong, REALIZED that there was something wrong, but she didn't because she was stupid! And loved a man who didn't deserve it, didn't deserve her or the four wonderful boys they had...

"Mom...You can...let go now." Seb patted her graying hair but that only made Kari hug him tighter. "No. Baby." She declared, kind of forgetting Sherman was actually the youngest. "I'm not letting you go again."

Mabel poked her head into the room and took a photo. Aawww~~ Granny Kari and Uncle Seb looked so cute~ She froze when Seb noticed her and his eye turned red. He bare his fangs (she was DEAD! She KNEW Seb was gonna come for her later!), the girl shrieked and ran away.

Despite the threat, that didn't stop Mabel from trying to solve the other problems in her family. Now that Seb had confessed he got this diagnosis like a month ago, and thought it was intelligent to keep it from everyone, she had been more observant the following days, wearing a sweater than read 'detective mode' and studied her uncles with Waddles dressed up as her detective assistant.

Dipper joined her in her investigation ("The Mystery Twins are back, baby!"), because ever since Wendy asked him about Seb, he hadn't been able to stop thinking about it. The most obvious conclusion they had was, of course, that Uncle Ford wasn't with them interacting like a human being. He had been doing his best to leave his lab when they were visiting, but this time he barely showed his face around.

So something had definitely happened...Again.

The twins sighed. Looks like they had to go and get their uncles over whatever issue they had with each other...Again! Damn it, didn't they learn anything? Maybe they needed to find another fairy to curse them?

Back in the National Institute of Oddology and Science Investigation, Ford was cradling his cup of coffee in his hands while Fiddleford half listened to him, but he was more concentrated on his 6x6 cubix Cube. "He has ADHD, F...That, that's a mental disorder, right? Not that I didn't expect it, he was a 'Bill' after all, but, you know, it-it's not his fault no one treated him, right?" Ford felt a little guilty. This condition (which he felt Deja vu with, he could swear he had heard of it before), Sebastian had, had this condition since childhood...and no one helped...It explained a lot of things. "I never knew he had that...I would have understood that he was crazy for a reason! Then...we could have gotten along better..." He winced as he sipped his elixir of life. Urgh, now he felt bad. But if they had known Sebastian was insane back then, what would they even be able to do to help?

"Well, maybe knowing this now can help ya go and apologize ta him?" Fiddleford said without looking up and not really paying attention, because condition or not, Ford apologizing came first and was the OBVIOUS thing to do. "What? Are you insane? Sebastian doesn't want to see me right now!" Ford protested. "And how am I supposed to apologize? 'I'm sorry that I didn't realize you had a debilitating mental disorder and constantly told you that you were stupid?'" Ford groaned into his coffee. "He'd be even MORE angry at me than he already is!"

"Oh right, because ya stupidly called his children monsters, yes? I wonder why he's angry~" Fiddleford asked, very sassy and sarcastic. Ford glared at him. "You. Are NOT helping me!" He hissed before looking down, upset. "I've never been...very good...with...people...and talking…"

"I noticed." Fiddleford put down the fixed cubix-cube. "Which is why you should probably get therapy too."

"Therapy?" Ford laughed amused. "I'm not crazy~" like Sebastian was.

"Well, I think ya are, and that's coming from me, Ford." the engineer chuckled good heartedly. "Don't ya think yer interactions with Cipher might have left an impact on you?"

Ford twitched. "Bill Cipher was a DEMON, of course it had an impact on me. But I'm fine." Ford shook his head. "I'm not- I don't need therapy. There's nothing wrong with my head." Just to prove it, he thunked on the side of his temple and the metallic sound came out.

Fiddleford rolled his eyes. "Right, because gettin' a steel plate around yer skull is something perfectly normal people do." He huffed. "I am not normal." Ford showed him his six fingers. "I've never been…" Ford muttered.

"Look, I ain't even saying anything about goin' to a therapist because yer crazy or nuthin'. There are therapists whose job is ta teach you how to talk to people. Social therapists, ya know?" Fiddleford told his friend plainly. "You know? Talking to people? That thing you can't do and should probably learn to do?" Because you always fuck it up, was left unsaid.

The blond patted his shoulder. "I like you, but we both know it was some sort of miracle that I hadn't strangled you in your sleep during our time in college together." He said solemnly.

Ford stared at his friend with a deadpanned look. "Mblegrmble…" He grumbled unintelligibly.

Fiddleford continued "Remember that one time in college? We were talking about the girls and how just a few years ago there was only one girl who graduated there?" Ford looked down. "I told you not to voice it out loud how we thought back then that women didn't choose science careers… And what did you do?"

"...loudly declared that women were too emotionally unstable to be scientists…" Ford sighed. "I wasn't talking about ALL women though! I was talking about the types of women who were always going out for drinking parties instead of studying-"

"Which you didn't clarify, thus getting yourself slapped by every girl in our school." Fiddleford sighed. Ford defended himself, "I was just 19…"

"Ford, you are like 20 years older NOW and you'd still say it!" The blond laughed, making Ford blush. "My point is, learning to talk to people is good, healthy. It'll save you from uncomfortable situations and conflicts with Sebastian." Fiddleford patted Ford's shoulder.

"Stanley doesn't get affected by your words, and I'm not affected because I know you're just saying things without thinkin', but ye said yerself, Sebastian has anxiety, he doesn't understand you don't mean it in the worst way possible when you say something awful to him."

Ford sipped his coffee again. Hmph...He didn't like getting scolded like this… "MphgwurdTwuns."

"I sorry, can you speak not gibberish?"

The brunet sighed loudly. "I said...I'm worried about the twins...This doesn't have anything to do with talking with Seb! I just said I was worried about my hypothesis and he got angry! What if I'm right?!"

"What if you aren't?" Fiddleford raised an eyebrow. Ford stood up to pace. "Seb knows I love him, he died saving us, I have a deep respect for him, he just got angry because he doesn't want to think about the possibility of his kids being demons!"

"...Or he got angry, like any dad would, because you called his kids monsters? Something he hates to be called himself?"

"This isn't about hating Seb, I'm good now." Bill was gone, Ford had been influenced by Bill's cruel words, but not anymore. "I'm just stating a possibility!" Ford said.

Fiddleford sighed. "Hey Ford, when Wanda went into labor three months early, were you thinkin' of telling Sebastian that it made her chance of a miscarriage go up?"

Ford blinked. "Yes? Because it's true. And a real worry."

"That's exactly my point." Fiddleford folded his arms. "It's true, sure. He might have lost his kids, might have lost Wanda, that's all true. But you don't tell someone that. It just makes them unhappy. It would have hurt him very much."

"But… This and that are different-"

"The way they make your brother feel is the same." Fiddleford stressed. "And that's how it is."

"But…" Ford floundered. "But I'm just worried for his safety!"

"I get that. There's nothing wrong with wanting to keep your brother safe, but you could have found a nicer way of saying it without making your brother feel like you think his children are monsters." Fiddleford said very kindly, but Ford was huffing angrily. He didn't know, oK?! It wasn't his fault! "Well, I'm just a horrible person then, set me on fire and throw me off a cliff!" He (not-quite) threw a tantrum.

Fiddleford grimaced. "Dude...Calm down…" Maybe Ford did need a therapist for more than social interaction…

There was a knock on the door and Fiddleford opened it, because Ford was busy grumbling. The blond would say it was another language? But he wasn't really sure. It was the twins, the older twins of course, it would be kinda dumb to think it was the baby twins, but the twins were carrying the baby twins and were accompanied by Dillon holding Diego.

"Hi, uncle Fiddles!" "Hi, McGucket!" "Hi, Mr. Fiddles!" The three teens smiled and bounced the babies, making them smile and squeal. It made the man coo loudly. "Can we talk to Uncle Ford?" Dipper asked. Mabel grinned with a metal free smile, no more braces for this girl! "We just want to talk!"

Zoe in Dipper's arms repeated it. "Bih jah bah too toh!" She said seriously and hit Dipper's nose to accentuate it. Zoe loved to be held by him and to rest on his chest, but she always hurt him! Dipper didn't understand why she was this way! "Ow! Zoe! Not my nose!" Dipper complained.

Fiddleford looked at Ford and then back at the twins. "Eh~ Sure." He moved aside and the two pair of twins, Dillon and Diego walked inside. Ford turned around at the high pitched "Uncle Ford!" and he was about to speak when his eyes landed on two little blonds.

He froze.

"We came to talk about very important s-"

"Get them out, ge-get the-the twins out of my lab, please!"

Zully tilted their head innocently as Zoe pouted. "Isher!" She reached for him. Why was he upset? She didn't remember her dad's fight with him, so she just wanted to comfort him like when daddy was upset.

Dillon scoffed. "They won't touch anything, why don't you want them here?"

"Can you PLEASE OBEY me for ONCE?!" Ford's booming voice made the cousins step back, wide-eyed. Not even Dipper who had spent more time with him, had seen him this angry. Dillon and Mabel then scowled. They didn't like to get shouted at, Ford wasn't allowed to treat them like that. Mabel felt hurt though, Dillon was just pissed.

He never really thought of his uncle back when his dad was lost. All he knew about his 'dead' uncle Ford was that he'd shut himself away from the family.

"Fine! Stay here! You're doing us all a favor! It's not like anyone wants to see you back in the house!" Dillon adjusted his little brother in his arms and stomped off. Ford froze. Mabel sniffled. "...just wanted to see how you were doing…" she said sadly before she turned and left with Zully.

Dipper bit his lip as he looked up at the Author he admired so much. "You don't even tell us why. You never do." He muttered before turning and leaving with Zoe who was still trying to reach Isher, he felt as sad as daddy felt sometimes and she wanted to help! "Isher?" Zoe whined as Dipper carried her away.

Fiddleford winced. He saw how tense Ford was. "You didn't have 'ta shout at them." He said quietly. Ford breathed heavily, hissing the air between his teeth. "They're the ones who…" He cut himself off, turning away and sitting down on his lab chair. "Why can't they just listen to me and do what I ask?"

"Well, why DO you want the babies out of your lab?" Fiddleford asked gently, a little wary of Ford's temper and moving to put some space between them. "You know teens, they always want to know why. Won't do anything unless they know the reasons behind it."

"No, I don't know teens." Ford sighed. "I don't know anything about children." He rubbed his face.

There was a knock on the lab door. "Its open." Fiddleford called out. Stan walked in, saw his brother and sighed. "Alright Poindexter, what happened this time?" He walked over to clap Ford's shoulder. He had seen the teens making their way to the house on his way here, and Dillon had explicitly screamed at him "I can't stand your brother! He's a bitch!"

"Dillon!" Stanley glared at his son, who made a face, sticking his tongue out, and walked faster, with the twins behind him, feeling very awkward.

Fiddleford grabbed his Cubix Cube and patted Stanley's shoulder. "I'll give you a moment."

Ford went back to his book and ignored his brother. "Did something happen with the kids? Dillon seemed...upset…" He wouldn't tell Ford what Dillon called him. He had to talk to his son about that later, he shouldn't insult family.

Ford shrugged helplessly. "I-I just told them I-..." He sighed. "I didn't want them in my lab, and I shouted at them...I'm sorry."

"So, ok, you shouted at the kids." Stan nodded slowly. "We've been here for around a week and a half...I've seen you two days. And Wanda told me you had a talk with Seb, and now both of you are ignoring each other. Yeah, don't think I didn't notice." Stan raised a thick eyebrow. "So will you tell what you did or I'll have to find the info myself?"

Ford put down his book. "Stanley, what would you do, if you suspected that Zoe and Zully might be demons?" Stan blinked. "Seb was a demon and then became a human, and he's fine. I don't see how that's a problem. Even if Zully and Zoe were demons too, they'd be like Seb." He shrugged.

"What if one of them was Bill Cipher, the one we killed?" Ford asked quietly. Stanley groaned and rolled his eyes. "It doesn't matter. Even if he DID come back as a baby, he's a baby now, and Seb turned out fine, so why wouldn't these kids? We just gotta raise 'em right." Stan laughed. "Frankly, I'm amazed Seb turned out as well as he did considering what our Pa did to him. You'd think something like that would make a demon worse, but he's a sweet guy, too good for his own good." Stan shook his head.

"But Sebastian is-" Ford waved his hands around. "You remember what he was like as a child? He was killing animals for fun! He loved it! and just-"

"And then he stopped. I don't see the problem." Stan shrugged. "He learned that he shouldn't do that, and then he stopped. Hell Sixer! There are fully human children who'd hurt animals for fun unless they get taught not to! Remember how I had Shanklin?" Stan narrowed his eyes at Ford.

"I wanted to train him to attack people! I strapped a knife on his poor back! Even YOU agreed it was cool!" Stan rolled his eyes "That's what happens when you're a kid, you do something stupid and wrong and then you learn that it's wrong, and then you can either keep doing that thing, even once you know it's wrong, or you stop. And Sebas stopped. And if you're so worried about the twins, well, I'm sure that between Seb and Wanda, they're gonna teach 'em right from wrong."

"And what if they don't stop? What if Zully grows up and hurts people-"

"Then that's just how it ends up." Stan grimaced. "Look, there are plenty of assholes in the world. Sometimes it's because their parents didn't teach 'em right, but sometimes, they're just a terrible person. And that's not really something we can do anything about. As parents, it's our job to try our best to teach the kids to be good people, but sometimes that doesn't happen, and that's just the way life goes."

"But it they're DEMONS-"

"Then we'll deal with it THEN." Stan told Ford firmly. "But right now? They're BABIES. Completely helpless and goddammit Sixer, Seb LOVES them. He loves them SO much. Even if one of 'em WAS that triangle jerk reborn or somethin', he would STILL love them."

Ford sniffled. "I-I don't...I don't think I can…Bill is a demon! I-I don't know...I-Sebastian is different, I'm used to him, he's my brother, but Bill…" Stan hardened his glare. "So what? You don't love the twins? You want them gone? You'd be happy if they were dead? Stanford, those are your nieces!" He shouted.

"I DON'T KNOW!" Ford shouted back. He wasn't even sure why he was scared. He just was! Illogical thoughts growing and growing and leading to endless nightmares that would never stop! Thinking, overthinking, overthinking the worse outcomes possible! And the twins had powers and they could be demons, Sebastian was a demon, he couldn't help but overthink!

"I just don't want Seb or Wanda to get hurt by them, if they really WERE demons." Ford shook in place. "I don't want to lose Seb again." He said in a broken voice. Ford really wanted to be on good terms with Seb again, he loved him so much, he was just scared of his own mind overthinking everything again.

Stan softened his look and shook his head. Idiot, but with good intentions. But still an idiot. Stanford could talk to him freely, Stan wasn't hurt by his uncensored mouth, he had grown a thick skin to insults. There were a few times Stan had gotten angry at him though, usually in space, when Ford, in his exasperation, called Stan dumb or that he shouldn't have been given the blueprints for the Quantum Destabilizer. He seriously needed to talk this out with a professional, these kinds of thoughts are going to hurt him and everyone around him.

"You will lose him if you don't try to understand him. Hating his babies is not exactly a way to bond with someone." The middle triplet joked, nudging Ford in the arm. "Look, Seb's always been… sensitive about stuff. And you're a blunt, foot-in-your-mouth kinda guy. And…" Stan looked at Ford closely. "...and you haven't been sleeping so good, huh?"

"I don't need to sleep…" Ford mumbled. "I have stuff to do, and there's this one research paper that-" Stan rolled his eyes. God, this guy…

"Ok, I've decided. You are going to sleep." Stan stood up, groaning softly when his back protested. Contracture. Should have gone to his physical rehabilitation earlier. That hit was horrible. At least the other guy was disqualified after a display of Stan's amazing acting skills~. "And then you are talking to Seb, apologize and tell him you care about him...and then I don't know, carry the twins or change their diapers. That'd show you care."

Ford made a disgusted expression. "No. And you can't order me around, I'm older!" Stan raised an eyebrow. "Well yeah? I kept your butt safe and trained you to not die in space. I was in charge. And I'm the middle triplet, which means I'm more responsible and always look after you two and Shermie. SO SUCK IT!" The man laughed before easily lifting up his brother.

"PUT ME DOWN, STANLEY! WHAT THE HECK?!" Ford flailed but was unable to stop Stan from carrying him through the lab and back into the Shack, some scientists saw the triplets and giggled. "This is so demeaning!" Ford slumped, blushing furiously.

"I don't know da-meaning of that word!" Stan grinned. Ford let out a wail. "Nooooo!"

-.-

Dillon was hidden in his temporary room, Mabel told him he had been mean so now he worried he would get grounded.

But Stanford deserved that! He knew uncle Ford made Uncle Seb feel bad and no one was doing that under his watch. He had Diego with him, as a weapon in case he was grounded. "You won't be stupid right? Promise me you will not do that." He rubbed his brother's belly. The baby gurgled and grabbed his finger, making Dillon smile. Yeah, it was hard to hate this kid.

The door opened and Dillon winced, but it was just Uncle Shermie. "Um, hey kiddo. Was wondering where you were...is something wrong?"

"How can Stanford be so fucking stupid?" Dillon asked bluntly, straight to the point, just like his parents. Then he thought it through better. "...Don't tell Dad." Shermie smirked and locked his lips. "Because he's a stupid genius…those are the worse."

"I heard Dad talking to Aunt Wanda about how he made Uncle Seb upset. He can't do that, not when Uncle Seb is great and he's trying to get better and goes to therapy and after everything he went through!" Dillon gritted his teeth.

Shermie awkwardly sat down next to him, moving Diego a little over to the pillow, and hummed. "Well, yeah...But you know, they'll get better. They love each other, you know, but everyone can fight and have other differences… as long as they make up in the end."

"Like uncle Seb hated you as a baby and almost killed you twice?" The teen asked and Shermie frowned. "What…?" He asked softly before shaking his head. "My point is, even if it hurts to see them all distant, it won't last, and being angry about it won't do any good to anyone, trust me." Shermie had hated the Stans as a kid, for not doing anything, hated Ford for defending Filbrick's decision in his anger, but that only led him down a bad path filled with drugs and violence. Heck, if he hadn't suddenly become a father and was forced to shape up, what would have happened to him?

"But then what do I do?" Dillon asked. Shermie hummed in thought. "Well...not much really? It's them who gotta talk this out like the freaking adults they are, you're just here to show them you love them both. They're both your uncles, even if Ford's a pain to talk to." Shermie said in his dad voice.

Dillon sighed and laid down on his back. "So, do brothers just… fight like this sometimes?" He asked. Shermie nodded. "All siblings do."

Dillon pouted. Things shouldn't be like that...He thought siblings were like friends! Always nice to each other. He looked at Diego, sucking his foot. He couldn't really know though. He had been a brother for less than a year. He softly pressed Diego's belly and the baby whined loudly, swatting his hand away.

Shermie laughed. "See? You fought." Dillon giggled and played with Diego's chubby cheeks. "Thanks, Uncle Shermie…" The green eyed man ruffled his curls and stood up. "Now stop sulking and go play or something. And give Diego to your mom, she says he gotta eat now." Dillon nodded and happily got up and on the way, saw Dad carrying Ford over his shoulder, shouting and laughing.

Dillon rolled his eyes. Weirdos… "Dillon, we gotta TALK after I'm done with him~~" Stan called out to his eldest son, making Dillon pale. Diego yelped when Dillon started running.

-.-

Ford had his much needed nap that day, and wasn't allowed back into his lab until he talked to Seb. (Fiddleford, the traitor, was helping Stan). So the next day, he made his way to the living room.

Seb was on the couch, with the older twins on each side, talking loudly. Soos was there too, right, Mystery Shack was closed today.

"NO!" Seb gasped. Mabel grinned like a little shit as Dipper screamed into his hands. "MABEL! I TOLD YOU NOT TO SAY ANYTHING!"

"Dude, I would have never known!" Soos gasped in utter surprise. "I thought it was some kind of code when Pacifica talked a lot about you at the Diner she had started working at!" It would have remained a complete mystery to him if Mabel hadn't said that Pacifica and Dipper were dating.

"PINETREE!" Seb squealed. "SHIP!" Dipper groaned. "That's so cuteee! Have you told everyone?!" Seb asked eagerly. "No! And don't tell them! I'm not ready!" Dipper protested.

"I'm not sure you know who you're talking to~" Seb high sixed Mabel and laughed evilly. "When did you start dating?!"

"A few months ago!" Mabel answered for him. "They messaged a lot and Paz invited him to come!" She squealed. Seb squealed too, and hugged Dipper. "Little Pinetree's growing up~can you believe you hated her just a couple years ago?"

"Please someone kill me now!" Seb, Mabel and Soos laughed. They were the only ones awake. Everyone was napping after lunch, like the 3 babies, or working, like Shermie and Wanda. The four of them hanging out together like this, they felt like it was that summer again, before Bill fucked everything up.

Ford smiled a little from his spot by the doorframe. He took a deep breath before walking forward.

But he stopped when there was a loud baby wail coming from another room. Papa Seb rose to his feet immediately, knowing their babies' cries, and apologized to his niblings. "Be right back, babies call~"

Seb left the living room and walked towards his room, finding Ford standing like a statue there. "Hey…" The man with the eyepatch smiled a little. He was tired of ignoring Ford, he was never able to do that for long.

Bill2 always said he forgave too easily. Seb didn't care though.

"Your-your kids are crying." Ford stated and the wails just got louder. A muffled "Heelpp!" Was heard from where Wanda was with the twins. "They do that all the time, it's pretty annoying." Seb grinned and reasummed his pace. "I bet they aren't even hungry or need a new diaper, they just want to call for attention."

Ford opened his mouth to say something but decided against it. No. Think before speaking.

"Are you still mad at me?" Seb asked, softer this time. "I didn't mean to ignore you...I was upset without reason, it's hard for me to not imagine everything said to me is meant to hurt me or put me down...Linda said that's part of my anxiety…" And she also said he should go back to his pills to help control that, but he was fine.

"But when I ignore you, you get angry and ignore me back, and that hurts more...so, next time I overreact...maybe just continue being with me?" Ford blinked slowly at what Seb told him before eventually nodding. Wasn't he supposed to-?

"Ok. I-I will be careful not to...ignore you when you ignore me..." (?)

"Great!" Seb smiled and rubbed his arm awkwardly. "Hug, smart guy?"

Ford nodded and hugged him, patting his back. Seb pulled away and pointed to the hallway. "Gotta go now, twins will burst their vocal chords!"

Ford thought about the interaction. Seb apologized...to him...But, he was the one coming to apologize? Oh well, that was easy! Seb and he were in good terms again and he didn't have to fuck up things more by apologizing! Ford smiled in satisfaction. This… was fine. He didn't need to… apologize. Right.

Dipper, Mabel and Soos were frowning at him though. "Ahem." Mabel fake coughed. Ford looked over at them. "Oh, hello Dipper and Mabel." Mabel narrowed her eyes and pouted. Ford blinked and it took him a few seconds before he realized what she wanted. "Ah, sorry for yelling at you earlier yesterday?"

Mabel relaxed a little, she didn't smile though. "Why'd you yell anyway?" Ford sighed. "I didn't want Zully and Zoe in my lab." Dipper spoke up, "Why?"

"It's not important." Ford tried to evade the subject. Dipper wouldn't let him. "If it wasn't important, then did you yell at us for no reason?"

"No. I just-" Ford sighed, leaning against the wall. "I have my suspicions that the kids might be demons." Mabel blinked and asked, "And what does that have to do with yelling at us?" Ford stared at her, mouth agape. "Didn't you hear me? They might be demons, one of them might be Bill Cipher."

Dipper shivered a little before narrowing his eyes. "That sounds horrible, but wasn't uncle Seb a Bill Cipher too? Do you have some sort of 'no Bills in the lab' rule?"

"Just...precautions, you never know. And, well, I was stressed and took it out on you, and that wasn't very nice of me. So, I apologize for that." He gave them a small smile.

Dipper and Mabel nodded. Mabel thought Ford was overreacting to that, Dipper was now a bit worried. Oh gosh, having to interact with Bill again...even as a cousin...that worried him. He didn't want to see that triangle ever again! In any damn form! But… Dipper snorted. "If one of the twins really is Bill, he's a little girl now!" He started snickering.

Mabel narrowed her eyes. "And what's wrong with being a girl? He can still do Bill things!"

"N-nothing!" Dipper said quickly. "But we'd be able to put him in little dresses and ribbons." Mabel's eyes widened and she cackled. "Yeeeeessssss!" The older twins started joking about all sorts of embarrassing things they could do to Bill if he was one of the younger twins. "I could put HIM in a lamb costume!" Dipper laughed maniacally.

Ford stared at his niblings in disbelief. They were… joking about it? Like it was funny? "This isn't something to make light of-"

"And then I can tickle him ALL I want!" Mabel cheered. "In fact, even if they're not Bill, I'm still gonna tickle them!"

"Kids, no, this is serious!" Ford stated but the twins were now ignoring him. He sighed, they were not going to understand, and walked back to his lab. He didn't care, he knew there was still a possibility, because he saw their DNA, Zully and Zoe had demon powers… Zully had higher Weirdness levels than her own father. There must be something going on here.

-.-

Sebastian cooed at his daughters. "Aww~ did you miss your daddy? Is that why you were crying?" He rocked Zully in his arms with a smile. Wanda told him that Zully had woken up, didn't see Seb anywhere and had started crying. "Awww~ It's okay. I'll always be here, even if I have to leave for a bit." Seb told his eldest. Zully sniffled, clutching tightly to Seb's yellow shirt. Seb laid down beside Wanda on the bed, she was holding Zoe, who had stirred but luckily didn't wake.

"A real daddy's girl, huh?" Wanda teased, reaching up to stroke Zully's hair. Zully huffed, burying their face in Seb's shirt. The parents laughed. "Well, I don't mind at all." Seb grinned. Wanda sighed dramatically and hugged Zoe. "If she was awake, she would go with you too…How did you win the two of them? Not fair!"

"Blondes like me~" Seb smirked. Zully had gone back to sleep, holding onto him. Wanda rolled her eyes. "Sad, but true." She snuggled closer to Seb as well. Zoe trapped her so she couldn't go back to her laptop. Might as well use it to her advantage to nap as well.

"I'm good with Sixer now." He was back to calling him Sixer, when Seb was upset he was Stanford. "I'm glad, he better not hurt you again or I'm gonna get mad!" Wanda huffed. Seb laughed and disheveled her in a very fond ruffling. "Don't worry, Wands, we always forgive each other…" He knew Ford felt the same.

He closed his eye and smiled. He was glad he wasn't leaving Gravity Falls all upset again. Everything turned out fine!

"And don't come back, Stanley until those boys are tired!" Carla slammed the door shut. Stan, with Diego easily carried in an arm, glared down at Dillon who had the decency to shrink in shame.

"See what you did, kid?! You HAD to play inside!" Stan exclaimed. His basket ball bounced away and knocked down some, well, many decorations from a table, breaking them.

"...Sorry…?"

Stan took a deeo breath before he snorted and laughed. "it's fine, I've broken a couple of things myself aa a kid, I get it, it's just the adrenaline, no?"

"Yeah! Exactly! Mom doesn't get it!" Diego was put on his stroller and the three went to the park. Stan was told to tire Dillon, then that was what he was doing. He'd leave Dillon exhausted as heck!

"You tell me, there was this time I was playing with Seb inside the pawnshop with a football and I broke...this...um…" Stan trailed off. He broke it, Seb got punished for it, Seb got cut with the pieces of glass... "It-It doesn't matter...Just know that breaking stuff bothers your mom and I won't be this nice next time! Now you will be punished with...practicing your dribbling! I want to see that in and out dribbling mastered!"

Dillon gasped. "What?! Not fair!" Stan patted his head. "Yes, it is, you broke stuff." "But you said you broke things tol and that you understood! The teen puffed his cheeks.

"Yes, I understand, but like you right now, I was grounded" (sometimes physically punished) "And also, I'm pissed because we will waste money replacing those, so be glad I'm being lenient"

Dillon sighed and groaned when Stanley ordered him to run around the ball court in the park to warm up. He knew Dad's routine. It was made by the Devil himself...

Next to ball court was the playground and Stan crouched in front of Diego in the stroller. "And what do I with you?" He cooed. He took Diego to the baby swings. He wasn't grounded. He could be tired by having fun. Stan smiled proudly when Diego squealed. His thoughts slowly drifted off to his family and his smile decreased a bit.

Anxiety and ADHD, and Wanda said Seb didn't want his pills. Seb hadn't had a breakdown in months (that Wanda knew of), but Wanda didn't want that to happen again, neither did the therapist, or him! No one wanted that but Wanda couldn't convince Seb to take his pills...Stubborn fucker.

Stanley couldn't help but worry. As per usual. It really wasn't fair that Stan always had to be the one to take care of his triplets. They were adults now, they should know how to deal with this and know better. But Seb won't take his pills and Ford (according to Fiddleford) refused to get therapy. He groaned. Heck, even HE had gotten therapy. His mental and physical health had to be cleared by a doctor before he was allowed to play again, after all.

He couldn't help but think something upstairs wasn't working right for Ford. Getting obsessed with the idea of Zully and Zoe being demons, or even worse, Bill Cipher? When he explicitly said he trusted Seb even when HE used to be Bill, didn't make any sense at all to him. He was CONVINCED this was something bad…but didn't know what to do about it…

He definitely needed to talk this out, this was ridiculous! Why were his brothers so stupid sometimes? Stan carefully pushed Diego on the swing, smiling at the kid's squealing laughter. "Hey, if you need therapy when you're older, that's fine, you know? I won't be angry, or disappointed. Getting therapy means you're getting help to get better. And that would be better than suffering. It's not a hard concept, right?" He asked the baby. Diego babbled. "Yeah, there's nothing wrong or shameful about it. So why do my idiot triplets have to be so stubborn?" Stanley continued.

"You know what? I'm gonna tell on them to Ma. She'll make 'em get their shit together." Stanley laughed. Pushing 40 years old and he could still threaten them with their ma.

"Ma!" Diego giggled and clapped. Stan cooed and smiled even more. Can you believe he made such a small, tiny and ADORABLE baby? "You agree with my idea no? I can have smart ideas too~"

"I'm dying!" Dillon complained. "50 push ups!" Stan called back.

Stan leaned against the metal pole and slowly pushed Diego again. Ma didn't know about Ford, she would surely scold him for being an idiot, that would be funny, to see a grown man being put in his place like that. Maybe that metal plate was crushing his brain. And then Ma would nicely explain to Seb why he had to take his pills, now that she knew Seb had ADHD, she would be more careful and help him more. (Ma treated Seb like a baby, it was funny sometimes.)

"...Shoot!" Stan turned around and raised an eyebrow, unimpressed, at the paparazzi who just fell from his "hidden" spot. "I've seen guys on trees and hanging from branches, you should try not to be spotted next time." Stan tutted. "Will you leave if you have a photo?"

"That-That would be nice." The man with the camera stuttered, wincing as he picked himself up. Stan covered Diego's face with his huge palm, making his son shriek with laughter, and smirked. The man ran away after taking a million photos, but Stan knew he wasn't leaving. They were like...rats. Ah, the downsides of being famous. It was such a pain sometimes...

He went back to his soliloquy. "Well, I gotta admit Seb does look like he's doing better, you know your uncle Seb finished his courses at that school he was going to?" Stan poked Dillon's nose. "He's so good at making fancy clothes, his drawings are amazing. Your mommy told her work partner to hire him to direct the production of the costumes they'll wear for a future play. And they said they would! Isn't that great!?"

"Bah!" Diego agreed. Stan stroked his soft hair. "Yeah...And he's really happy about his course, he's proud...He told me he wants to open his own store you know? He's searching for a place to buy or rent. You know, I wanna help him, I should help him right? He deserves it, and besides, asking the bank for money is shit, it just isn't convenient…" Stan shook his head. His first jobs were in the bank. Horrible. If he was gonna convince people to buy what he wanted to sell, it would be in a NICE way. Many people fell into the clutches of debt to the bank because they had no idea how banks worked. Getting into debt wasn't something you wanted.

Diego had NO idea what Dada was saying, but it was entertaining. He waved his arms and babbled.

Stan glanced at Dillon. He was throwing the basketball into the ring. "Son, raise your arms more." "Got it!"

"But you know what? I'm not that worried for Sebas, not anymore at least…" He was more worried about Ford now, really worried. Stan couldn't stop thinking about it. He tried to imagine Ma would solve this, like when they were children and a higher judge was needed to solve their problems: like who got to eat the last cookie, or who hit who first, or wore who's clothes without asking…

But he doubted Ma could do much for Stanford when he had panic attacks...

Soos had called him the other day, completely hyperventilating because Ford had had a nightmare, something triggered him in the middle of the night and he was screaming his lungs out, he wasn't reacting to Soos's worried attempts to break him out of it, but eventually he'd managed to calm down…

Ford used to do that back in their first years in space…

Stan groaned. "And that idiot refuses to admit he needs therapy." He told Diego. The baby squealed and reached for Stan's face. "Yeah, I know. I'm gonna need to do something drastic. For his own good." He wondered what he could do for that. It was difficult because Ford lived all the way in Oregon and Stan was in New York. It's not like he couldn't afford the plane tickets, but travel time was hard on him. He had to make time off work and training in order to make the trip. And in the long term those travels will turn expensive. But if he had to do that for his triplet's sake, he would. Stan always would. That was what he did. Always and forever.

He was the most well adjusted brother, he always had to deal with Ford and Seb's issues and take care of them. That was how it always was.

Part of Stan was a little upset by that, it shouldn't be his job… but it was. And… as annoying as it was, Stan would do it. One time, a thousand times, he would still do it. Because he loved his brothers, as stupid as they were. Besides, if he finally managed to make them get the help they needed once and for all, then both his brothers would be fine, and he wouldn't have to watch over them like this anymore…

He smiled determined and stroked Diego's little head with a softness you wouldn't expect from someone as big and muscled as him. "Baa?" Diego asked. "Yeah. I'm gonna have to pull out the big guns. Desperate times call for desperate measures…" He smirked. Distracted with his baby, Stan didn't notice the group of kids who joined Dillon to play...or how one shyly grabbed his hand…

-.-

"This is ridiculous. Get out of the house!" Fiddleford glared. Ford shook his head and covered himself more with his blanket before holding his gun closer.

Melody was standing next to Fiddleford, looking very worried. Stanford was a nice guy...but he...had gone a little cray cray recently...She worried for him, they lived with him, she liked to think they were friends (because he was the triplet brother of Soos' best friend), and they couldn't allow him to continue being like this.

Abuelita was vacuuming just next to where the poor paranoid man was curled up.

"Dr. Pines you need to get up. You can't lay in bed forever, as awesome as that would be." Melody sighed. Ford shook his head again, they couldn't see his face, but they could feel from their places how heavy the bags under his eyes were, and if you were perceptive enough, they could smell his tears. Fiddleford placed his face in his hands for a moment before straightening. "Alright. I'll grab his legs. You got his arms. We're hauling off and dumpin' him in the bath."

Ford squeaked when they all lifted him out of his bed. "What? No! You can't-!" He tried to struggle but he was exhausted and there were more of them than him and Ford let out a cry as they carried him off to the bathroom where Abuelita had already filled the tub (while vacuuming the bathroom wall?)

Ford couldn't believe the treason. She was nice! She gave him cookies! And she was part of this!

With clothes and all, the three new inhabitants of the Shack carefully lowered the trembling scientist into the water before exiting the bathroom, leaving Fiddleford alone with his friend. Ford was laying there, fully clothed and glaring at the blond. "I don't like this."

"If you took baths like a normal person, we wouldn't have to do this." Fiddleford crouched next to the tub and smiled sadly. "You're not ok. Ford, I know yer scared. Heck, I was exactly like you are when I started using the memory gun, I wasn't ok. Why don't you let me help, you stupid man?!"

Ford folded his arms, grimacing at all the soap on it. Had Abuelita put in the bubble bath soap? "I don't need- I can take care of myself!"

"Clearly you can't." Fiddleford rolled his eyes. "You're in the bath with yer clothes on."

"Because YOU put me in here!" Ford wailed. Fiddleford looked around, found a bottle of shampoo and poured a bit on Ford's now wet hair. "Start scrubbing and we can continue talking." This was ridiculous! He bathed his son when he was a baby. When did his life turn into this? Taking care of his college roommate like he was a child?

He sighed. This is what happened when you were a good person. Terrible weird things happened to good people like him. He only wanted a friend! But this was too much. If Stan hadn't called him and asked Fiddleford to look after Ford until he could get there to smack some sense into him, well, Fiddleford would have helped anyway.

"Ok, so finish cleaning yourself, you're old enough to take a bath yerself, ain't ya?" Ford glared at him with dark eyes. "You are getting out of the house, please wear clean clothes, then we are having breakfast-" He looked at his watch. "-late breakfast and we gotta talk." Fiddleford left the room to give Ford some privacy. He waited half an hour, in which he wasn't sure if Ford sulked the entire time or actually cleaned himself, but anyway, he appeared with clean clothes and an annoyed expression on his face. "I don't feel good. I don't want to go outside, Fiddleford…" He pleaded. He had nightmares. Many nightmares. He was sure Bill was back. He was sure Bill was coming for him, and his brothers and-

Fiddleford sighed. "Stanford...What you're doing isn't healthy."

"I AM FINE!" Stanford laughed tense, proving that he wasn't, in fact, fine. "I'm perfectly fine!" "You are worried again, you are overthinking again, and you are paranoid." Fiddleford stated. But if his friend really wouldn't accept the fact that he needed help, there wasn't much he could do. Fiddleford would just have to keep looking after him in the meantime.

Between him, Soos and Melody, they dragged Ford outside for some fresh air. They got him to eat lunch and even finally got him to sleep (courtesy of Melody suggesting warm milk with Ford's meal and getting rid of all coffee in the house.)

In this way, Ford almost seemed normal (aside from night terrors) and the months went by until it was the holiday season, with the Pines family meeting up in Gravity Falls for a late Hanukkah, in a mixed celebration of Christmas and Hanukkah, one of Mabel's inventions, her pride and joy.

The main portion of the festivities were celebrated with their wife's families, but afterward, everyone headed to Ford's place just to meet up and celebrate. It was just the best meeting place. The kids loved the town!

Dipper and Mabel liked their grandparents, but they couldn't wait to return to Gravity Falls. They were worried about Seb and Ford's relationship. Was it fixed? Where they still at odds? Ford had bags under his eyes and everyone could see that he wasn't doing well. He denied it of course but when Dipper asked Fiddleford about it, he was told that Ford had been getting nightmares about Bill again and was convinced that the demon was coming back. Stan had straight up told Ford that he looked awful.

Dipper didn't know what to do. He didn't like seeing his oldest uncle like this. He still felt a deep respect for him. And Dipper had had his own bunch of nightmares as well...but Bill was gone, they already told Ford the twins were harmless. He and Mabel told him that he needed therapy. He denied it, claiming he was perfectly fine and didn't need anyone poking around his head and telling him what to think and feel. Dipper almost ate his own hat in frustration.

But they didn't want to ruin the holiday by starting an argument so everyone let the subject drop for now and tried to focus on celebrating.

Zully, Zoe and Diego were playing together in the living room around the toys scattered about. Diego was a big baby now and could finally play with his older cousins. They walked much better than him, but Zoe and Zully liked him, he was squeezable and funny. The family was hanging out in the Living room, trading stories and catching each other up on what they've been up to. Dipper and Mabel were telling people about the Halloween they'd had together.

"We still went trick or treating!" Mabel grinned. "Gonna keep going until they stop giving us candy!" Dipper laughed. "Which isn't gonna happen because people STILL love the twin costumes." The two high-fived and Mabel looked up at the brothers. "We'll be old, like you, and people will still give us candy~"

Stan laughed. "The only reason I ain't getting candy anymore is because it's bad for my figure. I bet I'd get WAY more candy than you two if I got Seb and Ford to dress up with me." He flexed. Seb gasped. "We have to do that next Summerween!"

Carla snorted at Stan's arrogant look. "Lies. Him taking care of his figure is pure lies! He just steals Diego's candy after taking him out to trick or treat."

"But isn't Diego too young to trick or treat?" Seb asked, looking confused. Carla snorted again. "Stanny carries him around the neighborhood in a little costume and people throw candy at him." Mabel squealed and hugged Diego. Mini Stan~

"Well we didn't take the twins trick or treating YET. But we do celebrate Halloween in our own way." Wanda squeezed her boyfriend's hand with a smirk. Frankly, Sebastian loved Halloween and Wanda very much appreciated the sexy werewolf outfit he'd worn this last holiday. Just for her. Oh she appreciated it a looooot~ she appreciated it for several hours~ at least until Seb had passed out.

Dillon was very silent during the exchange, praying to any god listening his dad wouldn't- "Hah! But nothing beats father and son's costumes. Right, Dillon?!" Stan pulled him into a hug. Mabel cooed loudly.

Dillon groaned. Please someone kill him now. "I just...wanted to go trick or treating with my dad a few times...to know...how it felt…"

The coos and AAAWWW's were louder this time and the teen groaned loudly. "I don't do that anymore though! I go to parties now." Carla pinched his cheek "Big boy~" making the teen scowl.

Mabel gasped. "We went to a party too! It was cool! And we won the contest! But Dad picked us up at 12! Like some losers!" She glared at Shermie who unapologetically sipped his hot chocolate. Abi rolled her eyes. He was a total dick to the twins.

Dipper rolled his eyes. "It was embarrassing. He came right in, with a costume on no less, and everyone thought he was our big brother." Stan laughed and slapped his knee. "What was he dressed as?"

Mabel and Dipper both blushed. Abigail answered, "A sexy banana." Everyone stared for a second before bursting out into insane laughter

Mabel shrieked. "Do you know what it's like to see your friends and classmates ogling your dad?! It's not normal! You should look older or not show your face around!" She accused the green eyed man.

Shermie looked entirely unrepentant. "Hey, if I got the stuff, I gotta strut." Stan raised a hand and Shermie high fived him. Abigail rolled her eyes. "Damn sexy Pines men." Wanda snorted into her eggnog. Carla rolled her eyes. "Hear, hear. Damn the Pines men and their attractiveness." The women all clicked their mugs together in a toast.

Shermie looked over at Dipper and winked. "Don't worry son, you'll appreciate my wonderful genes when you're older." Dipper rolled his eyes, a bright blush on his face. "I'm 15, dad! That's how old you were!" Mabel grinned. "Well, Pacifica sure appreciates it~" Dipper sputtered "MABEL!"

Everyone laughed. "Well, I'm gonna get some more eggnog." Stan said, getting up. The other adults thought that was a great idea and followed him into the kitchen, leaving the teenagers and Ford (who'd been dozing on and off, lulled by the amiable chatter), in the room to watch the babies.

Mabel glanced over at uncle Ford, saw that he was pretty out of it, and whispered to her cousin. "Have you told Stan yet?"

Dillon shook his head. "N-not yet. Mom knows now...She's fine with it. And she said that dad would be fine with it too. But…" he bit his lip. "I just can't tell him right now, especially not after…"

"Hey, it's alright, man." Dipper patted his cousin's shoulder. "Look, Stan would love you no matter what." Dillon sighed. "I know, I just… you know." He looked at his cousins helplessly. Dipper nodded. "Don't worry I get it. Sometimes it's hard to tell people stuff and… Well, just know that we'll be here for you. We can have a baseball match tomorrow again! That'll make things better" Playing with Stan as a coach was really cool and Dillon liked it. He was a show off.

Dillon smiled. "Thanks Dipper, Mabel."

"Come on, lets go get some hot chocolate!" Mabel cheered. Dipper looked over at the babies, babbling to each other as they played with their stuffed animals and some leftover wrapping paper. "Shouldn't we be watching them?"

"Eh, uncle Ford's here." Mabel went up to gently shake him. He gasped and looked around, blinking blearily. "Huh? What?"

"Hey uncle Ford, we're going to get some hot chocolate. And we'll get one for you too. Can you watch the babies while we're gone?" Mabel asked. Ford stared at her for a bit before his brain caught up. "Ah, yes. Watch the kids. I can do that." He nodded, sitting up and running a hand along his face.

Mabel felt a little bad for waking him now. "I'll use hot milk for your chocolate, then you can get back to sleep." She decided. Ford nodded absently, blinking as he stared at the babies. "Right. Thank you, Mabel."

The teenagers filed out of the room toward the kitchen.

Zoe and Zully watched their older cousins go. Zoe pouted when Dipper was gone but focused on playing. She could catch his attention when he came back. Then he'd pick her up. She kicked her little feet with a happy smile at the thought. She liked when Dipper held her. He wasn't daddy, but he was nice. And he made funny sounds when she bit him to show him her love.

Ford rubbed his eyes, wondering how long he'd been out. How embarrassing. The children were playing on a thick blanket placed on the ground. He watched them for a while, marvelling at how small Diego was. Zoe waved some of the wrapping paper around and babbled loudly as she smacked Diego with it. The younger boy yelped.

Ford gasped. "No. Zoe! Don't hit him." He looked around, wishing one of the other adults was here to help. He didn't know anything about children!

As he went over to pick Zoe up and pull her further away from Diego, Zully gasped when their hand caught fire. The blond giggled and waved their flaming hand around. Diego stared at it in fascination. Seeing this, Zully reached out to let their cousin touch it, after all, he was clearly interested and daddy always told them to share.

Ford's eyes went wide as he saw Zully extending their flaming hand towards Diego. A handshake. A fire filled handshake-

The flickering fire reflected off Zully's large eyes, making them seem to glow and in Ford's half asleep state, he thought he saw slit pupils-

His stomach dropped. Bill was here. He was-

"NO! STAY AWAY FROM HIM!" Ford had to protect Diego! But he couldn't get to him in time! He had to stop Bill! He had to- Ford reached around blindly for something to use to get Bill away from Diego. His hand closed around the handle of a baseball bat that Dipper had left out in preparation for the ball game with Dillon.

Ford held up the bat.

And he swung-

---

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PD: The Axolotl has a plan for everything, trust him and his divine knowledge