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)

13. Settings things straight

Hii! New chapter! As always, drawing in deviantart and tumblr! :3

---

Seb couldn't let go of his ring. He went everywhere with it. He loved it so much and it was all sparkly and pretty!

He didn't let the twins touch it with their filthy baby hands either so that meant he cared a lot about it. (He pretty much let the twins do whatever not harmful thing they wanted, so the fact that this was the line he drew… well, it meant a lot).

Wanda was also very happy that he was taking this better than expected. She had talked to Carla (who scolded Stan for ruining the surprise) and they were starting to look up places and menus and decorations. Stan helped from time to time but was glad the women were taking care of it, he really had no idea. Seb, on the other hand, was tormenting him with ideas for suits and colors and he needed to stop.

"Seb. It's just a suit. I'll just buy a suit." Stan told him over the phone, and rolled his eyes when he heard Seb gasp, offended. "Just a-but this is a human tradition that is all about looking amazing and having people looking at you!"

"It's women who worry about wedding clothes, Seb. Men don't really have much of a choice, aside from the color of the suit, which is like, or black or blue." Stan explained, but Seb didn't take no as an answer. Not when it was about the one thing he was PERFECT at!

"I'll make us the PERFECT suit, ok?! And I'll prove that you don't have to wear a dress to be the center of attention at your wedding! Men DESERVE it as much as any bride!"

"Alright, you do you…" Stan rolled his eyes and went back to working, kind of ignoring his brother's rants. He vaguely wondered if the demon they fought was also this pretentious. William didn't seem like it, but he did like dressing up in...weird clothes… Stan made a face at the memory of that… Maid outfit...

Seb sat in the living room with a sketchbook to start drawing and planning the perfect suit to make Stan shut his yap. The twins noticed him relaxing, and because he was basically prohibited to be in peace in his own house, they jumped over him and demanded to watch tv with him. He floated them away, not looking up. "Don't bother me, brats! I'm working on something really important."

"Daddy! TV!" Zoe pleaded. "We wanna wash with you!" Seb waved a hand and the twins squealed when they were floated back to their room. "I'm busy here! Make an imaginary friend or something."

The twins shrieked and grabbed at the door frame with all their might. "No!" Zully screamed as Zoe clawed and tried to get rid of the magic around them.

"DDAAADDDDD!" They screamed at the same time, their high pitched screams making Seb wince. "URGH! FINE!" The yellow glow surrounding the twins put them down on the floor. The twins high-fived and happily skipped to the couch, snuggling next to their dad. Sebastian sighed at his adorable toddlers and ruffled their soft long hair with a smirk. Zully's hair had grown again, he was so happy to be able to comb it again! (much to the oldest toddler's displeasure, but they were too shy to complain about it). Zoe grabbed the sketchbook Seb left on the couch arm as he searched for the remote control, but she quickly had it snatched from her. "NO. This is work. You touch this, and you will sleep in the yard tonight." He threatened with his eye slowly turning red.

Zoe left it alone, lucky for her, but she didn't like being denied things. "You can-can't make me sleep thewe! Mommy don't let you!" She crossed her arms and looked at Zully for support, but her twin simply shrugged helplessly. They didn't know. Mommy was always on daddy's side. "Oh, mommy will do whatever I say, with the right words and strategies." Seb winked and the kids giggled, not understanding the meaning but still thinking it was funny. He turned on the TV for them and they jumped happily on their seats when one of their colorful shows appeared on TV.

"PUPPY COPS!" Zully roared loudly and started smacking their dad's chest with a tiny hand. "Ow, ow, ow." Seb said with a deadpan look. "I love puppies." They said happily and Seb nodded. "Yeah, I can see that!"

"PUPPY COPS! Puppy cops! We'll be thewe on the double! Whenever thewe's a pwoblem 'Round Aventure Bay, Ryder and his team of pups! Will come and save the day!" Zoe happily sang as Zully stared at the screen. Every cartoon had a voice speaking very weird at the beginning with confusing noises in the background. Zully didn't understand, but Zoe loved them.

""Marshall, Rubble, Chase, Rocky, Zuma, Skye!"" Both the twins could name the puppies though. "Yeah! They're on the way!"

Seb cooed loudly at the toddler's excitement. They were so adorable. Why were babies so adorable?! He wanted to bite theemm! He leaned closer to Zully but…"OOW!" He screamed when Zoe bit him first. "No dawe!" She huffed.

"Why can you bite me, but I can't bite you back?!" Seb whined.

"Becuz we awe small and kids and you can't huwt us." Zoe explained wisely and Seb rolled his eye. "We will see about that~"

"Shhh! shut up pwease!" Zully complained angrily. Seb and Zoe laughed silently to themselves, covering their mouths. "Daddy!" Zoe spoke again, not caring for her sibling who was concentrated on watching.

"Yes?"

"I-I will dwess like Skye in-in Hawoween!" Zoe declared. They were going trick or treating for the first time, and she was pretty excited. Dad said they just had to wear a costume and be adorable and they'd get candy! She was adorable by nature, getting candies would be easy.

"Ohh~ That's a great idea, baby~" Zoe giggled and threw herself to her dad's chest, hitting his jaw accidentally. He whimpered. Why?! WHY?!

"And you will be Ridew!"

"Hahahaha!" Seb laughed with a shrill voice. "That's not going to happen."

"And Zully can be Evewest or-or Sweetie!"

Zully's head snapped back at the two of them and both Zoe and Seb wince at the angry look they were giving them. "NO!" The child growled. "I don't wanna be them! I wanna be Chase! Not a girl!" Despite their angry look, Zully's eyes were full of tears.

Seb raised his arms as a surrender gesture. Zoe imitated him. "It's ok, you can totally be Chase, princess. There's nothing wrong with being a girl Chase! You can dress up as whoever you want."

Zully rubbed her eyes and nodded. Ok. They liked that.

"We can dwess up like ANY chawacter?! Even if thewe not giwls?" Zoe gasped and Seb nodded. "Of course! Anyone can dress as whatever they want!" He squeezed their chubby cheeks and the toddlers giggled. Zully tried to forget how weird it felt to be called a girl. Zoe knew she was a girl, but Zully was still unsure about it.

But mommy and daddy said they were a girl...

Zully was distracted spacing out, and barely noticed when Sebastian stood up to get Zoe (and by default, them) water. While Seb was busy washing the sippy cups (the twins had been drinking melted jelly, they loved it), his phone started ringing and surprisingly, it was Dillon. He hadn't called in a while.

Sureee! Now that he had a DAD! He had forgotten about his UNCLE! Of course! (Seb wasn't… bitter, not exactly, just a little miffed that his oldest nephew didn't call him as much as he used to).

"Yellow, brother's oldest spawn!" Seb grinned at the phone.

"...You're weird. I'll call again and I expect a kind of normal reply." Dillon groaned.

"Call again and I won't reply." Seb shrugged.

"Alright. Fine~ I'll embrace your weirdness." Dillon rolled his eyes when he heard his uncle exclaim a "Thank you~So, what did you call for? Your cousins want water and I need to give it to them before getting hit.

The teen chuckled. Those little demons. "I was calling to tell you that, well, I thought you deserved to know, because you're a great uncle and you were there for me while dad was gone…"

Just tell me already!"

"I'm gay!" Dillon said.

Seb blinked. "Oh. Alright…? And what..should I do with that information?"

Dillon mumbled. "Well...I thought you needed to know, I'm coming out now because I have a boy-boyfriend and I love him and I don't want to hide it anymore!" Dillon said firmly.

Dillon sounded so sure of himself, he didn't want to hide who he was anymore, and Sebastian guessed he was proud of that? Everyone deserved to feel comfortable as they were, but...why was he so proud of telling him he was ga-OH! Right! Humans had a problem with it! Right, he remembered his conversation with Alex and Johnny now.

"Well, it's nice that you recognize it?" Seb chuckled. "According to some friends who seem to know about that labeling, I'm 'pan'?." He verbally quoted. Dillon smiled. "I-I know, the twins told me you used to have a boyfriend."

"Yeah, and I felt attracted towards other people against my will! I used to think it was a normal human thing to do, then I was told it wasn't, and now again I know it's ok. You know what I think is weird though? The fact that some people ONLY like one sex you know? Human feelings are so strange. Like, ALL of them are HUMANS! The same species, so what does it matter which one you like? But I guess they all base themselves on their ability to procreate?" He looked at the living room where the twins were entertained with the colorful cartoon. He grinned.

"What were we talking about?"

Dillon groaned. "That I'm gay. And...I have a boyfriend too!"

"OOHHH!" Seb's eye widened, thinking on ways to tease his nephew the next time he saw him. "That's nice~ Enjoy your boyfriend, be good, don't do nasty things, you are a baby."

"ARGH! Uncle Sebastian!" Dillon stuck his tongue out but laughed anyway. Phillip was cute but he didn't want to do it with him yet! They were barely dating! "So, I'd appreciate it if you didn't go around telling everybody? I told my parents and Granny Kari...she's still processing…" Dillon let out a worried sigh. "She said she wanted gra- grandbabies from me…" Dillon blushed at that. He was still a teenager. He was not going to be thinking about children already!

Seb couldn't help but snort. He poured water into the sippy cups. "I'm not Shooting Star, don't worry I won't tell on you. And Ma just wants us to have an army of kids, and she's still not resigned over the fact that Ford will never have them, so while trying to guilt-trip him into doing it, she's making all of us work double time to compensate!"

Dillon laughed out loud at the declaration.

"And don't worry, kid. Ma loves all of you, ok? She'll come to terms with it. How did Stan react?" their conversation was interrupted by the twins screaming from the living room.

""DAAD! THWISTY!""

"WAIT A MINUTE!" Seb shouted back. "Do I need to give Stan a smack?" Dillon giggled. "Nah, everything's cool. Better than I expected, actually…I-I thought I'd never be able to tell him, I thought he would hate me..." He confessed ashamed.

"Hah! Fez hates a lot of things. But feel special, you aren't one of those things, he wouldn't hate you for who you like, kid, geez. Were you seriously scared of that?"

""DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!""

"I gotta go now. Gotta see how the puppies save the dolphin or I'll fail the critters' test to see if I was paying attention." Seb said, sounding mildly scared. Dillon laughed and told him he was free to go with his hellspawns. Before Seb hung up though, the brunet man sighed. "Um, one more thing though...Thanks for trusting me with something you think is important, it-it means a lot...And, please, don't try to hide yourself, ok?"

Dillon sniffled and blinked back tears, but he'd deny it. "...Ok. T-Thank you."

Sebastian took the sippy cups to the toddlers and sat down with them. "Kiddos, you'd tell me if something is bothering you right? I can be trusted now! I'm a good human...You can tell me anything." He said solemnly.

Zoe and Zully received their water and stared at their dad. "Yes." Zoe deadpanned. "We want you to shut up."

Seb scoffed and stood up. "You're horrible and I don't like you anymore! Good luck finding someone to fix your hippo's leg!" He spat at the toddler, acting like a child himself, and left the room. Zoe gasped and ran after her daddy, apologizing and pleading him to fix her toy.

Zully sighed in relief, finally some silence to watch their favorite cartoon. The toddler poked their eye with their bottle, winced and rubbed their eye. Augh! They did it again! They moved the sippy cup and finally managed to put it in their mouth. Zully sighed, it was such a pain to eat and drink while watching Tv! Almost instinctively, they closed their eyes as they drank.

You couldn't see Tv while drinking! It was so annoying!

The little child's eyes flew back open as soon as they finished drinking, and continued watching Tv normally, ignoring the screams coming from their silly dad and loud twin sister.

-.-

Stan was a nervous wreck. He was stressed at work (a campaign for a new product was coming and their client was an ass to deal with), he was tormented by the idea of the preparations to get married (Carla already got angry at him for 'not caring enough') and WORST of all: his baby boy had a boyfriend and he was going out everyday out with that BOY and Stan didn't know him, hadn't checked if that mystery boy was good enough for Dillon, and Stan wanted to use his brass knuckles!

"Stan, you have to stop worrying." Carla told him. They were in their car. They had taken a few hours to see the place they were planning to rent for their wedding, it was some sort of big salon. They had decided to have their wedding here in New York, Seb and Wanda were in charge of decorations and invitations. Both couples would decide the catering service.

"I'm not worried!" Stan exclaimed, you know, like a liar.

"Dillon is a big boy and he can date whoever he wants. He knows how to take care of himself." The woman explained patiently, but Stan would have none of that. He snarled. "I just don't like the idea of some boy kissing and touching him!" He considered what he said before adding. "And not because it grosses me out he's dating a boy! I don't care about that! It just bothers me he's doing it now."

Carla raised an eyebrow. "You do know we started dating at 14 right? And that we did more than kissing and touching by the time we were Dillon's age."

"But it's different! Your father was also annoyed at first! Remember? It's normal for me to get worried!" He justified himself with a huff. Carla rolled her eyes. "You were eager to meet Dillon's crush just weeks ago when you thought they were a girl, Stan. What's different now? Does the kid being gay changes the way he would treat his partner or how he will be treated? Or because he's dating a boy he suddenly becomes 'your baby' and you think he's weak and defenseless?" She asked with narrowed eyes. Stan wanted to speak again, but she interrupted him.

"You wouldn't be worried and stressed and overthinking about someone touching Dillon if it was a girl. You know you wouldn't care. In fact, I'm totally sure you would be glad HE was leading that touching." She grabbed his hand and forced him to look up at her, his expression was troubled. "And I feel in some way it's part of how everyone is raised you know? Dads overprotect their daughters, want to keep them away from mean boys, and it's the exact opposite for their sons. They're taught to be with girls or they aren't real men. Which is really stupid if you think about it. Boys are told they HAVE to be with a girl and have sex to he considered real men, while girls are told that they cannot have sex or else they are a slut. So you end up with girls who refuse and boys who keep pushing them to do it. And then no one is happy." Carla huffed.

"And right now, the second you find out Dillon's got a boyfriend, you're in that trap. You're overprotecting Dillon now because he's dating a 'mean' boy, who, in your subconscious thoughts, is only after Dillon for sex."

Stan pouted even harder because he didn't want to believe that's true.

"But. Dillon is an intelligent kid, alright? So try to trust him more. And don't let him see how you're upset. He'll think you're upset with him." Carla poked his nose with a soft grin. "Now, we're going to get inside because its time, see if the place is right for our wedding, and you are going to smile and stop scowling like a grumpy old man."

"I'm not a grumpy old man!" Stan complained. He felt that what Carla told him was true right now, but he couldn't help it. He was going to try to feel more comfortable with it…

But he wouldn't like it one bit!

"OWW!" Stan yelped when Carla fucking pinched his neck with her long ass nails! "What was THAT FOR?!"

"Smiling I said!"

-.-

Dillon had never been so happy in his entire life. Well, ok, the best day of his life was when he saw his dad for the first time in Gravity Falls, but this was the second best happiness he had had. He was dating PHILLIP! PHILLIP ABBOTT! IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED!

Their French semester finished in the middle of August, Dillon got excellent grades, Phillip barely passed, and now they had some weeks to spend together before school/university started again.

Mabel said those were their special 'fluff moments' and he needed to take advantage of it.

After a nice Saturday of helping at the hospital, Phillip, as broke as any college student, in all his power, invited his boyfriend to a fancy lunch at WcDonalds. Dillon thought this couldn't be more perfect. "I think we can take the bus back and find a WcDonalds." Phillip checked his phone for the bus schedule.

"Nah, I'll call Aaron. I'm tired of giving my seat to old entitled ladies who don't wanna use the reserve seats for them." Dillon texted his driver as Phillip laughed. Yeah, sure. He wasn't sure who Aaron was, a friend? An uncle? Well, it was someone Dillon was gonna get to drive them around... Like a Taxi?

Phillip realized it wasn't a taxi on the way to WD. The man was wearing a suit and he called his boyfriend "Master". The best thing an Aber driver ever called Phillip was "My bro."

"Hey Aaron! This is Phillip! The guy who loves public transport!" Dillon jokingly introduced them. Phillip blushed at the description and Dillon held his hand.

"Oh. So this is the boy you go with every Saturday." Aaron nodded. "Why didn't you tell me to pick you up before? That would have been safer, you know your parents prefer my service."

"I was with Phillip, I was safe." Dillon hugged Phillip's arm and leaned on his shoulder. Phillip blushed even more. Aaron grinned knowingly.

They were left at the WcDonalds and after ordering, they couldn't stop staring at each other. Dillon's ice cream started melting on his hand, but he didn't care. Phillip was crushing his hamburger. "You're so cute...You know you have the most adorable freckles…Like kisses on your cheeks~" Phillip felt his cheeks were warming up. "Now tell me a cheesy thing too~"

Dillon smiled. "Your hair is just perfect, like glowing fire and your face seems like it was carved by the gods themselves~" the two teens giggled and Phillip held his hand. "I love you."

"I love you too." Dillon said and even let Phillip take a bite of his ice cream.

"So~ I'm curious. Why do you have a driver?" Phillip asked with a sexy raised eyebrow. Dillon shrugged. "Dad's too busy to drive me places. Mom's busy too. And they were both worried about me going off on my own without supervision." Dillon rolled his eyes. "So they thought having a driver would help. Not that they know I just have Aaron drive me somewhere and then walk the rest of the way."

"What does your dad do? I think you said your mom is an actress?"

"I think it's like, marketing? Advertisement? Publicity? No, that's not the right way to put it either." Dillon scratched his nose in thought. "You know StanCo? My dad's the CEO, he founded it."

Phillip's eyes widened. "Wow, wow wait. You mean StanCo? The company that's behind every single other huge company and brand?" Dillon shrugged. "I… guess? I don't know every company that uses dad's services? How do you know about it?"

"Well." Phillip thumped his fingers. "It sponsored a program at my college for future freshmen. My college also has admin as a career and I've been told the internship is hard as balls."

Dillon snorted loudly. "Yeah, my dad's a dick to interns. But he's a good boss...I don't know how he manages it while also training, like, I can barely handle just school and some days in basketball!"

"Training? For what?" Phillip asked and Dillon sighed. "Because he plays football, duh. Haven't you seen him at least once? He plays in the New Eagle Patriots as cornerback. You know? Stan Pines? But to be fair, I think he's leaving the team next year or so to become a coach?"

Phillip gasped even louder than before. "WAIT. Your dad is Stan Pines?! THE Stan Pines The player?! I didn't know he was also a CEO?"

"Well, yeah?" Dillon didn't know what was the big deal, but Phillip was losing his shit. "How come I didn't know that, baby?!" Dillon smiled like silly at being called baby. "Well, babe, you never asked me my parents' names~"

Phillip ran a hand through his red hair. "Oh my fucking god~So...don't tell he's the one who founded the research center in Oregon? I heard that was a Pines too? One of my friend's sister, who's studying bioengineering, applied for the internship but didn't get in... But that's silly. Why would your dad have a science center right?" He giggled nervously, feeling weird for ranting.

Dillon giggled. He's so adorable. "Yeah, no, that's my uncle Stanford. The National Institute of bla bla bla. I prefer just calling it the Mystery Shack Nerd Division, like my uncle Seb calls it. He had a tourist trap there."

Phillip massaged his temples. Too many names. "And your uncles are…?"

"Oh, my dad's triplets. Stanford is the oldest and Seb is the youngest, though it's just by a few minutes! I don't get why they're so obsessed with knowing who's oldest!" Dillon shook his head "There's also my uncle Sherman, he's their youngest bro."

"...Your Dad's a triplet?!"

-.-

After Dillon explained the wonders of having such a big family, he invited Phillip home. "I'll present you to my parents when they're back! My little brother will probably be home but he won't bother us~"

Aaron picked them up again and took them home. Phillip was, needless to say, simply amazed when they reached the huge building complex.

"WOAH!" Phillip gasped. "You live in one of those?!" Dillon patted his head. "Actually my dad kinda owns the building but we live in the penthouse."

Aaron opened the door for them and grinned at the shocked teen. Phillip looked at him wide-eyed and the driver nodded solemnly. "This way, sirs."

"He called me a sir!" The ginger boy squealed. Dillon cackled at how blown away his boyfriend was by all this. He felt him though. He felt the same when they first moved in.

Diego was with granny Kari, she only came by whenever both of Dillon's parents were busy. Carla didn't want to have Diego grow up without his father like Dillon did, but Kari loved doting on her grandson and would always insist on babysitting. Kari wished she could spend as much time with Seb's twins though. She didn't see them enough!

Phillip was too distracted admiring the fine decorations and the huge windows to notice the woman who received them. "Hi, Granny Kari!" Dillon smiled and hugged her. The woman smiled and kissed his cheek. "Hi, sweetie...And who is this distracted young man?"

"There's a chandelier!"

"He's Phillip…my-you know...boyfriend…" Dillon sent her a look and Kari understood. Her expression tensed up. "Dad told me not to bring boys into my room without his authorization first… Can you please not tell him?"

Kari stroked his freckled cheek. "Dillon, I'm his mother...I don't have to tell him ANYTHING." She grinned and Dillon grinned back. Oh, he loved her! "Thank you! We-We're just hanging out ok? Nothing is going to happen." Dillon assured her.

Kari coughed. Right. Well. "Go say hi to your little brother first. He missed you!" she told him instead. She was still wrapping her head around the news of Dillon's preferences. She wasn't sure how to feel about it. And she was SURE her former husband would have been LIVID to hear such news. Kari frowned. She still… part of her felt that boys liking boys wasn't right, but she could see how happy Dillon looked with this boy, how his hand would search out and gently hold onto the other boy.

She didn't understand this at all, but she understood that Dillon was happy. And… Kari had already seen enough unhappiness in her life, stood back in fear and allowed unhappiness to happen… so she wouldn't do anything to make Dillon unhappy. She had already failed Sebastian, failed her own son, she wouldn't fail her grandson too.

So Kari kissed Dillon's cheek and waved him and his (boy)friend off as they went up to Dillon's room.

"Are you liking this place so far?" Dillon grinned at Phillip, whose eyes were still very wide. "Dude, your house is amazing! Can I stay here forever?!" Phillip pleaded holding both his hands and pouted.

"You can stay with me forever~" Dillon pulled him close for a hug. Still no kiss. He really, really wanted to kiss him but it was too soon. "But Diego is a pain in the ass to live with, you wouldn't want to stay." As if on cue, Diego came out of his room where he had been playing with his toys, and slammed himself into his brother's legs. "Dillon!" The little toddler hugged his legs really tight, to express all his love and Phillip simply melted with love.

"OH god, your little brother is SO CUTE!" He shrieked. And so...not Dillon! They looked so different from each other!

"Yes, yes, hello to you too!" Dillon patted his curly dark hair. "Say hi to my boyfriend." He picked Diego up so he was face to face with Phillip. The ginger boy cooed.

"Hi, Dillon's boyfwiend. Do you kiss? Why do you kiss?! It's gwoss!" Diego said with a little baby frown. Phillip poked his cheek. "We don't kiss yet~ But it's not gross at all~ Dillon is so, so cute~"

Diego made a disgusted face and wiggled to be put down. "Ew. I'm going to pway now. And you can't pway! Because it's my game and yewll make it yucky!" He stuck his tongue out at his older brother and ran away laughing.

Dillon shook his head. He'd come back begging for Dillon to play with him in a few minutes! He took Phillip to his bedroom, and laughed again when Phillip gasped in amazement. 'My boyfriend's rich!' He was still trying to process he was in the house of stars! He didn't realize Dillon's family was rich. It was kinda intimidating actually.

The younger teen smiled sheepishly, blushing now that they were alone, and said. "So...What do you want to do?"

"I don't know...What do rich people do…? Horseriding?" Phillip asked softly as if in a trance.

Dillon snorted. "Nah, I've never even touched a horse. My dad's rich, but we only got this place like… last year." He shrugged. "I didn't grow up rich. So all this is pretty new to me too."

"Oh...Is it because your dad was…" Phillip trailed off, realizing saying it must be too personal to mention casually. Dillon nodded though. "Yeah, when my dad and uncle were missing, I just lived with my mom in a regular house, with my granny, who is the one who received us downstairs." Phillip gasped, horrified when he realized he didn't say hi to her. "I'm a terrible guest…" Phillip ran a hand through his hair as he muttered to himself..

"My parents weren't rich growing up either, so as much as my dad brags, I'm sure he's still dealing with it too. He is a greedy old man, mind you, the only one who will be totally used to it is Diego!"

Phillip chuckled and sat down next to Dillon. The two laid down, snuggling to each other, and tried to brainstorm things couples could do. They didn't feel like watching a movie and while video games sounded tempting, it didn't scream 'special.'

"Maybe we should go bother Diego…" Dillon sighed. "I don't wanna stay here laying down all day! We'll start sweating and swim in our own sweat!"

Phillip laughed aloud. "That's not possible. And swimming in sweat sounds gross as fuck." And suddenly, Dillon had a brilliant idea.

"Pool. We can go to the pool!" Dillon put his hands over Phillips shoulders. Philip blinked. "Okay, one, you have a POOL?! Two, I don't have a swim suit."

Dillon had a very naughty thought before he shook it away. No. He promised. "Yes, we have a pool. And I could lend you a swimsuit." Phillip also had a very naughty thought, but decided to be quiet about it and accepted. Going to a pool inside a house seemed so cool!

Dillon let Phillip change in his room and he changed in the bathroom before leading Phillip to the pool, smiling widely. "Oh my god, we're going to a house pool!" Phillip squealed with excitement, but Dillon shushed him. "If Diego knows we are here, he will want to come too and ruin it!"

Phillip nodded. "Don't worry. I will be perfectly quie-OH MY GOD YOU'VE GOT A WATER SLIDE!"

Dillon slapped a hand on his face when he heard Diego come running down the hall to the pool room. "I WANNA GO SLIDE!" the toddler squealed. Dillon sent Phillip a dirty look when Diego appeared. "Grandma Kari! Take Diego away!" Dillon shouted. "I wanna stay!" Diego whined and Dillon argued back "No! Shoo!" And moments later, their granny appeared.

"What's going on here?"

"Dillon and boyfwiend-man will go to the pool and I wanna go too!" Diego explained raising his little hands to be picked up to be changed into his swimsuit.

"But we came first, I just want to hang out with Phillip! I can play with Diego any other day!" Dillon argued. Phillip felt guilty for drawing attention but he couldn't help but stare at the water. So cool~ He didn't understand sibling fights anyway, he was an only child.

Kari looked between her two grandsons before coming to a decision. "Alright, you can be together until I get Diego ready. He wants to play with you, and you shouldn't reject your little brother." She also wanted to keep Diego here so the teens couldn't do anything naughty.

Dillon massaged his temples as Kari took Diego's hand to go change him. Phillip scooted closer to him. "It's ok, I don't mind…" the ginger boy tucked some of Dillon's hair behind his ear.

Dillon was still pouting, clearly upset. "No, I mind. I just wanted to spend some time with you and Diego ruined our chance to have a nice first kiss!" He complained angrily and sulked, hiding his head between his knees.

He felt Phillip stand up but he didn't look up. Suddenly, he was picked up and dragged into the pool. "No!" Dillon blurbled underwater.

He swam his way up and gasped for air while Phillip purposely stayed underwater much longer before surfacing. Dillon glared at him, "What was that?!" Dillon tried to stay mad as he gazed at Phillip's face glistening with water droplets, the wetness making his ginger hair look much darker than normal. "I think any moment is a nice chance…" Phillip swam up and stroked Dillon's wet cheek with a thumb before gently rubbing his lip. "May I?" Dillon nodded quickly (eyes wide with a full body blush beginning to form) and, as he was being held by a tattooed arm, he shared his first kiss.

Now, Dillon could say he had never felt happier. He held Philip's head and tried to pull him closer. He didn't want this kiss to end. It unfortunately had to end when Diego came running towards them, but this time, wearing his dinosaur swim trunks.

To be fair, they had more time alone than Dillon expected to get from his grandma. And he guessed playing with his little brother wasn't all horrible, Phillip was happy playing with him (he really liked kids), he carried Diego on his shoulders, slid with him on the water slide or simply caught him in the water.

Dillon then came to a conclusion. Phillip was making points with the little brother so he had support when meeting his parents! He was a genius~

-.-

Kari didn't know what to think of Phillip. He was definitely handsome, though the heavy tattoos and piercings were a little questionable… She never understood why boys would do that, like when Sebastian pierced his ears as a teen. However, he was clearly a nice kid, Diego came back speaking wonders about him.

And he was a medical student. So he was also aiming for a good career with a well paying job, had a good head on his shoulders, intelligent and responsible with children. Which were all good points in his favor.

More importantly, Dillon was so happy with him… She didn't know how she felt about this, but she was sure glad this boy made her grandbaby so happy.

So Kari treated Phillip as if he was simply Dillon's good friend for now. She would… have to get used to this idea of boys dating boys not being a bad thing. Frankly, she didn't personally see how it could be a problem, the only thing holding her hack at this point was from how her parents and the community she grew up in always said that this was a sin.

It was the sort of thing where her first thought was 'This is bad'. This is much like how she'd reacted to Sebastian wanting to get his nails painted as a child. Back then she had stopped him quickly and told him that he couldn't do that. Not only because he was a boy and wearing nail polish or a skirt was something only girls were supposed to do, but because she'd been terrified of what the neighborhood would have thought about it. What Filbrick would have done about it.

Kari shook off this thought. She already decided that she would get away from that kind of thinking. Pretty clothing made Sebastian happy, and he deserved to be happy. Philip made Dillon happy, and he deserved to be happy too.

In the end, that was all that mattered.

So Kari sat with the boys and talked to them, chatting with them and getting to know Phillip. She wouldn't judge or reject. She would try her best to understand. And even if she couldn't, she would still support her grandson in every way she could.

Stan finally came home and was greeted with the sight of his kids and his Ma eating pizza. That was normal. What wasn't normal was the strange boy in the room with them, sitting right beside Dillon.

The strange boy with the tattoos and multiple piercings.

"Mommy!" Diego ran towards his mommy with a bit of pizza in his mouth. Carla picked him up, kissed his cheek and smiled down at Dillon and mysterious boy.

"Hello! You~ You must be Phillip, right?" She smiled politely.

Stan's scowl hardened.

Dillon stood up, holding Phillip's hand as the ginger boy shook with nerves. "Yeah. Mom, Dad, he's Phillip, my-my boyfriend." The curly haired boy smiled.

Stan fought against his instincts, but he failed terribly. His eye twitched and he glared at the sheepish teen. "H-Hi sir…" Phillip squeaked.

"Out."

Dillon glared at his scowling dad. "Dad!"

"Don't 'dad' me!" Stan said mockingly. "I told you NO BOYS HERE IN MY HOUSE!"

"But he's my boyfriend...We-We haven't done anything bad!" Dillon complained as he still held Phillip's hand reassuringly. "Ask Diego! Toddlers don't lie!"

Stan looked at Diego. "What did you brother do with this boy?"

"Phillip is the bestest in the wowld! He knows lots of games and he plays with me and doesn't call me squiwt or bug!" Diego defended the ginger boy and Dillon understood Phillip's technique.

Stan scoffed. "Still! No boys!" He pointed towards the door. Kari watched, unsure on when she should get involved, and Carla rolled her eyes. "You don't even know him, Stanny."

Dillon nodded. "And you said you needed to meet them first! You can't meet him if you don't get to know him! I brought him so you could meet him" He pointed out. Stan cursed mentally, dumb Seb teaching deals and bargaining and supporting your point in an argument to Dillon, and Stan reluctantly agreed. They all sat down for the interrogation.

"Full name, boy." Stan asked serious. Phillip shrunk back. A football star was angry at him for dating his son… "Phi-Phillip...Phillip Abbott, sir." He squeezed Dillon's hand.

"Where do you live?" Stan narrowed his eyes.

Phillip twitched. "Ah, I don't have to answer that, on account of my sense of privacy, but I can give you my parent's number if you want to call, and ask for our address from them, sir."

Carla nodded at that, it seemed logical, and she loved how his parents taught him that. She should use that one with Diego.

"What do your parents do?" Stan tacked on. He didn't like Phillip's answer, unlike Carla, and Phillip winced when he realized it. He took a deep breath.

"My dad's a surgeon and my mom is a psychologist…"

"Age." Stan snapped. This boy looked older than Dillon, which made all of Stan's protective instincts rear up.

"I'm 18-" Phillip winced at the look on Stan's face and added, sounding almost guilty, "A-and I-I'll be turning 19 soon…Mr. Pines, sir..." he admitted.

Stan blinked, shocked. "Excuse me? 19?! You know my son is 16?!"

"I just turned 17, Dad!" Dillon complained angrily, but Stan waved it off. "Yes, that!"

Phillip gulped. "Um...I-I know, we-we met at French class and-and that class is for people from 15 to 20…So, so I knew Dillon was somewhere around that...age…" He winced at the growl the man made.

"Are you being funny with me, boy?!"

"N-No! Definitely not, sir! I-I'm sorry…" Phillip bit his lower lip. Dillon held his arm again. "Leave him alone, dad! Can you stop attacking him?! He just answered your question!"

Diego puffed his cheeks, feeling everything was getting awkward and he pulled his granny's hand to go to his room. He was tired of hearing them fighting.

Carla patted Stan's tense muscled arms. "Stanley…" She warned him with an angry look. "Are you working or studying, Phillip?" She asked, hoping she sounded more warm and welcome than her husband-to be.

"I-I'm studying, actually...I-I'm a medical student…" Phillip now feared to say the wrong thing. Dillon intervened. "He also volunteers at a hospital every week to help the kids. He gets really good grades at college and finished 2nd in his class when he was in high school! Phillip a-also plays the guitar!"

"I only had a few lessons…" Phillip winced. "You're not helping yourself here, man." Dillon hissed.

"And what do you want from my son? What are your intentions with my boy?!" Stan asked, secretly a little impressed but refusing to let that sway him.

"I…" Phillip squeezed Dillon's hand. "I really like being with Dillon. I want to be his friend, and more. He's really cute, but more than that, he's patient with me when I fail at French, he listens to me talk about my studies and doesn't tell me to shut up… he's actually pretty good with the kids when he comes with me on my hospital visits…"

Stan narrowed his eyes. "So that's where you have been going these days?" He turned to look at Dillon before looking at Carla. "Can you believe it?! Your son has been going to a hospital instead of working on his homework! He's a bad influence." Stan declared, stubbornly.

"I'll let you know Phillip is VERY intelligent and helps me with my homework!" Dillon argued. Phillip looked down, feeling like this had been a pretty bad start with his (possible, future,) father-in law.

"Mrs. Pines, Mr. Pines, sir, I really like Dillon, I have never felt so happy with someone before. I just want to love him, get to know him even more, and I would never, ever do something to hurt him." Dillon smiled and hugged his arm. Carla smiled softly at how clearly in love they were and Stan simply growled.

"You better not! Because I have this!" He awkwardly searched into his pocket until he finally found his brass knuckles and waved his fist close to the ginger's face. "Tu comprends?" He hissed and Phillip paled a little. "Oui…"

Eventually, after assaulting the teen with more questions, Dillon had enough and called Aaron to take Phillip home. "Sorry about this. See you in class, Philly." Dillon intentionally pulled him in for a goodbye kiss, just to piss off his dad, who was definitely spying on him.

As soon as Phillip disappeared in the elevator, Dillon exploded. "I cant believe what you just did! What the fuck is wrong with you?! Couldn't you at least be nice?!" Dillon was so angry.

"I did say I was going to think about it!" Stan argued and Dillon screamed "AFTER YOU SCARED HIM! And treated him like some criminal!" The boy sniffled. "Why don't you like him?! You said you were ok with me dating!"

Stan sighed. "I'm sorry, ok! I just can't help it! I can't help but feel overprotective with you!"

"You just wish I wasn't dating a boy…Well, I'm sorry I'm SUCH a disappointment and I'm not a straight flirty sportsmen like you!" Dillon stormed to his room (now that his boyfriend was gone, he saw no point in staying with his family) and slammed the door shut, holding back tears.

Stan ran a hand through his hair and groaned. Carla shook her head and went to look for Diego. It was too late for him to be awake anyway…She would leave the both of them to cool down.

Stan needed to get some space, some distance to calm down. So he accompanied his Ma to her house, accepted her kiss, rolled his eyes at her, "Be nice to my grandbabies." and hung out for a little while before he was cooled enough to go back home.

Stan found Carla bathing Diego (he had been in the pool with Dillon and that Boy) so he went to their room and replied to some work emails until she finished her task of getting Diego ready for bed. Stan put on his reading glasses and leaned back as he worked.

"Stan~ Can you prepare Diego's milk?" Carla called from the bathroom so she could put their toddler to sleep faster, but Stan groaned. "Working, sweetie! Can't you do it, please?" he called down the hallway. Carla huffed in annoyance that Stan never helped with Diego when she was there. He was too grossed out by the diapers to change him when he was younger, and he was awful at preparing formula during the few times he actually bothered to help with that.

(Stanley was a very loving dad, but a very useless one as well. For some obvious reasons.)

He was still on the bed when Diego, bathed and wearing Pj's, came to say goodnight, and after Carla came back from tucking him in. She shook her head but didn't say anything. They talked about the places they went to see for the wedding planning, Carla really liked that salon with the yard, but Stan seemed distracted.

"I'm sorry, does our wedding bother you?" She put her hands on her hips and gave her fiance a narrow stare. Stan put down his glasses to rub his eyes. "I'm thinking about that boy ok? I don't like him...He's too old for Dillon."

"You're going to start with that? After upsetting Dillon with your stupidity." Carla managed to hold back from snapping at him. Stan huffed, shuffling deeper into his sheets. "Look, him being a boy is one thing, but he's like 19! That's almost 20! And Dillon is only 16!"

"He's 17, Stan." Carla deadpanned. Stan grumbled. "That's not the point." he folded his arms. "That boy is still too old for him."

"It's only two years, and I will be making sure the two don't do anything you and I did all the time at their age." Carla continued to deadpan. "And Phillip is turning 19. He's still only 18. Which is only one year of difference. Two at most with the birthdays being on different months." she rolled her eyes. "I agree that Phillip IS older. But as long as nothing happens between them until Dillon is 18, I don't see the problem." they were friends first and partners second, Carla could understand that, why couldn't Stan?

She also thought it was quite hypocritical of Stan to be forbidding Dillon from having sex at 16, considering Stan himself lost his virginity at a much younger age. Carla flushed a little just thinking about it. "It's double standards. If Dillon were dating an older girl, you wouldn't be so upset about it." she pointed out.

"It's different if it's a girl!" Stan protested.

"How? Because if Dillon were dating a girl we would have to worry about accidental pregnancies? And that's better than being with a boy?" Carla asked sarcastically. Stan huffed, "That's not what I-"

"Bullshit, Stan. You're just angry that Dillon's dating a boy." Carla nearly spat at him. "And I won't stand for it." she poked his chest. "Our big boy's in love. And I will not have you ruin this for him." she told him. "If Phillip does end up hurting Dillon, at least it'll be when Dillon is still living with us, so he'd be able to come to us about it. He wouldn't have to hurt all alone. But if you push him away like this, Dillon WON'T come to us about his problems anymore. And. I. Will. Not. Allow. That. To. Happen." She jabbed Stan's stomach with each word. "Do you understand me, Stanley Pines?"

Stan winced at each poke. "I'm not trying to-" he yelped when Carla poked his belly button (hey, it was sensitive okay?!) "I just don't want that older boy taking advantage of Dillon, okay?" He shivered. "I don't trust him."

"You only JUST met him." Carla rolled around on the bed and laid down further away from Stan, which made him wince. She was really mad this time.

"Babe…" "Good night." Stan groaned loudly and tried to wiggle closer to her. "Babe...please?" He tried grabbing her waist but she smacked his hands away. "Don't touch me. I'm angry with you!"

"...Carla? Come on, girl...I'm going to be sad all night."

"Good. Maybe you'll feel what your son is probably feeling." She curled up.

Stan fell asleep sad that night.

He searched for advice with his trusted triplet, who had known Stan's own son longer than he did. "You're being irrational man, the hell." Seb laughed after hearing Stan's complaining.

"But that boy-"

"Dillon loves him, Fez. Duh! You can't choose who you fall in love with, and listen to who is TELLING YOU THAT!" A former demon who used to love no one but himself. "He's just gay. Big deal. You know I like men too."

"But it's...different."

"You can't see me right now but I'm rolling my eye so much I think it's stuc-Ow! Ow! Its stuck!" Stan rolled his own eyes this time when Seb screamed. What an idiot.

"Ok, it's back to normal. As I was saying, that's bullshit. You feel it's different because you humans are weird and conditioned to think certain stuff, but you can unlearn that crap and see it as normal...Because Dillon's a great boy, I've known him since he was a baby, and he's gone through so much already and he deserves to be happy...He deserves a dad that is happy about who he is. And Dillon loves you too. Don't break that for him."

Stan sighed. "I want to be a good dad. I just don't know what to do."

The youngest triplet sighed. "I know you want to, I want to, and my kids are still learning to go to the bathroom on their own! Everyone-no, most people want to be good." Seb corrected himself and hummed. "Well, Linda used to tell me that apologizing helped. Have you apologized? To Dillon? To Phillip?" Seb pointed out. Stan groaned. Seb buried his face in his hands. "Stanley you fucking idiot! Go apologize to you son right now! Fuck!"

Stan felt so called out...So he switched brothers. This time, he called Shermie. That kid had kids when he was just a kid but he somehow managed to raise his adorable niblings, so he guessed Shermie did something right along the way.

Shermie wasn't dumb. When Stan said "Hey kid, so, what would you do if Dipper was gay?" he knew something was going on. He had a very good theory but decided to play along.

"Well...being gay is nothing wrong...I have a lot of gay friends!" Shermie shrugged. "And more than that, why should it matter? Dipper is his own person. He can do what he wants. Within reason."

"But...but if he was dating an OLDER guy? Wouldn't you be afraid that he only wants to take advantage of him?"

"To be honest, I feel that way with Mabel's boyfriends, but I can't really do much about it, man." Shermie shrugged. "I guess...I just gotta trust Mabel, she's old enough to choose who she wants to date...but well...she's also my baby, you know? I don't want her to get hurt and do grown up things that could end up making me a grandpa before I'm ready... With Mason it's different! He's a boy, you know? I mean, he should grow up already, you get what I mean?" He chuckled.

Stan hummed a bit, remembering Carla's words reflected in Shermie's words. Maybe he WAS treating Dillon like a girl...He was still a boy after all...And, well, dating a boy didn't take away the fact that he could still be masculine and a real man!

"Thanks, Shermie. Ya helped me more than Seb did."

(Because Seb was more liberal and made Stan feel called out and attacked while seeing himself in Shermie's own thoughts was easier for him to reconsider a few things)

"Of course I did! I'm more amazing and cooler than him!" Shermie bragged. "...Don't tell him I said that, he's going to smack me…" The youngest brother pleaded. Stan cackled.

So, with that thought in mind, Stan decided he would take Dillon out for a men's only night. Diego wasn't included because he was a toddler. His summer was ending anyway and they haven't done many father-son shit. So he took Dillon out to play basketball. That seemed like a very dad-son thing to do.

A few days after the fight, Dillon found himself very surprised that his DAD, Stanley freaking Pines, was apologizing to him. "I was a jerk…" He said with a sad expression. "I… don't know how to feel about… things." Stan wavered. "But I made you feel bad, and I hurt you. And I don't want to do that. I never want to hurt you. So I'm sorry."

Dillon smiled a bit and threw him the ball, which caught Stan off guard while he was distracted and hit him in the stomach. They were having a one-one basketball game. "It's ok Dad...I-I mean...It really hurt 'cause it looked like you were gonna kill my boyfriend-" Stan winced. "And...I didn't like how you were so unhappy to meet him...But you know? I get it...You, old people grew up in different times and many don't understand...I know you're trying to understand and I appreciate that a lot, because...you still love me, right…?"

"Of course I love you!" Stan cried immediately.

"-And I know you just want what's best for me, even if you don't understand what that is yet." Dillon rubbed his sweaty neck. Ugh. Damn dad's genes. He hated sweating.

Stan frowned. He stepped back from Dillon, as if he was walking away, but he stopped and before Dillon could think about what he was going to do, he threw the ball from the three-points line. And scored clean. "Who're you callin' old anyway? Can an old man do that!?" He complained and Dillon burst out laughing.

"Well, old man, we'll see if you still have it!" Dillon pulled off his sweaty shirt and threw it away. Stan smirked taking that as a challenge, and did the same, showing off his extremely hairy and sweaty chest. "Oh, you'll regret that, boy!"

The two played together, throwing the ball around and punching each other, all while laughing. Dillon was so happy his dad apologized; it was a start. Dillon was hoping dad would be able to accept all of him with time...

-.-

Seb finished clearing the toddlers' faces after lunch, helped them brush their little pointy teeth, and just then set them free to go play (or nap, whatever happened first). Wanda was working on a paper so he didn't want to bother her by asking her to help, but right now, he wanted cuddles.

The blonde laughed as Seb curled up like a cat, basically on her lap. "Twins are clean now." He informed her and hummed happily as his hair was stroked. "What would I do without you~?" Wanda grinned as she finger combed his soft hair.

"I love the twins, you know? A lot." He said seriously and Wanda nodded absentmindedly. "I love them too…You're a very good dad to them." For a former demon chaos god, Seb had a lot of love to give to his family.

"What do you think about trying to have another kid?" He asked, half curious, half serious, but Wanda jerked away from him as if he burnt her. He even checked if his fire hadn't somehow snuck out. Wanda shivered a little, unable to help the flash of fear at the memory of that horrible burning inside her. "N-nah, we already have two. We don't…"

"Wanda?" Seb was worried now, getting up and growing scared at the way she was trembling. "Wanda? Are you okay?" He was starting to get panicked himself. "I-if you don't want another kid, that's fine too. I mean, Shermie's only got two and he's fine with that. An-and…"

"No. It's…" Wanda hugged herself. "It's not like I don't want more kids. But I can't… can't go through that again. It was terrifying. I thought I was going to die. I thought the twins were going to-" she winced. "If we have more kids, there's a chance they'd get your powers too. And I just… can't do that. Not again. Never again…" She whispered that last part and absently touched the faint scar on her belly. Sebastian winced at this. "I'm sorry." He said quickly. Wanda shook her head. "No, it's not your-"

"It IS my fault though!" Seb leaned his head against her shoulder. "I'm sorry. Forget I said anything. I shouldn't- you shouldn't have to go through that again. Shit… it must have been so scary…" It'd certainly been scary for him, and he wasn't the one burning from the inside out.

Wanda winced. "It's NOT your fault. Don't ever say that. It's neither of our faults. Sometimes… things just… happen." She kissed his forehead. "And, I'm still glad I had the twins. I've never realized I wanted kids before. And now that I have them, I wouldn't trade them for anything." She felt Seb smile against her and lean up to kiss her back. "Alright. So, no more kids then?" he asked quietly.

Wanda considered it. "Well, no more pregnancies… but… you know… adoption is always a thing." She pointed out. Seb blinked. "Adoption? But…" it wouldn't be his kid… but… Seb paused. "That…" a child not by blood, but who would still be family…

And, Seb felt his eye begin to tear up as he remembered someone that he'd always wanted to have as his family. Someone he'd wished could have… maybe… adopted him…

Matsuda. His father in all the ways that really mattered.

"I-I get it...We could love a kid as we love the twins…" He rubbed his eye to get rid of the tears. Someone who was hurting, who lost their family...or take care of them because their actual parents couldn't...

Wanda smiled as she got more into this idea. "You know, I… maybe when the twins are older… I… wouldn't mind getting another kid. Though adoption is a huge thing, we would have to get to know the kid, can't just pick and choose some random kid after all." She tried to joke, but her heart fluttered at the idea of having another child. A brother or sister for the twins. That… would be nice. They would need a bigger house though.

Her smile decreased when Seb failed to get rid of his tears. "Baby? Why are you crying now? Please don't cry…" She pulled him for a hug, and because those words always worked on distressed people, the man just sobbed harder.

"My-My...He-He loved me and-and I was so ungrateful and-and-!" Seb angrily rubbed his nose. "Matsuda…He-He...I'm sorry…"

"Who's Matsuda?" She asked softly and Seb clenched his eyes tighter, realizing he hasn't talked about him till now. "He-He was like a dad to me...and-and he called me son...and-and he wasn't disgusted by me calling him Dad!...He-He actually loved me...he treated me so nice, he gave me food, he taught me how to-to sew...And I still don't deserve him...I haven't visited him...in ages…" Seb sighed defeatedly.

Wanda rubbed his shoulder comfortingly. "Would you like to visit him?" She wasn't sure if Seb had told her about this important man in his life. Maybe he did, when they were teens? But she either doesn't remember it or she didn't listen enough. She was dumb when she was a kid, but she was a woman now, and she cared too much about her soon to be husband.

Seb nodded and sniffled. "It's been decades since I visited his grave…"

"Oh." Wanda sighed. She hugged Seb to herself. "Do you wanna take some time to go and visit him?"

"...yeah."

"I'll book a flight." Wanda had a few cases she'd been wanting to tackle, but she could hand them off to a coworker. This was more important.

-.-

"Awe we visitin' Uncle Fez?" Zully munched the donut daddy bought them as Mommy carried them across the airport.

"No." Wanda said. "Then Uncle Sixeh?" Zully asked next.

"No, sweetie, were going to New Jersey, not New York or Oregon, and we're visiting someone else." Wanda rubbed their hair and Zully yawned before snuggling, donut finished. It was late, they were tired. Zoe had fallen asleep after asking to hug a pilot walking by the departure gate.

It was so adorable Wanda had taken a photo.

They boarded the plane, adjusted the twins in the seats next to them (they had to buy them their own seats now) and a few hours later, around 8pm, they arrived at Seb's hometown.

The twins woke up just in time when the plane landed and started sobbing when their little ears popped. Zoe liked planes, but she didn't like to get ouchies from planes! Seb and Wanda carried their sobbing babies, and most people were actually kind enough to send pitying looks. They were small after all, and they didn't understand why their ears pop.

The little twins quickly forgot about it though, especially when they had a chicken sandwich with fries for dinner in the hotel. They settled in their hotel room, which had a queen sized bed and a smaller bed they were supposed to share. Zoe was excited for this unusual trip and was jumping up and down on the bed as Zully tried to sleep.

"Zoe…" Wanda warned her. The toddler stopped jumping and quickly got under the covers. She hugged her sister tightly and squeezed them. "Ooww!" Zully whined loudly.

"Zoe!" Seb warned this time. "No bothering your twin. It's late." He went over to separate them and tucked them in, cursing the hotel staff for saying they couldn't bring 2 small beds!

As Seb and Wanda were taking off their clothes to get in bed, Zully started complaining again. "OW! Daddy! Zoe's kicking me!" "Not twue!" The girl complained and continued kicking her twin. "DADDY!" Zully shrieked and turned their head to bite Zoe's arm, which made Zoe scream.

"Quit it or I'll tear your leg off, Zoe!" Seb growled, knowing she started it. Zoe huffed, she didn't want to lose a leg, and settled down. The parents let out a relieved sigh when they heard the twins had finally fallen asleep.

"Oof. Finally." Wanda sighed and snuggled closer to her pillow, who was Seb. He sighed as well, but for a different reason. "Why have I been pushing this back for so long?" He whispered. "I haven't thought of him until yesterday and...he was one of the few people who cared for me, you know? I feel...bad!" He hissed. Damn incomprensible emotions. It made him feel guilty, horrible, ungrateful, and so sad! He wouldn't care if it was another person…

But Matsuda was his dad…

Wanda kissed his neck gently. "I'm sure he'd understand ...You were a child, you were scared, and you had no one before...You needed help. And you had to bring your brothers back."

"But I should have go, I was so selfish…" Just...like when he didn't visit him because of his stupid project...and because he wasn't there, Matsuda died alone, Seb never knew he was sick because he only thought about himself. He'd never been able to forgive himself for that… for leaving Matsuda all alone in his final days…

Wanda winced when she heard Seb started sobbing again. "Here. Cry here." She wasn't going to be able to stop him, he clearly had some feelings he needed to work out. So Wanda pulled Seb under the covers and buried his face in her chest to muffle his crying. Didn't want the twins waking up again. She stroked his hair and let him wear himself down and fall asleep. She stared at the ceiling and wished there was something more she could do for him. But all she could do at this point was be there for him. This was something Seb was going to need time.

They woke up early. The twins were still half asleep as their parents carried them around town. Wanda said they needed flowers. Seb worried that he wouldn't be able to find Matsuda's grave. The twins still weren't sure what was going on. Wanda didn't know how to explain this to them. Nor did she really want to. They were only three years old. They weren't ready to learn about death.

"I want to choose!" Zoe made grabby hands towards the flowers. Seb nodded and allowed her to pick the colors. He was taking a lot of them anyway. Zully didn't pick because the child didn't care about flowers.

Once there, it took 2 workers and a call to the administration to find the tombstone. "Oh yeah, not really one of our oldest tombs, I was wondering when the guy was getting a visitor."

Seb deadpanned at him. "Thank you." He said as he lowered Zully and put them on their feet. The kids looked around. This was so pretty! It had flowers and balloons and trees and bushes! Was this a park?! Before Wanda could stop them, the excited twins ran away.

Seb wasn't paying attention to them,though. The passive aggressive guy was right. The tombstone was only decent because it was required, but it was still dirty and no flowers...Had been for decades…

Seb knelt on the grass and bowed in silence, head on the ground, ashamed to be here so late. Wanda knelt next to him and lowered her head in respect. Silently, Seb grabbed the big bottle of water they brought and he started cleaning the tombstone with his hand and sleeve until he could clearly read Matsuda's name.

He put the flowers in the space and sighed. "Matsuda…"

"Zoe, what the-STOP!" Wanda cried embarrassed as she saw Zoe jumping over different tombstones, and Zully was pulling other tombstones' flowers. "That's disrespectful!" She cried as she gathered up her children and carried them back over to where Seb was kneeling. Zully blinked. "What's dis-wespech-full?"

"It means you're being mean to the other people who are here." Wanda explained. "Those other graves belong to other people, other families. You can't take their flowers or jump on them." The twins nodded, not really getting it, but not wanting to be in trouble.

"What's a gwave?" Zoe asked. All she saw were tall flat rocks. "A grave is where the dead are buried. It's a place where the dead person's family or friends can go to visit them and mourn or remember them."

She sat them down, but Zoe stood up and threw herself on daddy's back. "And what's dead?"

Wanda wasn't sure how to explain, but Seb looked up at Zoe and simply said "It means you're gone, forever. When someone dies we can't see them anymore."

Zoe didn't like this, and Zully was already pouting. "Gone fowevah? How long is fowevah? 4 years?"

"No. Forever. We come here to remember them and talk to them, because humans mourn for their dead, but we can't actually...talk to them…" Seb looked down. "My father Matsuda, your grandpa, died a long time ago… I miss him."

The twins gasped, feeling how sad Daddy was feeling, and hugged him tight to get rid of the nasty sensation. "So, you'we mowning your dad?" Zoe asked, trying to understand. She guessed mowning was like talking to dead?

Seb smiled them back. "Yeah...We're here to remember my dad, who isn't here with us, but...I'm sure he would have loved to meet you two…" He pocket their noses and they giggled.

"So, he's also a grandpa? Like grandpa Elijah?" Zoe asked with a gasp. 2 grandpas! You could have more than one?! This blew her little mind.

Seb felt a clenching sensation in his chest. Grandpa...He never got to meet the twins...He would've been such a spoiling grandpa… "Yes, he's also your grandpa."

"So, if he is not hewe, he's living down there?" Zully asked, still confused and not understanding such a concept. Wanda ran a hand through their hair. "No, baby. He's not actually there, we just come here to remember him, but we can't actually see him anymore."

"Buh why not? Whewe's he then?" The oldest twin asked, lip wobbling. Wanda sighed. "He's in heaven, we can't go there but we can talk and he will listen to us, because he's hearing and watching us from there."

Zully nodded slowly, understanding a little better. They were still upset they'd never see their grandpa though…

"What's granpa's name?" Zully asked, feeling a little uneasy at the idea of someone going away… and how you couldn't see them again… weren't allowed to see them again… it made their chest hurt and they didn't understand why. Zoe asked too. "There's Grandpa Elijah, and grandpa…" she looked down at the rock that daddy was kneeling in front of.

"What do that say?" She asked. Seb smiled as he wiped his eye. "Seiya Matsuda. So… grandpa Seiya."

Zoe sat on daddy's legs. "Hi, grandpa, Sei-Sei-ya. I'm Zoe, I'm twee!" She proudly showed 3 fingers. Wanda smiled a bit. "I have powews!" She shared. "And I take cawe of daddy becus you awent hewe. But that's ok. "I want to meet you, but mommy say I can't, but that's ok too because I know you were a good daddy to daddy, because he's the bestest daddy in the wowld! Even if he's weiwd."

Seb rolled his eye but smiled anyway.

Zully nodded. "I'm Zully, I'm twee too!" They introduced themselves. "I-I would have liked to hug you, like I hug my other granpa, but I'll send a mind hug!" Zully hugged themselves, which made Wanda coo a bit.

"Yeah...um, sorry for not coming sooner, Matsuda…" Seb said softly as he hugged the twins when they snuggled closer to him. "I...I was so scared before and...I felt so sad and guilty...But I got the help I needed you know? About time…" He chuckled softly. "I-I'm doing fine now...Thanks for everything you taught me…I-I studied and opened up a store that-that is doing really well…" He smiled tearfully. "I-I wish you could see it...You'd roll your eyes at my stitches though, even after all these years, you'd still say the technique I invented is silly…" He laughed a bit, and wiped a tear.

"I-I'm getting married too...with the greatest human on earth-" Wanda blushed a bit. "I-I wish you could be here…"

The twins got bored of sitting down and Seb asked Wanda to take them for a walk so he could have a moment alone. When his family was gone, he looked back at the grave and he could finally start sobbing freely.

"I wish you were my real dad, Matsuda...but, you're the best dad I've had in both of my lives. And you were the only dad that mattered. Thank you."

-.-

Despite how it hurt, Seb felt much better after visiting Matsuda. He would come more times, he promised. They eventually left, emotionally drained out but with a weight lifted off his shoulders.

It was so weird being in New Jersey again, he hadn't stepped a foot in town since he was 17. It definitely changed, it was more modern and most of the buildings were new. Of course there were parts still trapped in the 70s and the family was walking through those parts. Seb had wanted to see Matsuda's old house, and the family who was now living there was kind enough to invite him over with a smile. "Oh, it's lovely to meet the family who lived here!" The woman said, giving more cookies to the twins.

Then, the twins claimed they were hungry and mere cookies wouldn't be enough for those ravenous little gremlins, so they walked away to find some local place to eat. However, either by pure muscle memory, or his unconsciousness messing with Seb, he walked straight for around a mile, turned right, straight, left…

Lead Paint District.

Zoe, who was looking at everything around her with the excitement of any toddler, suddenly noticed a pretty store with many, many toys! "Mommy! Mommy! Look! A guitah!" She pulled at Wanda's hand with all her might, and because Wanda was unable to control a toddler with that amount of strength, Zoe laughed and ran into the store, managing to drag her twin along the way.

Seb froze in the entrance when Wanda groaned and went after the twins, not knowing any better. "Zoe!" Seb looked up at Pines Pawn and felt himself trembling a little. He was standing just where Filbrick threw him out years ago. He looked up at the building. It looked old, of course that old stingy bastard wouldn't spend money on fixing it. The psychic sign on the window was also taken out…He wondered if Filbrick suffered when mom left him. Seb hoped he did, but he doubted it, that human was like a rock.

Seb also found himself unable to get any closer. He stood there, trembling at the doorstep. He took a step back, then another, and found himself ducking out of the view of the front windows. He couldn't go in there. He… just… couldn't. He trembled. Wanda and the twins were in there- his hands shook but he still couldn't get any closer to the door. He was worried that Filbrick might… might hurt his family… but apparently he was still a coward, still unable to actually confront his birth father.

"Hot belgian waffles…" He mumbled. He looked to his left, and to his surprise, the old waffles store was still there. Huh! He could use a snack. He sent one last shaky look at the pawn shop and quickly made his way to the restaurant. Wanda was going to be fine, and the twins too. She didn't know that man was Filbrick, she had never seen him, and Filbrick didn't know her. It was going to be fine. Filbrick was always nice to customers...

Wanda entered the pawn shop, the little bell ringing as she pushed the door open and caught the twins' hands before they could break something.

Because they were Seb's kids. Disaster was part of them.

"You can't run off from us like that, don't do that!" She scolded the twins as she shook them a little by their arms. "But...I saw a guitah, and I want a guitah…You said I could leawn…" Zoe looked down to the floor, kicked puppy eyes and sad look on her face.

"Well, now I'm doubting it." Wanda shook her head and looked up at the owner, who was sitting behind the counter looking at them. She couldn't tell if it was with anger or curiosity, he was wearing dark glasses inside the store. Huh. Weird. "I'm sorry for that, sir...You know how kids are." She tried to joke. The man merely nodded. "Yes, children are a handful at times." he didn't move much, sitting tall and formal. "Feel free to look around, but if they break anything, you'll have to buy it." He tilted his head slightly to look at Zoe. "So she wants a guitar? We have a few, quite old but well maintained. I keep up their quality with constant cleaning and tuning."

"Oh, that's amazing, sir." Wanda said politely. "I think we can look for a bit, but she's just three, I don't think she could learn with regulars guitars, aren't they too big for her?"

The man shrugged in a polite form. "I'm no expert. It's up to you, I can only help you choose the best." He explained and Wanda nodded. Alright, seemed fair. She held on the twins' hands as tight as she could, because she seriously didn't want to pay for something they broke. There were creepy old dolls (Zoe wanted those), the guitars in exhibition (Zoe also wanted those), old fashioned car and train toys and antique teacup sets (Zoe and Zully wanted those). They just wanted everything.

"You aren't from here." The old man spoke up from the counter once again, voice deep and professional. Wanda shook her head. "No, we're from Pennsylvania, we came for my~ husband, he had some issues to solve here, he's…" Where was Seb anyway? "I think he stayed outside." she was a little confused about that, but didn't think much of it. "We were actually looking for food when the kids wanted to come in."

"Ah. Well then, your husband is most likely getting some waffles from next door. They have very delicious freshly made ones."

"WAFFLES!" Zoe screamed. She loved waffles! The old man twitched a little at the loud sound. Wanda winced and shushed Zoe. "No screaming while indoors, it's rude to everyone else." She told her.

"Mommy, can I get a twain?!" Zully pulled at her hand as Zoe whined for waffles now. She wanted a guitar, but she remembered she was very hungry too! Wanda seemed like she was going to explode. She usually didn't deal with the kids alone. Seb was always with her, he knew how to handle them. "Sweetie, do you want to get food first, or look around the store first?" She asked Zoe. The girl couldn't make up her mind and just whined, pulling on Wanda's hand. Zully for their part, patiently waited for Zoe to finish so they could ask mommy about the car toy they wanted. It was so cool. Trains were cool. Things with 'wheels' were cool. They made things go fast! They were circles that could be used together with a bunch of squares to make something new!

Zoe whined harder. Wanda sighed. "Okay, you know what? We're going to get food first." She tugged the twins gently back towards the door. "Sorry sir, but she's going to be fussy unless I get some food for her."

The old man nodded. "Understandable, though you should discipline them better."

Wanda twitched. "I'll… keep that in mind." She didn't really like his tone, even though he wasn't being outright rude or confrontational. She quickly took the kids and left.

As the man guessed, Seb was next door, stuffing his mouth with waffles and ice cream. He was also pouting for being left alone. The people working in the store didn't seem to recognize him as their neighbor's kid (the one who was always screaming in pain), so he wasn't bothered.

Wanda noticed Seb also had other waffles with ice cream and even some chicken and waffle sandwiches. "I see you got lunch for all of us." Wanda made her way over. The twins were cheering at the food.

"I wanted to be selfish and just order for me, but well, I don't leave my men behind." He narrowed his eye and Wanda sighed. "We're sorry, we took more time than expected, but we're here now~!" She sat the twins down and kissed Seb's wrinkled nose. "The twins liked some things next door."

"Uh huh…" Seb said absentmindedly as the twins stuffed their mouths with food.

"Maybe we could buy them something? As a souvenir from New Jersey?" She suggested.

"Yeah, sure, if they want." Seb said non-committedly. Wanda sighed. "What's wrong, baby? Are you still feeling down?" She rubbed Seb's hand. Her fiance sighed. "It's just… that…" He grimaced. "I can't go in there. I can't… face him."

Wanda wasn't stupid, she only took a few seconds to put together what was going on here. "T-that man is your-" Seb shushed her. "He- don't talk about him. I don't… I don't, can't deal with this right now."

Wanda frowned a bit, and whispered. "W-Why didn't you tell me? We could have taken the kids somewhere else, I didn't know…" Seb sighed. "I know you didn't, that's why I didn't bother, and it's not fair that we have to stop the kids from looking around just because of me." He took more ice cream to his mouth and Wanda pursed her lips in thought. "I'm sorry…" She finally said. She didn't mean to make Seb feel upset. The man smiled and rubbed her hand. "Hey. It's ok. We finish eating, I wait here, you go buy the twins their toys-"(the twins were babbling about their toys as they ate) "-as much as he was an asshole, he takes his business very seriously, and I know they'll be in great condition, and then we go to the hotel, deal? But don't tell him about me. Please." Sebastian looked at her seriously.

Wanda worried about how her face looked when she came back with the twins. Their kids didn't know any better, and she was trying to remain as calm as possible, ("This is like a case, a court, keep with the diplomacy, be professional.") she kept repeating to herself, but this man tortured her boyfriend throughout his entire childhood…

And he had the balls to tell her how to deal with her children?!

He should be in prison!

"Oh, you came back. Are you going to get anything now?" The old man, that Wanda now knew to be Filbrick Pines, asked. Wanda gave him a polite smile and nodded, even as she held her children's hands close to herself.

"Yeah! We want our twain!" Zoe answered the question of the old man, because that was a polite thing to do. "And teacups, becuz is fun to pway!" She explained. Wanda tried hard to stay calm.

"We want that one!" Zully pointed up to a shelf with a free hand. "It's blue and bwown! I love blue!"

Filbrick nodded politely and stood up to get the stuff for the customers. When he walked closer to the three, Wanda moved out of the way, pulling the twins a bit too hard. Zoe stumbled but luckily didn't fall. "Do be careful." Filbrick grunted. "Wouldn't want to break anything." Wanda nodded, wishing she wasn't so nervous.

"So… why you gots so much stuff?" Zoe asked, ever curious and uncaring of holding back that curiosity. Filbrick 'hmph'ed and responded "It's my job."

"And why you weah glasses? Thewe's no sun! You weah them ALLLL the time?" Zully asked. It was something that had bothered them since they entered the store.

"Zully~ don't bother him with silly questions…" Wanda warned and Zoe spoke up, not caring a single bit. "Maybe you wanna hide them? Like daddy, he hides his eye with an eye pash!" Filbrick looked back at the three of them and Wanda felt her blood run cold. "He-he-he los-um-hurt his eye just a bit ago, and he needed...needed to cover it to-to heal it…" She quickly explained, feeling nervous and clumsy with her words, something that never happened to her. Filbrick turned back to the shelf and Wanda relaxed. Whew. Safe.

Filbrick pulled down the trains and held it out to Wanda. "Be careful with it. Unless you're going to buy it."

"Ye-Yes, we will, um, let's just pay…" Wanda stared at the box and then at the twins. Like hell she was letting them go inside the enemy's place. "Can you please take it to the counter? I don't really want to let go of the twins…" Filbrick rolled his eyes behind his glasses, not that Wanda knew, but he agreed and took it to the counter.

Wanda's efforts were useless though, because the toddlers let go when she pulled out her wallet, and they walked around to look at more things. "Be careful." Filbrick warned them sternly. Zoe giggled and sat down on the floor next to her mommy, close to the counter. She saw some markings, as if it was carved. "Look, mommy, what do it say?!"

Wanda handed the money to Filbrick, shakily, and then bent over to look at it. It said 'STAN' with the N backwards… Oh… "Don't touch it sweetie, you might get splinters." Wanda warned, hoping the twins didn't cause any trouble. She just wanted to leave. Zully was looking at the glass cases. It almost looked like this one broke and got repaired badly. Zully remembered daddy telling them to never touch broken glass, so Zully, like a good child, didn't touch it. "It broke!" They still said aloud, though, because that was what toddlers did.

"A long time ago…" Filbrick finally gave Wanda her change back. He sighed. "My sons...they had been messing around here when they were children."

"Oh~ You have sons?" Zoe asked. "Whatwe dere names? How many sons you have? My uncwles all togetewer got...one...two..." As the toddler counted, Wanda smiled nervously, grabbed the bag, then the twins and pulled them to the door. "Thank you. I hope your sons are doing fine." She said before getting out of the store. She could finally breathe when she was outside.

"Mommy?" Zully looked up at her. Wanda sighed. "Sorry baby, I just didn't really… want to talk to that man very much."

"Why?" Zoe piped up. Wanda wasn't sure how to explain it. "He makes your daddy unhappy. And that makes me unhappy." she finally said. The twins didn't understand, but they saw daddy waiting for them and ran over to hug his legs. If daddy was unhappy, then it was their job to hug him until it gets better!

"Ah hah! There you are! Did you get your toys?" He picked them up and the four of them started walking away, leaving the Pines Pawn very far from them. "Yeah! Wan' see?" Zully offered but Seb shook his head. "Once we're in the hotel, ok? We can all play there." The little twins cheered, not really knowing they had visited both their grandfathers that day.

---

We're delaying the wedding because we want you to suffer and create suspense haha

BUT MY GAY BABIES ARE SO HAPPY TOGETHER!

Please comment! We love hearing what you think!