Day 20:

Another morning of throwing up and being cooped up in the house! True, she felt a little better now that she knew why she was sick, well, better-ish. Actually, not, that was false, because now her boobs were starting to hurt. Lucky her! At least she wasn't scared there was something seriously wrong with her anymore. She was just scared of being a mother! Four days since the discovery and she still hadn't quite wrapped her mind around it. She wasn't sure Dipper had either. They hadn't really talked about it much, or anything. They just kind of walked around in a daze, going through the motions.

Even Stan and Ford had notice something was up. They had started giving them strange glances and mutter to eachother when they thought the young couple had their backs turned. Pacifica knew they would have to tell at some point, but she still was having a hard time grasping it herself.

As she sat on her's and Dipper's bed, running a hand over her belly, trying to understand how there could be a whole other person growing inside there, she began thinking towards the near future.

She was going to be a mom.

She was going to be a MOM!

She was going to have to be a provider, nurturer, caregiver, comforter, teacher, protector, encourager, guide, and, well, a MOTHER to a tiny, helpless being that was going to be half her and half Dipper. How was she supposed to handle that!?

Well lying here and thinking about it for the fourth day in a row wasn't going to make much progress. She picked up one of the spare notebooks Dipper had in his nightstand (he always bought at least two too many notebooks each semester), opened her phone and googled "how to be a good mother."

She clicked on the first article to pop up "How to be a Great Mom:"

Step One: Ignore the experts

"Well, that doesn't make much sense," Pacifica muttered. "Aren't experts supposed to help me? How can they help me if I ignore them?"

Step Two: Ignore the Online Critics (Yes, you will have them)

"Wait, what?" Pacifica screeched. There were going to be people on facebook, her facebook and twitter and instagram pointing out every little things she was doing wrong? Great!

Step Three: Go with your Gut

Okay, that was a little better…

Step Four: You will mess up, just learn from your mistakes and move on

Oh, great! She was just doomed for failure wasn't she!

This article wasn't helping, time to move on to another one. This one looked good, the importance on excercise during pregnancy. There were a lot of tips and strategies for staying in shape during the next eight and a half months she could use. Okay, well, at least the baby weight wouldn't be as bad. That was one plu-

Ten reasons why you should never hit the gym while pregnant. Wait a minute, the last article just….

"You must gain atleast 50 pounds while pregnant!" Pacifica all but shrieked as she read.

"...otherwise you increase the risk of your baby being born premature, underweight, and experienceing health and mental problmes later in life. Such complications include but are not limited to: asthma, diabetes, autism, learning disabilities, and...AUGH!"

Pacifica rushed into the bathroom and jumped onto the scale.

"I'VE LOST WEIGHT? HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE? Oh my gosh, my baby is going to be all screwed up!"

Losing weight in the First Trimester is Normal.

Losing weight may be a Sign of Miscarriage.

You must Gain 60-

No 25-

No 48 pounds during pregnancy.

"GRRRR! Which is it! Am I already screwing this kid up for life or not!" Pacifica yelled at her phone as she flipped through the various articles on weight until she stumbled upon a new topic: Feeding the baby.

"Though Breast Feeding is ideal, bottle feeding can be a viable option for you and your baby if you have trouble producing milk-"

"Some women have problems producing milk?" Pacifica wondered outloud before looking down at her aching chest. "As much of a pain as you girls have ben this past week you better work! Eh, what else does google say about-oh, great! Baby formula is poisonous. So why are they selling it if it's so bad, huh? Can't be that...well how am I supposed to tell hard water from...not hard water? Soft water, maybe? Is there such a thing as soft water? What does this even mean. Water is wet! How can it be hard, unless it's ice. And who would give a baby ice?"

10 Reasons why You'll never lose the Baby Weight!

"But I've already lost it-oh, not this again! Should I be worried or not!?"

Sex will never be the Same

"Not even going there."

Why you and Your Partner may have Problems after Baby

"Wait what?" Pacifica clicked on the article. "If the first point is about how sex is going to change, imma-"

Reason One: Sex will not be as frequent.

"Yeah, mm-hmm. Brilliant. Great. Fantastic!" Pacifica frowned as she continued to scroll through.

Reason Two: You will no longer be the most important people in eachothers lives.

"Huh. Well I guess, but, is that a bad thing? I mean, just because we have a baby we love doesn't mean we no longer love eachother. The spark will still be-"

Reason Three: The spark may die due to exhaustion

"Oh, come on! You know what, I'm done with you."

Baby Blankets are a must.

Blankets will kill your baby.

Lay your baby to bed on theis stomach.

Back.

Side.

With one arm above their head.

"Which is it!?"

Co-Sleeping promotes a healthy connection.

Co-Sleeping can cause SIDS.

Skin-to-Skin is a must.

Skin-to-Skin can cause overheating.

"IS THERE NOTHING THAT ANYONE CAN AGREE WITH! I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHO TO NOT SCREW MY KID UP, OKAY!"

The Best Prenatal Vitamins to tak-

Pacifica dropped her phone. Prenatal vitamins. The first thing every mother always does when finding out she'd pregnant and she hadn't done it yet.

"I'm already messing this all up!" she groaned as she collapsed against the bed. She set her hand on her belly. "You're still in there, right? I didn't do anything to hurt you, did I?"

Of course there was no reply. Well, not from the baby. There was a soft "Princess?" from outside the door as Dipper stepped inside, closed the door behind him, and walked to her side.

"You're home early," Pacifica said as she sat up.

"Class got cancelled last minute. But it was a good opportunity to grab these without the grunkles seeing me." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a bottle of prenatal vitamins. Pacifica burst into tears. He wasn't even the pregnant one and he had a better idea of what she was supposed to be doing than she did!

"Whoa, hey, what did I do? What's wrong? Did you want a different brand or something?"

"No, no, it's not that," Pacifica sniffled as she took the bottle from him and swallowed one of the pills. "It's just that...I didn't even think about these until today. Isn't this like the first thing you do? Take vitamins? And I didn't even think of it! I could have gone my whole pregnancy without it and starved out kid before it was even born!"

"Whoa, whoa, hey, it's fine," Dipper set a hand on each of her shoulders. "So you forgot about the vitamins, it's fine. I got them so we're all good. Besides, there is a such a thing as pregnancy-brain, so you'll probably be forgetting a lot of stuff for a while."

"So you are saying that I'm forgetful," Pacifica wailed.

"What-no, that's not what I meant! It's just that, well, your body is going through a lot right now so it makes sense that some things will be running slower than they normally do-"

"So now I'm slow?"

"Wha-no, that's not-okay, I'm just going to go ahead and put myself in the doghouse now."

"No!" Pacifica latched onto him. "No, you're perfect! I'm the one that's screwing up!"

"Screwing up? Pacifica, you are not-"

"Yes I am! I'm supposed to be gaining weight, but I've actually lost it! And I don't know if my boobs are working right, so I may never make milk and we'll have to give out baby poisoned, hard-water formula! And I don't know where the baby is supposed to sleep, or where I am supposed to sleep! And I'm going to get fat, and never be pretty again! So you're going to fall out of love with me! And then I-"

"Okay, let's take a deep breath shall we," Dipper began gently rubbing her arms as he demonstrated for her. "Deep in hale and exhale, okay?"

It took Pacifica a few attempts because she was practically choking on her sobs, but she finally managed to even out her breathing.

"Now, you've been googling mommy blogs haven't you?"

"Maybe," Pacifica sniffled.

"Yeah, thought so. Listen, Pacifica, you are not screwing anything up. You've been throwing up for two weeks straight now, of course you are going to lose a little weight. But, you'll gain it back. And you're not hurting the baby. The baby is getting all the nutrients it needs from you, regardless of morning sickness or not."

"How do you know?"

Dipper reached into his backpack and pulled out a book titled: Pregnancy: Everything you need to Know. "I've been doing a little reading of my own."

"How do you know that book is right?" Pacifica asked.

"Well, it's written by an actual doctor, not internet trolls. And it's gotten a lot of good reviews, and takes a neutral stand point on most topics and just give the facts, both good and bad, for whatever side you can think of. Even has lists of pros and cons at the end of each chapter so parents can choose-"

"Okay, I get it," Pacifica nodded. "Honestly, do you have to geek out over every book you read?"

"Well, it is kind of my schtick."

Pacifica chuckled.

"But, the point is. You haven't messed anything up. If anything I've messed up."

"You, how have you messed up?"

"Well, I haven't really, you know, talked to you much about this. Or have tried to get a sense of how you're feeling with, well, everything."

"I haven't talked to you either-"

"Yeah, but I'm not the one who's pregnant. You're the one who is going to have to go through all the changes and such. Heck, already going through a lot of changes. I've just kind been so stuck in my own head these past few days I hadn't even though to make sure you're okay and dealing well with all of this."

Pacifica just blinked at him. He was seriously upset at himself because he had dared to be dazed and shocked over the fact that he was going to be a father and needing to take time to grasp it? He was that worried about her? Then again, did he have reason to be worried? No! Yes? Maybe.

Dipper took her hands in his. "So, how are you feeling?"

"Honestly?"

"Well, yeah."

Pacifica sighed. "I'm terrified."

Dipper cupped her face in his hand. "Why is that?"

"I-" Pacifica fidgeted uneasily. "I don't know if I'll be a good mom. I mean, I don't exactly have a good example to follow."

"And that's exactly why you'll be an amazing mother," Dipper smiled as he pulled her into his lap. "You know exactly what not to do."
"I don't think that's going to be enough to qualify as a good mom. I...I just don't know if I can do it?"

"Um...did you forget who you are?" Dipper asked. "You are Pacifica Elise Pines. If you aren't the best at something, you kick yourself in the butt until you can stay on parr with everyone else. I have yet to see you fail at something-"

"That's a boldface lie! Need I remind you of my first attempt at scuba diving."

"And need I remind you how good you are at scuba diving now? You didn't stop trying or learning just because you messed up once and you got better. Ergo, that incident was not a failure, just a setback. And you're like that with everything. I'm sure motherhood will be the same way."

"It's all the setback I'm worried about," Pacifica muttered. "More specifically how badly those, erm, setbacks will affect the baby."

"I have a hard time believing you'd do anything that would seriously harm the baby. And even if you do, it's a Pines, we're a hardy bunch."

"Still-"

"Pacifica you'll be a great mother. You're kind, smart, tough, earnest. You'll be fine."

"I wish I was as confident in me as you are."

"Well, guess I'll just have to keep bragging on you until you believe it," Dipper kissed her cheek as she giggled.

"On another note, though, when are we planning on telling everyone?" he asked.

"Well, your's and Mabel's birhtday party is comig up in two weeks, so why not then?" Pacifica said. "I've been looking around I've found a lot of 'best auntie ever' shirts we can give Mabel, seeing as we have yet to get her something."

"Sounds like a plan," Dipper smiled. "By the way, care to give me any hints of what I can expect at said party."

"I'm already giving you a baby, Mason, don't push it."

"Aw, c'mon, why you gotta use my real name?"