I do not own Gravity Falls.
Prompt: Ornaments
Childhood Ornaments
Lounging in his armchair, Stan lazily surveyed the tree that stood proudly in the center of the living room, loaded with decorations. The lights threaded around the branches gave off a soft blue glow. There were a few presents stacked underneath the majestic pine, with more to be added in the week leading up to Christmas.
"Are you going to stare at that all day?"
Stan didn't look over his shoulder as Ford entered the room. "Been a while since I had a proper Christmas tree here," he muttered, taking a sip from his mug of hot chocolate. "I didn't have a desire to do the whole Christmas thing until recently. I'm glad to be doing all the cheesy festivities again."
Ford studied the ornaments on the tree, some of which were new ones picked out by Dipper and Mabel. The majority of them were Christmas ornaments from their childhood, kept by Ford and brought to Gravity Falls when he moved. He smiled upon seeing a bookworm decoration hanging on a branch in the front of the tree.
"I remember when you got me that," he said softly. "I wasn't sure whether to be flattered or insulted."
Stan laughed. "It was meant to be a mixture of both. You always complained about not having your own ornament that really represented you. So when I found that when we were, what, fourteen? I had to get it."
"The same year I found that boxing glove ornament for you," recalled Ford. "We always had a habit of doing things like that, didn't we?"
"Yeah," said Stan with a laugh. "I remember when we got each other the exact same action figure one Christmas."
"It worked out." Ford smirked. "At least you didn't have any reason to steal it."
"Borrowed," corrected Stan. "I borrowed without telling you."
"Same thing," muttered Ford under his breath.
"Shut up."
His brother grinned and glanced at the tree, studying the different sparkling ornaments that hung from the branches. His eyes landed on a small, silver picture frame dangling from a red ribbon. In the frame was a picture of two of them as babies, and First Christmas was engraved at the bottom of the frame.
"Geez," he whispered, standing up so he could inspect the old, slightly faded ornament more closely. "I haven't seen this in forever."
"I'm surprised you still kept it all these years," spoke Stan.
"I wasn't going to throw it out. I…I couldn't."
Stan gave a harsh, sudden cough, managing to fight back the emotional surge that went through him. Ford cast him a bemused look before glancing at the ornament hanging beside the silver frame. There were two sparkling white snowman holding hands. One snowman wore a pink scarf and glittery hat, and the other wore a blue beanie. Each snowman depicted a picture; the girl snowman bore Mabel's beaming face, and the other snowman contained Dipper's grinning features.
"Stanley?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
He didn't explain what he was thanking him for, but Stan already knew. With a soft smile, he said, "Don't mention it, bro. Merry Christmas."
