I do not own Gravity Falls.


Prompt: Pine cones


Family Tradition

Newspapers covered the kitchen table, protecting the wooden surface from glitter, paint and wayward stickers. In the middle of the craft zone was a basket full of pine cones, bare and ready to be decorated. The four Pines family members sat around the table.

"What exactly is the point of this?" Ford asked, still not entirely sure what Mabel wanted them to do.

"To have fun," replied Mabel with a smile. "We do this every year!"

"It's our tradition," added Dipper. "When we were really little, we had to paint pine cones in class as a Christmas craft project. Mabel liked it so much that she decided we should do one every year. We've got a box of pine cone ornaments."

"There's way more than one here," said Stan.

"Well, this is our first Christmas with you, so we're going to do all past Christmases at once," piped up Mabel. "I had to get a lot of pine cones."

"That's a lot of pine cones that need to be painted," said Ford. "I don't know if they'll fit on the—oof!"

Stan elbowed his brother sharply in the side. "Sounds fun, kid. I call the blue paint."

They spent the next while painting their pine cones, paintbrushes swiping over the rough surface. As Stan finished his eighth pine cone, painted red with white stripes, he glanced over at Ford, a mischievous smirk crossing his lips.

"Hey, Poindexter. You got some glitter on your face."

Ford blinked. "But I haven't used any—"

Stan, whose hand was covered in silver sparkles, reached out and smeared a streak of glitter across his brother's forehead. Ford hastily reared backwards and batted Stan's hand away. "What's the matter with you?" he demanded, annoyed.

Dipper clapped a hand over his mouth, but was unable to quell his giggles. Mabel ducked her head and laughed as quietly as possible.

Stan grinned. "What? It looks good on you."

Huffing, Ford used the sleeve of his sweater to try and wipe off the glitter. "Dang it," he grumbled when he felt little come off his skin. He narrowed his eyes at the twins, whose shoulders were shaking with laughter. "Oh, you think it's funny, do you?"

"A little bit," said Dipper with a chuckle.

"You match my pine cone," giggled Mabel, pointing at her silver-and-gold homemade ornament.

"Almost," said Stan with a smirk. He grabbed the gold glitter and Ford stood up hastily and started to back away.

"Don't even think about it," he growled. "I swear—"

"Not listening," shot back Stan, brandishing the tube of gold glitter.

Ford raced off and Stan quickly took up pursuit. Dipper and Mabel burst into renewed laughter as Ford's shouts and Stan's cackles filled the house.

"Guess the pine cones are going to have to wait," said Dipper through his laughter.

"Sometimes they're just as pretty bare as they are decorated," decided Mabel.

"Dang it, Stanley! I'm going to kill you!"

"Ouch! Stanford, leggo!"

Mabel smiled contently, leaning back against her chair and playing with one of her pine cones, which was painted with the faces of the four Pines members.

"Man, do I love them," she said happily.