I do not own Gravity Falls.


Prompt: Xmas


Christmas Day

The early morning sun filtering through the attic window stirred Mabel from slumber. She sat up and stretched, blinking rapidly to clear her vision. It only took a second for her to remember what day it was, and excitement chased away the lingering sleepiness.

"Dipper! It's Christmas!"

Dipper sat straight up, as if someone had dumped a bucket of cold water over him, eyes wide and alert. "Presents!" he cheered.

Mabel grabbed Waddles and the two sped downstairs, bare feet slapping against the hardwood floor. When they reached the first-floor landing, they split off down the hallway, intent on waking up their great-uncles.

"Grunkle Stan!" shrieked Mabel, jumping up and landing on the edge of his bed.

Stan jolted awake with a startled cry, and once he recovered from the rude awakening, he shot his niece a glare. "It had better be a decent hour, kid."

"It's seven," said Mabel. "Time for Christmas."

"Christmas will still be here in a few hours." Stan rolled over, tugging his blankets closer. "Go back to sleep."

Shaking her head, Mabel set Waddles down. Her pig walked across the mattress and nuzzled the back of Stan's neck, oinking softly. Groaning, Stan reluctantly sat up and rubbed his eyes. "All right, all right. Get in the living room. I'll be there in a bit."

Cheering, Mabel scooped Waddles into her arms and rushed into the living room, with Dipper joining her seconds later. The two marvelled at the glittering tree and the piles of presents stacked underneath. They dropped to the floor and crawled closer, eager to start tearing into the packages.

"Okay," said Ford with a yawn as he and Stan entered, each dressed in housecoats and slippers. "Go ahead."

"Try not to break anything in the process," Stan quipped, easing himself down into his armchair.

With delighted whoops the twins practically dove at the presents. Wrapping paper flew everywhere, pieces of festive paper falling to the floor. Dipper soon had a pile of books stacked next to him, the covers glossy and shiny. Mabel hugged every new stuffed animal she unwrapped, and was especially delighted with a plush pig that had an incredible likeness to Waddles.

"I'm not cleaning this up," muttered Stan, lazily kicking away a scrap of wrapping paper.

"We'll deal with it later," said Ford, leaning down and freeing Waddles from the ribbon he had gotten tangled in. "As in probably tomorrow."

"Candy!" cheered Mabel, holding up a large plastic gumball machine.

"I'm going to regret that one," said Stan in amusement.

"Cool!" exclaimed Dipper as he inspected his new chemistry set. "I can finally get to some of my experiments!"

"When you're back with your parents, follow the instructions," cautioned Ford. "When you're with me, you can get creative."

"Sweet."

The twins soon reached the last present—the large box that they had been curious about ever since they discovered it under the tree. The took off the wrapping paper together, as the present was addressed to the both of them.

"Holy sparkles!" shrieked Mabel, eyes growing wide with delight at what they uncovered.

"A computer!" exclaimed Dipper eagerly, tracing the design of the desktop printed on the face of the box with his fingers. "Our own computer!"

"Which your parents will probably kill us for, but hey, it's Christmas," said Ford with a slight smile.

"Least now you won't be hogging your father's computer every time you want to use it to talk to us," replied Stan.

"How are we going to get this home on the bus?" asked Dipper.

"Hey, we did our part. It's your problem now."

"Thank you thank you thank you!" squealed Mabel. She raced forwards and tackled Stan the same time Dipper launched himself at Ford.

Stan laughed and ruffled her hair fondly. "Don't mention it, kid. I'm sure you'll get your use out of it."

"Remember, you're sharing it," added Ford, lightly running his fingers through Dipper's hair. "So neither of you can hog it."

"We're really good at sharing," assured Mabel.

"Do you want to open your presents now?" asked Dipper.

"Of course I do. Gimme," instructed Stan.

Giggling, the twins went to collect the small pile of presents still remaining. Mabel brought Ford his gifts and Dipper gave Stan his.

Stan unwrapped his gift, revealing a glass bottle with a model of the Stan o' War inside. Ford glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.

"It's not money, but I thought you might appreciate it all the same."

"Shut up," said Stan, gruff with emotion. He punched Ford affectionately in the shoulder. "It's perfect."

Smiling, Ford unwrapped Stan's gift to him. His eyes widened at the leather-bound journal, which had golden charms hanging from the spine of the book. A U.F.O., a question mark, a unicorn and a six-fingered hand glinted at him. On the cover of the journal was his familiar handprint, but it was joined by two green pine trees, a rainbow shooting star and a dark red fez.

"You've got that briefcase full of loose research notes," spoke Stan. "Figured you should have something to write them in."

"Thanks, Stanley." Smiling warmly, Ford wrapped his arms around his brother in an appreciative hug.

"Yeah, yeah." Stan playfully batted him away. "You're welcome."

"Our turn, our turn!" sang Mabel, lifting up her square-shaped present and handing it to Stan.

"If it's something from the gift shop, the two of you are getting coal for the rest of your lives." Stan peeled back the paper and stared at the scrapbook he uncovered. The cover was an explosion of glitter, and it read Grunkle Stan's Scrapbook. He flipped through the pages, which were plastered with pictures of the four of them.

"Do you like it?" asked Mabel hopefully.

"'Course I do. Though you could have cut back on the glitter."

She laughed. "Don't be silly! You can never have enough glitter."

Ford unwrapped his present next and took off the lid of the box he uncovered. A golden picture frame laid on top, with a picture of the twins inside.

"Grunkle Stan has one, but we thought you might like one of your own," ventured Dipper shyly.

Touched beyond words, Ford beamed. "Thank you, kids. I know exactly where to put it."

"There's one more present," sang Mabel, bouncing on her toes excitedly.

Curious, Ford moved aside some green tissue paper, revealing a small, dark brown drawstring sack. He opened it up and gasped at the glowing rock he discovered inside. "What on Earth?"

Stan peered over his brother's shoulder. "Where the heck did you kids find that?"

Dipper smiled sheepishly. "Well, remember when you found us near those cliffs and we wouldn't really tell you why we were there?"

"You're telling me you nearly killed yourself to get this for me?" asked Ford incredulously.

"Well, we didn't intend to have a near-death experience when we went to look for it," piped up Mabel.

"You two are about as crazy as we are," claimed Stan. "And that's not exactly comforting to know."

"I don't know whether I should scold you for being reckless or thank you for finding this. I've always wanted to see one in person."

"A hug is a nice middle-ground," said Mabel innocently, extending her arms hopefully.

Laughing, Ford lifted her up with one arm and tussled Dipper's hair with the other. "Thanks, kids. I'm very grateful. Though please don't go to so much trouble next time."

"We'll try," replied Dipper, and he laughed when Stan jabbed him in the side. "All right, all right, we won't."

"I doubt that," snorted Stan. He stood up from the chair and said, "Who wants Christmas waffles?"

"I do, I do!" the twins shouted and raced for the kitchen.

"Ease up on the sprinkles!" called Stan. He sighed. "They're not gonna lay off on the sprinkles."

"It's Christmas. I think we can let them go sugar-crazy," said Ford, lightly shoving his brother's shoulder.

"Fine. Then you can deal with their wild energy later today." Stan threw an arm around Ford's shoulders. "Oh, and you're helping me figure out Christmas dinner, Poindexter."

"You couldn't tell me this beforehand?"

"Nope. I like surprising you."