Chapter 4

Fishing turned out to be a bad idea. The next day, when Stan woke up, it wasn't obvious that it was already morning. Dark clouds were rolling, and flashes of lightning were seen. Fortunately, it wasn't raining. Yet. Stan sighed, well, there goes our fishing.

He went back inside and woke up the twins. "Hey kiddos, wake up. It looks like fishing will be postponed." "Aww, why?" Mabel asked. The kids were so excited for the fishing, the moment Stan came to wake them up, they both woke up instantly. "It sounds like it's going to rain," Dipper said, hearing the thunder. "Yeah, sorry kids. We'll go fishing next time. Let's go back before it rains." They packed their things and returned to the Mystery Shack.

"So Grunkle Stan," Mabel started, "what shall we do today?" "Well, since we left before eating anything, why don't we have some pancakes?" Stan suggested. Honestly he was feeling quite hungry because he didn't eat much the previous night and woke up early. "Sure!" Dipper said. "Who doesn't love pancakes?" Mabel added. "Okay," Stan chuckled, "you can go watch TV or something while I make them."

Stan went to the kitchen to make pancakes. The twins followed.

"What are you two doing here?" Stan asked. "I want to help," Mabel cheerily answered. "Mabel just wants to put glitter on the pancakes," Dipper clarified. "Sorry kid, but I don't have glitter," Stan said. "Don't worry," Mabel told him, "I do! I always bring glitter wherever I go." "Well then, let's start cooking, Chef Mabel!" Stan replied.

They made the batter, and as said before, Mabel put glitter on the batter. Stan was a bit concerned at first about the glitter. Isn't glitter the thing they put on paper and clothes? But when Mabel took out her bottle of said substance, he saw that it was the edible kind, so he went along with it. Stan thought that the kids were too young to handle the stove, so he told them to just sit on the chairs while he cooked the pancakes.

When he was done, he put the pancakes on three plates and served them on the table. When he was about to start eating, a loud "STOP!" could be heard, so loud that the entire town probably heard it. Stan visibly jumped, thinking that something bad happened. Dipper, however, was unaffected by the sudden scream. "What's wrong?" Mabel then stood and went to him and got a can of whipped cream (from where, I do not know) and put a generous amount of it on his pancake, followed by another sprinkle of glitter. "Whipped cream is important in pancakes," Mabel told him.

When Mabel was done putting whipped cream and glitter on all of their pancakes, they finally ate. Despite the monstrous amount of glitter, it had surprisingly tasted well. After they had finished the food, Stan took their plates and cleaned them.

"You kids want to watch a movie?" Stan asked them. The kids agreed, so they went to the living room and watched a bunch of movies. While they were watching the third movie, Stan glanced at the time and saw that it was almost lunch time. "Kids, what do you want for lunch?" "Is it okay to have pizza?" Dipper suggested. "Oh yes! Can we please have pizza Grunkle Stan?" Mabel added. Stan didn't want to cook that time, so pizza it was. He ordered for pizza, and right after he hung up, the doorbell rang.

"That sure was fast," Stan said. However, when he opened the door, it wasn't the pizza delivery guy. It was the Cipher family.

"What do you mean she had an attack?"

Bill woke up to these words. It wasn't directed at him, it was directed to the person on the other side of his dad's phone. His dad was outside his room, so he was near enough to be heard.

"Really? We'll be there" his dad replied. "We're not bringing him, I don't think they're going to allow him to enter." Bill had a feeling he was the one his dad was referring to in the last sentence. "Okay, I'll see you there." His dad ended the call.

"Hey Dad, good morning," Bill greeted. "Oh Bill, good morning! I didn't see you wake up," his dad said. "Where's Mom?" Bill asked. "Oh, she's cooking breakfast downstairs." There was a holiday coming that week, so Bill's parents gave all their maids and butlers a week off to spend the holiday with their families. They were rich, yes, but they weren't like the stuck-up ones who force their maids to work even on holidays.

"Oh ok, let's go down and eat," Bill told his dad, "I'm hungry." "Okay," his dad chuckled, "I'm feeling hungry too. Let's see if your mother needs help."

They went downstairs just in time. Bill's mom had just finished serving breakfast on the table. "Oh! You boys are just in time, let's eat!" After they ate, they let Bill go back to his room to play.

When they were sure that Bill was out of hearing range, his dad told her, "I have bad news." "What happened?" "Mother had a heart attack last night. They brought her to the hospital, and luckily she's ok. However, she has to stay confined until the doctors are sure. Is it ok to visit her?" Luke said. "Oh Dear, it's always fine to go visit her. I'll go with you," Lynne told her husband.

"But I don't think we should bring Bill with us. He loves his grandmother, and it would break him to see her in the hospital," he said, concerned about Bill. "Indeed we shouldn't bring him along," his mom agreed. "The staff aren't here though," Luke said. "Maybe we could bring Bill to Stan?" Lynne suggested, "maybe they'll be ok with it." "I don't want to interrupt their boding time, but it's an emergency, surely they'll be ok with it" her husband reassured her, despite feeling worried himself. "We can't ask him because we don't have his number," Lynne realized. "Maybe they're back at the Mystery Shack. It's raining awfully hard and they probably left to avoid the rain," Luke said. "Okay, let's ask Bill if he want to go hang out with his soulmate."

They went to Bill's room. "Hey Bill," his mom called, "is it alright if we drop you off at the Mystery Shack? Your dad and I have an emergency, and there's no one to take care of you here." "Of course!" Bill replied, "I get to hang out with my friends!" Bill's parents were a bit surprised at this. Bill usually disliked it when his parents leave him at someone else's house, because he said it was too boring. "Off we go then!"

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

They arrived at the Mystery Shack, and saw that the shop was closed for the holidays. They went to the other side, and rang the doorbell.

Stan opened the door, looking like he was expecting someone else. "Oh! The Ciphers! What brings you here?" Stan's way of greeting them.

"Hello to you too Stan," Lynne said, "we hope we aren't a bother, but is it okay if Bill stays with you for today? We have somewhere to go and nobody's home to take care of Bill." Stan could sense that there was something ore to that story, judging the way Bill's dad was even more stiff than before, and how his wife seemed to be worried. It's probably something they don't want Bill to know."Like I said, the kid's always welcome here," Stan replied. "Hey kid, go on inside. They're watching movies." "Okay!" Bill happily replied. "I'll see you guys later," he told his parents. "Love you Bill," they told him. "Love you too," he answered back hugging them before going inside.

"What happened?" Stan asked them when the adults were alone. "My mother's in the hospital and we don't want Bill to see her in there," Luke said. "We gave our staff the week off to enjoy the holidays, so no one can take care of him," Lynne added. "We know that you were enjoying your time with your great-nephew and great-niece and we don't want to intrude, but you were the only person we could leave Bill with."

"It's fine, stop saying sorry," Stan said. "You better go now, you still have to visit your mother. I hope she ends up well." "Thank you very much," Luke told him. "If ever you have to buy anything for Bill, we'll be sure to pay you back. We'll take our leave now."

"Oh wait! Before I forget." He gave them a piece of paper with his number written on it. "Here's my number. Just call if you're going to pick up Bill so we know."

"Oh, we also forgot!" Luke gave him a business card. "Here's our number. If you think Bill becomes too much trouble, just call and we'll pick him up." "He isn't a bother, we'll be fine, but ok." Mr. and Mrs. Cipher then left to go to the hospital.

Stan came back inside. "So, who wants to have some fun?"

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Whoo that was a long one. I am incredibly sorry for the delay and if the story becomes a bit dull in the middle. I just did this chapter in less than one hour and I don't want to delay the update anymore. I hope my writing is understandable because I'm not so sure about my grammar. I didn't re-check this for errors, so I apologize if there are any grammar or spelling mistakes.

P.S. I know I make horrible names. I just thought of random names for the parents. Luke Cipher sounds cool tho😂