Mabel's POV

"Tyrone!" I shouted. "You're not going anywhere until you eat your food!"

My son sighed heavily and audibly as he slumped back down in the chair.

As it turned out...I had a son.

And a daughter.

I was one stressed out mother of twins. I really should've seen this coming. After all, twins ran in the family.

"Come on, Mom, you grew up with a brother..." he muttered. "Why can't we just get some pizza?"

"Because I'm the mom, that's why."

It was hard to believe he had just brought up Dipper. My brother was rarely mentioned. As far as the twins knew, they did have an uncle, but he'd died before they were born and they had no living relatives aside from me. They didn't even know their uncle's name. I never wanted to forget Dipper and still missed him dearly, so almost as a tribute to him, I named my son after him—giving Tyrone the name Dipper had always wanted. I wasn't personally fond of the name but it reminded me so much of Dipper...

And Tyrone was like his uncle in every way possible. He had a serious nature to him but could be very boyish at times. He loved to read and learn. He even looked like Dipper—brown hair, green eyes, and if he had a Gravity Falls souvenir cap, he would be Dipper's younger double.

Likewise, my daughter Tammie was just like me before I had kids. She was lively, energetic, adored sparkly things, and just loved life. Just as Tyrone looked like Dipper, Tammie looked like me.

But every day it killed me to know that I had raised them on lies. I didn't know exactly what became of my brother being as I'd never gone back to visit—too busy rearing children and struggling to pay the bills—but to my knowledge, he was still alive. Everyone probably was. I hoped they were... I wished I could go back but Tammie and Tyrone needed to be by me. Unlike my parents, I didn't have anyone to look after them.

Plus...everyone would wonder why I was gone. They would also wonder why I had come back. If I were to go back I would have to bring the kids with me. Needless to say, I just couldn't do that. I couldn't face my family after all these years. I honestly didn't know why I kept thinking about them. My priorities were my children—they came before everyone else.

And I must say that they were the best things that ever happened to me. That mistake I made so many years ago had turned into two beautiful children who I loved more than anything else in the world.

I just... Part of me wished everyone else could see them too. They probably wouldn't think of them the way I did but still, it would just be nice for them to know. And it would be nice for Tammie and Tyrone to meet Uncle Dipper. And then Tyrone being able to find out that he was named after his uncle, that would be an experience to behold.

I sighed while I kept an eye on Tyrone, silently telling him to eat. He'd kept saying he wasn't hungry but like I'd believe that...

Why did society have to be so judgmental? Labeling people they didn't even know... Bullying them... Putting them down... It was what I feared for my kids and what I feared for myself as well. Tyrone was rather protective—not at all unlike Dipper's protectiveness—and I could easily see him getting into a fight should anyone talk badly about me or Tammie.

I yawned and no sooner than I did, the alarm clock in my room went off. Time to get my butt back in gear...

"Okay, Tyrone," I said as I stood up. "You know what to do; I'm off to work."

He stopped eating to look up and me and said, "But it's night, Mom, can't you just take one day off?"

I shook my head. "It doesn't work that way, honey."

And before he could question me again, I grabbed my purse and went out the door, making sure to lock it. Tammie and Tyrone knew better than to answer the door for anyone and when I was gone, they never even went out of the apartment, so I knew I didn't have to worry much about them letting someone in without me around.

The only days I ever took off were sick days—and I only used those when I was running fevers and throwing up every five minutes. Money didn't grow on trees and I worked three different jobs just to make ends meet. If I lost any of those three jobs, we would be evicted—which was why I planned on moving before that happened. There was a cheaper apartment closer to a restaurant I worked at. It would be more convenient in that I wouldn't have as long a drive and the rent was less. It was a smart financial move, in my eyes.

The downside was the pattern here. When I left Gravity Falls, I moved at least two hours away. Everything went smoothly at first. I'd used the money I'd saved up until I could get a job. After that, I was able to pay rent for a new apartment and was careful about my budget, only spending my money on necessities. But then I gave birth... I thought it would be only one baby—I hadn't had any doctor's appointments but did take prenatal vitamins. Once I had the twins, I realized my income wasn't enough to take care of them. My solution? Get another job and move to a less expensive place. As they got older, they started to need more. I got my third job and moved again. I knew for a fact that I couldn't take on one more job. Thanks to my lack of a high school diploma and being unable to afford going back to school to get one, I couldn't maintain three jobs for long. Most applications were rejected and I'd been laid off several times already, but I had managed to get by long enough to find new jobs.

They all paid minimum wage but together, they produced a decent salary. But lately, things weren't going so well. I would never admit it to the kids, but I wasn't making enough money to stay in this apartment. My worst fear, at this rate, was that I wouldn't be able to feed them anymore. I tried to apply for welfare but I was denied. Apparently my income was too high for qualification—which was bull crap—and since there were no medical problems, I "had no need for it". Unless I wanted social services to come and cart my children away, it was all up to me.

Which meant that I had to keep making the decision to move. Skipping all the details, I was basically being pushed further and further. We weren't too far from the outskirts of Gravity Falls now. Moving again would push us further, but this apartment had woods behind it—somewhere for Tammie and Tyrone to play. It was a nice bonus considering I was usually either too tired or too busy to drive them to the park and we didn't have very many toys. I tried to compensate on toys with things like blocks and Legos, something they could build and make into whatever they wanted. We had a few board games too but that was about it. A forest would be great for them, like an all-natural playground.

I came back home sometime around 2:00 am. The first thing I did was check on Tammie and Tyrone, who had hopefully gone to bed on time. I would know if they stayed up later depending on how they acted when they woke up. At twelve years old, they'd long figured out that mothers knew everything.

The second thing I did was flop onto my bed. I was out the instant my head hit the pillow. Forget about getting ready for bed, I just... I was too exhausted to care.

And it seemed like just the blink of an eye but...morning time came. The alarm this time was meant for both me and my kids. It told me that I had to get up and get the kids ready for school, then get to work myself while they took the bus.

I got up and, first thing even before changing clothes, pounded on Tammie and Tyrone's door.

"TIME TO GET UP, YOU'LL BE LATE!" I shouted.

I planned to tell them this morning that we were moving again but...I didn't know how. We'd literally just settled in last year and moving was the last thing I wanted to do but what choice did I have?

A/N

Well now we know life is harder for Mabel than she herself thought it would be, but at least she's trying to be a good mother. And there are reasons she didn't have any doctor's appointments, so no asking about that. ;)

This chapter is a little longer than the last one but next chapter, I'm aiming for at LEAST 2,000 words.

I updated REALLY early to celebrate the new episode of GF, Soos and the Real Girl! :D

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To whoever doesn't like this story, what the heck are you still reading it for?! Go troll/flame someone else!

To ALL flamers, you have NO right to flame or even criticize someone else's story. Know why? EVERY TIME I check a flamer's or hardcore critic's stories, they either don't HAVE a story, or their stories SUCK. So don't dare criticize me or anyone else's story unless/until you've written an absolutely PERFECT and AMAZING story that is INCAPABLE of being criticized.

Those critics out there who haven't written anything, who do you think you are? People work hard on their stories whereas you don't do anything but bug them. Write a story, see for yourself how hard it is, THEN let's see how your opinions change. And I'd love to see how you fare with writer's block. I'd love to see how "easy" it is to overcome it.

And I'd also like to point out that most flamers haven't even paid attention to the story they're flaming. They make themselves look like hypocrites in that they THINK they know what they're talking about.

Message to flamers: Please get out of my life, I don't care for you or your flames, and stay away from me and all my stories.

Message to critics: Half the time it seems you don't pay close enough attention to the story to see that I use improper grammar intentionally; I have several years of experience under my belt and know exactly what I'm doing. Don't bother giving me advice as I will not be taking it. (If you're genuine and trying to help, then this message doesn't apply to you.)

Message to anyone reading this A/N: Yes, I did just rant on about this stuff. Yes, I do get angry over flames. Yes, I tell things straight up. I'm pretty sure you all agree or can relate to at least ONE of the statements mentioned above. If not, God bless you.