Chapter 10

(Wendy's POV)

It had been a couple days since those two little ones first arrived. I'd never been happier to work in the Mystery Shack now that kids were regularly playing in it. I did kind of have mixed feelings about them though and so did my husband. Their mother's absence irked me—what mother would leave her own children unattended in some unfamiliar environment? To what extent, exactly, were these kids cared about? On that hand, I was angry, but more at their mother than anything else.

Yet on the other hand I really envied her. These kids were such a blessing and I always smiled around their antics. It was no secret that I'd been trying for a long time to have children of my own but we were told there was only the slimmest of chances it would ever happen. So now, seeing what I'd been longing for hanging around playing together, it really warmed my heart.

Unfortunately Dipper had decided to take custody of them for the time being, which to me came as a surprise. To my understanding he wasn't ready for kids or even a wife. Now suddenly he was taking twins under his wing? It seemed so farfetched that I was almost certain he would hand them off to someone else who could provide more adequate care. And if not for his mind being already made up I would've jumped at the opportunity to volunteer.

But Dipper had developed a very take-charge attitude over the years, very possibly from the company of his great uncle. Perhaps that was why he had taken it upon himself to care for them. I didn't know for sure…

One thing I did know for sure, though, was that he'd found something out and was hiding it from the rest of us. Something about the way he looked at the twins changed overnight but for the life of me I couldn't place my finger on it. It was…almost like he felt some new connection with them that wasn't there before. He was a little more patient with them and sometimes he just stared at them in deep thought. For the most part his expression was stoic but if anyone looked close enough, he was actually upset about something—I knew it was about Tammie and Tyrone.

(Dipper's POV)

For days, possibly even a week, I had been taking care of my niece and nephew—I'd been trying so hard to mentally refer to them as that—and for days I hadn't seen hide nor hair of my sister. Any anger I previously had towards her was gone, replaced only with worry and concern.

And I didn't just worry about Mabel, I worried for her kids. They were such a handful… It wasn't something I'd prepared myself for. I never would've guessed that raising kids would be so exhausting. They got up in the middle of the night constantly for water and I usually woke up to the noise of someone rummaging around for a cup. Then I had to get up early in the morning to get ready for work. The kids needed something to eat so I tried to cook for them and make them feel more welcome—plus I was on the verge of desperation to permanently get it out of their heads that I would get furious over one little piece of paper, whether it was significant or not. I'd had to go into town and buy them some new clothes since I had nothing they could wear. My schedule wasn't very flexible during weekdays so I also got them some toys to help keep them occupied while I worked with Grunkle Stan. Well this meant they would play around in the gift shop which in turn meant I had to keep an eye and ear out for them. I was frequently interrupted just to answer a trivial question, but still knew better than to give them to anyone else. I was seriously considering Wendy and her husband but I doubted I would ever settle for a yes on that one. She helped keep watch over them while they played but she had a job to do and sometimes they could be a little…distracting. Not to mention they could be destructive at times. I didn't want to yell at them and it hardly felt right to discipline them without Mabel's clearance so I mostly tried to get them to head outside to play. The summer heat kept bringing them back in. I had no idea how Mabel managed this day in and day out for so many years…

But the thing that kept me going the most wasn't even the obligation to Mabel to provide for her kids, it was seeing the disappointment in their eyes when a customer who probably looked similar to Mabel came in and turned out to be just another stranger. He didn't show it but I could sense how hard Tyrone was taking this. With Tammie it was almost as if she knew Mabel wasn't coming yet, but was still hopeful anyway. But with her brother it was like he was continuously having his hopes crushed in an infinite loop per each Mabel lookalike. Seeing them both go through stages of hope, excitement, and then disappointment made me think that Tammie was right and Mabel might not have ever known they'd gone missing, even after days. I wanted to believe that wasn't true. I wanted to expect a police car to pull up any minute now asking for two Pines children with a full description of them. But…I didn't expect anything. Mabel wasn't coming. Even I knew that.

I was seriously starting to doubt that she realized her own kids were gone. And what did that say about her life? If she worked multiple jobs—and I was betting she did—then it was entirely possible one of them could be a night job, and another a day job. If that was the case then she would be so tired from working that she would hardly have time for the twins. And if she hardly had time for them then it would be normal for her to go to work not seeing or hearing anyone. She would definitely notice in due time but until then I was sort of stuck with her responsibilities.

One of them being keeping Tammie and Tyrone safe. Right now they were merrily playing tag with each other—this was good news for me, as it meant they would wear themselves out and I might possibly get a full night's sleep. But despite being in the middle of a famous childhood game, both seemed rather aware of all our tourists and customers. It was good and bad—they were trying to keep a sharp eye out for their mom and doing so they were also able to stay alert for danger. After all, this town wasn't exactly the first choice when it came to raising ch—

I almost choked on my own saliva. Mabel left Gravity Falls to raise Tammie and Tyrone. No wonder she had never come back here, there were too many risks. She was only looking out for her kids. But then why didn't she return to Piedmont like we were supposed to…? It made perfect sense as to why she had chosen to avoid Gravity Falls, but what was so wrong with Piedmont? Piedmont had no monsters or supernatural happenings. There were no serial killers on the loose. There was nothing ominous about it. So why abandon the idea of Piedmont? Of our home? Our family? She could've had a support system but never took that up. At least now I understood Gravity Falls but I couldn't think of a single reason she wouldn't go back to Piedmont, especially with twins at stake.

But I knew there had to be a reason for my sister to give up literally everything to disappear, lay low long enough to be under the radar, and support two kids at the same time. It was hard but I had to trust her.

I took a deep breath to clear my head and counted out snow globes with the Mystery Shack in the middle of them. I wrote down the sales we made and moved on to Stan "Mr. Mystery" bobbleheads. Creepy little things…

"Dipper," Wendy said from behind me.

I turned around and saw her counting dollars and change.

"We need to talk about Tammie and Tyrone," she continued. "I don't know if…you know…"

I rolled my eyes. "If I'm the right person for the job."

She bit her lip.

"Look, Wendy, I know you can take care of them and I know that you would do a great job of it, but with whatever happened back… I mean, you really… Y-you kind of…um…" I groaned. "Alright, I'm going to be completely honest with you, Wendy. I know how much you want to be a mother and I hope one day you can be one, but these twins aren't yours. You'll get attached to them and I don't want to see you in so much pain when their mom comes to take them back."

She stopped counting the money and slammed a fist down, not even bothering to look me in the eye. "What kind of mother lets her young children run around without watching them?! What kind of mother wouldn't call the police and try to find them as soon as she can?! It's been almost a week and surprise surprise, their loving mother hasn't shown up anywhere in this town! I can handle myself, Dipper, but them?! You think I can't see how hurt they are right now?!"

Normally I would've been outraged by what she just said about my sister, but from Wendy's point of view I could only imagine how she felt about this entire situation. She cared so much about these kids that she was angry at their pain and wanted to do something about it. But what could she do? What could I do? What could anybody do? She was a grown woman now, she knew we couldn't just keep the kids. She knew the legalities behind that. She knew it would cause them so much more pain to never be with their mom again.

"Wendy, trust me, I know how you feel, but I overheard them talking and they're not in a very good financial spot right now. Their mom is really struggling. Kind of sounds like she's just barely getting by… We probably shouldn't judge her. They said they got lost in the woods and followed the signs for help getting back home."

"Um, yes, and as you can plainly see that didn't work."

"Wendy, just stop. They're not our kids, okay? I'm taking care of them only until their mom comes. After that…well…we just continue life and move on…"

Because if Mabel came it would only be to get her kids back and leave with them. Forever.

Wendy glared at me with such an angry intensity that I swore I began to pale—she was dead serious.

"Do you think they're better off with a woman who can barely take care of them or with anyone else—anyone at all—who can and would?"

"I know you want—"

"This isn't about me!" She jerked a thumb to the door. "This is about them."

"What do you want me to do about it?!" I snapped. "They're not my kids, I can't just take them away from their mother and keep them forever! That's not how the legal system works!"

"THE LEGAL SYSTEM SUCKS AND WE BOTH KNOW IT!"

"You think I want to send them back knowing it's hard enough on their mom?!"

"I'd rather everyone just do what's best for them!"

"I'M DOING WHAT I CAN, WENDY!"

"ARE YOU EVEN ENOUGH?!"

"ARE YOU ENOUGH?! YOU CAN'T EVEN HAVE KIDS!" I screamed.

It took me a second to realize what I'd just said—what I'd just done.

She slowly looked back down and went back to counting and sorting the money. There were tears in her eyes. She was fighting them back. I had no proof whatsoever to back up my assumption but from her extreme reactions every time the subject came up, I deduced that she may have had a miscarriage. And it wasn't in the heat of the moment that I'd been thinking that, it had been quite some time. I just never brought it up before, and frankly I didn't plan to even now.

"Wendy…" I started. "I-I'm so sorry… I didn't mean—"

"Just leave me alone," she growled, her voice slightly cracking.

I walked up to the counter and sighed. "It's Mabel."

"What's Mabel?" she flatly replied.

I sighed again. "Their mom."

I continued when her head shot up. "Those 'various reasons' were Tammie and Tyrone. She left to raise them. Do you expect me to hide her kids from her?"

"I-I don't really…"

"It's Mabel, Wendy. Do you think she'd ever turn her back on a child, especially her own?"

This time I was the one holding back tears. "She could've told someone but she didn't trust us enough. She told them I'm dead. She told them our parents are dead. She never even mentioned Stan. They don't know their father, she told them he left. She never told them about Gravity Falls or Piedmont. She's been feeding them lies all these years and they believe every word. I'm their uncle, Wendy. I have to take care of them. I can't dump my sister's kids on someone else, especially if that person would get hurt when they left."

Her expression had gone from heartbroken to a blank stare.

"But please, just don't tell anyone else. There are so many things I need to figure out first and if I'm fighting people off with a stick just because Tammie already looks a lot like Mabel, I don't think I'll ever be able to. So until I sort things out let's just continue life as normal," I finished, intentionally leaving out the part about me being so unsure of how everyone would think of them.

Perhaps I told Wendy because it was just…there. Perhaps it was just something I never thought through at all. Or perhaps it was because I subconsciously knew Wendy was the last person to ever view any child as someone other than an ordinary child, just like any other, no matter who that child belonged to. Her stare was probably shock and justly so—I'd had the same initial reaction. I could relate to the attempt to process this.

"Wait…so if she told them you were dead, why aren't you telling them anything? That makes no sense," she said.

"Because if I do they'll never trust Mabel again. This isn't some little white lie."

The bell chimed and two exhausted, overheated kids dragged themselves inside.

Wendy and I both looked at each other and some kind of unspoken agreement came to be that we wouldn't let them know what we had just discussed. And it was probably for the better that they didn't. Their life had already been disrupted enough without cutting the single thread of stability they had left—me. There was no doubt even Wendy knew this, deep in her heart.

A/N

It's been a while, I know, and I am sorry. Been dealing with so much life drama lately that I'm only able to update a select few of my fics. I'm currently working on the others. Anyway, read, review, all that jazz.