Ford walked around the property for the umpteenth time to quadruple-check the decorations, make sure the food was bug-and-gnome-free, and make sure the gifts weren't absconded with before heading inside, checking his watch. "Should be any minute now," he muttered.

Dipper and Mabel agreed that THIS birthday, they would be starting the party at exactly 6:18 in the evening, the halfway mark between the time Mabel was born, and when Dipper was born.

Soos and Wendy insisted the elder twins take the birthday twins out for the day while they did the decorating, and what a day it was. Ford was anxious about being out and about in Gravity Falls, but Stanley's reasoning was quite solid. The people here WERE ridiculously ignorant. Those who noticed he looked similar to Stan made a passing 'you must be related' comment and moved on.

He was just another Pines in Gravity Falls. Not half bad.

Dipper and Mabel dragged their Grunkles around to all the fun hotspots as a doubled-up Family Fun Day. Ford displayed his proficiency for videogames and won a massive amount of tickets at the arcade, using both skill and his probability thinking to rack up the most out of every game. By the time they finished up, everyone left the arcade prize kiosk with something.

Ford thought Stan was a little sore at losing to videogames, but whatever soreness he had was taken out in laser tag, where he proceeded to slaughter everyone else in the first round. In the second round, Ford teamed up with Mabel after learning how ruthless she was. She had no qualms about dive-bombing someone from above and shooting them while they were down.

It was exciting and fun, and by the end of it, all four Pines were slapped with a two-year ban from the place.

"So that…makes…three places," Mabel murmured, taking out a little planner book and writing something in a back page. "I'm catching up to you, Grunkle Stan!"

"Brag about it when you're banned from an entire state and a whole providence of Canada, pumpkin," Stan replied, ruffling her hair. "But stay your butt out of prison, y'hear? I'm not paying your bail."

"No promises."

Ford looked less than thrilled with the ban, but Dipper just looked resigned. "You get used to it," Dipper said, putting his hands in his pockets. "I'm banned from the science museum near where I live for collapsing a dinosaur skeleton exhibit. You're one of us now."

"ONE OF US! ONE OF US!" Mabel and Stan chanted before laughing and heading for the frozen yogurt shop.

While Dipper and Ford stuck to a reasonable amount of toppings for their 'fro-yo', Mabel and Stan proceeded to finally add a little bit of yogurt to their bowls of mixed candy.

"This has been great," Dipper sighed, looking content. "Just a normal day of fun. Loooong overdue."

Ford smiled a little, eating a spoonful of his treat. THIS was something he could definitely get used to. "Perhaps, yes," he replied. "It's…nice." He looked over at Stan and Mabel, who were seeing how much chocolate and caramel syrup they could pile on before it overflowed. "…though I'll be disappointed if we get banned from THIS place too."

"Nah, it's fine," Dipper said. "As long as you don't mix condiments and toppings everywhere, they don't really care." He sucked on his spoon, watching Mabel tug on Stan's sleeve and whisper something to him. Stan looked surprised, but replied with something before nodding, heading over to the table.

"How are you not dead from a sugar shock yet?" Ford asked, staring at the concoction Stan managed to fix up.

"Because I'm not a wuss," Stan replied, scooping up a massive amount and eating it. He chewed and swallowed. "I also don't get brain freeze, so THAT helps." He ate a few more bites. "I'm takin' Mabel off to get something done, shouldn't take long. Think we can meet up at the library about forty-five minutes after?"

Ford and Dipper glanced at each other. "…Sure," Dipper said. "I wanted to check out the bookstore anyway."

They separated after the frozen yogurt—Ford saw Stan head into the pharmacy for some antacids as he and Dipper headed off—and after almost an hour in the bookstore, Dipper got a text from Mabel.

"They're at the library," he said, putting the book he was looking through back on the shelf. Ford reluctantly did the same, and they walked to the library, where Stan was waiting by the car. "Where's Mabel—"

"SURPRISE!" Mabel jumped out of the car, arms spread dramatically. Dipper and Ford just found themselves staring.

Mabel's hair had been cut short, her natural wave made it floop slightly upwards at the bangs. Apparently the place she got it cut had glitter hair spray, because it was sparkling slightly in the sunlight. That, or she decided to toss some of her pocket glitter into her hair just because.

"You like it?" she asked, striking a pose. "New year, new look! And I picked up these babies at the accessory store!" She whipped out a pair of decorative hipster glasses and put them on. "Admit it, I'm irresistible."

Dipper blinked, the image finally sinking in, smiling a little. "It looks good," he said. "Gonna take a little getting used-to. You've been growing your hair out since we were nine."

"Psh, it's just hair," Mabel scoffed. "And I kinda like it short. Now I match the rest of the Pines!"

"That you do, sweetie," Stan said, ruffling her hair, then wiping his glitter-covered hand on his jacket. "Ready to head back to the Shack and get ready for the party?"

"YAY, PARTY!" Mabel shouted, diving back into the car. Dipper followed, still shooting Mabel's new 'do a few extra looks. There was just something about it that looked familiar.

Now it was party time. Mabel was wearing a bright red party dress she'd packed just for the occasion, tossing red glitter into her hair, and refusing to take the hipster glasses off. Dipper made due with a blue collared button-up and khakis. And blue glitter in his hair. The twins hurried downstairs when Ford called them down, excited for the party.

Stan was waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs, holding two blindfolds. "Put 'em on, kids," he said, tossing them to Dipper and Mabel.

"Oh no, where are we going THIS time?" Dipper asked, putting his on anyway. Mabel did the same, over her glasses.

"To the backyard, where else?" Stan asked, steering them through the house. "Soos and Wendy worked real hard to decorate it up, and they wanna surprise you." He guided them past the gift shop and outside, easing them down the porch stairs. "Okay. One. Two. Three!"

Dipper and Mabel lifted the blindfolds, gasping with joy at how decorative it all was. It was even better than the karaoke party! Lights and streamers doused in glitter were everywhere, and there was a large spotlight shining down on a four-tier birthday cake. On either side of the cake were two large piñatas, and on another table was a pile of birthday gifts.

Mabel squealed, jumping up and down. "SOOS, WENDY, IT'S PERFECT!" she shouted, rushing up and hugging them both. "HOW CAN I EVER THANK YOU!?"

"By cranking up some tunes and getting it started, duh!" Wendy replied, beaming. "LOVE the new hair, by the way."

"Pretty nifty glasses there too," Soos added. "Kinda makes you look like Mister Pines the Second."

Dipper blinked, looking between Mabel and Ford. Huh. With the upward wave to the hair and the glasses, they DID look pretty similar. Mabel giggled. "Huh, never thought about it," she said. "Guess all us Pines twins look alike, eh, bro-bro? Maybe if you take up boxing, you'll be all buff like Grunkle Stan!"

Dipper snorted, but couldn't help but follow that train of thought. That stroll through Stan's Mindscape DID show his Grunkle to be pretty weedy like him when he was young. Maybe puberty would be kind to him.

Maybe.

"Kids, over here!" Stan called over from the gift table. Dipper and Mabel hurried over. "Now, I know it's Pines tradition to open gifts AFTER cake and piñatas," he said, "but your Grunkle Ford and I have special gifts to give you BEFORE this shindig officially starts. Okay, first, close your eyes."

"Should've just kept the blindfolds," Dipper muttered, closing his eyes anyway. Mabel snorted, doing the same. Stan and Ford took a twin each and slowly turned them around.

"Okay," Stan said. "Open them."

They did.

"SURPRIIIIIIIIISE!"

Mabel let out a high-pitched scream when she saw Candy, Grenda, and Pacifica standing in the middle of the party. She bolted over, tackling all three girls down in one big glomping hug.

Dipper yelped when he was scooped up by Lee and Nate. "WHOA—"

"You're a teenager now, bro!" Nate hooted.

"You're one of us!" Lee added, slinging Dipper onto his shoulders. Dipper laughed, flailing to keep his balance. "ONWARD TO THE SNACK TABLE!" They ran off, shouting and making a load of noise.

"Kid better appreciate it," Stan muttered. "Dunno WHY he likes those hooligans so much."

"I seem to recall a rowdy teenager who would drive around TPing the neighborhood," Ford commented. "Pretty sure he grew up to be a cranky old miser."

"Go suck an egg, Ford."

Mabel kept alternating hugs between the three girls. "I thought you weren't coming!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, well, I managed to forge a pass to get me out of boarding school orientation," Pacifica said flippantly. "I've been forging Dad's signature for YEARS. And trust me, a party here is WAY more exciting than orientation THERE."

"I got Marius to fly us back here," Grenda said, looking over at her boyfriend, who was conversing with the older teenagers; Lee in particular wanting to know what Marius used to make his hair so lustrous. "He's never been to a birthday party like this before, so he was THRILLED!"

"Your Great-Uncle Stan busted me out of music camp," Candy said. "It was much appreciated."

Mabel squealed, hugging them again before rushing up to Stan and hugging him tightly. "THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" she shouted happily. Stan smiled, hugging her back.

"It was no problem, sweetie," he said. "You wanted your friends, you got your friends."

"I've got you and your brother something as well," Ford said. "If you'll go fetch him, I'll bring it up."

Mabel hurried off to get Dipper, and Ford brought two packages out of his coat. His fingers flexed around them nervously, and Stan nudged him. "It's fine, Sixer, they'll like 'em."

Ford nodded, but still remained nervous as the twins came over. He swallowed and held out the gifts. "…These are for you, from me," he said. Dipper and Mabel took them and unwrapped them to reveal two brand-new, personalized journals for them both.

Dipper's was dark blue, decorated with the Big Dipper constellation on the cover. A bookmark ribbon with a UFO charm at the end of it was tucked just behind the first page.

Mabel's was purple with a large glittery gold star…and a glittery cover. It was very much covered in glitter. Her bookmark had a star charm, and was tucked in the same place as Dipper's was.

"Oh man…" Dipper said, his eyes shining. "Grunkle Ford, it's…." He made a high-pitched squeaking sound before smothering it.

"It's AWESOME!" Mabel finished for him, beaming and hugging the journal to her chest. "These are all ours? Thank you!"

Ford smiled, looking heavily relieved they liked the gifts. "…Well, there's more," he said. "Go on, look inside."

Dipper and Mabel opened their journals to the first page where the bookmarks were, the same paragraph set out that Dipper read aloud.

"'Happy Birthday, Dipper—'"

"'—and Mabel'!"

"'—This journal is all for you. To add YOUR discoveries, YOUR adventures, and YOUR mysteries, or even just something to write in when it suits you. I can only hope you will make good use of them when you come back next year…for your fun summer internship…'" Dipper looked up, staring. "…what?"

"Well, an apprenticeship IS a bit much now," Ford replied, smiling. "So I was hoping you both would come back next year for an internship instead. I DO want my work to live on in the family…the WHOLE family."

Mabel squealed and hugging him tightly, dashing him with glitter from her hair and dress. Dipper did the same before running around to look for a pen.

"I'M GONNA START MINE WITH WHAT BUTTFACES UNICORNS ARE!" Mabel shouted, hurrying off to show her friends.

Ford heaved a sigh, sitting down. "Glad to know they liked them," he said. Stan sat down next to him.

"Of course they did," he replied. "I told you they would." He nudged Ford's shoulder. "At least now you've got a year to set up a decent lesson plan."

"And YOU'VE got a year to review it and smack me over the head if it's too dangerous," Ford said, smiling.

"I want it in writing that I can smack you over the head."

"Weirdo."

"Nerd. Let's grab some cake before those hooligans get a hold of it."