A Lost Letter

SUMMARY: Stan receives a letter in the mail from someone completely unexpected.

It was a typical morning at the Mystery Shack of Stan Pines, or "Mr. Mystery" as he liked to call himself, started getting ready for the day of business.

Stan went to the mailbox just as the postwoman drove away in her rickety van, him opening the old tin box and receiving the mail. Many of the pieces of mail bored the name "Stanford Pines", this could honestly be either Stan's or Ford's mail as many legal assets that were Stan's were still under Ford's name. But one piece of mail had "Stanley Pines" written in an almost ancient scrawl, him frowning when he saw it.

He tossed the mail onto the counter, him keeping the letter with his name on it. The envelope felt rough and scratchy, the paper yellowed with age. In the corner there was various stamps and ink stamps stating how it went from state to state, and various different address stickers was placed over each other thickly. Gingerly, he opened the envelope, scared that if he opened it too roughly that it would turn to dust.

Inside was a letter, the paper an off white. At the top the letter was addressed to Stan and it was dated back in mid-September of 1999.

That was a few weeks after the kids were born… Stan thought.

At the bottom of the letter it was signed "Mom".

Stan felt as though his heart had stopped. A letter from his mother a few weeks dated after the twins were born? What could that mean?

Slowly, Stan began to read the letter, him trying to savor every word of the ancient, yet elegant scrawl.

My dearest Stanley,

Yes, I know that you're actually Stanley and not Stanford. I got a call from Christopher and Sherman about my great-grandchildren, Mabel and Mason. I was even sent a picture… and it was of you and the twins. Why did you lie to me all these years, Stanley? I recognized you the instant I saw the picture… did you think your mother wouldn't recognize her baby boy? I'm old not stupid you know. I've always known that you and Stanford had switched places as children, a mother knows her children, and I don't need to see yours hands or minor face detail to see which of my sons is which.

I don't know what happened to Stanford, but you faked your death and took his place for years… I know you were too proud to come home after what had happened, but you still could've called, and the moments I did call you were pretending to be Stanford. I don't know what happened to where you had to pretend to be him, but I do hope it was for good reason.

Stanley, it was so good to see that picture of you with those babies, I've never seen you smile that big before… I hope those children really do make you happy in the long run, even if you're just a great uncle to them I know you'd love them like they were your own grandchildren, but you'll be the greatest uncle. You see what I did there? But in all seriousness, remember twins are a handful! Remember yourself and Stanford!

I am happy to see that you looked well in that picture and that you were so happy. Despite what you have done in the past I can see now that you are moving forward for the better. I just wanted to write to you one last time before my time was up, and if you are with Stanford getting along again like when you two were children, then that makes my heart happy to know that my twins are happy.

I love you, Stanley, I always have and always will.

Love, Mom

Stan's eyes stung with tears, them dripping down his cheeks as he read the letter over and over again. How could he have been so selfish over the years? He broke his mother's heart, but she wished him great happiness. His mother had even saw pictures of the kids… that was something he thought he never would never know.

He read the letter once again, thinking on why he didn't receive the letter until over fifteen years later. Then again… as he thought of it, he realized that it would be hard to send a man who had been legally dead for over a decade. So the letter had bounced from place to place, it finally arriving to the Mystery Shack for him.

"Stan, are you okay?" he heard Ford ask him gently, the scientist poking his head from the door that was behind the vending machine, him seeing Stan just standing there shaking. "What do you got there?" All Stan did was hand Ford the letter, not even bothering to hide his tears as he sniffled. As Stan watched Ford read the letter, he saw that tears were forming in his eyes as well. "She knew about Dipper and Mabel…? At least she saw a picture of them before she passed… and she really wanted you to be happy." His voice sounded hoarse, him trying not to full on cry.

"It took over fifteen years to get this letter…" Stan whispered, him finally wiping the tears from his eyes, his own voice hoarse. "What kind of son am I…? I lied to her, and I hurt her so much…"

Stan gives him a sad smile. "But, she seemed to understand that you were lying for a reason… and she always loved you very much."

"She loved you too, Sixer," Stan pointed out to Ford, who then just shrugged. "Stanford, I'm serious, Mom loved you just as much as me."

"Then why didn't I ever receive a letter?" Ford bitterly asked, his tears still flowing but now his voice hardened with anger. "She always doted on you more because of Pa- where are you going, Stanley?" he had stopped midsentence as Stan walked out of the room.

A few minutes later Stan returned with a small box. He grunted with effort as he lifted the box to put on the counter next to the register, disturbing Orion from his slumber. The Grimm kitten mewed with annoyance as it swatted at the box before jumping off. Stan ignored the kitten and lifted the lid to the box revealing that it was filled to the brim with letters.

"Stan…"

"You think she never sent you letters? She sent letters all the time…" Stan told him, gesturing to the box. "I never opened them, because they were for you. These letters would come every couple of weeks… then one day they just stopped… the newest is on top."

Ford went and got the letter on top and tore it open. His eyes searched the paper for a date. "September of 1999…" he breathed. "That had to be the month that she had passed…" Ford's eyes then glistened with new tears. "When did these start coming in?"

"A few weeks after I had faked my death."

"She never stopped writing… even though they were ignored…" Ford then went behind the counter and sat in the bar stool that was there for Wendy or someone to sit in while taking care of the customers. "Shit… I feel terrible…"

Stan clasped a hand to Ford's shoulder. "You and me both, brother, you and me both…"

For the rest of the day, Ford opened the letters in the living room as Stan put on the few home videos they had of the two as children. Stan found the videos that focused more on their mother and them, the two sitting in the living room as Ford opened each letter.

Stan had been used to tears coming from Ford since he was severely bullied as a child, but in their old men ages, he rarely saw Ford cry. But as Ford read each letter, the old man gave up trying to hold in and was crying fully. Stan had even read a few of the letters, each one asking how Ford was doing and how proud she was of him pursuing his dream of being a scientist and making great strides in his research.

The two elder twins sat in the living room, laughing at the videos of themselves as children and crying over the letters. Eventually they fell asleep, them leaning their backs into the chair. At one point Ford and Stan had bonked heads, but it didn't disturb their slumber and they stayed the way they were, almost looking childlike like in old photos of them as kids.

In the morning when Dipper and Mabel went downstairs, they saw their great uncles sleeping peacefully, surrounded by letters the sound of the machine used to watch their videos hummed soundly as if it were a lullaby. They left their uncles at bay, both trying to be as quiet as possible.

In their sleep, both Stanford and Stanley slept soundly with smiles on their faces.

A/N: Hey everyone! I thought since in the past I made a chapter about Wendy having a letter from her mother, I thought Stan should get one too. I focused more on Stan's letter since during the events of "Beyond the Portal" he had contact with his mother although posing as Ford, it was a way saying that even though he lied to her over the years that she still loved Stan very much.

The Ford part was a reference to "Beyond the Portal" where Ford had told Layla that he sometimes thought as a child that his mother preferred Stan over him. The letters were to prove that was not the case.

I hope you guys enjoyed some feels to this short story! Thanks for reading as always!

~Skye Hendersen~