The Naming of Names
"Don't fuss over me that way, man!" Wendy said with a laugh. She and her husband were bringing the twins home—and from the way Dipper acted, you would have thought the move as at least a couple of thousand miles instead of just up the road from the Mystery Shack.
"Take it easy," Dipper said.
"She's so sweet!" Mabel cooed. "Wait, this is the sister, right?"
"I've got her brother," Dipper said. "Do you need help getting out of the car—?"
"I got this, Dip," Wendy said. She got out under her own power and said, "Mabes, let me carry my daughter inside, OK?"
"Aww." But Mabel kissed the little girl's forehead and carefully handed her to her mother.
"Looks like everyone's here," Teek said.
Dipper took a deep breath. "Thanks for cleaning up the place for this."
"Lorena and Sheila did most of it," Teek said. "I'll go get the door."
It was a perfect day for the youngest Pines to be introduced to their new home, bright and warm and still. They were now three days old and had spent those days first by being born and then by staying with their mom in the guest room of the Mystery Shack, where Wendy had gone when it became clear that not even an Agency helicopter could get her to the maternity hospital in time. Fortunately, as well as brief, the delivery had been pretty easy for her.
When they'd left the Shack that morning, Dipper saw that the Shack parking lot was full of a great many familiar vehicles. And just as they started out, Soos had driven the tram back into the lot and had caught a ride uphill with Stan and Sheila.
Teek opened the door and said, "They're home!"
The crowd gathered round. Everyone had been to Dipper's and Wendy's home before, but—not all at the same time. Both Grunkles and their wives were there, and Mr. and Mrs. Pines, and Manly Dan and his wife Ruby (though not his sons—they would come later, Dan explained. He was sort of a crowd all by himself, so that wasn't too surprising. And McGucket and Mayellen were there, and Abuelita, Soos, and Melody. The room was crowded.
"Oh!" Mrs. Pines said. "They're darling!"
"Redheads!" Dan rumbled, grinning through his beard.
"Yeah, but they got pink Pines noses!" Stan said, matching his grin.
Mabel had seen to it that the twins each had an oversized bassinet and onesies, little sleepers, in blue and pink. The babies didn't seem very impressed. They lay with their hands beneath their chins, snoozing peacefully and looking serious the way that all newborns do.
Everyone had to gather and coo and ooh and ahh. Stan offered a toast to the new arrivals. And then Dipper said, "I think the time has come. We haven't told anyone their names yet—"
"Mabel and Waggles!" Mabel yelled.
"No, no, no," Wendy said. "Sorry, Mabes. We thought really long and hard about what to call the twins."
"And the names are on the birth certificates," Dipper said firmly. "So it's too late to change them now!"
"So what are the names?" Alex Pines asked. "Don't keep us hanging!"
With a broad smile, Wendy said, "Everyone, say hello to Daniel Tyrone Pines—"
Dipper, matching her smile, finished—"And Amanda Wendy Pines."
The End
