I've been gone for a while but I'm back! And I'm back with not one but TWO chapters. If you have any questions leave them in the comments, I don't remember any questions from back in October but if I missed any important ones leave them again and I will get to them in chapter 17, which I am so so excited for and that I think you'll be excited for, too.

"Stanley, are you busy tomorrow?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Busy with what?"

"Cary and I are going fishing while we have the chance. Things are going to be pretty crazy for the rest of the month, October is always busy for the Shack."

"I see." Ford frowned to himself.

"Why?"

"Well, it would have been nice, having backup."

"Are you going on some dangerous mission? Take Wendy."

"I wish it was a dangerous mission. No, it's, uh… I'm going to have tea, with Fiddleford."

Stan burst out laughing, "You need backup for a tea party?"

"It isn't like that! I broke his mind, Stanley!"

"Didn't he forgive you for that?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"I don't know why people think you're the smart one. In less than four weeks we'll be out of here, Ford. Seize the day. Carpe the Diem. If you care about him then you have to make time for him."

"I do. I will. Thank you, Stan."

"Mm-hm. Just don't interrupt my fishing day and we're even."

"Deal."

Cary was up even earlier than Stan, decked out in a bucket hat that said "Care" and an armful of fishing gear. She was also wearing a fishing vest and the red flannel that Wendy gave her.

"Ready to go, Carebear?"

"Yup."

"Let me just put a sign on the door that we're closed for fishing and then we'll go."

"There's no one to run the Shack today?"

"Soos and his Abuelita are thrifting today and Ford has a tea party with McGucket. Respectfully, I do not trust Wendy to run the Shack by herself."

"...That's probably smart. Would you trust me to run the Shack by myself?"

"Maybe. But who's going to be the Oracle if you're running the whole Shack?"

"Gompers?"

Stan laughed, "Yeah, good one. I've already tried to get that goat to perform and it won't."

Cary laughed.

"Come on, we've got to get to the lake before anyone else."

"It's pretty cold out," Stan pointed out, "there might not be many other people fishing today."

"More fish for us, then," Cary said, "We should still get going."

"I'm going as fast as I can," Stan said, noticeably and purposefully slowing down.

Cary playfully glowered at him.

"Come on, old man," Cary said, giving him a gentle shove.

"That's no way to speak to your elders," Stan laughed, picking up the pace a little.

Cary was impatient until they reached the lake. Only then did he feel at ease. There had been no catastrophes and their fishing day was underway.

"First, we need to hit up Tate and Backle's Bait and Tackle," Cary said.

"Lead the way." Stan loved Cary's enthusiasm. He would miss fishing days when he was traveling with Ford, but he knew that when he came back there would be lots more time for Pines Family Fishing Trips.

Cary headed inside the familiar old store, breathing in the scent of fish and worms and sweat. This was one of her favorite places in the world.

"Hi, Mr. Backle. Where's Tate today?"

"He's got a family thing today."

"Oh, he must be doing that thing with Ford and McGucket," Stan said.

Cary gave Stan a quizzical look.

"I'll tell you about it in a bit, sweetheart."

Cary wondered if this had anything to do with the secret that they knew Stan was keeping from them. Maybe the family fishing trip wasn't the right time to bring that up…

"Come back and see us soon," Backle said, after getting Cary their usual bait set-up.

"Alright, we have the bait, we have our rods, we have our snacks, I brought the joke book… Time to fish."

Cary grinned and settled into Stan's little boat and they fished in silence for a few minutes, soaking in the stillness of the early morning air.

"Hey," Cary said after a while. "What's Uncle Ford doing today?"

"Old Man McGucket used to be Ford's lab partner. Ford is trying to rebuild that relationship before he leaves."

"Did something happen?" Cary guessed.

"A lot happened. I'll let Ford tell you about it, but Ford blames himself for breaking McGucket's mind. It's going to take Ford longer to forgive himself than it will for McGucket to forgive Ford."

"Oh." Cary studied the water, wondering what to say.

What slipped out was not what they intended. "Dad? Are you keeping secrets from me?"

Stan shrugged helplessly, "I don't know how to answer that, Cary, some things aren't my secrets to say."

"But we promised we'd be honest with each other. So if there's something big, that you're keeping back because you think you're protecting me… I'd like to know what it is."

Stan imagined Cary morphing into the beast. Not exactly ideal for family fishing day.

"Your Uncle Ford and I haven't told you something because we agreed it didn't matter. It's not so much to protect you as it is to protect our family from changing any more than it has."

"Our family is strong," Cary said, "I'm strong. But we need to keep that solid foundation by being honest with each other."

An idea lit up in Cary's mind, the other secret Handsel had hinted at.

"In fact, I'll go first. I never told you, but I'm in love with Wendy. I don't know what that makes me, I just know that I've never had feelings for anyone the way I have feelings for her. I don't know why I never told you, but I guess I didn't have the confidence to be honest about myself until recently."

Stan nodded seriously, looking at Cary with love and acceptance in his gaze.

"I may have screwed some guys," He said casually, "Back when I was an aimless grifter. I was a love machine, er, no. I guess I was just lonely. But anyway, love is love, Care. And so I'm not going to judge you for loving who you love." He didn't tell her that he already knew, he didn't need to.

"That's not your secret though, is it?" Cary said, surprisingly not that surprised that her dad had flings with guys as well as girls.

"It is not."

Cary leaned back in the boat.

"The fish aren't biting and we have all day. What's up?"

Stan folded his hands in his lap.

"I just don't want this to change things."

"It won't. It can't. Team Pines doesn't back down or run away."

Stan cracked a smile. "Right. Well, we had no way of knowing this until you got back from the Boiling Isles, but it seems like when Ford was on his trip through the multiverse he also met Edalyn. His relationship with her was as brief as my relationship with her, but it seems like there was a relationship. And it could have resulted in you. My brother could be your real dad."

Cary sat in stunned silence for a long time, but they didn't appear to be angry. The beast was being kept at bay.

"But it doesn't matter," Stan said when he realized Cary wasn't in the headspace to respond. "Biologically, it could've been either of us. But I raised you, kiddo. So, unless you want to take a DNA test to be sure, I'd like it if you still called me dad and called Ford your Uncle Ford. Uh… What would you like to do?"

"Nothing has to change," Cary said quietly, feeling a little shaken. "I'm lucky you want to be my dad, whether or not you really are."

"Of course I want to be your dad! You're the coolest kid in the multiverse."

Cary smiled weakly, trying to think of anything more to say.

"I want to talk to Uncle Ford about all this, later, but for now… For now, we can talk about something else."

"Well, you told me about your crush, I guess I never told you about the spider monster who almost became your stepmom."

"Whoa, really?"

"Nah, she was gonna eat me. She was hot, though."

"I am really glad you never gave me or Soos dating advice," Cary said.

"Well, my dating advice hasn't worked for anyone yet, but I've still got time to turn it around," Stan said, thinking about how his twin brother was on a kind of sort of date right now, while he and Cary drowned worms.

Ford felt like he was drowning himself, practically suffocating as he got dolled up to go see Fiddleford. So much had changed in the past 30 years. He was not prepared to confront that part of his past. But he couldn't afford to let Fiddleford slip away again.

He was actually put at ease by the sight of Fiddleford's son. He'd never met the kid, who had been knee-high to a grasshopper last time Ford and Fiddleford had been on speaking terms and was now a tall, silent, and judgmental adult.

But even being judged by Tate McGucket was better than knowing he'd be repairing ancient history alone.

"I'm glad you made it, old friend," Fiddleford said with a smile that pierced through Ford's heart.

"I'm glad you invited me," Ford said, trying to keep his voice from trembling.

"We both know how things ended between us. I was hoping we could… Start over. Find a new normal. As far as I'm concerned, there's no bad blood between us."

"But I broke your brain," Ford pointed out rather bluntly.

Fiddleford laughed sadly, "You don't get all the blame for that. We both did horrible things to try to change or run away from reality."

Tate, who had been silently observing, let out a quiet snort.

Fiddleford glanced at his son and sighed, "I'm afraid I even hurt my own family."

Ford raised his teacup, "I'll drink to that. If Stan hadn't saved me, I would have never had the chance to make things right with my family, or to see how big it's gotten."

He smiled a little, thinking about how bizarre it still seemed to him that his twin brother was a dad now. And then he was reminded about the what-ifs.

"I might have a kid," Ford said off the cuff.

Fiddleford blinked in surprise.

"Didn't really picture you settling down and starting a family."

"No," Ford agreed. "For the past 30 years, there hasn't been anyone worth settling down with." He met Fiddleford's eyes before glancing away.

"But I had a few interdimensional flings. Turns out there's more than one way into and out of the multiverse, and, unbeknownst to me, Stan and I had a fling with the same witch. And then Cary was born."

Silent Tate lurched forward now, "Cary Pines is your daughter?"

"She could be my child, yes. Stan and I decided it was best not to tell her just yet. He's always been her dad, it doesn't make sense to shake things up. But I wanted to tell someone… I wanted to tell my closest friend," Ford said, offering Fiddleford a smile.

"It certainly comes as a surprise," Fiddleford said, though he returned the smile.

"I'll say," Tate snorted.

"Do you know Cary?" Ford asked.

"She's our best customer at the bait and tackle shop. She disappeared for the summer, but now she's back and she might have a mad scientist as a father. I hope for her sake that no one else gets hurt because of you."

That was the kind of guilt and blame Ford had been expecting. It was kind of nice to be right.

"Tate," Fiddleford said, "You can't blame him for what happened to me."

"I'm not, I'm blaming both of you. But at least you apologized."

Ford took a deep breath, "You're right. I'm so sorry I took your father away, in every sense of the word. I've hurt a lot of people and I don't expect you to forgive me or ever trust me. But Cary has people far better than me looking out for her. So I know she'll be okay."

"Hm…"

"Ford is important to me. Please try to forgive him the way I have," Fiddleford said, pleading gently with his son.

"Forgiveness takes time," Tate said, "But I'll extend my trust if you tell Cary that you slept with her mom."

"Fine. But I'm not going to say it like that."

Tate nodded and stood up, deciding that his dad was probably safe with the mad scientist and giving them some privacy.

"Well," Fiddleford said, taking Ford's hand and catching him by surprise, "it seems like we have a lot to talk about."

Ford and Cary were both a little on edge when they sat down to talk. Stan was in the kitchen, frying the fish they'd caught and minding his own damn business, and Soos and his Abuelita weren't back from their errands yet, so it was just the two of them and Gompers on the porch.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Before Cary even had a chance to bring up the great dad debate Ford had pulled them aside and said he needed to talk.

"There's something your dad and I have kept from you," Ford said, feeling genuinely uneasy.

"I know."

"I- what? What do you mean you know?"

"Oracle, remember? It's hard to keep secrets from someone who sees the future."

"Really?"

"Nah. Dad told me this morning."

"Oh. And… You're not upset about it?"

Cary shrugged. "Maybe a little."

"I'm not great with feelings, but if you want to talk about this I think we should."

"I just have one question."

"Alright," Ford nodded, hoping that this question wasn't related to his very brief relationship with Edalyn.

"Would you be disappointed?"

"I'm not sure if I understand the question."

"If we actually did the test and I turned out to be your kid and you had to be my dad would you be disappointed?"

"No, Cary, of course not… But I would be terrified. All my life the risks I've taken chasing breakthroughs have hurt people and pushed my loved ones away from me. I don't want you ever to go through that. So I'm glad… Well, I'm glad I never had a chance to fuck up your life. And I'm so very proud I get to be your uncle because really, you're amazing. You get that from Stan."

Cary smiled a little. "Well, I'm glad you're my uncle. I'm glad you're back in this dimension. And I'm glad you're not pushing people away anymore."

"Yeah, me too."

Soos and Abuelita pulled up and so Ford stood and jerked his head towards the door.

"Come on, dinner is almost ready."

Cary stood as well, waiting for Soos and Abuelita.

"Find anything good at the thrift store?"

"Yeah, I got you something, actually."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Soos passed Cary something wrapped in a plastic bag. "You mentioned you left some stuff in the Boiling Isles, so I got you a present."

Cary unwrapped her prize, revealing a kind of sad-looking stuffed duck with a mallard pattern. It was missing one eye and had a rip in the tail region.

"Oh, nice, thank you! I'll give this guy some TLC and then start thinking up names."

"I know he might not be as nice as the one you lost, he just really looked like he needed a home."

"No, he's perfect, really. Today's been a weird day so I really appreciate the gift." Even if it was a little… Cursed.

Weird place to end a chapter I know, but we'll circle back to this duck guy. Meanwhile, we're reaching a really fun and cool section of the story- Halloween. A lot is about to happen.