Merry Christmas to all. And a happy new year.

Holiday Love

Chapter 5

Christmas day: a wonderful, magical time when family and friends come together, giving gifts and love.

It also happened to be the Pines family's first Christmas in Gravity Falls. Though like every other Christmas that the family had had since Mabel was born, the youthful and energetic girl was bringing joy, love and excitement throughout the Pines home all through the day. She got up bright and early, waking everyone up in the process. Making a fresh pot of coffee and baking a fresh batch of delicious/sugary Christmas cookies for breakfast. Then when the rest of her family was out of bed, including the grunkles, she would eagerly distribute the presents under the fabulously decorated Christmas tree. Everyone would take turns, opening up their gift, with Mabel tearing the wrapping paper to shreds and nearly destroying the boxes that her gifts were in.

It was a wonderful morning, and everyone was thankful for their gifts.

Stan received a fresh pair of brass knuckles. Ford was given a brand-new microscope. Dipper got the new Gamebox console with several new games included. Luke and Elizabeth were each given a pair of matching slippers that said Mom and Dad on them. Mabel got a pack of different coloured yarns. Waddles received a deluxe pet bed. And from Mabel to everyone else, they all got brand new, home-knit sweaters; each one fitting their respective personalities.

After all the presents were opened, Elizabeth had expected her son to fire up the new game console right away. Instead, he went over to the side window and looked out past the snowy yard towards the Northwest house. He'd been doing that for days now. Ever since the last day of school, where he'd had his last interaction with Pacifica.

The mother Pines felt bad for her son. She knew about the mistake he made during the party at the Mystery Shack last week but didn't think he should be suffering like this. And while she liked Pacifica and, like her daughter, was hoping she and her son would hook up, right now she wasn't too pleased with the young Northwest girl.

"She really needs to hear him out," she said to Grunkle Stan.

"Believe me Northwests are stubborn," Stan argued. "I've known that girl for years, and she can be a pain in the ass. I was surprised when she started acting nice around people, and even more so when she let the townsfolk into her former mansion during that huge party last year."

Having overhead their little talk, Mabel decided to chime in and defend her potential future sister-in-law.

"C'mon Mom, Grunkle Stan. Pacifica just took Dipper's slipup the wrong way. Give her time and I know she'll come around. And the next thing you know, bam, they'll be making your grandbabies."

Both mother and Grunkle chuckled at this.

"I hope Dipper's at least out of college when that happens," Elizabeth said.

"Knowing Diptholomew, he'll be out of college before he's twenty," Stan commented.

Elizabeth was about to respond with an agreement to this when the doorbell rang.

Christmas was supposed to be a fun time; a happy time. Yet Dipper couldn't help feeling down. He'd snuck over to the Northwest's home and dropped off the present for Pacifica yesterday, barely avoiding being seen. He watched from a distance as Pacifica came out, saw the gift and took it inside her house. Then there was silence on her end. She didn't come over, call, or email. Dipper had wanted to go back over to her house and see if she'd opened the gift, or at least read the note, but Mabel had encouraged him to wait and let Pacifica take her time and come on her own.

It made sense, but still, Dipper didn't like waiting knowing there was a real possibility that she wouldn't forgive him. He dreaded the idea of her coming over just to throw the gift back at him and say it was too late. Though he knew she wasn't that cold, at least not anymore.

Then he heard the door ring.

"Dipper, sweaty, can you get that?" his mother called out to him from the kitchen.

Reluctantly, Dipper got up from the window and over to the front door. When he opened it, his eyes widened, and his heart stopped. Standing before him was Pacifica Northwest, all bundled up in a hot-pink scarf, jacket, boots, and hat, carrying a massive gift bag in one of her arms.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," Dipper replied.

There was a long silence that followed before Dipper noticed something familiar hanging around her neck.

"Is that…?"

"Yep," she replied. "I'm… I'm sorry for the way I've been treating you. Yes, you fucked up. But it was an honest mistake, one that happened after I sprung some very deep stuff on you without so much as a warning."

Her forgiveness made Dipper smile. "It's alright," he replied. "I'm sorry too. I do love you. More than as a friend. I shouldn't have called you just that. And I'm sorry for what happened with Tiffany-" Pacifica put a finger over his lips, silencing him.

"I'm willing to let that go as long as it never… happens… again!"

"Gulp… I promise you; I won't ever let her come anywhere near me."

"Good," Pacifica smiled back. "Now then, aren't you going to invite me in? After all, it's cold out here, and these presents are starting to get heavy."

"What…? Oh yeah, um… come on in," he said, stepping out of the way to allow Pacifica to enter.

By this time, the rest of the family had gathered by the entrance. And while Mabel's eyes were lit with excitement and anticipation, both the parents and grunkles were a bit skeptical, considering what had been going on between Dipper and Pacifica in the last week.

Their crossed arms, and steady gazes on Pacifica made her feel a little nervous, and a tad bit unwelcome.

"Merry Christmas," she greeted.

"And a merry Christmas to you too," Mabel greeted back.

The adults were silent for a moment until Elizabeth spoke up. "I take it this means the rift between you and my son has mended?"

Both Dipper and Pacifica nodded their heads in response. "Yes, Mrs. Pines," Pacifica said.

"Darn it!" Stan cursed. The old con then pulled out his wallet, took several dollar bills from it, and handed the cash over to Ford.

"I'm just going to ignore that because it's Christmas," Dipper said reluctantly.

"Same," Pacifica added.

"I'll consider that as an extra Christmas present from the both of you," Stan replied.

"Speaking of presents," Pacifica said, raising her gift bag. "I brought gifts for everyone."

"Oh you shouldn't have," Luke said.

"Hey, it's the least I could do after Mabel invited me."

Moments later, Pacifica had passed out the gifts she'd brought and everyone had unwrapped them. Elizabeth got a glass bird, which she loved. Luke got a mug that said, "I love Computers." Stan got an envelope with cash in it; more than enough to cover what he'd just given to his twin. Ford received a custom pair of cloves that had six fingers for his unique hands. Mabel got some chocolate, while Waddles received pet treats. Last but not least, Dipper was given the new Crossword Extreme Gamebox game.

"Thank you, Pacifica. You're the best!" Dipper said eagerly, which made her blush.

"No problem," she replied.

"As it happens, I have another gift for you," he said, handing her a rectangular shaped box wrapped in reindeer Christmas paper.

Pacifica was surprised. "Wow, two gifts. You sure know how to make a girl feel special."

"Well, you are special to me," Dipper replied.

Again, Pacifica blushed. She then unwrapped the gift; her eyes lighting up eagerly when she saw what it was. "Is… is that?" she stuttered.

"The new Bloodcraft Deluxe Gamebox game?" Dipper answered. "Yes, yes, it is. I knew you were looking forward to it coming out, so I went ahead and preordered it months in advance. Merry Christmas."

Pacifica didn't know what to say. She'd been trying to buy it herself, but all attempts had failed for one reason after another. And it wasn't like she could use her family's connections as most were gone after the loss of most of their wealth. Yet here it was, in her arms; unopened and just waiting to be played.

In response, she flung herself right into Dipper and wrapped him in her arms in a tight, yet warm embrace.

Touched by this, Dipper hugged her back. "I take it that you like the gift?" he said.

Adjusting herself so that she was facing Dipper while still hugging him, she replied, "Like it? I love it! It's the best gift ever! Thank you, Dipper. Thank you. Thank you."

This made Dipper blush. "Wanna play it?" he asked. "I just happen to have gotten the new Gamebox from my parents today."

"Sweet!" Pacifica replied. "Let's get this baby fired up."

They played for hours, simply enjoying the game and each other's company. It was sweet, though Mabel would've preferred a bit more love-dovey stuff; like some good old making out. Eventually, Dipper's mother unplugged their game, telling them it was time for Christmas dinner.

The two, despite reluctance washed up, and gathered with everyone else at the dinner table, enjoying some classic Christmas turkey. Pacifica had to admit, Dipper and Mabel's mother cooked a mean turkey. Way better than what the Northwests' former chiefs could prepare, and they'd studied in some of the most pristine cooking schools in the world. When Pacifica expressed this, Elizabeth nearly cried. At this point, she'd all but forgotten the way Pacifica had been treating her son lately.

After dinner, the family took a break before dessert. Pacifica decided to take Dipper somewhere a bit more private, where they could talk. Unbeknownst to her, the room she picked happened to have a mistletoe, and both she and Dipper were standing right under it.

"We never talked about where we stood now… now that we mended things between us," she said, feeling nervous.

Truth be told, Dipper was also feeling a little awkward, as this conversation was something he'd been anticipating for a while.

"I know…" he said. "Listen, I, truly, do like you. Like, like, like you. Heck, as I already said earlier, I even love you," he confessed. This made both him and Pacifica blush.

"And as I already said during the Christmas party at the Mystery Shack," Pacifica said. "I love you too. Now, the question remains, what should we do next?"

"Well…" Dipper stuttered. "We could go out," he suggested. "Become a couple and be together for as long as we want."

It was something Pacifica had been wanting for a long time. However, instead of outright saying yes, there was something she had to know first. "But do you want that?" she asked. "Or is that what you just expect we're supposed to do?"

Good questions. And while Dipper knew the answer, it was still hard to say it out loud. Then he noticed the mistletoe above them. Taking the initiative, Dipper lunged towards Pacifica and kissed her on the lips.

It came as a surprise to her, but soon she started to kiss back, enjoying the passion she felt from Dipper's lips as she returned the love.

When they released each other, both had looks of passion and lust on their faces and in their eyes. They knew in their minds and felt in their hearts that they were more than just friends. They were in love. Without needing words to express themselves, they embraced each other as boyfriend and girlfriend.

"Merry Christmas Pacifica."

"Merry Christmas Dipper."

Again, I'd like to wish all who are reading this story a Happy Holidays, including a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Also, heads up, an epilogue will conclude this story, which should be out hopefully by New Year's Eve.

Special thanks to FanFiction net writers Dipifica Writer and katergator, whose own works gave inspiration for parts of this chapter.