Slices of Life and Family

by bluefrostyy

PART 3 of The life of Sebastian Pines! (Read that first, I doubt you'll understand what's going on) The story follows Seb's life after Gravity Falls. Bill was defeated, but the Pines family still have thousands of adventures together. Old characters will come back, new characters will make an appearance, all to accompany Seb through his journey as a human (Cowritten with Mizuuma)

61. Chp 60: Birthdays! In more ways than one

Chapter 60

Another negative was angrily tossed to the trash can.

Dipper watched Pacifica storm away from the bathroom. "Paz…"

"Just- Don't talk to me right now."

Dipper ran a hand through his hair and let out a heavy sigh. Why wasn't anything working?

He gave her space, knowing she needed to calm down, before joining her on the couch. She silently buried her face into his chest and sniffled. She's been off her pills for almost a year now! When was her body supposed to catch up with that information?!

What if she damaged herself with them?

"Hey, it's ok, Paz. We… we can try again. And keep on trying." Dipper stroked her hair.

"There's something wrong with me." Pacifica sniffled. "Mom never managed to have any other kids besides me, even though I know she and dad were trying for a son for years. And now I can't even–"

"There's nothing wrong with you. Sometimes, things just happen." Dipper rubbed her back. "We can talk to your doctor. Maybe there's something we can do."

Paz rubbed her nose in a very unladylike fashion and nodded. "Yeah…maybe."

-.-

Max had his face laying on Mabel's belly. His tail wagged side to side as he sighed in content. "I…I can't believe we'll be parents." He whispered.

"I know, right?" Mabel had her eyes closed, scratching Max's head with one hand and scratching Waddle's back with another. She looked down at the green eyed man. "Dr. Allie and Dylan said you'd go crazy with the pregnancy. Is that an eix leel thing? Going cray-cray when you're going to be a dad?" She giggled.

Max sighed. "Well…you know how humans grow humans in your bellies? Eix leel grow the eggs inside them for a few months and then the females lay them around late fall or the beginning of winter. Males go through something, um, like a nesting heat, which serves him to keep the eggs warm during winter until they hatch."

Mabel frowned. "I thought your species hated the cold. Why do you lay your eggs during winter?"

Max blinked. "...I…well, I was always told that the weaklings are discarded by nature and only the strongest babies will be born."

Mabel pouted and hugged her belly. "That sounds mean." Max chuckled.

"And, well, when males go through nesting heat their temperature rises."

"Like a heater!"

Max nodded in agreement. "Yup. They become very aggressive towards anyone who gets too close to his eggs, some don't even let their mate approach the nest. It lasts even months after the babies are born and they learn to regulate their temperature with the environment…"

Mabel let out a soft 'oooh'ed'. "So that's what the doc meant when she said you'd go crazy… And that explains why you've been feeling super warm lately."

Max rubbed his forehead. "I don't know how this will translate when you have the baby inside you and I won't be able to see or keep it warm." He pouted. He knew he just learnt about the pregnancy days ago, but he was already feeling the bubbly feeling of need to cuddle them. He'd have to talk to Dr. Dylan about how he dealt with it. "I…It's kind of reassuring that I still have some eix leel reactions in this body though." Max put a hand over his chest, just where the seal was.

Mabel kissed his forehead. "...It's babies." She finally said.

"Huh?"

"You said baby…but…Dr. Allie said it's two of them." Mabel whispered excitedly. Max reached for the photo he left in his drawer and pulled up to see. "So, these two spots are…" Mabel nodded. "Twins!"

Max stroked the photo with so much care with his thumb. Wow…

"We should start thinking of names! Oh, we could try finding something that sounds like an eix leel name, what do you think?" She rubbed her still flat belly. "I'll make them cute little blankets! And socks! Oh cute little socks! And matching hats!"

Max, curled up around her with his burning tail over her belly, growled softly. "We should name them when they're born. It's bad luck to name them before." Max curled even tighter. It was an eix leel tradition, partly because of the 'many eggs don't survive the winter' thing.

"Oh don't be so negative, sweetie." Mabel stroked his unbraided hair. "I'm realistic, it's barely been a month." "You're a buzzkill." She laughed. "Oh, we gotta tell our family too."

Max hummed. Right. Oh! He should contact his sister to tell her! He bet Milai would be excited to hear she'll be an aunt, even to a human baby. Oh! And Mermando!

-.-

Riley finally clocked out from work and sighed tiredly. Almost instinctively, she walked to the front, waved at the receptionist, avoided the last group of tourists and entered the Shack. They had an important day today!

"Hi Riley." Melody smiled.

"Hi, Melody." Riley waved cheerfully as she met with the little ones that had stolen her heart. It wasn't hard either. She loved kids, and the octuplets and Alzamirano kids were just so fun to be with.

"Riley!"

Nick clung to her leg and the former Time Officer walked, dragging the blue dressed child with her.

"What are you doing?"

"Homework."

"Ooh~ From school? Are classes hard?"

Ira rolled her eyes. "Our school doesn't give homework until you are in big kid classes. This is daddy's homework."

"What?" Riley couldn't help but laugh. "Bad daddy for giving you homework!"

"Yeah, he is a bad daddy!" Gula complained. "I'm bored!"

Riley sat with her to check on her math exercises. All of them crowded around her "Hey, you're doing great."

"Check mine!" "Mine!" Riley held their papers and nodded seriously as if she was revising work documents. "All very good!"

They all squealed. "Can we watch TV now?" Gloria pouted. Superbia nodded eagerly.

"Hmmm Sure why not." The kids showed her what cartoon they were allowed and Riley decided to get them and herself a snack before sitting with them to watch a cartoon of a blue dog.

"Hey, are you done with your exercises?" They turned around to see Ford finally emerging from who knows where.

"Look at him, kids. Bad daddy is back, attack!"

Ford blinked, "Huh? What–" before he was swarmed and dragged to the ground. Riley giggled. It's what he gets for giving out homework! Geez!

Ford survived the attack barely. The kids eventually got bored and went back to watching cartoons. Riley snorted and helped Ford stand up. He glared at her. "Why?"

"Because you are boring, Ford. Let them just relax. They don't have much longer before they have homework for real." She leaned against him, hands resting on his ample chest.

"We will discuss this later. But, kids, please take a seat. We have something important to tell you." Ford asked his horde of kids.

"Wait, I'm here!" Yun ran over and held the ginger's hand. Now that they've been dating all together, they thought it was time to officially tell the kiddos.

The kids quickly obeyed, excited for the news. "What is it?!" Gloria gasped. "Are we getting a pet?!" Nick roared. "Are we getting a baby brother or sister?!" Elizabeth squealed.

"No, no, -what?! No!" Ford exclaimed, rather horrified at Elizabeth's suggestion. Yun giggled. "No, nuggets…"

Ford thought on how to address this in a way young kids would understand. "You know how Riley's been hanging out a lot with Yun and I?" They nodded. "Well… Riley is dating Yun and I, and we want her to be part of our family as well."

The kids processed the information.

"So you don't love mommy anymore?" The youngest of the octuplets asked in a whisper, reaching for her sister's hand for comfort.

Ford winced. Fuck! "No! Of course I do love your Mom, but I also love Riley."

"Why?" Acedia asked. "I thought Mommy is the girl you love… and Baba is the boy you love…"

Yun sighed "Well, sometimes adults like each other…Riley is very important to me too, Daddy likes her, and I also like her. She makes daddy and I happy so we want to be family. All of us. Together. Because I love Ford and Riley. Ford loves me and Riley. Riley loves me and Ford."

They could practically hear the engines churning in the 6 year old's heads.

Ford glanced at the awkward redhead and squeezed her hand comfortingly.

"Um…" The kids considered it. The red haired woman was indeed nice to them, she helped them with stuff and played with them.

Riley crouched to be eye level with the kids. "I really love your parents and you guys are super important to me. I promise I'm not going to be stealing your daddy away from your mom. He still loves her. He just loves me too."

Invidia gazed up at Ford, "So…you still love Mom?"

"Yes, of course. Very much." Ford nodded.

"And Baba?"

"Just as much."

"And Riley is now family?"

"Yup."

"Oh…ok!" Isaac nodded, like that was that. The octuplets smiled. It was that simple.

"So we have…a new mommy now?" For the kids, it meant they had 2 daddies and 2 mommies now and that was awesome!

"...Uh, yes…Yeah, you can say that." Ford nodded.

"Oohhh. Cool." The chorus of understanding was followed by sudden disinterest in Ford's romantic life as it didn't affect them negatively, and they went back to their more interesting cartoon.

Riley squeezed his hand. Ford let out a sigh of relief, glad he fixed the situation, but didn't really notice Riley's blue eyes were huge. He told them she was their… He told them…

But she wasn't! She'll never be…

(Dating Ford and Bill was one thing, but being the childrens' mother was–)

"I-I should go work on my thesis, I'll go to my dorm." She stood up quickly.

"But you can stay…I can help you search for literature after DD & more D."

"No…Not today. Sorry." She picked up her jacket and quickly rushed to the door.

Ford wasn't sure on WHAT, but he knew he messed up somehow.

Ford gave Yun a helpless look.

"What? I dunno what upset her either." Yun frowned. "I think she wants some space for now. I'll ask her about this later, once she's calmed down."

"...ok…" Ford sighed, running a hand through his hair.

-.-

The rest of the day went normally, and soon it was time for bedtime. Which was when the war started.

Riley was much calmer than her sudden panic earlier, but didn't seem to want to talk about it. She instead laughed at the kids as they ran to avoid bedtime. She was familiar with it by now, she even participated a few times and she was more than happy to feel included. She combed and dried the little one's curls, put on their satin bonnets to keep their curls protected, or supervised teeth washing before tucking into bed...

She was honestly happy and grateful to be included in their domestic life… Sitting with a little girl and combing her hair, carefully following the routine so it wasn't too fluffy the next morning… was something her mom did with her, and something that she thought she'd never experience.

Today she was asked to care for Jane and Emmy as Yun dealt with the other kids, and Ford was with Lux to work through a meltdown caused by bathroom shenanigans.

Caring for the twin girls wasn't as easy as the 2 cheerful sweeties might lead you to believe. They had constant medical checkups and they were in constant pain, plus they had pills for so many things. Many didn't know how strong the girls were, especially Superbia Emmy who was smaller and weaker than her caring sister.

(Yun tried to hide the guilt in her eyes whenever the girls whined about aching. Bill was under the impression that she wasn't allowed to use magic on changing someone on a genetic level. Since she was told by Wanda and Seb years ago that she couldn't magic Zach into a biological male, not until he was 18 and he requested it, she thought the conjoined twins being in pain from the strain of their biology was something that she also wasn't allowed to do anything about, not until the twins were 18. So she worked around it, making painkillers as part of the medicine the twins needed daily.)

(If she had asked Ford, he would have told her she could magic their kids because they were HER children, and she had a right as their mother to do what she could for them. But Bill didn't bother to ask, since she already 'Knew the answer', and Ford himself had not thought about asking, he was under the impression Bill was already doing everything to help. He hadn't considered Bill would just… not use magic to solve a problem.)

(So instead, the twins had many doctor visits, a whole list of medications, and there were talks of surgery once they were older.)

(The way Bill understood it, she wasn't allowed to do anything to help unless it was life threatening.)

(And none of the Pines noticed this, due to them not realizing this was an issue. Because they didn't realize how deeply their words and actions affected Bill's understanding of the 'rules' of this world. The Rules Bill would have to follow to be allowed to remain here.)

"Hey, kiddos." Riley noticed they were in bed already, wearing cute modified pjs. Gloria was reading a book, but Superbia was asleep already.

"Rough day?" Riley sat down to grab their medicines. Gloria looked up and nodded. "I convinced her to play without the chair to be more normal, but it was tiring…It wasn't as much fun anyway." Gloria yawned. "I can take the pills, it'll mix in our tummy anyway."

"Good girl."

As she gulped down the water with the pills, Gloria felt a strain inside herself. "Erbi needs the inhaler."

"O-Oh, ok."

Riley searched for the facemask, attached the inhaler to it and gently put it on top of Superbia's face. She puffed it twice like Ford did and let her breathe the medicine.

Gloria fidgeted, wiggling her toes as Erbi's side remained asleep. "Do you think we will make friends someday?"

"Huh?"

"...Kids at school aren't mean…but we aren't their friends…Our friends from town prefer our siblings too because they run and climb faster."

Riley stroked her long brown hair and then lifted the mask. Superbia was breathing better so she stroked her short brown hair as well.

"I think you're very special. Twins like you don't happen often, y'know?"

Gloria stared tiredly at her 6 fingered hand. "It's even weirder than having 6 fingers…They say we have two heads, they don't even notice our hands."

Riley pulled up the blankets. "You're gonna find mean people everywhere, Gloria. Literally every and anywhen in time. But you'll be ok. You have your awesome twin and siblings, your parents, there's Soos and Melody, Abuelita and Maria, Sabrina and Ernesto, all your aunts and uncles and cousins, and you'll have friends who really love you, and that's so many people who love you. Whatever happens, we'll all be here to love you. And if so many people love you, you'll definitely make friends who will love you too."

Gloria's blue eyes met Riley's serious ones and she nodded slowly, taking in the valuable lesson. Then the 6 year old yawned and snuggled her blankets.

"Heh…Good night, kiddo."

"Night mama Riley … "

The red-haired, who was already leaving, turned to look at the exhausted girls, blue eyes incredibly wide.

Did she just…

She walked slowly towards the living room, where she waited for her partner with her back oddly straight, calm on the outside as a panic forced to the back of her mind fought to return.

The man eventually returned, proud of how he helped Lux calm down all by himself and sat next to Riley so they could keep on debating on Weirdness energy and its electromagnetic properties. "Hold on, I'll bring snacks-"

Ford couldn't stand back up again because Riley dropped her head on his chest, and startled him at the sudden contact. Her eyes immediately welled up with tears and she buried her face in his sweater, breathing hitching as she tried really hard not to cry.

Ford grimaced, did he upset her?! Again?! So fast?! He carefully rubbed her back, having a few years to go from completely clueless to somewhat knowledgeable, in the art of consoling upset people. He used to be good at it with his brothers as kids, he didn't know why he lost that skill…

"…Are you alright? We don't have to talk about that, there's other topics…"

Riley hitched a sob again. "I…I shouldn't be here…I-...You should just stick with Yun instead!"

"Woah. Woah!" Ford had no idea what was going on. His scientific brain told him to collect data. "What happened?"

"She called me mama…" Riley gasped. Ford blinked. "Yun did?"

"What? No. Gloria." Riley deadpanned through her tears.

Ford blinked again. "How is that a problem?"

"I'm– I'm not… "

"Hey," Ford rubbed her back, "It's ok. It just means the kids feel comfortable around you. They love you."

Riley wiped her tears with her hands as she trembled. "You told them I was their mom… but I am Not! I am not their mom! I will never be a mom!" She squeezed her eyes shut.

Ford suddenly understood. "You didn't say anything back then…"

"I couldn't contradict you in front of them…!"

"Oh, I-I'm so sorry! …I wasn't aware this would hurt you…" He regretfully said. He didn't mean it… He just thought…

"I don't want to replace their mother." She whispered.

"You're not." Ford said firmly. "No one is replacing anyone." he held her, "You're just adding to their lives with your presence… Just like you add to mine…" He added softly.

She didn't say anything.

Ford had no idea what else to say. He wasn't really good with communicating his emotions and being all sweet and sappy. How could he even begin to explain the calmness being around her caused him? How natural it was to talk to her, to hold her hands in his, to lay down with her and listen to each other talking about facts literally no one else cared about? He…He loved her… It was different from what he felt with Xin and Yun, but he did. He simply held her as she took deep breaths to calm down.

Yun came in, sighing. "They wanted three stories tonight! Three! I think they're spoiled." She pouted. She stopped and stared at Riley for a few seconds. "...do you need a hug?" She asked slowly.

Riley let out a sob/laugh hybrid. "Maybe? Ford's already giving me one."

Yun sat down with them. "Soooo~ did something happen?" She asked finally, wrapping herself around Riley and Ford for a moment before letting go.

"Gloria called me mama and I'm unsure how to feel?" Riley cringed. "I'm sorry, I swear I didn't mean to…make this happen."

Yun blinked slowly, "Well I'd assume you would be happy? It's nice to be called that. Just means you belong here." She shrugged, not having an issue with it, that Riley could see.

"I felt too happy." Riley complained. ("Hah! Mood!") "That's the problem! They…they aren't mine…I'll never be able to call them mine." More tears welled up in her ears and Ford frowned, panicking. She was an incomplete woman trying to squeeze into their lives and play pretend, this was a mistake…

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'M also freaking out internally every time they call me mommy." Yun laughed, "And of course they're yours too if you're also Parenting them. I just get first dibs."

Ford groaned. Yun!

"Also. You're our partner. They are Ford's and mine. And supposedly we gotta accept all of our partner's stuff. So they're yours now too. It's a relief, actually. Between us three, you spoil them the least." Three stories!

Riley stared. "...you're a very strange person."

"Thanks. I get that a lot."

Ford added. "The octuplets love you… You're important to them… I'm sorry for telling them that without asking. I was too worried thinking about how to explain things to them." He exhaled. "But if you're not comfortable, I'll talk to them, knowing all the data this time. "

Riley considered it. "N-No…I…I–" She wiped her eyes again. "I always wanted to be a mom… just- I get weird every time I think of that because I'll never be one… Or be able to give you kids."

Ford coughed and Yun snorted. "I don't like you because I want babies from you. Heck, I have ENOUGH with them for 2 lifetimes. I love you for you, and your great company."

"And you can be their mom. You don't have to birth them to be one. I don't mind sharing the critters." Yun said jokingly, but very sincere.

Riley snorted and snuggled his chest "Thanks…"

Yun smiled and noticed Ford opened his wide arms for her. She scooted back to the spot next to Riley, purring into her and Ford. The humans fell asleep in the warm pile soon after and Yun watched them fondly.

It was so obvious how much Ford was meant to be loved…even if it wasn't her. But he still loved her for reasons she didn't understand. But she would cling to it. His fault for falling for her! Now she refused to let go!

—-.-

Ford breathed in slowly, steeling himself.

He was sure this would work. Yun had looked over it beforehand. Ford peeled the unicorn hair off to break the barrier and reapplied it. Altered. There were new runes carved into the moonstones. It would keep out Weirdness, but it made an exception for specifically Bill and the kids. Or rather, it made an exception for Yun, Xin and William, who had each given a blood sample to mix with the mercury. Ford had gotten very small blood samples from the children too. There was an extra set of runes specifically to prevent Bill's blood from mutating into a Nightmare, in order for it to be used in this spell.

The new barrier flashed. Ford glanced over at Yun, standing just outside it. She was staring up at it. And then finally, she took a step forward. And… nothing happened. Which… hopefully meant it worked.

Yun gave him a smile.

"So… does that mean you're moving back in?" Ford asked hopefully.

"Ehhh… I still like having my own house. But yeah, I can spend the night in your bed if you really wanna sleep with me that badly." Yun snickered when Ford's face turned red.

"Also, Xin called dibs on being the small spoon."

"What spoon?" Ford had no idea what that meant.

"Oh, you sweet summer child." Yun cooed fondly.

—.-

Zach and Zoe watched both their mom and dad put on some earrings as they got ready for the double date. Sir Bedazzle was in Zoe's lap, biting into a toy.

"Why aren't you inviting Uncle Stan and Aunt Carla, lol." Zoe giggled.

"Because they're busy." Wanda fixed her hair in the mirror and smiled as Seb grabbed a necklace and gently put it around her neck with a kiss.

"Carla has an important shoot, and Stan has some boring board meeting. Heh. Bored meeting!" Seb snickered.

"You'll behave, right?"

"Of course we will!" The twins high fived. The overprotective parents were worried, but it was only gonna be a few hours, and they could call.

The doorbell rang and Sir Bedazzle began barking like a good guard dog. "Ugh, shut up, plant! We heard!" Seb called as the acorn dog ran away.

Zoe followed her dog and opened the door. "Hey, look at you all, all dressed up!" She giggled.

"Greetings, Zoe." Ford smiled. The pup relaxed when he saw it was family and went over to get some headpats. Flutter stared and then turned away. Boring.

"I can't believe you really created them." Riley gushed over Sir Bedazzle.

"Well, those aren't mine. The ones I bioengineered are slightly different, but based off them." Ford explained. "Miz created these originals."

"Eh, not a big deal." Yun shrugged. Xin chuckled.

"Dang, did you get even bigger?" Zoe craned her head back to look up at her 'uncle'. The dragon groaned. "Only a little." he pouted.

"HaHAH!"

They heard footsteps and the couple arrived. Seb's smile was wiped off his face, and he didn't bother hiding his anger.

What was SHE doing here? Was Ford still up with this little game? Seb was stressed out, and unfortunately, the ginger became the 'bad guy' in the idiot man's mind, the representation of the problems he had to fix. With her gone, things would be good. (It didn't make sense, but it made sense to SEB.) It was easy to think of his problems when he had an 'enemy' to face. Bill2 was basically the same principle, a physical representation of 'something', formed by his mind to try to distance himself from his past.

"So, do we go now?" Yun asked. Seb looked at them, then to the kids. "On second thought, they aren't old enough to be alone. I left Mabel and Dipper alone once and they almost got killed."

"I can portal us to the restaurant." Ford grinned tapping at his watch.

Seb didn't hide his dissatisfaction as he was ignored and dragged into the portal. They went to a nice steakhouse and he crossed his arms as everyone read the menu. Uuurgghhhhhhh! Why, why, why? LEAVE!

"What do you want?" Wanda poked his arm.

"I'm not hungry…" He said petulantly, like a child refusing to eat to prove a point.

"But you said you were starving?"

Seb shrugged. He ordered himself some wine. This was gonna be a long night.

Wanda commented on the other women's dresses, and when she got to the ginger, Seb snorted and just said it was a nice color, because Wanda elbowed him.

Riley picked up on the hostility, but wasn't sure where it was directed since Seb was just being grumpy in general at the moment. Still, she tried to ignore it and just have a good time. Seeing Yun and Xin decide different menu items so they'd be able to taste both was super cute.

Ford didn't enjoy eating things that were lots of trouble, so even if steak was yummy, he hated having to cut it up before he could eat it. When Yun was cooking at home, she generally cut all meat up into smaller pieces, mostly for the children, but hey, if Ford's plate had all the meat cut up too, he wasn't going to complain. Yun had told Riley about this 'fun fact' and the two made sure to portion out meals at the Shack for ease of eating.

So when Ford's steak arrived, Riley put on a teasing grin and purred, "Ooh~ How about I feed you?" She giggled as Ford pursed his lips, blushing. (It was a plan that Yun and Riley made together. Since Ford hated having to cut up his own food, one of them would do it for him, and pretend they were just being flirty, so no one would find out that Ford, a grown ass man, enjoyed having his food cut into bite sized pieces.

They were great girlfriends~

Yun giggled as she watched Riley hold out the fork with some steak, "Say aaaah~" The ginger purred.

Seb stared at the scene with a mix of horror, second hand embarrassment and annoyance, something that would have made him laugh and tease his triplet in any other occasion.

"WHAT are you doing?!" Seb hissed at Riley. "Stop being gross!"

"Seb!" Wanda gasped, "There's nothing wrong with what they're doing." (Yun and Xin frowned at Seb's outburst.)

The ginger was taken aback by the sudden hostility, now definitely directed at her. "I…Um, sorry…I-Did I do something wrong?" Maybe there's modern etiquette she wasn't aware of?

"There's nothing wrong." Wanda assured her. "Sebastian is just embarrassed for some reason."

"It's one thing for you to do this little game of multiple dating in private , but can you not?! In public? People are staring." He mumbled, filling up his cup with more drink.

"Seb, it's fine. People staring is their problem." Yun moved over and boldly sat herself in Ford's lap. ("YUN!") "Let them stare. Fuck 'em." Yun pouted.

Seb blinked. "N-no, that's… it's fine when you do it. But–" He pointed at Riley. "It's weird when it's HER."

"...Why?" Wanda grimaced at her strange husband. "You used to find it funny when they acted like Ford dated many people."

"But I knew the truth! That he wasn't really dating multiple people. But this– She's just came out of buttfuck nowhere and is butting herself in their relationship while Yun and Ford are recovering. They're vulnerable right now, and she's taking advantage of that to force her way between them! She isn't family!" He turned around to look at her when he said this, eye turning red.

Riley jumped at the sight and went quiet, her insecurities being slammed to her face by someone so close to Ford and who should like and approve of her… Her heart beat fast at the rejection coming from Ford's family

"Uhhh, there are many things wrong with what you're saying." Xin frowned. "Riley's not taking advantage of us. And besides…" Xin reached out and easily picked up Riley's petite form, putting her on his lap. "I'm dating her too, y'know?"

Seb sputtered. "What?!"

Xin nuzzled Riley's cheek. "She's pretty. She knows how to cook, and I like her cooking. And she's really good at head pats." The dragon purred, a low rumbling that made Riley blush red. "Frankly, I'm the one taking advantage of getting more people to pamper me."

Seb made a grimace. "...But-But Xin!" He complained.

"But what? I can like more than one person if I want to." The dragon wrapped his arms around Riley.

Seb didn't understand. He thought he understood stuff about emotions and stuff by now, but clearly he didn't! He'd NEVER let anyone touch Wanda. She was HIS. HIS wife, HIS! How could Ford even THINK like that! That was…sharing the person you loved the most! And like HELL Seb would do that!

Seb couldn't stand the thought of anyone touching Wanda, he knew his other brothers wouldn't do it…Besides, this wasn't what Ford would do! This wasn't what a Ford would do!

The brunet stared at Yun. "You're just afraid to say no and stand up for yourself. You aren't like this…this-this is just you being all sad." Seb was misunderstanding the situation, because he personally couldn't understand what this was. And worst of all, the youngest triplet wasn't being so angry and against it with bad intentions. He seriously wanted the best for his brother and friend. He simply couldn't understand it. His dumbness wasn't born from malicious intent.

Ford massaged his temples, ready to throw some hands, but Yun put a hand over his. "Seb, I know this is… confusing. I'm still learning about how this all works. I know that it… is different. And I know you want to protect me, but this has nothing to do with it."

"But-"

"No. I swear it doesn't. I'm still recovering, but it makes me happy to be with both of them. I'm not just doing this because I'm rolling over and letting Riley win, well, maybe I was at first. But after a while, I kinda started liking Riley too. And… well… I care about both of them."

Seb pursed his lips "Are you…sure? I…" He looked at the ginger, still looking nervous and clinging to Xin, as if scared…Yikes…He…didn't mean to hurt her or scare her…He…didn't have anything specifically against her…just… She came JUST when they were having problems, and of course it must be Ax's work.

"Sorry for…for saying that, Riley…I am just…worried." Seb looked away.

"...I don't know if I can forgive you right now." Riley admitted. Seb winced.

Xin sighed, cuddling Riley to his chest. "Well, just don't be mean to Riley anymore, please."

"...yeah…. Ok…." Seb looked down miserably.

"And you don't have to forgive him." Wanda scoffed, embarrassed by his attitude. Seriously, was he five?

Ford just glared. "You specifically went out of your way to be rude to my partner." He was shaking with suppressed rage. The only reason he hadn't punched Seb yet was Yun holding him back.

"I'm sorry for worrying about you." Seb scoffed and poked at his meat. His stubborn side reared it's ugly head. As it tended to do whenever his brother was involved.

"What I do is none of your business!" Ford hissed. "You always do this! And then you play the victim! It's what you always do!"

"Ford, he already agreed not to do it anymore." Yun winced, hating it when people fought. Wanda was also patting Seb's shoulder, trying to get him to calm down.

"No! I'm done. He thinks he's entitled to our lives!" Ford waved a hand aggressively in the air.

"I-I don't think that!"

"Of course you do! Just because of your past, you think you can meddle in my and Stan's lives! You just said I don't 'behave like a Ford!'" Excuse him?! "For your information, I'm not another Ford! I don't care about the Ford you tortured and hurt when you were a demon, or any other! I'm me!"

Seb winced. "I'm sorry…I-Its just-Listen. This is a lot, and I just want you to be happy, ok?! That's the only thing I wanted!"

"Well, it doesn't seem like it!"

"Ford, please calm down." Yun said, shifting in his lap, looking mildly distressed. "We're having a nice meal, can you at least wait to do this afterwards?" she was hoping that having them wait would allow the two to calm down.

"...fine." Ford relented.

They ate in silence after that, just to not waste the food they ordered, but the brothers were upset, and their partners were worried. (Riley felt like she had caused the fight, knowing that some of Seb's words were technically true. She DID come out of nowhere to get into Ford and Bill's relationship.)

Seb glanced at Wanda, who was fuming. He knew that look… Seb did feel remorse. He shouldn't have lashed out at Riley like that… She liked Ford and how could Seb ostracize someone who genuinely cared about his brother? That was the only thing he could ask for…

He let his thoughts and anger get the best of him… Apparently his bad side didn't need too much alcohol to come out.

Wanda was angry at him, and to be honest, he didn't blame her. She told him to stop bitching about things that weren't his business…and he didn't stop bitching until he took it too far. Bitching Icarus bitch too close to the sun…

Ford was refusing to look or speak to him now. And Seb felt uncomfortable in all the ways.

The worst part was that he had no idea when would be an appropriate moment to apologize correctly. Ford was angry, and of course Riley wasn't gonna accept his apology right now! Ugh, why did he always ruin everything!

They were supposed to go out and have some more fun after dinner, given that the octuplets were being watched by Care Unit 27, but unfortunately, it was cut short. They left in a portal, Yun gently pushing her two humans forward as Xin squeezed Seb's shoulder. Wanda left to get the car from the valet.

"We like Riley." Xin told him. "You DO understand…right? We're all in this together."

"That doesn't make sense." Seb whispered, looking down and massaging his aching head.

"Well I don't care what you think, because we're on it. Seriously. How could you tell her she isn't part of our family? To her face?!" The dragon stared, seemingly shocked with what he Saw. "...That's the most hurtful thing you could have told her…And coming from you? I didn't expect something like that."

"So just ignore what Ax said. If… if something happens, that's still my business, not yours. I'm sorry. That's just how it is."

Seb had tears in his eye. "You're gonna… do very bad stuff… if Ford leaves you… and I won't be able to stop it…"

"That's still not her fault! That's mine. Frankly, you should be trying to chase ME away, not her. Seriously Seb, you gotta butt out." Xin told him firmly. "You gotta be happy for your brother, whoever he's dating. Don't stress over Riley, that's Ford and my thing to deal with." The dragon smiled slightly. "That's your brother's girlfriend, and she loves him, she makes him happy." He rolled his eyes. "And she's nice to me too, and I like hanging out with her, if it makes you feel better."

"I didn't mean…to call her those things…"

Xin shrugged, leading Seb over to sit down. "Nah, you did… you just didn't want to say them out loud." Seb flinched at that.

"I didn't mean them…She's not even a… bitch or something… I just… don't want her here…You…I don't want you to get hurt…"

"...Yeah, you don't." he conceded. "But the things you said still hurt whether you mean it or not. Please don't ruin things with your family because of me…Ok?"

"But you're my family…too."

"But they come first." Xin insisted. "Riley would have been your friend, you'd have liked her for the reasons you currently distrust her. It's not her fault she was lost in time for so long, heck we changed Uncle Ax's plans with me here, it's kinda our fault she didn't make it here before."

"Hm…" Seb slumped, "But how are you ok with Ford loving someone besides you?"

"People can love others at the same time. It happens… We've been handling it better than I thought, Fordsie is very comfortable with it." He smiled reassuringly and held Sebs hands.

Xin looked at Seb with an idea in mind. "Hey…remember when you told me to try to prove Uncle Ax wrong?"

Seb nodded slowly.

Xin grinned. "This is the same~ Your big brother got a special someone who loves him… and I didn't leave. Uncle Ax lost~ We changed stuff again~"

Seb blinked. Oh… Oh! He was… He was maybe seeing it all wrong! He shouldn't have pushed for Riley to leave, but for Yun to stay! And it'd be subverting Ax's process!

Wanda came back and Xin hugged the younger triplet before blinking away. Seb and Wanda were quiet on the drive back home.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not the one you called names." She mumbled, stopping at the red light. "You have to apologize at some point to HER. Directly. For being a huge asshole, Sebastian."

"But…" Seb ran a hand through his curls. "I don't…I don't know how…Ford's gonna hate me forever for this."

Wanda's cold glare became even harder. "Sebastian William Pines. I will not be here listening to you moping about how your triplet will not talk to you…Again! You're too old and I'm too old for this AGAIN!" The lawyer scolded, emphasizing how recurring it was for him and Ford to do this. "You insulted his girlfriend, Sebastian! And Riley hasn't done anything to you!" She exclaimed exasperated, making Seb wince a bit.

"And she's our girl now, so Carla and Abi will be pissed with you as well, mind you." She informed him.

"...Don't call me William…"

"I'll call you whatever I want until you stop acting like a kid! Just apologize for acting like a massive bitch!" She threw her hands up. "She's your brother's family. And I don't know or care why you acted like that with her all this time, but it's over. You're gonna apologize and accept her and be HAPPY about it!" The blonde poked hard at her husband's chest. The light turned green.

"...Is not that I hate her… I just… I was worried for Yun…and-"

"Yes, I know you were. But you also bullied her for no reason. You were cold to her for months . And it's going to be so annoying to see you and Ford having trouble again, just… apologize to Riley and make up with Ford."

"I… Fine." Seb threw his head back. "I'll apologize… I'll say I… may have …overreacted'-" Wanda rolled her eyes at that. "-when I knew the two were soulmates and-"

"No."

"Huh?"

Wanda laughed humourlessly. "You are not telling them that!"

Seb blinked. "Why?"

"Because that'll just stress them out and have Ford and Riley worrying over whether they're together because they actually like each other, or because some magical amphibian said they should."

Seb deadpanned, "The Axolotl literally–"

"Yes, but you still shouldn't tell them. Riley's only just gotten comfortable with the idea that she belongs in this family and thanks to you, she might feel weird again."

"But– what am I supposed to say is the reason I didn't like her then?! I've already told her that I thought she was taking advantage of Ford and Yun, and– well– she didn't accept my apology on that."

Wanda shrugged, "Then just apologize for being a jerk? Cause you were."

"But it's–" Seb groaned and ran his fingers through his hair. "Ok." He finally relented. Seb was tired. He didn't want to fight. He didn't want his brother to hate him, and he didn't want to hate on Riley. He was good. It was his family, she was his brother's family and he didn't hate on his family…That was something Bill2 would tell him to do, and he won't let that side of him win.

And…Riley wasn't bad. She was sweet and very intelligent. She loved her brother and his niblings like her own! It… wasn't her fault Ax was using her… Wasn't… her fault… And he treated her so badly…

The brunet cringed.

-.-

When April started, the octuplets wanted a huge birthday with their classmates from the two classes of kinder (plus their three town friends). Ford and Yun had to call each parent to reassure them that-no, it wasn't an April Fool's joke, it was a real party, please come. Even Riley helped to send the messages. Ford couldn't believe they were turning 6 years old already…After summer, they'd be first graders…

Maria was 7 already, Sabrina was turning 5 this year. Heck, even Ernesto wasn't a baby anymore. He was 3 years old already, he was speaking and running around, wanting to help around and give hugs.

Even before the awkward double date, they knew this summer would be complicated for all the family to come visit on the 1st, only Seb and the twins could go, even Wanda would be busy that day, so he had offered to come help with everything. Also, after some talking and bribing Zach and Zoe, they compromised that they'd give the octuplets their presents and sing to them as a family on their birthday, since their 13th birthday was only 2 weeks away, and then continue with the younger pair of twins' celebration.

However, Ford didn't want his brother to come help anymore, still bitter about things.

Seb tried calling and texting Ford, with the excuse of helping with the octuplets' birthday, and to ask if they could talk. His texts weren't sending through though, and Ford wasn't picking up his phone.

"You're on your own." Stan replied when he facetimed for help. Stan had found out about what happened, and for his sake, decided to let his brother act like the old men they were and handle it on their own.

"But how am I supposed to apologize if he doesn't let me?" Seb complained to his triplet, frustrated to no end.

Stan shrugged. "Don't know. Don't care. I told you I was tired of you two. So fix your problems yourself."

Seb teared up, but Stan just rolled his eyes. "That's not gonna convince me." He wasn't gonna be the fight mediator. He spent his whole life doing that, he didn't wanna do it anymore. "Solve this." The face call was cut and Seb immediately frowned, wiping his crocodile tears. Damn.

Fuck. He was going to have to physically get to Gravity Falls, if his brother wouldn't pick up any calls.

He tried teleporting, but his portal watch kept beeping and wouldn't activate the location. Did Ford BLOCK HIM from teleporting to town?! Seriously?! He couldn't use Wanda's either because the watches only worked for their owner.

Seb groaned loudly, eye flickering red in annoyance. He packed a backpack with his acorn dog watching him curiously. "My brother is making me drive over there, Sir Bedazzle, can you believe it?" Seb put on a brown prosthetic eye (as if putting on a pair of shoes) and spent 30 minutes searching for his contact lens. Urgh! Stupid normal eye that lost its perfect vision after Weirdmageddon and now forced him to wear visual aids!

The brunet took a deep breath and finally admitted he lost another contact. He searched for his emergency glasses and shoved them into his pocket.

"Gotta go now. I'm leaving food in the fridge, if he murders me, Miz will probably tell you." Seb sighed dramatically, Wanda rolled her eyes as her husband kissed her lips. "You're a good guy, Seb…just, act like it. I know you can."

The twins were not understanding anything. "Why don't you just teleport?" Zoe raised a judging Pines eyebrow.

"You PROmised you'd hELP me get my MONster form!" Zach complained with his cracking teen voice. "Of course YOu care about eVERyone else but mE!"

Seb rubbed his face. "Zach, I'm sorry, baby, I-I need to do this, I made… I gotta talk to Ford, but when I'm back, we'll try to work on your monster form."

Zach stared at his dad, before huffing and storming off. Great. Another person he angered.

Seb put on his glasses (hoping no one saw him) and he set his destination to Gravity Falls. He'd have to drive all the way there and make his butt go numb because Sixer was being so unreasonable! Luckily he had music to keep him company.

After passing tree after tree, Sebastian grinned at the sight of the familiar water tower and greeting sign. Finally~

He parked near the house and entered as if he owned the place, only to find Abuelita sleeping in front of the tv and no one else.

Soos and Melody were at least working at the Shack.

"Dude!" The big man happily rushed to hug his old boss. Seb chuckled and patted his back.

"Hey, kid. Where's everybody? And my niblings?"

"They got their classes, and Maria went with Sabrina and Ernesto to the park." Melody smiled at Seb.

"Classes? But it's Saturday! You can't do stuff on Saturday, it's God's law!" The brunet said, offended.

Soos raised an eyebrow. "But you worked all the time on saturdays!"

"Yeah, since when do you follow Shabbat?" Melody asked teasingly as she arranged the souvenirs.

"Since it's convenient to me. Duh~" Seb responded, crossing his arms. The couple chuckled at his antics.

"Well, if it makes you feel better, they're just in their extracurricular classes in their school and Ford just left to pick them up. Elizabeth's at ballet, Isaac and Ira are at soccer, Lux and the twins are in art class, Gula's at swimming class, Nick is in archery-"

"No, lil dude just changed to fencing." Soos said. He had come one day demanding to change, he even said he "lost" his equipment.

"Right. They should be back soon. Yun's not here by the way, she's with Maria and the others at the park."

"Oh…" Seb rubbed his arm. "Hm…do you know where Riley is?" At the couple's worried expression, he winced. "I just wanna talk."

Soos nodded. "She's in the Center, dude."

Seb thanked him and walked in the direction of the center. He was about to tell the receptionist that he was searching for his brother's lab, when he saw a visitor being rejected. Hm…they weren't accepting guests? He didn't drive all the way here to NOT be allowed in!

Seb hummed with a small grin. Ok he had an idea. A dumb idea, but if it worked, it wouldn't be dumb…

He went back to the Shack and looked for the materials. 7 year old Maria returned with her little 5 and 3 year old siblings. ""Uncle Seb!""" Seb got momentarily distracted and cooed at his little niblings.

Then, Seb continued searching. He found one of Ford's sweaters lying on the couch and a lab coat. He put it on and grinned, taking off his eyepatch. "Whatcha think?"

The Alzamirano kids hummed. "Uncle Ford doesn't have a beard." Ernesto pointed out.

"Right…" Seb tried looking at his chin. But he didn't want to shave for this?!

Luckily, Sabrina came up with something, and returned with a facemask. "Here!"

Seb put the facemask over his chin, enough to cover his beard. "Oh!" He pulled out his glasses and put them on.

"""Wow""" The siblings stared.

"You look a lot like Uncle Ford." Maria giggled.

Seb ruffled his hair a bit more to make his perfect curls look more disheveled and raised his thumbs at the kids. "It's showtime~" He made his voice deeper and raspy, making the siblings laugh.

The receptionist looked up as Dr. Pines returned. She quickly glanced at the black glasses and bouncy curls and went back to typing. "Welcome back, Dr. Pines."

"Er, yes, good evening." Seb coughed and then said in a deep voice. He made a little gesture and sped-walked in directions to the lab. Thanks to the triangles Yun put, he easily found the lab.

He took a deep breath before he knocked on the door.

The door was opened. "It's open! Did you forget your key again?"

Seb pushed the door forward, revising what he was supposed to say.

"Finally, you're back, Fordsie, I started with phase 2, but I wanted to ask-" She got closer with the intention to put her arms on his shoulders, but the height was…off.

"You're not Ford." Riley whispered quickly, stepping back.

Seb grimaced and pulled down the facemask. "No… It's Sebastian…"

"..."

"..."

"Should I call security or…" Riley started.

"NO!" Seb cried. "No. No…I…I just wanted to talk…with you, about…everything."

"No offense…" The ginger started, taking another step back. "But…you…kinda freak me out…especially because your eyes change colors to hell-red when you look at me." Riley grimaced. "...What are you? Are…you really Ford's brother…?" She asked, not in an accusatory or demanding tone, more like curious. Her boyfriend hasn't mentioned anything about it, and because Riley didn't ask, Yun hasn't explained either why Ford's younger brother had that ability.

Hey, if her new partner was an alien, why couldn't Ford have an alien brother too, right?

Seb clenched his fists, trying to not lose his cool. "Yes. Ford is my brother. Just like Stan and Shermie! We've been brothers for 5 decades."

Riley nodded slowly, taking in the defensive tone which didn't let her fully believe the statement… "So…?"

Seb ran a hand through his hair. "Bill– ah, Yun and I are siblings too." Seb didn't know that they had told Riley about Bill already.

"What?"

Seb waved his hands. "I mean! In soul. I mean-urgh! Ok. Past life. I…I used to have powers in a past life, and I was…the same species as her…Yun found me…We're family…and…"

Riley watched this shorter, weirder version of her boyfriend struggle to find what to say. "And that's why you didn't want me here… Because you were extra stressed by me being around your… two siblings?" Ok, the fact that Ford and Yun were both Seb's siblings in different lives was… weird.

Seb blinked and nodded. "Yeah. Exactly!"

Riley sighed and entertained herself ordering their worktable. "I'm not some sort of monster, Sebastian…Do you think I liked to feel like…like a homewrecker every time I went out with Ford?" Her sight turned glassy. "But I love them…and the kids, I'd never want to do anything that would hurt them…" She rubbed her eyes with her shoulder.

"Riley…I'm so sorry for…for the mean things I said…I was a jerk, I-I shouldn't have…said those things." Seb sighed. "I got carried away with trying to help my brother…with trying to protect Yun…"

Riley made a sound but didn't speak.

"You make Ford happy too…" Seb rubbed his arm. "You've been with him for a while now and I-I never tried to understand you better."

"Yeah…"

"You're nice. The octuplets really love you…They keep mentioning you when we talk…You're…funny, and super intelligent, and you did your weird-time travel stuff which Ford is fascinated with, and you can actually stand Ford despite how much of an idiot he is-" Riley snorted at that. Seb sighed and made a small smile. "You're… perfect for him…" Seb sounded almost resigned at that.

Seb squirmed in his seat. The more he was forced to think about his logic, the more dumb he felt. "...I felt you were too good…and Ford…was gonna leave Yun, and she's my friend… my spiritual sister, because you're so perfect."

Riley burst out laughing.

"Why are you laughing?!" Seb snarled, cheeks blushing lightly as he bared his fangs.

"Because Ford LOVES Yun." Riley wiped at her eyes, "Even if I tried to seduce him away, he wouldn't leave her. Ford is greedy, he wants us BOTH."

Seb blinked. "Uh…"

"And you do understand…she's…also dating me now, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Yeah." Riley sat on her chair. "We're adults. And I'm not sure if you noticed, Sebastian, but HIS life, and MY life and YUN'S life or whoever's life in your family, is NOT your BUSINESS!" She stared deeply at him, making Seb shrink in his seat.

"...Can you call me Seb?"

"No! You don't deserve that, I'm not using your nickname!" More shrinking. "And you give me the creeps! I am DONE!" More shrinking. "You've been terrible to me the whole time just because you were meddling in Yun's and Ford's life like your own life depended on it!" Riley sighed, "I'm not going to forgive you so easily. Even if I know why you were acting the way you did. You still hurt me."

"Because this DIMENSION depended on it!" Seb stressed, "Do you even know what would have happened if Ford broke up with Yun?! She's a demon GOD with enough power to wipe out this entire galaxy!"

"And how is it MY fault your brother dated a demon GOD to begin with?!" Riley cried. "And Yun's not stupid! She's not a kid, Sebastian! Do you think…she'd actually put her babies in danger? Or even your stupid ass? She has places to retreat to, to burn down her powers, that will not hurt others. We have talked about that before, Ford also knows about them already, and it helps her! they're not only for breaking up, it's for when she's stressed! I wonder if she was stressed because her stupid ass friend kept harassing her partner!" Riley crossed her arms.

Seb thought about it slowly. "She has…a place now?"

"Yeah, she calls it the Diner." Riley shrugged, "I haven't been there before, neither has Ford. It's her special place. The kids have gone a few times, but… yeah. It's Yun's safe space."

"The… Diner?" Seb repeated. "She…told me something about it…I thought she meant she was…going to a new restaurant or something…"

Riley massaged her face. "For Moses' sake, you're so goddamn stupid sometimes."

"I'm not stupid!" Seb snarled, flames flickering in his arms.

Riley exhaled, still not used to seeing this display of magic, and sighed. "Right…Sorry…I- You know what? I'm fine. You aren't her partner, she doesn't have to tell you everything."

Seb rubbed his arm as Riley stared at his flames and then at the extinguishers on the ceiling and how come they haven't activated yet. Seb made the flames disappear. "I… I ruined the apology?"

"Eh… only half way. Look, I don't really care. But… we're happy right now. So… please just let us handle our relationship ourselves. Ok?"

Seb looked at her before staring at the floor and nodding. "Ok…I-I'm really sorry…also…I called your dress ugly."

"You did?"

"...I murmured it."

Riley just snorted. "It's fine. I've been through worse… Sorry for calling you a creep? You're just weird and you should stick to your own clothing. I don't like seeing you dressed up like my boyfriend." She grimaced.

Seb sighed. "I'll take what I can get." He managed a small smile. "I… I'm sorry, really… I'm glad you are with Ford… you'll make him happy, happier. And, he does deserve that…" He did want his brother to be with soulmate. He couldn't deny it. He just wanted the best for him, but he got carried away wanting to protect Yun from her… when there was nothing to protect her from… She apparently got a new partner this way.

"I don't really understand how someone can… love like that… but… I'm supporting you from now on. Really."

"...Thanks. I appreciate that."

"Are we friends now?"

"Absolutely not." Riley laughed.

"Really?" Seb pouted. Wasn't this supposed to end up with them being friends because bygones be bygones and now Seb could finally go back to normal and get along with all his sisters-in law?

"Give me a while to process." ("Ugh!")

"I do want to see your powers" The ginger expressed curiously. "its weird no one had mentioned it to me"

Seb blinked "Oh. ok" He created a small flame in his 6 fingered hand. "Well, I can do this, and I can make things float, basically" He floated a nearby beaker, giving it a yellow glow. "Miz has been teaching me more about atom manipulation and creating stuff…and, if I make a deal, I can technically do anything, but those are hard"

"Oh my god" Riley whispered.

Suddenly the door was thrown open and Seb and Riley jumped. The beaker fell to the floor and smashed. Seb grimaced at his brother, fuming at him. "Did you seriously dress like me to get in here-?! You're STILL dressed up like me!"

Seb cried and moved a chair to block his murderous path. "Wait I came to apologize, don't murder me."

Ford glanced at the ginger and she nodded. "He did, it's fine…"

"Did he make a real apology or acted like a victim, like ALWAYS?!"

"I think it was sincere, if clumsy." Riley conceded.

Seb nodded. "I'm sorry…" He waved a hand. "But if…you think about it, you kinda almost killed my kid, and Wanda wasn't angry with you for too long about that–"

"Get out!" Ford barked, snarling. The two clearly didn't know how to apologize without Stan's presence. Seb gave him the white coat with a sheepish grin and left. Ford growled until he couldn't feel his triplet's presence and turned to look at Riley, who was looking mostly amused. "Are you sure you're ok?"He gently held her arm.

"Yeah…I know what reasons he had for what he did now…Though he was pretty dumb about it." She sighed. "I think I'm gonna keep 'im on his toes for a while before dropping it… Do you think he'll make me clothes for free?" She looked up at Ford with a cute, curious expression. Ford just laughed.

-.-

With the apology out of the way, and with Riley and Yun both nudging and pleading with Ford to not waste his time and energy being mad at his brother, Ford agreed to let Seb help with the octuplets birthday (the little ones had a blast with their classmates) and host Zach and Zoe's birthday in Gravity Falls.

"I…Know I shouldn't be asking this right now…but I…kinda want a favor…" Seb smiled sheepishly. Seb dodged, screaming when Ford threw a bunsen burner at him.

(Getting Ford to agree to letting Seb borrow his van was a much harder task.)

Zach and Zoe were going to have their 13th birthday party in Gravity Falls, 14 years after Mabel and Dipper turned 13 just like them in this very same town, in this very same house.

It made Seb feel a lump in his throat at the parallelism. His niblings and then his own children, turning 13 in the town that brought his family together, a town that let him feel for the first time that he belonged somewhere, that he was good at something.

"Why are you crying?" Zach asked, staring at him weirdly.

Seb ruffled his hair. "Nothing, just… you're so big now."

Zoe jumped out of nowhere. "Not as much as I am though! Look!" She motioned to the obvious height difference. "He's my little brother!" She cackled.

Zach stuck his tongue out. The now-young- technically-teenager started his treatment months ago, and while it seemed to help with his more urgent anxieties (say, his cycle finally stopped after 2 months of blockers), it also seemed like it was gonna slow down his growth, given that it was stopping puberty, and hence, the normal growth spurts that he should be having.

Seb rolled his eyes as Zach pushed Zoe away. "Your brother is taking medicine that makes him grow slower. Please be nice."

"Guys?! Why did I just see a little bearded man outside?!" A familiar voice shouted with fear in her voice.

"It's just a gnome, Amanda, throw a shoe or something and they'll leave!" Zoe called and the two blond kids-no, no kids, they were young teens now, holy cow- ran away to find her.

Seb grinned as he thought about how he blackmailed Henry into bringing Amanda here and covering up with Carol. It was amazing having a spy in the enemy's base~

Seb had borrowed Ford's van ("It's a CAR, and I swear Sebastian, if I see a SCRATCH on it I'm building a quantum destabilizer again just to murder you!") and brought the twins' friends on a short but amazing weekend trip in the woods. The twins were particularly excited to share the town which held such emotional meaning to their family with their best friends.

"So… magic is real?" Amanda and Georgie gasped. Zoe nodded. "But it's a secret. To most of the world. But this town is super magical, and the magical creatures are just… here. So it's more open here."

"Still not supposed to talk about it in public though." Seb reminded them.

"Pah!" Zach scoffed, he and his twin rolling their eyes, "Uncle Ford literally built a whole company to study magic."

"It's technically studying Weirdness, which is a type of energy very similar to magic–" Ford spoke up. ("Neeeeerd!")

"You're kidding." Georgie looked around. His parents took some convincing to let him go on a weekend trip, but mister Seb was super persuasive. "But if magic was real, why doesn't everyone know about it yet?"

"Because it's supposed to be a secret for some dumb reason." Zoe pouted. She wanted to show her friends that she was magic!

"That's super dumb." "It IS!" (Ford tried to explain that the world just wasn't ready for magic yet, but the teens all ignored him.)

"MOVE!" Georgie jumped out of the way as 6 year old Nick came rushing towards the spot he was standing in and began scrubbing hard as if his life depended on it. Then he ran to find another spot, scaring the twins' friends as the octuplets ran around cleaning.

"What even is going on with them?" Zoe jabbed a finger at her little cousins.

Ford grinned rather smugly and put his hands back. "The house needed to be cleaned for the party celebration. I told them whoever gets the dirtiest wipe gets a prize." (He also needed to keep the kids occupied while he inspected the unicorn barrier to make sure the tweaks to make it comfortable for Bill were still working).

"Oh-ho-ho~ You are EVIL!" Seb laughed loudly. "I love it!" He poked his brother's chest.

"I'd call it 'Being resourceful'!" Ford rubbed his chest, narrowing his eyes, but keeping things civil.

"I'd call it 'Child manipulation'." Riley rolled her eyes as she carried a bunch of plates for lunch. "Don't listen to your uncle." She told the twins.

"We almost never do, don't worry Aunt Riley."

Riley smiled softly.

(Ford and Seb weren't… fully made up. But it had been weeks, which gave them time to let their tempers die down. Enough that the two were able to hang out for the day.)

The 'hiding magic is dumb' conversation got shelved for now. There was fun party stuff to do! Like play on the huge jungle gym that Yun had built in the backyard just for today. And by built, they mean 'grown' since it was made of smooth plant stems, vines and leaves. Amanda, Georgie and the other kids stared at this blatant use of magic.

"Remember, it's a secret." Yun told the kids, two hands on her hips and a 3rd pointing at the structure. Amanda, Georgie and the twins' other friends nodded slowly. Sooo cool~ The octuplets were already climbing and running all along the structure.

Ford turned to look at Seb, sprinting around and checking everything was in order.

"So," Ford began, "How are you planning to… make it up to me?"

"Uhhh…" Seb blinked. "I… didn't scratch your van…and I won't be mean to Riley anymore?"

Ford's eyes narrowed. "And?"

"Uhhh… I'll make her free dresses?" Seb tried, unable to figure out what Ford wanted. The younger triplet shrunk in on himself as his taller brother stared menacingly down at him. It sucked to be shorter than your identical sibling.

"...I'll …give you free styling sessions?"

"Are you saying I dress badly?"

"...It wouldn't hurt you"

Ford rubbed his face, "Sebastian, you are an idiot." Ford deadpanned.

Seb stared. "I don't know what you want!"

"I want you to realize your actions have consequences, and you should be talking to me or Yun before going off and deciding what we're feeling all by yourself."

"...oh…" Seb rubbed his arm. "...I'm sorry. For real. I just… no, you're right. I shouldn't have gone off without talking to you first."

"...Alright, I'll believe you, for now ." Ford sighed. "I don't like being mad at you. Yun doesn't like when we fight. So… just… don't do that again."

"I won't." Seb sighed. "So… are we cool?"

"I suppose so." Ford huffed.

Seb smiled softly. Ford eventually softened and smiled too.

"Free clothes would be pleasant." Ford teased.

Seb rolled his eyes. "Sure."

"Oh. I almost forgot. The guest rooms are ready for everyone." Ford informed his younger triplet and put his hands behind his back. "I can't believe you invited Uncle Kevin's family."

"No, I can't believe he did that!" Kari, who came here before Stan and Carla bringing Diego over, approached Seb, wagging a finger.

"C'mon, Ma~" Seb grinned. "He is My uncle. I lost so much time to spend with him."

"He stopped caring about us. You were just little children…"

"He knows he fucked up." Seb pressed.

Ford cleared his throat. "Sebastian knows about that." He sassed.

Seb sent him a glare. "He wants to be in our lives now, I want him in my life too. And his family. Don't be a grumpy old lady."

"I can be a grumpy old lady as much as I want!" She scolded her son but ultimately sighed. "But you're right… You can invite anyone into your life… even if…I am not comfortable with it." She sighed again and looked down.

Wanda rolled her eyes, hearing her mother in law. Fuck damn, it was so obvious where Seb got his dramatic ass from.

"You were upset when my triplets and I were not on speaking terms and wanted us to be friends again. You do the same thing!" Seb rolled his eye, the other wearing an eyepatch as an accessory. He kind of liked to wear it in town.

"I'm a hypocrite. I don't have to."

A couple of miles away from town, a party of 10 people were on a bus with a destination to Gravity Falls. Jacob and Fiorella, the triplets' cousins, deadpanned at their own kids.

"Ok, so…Great aunt Kari has…4 sons." Fiorella's youngest son, Francis, 19, started.

His grandpa nodded.

"So, the oldest…fucked around as a teen and got kids super early."

"No, that's the youngest." His mom corrected. "Your Uncle Shermie. His twins are around your sister's age, maybe older."

"They're older than me?!" Francis' oldest sister Nita, 25, exclaimed.

Francis groaned. "I don't get it. The family tree is too big. I don't even know any of them!"

Fiorella's husband tutted him. "That's why we're doing this. To get to know the rest of your family."

"Ok. The oldest three are triplets though." Jacob's oldest daughter, Annie, 28, continued. "Stan, Stan and ….S….St…Stan?"

"Sebastian." Jacob supplied. "Stanford, Stanley and Sebastian."

"You mean SebaSTAN?" The kids laughed.

Their grandpa rolled their eyes. "I'm pretty sure a bunch of you were present in Stan and Seb's wedding and Mabel and Mason's wedding. Don't you pay attention to anything I tell you?"

"To be fair, grandpa, we don't know these people." Jacob's middle kid, Wade, 22, deadpanned. "You all dragged us into a plane for a weekend to the middle of nowhere disregarding if we could even take that time from our work."

"I don't care what you have to say, Wade." Kevin deadpanned at his grandson.

Jacob's youngest son, 17, was on his phone the entire time.

"Which one created the plantimals?" Annie asked.

"Stanford. He's the scientist."

"...the one with a shit ton of kids?" Francis asked.

"Language. And yes. He has eight children." ("Daaaaam!")

"Stan is the coach." Wade followed football stuff, so he knew that. "So Sebastian is the clothes one. Got it. He was the one with the 6 fingers or the blind eye?"

Fiorella laughed. "Kinda both? He has a hand with 6 and the other with 5. But he is the one who is visually impaired." ("But they're all visually impaired. They have glasses!")"And your Uncle Ford has 6 in both. Pretty cool, huh?" She smiled.

They were incredibly different cousins to the brothers compared to the Pines side. There's a reason Seb managed to convince his brothers to hang out with this side. They were obviously raised to be kinder and they were trying to teach their kids the same.

"Wow." Francis stared at his hands. He must be good with instruments and videogames if he had more fingers, right?

Jacob grinned "Isn't that awesome? They work in really interesting stuff in 3 different areas. I know Stan's wife's an actress and Shermie's a programmer."

"Oohh~"

He nudged his uninterested son. "You could probably learn something from them." His wife took the phone from him and he began complaining.

"Didn't everyone say they DIED though?!" Nita grimaced.

"Great question to ask while we are there!"

"I'm gonna be bored to DEATH!" Paul, the youngest of the Romanoff cousins, complained. "How are we even gonna fit in one house?! Unless he's a millionaire or something, I doubt there's enough space."

"Your uncle Ford insisted we stayed with him so we will stay there." Kevin huffed. "Besides, he makes good money. Sebastian likes to brag about his brothers all the time." The old man smiled fondly.

"Really? How much can he make? I doubt scientists get paid a lot."

"Well, from what I've read in the papers, the Plantimals are being sold to companies that are working to clean the planet. Apparently the plantimals can drink up polluted water and produce clean water. And of course, they photosynthesize."

"Nerd~" Wade rolled his eyes.

Rita looked at her mom. "Were you close, growing up with my uncles?"

Fiorella smiled fondly. "We were. 'Specially as little kids. Heh, I keep remembering your uncle Seb stealing my clothes and Barbies to play with. I was mad at first, but your grandma used to tell me that I could get new ones, that they didn't grow up with as many toys as I did, so I should share."

"So he liked clothes way before." Rita chuckled. "Yes, he used to fix my barbie's clothes too. We had civilized fun while your uncle Jacob took the Stans to be brutes and roll in mud or something. We had class~" Rita and Francis laughed.

"That only happened once!" Jacob defended himself.

Fiorella sighed. "And then… at some point, we just… stopped hanging out."

Kevin rubbed his neck, "That's my fault. I… had a fight with my sister, and we just… didn't talk to each other for a long time. I'm actually very surprised Sebastian reached out to me. But I'm glad he did." Fiorella reached to squeeze her dad's shoulder.

The family looked out to the woods. Despite how much planning it took to get everyone out of their houses, fly across the country and go to town, they were doing it for their grandpa. He lost his wife already. If he wanted to reconnect with his family they'd do it for him.

The bus passed a water tower and soon enough, they passed a large sign welcoming them to Gravity Falls. Weird name. They never really heard of this town before. Some hick town in buttfuck nowhere.

The cousins got a huge surprise seeing a very busy town, full of activity and way more modern than they thought. The bus stopped at its last stop. The Mystery Shack.

"Uh no, we were going to…uh." Kevin pulled out his paper where he wrote down the large ass name of the Institute.

The bus driver nodded. "Yes, yes, the Mystery Shack and the science center. Same thing."

Oh. Ok then.

They all went out, Jacob carrying his dad's stuff, and stared at the small wooden house with big letters saying "Mystery Shack", welcome signs and decorations and the monstrosity of the Science Center behind it, looming huge and ridiculous due to the location and surroundings.

They all stared.

"Are we ALL supposed to stay in the wooden shack?!" Paul deadpanned. "That looks like crap."

Kevin sighed. "Don't complain. It was very kind of Stanford to let us all stay."

"Ah! You must be Kevin and the fam!" A voice called out. Everyone turned to see a– very tall and muscular Asian man in a butler uniform. Wade raised an eyebrow, "They have a butler?"

"And a shitty house?" Paul was punched by his older brother. "Owww!" Wade hissed at him. "We have rich uncles. Shut up, stop acting like a baby, and they could give us money." Paul seemed interested in the offer. Annie rolled her eyes. She wished her fiancé had come, it'd help her tolerate her brothers.

"Come in, I'll show you to your rooms to put down your things." The 'butler' smiled charmingly. The ladies swooned, he was very handsome. Damn. "Everyone is already at the party in the backyard, but I figured you'd want to get settled in first."

"Yes, thank you. That would be appreciated." Kevin smiled.

They entered and everyone had whiplash at how NOT small things were inside. The house didn't have the right to be this big given the structure they saw outside!

The entryway was big, with a space for everyone to place their shoes, as the 'butler' indicated. "If you want, we have slippers for indoors. But all outdoor shoes must be taken off." He explained. Kevin shrugged, no problem for him.

"Obey." Kevin glanced at his family and everyone quickly rushed to do so, making Xin grin. Oh, so that leadership trait was something Kari shared with her big brother.

"The party is outside, so you can grab them when you go out." The butler, who paused, "Oh! I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Xin, I'm Stanford's boyfriend."

Rita choked. Everyone got different shocked expressions. He wasn't the butler?!

"Ah… no offense… but.. your clothes…"

Xin shrugged, "Ford said I wasn't allowed to wear the maid outfit today."

Rita choked again. Everyone just… stared. "...ok?"

"So I know you're Kevin. May I know the rest of your names?" Xin smiled, just as charmingly as before. They were walking through the house, which was very clean and big, despite being made of wood. It was… actually very nice. Like some fancy log cabin, except more modern. It still looked like people lived here, the worn couch, the small stains Fio and Jacob recognized as kid's doing, some plushies around.

They passed room after room, how big was this place?!

"O-Oh." Jacob coughed, still getting over the fact that he was thinking of apparently Stanford's boyfriend as a worker. "I'm Jacob, my wife Millie, and my kids, Rita and Francis Romanoff." They squeaked as they shook hands with him.

"I'm Fiorella, he is my husband Marco, and our kids Annie, Wade and Paul Zargani-Romanoff."

"It's very nice to finally meet you all." Xin led them down yet another hallway. "Here is the guest wing, where all the guest rooms are. They're all open, so just choose whichever one you want." They turned to see a new hallway, with many doors, with pictures of animals on them. One had a stylized Fox, another one had an Owl, Rabbit, Deer, etc.

"How come the doors have pictures?"

"To help people tell them apart." Xin explained. "Yun built it that way to make it easier to navigate in here. Also, there are signs with arrows to direct to other parts of the house."

"Yun?"

"One of Stanford's girlfriends. She loves interior design. And Ford gave her permission to work on the Shack. She made sure to fix everything up to be more comfortable."

More staring. Oh right, uncle Stanford was apparently some kind of… stud with multiple partners and EIGHT kids.

Right.

"I wouldn't have expected that from that kid," Jacob whispered to his sister. "Right? I was sure it'd have been Lee doing it. HE was the outgoing one." "Well, you never really know how a kid turns out, huh?"

They left their stuff in their rooms, they had enough for the siblings not to share! This was better than Paul expected. Wade smirked at him. "See? Rich uncles."

Entering the guest room made them gasp. It was huge. With a large bed with tons of blankets and pillows, an attached bathroom– with a JACUZZI! A huge flatscreen tv! There were two desks! A huge closet– a mini fridge! Wade opened the mini fridge and found it filled with soda and water bottles. "Damn, no alcohol." If Kevin was in that room with Wade, he would have smacked him for being so rude.

Xin, standing in the hallway, spoke up, since all their doors were still open, "Since you're staying the weekend, I should tell you a few things. The kitchen is free for anyone who wants to cook, but you'll have to clean up after yourselves. There's a family breakfast, lunch and dinner at certain times of the day, as well as a large pantry with snacks if you wish to bring something back to your room." Xin's tone then turned a little… intense, "Do be careful not to create a mess. We have to clean everything ourselves. Despite my hobbies, I'm not your butler. If you do make a mess, there's a supply closet with a vacuum and other cleaning supplies."

The Romanoff family stared.

Xin smiled. "Come on, everyone is outside! Zach and Zoe are with their friends."

They followed him through the house again. A large man in a shirt with a ? on it walked by. A more casual wear than his Mr. Mystery persona, "Oh, hey dudes." He waved, holding a tool kit.

"Hey Soos, this is Ford's uncle Kevin, and his family." Xin introduced them. "Did something break?"

"Wow dude. You look, like, identical to Miss Kari." Soos commented as he stared at the older man. Kevin smiled awkwardly. "Um, thanks? Hi…you…"

"You have no idea who that is." Fiorella raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, don't worry, dude! Seb and I are like, best friends! He is like a big brother to me! And Dr. Pines is now my best friend too!"

"This is Soos. He and his family live here too, he runs the Mystery Shack tourist attraction." Xin explained.

Why did Ford share his house? They didn't understand that bit.

"One of the kids broke the sink in the main bathroom earlier. No biggie, easy fix." Soos finally answered Xin's question. "I'll be right out to rejoin the party when I'm done."

"Cool, see you." Xin waved before he led the family on their way once again. Soos chuckled and walked off with his arms in the air, "Fixin' it with Soos! Still got it!" and with that, everyone went back to the front of the house to get their shoes and head outside.

"Uncle Kevin!"

Seb was glad they finally made it. Incredibly, they made it before Stan or Shermie did. Lazy asses. They could just teleport here!

He rushed to hug the older man. "Ah, it's so good to see you!" Kevin chuckled and patted his back. He was such a grown man now. "Great to see you too, Sebastian."

Annie and Rita looked at each other as they stared at their uncle. Wow.

"You look nothing alike." Annie told her aunt Fio. "Are you sure you're cousins?" She chuckled. "They all lean towards their father's side more, and we lean to our father's side."

Seb smiled at his niblings and greeted them all by name and hugged them, welcoming them into the backyard (where many tables covered in food were already set up) and asking if they wanted something. They felt kinda bad, seeing he knew them all by name already.

"Zach! Zoe!" Seb then yelled his lungs out. Two blond kids scrambled down the huge playground and ran towards their dad. "Kids, this is your great uncle Kevin. Your aunt Fiorella, her kids, and your uncle Jacob and his kids. You all are cousins! Like you're cousins with Diego or Mabel and Dipper, but this time, because they are my cousins."

The twins stood there shyly. The oldest cousins smiled and crouched to say hi and hug them for their birthday.

Wade grinned "So 13, huh? Teens."

"Oh, yeah." Zoe smiled.

Once introductions were done, the twins ran away to their friends, "Gee, they look nothing like our family." Zoe commented. They all mostly had straight black hair, light eyes, more pointy noses compared to their curly brown hair and eyes and round noses. Zach hummed "Yeah, it's so weird, but cool."

Seb searched for Ford and brought him over. "Kids, your uncle Ford! This is my oldest brother, well, he is my triplet, but he got out first, so we say he's older!"

Stanford looked almost exactly like Sebastian, aside from a few small details. He was with a gorgeous Indian woman with– four arms? Xin walked over and nuzzled Ford's side. Yun turned to smile at Kevin and his group. "Hello! You're Kevin right?"

"Y-Yes. Hi…" Another round of introductions. When they thought it was over, they gasped as they saw an stampede of kids rush from outside the house to the backyard, followed by a pretty red-haired woman around the triplets' age.

"Daddy! I had the dirtiest wipe!" Acedia cried. "I got dirty cleaning and mama had to help me wash again!" She pointed at Riley with tears in her heterochromatic eyes. "I want the prize."

Ira blew a raspberry, "I got the dirtiest one and I am STILL dirty to prove it!" She was gonna rub herself against Acedia's pristine clothes but Riley caught her just in time. "See what you caused, Ford? -Oh hi!"

Seb pointed "Everyone, this is Riley, Ford's other girlfriend." He introduced with a grin. "Shes also a scientist!" Riley blushed a bit at the introduction.

"...Those are the 8 kids." Francis pointed out. All his family was shocked. This family was so weird! They were also trying very hard not to stare at the CONJOINED TWINS. They glanced at Yun, and her four arms. Then over to the twins. Uhhhh… ok, well, genetics were a thing…

"Kids. Kids. Before we continue with this situation, say hi to your uncles and your cousins, at least wave at them." Ford looked at them seriously. The octuplets glanced at Kevin's group. "Hi. Bye." and then ran off. (Yun and Xin cackled. Ford groaned.)

"...Cute kids." Fiorella managed to smile.

"You don't have to lie. They're monsters." Ford deadpanned. ("Half-Demons." Yun said helpfully.)

"I-I'm sorry, Stanford but I have to ask." Kevin waved a hand, needing to ground himself a bit with his nephew's intense love life. "Are all of them… Which one is from…each of your partners?!"

"Dad!" Fiorella hissed.

Ford blushed a bit and rubbed his neck. "It's…fine, Uncle Kevin. I don't have kids with all of them… Just Xin and Yun. One from Xin, the other 7 from Yun."

That was not the answer Kevin actually expected.

Marie reappeared, walking in the direction of the mini sandwich table. She didn't actually clean so she didn't care. She wanted goodies!

Her dad scooped her up though and she squeaked at the suddenness. He rested her against his hip. "This is Marie. The fourth one and she is Xin's." She buried her face against his broad chest, shy.

"The GUY?!" Kevin frowned. ("Dad!")

"Eh." Xin shrugged, "Dragons technically don't need to bother with sex to produce eggs." Ford kicked his foot.

"Interesting fact that has nothing to do with us." Ford adjusted his glasses. Xin stuck his tongue out at Ford behind his back.

"Don't question it." Ford glared.

"To be fair… I was not gonna." Jacob nodded.

"...I was." Paul was hit by his big brother again. The cousins all assumed rather instinctively that Xin was trans. He was super tall, and muscular, sure. But his voice wasn't very deep, and his hips were so wide! Plus his face was very pretty, with delicate features. It was very confusing.

They had the craziest extended family! Way better than that other uncle who played the flute with his nose…

They were introduced to Mabel as she rushed towards them. "Grunkle Kevin!"

"Grunkle?" Jacob smirked at his dad. "She invented it. Only she can use it. Anyone repeats it and is grounded the entire weekend." Kevin deadpanned.

"I'll bring my husband and Dipper!" Mabel rushed off and brought a very tall man. They said hi to Max, (who was told to quickly turn his illusion spell back on before getting to meet the extended family) ("Normies are coming!") and he shook hands with them.

Dipper shook hands and greeted his cousins and…as Mabel said, "Our Grunkle Kevin, Dipper!"

"Hi, uh, this is my wife Pacifica." He proudly introduced the blonde, who happily welcomed Dipper's extended family.

Dipper stared at his Grunkle, wow Grandma Kari looked so much like him! and then his eyes landed on a mark he had on his lower cheek. "Cassiopeia." He said.

Kevin frowned. "Pardon me?"

"You…you have a birthmark…it looks like-like Cassiopeia, the constellation."

"Oh, yeah!" Dipper's uncle Jacob chuckled. "I always thought it looked more like a lightning bolt."

Mabel and Pacifica gasped. Dipper stared. "No way! Grandma never told me…" He doubted it for a second before lifting up his brown curls.

The Romanoff now gasped. "Dude! That-Oh! So that's why you are called Dipper!" Paul exclaimed with a grin. "That's so cool!" Dipper's Grunkle ruffled his hair.

The oldest stayed around the adults, while Francis and Paul wandered around, being the 2 youngest. They sat nearby the jungle gym, watching their younger cousins and their friends have fun. "That's a really cool jungle gym." Paul noted, "Looks like a real tree."

The kids laughed at him and he frowned. What?!

"So…" One of the super young kids (Paul and Francis had no idea who was who, there were so many children here!) asked slowly, "How are you family to us?" Pink kid (they'll call them Pink) asked.

They looked at each other. Paul didn't pay attention so he waited for his cousin to save their asses. "Uh….Our grandpa Kevin and your grandma Kari are siblings. They're brother and sister."

"Oh."

"So…Your dad…is our parents' cousin…and we are cousins with you." Francis felt proud of himself.

Pink nodded. "So if I had grandkids, what are those to you?"

"I have no idea." Francis deadpanned.

"Why not?"

"Because english is dumb and I don't wanna learn the once removed stuff."

Pink seemed to find his answer to be fair enough.

Shermie and Abi were the last to arrive, like always, and noticed their daughter leaning against Max's chest and drinking a tea Riley brewed for her after seeing the nauseous look on her face.

When people asked, Max, who was tenderly holding her, explained that she wasn't feeling well, but didn't want to miss the kids' special birthday party. And also that her 'unwell' wasn't because she was sick, don't worry.

Xin gave Riley a sly smile. "Not feeling well, huh?" The red haired woman covered her mouth as her eyes widened a little. No! "Is…" Xin shrugged with a grin and walked away. Riley pouted.

At the comment, the youngest Pines brother and his wife just smiled knowingly and leaned against each other.

"Is Mabel really sick?" Isaac looked at his baba. Xin cooed and picked him up, grunting a bit as the kid had gotten a lot bigger recently. "Let's find things to help her feel better!" Isaac suggested, squeezing Xin's cheeks.

Xin hugged his son close. "Ah~that's so sweet of you~" he snuggled him close, rubbing his face against his chubby cheek. Everyone cooed. Phillip clung to Dillon's arm and smiled widely. Isaac jumped to the floor to instruct his siblings over their new mission. "I'll give her one of my toys. That always makes ME feel better." The little ones scrambled away as the young teens and their friends rolled their eyes. Kids~

"I'm bored." Diego declared. "We'll be back, we're gonna check out the experiments at the center." The twins cheered.

"Eh, no, you aren't. You really shouldn't be walking around without supervision." Ford frowned. Seriously. Just because they were his family, it didn't mean they had free access to the labs! What even made them think that?

"We'll be going to town then." Zoe announced, not bothering to check if anyone heard, and led her group. Zach grabbed Amanda's hand, which made her jump. "Oh, there's a laser tag place there! Come on, guys!" The twins, Amanda and 4 more kids giggled and ran away. They were old enough to go on their own anyway. Mabel and Dipper were out there running for their lives at this very age. They could handle going to town.

Once they were out, too good to spend time with their family, the adults relaxed and pulled out some drinks, but not too many, Kari reminded them, the octuplets were here after all.

Dipper and Dillon looked at each other and smiled when they got a bottle. It was so surreal. It seemed like it was yesterday when their parents sent them out to play so they could drink, and now they were drinking with them...

Time really flew by.

No one really said anything about Mabel kindly rejecting the alcoholic drink, something she usually did not pass, and choosing soda instead. It was better to drink non-alcohol if she didn't feel good…

"Seb, Zach is kinda short, don't you think?" Shermie commented softly.

Phillip intervened. "It's actually normal. Hormone blockers delay growth…" He looked at Seb. "So it's decided, right?"

Wanda and Seb nodded. "Yeah, we are following his treatment as his doctor recommended."

Dillon melted at Phillip's cute, serious doctor face. "Alright. I think you have chosen the right age for his treatment. I have this patient I'm seeing in the hospital I'm resident at. She's 17, also transgender but she didn't have the chance to take hormone blockers. This will be much easier." Phillip nodded. "You can call me anytime if you have a question."

Dillin pulled him close for a kiss. "God, talk medical to me!" He moaned.

"Oh, come on, man!" "Dillon Pines!" "Not here!" "In front of your grandmother! "Just like his father..." Everyone complained at the same time.

Kevin and his family laughed. They had to admit meetings with Aunt Kari's family were waaay more entertaining than they thought…

-.-

It took the young teens a few hours to get back, and they returned with snacks. They didn't take money, but Seb's tab was still registered in most stores in town. Hah! Zoe was still giggling at Zach, complaining about how he wasn't the younger sibling. Diego patted his back solemnly. "Puberty will come sOon, man…"

Zoe and Amanda snorted loudly, earning a punch on her arm from her cousin (Amanda got a free pass because she was a guest), and the blond boy just sighed. He WANTED his voice to break, to go deeper...

Their family waved at them. They were all laughing and chatting, the octuplets were playing on the floor with Dillon and Phillip. "Hey! Look at that! I had forgotten why we were here!" Shermie pestered the twins, who stuck their tongues out.

Mabel looked so much better than before.

"Man, I thought your cousin was dying." A friend commented.

The twins shrugged, grabbed a couple ice creams from the store and they all climbed to the top of the jungle gym to chat in private. Zach and Zoe talked about their gym and theater classes, but they kinda felt out of place hearing their cousin and friend's school experiences.

"He slammed so hard against the barbed fence we all thought he broke his skull!"

"I was literally sitting there and a football hit me in the face!" "Oh it was so funny!" "No, it wasn't!"

They kinda wanted that. They'd see if they could convince their stubborn parents to let them go back to regular school. Homeschooling was fine, but they were so bored.

"Gee, that'll be hard." Georgie commented. "Mom doesn't let me go anywhere, and your dad convinced her to let me stay hours away in the woods! Your dad's got some intense stubbornness."

"Yeah, same." Michelle, a friend from music class, crossed her arms.

Diego waved a hand. "You can ask my dad first and then make him tell uncle Seb. He listens to his brothers." The little witch in the making grinned. Zach and Zoe considered the strategy.

"Oh! By the way! I'll have a bar mitzvah celebration this year, you're invited." Diego extrovertly told his new friends. "Will you?"

"We…haven't considered it yet."

"I heard those are great because you get presents and money!" Fred, the only other boy in Zach's gymnastics team, squealed.

""Oohh.""

They noticed someone climbing up towards them. It was Dipper!

"A grown up! Attack!"

"No, no! I come in peace!" Dipper pleaded. "Mabel wants to talk to you two, guys."

"Why doesn't she climb herself? She's our only exception." Zoe deadpanned. Her, Amanda, Michelle and their other two old school friends, Kylie and Lila, nodded.

"Ask her, I'm simply here to deliver the message." Dipper felt mildly offended by his younger cousins going from DEMANDING his presence at their games because he was 'a big kid', to being disgusted at him because they were too cool for him now.

He wasn't that old! He was just turning 27 this year!

"Fine~ Let's go." Zoe and Zach slid down the slide.

Mabel was sitting on a comfortable fold out chair that Xin brought out for her. She had a hand on her belly and was sipping her soda. "Hey you two." Mabel waved.

"What did you want to talk about?"

"You still owe us a present…" Zoe reminded her cousin and her twin hit her in the ribs.

Mabel wiggled in her chair, looking a bit sad. "So… I had something I wanted to tell the whole family, I thought it'd be a perfect chance! But then I thought it could take all the attention away from you two, and I didn't want to do that since it's your birthday party. So… what do you think?"

"Tell the family?" Zoe hummed at the secret. "You killed someone~?"

"No, silly!" Mabel waved a hand. "I wanted to tell you first to know if I had your permission."

"Tell us first" Zach demanded and the twins got closer as Mabel whispered something.

Their brown and green eyes widened widely. "SHUT. UP!" "WHAT?!" "NO WAY?!"

Mabel giggled.

"Yes! You gotta tell everyone!" Zach squealed. This was amazing! He wanted to see the looks on people's faces!

The twins rushed to hug Mabel first and squealed, touching her belly. "We'll be your baby's aunt and uncle?!" Zoe asked with her bicolored eyes glowing. Mabel squeezed her and giggled. "Yes~!"

"But you have nothing here!"

"They're too tiny right now!"

"They…" Zoe squealed and held her twin's hand.

She handed them the boxes with their gifts. "Sorry for taking time on your birthday to announce this, guys… I just didn't know how to get everyone together again without rousing suspicion."

The twins hugged their cousin again. "Are you kidding?! This is amazing!" Zoe gushed. Baby! Zach nodded. "Yeah, we don't really mind." Such nice kiddos.

"Can we tell?!" "Who knows already?!"

"Well, Max, of course, and my parents."

"D'aaww! I wanted to see Uncle Shermie faint." Zoe pouted.

"Oh-ho-ho! I have the video where I told him! Here, look."

She passed them her phone with the hilarious and sweet moment.

The camera was placed on the countertop, giving a perfect view for the scene. Mabel and Max appeared in the video and showed two boxes. "I'm gonna give this to my parents and see how they react~!"

Zach and Zoe giggled already.

The next scene cut to Mabel handing her parents the gifts.

"Oh, what for?" Abi asked curiously.

"Oh, I had a good job last week and wanted to gift you guys something," Mabel smiled.

Shermie and Abi opened the boxes at the same time. Their smiles dropped and Abi raised a little baby onesie that read "Promoted to grandparents" and Shermie shakily lifted 2 pairs of baby shoes tied up together.

Abi dropped everything as her hands flew to her mouth, tears welling up. At the sight of her mom crying, Mabel teared up too.

"NO!?"

The couple nodded excitedly.

Shermie kept staring at the tiny shoes even as his eyes rolled backwards and he fainted.

Abi began screaming and jumping, she laughed and cried, unable to contain her happiness "OH MY GOODNESS!" She wrapped her arms around her child and son-in law, still holding the onesie in one hand like her life depended on it.

The scene cut to them on the couch. Abi was staring at the ultrasound picture as Shermie stared straight ahead of the camera. "I'll be a grandpa…I'm too young to be a grandpa… I'm only 40."

"You'll be 42." Mabel reminded him.

"I'M OLD NOW!" He lamented.

The video ended with Shermie visibly crying, tears streaming down his face as he stood up to hold her baby girl.

"This was so cute." Zach cooed.

"Why did you tell them first?"

"Max thought Uncle Seb and Uncle Stan would bother him and not let him enjoy the news." Mabel shrugged and the twins agreed. True. Dad was a meanie sometimes.

"How should we tell everyone?!"

"Hey, kids! Should we sing happy birthday already?" Wanda approached them.

The young teens looked at Mabel, whispered something at her and nodded.

"Yeah, we want Cake~" Stan whined like the mature adult he was.

"Ok, ok! Just so Uncle Stan doesn't start crying." Zoe rolled her eyes and barely dodged his hair ruffling. Zach wasn't so lucky though.

The large group crowded around the large vanilla choc chip cake to celebrate these weird little kiddos. Seb and Wanda stood behind their kids, squeezing their shoulders gently and so proud of them. They made these amazing little ones who were getting bigger day after day.

Dipper reached towards them and made them wear little party hats. Zoe and Zach squealed and laughed and got a couple of silly pictures.

The two old siblings remained silent.

"...And I loved him…" Kari bitterly whispered after a while. "You were right, but I wasn't seeing it because I hoped…that he'd stop, that he'd be like when I first met him…I wanted you to be wrong about him…like you were always hard on my boyfriends growing up."

"...To be fair, I was messing with them…" The old man rubbed his gray hair. That's what older brothers did, wasn't it? "Filbrick, on the other hand…" He was way older than her, and always gave him the creeps, like something haunted him deep inside.

"He's dead. I don't want to talk ill about the dead…please." Kari glanced at him and remembered what Seb said about his father. "...Thank you for apologizing though…I appreciate it."

Kevin felt like that was a beginning at least

"Granny, my cupcake?!" Nick returned, just to be surprised his cupcake was gone, reduced to atoms.

"Sorry, sweetie. Your Daddy came and ate it. Go grab another one." She lied as easily as she breathed. Nick let out a war cry and ran around to find his dad. Kevin snorted and let out a laugh.

"You sneaky liar…"

"Always." Kari scoffed.

"GUYS!" Zoe stood in the middle of the party and everyone stopped their conversations to look at her. "We have something to tell you that WE know and YOU all don't know."

Zach grinned. "We can be nice and tell you, though."

Stan shouted, putting his hands around his mouth "Spill it already!"

"Hm~ Nah, I don't think I will~" Zoe giggled, glancing at Mabel. Her big cousin chuckled. "Well, I think you can share the gift of knowledge, Zoe."

"Nope." Zoe crossed her arms. "I'll die with this secret~"

Everyone groaned and complained they wanted to know now! Too much suspense.

Zach glanced at his friends (their friends already knew, and were all containing excited laughter) and moved side to side. "We can make you guess though."

"Fine. Make us guess." Wanda smiled and shook her head.

Zoe stroked her chin, brown and green eyes scanning the place for something to say. "Oh! I get it~ So. We have MORE guests at this party than you think."

"Gnomes?" Ford asked immediately.

"Gnomes?!" Wade turned to look at him.

"Is…someone else coming?" Fiorella asked timidly.

"They're already here~"

All the family began looking around.

"What?" "Where?" "TELL US!" Came the inpatient shout of an octuplet. Shermie and Abi realized what they were doing and began chuckling between them.

"Well. They're kind of here." Zach looked at Zoe. "They'll be here- here in some months."

"Time traveler!" Dipper screamed, making Paz laugh out loud when everyone turned to look at him.

Everyone started giving their wild guesses because they really had no idea what the twins were talking about. It was a fun little game, but after many wrong answers, they were beginning to get frustrated. They wanted to know the answer!

Max, Shermie and Abigail just sipped their drinks calmly.

Until finally, FINALLY, it was Mabel's own brother who noticed her acting weirdly. Her excited face shifted to a nauseous one in an instant and he was on his feet the moment she took a step back to hold her before she tripped. "Mabel!" He helped her sit down next to Max.

Something inside the young man's head clicked, followed by everyone going deadly silent.

Dipper was the first to react, hands flying to cover his mouth as tears welled up in his tired eyes. Mabel…his twin sister…

"I think I know who the guest is." Dillon muttered amused, watching his cousin trembling.

"Oh my Gosh! Mabel!" The young man covered his mouth. "Mabel, that's amazing !" He screamed, unable to contain his excitement. "I'm gonna be an uncle?!"

"You'll be an uncle, huge dork!" Mabel shouted and they both began screaming.

The entire family erupted into pure CHAOS.

Seb finally uncovered his mouth to look around as the family celebrated the amazing news. He was still gasping with his eyes wide though.

Mabel…His sweet little niece…The little girl who slept drowned by plushies and cried when she felt she loved one plushie more than the other…the girl who gave him heart attacks when she tried to fly, or draw on cats, or get hit by the microwave because she was wearing a huge magnet…

She was going to be a mom…

And he was going to meet her child…He…He was actually HERE to witness all this…

He looked at Wanda, who smiled and squeezed his shoulder. "Holy shit…" He looked at the Stans, who were smiling. "HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT WE ARE GOING TO BE GREAT UNCLES!"

"Grunkles!" Mabel supplied from the crushing hug her brother was giving her and spinning her around. "Dip-Dip I'm gonna puke-no-"

"Oh! Sorry!"

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The youngest triplet hugged Wanda. "We are going to be real Grunkles! Aaaahhhhh!" He shrieked.

"I'm proud of you, pumpkin!" Stan was next to approach her and hug his oldest niece. He then turned around to clean his eyes from the dust, but everyone knew the softie was crying.

Riley squeaked as she squeezed Ford's shoulder before pushing him over to her. "Oh that's amazing news, sweetie!" Mabel giggled and accepted the hugs from both Stans. Seb was still too busy screaming and scaring the octuplets.

Ford looked at Seb before looking at Xin, who was also squealing. "What's up with him?"

"In his past life, the Stans were the twins' Grunkles, he's excited I guess." The alien giggled, hugging him by his shoulders. "Uh, congratulations, Mabel!" He called.

Kari and Kevin were both staring with huge green eyes. Kevin turned to look at Kari when she finally reacted and covered her mouth. "...Guess you'll be a great grandma now." Kari let out a mix of laughter and cry and both siblings hugged, celebrating the moment. Grudges could be picked up later.

Fio and Jacob's family were in shock. They weren't that close to be completely losing it like them, but they wouldn't have expected to be here for such important news, and went and congratulated one of their oldest cousins.

The octuplets stared as the adults cheered. "She has a baby in her belly?" "How?"

"Well, kids, it's quite a simple but fun story! You see! I was with Maxi-"

""NO!"" Shermie and Dipper screamed at the same time and everyone laughed.

"...So Mabel might lay an egg…?" Diego made an horrified face. Half the adults stared at Max, and the others wondered WHY Diego was coming to such weird conclusions.

Mabel shrugged. "Nah~ I'm not carrying eggs! Well, not those types of eggs anyway! These ones are normal."

"""Twins?!""" The triplets and Kari exclaimed.

"Holy Moses, what is UP with this family's twin gene?" Wanda pondered, putting her hands on her hips. Carla snorted. "I know right? I thought it was supposed to skip a generation. I certainly never got any." She pointed at the triplets, Mabel and Dipper and Zach and Zoe. They all blinked in unison.

Seb looked at Xin "Did you accidentally bless them?" The dragon huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "I specifically made sure not to! You're just defective and keep making multiples, weird humans."

"How dare you talk?!" Seb gasped with laughter. "The OCTuplets are right here!" Xin scoffed. "Not a normal human pregnancy. Doesn't count."

Seb turned to look at Shermie, still sitting down and even receiving some congratulations from his cousins from time to time for his new title as grandpa-to be. "HOLD on a second…WHY aren't YOU celebrating and fainting right now~?"

Shermie placed his drink aside. "Why, I'm not like you all mortals. We were the first to know weeks ago!" He looked SO smug, taunting his big brother.

Fio and Jacob stared as Seb's face turned into an enraged and disappointment hybrid. "WhAT?!" He made his neck 'pop' as he turned to look at his niece. "How come HE knew first?!"

"Because we are her parents, knucklehead?" Shermie deadpanned.

"No! That's not an excuse!"

"You'd have teased Uncle Shermie." Zach crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow.

"Of COURSE we'd 'ave!" Stan replied. "That's our birthright!"

"ANNOYING ME?!" Shermie exclaimed in shock.

"Sherman, it's just how the universe works," Ford said, all matter-of-factly. "Oh trust me, I know." He grinned, joining in with his brothers.

The close family deadpanned as the new guests stared in confusion.

"Yeah, Shooting Star! Not fair!" Seb said dramatically. "How could you have done that to us! To miss the moment to go to our little brother…~" Shermie was surrounded, he pushed, but he was trapped. The triplets had moved towards him almost in synch, triplet telepathy, they called it.

"And scream YOU'RE GONNA BE A GRANDPA! HAHAHAHAHAHAH!" Seb screamed maniacally as his brothers began slapping Shermie.

"And…there it is. " Max sighed.

The four fell to the floor, fighting. Shermie was so gonna murder them! "Stop!" "Make me, grandpa!" Stan cackled.

"...Is that something that just happens?" Annie stared at her uncle biting his other uncle.

"Yeah, they do that." Mabel crouched to hug Zach and Zoe once more and they giggled and hugged their cousin back. "Thanks again, guys~ This was great! I owe you one~"

"Is it true you tasted Smile Dip ?" "Is it true you know where to get it?" The twins demanded, not losing a second. Mabel sobered.

"...I don't know anything until you're at least able to vote." She conceded (""D'aaww~"")

They let the crazy brothers fight, Kari didn't even bother, and kept celebrating all the sweet joys. The twins growing, their family growing…Max's hidden tail wagged as he got hugs and congratulations from family.

Everyone was so busy they didn't notice Pacifica walked into the house to get some privacy. It was hard to be in their happy environment right now...

-.-

The triplets were satisfied with the video Max showed them of Shermie fainting.

Dipper was hugging Mabel as he laughed at the video.

"You better not have kids yet!" Shermie grumbled. He had enough to process right now.

"I would have kids JUST to spite you." Dipper deadpanned and Seb cheered. "That's my nephew!"" Seb smiled and nudged the boy. The younger brunet looked around. Hey, where was Paz?

He went to look for her inside the house, and he took a while to come back. The happy day ended with Seb nudging his son to show some gymnastics tricks.

"He is amazing! He does all the…wooshes and jumps!" Seb moved his hands.

Zach rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Dad…I...I can't just do it just like that…" he mumbled.

Seb narrowed his eyes. He loved seeing him doing all those flips. It was really cool.

"Oh~ You do gymnastics? I always wanted to do it, but my parents said I would turn out gay! Haha! Jokes on them! I was already gay before wanting to practice!" Phillip laughed.

Zach laughed. He still felt a little too embarrassed to perform in front of everyone but everyone cheered for him encouragingly.

"I can do something easy...If you want?" He flinched when his entire family cheered and chanted his name.

"Ok...but it's not like I'm a professional… I haven't gone to any real competitions yet because of how...but yeah…" He rubbed his arm, self consciously and Seb and Wanda shared a worried look.

If Zach wanted to compete, he'd have to do it in the girl's category because they were just starting his treatment, and both of them refused to let their son go through something like that, even when NOT competing itself made him sad.

"Just shut up and do it already!" Zach smiled when his twin punched his arm, hard. "Geez, Zoe… I swear you have more muscles than I do."

Zach took a deep breath and ran forward, doing a round off and a couple of forward flips. He landed and everyone clapped. The teen was blushing heavily and avoided looking at anyone. Seb hugged him tightly. "Uurrgghhhh! You are so adoraablleee!" He rubbed his nose against his.

"DAD!" Zach screeched and kicked his little legs in the air.

Kari laughed so hard, she ended up leaning on Kevin's shoulder. The two startled, but then Kari continued resting her head there. And Kevin didn't move to push her off.

Neither said anything.

But it was ok.

It was… a start.

-.-

The first pregnancy of their kids. The next gen of this insane family.

Kari, Abi and her own parents were over the moon with this, calling or texting their friends to let anyone know Mabel was expecting.

But Mabel had lied. She didn't tell her parents first. She told her besties Candy and Grenda.

Candy and Grenda had screamed for several minutes straight, Grenda even burst out in freaking German.

After getting her ears massacred by the screams over the phone, she demanded for them to start making babies now so their kids could be best friends!

'Guys, I don't know what you are doing, but you better start giving me niblings!" Mabel exclaimed at them by video chat.

Candy had laughed and waved a hand. She didn't promise one yet, even if she was still with Gabe and they weren't against the idea, she was busy working at the research center to try to find a way to innovate the human body and help people. She didn't study biomedical engineering for nothing…though she doubted Dr. Pines even remembered she worked there. Too many staff members for him to pay much attention to.

On the other hand, Grenda was sure as hell demanding kids from her man from now on! She couldn't stay behind! Besides, she wanted her kids and Mabel's to be best friends too!

"DOES GIDEON EVEN KNOW?" Grenda asked. Mabel shook her head, putting a hand over her belly. "No idea, he's quiet, I'm glad. I haven't heard anything from him." She scoffed. Apparently, he wasn't going to bother her about this. She hadn't heard from him since Miz helped block him off her social media for her wedding.

Meanwhile, Dipper had been sleeping on the couch for about two weeks. After the little twins' birthday, they had a big fight. Hurtful things were said.

"She's my TWIN! Do you want me to NOT feel happy for her?! How can you be so selfish about this?!"

"And I'm your WIFE! And you knew how I've been feeling about this! And how I'm on treatment! And you left me! You didn't even notice I was gone!"

"I looked for you! And you screamed at me! It's not that big of a deal!"

"GET OUT!" "FINE!"

Pacifica screamed. It was so frustrating being unable to do something everyone else did so easily and sometimes unintentionally! She'd been to the doctor, she went through the examinations, she was taking the medicine.

It was not FAIR her own husband said "It wasn't a big deal."

It wasn't fair. Nothing of this was fair! She was so bitter, so jealous. She couldn't stand seeing Mabel's social media. Why Mabel?! Her husband wasn't even human when they met! He was a cryptid! They weren't even SUPPOSED to have kids! But of COURSE Mabel had to get everything. She had the perfect family, people always liked her…

The waters calmed down eventually. Dipper and Paz didn't like being angry at each other. Dipper held her. "I'm sorry…for everything…" He muttered. "It was insensitive…I…"

"It's fine. I also acted like a bitch…I…I just kinda want to keep my distance for now…it hurts."

"...I understand." The curly brunet sighed and gently kissed her lips. "I want a family with you…I'll be here…if you want me to go and-and do the embarrassing checkups, I'll do them. " Pacifica laughed wetly at his determined nerdy face

"Dork."

-.-

Max and Mabel went to the 2nd month checkup with the only doctors they trusted. One of the embryos was smaller than the other… Allie kept an eye on that.

While Allie was with Mabel, Dylan checked Max.

"I feel weird."

Dylan signed to him 'I know. Trust me. You'll get used to it .'

Nesting heat as humans translated into a total mess. Dylan had gone through it four times, so he wanted to make sure Max would be strong enough to go through it.

'It's not easy, son. You'll sweat A LOT. And your normal 35 C° is going up to 39°. You NEED to be on pills to lower down your fever and keep cold ice packs on your forehead. And try staying away from warm things.'

"...I work in a restaurant. Cooking." Max realized, and Dylan winced.

'Geez. You'll need to keep it ventilated at least. Max, you're going to go through very hard hormonal changes as well, you need to keep your head cool during these months because you don't want to see yourself angry and growling at everything.'

Max pulled at his braid. "And...What about the baby? I can't warm it and-and I already feel like just...laying down with Mabel and the fetus and just sleep there." Holding her close and keeping her warm for the nesting period.

'You need to keep your head cool' Dylan repeated. ' Mabel doesn't need you to warm her up. Her body is already doing that for her. You can indulge from time to time, but you need to focus on her right now. What you're going through is only an inconvenience.'

Max sighed defeatedly. "Yes, doctor Dylan."

'And...Try not hanging out with strange men close to Mabel, because instincts are going to kick hard and you seriously don't need to know what I did to a man once when he asked Allie the time while she was pregnant.'

Max grimaced, terrified of the changes of his modified human nesting heat.

Mabel, on the other hand, was over the moon. "Are they two boys?! Two girls?! A boy and a girl?! Neither?! Both?! Please I need to knowww!" She squealed.

Allie chuckled as she stared at the screen. "It's too early to tell yet, sweetie...One of the twins is… kinda small, but it's within the normal range, we'll keep monitoring them."

That was almost a month ago and Mabel was...feeling off. Her belly wasn't growing as she expected...and some random bleeding was making her very nervous. Allie checked over her and her developing fetuses...her frown made Mabel wince.

"Is...Is everything alright? What's going on with the twins?" Mabel's smile slowly went down as Allie's expression strained.

Allie put down the device for a moment and looked at Mabel directly in her eyes. "Mabel…listen to me…"

The entire hospital heard the heartbreaking wail that was let out.

-.-

Max knocked on the door of the dark, messy room and put the tray with soup down. "Hey…made your favorite."

The answer took a while, but eventually from under the covers came a "Leave it there…"

Max glanced at the others 'he left there', still full and cold. "You gotta eat something, Mab…"

More silence, just soft, hitching breathing and an old pig grunting as he was moved from his position. "I'll do it later…"

It's been several days. Mabel had cried non stop for days, and finally her eyes were dry, so she laid there, motionless. Max wasn't gonna say he preferred the crying but…at least she was doing something …

"Mabel, I can only hear one heartbeat...I'm so sorry."

Max climbed on the bed that Mabel barely left and dragged her to him. The disheveled woman just let him.

Her head was so full of pretty images of what life with her babies would look like and now…she lost one...

It-It was her fault…

"It was not your fault." Max said in his deep voice. He could tell what she must have been thinking.

"Why…"

"I don't know…But it wasn't anyone's fault…It just wasn't meant to be…"

The ecography showed one healthy fetus, developing correctly, heart beating strong, and the other one that used to be stumped on its growth...still half the size of the healthy one…was just gone. It didn't make it.

Max remembered he sighed, resigned. It happened sometimes, a slug egg. It's why they laid large clutches. In fact, Max and his quadruplets were the only survivors from an original clutch of seven. So he was used to something like this. But apparently… it wasn't considered normal and expected for humans.

The way Mabel began screaming and shrieking, her brown eyes full of tears as she clawed at her gel-ed stomach broke his heart in a way he didn't know was possible.

" No...No, nonono, it has to be there! It HAS TO! They should be together! PLEASE! PLEASE YOU'RE LYING!...Please…"

The news slowly made it to the family. They didn't feel right to go, but they sent their supportive messages, flowers and gave them the privacy they needed to grieve.

Of course, besides the other multiples in the family feeling sad, Dipper's heart sank like lead. What his twin was going through was unimaginable. It was terrifying to see her bubbly, colorful self so pale and defeated.

Abi hugged her daughter as Shermie held her hand. Oh, their poor baby girl. "It wasn't your fault…Things like that just happen."

Dipper was accompanying her from time to time too, wanting to make sure his twin was grieving in a healthy way. During the previous month, he had avoided talking to Paz about Mabel related stuff, but this wasn't something he could leave out.

"Oh, what about her now…" Pacifica mumbled. Dipper hardened his look. "She lost one of the twins…I'm visiting my sister."

Pacifica immediately turned to look at him, horrified and it came crashing down on her how horrible she had been, thinking of her best friend and sister-in law out of pure jealousy… She wished badly of her… She thought they weren't supposed to exist, and now…

Dipper didn't bring Pacifica to see Mabel, for his and Paz's mental health. They were already tense and they didn't need her getting scared it could happen to them too or crying in front of Mabel and making things worse for his sister. His own paranoia was bad enough.

Max got frequent visits from Abi, who helped him to force Mabel to eat and take showers, even if she screamed at them. She needed to move, and she needed to eat, for her and for the baby still growing inside her.

Eventually, after talking to a counselor for a few months, Mabel felt good enough to be able to smile again. She knew it wasn't her fault, and despite feeling like she'd never really recover from this, and one part of her will be always wondering all the 'what if's'...she was ready to move on.

The other twin had disappeared from her womb, but it'd be part of her heart forever. Now, she swore she'd completely focus on staying healthy for her child. They still needed her to stay healthy and take care of them.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. Mommy will always protect you from anything." Mabel rubbed her growing belly and her little worm wiggled.

-.-

Summer came and went. The older twins turned 27 in a rather bittersweet meeting. All the adults had warned their kids to shut their yaps about what happened and not bother their cousin.

"But…why?" Isaac pulled his sleeve. "Because it will hurt your cousin." Riley explained.

"The baby will never have his twin now? What if they miss them?" He asked.

Riley and Ford thought about how to explain it. "Oh, honey, the fetus isn't aware…". Ford explained. Riley had to shrug, "Yeah, at that point they're too little. They… don't even know that they were supposed to have a twin."

Isaac pouted. That didn't make any sense to him. He knew who his siblings were, even before he could remember. He just knew. They were… they were one, but many. He couldn't explain it, didn't have the words for it. But he simply knew. He could Feel his siblings. Knew where they were, could tell how near or far they were from him. They were his, he was the biggest, the first, the– Isaac frowned, unable to really process these thoughts.

Zach, Zoe and Diego felt really sad, but they were old enough to just give their cousin support. Zach and Zoe couldn't even imagine…losing their twin…even if they thought the other was so annoying, they were still best friends…

Pacifica hugged her friend, apologizing softly for being so unsupportive. She placed her hand on her small round belly.

Mabel smiled "Oh, Pacifica…it's…it's alright. You needed your space, and I won't force you… I know this affects you…"

"But it shouldn't have made me such a bitch, like I used to be." The blonde shook her head. "I'll be here for you from now on. You and the baby." Mabel smiled and glanced at her hand on her belly.

"Thanks, Paz…"

Max and Dipper shared a look before both sighed in relief.

-.-

Mabel hadn't named them yet, like Max said, heck, she didn't know the sex yet, just focused more on staying healthy and eating well so they could keep growing. Plenty of food with good nutrients and Max was more than happy to cook them for her.

But also, there were the… cravings .

Max wasn't as weirded out by Mabel's cravings as everyone expected him to be. To be fair, he didn't know what was considered 'normal' food for humans, so if she wanted to eat it and it wasn't toxic, then what the heck, he'll find it for her.

Mabel, on her part, was hating how she couldn't eat any sugar or she'd puke! She swore she was gonna scream! "If this baby doesn't like sugary things, Max, I swear I'll ground them when they're born." she heaved over the sink.

Max just laughed, wiped his sweat and nodded. "Sure, xhuqi."

Mabel was a very strong woman, but she wasn't liking all the kicks and movements at all. It hurt like hell! And her dizziness did not leave her even after the first trimester.

"Yeah...It'd be like that sometimes." Allie nodded.

She loved her baby so much… but there was no way she was going through this again. No, no. Nada. Too many things had happened to make her determined to make this baby her only treasure. (Was she gonna be overprotective? Maybe. She didn't care).

Max wasn't spending this time of her pregnancy too well either, despite how he tried acting fine with her. He WAS kinda moody these days with anyone but her, (he bit one of his co-chefs when he wanted to steal (borrow) his spatula) and when he wasn't putting his full attention on what he was doing, he'd just trap Mabel and curl around her, making HER sweat in return because GOSH was Max BURNING hot. It would take lots of screaming and biting to be freed. And then she'd get dizzy but hungry and feel awful in general and the cycle repeated itself.

Yeah. They wouldn't survive going through this another time...No idea how Allie and Dylan did it four times…

And of course, Yun was no help. "Heck, at least you're not actually on fire." she pointed out smugly during a time she came over to visit them.

"..." Mabel wasn't sure how to react to that. "...Which reminds me...How are eix leel babies usually born, Max?"

"Um...they claw a hole in the egg and push-" "WOWOW! I'LL STOP YOU RIGHT THERE, HUN!" Mabel screamed. What?!

"That's not happening here, don't worry Shooting Star." Yun assured her. "The little baby in there doesn't have the claws for it."

"Thank you, Yun, that's so reassuring." Mabel deadpanned. "You're welcome!" The demon-god said brightly. "But seriously, you should have seen Pyronica during her pregnancy. Now, HER babies clawed. But Cyclopians are built to handle that."

"Shut uuuuuuup…."

-.-

Dipper and Pacifica were a lot better, so the baby making process wasn't as tedious. Pacifica's instagram was still spammed by Mabel's photos though… Pacifica decided she should organize a baby shower. She was Mabel's sister in law after all and she had to support her. It was pretty exciting, and they could reveal the baby's sex there!

It was beginning to get cold already, and Mabel's belly was getting big. Pacifica continued focusing on her. With work and the planning, inviting her friends, the family, finding a cute place, asking for gifts, etc, her head was sufficiently taken away from the medicine and the constant period tracking and taking regular tests after the 'deed'.

Another negative? No problem, she had many patients today anyway. Goodbye negative, she had many calls to do today, A stick with 2 lines? To the tra-

HOLD ON!

Pacifica screamed, not caring she was dipping her hand inside the trash can and retrieved the white stick. She couldn't believe her eyes…It…It was a POSITIVE!

But how?! She hadn't even felt sick lately! She didn't even notice she was late! She immediately scheduled an appointment for a real confirmation.

The entire hospital heard the joyful scream that was let out.

-.-

"Alright… I like the background designs but I still don't like the characters, we gotta work on that-Paz?! What are you doing here-?!"

Dipper's colleagues jumped as the blonde threw herself against Dipper and they almost fell. "Dipper we did it! We did it!"

"How did you get in here?"

Pacifica ignored him and kissed him all over his face, leaving lipstick everywhere. She pulled out the doctor's note from her purse and the test. Everyone around them began screaming loudly as Dipper stared.

"We-We-!" He laughed breathlessly. "I-I'm gonna be a dad!"

"You will! We did it!" Pacifica was on the clouds with this information. Dipper's team all hugged them and chanted "Dad! Dad! Dad!". They even went around the studio on a skateboard and a megaphone, announcing the news to everyone.

Pacifica was almost ready with the baby shower preparation and she took a more gentle and personal approach on telling the news. They told Dipper's parents first. Miss Abigail sobbed happily and Mr. Shermie fainted again. Then Dipper texted his Uncles who all cheered and began calling them. Dipper's cousins excitedly congratulated them over the phone or face talk too.

Then it was Mabel's turn. Pacifica could see she still had so much to learn from her sister-in law's kindness. Mabel had screamed and jumped, well, as much as she could jump in her third trimester, and hugged them both. "Oh my gosh! They'll be almost the same age!" And Pacifica was tearing up all over again.

Mabel went through something so sad, and yet, found it in her heart to be happy for her… Who cursed at her… Pacifica was making it up to her with the cutest baby shower.

"Mabel. Thank you, for… for being my friend. For being in my life." Pacifica held Mabel close, unable to stop herself from crying.

"No, please! If you cry! I'm gonna cry!" Mabel replied, also tearing up and both began crying into each other's shoulders. "You're my best friend!" "You're my bestest friend!"

Dipper twitched. Was this going to be a constant thing? Max just smiled and wiped his soaking wet forehead. He was glad Mabel was doing so much better.

"Dude. Since when do you sweat? You look like you fell into a pool!" Dipper looked up at his brother in law and with a growl, Max smacked him with his tail. "Ow!"

"Eix Leel thing!" Max rolled his eyes as he tried to not snap at him. Dipper quickly realized that he was the only person in this room that WASN'T going through hormonal shit right now.

Finally, and not very happy to do so, Pacifica called her parents…

She…guessed…they…had some right to know…

"Hey mom, I'm pregnant." She said simply.

"..."

"...mom?"

"...with that Dopper boy?"

"Of COURSE with my HUSBAND Dipper !" Pacifica ground out. "I… I just thought maybe you'd care to know you'll be grandparents. That's all. Bye." She hung up with a growl.

"...They got most of it right, at least." Dipper tried to joke. Pacifica sniffled and crossed her arms. "Just my fault for thinking they'd care. I hope it pisses Dad off when she tells him." She tenderly rubbed her flat belly. If her parents didn't treat her child right, they'd kick their butts.

Pacifica relaxed into Dipper's arms. "I'll put on some music, ok? It's good for them to hear it."

"You'll put on BABBA, won't you?" She giggled as he grinned and opened his music app. "Gonna introduce them young to the classics~"

-.-

And then October rolled around, with Miz's 21st birthday. She was off at college, and said that her roommate was taking her out to hit the bars. Seb's response was, "Go get wasted guuuurl!" While Wanda went, "Drink responsibly, please."

Miz had her fun, burning off the alcohol before it could affect her. At first nothing was getting to her until they found a place with chocolate liquor and NOW Becky could go "WOOOOOO!" As Miz's face finally went red. Miz… Didn't fully remember what happened that night. And even when she found out, she never told her family about it.

Then, Diego turned 13, finally , thought Zach and Zoe. With it came his bar mitzvah. Stan was actually kinda surprised Diego decided to actually prepare for one because Dillon didn't even want one. Diego read the texts correctly and all that mumbo jumbo, unlike Stan who half assed it as a kid and wore the groucho marx glasses as a protest in Seb's name! See? Always free spirit him~

But here was his little son dressed appropriately, with his kippah and tallit and all that stuff…Ah, his weird little one~~

"Ok, ok, where's my son's gift for his transition to adulthood?" Stan collected the envelopes with money. Seb and Stanford, dressed nicely in their suits, glared at him. "Are you stealing his gifts?! Stanley!" Ford complained.

"Whhaaat?! How dare you!" Stan put his hand over his chest.

Dillon appeared and took the envelopes from his dad's hand to keep safe for his little brother later. Hey, they were not besties, but Dillon loved his brother and wouldn't let his dad steal from him. "Dad, don't be a jerk."

Miz held up a wrapped box, "Don't shake it too much." she rolled her eyes. Diego grabbed the rectangular gift. "Is it it ?!"

"Yup. Use it responsibly." She winked.

"Eeeehhhhhhhh!" The excited now teen did little jumps and ran away with it.

"What have you given to my son?" Carla asked, scared.

"Nothing bad." Miz shrugged. "Just a wand." She grinned.

"A WHAT?!"

"He knows his magic safety." Miz sat down and stretched.

Diego checked out his gift with his cousins after the ceremony was over and everyone was at the penthouse. They all "Oooohh'ed" at it. Diego even let Dipper see, so there he was, crouched over with a bunch of pubescent kids.

Finally, Diego held the small rectangular box. He breathed deeply and opened it. A golden sparkle caught the light. It was small, only around 5 inches long, made from one of Xin's antlers and carved until it was smooth, with little divots for the handle.

"From Xin? Wh-Why would-" Dipper gasped. Diego petted his head and the man blinked in shock at the treatment. "Yes, Dipper, from Xin. With a wand made directly from the energy source I use, I don't need Miz physically around to cast my spells based on her glyphs."

"His magic will also be stronger if he wants to cast his spells based on the elements of the periodic table." Zoe rolled her eyes at him.

Dipper blinked…Did they… kidsplain magic to him?! "How come you've been doing all this without telling me, guys? I could have helped!" This was so cool! Not fair!

"Geeeeeee, hey, we're gonna grab some food, see ya around." The three scrambled away from the awkward situation.

Dipper slowly, as in a trance, sat with Pacifica and Mabel, staring at a wall. "They called me old… They literally think I'm old like our uncles or something."

Mabel scoffed. "No they don't~"

Max slurped his drink. "Remember when you wanted to show them those movies last year? The ones you watched as a kid… Musical of High School and then Zoe said "It looks ancient." and you got offended?"

Paz laughed. "Oh my god, I remember! You wanted to show them it wasn't that old and it came out 20 years ago, Mabel."

"I still remember seeing it on TV!" Mabel cried out, hugging her round belly.

"And it was 20 years ago. Face it. We're old."

"Never. I will never face it." She crossed her arms. "If the triplets can be…the triplets , then I don't have to face nuthin!" Mabel Pines, pregnant in her 8th month, said.

"...Doesn't erase the fact that the twins and Diego see us as old." Dipper sighed, hands in his head. "And won't call us for their magic stuff"

"Kid, I'm several hundred billion years old and dad still says I'm not an adult yet. Soooo you're not old." Miz huffed. They jumped as she appeared out of nowhere.

"If you want to join them, just go. They're teens. They're not gonna ask you to come." Miz laughed at Dipper. "And, well, they probably know more about the supernatural than you-" "Aw, man, really?" "-but maybe you can earn a space in their discussion table if you talk to them more~"

"You're right!" And Dipper was gone.

Max, Mabel and Pacifica stared and then looked at Miz. "They're so gonna bully him…That was so mean." Pacifica grinned. Mabel guffawed, squeaking that she was gonna pee herself, and Max deadpanned. Seriously, Dipper? You fell for that?!

Miz just sat back to watch the chaos. It was a fun day.

-.-

"Taking the octuplets on an airplane will be crazy, can't we just teleport there?" Xin stared as Ford frantically packed bags.

The baby shower day arrived and they had to go to California for it. Ford wanted to ruin their lives for a while and had this idea. "We've already been working on getting the kids used to public places and transport. Isn't a plane too much?" Xin stated.

"They never go out of Gravity Falls except commuting to school and they deserve the experience of traveling~" Ford was pretty confident about this.

Riley blinked "I don't have a say in this…" she started.

"You do if you side with me." Ford grumbled. Riley snorted. "Well, then I'll comment on the air that I think Xin's right."

"How are we gonna deal with the 8 of them in an ENCLOSED limited cylindrical space for 2 hours?" Xin sighed.

"Ah, the joys of being a dad." Riley teased him.

"Oh well~ But if you wanna do it, let them make their own bags~" Xin smiled. "They gotta be independent".

"No. It will take forever. I can just do it." Ford was starting to have doubts.

"I'm gonna ask them." Xin grinned.

"Xin…" Ford growled warningly.

"NUGGETS!" Xin screamed and the kiddos all came stampeding towards them.

"Don't do it." Ford whimpered.

-.-

The oldest of the Pines brothers found himself grumbling as he carried tiny backpacks into a car that was gonna take them all to the airport. Ford hated the airport with a passion. He invented his portals for a reason. He couldn't believe Zoe actually wanted to fly one of those ugly primitive things! ("Uncle Ford, don't sell your portal thingies until I'm old and have flown many planes!" Zoe had threatened him with when she was like 8 and still held firm to that dream.) But as much as Ford hated it here, he thought the experience would be good for them.

He glanced over at Xin, who was getting the kids all leashed up and Riley made friends with their taxi driver. He counted the kids' IDs again and checked that they all had their flight tickets printed and in The Folder of Documents.

"Let him." Riley waved a hand at Xin. The dragon sighed, fine.

After the kids were all strapped to their carseats and things were packed, they made their way to the airport. Since they had so many kids, they had to split between two different taxis, with Ford and Riley in each. (Ford realized it was becoming a problem, the fact that MizBill couldn't be in a wheeled vehicle…) The kids all excitedly bounced and looked around. They had to get to Portland first. Then take the plane. Ford was mentally checking they weren't forgetting anything.

"Soos will use the portal…like a reasonable person." Xin reassured him over the phone. "He'll leave just for the event. "

"The kids need the experience." The brunet repeated, probably to make himself feel better about the terrible decision he just made.

Then they arrived and Yun appeared to strap them into their child leashes when they got out of the taxis.

Ford had 2 kids tied to his belt while pushing the wheelchair. Yun had 2 and some bags and Riley had 2 other kids.

"NO! I wanna walk!" Gloria demanded, kicking her leg. Surprisingly, Superbia also wanted to walk and both girls began complaining.

"FINE!" Ford set them down and put some backpacks in the wheelchair as a carrier.

Each kid wanted to carry their luggage. Ford frowned. "No. It'll be much easier to get a carrier and have everything together~"

The kids didn't like the idea and began screaming and crying. They were big kids! They could carry it!

Ford sighed loudly and agreed. He walked ahead of the group, but he kept having to backtrack every few minutes because they walked so SLOOOWWW!

"They have tiny legs," Riley laughed. "We have a lot of time." She gave him a kiss on his cheek.

It stressed Ford so much.

They saw the food court and Ford began joining some tables and dragging chairs to accommodate them all. The kids begged for donuts.

"Alright, fine." Ford was too tired to argue.

""Hooray!"" Came the chorus of kids that rushed to the stand. Oh, so NOW they decided to walk fast.

While he was in line to buy, he glanced back at Yun and Riley. Yun looked smug, but he was Stanford Pines, he'd not admit defeat! While Riley looked worried for him. Meanwhile, the kids examined the donuts behind the glass to choose a flavor.

"Nick, please don't put your face against the glass." He scolded.

The woman at the counter smiled with pity. "Is it a school trip?"

Ford grimaced. "I'm certain dealing with a school trip would be easier. They…they're our octuplets."

"O-Oh! Oh my." She winced. "Wait, are you Stanford Pines?"

Ford smiled despite himself. "Indeed."

"Oh! That's so cool! I have 2 maple kittens at home!"

Of course it was about that… Ford still wasn't sure how comfortable he felt to have his name being associated with the plantimals when he had other stuff that he felt were more impressive. He was going to fix climate change! Shouldn't THAT be the thing he was known for?!

"Can we take a photo? Please, it'll only take a second.''

Ford winced. "I…I don't really-"

"Daddy!" Elizabeth scolded him. "She's asking for a photo! Don't be rude!"

"Yeah move, Dad! We want donuts!" Ira crossed her arms. The kids demanded him to move under the chant of "Donuts! Donuts!" And while he awkwardly smiled at the girl's camera, he caught Riley and Yun laughing from the corner of his eyes.

"Hehe, thank you so much!" The girl put her phone down. "What can I get you?"

"The biggest donuts!" Isaac pointed.

"The smallest donuts you have." Ford deadpanned as he pulled out his card.

""Aawww not fair!""

"It's as fair as it gets" Ford frowned at the strange accent that came out of his son's mouth. Was that australian? "Did you choose?"

They got little sized donuts for everyone. Nick insisted the blue one was his favorite even though he always ate vanilla, and Ford could clearly see the future, where Ford would have to exchange his own donut with his son after Nick realized he didn't like the taste of the blue bubblegum one.

They ate their snack (Riley squeezed his shoulder when he-as predicted- gave away his donut because, "Daddy…it doesn't taste good anymore…") and waited there for a moment.

"I still don't understand why you haven't given up and asked me to teleport us the rest of the way," Yun grinned. "We want them to experience stuff, but do you really think they need to learn to eat donuts in the airport and that bubblegum flavor is yucky?"

"They need…to be in more loud spaces." Ford was firm. He glanced at the kids, who were screaming and rolling around on the ground.

Yun snorted. "They're certainly experiencing something." Riley giggled. Yun went over to hual the kids to their feet. "The floor here is dirty. Don't touch it. You're all covered in germs now!" Yun scolded. The toddlers screamed.

It was time for the luggage check. There was a long line ahead of them.

"Uh oh." Lux mumbled as they walked next to Ford.

"That's why you come prepared and with hours of anticipation for this. No need to be alarmed." Ford said smugly.

"Our flight is in 5 hours." Yun deadpanned.

"We will need that time." Ford assured her. He just knew it.

The line was long, but it was moving. It was very loud though, people were screaming and talking. There was a wall being remodeled and the sound of the driller was getting a bit on Ford's nerves. Riley freed her hand to pat his back.

If it was annoying Ford, it was particularly bad for Lux who was more sensitive to things like sound and textures. They were already tearing up and covering their ears, twitching. "Ouchy!" A sob. Yun comforted them and rummaged through their bag for their headphones. Luxuria calmed down once the soothing music turned on.

"Remember when we get to the detector, you gotta put them in the tray, ok?" Ford looked at them.

People around them stared at them, shocked. So many kids… and that one was conjoined! The mom had four arms–!? No one even noticed Ford's extra fingers at that point.

They finally arrived and Ford handed over 10 boarding passes to the surprised worker.

"ID of the children, please." Ford dug into his bag for them all. He even carried Riley's and Yun's because he didn't trust them.

The guy checked the ID, looked down at the kid and then 'beeped' the boarding pass. "In...vidia Isaac?"

"Me!" He raised his 6 fingered hand.

"Ok, go on." The little doors leading to the metal detectors opened and Isaac giggled and ran to the other side.

"STAY THERE, Isaac!" Yun warned.

The worker scratched his head as he read the names. They had really weird names, but he had seen worse. They went through (even Yun and Riley, thanks to some very good forgeries.) everyone until 2 IDs were left but only 1 boarding pass, meaning, only one seat.

"Umm..." the worker frowned, staring at the twins.

"It's one seat."

"Yes, but…they're two…?"

Ford blinked. "Yes…but how do you expect them to be in 2 different seats?" He deadpanned.

"You didn't call beforehand?"

"...No? Why would I think this was a problem? They share 1 seat because they're conjoined."

People behind them in line complained, and Yun and Riley turned around to growl at them

"I...need to call my supervisor." he left quickly.

Ford turned to look at Yun with a strained smile. "See? that's why we arrived early!"

"...Why doesn't he want to beep our ticket?" Gloria pouted.

"It's just bureaucracy, Jane, don't worry." Ford reassured her.

The supervisor appeared and listened to Ford.

"Yeah, we understand, Mr-"

"Doctor." Ford corrected.

"-Dr. Pines. We totally understand your concern, but even if they can sit in 1 seat, you need to buy 2 seats."

"But it doesn't make any sense! They're not gonna travel laying down!" The octuplets giggled at the mental image.

"Sir, calm down."

"I AM CALM!" Ford exclaimed, not calmed.

"When you're in a plane, each seat has oxygen masks. It's a requirement to have masks for each passenger. From what you told me, your…daughters would need 2 masks given that they are 2 girls. If there was an emergency on board, and the seats next to them are occupied, there'd be 4 people who need masks, and only 3 masks available."

Ford grinned and pulled a paper from the Folder of Documents. "Hah! No ."

Yun and Riley stared.

"A plane is required to have an extra oxygen mask per number of rows! So if there are 3 seats, there's 4 masks! I have a brother and a mom who are conmen, you are not tricking me!" The curly man sneered.

Yun picked up the twins as they burrowed their faces against her chest "Are we causing trouble for daddy?" Superbia whispered with tearful brown eyes.

"No, daddy is just reminding this kind man of aviation rules." Yun kissed both their foreheads. Riley had crossed with the other kids to keep them together.

The supervisor was kind enough to help them with their situation and FINALLY, Ford won the discussion, much to other annoyed passengers' relief, and other parents for fighting for his kids rights.

Now, it was time to run their bags through the detector. Yun went first to receive the kids on the other side, surprising the guards as she stretched her 4 arms and let them run the metal detector around her, while Ford made sure they all put their bags and electronic stuff on the trays.

"Elizabeth, you can't cross the metal detector with your toy. Put it in the bin."

"Nooo!"

"Please, just put it there, and you'll pick it up in a few seconds. Look, they just come back from the other side." He explained.

The bags of 4 of the kids had to be checked.

Ford facepalmed. First, Elizabeth brought her huge shampoo bottle when he specifically told her NOT to do that and bring a small one instead. They took it away and she began SCREAMING AND SOBBING right there on the floor. Yun picked her up and rocked her.

"Elizabeth, what did I tell you about the size limit?" Elizabeth asked if she'd get it back, and when she was told no, she cried harder. Yun sighed, "Sweetie, they don't allow bottles this big because there was one jerk who hid a gun inside a bottle and now no one is allowed to have big bottles." Elizabeth seethed, "I hate that guy! It's his fault I can't have my shampoo!" ("Yup. Totally." "Yun! Don't tell them stuff like this!" "What? It's true!")

Then Gula was bringing a pocket knife? For some reason? Where did she even get that?! "Nooo! It's for food!" ("Marie, you won't need a pocket knife for cutting your food!" Ford groaned) "No! It's for catching food!" ("Hah! That's my girl! You'll be a great hunter someday!" "YUN!")

Lux brought scissors as part of their art kit and they screamed as they had it taken away. ("See, this one isn't even– It's PLASTIC! Are you even–!" "Yun, calm down!")

Ford looked at the workers "I'm SO sorry…"

And Ira had a bottle of spray perfume taken away. "You don't let us have ANYTHING?!" The little girl screamed and Ford had to pick her up because she tried to kick the worker. "I'm so sorry." Ford apologized again.

To make it worse, when it was time for Ford to walk through the metal detector, it beeped loudly on him and the guard's hand detectors beeped just next to his ear.

"Sir..." They deadpanned as they scanned him.

Ford knew they looked like terrorists trying to use kids to smuggle weapons right now…

Yun intervened after laughing a bit. "My partner has a metal plate in his head. He had an accident when he was younger."

The whole family was taken aside for revision. Ford groaned loudly.

After a while, with the papers Yun materialized showing that indeed, he had a metal plate, that all of these kids were actually theirs and they weren't kidnapping them, and that they weren't terrorists, they were finally allowed to pass.

They had half an hour to spare. Ford had the gall to smile "See? We needed that time."

"This was literally all avoidable." Yun crossed her arms. ("Yes, not letting them pack on their own" "They need to be independent!")

Then they waited at their Departure Gate with 6 running kids and 2 that were strapped to their wheelchair. They, Lux and Isaac were overwhelmed by the noise so they began crying, the others just wanted to play and watch the airplanes from the large glass windows.

"KIDS! DAMN IT! Lets stop running for a second ok? Let's all sit down~" Ford panted. He was too old for this!

Yun, with four arms, grabbed at their kids and tucked the trouble makers under said arms, carrying them with no issue. "Come on, if we miss our plane, your father will go ballistic."

"Bathroom." Nick pulled Riley's hand. She quickly passed him over to Ford, who glared. "What? I'm not taking him to the woman's one." Riley huffed.

"This is why gender neutral bathrooms are a necessity!" Yun complained. "Also, he's like, a kid. It doesn't matter."

Riley looked surprised. "Oh no, I can't hear, must be my hearing failing me! Oh… I'm old~ I think I'll just watch the twins over here." she stretched and put on her headphones. Yun groaned. Bitch. "Ford, I guess you'll have to take him."

"B-but– the plane…"

"Then get to the plane and use the plane bathroom, which is grosser and rocking around." Yun deadpanned. "Or just get him into the bathroom here and then we won't have to deal with that."

"Ugh fine." he scooped up his youngest son as he stuck his tongue out. Ford stood outside the stall as he checked his phone. "You doing ok?" He heard Nick singing to himself, which meant he was gonna take his sweet time there. For Ax's sake…Other men stared at him and Ford growled at them. Mind your own business?!

He picked Nick up to wash his hands once he was done and he kept singing. "Daddy look, the soap is blue!"

"Heh, yeah, it is." Ford couldn't help but smile. They were so little, everything seemed like a wonder to them…

"Can we get this blue soap for home once we're back?" Ford dried his hands with paper. Not hand dryer. yuck. "I'll try to find a blue soap, ok?" Nick giggled and he carried him out again. He asked about why they had so many steps to follow and Ford tried his best to explain.

"The ehpowt is weird." Nick mused. Ford snorted. He'd noticed the kids kept pronouncing airport that way. "AIR-port, honey."

"No, it's ehpowt." He said that in his cartoon, it was pronounced like that and Ford deadpanned. Australia . That damn show about the blue dog was making his children speak weird! He didn't really watch it, but Yun loved the show and would sit to watch it with the kids. Ford didn't really like shows for babies, so he left her to it.

They got in time to board through the priority line, as they came with a horde of kids on leashes and a wheelchair. With no restriction, they laughed as they ran through the boarding sleeve. Ford picked up at least 3 backpacks from the seats because they forgot them. Sigh…They reached the last part where the ground of the sleeve met with the plane's door and the kids stopped abruptly, terrified of crossing. They felt the wind the engines were blowing and in some parts they could see the ground below them.

Ford sighed "C'mon, it's ok." He petted their heads and crossed first to receive them. The flight attendants stared at all the kids. Oh, so they were the kids their colleagues were talking about.

They all slowly crossed on their own, holding their daddy's big hands and giggled, waving at the flight attendants who gave them lollipops! Wow!

Ford watched the worker grab the wheelchair "Please don't throw it. I know what you all do."

"We will be very angry if you damage our stuff, we definitely will not like that." Yun must have done something, Ford could only see Yun's back, but the worker, who was facing Yun jumped, seemingly scared of something, and carried it away quickly but with care. Ford was too tired to worry about that.

The seats came in 3s. 6 of the kids would be split in 2 left rows, while the adults were in the middle row sitting by the hallway to keep an eye on them. Yun was sitting with the twins, so she could handle the twins in case their health took a bad turn from being in the plane.

Nick was screaming because HE wanted to sit next to mommy. Yun sighed. "If you don't stop screaming, I'm going to get a headache and then I'll be grumpy, and you wouldn't like me when I'm grumpy."

Ford closed his eyes. He'll just…rest his eyes for a minute. He won't fall asleep, he had…stayed awake for days before…he could…

All the kids laughed at the funny feeling of the plane moving and taking off and got distracted when they got the entertainment system operating. Yun and Riley looked back at the seat Ford was in and smiled when they saw him completely passed out, glasses sliding off of his face with his mouth slightly opened.

"Mission accomplished, Dad." Riley giggled.

Yun glanced at the kids, staring at the windows to see the sky and the clouds and giggling as the flight attendants offered them drinks. She smiled. Guess Fordsie was right, they did need the full experience. And here she'd been planning to just teleport them after a few hours of the experience because she hadn't thought they could handle the full thing.

-.-

The wheelchair survived, which was a relief because it was a gift from F (One of the few inventions he didn't put rockets on), and they all made their way to the hotel. They were gonna meet with Shermie, but he didn't have his house adapted for so many people.

Ford carried a sleeping Gloria and Erbi and gently put them on the chair. "Girls...Wake up." He shook her awake and brown eyes blinked sleepily. "Glowia's still sleeping." Erbi yawned. Ford ruffled her hair and smiled. "Well, tell me when she wakes up, ok pizza slice?"

"Mm...not a pizza…" Erbi pouted. Ford laughed and pushed their little wheelchair, "Come on, let's go say yellow to everyone."

Yun, Riley and the kids stared. Ford blinked. "What?"

"Did you say yellow?!" Ira gaped at her dad who hummed. "Huh, I guess I did."

"What? Are you really our dad?! Mom, what happened to him?" Elizabeth whimpered. "Scawy~" She mockingly sniffled. "I think we are rubbing our weirdness off on Fordsie." Yun smirked and Ford rolled his eyes. Damn, just for a word…

"One of us! One of us!" They chanted. The family reached their hotel, and the receptionist blinked. Oh, so this was the family who rented 3 rooms with 3 beds in each… "Hello, are you the Pines group?"

Ford coughed and straightened in place, trying to ignore the continued chanting. "Yes. That's us." he handed over his identification so she could double check. The receptionist had to look over from the paper to them, multiple times, to make sure the numbers were right. "Alright, here's your room keys. She handed him three cards. Yun and Riley came over to yoink one each. They had room 702, 703 and 704.

The receptionist smiled. "Do you need any help with your bags?" Ford shook his head. "We'll be fine." he and Yun carried everything as they made their way to the elevator. Ford handed the wheelchair to Isaac to push. As soon as the door to the elevator closed, Yun looked at the kiddos, "So~ who's sharing the room with us?"

Because they were so little, they couldn't leave the kids alone in their rooms by themselves, in fear of them losing their keys, so, to the adult's disappointment, they'd have to split in each room, with one person taking three kids, the others taking two.

"I want to be with mom!" Nick raised his hand, nearly knocking his glasses off as he did so. Yun grinned and ruffled his hair but Ford shook his head. "We need to have Jane and Emmy nearby, in case something happens. So they'll be with either Yun or me, so we should let them choose first." Nick scowled. Gloria and Erbi got first pick again. Not fair! They didn't even say they wanted to share with mommy or daddy.

It was decided that Gula and Acedia would share one room with Riley, while Nick, Luxuria and Isaac would be in the biggest room with Yun. Ford would have the twins and Ira. The kids were excited, this was their first time in a hotel.

Ira wanted to check out the swimming pool. Elizabeth saw that there was a stage area for performances. "Can I dance there?" She tugged on Ford's pants. She had started taking her ballet lessons a few months ago and she wanted to show people what she's learned.

Ford blinked. "Well, we shall have to ask the hotel staff first." Elizabeth cheered and ran around the elevator, bumping her siblings and parents as she went. They reached the 7th floor and the herd escaped the enclosed space, squealing loudly with excitement as they thundered down the hall.

Ford turned to Yun and paused when he saw that she was Xin now. Xin laughed at the kid's antics and blew a lock of dark hair from his face. Ford looked at Xin with a raised eyebrow. "Xin…"

"Yes?" The man looked down at himself, when he noticed Ford's weird look. "Do I look bad?" He pouted.

"You look... like Xin." He pointed out. Xin blinked. "Thank...you?" Was that a compliment?

Ford sighed with his hands behind his back. "I mean I have just realized you are Xin, not Yun. Why are you Xin now?" Ford asked also.

"Because I'm sharing with the boys, and they need more male influence in their life. It's fine~" Xin flicked his fingers (putting up a mild filter that would make people mind their own goddamn business) before clinging to Ford's arm. "Let's go find the kids." He was in a Xin mood today and didn't feel like changing back for a while.

Unfortunately, much to the little girl with heterochromatic eyes' disappointment, they didn't allow her to use the stage. She sniffled and held onto her Baba's leg. "Aaw~ Don't worry, nugget, you can show off your skills at Uncle Shermie's house." Xin patted her hair.

Xin helped the boys unpack and settle in. Isaac noticed the lack of bed for Xin and tugged on his pants, "You can share with me."

"Aww, thank you Vidi. But I'll be ok. I might just sneak out to share Ford's bed if I really need to sleep." Xin's smile turned mischievous, "Or I could sneak into Riley's bed."

Isaac giggled, not quite understanding, but knowing that his baba was being cheeky.

The baby shower was at night, so they were supposed to spend the day as a family before going to the place and having to listen to all of Mabel's friends squeal and scream. Max made some friends at work and culinary school, and he managed to invite those his instincts allowed to be near Mabel and not want to bite their arm off.

He had been talking to Milai as well, informing her of how things were going. For obvious reasons she couldn't come, but he promised that once the baby was born, he'd take him or her to meet her. "I wouldn't want anything less, baby bro." She laughed. Max rolled his eyes. Come on, he only came out of his egg like, 10 minutes after everyone.

Shermie couldn't believe he was receiving his family for the first time in decades in HIS house! It was overwhelming. It wasn't like there wasn't space… but meeting in Gravity Falls or New York was way funnier.

All for his baby and HER baby. He was old, goddammit, he scratched his head. This is what they got for having kids too early.

He looked at Mabel chatting excitedly with Dipper while Pacifica called the chefs and the musicians for the night and Max helped Abi in the kitchen. Mabel's stomach was a perfect round belly now, and even Paz was beginning to show even though she was only a few months pregnant. Shermie shuddered. His babies were gonna have babies...

Mabel jumped when she felt the baby moving and practically pulled her twin's face to her stomach. "They're moving, oh my god!" She gasped. "Talk to them." Dipper felt her stomach, feeling the baby who was moving like crazy and smiled. "Hey, kid...What's happening in there?" The man was thrown away to the floor by his mom. "Move it! It's my grandbaby!" Abigail squealed as she pressed herself to Mabel's belly. Dipper complained on the ground. "Everyone STILL picks on me!"

Pacifica hung up and walked towards them. "Will you tell us the name you picked once you know the sex, Mabel?"

Mabel calmly rubbed her belly. "Nope, I'll announce when they're born." The brunette smiled at her belly containing the baby that had been torturing her for months. Another kick, but before she could complain, there was a knock on the door.

"Open the door! This is an assault!" a young voice growled.

"Nicholas…" a tired groan.

Dipper chuckled at the voices behind the door and went to open it. "Hey, Uncle Ford! Hey kiddos!"

"Dipper!" The eight children squealed and ran over to hug his legs. Erbi raised her arm, making grabbing motions and the man laughed before picking the twins up. "Us too!" The rest of the horde demanded. Dipper tried to pick them up too but could only manage three of them. "Oof...sorry kids. You're too heavy." the others whined.

"Augh!" Dipper squeaked as he suddenly found himself covered in crawling kids, demanding to be picked up. "Oh no! I'm being covered!" he cried dramatically. Xin rolled his eyes as Riley entered with Ford.

"Nice to see you again too, Pinetree." The young man just replied with a choked cry as Luxuria hugged his neck. The purple dressed kid squealed with laughter as Dipper wobbled around, gasping.

Shermie welcomed everyone inside and after saying hi, the half-alien children now hugging Mabel and her baby belly, Ford sat down, pulled out his laptop, journal, and began working, leaving 8 children to run free and explore.

"Brother, your weird kids are climbing into the kitchen's drawers…" Shermie called out as the children opened everything to explore, but neither him nor Xin seemed too worried. "Yes, yes...gives them character and all that." Ford was exhausted. He needed peace.

"Isaac has a knife?!" Dipper gasped. "Ah, they grow up so fast." Xin wiped an imaginary tear from his eye. "I was around their age when I was allowed to use a knife…" He thought back to learning to cook from his/her human mother.

Shermie buried his face in his hands and cried. Fortunately for Shermie and Abi, Seb and Stan made their appearances, bringing the twins and Diego to be babysitters/playmates.

"Shooting Staaaarrr!" Seb squealed before running straight towards his niece. "Uum! How are you, pumpkin?!" He was really happy to be a Grunkle. It felt...special, like he will know what the great fuss was all about.

"I only vomited twice!" "That's my girl!"

Everyone greeted each other, ordered WcDonalds for lunch, and settled down in preparation for the baby shower. The octuplets loved their Merry Meals. Invidia had to be stopped from eating his toy though. "Stop putting non-food in your mouth, Isaac." Ford raised an eyebrow and the boy wearing a pink shirt giggled. "Sorry!" Invidia was normally the calm, level headed one, but the kids were all hyped today, and they hyped each other up worse.

The octuplets happily told everyone about their first flight. Zoe squealed. "Did you see the pilots? What type you flew in? 737?"

"Uh…a big one?" Ira tried.

Seb and Stan looked at their oldest brother in shock. "You took them HERE?! By PLANE?!" "Are you FOR REAL?!"

"The ehpowt was so busy!" Marie exclaimed. "Many people." Lux mumbled.

" AIR-PORT . And yes. I had a death wish today and embarked them all…with help."

"Wow, glad to know we're your afterthought." Riley crossed her arms.

Seb snorted before he gasped. "Dude! I did not waste 13 years of my life to save you just for you to die from this."

"Ye, ye, whatever. They got the experience." Ford shook his burger around as he kept reading his data. The newest prototype water purifier he was working on would remove hazards from the environment, this one was specifically designed for handling radiation.

"How many people have you invited to this, pumpkin?" Stan asked and Mabel giggled as Max rolled his eyes. "Just 'bout every person she knows." Pacifica grinned. "Well, that means more gifts."

Mabel pointed at her and looked at Max. "You see? This is why I'm the brain in this team." She smiled and kissed his lips. Max chuckled and wrapped his muscular arms around her. "Of course." The happy couple nuzzled each other lovingly.

Everyone smiled happily for them, except for Ira and Erbi who fake gagged. That was so gross~ (They didn't really think it was gross, but it was funny to do so.)

Xin, Riley and Ford later changed the octuplets into something more formal for the event, and everyone got ready to go to the place. Riley made sure Ford got a bath and dressed in boots that weren't smeared with mud before he got a kiss.

Pacifica rented a nice hotel salon for all the guests Mabel invited. There would be a snacks table with varied options, music playing softly in the background, some waiters walking around. The place was decorated in soft purples and light blues. Knowing the kids would come, and some other kids as well, there was a space for them as well to not get in trouble. There were smaller tables with more child appropriate snacks, like brownies, little sandwiches, chips, etc.

"Woah...This place looks amazing! Good job, Llama." Seb grinned. Zach pulled off his bowtie and Seb sighed in disappointment. His son didn't understand fashion. Zoe was complaining about her dress too! "I thought you liked dresses." Seb pouted.

"I prefer skirts now!" She scoffed, making her dad whine. Why did both his children not understand fashion? Wanda patted his shoulder, trying not to laugh.

Xin grabbed Ira when she tried to claw her dress off. "No, nugget, you can't destroy your dress, even if you hate it." He leaned close. "It's just for a few hours, you can burn it when we get back to the hotel." Ira paused and grinned maniacally. She had PERMISSION to burn it later.

Zoe didn't need permission to burn the things she disliked. She did it anyway. She pulled out her phone and started looking through memes as Diego sat down with his ear buds to keep revising and experimenting with his glyphs and Zach just texted with his friends on his phone.

Dipper, Mabel and Dillon smiled. Aaw~ They reminded them of their teenage years~ So much bonding between cousins~ The older adults all scoffed. Teens and their damn cell phones.

Pacifica was ordering people around. Xin finally got the children settled. "Come on, there's food. We can eat while we wait." That got them to stop fussing over their clothes, distracted by food.

"They have chicken nuggets!" Nick squealed even though they just had WcDonalds earlier. He immediately ran off to grab a handful. Ford gasped. "Nicholas! Manners! Get a plate first! You can't eat them right off the serving pan!" The 3rd youngest octuplet groaned. "Fine~" He grabbed a plate and shoved the nuggets violently onto his plate, a few of them falling to the ground.

Xin gasped. "Nooo! Wasted food!" He dove forward, to Ford's (and Elizabeth's) horrified embarrassment, and began picking the nuggets up, cleaning them and eating them. "Xin!" Ford wailed.

"I cleaned them first!"

Ford and Elizabeth face palmed at the same time. While Ford wasn't very tidy, he worried about stuff, like manners and cleanness (and so did Bill, but FOOD superseded all that). Elizabeth was the tidiest 6 year old. She loved having her dresses without a single wrinkle, her shoes sparkling and her sneakers white as snow.

"Ugh, crazy baba." she sighed. She went to grab some gummy bears and sat down.

The place started filling out and screams were heard as Mabel squealed with her friends. Candy and Grenda, who came with Marius. The poor man was walking behind his wife, making sure she was careful or in case she needed help.

"I'M FINE MARIUS!" She huffed. "GO TALK WITH SOMEONE, STOP FOLLOWING ME!"

"But, mein schatz…"

"I AM FINE!" She turned to her friends, hand on her belly. "MEN!" Just because she was pregnant now, didn't mean she couldn't still bench press anyone in this room.

The Vanthauser family was also going to grow. True to her promise, Grenda demanded babies, and her husband, completely in love with the magnificent woman who accepted to spend the rest of her life with him, agreed.

Grenda was having twins, a boy and a girl.

She had been terrified of telling Mabel the news. She found out around the time her best friend was grieving and she couldn't tell her then. She eventually had to tell her the news though, and Mabel had just smiled. Her eyes teared up for sure, and both Candy and Grenda knew Mabel's usual cheerful brown eyes now carried a deep pain, but she congratulated her best friend with all her heart.

"I bet they'll be all best friends!" They will be very close in age as well. She was due at the end of February, while Mabel was due at the end of December.

Pacifica's hired workers were helping with everything, setting up more chairs and putting out more food as the ravenous hoard that was the Pines/Cipher family descending upon the snack tables). Some of Abi and Shermie's friends came as well, and most had kids around the octuplets's age or teens like the blond twins and Diego sitting quietly, so they respectively joined their age group.

The older octuplets quickly found kids around their age to play. Meanwhile a kid curiously approached Gloria and Erbi who were staring at the laughing adults. They had gotten tired from the morning's excitement.

"Why are you joined together like that? Is that why you have a wheelchair?"

Erbi and Gloria jumped. "What?" They turned to see a little boy around their age. "I once broke my leg and was on a chair like that too for 2 weeks!"

Erbi shifted in the wheelchair. "A-actually, our legs work, but we get tired sometimes"

"And we are conjoined twins, we were born together." They waited for the other kid to laugh at them, or walk away, like the other kids at school did. To their surprise the other boy didn't laugh. He looked sad. "Oh." He said with sympathy. "Can you go to the doctor to fix your legs?"

Erbi sighed. "Daddy says that we can do fis-sick-all-there-a-pea." "Yeah, so we get stronger. But our parents say we shouldn't be embarrassed for using a wheelchair!" Gloria added.

The other boy came closer to pat Erbi's shoulder. "Yeah, I saw others using wheelchairs, so I guess it's not bad… I'm Oliver." He held out his hand. Erbi smiled and shook it. "I'm Superbia Emmy, but everyone calls me Erbi." "I'm Gloria or Jane. My name is Vanagloria Jane, but it's too long."

Oliver looked confused before he smiled. "You're cool. You're like two friends for the price of one!"

Gloria and Erbi both blinked. They never thought of that before.

Slowly, a wide grin formed on their faces. "So, we're friends now?" Gloria asked Oliver. He laughed. "If you want to be?" Gloria and Erbi responded together, their synchronized twin telepathy making them go ""Yes!"" at the same time.

Oliver laughed and followed them to the snack table so they could get some food together, chatting cheerfully about what foods they liked. Oliver was curious about what it was like to be so close to your sibling and the twins happily explained.

Oliver wanted to be both their friend! It felt...nice. To be treated like normal kids, to talk with someone who really wanted to be with the TWO of them.

Xin and Ford, who were sitting on a table with Stan, Carla, Dillon and Phillip, turned to look at the 'kids' zone. Xin smiled, glad they weren't clinging to each other and socializing with more people. Ford gasped softly when he saw the twins giggling and shrieking happily with a boy who was running around with them in their wheelchair.

"Oh no! Watch out, captain! We have to dodge the asteroids coming towards us! Woosh! Woosh!"

"Don't worry! I got it!" Erbi exclaimed as she and Gloria held their hands as if they were holding a wheel.

Ford smiled widely in their direction and Stanley curiously looked as well. He grinned and patted his shoulder. "They look really happy…" The scientist commented. Stan grabbed a snack from a passing waiter's tray and shoved it into his mouth. "They sure are."

"I just hope they won't need a nebulization later…" There were times the twins got too physically excited that their bronqui just… stopped getting the right amount of oxygen and needed to be opened again… It wasn't fair… they couldn't even be happy ...

Xin hugged Ford. "Still not your fault." He said quietly. He knew that expression on Ford's face. He always got that expression when he was blaming himself for something. Xin did that too, but he was a hypocrite. He didn't want Ford feeling bad.

There was a soft clink that caught their attention and they turned to see Max and Mabel standing up and clicking a glass. Mabel was drinking soda though, the kid will experiment with alcohol on their own when they are actually born and 21. (Because she was a hypocrite and didn't want him to try it as a teen like she did)

"Guys! I just wanna say! Thank you so, so, so, so, SO much for coming! I love you all! It means so much to me and Maxi!" Mabel hugged the muscled man tightly. "And thank you to my lovely sis in law for this! Thanks to her, we are all here!"

The guests clapped and Pacifica waved around, bowing dramatically as Dipper laughed.

Mabel grinned. "I'm so excited to be a mom and I can't wait to see what goodies and presents you guys got me!" Everyone laughed at that. Maxini chuckled. Mabel pointed at the Stans and Seb. "Especially from you misters! You better have gotten me something good!"

Seb scoffed. He had the BEST baby shower gift! Stan caught his eye and the two stared at each other in competition. "I bet she'll like my gift more." Seb whispered. Stan laughed. "No way. I'm gonna be the one with the best gift!"

Their wives rolled their eyes. Men...

Mabel and Max went over to a part of the room with two huge throne-like chairs which were surrounded by the gifts everyone brought. Maxini helped her sit down and kissed her forehead, making their family coo loudly.

"Open the gifts! Open the gifts!" The Pines chanted and the other guests shook their heads. That family was so weird...they hoped the baby would be more normal...

"Ok~ Mabel pointed at a gift. "Eh! Eh!" She made grabby hands. Max chuckled and gave the box to her. "First gift!" Mabel grinned. She wondered who this was from? All the presents were mixed up together in a pile of colorful boxes without names. Well, that's what made this a surprise! She tore open the paper and flipped up the lid to see some baby clothes, colorful onesies with animals on them. She squealed. "Oh I love them! They're so cute!"

Max smiled and opened another box. He opened it, happily tearing off the paper, and cooed softly at the stuffed toys. He was so gonna steal some of this for himself~

"O-ok! Let's continue opening the presents!" Mabel smiled. The next presents were a machine to clean the baby bottles, more clothes, diapers and a crib.

Oliver was sitting next to Gloria and Erbi, the three of them eating chips and doritos from the table. "I'm bored." The child declared. "Do you think we can play with some of the toys they got?"

"I don't think so. But we can ask mama for some toys." Erbi said, steering the wheelchair to roll towards their parents. Oliver followed, curious who his new friend's parents were. He stared at a woman and two...men? Erbi pulled on Riley's sleeve. "Mama. We're bored."

"Oh, let's check with your baba what toys we have." She petted their heads. Riley glanced at the little boy with them and smiled. Good job, girls~

Riley asked Xin for the toys' bag. "Oh, here-" Xin reached into his bag and pulled out a box. Here's a puzzle. Do you want to put it together with your new friend?"

Erbi nodded. She loved puzzles. It was something she and Gloria could play together. He took the box and hugged Riley and Xin's arm. "Thank you, mama, thank you, baba." Ford didn't even look back "Be careful with the pieces, girls."

"Yes, dad!" They wheeled away and Oliver looked confused.

"You have 1 mommy and 2 dads?" Oliver asked. Erbi shrugged. "We have 2 mommies and 2 dads. Baba can change between being a boy or a girl." Oliver blinked. "Huh. That's cool. How?"

"Magic." Erbi said innocently.

"Oh...Ok…?" Oliver scratched his head. He'd have to ask his mommy about it later.

"Let's go to an empty table to put it together!" Erbi put the box on their lap and rolled to a table, Oliver, skipping next to him. Gloria smiled. "We love solving puzzles! Especially those with really tiny pieces! We once made a puzzle of 500 pieces! Daddy helped, but only a little." This one had fewer pieces. She put it on the table and pressed a button on the wheelchair to lift her a little bit to reach the table. Oliver knelt on a chair.

"Woaah! Your wheelchair is really cool!"

"Thanks!" Gloria blushed a bit. "Uncle Fidds made it for us. He and Daddy create a lot of stuff! They are scientists!" she said proudly. She poured out the puzzle and Oliver started helping her find the sides and corners to start. The puzzle seemed to be an image of cats. The kids giggled as they held up the pieces to each other. "I got the ears!" " I think this is a butt!"

They laughed with each other, putting the pieces in different places just for the laughs. The twins' older sisters, who were playing with a girl a little older than them, noticed them playing and smiled widely, proud of them for making a friend. The boys (and Luxuria) were building a pyramid out of brownie squares.

Everyone turned around when Stan roared. "That's mine! Open it, pumpkin!"

Mabel giggled at the man and obeyed. "I wonder what it is…" she tore the paper off and blinked. "Oh...my GWAD!" She squealed as she held up the karaoke machine. Everyone stared at Stan. He shrugged. "Music's good for babies, yeah?"

"Baby's gonna go deaf before he's even born." Shermie groaned. "Such little faith in me, father!" Mabel tutted. "We'll sing baby songs!"

Mabel and Max continued opening presents until she stopped at one that made her giggle madly, cheeks warming up. "Wooo! You go girl!" A woman exclaimed from the crowd. At one point Mabel opened a gift to find a milk pump. She flushed and looked over to see Xin giving her a double thumbs up. "Auuuugh!" Mabel squealed through her laughter. Max scratched the back of his head when some people coughed awkwardly. This was a baby shower, so baby stuff like breast milk would be brought up. Humans were so weird…

She finally reached the gift Seb got them. "Opeen ittt!" He flailed his arms in the air.

Mabel rolled her eyes and opened the box.

She gasped as the box shook. A small round creature blinked up at her. "Oink?" It squeaked. Mabel looked up at Seb, then over at Xin and Ford. "You guys…" she held up a plantimal. It wasn't an acorn or a maple seed though. It was a semi-bumpy rounded seed with a little flat nose and a curly stem tail.

Seb rubbed his arm. "We thought maybe…the baby and Waddles…would like…y'know, a new friend…" Seb was worried that her niece would maybe take this the wrong way.

He had been working to exhaustion to create this baby from scratch. Not with science like Ford, but with magic, with his OWN magic.

Miz had helped him to practice to develop his magic past his previous limits. He felt even worse than when he started practicing them in Gravity Falls, maybe a little worse because he was older.

Apparently, Uncle Ax was very pouty about him developing his powers, lol! Fuck him though, because Seb succeeded!

Mabel ran up and hugged Seb tightly. She was still holding the peanut-piglet. "I love him…" She sniffled. "Thank you, Uncle Seb…" She kissed his cheek and everyone "Aaaaww" ed.

A few people in the audience asked "Wait, there's a new breed of plantimal?"

Seb pouted and Ford coughed. "It's a prototype. I…won't make more. M-my brother asked me to help with this, just for my niece's sake." there was a collective sad sigh. Seb grumbled. He had to share credit with FORD for his OWN creation! Not fair!

Mabel stroked the baby pig's head, already planning to introduce him to Waddles at home and smiled widely. She felt her baby moving and put the piglet closer to her round belly. "That's your baby brother…" The piglet oinked happily. "I'll call you…"

Zach and Zoe, monarchs of naming, said at the same time. "Prince Janglemore the Fearsome!

"Nicknamed Jangle.. " Mabel giggled. "Thanks, guys!" Mabel looked at her oldest uncle. "Thank you too, Uncle Ford!" She hugged him and the scientist hugged her back. Stan whined "No fair! You two ganged up against me!"

Shermie sighed and shook his head. Parents were supposed to give the important gifts they'd need. He was replaced by a baby plant piglet.

Mabel handed Max the baby pig, his new son , and continued opening gifts. "Which one is yours, Uncle Ford and Xin?"

"What makes you think we got a present other than the piglet?" Ford asked sassingly, his usual polite nature loosening from Bill's influence over the years.

Mabel scoffed and the octuplets giggled from their places. Mabel raised an eyebrow at him and Ford caved. "It's the box with the pictures of rubber duckies on it." He sighed as Mabel immediately dug that one out.

"Ooh~ What is it I wonder!" The box wasn't that big, but it looked important! She happily pulled it out, even Max was curious to know what it was and leaned in closer.

"It's...a watch and a tablet…?" Max asked, confused. Both devices were from McGucket industries.

Ford coughed when everyone stared at him weirdly. "When-When the octuplets were babies, I had a hard time knowing what they needed, especially Gloria and Erbi, so I asked Fiddleford to help me with the device part and I developed the program. The watch is for the baby, it scans their heartbeat, neurotransmitters and hormones which then presents a quick report you can see in the app of the tablet, it will help you know what they want with a 0.5% of error range."

The not Pines guests were gaping, feeling lucky to be in the presence of personified science.

Everyone who was a Pines just laughed. Mabel grinned. "That's very thoughtful AND nerdy! Just like you, Uncle Ford!" She patted her stomach. "Thank you." Max smiled wide as well. His friends said the worst part of being a parent was staying up all night because you didn't know what they wanted. He was so happy that it wasn't supposed to happen now! "Yes! Thank you so much, Dr. Pines!" Max said adorably.

The rest of the presents were opened, the food was eaten, and Pacifica stood up. "Alright, guys~ It's time for the baby's sex reveal~" She had contacted Mabel's doctor for this! Eeehh~

Per Mabel's request, they have chosen non stereotypical colors for the reveal, and went with Purple for boy, Green for girl.

A table with a cake and two glasses of wine were brought over. Pacifica explained how they had to dip it all into the cake and when they pulled it out, there would be the color inside.

Mabel and Max giggled. Alright~ They grabbed their cups and slowly sunk them into the decorated cake. "I don't mind what the baby is," Max whispered. "Me neither, I just want them to be safe and happy." Mabel wiped a hormonal tear.

Everyone leaned forward into their seats as they pulled out the cup.

Max's green eyes widened as he stared at the purple liquid covering the cake. Mabel screamed and laughed at the same time, hugging his arm. Their guests all cheered for them as they shared a happy kiss.

"Hahah! Alright!" Stan threw his fist into the hair. Their next gen was a boy!

Mabel giggled, holding her belly. Hello, baby boy~

"Well, now you'll have to wait for him to be born to know his name~" She teased.

Eventually, the guests started leaving. One by one, the Pines kids had to say bye to their new friends. Zoe grieved the loss of the cute boy she had been admiring all the event and didn't dare to speak to, Zach and Diego shared usernames with the boys they befriended, and the octuplets whimpered as their friends left.

Oliver clung to Gloria and Erbi's chair. "NO! NO! I DON'T WANNA GO!"

Abi and her friend shared a look. "Oliver, come on, it's late."

"NO!"

"Daddy…" Gloria sniffled and Ford quickly looked at Oliver's mom. "We can share numbers so we can set a day for them to see each other again?" he suggested. Oliver's mom nodded with a huge smile. "Oh, of course Dr. Pines!" The two exchanged numbers and knelt to address their children.

"Oliver, sweetie, don't worry. You'll see your friends again."

"Promise?" He sniffled and his mom nodded.

"You'll really bring us for a playdate, baba?" They twisted around to stare up at Xin. The dragon laughed. "Of course. I'll speak with Mrs. Heath about bringing you over on weekends if she is ok with that."

Oliver's mom laughed. "I don't want to be a bother, and you can call me Maurice." she told the...other dad? She was a little confused. This man was his partner? Still, she decided not to ask. It wasn't any of her business.

The Pines stayed together for a while, before they had to leave as well. They helped Max and Shermie load the box of gifts into their cars as Mabel stroked Jangle's little head. "Thank you for being here, guys." She smiled at her family. The six year olds were cranky and wanted to go to sleep, but the rest smiled at her.

Seb pulled her closer for a hug, careful with her belly, and kissed her forehead. "Anything for you, Shooting Star."

"Oh man! All this makes me want to have a baby too~The presents! The pampering!" Dillon jokingly put his hands on his stomach. "It's called Fu. Food baby."

"You are so silly…" Mabel laughed. Pacifica smiled at Mabel and leaned against Dipper. All this was making her want her baby here soon…

Xin was giving Dillon a slow, sly smile. Dillon immediately deadpanned "Nope. I don't want to be pregnant." Xin pouted.

Stan was gasping. "Ford, don't let your crazy alien boyfriend do anything weird to my son." Ford groaned again. "Yeah, that. Don't do that."

"You're all no fun." Xin pouted.

Seb was just laughing like crazy. Ah, this was so weird, he loved his family. "Daddy can we go now?" Zoe yawned. "Ok, ok…" Seb ruffled her hair.

Xin teleported Ford, Riley and the kids to the front of their hotel. "Well that was fun." Xin wrapped his arms around Ford and Riley with a grin. "Mabel liked her gifts, the kids made some friends…" He had scanned the other parents there to get their contact info. If any of the octuplets wanted to hang out with their new friends, he was perfectly willing to help with that.

-.-

The glorious day finally arrived. December 21st.

Once again, the family was all huddled in the waiting room before they were allowed to see Mabel. The last time they did this was actually to meet Diego when he was born, given that the octuplets were…a home birth.

Everything had gone fine. The first part of her suffering finished. The baby boy was born big and healthy. He seemed quite eager to get out judging by his movements, and Mabel reaffirmed her position right there and then that carrying babies with supernatural antecedents was a bitch.

Aunt Wanda would agree to that later. (Yun would say they were both just chickens, and then proceeded to get her hair mussed up by Ford. "Ack! Fordsie!")

She was so impossibly exhausted from the birth, so she was sleeping and recovering in her room with her mom and Max, when he was allowed to enter again when he calmed the fuck down.

Max tried being in the room during the birth, but his anxiousness was making Mabel nervous and the nurses kicked the giant man out. Dr. Allie supported that decision and kept tending gently to Mabel.

Max had been whining and whimpering and wanted to be there, but he wasn't ready to hold a human newborn yet. ' Max, trust me when I tell you your instincts will get the worst of you...Babies shouldn't be licked. And they can't cling to your back.'

"...But then how do you clean them and carry them?! With my arms?! I wanna see him." His nose twitched madly, knowing the birth was happening. his son's smell was stronger now that his inner egg wasn't blocking it.

"Not yet." Dylan scolded. Max whined, curling around himself because this wasn't faaaair!

Dipper and Paz got first to the hospital. He just had to be one of the first people to meet his nephew! He put on a mask and washed his hands and was allowed, even before Max who kept angrily pacing. Why was Dipper first?! Not fairrrrr!

Needless to say, Dipper hugged his twin sister and they cried a bit. "You did it, stupid." He teased, fixing her disheveled curls a bit. He noticed a headband on the table and carefully fixed her head. Mabel leaned back into her pillow and smiled, now a little more rested. "Yup… I had been here for hours… I want gummy bears…"

Dipper chuckled and approached his mom to take a look at the new Pines. He choked a bit as Abi passed him over the little sleepy boy. "Look, honey, say hi to your nephew~"

Dipper shed happy heavy tears as he stared at the smallest thing he had ever seen… "Hey, buddy~" Pacifica put a hand on her belly as she cooed at her nephew. "You two are gonna be best friends, aren't you~"

Eventually, Dipper came out and told Max he was allowed in, but he had to be careful. And listen to their instructions on how to hold his child. Maxini nodded and followed his brother-in-law into the room.

Dylan prayed to his gods. At least he was reassured Max wouldn't try lifting the baby by his neck….like...he tried with their first...and second kid… He kinda made the nurses freak out.

Max looked at Mabel, sitting down on the bed as she rocked the whining bundle in her arms. That was his son! He smiled and as soon as Dipper closed the door, his tail popped free to wag around happily. He approached them and gave Mabel a kiss before looking at the newborn. He had darker skin, closer to Max's, and a mop of brown curly hair on his head. When he finally stopped whining he narrowed his eyes at him and Max noticed he had one eye brown and one eye green, and while one of his little hands was the same brown tone as his body, his other hand, the left one, had a lighter skin color, more like Mabel's, as well as part of his neck, chest, and a bit of his face.

He was perfect…

"Woah...hi…" He sniffed him slightly and nudged his little face gently. The baby leaned into the touch gurgling happily.

"Wow… He's so little…" Max whispered, holding one of his hands that wrapped around his pinky. He couldn't stop grinning. That was his baby… He needed to...warm...no-no he didn't, he was fine, but he needed-

"Dipdot, help Max hold him before he implodes." Mabel giggled.

"You should sit down first…" Dipper pushed Max over to a chair beside the bed. Dr Allie nodded. "Support the head, put your hand here…" the woman helped Max adjust his hands and finally, the newborn was placed in his arms.

Max started sobbing as soon as he had the baby in his arms. His shoulders were tense and he held him for dear life. Gosh he felt like a soft squishy and vulnerable thing… Eix leel newborns weren't so squishy and helpless! The baby was...His son was so small and helpless and oh gods, he needed to hold his soft body forever. Max put him close to his warm chest and the newborn welcomed the warmth.

Dipper smiled tearfully. Gosh… He couldn't wait to meet his own kid as well...

"Well, I think you're good enough to start rocking him, if you want?" Allie asked Max. "Rocking?" Max blinked. "It's a thing where you slowly tilt the baby back and forth, very gently."

"Why?"

"They like it. It's calming for them. Also, children need to be moved around, so they can learn to adjust and balance."

Max frowned, confused. That made no sense but he tried anyway. The little baby seemed to be lulled and fell asleep. Wow. Magic… He stroked his little head, trying hard NOT to lick his red face. Wanted! But he wouldn't. He was strong!

"If you want to warm him up, it would be nice to do some skin contact." Allie suggested and he just agreed. Whatever if it meant he felt like he was doing his job.

He took off his jacket and shirt and they adjusted the baby against his warm chest, where he snuggled. Finally touching his baby, being able to warm him up, felt amazing. It made him feel he was finally taking care of him. "Max… I want the baby…" Mabel told him, reaching over to tap on his shoulder.

"No."

"Max!" Mabel complained.

"Don't fight him. He won't hand him over for a while." Allie sent Dylan a look, and the older man wiggled in place. He looked sheepish. Mabel sighed, but agreed to just let Max have the baby for now. She decided to nap because god was she exhausted. Later in the day, almost at night, the rest of her family started appearing to visit them and crowded the waiting room.

As they were a big group, the nurses told them that they had to take turns once the patient was ready for extra visits. Shermie was pacing around the room, feeling nervous and excited to meet his grandson. Seb, sitting on a chair with a sleeping Zach's head on his lap, shook his head. He reminded him of that nervous 15 year old about to meet his twins.

"Shermie.. you'll make a hole on the floor…" Luxuria knelt and looked at the floor. "Yup! He already started, uncle Seb!" Shermie sighed. "I'm just nervous…" The youngest brother pouted. Stan ruffled his hair. "Don't worry kid, Mabel's a strong girl. And her kid's gonna be just as hardy."

"What if he doesn't like me?" Shermie paced. "Why wouldn't he? Who needs a cute, adorable old grandpa when you can have a muscled forty something year old black belt!" Stan gave him a noogie and Seb giggled from his trapped position as Shermie whined. "I doubt he will hate you." Ford commented lightly, getting water for Gloria and Erbi's next scheduled set of pills.

(He literally caused this and the twins didn't hate him…)

Wanda returned with Carla and Zoe from buying something to eat because they had been waiting for a while now, just as a nurse approached them. "You can come in now…"

Seb picked Zach up (not without using his powers of course, the kid was getting heavier) and looked at Shermie. "You ready to meet your grandson?" "No… let's do this." Shermie nodded. First, Shermie and his brothers entered the room, eager but as quiet as possible.

Mabel was lying back on the bed, propped up on a multitude of pillows. She looked exhausted but grinned enthusiastically at the sight of her father and uncles. "Hey~come meet him~" She held a bundle of blankets with a sleeping newborn. Stan covered Shermie's mouth as he let out a high pitched squeal. "Yeah, don't wake the kid." Shermie was shaking, Stan had to hold him up.

"Oh my god. I'm a grandfather! Oh my god!" Shermie breathed quickly.

"We're officially grunkles!" Seb leaned on Ford as he could no longer hold himself up. Ford rolled his eyes with a confused smile. "Right, yes." He wasn't sure why Sebastian was so hung up on this point, but it was nice seeing him excited.

The women in the room and Max laughed at them. "Dad, you wanna hold him?"

Shermie gulped. "I-I'm shaking too much, I'll drop him…"

The newborn had nursed a while ago so he let the strangers hold him. One of the first strangers to steal him was Seb, who exclaimed "I volunteer!" and took the incredibly tiny creature.

He looked like he was about to die. "HE'S SO TINY AND ASDFGH!" He screamed-whispered.

He looked a lot like Maxini, dark skin but with a little bit of curly brown hair. He didn't see his eyes yet. "Oh god...Hi...I'm your Grunkle… " He sniffled. He was SO CUTE!

Each brother had a turn to meet their great nephew and when Ford held him, he opened his big eyes. The men all melted and cooed at him. Kari rolled her eyes, her sons were so dramatic. Shermie took a deep breath after Seb took the baby back for another turn. "Ok, I wanna hold him now, give him to me…" He asked Seb. "No! You lost your chance!" Seb stuck his tongue out.

"Oh, come on, Sebastian! Give him back!"

"No." Seb growled and hugged him closer to himself.

"Sebastian! Give him to me!" Shermie tried reaching for him and Seb made the newborn float away, securing his head of course.

"You'll have to kill me for it, Sherman!" Seb pushed Shermie back.

Dipper blinked, hugging Pacifica against him. "Uncle Seb's gonna burn dad."

"Yeah." She nodded, seeing the fire spreading across Seb's arms.

Ford was forced to stand up from the couch and walk over to his fighting youngest brothers. "Come on you two! Not in front of the baby!"

"He's MY grandson!" Shermie argued, and while the three were tussling in their corner of the room, Stan, the smart one, snuck over to get to hold the baby. Bwahahaha!

He didn't get much time with him though, because Max started growling at him, showing off his sharp pointy teeth, and Stan, the smart one, handed the baby back to his mom, who just laughed. "C'mon dad, you can have him now." She whispered as she kissed his little forehead.

Shermie stared as he held the baby. He felt like a teen again, like that first time he held Dipper and Mabel. "He's so small. Are newborns supposed to be this small?" He asked in a whisper. Everyone laughed. "He's actually larger than Dipper and Mabel were." Kari pointed out. "You're just a grown man now, instead of a 15 year old child."

"Right… That-That actually makes a lot of sense…" Shermie looked at his mom before looking back at the baby and smiled. "Hi, baby boy…" He rocked him softly. He wasn't a kid anymore, he knew how to hold a baby, his baby grandson , oh gosh...

Shermie and Abi stayed in the room and they started rotating to meet the baby.

The twins and octuplets got to meet him as well. "I want to hold him!" Invidia made puppy eyes.

"Oh, maybe when he's older, Invi." Mabel smiled tiredly at him. The baby returned to her arms when he started fussing and she hugged her baby. Jangle was lying by her feet, napping on a pillow.

Yun was carrying Gloria and Erbi so they could see the baby better. "Whoa. He's so small!" They gasped. Yun giggled. "You guys were even smaller when you were all born." She told them as she nuzzled her nose against Erbi's. "Especially you two~you were so tiny I could have easily gobbled you up in one bite~" Ford sighed. "Please don't joke about eating the children."

"Please eat me then, life is punishment and death is a sweet relief." Diego, a drama queen sighed. Stan softly hit the back of his head. "Stop it, Diego."

Mabel giggled and stroked her… son's soft cheek. She was so excited for this! She loved Max and they loved their baby. She was so looking forward to this… Max rubbed noses with her and he kissed his forehead.

The newborn was shifting from side to side, fresh to the world and not used to crazy Pines-ness yet.

"Mabel, so~ What's his name?"

"Well~ Guys, meet-"

Then a loud "MABEL WE WANT TO MEET OUR NEPHEW!" followed by a "FRIENDS!" from Mabel, made him start wailing.

Everyone winced when he let out a loud wail. ""And it started…"" The triplets and Shermie said solemnly as the young couple tried to calm him down.