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)

63. Chap 62 Some things never change

Boss makes a dollar, i make a dime

so i post fanfic on company time

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"Let's go on a date." Ford said during breakfast one day. Luckily Unit 27 had taken care of the octuplets while their parents were passed out. It was always such an honor. Riley, Xin and Yun blinked at him.

"Oh wow, haven't heard that from you before." Riley teased softly and he playfully nudged her arm. She smiled and hugged said arm, enjoying the muscle underneath~

"I have, but not for a long time." Yun giggled. "It's usually us who suggest it~" (Sure, Ford has tried asking her out like… once, and that was… well, she still felt bad about how that music date had ended up. Ford had tried so hard and there she'd been… unable to appreciate it.)

"Well, I'm thinking of a different kind of date this time…I don't know if you'd be able to do it…" The curly haired scientist started. Ford cleared his throat. They were all in a good mood, so… he figured he should take his demon and scientist partners out, do something together. A date!

"Well, I realize that we haven't really been out in Space for a while." Ford glanced over at Yun. "And there are some places I remember from my time out there, that I actually enjoyed."

"You…want to go to Space? Out in the multiverse, Space. Not just… this dimension space?" Yun asked, a little surprised. "Really?"

"Hm…Yeah, why not? There's a nice restaurant on planet Fi-63-A. Along with a pub where…we can go have a few drinks?" Ford suggested. He remembered Stan loving O'Sadley's for their mega-sized drinks.

""Ohh~~"" Riley and Yun smiled. That actually sounded super nice.

"And you'll open a portal just to take us on a date~ How romantic~" Yun teased.

"No, my portals don't go off planet." Ford rolled his eyes. "I was hoping you'd be able to take us there."

"Hhmmm~ I think I can do that~ I haven't been out exploring Space in this dimensional set much, it should be fun!" Yun hummed, "Could get a look at how different it is here from back home."

"Great!" Ford smiled. Wow, he'd be back in space without running for his life. It'd be nice to see it with new eyes. "Well, go change! We'll leave immediately!" He declared dramatically and went back to put on some clothes. Riley stared as she munched on her toast.

"He's so excited." Xin smiled. The dragon glanced over at Riley. "Hey, did the Time Police already modify you for survival out there?"

Riley blinked. "Ah, yes. I'm capable of breathing most gasses without issue. I won't die in the vacuum of space for at least a couple hours. I'm resistant to radiation…" Xin nodded, good, good.

"How did HE and Stanley survive, will always be my eternal question." The red haired woman laughed. "I know you gave them some devices, but did you modify them as well?"

"Oh, I modified them back when they first landed in my dimension." Xin raised an eyebrow.

"Does he KNOW you did that or he just thinks he could inhale tiny feet and not die because he was special?" Riley snorted.

"Oh, I told Stan what I did. I think Ford was super sleep deprived, so I'm not entirely sure if he knows I did it. I think he does?"

"I'm not gonna tell him if he doesn't " Riley smiled as she sipped her tea and gulped down some pills to help with her hangover. "He's funnier that way." ("Damn right.")

Riley yawned and stretched. "Can you just magic me into some nice clothes~? I'm feeling lazy." She pouted teasingly.

"You want me to do your makeup too?" Yun fluttered her eyelashes. Riley laughed. "Yes please~" Yun held Riley's hand and made her stand up to check her out. "Hm~ Let's see? What can I style today?" Yun moved her hands across Riley's face and she giggled at the sensation. Yun decided to style Riley's hair into a top bun, with a ponytail that dangled down to swish nicely in the way Yun knew Ford secretly enjoyed.

"Do you know how to do makeup?" Riley asked as Yun fixed her messy hair with the brush and products she materialized. Yun liked brushing her hair, and Riley loved the feeling.

"Nope! But I have magic! Fuck actual training!" Riley snorted and closed her eyes, relaxing as the hands gently rubbed her skin. Yun didn't put a lot on her, just some lipstick, blush for Riley's pale as fuck skin to give her a little color, and some mascara to make her eyelashes more pronounced.

"You're so pale." Yun noted.

"Thanks, Yun." Riley deadpanned. "It comes with being a ginger. It's a talent of mine." (Yun held back a snarky remark about Pines boys and gingers. Riley didn't know the funny story of prepubescent Dipper going crazy over Wendy. It wouldn't be as fun if she had to explain it all.)

"You burn super fast. That's what you share with Ford. He turns into a red lobster if he's not wearing sunscreen… Huh, must be why he prefers wearing long sleeved shit in summer."

"That's just my fate." Riley said dramatically. Yun finished with her and made a mirror appear. "Do you like it?" The alien asked nervously.

Riley stared at herself in the mirror. Oh… "Yes, it looks good…I should have asked you to help me get ready for the wedding… I must have looked terrible…" It was a humbling experience when you saw yourself…actually looking good. Yun had somehow managed to line her eyes to make them stand out, make her cheeks look rosy…

"No, you didn't. You're a pretty woman!" Yun threatened. "Now shut up and let me think of an outfit." Yun held Riley's shoulders. "I'm serious. You're gorgeous."

Riley blushed. She gasped when Yun flicked her fingers again and Riley's clothes were replaced by a blouse and pants. Riley looked down. "No dress?"

"This looks better for going to a pub." Yun shrugged

"True." Riley glazed at Xin and Yun. "So what will you two be wearing?"

Xin flicked his fingers, his pajama shirt shifting into a simple changshan, less elaborate than his usual flowing robes. Yun on the other hand was…

Riley snorted. Yun was in a large baggy t-shirt with Bakemon on it, as well as khakis and a baseball cap. It looked ridiculous.

"Hey! I don't want to be the only girl all dressed up!" Riley complained.

"In my set, everyone would be staring at me. They know my forms, I can't even go to my own house in a different form without raising SOMEONE's suspicion if I got spotted. But no one knows me here. I can do whatever I want! I can wear whatever I want! Please~" Yun fluttered her eyelashes and Riley huffed.

"So you wanna dress like… that? For a date?"

"Hang on." Yun put on a pair of weird sunglasses that were just… large plastic lines. "I'm set."

Riley cackled, because Yun looked so terrible.

"There. I'm ready." She said proudly. "You'll be the cute girlfriend, I'll be the weird one, and Xin is the boy."

Xin deadpanned at just being the 'boy'.

Ford returned. He was wearing a black turtleneck, a clean coat, his nicest active pants (clinging to his thicc legs), some space goggles he dug out of his closet…

"What are you wearing?!" Ford sputtered as he saw Yun.

"My normal alien outfit." Yun bullshit.

"She says she'll play the role of a random unknown alien because no one knows her here." Riley hugged her with an arm, rolling her eyes fondly.

"But you always say that I have to dress nice on dates,. It must apply to you too!" Ford complained. Yun grinned, "These are totally nice clothes. Baggy shirt and pants, baseball cap, the 'cool' shades~"

"Oh no." Ford gasped as he realized.

Yun pulled out a fake gold chain necklace with a charm on the end that said 'Diggity Dungeons and All That'

"YUN!"

Said alien cackled.

"Yeah, I'm opening the portal in the basement." He deadpanned at her but he was amused. "Please, can you put on something else?" He glanced at Riley and blinked, getting distracted. "Oh…" She looked nice.

"Fiiiine~" Yun flicked her fingers and put herself in a simple Cheongsam. "Ok, is this good?"

"Very good."

"I'm keeping the cap and my golden chain though."

"Fine. Let's go now." He smiled as he packed his journal just in case. And a gun. Because they were still going to Space. Also a knife. Just… because knives were useful. And a second knife, for personal reasons.

"Wait. How are you going to get us out of this dimension?" Riley asked. They all walked outside the shack, out of the new barrier that didn't give the demon a crushing feeling, with their shoes now on.

Xin held up his hands, claws out, and gripped the air in front of him. Riley gasped as she watched the dragon literally tear a hole in space.

Ford and Riley shared a look before turning back to Xin and blurting out, ""I love you…"" At the same time.

"Wait. We didn't say bye to the babies." Yun realized. Xin closed the rift and they all went back to look for the precious beans who didn't even care to say good morning to their worried and caring parents. They were watching tv with Unit 27 overseeing them attentively.

"Bye kids, we're going out for a while. Unit 27 will make you lunch." Xin told them.

"What kind of lunch?" Marie raised an eyebrow. That was very important.

"Uh…burgers. Bye~" Ford waved as the horde of kids cheered and hugged each other like they were celebrating the biggest achievement of the century. Unit 27 nodded solemnly. They'd make the best burgers of all.

Back outside, Xin again made a tear and made sure everyone crossed safely before crossing as well and closing the rift.

Ax sighed loudly in the space between spaces. Riley was supposed to make MizBill leave! None of this was working.

-.-

"How did you find this restaurant? I thought you were busy escaping from local Bill or something." Riley asked as they walked towards the place. The place wasn't too busy and they got a table immediately.

"Well. We wanted to find something to eat that wasn't just barely edible. It was really good. At first, Stanley thought he was just hallucinating because we read it was a Mexican restaurant. But it WAS Mexican food. Just…different. I'm not sure how their culture got out into space but I'm not complaining"

Ford picked up the menu from the Burrito Paradox Interdi-Mexican Restaurant and took off his goggles. Yun and Xin were both reading over the menu and debating over what they wanted. "They've got grilled Crawner! And Sniggleburgers!" "Mushi! They've got mushi!" The two squealed together.

Riley looked over the menu. "Oh, these are nice." She recognized a bunch of things. "Hang on." She said slowly, "Do you have the Credits to pay for this?"

"I'm not the one who brags about being a billionaire here~" Ford looked away with a smile.

Yun scoffed. "Oh suuuure~ Put the bill on me." She paused. "I wonder if I could just steal the local Bill's Credit account? Not like he's using it anymore."

Ford shrugged. "Yeah, whatever." He didn't really care about it. "Why would he care to have a credit account though? …It's Bill."

"True. I'll work something out." Yun sent out an inquiry to begin figuring out what counted as currency on this planet. Oh! Great news, they accepted Gold.

A waiter approached them and asked for their order. Yun and Xin ordered to their hearts' content as Ford and Riley went for only one dish each and a few drinks. Both just smiled and kept to themselves about how MizBill was gonna eat. That was always a good sign. And they had been doing it continuously for a while now, meaning that they were finally feeling better. They loved to see her eat, she was happy doing so.

They brought their drinks first and Riley and Ford shuddered at the strong taste. Yun and Xin were on a field trip right now. "It tastes just like the Sizzleroot back home, amazing!"

"One of the things I missed the most about home was the food." Riley commented lightly. "Even while working with the Time Police and having many humans working there, it was weird to actually have an Earth dish."

"Indeed. Earth is very isolated from the other planets. My guess is because Time Baby is currently frozen there, so it's extremely hard for other aliens to go to Earth." Ford twirled his drink.

Someone was staring at their table with a strange look in what seemed to be their face. Yun and Xin glanced at them but quickly ignored them after remembering no one knew who they were here. Hehe~ That caused a weird little feeling inside them. The possibilities~

It felt… nice. To be out in Space again. Xin had his tail and antlers out without issue. Yun's arms were proudly on display. And no one had a problem with it!

Their food was brought and they began eating. It was like having brunch, as Riley only got to eat some toast and Ford ate nothing at all for breakfast earlier. Xin and Yun moaned loudly as they indulged in the food, making the two humans laugh.

"So how did you and Stan find this place? Were you searching for good restaurants or?" Riley asked between mouthfuls of a dish that was almost like rice, but a little squirmier.

"Actually, yeah. Stan and I visited Lottocron Nine and I have no idea how he does it, but Stan's good at rolling the dice. Which was good, because we would have gotten arrested otherwise." Ford cut his meat. "Along with one of the prizes, we got a discount for this place, and turned out to be good. We guessed we deserved it after working so hard. And it wasn't as expensive as we thought it'd be. It was a nice surprise from our time here."

"The multiverse always finds ways to surprise you." Riley laughed. She looked to her side. The people from the other table were right now talking to the waiter who brought their food, pointing at them. Were they being specist with them because they were human? She hoped not.

The waiter frowned at whatever the other customer was telling them.

Riley and Ford shared some of their experiences in space, while Yun and Xin, in between inhaling their food, talked a bit about their own dimensional set and what it was like. By the time the two humans finished their own food, sharing bits with each other, their alien partners finished the entire buffet they ordered for themselves.

"Do you want dessert?" Yun smiled.

Ford snorted. "Yeah, we could use something sweet right now. Something similar to chocolate would be nice~"

""Aw~ But I'm not allowed!"" Ford and Riley laughed at the identical pouts from the demon.

Ford called a waiter, but they all scrambled away. "Hey!"

"I think they're scared at how much we ordered." Riley joked.

"Well too bad! I want dessert now!" Yun whined. "Fordsieee! I want dessert!"

Ford rolled his eyes and walked to the counter. "Hi, we'd like to make another order…"

The owner, who was there, froze.

And suddenly drew out a gun.

Ford's instincts immediately responded by pulling out his hidden gun as well and pointing it at the guy threatening him. "What the fuck?!" He demanded.

"We already called the federation officers!" The owner shakily said as he pointed at Ford, "So stay where you are!"

Riley blinked.

"Oh. I forgot Ford might still be recognized." Yun and Xin blinked at the same time. This was the first time guns weren't pointed at them.

3 officers entered the restaurant, holding their guns and handcuffs. "Where's Pines?" One of them held a 'Wanted' poster of Stan.

"Drop that weapon!"

Ford groaned. Not the Feds!

"That's not even me!" Ford deadpanned at them. The Fed quickly exchanged the Stan poster for Ford's wanted poster. "There, happy scumbag?"

"A little, yeah." Ford grinned.

Yun stared at the exchange. Her face was burning hot as a shiver went down her spine. Just the way Ford was standing, glaring and mocking Law enforcement…

Riley was getting a little worried, "I wasn't aware you were a wanted criminal…"

"...13 years is a long time." Ford winced.

"You shut up!" The Fed officer pointed at Ford.

The other customers were all huddled in their seats, recording the infamous Stanford Pines, threatening a business owner and then some Feds! They also recorded the poor seduced beauties with him. Clearly he kidnapped them! Or lied or threatened them to come with him! A waitress even came up to Xin, Yun and Riley and told them that they were, "Safe now."

Stanford slowly made his way towards the table, signing 'Portal!' to Xin and Yun in ASL, but they seemed glued to their spot. Urgh! "There's no need for aggressiveness… We just came to eat. Let us pay, and we leave. No need for anyone to get injured…" Ford kept his eyes on the Feds.

"Yeah I don't think you are getting out of here." Another Fed sneered. "You and your dumb brother are going to rot in prison."

"Do not bring my brother into this!" Ford snarled.

Suddenly, a blast. Directed to the curly haired man's head. With fast reflexes, Ford threw one of the forks he was using to eat with, into the path of the blast. The fork buzzed, but the electric blast stuck to the metal, even as Ford continued moving. He ducked low and rushed the officer, twisting the setting of his gun to [Stun] and shooting down the man who had fired at him. Before that officer even fell over, Ford was already sweep-kicking the legs out from under another officer, while he took out his knife and threw it at the third Fed, hitting the man's hand and making him hiss and drop his gun.

"Get out!" Ford barked at Riley, because she was the only one who didn't seem to be completely paralyzed. The red haired woman pulled at the two aliens "Snap out of it!" She screamed. This escalated way too quickly! What was wrong with Bill?! Xin and Yun were just… staring, almost transfixed, at Ford dodging gunfire.

Ford growled as he shot again at another officer trying to shoot him from behind. He flipped around dramatically, his coat flying with the wind as he did.

"PINES!"

Ford looked up as another voice screamed at him and without warning shot at him with a laser gun directed at his leg.

The human dodged the attack, grabbed the discarded gun of the officer and was now pointing at both the groaning officers and the new voice.

The news traveled fast and reached the ears, or equivalent, of people Ford was hoping he wouldn't see again. A large, muscular alien with six arms and huge fangs hissed down at them from a hole torn right through the ceiling of the restaurant. "Didn't think you'd have the GUTS to show your skin around here again, Pines." They snarled, drooling green saliva that hissed as it touched the edges of the hole.

"Who's that?!" Riley cried among the screaming and fleeing customers as she managed to pull Yun and Xin away from the direct attack. They couldn't reach the entrance, but she assumed this was far enough.

Ford glared. "That's just Sniko. They don't like me." He said simply.

"You must be really stupid to show your face after you and your brother ran out on paying me!" Sniko raised their gun again.

"We owe you nothing! The Gyro Belts you sold us didn't even work!" Ford had his gun trained on the alien.

"The snek you don't! You agreed to the purchase! Not my fault you broke them!"

Then, breaking one wall of the restaurant, two more aliens appeared, laughing and talking about what they'd do with the money they'd get for taking this scumbag thief dead or alive to the Feds.

"Preferably dead." One sneered.

"Who are they?!" Riley gasped. ("Just bounty hunters, I recognize the Fobs." Ford sighed. "They don't like me.")

Ford shifted so he could glare at the new people pointing at him with their guns AND Sniko up on the ceiling. When the moaning officers on the floor tried to reach him or a gun, Ford just kicked them.

Suddenly, a new hole in the wall was made ("Ah, seriously?!" The manager, hiding behind the counter wailed) and 3 more people appeared. What was up with criminals trashing his business?

"And who're those?!" Riley almost wanted to laugh at how ridiculous this all was.

"They don't like me either."

Before the new group could even say anything, 3 more aliens appeared, just shooting everywhere. "GIVE ME MY MONEY STETSON!" One roared, holding a heavy machine-gun type of weapon over her shoulder.

Ford recognized them as Stan's enemies. Ok yeah, Stan did get in trouble with them. "Bitch, I am NOT him! Stop annoying me!"

Ford grabbed a serving tray to block a shot.

"And who's that?!" Riley cried.

Ford turned his head to glance at his girlfriend, holding onto Yun whose knees were buckled and she looked out of it. Xin was leaning against the wall, mouth open and drooling a bit.

"Let's just assume for the moment that everyone here doesn't like me!"

"For the record, I don't like you either." The restaurant owner spoke up before ducking back below the counter.

"Get in line." Ford was trying to keep watch over every enemy, but there were too many. Luckily, some of the random gunfire had shot at them so some were now fighting each other. Ford chanced a look back at Yun, Riley and Xin. Riley was low to the ground, hidden partially behind a table. Yun and Xin were staring at him, cheeks flushed and eyes glazed. What was wrong with them? Riley held Yun closer, "Be careful Ford!"

One of the angry aliens jumped out of the way of the shots and blasts and reached the corner where Riley, Xin and Yun were.

"You… Pines, you got a date?!" The alien sneered. "With hot babes?! THREE hot babes?!"

"It's none of your business, Bales!" Ford barked.

The other goons and even some of the Feds laughed.

"Where did you get these bitches?" One of the 2nd group of aliens sneered, twirling a finger on the trigger of his gun and playfully waving it next to Riley's head. She was terrified, but managed to glare at him because of her old training as a time officer.

"What did you threaten them with to come with you?" He had the gall to wink at Yun (though Yun wasn't even paying him any attention) "Sweetie, however much he's paying you, I can double it. Wanna ditch this dump and–"

Ford saw red. "They're MINE, bitch!" Ford shot the guy's hand clean off, making him scream as his gun (and hand) dropped to the ground. Green blood sprayed out, splattering across Yun while Riley jumped and got out of the way. "If you touch them, I'll rip every limp off your ugly body!" He screamed, blasting another alien away from them just in case. They were too close to them for his liking.

Yun shivered, her blush darkening as her breathing picked up. Oh…

Even Riley seemed flustered. Wow…He…looked really hot like this… ok yeah, she understood why Xin and Yun were so out of it now.

Ford managed to not get himself killed or shot, jumping, attacking, dodging and shooting like an expert, but there were many of them for him to keep fighting.

"Xin! Help me out here!" Ford ducked another gunshot.

The dragon blinked, seeming to come back to his senses. "Oh, ok."

And then suddenly everyone was screaming as they were pushed back by the bulk of glimmering golden scales. Xin, in his full dragon form, rumbled as his long body pressed tight against the inside of this poor building. The various aliens were immobilized as they were crushed against the walls or floor. Someone let out a strangled, "Pines managed to seduce a DRAGON?!"

Yun, Riley and Ford (and the owner) were the only people not crushed by Xin's huge body. (All the other staff and customers had evacuated.) In fact…

Purrrrr~

"Xin!" Ford sputtered as the dragon nuzzled him into the ground, purring up a storm. "Xin! What's gotten into you?!"

"You're so hot when you're fighting, you know that~?" Xin was staring at him and Ford swore there were freaking HEARTS in his eyes. "As much as I appreciate it, this is not the moment~" He petted the dragon's snout, momentarily ignoring his enemies. "Xin, can you get us out of here?"

"Sure Fordsie~ let's go somewhere private so I can ravish you~" The dragon crooned, licking Ford with his huge tongue. Ford sputtered, "Are you in heat or something?!" It wasn't summer yet–

'Xin! Don't embarrass me in front of my enemies! The aliens are watching!'

Yun, who was leaning against Xin, still flushed, gasped softly, "No, we're just super turned on right now." She shuddered, reaching up and gripping Ford's shirt. "If we don't go somewhere private soon, I don't know if we can hold back…" She practically threatened.

Ford turned red. "O…Oh. Alright." He wiggled his way out from under the dragon. "It was very unpleasant to see you all again." Ford grinned smugly at the aliens and Feds, all groaning in pain. Yun moaned in Riley's arms at the cheekiness. The red head was blushing now too. The demons were… very clearly distracted. Riley wondered if it would be safe, Xin was big enough to crush a man to death right now…

Wait, how big did that mean Xin's– er… thing, was? She blushed even more at the thought and covered her face with one hand.

Xin tried pining Ford down to the floor to keep nuzzling him. The aliens stared in shock. Oh fuck, if the dragon started– Pines would die! They would ALSO die!

"We can't leave if you don't let me go!" Ford pushed Xin's snout back, laughing. Xin growled in annoyance, letting some more animalistic traits out. The building shuddered as the huge creature slithered around.

"Yun, can you pay for the food? It'd be rude to leave with all the damage I caused… and what Xin caused." Ford glared at the owner. "I'm not paying for the mess everyone else did. It's your fault for calling the cops on me!" Rude!

"Don't worry~" Yun panted softly, pressing her legs together, "We're set." She reached over and rubbed Xin's side, shaving off a tiny piece of his scale; it was small, only around an inch long, and thin as a sheet of paper. But the owner's eyes went wide as Yun staggered over and handed him the shaving. "Keep the change~ I liked the food here, might come back again some time~" Yun grinned at him before she placed a hand on Xin and Blinked them all out of there, the whole building repairing itself once they were gone.

The owner just stared in awe at the sheet of DRAGON SCALE in his hands. This– this was enough to pay off the costs of running his restaurant for over ten years!

The bounty hunters and other aliens fell to the ground and groaned. The Federation officers were also pushing themselves up from the ground while staring at the Owner. "Holy shit." One gasped. They all just stared. Pines was one lucky ass bitch! And the bounty hunters couldn't even try to steal that dragon scale, for fear of angering the dragon. No fair!

Once they were back home, Yun took them to her house in one of the Islands, Xin was back at nuzzling his hot human. Yun finally climbed on top of Ford, straddling him to the floor. Ford oof'ed as Riley also made her way on top of him.

"You really look hot when you do that~" Riley admitted as she whispered into his neck, kissing him.

Yun was kissing Ford all over, not his mouth, but just pecking kisses all along his neck and chest as she tore his clothes off. Xin growled as he shoved at Ford with his snout, incredibly sharp teeth so close to the man. Ford was just on the ground, on some pillows, as he was literally surrounded by his partners.

"You really were a big criminal out there~" Riley teased.

"Next time we should go to Yun's set." Ford said from his position on the floor. Yun whined. "Noooo! Again!" She rubbed herself along Ford's bare chest, her own clothes burned away as fire began to flicker along her skin. "I wanna see you beat people up again~" Her incredibly long tongue was licking up the blood that was on her. "I wanna see you make them bleed~" She purred, eyes glowing gold as blue fire spewed from her arms and back. It was hot, but it didn't burn either Riley or Ford.

Ford was getting more red as Yun sat with his thigh between her legs as she rocked her hips hard, grinding against his knee.

"Why is…why is it a big deal?" Ford was feeling way too hot. The 3 of them were making a big deal out of this.

"Because you being hot, turns us on." Riley drawled with a grin. "And it seems the demons are extra affected by it." She gestured to Xin, who was still gigantic, and licking Ford's back with a large tongue.

"Huh. Makes sense." Ford stated simply in his usual science nerd voice as he was chest naked with his naked human partner rubbing herself against one side, a horny alien goddess grinding against his thigh, and a horny dragon who now had a huge paw on Ford's other leg.

His life was so weird now…He closed his eyes and grinned. He wasn't complaining though… Fighting a bunch of idiots was…great. It filled him with so much adrenaline! And he wasn't gonna let anyone hurt his partners! Damn those idiots trying to flirt with Yun and Riley!

He let out an involuntarily growl at the thought and his partners cooed at him and kept pampering him…even as they started getting a predatory glint in their eyes. "Er… Xin? Why are you holding me down?" Ford asked as the huge clawed paw wrapped around him…

Ford wasn't allowed to go home for HOURS.

-.-

(A couple years later)

Eight 8 year olds woke up to the loud noise of their alarm clocks. It was early, but getting so many kids ready was hard. Ford and Yun's day started even earlier, but they had gotten used to it. Wake up, make breakfast, and prepare their lunchboxes and the medicine Gloria and Erbi had to take for the day. Ford spoke into his walkie-talkie from the kitchen, connected to the kids' alarms. "Good morning, kids! Today is a nice Tuesday morning, the weather is nice and cool and a perfect day to go to school and learn!"

A collective groan was heard from upstairs, making Yun cackle. Riley was still passed out, she took longer to wake, that was fine. Yun and Ford were fine with letting her sleep in a little more. Ford continued speaking as if it was for the radio. "The hallways are free from traffic, and the three bathrooms around the house are clean, empty, and expected to remain the same throughout the day! Let's remember you have a history exam today and you will be grounded if you quote Hamilton in that quiz. Breakfast forecast, scrambled eggs, bacon and a splendid mixed fruit smoothie, courtesy of your mother, made of…" He covered the walkie talkie. "What did that juice have again?" Yun rolled her eyes. "Papaya, strawberry and pineapple. Come downstairs to eat already." She laughed.

They heard loud high-pitched laughter and the floor shook as the herd of octuplets came running downstairs, some already changed, some still in their Pjs. "Good morning, Dad! Good morning, mommy!" They said at the same time.

Yun counted them. 6. But where was… Before she finished thinking about it, Isaac gasped loudly and ran back upstairs. "I forgot!"

Isaac ran to their room and saw Erbi quietly sobbing on the floor, just in front of their bed. "I'm so sorry, Gloria, Erbi!" He apologized quickly. "Let me help." He looked around for his sibling's wheelchair and brought it closer to them. It was a heavy day. The twins had light days, where they felt strong enough to walk around, and heavy days, where they needed their chair.

He lifted them up and saw Erbi pouting hard. The kid struggled to sit them on the chair before he happily pushed them out of the room. The twins could push themselves, but Gloria's eyes were closed and she wasn't moving, aside from breathing slowly. "How did you sleep? Is Gloria still sleeping?"

"Yeah." Erbi sighed. She poked her sister and shook her a bit until Gloria snorted and jolted in place, "Ah! I'm awake!" (She hadn't woken when they fell, but it did get her closer to waking up.)

The blond boy reached the stairs and pressed a button. He watched as the metallic stairs shifted into a ramp with several flat stopping points to slow down, and slid down with his sibling's wheelchair. "Wee~" He caught himself before they fell and changed the ramp back into stairs. Then, he went back to the kitchen.

"Thank you for helping us, Isaac!" Gloria smiled widely as she and Erbi took over rolling their wheelchair to the table. Erbi moaned as she felt a headache coming on.

Stanford kissed Isaac's forehead before crouching in front of Gloria and Erbi to kiss their foreheads. "Good morning, sweeties. How are you feeling?"

"We're fine." Gloria said, but Erbi moaned a bit. "…Headache…and my arm feels all weak and aching." she confessed. "I want a painkiller." Ford nodded. "First you need to eat, alright? Then you can have a painkiller." Erbi looked at Nick sitting on the other side of the table and pouted. "Also-"

When Erbi had woken up and Gloria hadn't, and when she realized it was a heavy day, she had called for help. Most of her siblings had already left the room, but Nicholas was the last to leave and he had turned, saw Erbi's pleading expression… and Erbi had SEEN the moment her brother narrowed his eyes, scoffed, and turned away to close the door behind him. It had made Erbi burst into tears and continue crying until her big brother found her on the floor.

"Yes?" Ford looked at her.

"...nevermind. It's nothing." Erbi mumbled. Telling dad would just make dad mad at Ava. And then Ava would be even more mad at her for tattling.

The kids finished their breakfast as soon as possible. They needed to get the bathroom first! Only the first four got hot water! They licked their plates, took it to the dishwasher and ran away to get their clothes and claim the bathroom. Elizabeth claimed one, Ira claimed the other, and Isaac claimed the third bathroom. Luxuria stood behind the bathroom claimed by Invidia, knowing he was the fastest at taking a shower, Gula went behind Ira, and Nick shouted angrily when he realized he was behind Elizabeth. She took FOREVER!

Vanagloria and Erbi watched their brothers and sisters go and sighed. Gloria wished she could compete as well, though Erbi was just relieved they didn't have to wait. They've got a bathroom just for them (because of their special needs), but it would be fun to run and claim a bathroom like the others did. Gloria longed to run. Like everyone else could. Mommy had said that once they were older and their magic was stronger, they'd be able to run or fly or do whatever they wanted. But daddy said it didn't matter if they couldn't anyway, that they were perfect the way they were. Daddy always said that. And it was nice, but… Gloria gritted her teeth. She didn't care about being perfect the way she was! She wanted… she wanted to be able to do the things that she saw other people doing so easily! Erbi didn't seem to care, but SHE did!

Erbi noticed her sister's expression and took her hand. "It's ok...competing sucks anyway. We get our own stuff and we don't have to share…" Erbi said to cheer her up. Gloria shrugged her shoulder, not saying anything.

"Are you done, sweetie?" Yun asked, looking at her unfinished plate. Erbi nodded. "My belly hurts a little." She explained and her mom nodded. "Ok. Fordsie, can you clean this up? I'll help the twins take a shower." The man sipped his second cup of coffee and nodded.

"But we can do it on our own!" Gloria said. Yun sighed and took the girl upstairs to help her set her bath. "Well I can help Erbi, and you can wash yourself, is that ok?" Yun hid the worry she felt.

Ford cleaned the kitchen, and opened the Gift Shop door for Soos and Melody when they got here. They started their day a bit later because they didn't have to take their kids to a school far away.

Then the oldest triplet checked on his kids. After the kids grew up, Yun moved the door to the nursery into the hallway. There, with the same space manipulation, she made another hallway with 4 doors that led to huge bedrooms. Isaac and Nick shared a room because they were the only boys. Ira shared with Luxuria, mostly because her sibling was super chill, they considered themselves both a girl and a boy after all, and she couldn't stand all the cute stuff her sisters liked, the posters, the pink and other horrible stuff. Gula and Elizabeth definitely teamed up while Gloria and Erbi had their own room to themselves.

Ford saw his oldest son running past him, only wearing his shorts and carrying stuff with him. "Hey, what do you have there?"

"Oh! Elizabeth said she ran out of shampoo and Gula forgot her towel, so I was just taking these to them!" The dark-skinned boy smiled widely. His blond hair was still wet, as well as his chest, and Ford sighed. He was such a good kid, too kind. "I'll take this to your sisters. You have to finish putting on your clothes or you might catch a cold." The kid rolled his eyes. He would be fine. His temperature was hot enough to dry himself off eventually. He handed his dad the stuff and skipped back to his room.

Ford walked to the bathrooms and knocked on the doors. First he went to give Gula her towel. She was waiting in the water, playing. Then he went to give Elizabeth her shampoo. He always made sure to buy the correct one (he brought hell to earth once when he bought some other 'offbrand' one); the specialized coconut, honey and hyaluronic acid curly hair shampoo and conditioner. She was very careful with her hair and keeping her curls all soft and pretty…He blamed Seb for that.

The girl was wet and wrapped up in her towel with a pout. Both gave their daddy a wet kiss and kicked him out of the bathroom.

He saw Nick sitting against the bathroom door. "You know what? I won't take a bath today!" He scowled.

Ford sighed. "Why don't you go to my bathroom?" He offered, but Nick was already too upset.

"NO!"

"Alright, well, go and get your backpack."

Nick left, the other kids finished taking baths and the herd met back downstairs in the Gift Shop. It was 7:45 and Ford intended to let them walk a bit before getting in the car. It was good exercise for them to stretch their limbs before being stuck in the car.

Vanagloria had her bicolor hair pulled into a ponytail and Lizzie even lent her a cute bear hair clip. Ford checked his watch.

"We have time." Ford focused on helping the kids get all their stuff together.

The plan was to get all their bags and stuff into the van ("Car!"), some basic stretches and a few laps around the Shack, then into the car to drive to school.

"It's cold!" Lux complained, they hated it, and were even more upset for having to do this every day. Ford ruffled their hair. "It's important to move your body, kiddo. It will also help you have better circulation, enhance your muscles and give you more energy for studying and your art" Ford knew Florence needed explanations for why they asked them for stuff, even more than their siblings. It reminded him of when he was a child, but even more intense.

Lux grumbled, rubbing their hands but accepted.

Ira looked around "Where's Ammy?"

(Ford had eventually said he was ok with Ammy coming over. That he wanted Ammy to come over. It took a while, but Riley had helped Ford realize that Yun was afraid to bring her son here because she knew Ford was uncomfortable around him, and Ford had a good long think about it before realizing that even if he was uncomfortable around that strange boy (boy alien?) he wanted Yun to be happy. And her children all being together made her happy. So Ammy would come by and spend the night every few days. Ford still didn't want him living with them though, even if he technically had his own room too.)

"He was sleeping over at a friend's house, remember?" Gula said. Ira nodded. Right, she forgot. Nick climbed on his dad to get a piggyback ride when he saw him go towards Gloria. Ford pulled at Nicl and put him down. "No Nick, we're exercising now."

The boy scowled. So HE had to exercise, but the twins still got to sit down? Not fair!

Ford walked the kids through their daily stretching and then they walked around the shack, not running, because Ford didn't want them getting all sweaty. And finally they were deemed 'exercised enough' and Ford piled them all into his car. ("It's still a Van, Fordsie!" Yun teased.)

"Ok, everyone, headcount! One, two, three...eight! Ok, we can go now." Ford adjusted his glasses with a smile. "Give your moms a kiss." Yun leaned into the van and giggled as the children stretched over to kiss her. "Bye mommy, love you." They chorused. Yun grinned and ruffled their hair. "Love you too my widdle gremlins~" They also rushed to hug Riley goodbye as she came out to the porch to see them off, groggily holding a coffee mug.

Yun waved as they drove away. Ah, another busy morning. She stretched, groaning as her spine popped. As she finished cleaning up the mess in the kitchen, she caught sight of her reflection. She had finally made a slightly older body template a few months ago and was still getting used to it. It didn't look too different. But Yun was watching the way Riley aged, watching the way Wanda and the others aged, and trying to figure out something to go with. A wrinkle here, a gray hair there…

Yun trailed a hand across her reflection in the oven glass. Right. Older. She had to be older now. It was ok… Time passed, and eventually… she would lose her family. But it was… not-fine but fine. Fine but not-fine? Regardless, she would always love them, and she would have Fordsie by her side forever. (A thought she was still unsure about.) She was hesitant to ask Riley about it. But she planned to broach the subject with her eventually.

Yun busied herself with cleaning to take her mind off it. Riley eventually fully woke up and was able to get dressed for the day herself. "My boss takes his kids everyday to their school that is SOOO far away~ Leaves me to start all the work alone~" She giggled.

"What a jerk~!" Yun threw a hand over her forehead dramatically.

"I'm going now~" Riley smiled. Yun handed her a packed lunch. "Have a great day, do a lot of science together." She kissed the ginger's cheek, who blushed. And then Yun was left with just Melody and Soos getting the Shack and their kids ready for the day. Since the other children went to school in GF, they didn't need to head out so early.

Yun wondered sometimes at how the heck she had become a stay at home mom. Oh well, it wasn't like she had anything she wanted to do outside the house. Miz was already working to be a doctor, and Xin was working to make the Islands more self-sufficient. So it wasn't like she NEEDED to leave the house.

Ford eventually came back, and Yun also gave him his lunch. "I'll be notified if you don't eat!" she threatened. She kissed his nose.

The man put on his white coat (he liked his regular coat but "safety measures") and went to work. Yun smiled softly.

…She felt… happy. In a calm sort of way. It was very domestic, and she enjoyed it. But every now and then, the doubts began to creep back in, and Yun had to curl into a ball and do breathing exercises until her anxiety attack faded. It was hard, but at least those feelings DID eventually fade away. Yun knew she couldn't do anything about this. It was part of her, and she would just have to deal with it. Knowing that Ford and Riley were right there if she needed to go to them helped.

It was already weird to think Ford liked her, but Riley? That actually came as a surprise… She hummed and entertained herself cleaning the house and then helping Soos with the attractions. She took her role as a stay at home mom very seriously!

-.-

Despite all the family events, the adults had work to do. Stan had a company to terrorize, Seb had designs and constant work to do with personalized orders and clients, Shermie worked tirelessly at his job, now that he got a promotion, and Ford worked in the research center he built with his sweat, tears and blood.

Ford and Riley each worked on their own projects all day. They had lunch together with the other scientists, bragging about their homemade packed lunches from Yun. It was so not fair, in the others' opinion. It was a regular day, like always. Ford drove the kids to school, Riley made reports… Everything was fine.

While they were walking back to the lab, someone caught Ford's attention. It was Viola, and she was in the lounging room with a pale woman, giggling together. "Miss Viola, good evening."

The two jumped. "Dr. Pines, hi!"

"Who's your friend?" Ford thought she looked familiar, but couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Wow. You don't remember me? I remember all of you and you were female back then, Dr. Pines." The friend pouted playfully.

"HOLY-Amelie!" Ford finally managed to place where he'd seen her before. The girl was older now, it'd been years after all since that vacation.

The Selkie giggled. "I was at Dipper and Mabel's joint wedding too, y'know?"

"Ah, right. Sorry, I guess I haven't noticed." Ford rubbed his neck sheepishly.

"It's fine, don't worry." She waved a hand, leaning against the young biologist. "And who are you?" She looked at the ginger.

"Oh, I'm Riley Adams, Ford's assistant." Not exactly, but close enough. Her rank was higher than mere 'assistant'.

"She's my partner, as well." Ford added. Riley's heart fluttered.

"Oh," Amelie looked a little confused.

"I am still dating Xin and Yun." Ford clarified. Amelie relaxed, oh, thank goodness. She'd been afraid she had misunderstood something. She didn't know humans could have multiple mates too. Huh. Interesting.

"What are you doing here?"

"Just-hanging out with Viola!"

"Don't worry, she has a visitor pass." Viola waved a hand.

Ford smiled. "Well, have fun!" And kept walking back to his lab to pack up for the day. Riley raised an eyebrow and glanced at the two young women, cuddling together. Sure~ Just hanging out. "A pleasure."

"A pleasure to meet you, Ms. Adams." Viola smiled.

Riley secretly cheered the girls on before heading off too.

The couple of scientists finished their day of work and went back home and hugged their excited nuggets. They waved at Melody wrestling her children into taking a shower, and Soos seemed more busy hanging out with his grandma and chilling than dealing with his stinky children.

"Oh, hello back dudes!" His grandma nudged him and told him they should eat dinner now that they were back, so he went to serve a plate for everyone. Melody gave up and the siblings laughed maniacally and went to play with the octuplets until dinner was served.

Xin had been quiet all night. Ford was overwhelmed and had exhausted his social battery for the day from work and hadn't noticed, but Riley eventually picked up on it. They were all sitting around the dining room table, eating dinner. Soos and Melody talking about their day. Yun wasn't here currently, it was just Xin. The dragon seemed lost in thought and Riley was about to ask him what was on his mind before he put his chopsticks down and declared, "Let's have a party tomorrow."

"Um…" Ford blinked.

"Soos!" Xin said, pointing at the man, "Close the Shack tomorrow. We're all gonna spend the day together, partying, having good food, hugging each other and having fun."

"Sounds cool. What's the occasion?" Soos asked with an easy smile.

"I feel like it." Xin huffed. "I will compensate you for the money lost while the Shack is closed, if… you need that."

All the kids began chanting "Party! Party!" while Melody nodded. "Heh, yeah, sounds fun to have a break. Just us...? Or who should we invite?"

"Everyone." Xin nodded. "Yup. Everyone. Whole family. I'm going to start planning out the food." He had a determined look on his face. "Hey, Mrs. Ramirez, you know a lot of food, what food should I make? Good party food. Anything you'd like in particular?"

Abuelita laughed, "Ah, anything? I haven't had a good tamal in a long time."

"Oh! Yes! I will make you the BEST tamales!" Xin grinned. "Will make them perfect! Not too dry, or too spongy. I will time-stop practice for however long it takes to make them perfect!"

"Oh, heh that's so sweet." The old woman smiled softly at him.

"Will the food have a theme? Or just whatever?" Maria asked curiously. "Maybe you can make the best of everything!" Sabrina just moaned, thinking of more delicious food in her tummy. Uncle Xin and aunt Yun made the most delicious food~

"Let's all write down our preferred dishes then!" Xin exclaimed.

The kids were entertained by listing their favorite food and once dinner was eaten and everything was picked up, Soos helped his grandma get to her room to rest. She was quite old now, even if she was perfectly healthy. Soos, the dutiful grandson that he was, always made sure to take care of her.

Ford raised an eyebrow. "Why do you want to do a random party? It isn't any of our birthdays or the kids'."

"I can have a party whenever I want!" Xin huffed. "What are you? The fun police?""

Ford figured this was just a 'demon' thing, or something. "Alright. Should I take the day off?" ("Yes!") "Alright then." Ford went off to bed, shaking his head fondly at the dragon's antics.

By the time the residents of the Shack were waking up, the dragon had everything ready, and sent the invitations for the evening. He was forcing the family to come, Soos' family too, he sent a Care Unit to go pick up Melody's closest family to come here, and then he opened the invitation for the rest of town.

"That's a LOT of people." Riley read the list that magically updated itself with people's confirmation.

"The more the merrier! And Mrs. Ramirez said my tamales are good! Eeehh!" Xin giggled. "She says she'll share some of her recipes with me for the party, so if you excuse me, we'll be in the kitchen making art!"

Ford and Riley yawned. That meant cereal for breakfast then…

The kids were eager to help with the decoration and try the food as it was made. Gula hovered near the kitchen for a chance to get something to try. Sabrina then joined her, and the eight and seven year olds stared with big eyes at Xin and Abuelita.

"Here, try this, sweeties." Abuelita gave some meat to Sabrina and Gula in a spoon. Gula moaned as Sabrina held the spoon as if it was sacred. "I'll keep licking this forever."

Maria (10), and Isaac (9), were helping put up a banner 'Non specific reason party', while the other kids helped folding napkins and picking up toys!

Ford leaned against Riley's shoulder and sighed. "I don't want a party… there's too many people…" Riley rolled her eyes and stroked his unshaved face. "To be fair, I'm not really in a mood for one either… But Xin seems excited… and they ARE gonna make lots of food. Think of the leftovers~" He grinned and snuggled closer. "Hm…leftovers…" He mumbled. Riley laughed and kissed his forehead.

Guests began appearing, adding more dishes and drinks to the party.

Seb presented a tray. "In honor of our ascendenza italiana I made Baked Ziti!" He dramatically put it on a table. "Tadah!"

"Italian? Since when are we fucking italian?" Stan demanded.

"Uh… where do you think mom's family comes from?"

"...I don't know, Jersey?" Stan deadpanned. "Or Russia?"

"Our grandma literally spoke Italian, Fez!" Seb stared at him in disbelief.

"Well, I don't know what she spoke, I don't even remember her!" The middle triplet exclaimed, to which Seb made an offended gasp.

Maria, Sabrina and Ernesto ran up to their Uncle Reggie when he arrived with his wife and 2 kids, and quickly introduced them to the octuplets to go play.

Xin and Abuelita eventually came out and Xin led her to a chair. "C'mon you helped me enough. Now you sit here and talk with your family, young lady." Xin told Abuelita, patting her soft fluffy hair.

"Are you sure, dear?" Abuelita giggled at being called a young lady.

"Yes. Let me take care of the rest." Xin smiled.

Meanwhile, Seb and Stan kept arguing. "That doesn't make any sense!" "How is it my fault?! I'm just telling you!" ""MAAA!"" Both shouted.

"Oh boy." Kari sighed.

"Tell Stan your family comes from Italy! NO LYING!"

"But your last name is Russian!" Stan was losing it, he had even managed to pull some of his hair.

Kari groaned. "Ey, look! Your kids are fighting!" The triplets fell for it and the woman sneaked away. ""Dammit!""

Xin was just cheerfully serving food and pushing Soos to go hang out with his grandmother and cousin. They looked so cute~

Shermie finished eating a delicious mini taco, calmly gulped down his beer and stomped towards his stupid older brothers. He grabbed Seb and shoved him a few feet away before Stan punched him into his next life. "God! You're so annoying! Stop it! Mom's family migrated from Russia to Italy and to the US where they married Italo-Americans. There. You're both right. Now can you stop it?" Shermie trembled with barely contained rage.

"How do you know all that?"

"I got bored one day and began making a family tree." The youngest shrugged. "Here." He searched on his phone and showed the triplets the research and photos he obtained.

"Do you carry this information everywhere you go?" Seb raised an eyebrow

"...Yes?"

"Fair enough. Stan carries around his wanted posters from space at all times." ("Hey, I'm proud of 'em.")

Shermie smiled proudly at his research. "I made the Pines side too. Our branch comes from german immigrants."

"I'm not surprised," Stan shrugged and Seb hummed. Didn't he see a photo… of a Pines about to leave Germany when he time-swapped? Oh wow. Everything's connected.

Shermie pointed up to their ma's branch. "Hah, check this out. The oldest I could go with her last name was when they first migrated. Our ancestor's father was named Stanislao."

Stan nudged Seb. "Hah! That was almost your name!" ("Ew.") "Aw~ What happened to matching?" He nudged him harder this time.

"Eh… Look, money!" Seb pointed off in the distance. Stan fell for it, again, and Seb laughed as he ran away. Then Stan realized what happened and stopped.

"...So there's no money?" Stan sounded heartbroken. Shermie sighed, why were his brothers such weirdos?

People began grabbing the delicious food while others joined in the party games. The kids were running around happily, getting a couple snacks before continuing on their zoomies. Meanwhile, the teens sat in a corner and focused on their phones. Zach didnt even wanna come! How boring! And mom didn't even take him seriously! Zach was simply in a 'mood' and trying to find reasons to be angry. Sigh, teenagers.

Everyone was happy to be here and have a well deserved rest. Mabel and Dipper even saw Wendy come with her girlfriend and the red-head cooed at the mini Dipper and Mabel. "They look so much like you guys!" She made the 2 and 1 year olds laugh and squeal as she bounced them. "You two are so big! I bet you're ready to chop down a tree~" Eddie and Emilie giggled and clapped.

She passed them back to their parents "Hey, be right back, we're gonna go say hi to Soos and his fam."

Mabel blew a raspberry on Eddie's cheek as Dipper carried his daughter with one arm while she sucked her thumb. "Do you know why Xin wanted to throw a party?"

"No idea, but it's a party, Dipper!" Music was playing in the background, mostly old Mexican songs. "So just PARTY!" Mabel giggled, raising Eddie's little hands "Woop woop!"

"Oop oop!" He repeated.

Dipper looked down and shared a look with Emilie. "Don't you think it's… random though?"

"Random is best!"

"I guess, but I'm just… I dunno, Bill doesn't do things for no reason. Even if the reasons he has are incomprehensible." Dipper frowned. No Bill, actually. MizBill was family now, but s/he was still a Bill.

"He probably got bored and wanted to throw a party." Mabel waved off.

"He invited Soos's family. And Melody's." Dipper muttered to himself in thought. "Even though they were very out of the way. And with the party being this last minute, they all still somehow magically had the free time to come?" Dipper narrowed his eyes. His own schedule had suddenly cleared too, something coming up and work being canceled for the day. It was suspicious. Too convenient. Too coincidental.

"Eddie, tell your uncle Dipper he's going paranoid again~" Eddie blinked at Dipper "Pah-noi!"

Dipper deadpanned. "Thanks, Eddie." Dipper knew Mabel liked to be optimistic, but if there was something he learned, it was to trust his gut. "I don't think it's anything evil, or whatever. Just… There's something Xin wants out of all this. I just know it."

"If it's not evil, then it's no problem. Quit worrying so much, Dip-Dop. Babies feel stuff, you'll make the kids get upset for no reason."

Emilie rubbed his arm, feeling the texture, and Dipper smiled. "Yeah… Maybe you're right." Another thing he had learned now that he was an adult, was to listen to his twin.

"The kids might like to try tiramisu. I heard Xin didn't use any raw egg in his recipe." Dipper bounced his baby girl.

"Hah! That's what we're talking about!" Mabel high fived Eddie's little hand.

They went back to enjoying the party, Dipper's suspicions still there, but pushed down because his twin was right. Xin was their friend and family. And he wouldn't have any malicious reason for doing what he was doing. Despite everything, Dipper trusted him.

And the party was amazing, actually! He got to talk with friends, show off his daughter and eat delicious food.

—

Everyone went home after the party finally came to a close. Xin shoo'ed everyone to bed as he handled the clean up by himself. "I'm fine, I'm just gonna magick it all. Go sleep!" He smiled at them. And they left, giving him hugs and good night kisses. Ford and Riley were on tucking duty for the kids.

Xin cleaned quickly and efficiently, levitating the trash and spilled food and just burning them when he had them all gathered, disintegrating them back into their base atoms. He continued working until everything was picked up, tidied, and the food packed away in tupperware. He had tons of tupperwares for the guests too, for anyone who wanted to bring some food home. So now he was just carrying a stack of them inside the house to put away in the fridge for tomorrow. So many leftovers~

Xin finished his work and leaned against the fridge, letting out a sigh.

He stood there for a moment, the creaking wood of the Shack and the thrumming hum of the electronics the only sound he could hear. It seemed everyone had finally gone to sleep. Xin stood there with his eyes closed, waiting a few moments, just to make sure.

And then, he slowly opened his eyes, expression resigned.

He began walking through the halls, heading for the bedroom area. Passing by Melody and Soos's room, passing by Maria and Sabrina's room, passing Ernesto's room…

Xin stood in front of the door and reached out, turning the knob. He went inside, closing the door behind him and then walked over to sit on the bed. He smiled down at Abuelita, breathing softly with a smile on her face as she slept.

Xin gazed down at her, calm, but melancholic. He took her hand, and she smiled a little wider, squeezing unconsciously. Xin sat there and held her hand. He continued sitting there as her grip weakened. He continued sitting there as her breathing slowed. He continued sitting there until she stopped.

Xin sat there, holding her hand.

And then he finally let go. Leaned down, and kissed her forehead.

"Goodbye Abuelita. Thank you, for everything." Xin brushed her hair back with a faint smile.

Then he stood up, left the room, and went to bed.

—

The funeral was a beautiful, simple event. The weather was rather cold, but there were no clouds that would threaten rain.

Soos hadn't stopped crying, holding Melody and Ernesto tight. Maria wiped her tears as she held her sister, who was angrily sobbing against her.

Ford and the rest of the Pines stood solemnly, some of them with wet eyes as well. Seb and the older twins knew her more, she housed them when Seb lost the Shack, and when he was younger, Seb had been fed and invited to holidays when he thought he'd be alone. She became part of the family though, with how close Soos was to Seb, and surprisingly, to Ford as well, so everyone was fond of her.

The priest was there, and eventually the family was called up to say their last goodbyes.

Xin had sat with Soos and Melody for the funeral preparations, and they ended up hiring the Valentino family, who gave them a really good deal. Actually, they'd wanted to do it free of charge, but Soos had insisted. ("You need money too, doods. Abuelita… she respected hardworking people…") And the whole thing was put together. A lovely, simple affair.

Soos sniffled as he walked over to the coffin. It was closed because an open casket funeral would have required all sorts of invasive medical embalming that Soos didn't want to put his grandmother through.

"Th-thank you for everything, Abuelita…" Soos put his forehead against the wood. "Now you're gonna live with the angels… I know you'll be happy there… Heh, and no grandpa." He chuckled wetly and stood up.

Soos went to sit down and Seb sat down next to him to rub his shoulder. "Are you ok, kid?"

Of course he wasn't, but Soos was glad for the support. "I… She lived a long life… And she met her great grandkids you know? She just wanted me to see my family before…" He sighed, sounding a lot more mature. "I'm happy she could accompany me here… just, I'm gonna miss her." He wiped his tears and Seb hugged him for a long while.

Dipper saw Xin standing off by himself. He narrowed his eyes and walked over.

"...you knew." Dipper said, quietly enough that others couldn't hear.

Xin lifted his head, golden eyes calm. "Yes."

Dipper pulled in a breath, not expecting the demon to admit it so readily. "You…"

"What would you have me do, Pine Tree?" Xin gave him a calm smile. "Stop her?" He shook his head, "No, you all made it very clear that I'm not allowed to do that."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Dipper hissed, keeping his voice down.

"Why? And make Soos fret and worry?" Xin gave Dipper a level stare.

"...No." Dipper's shoulders slumped.

"She left peacefully and she wasn't alone. I made sure of it." Xin stared ahead. "If you're not immortal, death happens… If it's gonna happen… at least… go happily." He tilted his head, "She was surrounded by friends and family, and spent the whole day with them. She had fun. What more could I have done for her?"

Dipper clenched his fists, but he wasn't angry, he was just… sad. Frustrated. "How did you know?"

At that, Xin let out a bitter laugh. "Oh Pine Tree…" He smiled. It was the most painful expression Dipper had ever seen from him. "I know when everyone goes."

Dipper felt cold. His hands felt sweaty. Xin continued smiling at him, staring right at him, staring right at HIM. Like he could see everything about Dipper. It left the man feeling a little dizzy, but he managed not to stumble, even as his knees felt weak.

Xin turned away and walked off, leaving Dipper there, trying not to fall over.

He… he knew. He knew.

Dipper squeezed his eyes shut, feeling sick.

Xin– Bill knew when everyone–

Dipper took several deep breaths to stop a panic attack. He glanced up and over at Xin hugging Nicholas when the boy complained about being tired. He watched Xin lean against Soos and give him a half hug with his free arm. Dipper felt sick.

Because… he couldn't even imagine… how Xin must have felt. Being around them all. Being around them, smiling and laughing and loving them all…

While knowing exactly when he would lose them all.

Dipper covered his mouth and took off running for the edge of the forest where the graveyard was located.

And he vomited behind a tree.

-.-

The families had rather bittersweet holidays with their partner's families. Soos and the kids went to Portland for a well needed change of air, and soon enough, the new year arrived and passed.

Dipper meant to visit his uncle (and take Emily for a much needed walk and fresh air that couldn't be obtained in California) when he saw him outside with the octuplets. Soos waved at him and the brunet smiled. "Heya, Soos! Where are they going?" He put Emily on the ground. The 1 year and a few months old baby waddled with her warm winter jacket and looked around.

"To an expedition, dude! The kids were excited all week." Soos cooed at Emily, staring at everything in awe. "Dippeeerr!" Gula called and ran towards her cousin. "Hi baby!" She poked Emily's cheek, who giggled a bit. "Am I interrupting something?" The man asked and Ira, running towards him as well, grinned. "Yeah~ Go away!" She said mockingly. "We are going to search for weird stuff with dad! And-And Erbi and Gloria have this COOL new car!"

"Car?" Dipper repeated confused.

"It's an automatic, all terrain vheelchair. It's actually a wheelchair but Yun insists on calling it a Vheelchair just so we can call it an ATV. Even though it's still a vehicle and could just use the same acronym regardless." Ford smiled at his grown up nephew and patted his shoulder. "Hello, Dipper." He greeted, noticing that Dipper was almost his height now. It was amazing how much he'd grown over the years. It made Ford feel rather old.

Dipper grinned down at the youngest twins who were climbing into their chair. They could walk, but it was tiring, and they really wanted to try it out. It was incredibly cool looking. "Let me guess, McGucket added missile launchers to the design?" He asked. Ford sighed. "I barely managed to talk him out of that." the two men laughed.

Dipper looked around, trying to hide the mild apprehension. "Is… Yun coming with you?" Ford shook his head. "She said I needed some father/kid experiences or something. She's back with Seb's family right now." (Dipper relaxed at this. He… was still unsure how to behave around the demon right now. He felt awkward. After the last conversation he'd had with Bill.)

Dipper laughed. "Alright. I'll just invade your home for a few hours and eat your food while you're gone." He picked Emily up and made her wave at him. Ford nodded. "I wouldn't expect any less." He chuckled and ruffled the hair of his nephew and grand niece. The younger man batted his hand away and Dipper entered the house, talking with Soos as Ford turned to look at the squad.

"Alright. We can leave now, kids, pick your stuff. I want a line in front of me! Headcount!" The kids stood from oldest to youngest, which was also from tallest to shortest (for now at least), and after making sure all of them were present, he motioned for them to follow him into the forest.

Erbi squeaked when the chair started moving, going over small branches and rocks. She giggled. This was so cool~

"If I see an elf or gnome, can I have it as a pet?" Gula asked as they walked. Ford frowned. "No. Don't approach the gnomes, they are annoying. Don't bother the elves or other creatures either. Just, follow me."

"Where are we going?" Elizabeth asked, dressed up appropriately for the expedition. She had some boots, black sport leggings, a turquoise sport t-shirt and white jacket, with a hat to go with it and her hair was nicely pulled into a braid. She shook her head when she saw her sisters all disheveled or with a ponytail that was allowing all their hair to fall out messily. Ira, in one of her crazy moments, had shaved part of her hair. She said she liked it, but Elizabeth hoped her sister's hair would grow back normally later. Ugh, why were her sisters so sloppy with their appearances?

"Well, as this is your first time actually coming closer to the forest's weirdness, it will be a relatively safe place." He had his gun in case something happened. "So, walk behind me, please, don't wander away, Nicholas, come here I saw you." Nick came back sourly and his siblings laughed. "I was thinking of showing you my favorite moths!" Ford exclaimed, super excited to share it with his kids. "Gravity Falls have so many awesome moths of different sizes and with incredibly diverse wing patterns!" Ford gushed.

The octuplets blinked at their dad…

"And, while we're at it, we will check on the size altering crystals. They're near the area with the highest population of moths." The scientist added as an afterthought.

Well, that sounded a lot more fun, the kids thought, completely disregarding their dads obsession with moths!

"Ooh...so I can be as tall as you?" Gula gasped. Ford laughed. "Well, not quite Marie, the height altering crystals make you larger proportionally, so if you were as tall as me, you'd also be much larger in terms of width as well-" the girl with the red t-shirt shrieked "You mean it'll make me fat?!"

"What?! No!" Ford assured her. "Well, your mass does get altered somewhat and if you were larger…"

Gula wailed. "I'm not gonna use those crystals!" She had inherited her mother's ravenous appetite (which Yun had laughed for a long time about, considering she had named her Gluttony) and compared to her siblings, she was closer in appearance to Xin and Miz, and was a little chubbier than her siblings, which they (and their classmates) sometimes teased her about. She had Pines genes, and Pines were big and meaty, so she didn't really have many twig genes, unlike her siblings who took after Yun's slenderness more.

Xin would tell her and them that there was nothing wrong with a little pudge and fuck anyone for trying to make her feel bad about it. ("Nothing wrong with fat! Your dad is muscular, but he's also got softness, he's fun to hug and soft to cuddle with!" ("XIN!" Came a distant mortified cry) "-And I'll have you know that my thighs are also fat and soft." Xin had tried to reassure her, slapping his thighs as he said so. But society was society, and it was hard when the world around them were jerks about this.)

Isaac took this time to comfort his little sister. He was the oldest of them, it was his job to look after the others after all. "Don't worry. I won't let the crystals make you bigger." He assured her. The oldest was in the back of the duckling line, so he could keep an eye on his siblings and make sure none of them wandered away from the group. Ford got an idea from watching Isacc and Gula holding hands in the back of the group. "Isaac, Marie, you two will be buddies for this expedition. Keep track of each other."

Ford turned to the others and began pairing them up as well. "Amelia and Elizabeth, you will be another pair. Florence, Nicholas, you two will be a pair…" He set Ira and Acedia together before setting Luxuria and Avaritia together. "And the twins will accompany me." Nicholas frowned. "Why can't I be your partner?" he complained. Again, just like always, daddy chose the twins! Every single time. Ford frowned but finally sighed. "Alright Nicholas, you can be my partner. Um… Florence, would you stay with your sisters?"

Luxuria nodded, a little distracted by staring at the flowers nearby, they wanted to sketch them! "Ok daddy." The child in the purple skirt turned to grin at their siblings in the wheelchair. "Hey, can I put the flowers I find in your chair?" The back of the wheelchair had a basket. They shrugged. ""Sure."" They watched their sibling move to carefully pick the flowers so they could bring them home to observe and draw when Ira suddenly jumped on the flowerbed and crushed them, making Luxuria let out a shriek.

"Oopsie~ they're dead now." Ira laughed loudly at their scowl. Elizabeth sighed and grabbed her sister's hand. "Why do you have to bother them? Just leave the poor flowers alone."

"Uuurrgghh!" Ira groaned loudly as she was pulled away. "I'll destroy more, Lux~" She taunted because she just wanted to see the world burn (and the frustrated look on Lux's face was HILARIOUS.)

"I'm sorry for the flowers…" Erbi said softly as Luxuria dramatically took a deep breath. "I bet you can find more." Gloria said with a sheepish smile, trying to keep their sibling from feeling sad.

Lux nodded in determination, The twins thought their 2nd oldest sibling was a little weird, but they never let anything get to them. They were chill about most stuff, even people not liking them. The twins wished they could be like Lux, they had no idea how to stop people's comments and mean words from making them feel uncomfortable inside. They wheeled along, the new wheelchair had 2 little joysticks on the armrests that let them move where they wanted. They had to agree where it had to go or the chair wouldn't move with the joysticks in different directions.

Luxuria DID find more flowers, they gathered them carefully, protecting them from Ira when she ran past, laughing maniacally, and putting them in the wheelchair's basket. Ford would look over now and then to warn them of any toxic plants that they shouldn't touch.

"What's the point of being aalieenss if an earth plant can hurt us?" Ira asked, skipping behind her dad with Elizabeth, taking cute selfies with a camera. No phones for them.

"Because you are still half human-" Ford looked down at Nick, who was holding his hand, when he booed at him. "And you never know what can hurt you. Your mom is allergic to Earth melons, and can't have cow milk or chocolate so…" The octuplets giggled and Ford shook his head fondly. "Even full aliens can be hurt by Earth things." He said wisely.

The kids were proud of their Flatlander/alien origin. Yun hadn't talked much about her fucked up society, explaining just the basics and how she came from another dimension where they were shapes, there was a hierarchy, progressing from triangles, squares, pentagons, and so on. She wanted the kids to be older before she explained more and they could better understand how bad it actually was.

Gloria asked Erbi if she could be in charge of the ATV for a second, and she agreed. Gloria squealed when she made the ATV go faster. She loved driving the thing.

"Hey!" Luxuria called. "Wait for me, Gloria!" They laughed. Luxuria jumped onto the back of the wheelchair, clinging to it as it zoomed across the grass and cheered. "Woo!" the siblings laughed as the motorized wheelchair easily cut through the grass and dirt.

Isaac hummed worriedly and ran towards his dad. "Is it safe for Gloria and Lux to do that?" Ford looked over. "Jane. Slow down please." he told her. Gloria pouted and lowered the speed, glaring at the oldest sibling. Snitch!

"Ok, be careful now, it goes downhill from here." Ford coughed as the kids slowed down to not fall. He...didn't want to admit the first time he came here, he was so in awe looking around that he tripped and fell, leading him to finding the cave.

He bet no one could be as dumb as him...

Erbi took control and stopped the wheelchair, staring with fear at the end of the hill. What if they went too fast and fell?! "Dad…"

"DAD! CAN WE TOUCH THESE STUFF!?" Ira called from the bottom. "No! Wait for me!" Ford let go of Nick's hand (who hadn't run with his siblings downhill, or roll, in Ira's case), and held the wheelchair, "We're going together, alright? Nick, head down first while I bring your sisters..."

"But you were my partner!" Nick complained. Ford sighed. "I know, Nick. But I need to help Jane and Emmy get down the hill." Ford didn't know how to handle this. He loved Avaritia, but the boy was always so fussy.

"No! It's not fair!" Avaritia whined like the bratty eight year old he was and Ford sighed again.. "Ok...walk with us, then…"

The boy scowled furiously as he stomped as hard as he could behind Dad. It was not fair! Dad ALWAYS preferred them! Erbi winced nervously when she felt them go over a large bump. "It's ok, Emmy, I'm not letting you fall." Ford reassured them, and soon enough, they reached the end where the rest of the kids were waiting. "You see? You did it! Good job! You're so brave!" Ford congratulated.

Gloria and Erbi cheered and wiggled their legs together.

Avaritia rolled his eyes. Big deal… ALL of them went down the hill.

"DAD! Look what I FOUND!" Gula squealed and shoved her discovery to him. It was a tiny doe. "Can it be my peettt? Pleaaseeee!"

Isaac gasped at the huge crystal in the middle of the clearing. "Is that the crystal that can change your height?!"

Ford saved the poor scared doe and set her free before looking at the crystals. "Yes, Isaac. All the crystals here have that ability! One of their sides shrink things, the other one makes them bigger. It just needs light to work… your cousin Dipper actually made an interesting contraption when he was a child. He used a flashlight."

"Brilliant." Elizabeth muttered as she crouched in front of a crystal. She watched a butterfly fly past the light and grow super big. "That's so cool!" Avaritia walked over and stuck his hand under the light. "Whoa!" He cried as his hand swelled up into a giant one. "Ahhhh!" He pinwheeled backward and fell over as the weight pulled him down.

Ira was the first to burst out laughing at her screaming brother. Some giggles followed, but Invidia gasped, horrified. "What do we do?!"

Ford sighed, picked up Nicholas by his armpits and made him put his hand under the shrinking light to change it back to normal. "Put his head under the light! Maybe his brain grows too~" Ira mocked and the boy, still held by his armpits, kicked his legs and clawed to be released.

"You are so annoying, Ira!" Nick shrieked at her. Ford frowned at Ira. "Don't make fun of your brother. Besides, the size of the head has nothing to do with intelligence or brain capacity." Ford blushed at how he had once considered making his head larger in hopes it would do just that. He hoped Bill never found out about that, they would tease him forever… literally forever...

Ira mumbled a half felt apology and they continued exploring around. Elizabeth grabbed a little crystal to look at it closer, twirling it in her six fingered hand.

"And how do the crystals make something big or small?" She asked curiously. "You said it changes your mass, but mass is made of atoms. How can light and a crystal alter you at an anatomic level? And WHAT would happen if it didn't change your insides as well?! Your organs would be too big and you would explode!"

"Eewww!" the kids chorused.

Ford grinned. Elizabeth had the scientific curiosity he had as a child. "Ah, but you see, that's what makes it so fascinating. It's precisely the LIGHT going through the crystal that creates the effect. The crystals are anomalous but without light they're entirely useless." He picked up one of the crystals and held it up to the light. "See what the crystal actually does is that-" he held his hand under the light and it grew. "-the crystal actually causes the light to go inside whatever it's shining on, where it becomes added mass. Normally such a thing would cause cancerous growths if so much mass were added inside you so quickly."

He showed his children his giant hand. They squealed when he wiggled his fingers and picked one of them up with just one hand. "Now, that's the point of the crystals, the light is where the extra mass comes from but the crystal acts as a stabilizer for keeping the form and shape and function of whatever object is grown so that there aren't any problems with the structure." He turned the crystal around and shrunk his hand back down.

"The other side of the crystal takes away mass. It still uses light to activate the effect and the extra mass is converted back into light, mixing in with all the other light around it." Ford explained. "Once again, the crystal acts as a stabilizer to preserve the object so it scales evenly and can even retain all its functions despite having less space."

Ford handed the crystal to Luxuria (who gazed at it in awe) and continued "Which is very good. Normally, shrinkage of your bodies and organs would cause immense stress upon your body, because it's not just YOU who are shrinking but also all the bacteria living inside you that keeps your body functioning…"

All the kids were listening to their super intelligent and interesting dad except Luxuria who was playing with the crystal, making their hand grow and shrink. The kid grinned and pointed the crystal at his dad from behind. Ford didn't notice as he continued to lecture about the process of light being converted into mass and the kids all covered their mouths to hide their laughter as Ford's head started growing bigger.

"-nd that's why the crystal can even change parts of a body without disrupting the blood flow since the anomalous effects can even change the blood cells as they pass through the area of effect to prevent blood clots…" Ford trailed off when he suddenly fell over, his head much too big to hold up. The children burst into laughter.

Ford sputtered from where he was lying on the ground, unable to stand up because of the weight of his HUGE head. "FLORENCE!" He screamed and kicked his legs, which made the children laugh louder. "KID, YOU'RE GOING TO BE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE AFTER THIS!"

Ira hugged his head and patted his cheek. "Big head Daddy…" She purred and stroked his hair as Elizabeth took a photo with her camera. "I'm gonna text this to mommy…" she sang.

Ford wanted to die. "Flooreencee!" He wailed. Kids weren't supposed to attack their parents like this. As he was teased by his children, Nick was fighting Luxuria for the crystal. "Gimme! I'm gonna change daddy back!" Avaritia growled.

And as they fought, they didn't do anything to help the man, who was laying on the floor staring at the sky. This was his life now. Nick finally got the crystal from his older sibling and held it to the light to make Dad's head smaller. Ford sighed in relief and patted his head to feel if everything was back to how it was supposed to be.

"Yay! You're back to normal! I saved you!" Avaritia squealed before throwing himself over his dad. Not dumb Gloria and Erbi! Not his siblings! He saved him! Ford coughed as he sat up and hugged his 2nd youngest. "Thank you very much Nicholas." He grinned a bit, maliciously. "And because you saved me, I think you deserve extra dessert after lunch~"

"What?! Noooo!" The rest of them complained as Avaritia stuck his tongue out. "But Luxuria started it!" Ira pointed at her older sibling who gasped. "Hey! You all were laughing!"

"And… you can get more dessert if you delete that photo…" He bribed the kids. Elizabeth gasped and erased it. "Done!" she hadn't sent it yet, she wanted to make a caption first. Ford held out his hand and she handed the phone over so he could check it and make sure she really did delete it. He deleted it from the trash folder as well, just to be sure.

"Alright, well. I guess you're allowed a little bit more desert." Ford handed the phone back. Everyone except Avaritia still groaned. "Aww…" Ford rolled his eyes. "Well, if you guys didn't want to lose extra desserts, you wouldn't go around teasing daddy." He scolded. They all whined. "But mommy, mama and uncles tease you all the time." Ira complained.

"..." Ford resisted the urge to face palm. "Well, mommy and mama are allowed to tease because we're a couple and your uncles tease because they're immature idiots, but they shouldn't really do it. And no one more than 25 years younger than me is allowed to tease me." Ford folded his arms.

They all huffed. Not fair! Teasing Dad was the funniest thing ever! And they couldn't do it anymore?! "Hey! But Mabel teased you once! She scared you!" Gula reminded him and Ford hid his face behind his hands.

Everyone teased him. There was no respect anymore.

"Just don't do it. You don't like to be teased, I don't like it either." He explained and they all sighed. "Alright, Daddy...we're sorry…" Gloria and Erbi apologized. Getting teased wasn't fun, they shouldn't have laughed. Ford's expression softened. "Well, not ALL teasing is bad. Mabel and everyone else tease me because they love me. So teasing is fine if it doesn't hurt any feelings." The children nodded.

Ford wheeled the twins back up the hill as the rest skipped behind. "Now. We will be studying how the crystals make insects larger and we shall discuss how it is that the increase of mass and size doesn't cause them to cave in on themselves…"

The kids nodded and listened to their dad talk about nerd stuff. They liked nerd stuff, especially Gula and Elizabeth, it was part of their life and they were surrounded by science every day!

Gloria scratched her neck, already annoyed with the crossed seatbelts, and took it off. "Dad said not to!" Erbi complained. "Just for a little bit! I can't breathe right…" Gloria explained to her twin, who simply sighed and went back to paying attention. The two were focused on listening to Ford talk. They didn't notice the loose soil around the area.

Ford continued talking, capturing a giant butterfly gently so he could show the giant insect to the kids. Gloria leaned and stretched. "I can't see." she complained. Ford asked the others to move out of the way so she and Erbi could see. Avaritia glared. Again! Every time they always got special treatment!

Oblivious to their brother's anger, the twins "ooh'ed" at the beautiful butterfly. Its face was kind of scary, but they had never seen a butterfly like this before. Ford crouched in front of his youngest kids, the others crowding around them, and Gloria gently stroked its wings. It was soft. Just as careful, the other octuplets petted the butterfly… except Avaritia.

Stupid Gloria and Erbi getting to do everything before them because Daddy loved them more!

"Nick, do you want to pet it?" Elizabeth asked with a smile but the boy huffed. "No! I don't like it! It's gross!"

Ford sighed tiredly and let the butterfly fly away. "Let's continue studying this, ok?" The kids crowded around him again to be closer for the explanation. As they did, Gloria moved the wheelchair to the back so there would be more room, she could listen just fine from here anyway, and she'd rather let her siblings be in front so they had room. As everyone listened to Ford talk about how the crystals' stabilizing properties fixed up issues of volume versus surface area so things that got larger wouldn't get crushed to death by their own weight, Avaritia continued to glare at the twins. They moved back but they were still too close. There wasn't enough room for him.

He scowled and shoved the wheelchair a bit. "You're in my way!" The wheelchair slid back and Gloria yelped before grabbing the handles as she almost slipped off the chair. Erbi clutched the handle on her side too, heart racing.

"Ni-Nick!" Gloria whimpered. "Don't push us-" The boy scowled. "You are taking too much space! Even MORE than normal! With your horrible wheelchair!" He hissed in a low whisper. He shoved her back again.

As she was pushed back again, the ground broke up under one of the wheels. Gloria and Erbi's eyes widened as the chair lurched backwards before tipping over. The girls screamed as they slid off and tumbled down the hill. Nick's eyes went wide and he let out a yelp. He didn't mean to do that.

Ford's eyes widened in terror when he heard them scream, and jumped after his kids. No, no, no, no! He reached the bottom in a few long strides and threw himself to the ground, kneeling in front of his fragile, small, delicate babies, who were simply letting out choked whimpers, in too much pain to do anything else.

"Gloria! Erbi! It's ok, it's ok, I'm here, shh, it's ok." He looked at the turned over wheelchair a few meters away, and thanked the AXOLOTL they hadn't been strapped to it. It could have crushed them. "Isaac, please pick up your sibling's wheelchair, we are going home." He gently cradled the small kids, whose little legs bent awkwardly, and he picked them up like a baby. He stroked their bicolor hair, taking leaves off them, trying to be as gentle as he could, since he couldn't tell if they'd broken anything or not.

Isaac obeyed, incredibly worried, as the rest of the kids looked sad and confused. But how?! What happened?! None of them had seen what happened. They walked back home silently, some of them still clutching small crystals to themselves, and sniffled sadly when Soos and Dipper, still hanging out in the house, gasped at the twins. "What the-?! What happened?!" Dipper cried.

He opened the Employees Only door for his uncle who took the child to his room. The younger man didn't miss how sad Ford looked. "I-I'll be back, I have to check on them." He said softly before closing the door, wishing Bill was here.

The octuplets went to the living room with their cousin, where their niece was sleeping on her stroller, and curled up on him, so distressed that they wanted to become as small as possible. "Gloria and Erbi fell down the hill near the cave with the crystals…" Isaac whispered. Why didn't he notice? He should have prevented this…

"Will Gloria and Erbi be alright?" Elizabeth sniffed. "They…were in a lot of pain, Dipper…"

"Oh, don't worry, they're strong, I'm sure they'll be fine." The man assured them, patting their heads. They seemed really upset though. Nick was also pouting, but not necessarily for the same reason as his siblings.

"Hey… Do you want to see my top secret ideas?" Dipper asked, wanting to distract them a bit AND also get feedback. The kids all nodded and Dipper stood up to get his journal from the basket in Emily's stroller, then he sat down again, the siblings snuggling closer to see.

"Will you show it to Gloria and Erbi as well?" Luxuria asked and Dipper smiled fondly. "Of course I will!" He opened the journal in the middle. "So, after finishing the storyboard of our latest show-" He started.

"I got an idea from one of the writers who mentioned one chapter was based on her childhood… So, I said, hey man, I can write something based on my cool, weird, childhood as well!" Dipper said in a funny voice, making the kids giggle. "So…" He showed them a few sketches he did of two kids, a boy and a girl, in different poses. "I was thinking I could make a show based on my summer here as a kid, when I learned that the supernatural and demons existed! And even stopped the apocalypse!"

The kids nodded slowly. "So you and Mabel will be in a show?" Isaac gasped. Dipper chuckled. "Well, not US. Twins based on us."

"That's so coolll!" Ira gasped. "And they will be in a Gravity Falls-ish town?! And will fight all the monsters?!" Dipper nodded and the kids squirmed in excitement. "I'd love that show! Kids kicking ass!" She roared.

"Um...but something's missing…" Isaac hummed and stroked his chin. "Where would the plot twist beeeee?" Dipper laughed sheepishly. "Well, I need to think of a plot first… redesign the villain, can't make it a…" He trailed off. Right. Can't make the villain a shape. Can't make the villain Bill.

"A what?" Gula asked. Dipper wondered if the kids knew the full story about Weirdmageddon and the evil shit version of their mom. "Well, I can't… make it too similar to the real monster! What if someone tries to summon him and he comes back?!" He exclaimed and the kids nodded, that made sense. They all started giving Dipper ideas for monsters. Things like 'a plucked naked turkey that screamed' or 'a creepy spider monster that could go through walls' or even a 'creature that only showed up behind you in mirrors'.

He wrote down the kids' suggestions next to the drawings, after all, the show was targeted for kids and their ideas could be useful for episodic monsters, but the man was still thinking of who the main villain could be.

"Call the girl Ariel! And her brother is Alex!" Elizabeth pleaded and Ira rolled her eyes. "But that name is the little mermaid's name!"

"And?! People are still called Ariel! It's a real name!" Elizabeth stuck her tongue out. The two scuffled a little before Dipper gently put his hand between them. "No fighting. And I like the idea of Ariel and Alex. That sounds nice." He sketched a little flannel design on the boy's jacket. Yeah, Alex seemed like the type of boy who would wear flannel.

The group jumped when Emilie woke up and started wailing. "Gimme a sec." Dipper stood up and went to check on his daughter. He cooed at her and Emilie calmed down a lot when she was leaning against her daddy's chest. "I think you need a new diaper…" Dipper sighed. Damn it. He walked away to change Emilie as the kids giggled mockingly at him.

As the octuplets watched him go, Ford made his way to the living room with Gloria and Erbi. They were fine, just a little bruised, scraped and shocked. Ford had been afraid their legs were broken, but luckily they had simply been lying weird, and their legs were fine. He had patched them up and he wanted them to rest, but the twins insisted on being with their siblings. "Gloria." Ford said firmly in the hallway as he wheeled her and Erbi back to the living room. "I need to know what happened." ("We fell.") Gloria wasn't going to tell him, but he knew she was hiding something.

Ford stroked Erbi's hair. "Erbi, what happened?" the kid sniffled. "Nick pushed us." they heard a gasp from the living room where the others overheard the conversation. Ira turned to Nick with a murderous glare. "You JERKFACE!" She screamed and tackled her brother.

"Hey! No! Stop it!" Ford shouted and let go of Erbi to break the fight. Ira was screaming and hitting her brother's head against the (thankfully carpeted) floor. Erbi whimpered and covered her eyes. "No, don't fight!" Ford tried to separate the two but Ira continued to thrash in his arms, screaming with rage.

Gloria and Erbi were tearing up. They hadn't wanted to make their siblings fight.

"You're horrible! That's why I don't like you! Because you're a horrible brother!" Ira screamed at Nick, face red. Ford grunted, holding Ira firmly as she kicked. "Amelia, stop. You don't say things like that about your brother. I'm sure Nicholas didn't mean to…"

Ford HOPED he didn't mean to… for the Axolotl's name, he hoped Nicholas didn't push his little sisters down a hill on purpose. To hurt them…No...No, please, oh gosh.

"He meant to! Because he's horrible and a jerk! He's a bully! He's never nice to them! And he ruined this FOR ALL OF US!" Ira screamed, angry tears welling up in her brown eyes. Ford stared at her helplessly. He turned his gaze onto the rest of his children and they all frowned. Gula nodded before glaring at the whimpering boy on the ground. "Ava's just always awful." She muttered. Luxuria nodded. "He's a brat!" Nick had angry tears forming around his eyes. Everyone was ganging up on him. This was SO unfair!

He got to his feet and ran away to Ammy's room. It was empty right now because his big brother wasn't home and he could have it all to himself. And he didn't want to see any of them right now. He hated them. He hated all of them! They were stupid! And mean! And stupid!

Erbi and Gloria were full on crying right now, trying to hide their faces from view, but failing. Erbi wished she could run as well to hide, but she couldn't, because her legs were weak, because her back hurt, because she couldn't walk.

Ford stared at the kids, frozen in his spot as he blinked rapidly. Ira managed to escape and ran over to her crying sisters. "No, no, don't cry… It's not your fault, it's his..." She hugged her small sisters.

Isaac looked at his dad, who was staring at a wall, silently. "Daddy…?"

Dipper bit his lip as he overheard the kid's fight. He put his daughter on the carpeted floor for her to practice her walking and wiggle around, and he walked over to his uncle. "Uncle Ford, you wanna talk? Come on…" He steered him away from the upset kids and took him to the kitchen.

"Nicholas hates the twins…" Ford whispered. Nicholas wanted to hurt them, he had the gall to push them down a hill….He didn't want to think it was true until he actually talked to the boy… but ALL his siblings agreed…

And he was always fussy and bratty when he was with the twins…

How didn't he notice…? Was he really so blind to the kids' needs?! To how they were feeling? Nick hated his siblings...and he didn't know how to help… Did Bill know? Ford shuddered. He wasn't sure if he wanted Bill to know or not. "What am I going to do?" He groaned, burying his face in his hands. It was like…

Dipper, picking up on where Ford's thought process was going, winced. "I don't think it's quite that bad. Maybe you should get Nick to a therapist? Give him someone he can talk to about this?"

The older man groaned. "What if he really hates them?" He asked and Dipper patted his head.

"Well… talking about it can really help if that's the case… We can always chain them up and send them to the forest if it doesn't work…" Dipper joked and managed to make his uncle chuckle.

"Thanks, kid." Ford nodded. His nephew was right. Nicholas needed to talk to someone and he was almost sure he knew the only person who might be able to talk to him...

Later in the evening, as Riley put the kids to bed, Yun made a confused question about why Nick was in Ammy's room, and Ford explained he had to ground him because he behaved badly during their trip. He sighed. "I think Amorphous Shape should visit the children soon."

Yun raised an eyebrow. Ford, willingly inviting Ammy over? "What happened?"

Ford sighed. "Nicholas is like me."

Yun groaned. "What did he do?"

The demon hugged Ford with her 4 arms when he winced. "Well… I-I… I grounded him because… we went to see the moths and we walked past the height altering crystal, right? So, I was explaining the science behind it, and I didn't notice, I-I should have been paying more attention to them, and-and Nicholas pu-pushed Gloria and Erbi… down a hill… The-They fell...but-but luckily they didn't get too hurt… And-And the kids told me he… hates them…" He massaged his temples. "I-I couldn't talk to him after that… He's been inside Ammy's room ever since… and I doubt he has eaten… I took his food to the room… but I don't think… And-And he's angry at me, and everybody… And all the kids have been upset all day." Ford took a shaky breath. "I'm sorry, this didn't go as the… bonding experience you expected…"

Yun sighed. "Right. And Ava likes Ammy best-" because Ammy always gave Nicholas his full attention. He gave everyone his full attention. "I'm gonna go get him…" she frowned. "But we're still getting Ava a therapist or something." Ford nodded, looking miserable. Yun sighed and kissed him. "Don't blame yourself. It's not your fault." She laid down and Ford watched as she left to go get her firstborn.

He laid down on her stomach, his cheek against her soft shirt and sighed. Not blaming himself…

But this was literally his fault. If he was a better person, who didn't even have those kinds of thoughts, his son wouldn't have inherited it from him, he wouldn't have acquired his horrible traits…

He dropped the piece… he broke them– the twins wouldn't need a wheelchair if he had been careful… (They… wouldn't need all the medicine and physical therapy-)

He closed his eyes for a moment and Yun eventually came back, Ammy's young adult form materializing in the room. Yun stroked Ford's curls when she realized he was lying on her stomach and looked at Ammy. "It's kinda late, Avaritia is in your room, you don't mind sharing with him tonight?" She asked.

Ammy shrugged. "I do not mind. It will not be the first time he has come to my room." The alien (now looking in his early twenties, though he was capable of shifting his appearance forwards and back whenever he felt like it) gave them a nod before walking off to his room. Yun sighed, stroking Ford's hair. "I should have confronted Ava about his jealousy issues long before this." She muttered.

Ford looked over. "You knew?"

She scowled. "All siblings can get mad or jealous sometimes. I just didn't realize it was this bad." she was angry at herself, angry that she didn't treat this with more attention. "I just thought… if I gave them all the attention as equally as I could, this wouldn't happen."

"I didn't realize… at all." Ford hid his face on her stomach and groaned. Yun flinched. That tickled. "Why does he hate them…? Gloria and Erbi… they-they're just trying so hard to fit in… They have such a hard life because of me! And-And their own brother just-just hates them for who they are…" He was trying hard not to cry.

This couldn't be happening…

Yun pulled Ford up and cradled him. "Not your fault. I doubt Ava hates them. Ammy will talk to him tonight and we'll talk to them tomorrow." she sighed. "Go to sleep, Fordsie. Everything will be fine. Ava's still young. He has time to learn and to change." She pulled him close, hugging him from behind.

The scientist took a deep breath and snuggled closer to his partner. Yun was right. Nicholas will change.

If he did...his son could too.

—

Ammy walked to the bedroom his mother built for his use.

He knocked on the closed door and silently waited. He knew Nick would know it was him.

He heard movement inside and the doorknob was unlocked. Once the kid grumbled a 'Come in', he went inside and the both of them sat down on the bed in silence.

Eventually, Ammy started the conversation, "So, do you not like Gloria and Erbi?" Ammy asked blandly as he sat beside Avaritia on his bed. His younger brother scowled. He wasn't afraid to tell Ammy. He told Ammy everything and he'd never judge him for it. "Yeah! It's not fair! It's stupid! Just 'cause they're sick all the time mommy, mama and daddy love them more!"

Ammy tilted his head. "You really think so? Do you think mother doesn't love you?"

"Well...no. But mommy loves them MORE and that's unfair!" Avaritia huffed, kicking his legs.

Ammy raised an eyebrow. "...remember when you got sick last winter? With a fever because you wanted to play outside even though Stanford told you not to?" Nick winced. That sucked. His head hurt and he couldn't breathe. His nose was clogged with snot and he needed a nebulization. "...yeah..." He mumbled.

"And what did mother, Riley and Stanford do?" Ammy asked patiently. Avaritia mumbled. "They stayed with me until I got better."

"So, if they stayed with you because you were sick, does that mean they loved any of US less during that time?" Ammy asked, no judgment in his tone, only honest curiosity.

"...no...but...Gloria and Erbi are always sick!" The boy complained. Ammy continued patiently, "Did they choose to be sick on purpose?" Ammy tilted his head.

"...no..." Nick guessed they were born like that… and they were always going to the doctors and getting shots and having to eat gross medicine. "But I hate them!" Nick didn't. Not really. He was just angry.

"Well. If you hate them. You could always kill them." Ammy shrugged easily and the brunet child gasped, his eyes wide, his glasses tilting to the side. "What?!"

"Is that not what people do with people they hate? They kill them? So if you really, truly hated them, then kill them. But even if they were gone. You have other siblings. Would you kill them as well? Would you kill me? If we were all gone, then mother, Riley and Stanford will only have you. Would you be happy then?"

"No! I wouldn't! That's...really...mean..." Even… if they all were annoying, only Vidi was acceptable, but even then, Isaac still preferred Gloria and Erbi because they were 'special'. "But everyone always gives them all the attention just 'cause they fall over and can't even stand up by themselves."

"And is it less mean to let Gloria and Erbi lay on the ground because they cannot stand up? Is it less mean to spill food on them? To hide their wheelchair so that they cannot move? Is any of that less mean?" No judgment, just curiosity based on the things that Ammy had seen his little brother do.

"...you saw?" ("I do not see as much as Mother, but I do see a lot.") Nicholas sniffled and curled up against his older brother. "I just want daddy to be with me! He spends a lot of time at-at work! And then, he spends more time with them! Taking them everywhere just-just because they're sick and can't walk! And-yeah, it's not their fault… but still!" He wiped his tears sadly.

He wasn't special, he didn't do anything cool like his siblings. His fire wasn't as strong as theirs. It wasn't fair. He wasn't as good in his sport, and he wasn't a genius either…He didn't have anything…

Even when Gloria and Erbi didn't know how to walk for too long, they could create better and brighter fireballs than him! And they were weak all the time, so it wasn't fair that they were better than him! Isaac was smart and cool and mommy and daddy always looked to him for being the 'responsible and reliable' one. Luxuria was good at art, and always getting compliments about it, even when they didn't talk. Lizzie could dance. Gula and Ira were super strong and tough. And the twins were better at magic– Nicholas knew he wasn't good at anything. So it wasn't fair! He… he was just a loser with no talent! A weakling! (Even uncle Blue had called him weak–)

Nick let out a choked sob as he thought more about it. He wasn't special, he wasn't all intelligent like Dad or-or Lizzie or Gula! He wasn't cool like Isaac, or athletic like Ira or-or artistic like Lux! He was nothing! And it wasn't fair! Glo-Gloria and Erbi ...they were not able to walk or do things like normal people! Then they shouldn't be good at anything either!

Ammy reached out to pick Nick up so he could hug him. "If you think the twins get more attention because they're sick, maybe you should get sick too?"

Nick sniffled. "Being sick sucks!"

"That it does. But would you want to be sick if it means mother and Stanford will spend more time with you?" Ammy asked.

Nick shook his head. "...no…"

"Then, if you don't want us dead and you don't want to be sick, what do you want?" Ammy ran a hand through Avaritia's hair. The boy sniffled. "I don't know." He was angry, frustrated… and he didn't know how to handle this. "I don't know what I want." He shuddered. Ammy hugged him close. "Well, maybe you can talk to Mother about it. I'm sure she would know what to do. Or at least begin to help you think of solutions."

They laid on the bed for a while before Nick said quietly "I didn't mean to push them down the hill…For real" He hadn't tried to defend himself to the others, he knew they wouldn't have believed him. They were too mad. Ammy nodded. "I believe you." He said simply. Because why would Nick lie to him?

Nicholas sniffled, and snuggled closer to his big brother, glad he was back. Ammy understood him, he was the best, he was nice to him and believed him. He also was great at listening. His eyes started dropping tiredly and Ammy turned off the lights and laid down almost robotically, cradling his younger brother to his chest. "You must sleep. Your young body needs it to grow up and let your brain assimilate everything so your memories are stored." Ammy said monotonously.

The little boy yawned and snuggled closer. The tone might be bland, but it was soothing. He closed his eyes and slipped off to sleep, Ammy carefully slid Avaritia's glasses off and put them on the side table. Ammy laid there and continued rubbing Avaritia's back. Eventually, he fell asleep as well.

-.-

"Ddaaadd! Your phone is still rinnngiinngg!" Diego roared from his room, not doing anything at all to solve the situation.

Stan grumbled, kicked his soft slippers on, handed the bucket of ice cream to Carla, KNOWING she was going to finish it ALL, and after casting one more sad look at their soap opera, he angrily stomped to his room where he left his phone. "What?!"

"*SNIFF!* StaanlEEh!"

"Ford?" Stan scratched his head confused. "I was busy working but please continue crying."

"You weren't working, knucklehead...It's Sunday." Well, Ford used to work on Sundays, now he could only do 1 Sunday every two weeks and only till midday because the children needed attention…

More than he expected.

"Alright ya got me, what do you want from me?"

Ford leaned back on his desk's chair.

"I-I need help."

"Damn, those words don't sound real coming out of your mouth HAHAH!" The middle triplet cackled. There was silence on the other side. "Oh, you're serious."

"What would I even call you for?!"

Stan grumbled. Of course he was only called to solve conflicts for his brothers. Typical. "Ok what's up, Sixer? Uh, problems with your ladies? You fought someone important? New nightmares?"

Ford shuddered. "...something like that…"

I hope you die, useless shit! I hate you! You are suffocating! I wish you had never been born! Get out of my life!

NICHOLAS no! NICHOLAS!

BANG!

"...How did Dillon start liking Diego…?" Ford asked softly, not wanting to tell Stan about his nightmare, and just trying to move onto the conversation instead. "He was quite against the idea of having a brother, especially considering you had just come back… wasn't he jealous?"

"The kid DESPISED Diego with all his might." Stan remembered how betrayed Dillon looked at the two of them, thinking they would replace him. "He was EVEN so close to finding a plane to run away and go live with Seb…"

"And what happened?"

"Diego was born, Dillon spent a few weeks hating him and making him cry, like Seb did with Shermie when we were kids, but he couldn't stay mad much longer… We got him to talk to the school counselor as well." Well, Carla did, Stan had no idea how to parent back then, despite loving both boys with all his heart.

Ford nodded at the information. "I want Nicholas to talk with someone too...his relationship with Jane and Emmy isn't good… And I don't want him to end up…like...me." He confessed softly, and Stan's expression softened.

"Look, Sixer, you were pretty bad, but it wasn't your fault. You were just a dumb kid and you got over it. And I'm sure Nick's gonna be fine. I mean, you're catching this NOW and not waiting until he's like...in his thirties to deal with it, right?" Stan told him.

Ford sighed. "I just don't know what to do. I'm so angry, at myself, because the only one Nicholas could have gotten this from is me and-"

"Bullshit. All kids can be little shits. Ain't your fault. The fact that you're dealing with it and getting him help already means you're doin' great."

Ford smiled a bit. "Thanks, Stanley."

"Eh, it's nothing." He waved a dismissive hand. "So, the best thing is getting him to talk to spill out everything, helping him and trying to be patient. He's not even a decade old, he probably doesn't understand his emotions…"

"Alright. Yes. Thank you...I'll leave you now to your soap opera." Ford grinned.

"Thanks-Woah what? You knew?!" The middle triplet coughed embarrassed. "Sebastian told me. He says he likes them too." Ford shrugged and Stan groaned. OF COURSE Seb told him! "You tell anyone, and you're dead to me."

"Yes, yes, alright...See you, Stanley…Thank you." Ford hung up and stared at the ceiling for a while before standing up and going to find the kids. Bill was visiting Seb again but she'll come back tonight this time, knowing their pending problem.

Isaac, Ira, Luxuria and the twins were mindlessly watching a movie from Nexflit on the Tv, about an ogre. They really liked it, because Dipper, Mabel and Dillon loved the movies, but he heard Luxuria sigh. "It's SO obvious the movie is old. It's almost 30 years old, look at the animation. Like, we have WAY better animation right now."

"Yeah, but Dipper said that most studios now are making live action movies of animated shows, cashing in on nostalgia. That, at first it was nice, but after the Peter Pan live action people got tired and now us, kids, don't know 'the real, good movies'." Ira quoted a rant that mommy went into very often.

"Guuyyss! I can't heeearr." Erbi whined. Ford chuckled and snuck into the room quietly to lean against the couch from behind. "If you complain about a 2001 movie, you'd hate Star Wars." Those were his favorite movies of all time when he was their age, maybe even younger. Many people fell in love with the franchise…

Disney ALSO bought it.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" The kids screamed and jumped. "Dad, holy crab!" "Daddy you scared us!"

Ford felt a little bad for laughing at them. Bill loved listening to people scream, Ford wondered if that had rubbed off on him. "Sorry, sorry." He laughed as Ira punched his arm in irritation. "Bad Ira. No hitting." He scolded lightly. She grumbled but settled back down to watch the movie.

"Meanie." She mumbled and Ford sighed dramatically, his hands behind his back. "Ah...blame your mother for that…" He lamented.

The children all nodded. Bill had too much fun teasing and pranking people. And laughing at them. Ford shook his head. She was a bit much and Riley would egg her on. At the same time, Ford was so relieved that she was finally comfortable enough to mess with people again. Nature was healing.

Ford sat down on the dinosaur skeleton head that once was a research project, and stared at the kids watching their movie. How could kids be so small, really. They were tiny… "Dad, can you tell mom to bring fried chicken for lunch?" Lux asked.

"Fried chicken! Fried chicken!" They started chanting. The other kids around the house heard and ran into the living room to join the chanting. "Fried chicken! Fried chicken!" Gloria and Erbi looked at Nick and the three stared at each other before looking away. Nick was still holding Ammy's hand, he had been clinging to their oldest brother all day. Ammy simply blinked slowly.

The young man/alien with multicolored hair raised his free hand into the air and chanted with no emotion, "Fried chicken. Fried chicken."

Ford sighed. Fried chicken was delicious, but not a very healthy meal. Besides, the twins had trouble eating heavily condimented things or stuff fried with too much oil… but a little piece couldn't hurt them too much. "Alright, I'll ask your mother to bring fried chicken." Ford knew Riley was working on her own projects tonight and wouldn't be home for a while.

"YAY!"

Bill, still as Miz because she didn't feel like changing yet, came back a couple hours later with bag after bag of food. "Moommm! You finally camee!" Gula sobbed and hugged Miz, sneakingly stealing a couple of fries. (The kids had accepted that Miz and Xin were siblings, but also the same person, it's just a dragon thing.)

The kids and Ammy were sent to set the table as Miz snuggled against Ford. Her 'adult' Miz form was taller than her normal (still adult but waaay shorter) Miz, but she was shorter than Yun. (Ford was still a little uncomfortable but was trying to make it clear that he still loved Bill in all their forms.) "Fordsie~ You won't believe who was at home while I was visiting Seb and mom!"

"Who?"

"Remember Carol? Seb's neighbor? I made her go bald."

The scientist let out a bark of laughter. "Alright. Yes. She was there?"

"No~ It was her daughter, Amanda. According to Zoe, apparently ~ Amanda is head over heels for Zach~ But he doesn't know it!" Miz squealed as she squeezed Ford's muscled arm. "My baby brother has a secret admirer~" She cooed.

Ford laughed. "Well, how oblivious is Zach?"

Miz groaned. "Amanda was practically drooling over his bare arms. But aside from that, she was actually very nice and supportive. The only issue is that she always has to hide the fact that she's still friends with Zach because her mom would never allow it. Same old, same old."

"Urgh. That woman was crazy." Ford scowled. He bet she was one of those entitled moms who thought the world went around their kids. Urgh.

"Zoe and I ship them. We'll come up with a plan to get them together." The demon declared and Ford rolled his eyes. "I know you will…"

"Mooommm! Daadd! Gula is eating all the frriiess!" Elizabeth whined from the kitchen. Miz and Ford laughed and went to meet their kids to eat lunch together.

It seemed like yesterday when their meals were shared with the Alzamirano family, but after Abuelita passed away, Soos decided to move to a house just close enough to the Shack, just not in the same house anymore. The kids missed their friends. They'd grown up with Maria, Sabrina and Ernesto, but they were glad they'd still see them to play and when they came to the Mystery Shack.

Ford glanced at Nick and sighed. The incident was yesterday and the kid was still ignoring basically everyone but Bill and Ammy. It's ok, he wouldn't force him to talk, they'd work on this calmly.

-.-

"You think Ashton might know a child therapist?" Ford asked Fiddleford as they worked.

Fiddleford McGucket, former president, had finally returned home and to his research center, much to Ford's joy. He had missed his best friend so much!

Fidds hummed and stroked his beard.

As time passed, Fiddleford had left his beard to grow out again, making him look older than he was, it was even growing white again, not because of insaneness and stress though, just age.

"Possibly. Why? Are ma niblings ok?"

"They are fine. We just…think Nick needs someone to talk to." Ford wasn't sure what to do, personally. He knew all about how the brain worked. He'd studied it. But he had no idea how to talk to his own son and make him stop feeling jealous.

Heck, Amorphous Shape had somehow been able to talk to Avaritia. And he was an alien. An alien who didn't fully understand or feel emotions the same way humans did. This made Ford feel pretty useless. Though, most of the problem here was that Ford was too afraid to talk to his son, afraid of seeing little Nicholas angry and spiteful and… just like he had been all those years ago.

Ford sighed. Why did he have to be such a terrible father? He felt Fiddleford clap a hand to his shoulder. "I know that expression, Ford. You're bein' all self doubting righ' now." His old friend frowned at him. "You love yer kids an' you're doing your best. Yer not a bad father. Yer a good man." Ford managed a small smile. "Thanks, F."

"And everything will be fine at the end. See, I was out of my mind for most of my son's life, but we got better...and I got ta spend some quality time with ma grandchild last week..."

Ford grinned. Right. She was a year younger than the octuplets. "By quality time you mean building robots?"

"What do little girls like if not robots!" Fiddleford exclaimed and both laughed.

"But, enough chat! We are here to invent stuff!" Fiddleford declared before going back to studying the last prototypes of eco friendly machinery they were all planning to release for construction.

"Get rid of the raccoon rockets."

"What?! But that's the best part!"

The two laughed easily, work distracting Ford at least for a little bit from the kids' problems.

-.-

Seb pouted sadly at what Miz was telling him. He was moping the dust in the living room as Miz laid down on the couch, sad. Wanda was at work and the kids at school. "Damn...that's hard...a hill? Really?"

"Ammy said Ava didn't mean to make them fall, but he was still pushing them, and he's way too jealous to be normal…"

Seb hummed in thought. "What if you ask Hogwarts to help you find a child therapist for Nick? They surely know many."

"Oh." Miz blinked realizing Seb meant that fancy school her kids were going to. "Yeah, that actually makes sense. They must have good child psychiatrists or counselors there."

"Hey, by the way…" Seb said when he finished cleaning the room. "Zachy's coach said he's going to take him to a national competition so, you all have to go and see him." Seb ordered lightly. "If we meet for Christmas I'll tell everyone, and if we don't meet, I'll tell them anyway. It's in January."

"Ooh~ Nice." Miz nodded, she wouldn't miss his competition, she loved seeing gymnasts. She cried out when Seb picked her up to hug her. "Don't worry, kid. I know Nicolas will be fine!" She hugged him back, stroking his soft gray sweater, before she cried as he threw her over his shoulder. "Now! Help me with lunch!"

"Pfft! That's the only reason you want me here!" Miz laughed as she complained. "Of course!" Seb huffed mockingly. "Why else would I tolerate ya in my house!?"

The demon hit her brother on his back. "Jerkface!" she stuck her tongue out but he didn't see since she was over his shoulder. Still, the two laughed.

He dropped her in the kitchen. "Now cook, I'll put this in the laundry and feed the plantimals." Sir Bedazzle, already a big adult acorn dog, had been staring at them with his big black eyes, letting out a 'woof' while wagging his tail.

"Who wants to drink water~? You want?! You want to drink water, you little freak of nature?!" Seb cooed and the acorn dog barked excitedly, spinning in place. The two excited puppies ran away and Miz laughed, shaking her head. Seb wasn't an animal person (he probably killed them for fun when he was younger, what a dick), but he had grown fond of the family pets, especially with how much Sir Bedazzle loved him. Queen Flutter was more reserved, but the two liked to curl up with Seb when they wanted to sleep, Queen Flutter especially liked curling up on his lap or tablet when he was working, much to his annoyance.

The twins complained of how their pets didn't like them as much as they liked their dad. "They were Our pets!" Zoe huffed. "Well, I spend more time with them, AND feed them, AND walk them, AND play with them." Seb had listed, reminding his kids how their responsibilities towards their pets slowly died down to leave everything to him. The twins groaned, knowing he was right.

Miz focused on the food she was making. The chicken breasts had been marinated in sauce and she was heating the wok now with a dash of olive oil. She plopped the chicken in before turning to finish chopping up the broccoli and garlic. Some diced onion as well. She tossed the onion and garlic in, stir fried the chicken with them, drizzled in a little soy sauce and some salt and pepper, tossed in the broccoli and stirred it up for a bit. She turned to the rice cooker and checked to see if it was done. Yup. Nice and fluffy. She had cooked the rice in a mix of water and coconut milk today, giving it a nice smell and the faintest flavor.

As she cooked, the front door was opened and the twins moaned when they were back from school. It was slowly freezing outside. ""We're back!"" They called.

"Hey!" Miz called from the kitchen before focusing back on the food. Turning the chicken around with her spatula, Miz made sure it was fully cooked. The broccoli had soaked up the chicken juices and the sauce but were still nice and firm looking. Good. Overcooking the broccoli would make them soggy. She liked to make sure they had a crunch to them. She turned off the fire and went to get the plates.

A scoop of rice, the chicken and vegetables laid out beside it, and then pouring the sauce from the wok onto the rice in a drizzle motion, not all of it, leave some of it white for presentation.

Finally she got out some fruit juice. Her family really liked fruit juice. "Guys! Food's ready!" She called out.

Seb hugged his kids and attacked them with kisses, making them groan, and they went to the kitchen to meet Miz. "You know what happened to me today?! Zoe complained as she sat down. "My laptop literally died in the middle of the class! And it was super important! I had to record the rest with my phone and now I have to type the rest!"

"Oh no~ First world problems~" Seb cried dramatically.

Zach licked his lips at the delicious food placed in front of him and looked at his dad. "Dad, you think mom can buy me cardboard and some markers on her way home? I need it for a dumb activity tomorrow."

"Eh, I doubt it, she gets back pretty late, most stores would be closed by then. Why don't you go after gymnastics?"

"Huh. Right." Zach agreed with his dad without a mock or a grimace, to which Seb considered a victory.

"I can drive you to class if you want…" Seb risked it.

"I said no! I'm not a kid anymore!" Was the snappy response and Seb poked his meat angrily. Damnit.

"But I also don't wanna take the busss~" Zach complained again, making Zoe groan in return. "Hey! Unless you let me drive~"

"HAH! In my car? No dice! Get your own car and you can go."

"Not fair! I bet Uncle Stan would buy Diego a car if he asked." Zach pouted and Miz snorted. "Stan wouldn't buy him a pen if it wasn't absolutely necessary. You don't need a car, Zachy, you have your own driver right here-" She pointed at Seb, who scowled. "-and parents have no obligation to buy you a car." she hid a wince, her human parents had bought her a car...which ended up being her mom's car since Zyun-Jan never learned to drive...they had wanted her to learn to be independant...that never really happened...

"Ok, ok, I'll just tell Amanda to buy it…" Zach rolled his eyes, why was his family always bothering him?! Not fair!

Miz squealed loudly and Zoe facepalmed. Ah, her twin was so dumb. Seb just smiled slightly.

After lunch, Zoe went to procrastinate by playing video games as Zach quickly did homework to be ready for his training later.

"Please text me when you're there and when you're returning." Seb told Zach firmly. "Fineee~" The blond boy rolled his eyes.

Miz sat down to text Ford about the idea of asking the school for some therapist, while Seb debated on whether or not he should bother his old therapist. He decided to text her, just to see how she was doing. Linda was surprised to hear from Sebastian again, and after talking hours with him about their lives (explaining that Blue had actually stopped being her patient, right before Miz had), family, friends, because of course they did, she ended up smiling. She didn't say it, but she was so proud of him, he sounded so happy now, there was something in his tone that had changed, he wasn't the broken man she met years ago.

Linda ended up giving him a few numbers of her colleagues she had in Oregon and Seb thanked her profusely. "You're welcome, Sebastian. Be a good boy~" She warned jokingly and he laughed. "Always! The best! Bye!"

Seb went to tell Miz what he got. "I got a few more numbers for you. Will you call now?" Seb asked impatiently.

"I have to talk to Ford first," Miz laughed. "Also, we'll need to see if Ava will even talk to them." Miz pointed out.

"I'm not sure if therapy would have worked on me at that age." Seb pursed his lips. "Because I was crazy, I would have probably hurt that unfortunate person dealing with me, but...maybe he just wants someone to talk to. Ford probably needed someone to talk to with all the bullshit dear father threw on him as well. Maybe Ava is just the same… Just as stubborn as his dad, yes, but a baby."

"I just hope it works." Miz sighed. (Because the alternative was to bring Ava to talk to Blue again, and she didn't want to put the boy through that.)

The next day she called Ford to tell him about the contacts, and to ask about the kids.

"Alright, excellent. I...didn't find anyone." Ford admitted.

"It's ok, we'll call them when I get back~ How are the kids?" Miz made sure Becky wasn't around and floated her phone so she could continue folding her clean laundry.

"Well, Nicholas approached me today, threw his backpack to the floor and demanded a new one because he says it's already old so…he's talking to me, at least."

"Did he at least say please? He needs to learn please. He's not allowed to just make demands, that's entitled behavior." Miz frowned.

".. No, but Ammy reminded him of 'the good manners mother taught them' and he then said please." Ford said. Miz nodded. This is why Ammy was a good boy. She frowned. "Ford, you're their father. You need to discipline them." Ford winced. "I know, I just… I don't really know how to talk to Nicholas right now. I...can scold them when they misbehave, but things like this? I don't know how to handle it."

Miz sighed. "They walk all over you, because you're easy." The scientist grumbled on the other side. "Don't grumble at me, you know it's true!" Miz scolded.

"But-But how?! I feel like they usually obey me! It's just Nick, I don't know what to do!" He hissed. "I tried talking to him, but he gets all angry and tries hitting me, or himself, or the walls!"

Ford was so frustrated. "And...I read that spanking is not ok…" He kinda thought there was a difference between downright abuse and spanking...but he didn't know where that line was, he didn't have the best example growing up...neither did he have the gall to do it. "So, how do I talk to someone who refuses to listen?!" Miz sighed. "Well, maybe don't start off by scolding him? If you start off hostile, he'll be defensive. Just ease into it? Tell him how you feel when he doesn't listen to you?"

Miz sighed. Nicholas was the problem child, not because he was a bad kid, but he just couldn't control his temper. Ira was short tempered too, but she was a sweet girl. Luxuria had some issues with socialization and easy overstimulation and hypersensitivity, but they were already working on it. Isaac was a good kid, responsible and reliable, sometimes too mature for his age. Gula and Elizabeth were as bright as their father, with a good helping of humility that they learned from HER (no way was she going to let her kids start developing a superiority complex just because of their grades!). Gloria and Erbi were good kids, they were polite and curious and they never got angry at their siblings for being able to walk while they couldn't. Miz sighed and stopped folding for a second.

She worked really hard to give her children's minds some privacy. She tried hard to not listen in on their thoughts, and didn't go into their minds. Only went into their dreams as a group with everyone together. They weren't old enough to really understand and give permission anyway. But she might actually have to Scan Nicholas, if she couldn't get him to just tell her what was wrong. Was that bad? Was she being a bad mother?

Ford sighed. "I-I guess that's a way to go around it…" He nodded slowly. He should try that next time he makes a demand. Maybe say that he wasn't getting Avaritia a new backpack if he was being so rude. This was hard. Parenting-Good Parenting was hard damn it.

"Just, don't give in to what he always wants if he doesn't appreciate you, you have a right to correct him. If it's something he needs, he gets it, but some things are just wants." Miz told her partner. "EVEN if he gets angry?" Ford asked meekly. "Especially so." Miz agreed. "It's for his own good." She finished the clothes and leaned on it, smelling the fresh floral scent of the clean cloth.

"If you get stressed, ask Riley for help. She gets the kids to listen to her somehow." Miz chuckled.

"It's fine. See you, Bill."

-.-

"Daaddyy!" Elizabeth was the first to jump over him, hugging his leg. "Today, some OLDER girls told me they liked the hairstyle mama made!" She squealed. Riley had spent a while combing it, conditioning it with especially curl inducing hair gel and putting on a cute hair band. "Oh, that's nice…" Ford nodded, not knowing much about hair styling and how to compliment that.

"Pfftt! Who cares?!" Ira blew a raspberry. "I was playing football and I scored the last points before the bell raangg!" Ford smiled and ruffled her hair. "That's nice too."

"Well the teacher liked my painting SO much she put it on the wall!" Luxuria said next, avoiding Ford's eyes, but Ford didn't mind.

Erbi giggled. "Yeah, but that means you didn't get to bring it home to show daddy." the 'oh shit' expression on Luxuria's face made Ford snort. "Well I'm sure it was very nice as well."

"Um...We-We had a pop quiz in math...and we did all the exercises correct… The-The teacher gave us a lollipop…" Erbi smiled a bit, feeling like sharing like her siblings. "Oh~ You did? That's nice as well! Math is important." Ford smiled and the happy kids nodded.

"Gula and I are planning to make a campaign at school!" Isaac declared proudly. "To make projects in science with recycled materials!" The blond boy put his hands on his hips and Ford chuckled proudly. "Very good!"

"Nick, do you want to tell me what you did today?" Ford asked the third youngest kid. Nicholas shuffled his feet and didn't say anything. Ford slowly frowned. "Nick?" He asked. Nick scowled and brushed past them, stomping toward Ammy's room. Ira growled after him. "Hey! Dad was talking to you!"

Ford held up a hand. "Wait, let him have his space for now." He sighed as he heard the door slam. What was he going to do with that boy? Ford sighed before looking at the rest of his kids. "Come on, mommy made lunch and dinner this morning, let's take them out of the preservation bubble and eat?"

"Yay!" The kids cheered as they rushed to the kitchen. Ford smiled until they were out of sight. He sighed. He wasn't sure what had upset Nick this time, but he really needed to find out. He just… wanted to understand his children.

Ford headed to Ammy's room, preparing to knock when he heard the muffled voices. Ford quietly crept closer and pressed his ear to it. "-ot fair! They're all just bragging all the time! Not even that impressive but they keep talking about how they're so great-"

Ford frowned. They were bragging, yes, but it wasn't a bad thing, right? And Ford had asked all of them, even Nicholas, he could have bragged too if he wanted. Ford listened closely. There was Ammy's voice now. "Do you not think they are great? Do you want them to not talk about their accomplishments?"

"I don't like it!" Avaritia whined.

"Why not?" Ammy asked curiously.

It was quiet for a while. Finally Avaritia sighed. "Because they all have cool things they do! And...and I don't…" Ford heard him sniffle. He clenched his fists. That...was that really what Nicholas thought? Oh, Nick...

"That's not true." Ammy pointed out, matter of factly. "You do plenty of cool things." Ford heard Avaritia make a confused sound. "Really? You're not just saying that to make me feel better?"

"Why would I bother? That would be a waste of my time, I would have to make up some falsehood to satisfy your ego. That's too much work. If you didn't have any talents, I would have simply told you so." Ammy said simply. Ford held back a snort. Typical Ammy.

There was some squeaking from the bed springs. "Then...what cool things do I do?" Nick asked quietly. Ford barely heard him.

"Well," Ammy started, his voice as monotonous as ever. "You are really good at building things, with anything you wish." Ford nodded in agreement. Since he was a baby, Nick spent his time with blocks, wood, pillows, sticks or anything really. It was pretty impressive. He created things without instructions, he made towers, houses, cars, little Tego machines.

Avaritia scoffed. "But everyone can do that."

Ammy responded "Anyone can place objects on top of other objects. Not everyone can make them structurally sound. Not everyone can stick multiple bits of plastic together into a functional vehicle."

There was a bit of silence. "But it's dumb… It's just rubbish, no one cares and it's a useless thing." The boy sniffled. "My-My dumb siblings have better talents...and they can show off at any time and they brag to annoy me…"

Ford took a deep breath. But-But why did he think that…? He was never compared, they had never compared the kids...It-It wasn't as if he was telling them to be...better than Nick…

"If they were bragging to annoy you, they're quite inefficient at it." Ammy noted. "They were telling your father what they did. If they were trying to taunt you, they would have outright said that they were better than you. They would have told Ford what they did and then pointed out that you didn't do those things." Ammy sounded mildly confused. "A terrible method for making you annoyed. They're not even trying hard enough to make you feel bad. They will not be very good torturers at this rate."

Nick snorted. "They're not trying to be tortor-ers. Family isn't supposed to make each other feel bad."

Ammy sounded even more confused. "Then why do you believe they will do so?"

"I…" Nick hesitated. "Because they don't like me." he sounded so small.

"Now you're the one lying to me." Ammy pointed out. "They love you."

"No they don't. They're always mad at me!"

Ford winced. He really needed to talk to his kids more often.

"I-Ira is always bothering me! And, Elizabeth scoffs at me, even-even when I'm being nice!" He was also annoying her often, but he wouldn't tell Ammy that. "And Isaac prefers playing with dumb Gloria and dumb Erbi! And-And I don't like helping them! It's-It's not my fault their legs don't work."

"Of course it's not your fault that the twins' legs don't work. They're conjoined twins, their piece didn't split fully before they were born, and their anatomy makes it complicated for two legs to hold up 2 torsos sometimes. Stanford dropped Mother's piece before you were born, and that's how you were all formed."

"So that's why daddy loves them best? Because he feels bad that they have bad legs?"

"It certainly contributed to it. But Stanford loves all of you. Whether you have 'bad' legs or not." The bed shifted. "Unless you want him to break your legs too, so he'll have to take care of you? Would you like that?" (Ford had to cover his mouth to stop himself from screaming. Why was Ammy so-so...AMMY?!)

"What?! No! I don't want my legs broken!" Nick gasped. "Then what do you want?" Ammy asked. "I don't know!" Nick wailed. "I just...want daddy to stop paying so much attention to them! Everyone always pays attention to them!"

Ford groaned softly, feeling tears in his eyes. But he couldn't! They NEEDED more attention! He wished he could be with the eight of them equally, he TRIED, but the twins...the twins needed him more...How could he make Nick understand?!

"So, what if I took care of the twins so mother, Riley and Ford don't have to?" Ammy suggested. Avaritia whined. "No! Then you won't be with me!" Ammy's response was almost sarcastic "So, what I'm getting at here is that you want all the attention for yourself? You want Gloria and Erbi to be ignored?"

"No...just...I just...I…" Avaritia made a frustrated sound and squeaked. "It's just not fair!" Ford held back a sigh. "Well, then what do you want? How would we make this fair?" Ammy asked.

"I...I don't know…" He wanted his daddy, he wanted his mommies, but he...didn't want Gloria and Erbi to be alone either...even if they were taking their attention all to themselves.

Ford decided to knock. Act as if he didn't hear, talk to his son. Maybe he would refuse to, but he had to try, he needed to have the authority! He was his father, damn it! "Who is it?" Nick called, snuggling against his big brother. Ford sighed. "Nicholas, it's me, can you let me in?"

"Umm!" The boy whined. "No…" Ammy nudged him. "Why don't you tell Stanford what's bothering you?" He suggested.

"Nick, please, I just want to talk." Ford not-quite begged pleadingly and the boy exhaled loudly.

"Tell dad he can come in." Avaritia told his brother before hiding his face in his chest.

Ford pushed the door open and walked towards the two brothers. He wanted to sit down, but he ended up standing awkwardly just in front of them. "Nick...um-" How could he make it look like he didn't hear their conversation and had no idea what was wrong?

"Are you ok?" He ended up asking.

From the expression on Ammy's face (Ford had learned to read the blankness over the years) he knew that the alien knew Ford had been there the whole time.

"Yes." Avaritia spat, tired. Ford bit his tongue. What to do, what to do...were his nieces and nephews as...problematic to talk to growing up?

"You don't sound okay." He said lamely. Ammy raised an eyebrow at him. Ford flushed.

"I am. Can you go now? Is that all?"

Ford sat down on the edge of the bed, watching the small kid trying to cling to Ammy as tight as he could.

"Nick, son, um…" He rubbed Nick's little back. "I don't know what's bothering you, but, you're just as amazing as the rest of them, even if you don't have anything to share today…" He went for his hair, gently stroking it from the brown top to his natural blond tips. Avaritia made a frustrated sound.

"Leave me alone." He huffed. Ford sighed. "Nick…" He slowly pulled the boy from Ammy's clothes and cradled him, and while he didn't hug him back, he didn't kick him. That was good. "Nicholas Lin Pines...Listen to me. You don't know how worried your moms and I are for you. We love you, and we only want to see you happy, but you aren't happy, and we don't know what to do to help…" He continued patting his head.

After a moment of silence, Ford spoke. "When I was a kid myself, I felt really weird too, I was confused, and sometimes I couldn't feel happy as well. The other kids were mean to me and uncle Seb for our six fingers."

Avaritia frowned and decided to look up. "What…? But no one cares…" Isaac had a hand with 6 fingers, Elizabeth and the twins had 6 fingers too. No one really cared?

"Well, people cared when I was a kid. And I was really sad and annoyed. I didn't like my hands, despite your uncles and grandma telling me they were special, but I couldn't believe it…" Avaritia slowly grabbed one of Ford's huge hands and put his little five fingered hand over his. He liked his dad's six fingers, they just showed what a unique and different man his father was, a man who was changing the world with his big mind.

Something Nicholas didn't have…

"But it wasn't my hands only, Nick. I was expected to be a genius, to be the best of all, everyone pressured me to believe I HAD to be the best, that I had to measure myself with others...I compared myself with your uncle Seb, thinking that if I wasn't more intelligent than him, then I was nothing…"

Avaritia sniffled as Ford continued. "I ended up fighting really bad with your uncle when we were younger, just because I didn't understand everyone had things that make them special, that trying to compare with others is not healthy, it will make you think you aren't good enough." He started rocking the boy, but he was staring ahead.

"When you are good enough, Nick, anything you do, any talent you have is completely valid, you don't need to compare yourself with your siblings…"

"Stanford tried to kill Sebastian because he didn't like him." Ammy pointed out blandly. Ford groaned. "Ammy, please."

Avaritia gasped. "B-but uncle Seb is so nice!" Uncle Seb always gave them candy.

Ford sighed. "Well I let my worries about comparing myself to him get too far. I… I hurt him. I hurt my own little brother." Ford closed his eyes and breathed. "You know, your mother was really mad at me for that. She yelled at me for being a bad brother, she hated me for that for a long time…"

Avaritia gasped. He couldn't even imagine mommy hating daddy. The two were always so embarrassing and lovey dovey.

Ford smiled wryly, hugging his son close. "If I had never realized I was wrong, if I had kept on being angry at my brother, hating him without ever realizing that I didn't NEED to compare myself to him… then your mother probably would never have fallen in love with me. You and your siblings would never have been born."

Avaritia wiggled like a little blue worm. He didn't know all this… He thought adults didn't have problems like that. Adults knew so many things...He never really thought of his parents' past. He only supposed they had always been friends and crazy, crazy people. Then again, now that he thought about it, mommy and daddy's past must have been really interesting. After all, mommy was an ALIEN and aliens weren't even supposed to exist. Or at least, people didn't realize aliens were real. The teachers at school never taught about it.

He sniffled and he grabbed his dad's arm to make him hug him. "I don't know...what I'm good at…" Avaritia whispered sadly.

"Then...we shall help you figure it out, ok? How would you like…to go with someone you can talk to about that? About how you feel...what you like, so you can know better what you're good at?" Ford asked.

Nick frowned. "Like...Ammy?"

"Well, sort of. Just someone that you can go and talk to every week or so, maybe more, maybe less. And, your mother and I think it might help. You know your uncle Seb went to go talk to someone for many years so he could realize how amazing he is. So he could believe us when we told him he was…"

Nick bit his lip and thought about it. "Will I like them?" Ford smiled. "Of course, kid. We'll make sure of it. Does that sound ok?"

"Mother also had someone they talked to. She told us it helped her as well. Talking with a professional would be more effective than me." Ammy added, no emotion to his voice. Ford briefly wondered if they should get a therapist for Ammy as well?

He shook his head. Nick first. Besides, wasn't Ammy just like that? Avaritia finally sighed. "I guess I can see if I like it…" He grumbled. Ford ruffled his hair and kissed his forehead. "Good boy."

"Dad...can I eat lunch?" The child pouted, putting his hands on his stomach. He had eaten all his lunchbox and snacks, like his siblings, and he was still hungry. They ate a lot because of mommy. Daddy complained that they were ravenous voids, into which all life disappears. "Yes, let's all go eat." He got up, picking Nick up and leaving the room. Ammy followed, the only one who somehow, miraculously didn't inherit Bill's appetite.

The others had long finished their food, so Nick, Ammy and Ford had lunch with just the three of them. "Dad…"

"Yes, Nick?"

"Um...Today… A teacher, um, gave me a sticker because my notebook was really organized and pretty…" Nicholas confessed softly. It wasn't a great achievement, but he wanted to share it. He liked making nice titles and drawings like daddy did to his journals.

Ford smiled widely, feeling progress ALREADY, and ruffled his hair. "That's so nice! Good job!" The child smiled, looking at his big brother, who gave him an expressionless thumbs up, and went back to eating.

Ford knew Nicholas would get better. After all, unlike Ford, he had a father who loved and supported him.

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