Y/N's POV
July 13th, 2002
I sigh as I inspect the wrinkles on my tired face in the mirror. "I can't believe I'm almost 50." I muttered as Stan entered. He hugged me from behind and rested his chin on my shoulder.
"You're still beautiful to me, toots."
I patted his cheek. "Doesn't negate the fact that we're old. Teddy is halfway through veterinary school, for God's sake."
He chuckled as he let go of me. "Fair enough."
We both looked out the door when a loud crash happened downstairs. I rubbed my temples. "For the love of all that is holy, please fire Edwin. TODAY. I can't handle him breaking everything he touches."
"I can't stand it either. I'll definitely take care of him later." He pecked my cheek and left the room.
I glanced to the calendar in the corner of the room and did a double take on the date. Oh shit, it's July 13th. It's Soos' twelfth birthday. I finished getting ready and rushed down the stairs, only to find the three children that I've been dying to finally meet; Dipper, Mabel, and Jesus.
Dipper was busy fixing the time traveling device while Mabel was helping Soos get candy out of the vending machine. I smiled. I haven't even officially met them and yet I already adore them. Mabel's gasp shook me out of my thoughts as she stared at Soos while he wandered back to the merchandise, saying something about her being a genius.
Dipper examined the time tape in his hand. "Alright. I think I've got this thing working."
Mabel rushed over to him and shook him. "Dipper. Dipper, look." She turns Dipper's face toward Soos.
Dipper went slack jawed. "No. Way."
As Soos wistfully looked at the staff shirt, Abuelita came in and spotted him. "Mi precioso. You keep wandering off. You don't want to be late for your big day." She gave him a warm smile as she offered her hand to him.
He took her hand and smiled sheepishly in return. "Sorry, Abuelita."
As they left the shop, Mabel turned to Dipper. "Big day? This could be the birthday where that personal biz went down! We can finally find out why Soos hates his birthday!" She said excitedly at the end.
Dipper hesitated. "Alright... but let's be quick." They dashed out of the Mystery Shack.
I turned to Teddy, who seemed to be dozing off behind the register. "Did you see any of that at all?"
"Huh?" He picked up his head at the sound of my voice. "What happened?"
I chuckled softly. "You're lucky that you're family, or else Stan would have your hide for sleeping on the job." I leaned against the counter. "Did you go out to the forest again last night?"
"Yeah..." He yawned as he rubbed his eyes under his glasses. "I think I encountered some bull-human hybrids?"
I groaned. "The Manotaurs. Beef heads, the lot of them. They only care about doing manly things. It's best to not interact with them."
"Why?"
"For outsiders the last task they require for you to be part of their pack is to kill the multibear simply because he enjoys the Icelandic pop group BABBA."
"...Oh. Their music is catchy though."
I laughed. "I agree. They're a spoof off of a group from my original dimension." I sigh wistfully. "I miss music from there."
Before Teddy could ask anything else, Stan came in. "What are you nerds talking about? Some sort of lame science-y stuff?" He laughed at his own joke.
I rolled my eyes. "Actually we were talking about music."
"Music, huh?" He rubbed his chin. "Maybe I should start playing music in here..."
I shuddered, remembering what he portrays as 'music' for the gift shop. "Please don't. Not for another couple years at least."
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
Finally. I hear Stan outside yelling at Edwin over how terrible of a handyman he was. A couple moments later, I see Soos wander into the gift shop. "Hiya kid." I gently took the over sized shirt from him. When he looked like he was about to cry, I grabbed Teddy's old staff shirt and handed it to him. "This one should fit you better until I can make you a different one." I smiled at him.
He looked at me with wide eyes. "Thank you, Mrs. Pines. You make these?"
I chuckled at his apparent awe. "I sure do. My husband doesn't like buying the materials for me to make them for new employees, but I always manage to convince him eventually." I winked at him and his cheeks flushed a little.
"Hey Ma?" I heard Teddy call out to me. "Where are ya?"
"I'm in the gift shop, Ted. There's someone I want you to meet." I called back. After a couple moments I see him round the corner. "Teddy, I'd like you meet Soos, our new handyman. Soos, this is my son."
Teddy looked extremely confused as he shook Soos's small hand. "It's nice to meet you!" Soos said with a grin.
Teddy smiled at him. "It's nice to meet you too, kid." He then turned to me. "Ma, can I talk to you real quick?"
"Sure thing." I knelt down in front of Soos and my hand on his shoulder. "Don't wander off, okay? I'll take you back to Abuelita after this." When I saw him nod, I went around the corner with Teddy.
He crossed his arms. "Why did Stan hire a kid to be the new handyman? That is breaking child labor laws."
"Teddy Bear..." I rubbed my temples. "Quite honestly I wouldn't have approved of this if it wasn't part of the show. Please be nice to him, he's gonna be a permanent employee."
"For how long?"
I peeked around to corner to see Soos looking at the various 'attractions'. "Let's just say he's basically family now."
A/N:
Hey guys, sorry for the delay. It was taking a lot longer than I thought to build characters for The Demon Hunter, so this story will be getting more attention for a while. Eventually I'll probably alternate every week with the stories, but for now I swear I'll post more frequently.
-Rynn
P.S.
They are taking Gravity Falls off of Hulu in a few days. I'm so upset about that right now 😭