"Are..." Ash choked. "Why do you... why?"

His wife, Willow, cried, holding onto her twins, unable to say anything.

"Your first born son belongs to me." The grey haired man declared, his voice low and threatening like the rumble of thunder. He was tall, lanky even, didn't seem strong whatsoever, but Ash knew better. Boy, did ash know.

"Give me more time!" Ash pleaded desperately. "You can have him... just... give us time."

"Only to make it harder when I take him, Biggy." The being sparked away, whipping out the window like harmless air.

----------------------------------------------------

"You sure you'll be ok?" Willow asked her husband. She was worried. He nodded.

"Nothing will get past Ashton Pines! But will you be ok?" He asked, sounding equally, if not more worried.

Willow nodded confidently, her mask hiding her doubts invisible to Ash. "Alexander will be safe with me."

"Are you sure you don't want me to go instead?" He said in a pleading tone. "I don't want you getting hurt over something dumb old me did..."

"Ash, I'm coming back, alright? He's going to be looking for you when he looks for Alex. What are the chances he'll be looking for me?" She asked, actually sincere.

"You know I'm not as good as you with this stuff..." He whined slightly. He hugged her, with one arm, the other holding their other child. "I'm sorry, this whole situation has me so emotional, I'll stop being a poo."

"I'll be fine." Was the phrase she regretted telling her husband. It was a lie and deep down, she knew it.

It was a dark and stormy night, rain pattered against the speeding car's sturdy window and sides. They were almost there.

"Willow!~" The devil yelled, tailing her car. His black tendrils were almost invisible in the darkness. His voice was raspy, not angry, it was more creepy and seductive.

Her baby laid in a slumber through all the commotion, sleeping comfortably in an intense red car seat. "Fulfil the deal, Willow!" It's voice was darker than the cloudy sky they were concealed by.

The woman shook her head as her hands trembled. The car started swerving and she was forced to stop, before she killed them both. She ran out her door and into the back to unbuckle her son. He was so small, so helpless at his age. She needed to get him past the border. Past the safe barrier.

Cold, wet and numb, she ran full force as the monster was distracted by the stopped vehicle. Her face turned to relief as a light flickered on, not too far from where she was. He was there, thank god he'd be there early. She felt warm tears contrast against the colder raindrops spread across her face as she ran. She slowed her pace as she got closer. She huffed cold air, puffing the warmth out of her aching lungs.

Willow only had what she had assumed was seconds left with her son. "I love you... never forget it." She whimpered to the baby. She gently passed him to her uncle in law. He cradled the child and nodded. "I'll do my best." He told her. "Stay within the border a few days, then when he's gone, you can go home, I don't recommend coming back though. Not for a while." She nodded sadly, yet relieved that she had more time.

She was able to spend the time with her child, but she insisted she left early, before she got even more attached. Before it got to Ashton. She needed to get back home.

Sadly, before the week ended, there were reports of a car, crashed and aflame on the highway. A bright red car seat found in tact as well as a mutilated corpse found nearby the crash site. Believed to be Willow Pines... Her child, presumed dead as they never found it's remains.

--------

"AAAAAHHH!" Alex screeched, drenched in ice cold water and shivering in his bed. "Gwunkle! Why!?" The child exaggerated.

"Today, 'yer old man's gonna show you how to man the shop!" Stanford Pines told him excitedly, dropping the once full bucket at his side. At this point, Alex was in grade three and already knew all the math he'd need to for this summer. The brown haired kid wore a black tee with beige shorts and had hair that covered his forehead completely and messily.

Alex gasped happily and bounced in place, ignoring his shivers. Pretty soon, his Grunkle would be able to let him do tours too! He rolled up his small sleeves and ripped the soaked band-aid off his cheek, making no hesitation to change and re-apply a (definitely needed) newer band-aid.

Mabel groaned, waking up was the hardest part of any day for her. She stretched in bed, mimicking the kitten at her side. She ran out of bed and into her dad's room. She jumped onto the bed, slamming onto her father's chest. "Happy daddy day!" She yelled, burying her face into his back.

The man groaned. "Hold on, sweetie, daddy needs five more minutes."

Mabel made a fart noise and kept poking her dad with her eyes squinted. Her dad chuckled and flipped over. "Sarah showed me how to n... gr... gnit..." She fumbled with the word knit as her dad hugged her.

She grabbed a piece of fabric up, showing a square she made. She placed it gently on his head. He gasped, exaggerating. "Oooh, is it a hat?" He asked.

Mabel shook her head and giggled."No, it's a square, daddy."

She hugged her dad energetically, excited to give her father more 'daddy day' gifts.

Alex read his book with an unreadable expression. He was at home for the day so he was in underwear and his BABBA band shirt. (Don't judge!) He flipped the page, he liked the book, he really did. He just... didn't really show it. He finished a chapter and closed the book, he looked on the dining room table and slid one of his notebooks closer he opened it up and started studying for his science quiz he had next week.

He hardly noticed Stan walking in. "Hey kid, you left one of your notebooks on the coffee table." He held it in one hand, holding his dark coffee in the other. He put his coffee on the table and exaggerated squinting at the name. "Dipper..." He read. "You going by that now?" He asked, curiously.

Alex rubbed his own shoulder. "Yeah... I mean, sure... I? I guess?" He said unsurely.

"You guess? Is this about your birthmark? 'thought you hated it..." Stan scratched his chin.

"Yeah, but I dunno, a while ago, I guess... In a dream my... uh... friend called me that, made me feel like the name was important, he knows my real name, but he knew I liked... that better." He looked to his guardian who carried an expression that he could only assume was disappointment and faltered. "But it's kinda weird, I'll stop."

Stan sighed and looked at the kid. "Try not to put too much trust in your dreams, slick." He smiled. "If you like it better, keep using it. Plus, people call me weird, and you don't see me falling, heh?" He ruffled 'Dipper''s hair affectionately. "Never be ashamed kid, in the matter of fact, be proud!"

Dipper smiled back, a determined look on his face and nodded.

"Now get back to work, I don't pay you to slack off!" Stan joked.

"This is homework, Grunkle. Plus, you don't pay me at all." Dipper crossed his arms in a pout.

Mabel squinted at her book, then gave a mischievous look to her daddy, the look was returned. "It is time to get..." She started. Both of them put a leg on a chair and yelled. "SERIOUS!"

She dug through her bag and started throwing yarn balls at her dad. "Argh!" He said, smiling. "Mabel, stop!" He laughed.

"NEVAA!" She yelled, tossing more. "FOR YARNIA!" She laughed at the pun and started throwing all the scarves and sweaters she made once she was out of yarn. In the end, her dad dug a hole through the pile of uniquely colored yarns on top of him so his head peeked through.

"Arg, you caught me." He said, smiling but as unenthusiastically as he could, to mimic bad acting. He had an idea. "Hey! Have you made clothes yet?" He shook the mess of knitting equipment off of himself.

Mabel shook her head. "No... none of the patterns are ever right..." She frowned, looking down. She tugged at the bottom of her shirt. "Vests are so hard to make!" She groaned, then laid on the carpet.

Her dad gasped, face frozen with a good idea. "Oh my gooossshh." He gasped. "Mabel, make sweaters!" He smiled.

Mabel gasped. Her dad always had the best ideas. "Yusssss." She hissed. She ripped her supplies off her dad and knew exactly how she'd do it! It was so much more simple! It was like a shirt but it could be as baggy and as big as she wanted. (Or accidentally made them).

It took her a while to figure it out, but by the second day, she had successfully made her first sweater, it was slightly big, but she knew she'd grow into it. Her dad gaped and grinned. "You gonna be a fashion designer when you grow up?" He asked, happily. Her sweater was a beautiful, almost hot pink. In the center, there was a shooting star with a tail of three colors.

She shook her head. "I'm only nine, I won't know until I'm way older."

Dipper crossed his arms moodily as he sat on the porch. "Who am I waiting for, again?" He asked.

"Look for a man with a happy daughter and brown hair... It's been a while since I seen him... so I'm not sure what to expect either, kid." Grunkle Stan replied.

"Yeah, ok, I get it, but who? I mean, names, relations, the whole shebang." Dipper kept his arms crossed.

"I'll suprise ya." Stan smiled and Dipper's eyes widened. The man wasn't exactly a smiler.

He sighed. "I'll wait further down the lot. See if they come around there."

"Careful, slick. You know the rule." Stan said, expecting an answer.

"No going past the border. It's where the bigger monsters are."

"Good, now get out of here."

Silently, Dipper walked away from the shack, closer to the border of the town so he could see who was coming. He leaned against the Welcome To Gravity Falls sign and sighed, head turned to the highway. He's had dreams of places outside Gravity Falls. As much as he'd want to leave... he was a Pines. Pines' were no idiots, and from Stan's details, it was a no-brainer that outside of Gravity Falls is unsafe.

He watched as a blue green-striped bus zipped past him, his eyes linking with a brown haired girl. The girl waved and Dipper rolled his eyes.

A bit grumpily, the boy made his way towards the bus stop to meet this 'girl' and her 'father' or whatever.