HAT: Yep! Late for Father's Day just like I was for Mother's Day... equal, I suppose. Mooooving on.

Disclaimer: I only own the plot!.

"Don't tell dad this, but I got him something!"

"Really? What is it?"

"This!"

It's a homemade card that says, "Thanks for being the greatest dad ever."

"He's gonna love it!"

"I can't wait until he gets back from this trip to give it to him."

Stanford looks at the card as he stands in the living room with sadness welling in his chest. His brother will never get that card because of what happened. He had sent his brother's wife to go get his nephew so that he could tell him the news. Stanford had told his sister-in-law the terrible news already and now he has to tell his nephew what he's been dreading to tell him since the event happened- or at least after he got over his grief of losing his brother he had been dreading it.

Before he can even think about how he's going to tell his nephew said boy walks in with dark brown hair a bit wild and hazel eyes curious. He had seen the state that his mother was in so he knew that there was something to worry about, but with his uncle there he looked confused on how to act.

"Hi, Uncle Stan... where's dad?" the boy asks.

Stanford lets out a sigh and knows the time has come. "Listen, kid- uh... you'd better sit down for this."

The child sits beside his uncle on the couch and looks up at him curiously. "What's going on? Does this have something to do with mom's eyes being red?"

"A-a little... it mostly has to do with your dad..."

"What about him?"

"There's... there's no easy way to say this," Stanford says, his eyes shifting to the sides awkwardly before he sighs and looks directly in the boy's eyes. "Your dad's dead."

And just like that he crippled his own nephew's world. "What?"

"He- he died in a car crash," he lies, but it jokes him up because he knows what actually happened. "I-I'm sorry... I couldn't protect him like I promised..."

"No," the boy whispers brokenly in disbelief.

His nephew is already crying and to see him like that and to know that he was the cause of this boy's grief makes him- a grown man, a man who refuses to show how hurt he is under any circumstances- break down and cry. He ends up on his knees before the boy with his head bowed and his hands resting on the boy's shoulders.

"I-I'm so sorry... I don't expect you to forgive me- I broke my promise to keep your dad safe- but I... I just want you to know that... that..." He lets out a ragged sob and releases his nephew so that he can hide his face with one hand and support himself with the couch with the other. His heart hurts and his ability to breathe without it becoming gasps for breath becomes limited, but he needs to keep going to let his nephew know that he'd make it up to him no matter what. "James..."

"Uncle Stan..." The man stops trying to babble on and instead looks up at his nephew who stars at him with tears in his hazel eyes. "I understand... You did your best."

"C'mere," Stanford grunts as he pulls James into a large hug.

Stanford may think that he didn't do his best, but he did after making some of the mistakes he did and this boy knows it even if he doesn't know what his father and uncle have been doing in the "sleepy" town of Gravity Falls.

Stanford cries and keeps huggins his nephew, rocking to sooth himself or the child or both- he can't tell anymore. He can't keep track of how long he cries and promises to take care of the boy before said boy's mother comes and declares that it's time for bed.

The man quickly cleans himself up, but his eyes are red from crying already so he knows there's no way he can possibly lie and say he hasn't been crying and anyone believe him.

"Alright, let's get you to bed," Stanford grunts, pushing the boy up the stairs and moving to follow him when his sister-in-law stops him.

"Do you think it's for the best? I mean, for you to tuck him in?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" He demands.

She sighs and glances up at the stairs. "I mean... you look so much like Stanley and-"

"I get it, but James is tough," Stanford assures and notices the tears in her eyes. "And so are you... You go on and get some rest, I'll lock the door on the way out."

She nods mutely and goes up the stairs quietly.

He knows how much she loved Stanley and his heart goes out to her- she's just like his little sister- and he wants nothing more than to shield her from the pain, but what good would he do when he's just as broken as she is?

He goes up the stairs and into his nephew's room. The boy is sitting on his bed and looking at a family picture with tears silently streaming down his face. The sight was enough to break a heart made of stone- like the one he claims to have.

"C'mon, it's time to sleep," Stanford grunts, gently pushing his nephew to his back with one hand while pulling up the covers with the other. "I know it'll take a while and that it'll hurt for a long time, but it'll end up easing up with time."

"But... it hurts..."

"I know, kid, but you're gonna have to get over it in your own time... it's tough losing your dad- even if they were as... stoic as Grandpa Pines was... I'm just sorry that you had to find out this early in life what that feels like."

The boy stays silent for a while, but soon finds his voice again. "Will you stay in here until I go to sleep?"

Stanford is taken aback by this, but after little to no thought he nods and replies, "Yeah, kid."

Stanford ends up with the boy practically in his lap for the next fifteen minites before he's sure that he's asleep. Carefully the child is adjusted and set on the bed and Stanford tucks the child into bed before he goes downstairs and walks out the door, being sure to lock the door behind him while he goes to get errands done to keep his mind busy. If he can't stop to think about what's happened, he can't feel the guilt and heartbreak of losing a brother... at least until he gets too exhausted to keep doing that.

He's halfway down the stairs when he hears his name being called and he whirls around on his heel to find his sister-in-law standing in her bathrobe. "What're you doing up?"

"Please stay the night tonight... Its make me feel better knowing you're here just in case anything happens.

He's ready to decline, but the thought of him leaving and something happening to his family compels him to answer, "Okay. I know where the guest room is, go on up to bed."

She smiles. "Thank you."

"No problem, sis."

-Line!-

Before he knew it he was living with his sister-in-law and nephew. He wasn't planning on staying long, but it ended up happening. He had gone back to Gravity Falls to get his things and made two clones with strict orders to work on the portal and avoid moisture at all costs and to call only when he had to make more clones- that happened twice in all the years he was gone.

He had to take care of the family that he ruined and be the protector in his brother's place. He stayed in the guest room and didn't invite anyone over even if he really liked a woman- he didn't feel he deserved to be happy so he stopped dating all together eventually and focused on his nephew so that he would grow to be a strong, healthy, and clever young man, but any attempts to show him how to con someone were immediately shut down by the boy's mother so he settled for showing the boy how to tell when he's being conned so he wouldn't end up in trouble.

As soon as the boy was able to take care of himself- about seventeen- he left officially to work on the portal himself and became a sort of recluse and visited during holidays when he could convince himself that he could afford some time off, but otherwise stayed in his the place that was home for a while.

Then one Father's Day he gets a surprise in the mail from his nephew...

"Wonder what it is," Stanford grumbles as he uses his pocketknife to cut the tape.

He puts away the knife and opens the box and finds "peanuts" inside. He digs through them and his hand rests on some object that he grabs hold of and he pulls it out and sees it's another box, but it has a bit of weight in it so he opens it and finds a small card inside along with a gold chain with a golden medallion on it- kind of like the one that he had back in the day- but there's nothing written on it. He opens the card and reads it slowly and nearly cries- nearly.

Uncle Stan,

You've been like a father to me ever since the accident and I'm glad you were in my life. You taught me so much and helped me grow into the man I am today. I want to have this medallion for being the best uncle in the world. You don't need anything written on it for people to know that. I love you with everything I've got.

-Your nephew and lil' buddy,

James

Stanford smiles and puts on his medallion and smiles down at it before saying a line that seems to be a Pines' thing, "I love you with everything I've got, too, kid."

HAT: That's it! Done! *pouts* I saw a picture where Stan was sitting on the swing and his nephew was on the swing next to him and the kid asked, "Where's dad?" and it only has Stan saying "Well, he's..." It broke my heart.

Manly Dan: Real men don't cry!

HAT: ... I'm a girl...

Manly Dan: No excuses!

HAT: *straightens up* Sir, yes, sir!

Manly Dan: Now drop down and give me twenty!

HAT: Excuse me? I don't do push ups.

Manly Dan: Real men-

HAT: I'm not even a boy! I've got all the wrong parts to be one!

Manly Dan: *narrows eyes* Then I won't say it.

HAT: *narrows eyes* You wouldn't.

Manly Dan: Try me.

HAT: *rolls eyes* The one guy that didn't sign the contract... probably the smartest one out of all of them. Anyway, review.