Wednesday December 24th, 2014

She really should have seen this coming. But no, she didn't, she was just happy that her dad had finally decided that she was old enough to decide on her own about going out for survival training this year. He had insisted on her continuing training the last couple of years, even though she had been the only member of the family to actually survive the Weirdmageddon two years ago. But as she was getting her gear ready last Thursday so they could leave once everyone got home on Friday, her dad came into her room and told her that he finally felt comfortable offering her the chance to opt out of the training. She jumped at the chance. She figured it would give her a chance to hang with her friends, but nope.

Everyone is gone visiting relatives for the holidays. She even tried the junior members of the crew but Grenda and her family went to Austria to see her baron or whatever he is, Candy is off somewhere, and Pacifica is down visiting Mabel and Dipper since her parents were at some big wig party. That one actually hurt the most, not because of Pacifica but because she get's to see the twins. If she had known a day or two earlier she might have been able to bum a ride down to get to see Mabel and Dipper, especially Dip. Their friendship has only strengthened over the last couple of years and when this past summer ended, well they kept things vague but that two and a half year difference wasn't looking like that big of a gap any more.

They still talk three or four times a week (at least) but she can't even call him till later cause they're gonna be at some sort of company party for his dad tonight. She never thought she would say this but she almost wished she had went with her dad and brothers, she is bored. At least Soos called her earlier from Mexico asking her to run by the Shack to do a safety check cause he got an alert from his new alarm company, it's probably just a Gnome trying to find a place out of the cold but it'll give her something to kill the time till she hears from Dipper.

She finished up the corned beef sandwich she had made and tossed her coat on. Her dad had left the keys to her mom's old station wagon in case she needed them and as cold as it is she felt like she could use it right now. As she hopped in the she teared up a bit as she remembered trips her mom, the boys, and she used to take in the car while her dad was at work.

She drove on over to the Shack and pulled into the lot. She did find it weird that the lot had been plowed after the last snow fall but marked it up to Mayor Cutebiker's overzealous nature. There didn't appear to be any issues that she could see, but best to go in and check. Pulling her keys out of her pocket, she unlocked the door and entered. She turned and went to punch in the code on the alarm only to find the alarm system was turned off. That and the odd feeling she had caused her to reach for her ax. She turned around jut in time for the lights to turn on and a group of people to yell "Surprise! Merry Christmas!"

Once she focused she saw Soos, Melody, Lil Antonio, Robbie, Tambry, Nate, Lee, Thompson, his girlfriend, Grenda, Candy, Fiddleford, Pacifica, Sta… wait a minute if Pacifica is here then…

She started looking all over, there next to the Stans was a couple she has only seen in photos the twins had in their room. And next to them was Mabel and…

"Dipper!" She called out as she ran over and grabbed her friend. When she was done hugging him she slugged him in the arm.

"Ow." Dipper got out before she pulled him back into another hug.

"I thought you're dad had a Christmas party to go to?" she said as she held him tight, afraid that if she let him go he would disappear.

"He did and we made it here in time for it." Dipper said with a smile. "We couldn't let your first Christmas as a free woman be all alone. So as soon as your dad told Stan last month that he was letting you have the winter off and he told us, well…"

He motioned to the room that now that it was lit up she could see was decorated with the obvious Mabel charm; tinsel, streamers, and glitter everywhere. There were presents aplenty under a tree that had not been in the Shack when she checked on it Sunday. There was a punch bowl and stockings. Oh my god, she had a stocking. She rushed over to the fireplace and looked with a wonder she hasn't felt since…

It took her a moment to realize that she had dragged Dipper along with her in her enthusiasm. She released her grip on his shoulder and reached down to take his hand. She then felt a tap on her shoulder. Looking over she saw Mabel pointing upwards to a sprig of mistletoe. She looked over at an equally red faced Dipper. Leaning over she placed a kiss on Dipper's lips. "Merry Christmas to me."