Memories
"Marcella?"
"Mom? Hey!" Marcella held the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she looked for her car key. "I have like, ten missed called from you. What's going on?"
"Sorry, Ah fergot y'were at work- sorry," Bella responded.
"You're fine. Is something wrong?"
"Well- alright, no one died," Bella said.
"Mom..."
"Ok, there's a long story behind this, but quick version- yer dad got his mind wiped an' lost his memories-"
"What?!"
"Don' interrupt me. Ah'll tell ya the whole thing when ya get here- if yer comin-" Bella sighed. "He's havin' trouble rememberin' everythin' 'bout you an' yer siblin's. Ah thought it might help ta have y'all here. T' trigger 'em. That's how the rest of 'em have been workin'-"
"I mean- what, like, he has amnesia?" Marcella frowned.
"Eh- sorta? It's complicated," Bella said. "But there's ways ta get his memories back."
"Well if it helps, yeah, I'll fly over," Marcella said. "Sky'll stay here to watch Jacob and Brittany. And Brandon can fly back with me-"
"Thanks, sweetie. It means a lot."
"Of course, Mom. I'll see you soon."
"Hey, sweetie!"
"Hey, Mom." Marcella hugged Bella, accepting the kiss she left on her cheek. "Is Dad ok?"
"Yeah- yeah, he's alright," Bella confirmed. "Lee jus' got here yesterday- Ella hasn' shown up yet, but she said she'll be here t'morrow, probably."
"Ok-"
"Aunty Marcy!"
Marcella grunted as Taylor and Tyler slammed into her and hugged her.
"Haha! Hey, you two!" She grinned and squeezed them back. A third body joined the group hug. "And Jenny."
"Hey, Mom," Brandon leaned against the doorway leading to the living room.
"Ah! Baby boy!" Marcella grinned and hugged the boy, squishing his cheeks and kissing his forehead.
"Mom, I'm not a baby anymore-" Brandon complained.
"Shush. Where's your grandpa?" Marcella asked.
"In the living room," Brandon said.
"You kids go on- let Marce say hi." Bella shooed the kids upstairs. "Dipper, Mabel!" Said kids appeared from the living room, Mabel holding a scrapbook under her arm. "Marcella's gonna say hi to Stan-"
"Ahh, are you one of Grunkle Stan and Graunty Bella's kids?" Mabel asked excitedly, eyes shining.
"Yeah! I'm your- cousin, I think?" Marcella said. "Wow, I haven't seen you since you were little! But, um- I'm not sure I've met you- Dipper, was it?"
"Y-you have," Dipper mumbled, glancing away and tugging his hat down a bit. "I'm, uh- I-I was-"
"He's my twin!" Mabel interrupted, throwing an arm around her brother. "We saw you when we were seven!"
Everything seemed to click into place rather quickly for Marcella.
"Ah! Ah, alright- yeah!" Marcella smiled. "Well, it's nice to see you again, Dipper. You guys were so small before! It's so weird seeing you both so big."
Dipper smiled and shrugged a bit.
"Alright you two, upstairs with yer cousins," Bella said, shooing them to the stairs. Marcella looked into the living room, where Lee and Stan were sitting on the couch. Stan wrapped an arm around Lee, noogie-ing his head.
"Ah! Dad, cut it out!" Lee laughed, shoving Stan off and adjusting his hair. "I have a thing goin' here."
"Yeah, no one likes the thing you have going on," Marcella teased, folding her arms.
"You don' know what yer talkin' about," Lee said.
"Sorry, who's the fashionista?" Marcella smirked. "Hey, Dad."
"Hey- ...which one are you, again?" Stan frowned a bit.
"Marcella," she said softly, walking over and sitting down. "Mom told me what happened. You ok?"
"Eh, great as I'll ever be." Stan shrugged. "So, uh- you're my daughter."
"Yeah. One of them," Marcella said. "Ella should be heading over. M-my twin."
"Is she the younger one?" Stan asked. Marcella perked up and grinned.
"Yeah! By seven minutes- you remembered!"
"Woah, wait, you're not dad-"
"Oh, um- apologies, I didn't mean to startle you," Ford said, folding his hands behind his back.
"Who- um- so, you're my Uncle Ford?" Marcella asked, frowning a bit.
"...I suppose so." Ford nodded.
"...I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude by staring-" Marcella shook her head, sitting down at the kitchen table. "Dad always said you were dead- it's a bit weird, seeing you."
Ford smiled a bit, turning to pour out a cup of coffee.
"What, ah- what are you doing up so early?" He asked.
"Ah, my routine has always started early," Marcella said, nodding for Ford to pour her a cup as well. "I'm not really doing my routine today, but I'm just used to waking up early. What about you?"
"I don't really sleep," Ford answered.
"...ah."
They fell into an awkward silence as Ford sat down. He ran a finger along the ring of his cup, glancing around.
"...you have polydactyly," Marcella spoke.
"Huh? Oh- yes, I do." Ford nodded.
"Dad told us about that," Marcella said, smiling a bit. Ford smiled back.
"I remember seeing you before the portal," he said. "You and your sister. You were... about two years old, I believe. And now, you're..."
"Old?" Marcella raised an eyebrow and smirked.
"N-no! Not- I didn't mean it like that." Ford sighed and rubbed the side of his neck. "You're grown up. When I saw you, I- I was excited to have nieces to watch grow up. But it never happened."
"...I heard a lot of stories about you," Marcella said softly. "From Mom and Dad. I always wanted to have an uncle like you. Uncle Michael and Jacen are cool, but not as cool as how you sounded."
"Ah- I'm not that cool."
"Ella sure thought you were." Marcella smiled a bit. "She loved hearing stories about you. Wanted to be just like you."
"I've made a lot of bad decisions. No one's goal should to be like me."
"Well, y'know, 'don't speak ill of the dead'." Marcella shrugged. "We never heard about anything really bad."
"...really?"
"Really."
"So, do we got a plan to help Dad's memories or what?"
"Well, Ah did dig out a ton'a old family movies," Bella said, setting down a box of VCRs. "Figured watchin' 'em might help."
"Oh, are there embarrassin' ones of Ella and Marcella?" Lee asked, grinning and digging through the box with Bella.
"Probably not nearly as many as there are of you," Ella retorted.
"Hey. Shut up."
"Hey. Make me."
"Moooom, Ella's being mean," Lee complained.
"Yer thirty-three, figure it out yerself," Bella said. "Oh! Here's the one'a us bringin' Ella an' Marcella home!"
She put the VCR in the VHS and got it to play, moving to sit on the couch. (Though, because it was so crowded, she ended up on Stan's lap instead.
"Alright! This here's the video'a us bringin' Ella an' Marcella home fer the first time-"
"C'mon babe, do you really gotta do this?" Stan was grinning either way, holding one of the twins. The other laid in the crib by their bed.
"Oh man, I had a mullet?" Stan asked.
"You had one up until we had to switch clothes to defeat Bill," Ford said. "We had to cut it so you looked more like me."
"Ah miss it," Bella sighed, playing with the ends of Stan's hair.
"It's April 5th, 1975- the girls were born two days ago," Bella was narrating, though hidden behind the camera. "We just got home from the hospital."
"Still don't see why we have to document it," Stan scoffed, setting the twin he was holding in the crib. "Can't we just, I don't know, call your parents and tell them all this?"
"One day yer gonna be glad that we got these videos ta look back on."
"Yeah, yeah." Stan waved her off playfully. "Make sure you get the girls on camera."
"Here, you do some recordin'," Bella said, handing the recorder over to Stan. She appeared on screen, looking tired but happy.
"Woah! You were hot!" Stan exclaimed.
They all burst into laughter.
"'Were'?" Bella questioned.
"Uh- well, you still are, obviously," Stan stammered. Ford snorted.
"Nice save."
"They're so small," Bella murmured, now holding one of the twins. "What the fuuuuuck. They were really in me?"
"Haha! Yeah, babe- that's how pregnancy works."
"Damn. Ah'm still sorta... in shock," Bella said, shaking her head.
"You did a good job, babe," Stan said.
"We did a good job. Though yeah, Ah did do most'a the work," Bella joked.
"Heh. ...how do I turn this thing off?" Stan asked. The camera moved around like Stan was looking over the recorder.
"Here, it's this button-"
"Ah think the rest'a that one is just their first month 'r so," Bella said, standing up and changing out the VCRs. "Hm... let's do one from after Lee's born."
"Yeah, I wanna see myself as a baby," Lee agreed. Bella smiled and put in a new VCR.
"Girls, say hi t'the camera!"
Ella looked up, her finger in her nose, and grinned and waved at the camera.
"Hello!" Marcella chirped.
"Hey, kid, keep still," Stan grunted. He was painting a design on her face with glitter face paint. Both the twins were dressed as fairies, and three-year-old Lee was running around as a pirate, including the eyepatch Stan wore for tours.
"Lee, are ya excited fer yer first Halloween out trick-'r-treatin'?" Bella asked.
"Yeah!" Lee exclaimed.
"Hey pumpkin, show off your costume to the camera," Stan said. Ella grinned and spun around in her costume, grabbing the fairy wings to make them flap.
"An' we're taking the dolls Daddy made of us!" Marcella added, holding up her doll.
"I still have mine," Marcella said softly.
"You do?" Stan asked.
"Mm-hm. You learned to sew just to make them for us. Of course I was gonna keep it."
"I have mine, too," Ella said. "It's under my pillow in the van."
Stan smiled a bit at the two of them before turning back to the TV, grin remaining on his face.
It was late when Bella woke back up. She, Stan, and Ford were asleep on the couch, and it seemed like Lee and the girls had covered them with a blanket. She smiled softly, stretching and sighing. She slowly stood up, making sure to not bother Stan or Ford.
Although- she probably should make sure they get to their beds. Probably a lot more comfortable.
"Psst- Stan," she whispered, gently shaking Stan. She gently tapped the side of his face, successfully waking him.
"Huh- what-?" Stan grunted, rubbing at his eyes. "Ugh- wha's goin' on?"
"We fell asleep," Bella said, helping Stan up. "C'mon- let's get ta bed."
"Uh, yeah, alright," Stan mumbled and yawned. Bella poked Ford's side.
"Hm-? Oh, hello," Ford yawned. "Sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep."
"Yer alright. We all did," Bella smiled. "Get ta bed, m'kay?"
"Yes yes, alright," Ford said, nodding and standing up.
"Seriously- no coffee 'r work 'r nothin'," Bella said. "Just get ta bed."
"I will, I will." Ford smiled a bit. "Goodnight."
"Night."