Chapter Text
It took time, underhandedness, stubbornness, and negotiating to get the Stan twins to both get the care they need. Andrew learned quickly what his patients’ weaknesses were. For Stanley Pines, it was his “son” and his grandniece and nephew, for Stanford, it was his brother, the younger twins, and Wendy Corduroy. After a failed therapy session, he added “Bill” to his list of trigger, not only for Ford, but the entire mix-matched family.
Andrew was curious about this, but he knew better than to push something like this. The only good thing that came from that meeting was Stan’s diagnosis of PTSD. Like his brother he had been through hell, but there was one connecting factor to both cases. Filbrick Pines; who sounded like a nasty piece of work from what he had been told by Ford.
After a little digging, the orderly found that Filbrick Pines was still alive, and oddly enough, in Canada. The man apparently had moved into a nursing home 20 years earlier after his wife died. The man was listed as physically disabled, but sound of mind. This gave Andrew the idea for his plan.
~/o\~
Everyone at the Niagara Assisted Living Home, or whatever they were calling it now, knew Mr Pines. They knew he was a bitter, half blind, veteran, but he rubbed everyone the wrong way. They also knew that his bitterness had cost him a lot in his life, his kids, his wife, and his legs.
It was no secret that his wife had tried to kill the both of them when she found out he had hid the death of one of their sons from her. Mad with grief, Mrs Pines drove them both off the end of a pier. She declared dead at the scene, but Filbrick survived. Damage to the vehicle as it broke through the safety guards did a good bit of damage to both passengers, but it only maimed Mr Pines instead of killing him.
It was also common knowledge that the man had been shuffled from home to home over the last 20 years and that no family ever visited. So it was no surprise when orders showed up for the man to be moved to Quebec. And like all the times before, no one asked the man if he wanted to go. There was a note in his file and it had been there since his first transfer.
“Filbrick Pines lost his right to make choices when he kicked my baby out into the streets and then hid his death from
me for ten years. So I am making this one for him. If he lives through this, he has no right to make another decision for
the rest of his miserable life.
- Caryn Pines ”
When asked if he wanted to move the first time, Mr Pines handed the director that portion of Mrs Pine suicide note. From then on, the old bitter man did as he was told and never made another choice for himself. So that was it. The old Jersey man was moved again and no one cared, not even the Filbrick Pines.
~/o\~
After the first week in the hospital, the twins and their parents had to go home, but called daily. Soos and Wendy video chatted every other day, but that wasn’t enough to alleviate the boredom of the Stans now that Andrew and the kids’ parents practically blackmailed them into staying in a local “Rehabilitation and Assisted Living” facility. It was a nice way of saying that they were now stuck in a nursing home until Andrew thought they were healed enough to be off on their own again.
The both of them avoided the common area like the plague after realizing they were the youngest people there other than the staff. So when there weren’t building up core strength to help with Ford’s healing abdomen or increasing Stan range of motion in his injured joint, they were in counseling where they were getting help not only with their PTSD, but their issues with their family as well. When that was over, they spent most of the day in their room together in the rehab/nursing home video chatting with the kids or residents of Gravity Falls.
~/o\~
After reading the elder Mr Pines’ full file, Andrew regretted placing the man and his two sons in the same facility. He hadn’t known that the man thought Stanley was dead because that hadn’t come up in any of their conversations. On top of that, he read the man’s medical file, which included a report of what happened to the man during the war.
What the man had been through explained his hard attitude, his spendthrift habits, and his temper. Being a Jew during WWII would been hard enough without having been locked in an internment camp for months, watching other who shared your beliefs being killed by the hundreds all after watching your entire unit die around you. He came home a damaged and hard man.
Now he had placed a man who likely had PTSD, blamed himself for the death of his wife and son in the same home as the son he thought his actions killed. There were several ways that meeting could go, with few good outcomes. Andrew felt it was his duty to weaken the impact of that knowledge.After all, it was his fault they were in that situation.
He had set out to help Stanford and ended up helping Stanley as well. Now he was going to stop those two from seeing their father, or at least postpone it until they were a little more prepared, so it would not hurt them even worse. Or worse, shock their father to death at the sight of them.
What the orderly didn’t know was that Filbrick and Stan had already seen each other and just assumed they were seeing things. Like father, like son. If only Ford had reacted like that.
~/o\~
“That wasn’t him. He’s dead. You screwed up and he paid for it. You hid that and she paid for it.”
Filbrick Pines kept repeating that to himself. Now and then he would add things like “He wouldn’t be in Canada, he never cared for the cold” and “He only had 5, he’s not Ford.” He had wanted to call out to the man, but after all this time, he wasn’t sure how. He loved his late wife, but he now hated the fact that she stole his legs and resolve when she left him.
He had been trying to protect her. He knew how much she loved her little free spirit, so he didn’t let her see the paper and warned the family to keep it quiet. They had basically lost Ford once he got into college. And then Shermy had cut ties with them when he found out what had happened. She was all he had left, so he shielded her, but then she found out and all this happened.
“That wasn’t Stan.”
As his son’s name came out of his mouth, tears began falling from his old tired eyes.
~/o\~
“That wasn’t him. He’s likely dead. He screwed up and you paid for it. You faked your death and finally forgave him.”
Stanley Pines kept repeating that to himself. Now and then he would add things like “He wouldn’t be in Canada, he’d never leave Jersey” and “It could have been anyone, it’s not like you really remember his eyes anyway.” He was tempted to go talk to the man, but he couldn’t handle it. If it was his father, then he had some serious apologizing to do for faking his death and hiding as Ford. If it wasn’t him, he would feel like a fool and would likely burst into tears.
He had been trying to get Ford back, everything else had seemed secondary. He should have told them, but he was so full of self pity and hate that he let everything slide. He locked himself away until he was called to make arrangement for his parents after their “crash”.
He found out what happened and had used most of the money he had saved up to pay for Ma’s funeral and for his father’s medical bills. He and Shermy took care of packing all of the stuff in the apartment and shop up and Shermy sold the place. Between them they made sure he was taken care of; Stan financially while Shermy took care of the where and made the actual payments.
“That wasn’t Dad.”
Saying ‘Dad’ brought tears to his eyes, but he wiped them away before they could fall so Ford wouldn’t ask questions.
~/o\~
Poor Ford. He never asked, he just assumed when Stan said the twins were all the family he had left, that it meant that Dipper, Mabel, and their parents were his only living relatives. So seeing HIM sitting in that chair near the television crying silently nearly caused the genius to go into a panic. It was the tears that threw him from that path.
Filbrick Pines wasn’t one to cry, but that was him and those were tears. He remembered to only time he really saw his father without those sunglasses. He had seen the glass eye and the scars around it. Ma had said it had had happened during the war and that that was why he wore the shades all the time. And the man crying now had the same scars, a glass eye, and tears only coming from the real eye.
Before he knew it, he was crying too. The tears were a mix of hurt and fury. Should he talk to him so he could tell him off? Could he forgive him, for the mental scars and a few actual one in Stan’s case? Could Stan forgive the man who treated him like loose tooth, ignoring it unless it bothered you and then remove and forget about it? How would their Father react to seeing the son he thought died over 30 years ago? All of these questions and more flooded his mind as the tears continued to fall.
~/o\~
Andrew felt like kicking himself. He arrived just in time to find Stanford curled up on the floor crying silently in the corridor and Filbrick sitting wet eyed in the common room. He walked carefully up to the man on the floor and tried to get his attention by calling his name softly. He hadn’t meant to draw attention, but before he got Ford to acknowledge his presence, he heard the squeaking of an old wheelchair behind him.
Looking to see who it was, he locked eyes with the father of the man on the floor. Tears were pouring from the man’s one good eye. The elderly man wasn’t looking at his son on the floor nor was he still looking at the orderly as he had been a moment before. His eyes were on the son he thought had been dead for over 30 years.
Stan looked shocked as he stared at his father. He had tears in his eyes too. Not sure what to do, Andrew turned back to the man weeping on the floor. Stanford seemed to have gotten his emotions in check , but the anger in his eyes was worse than the tears had been.
“No. You do not get to cry!” Ford’s voice was loud enough for all the occupants in the area look in their direction.
“Yo-ou are both here? I thought... I had killed all of my family…” The old man buried his face in his hands, muffling the quiet sobs.
Andrew saw some of the anger in Stanford’s face fade into confusion as he helped him to his feet. Looking around, the orderly saw that they had become to sole focus of those in the common room. Not wanting this heart to heart moment and probable panic attacks to be public.
“Stanford, Stanley, why don’t we move back to your room before this goes any further?” Both men nodded and practically ran towards their shared room.
Andrew did not waste his time asking the elder Mr. Pines what he wanted to do. Instead, he went around behind the man and followed the pushed the chair in the direction the twins had gone. The poor man was clearly fighting back sobs and did not seem to notice what was happening around him. As they approached, they could hear that a fight had started between the brothers.
“He should have told her! He threw you out! He is the reason we didn’t talk about the incident until I asked you to help me! He is the reason you had to fake your death to keep everyone who wanted you dead at bay! And we both know he would have blamed and shamed you for all of it!” The anger in Stanford’s voice was palpable.
“He was right! I relied too much on you! It took me pretendin’ ta be you for years before I managed to find something I hadn’t managed to screw up! And guess what genius! I did make a million dollars! Who do you think paid off your mortgage? Besides that, I paid for Ma’s funeral, I paid for Pop’s medical bills, I put both the kids’ parents through college, I helped pay for Shermy’s funeral so Rachel could have more money to live on! Heck, I paid for most of her second wedding because she didn’t need to start her new life in debt! And I did it all as Stanford Pines!” Andrew was surprised that Stanley was defending their father his own expense.
“Stanley, that doesn’t excuse what he did!” There was a punctuating thump at the end of Stanford’s shrill reply.
“I didn’t say it did! I was just sayin’ that he has paid for it already and that he wasn’t the only one to blame.” Stanly sounded like he was too tired continue fighting.
“How can you forgive him that easily?!” Stanford’s voice sounded almost scared as he yelled.
“ ‘Cause I understand why he did it. Do you understand that? All of it, right or wrong, I understand.” If Andrew hadn’t been standing in the doorway to their room, he never would have heard Stanley’s whispered response.
Filbrick Pines choked out a sob and started talking. “I looked for you… Two days after I sent you packing, I searched for you… I was mad, but I never should have thrown you out. Ford was too mad and heartbroken to help me figure out where you would have gone. Caryn, after she and I fought that night, she stopped talking to me for the rest of the year. I called those numbers for your products, but you always hung up on me, not that I could really fault you for that... Then, you disappeared. I tried to find any clue about where you were. I got called when you escaped prison, but they figured out pretty quick that I was the last person you would have contacted. When I read the paper saying you died… I mourned you. If it hurt me that much, I knew it would kill your mother. Caryn must have found the article... I had saved about it in my desk... She liked to snooped through it… I didn’t even know she knew until she started driving… She told me that I made all the wrong choices and that I didn’t deserve to make anymore. The last thing I said to her was ‘I know’.”
Andrew wasn’t sure what to think. He knew the older Pine was a known liar, but this sounded sincere. Judging by the twins’ expressions, they didn’t know either. The man could be faking to have a chance at reconnecting with his sons. Any future thought on that path was derailed by Stanford slamming his hard down on the bed frame.
“I was there when you told Shermy that his mother was dead. He had already know Caryn was our Ma and not his, but he let her watch his kid. I Was There When You Left My MOTHER ALL ALONE AFTER ABANDONING HER BABY! FOR YEARS I SAW YOU BLAME EACH AND EVERY LITTLE THING THAT WENT WRONG ON MY OTHER HALF! DO YOU REALLY THINK I SHOULD FORGIVE YOU?!” Stanley flinched at his brother’s bellow, but squared her shoulders.
“FORD! THAT’S ENOUGH! I know you are mad, but CALM DOWN!” Andrew watched as the mania faded from Dr. Pines’ eyes.
“No Lee, I deserved that. That and more…” The nonagenarian’s voice was soft, but his words carried.
Stanley rubbed his head with his good hand. “I don’t think you do. I have made a lot of mistakes over the last 60 years. Faking my death and pretendin’ I was Ford while he was gone without lettin’ you and Ma know the truth was one of them. Not admitting to Ford that I was scared of being left behind and then breaking his project by accident are on that list too. It was my fault I always hung up when I heard someone who sounded like you on the phone or when Ma asked where I was. You didn’t know I would skip town that weekend instead of sticking around and finishing school. Sure you messed up, but we ain’t saints either.”
“We barely spoke after Ford went off to school… I never knew she called you. She said we were going to get divorced, about a week before the crash.” It was clear that the man was lost in his memories as his eyes glazed over. “So later, when she told me to get in the car, I thought we were going to talk to a lawyer, so I got in the car with her…”
“I know. I read Ma’s diaries when Shermy and me, sorry, I cleaned the place out. I even found that unopened Total Sham you had in the back of your closet. I let Shermy talked me out of taking you back to Oregon with me, saying you needed the care a home could give you and how you loved Jersey too much to move across the country from it. I should have at least come to visit you… The apple didn’t fall very far, huh?” Tears were back in the youngest Pines’ eyes.
“Stan may have forgiven you, but I haven’t and I doubt I ever will!” The older twin shoved past them and nearly tipped his father’s chair over in his rush to leave the room.
The only reason the chair hadn’t tipped was because Stanley had jumped up to steady it. “He don’t mean that Pops. It took me nearly getting myself killed in front of ‘im for ‘im to forgive me. He didn’t even know you were still alive until he saw ya in the room back there. Give ‘im some time.”
Andrew was shocked when the son fell to his knees and hugged his father. When Filbrick’s hand came up and rested itself of his son hair, Stanley burst into loud and mournful tears. The orderly slowly backed out of the room and went in search of the Pines that had fled while those two worked through their tears.
He found Dr Pines small library near the common room. The man was on his phone and appeared to be texting. As he approached, the phone started chiming. The anger on Stanford’s face lessened as he answered it. Not wanting to intrude, Andrew sat in a nearby chair and picked up the nearest magazine an pretended to read it as he eavesdropped on the conversation.
“Got it!” The elder twins face fell at man’s voice.
“Hello Mayor Cutebiker. May I speak with Wendy please?” His voice was a bit rough sounding.
Here was silence for a moment before the man voice was back. “Got her!”
A small smile formed on Stanford’s face at that. “Thank you.”
“Whats up Dr. P? You only call when things go a bit crazy. * Nevermind all that! * Tyler, could you go be enthusiastic somewhere else? Also, just because you are mayor because you actually did your paperwork does not mean you get to answer my phone. Not cool dude.” The smile grew was the teen talked.
“I need some advice, and knowing your family, you seemed the best person to ask.” Andrew wondered about that for a moment before the girl replied.
“*sigh* I really should start charging you guys for this stuff. Stan is probably wondering why I haven’t from the start. Alright, what emotionally stunted thing had happened now? If you two are fighting again, I am hanging up and sicking the twins on the two of you.” Ah, poor communication skills. That made sense.
“I am hesitant to bring this to their attention. Stanley seems to have even more secrets than even I knew.” Did the whole family not know the man was alive?
“Mr P never tells anyone everything, so why are you so surprised?” Andrew thought it was a good question.
“Our father is still alive.” There was a mixture of anger and remorse in his tone.
“Why do I feel like that isn’t the good news it sounds like?” Very perceptive.
“It is not.” And why exactly was that?
“What did your father do to you that you aren’t happy for a chance to see him again? He didn’t- Dr P? Did you father- Bother you?” Andrew held his breath at that. Surely not. Right?
“Bothe- Wendy Corduroy! No! Why would you even thing such a thing?!” The orderly had a hard time releasing his breath quietly enough not to draw attention.
“That was what Stan asked me when I ran away from home right after my mother died. It would make sense if he thought about how it had happened before. I am glad it was wrong for both of us. So what did he do?” The orderly made a quick note in his phone to address that bit of knowledge later.
“You know how Dipper and Mabel defend each other? Well, Stanley always defended me, from everything. If anything did happen, our father blamed Stan,” The anger in Stanford’s voice grew as he continued to speak. “After ending my dream of going to the best school in the country, he threw Stan from the house with nothing but the keys to the Stanley Mobile and a prepacked duffle bag. You know he didn’t have a good life before coming to Gravity Falls. You saw how much younger he seems after his surgery. That happened to him. It was because of our father.”
“That was partially your dad’s fault. You, Stan, and your mom also messed up. But that is something he did to Mr P, not you. So why are you so against your dad?” Andrew had to admire how the teenager had kept the conversation from straying.
“He sheltered me from any consequences and pinned them on Stanley. I never would have made some of my worst mistakes if he had let me fail. I would have learned from those failures and grown.” The anger was a bit petulant at this point.
“No offense Dr P, but that is a bunch of fairy vomit.” The orderly clamped a hand over his mouth to muffle the chuckles that were suddenly trying to escape him.
“Excuse me?” Andrew risked looking at the elder twin and nearly lost his laughter control. The man looked shocked and highly offended.
“You realize you laid a bunch of the blame on your brother too. Sure, that was how you were raised, but you were totally smart enough to see it was wrong. Stan gave up 30 years of his life, his identity, and most of his family to make sure you had a home to come back to when he got you back. And what did you do? You punched him in the face and told him you wanted your house and name back at the end of the summer. He even tried to play nice and you picked on his grammar which lead to him nearly dying. Your father sounds like a mix of the two of you. I don’t think it is your father you are mad at. At least not entirely.” That was an interesting bit of insight that Andrew added to his list of things to come back to.
“I- I never really looked at it in that way… Stanley followed our father’s lead and protected me from anything they could…” There was not a trace of the earlier anger and there was more than a little sadness in its place.
“So, how did you find out about your dad? I doubt Mr P brought him up.” Andrew felt a blush arise on his ears, cheeks, and neck, laughter completely forgotten.
“He- he is at the facility we are staying at.” The Canadian hoped no one noticed his involvement, but he doubted he was that lucky.
“Ok, I am gonna take a line from Mabel and put on some “scepticals”. Is Andrew around? This has his name written all over it.” The orderly winced when Stanford’s eyes landed on him.
“Yes. He was there when I first saw my father and he is listening in on this call from a few seats away.” Busted.
“Were we on speaker this whole time?! Dude! And Andrew? Not cool man.” The orderly was unsure if she was referring to the eavesdropping or the family reunion, but ducked his head in shame anyway.
“Do you want to speak with Andrew?”
“In a minute, but I a few questions for you first. He can listen if he wants. First, did you talk to your dad? And by talk, I do not mean ‘yell at’ like you did when Stan got you back. Second, do you know what was in that duffle? I know that may not seem like a big deal, but if I know the Pines family, it should answer more than a few questions I am not going to ask you right now. Third, where is Stan right now and who is with him? If he is with your dad, why would you leave him with someone you seem to think is a horrible person? And lastly, why did you not ask about the rest of your family in the first place? There. Those are my questions, now I want the answers without you getting all riled up.”
Andrew leaned forward in his seat in anticipation. These were great questions and he wanted to hear the full answers. Wendy was great for the Stan brothers.
“I-I may have yelled at my father and Stanley.” Wendy’s sigh was audible all the way over to where Andrew was sitting.
“Dude. You really need to work on that.” Her voice was laced with frustration.
“Yes, I do. As for the duffle, I never thought to ask about it. I was too angry at first and then it didn’t seem to matter. Why do you think it is important?” Both men were eager to hear the ginger’s response.
“I have known Mr P all my life and I know there is are bags under the salamander tank for everyone who spends a lot of time in the Shack. That is all I’m saying ‘til you ask your brother about it.”
“Sal- Oh, the axolotl. Fair enough.” The orderly was glad Stanford understood, because he surely didn’t.
“So, where is Stan?” There was a pregnant pause as Ford sheepishly played with the neck of his sweater.
“I may have stormed off after yelling… Last I saw him, he was with our father.” His words were followed by a groan and a thud that Andrew took as Wendy hitting her head against something wooden.
“If you really thought your dad was terrible, would you really have left the person you are the most protective of alone with him, even if you were mad? That doesn’t sound like the Dr P I know.” Her voice was slightly muffled, likely still leaning against whatever she had hit her head into.
“You may have a valid theory there…” A loud scoff came through the phone at that.
“Duh man! Of course I am right! Anyway, why didn’t you ask about your folks?” Her voice cleared up between the ‘man’ and the ‘of course’.
“He said the twins were the extent of his family, so I assumed everyone else had passed away. I knew the children's’ parents were alive, but assumed Stanley was not very close to them.” Stanford’s hand moved from his collar to his neck and hair.
“He used to be, but after a fight with his sister-in-law, he stopped closing up for the holidays. I was surprised she let the little guys visit after that.” She sounded sad and a bit mad?
“Shermy’s wife? Why would she have a say if what the children did?” It was a fair question.
“Dude, I don’t know too much, but she used to call and yell at Stan a lot when I was Gus’ age. After the fight, she never called except on holidays to chew Stan out.” A dark look passed over the elder twin’s face.
“From Stanley’s stories, she sounded like a very kind and wonderful woman.” His voice was frighteningly calm and collected.
“I don’t think Stan is the best judge, but she is protective.” The ‘like you’ when unsaid, but the dark look faded at that point. “Maybe she figured out his wasn’t you? I dunno, but she used to scare me when she called.” And just like that, the look was back and even darker.
“Is she still alive? Stanley only speaks of her in the past tense.” Andrew was half afraid for the woman, given the murderous look Ford was sporting right now.
“I dunno man. I can ask Dipper, but maybe you should just ask Stan.” The look vanished and was replaced with regret at the mention of his twin.
“I-” He didn’t get to say anything more because Wendy interrupted him.
“Ford. Do not make me come up there! Dad and Mr P will not be happy if I miss more school.” Ford gulped.
“Yes ma’am.” Stanford got to his feet and started to leave the room before continuing. “I will go look for Stan.”
“Before you go, hand the phone to Andrew. I need to have words.” The orderly gulped reflexively.
The elder twin handed off the phone and was gone. Andrew looked at the phone with trepidation before turning off the speaker and putting it to his ears. As if knowing what he had done, Wendy started talking the moment the phone was in place.
“What the hell man! You do not do something like that without a little warning! You have heard what went on with them when they were young, so why would you think that was a good idea?” He winced at her tone, but then she reeled in a bit of her frustrated anger. “It will turn out ok, but dude, that was not cool!”
“They needed this.” Her eye roll was audible, but he continued, “And apparently, so did their father. Why did he think Stanley was dead and that it was his fault?”
When she spoke again, all her anger was gone from her voice. “Gees. Remember how Stan kept Ford’s house while he was MIA? Well, he had been forced into some seedy junk after being kicked out and he faked his death and pretended to be his brother for those 30 years so those gangs thought he was gone. He never told the family the truth until he had his brother back. That is all you getting about that from me.”
That made sense. “Understood. And for the record, I know I messed up. I actually came today to make sure this didn’t happen, but I was a few minutes too late.”
“As long as you don’t do it again, man. I need a break. SOOS! I am gonna be on the roof!” Andrew smiled at Stan’s son’s(?) ‘No probs dude!’ in response. “Laterz man!”
The orderly ended the call and pocketed the phone. Now he needed to decide what he should do next. The trouble was, he didn’t know if the twins were talking, if Stanford and Filbrick were having a moment, or something else entirely. He would just have to figure it out seeing as it was his decision that made this mess in the first place.
~/o\~
“Hey Pops.” Stan knew he looked like he was barely holding it together and that because he was.
“How. How are you really here?” Stan hated that he caused the most stoic person he had ever known to cry, over his sorry hide no less.
“I never died. Ugh,” the Former Mr Mystery was a bit at a loss for words, so he rubbed the back of his neck and let his mouth do its job. “Long story short, Ford asked me to come to Oregon back in the 70s. Then, right after I got there, he got shipped off and later captured. I kinda faked my death ta keep my past off my back while I took care of his house under his name. I finally got him back the summer before last and then we got caught up in the mess I tried to avoid and ended up in a crash. That is why we are here.”
“So you let us think-” Stan’s eyes widened when he realized what he father was thinking.
“NO! ‘Course not! I just never thought the two of ya would hear about it. I figured Ma would assume I was in jail again and I’d get Ford back before she really got worried. Then Shermy called me about what happened and I found the note.” He couldn’t meet his dad’s eyes, not when he brought up That.
“So when Stanford started callin’ and sendin’ cards, it wasn’t really him. It was you.” Stan nodded, eyes still locked on the floor.
“In my defense, I didn’t know he hadn't been calling. I guess I just assumed he kept the family he had left close.” It was a half truth, but most things he said were.
“Ya knew your brother better than that. You just wanted your family back.” Stanley looked up and saw the longing he felt in his father’s eye.
“Sure I wanted the lot a ya back, but I didn’t know Ford had cut ya off. I thought he’d at least’ve talked ta Ma.” They both broke eye contact at that.
“He may have. She and I didn’t talk much after he left for college.” It was clear to Stan that he old man had regrets about the whole thing, especially after that whole crying bit earlier.
“Sorry about that Pops. If I had just told Ford and let him fix it, then none of this woulda ‘appened.” He sat down heavily on the bed and grabbed a fistful of blanket to hold his dark thought at bay.
“Yeah, it woulda.” Stan eyes locked on he dad again. “I was off my meds, thought they were a waste a money. Somethin’ else woulda set me off and it might not have ended as well as it did.”
Meds? Their Pops had been on medication all that time? Was that why he didn’t really show emotion? Apathy was well known side effect of a lot of old antidepressants. He he been like that because some quack thought if was best for their father?
“Did Ma know that?” The answer would answer a lot of Stan’s unasked questions.
“She didn’t even know I was on ‘em. She thought they were somethin’ for my eye. Like I’d waste money on expensive painkillers.” Stan nodded his understanding and they fell quiet.
They sat there in silence until Ford poked his head in the room. Stanley was a bit worried about the regret and determination on his twins face. That was when he noticed ink on corner of the genius’s mouth.
“Poindexter, have you been chewin’ on a pen like a certain nephew of ours?” Ford raised his hand to his mouth, revealing more ink on his hand.
“Nephew? Rachel said her boy was gone.” Stan felt like cursing out his late sister-in-law for the stricken look on his father’s aged face.
“That little- Pops, he is fine. He’s married and has twins, Mabel and Mason, though Mason goes by Dipper most of the time. She was probably talking about her son, August, with her second husband. He died when he was real young, heart defect. She was ticked that I wouldn’t let her cut off the money payin’ for you to pay for a surgery that the doctors said the little guy wouldn’t even survive. She never forgave me for that.” Stan could see her grief stricken face in his mind.
“You are going to put the man that kicked your brother into the streets before he finished high school, let him stay there until he died, and then lied about it to his wife over little Gus? He treated all of you like trash and you are still going to help him and let my boy die! You are a monster Stanford. Pure and simple. Only a monster would pick a waste of space like Filbrick over a child!”
Stan shook the memory from his head, “She said you had lived your life and I had no right to cut her boy’s life short. Seein’ as how I was the one payin’ half his medical bills, I knew how bad off he was. ‘Sides, it was my money, not hers. Her husband took over makin’ sure you had a place to live after she tried to get ya kicked out. He understood. She passed a couple years ago.”
“Why? You put an old man who put you on the streets over a child. I don’t understand.”
“Pops, his heart had been bad since before he was born. He was always sick and what she wanted to do would have killed him. Even if he did live, he wouldn’t ‘ave lasted long. She wanted me ta kick ya out of your new life and onto the streets like ya did ta me. I at least had my legs and options, you didn’t.” Stan lost himself thinking about what had happened back then. “I took care of her ‘cause Shermy wanted me to, but she always wanted more. I paid for his funeral, her second wedding, helped pay for her house, I even covered most Gus’s medical costs, but she wanted the money I put aside for you to pay for something that would not of worked. If that makes me a monster, then fine. I am a monster.”
A cracking noise brought Stan’s focus back to his brother, who now had ink dripping from the broken pen in his fisted grip. There was pure fury on his face, but Stanley was not sure who it was aimed at. He did know that he needed to defuse that anger before Ford did something rash or damaged his still healing side.
“Sixer, calm down. I have seen that look before and it is the reason you’re here. Don’t go all feral on me.” If anything, his words seemed to rile Ford up even more.
“She is gone Stanford. She can’t make him feel like he is a monster anymore.” Stan was shocked to see some of the tension leave his twin’s posture.
“She had no right.” Ford’s words were nearly a growl.
“No she didn’t, but she is gone now. Lee’s safe.” With that said, the Author climbed onto the bed behind his brother and curled himself protectively around him.
Stan sat there in amazement as their father talked Ford down from enraged tiger to a grumpy tabby. He half expected to hear purrs from the figure curled around him. He second guessed himself when he thought he heard his twin snoring, but soon it was obvious that Ford was out cold.
“You two really did switch places. You used to be the protective one while he was the one people went after. I haven’t seen someone that close to berserker since Nicola from the russian platoon who stormed the camp…” Stan hadn’t thought about it before, but now he realized their father would likely understand what they had been through better than most people.
“Yeah. He came home a ball of fury, but the kids calmed him down. I had Shermy’s grandkids last summer in Ford’s house. When I got Ford back, they helped him a lot. He wouldn’t even talk to me really until I almost got myself killed saving the lot of them.” For the first time in his life that he could recall, his father smiled at him, a smile of pride.
“I’m glad you two got each other. I coulda’ used that kinda support when I got back. Your Ma tried, but a Brooklyn gal like her didn’t understand just how dark the world could be.” It was clear he still missed her even after what she did to him 20 or so years ago.
“Wanna see pictures? Mabel makes scrapbooks and she left a ton of them with us after the crash so we wouldn’t be lonely.” At his father’s nod, Stan tried to get up, but a whine and a curled up genius kept him locked in place.
“He isn’t gonna let ya move.” Stan was half convinced he dad was laughing at the pair of them.
“Naw, but at least he is asleep. He never grew out of no really sleeping.” For the first time since his childhood, Stanley Pines heard his father laugh.
Smiling, Stan let himself relax. He was safe, Ford too, and they had a father again. Things were looking up.
~/o\~
When Andrew finally decided he should check on the Pines, he found a sight he wasn’t expecting. The twins were curled up asleep on the same bed, Stanford draped protectively over this younger brother. Filbrick was asleep in his chair by the other bed, surrounded by photo albums and scrapbooks.
Smiling, the orderly took a picture of it all and texted it to Wendy Corduroy. It took a few minutes, but she responded. His smile grew at what she had to say.
WC - They must be learning. It used to take Mabel locking them in a get-along sweater for them to talk. Soos is getting the
parlor set up as another bedroom and will be making sure the place is wheelchair ready. He wants to meet his new Abuelo and
I doubt the dude will be going back to a care home after that.