Mabel plodded down the stairs, still half asleep, looking at the world through bleary eyes. How late had she been up last night? She'd been studying and taking notes on the Journal, she remembered that. She ran her tongue around her lips and winced when she tasted something nasty lingering there. Pen ink. She'd forgotten that she burst another pen last night.

"Mabel, you're taking forever! Just walk down the stairs!" Dipper leaned impatiently against the banister. He was all ready for the day, wearing his favorite t-shirt with the star on it over a yellow sweatshirt and his neon-blue converse with the dark green stripes (one of the many pairs of shoes in his collection).

Mabel, on the other hand, had bothered to pull on her pine tree shirt and some jeans; but her hair was a mess, and, as the ink taste in her mouth indicated, she hadn't brushed her teeth. "Does Ford have breakfast?" she asked around a yawn.

"Yeah — but if you move any slower, I bet it'll be cold by the time we get there! C'mon!"

"You don't have to wait for me, Dipper."

"I'm being nice."

"No, you're being annoying. Go on ahead, for goodness' sake."

As soon as Mabel gave the word, Dipper was gone, running for the kitchen and the smell of hot pancakes.

It took Mabel a little longer to catch up, as she ambled down the stairs and through the entry way. She entered the kitchen with a loud, unceremonious yawn. Melody looked up from the stove and smiled. "Well, look who's up."

"She took forever to get down here," Dipper said, holding a loaded fork halfway to his mouth.

Ford sipped from a mug and adjusted his newspaper.

"That's okay, Dipper, your sister is just a sleepyhead this morning," Melody said cheerfully. "Want a pancake, Mabel?"

"Sure," Mabel said, stifling another yawn. She grabbed a plate off the table and glanced at Ford as she passed him. He didn't seem to notice her.

"How come you're so tired, do you think?" Melody asked as she slid a pancake onto Mabel's plate. Her cheerful voice sounded good compared to Dipper's more whiny one.

"Um, I was up reading," Mabel replied with another glance at Ford. Well, it wasn't a lie. Ford probably wasn't paying attention, anyway.

Mabel sat down between Ford and Dipper, although she'd moved her seat closer to Dipper without thinking about it. Melody flipped another pancake and used the motion to jab her elbow into Ford's arm. "Say good morning to the kids, Stanford."

Ford grunted and turned a page in his newspaper. "Good morning."

"Morning, Ford!" said Dipper, his mouth full of pancake. Mabel could bet he had already said that at least once already. She muttered back her own greeting while drowning her pancake in syrup.

"Well, half of us are happy this morning, right Dip?"

"Right!" Dipper spewed chewed-up pancake as he spoke. A piece landed in Mabel's syrup puddle and joined its kin in their misery. Mabel wrinkled her nose and fished it out and flicked it onto the tablecloth, where it bounced once like a wet fish and lay still.

"You know, Mabel, I was going to suggest that we have a syrup war; but after smothering your poor food in it, I don't think you could take any more of the stuff," Dipper commented.

Mabel glanced at his mountain of whipped cream, swirled and perfect on top of his plate. Just because Dipper took time to make art out of his food didn't mean it was healthier than hers. She decided a grunt worked in lieu of a response.

Breakfast continued silently, save for the clattering of silverware and the sound of Dipper slurping his orange juice. Even Mabel could feel the awkwardness of sitting with three other people and not talking to them, but she didn't want to say anything.

"I have an idea," Melody announced. "Family Fun Day! The four of us, all having fun together. How does that sound?"

"Awesome!" said Dipper, punching a fist into the air. Mabel wondered if he knew there was such thing as being too enthusiastic, especially at this time of the morning.

"What do you think, Ford?" Melody continued.

Ford adjusted his newspaper. "I assume you're counting yourself as part of the family," he said without looking up.

"Absolutely. I'm your nanny, aren't I?" Melody said this with a straight face before turning and winking at the kids.

Ford put his newspaper down on the table. Mabel noticed for the first time that he didn't have a plate in front of him. "You're not my nanny, Melody," he said with a trace of exasperation in his voice, "and we're all too busy today for a 'Family Fun Day.'"

"Not if you close the Museum for the day," Melody replied. "Come on, Ford, the kids could use some bonding time with their grunkle. That is why they're here, after all."

"Since when do you use the word 'grunkle'?"

"Since it's a good word." Melody nudged Dipper and looked furtively at Mabel. "Give him your best puppy-dog eyes," she whispered.

Dipper grinned, and Mabel suppressed a groan. She didn't want a Family Fun Day; she wanted sleep.

She pushed her pancake around with her fork, trying to ignore the scene around her. Dipper had fixed his puppy-dog eyes on his great uncle, which Ford was trying to ignore. He reached for his newspaper to shield himself from the boy's gaze.

Mabel wasn't sure why she did it. Not before, not during, not after. She dropped her fork and snatched out at Ford's newspaper, grabbing it and throwing it to the floor before he could get to it.

Ford looked up at Mabel in shock. "Now what was that for, young lady?" he demanded.

Mabel felt her cheeks heat up as she met her grunkle's eyes. At first, she thought it was embarrassment; but the longer she held Ford's accusing gaze, the more she realized it was actually anger. "Don't just ignore us!" she snapped, surprising herself. "We're here trying to talk to you like actual people, a-and you're more interested in — in a stupid newspaper and running your business than spending time with your family, or even talking to us! I-it's a wonder you're even at the table with us instead of sitting in your lab running — fake experiments!"

Silence blanketed the table, muffling the creak of Melody's chair as she leaned forward.

Ford's rough features hardened further. "Now, you listen here—"

"She's right."

Melody's soft statement cut through Ford's voice, and he stopped. "Excuse me?"

Melody opened her mouth to give a calm reply, but Dipper superseded her. "Yeah! We wanna spend time with you, Grunkle Ford, not dust off old displays and rip off tourists! Can't you just pay attention to us for a while? Take a day to bond with us?" Luckily, he was more indignant and pleading, rather than angry like his twin.

Ford stood up, his chair scraping as he pushed it back. "My responsibilities as your caretaker don't involve closing my shop to go goofing off!"

Mabel stood too, although it didn't give her the same height advantage that Ford had. "And if our parents were here, would they agree with you?" she retorted.

Ford was quiet.

Melody let out a little laugh. "She's got you there, Ford. Come on, the kids just want to spend time with you. All they've gotten to see so far is your grumpy side; and, in case you hadn't noticed, that's not the best side of you." She punctuated that last remark with a wink to diffuse some of the tension.

Nobody could diffuse tension like Melody. Mabel's expression softened, and Ford looked defeated. Dipper had his hands braced on the table and was half sitting, half standing in expectation.

Ford took a deep breath and opened his mouth.

"Mr. Pines? Mr. Pines!" Robbie suddenly stuck his head in around the corner. "Hey, Mr. Pines. I let myself in. Morning, kids."

"Hey, Robbie!" said Dipper, but he did take his eyes off Ford.

"So, when were you planning on opening the Museum?" Robbie asked his employer.

Ford looked from Robbie to Melody to Dipper to Mabel. Then he sighed. "The Museum is closed today," he told Robbie. "And Melody's my chaperone. You can head home."

Robbie grinned. "Sweet! See you all tomorrow, then!" He gave them a smooth wave and left.

Dipper broke the silence first, as expected. "Thanks, Grunkle Ford! We're going to have so much fun! What do you think we should do? We could go to the arcade, or have a scavenger hunt at the store, or build snowmen, or — ooh! Go ice skating!"

Melody snapped her fingers. "That's the one. The Gravity Rises Lake is completely frozen over this time of year."

"It's been years since we've been ice skating! Remember, Mabes, how we went when we were little and we kept falling over? We must've been so cute!"

Mabel wasn't paying attention to her brother. She gave Ford a small smile. "Thanks, Grunkle Ford," she said softly. Her face heated up a bit, now from embarrassment about her outburst.

Then she yawned.

Ford blinked down at her, probably startled from the force of her yawn. It sounded like a distant horn blast proclaiming war. "Maybe, before we go," he said, "you should get some more sleep."

Mabel's shy smile grew a bit bigger. "Yeah, probably."

"Aw, come on. Does that mean I have to wait?" Dipper asked.

Melody nudged his arm. "Don't worry, Dip; we can keep ourselves occupied while Mabel catches up on her sleep."

"Okay!" Dipper said, his grin returning. It faded just as quickly as he looked from Mabel down to her plate and back up at her. "Um, Mabes?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you going to finish your pancake before you go back to bed, or should I put it out of its misery?"