Chapter Text
Cheers rang through the open summer sky as graduation caps were tossed in the air. Young adults were surrounded by their ecstatic families, congratulating on how proud they were of them, and how they knew they could.
Among the crowd was a twenty-one year old women, she had long brown hair and bright chestnut eyes that glittered in the sunlight as her parents and great uncles hugged her, and her friends continued to cheer, they were all so happy for the young brunette getting her degree and already having a good job lined up after. They couldn't be any prouder of Mabel Pines.
Not far off from the group, a young brunet man stood, he wore an old beat up blue and white baseball cap with a Pine Tree stitched in the front, his curly brown hair reached the nap of his neck and covered his forehead, and he had a light beard, but not a mustache. He wore a red flannel top with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, dark blue jeans, and black work boots. His pale fingers twirled around the cord around his neck, fiddling with the charms on the necklace.
His chestnut eyes watched over the group, but he paid more attention to the woman in the center of it all. He gave a small, but prideful smile at how far his twin has come, "Mabel!"
The young man turned and watched as a pretty blonde woman wormed her way through the crowd of people, her crystal blue eyes set on the brunette woman. "Pacifica, you made it!"
Mabel tore herself away from the group and ran up to the blonde woman, throwing her arms around her in a tight hug, which the other gladly returned. The two pulled away, still holding each other, "I thought your flight was delayed?"
"It was, but you should know that money can always get me a better flight, besides I didn't want your special guest to have third class treatment."
Just then a squeal could be heard. The two turned and saw a big potbelly pig waddle its way through the crowd of people. Causing the brunette woman to squeal in delight, "Waddles!"
Mabel dove down onto the ground and wrapped her arms around the pink pig and gave him a tight squeeze. "I've missed you so much!"
She then turned her blinding smile towards the blonde, "Thank you, Pacifica!"
Said blonde smiled and kneeled down next to the other, "It's no problem, besides I wouldn't be the best girlfriend if I didn't provide a surprise on her graduation day."
Mabel's smile widen as she wrapped her arms around the blonde again, "You really are the best girlfriend ever!"
Pacifica smiled, only for her lips to be covered by Mabel's, which she gladly returned the kiss. After a moment the two pulled apart, stood, and turned to face the group of friends and family that watched their reunion. The two women's eyes met as they let out a laugh, one being louder than the other, and joined the group of people before them, the potbelly pig following close behind.
Dipper gave a light chuckle at the sight before him, he continued to smile at the crowd of those he knew. He barely paid attention as the massive crowd of people began to thin, but he watched as the group began to gather up and talk about dinner plans, right about to leave the scene with an orange setting sun in the sky. He then let out a sigh as he watched as they turned their backs and began to walk away, Mabel and Pacifica hand in hand.
The brunet crossed his arms, only to feel a pair wrap around his shoulders, knowing who it was he leaned back against the body and rested his head on their shoulder, "Ready to come back Pine Tree?" The person behind him asked.
"Just a moment longer?"
"That's fine." Bill responded, leaning his head on top of Dipper's head. His visible golden eye watched as the Pines family walked away, he felt his heart clench, knowing that it must of hurt the one he loved to see. He's offered many times to return their memories, and let him go back for actual visits, but the brunet always refused, saying that it was better off this way.
The blond male sighed, but his eye caught Mabel holding hands with the rich blonde girl, a smile crept its way to his face, "My, my it looks like you and Shooting Star share a type."
Dipper's face burned a bright red as he turned towards the dream demon, "B-Bill!"
The golden haired demon chuckled, "I'm just saying Pine Tree, powerful blonds, even though I have magic and she has wealth, we have the ability to do what we want."
The brunet let out a groan and leaned his head on the human looking demon's chest, Bill ran his fingers over Dipper's head and leaned in for a quick peck on the top of his baseball cap. Dipper pulled away from the golden haired man and turned back towards the fading silhouettes of his family, another smile made its way to the pale man's face, his fingers lacing with Bill's.
Once the shadows faded from view the brunet turned towards the other man and said, "Let's go home."
The slightly taller dream demon gave a toothy grin as he and Dipper turned away from the setting sun, their interlocked fingers tightened as they started to walk, their surroundings morphed and changed, from the world's colors draining into monochrome, to a bright vibrant field, with lush green grass and rainbow flowers. Monstrous looking creatures flew across the sky, and small animals scurried in the tall grass.
The two males, still hand in hand, looked around the area, as if they were searching for something. "Do you see them?"
"No, but knowing them th-" Bill was cut off at the sound of giggling, causing the two men to smile.
"You can run, but you can't hide my little demons!" The blond shouted, releasing his hold on Pine Tree's hand to cup around his mouth.
"You know we'll find you!" Dipper added, taking some steps in the field.
The giggling intensified and the grass moved, coming from two different areas, but each one near one of the men. The blond and brunet turned to look at each other, grins marking their faces as they stepped further into the field. "Hmm, well then I guess we'll have to leave and- Aha!"
Both men dipped down in the grass and swooped their arms around squirming and squeal giggling creatures. The blond and the brunet each held a small child, giggling and wiggling in their grasp. Bill held up what seemed to be a girl with flowing curly dirty blond hair, bright orange eyes, sharp fangs, and dark tanned skin. She wore a bright orange sweater with black leggings and was barefooted.
Dipper held a boy with dark brown, almost black, wavy hair that covered one of his glowing hazel eyes, pointy ears, sharp claws, and pale skin with his face littered in freckles, he wore a blue short sleeve shirt that with a red long sleeve undershirt, dark blue jeans, and was also barefoot.
The two kids, who looked no more than 4 and 5, giggled with glee as they were held close by the two males. Bill and Dipper walked back towards each other, Bill was holding the squealing girl upside down, her legs kicking and hair dangling, as Dipper held the boy right side up against his chest, who was also giggling and swinging his legs about.
"Did you kids have fun?"
The kids continued to giggle, but the little girl replied, "Yeah! We played hide and seek, I found Shaun super quick, and we saw a bunch creatures too!"
"That's amazing Stella, maybe papa could record them in his journals," Bill said with childish enthusiasm as he then flipped Stella into the air, causing her to squeal, and caught her with ease.
"Bill you know how I feel about you throwing the kids like that," Dipper whined as he looked worriedly at the little giggling girl, his grip tightening on the little boy.
"Relax Pine Tree, I know what I'm doing," Bill grinned as he tossed the girl again, just in a more gentle way.
Dipper sighed as he adjusted Shaun better on his hip, who had rested his head against the brunet's shoulder with his eyes closed, and ran a hand through the boy's dark hair. He saw the sky cast red and orange colors across the sky, and turned towards the blond, "It's getting late Bill, we should head back and get these rascals in the bed. "
"Awe, but papa," Stella whined as Bill stopped tossing her in the air and placed her on his hip. "Now, now Stella, Papa is right. You guys need your sleep, don't want you to be tired for tomorrows trip."
The little girl grumbled as she rested her head on Bill's shoulder, "Okay daddy."
Bill smiled as he pressed his lips against the top of her head, "That's my girl." He turned towards Dipper with a smile, "You wanna do it Pine Tree?"
"Sure," Dipper replied as he felt an arm wrap around his waist and get pulled closer to the taller male, the brunet raised his free arm and snapped. The four vanished in a blink of an eye, only to reappear in a lavish hallway before a set of colorful doors that looked as if random colors of paint were splattered with no rhyme or reason.
Bill released his hold on the brunet and opened the door, revealing a large room with many toys scattered across a wooden floor, two twin sized beds, one in each corner, one with orange blankets and the other with red. The walls were a plethora of bright colors and had many crude drawings spread across the walls, there were dressers and desks against the walls, and a large bay window set in between the beds with dark blue curtains drawn back to show the darkening landscape.
The two men took the tired children and sat them on their respective beds, orange for Stella and red for Shaun. The two kids yawned as they watched Bill and Dipper dig in their drawers and pull out sleep clothes, they went back to kids and helped them dress into more comfortable clothes. Once that was out of the way, they tucked them in the bed and were about to bid them goodnight, till Shaun asked that one question all kids tend to ask right before bed, "Can we have a bedtime story?"
The two men looked at glanced at each other and nodded in agreement. "Sure kids, what would you like to hear?"
A light blush dusted the pale boy's face as he tried to avoid eye contact, "Well um...w-we were wondering if you...if you could-um..."
"Could you tell us about the day you found us!" Stella blurted out what her brother couldn't say.
Dipper and Bill stood wide eyed at the two, shocked that they knew. Dipper sighed as he and Bill walked over to the seats that sat in the middle of the room, "How did you guys find out?"
"I-I read your personal journal by mistake, I thought it was your magic studies book and-"
"It's okay Shaun, we understand. We were just hoping that we could explain it to you when you were older..." Dipper rubbed the back of his neck as kept glancing at the two kids.
"How much older?"
"Like your 1200th birthdays," Bill answered nonchalantly as he crossed his legs and wrapped his arm around Dipper's waist.
Dipper sighed, "But since you found out we might as well tell you, you do have a right to know."
Taking a deep breath the brunet began, "We found you both in the Mindscape at different times...Stella, I found you when I went to check a strange magic surge near a summoning sight. And there you were wrapped up in what looked to be a cult robe, you were just there asleep. I couldn't find anyone around, no magic raiding, or life sources. I couldn't leave you there alone, so I brought you home. Your father did a search with your DNA for anyone who could've been your parents, but he didn't find anything, but what we did learn was that you're half human. And we didn't want anyone to ever get you, so we brought you in." The brunet gave a small chuckle before continuing, "Great timing, in fact, me and your dad was just starting to talk about trying to start a family." Dipper stopped laughing as he looked at the little girl, "And we named you Stella because whenever you smiled, it was like you were our little star."
"What about me?"
The blond and brunet man turned towards their son who wore an anxious look, Bill gave Shaun a small smile as he answered his question, "You see, me and your papa went on a stroll through the mindscape during some of our downtime, your uncle KeyHole was babysitting Stella when we heard crying. We followed it to you, you were so scared and scratched up, we brought you home straight away. We healed up your injuries and I did the same thing with you like I did Stella, it was the same, half human, but no leads. So we brought you in, happy to make it four, and Stella was just so ecstatic to have a baby brother. You were like a gift, as Pine Tree would say, and that's where you got your name."
The two half demon children remained quiet for a moment only for Stella to ask a heartbreaking question, "Is there something wrong with us? Is that why they left us?"
Chestnut and golden eyes widen at the question, Dipper jolted out of his seat, picked up his youngest out of the bed and held him tightly as he made his way over to Stella's bed, using his other arm to pull her in his lap and wrap her in a hug, "No, no. Of course not, don't ever think that what happened was ever your fault."
"The only ones at fault are the idiots who left you," Bill added bluntly, causing the brunet and two small children to look over at him. The dream demon stood up and walked over to the trio, taking a seat next Dipper, where he reached over and slid the small boy into his lap, raking is fingers through his dark hair.
"You see kids, the universe is a cruel place full of many cruel, selfish, and greedy beings. I am an all powerful being, and yet I still don't understand why. However, we wouldn't have you kids if beings like them didn't exist." He turned towards the brunet sitting next to him, pulling him, along with Stella, closer.
"And you're both the best thing that's ever happened to us."
"Really?" Shaun sniffled as he looked up at both of his dads with watery eyes.
A smile graced the brunet's face as he pulled the others on the bed even closer, "One-hundred percent."
The small blonde gave a small smile as she clung to the brunet man, "I love you."
"We love you, kids, too." He whispered as he ran his fingers through her curly hair.
The family of four stayed in the comfortable quiet, only for the room to be filled with hushed snores from the two small children. Dipper smiled as he continued to run his fingers through their hair, only for Bill to grab his attention from the corner of his eye.
Looking over, he saw the blond motioning his head towards the door, sighing, Dipper gently moved Stella out of his lap and onto the bed, Bill doing the same with Shaun, and tucked them in with their soft blankets.
With a smile, Dipper leaned down and planted a kiss on each of their heads before whispering, "Goodnight."
Bill gave the kids a warm smile as he patted their heads before leaving the room with the brunet.
The once mortal sighed, "Think they'll be too exhausted for our trip tomorrow?"
"Don't underestimate their energy Pine Tree, even as half demons they're gonna wake us up before we get a snowballs chance to get them up, especially at their age," Bill chuckled as he brought Dipper closer to his person.
The brunet gave a quick laugh, "Yeah."
The two continued their walk down the hall in silence as they came up into their bedroom door. It wasn't the same room where Dipper began his stay in, nor was it Bill's old room, it was a room the two decided on to try and be closer with the kids if they needed something, and it wasn't too far from the library, much to Dipper's delight.
They entered their room, where Flynn, who was now the size of a full grown golden lab, layer curled up at the end of the bed, his ears twitched as the two men entered the room and dressed in comfortable sleep clothes and got ready for bed.
Dipper returned from the master bathroom that was connected in their room with a yawn, he slipped himself in the bed with Bill next to him.
"Hey Pine Tree?"
Dipper hummed in response as he looked over the blond, "Are we ever gonna tell them the truth about their parents?"
Dipper sighed as he stared at Bill. "I don't know. It was hard enough on them knowing that they were practically abandoned, but adding on about the fact that Stella was born because of a cult and demon summoning, and then her parents were killed by the same cult, and Shaun was almost killed by his parents...I hate keeping things from them, but this, they don't need this knowledge haunting them."
Bill nodded at the man but pulled him close when he saw that Dipper's hands were clenched into fists and was shaking. "It's gonna be alright Dipper, we're their parents now, not them. Besides, if anyone tries anything to hurt them, I'll disassemble their bodies into dust."
Chestnut eyes looked over and met gold, a small smile graced his tired features, "Thanks, Bill." He then leaned against the tanned demon, letting out a yawn as his eyes closed
The dream demon smiled at his love as he pressed a kiss on top of his head, "Goodnight."
Dipper let out another yawn as he attempted to say, "Night'." Causing the blond to smile, which widened when the brunet tiredly leaned up and planted a kiss on his tanned cheek. Bill laid down in the bed, bringing his love down with him, and kept Dipper resting on his chest who quickly fell asleep. Bill's eyes stayed open for a while after, his fingers running through Dipper's curly hair, as he listened to the once mortal's even breathing and kept him pulled close. His eyes soon fluttered closed to the sound of his love's heartbeat, lulling him to a peaceful sleep.
After all this time, of pain and sadness, he genuinely felt happy. He'd returned the colors to the dimension, and actually started to act like himself again, well a little less mad and bloodthirsty but still his old charming self. He stopped dimensional takeovers because he had no reason to now, he was a happy father with the love of his life, his partner for life.
If only he could see the twinkling stars in the night sky as if they shone brighter when Bill admitted to himself that he was happy.
Now one might say that the dream demon and his immortal partner's adventure has come to an end, but when you can live for an eternity and now have demon children to raise, well there will always be more adventures to come.