Hello! I'm back with another Mabel/Ford bonding fic, also posted on my Tumblr.

Thank you all for the kind words on my last fic. It gave me the motivation to write and post more. :D

Okay enough of me rambling!

It was a quiet day at the Mystery Shack. And quiet wasn't normal for the Pines family.

Stan and Dipper had gone out to run some errands. That left Ford and Mabel alone at the shack. His niece was suspiciously quiet. Having nothing else to do, Ford decided to go quickly check up on her to make sure she wasn't doing anything irresponsible.

As he walked down the halls, Mabel was nowhere to be seen. However, as he approached the kitchen, the sounds of feet moving about and clanging noises became louder. He entered, and was met with the sight of flour coating the entire kitchen table and counters.

Mabel hadn't noticed that he had walked in, so he cleared his throat. Her head snapped up immediately. "Grunkle Ford!" She squeaked.

"What's going on in here?"

Mabel looked down at her feet. "Weeeeeeeeell, I wanted it to be a surprise for you." She looked up at him and beamed. "I'm making cupcakes! For you, because you've been gone for so long. I'll bet whatever dimension you were in didn't have Mabel's Scrumptious Cupcakes!"

Ford smiled. "No, they didn't. This is wonderful, but really Mabel, you didn't have to go to all this trouble."

"Yes I did!" The girl quickly rushed forward and wrapped her arms around her uncle's waist. "I felt sad for you. You probably missed home a lot when you were trapped in the portal. So Mabel's here to help make up for some of it!"

Ford chuckled and patted her head. "Well then, can I be of any assistance?"

Mabel released him from her hug and beamed. "Sure!" She grabbed his hand and together they walked over to where she had all the ingredients and materials ready. "I was just about to start mixing everything up."

While Mabel creamed the butter and sugar, Ford dealt with the eggs. After a few unsuccessful attempts, he managed to crack them, and placed them in the bowl Mabel was currently mixing in. They then added the flour, milk and vanilla. It was a messy process, both of them being covered in flour by the end.

"Okay, batter's done! Now we just need to bake them!" Mabel retrieved the cupcake tray. She took out some colourful liners, handing half of them to Ford. "Race you!"

Ford grinned. "You're on!"

Most of the liners went anywhere but the tin. "I think we probably should do this normally." Ford said, shaking his head fondly.

Soon enough, the liners were in place and Ford helped Mabel scoop equal amounts of batter into each liner. "These are going to be the best cupcakes ever!" She exclaimed while flourishing her hands. However, the small girl had forgotten that she was holding a batter covered spatula in her hand, and a glob of batter was sent flying towards her uncle's face, landing with a splat on his glasses.

"Oh my gosh, Grunkle Ford! I'm so sorry!" Mabel sent an apologetic glance towards him, but was trying her best to supress her giggles.

Ford took off his glasses. "No need to worry, dear. I've experienced much worse." He grimaced slightly. "Much worse." He scooped a little batter off and tasted it. "Mmmm, these are quite good!"

Mabel grinned. "Grunkle Ford, I thought you're not supposed to eat raw batter!"

Ford wiped his glasses. "Ah well, couldn't help myself." Placing his glasses on, he gently tweaked Mabel's nose. "But if I get salmonella, you're taking care of me."

Mabel scooped a little batter off the spatula and stuck it in her own mouth. "Yummmm. Now we can have salmonella together!"

Ford laughed. "Okay, let's get these in the oven." He took a quick look around the kitchen. "And we should probably clean this up. Stan's going to kill us otherwise."

About 20 minutes later, the kitchen was sparkly clean and the cupcakes were ready. Mabel held up two bags of icing. "Okay, time to decorate!"

"Mabel, trust me, I can't decorate."

Mabel held up a finger to silence him. "Nonsense! You are very artistic. And you can't eat a cupcake without decorating it first! That's illegal!" Mabel put on her best puppy dog expression. "Please? For me?"

Ford hesitated. He knew he was bound to screw it up, but there was no way he could refuse his niece. Especially now that she was giving him the puppy dog face. He sighed. "Alright, I'll give it a try."

"Yay!" She handed him a tube of icing.

"Okay, how exactly do I open this…" He accidentally pressed down too hard, and a bunch of icing burst out, all over the table and a little bit on his niece as well.

Mabel blinked, trying to process what had just occurred, before bursting out into laughter.

Ford quickly set the tube down. "Mabel, I am so sorry, I—"

Mabel attempted to wipe the sweet substance off of her sweater. "Don't worry, Grunkle Ford! It was pretty funny!"

Ford stared at her. "There's…some in your hair."

Mabel lifted a hand towards her hair and sure enough, she felt some stickiness. "It's okay! I mean, I did splat you in the face with batter!" Mabel sent a reassuring smile in his direction. "Don't worry! I've done worse!"

Ford shrugged. "If you say so. But I think it'd better if you did the decorating."

Mabel pouted. "Aw, Grunkle Ford! But I want you to help me! It doesn't matter if they don't look perfect, all that matters is that they taste perfect." Mabel grabbed her uncle's hand. "And you've tasted the batter already! They're perfect, aren't they?"

Ford couldn't help but smile. "That they are." He sighed. "Alright, I'll do my best."

Mabel pumped a fist in the air. "Yes!"

After a couple of cupcakes, Ford had gotten the hang of it. Decorating took longer than it should have, because Mabel kept on trying to sneak some icing and sprinkles in her mouth when Ford wasn't watching her. The two had a good time, making different patterns and designs on each cupcake.

After all the cupcakes were decorated, Mabel stood back and admired their work. It was far from professional, however in her eyes, it was near perfection. She got her Grunkle to bake with her, and that was more than enough.

Ford wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "I think they turned out well."

"Yep!" Mabel snuggled into his hold. "Thanks for baking with me."

"Anytime, my dear." He chuckled. "But I think we should clean ourselves up."

"I dunno, I kind of like this look." Mabel grinned as Ford scooped her up and exited the kitchen. "I feel like a real baker."

"Not me. I feel like a walking bag of flour."

Mabel began to laugh. "You look like one too!" She looked down at her sweater and grinned. "We both do."

Mabel's laughter was infectious and Ford soon found himself laughing along as well.

And so the Mystery Shack was filled with the warm smell of vanilla cupcakes and the happy sounds of laughter floating through the halls.