By the time they arrived at the hospital Mabel was fast asleep, completely exhausted. They had to take her back to get stabilized, and while Stan of course didn't want to leave her side for a second, he knew that she would be alright, which made it easier for him to cooperate. He had other members of his family he had to speak to anyway.

When Ford, Dipper, and Janice arrived they were in tears and deeply panicked, none more so than poor Dipper.

"Oh Stan it's all my fault! It….It was my stupid idea to go with Janice! Mabel and I just didn't know what else to do! We didn't want Janice to send you and Ford to prison, so we said we would go…..I thought Mabel would be ok, I was gonna take care of her….She wanted so bad to be strong but-" Dipper was sobbing so hard he couldn't even finish.

Stan pulled his son into a tight embrace as he rubbed the boy's back he and Janice exchanged guilty looks. They disagreed on so many things, but neither of them wanted to scare the kids so badly. They never meant for the kids to overhear them, but they weren't shocked considering how intense the argument was.

"It's okay bud, it's okay, Mabel's gonna be just fine….Everything will be just fine," Stan soothed.

"Yes, Ma-Dipper, Stan's right, everything will be fine," Janice agreed as she laid a hand on the boy's back. Dipper looked up at her as if seeing her humanity for the first time in his life.

Dipper tried to stop crying, but the emotion was just too strong. He clung tighter to Stan as he continued to sob. He finally caught his breath enough to speak.

"I…I know that you think Stan and Ford aren't good guardians and that me and Mabel aren't safe here, and this place can be crazy and unpredictable and even dangerous, but….but to Mabel and I….It's the closest thing to a home we've got, and….and I can't lose that," he whispered.

Janice looked at the boy and the two old men attempting to comfort him, and it finally hit her that while these old men were very different from her, their love for these kids ran deep, deep enough to give them the skills they would need to raise happy, healthy, and stable children. A love deep enough to work through the trauma they had endured.

Janice loved Dipper and Mabel deeply too, even if she had unorthodox means of showing it, she loved them enough to do the one thing she hated more than anything in the world. Admitting she was wrong.

"I'm sorry I tried to take that from you Dipper…you and Mabel have lost enough, and….well my home in Portland has a lot of priceless and breakable antiques, but that old shack, heck everything in there is cheap junk," Janice may know she was wrong, but that didn't mean she couldn't admit it in her own way.

Stan and Ford shot her annoyed glances until she spoke again, "it would probably be a wise investment to the whole family to have you and Mabel live in a place where you don't have to worry about constantly keeping the place clean, and not touching anything, so I guess despite my initial judgment a stuffy old shack is the most appropriate home for you two,"

It took a moment underneath her….creative….speech for Dipper, Stan, and Ford to realize what she meant.

"You mean we can stay in Gravity Falls with Stan and Ford?" he inasked hopefully.

Janice could only manage a nod before Dipper ran and embraced her like he never had before.

Janice smiled at the affection, she may be giving up the chance to be Dipper and Mabel's guardian, but in turn she finally earned their love.

She returned the hug and in typical Janice fashion instantly tried to play it off.

"You have no idea what this means to us Janice, thank you," Ford was shaking with joy and relief as he shook the woman's hand.

"Yes….well I think it's time I get back to Portland, now once Mabel is feeling better I expect all of you to come visit, just be sure to give me a few days notice so I can prepare myself,"

"Don't you want to stay and say goodbye to Mabel?" Dipper asked.

Her eyes misted as she tried shrugging it off, "I think the poor dear needs her rest now, I promise to call and check on her tomorrow," she began hurrying to the door to hide the fact that tears were building in her eyes. The truth was she just couldn't bear to see Mabel right now considering what Janice knew deep down she had done to her.

"Hey Janice," Stan called to her.

She turned around and stared at him.

"Look you may be a stuck up know-it-all," Stan started, Janice rolled her eyes.

"But like it or not you are technically a part of this here family, so….ya know if you are in the area…."

"I promise to visit," Janice said. She then gave Stan and Ford a look, but unlike all the other looks she gave them this one was filled with love, compassion and concern. It was a look that said to take care of Dipper and Mabel.

Stan and Ford gave her their own silent looks to ensure that they would.

And just as quickly as she had blown into their lives, she was gone.

At that moment the doctor walked out, it was the same doctor who had cared for Mabel and the Pines family during the fire. At least this time she could prepare for the bombardment.

"How's she doing doc?" Stan asked.

"She's really gonna be ok?" Dipper nervously inquired.

"Yes, we want to keep her overnight just to observe her, but as long as you promise to continue counseling with her she will be fine to go home in the morning,"

Stan and Ford nodded ensuring that they would do whatever it took for Mabel to continue healing.

The doctor smiled, "the poor thing is still so wound up from this evening, we tried to give her a small dosage of sleep medicine to calm her down, but she keeps asking for her daddies and her best friend,"

The three men managed to smile at each other wanting nothing more than to see their sweet Mabel.

When they got to her room they found her half asleep, but still whimpering and whispering.

"Dipper? Daddies? Don't wanna leave…..Please don't send me away," she moaned with her eyes still shut as she thrashed in her bed.

Stan went over and stroked her hair, while Ford grabbed her hand, and Dipper laid his head on his sister's chest, so thankful to hear her heartbeat.

"shh shh it's okay pumpkin, we're all here now," Stan soothed.

"That's right Mabel we aren't going anywhere," Ford assured.

"And you and I aren't going anywhere Mabel, Janice is gone, we're staying here with Stan and Ford," Dipper whispered.

Mabel's eyes cracked open as she looked at the blurry but loving faces of her family.

"I'm so sorry….I'm a coward," Mabel whispered in an understandable, but not entirely coherent voice.

"No baby, shhh" Stan whispered.

"Mabel you're the bravest person I know," Dipper assured.

"You've had a long night sweetheart, try to get some sleep, we are all right here, we are staying right here all night, we'll all talk about this tomorrow Mabel, as a family, because that's what we are," Ford said. He was amazed at how wonderful it sounded to honestly assure that the four of them were a family, after so many things had tried to take that away from them.

Mabel smiled at this too, and even though she had medicine to help her rest, she knew that from now on all of her real peace would come from being a part of this wonderful family.