Ok, I'm going to skip the giant paragraph excusing why I haven't been back in a while. I'm going to assume you just want to read an update to "I'll Be Home for Christmas." Christmas is coming once again, so what better time than now? Well, aside from two years ago maybe.

Also, some of the content of this chapter was inspired by the reviews of two readers: TBR0 and abandonedaccount278490376807 (insert smiling devil emoji here).

Dipper's POV

As I watched the snowflakes drift to the ground outside our moving car, the questions burning inside of my head could've brought on an early summer. My parents hadn't said a word since we had gotten into the car and I wasn't sure if that was on purpose or not. Mabel, Soos, Wendy and I hadn't spoken either, but I think that was more because none of us knew what to say. We didn't know the purpose for the sudden car trip and all my parents had said when we had asked was they "couldn't say."

Even though we had only been driving for about five minutes, it felt more like a year. I had lost count of how many snowflakes had gently collided with my window and instead was focusing my eyes on the design of one near the bottom left corner. Despite all of the amazing things I had seen in Gravity Falls, it somehow still stunned me how intricately designed each and every snowflake was.

A sudden buzzing feeling in my pocket nearly made me jump out of my seat. I hadn't realized how lost in thought I had become. After taking a quick look around the car to see if anyone had noticed, I dug my cellphone out. I smiled slightly, expecting a joking text from Wendy, but what I read nearly made my heart jump into my throat.

The text was from Mabel and it said: Dipper… do you think Mom and Dad are getting a divorce?

It took me a second to process what I had just read. When I finally did, my fingers slammed on the keys in a quick reply.

What?! What makes you think that?!

It was less than five seconds before I received an answer. Mabel must have known what I was going to say.

Think about it. They've been doing a lot of paperwork, getting a bunch of calls and they won't tell us the reason for any of it! Now they're driving us somewhere and they won't tell us where we're going?

I was still a bit skeptical, but my heartbeat was increasing as I texted back.

Why would driving us somewhere mean they're getting a divorce?

There was no reply for a few minutes. I looked at Mabel out of the corner of my eye. She was sitting in the seat next to Wendy, who was in the middle between the two of us. From my angle I couldn't see if she was typing or not, but she was still looking down and there was a bit of a glow illuminating part of her face. I was seriously beginning to wonder if the snow was messing with my cellphone connection, when I finally saw a new speech bubble pop up.

I heard something a while ago.

I swore my heart had been competing in a gymnastics meet for the past few minutes. If that was the case, it was going for the gold medal as I typed: What do you mean?

Another instant reply. I heard something Mom said on one of the phone calls when I was walking by her room.

What did she say?

Once again, I was left waiting for a bit while the suspense threatened to strangle me. My shaking hands were gripping my phone so hard that I was left wondering where that strength had been when I was taking on that Man Handle back at the diner all that time ago. I was about to text her the question again when the response finally appeared. I took a deep breath before reading it.

She was talking to a real estate agent about a house on speaker phone. They said it would be ready soon and they asked, "and Mr. Pines will be the only one living there?" and Mom said yes.

Now it was my turn to not reply. I leaned back in my seat, facing the window so no one would see the terror on my face. I tugged my knees up to my chest, both to stop my legs from shaking and so I could have something to hug. I thought more about all the paperwork and phone calls. I wasn't an expert on divorce, but I knew it required a lot of paperwork and talking with a lawyer. And now my sister was telling me that our mom was talking about a new house for only one of us?

I took another deep breath and typed once more. How long has it been since you heard that?

Almost three days ago.

Why didn't you tell me sooner?

I didn't know if I was right… and I was too scared to find out if I was.

Why tell me now then?

I couldn't hold in it anymore.

"Dipper, Mabel!"

We both jumped. Neither of us had realized that the car had stopped and our parents had been trying to get our attention. I looked around the car and noticed all eyes were on the two of us.

"You dudes ok?" Soos asked from the very back seat.

I took a quick look at Mabel. Her face looked as pale as the Ma and Pa ghosts' from the Dusk2Dawn. I assumed my face looked the same way.

"Yeah, we're fine." I quickly said, not wanting to give away our conversation. My voice must have cracked one too many times because my parents still looked concerned.

I decided to change the subject. "Where are we?"

My parents exchanged a glance. With as many times as they were doing that recently, I was convinced they could read each other's minds.

My dad spoke up first. "Kids, there's something your mom and I need to tell you." My stomach dropped. "There's something the two of us have been working on for a while now that we've kept from you guys, but now that it's ready, we can tell you what it is."

Before any of us could respond, Mabel leaped from her seat— nearly hitting her head on the roof of the car— and threw her arms around our parents. "PLEASE DON'T GET A DIVORCE!" she screamed.

Now our parents looked like ghosts. They took a quick look at me. I guess my face confirmed Mabel's thoughts because they turned back to her.

"Sweetie, what are you talking about?" Mom asked, hugging my sister. Dad tried to help calm her down by stroking her hair; something he often did when she was sad or scared. While this was happening my hand located the nearest object it could and held it in an attempt to calm myself down. I didn't look at what it was; I just held on. For some reason it gave me a small bit of comfort.

It took Mabel some time and a whole mess of deep breaths before she could answer— or in her case, blubber. "I-I h-heard M-mom…" She took a minute to breathe again. "I heard Mom t-talking to s-someone ab-bout Dad m-move…" Another deep breath. "M-moving a-away."

Mabel began to cry again, burying her face into our mom's shoulder. Everyone— including Soos and Wendy— was deathly silent. I took a quick glance at them. Soos had a look on his face as though his favorite soap opera had just revealed a huge twist and Wendy just looked sad. I noticed one of her hands was resting on my sister's shoulder.

After one last look at my still sobbing sister, I took a deep breath, gave the object I was still holding another squeeze, and helped my sister along.

"We've seen all of the paperwork you've been doing and know about all the phone calls," I said. "Then Mabel hears Dad is going to be living alone? Why won't you guys tell us what's going on?" My words came out in a much more heated tone than I had planned. I hadn't realized I was angry with them.

There was another uncomfortable silence— with my eyes continuously turning back and forth between my parents like I was watching a tennis match— before my mom finally spoke up.

"We're sorry sweethearts," she said as my dad nodded in agreement. "We never meant to scare you two; we just wanted to surprise you. I guess it did look a little strange, but we never wanted you to think we were splitting up."

Mabel finally looked up at our mom, wiping her eyes in the process. I loosened my grip a bit on whatever I was holding, somewhat surprised I hadn't crushed it by now.

My dad kissed the top of Mabel's head and tousled my hair. "We were being secretive— and for that we apologize— but I promise you two, we are not getting a divorce," he said, his eyes the softest I'd ever seen them. My mom nodded in agreement this time.

Mabel and I both let out a sigh of relief. I thought I heard Soos and Wendy do so too as we both simultaneously fell back into our seats.

"So what have you been keeping from them then?" I heard Wendy ask.

My parents looked a tiny bit stunned that she had dared to ask about something she wasn't a part of, but it was only for a split second because, hey, someone had to ask. Wendy always took the opportunity to look out for us after all.

Dad spoke up once again and I could tell he was trying to hide a smile. "Dipper, Mabel, your mother and I have noticed how much you two love it in Gravity Falls. We know how much you wanted to come back since last summer."

I stayed quiet, not sure where he was going with this but certainly not objecting to what he said.

"Remember how we sent you guys here last summer because we thought you could use some fresh air?" he continued.

We nodded in response.

"Well, that wasn't the only reason we did."

Mabel and I peeked at each other out of the corners of our eyes. My mom took over speaking for my dad. Neither bothered to hide their smiles this time, making me wonder if I should be excited or nervous.

"The reason we've been doing so much paperwork is because your father's job asked him to transfer to a different location last May, so we've been trying to find a new house."

"We're moving?!" I heard Mabel exclaim. I was unsure of how she felt about the news— mostly because I couldn't decide on my own feelings— but I didn't look at her to find out. I couldn't take my eyes off of my parents.

My dad nodded then turned to look at Mabel. "Sweetie, the reason you heard I was moving was because I have to move into our new home by January so I can start work at the new location. You guys won't be joining me until next summer so you and Dipper can finish middle school at home and so your mom has some more time to look for a new job."

Even though I knew my parents weren't getting a divorce I still felt a weight lift off my shoulders at the explanation for my dad's departure.

"But wait," I said. "What does this have to do with the summer we spent here?"

My mom and dad shared one last look— seriously, could they read each other's minds? — before turning back to us with big smiles.

"Let's just say," my dad said. "We wanted you two to scope out the town before we moved."

My mouth fell open. I'm sure Mabel's did too. "Are you saying…"

Our mom's smile grew as she nodded. "Kids, take a look at our new home!"

My dad turned on the headlights of our car, which I hadn't even realized had been shut off. Their glow revealed a beautiful two-story house made of dark wood that looked like it had just been freshly polished. It was decorated with windows of all sizes, a large front porch (something I remembered my mom always wanting) a back deck, a few balconies, and there was plenty of room in the yard to run around in a similar way to the Mystery Shack. The woods surrounded the area— perfect for adventurers like us, more specifically me— and powdery snow was already covering the roofs which made it the entire house look even more amazing. I felt my heart, as well as the rest of my insides, leap with pure joy. Guess they won that gold medal after all.

I quickly took turns looking between Mabel, Soos, and Wendy. Each one of them looked just as— if not, more— excited as I was. Mabel let out a scream of joy— the type she often only reserved for her time with Candy and Grenda— before leaping from the car and running towards our new home. Soos followed close behind, my parents joining them in a much slower fashion.

I was about to sprint along with my sister, but before I did I finally took a look at the object I had been holding on to during the emotional roller coaster we had all just ridden.

Wendy's hand.

Both our knuckles were changing from white to red as our blood circulation returned to them and her fingers were laced with my own. She squeezed my hand when she noticed me staring at them. I looked up at her, my face surely a tomato red, sweaty mess, but she gave me her signature mischievous grin before she pulled my hat down over my eyes and jumped out of the car to join the others, laughing all the way in a combination of joy and excitement. I was most likely imagining things, but I could've sworn she had been blushing too.

I finally burst from the car to join my family, nearly throwing the door off its hinges. My parents had somehow made it ahead of Mabel and Soos so they could unlock the door and turn on the lights to our new home. I was about to sprint inside, feeling like I was about to walk on the moon, when Mabel suddenly yanked me by the arm so she was speaking into my ear.

"Should we tell them about all the zombies and gnomes and other weird stuff in Gravity Falls?" she whispered.

I laughed. "Let's wait till we're all moved in," I whispered back. "Or maybe a week or two later."

Mabel just smiled and ran the rest of the way into our new home. I quickly followed, Soos and Wendy close behind.

So the secret is finally out! I hope you guys are happy with the results!

Thank you all for being so patient with me. The next chapter will finally give all of my fellow Wendip shippers what they've been waiting for. It will also (sadly) be the final chapter. I never meant for this to be more than a handful of chapters long.

Until the next chapter, Edger230 out!