A Summer Romance

Hannuk-mas

"Pacifica?"

"Yes, Dipper?"

"Would you like to go with Mabel and me to my parents next week?"

Pacifica looked up at him, with a slightly scared look on her face, "You want me to visit your parents with you two next week?" Dipper nodded and she asked, "Why?"

"Well, I mean, we've been dating for a couple years now and I thought it may be time you met Mom and Dad."

Pacifica sat up, her palms becaming sweaty. She was nervous to meet his parents. She was afraid that she would screw things up somehow or they wouldn't deem her good enough for their brilliant son.

Dipper sat up as well, "Hey, Paz. I know that look and don't worry. My parents are as cool as cucumbers. They are anxious to meet you. Honestly, they've been bugging me about it."

"But over Christmas?"

"Well, actually it's Hanukk-mas for us."

Pacifica looked at him confused and stated, "That's not a thing."

"Tell Mabel that."

------

Dipper only had time to pull into the driveway and put his truck in park before Mabel leapt out the passenger door and ran inside. Dipper rolled his eyes at his twin's enthusiasm and opened his door before helping Pacifica out of the truck. Dipper handed her her bag and grabbed his and Mabel's and took them inside.

Pacifica walked inside and set her bag down by the door. She was hit with various delicious scents; some she recognized and others she did not. She could pick out cinnamon, apples and potatoes. Her stomach growled at the thought of the food. She followed Dipper into a larger room that was half decorated for Hanukkah and half for Christmas. A pair of legs stuck out from under the tree and she could hear an occasional exclaim of discomfort. A woman dressed in a dark green sweater with blinking lights turned and smiled brightly as she closed the distance between herself and Pacifica.

"Hello! You must be Pacifica. I'm Beth Pines and that man currently hurting himself is Hal."

Pacifica shook the woman's hand and said automatically, "It's nice to meet you."

"Oh please. The pleasure is all ours. Dipper has told us so much about you and we've been bugging him to introduce us to you."

Pacifica bit her lip and she heard a groan from where Hal was under the tree.

"Oh, Hal. What did you hit your head on now?"

Hal wiggled out from under the tree, rubbing the back of his head and answered, "The wall. It was closer than I thought."

Beth laughed lightly at her husband's pain as Pacifica got a good look at Hal's sweater that was a baby blue and white with the Jewish star on the stomach. Mabel must have made everyone sweaters and Pacifica hoped she didn't get one as well. Just then, Mabel came out of nowhere wearing an all white sweater with a menorah on it and two of the candles lit. Dipper emerged behind her wearing a dark blue one with a dreidel and "Happy Hanukkah" sewn onto it.

"I made made you one too, Paz!" Mabel said, handing her a purple sweater.

Pacifica held back a groan as she went into the bathroom to put it on. It was a purple sweater with pink ribbon pattern, making her look like a present. On her stomach, where the two ribbon patterns met, was a big pink bow.

"I look ridiculous." Pacifica said softly to herself before going back out and joining them for a game.

The five of them sat on the floor in a circle with a plate of jelly donuts and a dreidel. Hal handed out several gelt pieces to each person and Dipper turned to Pacifica to explain the basics of the game.

"These are gelt and we use them as coins for the game. Each player takes turns spinning the dreidel and I'll explain the rest as it goes."

Pacifica nodded and they each threw a gelt into the pot.

"Dad spun nun which stands for nisht and therefore he gets nothing." Dipper explained.

Pacifica nodded as Beth spun it, "And Mom got hey which stands for halb, granting her half of the pot."

------

Pacifica sat on the front step and wiped at her eyes frantically. She was a Northwest. She wasn't supposed to cry. Her father would punish her if he saw her now. The front door slowly opened and Pacifica quickly wiped away any remaining tears.

"There you are, Pacifica. Is everything okay? You ran out of there quickly." Beth asked, concern in her voice.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

Beth sat next to her and took a good look at the blonde haired girl. "Have you been crying?"

"No. Northwests don't cry as it's a sign of weakness."

"Oh, sweetie. Crying is completely normal. You're human after all, not a robot. What has you so worked up?"

Pacifica took a deep breath and said, "In all of the years I have thought I was celebrating Christmas correctly, I realize now that I wasn't. My parents weren't as open about their love towards me as you are to Dipper and Mabel. Now, I'm not even sure they love me at all or if they do, they are unsure on how to express it."

Beth wrapped an arm around the girl and said, "Well if there's one thing the Pines know and love, it's family. You're always welcome here, Pacifica. We can show you how a family is supposed to be. Dipper told us a little bit about your home life, as he was worried we might frighten you some. I'm sure your parents do care for you, but are unsure of how to express those feelings. Parents can be complicated at times. Now come on. It's time to open presents."  

A/N: A special thanks to two tumblr users sodapopcas for editing this for me and to cipherking for letting me use his Jewish sweater designs.