Bad Habits (An Adoption AU story)

Chapter 5: A Sweet Problem

It was day two. Mabel sat at the table, looking at the plate of steamed broccoli sitting in front of her. Just the very smell of it was making her gag. She had managed to swallow down the celery yesterday, given it had such a bland taste. It didn't even make her feel sick. But the broccoli had such a pungent aroma, that she could not stand being even near it, let alone eat it. However, she knew well enough that she had to at least try some in order to overcome her sugar problem.

"Okay, Mabel," she said to herself, "You can do this."

Mabel lifted the fork and picked up a piece of the broccoli. Her hand shook as she pulled the vegetable closer to her mouth. She began to chew it, and instantly, felt like throwing up.

But then she thought about Stan...how hard he had been trying to quit his own bad habit, and then she thought of Dipper, and how worried he was about her. What was funny was she had given up sweets before, and it was nowhere near this challenging. She could only contribute it to the fact that she knew Dipper's life was on the line...that made everything less about her and more about him, but she knew that this was about her...about her living a healthier life so she and Dipper could grow old together.

She forced herself to swallow as she noticed Stan pacing around the shack chewing his nicotine gum. It was for the greater good.

After she finished her veggies, Mabel started for the gift shop. Perhaps working for a while with Wendy and Soos could help get her mind off her new sugar free diet. As she reached for the door, she felt that pain in her side again. It was neither worse or less than last time. It worried her, but again, given it was in the same place where her kidney used to be, she just attributed it to being a lingering surgery pain that would soon enough go away.

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"And then I said to Thompson, there's no way you could fit your head into that vent. And then he does, and gets stuck!" said Wendy.

She, Mabel and Soos started laughing. Spending a while in the gift shop had helped Mabel take her mind off the whole overcoming her bad habit thing. She'd almost even forgotten about it.

"Excuse me?" came a voice from the other side of the counter. Wendy looked over and saw two little boys standing there.

"Oh, what can I do for you dudes?" she said.

One of the boys then put two candy bars on to the counter. The sight of the sugary treats made Mabel twitch a little. She was beginning to feel the affects of apparent sugar withdrawal as she watched Wendy ring the two kids up, and as they walked away, eating the candy.

"Hey, you good Mabel?" asked Soos. He could see that Mabel was clearly acting nervous about something.

"Oh...yeah. Yeah, I'm fine!" she said, "Never felt better!"

At that moment, Mabel looked outside to see a group of tourists getting some hot chocolate from a truck. In winter, many ice cream truck operators would sell hot chocolate to make money. Normally Mabel would be one of the first out to get her hands on the sweet beverage, but not this time

As Wendy began to follow Soos outside, she noticed Mabel wasn't coming. Instead, she was just sitting by the window, looking at the kids (and Soos) line up in front of the truck.

"Hey, you coming, Mabel?"

"Oh...I don't feel like getting hot chocolate today," she said, "I...I think I'll go restock the vending machine."

"Wait...Mabel!" yelled Wendy as Mabel walked to it.

She walked up to the vending machine, only to see that it was empty.

"I tried to tell you...but the vending machine's been busted for a few weeks now...old man Pines is too cheap to buy a new one."

"Oh yeah," said Mabel as she kicked the machine and sat down on the floor.

"Hey, are you sure you're okay? Does this have anything to do with that doctor you went to see two days ago? Mr. Pines told me and Soos about what you two are doing. Is this in anyway related to that?"

Mabel nodded her head, "It's not as easy as I thought it would be. I'm not used to going this long without at least a bit of sugar."

Wendy gave her friend a pat on the back, "Hey, trust me, I get it. I mean...not in the whole, can't eat sugar type way, but bad habits thing. They're not easy to give up. I mean, I used to bite my nails a lot. I found it helped me deal with stress. Plus, it gave me something to take my mind off all the...all the trouble, in my life then," she said as she tried not to get emotional.

Mabel leaned in and gave her friend a hug. She knew first hand what Wendy meant by that. It was one of the things the two of them tragically had in common.

"How'd you get over it?"

"It wasn't easy, dude. But one day, I looked at my nails, saw how damaged they were thanks to me biting on them, and after that, I never did it again. You can't force yourself to give up a bad habit...you gotta be ready to do it when you feel you are. It may not happen overnight, but once you feel like you can give it up...then there's nothing that can stop you."

Mabel smiled, "Thanks Wendy. That means a lot."

Suddenly, Wendy got an idea. She rushed over to her purse and pulled out a shiny red apple, "And hey! It's not like sugar is poison...just like with most things it's about finding a balance remember?" she said tossing the apple to Mabel, who had to admit, the sweetness was much more satisfying than the bland, raw, veggies.

"The doctor did say I need balance," she said with a mouthful of apple.

"Well there you go! You already went straight up vegan before your surgery...finding a balance makes it easier to make long-term changes, and keep you from falling into bad habits again."

Mabel nodded, but admittedly felt a little extra sad knowing she could never go back to her sugar obsessed self ever again.

Wendy could read the sadness in her friend's eyes and thought of something that might help. She rushed outside and returned back with a small cup of coco.

Mabel looked confused and concerned...was Wendy trying to make her stumble?

Wendy laughed at her friend's face, "Don't worry dude...it's just plain ole hot coco...no whipped cream or nothing! Just sweet enough to satisfy your sweet tooth while being a totally acceptable treat!"

Mabel grinned as she sipped the coco. For the first time since she started this diet change, she felt like it wouldn't be an impossible task after all.