Sapphire Star

Chapter 8 Birthday

Pacifica awoke to the sounds of birds chirping and banded rays of sunlight streaming in from somewhere. Where am I? She thought frantically for half a second before she remembered the camping trip. She had been surprised by how much fun it had been. She had not been expecting that. And last night...she lay back on her pillow closing her eyes, calling back to memory the beauty and wonder of whatever strange dimensional portal they had traversed into. The colors and sounds wove an ensemble of beauty at a level she had no previous benchmark to compare it to. And Dipper she thought smiling all the way down to her toes. What a magical evening. She opened her eyes and almost screamed finding Mabel's upside-down face three inches from hers. Mabel's curly dark brown hair was draping around her huge brown eyes. Her face was a blossom of soft freckles even more accentuated after a day in the sun. "Personal space much?" Pacifica asked grinning despite her best intentions to appear put off. Maybe that was Mabel's superpower. Disarming you with kindness. She had a gift, that much she was certain of. "Good morning," Mabel chirped in a sing-song voice. Mabel's face betrayed she had something she wanted to talk about, and it was no mystery as to what she wanted to talk about. Pacifica played coy anyway for the sake of dignity. "I don't know what you're so excited about but I need caffeine first, questions later." "But.." Mabel said. Pacifica cut across, "Caffeine first." Mabel grinned at the blonde and she smiled back.

We got dressed properly and put on a modest amount of makeup before stepping out of the tent. Grunkle Ford had made coffee in an old-fashioned blue enameled coffee percolator that now sat steaming on the table, having recently been taken off the fire grate. "Good morning ladies," Grunkle Ford said. "Good morning sir," I said. "Good morning Grunkle Ford," Mabel said. I could see Grunkle Stan just emerging from his tent now too half awake.

We grabbed our matching blue enameled coffee mugs and poured some sugar with our coffee. I watched stunned as Mabel added nine packets of sugar and proceeded to add half a chocolate bar to it. I guess in her case it was more like having a little coffee with her sugar. We walked over to the picnic table.

I had decided to wear a comfy pair of dark blue fitted jeans along with a white polo shirt that fit me just right. My belt was a white woven dress belt with a gold flashy buckle. I still had my necklaces as they went well with today's outfit as well. My hair was brushed as best I could in my small mirror. It would have to do for now. Mabel was wearing a similar pair of dark blue jeans. Her belt however was a glossy bright wide band of a rainbow with rainbow rhinestones studded on either side of the belt edge. She wore a cute teal shirt with kittens hugging on the front and she had her magenta sweater tied at the waist. She had a cute blue ribbon added to her hair for flair. Dipper was not the only one who had grown. If she had not been good friends with Mabel she probably would have felt threatened by her Pacifica reflected.

I sipped my coffee relishing in the warm morning light breaking the horizon. Mabel couldn't stop herself from fidgeting as she swung her legs back and forth on the bench. I knew it was more than just the coffee syrup she was drinking that had her twitching.

"Ok, ok!" I said, "We held hands, are you happy?" She squealed with delight and wrapped me in a choking embrace. Somehow I kept my coffee in the mug. Mabel sputtered excitedly. "So I know I should not start planning the wedding just yet but...Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" I smiled at her enthusiasm and support. I couldn't believe how safe I felt around her in having known her for such a small amount of time.

"Mabel," I said softly looking at my knees. I paused reflecting as she watched. "I know I have not been at all that kind to you and Dipper in the past," I thought of how I felt back at the shack when she had served me the tea. I looked up into her eyes. "I want to say I'm sorry...for everything. Before you and Dipper I didn't know what real friends were like." She took my hands in her hands and said, "We all need a true friend to help us see the light." As I thought of every kind thing the twins had done for me and the kindness she had shown it moved me. I could see tears in the corner of her eyes and realized they were forming in mine too. "All right girl, we have to save our mascara," I said drying my eyes with my hands as I gave a big sniff she dabbed her eyes carefully and sniffed as well.

"Come on girls," said Grunkle Stan. "The coffee's not that bad." We both burst out laughing.

~~~

After we had packed everything back into the RV we hit the road. "Hey, where are Soos and Wendy?" Dipper asked as he had not seen them yet this morning. Grunkle Stan said, "They had shopping and stuff to do, they left early. We will see them later." The drive was quiet and pleasant, the summer breeze flowing in the windows amidst the hum and sound of the wide tread tires rolling down the forest gravel road in a somnolent effect that had Dipper's eyes drooping.

We pulled up to the shack and parked as I shook myself awake. Grunkle Stan lead the way waving for them to join him, "We will unpack later I need your help with a project in the kitchen" he said. He opened the door and we walked in my eyes struggling to adjust to the dark.

Then the lights flipped on to a tumultuous "SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!" Wendy, Soos, and Melody stood near the table with a two-tier chocolate frosted chocolate cake on it. It was studded with toffee bars angled sideways at differing adjacent angles for flair and was covered in rainbow sprinkles. A birthday banner that said "Happy 18th Birthday Twins!" was hung across the kitchen entryway at a slight slope. We were so shocked we didn't know what to say. Mabel almost cried and started hugging everyone. I grinned and shook hands and hugged others. Melody dished up the cake while Ford served up the coffee. We opened gifts after everyone had a plate of cake. Mabel got lots of photobook stuff and crafting stuff. I got outdoor gear for hiking and repelling. So awesome!

After everyone was done eating Grunkle Ford came over to me. "I have another present I have for you Dipper." "Really?!" I said with my excitement building. Grunkle Ford addressed the room. "Everyone let's head down to the lab." We all headed down behind the vending machine's hidden door. The steps emptied onto a landing with an elevator lift. The gate looked like it had been reinforced behind heavy Kevlar-reinforced acrylic glass and rebar. Grunkle Ford said "I have been stepping up the security in the lab. I added a security checkpoint at the lift. Ford and I are in the system so far. Today we are adding you." "Awesome! Thanks, Grunkle Ford!" I said. "Step forward," said Ford. I stepped forward and he then stood in front of the gate. Grunkle Ford placed his hand on a palm scanner and looked into a hooded retinal scanner. It flashed a blue light from side to side, vertically first, then horizontally scanning his eyes. "Pines Ford Kilo Victor Foxtrot Quebec," he stated.

"Access granted," the terminal said lighting up a green panel. Ford then took two necklaces off his neck. Upon closer inspection, I noticed the pendant was a small half-inch long hexagonal shaped device about the thickness of my pinky with an LED display of numbers on one side. He plugged the second one in that had a blank screen. He said to the terminal. "Requesting Alpha Security clearance for a new entry." The computer stated, "Alpha security clearance required for shunted command access. Ultra-gatekey required." As he took out his hexagonal pendant authenticator and began to speak out the ten-digit alphanumeric code. Mabel leaned over to Pacifica and whispered, "Nerds." Pacifica stifled a snicker and grinned. I pretend not to hear.

"Here is your Access code," said Grunkle Ford tearing off a sheet of dot matrix paper. "Place your hands on the palm scanner, look into the retina scanner and say your access code." Dipper did so and said "Pines Mason Charlie Tango Whiskey Juliet." The terminal stated, "Access granted. Confirm Alpha clearance with Ultra-Gatekey." Dipper read off the ten-digit code now appearing on the device after Grunkle Ford unplugged it from the console and handed it to him. "Alpha clearance instated," the computer notified. "You are all set, my boy. You have access to everything I do now. I'm proud of you Dipper, and the man that you have become."

"Grunkle Ford," I said feeling the weight of his words. "Thank you...for everything." When I looked back Pacifica and Mabel were smiling with joy.

We all trekked back upstairs. As we exited the vending machine door and into the gift shop we could hear the raindrops hitting the roof above. So we decided to sit down and watch some Gravity Falls public access Television. It helped me feel sleepy, that and the rain, as I sat next to Mabel and Pacifica my two favorite people. I could not remember feeling this happy in a long time. Mabel took a selfie of all of us and at the last moment, Wendy photo bombed behind the couch with a peace gesture on her hand. We headed to bed later. As the girls went upstairs I went to curl up on the couch. Sleep overtook me quickly into its soft embrace.