Lincoln was sitting on his bunk in the attic; it was one of the few instances that he didn't have to work in the Shack. Tourism was slow that day, so Grunkle Stan gave them a break, unless a 'truckload of money came to sell themselves for the mysteries of the Mystery Shack'.
His words.
Lincoln then looked at the readers, and said," Hey it's been awhile. Not just with talking to you… but, can't believe he's making me say it, but. The author would like to apologize. Other stuff has been taking his attention elsewhere, so again, he's hoping for your forgiveness. Other than that, our stay in Gravity Falls has been interesting to say the least. We all thought that staying with Grunkle Stan for the summer would be boring. But we were proven wrong. Who knew Dipper and I would stumble upon a conspiracy in the town, due to the book we found. And the missing author."
Before Lincoln could continue, Lori called for him somewhere and said, "Lincoln! We're calling mom, dad and Lily downstairs!"
"Got it. I'll be right there!" Lincoln said, and then he looked at the readers. "Well, talk to you guys later. Or at the end of the chapter."
He then got up and went downstairs, the other were down in the living room. Lori had her laptop out, and they soon crowded around.
"Guys, will you literally move? I'm trying to get the video connected." Lori said, and they did. "Thank you. Alright here we go." She said and pressed call.
The call logo was shown for a moment, but then it connected and it shown Rita, Lynn Sr. and Lily.
"Kids? Can you see and hear us?" Rita asked.
"Hi mom, yeah we can literally see and hear you guys." Lori said.
Lily saw her siblings, she perked up, got out of her father's arms and got closer to the video.
"Hi!" Lily happily said.
"Hi Lily!" Everyone greeted.
"Lily, move back please, we can't see your siblings." Lynn Sr. said as he moved his youngest daughter back onto his lap. "Kids! Oh it's so good to see you! Regular phone calls or texts just don't cut it. Seeing you all is so much better. I miss you." Lynn said as he sniffed and Lily patted her father's arm.
"It's true; sometimes your father and I think we should've come along as well. The house isn't the same without all of you. How's Gravity Falls?" Rita said.
"Well, we're dealing with the gravity of being here, mom. Haha! Get it?" Luan asked, with caused the others to groan, with the exception of Mabel and Lynn Sr. who laughed.
Mabel got into view, while also getting in Lori's way and said," Hi mom! Our time here is so fun! Lots of sights, smells, tastes and other crazy stuff! I actually got poison ivy the other day! If you guys do come, any chance you can bring Geo, Cliff, Charles and Walt? Also, did you get that gummy worm video I sent? The other one… got lost."
Her eyes shifted to her brothers off-screen, who were giving her looks once she said the last part. The whole mail-box thing was still a touchy subject for her brothers.
"Shouldn't we tell them about what Dipper and Lincoln f-" Before Leni could finish, Dipper placed his hand over her mouth.
Lynn pushed her Mabel aside and said," Like anyone would want to see that. Did you guys get my applications for the sports I'm joining in the fall?"
Lola then pushed Lynn aside and said," Please, they would want to hear about how I've won my first Pageant here. Even if the competition here is lackluster."
"No, they want to hear about how I've been helping around the shack. And working with Soos." Lana butted in.
"I rather talk about the spooky things I've heard about the town and surrounding area." Lucy said.
"No dudes, they want to hear about the ideas I've been thinking of. Jam sessions are going to rock once I get home. Not to mention the band will appreciate it." Luna said.
Before a brawl could start, Lori whistled loudly, which stopped whatever was about to happen.
"Guys, will you literally wait. I'm sure mom, dad and Lily would like to hear everything, but one at a time. Also, I'm starting first." Lori said.
The other tried to protest, but Lori gave them a look, which stopped them.
"Thank you. Right, well Gravity Falls has been fine. The people are okay, we have made some friends. Grunkle Stan is still old and other things. But he's been taking care of us in his own way. Other than that, nothing too exciting. But we're actually enjoying ourselves." Lori said, even though she lied about the last part.
She wasn't sure how they would react if she and the others told them everything. They would think they were making it up, or thought they were in danger, and tell them to come back. Lori was sure things wouldn't become too crazy. Besides, they had the Journal, so they could avoid all the danger.
"That's good sweetie. Your father and I hoped you kids would have fun." Rita said.
"And the fact you kids would've stayed inside just doing nothing. We thought getting the fresh air and change of scenery would be good for you. It sure beats staying at home all day. I remember my summers at Camp Mastodon with Gramps and your Uncle Lance." Lynn grumbled his brothers name and realized something. "Huh, honey, why didn't we send the kids there? We could've made it a family vacation."
"Lynn, we discussed this, we did say next year. And also you kids get to spend quality time with Uncle Stan. We thought you needed to be around him more. Considering he barely leaves Gravity Falls." Rita said.
'Unless it's something illegal and could get him money.' The Loud siblings all thought, but in various ways.
"Speaking of, where is he anyway?"
"He's watching the shop with Soos and Wendy, pops. Well him and Wendy. Soos went to talk to the Casagrande's with Ronnie Anne and Bobby. So Stan has to stay, due to him not wanting to miss any potential customers. But he said hi and… also said something about he'll congratulate you guys later about… something in the oven." Luna said, not wanting to elaborate further.
Leni looked confused, and said," Like are you guys making something right now?"
The ones who were old enough to know or Lisa knew what Stan met. Lynn and Rita didn't look embarrassed, well they did, but also just slightly annoyed.
Dipper then came into view, wanting to steer the conversation elsewhere and asked," Got to ask though, dad. How are things there? After thinking about it, with all of us gone, things must be different."
"Oh well… yes actually. I mean, the house shrunk down from 14 to 3 people, so that's an adjustment. But thankfully for only a little bit… a bit that's… no I'm fine." Lynn said as he almost got emotional but held it. "Buts it's nothing else, son. What's more important is that your mother, Lily and I are glad you guys are having such a good time there." Lynn said.
He wasn't nor was Rita going to reveal that due to the kids, sans Lily, not being there, they didn't have any added expenses. So now due to Rita's job at the Dentist and Lynn's Restaurant, they now had a little bit more cash on hand. So that allowed them to put more money into savings and other things. They were also able to fix and do other projects that they didn't have the time to do before. And… some other more personal things that were between him and his wife. And after they had Lily stay with Mr. Grouse or the McBride's for the night as well.
Nope, nothing the kids needed to know until they were older.
"But besides that, tell us how everything is going. Getting phone calls is one thing, but to actually hear and see you all is another." Rita said.
The kids then began to recount their time in Gravity Falls, although they had to omit a couple of things. Or change how some of the adventures they went on happened and how it went.