Sunsetting Futures CH 15

"Are you positive this time the Fireflies won't mind?" Dipper asked as Mabel held up her trusty automatic firefly catcher to go hunting for more bugs. The gang decided to go look at the sunset over the town on one of the nearby cliffs that Dipper's newly repaired car could traverse. While the idea of the sunset itself sounded lovely, Mabel had other plans of grandeur, and soon sucked Bill into her ideas as well.

"Absolutely Pine Tree. I made a deal with the Lord of the fireflies and he's totally cool with this... As long as Shooting Star agrees not to catch more than five hundred this time." Bill said with his arms behind his back in a very authoritative stance.

"I, Mabel Pines, promise not to catch more than five hundred fireflies." Mabel said as she held up her right hand to make a promise, which most likely she'll break, to not catch a specific amount of fireflies in order for them not to hold another grudge like last time.

"Alright. Just don't go crazy like last time Mabel. And Bill... Make sure she doesn't get stung too much alright?" Dipper said as he placed one hand on Mabel's shoulder and one hand on Bill's. Something that should be noted that Dipper and Bill haven't been seeing eye to eye lately, go figure. Once Dipper and Bill had a giant argument about something random, Dipper stopped using Bill's human name and started calling Bill by his original name. Not that Mabel started to notice, which made Bill thankful she didn't connect the dots on how Bill and Will were the same... Things.

"You can count on me Pine Tree!" Bill said with a mock salute.

"Come on Bill! Let's go capture some beauty!" Mabel said as she hooked her arm around Bill's and ran with her vacuum catcher turned on. Dipper sighed as he saw the two hooligans chase after light glowing dot after dot, putting themselves far away from him and his Princess as possible. Dipper turned around to the edge of the cliff and walked up to Pacifica, who was sitting on the edge, dangling her feet downwards, enjoying the soft breeze.

"You know... It's very dangerous to hang like that." Dipper said as he stood to Pacifica's left and looked out to see the sun starting to set, ending the day for now. Pacifica turned her head to Dipper and gave a soft smile.

"I love to live dangerously Mr. Pines. I am a Northwest after all." Pacifica said as she reached her hand up for Dipper to take and pull her away from the edge. Dipper clasped his right hand on Pacifica's and pulled her back on her feet while using the momentum to put her into a strong hug.

"I love it when I get to hold you like this." Dipper said as he buried his nose into Pacifica's hair and squeezed her for a few minutes.

"We get to hug like this every day though Dipper. Don't you just want to spice up our interactions just a little?" Pacifica said as she looked up at Dipper's face while still in each others embrace.

"Well, what did you have in mind princess?" Dipper said as he leaned forward and puckered his lips. Pacifica giggled at Dipper's direct approach and decided not to burst his expectations and locked lips with him. Dipper turned his head to the side as they deepened their small lip lock with each other. Pacifica released the kiss as she panted slightly over the kiss, causing Dipper to wheeze out a chuckle.

"Dang... Princess... You need to work on your cardio." Dipper said as he mocked Pacifica's tone on how she always pushed him to work out more. Pacifica lightly slapped his chest and turned around of the grasp and walked a few feet away from him.

"How dare you claim that I need to work on My cardio, Mr. Wheezy." Pacifica said as she held her head high and took on her snobby persona.

"Aww. Are you feeling a little crabby today? Someone didn't sleep well last night?" Dipper said as he put his hands on his knees to simulate that he was talking to a little child.

"Quite the contrary my love, I had a very pleasant night as usual. I had the most exquisite dream in fact. Would you like to know what it was about?" Pacifica said as she turned around quickly and gave Dipper a very happy stare as she clasped her hands together in front of her chest.

"Sure. What was your dream about?" Dipper said as he inched closer to Pacifica.

"I never told you about Lily have I?" Pacifica asked as she stared out towards the sunset.

"Lily? Who's Lily?" Dipper said as he got next to her and stared at the distance while he put his arm around her.

"Our daughter. She looks just like me, clothes and all. In my dreams at least... But one day she'll be real." Pacifica said with a smile as she remembered her dream.

"We went out for a small picnic by a large playground. We played hide and go seek, you pushed her on the swings, we slid down the slide with each other. Have you ever had a dream about our children?" Pacifica said as she turned her head to Dipper, who had a very worried expression on his face.

"N-Not really actually. My dreams are just about us... I don't know if we should really be thinking about children this early into our relationship princess." Dipper said as he lightly rubbed the back of his neck and loosened his grip on Pacifica.

"What do you mean? Aren't we going to be together till the end of time?" Pacifica asked as she looked away from the sunset and to Dipper.

"Well of course we will." Dipper said as he turned to Pacifica.

"You think we should take a break then?" Pacifica asked.

"Absolutely not. I just think we're too young to be thinking about adult stuff like that." Dipper said as he looked around to see Mabel running around the forest, catching Firefly after Firefly as Bill was sleeping on the hood of his car, not watching over Mabel like he promised he would.

"But Dipper, we're eighteen! We have to think like adults sometime in the future. If we don't, the next thing you know, we'll already be twenty-two and we'll have no clue on what to do to support each other." Pacifica said as she began to walk to the edge of the cliff to sit down again.

"That's actually another thing I wanted to talk about. We need some form of financial support. It's not that I think your dresses won't sell great when you decide to make them. It's just that I really don't know what I'm going to do to help pitch in for the family effort. I don't think mystery solvers do well in the job market." Dipper said as he made his way to the edge and sat next to Pacifica.

"You have absolutely no idea how much I still have tucked away in my bank account do you?" Pacifica said as she placed her hand on Dipper's shin.

"You really never got around to tell me." Dipper said as he placed his hand on hers.

"Lets just safely say that I have enough to support all of us in the next ten years if we do everything as planned." Pacifica said as she softly rubbed Dippers shin.

"... And what was the plan again Princess?" Dipper asked as he looked back out to the sunset.

"It's purely simple Dipper. We'll either live in the... Shack for a couple of years, maybe two maximum. While there I work overtime in making and perfecting dresses the world would go gaga over. We get enough money to buy a good mansion that has five bedrooms for our children. If everything goes right and if your family genes are intact, we'll probably have our first pair of twins around when we are... Say... Twenty-five." Pacifica said as she listed her order of events of how she would like to see her and Dipper live like in the following years, although she would need to rethink her strategy when it came to the hovel she currently had to sleep in in order to be close to Dipper.

"You do know that life never really turns out as we can plan it. And as much as I like the idea of us married and with children... I don't know." Dipper said with a sigh as he looked down the cliff and at the numerous trees at the bottom.

"You don't want something like that?" Pacifica asked as she took her hand off his shin and placed her hands on her lap.

"I just don't know what it takes to be a good father. I don't know what to say to them, and I barely know what to say when I'm with you... I don't want them to grow up and resent me or anything like that. Isn't there like a manual or a journal for me to read in order to prepare for this?" Dipper said as he looked over to Pacifica as she just giggled at how nervous Dipper got over the conversation.

"You really shouldn't worry about anything like that dearest, they'll be our children! Their's absolutely no way that they'll hate you. Just remember to treat them like how you would have liked to be treated when you were their age and always be there for them. And since I'll be the major money gatherer in our family, you'll have all the time in the world to be with our children. Just be yourself. Be dorky, nerdy, smart, and sometimes courageous, and they'll learn to love that from you." Pacifica said as she put her hand on Dipper's shoulder and lightly scratched it.

"Trust me Dipper, you'll be an excellent father." Dipper thought about what Pacifica said and continued to think about the family they'll have in the future.

"You'll be there to... Right?" Dipper asked as he stared back to the setting sun.

"Why of course Dipper! What type of mother would I be if I wasn't there when my babies needed me? I'll be there every step of the way just as you will be." Pacifica said as she placed her hands back in her lap and stared out at the sun. A few minutes of silence passed as the two stared at to the sun as they began to swing their legs in unison over the cliff.

"Now. Did you have any other questions about our pivotal roles in the upcoming future?" Pacifica asked as she looked away from the sun to Dipper. Dipper shook his head softly as he contained to stare at the setting sun.

"Well then. If you wouldn't mind, I would like to ask you a question." Pacifica said as she once again got up from the edge and pulled Dipper up as well which the both of them held each others hands as they stared into each others eyes.

"When are you going to propose to me?" Pacifica asked as she looked straight into Dipper's eyes which he laughed at the question briefly before Pacifica gave him a slightly chilly stare over laughing at such a serious matter.

"I was... Umm... Thinking that I would be in a place like this. The sun setting like that." Dipper said as he pointed towards the sun that was just a few more inches away till it fully set.

"I'd get on my knee... Like this... Hold your hand up... And then I would ask you." Dipper said as he practiced his big leading role for the next step of their relationship. Pacifica held her hand to her mouth to stiffen a small gasp and a giggle as Dipper got on his knee to simulate what would happen.

"Then you'd probably say yes, hopefully. We'd cry, laugh and hug. Then we'd do something else and just prepare for the wedding." Dipper said as he used his one leg that was still propped up for leverage as he stood straight up and back to eye level with Pacifica.

"What would happen if I say no?" Pacifica said as she leaned into Dipper and gave him a small hug.

"Than I'd say 'who are you and what have you done with my Pacifica?'" Dipper said with a smile as he lightly pecked Pacifica's lips as she returned the kiss. Dipper brought up his hand to lightly graze the side of Pacifica's head to deepen the kiss, until they heard a loud pop and a small yelp from the forest. Bill ran up to them, slightly wheezing.

"Umm... Shooting Star went overboard, the fireflies hate us again. I suggest we leave... Now." Bill said as he ran to the car in which Mabel was already in the backseat with a few twigs in her hair and small specks of dirt smudged on her face. Pacifica and Dipper groaned in disappointment and made their way quickly back to the car to leave before the fireflies buzzed near them.

"One rule that I hope you will follow when you propose to me Dipper. Don't bring them with us." Pacifica said as she got into the passengers side of the car.

"Yeah... Good idea." Dipper said as they preceded to drive away from the area which was infested with angry fireflies as Mabel began to apologize to both Pacifica and Dipper, which the two decided to give her the silent treatment all the way back home.

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