Okay everybody, please bare with me while I create a bunch of relatives!

Thank you, Bedrock Armor, for HeadChat! (FaceTime)

November 22nd

9 am

'This is so stupid...' I roll my eyes for what seemed like the millionth time today.

On the floor beneath me, ('cause I'm on the floor like a teen girl, flat on my stomach, propped up by elbows) is a sheet of lined paper with a name crudely jotted down.

"I don't know why you're so nervous... Maybe, like, in the back of your brain you have some sort of memories of your relatives."

"Like I said...no, I do not." I angrily scribble out a misspelled name with my pen. 'Why am I writing with a freaking pen!?'

"Macie...?"

I grind my teeth as I reply, "What?"

"You're ripping the paper..." Mabel points to the poor thing as I, yup, I broke through.

"Oh come ON!" I throw the pen across my shared room, narrowly dodging a Sev'ral Timez poster.

The girl pouts with her hands on her hips, whining in a sort of reprimanding manner, "Hey! What did Creggy G. do to you?"

"He existed!"

Mabel flinches slightly, causing guilt to rise within me.

"Wait-aw! Mabel I'm sorry, I didn't mean it," I stand up and dust myself off with a somber frown.

"I know," she grins, "that's why I'm gonna help you! Wait- what are you doing anyways?"

'I don't deserve her as a sister oh em gee...'

"I'm making some sort of...cheat sheet? Of the relatives coming to dinner... Oh, I also gotta ask Mom and Dad if Bill can come over. I really hope he can. What if I just, like, start asking for Bill to come here? Think he'd just appear? Think he can hear us?"

"Er...I doubt it? He has limited powers doesn't he?" She makes a point.

"True..." 'I'm gonna do it when I'm alone... that way I won't embarrass myself!'

Walking over, Mabel stands over me after I sit back down and grab my paper. "So who do you have so far?" she inquires.

"Er... I got Shermy..." I flush as I did not think this plan through. "I only know of him from the show and that he's your guys' grandfather but we don't know anything else on the Pines family tree."

"Well," tilting her head up, Shooting Star places a finger on her chin as she stares at the ceiling, "there's two aunts, two uncles, five cousins, and one dog coming over today. Not including Bill and his parents if you ask about them, too."

"Holy," is all I say. "Could you write down all their names for me? Pretty please?" I beg with my hands clasped together. "I wanna go ask Mom about Bill before anything else."

"Okay!" She takes the pen from me and goes to get a new piece of paper.

Smiling, I exit my room and head downstairs. I find our mom in the kitchen. She's mumbling in annoyance and urgency. "Mom? Whatcha doin'?"

Steps to approach a distressed mom:

Step one. Tread carefully.

Step two. Ask what you wanna ask carefully and nicely.

"Trying to find the stuffing I need for the turkey but I can't find it!"

Step three. Offer to help no matter the situation.

"Do you need help?"

"Ugh, no!" Mom cries and turns around to face me. I raise an eyebrow in question, deciding not to speak. "We're out! We're completely out of stuffing! Ooohhh!" she growls the last part out.

I'm just standing here thinking to myself, 'Does that mean she has to go to the store? If so, I wanna go!'

"Are you going to the store, then?" I ask with no hint of excitement.

She throws her arms up, leaving the kitchen and grabbing her purse with a huff, "Well I have to, now!"

"Can I come?!" I follow her.

"I don't care! Hurry up!" She goes out the door presumably to the family car. I rush upstairs to grab my bag and phone, bumping into my sister along the way.

"Oomf! Sorry!" she giggles. "Here's your cheat sheet."

"Oh, thanks." I take it and hurriedly go into my room and grab my bag, coming back out to see Mabel is still there. "Mom's going to the store to get stuffing that we don't have. She was super upset about it, too," I explain, guessing that she was wondering why I was rushing about.

"Ah, well have fun! Mom is scary on Thanksgiving!"

"Tell me about it..." I close the front door behind me and get to the car that's already waiting to drive off.

"Buckle, hurry up!" Hastily, I do as Mom says.

I smirk at her. "Geez, woman, what's the hurry?" I think now's a better time to joke around and be myself. Maybe I can cheer her up a bit.

I think I got a smidgen of a smile out of her, which is a start.

This is my first Thanksgiving with the Pines family so everything is still quite new; like how our mother acts during this time, for example.

"Well, whatever the matter. We'll be home in no time! It won't take long to go in and grab a bag or two of stuffing!"

"Very funny. You know how the stores are during this week. I'll be lucky to even get a parking spot! Also, now that I'm thinking, don't you hate coming to the store on Thanksgiving?" She looks over to me with a suspicious look.

"Er..." 'What the heck do I say to that?!'

"If your brother or sister put you up to this, you know you didn't have to, right? Was it Mabel? She's always playing pranks on you and Dipper."

"Um, no! It wasn't them, I wanted to go because...you looked like you need help and whatnot...?" I cringe at my voice rising at the end, causing it to sound like a question.

"Well I appreciate it either way." Mom smiles at me as we pull into the store parking lot. The smile disintegrates immediately. "What is this!? There's literally NO spot to park!"

I gape. "Whoa..." Not even the very back has spots! "I don't think I've ever seen this happen before..." I mumble to myself.

11 am

"How long have we been circling the parking lo-ha-hot!" I whine, slumping down into my seat,

"Too...long," Mom growls through clenched teeth.

"OH!" I sit up faster than Mabel on Smile Dip, pointing at a car exiting its spot. "Right there! Get it, get it!" Mom quickens our pace, getting right behind the car.

She breathes a huge sigh of relief, "Thank goodness...Good eye, Mace!"

So, we're behind this car that is pulling out. There is also another car ahead of said car pulling out. We're on a wide road, so this car, again, ahead of us, pulls in reverse to come between our car and the car coming out.

"What are they doing?" I ask in confusion.

When the old people in the parking spot finally pull out completely, they take their leave and Mom readies to take our much deserved spot. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?" The people who reversed in between us just zoomed and took our spot!

"What in the ever loving FRICK?" I yell, flabbergasted and angered. Probably not as much as the adult in the driver seat, though. 'I'm almost afraid to look at her...'

"Wow. I can NOT believe some people! The nerve! Where is common human decency, HUH?!" Yeah, she's mad...

Suddenly, an idea pops into my head. "Mom..why don't you tell me what we need and I'll hop out and get it really quick?"

Blinking, the woman pulls out some money from her purse.

"Why the heck did we not think about that?" I shrug in response, pocketing the money and opening the door.

"What do we need, again?"

"Grab two bags of quality stuffing. I don't care what brand because the one I want is most likely going to be out. Actually, everything's going to be wiped, so just grab whatever is there."

"Okay." I slam my door shut and run into the entrance of the store, side stepping a couple kids and their parents who shot me a dirty look for almost running into their children. 'Wasn't my fault their parents don't know how to keep them close!'

'Stuffing, stuffing...where's the aisle with stuffing?!' The whole place is crowded with bustling civilians running amok grabbing whatever they can at the last minute. 'It's literally...' I look at my phone, 'only eleven forty five am! Geez!'

Finally, I spot aisle 11, which holds what I'm looking for! 'Aaaaaaaaaand everything's wiped...'

Wait.

There.

In the middle of the shelves that were supposed to be holding bags of stuffing...

A single bag.

'Mom needs two, though...' I think to myself, wondering what to do. Thinking quickly, I run up and grab the remaining bag as well as thinking of what to do next.

Thank goodness I got this one when I did, 'cause immediately afterwards, a woman walks up to the shelves looking, taking a moment to glance around before turning furious.

I hide my bag and hastily walk away.

12 pm

'Fifteen minutes. That's how long this line is taking!' I scowl, checking the time on my phone for the millionth time this morning.

The lines for self checkout are even worse!

Luckily, I'm next.

They didn't have any other brand of stuffing that I'm aware of, 'Seriously what's wrong with people and their stuffing!? Stove Top is better!', so I just hope Mom will be glad I got the one.

"And did you find everything okay today?" the cashier man asks in a monotonous voice like he's already said it 700 times this morning.

'Scratch that, he probably has.'

I reply how I always do. Awkward and quiet. "Uh, yeah," handing him the ten I received from Mom prior as he bags my purchase.

And with no other words exchanged besides a quick "Have a nice day" and "You, too", I exit the store.

My phone starts buzzing. It's probably Mom wondering where the heck I am. "Hello? No I just got out front. Oh, I see you, never mind!"

I shove the phone back into my pocket as I tighten my grip on the plastic bag, running up to where the family car is circling. 'Wow, she still hasn't gotten a spot?'

"Hey!" I must have spaced out as I got up to the vehicle, for the window's down on the passenger side and my Mom's yelling at me.

"Sorry!" I throw the bag in the open window and then shove myself inside, buckling up and asking, "Did you not find a spot this whole time?"

"I did, but moved again about five minutes ago."

I make an 'O' face and we fall back into an uncomfortable silence.

'That reminds me, I forgot to ask about Bill!'

I clear my throat, earning a questioning hum. "I was wondering if we could invite me and the twins' friend, Aiden, over?"

"I dunno, kiddo, don't you think they'd have plans, too? Plus we got everyone else coming over..."

I turn to face her fully, clasping my hands together. "Oh please, Mom?" I beg, jutting my lip out. 'I thought I'd never do this yet here I am.'  I internally sigh.

Mom sighs, too, "Well... I guess it won't hurt. But they have to contribute to dinner, deal?"

I grin, "It's a DEAL!"

12:30 pm

We make it home when I finally realized that I didn't tell Mom that I only got one bag of stuffing.

'Crap... I'll just place the bag on the table and leave quietly...' I ponder what might happen if she explodes from stress today.

"Mabel! I'm home!" I call, running up the stairs. 

"Hey! Finally! You guys took hours!"

I groan, "Don't remind me," tossing my backpack to the side and lying down. "Mom said we can invite 'Aiden'," I air quote his name, "over as long as they bring some food or whatever."

"Oh, cool! Also," Mabel stands up, having been sitting down on my computer chair, "here's the list of names you can get to know tonight!"

I sit up and grab it, eyeing the names I'll be searing into my brain.

~Mabel's amazing family cheat sheet!~

• Emilia + David Price - Keith 12 - Kate 14 - Claudette (Dettie) 9

• Anna + Elias Michaelis - Mary Ann 8 - Quentin 15 - (Dog) Dakota

I thank my sister and head back out of our room. 'Huh... Alright, some names are...exotic? But this may be a walk in the park!'

"Macie! Where's Mabel?!" Dipper comes bursting out from his closed door, a big smile on his face.

I jab a thumb behind my shoulder. "In our room, why?"

"Stan and Ford are on HeadChat right now!"

"What!" I cry, already running back into my room for our sister. "Mabel! Come quick! Stan and Ford are on HeadChat!"

"OMIGOSH! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!? GO GO GO!" she screams pushing past me and tripping her way to the boy's room.

I calm down a smidgen by the time we get into Dipper's abode and he's already there with his phone propped up on a stack of books. "Hey kiddos!" Grunkle Stan waves from the tiny screen with a huge smile on his face.

'It's really them! Oh my gosh! I didn't think we'd talk 'til next Summer or something!'

"Grunkle Stan!" Mabel tears up a bit, grinning impossibly wide.

"How are you guys connecting to us?" Dipper asks curiously, though he's smiling, too. 

"We uh- Ford! How are we connecting again?" Stan calls his brother over from steering their boat. 

'They're still sailing?!'

"Kids! Greetings! Sorry, I had to steer us back on track, but I should be able to speak now! Anyway, we got in the area where we were able to have a long range connection to the next stop!"

"Awesome! Where are you guys at?" I question, not missing the relaxed tone and glimmer of happiness both older twins are giving me.

"We're about to port in Iceland. There are strange anomalies happening there!" Ford said excitedly.

'That's awesome that they're still hunting the paranormal together!'

"Oh yeah! We finally got connection to say this:" Stan punches his brother and at the same time they say,

"Happy Thanksgiving!"

"Awww, thanks you guys!" Mabel literally wipes a tear from her eyes. I roll my eyes with a smile.

"Macie," Ford catches my attention, "how are you? Everything going okay?"

"Umm," I glance to my siblings who just shrug, probably wanting to know my answer as well. "It's been great, actually. I'm having a lot of fun." 

And that's the truth.

"That's splendid! Now lemme tell you three what we've been doing..."

2 pm

We got stuck talking to the Stan twins for an hour and half or so when our mom called us down.

All three of us stop in the walk way between the kitchen and the living room as we await what Mom said.

"Okay, first," the adult has her hands on her hips and I'm totally not scared because of it, "Macie. You only got one bag of stuffing and forgot to tell me but I'm just going to assume that it was because everything was gone, right?"

I nod hastily, "Yeah, sorry bout that."

"Okay, and second, I want you two," she points to the original twins, "to start setting up the table. Your father already brought in the extra plastic ones."

Groaning, the two leave to do their newly appointed jobs.

"Mace, you're in charge of setting the table."

"Okay." I leave to grab the paper plates and forks. 'Let's see... How many people are coming? CRAP I FORGOT TO INVITE BILL!'

Panicking, I drop my phone out of my hands. Picking it up and wiping it of hair, I then proceed to text our three sided fiend- friend.

Bill: OH MY AXOLOTL THANK GOODNESS YOU INVITED US!!!!!!

I raise an eyebrow, texting back a response.

Me: ???

Bill: My parents wanted to drive 3 HOURS to another church for thanksgiving! But when I told them about you, they were glad to have a home family dinner. YOU ARE A LIFE SAVER! I WAS GONNA PUKE IF I HAD TO STAY INSIDE A CHURCH FOR MORE THAN AN HOUR AND A HALF.

I snort. 

Me: You're welcome Bill. XP

*Ding Dong*

Mom answers the door. 

'Here come the relatives...'

Wow I'm sorry this took so long to write and put out! I'm just always so busy and combine that with no idea on what to write, well it gets hard... But I hope you all enjoy it anyways! There will be a part 2 for Thanksgiving as well so I hope y'all are excite for that!

Editor's note: Yeah, I'm excite for it, too...just hope we don't have to actually wait until it's OUR Thanksgiving to get to see it!!!

YOU KNOW WHAT?

On another note. The names David, Kate, Claudette, Anna, Elias, their last name Michaelis, Quentin, and Dakota are all specific from somewhere. ;) Good luck figuring it out!

Actually, I'll give you Dakota. She's our dog's name :D