Playing with Fire [Gravity Falls Fanfic]

Ch. 12 I need to visit an old friend

Tears welled up in Talulla's brown eyes. Her whole body shakes, causing Barty to lift his head and stare at her with worried brown eyes.

" Bah!" Barty shouts, grabbing Stan, Rick, and Mabel's attention. They turned and saw tears falling from Talulla's brown eyes.

' Ugh! I cannot believe Dipper made LuLu cry!' Mabel internally shouts. ' I am going to find him and make him see that what he did to LuLu was horrible.' She turns around and walks out of the Shack since Stan and Rick are paying attention to Talulla.

' Even though Barty isn't biologically mine, what Dipper said to me stung me so hard.' Talulla internally speaks, unaware that Mabel left the Shack to find Dipper.

" Hey. Let me hold the kid." Rick softly speaks when he sees Talulla's hands shaking.

Talulla instinctively hands Barty to Rick while Stan wraps his arms around his Grand-niece and hugs her.

" Hey. You are not what your brother said." Stan comforts Talulla. " And if someone calls you that again, they will get a severe beating." He looks at her.

" I have a blaster that can turn someone into slime. I am not afraid to use it on someone." Rick merely speaks while holding Barty in his arms.

Talulla and Stan glanced at Rick, but they didn't say anything. Knowing Rick, Stan knew his childhood friend would go through with the threat.

" Let me make you something to eat since we haven't eaten breakfast." Stan softly speaks while guiding Talulla to the dining table and helps her sit down.

" I'll help-" Talulla speaks, but Stan cuts her off.

" No. You sit and relax." Stan responded. " Rick. Keep Talulla and Barty company." He glanced at Rick.

" Kay. Free food for me." Rick grinned. He walks towards the dining table and gently puts Barty on Talulla's lap. " Hey, Stan. It would be best if you had a high chair for the kid. That way, Talulla can eat in peace." He sits down next to Talulla.

" How would you know?" Stan asked while walking towards the kitchen.

" Hello! I had a daughter. And she had two kids, aka my grandkids. So, I know a thing or two on what babies need, and sh-" Rick realized there was a baby in the dining room. "-stuff." He responded.

" That's right. I remember you had a kid named Bethany." Stan nodded and began to make breakfast.

" She likes to be called Beth." Rick annoyingly rolled his black eyes. " I can ask Beth if she still has baby stuff from when Summer and Morty were babies." He mumbled. " Knowing my daughter, she would love to help out once she learns it's for family." He glanced at Talulla.

Talulla looked at Rick with a questioning stare since she didn't hear what the older male said since she got distracted by Barty.

" Beth? Summer? Morty?" Talulla raised an eyebrow.

" Yeah. Beth is my only daughter. And Summer and Morty are her children, my Grandkids. Summer, I think, is close to your age. Meanwhile, Morty is close to the twins' age." Rick speaks.

" Do you have pictures of them?" Talulla softly asked.

Rick looked at Talulla with mixed emotions. He glanced at Stan and saw that his childhood friend was making breakfast. He looked back at the young female and nodded.

" Wubba Lubba Dub-Dub." Rick randomly speaks, causing Talulla to look at him in worry. " I may not look like it or act like it. But, I care about my family." He murmured. " I just have a weird way of showing it." He shrugged and pulled out a wallet.

Talulla held Barty when she saw that he was going to crawl away. She looked at Rick and saw him pull some pictures from his wallet.

" That's my daughter, Beth." Rick points to a current picture of his daughter, forty-three-year-old Bethany 'Beth' Smith nee Sanchez, at the beach wearing a cute summer dress and a hat on her head.

" She's pretty." Talulla complimented.

Rick nodded. " In this picture, it's Beth, and her husband, Jerry Smith." He points to a picture of his daughter and son-in-law in their younger years since the image was of their wedding day.

Talulla nodded. She noticed that Rick was giving Jerry the stink eye, but she figured he was only a protective father.

" That's my daughter, Beth, and her daughter, Summer." Rick looks at a picture of Beth and Summer, making cute, funny faces.

" Summer looks alot like her mother. The only difference is that Summer has red-orange hair, and Beth has blonde hair." Talulla commented.

" Yeah." Rick's gaze slightly softened. " They do look alot alike." He mumbled.

" And that's my daughter, Beth, and her son, Morty." Rick motioned to the picture of Beth hugging Morty and Morty looking at the camera akwardly.

" Morty looks like his father," Talulla remembered Jerry's face on the wedding picture.

" Yup. They even have the same negative personality." Rick annoyingly rolled his black eyes.

Talulla looks at Rick. " You and Jerry don't look eye to eye?" She softly asked.

" I tolerate him, for Beth's sake. I think Beth deserves someone better. Then again, I haven't been in her life due to personal problems." Rick mumbled.

" I figured Beth only got with Jerry to spite me." Rick sighed. " But in the end, she eventually fell for him since they married and had two kids." He looks at Talulla.

Talulla's gaze softened. She held Barty with her left arm and took Rick's hand in her right hand, lightly squeezing it.

" I may not know you or Beth personally. But, from the pictures, I see you in the background or with her. I could see you and her looking at each other with a loving gaze." Talulla softly speaks.

Rick looked at Talulla with mixed emotions. For a second, he thought he saw Faye looking and smiling at him with so much fondness in her brown eyes.

" Hey, Stan! I remember I have something important to do!" Rick blurts out.

" What about breakfast?" Stan asked while looking at Rick.

" I'll eat something on the road. It was nice meeting you, Fa-Talulla." Rick waved goodbye and turned around, heading out of the Shack.

Talulla watched Rick leave with a worried gaze. She frowned, wondering if she said something horrible that triggered something in the older male.

Rick walks out of the Shack. He was about to close the door but stopped when he saw Talulla looking at him with a worried gaze.

' I need to visit an old friend and then do a DNA test because I know that Talulla isn't Shermie's Grandkid but Ford's.' Rick internally spoke, and he closed the door.