#........anyways people should go read ''Stanley McGucket'' on AO3 if they haven't

[thelastspeecher]

Hi, to contribute to the HMU on the original Stanley McGucket, one thing in the sequel that I would like more light on is Fidds reintegrating with the family after escaping his cult. Especially Fidds with the kids. I remember liking an older short in the same verse with Danny time traveling and running into Fidds, I'd love more interactions between Fidds and his son, nieces & nephew. Both before and after the memory gun problem.

So...I got this ask over a year ago. I planned on doing a write for it, but that plan fell to the wayside after I got busy with other things. But then I felt like I wanted to do something for the 10 year Gravity Falls anniversary, and I felt like revisiting my OG AU, the Stanley McGucket AU, would be a good way to do so.

Anon, it took a year, but I finally wrote up some Fidds interacting with his nieces. Hope you enjoy it.

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              Fiddleford carefully screwed the last screw in.  He slapped the side of the air conditioning unit.  With a shudder, it came back to life.  Fiddleford sighed in relief and tucked his screwdriver into his back pocket.

              ‘Bout time.  Summer’s comin’ up.  Can’t have folks sweatin’ in the roadside attraction Stan decided to run fer some reason.  He scowled.  No, don’t think so negatively.  His business is what enabled him and Angie to take care of Tate fer so long.  In fact, Tate had only moved back in with Fiddleford last month, after Fiddleford managed to find a place and prove he could maintain it to Angie’s standards.

              “Uncle Fidds?”  Fiddleford turned around.  Danny, the older of his eight-year-old twin nieces, stood before him.  He smiled politely.  Similar to how he had only just gotten custody of Tate again, he hadn’t been allowed to be around his nieces or nephews if they were alone until he stopped having his memory lapses.  His nieces in particular were still getting used to him, so he felt the need to be on his best uncle behavior around them.

              “Did ya want somethin’ from me, honey?” he asked.  Danny clasped her hands in front of her.

              “Daddy wants to know if the air conditioner is fixed yet,” she said dutifully.  Fiddleford nodded.

              “Sure is!”

              “Oh, wow.”  Danny’s rich brown eyes, which she had inherited from her father, widened.  “Daddy’s been shouting at it for weeks and you got it fixed so fast!”

              “Why didn’t he ask fer professional help sooner, if it’s been causin’ trouble fer so long?” Fiddleford asked.  Danny shrugged.

              “Daddy says he doesn’t wanna spend money on somethin’ he can do himself.”

              “He still could’ve called me fer help.  I’m more ‘n happy to do this work fer free.  It’s the least I can do after yer parents took in Tate while I was…”  Fiddleford cleared his throat.  “Is yer dad plannin’ on payin’ me, then?”

              “Mama wants to.  Daddy doesn’t.”

              “Sounds about right,” Fiddleford muttered to himself.  One of the things Stan and Angie frequently butted heads over was Angie’s insistence on paying for things, versus Stan’s desire to spend as little money as possible.  “Well, you can tell yer dad I don’t want to be paid.  You can also tell ‘im that if yer ma tries to pay me, I’ll send the cash back.”  Danny nodded.  She cocked her head in a manner exactly like Angie.

              “How’d you fix it?” she asked slowly.

              “First, what I did was-” Fiddleford started.  He cut himself off, an idea coming to him.  “Do ya want me to tell ya or show ya?”  Danny bounced on the balls of her feet excitedly.

              “Both, please!”  Danny paused.  “Unless it ruins all yer work.”

              “Aw.”  Fiddleford gave her an affectionate noogie.  Her hair wasn’t nearly as curly as her twin sister’s, but it was just as thick, catching on his fingers.  He extracted his fingers carefully to avoid tugging.  “Sweet potata, I already fixed it once.  I can fix it again just as easy.”  Danny beamed.  Fiddleford took his screwdriver out of his pocket.

              “That’s a screwdriver, right?” Danny blurted out.

              “Yup.  Want to look closer?”

              “Yes!”  Fiddleford handed his screwdriver to his niece.  Danny looked it over with a careful eye.

              A future engineer’s eye.  Fiddleford could feel his heart swelling with pride.  She’s always liked takin’ things apart and puttin’ ‘em back together.  And the things she’s built with her blocks, why, they’re on par with what an adult could do.

              “I thought screwdrivers had X’s on the point,” Danny said slowly.

              “We call that kind of screwdriver a Phillips head screwdriver.  What ya got right there is a regular ole screwdriver, so it’s a bit different.  They work the same way, they just use dif’rent kinds of screws.”

              “Oh.  Okay!”  Danny handed the screwdriver back to Fiddleford.

              “Any other questions ‘fore we start?” Fiddleford asked.  Danny shook her head.  “Then I’ll go ahead and get started.”

              Fiddleford had managed to re-break the air conditioner and was halfway through fixing it again when his impromptu lecture was interrupted by the arrival of Danny’s twin, Daisy.

              “Daddy wants to know if the air conditioner’s fixed,” Daisy said dully.  She stared at the partially disassembled air conditioner.  “Guess not.”

              “Oh, I fixed it,” Fiddleford said.  Daisy blinked.

              “But you’re still doing stuff,” she pointed out.  She gasped.  “Are you making it better?  Like in Mama’s stories?”  Fiddleford chuckled.

              “Nope, I ain’t soupin’ it up like when I tried to upgrade things ‘round the house as a kidlet.”

              “Oh, boo.”  Daisy pouted.  “Mama said you got fire to come from the sink instead of water.”

              “Do ya want somethin’ like that?” Fiddleford asked.  Daisy shrugged.

              “Sometimes.”

              She must get those tendencies from Stan.  Angie was never destructive on purpose, she just was energetic and clumsy.  Daisy seems like she wouldn’t mind burnin’ down the house just ‘cause she’s bored.  Fiddleford smiled fondly.  Lord above, Stan and Angie are goin’ to have their hands full when Daisy takes her first chemistry course.

              “If you fixed it, why are you still doing things to it?” Daisy asked.

              “I broke it again so’s I could show yer sister how to fix it.”

              “Huh.”  Daisy frowned thoughtfully.  Her eyes, blue like Angie’s, lit up.  “Can I watch, too?”

              “Are ya sure?” Fiddleford asked.  “I didn’t think ya had an interest in machinery like yer sister.”

              “Nah.”  Daisy sat down on the floor next to her twin.  “But this is more interestin’ than playing with my brothers or helping Daddy.”

              “You like helping Daddy,” Danny said.  Daisy shrugged.

              “With the taxid- tax- taxider-”  She grunted in frustration.

              “Taxidermy,” Fiddleford supplied.  Daisy nodded.

              “That.  I like that.  Daddy’s not doing it right now, though.  He’s counting money.”

              “That’s an important part of ownin’ a business, keepin’ track of what comes in,” Fiddleford said.  Daisy rolled her eyes.

              “Yeah.  But it’s boring.  This sounds better.”  She grinned, the gap from her most recently lost baby tooth on full display.  “Machines stink, but I like you, Uncle Fidds.  You’re weird.”  Fiddleford smiled.

              “I reckon I like you too, sweetheart.”