Chapter Text
July 18, 2014
Late in the morning
“Grunkle Ford?” Mabel asks confusedly, “What is it, Mabel?” Ford asks looking up from the box he was looking through
Mabel was helping Ford sort through a couple of boxes of his old stuff that had spent the last thirty something years in a closet after Ford had fallen through the portal
Mabel holds up a photo of a blond haired and brown eyed infant “who's this?” she asks
Ford goes quiet the moment he sees the photo immediately recognizing the girl in it
“Grunkle Ford?” Mabel asks concerned by her grunkle’s sudden silence
Ford takes a deep breath before speaking “I'm alright” he says voice sounding slightly strained
“I just… wasn't expecting to see her ever again after…” Ford trails off and takes the picture from Mabel
“to see who? After what?” Mabel asks moving closer to Ford
“she…” Ford pauses to consider his words “she was my daughter, Zoe, but she went missing a long time ago…”
Ford sniffles and tears start to gather in his eyes “it was back in 1977 about six months before her third birthday”
Ford turns his head away as tears start to roll down his face “sorry, it's hard for me to talk about”
Ford is surprised when Mabel wraps her arms around him tightly “don't you worry Grunkle Ford, I will find her for you!”
Ford smiles slightly “that’s very nice of you Mabel but you really don’t have to-” he starts but Mabel cuts him off “nonsense! I’m sure that Dipper and I can find her no problem!”
Ford nods “alright, thank you Mabel” Mabel smiles at him and then excitedly runs to go find Dipper “don’t you worry Grunkle Ford! I will make sure you see her again” Mabel yelled as she ran off, perhaps a little too loud with how close she still was when she said it.
Ford sighs and looks down at the photo still in his hands, “I just worry that she’s not still around for you to find”