"Marty, will you get out of my kitchen!" Jennifer McFly waved her hands at her husband's behind, ushering him toward the living room.
Marty grabbed the doorframe and spun on his wife. He shrugged sheepishly. "I just want everything to be perfect, Jen. This is the first time Doc and Clara are visiting us for Christmas. Last time he saw my family in 2015, everything was a mess." His voice dropped lower. "I want him to see that I didn't turn into…into a loser."
"Oh honey," she said as she stepped in closer and ran a hand through his hair. "How could he be anything but proud of you?" She leaned in and planted a quick kiss. "Now get out so I can finish dinner. Go check the eggnog, see if it needs more brandy in it."
A smile twitched on his lips. "Yes, ma'am."
As he ambled down the hallway to the living room, he reached out on hand and ran his fingers wistfully over the smooth lacquer finish of the three solid-body guitars hanging on the wall. He caressed the strings, listened to the muted thrum, then continued on his way.
In the living room, a fire popped and crackled. A real fire, not the holographic fake that the average household possessed. Having a working fireplace was a luxury; the filtering system in the chimney that prevented anything but clean water vapor from being released into the environment was still an expensive technology. Marty ladled some of the frothy eggnog from the crystal punchbowl into a delicate matching cup and took a sip. Perfect. He turned and admired the twinkling tree in one corner. Tomorrow, his parents and children would descend on the presents piled beneath the tree. But tonight… tonight was for old friends.
The doorbell rang, snapping him out of his reverie. Setting down the eggnog, he rushed into the foyer. He straightened his tie and tugged on the sleeves of his jacket before throwing open the front door.
"Marty!" Emmett Brown bustled into the house with an armful of packages; Marty stepped back to keep from being bowled over. Doc dropped the packages on a chair in the entryway, then threw his arms around his younger friend.
"Hey, Doc," Marty replied, his voice muffled into the thick lapel of Doc's wool coat.
Doc broke the embrace, but held onto Marty's arms to look at him. "It's so good to see you again." Behind him, Clara waited patiently with a fond smile, knowing how important the reunion was to her husband.
"Well, technically, you did just see me a little over two months ago." Marty's second trip in the DeLorean had been a Doc's insistence, that he and Jennifer travel to October of 2015, to prevent the arrest of Marty Junior. But that had been a different world, where Marty's life had been in shambles.
"Now you know that with the timeline altered, that trip was never necessary," Doc began to explain.
"It's a joke, Doc. It's good to see you, too." He reached past the white-haired man to take the hand of his other guest. "And you too, Clara. Merry Christmas."
"Thank you for having us; it was a very kind invitation," she replied formally, unused to the casual manners of the twenty-first century.
Jennifer appeared behind Marty and gave Doc a peck on the cheek. "Merry Christmas, Emmett." She stepped closer and embraced Clara. "Merry Christmas," she repeated, then slipped an arm around her husband's waist.
After dinner, the four of them sat in the living room, sipping eggnog. Doc Brown noted the opulence of wood paneling and the leather furniture. Above the mantel, two enormous plaques with gold disks in the center hung prominently. "I see that your music career was successful after all," he said.
Jennifer smiled. "Yeah. Once he avoided that accident that damaged his hand, everything changed. That terrible fax from the other 2015 changed right in front of my eyes. And when George's book was made into a movie, he helped Marty get his first break, doing the soundtrack."
"Doc," Marty leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, "do you remember what my parents' lives were like before I went back to 1955, the first time? Biff terrorized Dad, was his boss in that crappy job he had. Why doesn't Jennifer remember that? She's always known Dad as a famous science fiction author. But it was different, I know it was."
"Yes, I remember. Jennifer wasn't part of the circumstances that changed your father's destiny, so she's only ever known the new timeline from 1955 to 1985. But she remembers the other version of 2015, the one we visited from the past, because she traveled outside the space-time continuum." Doc paused. "But your family situation isn't the only thing that's changed in this 2015." He raised an eyebrow meaningfully.
"No, it's not." Marty suddenly looked nervous. "I…uh… I didn't stay in music. After I got those two gold records, I went back to college, to graduate school." He pushed himself off the sofa and paced in front of the fireplace. "I went back to school for physics, Doc."
Both the Browns looked surprised. "Really?" Clara exclaimed. "How wonderful!"
Jennifer went to Marty's side, her face beaming with pride. "You aren't the only doctor in the room, Emmett. Marty is a famous physicist now. He just received his third patent."
"Why would you do that, Marty? You loved music so much." Doc Brown brushed his hand over his face.
"You inspired me, Doc." Marty's voice grew husky. "All your inventions. The flux capacitor. You traveled through time! I wanted to make the world a better place, just like you did."
Doc jumped up and rushed to his friend. He put gripped Marty's shoulders. "You make me so proud, Marty. This is my greatest accomplishment, the legacy that I've always wanted to be remembered for." He wiped away the moisture gathering in the corner of his eyes. "You, Marty. You are my greatest invention. More important than the flux capacitor or time travel. Thank you."
Now it was Marty's turn to embrace his friend, his mentor. "Merry Christmas, Doc."