Notes:

In the movie, while Rufus Sixsmith and Luisa Rey are stuck in the elevator, Rufus tells Luisa about his niece, Megan. (The young, Asian woman that gives Luisa the report.) Rufus procures a picture of Megan and her parents... Megan's parents are clearly incarnations of Adam Ewing/Hae-Joo and Tilda/Somni-451. Thus, in 1973, Rufus and Adam were brothers. (Which adds a new dimension to their relationships in 2144. Of course the archivist believed Somni, once upon a time, she was his sister-in-law.)

And so, I wondered... What life must have been like for the Sixsmiths during the 1970's. Considering all the tragedies they experienced during their various lifetimes, I thought, wouldn't it be nice to see them acting dull and happy?

Standard disclaimers apply.


Honk! Hoonnnkkkk! Hoooonnnnnnkkkkkkkk!

Adam Sixsmith removed his wire-rimmed glasses and massaged his temples. He was seated in his favorite recliner, in the living room of his split-level house. Before the dying Volkswagen Beetle had rolled into his driveway, he had been enjoying the daily newspaper.

His daughter, Megan, raced down the short staircase and across the living room. She grimaced and said, "Sorry, Daddy," after the car-horn started to blare from the driveway once again. A quick peck upon one stubbly cheek. "Tell Mom I said, 'bye.' Don't wait up." And with that, she was out the front door.

The engineer jammed his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose and ambled toward the nearest window. He peeked through the blinds just as his beautiful, intelligent daughter climbed into the passenger seat of that dirty hippy's car. "Dirty hippy," he hissed aloud.

"What are you doing?"

The sound of his wife's voice startled him. He whirled around to face her as his hand fell from the blind; the thin piece of plastic rebounded like a rubber-band with a surprisingly loud "Snap!" "Nothing," he murmured. "Megan said, 'bye.' Don't wait up."

Bae-Chin stood in the archway that divided the kitchen from the living room; she held a basket of clean laundry in her thin arms and wore an expression that was both amused and suspicious. "You were spying on her, weren't you?" Her eyes narrowed, as if to say, "Don't lie to me, Mister."

"I don't like him." Adam had learned, during their first year of marriage, that, sometimes, the best way to avoid an argument is to evade direct questions by offering other truths.

"My father didn't like you either." Touché.

"This is different."

"How?"

Fuck. He couldn't say: "Because your father was determined to be a racist asshole until he realized that engineers make significantly more money than nail salon owners." (Before Adam met Bae-Chin, her father had hoped that she would marry the eldest son of a family friend. The family in question did own a nail salon. Still owned a nail salon actually.) "Because he's a dirty hippy."

Mrs. Sixsmith rolled her dark eyes. "You're best friend is a dirty hippy."

"Ed is very clean. Furthermore, he would never, ever allow Megan to smoke marijuana."

"Megan is not smoking marijuana."

"How do you know?"

"I don't know; I trust Megan's judgment. She's a smart girl with goals and a bright future. You don't seriously believe she'd throw everything away for a summer fling, do you?"

Adam grinned sheepishly. "Well... Not when you say it like that."

"Trust our daughter. If you don't, you'll only push her into the arms of the wrong man." Bae-chin decided that she had effectively won the quarrel and resumed her earlier task. She hefted the basket of laundry upstairs with every intention of putting the neatly folded clothing away.

However, her husband followed her into their bedroom and locked the door behind him. "That's not why you married me, is it?" He was not wearing his glasses.

Bae-Chin's friends often asked her how she maintained her girlish figure. She always shrugged her shoulders and mentioned that her mother had never weighed more than ninety-eight pounds, except for when she had been pregnant. However, Bae-chin suspected that her husband's abnormally high sex-drive was partially responsible... She didn't want to tell her friends because they always complained about never getting laid. Bae-chin didn't want to rub their noses in her good fortune.

"What are you talking about?"

"Did your father push you into my arms?" The arms in question encircled her waist; his lips brushed her ear.

She wanted to tell him that, the night they met, she had felt that she had known him forever; she wanted to tell him that she had fallen head over heels in love with him the first time she gazed into his eyes. She wanted to tell him that she felt like the luckiest woman in the whole world. She didn't say any of these words, just, "Silly, silly man," before she kissed him. She knew she didn't have to because he knew; he felt the same way about her.