A/N: Thanks to Robin, Mi Mi, Jessie, and of course, Chiho for reviewing the last chapter. It really means a lot :D. I don't own Meet the Robinsons, Morgan, or really anything in this story… that's depressing… except the little rambunctious Lela who is seriously getting ready to get back at Morgan right now. Anyways, onto the chapter!
I tried. I really, truly and deeply tried. But it was too much. The looks on their faces were just too priceless to hold it in any longer. I started to laugh, soft at first, but then louder and louder. Laughing so hard, I didn't notice that my parents were advancing on me with food held in their hands, Wilbur and Morgan looking on with suspenseful eagerness.
I screamed when I felt the gravy go down the back of my shirt.
After that, it was every man for himself – or herself. I skittered under the table, took a hot dog and stuffed it up Wilbur's straight pant leg. He yelped and jumped back. I threw my head back and giggled silently, rushing away from that spot and standing up, so that when Wilbur looked under the table, there was no one there to blame it on. I watched him shake his leg, but the hot dog wouldn't come out. I shook with suppressed laughter and watched him hop around on one foot. Morgan snuck up behind him and dumped a plate of who-knows-what food on his head, jumping back at the fury on his face.
"You are so dead, Morgan," Wilbur smirked, wiping off the food and throwing it on to the ground angrily.
"I know," she grinned back, getting ready to run, "but it's worth it."
The grin faded off my face. I had heard those words before. Three years ago, on the orphanage rooftop. The last time I had seen Lewis and the first time my life had changed. But Wilbur had been my friend then. That ride home was something I'd never forget. Dazed into a sudden shock, I sat down in one of the chairs, reliving that day. That very fateful day…
"I'll miss him," I said, gazing out the window at the orphanage rooftop. I turned to Wilbur who was focused on doing flips in the air with the time machine before we left 2007. "Won't you?"
I pressed my nose against the window. Lewis was pulling the red wagon along behind him with the repaired Memory Scanner placed in a cardboard box. He gave one last look at the sky –
And Wilbur turned the time machine upside down. I shrieked and whacked my head against the glass roof.
"What was that for? I squeaked, rubbing my head, and climbed back into my seat, finally buckling my seat belt.
"Just look at what I wrote," Wilbur jerked his head in that direction. I strained to see over the window's glare and saw the words:
SEE YA LATER, DAD
I smiled, instantly forgiving Wilbur for the unexpected twist and making me bruise my head.
"Are you going to come back and visit him?" I said, almost already knowing the answer. He turned his head slightly and gave me a cheeky grin. My guess had been right.
"When you do, can I come? Please?" I gave him irresistible puppy dog eyes and his grin widened.
"Of course you can! But you can't mess up the time stream, because that would just be unforgivable and terrible, now, wouldn't it?"
I rolled my eyes and gave him a playful smack on his arm. "No, I won't mess anything up. Only people who have no idea what they're doing mess up the time stream," I giggled, watching Wilbur realize what I had said – even though he had laughed along with me at first.
"Relax, I'm just kidding. I trust you, Wilbur," I said, resting my head in my hands. "You're the one person who ever paid any attention to me. Except when I did the stunts."
For a moment, Wilbur was speechless, but then replied, "I always wondered why you did those stunts. But now I'm sorry I never asked. Was it really for attention?"
I had never heard Wilbur's voice sound this guilty. I wrung my hands, but nodded slowly. "Big family – little girl. You do the math. Everyone had something else to do, especially Dad. You have no idea what I felt when I found out Lewis was Dad in 2007. He paid attention to me, just like you did. I didn't want him to leave."
Wilbur stared blankly outside at the 2037 horizon line. He replied, "We'll see him again, don't worry. And just remember – Dad is Lewis. It'll be like he never left."
"But Wilbur," I said, twisting my hair around my finger, "they're like two different people. Lewis and Dad – somehow, I just don't see the connection… the similarities. I mean, if he knew this whole thing was going to happen all along, will he really change?"
Wilbur sighed, landing softly on the concrete in front of the garage. "Well, just remember, Lela, no matter how bad family life gets, I'll always be here for you."
I smiled, getting ready to jump out of the time machine and prepare for punishment. "Okay, I'll remember that. Thanks, Wilbur." A warm glow led me up to the front door of my house. He had promised.
My eyes grew stony. He had promised back then, the promise had been broken. The past had been relived as a terror. Rage made its way in, forcing my gaze to find Morgan. It was truly all her fault. She was the one to be blamed for all of this – this torture I had been put through by being ignored by my brother since I had arrived back home. And she was going to pay.
Taking an empty plate from the table I made my way over to where Morgan and Wilbur stood, I aimed the plate right at her head. I pulled my arm back and fired. Not only did I not really expect the plate to hit Morgan in the back of the head dead on, but I did not expect her to scream so ear-piercingly loud. She swiveled around and glared my directly in the eyes.
"What the – what was that for?" she shrieked at me, pulling more food off the table.
"I think you know," I snapped back, not retreating when she advanced on me with another plate filled with food. Wilbur watched the two of us in frozen horror, not really sure what to do. I didn't care.
I could deal with Candy on my own.
"Fine then," she grinned like she was enjoying our little showdown. "Let the game begin."
In a blur, we attacked each other with such ferociousness I had never seen in myself before. But it didn't last long. After Candy dumped the rest of the food on my head – on my hair that I had spent so long doing this morning – I clawed at her face, leaving a long, bleeding scrape along her jaw. Before she could get another kick or hit at me, I felt someone pull me away. I squirmed and lashed out, but the grip stayed strong.
I looked back and saw both Carl and my father pulling me away from Morgan. Wilbur and my mother had a hold on Morgan's shoulders. Her face was red with anger, hair out of place, tonight's dinner covering her entirely, and the cut I had given her bleeding freely.
I must have looked no better, screaming, shoulders heaving, and being dragged away by my father and a robot. It really wasn't the best way to end the night.
Finally, somehow, Carl and Dad got me back out the door and out into the hallway. They quickly ushered me under a travel tube, without saying one word and both keeping a tight grasp on my shoulders. They were afraid I would run off and try to kill Morgan. I wasn't going to even rule out that possibility.
We arrived in the lab and my dad sat me on a chair. This was not going to be pretty.
"Okay, little lady," Cornelius looked down at me with a steely glare etched in his eyes, Carl standing behind him with the same look. "What in the world is going on with you?"
A/N: Can you say, "Not good at all for little Lela?" We'll just see how she confesses (or doesn't confess) in chapter four. Please review and tell me what you thought! And Mi Mi, if I'm not getting Morgan's character right (I've been reading MTRP2 over and over again), tell me!
Thanks all!
