A/N: Okay I officially feel like an idiot. I realized as I was writing this that Mutt's stepfather's name was Collin Williams, not William Collins. Wow, this is so embarrassing. You must all be so confused! I'm confused! How could I not realize that when Mutt's name is Mutt Williams? Well, since I've already written about the family as the Collinses, I'm just going to go with that. Let's just pretend that Marion's first husband's name was William Collins. I hope it won't drive you Canon-lovers crazy! (But it will since I am a canon-lover, and it is driving me crazy.) Thanks! Here's Part Two of Ficlet Three.

P.S. Feel free to smack me via the review button.

P.P.S. I've edited this because so many people were confused. I've added a little bit.

Oh, and by the way, this one is really LONG.

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PREVIOUSLY…

All were surprised to hear the deep tones of the doorbell. "We weren't expecting anyone else," Indy told the Collins.

He walked to the door almost timidly, for a thought had just entered his mind. It couldn't be—but what if it was? He put his hand on the doorknob. No he wouldn't—not without writing ahead. He pulled open the door. Apparently he would.

"Junior!"

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Indiana Jones could only think about the irony of the situation he found himself in. His entire life he had wanted a moment like this—his father showing up unexpectedly, for no other reason than to see him. Yet, now that the moment had arrived, he found himself wanting nothing more than to see his father gone. But as Indy thought about it, he realized that he shouldn't be surprised. Because Henry Jones Senior, if nothing else, was a man of bad timing.

"Dad?" Indy choked out.

Henry Sr. laughed and gave his son a friendly swat on the arm. "Thought I'd come and surprise you, old boy."

"Ya, I got that, Dad." Indy was really sure what to say. He couldn't really just tell his father to leave, but the alternative…

"Dad, you have to leave."

The older man's look didn't even change. "Don't be silly. I drove an hour to see you."

Indy's heart beat a little quicker, hope rising in chest. Was it really possible that his father had remembered his birthday? Indy immediately chided himself. He had never remembered before. Why would he remember now? Still, the hope in Indy's chest would not disappear. "Why?" he asked his father.

"Why what?" Henry Sr. asked indignantly.

"Why did you come to see me?"

"You are the one who was always begging me to talk to you and spend time with you. Well I'm here now."

Indiana sighed, his hope deflating like a balloon. He glanced back down the hall. He knew that if he spent too much time at the door someone would come looking. "I'm serious. This is really not the right time. Come back on Wednesday."

"I will do no such thing. I'm here tonight."

It was a precarious situation. Indiana felt genuinely sad that he had to turn his father away. If he wasn't so worried about the inevitable disaster that seemed on the brink of happening, he would have been touched by his father's gesture.

"Look, Dad—"

"Indy?" Marion was standing down the hall trying to see over Indiana's shoulder. "Who is it?"

Indy closed the door enough so that she couldn't see who was outside. "Just one of my students…with a question…" He grinned nervously. "You know…" He pointed with his eyes to the door. "One of the girls," he mouthed.

Marion wasn't buying it for a second. But she knew her husband wouldn't lie to her without good reason. Besides, with guests in the house it was no time for her to be getting into an argument with him.

"Alright. Hurry up, though. Maurice wants to talk to you about your expeditions."

Indy smiled disingenuously as she walked away. His father pushed open the door and walked right in. Indy grabbed his shoulder and kept him from walking down the hall to the kitchen. "No…Dad."

"Are you going to tell me what's going on, Henry?"

"We've got guests." Indy said reluctantly. It was the wrong choice of words.

"Well why didn't you say so? I'm sure they won't mind adding one more to the party." Henry Sr. then proceeded to march the rest of the way to the kitchen. Indy knew he couldn't stop him if he wanted to. He followed his father like a man being led to the gallows.

As Indiana entered the kitchen behind the aging man, he noticed that Maurice and Dorothy had now taken seats with Marion at the kitchen table, and that Mutt was leaning complacently against the kitchen counter.

He rather wished he could have taken a Polaroid of that single moment in time. The faces of everyone present were so exceptionally funny that for a moment he forgot about his dire situation.

Maurice Collins seemed to be the only person in the room, besides Henry Sr., who was completely at ease. Dorothy Collins was staring at Henry Sr. suspiciously, as if she had seen him before. Marion was also looking at Henry Sr., but her face was that of a woman who realized that everything she's planned for was coming down around her ears. Her mouth was open and the white of her eyes was conspicuously evident. She seemed completely at loss for words.

Mutt was the only person not looking at Henry Senior. Instead, he was looking at Henry Jr. He seemed torn between horror and amusement, and he looked to his father for reassurance. Indy just grimaced and shrugged in total defeat.

Dorothy was the first to speak. She addressed Henry Sr. "Have we met before? You look awfully familiar."

Henry Sr. reached forward to shake her hand. "I don't believe we've had the pleasure. My name is Henry Jones." He glanced back at his son. "Senior, that is."

Dorothy gasped. "Oh but I do know you! My son talked about you all the time. He was a student of yours many years ago. His name was William Collins?"

"Oh yes, I remember the boy. He was a great student."

Dorothy smiled. "Yes, he was." She paused with a sad look of remembrance in her eye. "He was killed in the war nearly 18 years ago."

"Oh, I am very sorry," Dr. Jones replied politely.

"Thank you. Oh, but I nearly forgot to introduce myself! My name is Dorothy Collins, and this is my husband, Maurice."

"A pleasure," Henry said to Maurice. Mr. Collins nodded back to Henry Sr.

The introductions done, the eldest Jones turned to Marion. "It's lovely to see you again dear."

Marion strained a smile as she stood to hug her father-in-law. "It's nice to see you too."

As soon as Marion released him, Henry turned to his grandson. "You back in school yet, boy?"

Indy recalled how his father was the king of bad timing.

"Uh…not yet. Dad and I are still…" He seemed to contemplate the choice of his words. "…working out the details."

It was with this small conversation that Maurice finally emerged from his quiet reverie. "Henry, you're not in school?" He spoke it quietly, but the disapproval in his tone was evident.

"No. I dropped it more than a year ago." Indy thought that Mutt could have chosen a better answer.

"Why would you ever do that?" Maurice said, sitting forward. "You're a smart boy. Surely you must know the importance of a good education."

Mutt shrugged. "It was boring. I can learn stuff much better out in the real world."

Indiana recognized the look on Maurice's face. He thought it almost comical that it exactly mirrored his own father's look when Mutt had told him he was not in school.

"We can't have this, Henry. You have to go back. You're father never finished college, and his only option ended up being the air force. I want my grandson to have all the options he needs."

Well, there it is, Indy thought. It was only a matter of time. Recognizing that the apocalypse had just been put into effect, Indy took a resigned seat next to his wife.

Henry Sr. was staring utterly confused at Maurice. Maurice, who had been looking at Mutt, turned to Dr. Jones when he felt the silence in the room.

Henry Sr. seemed to be trying to piece the information together in his mind, but was struggling to comprehend the situation. "I'm sorry…" He said, addressing Maurice, "but did you say, 'my grandson?'"

Now all three visitors were thoroughly perplexed. "Well, yes, of course. Henry is my grandson. Marion and William used to be married."

"Oh." Henry Sr. said simply. "Oh, do forgive me. I did not realize that Marion had been married before."

Maurice looked offended. "And where did you think Henry came from? I hope you would not assume that he was born out of wedlock."

Although it was missed by the rest of the room, Indy saw the roll of the eyes that Mutt cast to no one in particular.

Henry Sr. laughed outright. "I don't assume it—I know it! Marion and Junior only got married a few months ago."

When the eldest Jones was met with two perplexed stares, the light bulb went off above his head. He whirled around to his son so fast that Indy thought it amazing he didn't hurt himself. "Junior!"

Indy was about to respond when Marion held up a hand. "Enough," she said. "This is my fault. I should have been honest with everyone from the very beginning."

The Collins's were watching her with stricken faces. Maurice looked worried, and Dorothy looked downright scared.

Marion turned to her in-laws and placed a comforting hand on Dorothy's. "You two have been so good to me over the years. I hate that I have kept this from you for so long." She paused to take a calming breath. "Indy—Henry and I met when I was still a teenager. We started dating when I was in my 30's. We…we were engaged to be married. But Henry got cold feet." Indy had the decency to blush. "He took off without so much as a note. I never got the chance to tell him…to tell him I that I was…expecting." The last word came out reluctantly.

Dorothy closed her eyes, and Maurice let out an audible sigh. Marion decided it was best to just push on. "I met William a few months later and we started dating. He knew that I was pregnant when we met. I thought he wouldn't want to date me, but he did. I just…I really needed someone with me at that time in my life. William was such a good man. I loved him. I really did. But we never had a child together. Mutt…he's Henry's son."

There was no way for the couple to respond to that. They just sat there absorbing the information. Maurice patted Dorothy's hand in comfort. Dorothy just kept opening and closing her eyes in devastation.

After an uncomfortably long silence, Maurice made a noise of realization. "So, that's why you named him Henry?"

Marion tried to smile. "Yes…Henry Walton Jones the Third."

All the while Mutt had remained at the kitchen counter. It was sort of strange that his family was having this emotional conversation about him when he was standing right there. He thought that perhaps he should interject, but he didn't know what to say. He looked at his father who was seemed to be trying to melt into the floor. He looked at his grandfather (his real grandfather), who was looking at his son with disapproval.

"Junior, you should have told these people as soon as you found out. How could you do this to them?" Henry Sr. asked coldly.

Once again Indy was not given the chance to respond. This time it was Mutt who spoke up. "It doesn't matter." He said simply.

All the adults looked at him incredulously. Maurice shook his head. "Of course it does, Henry. We've gone all these years thinking that the family line was being carried on, and now we find it isn't. William was our only child, you know."

Mutt stepped forward and kneeled by his grandmother. "I'm sorry that I can't carry on the family blood, but you're still my grandparents. Will was my stepdad. That makes you my grandparents. Besides, you think I'm just gonna throw away all the good times we've had?"

Dorothy, whose tears had been flowing quite freely by now, put a hand on Mutt's face. "You're right, doll. You'll always be our boy. I can't pretend that it doesn't hurt knowing that what we've thought all these years isn't true, but it doesn't mean things have to be any different. You're still our family." Maurice nodded and put a hand on Mutt's shoulder.

Marion breathed a sigh of relief. She felt like a yoke had been lifted from her shoulders. Everyone knew now. They could just be the family that they were meant to be. Marion reflected that if she had realized how much the secret was going to weigh her down, she probably would have just told the truth to begin with.

Henry Sr. broke up the silence by bringing his hands together with a slap. "Well, I'm glad we've gotten this out into the open. Hopefully we can all be on the same page from now on. But let's move on to happier topics. Marion, you wouldn't happen to have some of that Rhubarb pie left, would you?"

She finally let out a genuine laugh and headed for the fridge. The atmosphere in the room had returned to one of comfort and ease. Mutt joined in the conversation with his two grandfathers, who were eagerly discussing the latest archeological news. Marion served the pie, then conversed with Dorothy.

Indy, who had had quite enough family talk for one night, got up to retreat to his den.

"Junior."

Indy turned back to his father with tired eyes. "What is it now, Dad?"

Henry Sr. looked back at his son with almost a sad expression.

"Happy Birthday."

FINIS

A/N: Okay, I know this one was really long and a bit differently written than the other ones, but I really enjoyed writing it. Except for my character name dyslexia, this has been my favorite that I've written. I hope you guys enjoyed it! Please R&R!