TUESDAY, AUGUST 12TH 1958

1:58PM


It was only when he arrived at the Country Club Doc realised the dilemma.

He hadn't considered how he was going to find Marty and Jennifer, or more particularly how to find them while being inconspicuous.

He pulled the DeLorean/Studebaker to the side of the road before entering the gates of the Country Club. He'd never been there before, but he knew it was a pretty good chance there'd be valets and there was absolutely no way he could allow anyone get to close to the Time Machine.

But he couldn't exactly stroll up the driveway to the front doors either, that would just arouse a whole lot of suspicion, to say nothing of the fact that he was hardly appropriately attired.

"Damnit, why didn't I give Marty a walkie talkie?" He berated himself once again, making a note to provide everybody with one the next time he time travelled, which after today's events would be a while.

As it was now, there was only one thing he could do, sneak onto the grounds and hope that he could spot Marty and Jennifer and they could spot him without anyone noticing.

Thankfully the golf course was there which would provide plenty of cover and since this was the late 50s there really wasn't anything in the way of security.

First though, Doc had to park the DeLorean properly so it wouldn't attract any attention, there really wasn't anywhere to park near the Country Club, so he had to resign himself to making a U-turn and headed back toward the main road, a good half mile away and walking back towards the Club.

He just hoped that the Reception hadn't or didn't end before he could get there or that Marty and Jennifer hadn't all ready escaped, he had of course made frequent bypasses of the alleyway where they'd parked the DeLorean originally, but as of the last pass a few minutes ago, there was no sign of them.

So, Doc was pretty sure that they were still in the Banquet Hall of the Club and hopefully weren't doing anything to disrupt the space time continuum.


Marty gasped and practically dragged Jennifer to him as he ducked behind Aunt Alison.

Ever since the photographer had shown up, it had been like some sort of athletic event, avoiding having either his or Jennifer's face photographed. He was pretty sure the odd poses he had put himself and her in were going to be talking points once the photos came back and Mom started putting them in the album, but there was one thing Marty knew...

There would definitely be trouble with the space time continuum if there was a photo of him and Jennifer floating around. Especially if when they got back to 1988 and arrived at the Anniversary party in the exact same clothes! Marty made a mental note to get changed and tell Jennifer to as well when they got back to 1988.

Jennifer though wasn't particularly pleased about being hauled around.

"Could you at least give a warning?" She asked, when he finally let her go and she could take a breath.

"Sorry, but there's not a lot of time, that guy is all over the place."

"That's how they operate," Jennifer sighed, "but Marty, do you really think we can avoid not getting in any photos?"

"Oh we'll be in 'em, just not our faces," Marty gave her a wry grin.

Jennifer laughed. "Your parents are going to wonder about that, don't you think?"

"Maybe, but as long as they don't greet us when we get to the party by passing out from the shock of realising I'm Marty Klein, I don't really care."

"So you'll never tell your parents the truth?"

Marty shrugged. "I dunno…I mean, I don't want Doc to get in trouble, I can't imagine my parents would be very impressed that he made a deal with some terrorists to get the time machine to work. Even I think that's insane…Not only that, but we don't want everyone and their brother knowing about the Time Machine, can you imagine how much shit would hit the fan? I don't think Dad would be able to keep the secret to be honest."

"You're probably right," Jennifer admitted with a nod. "I mean, he's a sci-fi writer, I guess…he'd probably write about it at least."

"And imagine how much my Mom would flip out if she ever found out that she'd been hitting on her own son." He gave a small shudder, it wasn't really something he liked to think about either.

Jennifer pulled a face. "Ugh, I'm with you there, if I ever went out with my future son, I'd really rather never know about it."

Marty cracked a smile. "Don't worry, I think you're safe, I'll make sure our kids know about the dangers of time travel!"

At that moment Mom and Dad danced by, Mom immediately coming to a halt and reaching out to take Marty's hands. "Come on, let's dance!"

"Oh, I don't know…"

"You can't turn down the bride," his mother scolded and gave him a wink. "It's very rude."

He looked over at Jennifer, and noticed out the corner of his eye his mother giving his father a none too subtle nudge.

"Oh…er…" he reached out and took her hand. "Would you like to dance…I won't step on your toes, I swear…"

Jennifer looked at Marty and gave a barely noticeable shrug, obviously there wasn't much they could do about it, so they let themselves be lead out onto the dance floor.

"We never did get to dance," Mom commented as she lead him in what he supposed was a waltz.

Well, I guess I should be glad she's decided not to dwell on that, Marty tried to console himself and avoid tripping over his feet at the same time.

"Claudia's such a lovely girl," Mom continued, and then blushed slightly. "I really am sorry that I never asked if you had a girlfriend, I should have known I guess…"

"No, hey, it's fine," Marty assured her, not wanting to go into too much detail about Jennifer…and also acutely aware that the photographer was hovering nearby.

"And really, I know I've said it before, but I can't thank you enough for coming that was so sweet of you, George and I were so disappointed when Dr. Brown said you wouldn't be able to make it, what made you change your mind?"

Marty really had no idea what to say to that… "Er…my last duty as a Coast Guard," he improvised. "I have to turn in my last report to the Coast Guard station I began at. In San Francisco…." At that moment the all too obvious excuse for escape came to him! "Actually, we're kind of due there pretty soon."

"Oh no, how soon? George and I are heading to San Francisco too, to the airport, maybe we could drive you?"

The invitation caught Marty completely off guard and he came to a rather abrupt stop almost sending him and Mom tripping over each other.

"Sorry, I'm not much a dancer," he apologised and tugged a little on his collar. "No, no that's fine, Claudia and I have our own way to get there."

Mom giggled. "It would be pretty strange for you to show up at the Coast Guard Station in a car with white ribbons on it!"

Somehow, Marty managed a small smile.

"You will stay for the cake though? The baker who made it said it's really something!"

"Uh…well," Marty shifted uncomfortable, he had lost track of time and couldn't exactly look at his watch, since it was an electronic one that wouldn't exist for nearly thirty years. He cursed himself for not been able to even make an educated guess, it was something he and his father, even in the original timeline, shared.

At that moment though, there was quite a lot of activity as eight or so kitchen hands returned to the room, each carrying a tray with numerous plates of cake. There was hardly any reason to turn it down now, and it did look rather appetising.

"Sure," Marty shrugged resignedly, at least once he and Jennifer had a piece they'd be able to make their get away without attracting unwanted comments.

Mom lead him back over to where Dad and Jennifer were, taking hold of his arm and leaving Jennifer to return to Marty's side.

"All right everyone!" Mom called waving a hand to attract the attention of the guests. "Cake time!"

"Took you long enough!" Cousin Mike called from the other side of the room.

"Are you ever not hungry?" One of his sisters replied to laughter.

"Let's get a piece, thank Mom and Dad and then get the Hell out of here," Marty whispered in Jennifer's ear.

She nodded and the two hurried forward to be first in line after the bride and groom.


The cake was not a traditional one a fruit cake with marzipan icing, it was instead a chocolate cake with fresh whipped cream and jam between two layers and vanilla frosting. George prepared to take a bite, when suddenly his cheek felt wet and laughter broke out all around him.

"Ugh, what!" He brought his hand up and came away with vanilla frosting on his finger. He grabbed a napkin and wiped it off his cheek.

"Classy, Lorrie, really classy," he made a show of giving his wife a stern look.

She though just giggled and winked at him. "Oh, come on, Georgie, its tradition!"

"Yeah, I suppose…" George sighed and then scooped up some frosting with his finger and drew it down Lorraine's cheek, she shrieked.

The laughter in the room increase in volume and there were catcalls.

"Tradition," he laughed.

Lorraine took the napkin from him and wiped her cheek. "You're so naughty," she told him.

She put her arm through his and led him away from the table so others got get a piece.

"Marty and Claudia are getting ready to leave," Lorraine told him swallowing a forkful.

"Really?" George looked around for the couple, slightly confused, the reception still had an hour to go.

"Marty told me that he has to go to San Francisco to report to the Coast Guards," Lorraine sighed. "I guess they can't wait."

"Maybe he'll remember to write this time."

Lorraine laughed and nudged him. "Oh don't be so hard on him, we can't all be literary giants."

"It's nice that at least one person thinks so."

"Come on, let's go," she finished her last bite of cake and George did the same, setting aside their plates they headed over to where Marty and Claudia were eating their cake rather quickly.

"Hey, didn't you two learn about indigestion?" George couldn't help asking.

"Sorry," Marty said swallowing.

"It's really good cake," Claudia added.

"It's great isn't it?" Lorraine agreed. "Fortunately there's enough for a second serve."

"Well, uh…" Marty finished his last forkful. "I'm afraid we can't stay."

Lorraine sighed. "We figured as much, it's a shame you can't stay longer. How long are you two going to be in San Francisco, George and I will be back from the Honeymoon on Monday. Maybe you can stop through on your way back?"

Marty gave a rather uncomfortable smile. "Sorry, Claudia and I are flying back to…New York tomorrow."

"I had no idea you had such a busy schedule! I hope we didn't take you too far out of your way."

"Hey, it was nothing," Marty waved a hand dismissively. "I mean really we got the better end of the bargain, a free meal, this great cake."

George laughed and reached out to shake Marty's hand. "That's all thanks to Lorrie, she knows how to throw a great party."

Lorraine gave him a playful swat on the arm, before turning and giving Marty a hug and then Claudia. "We'll have to do it again! Do you have a proper address for us to write too?"

"Uh, sorry no, but Doc knows how to reach us," Marty took Claudia's hand.

"When will we see you again?" Lorraine asked eagerly.

"Lorrie," George laughed, putting an arm around her shoulder and squeezing her. "Not everyone can plan ahead as well as you."

"It'll probably be a while," Marty finally said. "Claudia's parents live over in Europe, so we're going to head over there for now. We might end up staying you know."

Lorraine made a disappointed sound, but then smiled. "Well, maybe one day Georgie and I will get to Europe and we can visit you."

"Well, who knows what'll happen in the future," Marty said with a shrug.

Something about the comment seemed to strike Claudia as funny, and she giggled.

George looked at Lorraine and gave a small shrug, then turned back to the couple.

"Well, take care of yourselves."

"And help yourself to another piece of cake," Lorraine added.


There were a few golfers out on the green at that time of day and Doc did his best to avoid them and if he was spotted, he acted casually, trying to seem if he was there to pick up stray balls. Luckily, seeing as it was a golf course there were always some about, although his pockets were getting rather full.

It was a good ten minutes though before he transversed the course. The Country Club was a wide sprawling building and Doc knew that he'd have his work cut it for him, locating exactly where Marty and Jennifer were while avoiding been seen by those inside lurking about at the same time.

Finally he got close enough to the building to be able to see through the windows and wide glass paned double doors that lined the ground floor.

The first room he saw was some sort of meeting room with couches covered by red velvet, Persian carpets and wide oak wood bookcases, filled with a number of gentlemen, most of whom we're smoking away like chimneys.

Doc ducked behind the hedge that separated the patio of the club from the golf green and moved further along. The next room was full of snooker tables and a group of men surrounded one, also smoking away.

The next set of windows proved to be the right ones, a large group of people were crowded inside, dressed in formal clothing and Doc spotted a flash of white, a wedding dress.

He peeked over the hedge trying to spot Marty and Jennifer, but there were too many people. Somehow he was going to have to draw their attention with out catching everyone else's.

"Damnit," he muttered to himself, he didn't have the faintest idea how to pull that off.

Doc noticed then that the guests were eating wedding cake, which probably meant the reception was close to ending, but he wasn't exactly knowledge of social etiquette and parties in particular, so he could hardly know for sure.

Briefly, he considered waiting until the party definitely ended, and then trying to catch Marty and Jennifer as they left, but he really didn't want to risk the space time continuum any further. No, there's nothing for it…he realised resolutely, he'd have to sneak closer to the building, maybe even get inside.

He pulled his hat down as far as it could go, took a quick look around and seeing that the coast was clear he hurried across the patio and pressed up against the wall next to one of the glass pane double doors. Slowly and cautiously he looked into the room.

He immediately spotted Marty and Jennifer, who were of all things eating cake!

I'm glad some of us can relax! He thought in annoyance, while he'd been running raggard, apparently those two had been living it up.

But as a photographer entered his field of view, Doc saw that the two were well aware of the trouble they were in, as Marty practically ducked behind a table and Jennifer turned away as the photographer's flashbulb went off.

For a moment Doc considered his options, but there weren't many, obviously anything he did that would draw Marty and Jennifer's attention would draw everyone else's in the room too.

But as he took another quick peek into the room, he notice Marty and Jennifer heading towards the door.

He wondered if it was too much to hope for…

As they passed close he took his chance, poking his head out and knocking on the door gently.

He was rewarded by the two turning and their eyes widening as they caught sight of him.

He mouthed. Meet me at the gate.

Marty nodded and with that Doc turned and hurried back into the bushes, wanting to get out of there before his luck ran out, he was surprised it had lasted this long!


Once Doc was out of sight, Marty took Jennifer's arm and headed over towards the doors to the foyer.

But Marty's parents spotted them.

"Wait! You can't go yet," Mrs. McFly all but shouted making her husband, Marty and Jennifer jump in surprise.

"Ah, what?" Marty looked a little worried.

"The bouquet and garter, we haven't thrown them yet! We can't have you leave before then, that's the best part, well one of the best parts…"

"Oh, well, we kinda have to –"

"Oh, it'll take a few seconds," Mrs. McFly assured them, before turning and raising her voice. "Everyone! Everyone! Gather around! Marty and Claudia have to leave so George and I are going to throw the garter and bouquet now."

Those women who weren't married all hurried forward in great excitement.

"Come on Claudia," Mrs. McFly smiled, "get in there!"

Jennifer gave Marty a shrug and headed over to the crush immediately finding herself squeezed between Mya McFly and Sally Baines.

"Better watch out," Mya told her, good naturedly. "I'm a nut for this, I might get you in the face!"

Jennifer gave her a rather concerned look and then moved a little closer to Sally.

Marty's mother, tightly held Mr. McFly's hand and carefully climbed up on a chair in front of the crowd of women, holding half of her bouquet.

"Everyone ready?" She asked.

"YES!" The women surrounding Jennifer chorused.

"OK," Mrs. McFly turned her back on them. "One…two…three…"

The red rose bouquet flew into in a long wide arc, the women all around Jennifer waves their arms frantically in the air.

"Woah!" Jennifer cried out as beside her Mya McFly even jumped up almost knocking her off her feet.

She threw out a hand to steady herself and something landed right in her palm.

The bouquet! She'd caught the bouquet!

She couldn't catch the bouquet! She wasn't even supposed to be here!

Hoping nobody would notice, she let the bouquet fall from her hand without trying to hold it.

"I go it!" Someone behind her shrieked. "I got it!"

There was a sound between a groan and a cheer from the women.

Mr. McFly helped Mrs. McFly off the chair and she hurried over to hug Babs Shay. "Congratulations!"

"Was there ever any doubt?" Babs crowed waving the bouquet in the air and shooting a look at her boyfriend Stephen.

At that moment the photographer appeared to take a picture of the bride and the bouquet catcher, Jennifer deftly ducked behind someone else.

The crowd of women dispersed and Jennifer hurried over to Marty.

"Jeeze!" He whispered to her. "You almost caught that!"

"I know, I wasn't trying to, one of your cousins almost clocked me!"

Marty shook his head and looked as if he was about to say something, but suddenly his mother was there grabbing his arm.

"Come on, Calvin," she said excitedly, "you're not married yet, are you?" She gave Jennifer a wink.

"Uh, but-" Marty began, but was hauled pretty much off his feet.

Jennifer was torn between wanting to laugh at the look on Marty's face and hoping he wouldn't accidentally catch the garter! It would be just their luck if he did!


Oh God, if you get me out of this, I'll… Marty hadn't prayed since he was about twelve years old and had no idea how to finish it as his mother led him into the centre of unmarried men, some of whom were excited to be there, but most embarrassed by the whole thing.

"Good luck," Mom told him, before returning to Dad's side.

Marty looked over at Jennifer, who looked like she was going to start chewing her nails.

When he turned back, there were hoots and hollers as Mom put her foot up on a chair and pulled her dress up to mid-thigh revealing her garter.

Oh jeeze, Marty turned away, wondering if God had a sick sense of humour.

When he turned back his father, who had the decency to blush, at least had the garter in hand.

"OK, I'm terrible at throwing, so you might want to move a bit closer," he called.

At this Marty planned to take a giant step back, but being in the middle of the crush he found himself being pulled along.

"And here's the pitch!" Called Cousin Mike as Dad turned and threw the garter over his head.

As warned it went way off to the left, the crowd around Marty lurching to get at it, but still it was nowhere near him.

"All right!" There was a whoop, and Marty looked over to see Dad's best man, Stephen Carl waving the garter in the air.

"Aww, we let you have it," Cousin Mike called. "After all your girl caught the bouquet and we don't want awkward questions."

"You're just a sore loser," Steve shot back, and as Babs came over to congratulate him, he gave her a kiss, put his arm around her shoulder and both posed for the photographer, before Mom dragged Dad over and he and Steve posed for one too.

Marty slipped back over to Jennifer and took her arm. "OK, let's get while the getting's good!"


Once again she and Marty were heading for the foyer, on the way though, they had to pass the cake table, where Mr. and Mrs. McFly were standing. Marty picked up a piece of cake wrapped it in a napkin and handed it to Jennifer.

"Well, see you later guys," He said rather awkwardly to his parents, knowing that the next time he did see them they'd look thirty years older.

Mrs. McFly gave him another hug. "Have a safe trip! And enjoy Europe." She turned to Jennifer and gave her a brief hug. "It was lovely meeting you, I'm sure you and Marty will be very happy." She gave a sly smile. "Maybe we'll be invited to your wedding one day."

Jennifer shot a look at Marty and he flushed a bright red. "Uh…well…"

Mr. McFly though came to his son's rescue by patting him in on the back and giving his hand a firm shake. "Good luck and yeah, keep in touch if you can."

"I'll do my best." Marty promised.

"Bye Claudia," Mr. McFly turned to her, "hey, maybe I'll see your name in print one day?"

Jennifer considered returning the comment, but decided not to, instead she just thanked him.

With the final goodbyes said continued for the foyer doors, various McFlys and Baines's and friends of the couple waving goodbye and wishing them well as they did.

"Thank God," Marty heaved a sigh of relief as he and Jennifer finally left the hall, she could tell he was trying not to break out into a run. "We're finally out of there!"

Jennifer holding the extra slice of cake in hand, looked over her shoulder. "Don't you think your parents will be disappointed when you never reply to their letters?"

Marty shrugged. "What else could I do about it? I could hardly tell 'em I was going back to the future. And hey, nice work giggling like that…"

"Oh come on, it was funny!"

Marty cracked a small grin. "Yeah, I guess it was..."

The two left the Club and headed down the driveway, Jennifer was tempted to take her heels off, but the path was gravelled and it would probably end up being a lot more painful then the heels.

Marty noticed she was having a bit of trouble and put an arm around her shoulders to help keep her steady.

"Come on, the whole thing wasn't that bad, admit it," she shot him a coy look. "If nothing else it brought out the gentleman in you."

"Hey, I'm always helpful to a lady in distress."

"Marty! Jennifer!"

It was Doc, waving at them from the gate. "Get a move on, we have to get out of here!"

"We're coming, Doc, Jen can hardly walk in those things," Marty gestured towards her feet.

"What in the name of Sir Isaac Newtown happened?" Doc demanded as soon as they caught up to him. "How could you have ended up at your own parents' wedding, Marty? You know the dangers!"

"Sorry, Doc, it was an accident," Marty began.

"It was my fault," Jennifer spoke up.

Doc turned to her.

"Don't blame, Jen, it was more Biff Tannen's fault."

Doc shook his head. "Him again?"

"Yeah, Jen had to walk out a leg cramp, next thing we know he's on our backs."

Doc sighed and pulled off his hat running his hands through his hair making it even more wild than usual.

"Come on, Doc, it's all right, Jennifer and I didn't say anything stupid, none of my relatives fell in love with me and we're not in any photos…at least, our faces aren't."

"Even so…having two extra people at that reception could have all sorts of unintended consequences. For example what if, for some reason your presence causes the reception to end late? As a result your parents are on the road and there's a drunk driver –"

"Doc!" Jennifer gasped shocked. "Don't say that!"

"I'm not trying to be morbid, I assure you, but it's a possibility."

Marty swallowed. "You don't really think…?"

"We'll find out when we get back to 1988, if something's happened…well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

Jennifer thought he was being pretty casual about it, she was always thankful that she'd spent the entire time in Hell Valley passed out. Just hearing about it from Marty was enough to make her shudder. She certainly didn't want to go back to a Hill Valley like that.

Suddenly Doc stopped and stared. "What on Earth are you wearing Jennifer?"

Jennifer blinked confused.

"That hat," Doc elaborated.

"Oh, no!" Jennifer gasped, putting her hands to her head where the hat Marty's Grandmother lent her was still pinned up.

"Oh, shit," Marty swore.

Doc winced. "Don't tell me…"

"We borrowed the hat from my Grandma," Marty said, "or rather she made us borrow it. What do we, Doc? Take it back?"

"Certainly not…"

"But we can't just keep it, can we? I mean –"

"We'll drive by your grandparents' house before we go back to 1988 and leave it on the porch for them."

Trust Doc to come up with a quick solution.

As they passed by a Studebaker Doc came to a stop and to Jennifer's surprise, Doc went over to it, pulled on the door handle and suddenly gull wing door of the DeLorean appeared.

"So, er…Doc," Marty cleared his throat. "Are we still going to…I mean…"

"Marty," Jennifer whispered, suddenly realising what he was about to say. She admired Marty's tenacious streak, but this was pushing it.

Doc knew too. "Marty," he shook his head. "Do you have any idea how close we came to absolute disaster?"

Marty heaved a sigh. "I guess you're right…it's just…well, I really wanted to give my folks that photo frame."

"You will give it to them," Doc assured him, "you'll just need to let time take its' course."

Jennifer could tell Marty was disappointed and she couldn't blame him, it wasn't as if the two of them had planned the whole thing.

"But Doc," she found herself speaking up for her boyfriend. "Weren't you going to collect the frame anyway? We'll stay with the DeLorean, really, no matter what!"

Doc arched an eyebrow at her. "I would have thought you'd be more cautious, Jennifer."

"I am and so is Marty, that's why we wanted you to go."

Doc ran his hands through his hair again, which actually made it slightly neater. "I'm sorry, I'm not doing this to punish either of you, I know this was an accident, but I think it's just too risky."

Jennifer wanted to object, but Marty put his hands up. "No, no, Doc's right, Jen, plus…well, I'm kinda tired, I think I'd just rather go to my parents' party." He gave Doc a wry smile. "I think my circadian rhythm has been totally messed up."

That made Doc crack a smile. "All right let's return that hat and get back to the future."