Chapter 6
Monday, April 13th, 1987
Hill Valley
7:10 P. M.
"Marty? Jennifer? Could you come in here and talk with me for a minute?"
Marty and Jennifer glanced at each other, confused. "Sure, Mom," Marty said, coming in from the garage where he and Jennifer had set up Monopoly. "What's up?"
Josie fiddled with a book she held. "What do you and Jennifer think about getting three new siblings?"
"I think it's pretty cool," Jennifer smiled. "It'll be kinda weird, but I always wanted a sister."
"I think of it like getting my siblings back with interest," Marty joked.
"Are you jealous at all?"
Marty and Jennifer frowned. "Well, yeah, a little," Marty finally admitted. "I'm not liking the prospect of sharing Dad even more. We're all so close, you know."
"That's what I'm worried about." Josie fiddled with the book a little more, then finally looked both teens in the eye. "Guys, when we first got here, Emmett and I read some books about abused children."
"That's not news to us," Jennifer said. "We saw you with them."
"Did it bother you at all?" Josie asked, curious.
"Nah. Nothing really changed after you read them," Jennifer shrugged.
"No, Jennifer. Something did change. The books said that abused children are likely to become abusers themselves. I hate to say this, but I'm frightened that, one day, one of you is going to get angry and harm one of the triplets."
Marty and Jennifer stared at her. "You think we'd hurt our brothers and sister?" Marty said incredulously. Without waiting for an answer, he got up and walked over to the wall.
"Marty, I didn't want to--" Josie began, standing up.
Marty suddenly yanked off his shirt, exposing the network of scars on his back. "Do you really think I'd want this to happen to the triplets?" he demanded, voice strangled.
"No!" She spun him around. "I know you wouldn't want it to happen!"
"So why the hell are you accusing us of wanting it to?"
"Because I'm scared! I remember how you acted when Emmett and I got back together! You and Jennifer are attention hogs, admit it! The triplets are going to need us too!" Sarcastically, she added, "Babies tend to need a lot of attention!"
"Mom, you acted like we didn't even exist!" Jennifer yelled, getting red in the face. "Ever think we're worried about you forgetting about us again?" She took a breath, trying to calm down. "Mom, we love you. We don't want you to forget about us. But we wouldn't hurt our siblings just to get attention. I'd like to think we're better than that."
"Yeah, better than fucking Biff Tannen," Marty said, glaring.
"Marty, I'm not saying you're like Biff. But you said it yourself -- you don't want to share Emmett any more than you have to."
Marty cooled in the face of his own statement. "Yeah," he said. "But why would I want to take my frustrations out on a bunch of babies? Why would I want to hurt someone?"
"You did give us a fright with your little screaming fit," Josie told him.
"All I did was scream, though. I didn't lash out and hit anybody." Marty grinned a little. "Heck, I didn't even scream out loud." The smile quickly disappeared as he became serious again. "Mom, I know you're worried about the babies. But I promise I won't do anything to hurt them. I wouldn't want to hurt anyone like that bastard hurt me."
"Same here," Jennifer promised. "After not having a family for so long, I'm not about to jeopardize the one I have. We're not going to do anything to the triplets." In a softer voice, she added, "You really miss your first kid, don't you?"
"Of course I do. The death of my son was the reason I became a vampire. I wanted to die so badly, I started challenging my clients to kill me. One of them turned out to be a vampire and decided to fulfill my wish -- with a slight adjustment, of course. A fine man, but very bad taste. He fell hard for Lacey, not knowing she'd use her vampiric nature to seize power and hurt others."
"You know, I wonder what's happening with this world's Josephine and Lacey," Jennifer said thoughtfully. "What their lives are like."
"I'm not eager to find out. That feels like just asking for trouble." Josie patted her belly, then looked at the teens. "You're right, I'm scared for my new children. Please, please, just be careful around them."
"We will, Mom. Don't worry." Marty and Jennifer gave her a quick hug. "But please don't end up ignoring us either."
"I'll do my best. And I'll make sure your father does his best too."
Monday, April 13th
7:43 P. M.
Doc arrived home, his clothes damp with sweat. "I hate my sense of smell right now," he complained, grimacing and holding his nose.
Josie wrinkled her nose, but kissed him anyway. "You are smelly. What did they make you do?"
"It was an organ, and they made me move it. Not too heavy, but a bitch to move around a corner. It was worth it, though, to see the looks on their faces as I moved that instrument all by myself." He went over to the dresser to grab some fresh clothes. "Did you talk to Marty and Jennifer while I was out?"
"Yeah. They were kind of upset."
"So I did feel what I thought I felt," Doc said. "How are they now?"
"A little better. We came to an understanding -- they'll be careful around the babies, we'll do our best not to ignore them. They asked for some baby books to read to help come up with names. Marty's still stressing over that."
Doc sighed. "I suppose they're thinking about when we got back together. I'll give them a few final reassurances. After I shower and change clothes, of course. Where are they?"
"In the garage with the DeLorean." Doc nodded and headed for the bathroom.
When he emerged, freshly showered and dressed, he noticed Josie sitting on the bed, looking pretty deep in thought. "Josie? Is anything the matter?"
Josephine looked up. "I was just thinking -- we have a time machine. Maybe we could go back in time and -- and see what happened to my son. So we could keep it from happening to the triplets. What do you think?"
"I can understand your reasons, but I'm not sure if you should go. We have no idea what effect time travel could have on the fetuses. I'll ask my other self for his opinion. If he says it's okay, then we'll see what we can do. I'd would like for you to be looked over by a future doctor as well."
"Thank you. It means a lot to me." She gave him a peck on the cheek. "You're going to make a wonderful father. I just know it."
Doc smiled at her. "Well, let's see if the teens agree with your assessment." He headed into the garage. Marty and Jennifer were sitting on the DeLorean, whispering to each other and browsing baby books. "Marty? Jennifer?"
Marty jumped up and shut the door. "Hey, glad you're home, Dad. We wanted to talk to you about Mom."
"Listen, Josephine--"
"It's okay, Dad, we know where she's coming from," Marty said. "She's just being a little over-paranoid. We want to show her we won't be monsters to the new kids."
"We were thinking of her of surprising her with a special gift or something," Jennifer added.
"Like for her baby shower?"
Marty's and Jennifer's eyes lit up. "Hey, that's a great idea! We could throw her her baby shower! She'd never expect that from us."
Doc smiled. "I'm glad you're so eager to make amends."
"Well, it hurts that Mom doesn't trust us," Jennifer said, lowering her eyes.
"Dad, is it true what she said? That abused children grow up to be abusers?" Marty asked, obviously disturbed by the thought.
"Yes, it is. But it's not a given. Plenty of abused children pack their pain away and live harmlessly -- depressed yes, but harmlessly. And some get the help they need to move on with their lives. Just because you were abused, doesn't automatically mean you'll abuse others."
"What do you think about us? Do you think Mom has a point?"
"Actually, I don't. Both of you have had ample time to talk out what happened to you, both with us and our counterparts. And your attitudes have definitely changed for the positive. You've both gained some self-esteem and confidence." He smiled and hugged them. "I'm sure you'll do just fine."
"You really aren't worried at all about us?"
Doc ran his tongue over his teeth. "Well, I did have this thought. I don't think you'll abuse the babies, but I do think you'll treat them differently based on their sex." Marty and Jennifer frowned at him questioningly. "Neither of you have had the best experiences with the opposite sex, you know."
"Aww, come on, Dad, you can disguise your favoritism better than that," Jennifer gently needled.
"I meant both of you! Excuse me for reiterating the list, Marty, but you had an alcoholic mother who married a monster of a man, a sister who abandoned the family--"
"Wait a second, Dad, Linda doesn't count," Marty interrupted. "I did the exact same thing when I hooked up with you."
"Fair enough. But your first experience with your new mother was having her monopolize me to the point of ignoring you almost completely."
"We get your point. This ain't going to be the Brady Bunch," Jennifer said. "But Marty and I haven't killed each other yet."
"Right. That's why I'm not really worried about it." He gave the door a lopsided grin. "I bet Josephine would say I've gone from being too cynical to too trusting."
"I prefer you too trusting," Marty said, picking up his baby book again. "You know, I've been through six pages of boy's names and haven't found one I like yet?"
"Relax, Marty, I'm sure you'll find the right one eventually." Doc seated himself on the hood of the DeLorean. "Returning to the topic of the baby shower, any ideas on what to do for it?"
The teens shook their heads, blushing. "Not really. I know you give the mommy-to-be gifts and play games, but that's about it. One of the problems of being an only child, I guess."
"Or a youngest," Marty nodded. "What about you, Dad?"
"I'm a youngest myself. And -- please excuse the obvious sexist overtones -- I always regarded that sort of thing as 'women's work.'"
He suddenly snapped his fingers, inspired. "Great Scott! That's it! We'll bring in one of Josie's women friends! I think etiquette demands that a shower be thrown by a friend rather than a relative anyway. Our best bet would be Jill from the blood bank, she and Josie see each other often. She's got to know more about what to do than we do."
"We hope," Marty said.
There was a knock at the door. "What's going on in there?" Josie called.
We'll continue this conversation some other time, Doc thought. "We were just talking about what you said. They assured me they understood your position. You can come in."
Josie did so, sighing. "Thanks. I didn't want you to be mad at me for the rest of my pregnancy."
"It's okay, Mom. Besides, I doubt we could be mad for that long."
Doc patted her growing belly. "Now that that's all settled, I'll call up my other self and see what he has to say about time travel and pregnancy." He sought out the phone.
"What's he talking about?" Marty asked.
"I want to go back in time and see what happened with my son. I don't want whatever got him to get the triplets."
Marty and Jennifer nodded. "Good idea."
Jennifer decided to bring up something she had been wondering about. "Mom, what are we going to do about naming the third baby?"
"Forget about the third baby, how about the first baby?" Marty said, frustrated. "I can't find one name I like!"
"Oh, Marty, that can't be true."
"Oh yes it can. None of them are appealing to me. I don't want to name the baby after any of my family either. It would bring back too many bad memories."
"I suppose I can understand that. As for the third triplet, I'm not sure right now. I named my first son Atlas, but a kid named that in this day and age would have to learn how to fight before he learned to walk! I'd like a name with a similar meaning, though."
"What?"
"Atlas bore the weight of the world on his shoulders, so I want something that means 'load-bearing.' Baby C is on the bottom."
"That must be a lot of fun."
Doc came back, looking frustrated. "He doesn't know either. He and Clara have stayed firmly put in this century during her pregnancies. He says that we shouldn't risk it, though. Not this early in your pregnancy anyway." He sighed. "Maybe I could ferry a doctor to you?"
"Oh, honey, I don't want you to get all stressed out over me."
"You're getting all stressed out over you."
"That's different. I'm the one carrying these kids."
"All the more reason for you to be calm and me to be nervous. Would you like me to grab somebody from the future or past? I can erase their memory afterwards."
"I doubt your other self would like you doing that," Josie grinned. "I would appreciate it, Emmett."
"All right, I'll see about doing that tomorrow. By the way, I overheard your conversation on naming the third baby. I've got an idea. One of my relatives from Germany was named Christoph Von Braun. What do you think of the name Christopher? I believe it means 'bearer of Christ.'"
"Christopher." Josie smiled. "I like it. Baby Christopher."
"Hey, Dad, toss a few names over my way," Marty almost begged. "I'm drawing a complete blank."
"All right. Two of the Von Brauns came to America. One my uncle Abraham, stayed in New York, the second, my father Elias, made his way here. My grandfather was Everett, I believe. Any of those names catch your fancy?"
"No. Your family was big on names starting with E, huh? Everett to Elias to Emmett."
"Not only that, my sister was named Emily," Doc laughed. "What do you think about the name Lathrop?"
"What? That's a name?"
"Indeed it is. I think it was a surname on my mother's side. She told me she found it while making a family tree and thought it was sweet. I'm glad she thought so, I hated it. It wasn't enough we were one of the few rich people during the depression, or that I was bumped up four grades. I also had to have a silly name. I used to say my name was Emmett Larry Brown until my mother caught me."
"Weird. That's almost like Mom being named Jupitea."
"Oh, people have been naming their babies odd things all through the years," Josie told him. "Lathrop is probably pretty tame compared to some of them."
"Like what?"
"How about Increase, as in Increase Mather?" Doc suggested waggishly.
"I'm looking for a boy's name."
"That isa boy's name. He was a preacher famous during the Salem witch trials, I believe. So was his son, Cotton."
"Jeezaloo, Cotton?!"
"Those were some of the more normal ones," Josie informed him, grinning. "I heard of people called Truegrace, More Mercy, and Believe. I even heard of one poor girl called Mysteria, for some fool reason. You don't know how lucky you are to have been born during a period in which people favored fairly normal names."
"Yeah, tell me about it. We've had problems enough without being teased for our names." Marty frowned. "Although I seem to remember some kid in the first grade making "McFlying" jokes."
"I don't think any name's free from all ridicule," Josie said. "Jill told me that her enemies in school always removed the J."
"Hey, does Jill know about the triplets yet?" Doc asked casually.
"Not yet, I didn't want to say anything until I knew everything was all right. I'll tell her soon."
Doc, Marty, and Jennifer all smiled. "Good."