Chapter 16
Friday, December 11th, 1987
Hill Valley
4:29 P.M.
"WAAAAAH! WAAAAAH! WAAAAAAAH!"
Doc groaned. "Josephine, your children require your presence."
"Before sunset they're your kids."
Marty buried his head in the pillows. "Just make it stop!" he moaned.
"Okay, okay." Doc wearily got out of bed and walked over to the row of cribs. "What is it now, you three?"
From the impressions he received, Logan and Christopher were cold, while Leslie was hungry. He tucked the boys in tighter, then picked up Leslie and brought her to the bed. "Feeding time, my love."
Josie sat up slowly, blinking. "Can't it wait?" she asked half-jokingly, taking Leslie. "Mommy's so tired."
Hungry hungry hungry hungry hungry hungry hungry
"Awwwooooo!"
"Oh no, Edison! Stop that!" Jennifer hopped out of bed and gently clamped his mouth shut. "No howling!"
The little humans do it all the time, Edison thought, snuffling.
"You notice we shut them up too. If you really need to make some noise, go outside okay?"
Yes mistress. Jennifer released him, and he ran out into the small backyard.
Logan began complaining again. Marty finally surrendered and got up. He picked up Logan and began rocking him, humming a tune. Logan quieted, and there was finally peace in the house.
Josie turned to Doc. "Well, good morning."
"Afternoon, you mean." He kissed her. "Can't you let us sleep through the day even once?" he mock-scolded Leslie.
Marty cautiously put Logan back in his crib. "I wonder if I was like this at three months," he muttered, falling back onto the bed.
"I think all of us were," Doc said with a weak grin. "The only problem here is, we can be tag-teamed."
Josie patted Leslie as she nursed. "Remember when they were first born?"
"I don't think I'll ever forget. We were happy to hear them scream then."
"They were so cute. Not that they're not cute now, but I'm really feeling too tired to see them like that." She smiled down at Leslie, then sighed. "I love them to death, but I'm beginning to feel like I need a break."
"So do I," Doc confessed. "I may not be getting any older anymore, but being a father at my age is exhausting nonetheless." He leaned forward, looking thoughtful. "Do you think we could prevail upon Clara and Lorraine to take them for a night?"
"Maybe, although I hate to ask Clara. She's still got to deal with Jules and Verne. . . ."
"I've got a better idea," Marty said, suddenly inspired. "Why don't we take turns?"
"I'm not following."
"We watch 'em for one night, you watch 'em for another. That way we can all get a break without driving Clara and Lorraine nuts in the process."
Doc and Josie considered it for a bit. "It's a thought, but are you sure you and Jennifer could handle the triplets alone?"
"We've done it before," Jennifer pointed out. "When Mom visits Jill, and you get a call."
"We know where all the supplies are kept and everything," Marty added. "Come on, you guys know you deserve a night out. Trust us. We won't burn the house down or anything."
Josie smiled. "Of course I trust you. You've been wonderful with the babies -- not to mention extremely patient." Marty and Jennifer laughed at that. "Okay then. We'll leave you with them for an hour or so. I don't want to drive you crazy. Where do you want to go, Emmett?"
"Anywhere," Doc sighed. "Anywhere without kids." He got up and gave Marty and Jennifer a hug. "We really appreciate this."
"We know," Jennifer blushed. "We're happy to do it. Are you guys going to take tonight off?"
"If you're willing to watch the babies tonight, then yes."
"Sure thing. The earlier you get to go, the earlier we get to go," Marty grinned.
"Fair enough." Josie finished nursing Leslie and put her back in her crib. But before we think of going anywhere, we'd better get some more sleep."
"A-men."
Friday, December 11th
8:23 P.M.
Is everything okay there?
Everything's great, Dad, Marty thought back, feeling very pleased with himself. We actually found a way to keep the triplets from crying all night long.
Really? Enlighten us, please.
Well, you know how they love to be bounced? We put them on the bed and bounce up and down on the springs. They seem to be loving it.
Fun fun fun fun, echoed the triplets' thoughts, cooing and giggling as Marty and Jennifer bounced them.
Well, if they're having a good time, Josephine mentally laughed. Just don't let them fall off the edge or anything like that.
Don't worry, Mom, we nudge 'em away whenever they get too close to the edge, Jennifer reassured her. How are you guys doing?
Fine. We're currently sitting atop one of Hill Valley's finest restaurants, enjoying the smells. They sensed him sniffing deeply. Ahhh. Almost makes me wish I could eat normal food again.
Sounds great. We should try that on our night out, Marty.
Yes, you really should, Josie agreed. It's lovely. We should be back by 9:30 at the latest.
Great. We'll be waiting for you. See ya later.
Bye. With that, Marty and Jennifer were alone with their thoughts again. Jennifer picked up Christopher and moved him back to the middle of the bed. "Do you ever miss eating regular food?" she asked.
"Not really. I never felt Swedish food was all that great. And of course everything at home generally tasted like chemicals or booze. How about you?"
"About the same. I remember one night -- I had to dig through the garbage to get something to eat." She shivered. "Really glad to be away from all that."
"Me too."
The smell hit their noses just before Chris began to cry. "Whew! I hate dirty diapers," Marty complained, holding his nose tight. "Jen, you mind -- you know -- taking care of things?"
"Of course not. You're the man, I'm the woman," Jennifer said with a teasing grin. She picked up Chris at arm's length and took him to the bathroom. Marty checked to make sure Logan and Leslie were still in the center of the bed, then grabbed some soft toys for them to play with.
Jennifer and Chris returned, the latter freshly changed and cleaned. "We're getting low on diapers," Jennifer reported, setting the baby down by a toy duck. He promptly attempted to eat it. "I'll have to tell Mom to pick up some more on their way home. The CVS nearby offered her a 50 discount on baby stuff if she bought from them."
"Why bug Mom? One of us could go. That would probably convince Mom even better that she can trust us to handle these guys."
Jennifer looked dubious. "I dunno, Marty. We really had our hands full until we discovered the bouncing thing."
"Yeah, but what is it, a ten minute trip? I'm sure I could bounce for that long."
"Well -- okay. I'll go. But if something happens, you're taking the blame."
Marty gave her a semi-passionate kiss. "Oh really?"
"Sorry, you can't weasel your way out of this one," Jennifer giggled. "I'll see ya shortly." She kissed him back, then took to the night air.
Marty happily bounced the babies for a while more, shaking his head at their insistence on trying to eat their toys instead of playing with them. Then nature began to call, very urgently. Marty quickly gathered up the triplets and put them back in the cribs. "Sorry guys," he said, as they began to protest. "I'll be back in just a sec." He raced into the bathroom, leaving them to cry.
As he finished his business, he suddenly heard a loud crash from the living room, and the babies crying louder. Terrified that a crib had somehow collapsed, he finished up at lightning speed and dashed back out. What he saw horrified him. One of the windows had been broken open, and there was a figure leaning over the first crib. Hearing Marty come in, the figure looked up. The teen's eyes went wide. "YOU!"
It was the crazy evangelist, the one who had earlier caused Josephine to break down in tears. Marty had thought Doc had chased her away for good. "What the hell are you doing here?" he growled, advancing in what he hoped was a menacing manner.
The evangelist glared at him. Marty noted with a start she was holding Logan. "This is a house of sin!" she roared, blue eyes flashing. "These children shall not be tainted by sin! I'm taking them away!"
Marty grabbed the baseball bat Doc had gotten to fend off both burglars and soulless vampires. "You put that baby down," he snarled, waving it threateningly, "or I'll smash your face in!"
"This is a heathen child! It must be saved! And you, devil-boy, must die!" She ripped a gun from somewhere in her ragged clothes and fired on him.
Above Cheri Henri's restaurant, and at the corner CVS, Doc, Josephine, and Jennifer cried out as they felt suddenly jolts of pain in their chests and sides. Doc was the first to realize what had happened. "Marty!" he shrieked, leaping off the building and taking to the air. Josephine soon followed, while Jennifer threw some money at the counterman and raced back home.
Marty reeled from the gunshot wounds, but somehow remained standing. Moving as quickly as he could, he snatched poor terrified Logan from the woman's arms. She lunged at him, but he quickly backpedaled out of range, causing her to fall flat on her face. He put Logan down on the bed and advanced on her, vamping. "You bitch."
The woman got to her feet, preparing her gun for another shot. "I work for the Lord Himself," she hissed. "You will not live through this day, devil."
Marty pounced on her, knocking the gun out of her hand. They scrabbled for a moment, then Marty slammed her head as hard as he could against the floor. Satisfied she was knocked out, he got up and went back to Logan. "Shh, shhh, it's okay," he whispered, picking him up and rocking him as he slid to the floor. "Your big brother's here." He heard Leslie and Christopher bawling, and wished the pain would fade faster so he could go over and comfort them too.
Jennifer burst into the garage. "Marty! Marty, what happened, are you all right -- who the hell?" she said all in a rush.
"That evangelist came back," Marty said, slowly getting to his feet. "She was making good on her promise to take the kids."
"Oh my God. Are they all right?"
"Yeah -- she had Logan, but I got him away from her. Not before getting shot though, she came prepared."
"Oh Marty. . . ."
Doc and Josephine practically exploded in just then, Doc nearly tripping and falling in his haste. "Marty! Damn it, are you okay?" Doc gasped, grabbing the teen.
"What the hell is she doing here?" Josie spat out, glaring at the motionless evangelist on the floor.
Marty briefly related what had happened as Josie rushed to check on the triplets. "I'm really sorry," he said as Doc relieved him of Logan. "If I hadn't made Jennifer go out to get diapers--"
"Marty, how can you blame yourself!" Doc said, clutching Logan with one arm and hugging Marty with the other. "You just saved the triplets from being kidnaped! And how on earth were you supposed to know this would happen? Heck, I'm glad you were able to convince her -- what if we had gotten held up by another soulless vampire attack?"
Jennifer kissed him. "Yeah, Marty, don't blame yourself. It wasn't your fault."
Josie came back over, looking relieved. "Leslie and Christopher are all right, just shaken up. That was such a brave thing you did, Marty. We're all very proud of you."
Marty smiled. "Thanks." He glanced over at the evangelist. "So -- what do we do with her?"
"I say we pour a bottle of blood over her head and throw her into the woods as a peace offering to the soulless," Jennifer said, eyes glowing with rage.
"Much as that idea appeals to me, I think it would act more like an invitation to the soulless to attack at will," Josie said. "Ripping her throat out sounds good. . . . Except that Hill Valley probably doesn't need an unsolved murder case," she sighed. "I guess we'll just have to let the regular police deal with her."
"Fine with me. Hopefully they'll lock her up for a long time." Doc nuzzled Logan's belly. "Don't worry, kiddo. You're safe now."
"Safe with us -- a bunch of vampires," Marty grinned. "That feels like an oxymoron."
"Whatever." Doc pulled them all into a hug. "What matters is that we're all together."
"Yeah," Josie said, her heart swelling. Even with what had just happened, she couldn't help but feel a warm glow whenever she saw her family all together. They had come an awful long way from Hell Valley. "That's all that matters."
The End
2005, Copyright Flaming Trails