July 21, 2016
4:05 PM PDT

'All right, Marty,' Marlene demanded, turning to young Marty. 'How did you do it? Did you find some way to alter your medical reports? You know that's illegal!'

'Okay, Marlene,' Marty said, sighing, 'I guess I don't blame you for not believing me. I suppose there is one other thing I can do. I can try holding them thumb up to my older self's thumbs, and you can compare with a magnifying glass. Or else, we're supposed to meet Doc in Hill Valley Park at 6:00 PM. Then you'll see him landing in with the DeLorean. You are welcome to join Harmony and myself.'

'Yeah, I guess I'll come with you,' replied Marlene, sighing. 'What's this about a DeLorean, though? I know they were a popular brand of sports car back in the '80s - but I never heard about them being able to travel through time.'

Marty laughed a little, then he said, 'Oh, Marlene! Most DeLoreans just are regular sports cars that don't travel through time at all. However, Doc did choose a DeLorean to use for his time travel project. It's possible he might have gone through more DeLoreans since 1986 - but, by 1986, we're only on our second DeLorean. The first DeLorean was crashed by a train when Doc sent me back to 1985. He meant to have me input 11:00 PM, but he said AM by mistake. I was so sad to see the DeLorean get destroyed. Of course, much of it was the fact that I figured I would never see Doc again - but I did also come to love the car, despite all the faults. Doc ended up purchasing a second DeLorean, though, when he had decided to move his family back to 1985. So we're still on DeLorean number two.'

'Well, I am a pretty good judge of character,' Marlene said, slowly, 'and you sound quite sincere. It's just that I've never really conceived the possibility of time travel. Then again, I guess I was never really into science fiction, like Grandpa George was.'

'Oh, you mean my dad?' Marty asked, laughing. 'The funny thing is, if I had never travelled back to 1955, Dad would have never published his stories. I was the one who relayed to him Doc's advice of 'if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything' - and Dad had adopted that proverb as his own. So, in the newly altered timeline, I grew up with both Dad and Doc giving me the same advice. I had grown up, assuming that Doc and Dad just happened to be very close friends - so, as a result, they thought alike. After my trip back to 1955, though, then I realized what had happened.'

'Wow, Marty,' breathed Marlene, 'you're telling me about a lot of our family history, that I had never really known before. So what was Grandpa George like in the original timeline?'

'Oh, believe me, they were very different,' replied Marty. 'My mother was an alcoholic who was always scolding Dave, Linda, and myself about our activities. My father was someone who was constantly bullied around by Biff Tannen, and he didn't have the courage to stand up for himself.'

'Whoa!' gasped Marlene. 'That sounds very different! So your first time travel trip was to 1955, then?'

'That's correct,' replied Marty. 'When I pushed my dad out of the street, my maternal grandfather ended up hitting me with the car, instead. You see, in the original timeline, my maternal grandfather ended up getting my dad with the car. So my mom ended up taking care of my dad, and that's how she fell in love with him. So, because I ended up getting hit with the car instead, I had to find some other way to make my parents fall in love - or else I would have been erased from existence. So I had to get my dad to ask my mom out to the dance. To keep an already long story from getting much longer, my dad ended up standing up to Biff Tannen on the night of the dance - and then my dad ended up becoming the confident person that he is now.'

'Wow!' gasped Marlene. 'It's hard to imagine Grandpa George not being confident. Why do you suppose he wasn't so confident, when he was in high school?'

'I think my dad got the attitude from his own dad. My Grandpa Arthur was also someone who lacked confidence. So he didn't really do much to encourage my dad to take a stand, and to take risks. The sad thing is, my dad was pretty confident as a small kid - but after being discouraged by his dad so much, he had also learned that it wasn't worth taking risks. The ironic thing about this whole situation is, shortly before I went back in time, I was also starting to lose confidence in myself. I had just been rejected from the dance auditions - and I was so worried about sending in my audition tape to the record company, because they might not like it.'

'Whoa!' gasped Marlene. 'I guess you can really learn a lesson from that story.'

'Yeah,' Marty replied, nodding. 'Now your brother and Harmony have expressed a little concern about you.'

Just then, Harmony walked back in with snacks. 'Sorry it took me so long, guys,' Harmony said, apologizing, 'but there was a bit of a long line-up to wait through.'

'That's okay, Harmony,' Marty said, smiling. 'I just got through explaining to Marlene about my first trip through time - so she believes me about the time machine, now.'

'Oh, that's good,' said Harmony, smiling.

Then Marty turned to his older self, and he asked, 'Can the four of us have a little talk, now? We've all been a little concerned about Marlene, and I'm hoping we can try to work things out.'

'Sure, that's fine,' replied the older Marty. 'So what are you kids concerned about?'

'Well, Martin,' replied Harmony, 'I'm concerned about the fact that Marlene tends to keep her feelings locked up inside. She feels that you don't love her, as much as you love her brother. So she's been really upset about that.'

'Aw, poor Marlene,' murmured the older Marty, softly. 'Listen, sweetheart, you shouldn't have to feel that way. You are both very precious to me. You know, sweetie, you shouldn't be afraid to talk to me about what's on your mind. You mom and I both want to be there for you. I think it's great that you and I don't have all the same interests. I mean, think of how boring this world would be, if we all like the same things.'

'Yeah, Dad, I understand,' Marlene said softly.

'Now come give your dad a hug,' the older Marty urged gently.

'I love you, Daddy,' murmured Marlene, as she threw her arms around her father.

Marlene and the elder Marty had embraced for a long time, as the elder Marty had wept a little bit. After about five minutes, the two finally let go. Then the younger Marty went up to hug his older self. The two had embraced for a long time, as the eyes of the elder Marty had really began to light up. Then, after a few minutes, the two had finally let go.

Then doctor then came into the room, and told the teens, 'You guys will have to leave for a little while. I have to do some testing with Martin right now. You guys can come back in half an hour, though.'

Then Marlene headed out of the ward with Marty and Harmony. As soon as the trio had reached the cafeteria, Marty then leaned over to hug Marlene - who, of course, hugged back. The two embraced for awhile.

'I love you, my daughter,' whispered Marty

'I love you, too, Daddy,' responded Marlene, smiling.

Marlene then laughed a little at the irony of how, at their current biological ages, Marlene was one year older then the boy who would one day become her father.