A/N- I am so sorry I took forever to post this chapter! And well, the last chapter which will be up within a few days. I've been busy, busy, busy. But more accurate, I've been away from in particular. It's a long grueling story filled with what else but "emotional turmoil and dinosaur fights" :P Anyways, I really don't want to go into it whatsoever and so I'll just offer my apology and say that I'm back!

I borrowed Robin's (doodlegirll) TCTF concept from Like Looking in a Mirror and Then You Stand, of course they don't know how true Wilbur's words are yet :D And of course, in Robin's story it will be Cassie and not Camila...hmm, Wilbur has a thing for C's...

Love's Design

"Hello!? Carl? Where is everybody?" Tallulah entered the oddly silent foyer, followed closely behind by Johnny. "I know they can't still be at the zoo."

"Well, the zoo is pretty big. Maybe they stopped at the monkeys and stayed there for a long time," Johnny suggested randomly causing Tallulah to stare at him blankly for a slight moment. "It's what I always…err…used to always do."

"I see," Tallulah didn't know whether to laugh at how cute she thought his comment was or how ridiculous it was. "I guess I shouldn't worry. Carl's completely capable of handling things," she said confidently, although her worry wasn't subsiding anytime soon.

"I would love to see your designs if you're up to it," Johnny suggested, causing Tallulah's face to brighten at the thought.

"And I would love for you to see my designs," she answered honestly. "They're in my studio," she said and began leading the way. Tallulah's heart beat faster with every step she took. She had dreamed of showing her designs to someone important and now she was about to. She worried that they would be no good or that Johnny would tell her that she didn't have as much talent as he first thought. All of these thoughts and more ran through her head as she opened the door to her studio, the studio that the family had given her as a surprise gift. "What on earth…" she gasped as they entered the large room.

"Wow this is amazing. You even have your own runway? Wow," Johnny was speechless, but so was Tallulah, however, not in a good way. "What's wrong?"

"My designs! My finished designs, they're gone!" Tallulah cried. "They were all on my mannequins the last time I was in here, but now, they're not." Tallulah began searching frantically as Johnny watched on in confusion. "I have to find…them…" she was stopped by the sound of music beginning to play. The lights in the room went dim, and the runway lights came on. "What's going on?" She walked back over to Johnny, who was thoroughly enjoying himself through all of the commotion.

"Welcome to today's show, with only the best designs as fashioned by that runway diva herself, Tallulah Robinson," Carl's voice could be heard, although he wasn't seen, as Tallulah began putting the pieces together. "First up is Talia who is sporting a green chignon dress with matching hat. Doesn't she look fabulous? Next up we have Buzz sporting a handsome jet black blazer that is sure to look good on any physical type."

"This is the most unique thing I've ever seen," Johnny laughed as the kids came out one after another wearing Tallulah's designs. He smiled at how silly they looked in the outfits that were obviously much too large for their small frames. "And here I thought I was coming here to help you babysit," he laughed again and went back to studying every detail of Tallulah's designs.

"So did I," Tallulah said under her breath before turning her attention towards the fashion show. She couldn't wait to hear the explanation, but she knew that now wasn't the time since Johnny was obviously impressed with what he thought to be her own scheme at work.

"Oh, now that one, yeah, that one I love," Johnny commented as the kids continued to make their way down the runway under Carl's guidance. "That's a perfect color choice for that pattern," he said as he saw one of the men's jackets. I bet I'd look completely handsome in that design."

Tallulah was completely flabbergasted. She was happy the way things had turned out, yes, but it was all so much she barely knew what to say. The kids were occupied and looked as though they were having fun, she knew that Carl had something to do with it and she was bound to find out, and in addition to that, her plans with Johnny hadn't fallen through and now here he was falling all over her designs making compliments and suggestions on how to make them even better. She pinched herself slightly; glad to feel that it wasn't a dream.

As the fashion show came to a close, Tallulah and Johnny applauded. Suddenly, two girls rushed off of the runway, grabbed Tallulah's hand and dragged her to the runway herself. "What's going on?" Tallulah asked a little taken back as she just stood there noticing the huge amount of amusement Johnny seemed to be getting from her confusion.

"And now, coming down the runway, we have the fashionable designer herself, Tallulah Robinson. Tallulah is sporting one of her own designs, a green skirt in the shape of a mermaid tail and made of a, uh, an easy to move in…is that silk?" Carl stopped not able to figure out the material from where he was.

"No," Tallulah laughed a little in spite of herself, "it's Egyptian cotton. The shirt's the same," she said with another giggle. She was completely embarrassed to be strutting on a runway and almost felt show-offish but somehow Carl made it less painful and more enjoyable. She felt like she was just having fun, and hopefully Johnny would think the same thing.

"Got it!" Carl exclaimed. "Tallulah is sporting a green mermaid design skirt made of the finest Egyptian cotton and an accentuating white top in the same material that would make any girl wish they were under the sea."

"Brava!" Johnny stood to his feet in applause. "And that was the best design of the entire show. Then again, it could have just been because the model pulled it off so well," he said with a smile, causing Tallulah to blush.

"More flattery?" she joked back.

"What can I say, flattery suits you," he said in the same playful tone. "But seriously, all of those designs were amazing. And the fashion show, nice touch."

"Well, I'm not really all that responsible," she said honestly. "I mean, Carl and the kids…"

"The kids were fantastic!" Johnny exclaimed and before he could blink he was tumbled by the group of orphans as they ran out from the preparation area behind the runway. "Seriously, some of you have star potential," he said graciously.

Carl followed behind, "Okay boys and girls, let the man have some room to breathe," he avoided eye contact with Tallulah, who was most definitely staring at him in bewilderment.

"Oh, you're Carl, right?" Johnny composed himself and held out his hand to shake Carl's. "You sure had me convinced on the phone last night. Only now I see it was all an elaborate scheme for this. And I must say, I enjoyed this much better than any other interview I've done. By the way, you should look into a voice over career. I think half of my enjoyment was your narration. Especially there at the end," he laughed, remembering Carl's little flub with Tallulah's outfit.

"Haha, yeah," Carl faked a laugh, still trying to get past his annoyance with Johnny. "So, you did enjoy her designs, right?" Carl moved onto another subject. He wanted to make sure that he hadn't ruined Tallulah's chances by not doing her designs justice.

"Of course! How could I not?" Johnny answered. "Actually, I want to take one of your portfolios, Tallulah, and show them to my uncle as soon as I see him."

"I feel like I'm dreaming," Tallulah echoed aloud the thoughts that she had kept to herself prior. "I don't know what to say about any of this."

"The only thing to be said is by your friends and family and I guess myself also, and that's congratulations. I think you're on your way, Tallulah," Johnny answered. "Just don't turn into Trish okay?"

Tallulah couldn't keep herself from looking at Carl after Johnny had said what he said. "I could never turn into Trish. There are some friends I could never forget, even if I tried."

"Good, so now wha…" Johnny started to ask when suddenly, everyone froze as had happened the day before. It only lasted a few seconds and as soon as things returned to normal, Johnny found himself holding his head. "What was that?"

"The machine!" Carl and Tallulah exclaimed simultaneously as they looked at one another.

"So there really is a machine?" Johnny asked as he watched Tallulah and Carl ran out of the room and down the hall, leaving him alone with the kids.

As Carl and Tallulah entered the main atrium of the house, they immediately noticed the rest of the Robinsons slowly walking about. Many of them appeared to be woozy and lightheaded. Cornelius spotted the two and he and Wanda started towards them. "Carl, where are the kids?"

"They're in my fashion room," Tallulah answered instead. "They're all fine. The only one not there is…"

"Camila," Wanda finished knowingly before following Franny in the direction of where the kids were.

"How did she know?" Tallulah asked, looking to her cousin for an answer after exchanging a confused look with Carl.

"Let's just say that stupid machine has one too many glitches," Cornelius answered vaguely at first. "One of them being that even though it froze us, and seemingly only us, it didn't actually freeze our vital organs. We could still use our senses so we could hear and see you when you were in the room."

"Well, that's not very good news for Wilbur then is it?" Carl chuckled nervously for his little buddy as the thought came to him.

"He's in more trouble than when he lied to me as a boy," Cornelius said. "But how about the two of you? I'm glad to see you both in one piece. That was quite a few children to handle. And there were a few times they were so loud that we could hear them running through the halls and screaming so I'm sure you must have had a rough time of it."

"It was definitely an interesting time that's for sure," Carl replied as he watched Tallulah take her leave to go and speak to the other family members.

"I can only imagine," Cornelius couldn't help but give a slight laugh at what Carl must have gone through. "Now, I think I'll go pay a visit to Wilbur in the lab."

"Maybe you should spare him just a little," Carl had a soft spot for his little buddy, but more importantly he knew that Wilbur would try to shift the blame to him. "After all, he did help fix things. I mean, if it weren't for him thinking to go back to get your help, who knows if we'd even be having this conversation right now."

"That might be true, Carl, but it was more than just Wilbur or Camila or even my younger self who saved the day in the end," Cornelius said in reference to the younger Carl having found the piece of paper in Laszlo's jacket.

"What do you mean?" Carl obviously didn't know that another version of himself was no more than a hall away.

"I mean, you had more to do with setting things right than you know," Cornelius said as he walked past Carl and towards the lab. Carl just stood in bewilderment for a few moments before going back to Tallulah's fashion room to see if Franny and Wanda needed any more help with the kids.

--The Lab--

"Dad will be here any minute," Wilbur hung his head in defeat as he expected the inevitable.

"There are always consequences, Wilbur," Lewis said what he thought he needed to hear. "But one of those consequences could be dire," Lewis looked at Carl. "The last thing I need is to let the timeline get messed up any more by letting Carl here interact with anyone else. It may or may not have repercussions but if did, there's no real TCTF or time cops to prevent the worse from happening."

"Hey, I'm telling you, someday there will be," Wilbur said confidently.

"What's the TCTF?" Camila asked curiously.

"Time Continuum Task Force," Wilbur answered. He just loved saying it, as it sent chills down his spine every time. "Yep, and someday I'll be the leader," he added smugly.

"At least that's his dream," Lewis filled in the blanks. "But hey, I'm glad he at least has a goal for the future. But right now, let's get back to the here and now."

"Which is still technically the future for you," Wilbur said quickly.

"Wilbur!" Lewis knew that there wouldn't be much more time before his older self would come bounding into the lab looking for an explanation. "Okay, Wilbur and Camila, take Carl somewhere he can hide. I'll handle things until you return. And maybe I'll even see what I can do on getting you off easy, Wilbur," Lewis said with a sigh. "I hope I'm not this much of a pushover when I'm older."

"Don't worry, you are…until mom shows up and then you aren't," Wilbur answered as he ran out of the lab, followed by Camila and a reluctant Carl.

It was a good thing they left and ducked into Wilbur's room when they did, because it wasn't but a minute or two later that Cornelius stormed into the lab. "Wilbur…" he stopped when he only found Lewis."Where is he? He's in big trouble."

"I know what Wilbur did was wrong, but he did try like crazy to fix things," Lewis replied.

"Don't give me that, Lewis, we both know we have to punish him," Cornelius said in response. He looked around to see if his son was hiding anywhere. "So where is he?"

"I asked him to uh, well, he and Camila are…" Lewis fumbled, not knowing how to explain without revealing Carl was there as well.

"Wait," Cornelius sounded more frantic this time he spoke. "Where's Carl? If he's seen there could be serious alterations in the time stream."

"I know and that's why Wilbur and Camila are hiding him and how do you know he's here?" Lewis blurted out all at once before giving Cornelius a very confused look.

"We weren't entirely frozen in there. We could still breathe, hear, see, smell; you name it. We just couldn't move," Cornelius explained. "So I know Carl's here. And I know he's the one who found the answer to the problem. Laszlo and I were on the verge of testing the machine when everyone showed up. You see, I gave Laszlo the instructions on how to shut it down after I tested it. I hadn't planned on it freezing all adults in the area, only in the lab. Laszlo had planned on moving out of the lab and waiting for the ripple effect as a sign to come in and shut it down."

"So, if you had gone ahead with your plan, it still would have had the same result," Lewis observed. "Of course, without the kids and Mildred and Wanda here to share in on it."

"I guess that's a good point. Either way, this machine is far from stable," Cornelius admitted. "Maybe Wilbur's actions, however wrong they were, helped me understand that a little bit better."

--Wilbur's Room--

"See, working with me isn't so bad," Wilbur said as he, Camila and Carl stood in his room.

"I could say the same thing," Camila responded coldly at first but then softened. "You're right. I guess I should give you a little more credit."

Wilbur had expected it to turn into another argument, and so was surprised when she gave in. "Oh well, thanks. And, working with you isn't so bad either. I guess you deserve all of the, uh, praise you get at school."

Camila couldn't contain herself and let out a laugh, "That was really painful for you wasn't it?"

"A little, yeah," he nodded and then laughed as well. "But I guess I meant it. I mean, next time I need someone super smart, I'll think twice about going to get Lewis and I might call you instead."

"Well, that's very flattering, but I'm a pretty busy girl. Being a kid genius is a full time job and bailing you out of your schemes would just be a major distraction," Camila replied, although half jokingly.

"Is that so!?" Wilbur now felt insulted. "I'll have you know…"

"Relax, Wilbur," Camila stopped him before he could get started. "I was only kidding. Well, partially anyhow."

"Oh, right, very funny…hey, wait!" Wilbur processed the last part of what she said. "What do you mean partially?"

Camila laughed again. She couldn't deny that making Wilbur irritable was a fun thing to do. In fact, no one knew-although Wilbur had accused her of it-but she enjoyed it so much that sometimes at school she really did go out of her way to annoy him. Of course, with someone like Wilbur, it didn't require much work. As she thought about it, she began to feel uneasy and immediately wanted to change the subject. She had no idea that Wilbur shared her uneasy feeling. "So, uh, do you think we should go face the music?"

"Yeah, that sounds good, well not good exactly, but yeah," Wilbur uncharacteristically fumbled his words. He turned to Carl quickly, "Okay, Carl, stay here. And don't move," Wilbur commanded. "I mean, you can move, just don't leave the room, got it?"

"I'm not a child, Wilbur," Carl answered defiantly. "I know what I'm supposed to do and not do."

"Could've fooled me," Wilbur said under his breath as he and Camila left the room.

"Stay here, Carl," Carl mimicked Wilbur as he paced around the room looking for something to occupy his time. Suddenly his eye caught sight of the odd shaped thing hanging from the ceiling. "What is that thing?" He stood at a distance but continued studying it. "Maybe it's a suction tube for dirty clothes." As he continued studying it, he inched closer and closer.

A/N Cont. - Okay, so I attempted to show some of the other side of Johnny...the side that hopefully makes him a little more irking. At least he is to me when I write him :P But that could be just because I'm already shipping Carl and Tallulah xD Okay, so this chapter's pretty eventful. I also decided to do all the summing of how the machine was fixed and all that jazz in this chapter because I want the final one to be short and BITTERsweet. So, I hope everyone has enjoyed Wilbur and Camila because I'll give away a little and let you know they don't re-enter again in this story...in fact, you'll all probably HATE the end of this story as much as I do and say "What The BonJovi?" when it's done. xP