Chapter 18:

Nix smoothed down her skirt for the thousandth time. She was hoping Alex wouldn't ask about shorts underneath it. She would fully come out and say that she hated skirts and what not and hope Alex understood. After taking a deep breath, she rang the door bell.

She fidgeted with her necklace and waited for the door to be answered. She was looking down at her feet when the door opened. Marty was standing there with a toddler in his arms.

"I thought Alex was goin to pick you up?"

"No 'hello' or anything, thanks, Marty," she smiled.

"Funny," he said with a smile, "Come in."

He stood aside and Nix walked in. the house was nice on the inside. Tons of pictures were on the wall. Most of them were of Alex. She smiled as she looked at most of them.

"Creepy I know," Marty said.

Nix laughed, "Not really."

"Jennifer insists on having them up. I find them creepy."

"Who's that?" she pointed to the toddler in his arms.

"This is Lilly. Two years old, you want her?"

Nix laughed, "Would Jennifer really like that?"

"Good point. I've been sayin 'happy wife, happy life' for years. If everything goes well with you and Alex," he walked into the living room and put the toddler in a small play pen where Lilly put a rattle in her mouth, "you might be seeing more of her. Cheap babysitters."

"She's adorable, and looks nothing like you."

"Thanks, really."

Nix smiled, "I got great news. I took her out."

"Really? And? How'd ya like it?"

"Oh my gosh, it was amazing. Such a cool experience!"

He smiled and crossed his arms as he leaned against the couch, "Where'd you end up going?"

"Dane and I went to a concert in 1980."

"Dane went too?"

"I told you that Dane knew Doc and about time traveling and such. I just had to hide the keys from him, no big deal," she shrugged.

"Well, what concert did you see? What happened?"

Nix smiled, "We saw the Blues Brothers at the one bar that went out."

"Blues Bar?"

"Yup. It was such a cool experience! Dan Aykroyd, the one that plays Elwood, came up to me at the end and started talking to me and gave me this," Nix took the paper Dan had given her from the bar out of her purse and handed it to Marty.

"Damn, he came to you?" he asked handing the paper back to Nix.

"Yeah! It was really cool. He even gave me a hug."

"Well, that's the first of many adventures you should be having. I'm also glad to see that you're feeling better."

She shrugged, "Cold went away the next day when I got back. It was really weird. Doc said it was odd and he did a ton of tests with it and… that's when it got weird."

"That's Doc for ya."

"Does Alex know about-"

"No, he doesn't. And can we keep it that way please? He's not really ready to be exposed to a world like that. Honestly, the fewer the better."
"Point taken there," she said.

"Alex won't tell you this so I will; he's never had a girlfriend before. So don't really like… rush him. He has no idea on what he's gotten into."

"Oh you're funny," she laughed sarcastically.

"Can ya go easy on him?"

"Marty, I have no idea how relationships work anymore. I lasted three months with a guy before… I don't know what to expect!"

He smiled, "Then you two are on the same page then. I knew you'd two would find each other soon."

"You're letters were right. You were right. I gotta live my life."

His smile widened, "I told you. Alex is a great kid and knowing you, you two were meant to find each other at some point and time."

"Fate, gotta love it… or hate it."

He chuckled, "Yeah, you have a great point. How did you two end up meeting finally?"

"We ran into each other, literally," she smiled.

"Just remember, go easy on him."

"What's that suppose to mean?" she laughed.

"Alex! Nicole's here!" he shouted up the stairs.

Soon, Alex bounded down the stairs. Black khakis, grey sweater vest, black tie and a white shirt. Nix faced him and his smile widened. He loved what she had on. Black skirt, dark purple shirt with a lace design and black flats. She probably felt really uncomfortable in the skirt, he assumed from their conversation earlier.

"Hi," he said giving her a hug.

She hugged him back, "hey."

"Alex, I swear if she's still around when you come home, you're grounded for not being a gentleman," Marty said.

"Dad, don't worry," Alex said, "everything's going to be awesome."

Nix smiled and bit her lip. Alex had taken her hand and led her out of the house.

"Bye dad!" he called.

"Not passed eleven, Alexander!"

"Yes, sir!"

The door had closed and the two were out for the night. A long night. Marty picked up his daughter again. He walked her over and sat down on the couch.

"You know about time traveling, don't you," he said with a smile, "But you're too young to remember it."

"Marty?"

"In here, Jennifer."

Jennifer walked in and smiled to her husband, "Where's Alex?"

"He just left. He's out on a date."

"Our you sure he's our son? Our son would be upstairs reading books."

"Yeah, he went out with Mike's daughter, Nicole."

"Oh she is such a sweet girl," Jennifer said and took the baby from Marty, "Did you give him a speech? About treating girls fairly?"

"He's a good kid; he wouldn't do anything he'd regret."

"You're right…" Jennifer handed the baby back to Marty, "I just stopped in to make sure the house wasn't on fire."

"Where you going?"

"I told you theirs a township meeting tonight. About that damn clock tower again."

"They just won't give up, won't they?"

"No! I swear this has been going on since it happened!" she was almost out the door again, "Love you! See you tonight."

"Love you, Jennifer," he called out to her.

The door closed and left Marty with the baby again. Lilly giggled and Marty couldn't help but smile.

"Lilly, there are so many things I wish I could've told Nicole when she was here. Like saying how happy I was to forget our relationship from when we time traveled, to actually be time traveling. I'm so glad she left, well, 'us' in the past. She's moved on and so have I. that should be a good thing right?" the baby blinked at him like he was crazy, "Your right. She didn't let what we had ruin her life. That's the best thing to do.

"Alex and her will make a great couple and I approve of that. But you're not going to be dating until you're thirty, and that's final. I'm just praying you have no idea what the hell I'm ranting on about. Just don't be like you're brother, cooped up in your room all day long."

Lilly giggled and Marty smiled again, "Wanna watch Finding Nemo, Lilly?"

"Nemo!" the baby said in her little, adorable, voice and clapped.

Marty laughed and set her down in her play pen as he went to put the movie in. once the movie was playing he took her back out and set the baby on his lap. The baby clapped enthusiastically for the little fishy on the TV screen.

"Keep time travel alive," Marty said to himself.