Try, Try Again

by KaitiCat1993

Franny Robinson, ever the motherly type, never had more children after Wilbur. It's never explained why this woman, who is so willingly to take in an orphan at the drop of a hat, only has one son. This story takes a look into the lives of Franny and Cornelius as they struggle through the curve balls of life. Warning: This fic contains mature material.

16. Chapter 16

A/N: Hello there! I am soooo incredibly sorry for the delay! I lied about the last chapter being the hardest. This was the most difficult chapters I've written thus far. It took me over a week to write and edit, so I truly hope you enjoy. I will try to have the next chapter up soon (probably the last chapter D:), so stay tuned!

WARNING: This chapter may include uncomfy material (?), as well as some hanky panky. Just stick with me here, it ends on a good note!

Disclaimer: I only own Meet the Robinsons in my dreams.

Enjoy!

Chapter 16: A Day With Franny Robinson

Early August 2037

The next day

Franny blinked in the early morning light, her hand outstretched to the other side of the bed. Even when Cornelius wasn't there, she still subconsciously reached for him in her sleep. Yawning, she rolled out of bed and tiredly made her way over to the automatic espresso machine. With a perfectly manicured thumb, she placed her digit on the fingerprint scanner on the machine. It beeped three times and had made her drink within seconds, exactly how she liked it.

She took a long sip, humming in appreciation as it warmed her from the inside out. Regardless of the fact it was still summer, she still liked a hot drink in the morning. With beverage in hand she walked over to the window, pulling back the curtain to enjoy the sunrise. It had rained pretty hard last night, and there were always the most beautiful skies the next morning. Her eyes roamed the grounds, breathing catching in her throat when she saw it. In the distance, on a green hilltop surrounded by topiaries, towered a tree full of every color flower imaginable billowing gently in the breeze. Her heart skipped a beat, the significance of this day not lost on her.

There was still a bit of time before rehearsal, so she quickly pulled on a dress and heels and tied her hair in a neat bun before making the trek through the house. She greeted each person with a bright smile and a wave, not much feeling up for conversation. Once she passed Billie and Gaston racing downstairs, she expertly dodged the train as it hurtled by and made it to the back door. She stepped outside and breathed in the morning air as the wind softly blew loose hairs around her face. Keeping her eyes trained on the tree in the distance, she serenely strolled across the yard and up the hill, realizing this was the first time in years she'd been out here.

Generally she kept her distance from this spot, always appreciating it from afar. But today, something felt a distance the tree was beautiful, but up close it was absolutely breathtaking. The rainbow of blooms speckled its branches like an impressionist painting, the limbs cascading to the ground below it like a mighty mane. A warm feeling washed over her as the wind blew again and the branches gently swayed toward her. She knew she was probably imagining it, but it felt as though the tree were greeting her.

Her eyes fluttered closed as she placed her palm against the soft bark. The softness surprised her; she thought it would be rough against her skin, but it was quite the opposite. Warmth spread through her body as she remembered Cornelius' words when he'd shown her the tree: "This tree was made special…There are no other trees like this one, and it can withstand any weather condition. It's strong, just like she would've been." How right he had been. It was strong, but had a softness to it that she just knew their daughter would've had.

"Hello," she whispered, gently touching her head to the trunk, listening peacefully to the leaves rustling around her. Her brown eyes drifted back to the house, grateful that no one had followed her out here. With a contented sigh, she walked around to the other side of the tree, brows furrowing in confusion. There, beneath the branches and looking out over the hillside was a bench. She tilted her head and read the inscription: "For Franny, the strongest person I know."

A lone tear fell down her cheek and landed on the bench. When had he put this here?

Franny hesitantly took a seat and let her eyes roam. It was a shame she didn't come out here more often; the view was magnificent.

For a fleeting moment she felt like never leaving this spot. She closed her eyes as a soft breeze blew again, a warm smile crossing her features. All at once it became clear why she felt so content being here and why her heart didn't feel as though it would implode anymore.

She felt at peace.

"Happy birthday," Franny whispered, smiling warmly up at the branches above her as they swayed gently in the breeze. If she had a choice, she would stay out here all day, but life was going on around her and she needed to rejoin the living. With a contented sigh she got to her feet and appreciated the view one last time before making her way back to the house, the branches waving her goodbye.

…

"Okay, boys," Franny said, lifting her baton. She counted the frogs in, flicking her wrist in tempo. "One two, one two three four."

A symphony of brass instruments vamped for a few measures, leading into Franny's newest composition, an upbeat tune with a certain swing to it. Frankie opened his mouth and began crooning the lyrics, making Franny grin from ear to ear. She was so caught up in the song that she almost didn't hear her phone ringing from across the room. Normally she didn't keep her phone on her, but ever since Katherine had said she could call at any time she'd been glued to it.

"Hang on, boys," she said, halting the song halfway through. She ran over to the piano and answered on the fifth ring. "This is Franny," she said, walking out into the hallway.

"Good morning, Dr. Robinson," a familiar voice replied.

"May I ask who's calling?" Franny asked, wandering to the window in the hall overlooking the front yard.

"This is Katherine from the adoption agency."

Her heart jumped, and a huge smile spread across her face. "Oh, hi Katherine! I've been looking forward to your call. I hope this is good news?" she asked, trying not to sound too excited.

Katherine laughed over the line. "Yes, that's why I'm calling. I'm so happy to tell you that your application has been approved!"

The grin on Franny's face threatened to split her face in two. "Oh, this is amazing news!" she said, placing a hand over her heart. "Neil is going to be over the moon!"

"Congratulations, Dr. Robinson," Katherine said sincerely. "Now just as a reminder of what we discussed, when we send the child to your residence, there will be a representative from the agency accompanying them. I have a few kids that I think would be a perfect match for you, so I'll get their schedules lined up to send them to you individually. Instead of doing short interviews, we feel it's best for the child and the potential adopters to spend some quality time together before deciding if they're the right fit." Franny nodded her head, listening intently. "We find that this decreases the likelihood of a child being returned to the system. The results have been amazing."

"That sounds wonderful," Franny said, fiddling with the curtain. "Do you have any idea of when we should expect them? Neil is out of town and I'd like for him to be here when they come."

"I understand. I don't have a specific date just yet, but it will be soon. We'll let you know before we send them."

Franny nodded. "Oh, wonderful," she said, unable to contain her smile. "Thank you for the call, Katherine."

"My pleasure," the woman replied. "I'll talk to you soon."

"Absolutely," Franny said, ending the call. Immediately after disconnecting, she pressed the first option on her speed dial.

The phone rang seven times before being sent to voicemail. Franny was too excited to notice his lack of response. Even when he was away on business trips he usually answered her calls, and if not he always called her back. "You're reached Cornelius Robinson of Robinson Industries. I'm not available at the moment, but leave me a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. And remember, keep moving forward!"

Franny waited impatiently for the beep before speaking. "Hi, honey. I know you're probably busy, but I have some good news that I really want to talk to you about. Call me back when you can. I love you," she finished. Her eyes wandered back to the window, something outside catching her attention. She gasped and yanked the curtain aside, watching with increasing panic as her father-in-law led a little boy around the property. They told her they'd be sending a child within the next week, not today.

The brunette turned on her heel and darted back into the music room, snatching her baton off the floor and tapping it several times against the music stand.

"I need everyone back in their places, please," Franny said, trying to keep her voice calm as the frogs moseyed back into the music hall. "Now please," she repeated sternly. Frantically the amphibians started bumping into each other, trying to get back in their seats; the last thing they wanted was another lecture about using their "listening ears."

Frankie jumped back onto his stage and smoothed out his jacket. "Sorry, boss."

"Alright boys," she said in a rush. "It looks like we have company, so I need you all to be on your best behavior, okay?"

The frogs nodded excitedly; they loved playing for a live audience.

Franny lifted her baton, and counted them in again. "One two, one two three four!"

The music vamped, the instruments crescendoing as the doors to the music hall suddenly burst open. She felt her heart leap and turned her head to greet their visitors. "Hey, guys!"

Frankie began crooning,"You ask me over and over and over, have you seen my peacock feathered hat?"

The boy in the fruit hat (?!) clearly didn't know what to think of the singing amphibians, because he yelled, "Frogs?!"

Franny grinned proudly, continuing to conduct even while looking away. "Taught 'em everything they know."

Bud gently pushed the boy toward her. "Franny, this is Lewis," he said.

The boy smiled timidly. "Nice to meet you, ma'am."

The brunette tossed her baton haphazardly behind her again and took the boy's hand in hers in her signature warm handshake. "Perfect timing, we need someone on maracas," she sang, handing the boy the instruments. Lewis took them and hesitantly sat on one of the risers, playing along with the music in fascinated confusion. Franny shot him a thumbs up from the music stand. He actually sounded pretty good rhythm-wise. A smile began spreading across his face.

On any other day, the frogs usually sounded okay, but today they sounded inexplicably great. Her heart swelled with pride as her frogs performed like they never had. She could tell they were putting on a show, but she didn't mind one bit. Frankie was positively hamming it up, his vocals so smooth that if she wasn't watching him she'd have thought it was a recording. He suddenly jumped up onto Lewis' head with a flourish, his voice never faltering as he finished the song. They definitely needed to have company more often.

"Uh, Grandpa," Lewis said, looking up at the frog on his head. "I think I found your teeth."

Franny laughed as she watched her father-in-law pop his dentures out of Frankie's mouth into his own, having lost count of the amount of times the man had lost his teeth. She wondered offhandedly how he had lost them this time.

"Sarsaparilla," he exclaimed. "My teeth are back!"

Frankie straightened his tie. "Ring a ding ding," he said, jumping back onto his tiny stage.

Suddenly the room was full of people, all yelling at the same time at Bud to congratulate him on the return of his missing teeth. Franny was pushed to the side as they lifted the man into the air. She almost fell backwards but was able to catch herself on the piano, seeing the boy out of the corner of her eye back out of the room in the commotion.

"Dad," she said as he was placed back on the floor, "who was that? Was he sent from the agency?"

Bud shrugged. "I don't think so. I just found him on the front lawn," he laughed. "I think he's one of Wilbur's friends. Said he was looking for the garage."

Franny frowned. "Oh," she said, wringing her hands together. She thought for sure Katherine had sent him, but was relieved that it was a misunderstanding on her part. At least she had time to prepare the house for when they actually did send a child. "That's wonderful that he's finally brought a friend home," she said, forcing herself to sound chipper. "I'll go invite him to stay for dinner."

…

Franny retreated to her bedroom, kicking off her heels as she checked her phone. She'd only called Cornelius once, but he always called her back. Her brows furrowed as she pressed the redial button, the call sent once again to voicemail.

"Hi, honey," she said, sitting at the little table next to the kitchenette. "I don't know if you got my message earlier, but I really need to talk to you. Call me back when you can. I love you." She ended the message and set the phone on the table next to Lefty's growth chart, documenting his progress. Every few minutes she paused her scribbling to let her eyes wander over to the phone. Still no new messages. Franny chewed on her bottom lip anxiously as she continued jotting down notes on the chart, trying to keep her thoughts from also wandering.

An hour went by with no calls or texts, her brows creasing further with each passing second. With a sigh she dropped her fountain pen and grabbed her phone, quickly hitting the redial button. The call went straight to voicemail again, so she left another message, her heart thudding uncomfortably in her chest. She rested her face in her hands on the table and squeezed her eyes shut, her mind starting to wander to a very off-limits place. What if something had happened to him? Or worse. What if he was…Oh, God.

"Don't go there, Franny," she muttered to herself. He wouldn't do that to her…right?

Since she couldn't concentrate on her notes, she decided to do the one thing that always centered her. Shakily she stood and walked over to the new upright piano Cornelius had gotten her and traced her fingers along the glossy keys. Her eyes fluttered closed as her fingers began dancing across the piano, a hauntingly beautiful melody filling the air.

The song came to an end, the last note hanging in the air like smoke. The strongest urge suddenly came over her to go outside and smoke a cigarette, but she stopped herself. Dr. Shelton had said she needed to be in good health for her treatments, and she couldn't afford to compromise it. Plus she hadn't had one since Cornelius was in the hospital after the first prototype of the time machine had detonated, and she wasn't about to start up that awful habit again.

Franny closed the piano and walked back over to the table, seeing he still hadn't called her back. With a sigh she pressed the redial button.

"You've reached-" She hung up and instead pressed the holo-call button, knowing he was more likely to answer that way. It rang three times before Cornelius' face appeared on the screen, her face falling as she realized it was also a recording. "You've reached Cornelius Robinson of Robinson Industries. I'm not available at the moment, but leave me a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. And remember, keep moving forward!" His smiling face made Franny feel increasingly distressed the longer she looked at it. The hologram flashed, signaling it was recording.

"Hi, Sweetheart. It's me again," she chuckled. "I haven't heard back from you, so I figured I would call back to check in. I know you're probably really busy with work, but I would really appreciate it if you could call me back. There's something I really want to talk to you about." She swallowed down the anxiety rising in her chest. "Anyway, I love you and I'll talk to you soon," she said, finishing the message by blowing him a kiss. Once the message was sent her face fell into a troubled frown.

She began pacing the floor, trying her hardest not to chew on her nails. Why wasn't he answering? Even when Cornelius was away on business trips, he always, always called her back. As much as the man loved his work, he loved his family more. They'd been doing so well since the fiasco with him forgetting their anniversary…

Franny exhaled through her nose, pushing away the thoughts that were threatening to creep into her mind uninvited. He was on a business trip, of course he wasn't going to be able to answer his phone. But then again, he always at least texted her even if he was in a meeting. Regardless, he always made time for her. Something wasn't adding up, and she was going to figure out what.

She made her way over to the espresso machine to make another cup of coffee, swearing as she immediately spilled it all over her dress.

"Damn it," she swore, bending down to clean up the mess with shaking hands. Once the

liquid was off the floor, she looked down at herself and realized she needed to change.

The brunette pulled her dress off as she walked across the room to the closet and tossed it into the laundry chute. She placed a perfectly manicured thumb on the fingerprint reader inside the closet, a light scanning her from top to bottom. There was a beep and then a moment later a dress was ejected from the rack and into her hand. She quickly pulled the new dress on-a black, red, and gray number-and pulled her heels back on.

While she was fixing her hair in the mirror the intercom chimed.

"Franny, dinner is ready," Lucille's voice said through the speaker.

"Thanks, mom," she replied, tightening the red bow in her hair. "I'll be down in a minute. I'll call the boys down."

"Okay, dear," Lucille said, disconnecting the intercom.

Her eyes scanned the panel of buttons, seeing the indicator for the garage lit up, signaling

the room was occupied. She pressed the button, engaging the intercom. "Boys, dinner time!" she said chipperly.

"Not now mom!" Wilbur yelled back in annoyance. The boy hadn't even turned thirteen yet and was already developing an attitude.

"If you aren't up here in five minutes, I'm gonna come down and get you," she said, releasing the button. Before she headed out of her room she decided to check her phone one more time and frowned. Still nothing.

Franny hit the redial button again, huffing as it went straight to voicemail. She bit back the anxiety that was bubbling in her chest again.

"Neil, it's me again. Look I know you're probably really busy right now, but could you please call me back?" She glanced at the clock. "I haven't heard from you all day, and truth be told I'm getting a little worried. Please call me," she finished, placing the phone in her dress pocket and heading out of her bedroom.

When she got to the bottom of the stairs she made eye contact with Carl, whose optics became the size of saucers before he turned on his heel.

"Carl!" Franny called, running to catch up with the robot.

"I didn't do it!" he yelled.

Franny grabbed his wrist as he tried to dart away, his arm stretching until it was completely extended. Carl reached the end of his proverbial rope and was yanked backwards onto the floor. He grinned up at her awkwardly.

"Carl," she said, letting go of his wrist. "I honestly don't even want to know what you did this time. I was trying to see if you've talked to Cornelius today."

Because if anyone had heard from her husband, it was Carl.

The robot quickly jumped to his feet and began wringing his hands. "I can't say that I have, Franny-"

"Don't lie to me, Carl," she demanded.

He opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off when a new message came through on his internal system.

CORNELIUS: Don't say a word.

Carl sighed and hung his head. "I'm sorry, Franny. I haven't heard from him." He met her eyes, furrowing his metal eyebrows at the distress shadowing her face. "Is everything alright?"

"I just haven't heard from him all day," she said, chewing on her lower lip. "I've tried to call him at least ten times and he hasn't called me back. It's not like him to not call me back."

If Carl had a heart, it would surely be sinking into the pit of his stomach. If he had a stomach, that is.

"I just hope he's okay," Franny muttered.

Carl placed a metal hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eye. "I'm sure he's just fine," he said. That much he could tell her at least. "Now please stop worrying."

He watched her retreat into the dining room, his circuitry going haywire with guilt. Cornelius was definitely going to get an earful from both of them when he came home.

With an agitated sigh he sent a message.

CARL: You owe Franny big time, mister.

A moment later a new message came through.

CORNELIUS: Trust me, I know.

CORNELIUS: Ready phase two.

CARL: 10-4

Carl rolled his optics and decided to deal with his creator later. If he had a brain, he'd surely have a migraine right about now.

"Dinner is served," he announced as he entered the dining room, a small army of miniature Carls emerging from his chest cavity. They tiny robots dispersed around the table and handed everyone a bowl of spaghetti, all the while repeating "Dinner is served!"

Franny took her seat between Wilbur and his new friend, all the while eyeing Carl suspiciously across the room. The robot met her eyes for a split second before averting his gaze. The brunette raised a questioning eyebrow and glanced at Lewis, who had apparently decided to trade his fruit hat (?!) for a more sensible ball cap. She didn't know why, but she felt her heart tug as she watched the boy eating with his head down, a despondent expression on his young features. A feeling she unfortunately knew all too well. There was something about this boy, about the sadness in his eyes, that made her heart ache for something she couldn't quite name.

She tuned out the conversations around her, grabbing the ladle out of the gravy dish as it made a pitstop in front of her.

"Thank you for the gravy, Aunt Billie," she said, pouring the gravy over her spaghetti. The train pulled away and made its rounds around the table, Franny watching distractedly as she twirled her fork in her pasta. She vaguely registered Wilbur disappearing under the table out of the corner of her eye, wondering what he was up to this time. Teenagers…

Her eyes wandered back over to Lewis, who was poking at his pasta absentmindedly.

"So, Lewis," she spoke up, wanting to find out more about her son's new friend. "Are you in Wilbur's class?"

"No-"

"Yes-"

"Yes-"

"No-"

Franny raised a confused eyebrow at her son, who was giving Lewis a strange look across the table. He was acting weird, even for him.

"Well, yes and no," Wilbur explained. "Lewis is a new…transfer student."

Lewis nodded, glancing across the table at Wilbur. "Yeah."

"Where ya from, Lewis?" Gaston asked as he loaded a meatball into his tiny cannon.

Lewis hesitated. "Uh, Canada?"

"I think you mean North Montana," Tallulah interjected, suddenly in the kid's face. "Hasn't been called Canada in years."

The interrogation ensued, the boy looking more uncomfortable with each question.

"Maybe if he took his hat off," Lazlo suggested, zipping past Wilbur's chair.

"Oh, good idea," Lucille agreed excitedly. "Then we can see if he has the family cowlick-"

"He can't," Wilbur cut her off. "Because he's got bad hat hair."

Art scoffed. "Oh, nonsense. A North Montana man doesn't care about hat hair."

"Let's see the cowlick!" "Petunia" demanded.

Franny could see Lewis was getting overwhelmed by the intense cross-examination and decided to intervene. "Okay, everyone, hold your horses," she said, smiling apologetically at the boy. "Lewis, do you mind? I'm afraid this isn't going to stop otherwise," she said, reaching for his hat as he desperately tried backing away from her approaching hand. "Now, don't be shy. We're all family here-"

Smack

She smirked, not even needing to look to know who had just hit her with a meatball. "Ha!" she said, slapping the table. "Surely that is not the best you can do."

Suddenly Franny and Gaston were egging each other on, acting out what appeared to be some cheesy kung fu movie. Lewis watched on in fascination as she expertly fended off the barrage of meatballs with her bare hands.

"Your meatballs are useless against me," she taunted, narrowing her eyes at Gaston.

"Then perhaps it's time for…spicy Italian sausage!" Gaston announced.

She gasped in faux horror as he fired it at her, the sausage colliding with her outstretched hand. It ricocheted off her palm and flew back toward Gaston, knocking him out of his chair. He started laughing and raised his white flag in surrender.

"That's right. I did it," Franny chuckled. This was a good distraction.

"Is dinner like this every night?" Lewis asked excitedly.

Art shook his head. "No, yesterday we had meatloaf."

Carl reentered the dining room, throwing a dirty bowl into his chest cavity. "Okay, gang, time for the next course. And what goes better with meatballs," he said, pulling the lever on the side of his head, a gadget deploying from his cranial compartment, "than PB ?" He held the dispenser at the ready and pulled the trigger, the machine suddenly seizing. Carl frowned, smacking the dispenser gun. Of course the one thing Cornelius had requested be used refused to work properly. "Stupid-"

"Carl?" Tallulah asked.

Franny stood up, trying to get a better view from across the table. "Is everything alright?"

Carl smacked the dispenser again. "We're just experiencing bugs."

Wilbur jumped up from the table excitedly and yanked Lewis out of his chair. "My friend Lewis is an inventor," he announced. "He can fix it."

"Wilbur, you know I can't," Lewis muttered, looking stressed.

All at once everyone started shouting at the poor kid to fix the PB machine, regardless of the fact he had never seen the thing before. He held his hands up protectively, trying to speak up but getting continuously cut off.

"I don't know…" Lewis trailed off, rubbing his neck. He was clearly uncomfortable with the task being suddenly thrust upon him.

Franny placed her hand on Lewis' shoulder and smiled at him. "You'd really be helping us out, Lewis," she said softly.

"Please," the family implored. At least they were being polite…

Lewis sighed, relenting. "Okay," he said, taking the gadget from Carl and placing it on the table. "I'll try, but I can't promise anything."

Carl pulled a screwdriver out of his chest compartment and handed it to Lewis. "Here, this might help."

"Thanks, Carl," he said, turning his attention to the machine on the table. His face contorted in concentration as he worked, his tongue poking out of his mouth in that same way she'd seen Cornelius do so many times.

That's when it hit her: this boy didn't just remind her of anyone, he reminded her of her husband. Her heart skipped uncomfortably in her chest at the thought of his inexplicable silence.

"I'll be right back," Franny said, backing out of the room. She walked out into the hallway and pulled her phone out of her pocket, frowning at the screen in frustration. He still hadn't called her back. Biting back her annoyance, she hit the redial button, gritting her teeth as it went straight to voicemail. "Cornelius Robinson," she bit out. "I don't know what's going on, but I would really appreciate it if you could call me back. If you don't, I'm going to call in the search dogs," she said, ending the message. Her eyes drifted back into the dining room, landing on Lewis as he continued poking and prodding at the PB machine.

Franny exhaled through her nose and shoved her phone back into her pocket, trying once again to dispel the thoughts creeping into the back of her mind. She strided back over to Lewis, a fake smile plastered on her face as she looked over his shoulder.

"So, Mr. Fix-It. How's it looking?"

…

Cornelius watched the incoming call on his phone illuminate the screen, his wife's face grinning up at him. His heart tensed as the call was immediately sent to voicemail; he was going to get an earful from her later. He chewed on his lower lip, mentally arguing with himself about whether or not he should just come clean and tell her everything. Ultimately, though, he decided he simply couldn't risk it. There were too many factors involved and any interference on his part at all could cause a catastrophic domino effect. He just hoped she would understand.

He waited impatiently for his phone to vibrate, immediately tapping the screen and letting the voicemail play at the lowest volume.

"Cornelius Robinson. I don't know what's going on, but I would really appreciate it if you could call me back. If you don't, I'm going to call the search dogs."

The inventor rested his face in his hands, wanting nothing more in this moment than to just call Franny back and tell her he was okay. The thought of her being worried sick about him made him almost-almost-abort his mission.

"I'm sorry, Franny," Cornelius muttered to himself. He really didn't want to do this next part, but it was an integral part of the plan.

CORNELIUS: Ready phase three.

A moment later the screen on the wall dinged with a response.

BHG: Are you sure about this?

CORNELIUS: Yes.

BHG: But a dinosaur?

Just as Cornelius was about to respond, another message came through.

CARL: Just do what he says, man.

BHG: Okay…

BHG: Phase three is a go.

…

"Alright, everyone. Quiet down, quiet down," Franny said, gesturing for her family to lower their volume. "I propose a toast to Lewis, and his brilliant failure," she said, referencing the peanut butter and jelly that had just exploded all over the dining room. The poor kid had been on the brink of tears before her family had given him the whole "keep moving forward!" peptalk. "May it lead to success in the future."

"Gosh, you're all so nice," he said, smiling shyly back at her. "If I had a family, I'd want them to be just like you."

Franny felt her heart drop. If he had a family? "Oh," she said, raising her glass. "Well, then to Lewis."

"To Lewis!" the family echoed. Suddenly water was being dumped on heads around the room, the boy laughing as he joined in the toast.

Franny leaned over to Wilbur, keeping her eyes on Lewis across the way. "What did he mean if he had a family?"

"Oh," Wilbur shrugged. "Lewis is an orphan."

She gasped. "Orphan?" So many thoughts went through her mind at that moment, but the one that stood out was how desperately she wanted to adopt this boy. She couldn't bear the thought of sending him away-where would he go? Certainly not home.

All at once it became clear why she felt such a connection to this boy. He needed a family, a mother, and thinking of this little boy as her son just felt so inexplicably right. She made up her mind right then and there that she was going to adopt him. It felt as though everything was falling into place in the best possible way. Lewis would get a family, she and Cornelius would gain a son, and Wilbur would gain the one thing he'd always wanted: a brother.

Franny's heart felt like it would burst out of her chest at that moment; everything she and Cornelius had ever prayed for had suddenly fallen right into their laps. Nothing could ruin this day.

Just as she was about to go over to Lewis to talk to him about joining her family, the entire house shook. She frowned, looking up at the chandelier as it rattled with another tremor. Franny's breath quickened, a sense of dread washing over her as she watched Lewis look out the window in awe. Something was wrong.

Franny spun on her heel and looked out the window where Lewis was staring, her entire body going cold. Just on the other side of the glass stood a forty-foot tall tyrannosaurus rex staring hungrily down at her family. Her entire body began trembling with fear. Where did it come from? How did it get on their property? She didn't know why, but she just knew this had Wilbur's name written all over it.

"Why didn't you tell me you had a pet dinosaur?" Lewis asked excitedly.

"Uh, because we don't," Wilbur squeaked.

Lewis pointed out the window. "What are you talking about? He's standing right here."

The glass suddenly shattered as the tyrannosaur burst through the window and snatched Lewis off the ground.

"Lewis!" Wilbur screamed.

"Choo choo on this!" Billie yelled, sending her giant toy train hurtling through the dining room. It slammed into the dinosaur, knocking it off the ledge by the house.

"Lewis!" Franny shrieked, rushing toward the giant hole in the window. Out of nowhere a metallic arm shot out and knocked her off her feet.

"You stay here," Carl said sternly.

"Carl!" she yelled angrily as she scrambled to her feet and ran to catch up with everyone else. "I want to help!"

Carl rolled his eyes. Did Cornelius really expect her to listen to him? He was definitely going to hear about this later…

Chaos surrounded her, a cacophony of explosives and shrieking threatening to burst her eardrums. Everything was happening so fast she couldn't quite keep up. The only thoughts going through her head were Where is Wilbur? and Keep Lewis safe. Every inch of her was shaking as she watched helplessly from the sidelines as the tyrannosaur chased the boy across the property, her maternal instincts going into overdrive. She vaguely registered Lewis flying through the air and landing in Art's ship as he swooped down to catch him. Without warning the tyrannosaur had snatched her brother's ship out of the air and was clawing at it angrily to get to the two inside.

Somehow, miraculously, Lewis escaped from the overturned vehicle and was running toward her. It was almost as if her maternal instincts had overridden her panic, the brunette finally able to think with some kind of clarity. Get him out of here. Just as she turned to help Lewis escape, she saw Gaston out of the corner of her eye get between her and the dinosaur.

"Run!" Franny screamed at Lewis, turning to run to her brother's aid. He was furiously pelting the tyrannosaur with meatballs, trying to keep it at bay to let her escape. Without warning the monster snatched his cannon and lifted him off the ground, tossing him angrily aside. Gaston flew through the air and collided with Franny with a loud smack, the two skidding to a halt in the grass.

Franny groaned, wobbling unsteadily to her feet. "Lewis!" she screamed, halting in her tracks when she heard a muffled grunt behind her. She turned, heart dropping into her stomach again when she realized her brother was lying face down in the grass.

"Oh, my God, Gaston," she said, bending down and rolling him onto his back. Her eyes started frantically checking her brother for injuries, seeing he was starting to develop a black eye from where their heads had collided. "Are you okay?"

He nodded shakily as she helped him stand. "I'm fine. I think I blacked out." His eyes widened. "Where's Lewis?" he asked frantically.

"They went this way," she said, pointing and running in the direction the tyrannosaur had gone, Gaston following on her heels.

As they rounded the corner, Franny halted in her tracks, bile immediately rising in her throat.

"Wilbur!" she shrieked, watching in helpless terror as the dinosaur suddenly turned its attention to her only son. "No!" she screamed.

Before she could register what was happening, the tyrannosaur suddenly fell face-first into the ground.

"Wilbur!" Franny screamed again, sprinting across the yard and past the knocked out dinosaur. Her heart was in her throat, her eyes burning with tears at the thought of what she might see when she rounded the animal. She let out a choked sob when her eyes landed on Wilbur, who was giving Lewis a high five. He was alive. They were alive. The thought of anything happening to her baby boy…she didn't know what she would've done. She didn't think she would be able to survive the heartbreak. Not again.

"Are you boys alright?" she called out, trying not to hyperventilate. She threw her arms around Wilbur, her eyes brimming with tears.

"All good, mom," Wilbur said, trying to squirm away from her kisses.

"Yeah, did you see us take out that dinosaur?" Lewis asked excitedly. "Oh, man. It was so cool mom-"

Franny halted her onslaught of kisses and turned her head to look at the boy. Her eyes softened as he quickly averted his gaze, his face and arms going red.

"Oh, I mean," he said, looking down. "I'm sorry. I didn't-"

"Oh, Lewis, it's okay," she said, finally wrapping her arms around him in that motherly hug she had perfected. She pulled away and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm really happy you're safe."

He met her eyes and frowned. "Your head…"

"What?" She touched her forehead and winced. It must've happened when she'd collided with Gaston. "Oh. It's just a bruise, Lewis."

He looked away from her to the rest of the family as they watched from the sidelines. "You all sacrificed so much," he said in awe. "For me."

"Well, of course," Gaston said matter-of-factly.

"You are a special kid."

"One of a kind."

Franny felt her heart squeeze, every word solidifying her decision to adopt this boy. He would fit right in. And he seemed to be pretty fond of their crazy family as well. Cornelius was going to be so happy to hear the news…if he would ever answer his damn phone.

"Lewis-" she said, getting cut off.

"Okay, everybody," Wilbur piped up, interrupting her thoughts. "It's been a long, hard day filled with emotional turmoil and dinosaur fights," he said, gesturing to the knocked out tyrannosaur. (Seriously, where did that thing come from?) "So why don't you all hit the hay, and Lewis and me will get going?"

Franny felt her heart sink; he was leaving already? Where would he go? She started panicking and tried to think up an excuse to get him to stay. At least he would be safe with her.

"Oh. Do you have to go now?" she asked, looking worriedly at Lewis. "I mean, you know, it's getting late. Maybe…maybe Lewis could spend the night?"

"Mom, maybe some other time okay," Wilbur said, looking at her pointedly.

"Well, any time you want to come over, you just come over-"

"Mom-"

"The truth is, we love having you-"

Wilbur grabbed Lewis' shoulder. "We really have to go-"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "No, you don't. You have to stay," she smiled at Lewis, her heart fluttering. "I mean, who'd be a better family for you than us? What do you say, Lewis?" she said, wringing her hands nervously. "Do you want to be a Robinson?"

Lewis's mouth fell open, his eyes widening in surprise. "You want to adopt me?" he asked in amazement, glancing over at Wilbur. After a moment of an internal debate with himself, he finally nodded at her, grinning from ear to ear.

Franny was overjoyed; after all these years of heartache and struggle, she was gaining another son, and Wilbur a brother. She couldn't hold back her joyful tears at the thought of giving her baby the one thing he had always so desperately desired.

She was just about to close the gap between her and Lewis when suddenly Wilbur's arm knocked his hat off of his head, revealing a mess of blond hair sticking up in every direction. A mess of blond hair she would recognize anywhere.

Franny gasped.

Oh.

Oh, no.

She could feel the bile rising in her throat again.

"Okay, it's true," Lewis said. "I'm from the past. Now you know the big secret."

"Wilbur," she nearly shouted. "What have you done? How could you bring him, here?"

"That," Wilbur said, raising his hand, "is an excellent question."

Franny was so angry she couldn't find her son's wit funny. She was scathing.

"Please, don't get mad at Wilbur," Lewis interjected, trying to ease the tension. "He was just being a good friend."

Franny felt her heart shatter into a million pieces. After all that, offering to adopt him and welcome him into their home with open arms, offering him a family…now she had to take it all back. She could see Cornelius' face now, the heartache at being rejected yet again. And by his own wife, no less.

"Lewis," she said, chest constricting painfully at the thought of sending him away. But she knew it had to be done. "I am so sorry. But you have to go."

Lewis' jaw dropped. "What? You just said-"

I know what I said," she choked out, tapping her chin nervously with her fist. How could she possibly explain this to him?

"I'm from the past," he argued, tears welling up in the most familiar pair of eyes she knew. "So what?"

Franny inhaled, mentally preparing herself to break his heart. "Lewis," she said, lifting his chin so his eyes met hers. "Lewis, look at me. You're a great kid, and we would never do anything to hurt you. But," she said, backing away. "I'm sorry. You have to go back to your own time."

"Yeah," Wilbur interjected. "Um, about that…one of the time machines is broken. And the other one was stolen by a guy with a bowler hat," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Which kind of explains the dino."

All eyes shifted toward the tyrannosaur, the monster rocking back and forth like an infant. Franny's eye twitched. Wilbur was known to mess up a time or two, but this was his biggest screw-up to date.

"I'm calling your father," she said flatly, turning on her heel.

"Wait," Lewis said, halting Franny in her tracks. "If I have to leave, can I at least go back and find my mom? Wilbur promised."

Franny whipped her head around at Wilbur, her face growing hot with rage. "You promised what?"

"I was never gonna do it, I swear!" he shouted, hand immediately flying to his mouth.

Lewis' jaw dropped again in disbelief. "You lied to me?"

"No…" Wilbur shook his head, holding up his hands defensively. "…yes."

Lewis grunted in frustration, his hands balling into fists. He shoved Wilbur with his shoulder and stomped away angrily.

"Lewis! Lewis, wait!" Wilbur yelled.

Lewis turned on his heel. "I can't believe I was dumb enough to actually believe you were my friend," he said, turning and running down the hill.

"I am your friend!"

"Mister," Franny bit out, crossing her arms. "You're grounded till you die." She turned to go back inside, feeling fury bubbling in her chest.

By the time she reached her bedroom hot tears were brimming in her eyes. What a horrible, unexpected turn this day had taken. All she wanted to do was hear her husband's voice, to wrap her arms around his neck and hug him until all the heartache was gone. She sauntered across the room and sunk down onto the couch, her pitiful reflection staring back at her from the black television screen. With a shaking hand she pulled her phone out of her pocket, thankful it hadn't fallen out during the whole dinosaur fiasco, and pressed the holo-call button. It went straight to voicemail, Cornelius' smiling face hovering in front of her. So close, yet so far away. The hologram flashed, signaling it was recording.

That's when the dam broke, her tears spilling down her cheeks. She didn't bother trying to stop them.

"Hi, honey," Franny whispered. "It's me again. I'm so sorry I snapped in my last message. You just have no idea how worried I am. I don't know why you're not answering my calls, but I want you to know that I love you. So much," she said, looking up at the ceiling as her lip quivered. "And if you ever need to talk about anything, I'm right here. I'm going to be right here for the rest of your life, I promise you that. Whatever you're going through, we can work through it." A sob escaped her lips, the brunette dropping her head into her hand. "I'm sorry," she choked out, furiously wiping the tears away. "I just needed to hear your voice. I l-love you. C-call me back," she finished, quickly ending the message before she started uncontrollably weeping.

Her head fell into her hands, her mind wandering again to that forbidden place she'd never had a reason for it to go. A thought crossed her mind suddenly, the brunette mentally chastising herself for not having thought of it before. Her hands were trembling as she dialed a different number, someone actually answering her call this time.

"Thank you for calling the Prestige Pavilion Hotel, this is Kara. How may I assist you?"

Franny balled her hand into an anxious fist. Why hadn't she thought of calling the hotel Cornelius always stayed at while away on business trips earlier?

"Hi," she said, trying to sound as though she hadn't just been crying. "I need to be transferred to my husband's suite."

"Oh, sure!" Kara replied, sounding far too pleasant for Franny's taste at the moment. "What's his name?"

"Cornelius Robinson."

Kara paused on the other line. "Like, the Cornelius Robinson?"

Franny loved it when people referred to him that way, but right now she was far too upset to be amused. "Yes, that Cornelius Robinson. I need you to put me through to his suite."

"Oh, right," Kara giggled. "Sorry." In the background she could hear the girl's nails clacking on the keyboard. "Uh, I'm sorry Mrs. Robinson, it doesn't look like he had a reservation. It looks like the last time he was here was…" she trailed off, tapping away. "Last year."

Franny's brows furrowed, the anxiety creeping in again. "What do you mean? Can't you check again?"

"I can try," Kara replied. "What number would the reservation have been under?" Franny gave her Cornelius' cell number, hoping maybe that would help. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Robinson, but he's not here." She paused. "Maybe he's at a different hotel?"

Franny felt her whole world crashing around her. "No, he always stays at the Prestige," she said, rubbing her forehead anxiously.

"Maybe I could-"

"Thank you," Franny cut her off, ending the call.

A wave of nausea came over her as she set her phone down on the coffee table. Her heart felt like it was being ripped out of her chest as rivulets of tears began pouring down her face again. The room began spinning, stars dotting her vision as she fell sideways onto the couch. In her bones she felt something was horribly, horribly wrong. Sobs began wracking her body again, the world around her suddenly fading to black as she fell into a fretful sleep.

…

Inside the orphanage on the other side of town, Cornelius sat on the edge of his seat, leg bouncing anxiously as he focused on the bay of monitors. So far everything had gone without a hitch, from Wilbur crashing the science fair to the T-Rex at dinner. The only thing left to be done was for his younger self to fix the time machine and to get rid of Dor-15 once and for all. He tasted blood on his tongue from the hole he was apprehensively chewing in his inner lip. Out of all of the events he'd carefully planned out, destroying the helping hat was the one thing he was the most worried about. He knew that when he'd done this before, she ceased to exist because he vowed he would never create her. But since he'd created her anyway, would that change the trajectory of the timeline? There was a failsafe in place just in case everything went awry, but there was always that slight chance it wouldn't work.

His musings were interrupted when his phone vibrated with a new message, wincing when he saw it was another voicemail from Franny. It had taken everything in him not to respond to her last message when he heard the worry in her voice. He didn't know how, but he was going to make this up to her. He pressed the holo-mail button on his phone and her tearstained face appeared before him.

"Hi, honey, It's me again. I'm so sorry I snapped in my last message. You just have no idea how worried I am. I don't know why you're not answering my calls, but I want you to know that I love you. So much," Her hologram looked up as her lip quivered "And if you ever need to talk about anything, I'm right here. I'm going to be right here for the rest of your life, I promise you that. Whatever you're going through, we can work through it." She let out a sob and dropped her head in her hand. "I'm sorry. I just needed to hear your voice. I l-love you. C-call me back."

"Oh, Franny," Cornelius muttered, heart sinking into the pit of his stomach as his thumb hovered over the holo-call button. At that moment he didn't care about anything except his wife. She was worried sick because of him. Surely it wouldn't hurt anything to just call her and tell her was alive. He made up his mind, deciding she was more important than the damn space time continuum.

Right as he was about to the holo-call button a message dinged on the bay of monitors, pulling his attention away.

CARL: Incoming phase four.

He quickly typed out a response.

CORNELIUS: Over and out.

He shoved his phone into his lab coat pocket as his eyes darted back to the screen, focusing on the time machine zipping away from his house. This was it. With an urgency, he pressed a button on the desk and the bay of monitors retracted into the wall. He quickly activated the cloaking device on his watch, his body disappearing from sight as he ran the two stories to the roof and exited into the night air. In the distance he saw the approaching headlights of the time machine and ducked down behind the wall, keeping his sight trained on the vehicle as it silently landed on the roof.

The hatch opened and his younger self was yanked out of the time machine and shoved into the building. Once they were inside, the hatch closed, barring him from jumping inside. Minutes ticked by ever so slowly. He couldn't risk going inside or they might hear him, and if he tried to get into the time machine now he risked being caught. Now he just had to wait for the signal.

His watch buzzed with an incoming message.

CARL: The bird is migrating south for the winter.

A moment later another message came through.

CARL: Can we please use a different code next time?

Cornelius chuckled and replied.

CORNELIUS: 10-4

CORNELIUS: And yes.

Suddenly the door to the roof banged open, followed by a voice.

"This is going to be the best day of my life," the man announced, striding over to the time machine. His younger self was being pushed back toward the vehicle, bound in rope.

A familiar voice suddenly broke the silence.

"Coo coo!" Wilbur called.

"Coo coo! Coo!" Carl echoed.

Cornelius held his breath. That was the signal. He sat on his heel, preparing himself. He knew there was only a very small window for him to be able to do this, and he couldn't waste any time.

"Doris, would you be a dear and open the hatch for me please?" the man asked. Dor-15 popped the top of the vehicle, motioning for the man and Lewis to get in. The man turned his back for a split second, but it gave his younger self time to escape.

Lewis jumped onto the wagon carrying the memory scanner and rolled straight off the side of the roof. As soon as the man turned to run after the boy, Cornelius darted from his hiding spot to the time machine, quickly jumping inside and ducking down into the passenger side floorboard.

"Well, I hate to foil your evil plan and run," he heard Carl say, having caught Lewis when he jumped off the roof. "But, tata!"

Dor-15 started chirping angrily at the man as he stumbled back to the vehicle and clambered inside. Once he was in the driver's seat he glanced out of the corner of his eye and winked right at Cornelius, who was still camouflaged by the cloaking device. Exactly as planned.

The vehicle rumbled to life and quickly ascended into the air, hurtling at top speed toward Carl and the boys as they traveled back toward the Robinson property. He didn't need to see this next part to know what would happen; he had already re-lived it enough in his nightmares. There was a jolt as the time machine came to an abrupt halt midair, then a metallic clanging sound. He winced. Carl was hit.

"Take a good look around boys, because your future is about to change," the man said cryptically before the hatch closed. He turned the vehicle around and flew up into the sky, pressing numbers into the keypad. In the distance, above his home, the same swirling vortex that had haunted his dreams for thirty years swirled menacingly as the time machine was suddenly surrounded by light. Within seconds the sky went from spine-chillingly dark to expansive blue.

The time machine landed quietly in an alleyway thirty years in the past, the cloaking device automatically engaging. Dor-15 threw open the hatch and grabbed the box with the memory scanner from the back seat, grabbing the back of the man's shirt and pulling him out of the vehicle. Once his feet were on the ground, she dropped the box into his hands and placed herself on his head. They rounded the corner and disappeared.

Cornelius' heart was hammering in his chest, panic slowly rising in his throat. What if this didn't work? What if after all his planning, all the work that went into making sure this happened exactly the way he remembered it was all for nothing? What if everything went awry and Dor-15 ended up taking over anyway? With an unsteady hand he deactivated his personal cloaking device and typed a long series of numbers on the keypad, two live holograms projected in front of him-one of the other time machine and the of other Dor-15.

"Why did I ever invent that stupid hat?" his younger self was saying from the hologram. Through Dor-15's feed he could see the man had already entered the office and was presenting the memory scanner to the InventoCo. board of directors. He anxiously chewed on the inside of his lip, a metallic taste on his tongue. "Take a good look around, Doris. Cause your future's about to change," his younger self said, drawing his attention back to the other feed. This was it, the moment he had been so apprehensive about for months on end, the moment that had caused him to lose so much sleep. The uncertainty about whether or not Dor-15 would cease to exist or seize control and take over the world was consuming him.

"Goob stop, you don't know what you're doing," his younger self's voice was saying through both holograms now, their audios converging as the projections became one. He waited with bated breath as he silently prayed for this to work, the panic bubbling in his chest again.

"Yes I do, I'm ruining your life!" the man said.

"She's using you, Goob. And when she gets what she wants, she'll get rid of you."

Suddenly the camera feed coming from Dor-15's lens turned red and began speeding toward his younger self.

"Please work please work please work," Cornelius muttered to himself, tasting blood in his mouth again.

"I am never going to invent you."

She didn't stop.

He swore under his breath as he hurriedly initiated the fail-safe.

She seized midair, one of her blades clipping Lewis' forehead and drawing a bead of blood. Her feed started flashing "SELF DESTRUCT ACTIVATED," the hat chirping furiously as she suddenly exploded, the live feed going black with a seething whimper.

Cornelius exhaled, at last letting his body slump against the seat. His heart was still pounding, his eyes burning from exhaustion. The man had been awake for over twenty-four hours and was yearning terribly to just close his eyes, but he knew he couldn't rest yet until his younger self was safely back in the past. He touched his forehead, feeling a scar that hadn't been there before right above his eyebrow. At least that was the only thing that had gone wrong…

Tiredly he typed a date into the keypad, the time machine disappearing in a flash of light and reappearing in 2037. To his relief his house stood proudly ahead of him, the time stream having been righted at last. He landed the vehicle behind the house in an area surrounded by topiaries, engaging the cloaking device on the time machine and his person as he exited. He ran across the yard into the garage through the still-open door and slumped against the wall.

…

Franny awoke to the sun shining in her room, the bright light hurting her eyes. She blinked a few times to let her eyes adjust, realizing she'd passed out on the couch. Confusion clouded her mind as she looked out the window. Wasn't it just night time? Tiredly she sat up, realizing she was still wearing the same clothes she'd been wearing yesterday. She glanced at the holographic clock and frowned. It was already morning? When had she fallen asleep?

The brunette rolled off the couch and made her way downstairs, only to find the rest of the family mirroring her confused expression.

"Morning," she said, rubbing her arms to try and soothe herself.

Gaston stood from the couch and cracked his neck. "Morning, sis." He stretched his back. "Man, I had the craziest dream last night."

Franny cocked her head. "So did I," she replied, the siblings exchanging a concerned look.

"Yeah, me too," Lazlo piped up, joining the two. "There was this huge storm cloud over our house-"

"And these weird anthropomorphic hats," Tallulah added, wringing her hands together.

"There was so much fire and smoke-"

"And Wilbur didn't exist-"

"And Lewis-" Gaston said, everyone going rigid at the name.

Franny gasped, the memories finally coming back to her. "Lewis," she said, running through the house and bursting out the back door, the rest of the family following on her heels. Her eyes quickly started scanning the property, seeing no sign of the boy anywhere. "Lewis! Wilbur!" She could feel the panic rising in her chest again.

"Franny," Gaston called out, pointing past the house toward the boys strolling across the lawn. "Over there!"

Eleven heads pivoted, relieved smiles spreading across their faces as they ran toward the boys. From a distance Franny was looking them down, trying to make sure neither were injured. She was just happy they were both alive.

…

Cornelius listened intently to the voices just outside the garage, breathing a sigh of relief that this would be over soon and he could finally move on with his life.

"Are you alright? Any broken bones?" he heard Franny ask worriedly. His chest tightened at the worry in her voice, knowing he had been a huge cause of it.

"No, I'm-" Lewis said, getting cut off.

"Do you have a temperature?"

"Brain Fog?"

"Scurvy?"

"Tapeworm?"

"Cellulite?"

Lewis laughed. "No, no, I'm fine," he said, grinning. "I feel fine. In fact, better than I've felt in a long time."

That was his cue.

"Franny, they're gone!" he called out, loud enough for the family to hear him from outside. "Oh, this is terrible."

"Well, he's home early," he heard his dad say.

"Oh, boy," Franny mumbled, wringing her hands. He was going to be furious when he found out someone had touched his precious time machine.

"Franny, where are you?" he called out again, throwing open the garage door. "The time machines are gone. Oh-" he cut himself off as his eyes connected with his younger self's. He'd known this moment was coming for thirty years, but it was still surreal being on the other side. "Oh."

Little Lewis gave a small wave, and he returned the gesture in amazement. He met Franny's familiar brown eyes questioningly. Suddenly the family parted down the middle, revealing Wilbur trying to creep away. Franny snatched his arm and pointed at him with an accusatory finger. He grinned sheepishly.

"Mmhmm," Cornelius grunted.

Wilbur averted his eyes, feeling the dreaded disappointment. There was no getting around this one. "Ratted out by the old lady," he muttered and hung his head. "Harsh."

Cornelius closed the gap between them and wrapped his arms around Franny and Wilbur. "I missed you," he whispered, pulling them close.

For a moment Franny didn't know how to react; she'd been worried sick all day yesterday because of this man not answering her calls. She thought something had happened to him. Or worse. "Do you have any idea how worried I've been?" she said, pulling away and glaring up at him.

Cornelius furrowed his bows, the guilt almost too much to bear. "I'm so sorry, Franny," he whispered.

Franny exhaled through her nose, deciding this was a discussion for later. Right now she was just happy her husband was alive. She grabbed the back of his head and pressed their lips together in a desperate kiss.

Someone loudly cleared their throat.

"Would you two like to be alone?" Gaston raised an eyebrow.

Cornelius chuckled against Franny's lips before reluctantly pulling away from her. He turned back toward Lewis and grinned down at him. "Before you go, there's something I want to show you," he said, placing a hand on Lewis' back and leading him inside.

"Wilbur Maximus Robinson," Franny said, turning to Wilbur with her arms crossed. "I don't know what you did, but you're taking him back."

Wilbur huffed. "Why do I have to do it?"

Franny raised an eyebrow at him. Seriously, where did this attitude come from? "Because you brought him here. You made the mess, you clean it up."

"But-"

"No buts, Wilbur," Franny said, shaking her head. "Wilbur, do you remember the talk we had about accepting the consequences of your own actions?" He hung his head and nodded. "This is exactly what we were talking about."

"Yes, ma'am," he muttered.

Franny sighed and wrapped her arms around him, gently pulling his head onto her shoulder. "Wilbur, you know I love you. I just need you to be more careful." She sniffled and blinked back a tear. "I don't know what I would've done with myself if something had happened to you."

Wilbur buried his face in his mom's neck, his throat suddenly tight. "I'm sorry, mom," he said, voice muffled by the fabric. "I'm so sorry," he choked out, his tears spilling over and soaking her dress.

Franny tightened her arms around him, quietly shushing him as he sobbed. Whatever he'd gone through must've been pretty traumatizing, because he never cried. "It's okay, Wilbur," she whispered, her own tears falling into his hair. "I'm here. I've got you. Mommy's got you."

They stayed like that for several minutes, Franny rubbing gentle circles on her son's as his sobs faded to mere whimpers. She pulled her head away and looked down at his red face, her heart breaking as she wiped away his tears. A warm pair of arms encircled her and Wilbur, pulling them both into an embrace.

"We'll talk about this later," Cornelius said softly, hugging his wife and son. Wilbur nodded against his dad's chest and furiously wiped his face with the back of his hand. He didn't want his dad to see him crying.

"Come on," Franny said, rubbing Wilbur's arm. "It's time to take him back."

The boy took a steadying breath and headed over to the time machine. Cornelius wrapped his arm around Franny's waist, the two watching as Lewis said his goodbyes. She was biting her tongue, wanting so badly to interrogate her husband about his unexplained silence, but she didn't want to cause a scene. This was a fight for later.

Lewis passed by her and Cornelius, the boy turning on his heel when she called his name. She couldn't let him leave without at least imparting some wisdom.

"Wait, Lewis," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Just a little tip for the future. I am always right. Even when I'm wrong, I'm right," she said, tapping his nose.

Lewis looked at her inquisitively before glancing at Cornelius.

"She's right," he agreed. "I'd just go with it if I were you," he chuckled. "And I am."

The boy smiled at her. "Then you're absolutely right!"

Smart boy.

Wilbur started honking the horn on the time machine impatiently, signaling it was time for Lewis to leave.

"Alright, I'm coming," he said as he climbed into the vehicle.

Once Lewis was buckled in, the time machine ascended into the air, the family waving at him as he vanished. Franny wiped away a tear with her thumb as she watched him go.

Cornelius looked down at her with furrowed brows. "What's wrong?"

She blinked away another tear and met his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Neil," she whispered.

"For what?" He searched her eyes, his heart squeezing uncomfortably in his chest.

"For breaking your heart," she said, squeezing her eyes shut as the tears came. "I offered to adopt you and then I had to break your heart all over again. I'm so sorry," she sobbed, burying her face in his chest.

"Franny," He said, gently lifting her chin to meet his eyes. "He's going to be okay, Franny. I promise."

"How do you know?" she choked out. Cornelius raised an eyebrow. "Oh. Right," she laughed.

Cornelius smiled down at her and touched his forehead to hers, frowning when she winced. "What happened?" he asked, lightly brushing his thumb over the spot that was already yellowing.

"It's just a bruise, Neil," she whispered.

Cornelius's chest constricted, his breath catching in his throat. His wife had gotten hurt, because of him no less. He mentally chastised himself as he very gently pressed his lips against the bruise. "I'm so sorry, Franny."

"Don't be," she said, closing her eyes. "It's not your fault."

A familiar wave of guilt crashed over him, knowing it was, indeed, his fault. Wordlessly he wrapped his arms around her in a vice-like embrace.

"We'll leave you two alone," Lucille announced, motioning for the family to disperse to give the couple some space. Once everyone was out of sight, Cornelius lifted Franny's face and pressed his lips to hers.

There was a pop, followed by a loud groan.

"Making out again?" Wilbur asked incredulously as he climbed out of the time machine.

"Yes," Cornelius laughed against Franny's lips. "What's it to ya, kid?"

Wilbur rolled his eyes in mock annoyance and started walking toward the house.

"Wilbur, wait a minute," Franny said, pulling away from Cornelius. "You know you're grou-"

"Franny," Cornelius cut her off. He lowered his voice. "I think he's been punished enough, don't you think?" He met her questioning eyes. "We can talk about this later. Let the kid have a break."

She sighed, relenting. "Fine," she said, looking back at her son. "But don't think you got away with this, young man. We're going to talk about this later."

Wilbur nodded. "I know," he said, turning and walking into the house.

"Why don't you head inside?" Cornelius said, motioning toward the house. "I need to take care of something." Franny nodded wordlessly and went inside.

He waited until the door was closed before retreating back into the garage where the man was waiting for him. He'd shed his black leotard and was back into a sweater and tweed pants. Cornelius closed the door and strode over to him, his arms immediately wrapping the man in a bear hug.

"Thanks, Goob," he said quietly.

"My pleasure, Lewis," the man said, hugging his old roommate. "I mean Neil. Sorry," he chuckled. "I'm still getting used to calling you that."

Cornelius laughed and pulled something out of his lab coat pocket. "Here," he said, handing him a check. "As promised. This should cover all of your wife's medical expenses."

Goob took the check and smiled sincerely at Cornelius. "Thank you, Neil. Truly."

"Don't mention it." Cornelius put his hands in his pockets. "You did me the biggest favor I've ever asked of anyone without question, so it's only fair I repay you accordingly." He placed a hand on Goob's shoulder. "She will get better. I'll make sure of it."

"Thank you," the man said, lip quivering. He folded the check and stuffed it in his pocket before walking over to the pillar in the corner. He pressed a button and got into the travel tube, the doors closing on his beaming face.

Cornelius exhaled in relief, the exhaustion finally hitting him. After being awake for over twenty four hours he was ready for a nap. He walked out of the garage, making sure the door was closed and the alarm was engaged, and made his way inside. Once in his bedroom he collapsed onto the bed, asleep before his head even hit the pillow.

…

"Neil?"

Cornelius grunted in his sleep.

"Neil?" the voice said again, shaking him. He groggily opened his eyes, frowning at the person above him.

"Franny?" he said, voice raspy from sleep. He sat up, rubbing his eyes. "What time is it?"

"It's time for dinner," she responded.

He looked at the holographic clock and did a double take. "How long was I out?"

Franny raised a concerned eyebrow. "Eight hours."

Cornelius swore under his breath and stood, shrugging off his lab coat and tossing it onto the bed. "I'm sorry. I guess I didn't realize how tired I was." He took her hand in his and led her downstairs to the dining room. "I am starv-"

He froze, taking in the giant gaping hole in the dining room wall.

"Dammit, Gaston," he said, turning to his brother-in-law. "I told you not to break any more windows."

Gaston huffed indignantly. "It wasn't me this time!"

Cornelius threw his head back laughing.

…

All throughout dinner Franny watched Cornelius out of the corner of her eye. He was acting positively chipper, almost as if he didn't care that there was a giant forty-foot hole in their dining room. Or that his family had been attacked by tyrannosaurus rex, which was still roaming their property. Or the face that his son had damn near obliterated the entire time stream. He continued joking around with the family and talking excitedly with Wilbur. That was the oddest part; the two were talking in hushed tones so no one could hear their conversation, every now and then laughing hysterically. What they were talking about, though, was a total mystery.

After dinner, once the table was cleared, Cornelius wrapped his arm around Franny's waist, the brunette feeling increasing annoyance as they made their way back to their bedroom. She wanted so badly to get some answers out of him, and knew just how to do it.

As soon as they entered their bedroom, Franny slammed Cornelius against the door. She yanked his head down and smashed their lips together, her other hand roaming down his front. He inhaled through his nose as she grabbed the growing bulge between his legs, his hands going instinctively to her face. Their lips never disconnected as he walked her backwards toward the bed, the backs of her knees hitting the mattress. Without warning she grabbed the front of his shirt and spun him around, throwing him onto the bed. His pupils dilated as she sank to her knees, undoing his pants and yanking them down.

They made quick work of undressing each other, their hands exploring the other's body like it was an oasis in a desert. Franny roughly pushed Cornelius back, his head hitting the pillows with a soft thud. His heart was pounding, his eyes wide as Franny dominated him. God he loved it when she did that. Without hesitation she impaled herself on him, gasping in ecstasy as her hips met his. She began grinding on him, taking her frustrations out on his body. His hands gripped her thighs, breath catching in his throat at the sight of her face twisted in pleasure. He could feel her getting tighter around him. Without warning he grabbed her hips and rolled her over, quickly flipping her so she was face down. Franny gasped at the sudden change in position. He snaked one arm around her stomach as he entered her from behind, his other hand reaching around and expertly rubbing circles between her legs as he began thrusting.

"Neil," she moaned, her entire body going hot as he continued touching her. She clenched around him, not even bothering to keep quiet. The feeling overwhelmed her as Cornelius continued passionately thrusting into her, allowing her to come down from her high before he finally allowed himself to follow suit.

He collapsed on the bed next to her, pulling her body to his.

"That," he breathed, kissing her bare shoulder. "Was incredible."

Franny closed her eyes, her heart in her throat. "Mhm.'.

"I missed you so much," Cornelius whispered against the back of Franny' neck. His fingers lightly traced a path down her bare body, leaving goosebumps in their wake.

"Yeah, I missed you, too," she mumbled.

He furrowed his brow, hand pausing on her hip. "What is it?"

"Nothing," she muttered.

Gently he rolled her toward him, his chest tightening when he saw the tears in her eyes. "Franny, what's wrong?" His eyes started frantically looking her up and down to see if she had any hidden injuries. "Did I hurt you?"

She shook her head silently.

"Then what is it?" he asked again, feeling panic rising in his throat.

Franny swallowed thickly and moved to the edge of the bed, arms crossing her body protectively. She took a shaky breath and asked him the absolute last thing he ever expected her to say.

"Are you having an affair?"

His breath caught in his throat. What in the hell gave her that idea?

"What?"

"I said, are you having an affair?" she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

Cornelius tried to respond, but his brain felt like it was short circuiting. He started sputtering. "I-no-what-how-"

She buried her face in her hands, her body being wracked with sobs again. "Who is she?" she choked out. "H-how long?"

"Franny, what the hell are you talking about?" he asked, sitting up. He tried to touch her shoulder but she smacked his hand away.

The brunette stood and quickly shrugged on her robe, striding over to the kitchenette and yanking a drawer open. With shaking hands she pulled a pack of cigarettes out of the back of the drawer and pulled one out. Cornelius practically jumped out of the bed and crossed the room in four steps, grabbing her wrist.

"Please don't do that, Franny," he said, frowning. "Dr. Shelton said-"

"I don't care right now, Neil," she said, yanking her wrist away from him. She rolled the cigarette between her fingers, seriously contemplating lighting it. He was right, though, so she crushed it in her palm. She clapped her hands over the trash can to get the residue off and shoved him with her shoulder as she passed him.

"Franny-"

She spun on her heel. "How long, Neil?" she demanded, angry brown eyes meeting astonished blue. "Oh, my God," she said, grasping at her hair. "Is this why you forgot our anniversary?"

"That was months ago-"

"No wonder you didn't want to touch me for weeks," she muttered, feeling herself becoming hysterical. She started laughing uncontrollably. "No wonder you've been lying to me for months-"

"No I haven't-"

"You're a horrible liar, Neil," she said, her eye starting to twitch. "Not to mention you completely ignored me yesterday-"

"I was in meetings all day-"

"Don't lie to me!" she screamed. Cornelius flinched. Never in their seventeen years of marriage had she ever shouted at him like this. He started backing away as she tried to close the gap between him, her eyes wild with rage.

"I'm not lying," he said, his back suddenly against the wall. He was cornered.

She smirked. "I called your hotel, Neil." His stomach dropped. "They said you were never even there yesterday."

"Franny, I can explain-"

"You better start talking, Cornelius, or I swear to God I will say the "D" word."

"Francesca Robinson!" he yelled, grabbing her face and looking her straight in the eye. "I swear on my life I am not having an affair. How could you even think that?"

Franny's lip quivered. "Then tell me what's going on, Neil! Tell me why for months now you've been keeping secrets from me! Why you've been holding me at arm's length, and why the hell you completely ignored me yesterday! I thought something had happened to you, but you're clearly just fine." A sob escaped her lips. "Please," she breathed, dropping her head onto his chest. "I can't lose you."

He lifted her chin, his own eyes welling with tears. "I can't lose you, either, Franny. You're too important."

"Then tell me what's going on," she whispered, his thumb gently wiping away a stray tear from her cheek. "Please."

Cornelius swallowed down the bile that was rising in his throat. "Okay," he said, touching his forehead to hers. "I'll tell you. But you have to swear you'll hear me out and won't get angry."

"It's a little too late for that, Neil."

He winced. "You're right, I'm sorry." He kissed her forehead and took her hand in his, leading her back over to the bed. "You're going to want to sit down for this."

She sat down and protectively crossed her arms over her chest again. "I'm listening."

Cornelius sat next to her on the bed and began explaining, in detail, his entire plan he'd had to execute from start to finish. Franny's face grew more troubled with each word, trying to make sense of what he was telling her. She couldn't quite wrap her head around it.

"So," she said, her face twisted in confusion. "You're telling me you did all this because we're stuck in a time loop? Am I understanding this right?"

"Yes," Cornelius nodded solemnly.

Franny breathed a sigh of relief that this was the reason he'd been acting so weird the last few months, and not because he'd been having an affair. She almost wanted to laugh at herself for even thinking he would do something like that.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked. "We tell each other everything."

Cornelius took her hand in his and met her questioning eyes. "I couldn't risk it. Everything had to happen exactly how I remembered it, or something catastrophic could've happened."

She frowned. "Like what?"

"Like the entire time stream could've collapsed in on itself."

"Oh." Her eyes widened in realization. "Oh."

"Franny," he said, turning her face to look at him. "I'm so sorry I worried you. You have no idea how much I wanted to tell you. I just couldn't. But I swear to you, it's over now. No more secrets. Okay?"

The corners of her lips turned up in a gentle smile. "Okay."

He lifted her chin and pressed their lips together, relief washing over him that everything was finally over and done with and that his wife was safely back in his arms. But there was one thing he'd been dying to ask her. He pulled away and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "By the way, what was the good news you wanted to tell me?" he asked.

"Oh, so you did get my messages," Franny said, raising an eyebrow. He grinned sheepishly. She shook her head and chuckled. "Katherine called. She said our application was approved."

Before she knew what was happening, Cornelius had grabbed her off the bed and was spinning her around.

"This is amazing news!" he exclaimed, capturing her lips in a kiss. He suddenly lost his balance and fell on top of her on the bed, the two laughing hysterically. "We should celebrate," he said, trying to control his laughter.

Franny giggled and caressed his face. "What did you have in mind?"

Cornelius grinned mischievously as he opened her robe and started kissing down her body. He paused at her belly button. "We should probably fix that hole in the wall," he said offhandedly.

She chortled as he continued kissing down her torso, gasping as he buried his face between her thighs.

…

The Next Day

Cornelius strode confidently into his office building at Robinsons Industries, greeting each employee with a smile, happy to see his workers so enthralled in their work. If he was anything, he was a good boss, which made his chest swell with pride. He motioned for one of the security guards at the front desk to follow him further into the building.

The inventor walked straight to the bubble elevator, quickly ascending to the top floor. When he emerged his eyes locked with those of Robert Berkman, who stared back at him like a deer caught in headlights. He didn't think his boss would be back from his business trip so soon.

"G-good morning, Dr. Robinson," he stammered, eyeing the security guard.

"Robert," Cornelius said cordially, gesturing for the young man to follow him. "Come with me."

"Yes, sir," Berkman said, scrambling out of his chair. The pen he'd been holding bounced to the floor and rolled under his desk. As they walked down the hallway, he couldn't help but notice the sidelong glances and hushed whispers between the other employees. His mind began racing, every horrible scenario crossing his mind at once.

Cornelius, Robert, and the security guard made their way to the end of the hallway to a door with a plaque that said "Dr. Cornelius Robinson, Inventor Extraordinaire." Without wasting any time, the inventor burst into the office, starting the man sitting at the desk opposite his.

"What the hell do you want?" Dr. Ekhardt asked, doing a double take as he looked up from his desk. "Oh. Neil, what are you doing back so soon?" he asked, eyeing the two other men behind his business partner. "I thought you weren't going to be back until Wednesday?"

Cornelius smirked and shrugged nonchalantly. "Change of plans." He turned to walk out the door. "Come with me, please."

Dr. Ekhardt and Robert exchanged a concerned look before the man reluctantly joined the other three.

"Neil, where are we going?" Dr. Ekhardt asked, glancing behind him. He could see the employees staring at him wide-eyed as they were escorted through the hallway.

"You'll see," Cornelius said. He stopped at the door to the projection room and pushed it open, motioning for the three to step inside. The inventor stepped aside and gestured for Robert and Dr. Ekhardt to take a seat, the security guard closing the door and standing watch.

Dr. Ekhardt leaned over and whispered, "What the hell did you say?"

Robert shrugged and eyed Cornelius' turned back. "I didn't say anything," he whispered back.

The room suddenly plunged into darkness, followed a moment later by a hologram being projected into the middle of the room. Dr. Ekhardt threw a sidelong glance at Robert, realizing the projection they were being shown was Cornelius' house.

The projection zoomed in on two people sitting on a hill near the house, the audio playing in surround sound.

"You know, I can't believe you made me present his own design to him like I thought it up. Again."

Robert gulped.

"How the hell was I supposed to know he would recognize it? The man had amnesia for weeks."

"Yeah, well speaking of the man, you know he's going to figure out someone stole his

precious time machine."

"Robinson is going on a business trip, so he's going to be gone for a few days. That'll give us plenty of time to take it without him noticing."

Dr. Ekhardt's nostrils flared, a cold sheen of sweat covering his forehead.

"Neil, I can explain," Dr. Ekhardt said.

Cornelius let out a dry laugh. "Oh, we haven't even gotten to the best part. Let's fast forward, shall we?" He reached out and touched the hologram, gliding his finger to the right to speed up the recording.

"Wait, Neil said there were two time machines. The other one could still be in there."

They watched in stunned silence as Dr. Ekhart's hologram walked across the Robinson property and into the garage, Robert's staying outside.

"I can't do this, Henry."

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean, I'm done," Robert's hologram spat out. "You can keep on trying to screw Robinson over, but I'm done. I don't know what your deal is with him, but I won't let you drag me into it. I can't do it anymore. It isn't right. I can't keep letting you try to ruin my reputation. Find another sucker to do your bidding." His hologram disappeared from the projection.

"Robert? Robert? Damn it!" Dr. Ekhardt's hologram punched the garage door before snatching the bike that was leaning against the house and disappearing out of sight.

The projection stopped and the lights came back on. Cornelius stood staring at the two rather menacingly with his arms crossed.

"Did you really think I wasn't going to find out?" he asked flatly.

Dr. Ekhardt gulped, his eyes flicking frantically between his business partner and Robert, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. "I-I-"

"What the hell, Henry?" Cornelius asked, pinching the bridge of his nose. "We're business partners. Why would you want to sabotage me like this?"

"I can explain-"

"Oh, I'd love to hear this," Robert rolled his eyes.

"How would you feel?" Dr. Ekhardt snapped, his chair falling backward with a bang as he shoved away from the table. "This was supposed to be my company! I worked myself into the ground to make this business work, only to have the rug pulled out from under me by some young hotshot," he said, grabbing the front of Cornelius' shirt. "Do you know how humiliating that is? I lost everything!" he screamed.

Pain suddenly erupted from Cornelius' face, anger bubbling inside his chest. He'd just been punched. By a grown man. Before he could stop himself he swung back at the man, hitting him square in his jaw. Dr. Ekhardt fell backwards, his face contorted in shock. Cornelius reached up and touched his face, already feeling a black eye forming. He was just grateful his glasses hadn't shattered. He made a mental note to thank Franny later for teaching him how to throw a punch.

"You're fired," Cornelius spat.

Dr. Ekhardt scrambled to his feet and took one step toward Cornelius before another fist connected with his jaw.

"That's for using me," Robert sneered, raising his arm again.

"Robert, stop," Cornelius said, grabbing the young man's wrist. "He's not worth it."

Dr. Ekhardt stared at the two as he rubbed his jaw. "Easy for you to say, Neil."

Cornelius shook his head in disappointment. "After all these years working together, this was your goal? To sabotage me?" The man just glowered at him. "You're lucky I don't have you arrested for assault. Or trespassing. Or conspiracy."

"You're going to regret this," Dr. Ekhardt said.

"Henry," Cornelius sighed. "You could've had everything, but instead you threw it all away. And for what? Let it go." He nodded toward the door. "Get out of my building."

Dr. Ekhardt's hand balled into a fist, his nostrils flaring again. Just as he was about to raise his arm, a hand grabbed his wrist.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the security guard warned.

Cornelius shook his head in disappointment. "Larry, get him out of here, please," he said, turning away.

"Yes, sir."

Robert's brows furrowed as he looked between his boss and Dr. Ekhardt. "Am I also being fired, Dr. Robinson?"

Cornelius half smiled at the young man and shook his head. "No. I'm not firing you, Robert. You didn't do anything."

"But I-"

"Are you really questioning me right now?" Cornelius raised an eyebrow.

Robert shook his head quickly. "No, sir."

"Good, because I have a feeling that without him on your back, I can expect big things from you."

The young man grinned. "Thank you, Dr. Robinson. I won't let you down."

"You'd better not," Cornelius laughed. "Now get back to work."

"Yes, sir," Berkman said, running out into the hallway past Dr. Ekhardt and the security guard.

Cornelius followed him out the door, seeing the two in the hall.

"Oh, and Henry?" he said, stopping the man in his tracks. He turned and looked at Cornelius inquisitively. "Carl would like his bike back."