A/N: I know that the house probably isn't set up this way, but I just love the idea of Cornelius and Franny having a kitchenette in their bedroom. It's like their own private getaway.

Disclaimer: I forgot to mention it, but I obviously don't own Meet the Robinsons.

Chapter 2: Early Symptoms

April 2020

The morning after.

Franny opened her eyes, squinting in the sunlight that was threatening to barge into the bedroom. She blinked a few times, eyes adjusting to the light, and turned her head. Her breath caught as she laid her deep brown eyes upon the sleeping form next to her. She smiled as he, as if sensing she was awake, slowly forced his eyes open. As a man of 25 he was always up extremely early to either work on something he thought of while sleeping or to go to work. Thankfully he had two weeks off, instructing everyone to absolutely, no matter the circumstance, NOT call him, so they could have a peaceful honeymoon. (They had decided, instead of spending a ton of money on a fancy hotel, that it would be romantic to just stay in and enjoy one another's company in the comfort of their own home. Cornelius had even instructed the rest of the family to not bother them, so they had an entire wing to themselves.)

He met her gaze and smiled back at her. "Good morning, Mr. Robinson," Franny said in almost a whisper. His grin widened as he replied, "Good morning to you, too, Mrs. Robinson." She sighed contently. She didn't think she would ever tire of hearing that.

"What would you like to do today?" she asked, sitting up. The blanket fell slightly so that it was draped across her lap, exposing her bare skin.

He looked up at her from his pillow. "I think I'd like to just lay here and stare at you," he said with a goofy grin plastered on his face. She blushed, playfully shoving him. Cornelius sat up and pulled Franny's head close to place a chaste kiss on her lips. "You know," he said in a husky voice. "Last night was one of the greatest nights of my life."

She giggled. "Me, too." Suddenly memories of the night before flooded into her mind. She couldn't believe how amazing it had been the first time, and the second time…and the fifth time. They had even made love in the jacuzzi at one point. She bit her lip thinking about the way he had helped her ride him while the jets massaged her thighs. They would definitely have to do that again soon.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a grumbling sound broke the silence. Franny cocked her head and smirked. "Would you like some breakfast?"

He smiled sheepishly. "Yeah. I'm starving." He grinned mischievously as he leaned forward to capture her lips in another kiss.

Laughing, she pushed him away. "That's not what I meant." She rolled her eyes and stood up, letting the blanket fall off her pale skin. Cornelius could only gaze upon the beauty in front of him as she bent down and picked up the robe that had been forgotten on the floor. He was a little disappointed when she wrapped herself in it and tied it closed. He couldn't help but think about how sexy it would be if she made breakfast naked. He felt himself blush as Franny smiled down at him. "What?"

"Nothing." He shook his head and got up, reluctantly putting his pajama pants back on. This time it was Franny's turn to stare.

"How many pancakes do you want?" Franny asked, flipping a flapjack.

"I'll take four for now."

"Coming right up," she said, quickly grabbing a plate so she could put the finished pancakes on it.

Cornelius came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. "You're so good at that."

She chortled. "I am, aren't I? I mean I did perfect my mother's own recipe…" she trailed off.

"You're right," he whispered in her ear. His warm breath made a shiver go down her back. He couldn't resist brushing his lips over her neck, leaving a few light kisses as he brushed some hair out of his way.

Franny hummed. "Honey, what are you doing? I thought you were hungry."

"I am," he said in a husky voice. "For you," he continued lightly nipping at her ear and pressing his bare body against her back. Franny could feel him poking her in her lower back and she moaned.

In one move, Franny had dropped the pan, turned the stove off, turned around and wrapped her arms around Cornelius' neck. In less than ten seconds they had made it from the kitchenette in the far side of their bedroom to the couch in the living area on the other side. They landed on the couch and forgot all thought of pancakes.

It was like that for quite some time; they couldn't keep their hands off each other. No matter where they were-in the living room, in the lab, in the car-the need to be intimate overwhelmed them. But neither of them cared. They just couldn't get enough.

At the end of the second week, Cornelius had contemplated going back to work, but he was just enjoying his time with Franny far too much to go back yet. He ended up calling Inventco to tell them he would be taking another week off. Franny had been concerned at first for the security of her husband's job, but Cornelius had assured her that the people he worked for loved him and that they insisted he spend more time enjoying his marriage.

And enjoy it, they did. As much as they loved being close, they also wanted to cherish the little things, like snuggling up on the couch with a hot chocolate and cookies while watching a romantic comedy (he didn't really like them, but he was usually the one watching until the end while Franny would fall asleep with her head in his lap), or when they would just lay in bed at night after making love, talking about anything and everything. One evening as Cornelius was laying in a satisfied daze, Franny asked him something he hadn't thought about it what seemed like a very long time.

"Sweetheart, do you ever think about having children?"

Cornelius furrowed his brow as he turned his head on his pillow. "Children?"

"Yeah." Cornelius was silent, and Franny began to panic, thinking she was about to send him running. "I mean, we already have a pretty big family. What's a couple more people in the house?"

Cornelius didn't say anything for a minute or two. All he could think about was a thirteen-year-old boy with black hair and brown eyes (the spitting image of his wife) who ended up introducing him to his futuristic family. He was stunned that Franny had brought up the subject of children so soon, but at the same time he was glad. At least they were on the same page.

Just as Franny was about to open her mouth again to speak, Cornelius said, "You're right." They both smiled as he continued, "I would love to have children." He paused. "How many were you thinking?"

Franny raised her eyebrows; this wasn't the answer she expected, but she wasn't complaining. She had never really thought about how many she wanted. Franny only knew she very much wanted to be a mother one day. "I don't know. Three or four?"

He chuckled. "That's a lot of kids to be looking after. Did you want them all at once or did you want to have one, wait a few years, have another, wait a few-ow!" he said, rubbing his shoulder, laughing.

"Don't be silly. I don't want them too far apart, if we were to have that many." She sighed. "To be honest, I would be content with one or two. I just love the idea of having a big family of our own." She smiled as she snuggled into the crook of Cornelius' arm. He kissed the top of her head as he rubbed her back. He loved the way her skin felt against his; hers smooth and soft to the touch and his mildly calloused from lab work.

He continued to rub her back up and down until she finally drifted off to sleep. He smiled. Well, at least he knew they would have at least one child. A very hyperactive, intelligent, handful of a child.

May 2020

As much as they would have liked for their honeymoon to last forever, they knew that it had to come to an end eventually. Franny was dying to get back to composing new songs for her frogs and Cornelius had so many ideas for new inventions flying around in his brain. It was the Sunday before Cornelius went back to work and Franny had gotten up early to make them breakfast one last time. Just as Franny was finishing up frying some eggs, Cornelius came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. She looked up from the stove to her husband.

"Hello, gorgeous," she said in a much too theatrical voice.

Cornelius rolled his eyes and smirked. He came over to Franny and kissed her before sitting down at the little table they had in the kitchenette. "What's for breakfast, beautiful?"

She couldn't help but smile at his words. Yes, he was a man of science, but he sure knew how to be a lady's man. At least for her, that is.

"Scrambled eggs with toast." She scraped some eggs onto a plate and placed it down in front of him. "Would you like some coffee?"

"Yes, please," he said as he began to dig in. His wife was a phenomenal cook; somehow, she managed to make even scrambled eggs taste gourmet.

"Coming right up." She turned around and grabbed the coffee pot. As she began to pour the hot liquid into the mug, she caught a whiff of it. She grimaced, then gagged.

Cornelius, noticing the look on Franny's face and froze. "Franny? Are you okay?"

Choking back another gag, Franny set the coffee pot and mug down on the table in front of Cornelius. "I'm fine. Smell that. I think the coffee went bad." She pinched her nose for good measure.

He raised his eyebrows, then furrowed them as he poured a bit of the coffee into his cup. He sniffed. "It smells fine to me," he said taking a sip. "It tastes fine. Franny?"

She shook her head. She loved coffee, but for some reason this morning it smelled rancid. "It's nothing, honey. I'm fine." She forced a smile and sat down with her own plate of eggs and, hesitating, brought a forkful to her mouth. They tasted fine, and she was starving, so she tried her best not to sniff in Cornelius' direction.

He just stared at her concernedly as she seemed to force-feed herself until her plate was empty. In less than five minutes. "Um, Franny?"

"Hmm?" she asked with a mouthful of eggs.

"Take it easy. There's more eggs. I can make you another plate," he offered.

Her eyes widened in delight and she swallowed. "Oh, that would be wonderful. Would you?" she asked, not even noticing his full plate of eggs.

A few hours later, Franny and Cornelius decided to try to put some distance between them so that it wouldn't be do hard on either of them when he went back to work. Cornelius had chosen to sit on the opposite side of the room drawing up some blueprints (he had so many ideas and seemingly not enough paper) while Franny spread out on the couch reading a book. They had turned the TV on for background noise, but Franny had decided it was too loud and turned it down. She went to turn the page in Gone with the Wind, one of her favorites, when she suddenly felt a twinge of pain in her abdomen. She grimaced and put a hand on her stomach as she grunted quietly.

Ever the observant type, Cornelius heard the discomfort in her voice and looked up from his blueprint. "Franny? You okay?" He was worried; she had been acting strange since breakfast, but he didn't dare say anything for fear of her karate chopping his gut.

"Hmm?" Franny looked up and frowned, still rubbing her tummy. "Oh, I'm fine. My stomach just hurts is all." She forced a smile and went back to reading her book.

Unsatisfied with her answer, he tried again. "Well, can I get you something? Aspirin? Ginger Ale?"

Suddenly Franny snapped, "I said I'm fine."

Too shocked to reply at his wife's outburst, Cornelius went back to his paper. At least he pretended to start working again. After a moment, Franny continued, "Sorry." She exhaled. "I must be getting my period."

Cornelius blushed and said, "Oh." He knew how the female anatomy worked, but he still got frazzled whenever Franny mentioned her monthly cycle. It wasn't that he was embarrassed, per se, he was usually just afraid of her mood swings. "Hey, honey, would you mind if I took this up to my lab?" He paused, then quickly added, "The lighting in here is hurting my eyes." He had to come up with a good excuse, otherwise he would be regretting asking for weeks.

Without really thinking about it or acknowledging him, she said, "Sure, sweetheart. I'll see you later, then?" She looked up as he started heading out the door.

He bent down and kissed her over the back of the couch. "Of course. I'll be back down for dinner. I promise." She smiled and went back to her book once more.

Once out in the hallway, Cornelius sighed in relief and hurried toward his lab.

After a few hours in lab getting next to nothing accomplished, Cornelius decided to head back down to his room. He wasn't getting anywhere with the flying car design, so he figured he would quell the grumbling in his stomach. Quietly so as not to disturb his wife, he closed the door with a slight click and tiptoed over to the couch where she lay sleeping with her book draped over her chest. One arm was holding the book protectively and the other dangled off the side of the couch. He smiled down at her and sighed. Had she really not moved from this spot all day? He was gone for quite some time, but had she not even gotten up to use the restroom?

As carefully as he could without waking her, Cornelius picked her up gently and slowly made his way to the bed. Even when her book fell to the ground with a thud she never roused. He laid her down and covered her slim form with the duvet and glanced up at the alarm clock on the nightstand. 5:30? Had he really been in the lab that long? He furrowed his brow in disappointment-he had spent the last day of their honeymoon avoiding her. The sun was just beginning to sink into the horizon, and a sinking feeling fell into the pit of his stomach, never seeming to lift. Cornelius shook his head and bent down to place a loving kiss on her forehead. "Goodnight, Franny," he whispered, heading back over to the couch, picking up the remote, and flipping channels aimlessly.

7:30

Cornelius blinked at the TV screen. He had eventually stopped on a documentary about the great inventors of the last century (which, subsequently, he was featured on), and watched mindlessly as they talked about all his greatest accomplishments. He was never really one to boast or brag about himself, but sometimes a little confidence boost was appreciated. Cornelius rubbed his eyes then checked his watch. He sighed and got up and rounded the couch, heading toward the bed. Cornelius gently climbed in next to Franny, who was still fast asleep, and started shaking her lightly.

"Franny," he said in a soft voice. "Sweetheart, it's dinner time."

"Hmm?" Franny hummed, barely awake.

"I said it's dinner time," he repeated. "Remember we agreed to have dinner with the rest of the family tonight?"

Franny rolled over and blinked, looking up at Cornelius with tired eyes. "Hmm, okay honey," she said, her eyes threatening to close again.

Cornelius sighed and rocked her again. "Franny, I need you to wake up. My parents are waiting for us."

Franny sighed in exasperation and threw the covers off her. Instead of getting up, she just sat there.

"Honey?"

"What?" Franny snapped.

"Dinner is ready."

Franny rolled her eyes and stood up. She pulled off her robe and put on the nearest dress she could find.

"Franny, why are you acting like this?"

"What are you talking about?" she said, frowning. She didn't look at him as she put on her heels. She hastily stood and quickly made her way to the door. "Let's go. I'm starving."

Cornelius blinked and scratched his head.

At dinner, everyone gathered around the large dining table. Tallulah shouted at Lazlo for spilling something on her brand-new dress while Frtiz sat nearby, wincing from the names Petunia was calling him. Bud and Lucille sat in their usual seats, having a quiet conversation. Gaston was busy seeing how far he could shoot a meatball across the room as Art sat across from him, rolling his eyes,

Franny couldn't help but notice Lucille looking over at her every few seconds, but she did her best to ignore it. Cornelius sat in silence, intently listening to the conversations around the table. He and Franny hadn't spoken since she had woken up, and he wasn't about to bring up the outburst she had earlier.

Then again, Franny was acting weird; she said she was starving, but she hardly touched her spaghetti, which was one of her favorite meals. Nor did she bother trying to spark a conversation with anyone; usually she was the center of every conversation and the median in most arguments. Franny was not being herself and Cornelius couldn't figure out why.

"Okay, everyone. Time for dessert," the latest version of C4R1 said, his chest opening as little versions of the robot ran around the table with plates of chocolate cake. "Dig in!" (Cornelius couldn't help but smile as his invention was finally working the way he always knew it would.)

Something in Franny seemed to spark at the sight of the double decker German chocolate cake. Even though she hadn't eaten her dinner, her eyes were as big as saucers looking at the dessert before her.

Franny quickly stabbed her fork through the cake and practically shoveled it in her mouth. After a moment she froze and said, "You know what would be really good with this? Ketchup." Everyone froze as Franny ran into the kitchen to grab the condiment bottle. While she was out of the room, questions began flying at Cornelius.

"Ketchup on cake? Eew!"

"What's up with her?"

"What did you do to her?" Cornelius heard Lazlo ask accusingly. He looked at the eleven-year-old with a blank stare.

"Uh…" Cornelius began before thankfully being cut off by Franny coming back in the room. "There's my beautiful wife," he said, standing up, trying to change the subject. He attempted to kiss her, but she turned, making him miss and hit her cheek. He smiled awkwardly as Franny took her seat again and drizzled the ketchup all over the chocolate dessert.

Eyes were agape and filled with disgust as Franny tore back into her food. She paused, fork halfway to her mouth, sensing them staring at her. "What?" she asked, going right back to eating.