A/N: Hey, guys! I am sooooo sorry for the delay. The momentum of this fic was going strong, but the last couple of weeks I was having a serious case of writer's block. Plus my fiance and I just split, so I was dealing with that. Anywho, now that this chapter is finally out in the universe I can keep it going.

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own the amazingness that is Meet the Robinsons!

Enjoy!

Chapter 10: Keep Moving Forward

April 2021

"Okay, boys, after me," Franny said, pressing the white ivory piano keys up a scale. The frogs sat in tiny chairs Cornelius had fashioned for them, each holding a miniscule piece of sheet music. The brunette cringed inwardly as the frogs struggled up the scale with their respective instruments, eyes darting from the maestro to each other.

Cornelius looked at them across the lab, hand pausing the turning motion it was performing on an invention. He smiled. Ever since that lovely afternoon in the very room he stood in now, Franny had been more open than she'd been for the first time in months. That day they spent practically the entire rest of the evening wrapped in each other's arms, reconnecting and actually enjoying their time together.

They had never been better. But at the moment, Cornelius was feeling slightly crowded.

He watched as Franny scolded one of the frogs in the back of the group for missing a note, making him play the note again to make sure he knew it. Cornelius sighed, his hand going back to the machine he was currently working on. He was happy for Franny, don't get him wrong, he just felt a little cramped with his wife and her twenty plus amphibians at musical rehearsal across the way.

"Okay, Frankie. Let's go over your solo," Franny said, turning her sheet music over. Cornelius shook his head, smiling at her expression. She was one of the easiest people to get along with, yet there she was, berating her frogs for struggling to read sheet music. Cornelius knew better than to interrupt music rehearsal, thinking back on the time he accidentally interrupted her while practicing karate and getting kicked in the knee. He shuddered, bending the joint to make sure it still worked.

Three hours went by when Franny finally decided rehearsal was over for the night. "Alright, boys," she said, standing up, her face turned downward. "I think that'll do for tonight. Go rest up and be ready for tomorrow," she said, trying to make her voice more chipper than what she was actually feeling.

She and Cornelius walked down the stairs to exit the lab, Franny sighing as they reached the bottom step. The blond reached down and grasped her hand as they walked. "What's wrong, Franny?"

"It's nothing," she said, staring blankly down the hall, letting her husband lead the way. He furrowed his brow, looking down at her downcast features. She seemed to catch on to his worrying. "It's just I've worked so hard to make this dream of mine come true, a lot of which you helped me with, but still…I feel like," she trailed off, sighing. He squeezed her hand. "I feel like I'm invading your space."

"What makes you say that?" he said, stopping mid-hallway. Franny looked up at him. "I love watching you work," he smiled down at her, brushing her cheek with his thumb. She smiled softly up at him. "You're not bothering me, I promise. Plus you look really sexy in a lab coat," he said winking.

She giggled and bit her lip, his eyes boring into her soul. She felt so guilty for having practically taken over Cornelius' lab but couldn't bring herself to admit it.

Cornelius wrapped his arms around her slender waist, leaning down and touching her lips gently with his own. He pulled away and grinned. "I love you."

Giving up on her argument for now, Franny sighed and took her husband's hand as he led her further down the hall. His eyes wandered as they walked, the large double doors he knew led to more storage space behind Franny catching his eye. An idea sparked in his head, the grin on his face spreading like wildfire.

Mid-April 2021

Cornelius opened his eyes, squinting as the light from the window shone brightly into the room. He turned his head, smiling softly at the women laying next to him. She was fast asleep still, but he had a feeling she would wake up very soon.

The door burst open and every single Robinson piled in, their faces filled with excitement.

"Happy Anniversary!" Bud and Lucille said loudly, effectively making Franny jolt from her sleep, her arms going into a defensive position. Cornelius laughed at he expression as she realized what was going on and lowered her arms.

"Oh, that is today, isn't it?" the young brunette said, turning to face her husband. The joy on his face was contagious.

"It sure is," Cornelius said, tilting his head, a goofy grin plastered on his face.

"Kiss, kiss, kiss," the family chanted. Franny blushed, her brows coming together in mock irritation.

Cornelius laughed again, pulling Franny's face closer so he could plant one on her. The room suddenly filled with "Awww"s as they pulled apart, gazing into each other's eyes.

"Ew, are you guys going to make out now?" Tallulah asked, holding an envelope in her hand.

"Only if you want us to," Cornelius joked, puckering his lips jokingly. Franny playfully swatted his chest, turning to look at Tallulah, who just said "Eeeewwww" again, gagging.

"Hey, at least they're not fighting still," Lazlo said, suddenly bombarded by disapproving glares. "What'd I say?"

Lucille chuckled. "Alright guys, let's go make some breakfast for the love birds," she said, turning and leaving the room, the rest of the Robinsons trailing behind her.

"Thank you for breakfast, mom. It was delicious," Cornelius said, wiping his mouth with a napkin as Carl cleared the table.

"Oh, it was my pleasure, sweetheart. Today's a special day and we want to make it a good one."

"Yeah! And Cornelius said he had surprises for everyone!" Tallulah said from across the table. Cornelius frowned at her and she sank into her seat while several pairs of ears perked up.

"Tallulah, I thought I told you not to say anything," he said, glancing at the rest of the family out of the corner of his eye.

"Way to go, sis," Lazlo said, rolling his eyes. "I didn't say anything. I'm the good child," the eleven-year-old said, sticking his nose up.

Cornelius sighed as the family looked on expectantly. He put his hands up. "Okay, yeah. It's true. I have surprises for, well, almost everyone."

"But it's not Christmas," Art said, brows furrowed. "Why are you giving us gifts?"

Cornelius smiled. "Today officially marks one year we've all been an official family, and I wanted to celebrate with all of you." Bud and Lucille smiled proudly at their son. "But you're just going to have to wait until after dinner."

The family groaned in unison.

Tap tap tap

Cornelius stood up at the end of the large table while the family continued with their nightly food fight. Honestly it was so much fun, and had become a ritual of sorts, but there was a part of Cornelius that didn't think he would ever get used to such antics. He tapped the glass again. "Ahem," he said, clearing his throat.

The food froze practically mid-air as the Robinson clan turned their heads to look at the blonde man standing in front of them.

"Thank you," he said, smiling. That was easier than he'd thought. He cleared his throat once more before continuing. "I'm sorry to interrupt our family food fight, but I just wanted to make a toast." He lifted his glass as eyebrows followed suit. "As you all know, today is mine and Franny's one-year anniversary," he said, grinning down at his wife, "and I just wanted to make a toast to each and every one of you." His expression became more serious, but he kept the smile on his face. "They say the first year of marriage is always the hardest, no matter how long you're together," he said, noting how his mom and dad shared a knowing look with one another. "Well, I had hoped against all hope and logic and reason that we would be the exception. But God knows our first year," he trailed off, sighing as he looked Franny in the eye. "Our first year of marriage was the hardest year of my life. And that's only coming from my side. I can't possibly imagine what it must've been like for you.

"We've been through more in the last few months than we've ever been through, and, as hard as this is to admit, I didn't know if we'd make it through. But you and I both know we were meant to be together, and nothing in this entire universe could make me believe otherwise. Nothing in the universe could ever make me stop loving you, Francesca Robinson."

Franny's eyes were filling with tears as Cornelius spoke, wanting nothing more than to leap into his arms and be swept away by him. Her breath caught in her throat as he extended his hand to her, asking her to stand. She took it without hesitation and got to her feet, her husband touching his forehead to hers.

"So, I'd like to make a toast to my amazing family, especially this amazing woman right here. Without her, I don't think I would've made it this far in life or would've had any inspiration for new things." He paused, getting slightly choked up as he smiled at her. "To family," he said, lifting his glass.

"To family!" the Robinsons exclaimed in unison.

The next thing he knew the family was dumping water on their heads in the way he treasured so much. He chuckled and lifted his own glass above his head and dumped it on himself, splashing Franny in the process. The couple broke out in laughter before Cornelius pulled the brunette in and kissed her passionately for the whole world to see.

"Eeeewww!" Tallulah said, the adults just laughing at her naivety.

"Okay, Cornelius," Lazlo said, bouncing on his toes. "You said you had presents for everyone?"

Cornelius rolled his eyes. "Why, yes Lazlo. Thank you for reminding me. Everyone follow me."

The young inventor led the family around the house, first stopping in Tallulah and Lazlo's shared bedroom. He presented Lazlo with his own state of the art paint set with a special brush that allows the artist to choose any color on the spectrum before dispensing the paint. Without thinking, he pressed the button on the side, squirting a shade of blue all over his sister's dress. Tallulah huffed, about to yell at her brother when Fritz cut in and stopped the argument in its tracks.

Next was Tallulah's gift; Cornelius had given her her very own sewing machine, equipped with everything you could think of to be on one, including embroidery, special stitching, the works, along with an entire wall filled with fabrics. Her frown turned upside down in a microsecond.

Billie and Joe, having been the most recent Robinsons to join the chaos, got their very own bedroom. The young woman thanked Cornelius profusely, having been sleeping on a blowup mattress in Gaston's room (he was eternally grateful for the renewed peace).

Gaston was gifted with his very own room to shoot himself out of his canon to his heart's content whenever he felt like it. He had been so excited when he saw it standing in the middle of the room that he almost forgot to thank his brother-in-law before clambering to get in.

"Alright, this next gift is for Art," Cornelius said, leading the only two family members left to the garage. When they got to the door, the inventor turned around, smiling. "Okay, I know how you've been asking me for a while now to fix your car," Cornelius said, getting a sheepish look from the brunet man in front of him. "Well, I finally got around to it." He pushed in the passcode and the door slowly opened. "I hope you don't mind, but I took some liberties."

Art's eyes grew wide; there in front of him stood-no, floated-his car. His jaw dropped, and he looked at Cornelius who was just smiling proudly.

"Lady and gentleman, may I present to you the very first working flying car, courtesy of yours truly," he announced, a proud grin on his face.

"Cornelius, this is-this is fantastic! Now I can finally try and beat my record for fastest delivery," he said, already getting inside.

"Go on, take her for a spin. It's already been tested and certified. Have fun," the blond said, waving.

Cornelius laughed as Art took off faster than he could say "Thank you." He chuckled and looked down at Franny who had a strange look on her face.

Franny had watched her husband give every single family member a gift (except Fritz because he always specifically asked for no presents on any given holiday) and was starting to feel her stomach drop. What if he had forgotten about her? Not that she wanted a gift; her husband was gift enough… No, that couldn't be true. Still, she couldn't help but feeling left out, considering it was her anniversary, too.

"Franny, you okay?"

"What?" Franny asked, shaking her head. "Oh, sorry. Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go back inside. It's chilly out here," she said, already heading back toward the house. Cornelius bit his lip, as he followed her in. He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her in the opposite direction of where she was going. "Honey, I need to go check on my frogs-where are we going?" she said, brows furrowing. Cornelius just smiled, not saying a word.

He led her down a hall, letting her look around. Her eyes fell on pictures hanging on the walls-her and Cornelius on their wedding day, her and her brothers at a family reunion, Cornelius and his parents the day he got adopted. Hm, she thought to herself, I don't remember these being here…

"Um, sweetheart, where did all these pictures come from?"

Cornelius stopped in front of a large door and looked down at her. "I've always had them, but I never thought about hanging them up. Then I got an idea recently after something you said, and I thought what better way to make you happy than to give you your own space." Franny tilted her head in confusion. "This space belongs to you now," he said. Franny's face fell a bit before he continued. "Don't worry, there's more. Stay right here."

He instructed her to close her eyes before entering the large room. "Okay, guys, when we come through the door, you start playing." Frankie gave him a thumbs up, white tuxedo sparkling in the low lighting. He came back out and smiled; Franny looked so cute when she was covering her face like that. Cornelius gently pulled her forward, taking her hands off her eyes. When she opened them back up she gasped. In place of the regular old blue and white doors were two large doors twice the size painted a soft purple. What caught her eye though were the two music notes door handles.

"Cornelius?" she asked softly as he pulled the doors open. Suddenly the room was filled with music, the frogs hitting each note perfectly. Frankie started singing the only song he knew, making Franny cover her mouth in surprise.

Cornelius grabbed one of his wife's hands, pulling her in so she could look around. Her mouth fell open as she took in the purple curtains framing the walls, the miniature risers filling the room, the grand piano in the corner. The blond couldn't help smiling like a fool at his Franny's expression. She thought he forgot about her. He laughed. How could he forget the most important woman in his life?

"Cornelius?" she asked again, her eyes tearing up.

"I know you've been feeling like you're crowding me in the lab-and you haven't been, I promise-but I knew you were also too stubborn to ask for a place of your own." Franny looked at him indignantly. He laughed again. "So, for the last few weeks I've had some guys help me out with renovating this space. It's all yours," he said, gesturing to the room around them.

"Oh, honey…I don't even-thank you!" she said, throwing herself at him. He wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her off her toes.

"Would you like to know what I've named this room?" he whispered, his heart thumping in time with the music. Franny simply nodded as he set her down and pulled away. He shot her a quick smile and walked back out the door and looked up. Franny's eyes followed, her breath catching in her throat as she took in the words on the large gold plaque in front of them. He looked down at her, his expression more serious as he said, "Welcome to the Matilda Robinson Music Hall." She covered her mouth again and closed her eyes, tears already streaming down her cheeks. He wrapped himself around her again and whispered, "Happy anniversary, Franny."

"Franny, sweetheart, it's time for bed," Cornelius said softly as he rubbed his wife's shoulders. She looked up at him standing behind the couch in their bedroom and smiled. His heart fluttered as he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "Come to bed with me?"

She half smiled up at him and nodded. "In a minute." He tilted his head. "Sit down," she said patting the cushion next to her. He stepped around the couch and sat down, his eyes never leaving her form.

"Aren't you tired?" he teased.

She chuckled, then looked away. "Actually…I wanted to talk to you."

"Oh?" he said, his stomach dropping suddenly. I really hope she doesn't ask for another divorce, he though worriedly.

Sensing the fear in his voice, she quickly replied, "It's nothing bad." He let out a relieved sigh and she smiled. "I wanted to talk about…" she trailed off, taking a deep breath as she looked Cornelius directly in the eye. "I think I'm ready to try to have another baby."

The young man's eyebrows shot up and his mouth dropped. "Are-are you sure-"

"I've had a lot of time to think, and I've decided that we shouldn't let the pain of what happened last time prevent us from trying again. I mean, aren't you the one who's always saying we shouldn't dwell on the past? It's like you always say," she said, grinning.

Cornelius didn't say anything for a minute, too stunned by Franny's proclamation to think straight. After a moment he realized she was staring at him, her face falling a bit. Suddenly his face broke out into a huge grin. "Oh, Franny, this is fantastic!" he said, pulling her face closer so he could kiss her. They parted, Cornelius exhaling the words, "Let's start right now."

Cornelius picked her up and carried her over to the bed, both of them grinning as they looked at each other, the image of the future hopefully imprinted in their minds.