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PROMPT: Time Capsule

Time Capsule

"Come on, McCarty's!" Emmett shouted. "It's almost time to leave!"

Rolling her eyes at her husband, Rose couldn't quite believe that her husband dubbed their children 'McCarty's'.

"Must you call our children that?" she asked, tucking their youngest daughter—Evie—into the baby sling she was wearing.

"I keep you telling you, babe; it's quicker than shouting all their names. And they respond to them." The smile he threw her was infectious and, despite her best efforts, the corners of her lips tugged upwards.

Sauntering them towards them, Emmett kissed Evie's head, inhaling a lungful of her sweet baby scent before kissing Rose soundly on the lips. "Are you ready?"

Rose nodded. "Yep."

"What did you settle on?" His hand settled on her shapely hips.

"A laminated copy of my wedding vows to you—" That made Emmett smile. "—and a copy of my future list that I made when we were in high school."

"Cute."

"Mom! Dad!" Their eldest child shouted, his voice quickly followed by loud steps as he stomped down the stairs. "Carter is wearing my clothes, again!"

"Trouble calls," Emmett whispered, giving her a wink and stepping back before he turned to face Lucas.

"He doesn't mean anything by it, bud; you know he just wants to be like you." At ten, Lucas often seemed to think he was a man. And there was nothing more he hated than his younger brother wearing his clothes.

"He's stupid."

"Hey!" Emmett admonished. "We don't use that word in this house. Especially about one of your siblings."

Lucas had the courtesy to look ashamed. His cheeks flamed, and he looked down at the ground.

"I'll see if I can get him to change." Emmett ruffled Lucas' light blonde hair and sauntered up the stairs.

"Are you ready to go, bud?" Rose asked, gently patting Evie on the back as she walked around the counter to Lucas and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. He was tall for his age, thanks to his father, and it seemed like he was slipping further and further away from her baby every day.

At least she still had three other children who enjoyed her cuddles and love.

"Yep. And I got my item, too."

Rose ruffled his hair, and then taking a chance, she reached down and kissed his hair.

"Mom!" Lucas complained, pulling away and giving her the stink eye.

Seconds later, Rose heard his husband's deep voice followed by children's laughter as he carried both Caroline and Carter down the stairs over his shoulder.

Caroline was her next oldest, her long blonde hair flying around her as she screamed with delight. "Daddy!"

Then there was Carter, her quiet three-year-old, who was laughing with pure joy. Being atop of his father's shoulders was his favourite place in the world.

"Let's go, slowpokes!" Emmett shouted as he ran around the living room, Lucas cheering up as he ran to join in the fun. He might be growing up, but he was still a kid.

/

The McCarty's stood around the round metal container, Rose and Emmett in the middle and their children on either side of them. Caroline was clinging to Emmett's hand as Carter leant up against his father's leg. Lucas stood to Rose's left.

"So, do you all understand what we're doing?"

Their children gave their various answers, from Lucas's affirmative groan, Caroline's enthusiastic 'yes', Carter's nod, to Evie's little gurgle (Rose didn't think it was in any way intentional, just well-timed seeing as she was only four months old).

"We're putting things into this… thing so that in the future when we're old… like thirty… we can come back here and dig it up!" Caroline said proudly.

Rose wanted to giggle at her words. Thirty? Old?

"Exactly!" Emmett said, squeezing her hand in his. "So, kids first—oldest to youngest."

Lucas pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket. He unfolded it, revealing a detailed diagram that he had drawn of a butterfly. Her usually brave son became all shy. "This was a butterfly that I was watching yesterday, and I decided to draw it and then… label it. I really liked the colours."

Lucas slipped the paper into an envelope with encouragement from his parents and then into a plastic bag that Emmett handed him before placing it into the time capsule.

Caroline was up next, and she had chosen to create something, just like her brother for the time capsule. A few days ago, she had headed out with her Nana and together, they had gotten some flowers and then pressed them. The flower's head had then been stuck on a piece of paper and covered in glitter, stickers, and ribbons. Underneath, in choppy writing, Caroline had written about her day.

"This is a picture I drawed... about mine and Nana's day out." She looked so proud of herself, and once again, Emmett helped her put it in an envelope, then a plastic bag and place it in the time capsule.

"Your turn, little dude," Rose encouraged Carter.

Emmett remained in his crouching position and placed a large hand on his back. "What have you got for the time capsule, Carter?"

Just like his older siblings, Carter had made something for the capsule too. He had spent yesterday afternoon drawing a picture of the family. Emmett and Rose were in the middle, with Carter and Lucas next to Emmett and Evie and Caroline next to Rose. Like all children did, he drew the sun in the corner and green grass underneath their feet.

"A picture," he said quietly.

"Good work, little dude," Emmett praised, repeating the process of putting it in an envelope and then plastic bag before placing it inside the time capsule.

"What's Evie putting in, mommy?" Caroline asked, jumping from one foot to the other.

"Well, I have a newspaper clipping from the day she was born." Rose handed Emmett the envelope. "And, do you remember those handprints we did?"

Rose, Emmett, and their children had spent the previous weekend dipping their hands in paint and then putting them onto a large piece of paper. One of those hung in the kitchen, another went to each set of grandparents, and the final one was rolled up and in a tube that Emmett had carried down.

Her children nodded.

"Well, we're also putting them in here."

The tube went in, as did Rose's wedding vows and a copy of her future list. Emmett put his item in, which was simply a copy of a picture he kept in his wallet. It was the day after Evie's birth when all six of them were crammed on the small hospital bed. On the back, Emmett had written 'My Family'.

The last item to go in was a metal box of keepsakes that Rose and Emmett had collected over their years of dating; a mixtape Emmett made for Rose, concert tickets, a leather bracelet Rose made for Emmett, a few photos, and finally, a CD for their children to watch in the future.

Lucas had seen her putting it in, and he had scrunched his face up. "What's on that, Mom?"

She smiled at him. "You'll just have to open up the time capsule and find out when you're older."

Watching as her husband and children buried the time capsule, Rose rested her cheek against Evie's. She was in no rush for that time to come. Because when it did, her children would find out about what she and their father really were. And there was no guarantee that they would ever look at them in the same way again.

Rose had no idea how they'd react when they found out their mother used to be a serial killer.

Thanks for reading.