Meet the Robinsons: Stuck in the Past

Thirteen: Story Time

Wilbur POV

"A little to the left," Hiro strains, as if he were lifting the bookcase himself.  He's literally holding nothing but air and not even near me, standing at the front of the recreational room.

Yes, we actually got one.

"Left or right, choose!"  I groan in frustration, ultimately just dropping the bookcase where I had it.  I turn around to look at the guy, the tired look I'm giving him as evident as the sun.

"Perfect!" Hiro remarks, smiling as if he wanted it there all along.  I just roll my eyes, smiling at the little dude before Visi walks in, biting a chunk out of an apple.

"Hey Visi," I start, alerting Hiro of the presence behind him.  He whips around as Visi takes a good look of the room, pulling her headphones off her head after stopping her music on the phone I gave her.

"This is looking good, guys," Visi starts before eyeing the bookcase behind me.  "That bookcase can go a little to the le-"  Hiro slaps a hand over her mouth, grinning at me widely.  He gives Violet a look before uncovering her mouth, but I just raise an eyebrow at the girl as if daring her to continue.

"This place is wicked.  I can't believe the outside of this place looks like a normal house.  This is the last room, right?"  She asks.  I smile, satisfied with the accomplishment.  Even if we couldn't get the time machine fixed, we at least got this place up and running. 

To the naked eye, this place is just another house in a small neighborhood, and the first floor has a normal living room, dining room, kitchen, the three bedrooms we have for Hiro, me, and Visi as well as a bathroom and a garage.  But when we take the picture of Visi, Hiro, and I off the kitchen wall and place a hand there, it reveals a secret door.  Of course, your handprint has to be in the system for it to do that.  Then there's the staircase to the real headquarters, with a training room, recreational room, battle arena, and other bedrooms that can double up as cells in the event we find someone unwilling to go back to their time.  There's also the meeting room, where we concentrate on strategy and plans for the whole team, as well as update each other on news and events that happen without the others.  Considering there's only three of us, we probably won't be using it as much as the others.  Honestly, I'm proud of the work Hiro and I have put into this place.

"You're not even supposed to see this place yet, there was going to be a big reveal and everything," Hiro complains, but Visi just laughs.

"I've been coming and going from this place during the entire construction.  There was no way you were gonna keep me from coming back until the big reveal."  She gives the two of us a look, finishing her apple and throwing the core into a trash bin.  "On another note,  Mom wants you over for dinner tonight."  Hiro and I look at each other, confusion written on his face while I calculate, trying to decide how much harm a family dinner can make on the timeline.  The last family dinner I had with someone from the past, a dinosaur got involved.

"Sure, Violet, who can say no to free food?" Hiro answers, smiling at the girl.  He looks at me expecting to see a smile on my face, but when he doesn't, his own falters.  "Anyway, we should probably get ready for dinner tonight.  What time are you coming back to get us?" Hiro asks, as if diverting Visi's attention from me.

"About five.  Mom will pick you guys up on the way home from work.  It's a casual dinner, so come as yourselves!"  She gives us all one last grin before walking out of the room, giving Hiro the chance to lecture me.

"Hey," Hiro starts, walking over to the couch.  I take a seat as he does, and I just stare at the bookcase.  "What's got your smile upside down?"

I give him a half-hearted grin before my eyes go back to the bookcase.  "Did I ever tell you about how I got a pet dinosaur?"  Hiro raises an eyebrow at me, as if he doesn't realize I'm talking about a real dinosaur.  That's when I talk about the dinner, how everyone wanted to meet Lewis, as well as the food fight.  "My mom won that fight, but, that's also when things got a little... weird.  A dinosaur attacked, trying to eat people, but Lewis and I were able to stop him!"  I grin at Hiro, who's currently looking at me as if I'm crazy.

"You have one weird family," Hiro states, looking at me with an indecipherable look.

"What can I say, I wouldn't have them any other way.  This family dinner tonight just... reminded me of home."  Looking at my watch, I notice that we have an hour until Visi's mom will be here.  "Alright, story time is over," I sigh, looking at the bookcase again.  "That bookcase should probably go to the left."  Hiro laughs as he gets up to help me, and when we finish moving it, we separate to our bedrooms to get ready for dinner.

An hour later, Hiro and I are in different outfits, the sweat from earlier showered off.  I can just remember the times I went to family dinner smelling like gym socks.  Mom was not happy.  Chuckling to myself, Hiro joins in and we just laugh the nerves off.  There's nothing to be scared of.  It's just Visi's family.  And there isn't a second time machine to ruin tonight's family dinner.  What could possibly go wrong?

The two of us leave headquarters to wait outside, and sure enough, after five minutes of waiting we see a blue car park in front of the driveway.  When the car honks, the two of us stand up and watch the window roll down.

"Hey boys!  Ready for dinner?" A woman calls out, and looking over at her, I see the family resemblance.

Not really, but considering she's wearing the same suit that Visi did when I met her, I have to assume she's the mom Visi was talking about.

Hiro and I grin at her before walking up to the car, the two of us getting in the back seat.