Big Step

Chapter Three

"Emmet," said Lucy raising a brow with amusement as she leaned against a porch post.

Emmet looked up brightly from very deep in thought. "Yes?"

"Speaking of losing people..." Lucy said; she was holding the youngest Brickowski, Emylyne, in her arms, but she was motioning to her husband's audience.

The other four children were with him on the double-deckered porch swing, which was rocking ever so gently. The oldest, the blue-haired twins Claudia and Kevin, were on the top with youngest of the four Peter. Josh was seated with elbows on the "E+L Foreva" pillow on the opposite side of Emmet from Unikitty whose sleeping head was against Emmet's leg. All the children were staring at him wide-eyed and blankly with the occasional blink.

After looking around him, Emmet laughed. "Oh, sorry. Got a little deep there."

The children blinked some more.

Unikitty stretched in her sleep, but otherwise nothing else happened until Josh raised a brow and asked hushed, "So, when do you and Mommy get married then?"

"He was getting to that," Lucy remarked seating herself on the porch railing next to the swing.

"I thought Rex got blown up by the heart bomb," said Kevin.

"Yeah, he was gunna go back in time to stop you again," said Claudia.

"And again and again and again!" gasped Peter in mock horror, but then he grinned suddenly from ear to ear. "I like it when the flux cafasater breaks!"

"Well, he was gunna do that, but it was just a last attempt to fight what he knew he couldn't anymore, and it wasn't him at his best..." Emmet blinked thoughtfully. "Or worst." He winced. "However you wanna think of it."

"So tell us how you decided to get married," Claudia giggled swinging her legs.

"Okay," laughed Emmet, but then he smiled gently at Lucy. "Unless you want to do the honors...?"

"No, I like it when you tell it," said Lucy scooting onto the swing now too so that the whole family rocked a little more.

Josh resituated himself on the arm of the swing so that Lucy could get close to Emmet with Emylyne waking up groggily.

Emmet grinned widely as he also made room. "Okay!"

He tapped his chin. "Hmm, let's see."

"Then you can tell how the flux crafactator gets broken?" asked Peter.

"'Flux capacitor'?" offered Josh who was a little older than Peter.

"We heard it so many times before," said Claudia leaning her chin in arms as she lied down on her stomach where she had been for most of the story looking down at her dad's head.

"Yeah, we see it in the movie all the time," Kevin agreed.

"I wanna hear Daddy say it," said Peter.

"Next time," Lucy promised with a grin.

"He does tell it pretty awesome," Kevin said putting his hand behind his head as he leaned against the back of the swing.

"Maybe the movie didn't quite get how awesome Mom was," Claudia suggested.

"So how we decided about the wedding?" asked Emmet raising a brow with just the gentlest of tease twinkling his eyes. "Cuz we don't have to. I can go back and tell more about how we defeated Rex, if you want."