Author's Note: Meet the Robinsons, and all characters are copyright Disney, and created by William Joyce. I am making no money from this work of fiction, and present it freely for other's enjoyment. Please enjoy. I didn't think I'd be writing any more fiction anytime soon, but hey, we all make mistakes. For more background on this story, please read my Author Page. Lewis and Franny are boyfriend and girlfriend for the first part of this story, but nothing serious, other than being close friends. This chapter is in 2010 and Character ages are: Lewis(15), Franny(13), Bud(51), Lucille(45), Joe(28)

“Building a Family”

Chapter 1 – Joe Robinson

The taxi driver loaded one more heavy bag into the trunk, and let out a sigh. He looked to the side of his car, and shuddered at the several bags that remained. This amount of work never seemed worth it, but at least he got by from day to day. He had watched the incredibly heavyset man work his way into the back seat while he was loading the trunk. He tried to not get involved in the personal lives of his customers. Hookers, drunks, druggies, and criminals. He had seen it all, and didn't want to get any closer than he had to. The tears snaking their way down the man's face had been hard to miss, though, and this was the most unusual call he had gotten this month. Perhaps it would go without any further incident.

Joe sat for a moment breathing heavily, after getting safely in the back seat of the taxi cab. His wheelchair was close, and would only take a pull of the level on it's side to collapse it enough to fit into the seat next to him. He paused for a moment, and tried to hold the pain in. It hurt like a knife in his chest, but he knew it wasn't his heart, or his lungs, or his health in general. This was much, much worse. He thought back to only a few hours ago...

---

“Joseph. I'm sorry. We can't make excuses any longer. The company needs someone that can be at their desk for at least a full workday, and with your failing health, I can't say anything in your defense any longer. I've verified that our insurance will continue to cover your medical bills, since it's not your fault, but we have to let you go for the good of the company. I wish there was something more we could do... but... I'm sorry...”

Frederick Jacobson of J&J Insurance Ltd., bowed his head. He really didn't want to have to do this, but there was no way they could support the man in front of them anymore. He really did feel for him, but he had a job to do, as painful as it was at times.

“I understand, Mr. Jacobson,” Joe replied in his deep voice. “I'll make do. I guess...” Joe's voice broke up, as tears started down his face. “I... I'm sorry for causing you problems sir. It's not your fault.”

His heart was tearing apart for the poor man in front of him. But there was literally nothing he could do, as the office assistants took what was left of his belongings, and helped him back down to the building entrance. He turned away, hoping he could forgive himself.

---

Joe realized that he would not be able to pay the rent on his small apartment. So he packed up what was left of his things, and called his landlord. He had to move immediately, to try and salvage what was left of his life. Over the rest of the day, he slowly moved his belongings out to in front of his apartment, and cleaned up as best as he was able. He reached for his cellphone, and dialed the number that would end up being the hardest call in his life so far.

---

The soldering iron finished making another connection to the processor on the circuit board it was touching. Lewis let his breath out, and glanced over at his notebook, reading a few scribbles there. “One over R times V... hmmm... Voltage at this point should be one point seven six, which means the current shouldn't be overloaded if I choose this unit... let me check...” Lewis' voice trailed off, as he reached into a plastic bin of tiny circuitry parts, and snagged a small processor. He carefully placed it into a spot on the board he was working on, and brought the iron and a spool of solder close, while he dug his eye back into the microscope.

“It's Halloween, Cornelius. Have you thought about what you are going to dress up as?” Franny stood a few feet behind Lewis, in his lab, hands on both her hips, and a serious expression on her face.

“And then the output of this logic gate should be within the tolerance of the memory input series, and then I think we've...” Lewis trailed off again, lost in his own world.

“CORNELIUS!”

“Wha? What?” Lewis turned around to see Franny, a shocked expression on his face. “I'm sorry. What time is it? Are you out of school already?”

“Cornelius. It's the weekend. Halloween is on a Sunday. It's Saturday afternoon. You've been stuck to that workbench since yesterday. I know it's been a year since you graduated from college, but you don't have to forget how dates and days of the week work for the rest of us so soon, do ya?”

“Saturday? Oh. I'm sorry. I totally lost track of time. It's just that what I'm working on is very important. I mean, without Ca... I mean without this invention, um... I... ah...”

Franny's face softened some, and her eyes glistened. “You say that about everything. I know you want to save the world. But, can you save some time for me? It's important to me that we show up to Melissa's Halloween party tomorrow, and that we have some relatively good costumes. Do you have any ideas yet, or will I have to come up with all your ideas for you?” A smirk appeared on her face as she realized the irony of her statement. All of Lewis' important ideas came from his notebook, but she still liked to tease him about that.

“I.. um... well, I have to give it some thought. I suppose a frog is out of the question? Umm.. he.. he...” He laughed slightly, knowing already what her response was going to be.

The phone rang in the distance. Lewis glanced to the door, then looked back to Franny, grinning sheepishly.

“Cornelius, if you think that frogs consist of my ENTIRE life, then you have another thing coming!” She looked at Lewis with and evil grin on her face. “I suppose if you can come up with a fly costume, it wouldn't hurt. THAT much. Frankie would LOOOOVE that costume.”

Lewis looked at her with a startled expression, before smiling, then laughing along with her. “Well, whatever makes you happy. You're right, after all!” They both laughed together before Franny finally calmed down.

“So, flyboy, you have any ideas, before I feed you to Frankie?” Lewis took a deep breath, as though to respond, but at that moment, the door burst open, startling the two teens.

“Cornelius. We have a.. um.. problem. Me and your Mom need to talk to you. Oh! Hi Franny. Sorry to interrupt.” Bud, Lewis' father spewed out in an uninterrupted stream, lines creasing his forehead with worry.

Before Lewis could respond, his father grabbed his hand, and tugged him out of the room, leaving Franny to look at the unfinished circuit board stuffed in what looked like a metal barrel. “Hmm. I think a fly costume is totally out of the question. I'm sure we can come up with something more stylish for the great Cornelius Robinson.” She sat down at a part of his desk that was clear, dragged a sheet of scratch paper to herself, and started scribbling. Every once in a while, she looked around the lab, to see a few of the things he had worked on, and giggled, scribbling some more.

---

“Son, I just got a call from my brother, Joe. It seems he's come upon hard times, and he wants to know if he can stay here. I know that we bought this place for you, but since your revenue is already paying for most of it, we wanted to see if you weren't going to object.” Bud looked over to Lucille and smiled. She smiled back and looked to Lewis expectantly. “Are you OK with this honey?”

Lewis, having had a worried look on his face since he had been dragged into the living room, relaxed, then looked both his parents in the eyes and smiled. “Mom, Dad, I'd be more than happy to have Uncle Joe over for as long as he wants. We have a lot of room, here, and I don't see why any of us should have objections to having more family together all the time. After all, I'd love to have a large family. I've told you this before, right?”

Bud and Lucille beamed happily at their adopted son. Bud started to open his mouth, but Lucille beat him to the punch. “Honey, we just want to make sure you're happy. Thank you for letting Joe come over. I know it means a lot to Bud, and I'm sure he'll be a great addition to the household.”

Lewis smiled at his parents, and then sighed, his eyes glancing down for a second before meeting his parent's again. “I'm happy. More than happy. Please, let me know when he gets here.” Bud and Lucille smiled again, then hugged happily as their son walked out of the room, back up to the lab. Bud reached for the phone and started to dial.

---

Joe watched the green fields pass by as the taxi continued along the road leading to the outskirts of town. He wished more than anything that he wasn't being forced to do this, but he knew it was inevitable. The idea of seeing his brother, though, and his nephew was exciting. It still felt very surreal, one moment, doing his job from day to day, and now being totally uprooted. He supposed he could have waited a few weeks before his rent ran out, but it would have made no difference in the long run.

The driver had never driven to this address before. He knew where it was though, as the occupants had been on the news more than enough. He had no idea how the large man in the back knew the most famous teenager alive that wasn't an actor, but he was going to be a very lucky man if he was moving there. Given how much luggage was packed in the trunk, it didn't take a genius to figure out that was the case. The taxi swerved over the last of the rolling hills and a large building with a gold dome was now visible.

---

Lewis walked back into the lab, and saw Franny working at his desk. “Um, who are you, and what did you do with my girlfriend? The Franny I know doesn't invent things.” Franny turned around, stifling a giggle.

“Very funny Cornelius. I will have you know that I'm making your Halloween costume, which you will help me put together,, and then you are coming with me to that Halloween party. We've got enough time, so you're going to take a break and help me with my 're-invention' of you.”

Lewis moved to look at the paper she had been sketching on. A relatively good rendition of himself was there, wearing what looked like a spandex suit, the flight boots that were near the desk, and a big lightning bolt on the chest. “Captain Time Travel? You have got to be joking...” His face started to blush already, just thinking about looking like some sort of superhero.

“Well, I got the ideas from some of the stuff you have around here, like that box you use for part of your Memory Scanner, and the boots you started working on a few years ago. They look kinda cool. Oh, what did your parents want?”

Lewis looked down in thought for a moment, then looked Franny in the eyes. “My Uncle Joe is coming here to stay. Permanently, I think. They just wanted to check with me, which I think is awfully kind of them, but wasn't really necessary. I think it's be nice having more people around here. It gets too quiet sometimes, like when I get stuck on an idea, and just want to talk to someone about it, sometimes Mom and Dad are busy, or asleep.”

Franny nodded. “Your parents are so nice. I think you have a wonderful family started here, and I'd like to see more of them, when I can.” She straightened her shoulders. “Are you ready to help me start working on this now?”

Lewis sighed. “OK, lets get this over with. I'm going to be horribly embarrassed tomorrow, but for you, I guess it's ok.”

---

The driver opened the trunk, and started to lug out the first bag. He watched the front door as the large man in the wheelchair knocked on the front door of the Robinson house. A middle aged man and woman answered the door, and immediately fell upon the visitor, hugging him, and saying some sort of words of encouragement that he couldn't quite make out from his place near the taxi. After a few minutes of them talking, a teenage boy, and an even younger girl joined them out on the front porch. Both of them hugged the large man, and he saw that the visitor's face was wet with tears. Then the young boy looked up and started walking to the taxi, the girl following behind him.

“Thank you sir, for bringing my Uncle. Let me help you with those bags.” The girl moved to help too, smiling at the driver.

“Oh, thank you, Mr. Robinson, but it's my job, and I feel incredibly honored just to meet you.” The teenager blushed, and the girl giggle some, while rolling her eyes.

Soon, all the bags were unloaded. The visitor was inside the house, with the middle aged couple, and the young girl was struggling to move the rest of the luggage to the front door. “Sir, do you have any family?” young Mr. Robinson asked.

He nodded, “I have a wife and two children at home.”

Lewis smiled at the driver. “Here, take this for your family. It means a lot to me that mine is getting bigger, and so you should have something to help out yours.” Lewis gave several bills to the driver, much more than the usual tip. The driver stammered a little bit.

“My children are fascinated by you, Sir, and It will be an honor to tell them that I got to meet you. It will mean a lot to them. Thank you very much.” He shook the young man's hand, as they grabbed the last of the bags to move to the front porch.

As he drove away, he thought back to the family he was leaving behind. That overly large man had a lucky life ahead of him, with a family like that. Maybe he could think about spending more time with his kids. It can't hurt to have a happier family, after all.

---

Update: Revising all my chapters to include the year they happen, and the ages of the main characters to reduce confusion. I apologize if I was making anyone guess.

Update #2: Changed Joe's and Fritz's ages. No changes to the specific story details. Check out my Author page for an explanation.