#even if hilldale *did* go back to being a very upscale place to live; the house would still bring back memories he could do without

[doctorbrown]

DOCTOBER '23 ⸺ 「 13 / 31 * PHOTO ALBUM 」

June 12, 2005, 1131 Park Lane, Hilldale

❝Now I know you said you didn't want any gifts, Marty, but showing up to your birthday without even a single gift was simply unthinkable. It doesn't matter how old you are; you're never too old to receive something from the people you care about.❞

Marty hurls a very pointed, accusatory stare Emmett's way and the way the soft blue of his eyes turns to ice digs it in a little deeper. ❝This coming from the man who didn't even tell me when his birthday was! I had to find out from Clara when you got back from the past!❞

Emmett waves a hand, hastily trying to change the topic. He remembers all too well their first year in the future as a family, when Clara had looked up Marty McFly to invite him to be part of what he would later learn were secret birthday celebrations, and the way the boy had actually managed to keep it from him until the day of, where he had vowed to never let him forget it.

In hindsight, this was a much lesser evil to occasionally be reminded of.

❝Yes, well, my point still stands. Here, Marty.❞ He presses a rather haphazardly wrapped gift into Marty's hands that immediately softens the stare that was just trained on him. Marty arches a brow and lifts the gift to inspect it, turning it over in his palms. Emmett can practically see his thoughts written on his forehead, but to his surprise, Marty doesn't shake the gift to try and find out what's inside.

❝It's from Clara and I, but as you may have guessed, I was the one who wrapped it.❞

Marty smiles. ❝Couldn't even tell, Doc. You're getting better. I remember the very first gift you ever tried to wrap for me; now that was a mess. You put so much tape on it I couldn't even open it!❞

How could I forget? They were only a year into their friendship at that point, but Emmett had wanted to get something special for the boy after everything he'd done for him to show him that he was appreciated.

❝I can promise this one has significantly less tape on it.❞

Marty tears open the red wrapping paper with the same enthusiasm he'd displayed on all his birthdays to-date. Inside is a photo album that looks like an antique book, adorned with the words, bonds through time, that reminded Marty of the photo he'd been presented with when the Brown family made their first leap back to 1985.

❝Clara actually inscribed that herself; she's got beautiful penmanship. Anyway, it's a photo album!❞ Emmett smiles as Marty continues to stare at the book in his hands. ❝Since we had the boys, we've been documenting all the milestones and adventures in their lives. And since you and your family have been such a huge part of that, we thought we'd compile some of our favourite photos for you to keep. We have copies, of course, so don't worry about that.❞

❝Doc—❞ Marty chokes on the word and instead of fumbling for something else to say, he flips open the book and starts looking at the pages.

An eight-year-old Verne has his arms spread wide, grinning as Marty gives him his first lesson about balancing on the skateboard.

Marty, Jennifer, and Jules are carrying boxes into the McFlys' new home while Verne and Curie watch from the lawn.

Clara and Jennifer smile from inside Clara's new car.

Emmett, dressed to the nines in a black suit, stands with his arm around Marty's shoulders on the morning of the McFly wedding.

Marty and Jennifer kiss at the altar, looking positively radiant.

The Brown and McFly kids run rampant in Emmett's backyard, being chased by a holographic dinosaur.

Marty and Einstein lay cuddled up on the couch together.

The clock strikes midnight on the year two thousand and the McFly twins are staring at the cake behind the camera while everyone else, decked out in ridiculous holiday gear, beams at the camera.

The photos are placed in seemingly random order and Marty flips through several other pages of photographs before finally coming to the first blank page. He blinks several times before looking up, and there must be a question written on his face, because Emmett says, ❝We didn't want to fill the whole album. There's plenty of space for you to add your own photos. We figured we'd start it, but it's up to you and Jennifer to finish it.❞

Marty sniffs and throws his arms around Emmett. ❝I love it, Doc. Really. Thanks.❞

❝Of course. Happy birthday, Marty.❞