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Sunday, April 3rd, 1994
"Ma! Darcy! We're back!"
"Oh, we're in here, sweetie!" Marty could hear his mother say; calling out to them from further in the house.
He and his sister followed the sound of her voice into the kitchen, where Lorraine, Darcy, and their brother sat, gathered around the table. To say that Marty was surprised to see Dave coloring eggs with his daughter would be an understatement.
"What the–?" Dave frowned. He stuck his lip out at Darcy. "–Hey, how come yours turned out so colorful?"
Darcy giggled. "Well, I told you, Uncle David! You've gotta put vinegar in your water!"
The little girl picked up her egg; an obnoxiously bright pink, and sat it down next to Dave's for comparison–a vapid shade of blue. "You see, food dye is acidic, and bonds using hydrogen. Therefore, the solution it's set in needs to be acidic as well."
Darcy wrapped her stubby fingers around the neck of the vinegar bottle beside her, and poured a shot of it into Dave's egg dye solution, using the PAAS wire dipper to stir.
"Since distilled water is neutral, but has a PH balance of 7%, you only need a little bit of vinegar to create the perfect environment for dyeing an egg."
She placed another uncolored egg into the rich blue water, and handed the dipper back over to Dave. "You see how it now bubbles after dunking it in? That's because an egg's shell is made out of calcium carbonate. The calcium in the shell reacts with the acid in the vinegar to make carbon dioxide. We call that a chemical reaction."
Lorraine gasped and clapped in delight; ooing and aweing over her granddaughter's apparent genius. "Darcy! That's so interesting!" she said, patting the girl on her arm. "Look at you! So smart!"
Marty smirked. It tickled him to hear his daughter repeat everything Doc had told her about egg-dyeing the night before.
Marty folded his arms across his chest. "Teaching your uncle a thing or two about science?" he asked.
Darcy nodded.
Dave scoffed. The 31-year-old remained skeptical of his niece's advice, up until the moment he'd retrieved the egg from its cup.
His eyebrows shot up towards his hairline, as he turned the egg over in hand to inspect it.
"Well I'll be damned," he muttered, seemingly entranced by the egg's brilliant shade of royal blue. "Who'd you learn that from, kid?"
Darcy smiled and returned to painting a yellow sun on her grassy-green egg. "My daddy." she said, legs swinging beneath the table.
"Ohh," Dave said, rolling his eyes. "Right. I should've known."
"Of course," Linda chuckled, jamming a thumb out at Marty. "It's not like she would've learned it from him."
"Hey!" Marty gaped, half-heartedly swatting at Linda. "Excuse me, I'll have you know that I know a thing or two about science."
"Oh yeah?" Dave challenged. "Okay, then, brainiac–show us what you've got!"
Suddenly, all eyes were on him; including his daughter's gigantic brown ones.
"Umm," Marty hummed, scratching at the back of his neck.
Several seconds ticked by, and still, no example of substance came to mind. Sheepishly, Marty answered: "–The nucleus is the powerhouse of the cell?"
"Mitochondria, dear." Emmett said as he entered the kitchen, grocery bags and an easter basket in hand. He stopped to give Marty a kiss. "–Hi."
Dave and Linda snickered.
"Gee, thanks for making me look like a dumbass in front of everyone, Doc." Marty huffed, grinning despite himself. "–And, hi."
"We've got what we need for our Easter Sunday Dinner!" Doc announced proudly, before turning his attention to Darcy. "And look what the Easter Bunny brought for you, sweetheart!"
The little girl gasped and hopped out of her chair, rushing over to her father. She wrapped her arms around his neck in a great big hug and squeezed, prompting Doc to pick her up and squeeze in return. "–Thank you, daddy!"
Emmett grinned that dopey, lovestruck grin of his and ruffled his daughter's unruly ginger hair. "Of course, baby."
"–Wait, where's Jennifer and Clara?" Marty asked, glancing around the corner.
Through the entryway's screen door, he could see that their Ford was suddenly missing from the driveway. "I thought they were right behind us."
"They were–but Nick was being irritable, so they ran home to grab something real quick," Doc explained, patting Marty on the back. "Don't worry, they'll be here shortly."
That checked out. Even well before his second birthday, Nick had totally embraced what every parent dreaded– the terrible twos.
Marty was glad that Darcy hadn't been so fussy at his age.
Marty smiled and nodded, taking Doc's free hand in his and squeezing. "Cool."
"Well, your father should be arriving home with the Tannen's at any moment," Lorraine said, standing up from the table and assisting Linda in taking the groceries and putting them away. "I'll get started on prepping the hamburger patties.”
She pointed at Dave. “–You guys finish coloring your eggs, and after supper when everyone's here, we'll have an Easter Egg Hunt! How does that sound? Good?"
Dave and Linda nodded, and Doc handed Darcy over to Marty. "Allow me to help you, Lorraine–"
"Better than good," Marty grinned, brushing a knuckle over Darcy's chubby, freckle-covered cheek. "What do you think about that, Dar?"
"I'm excited to eat a hamburger," she giggled. Her tiny brow furrowed in determination. "And I'm totally gonna beat the other kids at the egg hunt!"
"Yeah you are!" Marty exclaimed, pressing his forehead to hers. "That's my girl."
Marty brought Darcy back to the table and took a seat, setting her down in his lap. "Wanna help mommy color an egg, baby?"
Darcy, enthused, quickly nodded–and practically dove for the container of eggs. "You should make a pink one, mommy! Like mine! Or a yellow one–yellow is daddy's favorite color–"
As the girl babbled on about what color their next egg should be, Marty glanced around. Dave was sitting beside them still, sipping a beer and glancing between his niece and the TV. Linda was humming and hawing to Lorraine about chipping one of her freshly-manicured nails while at the store.
Marty's eyes landed on his husband, who was standing at the kitchen sink, washing and peeling vegetables. He looked so handsome in that moment, that Marty couldn’t help but stare.
After a few seconds, Emmett caught his gaze and grinned. He winked at Marty, who returned it with a smile.
This was the first holiday their family's had spent together where Dave hadn't avoided them like the plague. Maybe he was finally starting to come around.
Life is good, Marty thought, turning his attention back to Darcy and her eggs.
"–Ooh, did you say yellow? Yeah! I think yellow would be pretty–don't you? Let's do yellow."