February 14, 2075
Grandma Tracy woke up rather suddenly that morning. She thought someone had whispered something in her ear, but when she sat up and looked around, there was no sign that anyone had been in the room. She shook her head as she realized it must have been a dream.
Her glance fell on her bedside clock. "Land sakes!" she exclaimed. "Eight o'clock already? I'd better get dressed and join them for breakfast before they all come bursting in to see if I'm alright." She dressed quickly, washed her face and brushed her hair, then left her room.
As she entered the dining room, she found everyone already at the expanded table. "Good morning, all."
Replies of "Good morning, Mother", "Morning, Grandma", and "Happy Valentine's Day", were punctuated by excited squeals and cries of "Opah!" "Opah!"
With a smile, she accepted a hug and kiss from her son, who rose to greet her. Then she walked down to accept hugs and kisses from Alan and Tin-Tin's three-year-old twins. She took, with a word of thanks, the napkin her granddaughter-in-law handed her and wiped off bits of the twins' breakfast that had transferred to her cheeks.
Finally seated, she greeted Kyrano, who brought her food and coffee. As he poured her some juice, she apologized for not getting up in time to help him make the breakfast.
"No apologies are necessary," he replied. "It is a pleasure to cook for so many healthy appetites." He glanced over at his grandchildren and smiled – rather fatuously, she thought. Then she mentally shook herself, realizing that she probably smiled at them the same way. She knew that Jeff did, when he thought no one was looking.
"So," she said, turning to the pretty brunette sitting next to her, "what do you and Scott have planned for today?"
The eldest Tracy son's fiancée looked up and said, "I don't know. He says we're going to spend the day alone together, but won't tell me where or what we'll be doing." As she glanced with fond exasperation at the man seated on her other side, he leaned toward her, placing one arm across the back of her chair.
"Perhaps I decided to whisk her off somewhere to play 'doctor'," he said with a comical leer.
"Scott Tracy!" both Grandma and Renate exclaimed, then joined in the general laughter going around the table.
Scott had met his future bride in New York when, while at Tracy Industries, he'd had to be rushed to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy. She was the surgeon who operated on him – Dr. Renate Miller. One thing had led to another and – with Jeff's approval – he'd proposed to her on Christmas Day.
Once the mirth subsided, Renate turned back to her future grandmother-in-law. "Scott tells me that you were married on Valentine's Day."
"Yes, that's right." Grandma's face softened as memories flooded her mind. "Grant and I would have been married 67 years today. And Jeff and his late wife, Lucille, would have been celebrating their forty-third anniversary." She looked over at her son, who gazed at her with a sad smile on his face.
"And now it's Alan and Tin-Tin's fifth anniversary. We seem to have a Tracy tradition of at least one family member getting married on this date," exclaimed Gordon. He held up his juice glass. "A toast – to anniversaries, especially on Valentine's Day."
Alan responded, "And Happy Birthday to you, Gordon." Everyone raised their glasses and saluted each other.
Breakfast was soon over and the day passed with small Valentine surprises popping up for different family members, as well as birthday treats for the second youngest son. Toward the middle of the afternoon, Grandma grew tired. Old age can sure wear a body down. She went to her room to rest. She decided to go out onto her balcony and rest in the glider. Relaxing, she closed her eyes, but didn't sleep. She let the memories of her life with her husband return, occasionally pausing as one or another stood out – her wedding day (and night!), Jeff's birth, a party, an anniversary. . .
When one anniversary in particular popped into her mind, her eyes opened. She stood up and went back inside. Moving over to a chest at the foot of her bed, she knelt down and opened it. It was her maternal great-great grandmother's hope chest, passed down through the daughters in the family until it came to her. She began carefully searching through the contents until she found what she was looking for.
It was one of her journals, and she lifted it out, closing the chest. Then she walked back out to the glider and sat down. Opening the book, she slowly turned the pages, until she came to the entry she was looking for. It was dated "February 14, 2038". She began to read.
I guess I should date this as the 15th, since it's probably after midnight by now. But I'm so happy, I don't want this day to end. So many wonderful things happened today that I have to write them down right now.
Even though it's our thirtieth anniversary, it started as all days do on a farm. We got up before the sun (easy to do in the winter) and Grant did the chores – helped by Jeff - while I made breakfast and Lucille took care of our grandson. When Grant came in again, he kissed me and wished me a happy Valentine's Day, then washed up while I dished up the food.
When I sat down, I found a Valentine card from Grant by my plate. He loves to sneak little surprises in whenever he can. It's one of his most endearing traits. I try to do the same thing to him, but I'm not as good at it as he is.
Lucille has been living with us (and Jeff, when he's home), along with their son, Scott, which is nice. She's a big help around the place, and the boy is a daily joy. It's fascinating, the way he acts nowadays, whenever anyone gets hurt. Now that he's walking, if he hears someone say "Ow", he toddles over to make sure they are okay, or they get cared for. His mother and I often shamelessly abuse this trait, saying "Ow" or "Ouch", just so he'll come over and give us kisses to heal the "owie". Both Grant and Jeff have scolded us for doing this, but I've seen each of them do the same thing when they thought no one else was around.
Later, in the afternoon, we went to a neighbor's home for a party. We celebrated the holiday, the fact that the winter had been relatively mild and trouble-free, our anniversary, Jeff and Lucille's anniversary (it's a well known joke that Grant told his son to marry on Valentine's Day, too, so they could remind each other when it was coming), Lucille's pregnancy, and the fact that Jeff was safely back from a trip to the moon.
Jeff got home two weeks ago, and he and Grant got together in private. Lucille and I knew that they were cooking up something, but couldn't worm what it was out of either of them. But we found out today.
Jeff and Lucille left first, saying that Scott needed a nap and his dinner, plus they wanted to celebrate their anniversary privately. Grant and I stayed for a couple more hours then left, too.
Now you wouldn't expect a farmer, the son of farmers, to be very romantic. Even though there's a lot of computerization now, it's still lots of work to run a farm, and Grant's a hard worker. But he's also one of the most romantic men I know, and Jeff takes after him in that respect. When we got back to the house, the living room had been decorated, with a table for two, set with wine (neither Grant nor I like champagne very much), flowers and candles. It was so beautiful that I started to cry.
Grant just laughed and handed me a tissue then held me. We had some wine, with cheese and crackers, and held hands, talking for I don't know how long. Then Jeff and Lucille came in, and while I was thanking Lucille for the decorations, our son went over to his father.
A minute or two later, Grant took me by the hand and led me over to the sofa. We sat down and he said, "Many times over the years I've told you that I wished I could give you the moon. Well, even now I can't, but – thanks to our son – I can give you a piece of it." He handed me a box and when I opened it, I found a heart shaped sliver of gray stone contained by silver wire and on a silver chain. I took it out, and Grant fastened it around my neck. I was so moved by this, and I thanked him properly.
A few minutes later Jeff and Lucille joined us from the other side of the room. Bangle bracelets are Lucille's favorite jewelry and Jeff had had one made with small pieces of moon rock embedded in it. We admired each other's gifts (I won't say what we gave our husbands – our gifts weren't nearly as romantic!) and thanked our husbands again.
But Grant had another surprise. As Jeff moved the table to one side, he went over to the stereo and put in a CD on which he'd burned different old romantic songs that we've always liked. On it were "No Fair at All", and "Cherish", by the Association, "Something" by the Beatles, "Kiss From a Rose" by Seal, "Lady" by Kenny Rogers, and even older songs like "Our Love is Here to Stay". They just don't make them like they used to.
Anyway, we danced until it was late and we were tired. So Grant and I said goodnight to Jeff and Lucille and we went to our room. I won't write here what we did, but if anyone else ever reads this after I'm dead (and it had better not be before!), and that person is with the one he or she loves, I won't have to.
I think I can sleep now. I couldn't until I'd written this down. Goodnight.
As she read the last words, Grandma closed her eyes and slept. Two hours later she awoke refreshed and went back inside. She put the journal back, then headed to the kitchen to see what needed to be done before she dressed for dinner. She found that the preparations had been made, with just a couple of last minute adjustments still pending. There was a video set up so John and his new wife, Caryl, could join them from Thunderbird 5. Grandma approved the décor, sniffing appreciatively at the scents from the kitchen, then headed back to her room.
She showered and dried herself off, then set about choosing what she'd wear. Remembering what she'd read that afternoon, she chose a sapphire blue dress and matching shoes. Going to her dressing table, she opened her jewelry box and selected earrings. Then she went back to her hope chest, and opened it. She found a small box in a tray she hadn't touched in years, not wanting to wear what was in it after Grant died, but unable to part with it either. Now it was time for it to be worn.
When she walked into the lounge upstairs, where everyone gathered before dinner, Jeff took one look at her and smiled. An idea occurred to him and he turned to his computer and began a search. As he let his computer do its job, the eyes on John's portrait began flashing.
Jeff touched a control at the desk and said, "Go ahead, John."
The portrait changed to a live feed of the third son and his bride, holding glasses of wine. "Happy Valentine's Day!" they said in unison. "May you be as happy as we are right now," added Caryl.
Everyone in the lounge returned the salute enthusiastically. Even the twins, who had white grape juice in their cups, cried out, "Happy Van Ties Day" and drank.
John looked at his brothers and said, "So everyone is okay after their Valentine rescue?"
Grandma was startled. "What rescue? I never heard any of the Thunderbirds leave."
"Not to worry, Grandma," Gordon replied as he walked over and put an arm around her. You were so sound asleep that, according to Kyrano, you never batted an eye when we left."
"Don't get cheeky with me, young man. What happened?"
"A ship in the Caribbean on a Valentine cruise had its engines and navigation equipment suddenly stop functioning," said Virgil. "And it was heading toward an unexpected squall. Other ships experienced the same problems when they got near and couldn't help. So it was, once again, International Rescue to the rescue."
"Don't tell me they went into the Bermuda Triangle."
Gordon grinned. "No, Grandma. It was a magnetic disturbance caused mostly by the storm. But, thanks to Brains' newest upgrades, we were able to keep it from affecting our equipment and move the ship out of the area, with no injuries. The ship's engines and navigational equipment began to function again, and the captain plotted a new course. John was able to determine how wide the area of disturbance was and informed them, so they wouldn't get into trouble again. He also informed the NOAA, so they could warn any other ships about it."
"Now how in heaven's name were you able to move a cruise ship? I know that Thunderbird 4 can do a lot that other undersea vessels can't , but move something that big? I don't think so."
Scott grinned. "Well, we'd tell you, Grandma, but then we'd have to kill you. And I don't think anyone here would want to do that."
"Oh, you foolish boy!" she replied, her eyes twinkling, as everyone laughed.
Kyrano walked in just then to announce dinner. Jeff told John and Caryl to get their dinner and they would be switched to the screen in the dining room, so they could all be together to eat. They smiled and agreed.
Several minutes later they were gathered in the dining room. The food was delicious, the conversation lively, the twins were well behaved for the most part, and no one felt sad or left out. Grandma gazed around at those surrounding her, both in person and on screen, and was satisfied. Grant, I know you wanted Jeff to take over the farm, but look at how well he's done. He has five fine sons, a beautiful home and a dream realized. The future of the Tracy family looks very good. You should be proud; I know I am.
After dessert - apple and cherry pies, made by Grandma, of course - everyone went back to the lounge. Jeff's computer was softly chiming and he went to his desk to check on it. Although his search had yielded results, that hadn't caused the signal. "Hey, everyone. I've gotten a message from Brains." His genius engineer was in Geneva, at a conference. He clicked on the icon as everyone gathered at the desk to hear, and turned the screen so they could all see it.
Brains' smiling image appeared. "Happy V-Valentine's Day, uh, everybody. I know y-you are all probably at, uh, dinner, but t-this is the only time I, uh, could s-send this. The conference is going, uh, well, and my p-paper was well received. I expect to b-be here for, uh, a few more d-days.
"B-by the way, I heard about the rescue in the, uh, C-Caribbean. Nice w-work. I'll want to hear all the, uh, d-details when I get b-back. S-so here's to a happy holiday, Happy Birthday to Gordon and Happy Anniversary to Alan and Tin-Tin." He raised his hand and they saw a glass.
"I bet that's white grape juice," whispered Alan to Tin-Tin with a wink and a grin. "The twins' stash has been disappearing too quickly."
They all saluted his image as it disappeared. Then they broke up into small groups, leaving Grandma standing at the desk with Jeff. He looked up at her and said, "You've gotten some nice gifts from the boys today, but I couldn't think of what to give you myself."
"Land sakes, Jeff. You don't need to give me anything. You've already given me so much."
He smiled. "Well, when I saw you walk into the lounge before dinner, I knew what to do." He pressed a couple of keys on his computer and stood up. As music began to play, he asked, "May I have this dance?"
She gave a start as she recognized the first song from that CD Grant had made so many years ago, and tears came into her eyes. "To think you saved it all this time," she whispered as she moved into his arms. They began to dance, and when the song ended, the others joined them. She danced with each of her grandsons, who also made sure the other ladies were partnered. Alan and Gordon caused a laugh when they each danced with one of the twins in his arms.
When the songs were over, she put a hand on her son's cheek and said, "Thank you, Jeff." He took it in his and kissed it.
As she left to go to her room for the night, he heard her whisper, "Happy Anniversary, Grant."