A Tracy's fiery red head daughter

I don't own any of the thunderbirds nor any relation to that of the little mermaid! Read and enjoy! This has to be one of my favourite stories I've written!

Summary – Gordon faces the ups and downs of being a single father to his own redheaded daughter who enjoys putting him and her uncle's through their paces as the teen years set in.

Date – 2060 – Age order: Scott 21, John 20, Virgil 19, Gordon 17 and Alan 16 (to begin with)

Chapter 1

The low sinking summer sun presented a sheppard's delight that blurred the Kansas countryside in warm oranges and coral pinks, and the few visible farmhouses tucked between the various cornfields settled for the clear starry night to come. The Tracy household that evening was to be expecting the arrival of 3 visitors' of who hadn't seen the family home for well over several months.

Jeff and his mother Ruth, were preparing what seemed to be a meal big enough to feed a whole army. But in the Tracy's case, this was very much the intention as Ruth knew all of her grandsons would be ravenous by the time they stepped in the door. The mother and son were alone and enjoying the last of the quite for that week, when the two youngest Tracy sons entered the kitchen babbling on about their older siblings coming home,

"Did Scott tell you to get the hanger ready for his jet?" Gordon questioned Alan as he reached into the cupboard for the plates.

"He'll be landing soon, so it better be" Jeff chipped in over this shoulder.

"Yeah he did, and yes I did" Alan replied as he gathered the numerous pieces of cutlery, "I can't believe their all gunna be home soon, it's been a couple of years since we were all under the same roof at once"

"Yeah just don't start any arguments Allie, it's the last thing any of them need"

Gordon walked into the dining room with Alan close in tow as their bickering continued. Jeff rolled his eyes as he continued to carve the huge joint of meat, he had been looking forward to seeing his three oldest, but wasn't looking forward to the childish play that was more than likely to erupt, curtsey of the youngest was more than probable.

20 minutes later when everything was set out on the table, there was a knock on the door. The knocking itself had such a rhythm to it, everyone knew exactly who it was; Virgil. Alan jumped up from the sofa and rushed to open the door, before being engulfed in a forceful embrace,

"Hey Allie! Long time no see!" exclaimed Virgil as he squeezed the breath out of his brother,

"Virg, it's good to see you too, but I need oxygen!"

Virgil released Alan with a clap on the back and a Tracy smile that all the girls seemed to melt at, before opening his arms again to greet Gordon, who practical flew across the hallway. Virgil too squeezed all of the air out of the water breathing Gordon and stepped back to look at his youngest brothers,

"You two have grown like another inch! You need to slow down otherwise you're both going to over take me"

"Hate to disappoint Virg, but I'm already that little bit taller than you" Gordon commented,

Virgil looked to the top of Gordon's head and tilted his own slightly and nodded defeat, before being approached by his father. Jeff merely stuck his hand out and firmly shook that of his middle sons',

"Welcome home son" Jeff stated proudly before embracing Virgil warmly.

Virgil hadn't been home for what seemed forever, but he had only been gone 13 months. Virgil loved his family dearly and loved visiting them all,

"So Virgil" Jeff continued, "How's Denver? Enjoying yourself?"

"Very much so Dad, it's just brilliant. We've started a project that's believed to have such a shockwave on today's aviation elevation mechanisms, its confidential"

Gordon and Alan nodded impressively and looked to each other to confirm they would break Virgil by the end of the week; telepathy worked well between the terrible two. Jeff looked over to them both as they started to wonder away whistling innocently into the living room, Jeff couldn't help but smile to his middle son,

"Better watch those two; you might not make it back to Denver alive"

Virgil laughed heartily feeling relaxed and glad to be home. He smiled to his father, who looked round him in interest and walked out the door Virgil had come in from. Jeff looked over to the driveway to find that Alan had parked his red tuned up Ferrari California next to his own 4x4 Lexus. Jeff felt proud of Alan in that his motor-head son was willing to place his pride and joy out on the driveway so that Scott could put the jet in the hanger, of which Jeff could hear nearing the runway strip out in the nearby field. He turned to Virgil at spying his car,

"A Chevrolet Cruze? In white?"

"It's only a rental, I wasn't going to drive the trek, so I flew and that's what they had that actually had any form of power"

Jeff smiled, even his art loving son wanted something with a tiger's roar,

"That's understandable, although you could have got Scott to get you"

"No it's ok, besides he only got off this morning and he would have been flying for several hours already"

"Virgil that's what he does"

"I thought it only be fair"

Jeff walked with Virgil over to the landing strip as the sound of whirling jet engines grew closer. Although the sun had set it was just light enough for the light-weight jet to land without the need for lighting the runway. Jeff always smiled broadly when he saw Scott's Cessna Citation V jet in its glorious approach, despite its age of 13 years, Virgil had helped the company in Kansas design it's updated and modernized models whilst Jeff funded the project.

Scott landed his jet perfectly and rolled it slowly into the open hanger before shutting down the engines and doing all the shutdown checks. He opened the door and stepped out down onto the small staircase as he breathed in the evening Kansas air. He hadn't been home in over 2 years in which he had raised the ranks in the Air Force and was in need of returning to his family home so that he could relax for a bit. He walked out of the hanger and hit the automatic closing switch to be greeted with that of Virgil's embrace,

"Hey Scott! How dare you leave for two years!"

"Hey Virg, I'm sorry but works been demanding" Scott laughed before Jeff intervened,

"Welcome home Scott, you look very smart in your uniform son"

Scott looked down at his commander uniform before turning a shade of light pink. He was being told by a former 'Colonel' that he looked 'smart' and found it slightly embarrassing that it was his own father. Scott held out his hand to his father whilst saluting with his left. Jeff couldn't help but chuckle at the near reflection of himself years beforehand as Scott stood straight and tall. He took Scott's hand and shook it with equal strength and mirrored his salute, but with a more relaxed posture,

"At ease Commander, you can relax whilst home son"

"Thanks Father, it's good to be back"

"Glad to hear it, now let's go and wait for John"

"I hope he's not long" added Virgil, "Im really hungry"

"When you not little bro?" Scott laughed as he, Virgil and Jeff started to walked back to the house.

They reached the driveway, laughing heartily when they saw two sets of headlights appear up the drive way, one set belonging to that of John's Toyota prius and the other belonging to an undercover black police car. Jeff looked to Scott and Virgil in slight worry and as the vehicles slowed to a halt he signalled for Virgil and Scott to stay back. Scott watched his father walk toward the cars as Virgil whispered,

"You know out of all of us, I wouldn't have expected Johnny to be the one coming home with the police on his tail; maybe he got an escort, lucky bas-"

"I don't like this one bit Virg; I hope it's nothing serious"

"Well they look pretty serious, but judging by John's face he's just as confused as we are"

"I don't think somehow I'm going to be getting my sleep tonight"

Relaxing has been erased from my 'to do list', looks like its gunna be a long night...