I took a break from Head in the Clouds to write a little fluff. I hope you like it and special thank you to Red Hardy for beta'ing this. Let me know what ya think :)

Better Baby Brudders

Four-year-old Gordon Tracy was not very happy. In fact to say he was anywhere near the realm of happy would have been greatly overstating his current state of being. He was just so angry, so furious even, that he could spit – or cry – and since Scott got mad at him the last time he spit on the floor, the little red-head went with his second choice and wailed.

The effect was immediate; a pounding of feet throughout the house heralded two older brothers with an anxious, "Gordie?" and "What's wrong?"

Even at the ages of eight and ten, John and Scott never failed to come fix things for Gordon whenever the world just got too big for him. Virgil, his other older brother wasn't home. He was away with them and the crying child had never felt so abandoned. So unloved!

"Virgil don't love me no more!" he sobbed flinging himself dramatically into Scott's arms. He felt John pat him on the back as Scott sat on the floor and pulled Gordon into his lap. "He don't want me anymore!"

"Gordie?" Scott frowned. "Don't be so silly, of course Virgil loves you, why would you say that?"

"'Cause now he's got a new baby. A better baby brudder."

"Brother." John was always correcting him and Gordon stopped fussing long enough to give the blond a glare.

"What do you mean better? A baby isn't better, silly," Scott gave him a quick hug, "and certainly not better than you." He tried tickling Gordon but the little red-head wasn't having any of it and pushed away not quite ready to let his hurt go yet.

"Newer is better. That's what Uncle Marty always says." Gordon idolized his mother's older brother, Marty, even if the colorful man always seemed to be trying to stay 'one step ahead of the man', whatever that meant.

"Yeah, well…" Scott frowned and Gordon saw him glance at John.

"Yeah, well, Uncle Marty's not always right. In fact, according to Dad, he's a bad influence on us… and besides that would mean you're better then me, and there's no way you're better than me, although I am definitely way better than Scott."

"Hey!" Gordon couldn't help but giggle at Scott's outcry. "Back on topic, Space-Boy. And the topic is Virgil and the new baby and I can promise you, Squirt, that Virgil doesn't love Alan any better than you. I mean how could he? There's only one Gordon Cooper Tracy in the whole world!" Dark eyes shone with affection and Gordon felt himself smiling shyly.

"And thank God for that," John muttered, then winked and poked Gordon in the ribs before the younger boy could do more than open his mouth in protest.

"So why'd he go then?"

" 'Cause, silly head." He waited for Scott to impart some wisdom. His older brother always knew how to fix things. "He's the only one who hasn't seen the baby yet. Remember, Virg's been sick and didn't get to go with us before." Gordon frowned. Well that was true… Their father had taken him and John and Scotty to see their new brother the day Alan was born but Virgil was getting over a bad chest cold and everyone was afraid that the new baby would get sick, or sicker actually. It already was pretty scrawny looking if you asked Gordon but that was two weeks ago so maybe by the time they could bring Alan home, he'd look less like a chicken and more like a baby was supposed to.

"I still wish we could get a puppy instead." Gordon grumbled, placated for the moment about his place in Virgil's heart. Scott was very wise about these things. He leaned back against his older brother and plucked absently at the hem of Scott's red t-shirt.

"Me too," John readily agreed and then shrugged when Scott raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What? I'm being honest. You'd rather I lied to Gordon?" Now John looked indignant. "What kind of example would that be setting?"

Scott rolled his eyes but Gordon laughed – John was weird sometimes. He supposed it came from being real smart. That's what Virgil said anyways and, when Virgil wasn't running off to trade Gordon in for a newer model, the six-year-old was pretty smart himself.

"Well why can't we?" New life infused the four-year-old at the idea, he sat up straight and looked from one brother to the other. "We haven't brought him home yet, maybe the hospital could keep him and we could get a puppy instead. I want a Labrador. We can even call the puppy Alan if that would make Mom and Dad happy since they worked so hard to choose that name!" He was getting very excited at the idea.

John was laughing out loud and even Scott looked like he was trying to control himself so Gordon was certain he'd hit on a wonderful idea.

"I'm sure we can take back the baby stuff too, or maybe give it to whoever's gonna get the baby." He stood up and grabbed Scott's hand. "C'mon, Scotty, let's call Mommy. Babies are lots more work then puppies and I bet Mommy will love our idea!"

"Yeah, Scott, let's call Mom and Dad," John was definitely on Gordon's side about this. The little boy didn't quite get sarcasm yet.

"So," Scott finally stood and looked at Gordon seriously, "you're okay with just giving our brother away?"

"The baby," Gordon corrected, "we haven't brought him home yet so he isn't a brother until then."

"Did you know that when you were born, Virgil wanted a baby sister?"

Gordon was shocked.

"Yup, a sister. He was ready to move out when he found out you were a boy. He even had a name picked out for you." John was grinning again and Gordon resisted the urge to kick him. "Delores, if I remember right."

"Delores?" Gordon was appalled. "A sister?"

"I remember that," John cut in, "he was only two and toddling around the house muttering 'Delores, Delores, Delores'," the older boy shivered, "it was kinda creepy actually."

"And I wanted a water gun when John was born." Now it was Scott's turn to grin as John looked indignant.

"You can't remember back that far!" John challenged.

Scott smirked. "You'd be surprised what I can remember."

John scowled and Gordon giggled. "A water gun?"

"It sure sounded like a fair trade to me."

"I bet," John was still frowning.

"Ah, c'mon, Johnny," Scott grabbed him in a head-lock and mussed his hair. "I was two. Now I wouldn't trade ya for the world."

John pulled away and made a show of fixing his hair. "Of course you wouldn't. A water gun can't give you an alibi."

Scott chuckled. "Very true."

"So what'd John want when Virgil was born?" Gordon just had to know and so did John too as he was watching Scott just as eagerly now. Apparently super brain didn't have a super memory.

"Yeah, Mr. Memory, what'd I want?"

Scott grinned. "To give me back!"

That had both younger boys in stitches and Gordon started to second guess the puppy. Maybe having a little brother wouldn't be too bad… after all each of his older brothers had one, or two, and even three, maybe he could afford one.

One.

They did have a big house.

And Mommy had gone and bought all that stuff.

And well, the baby did kinda belong to him…

The boys were led into a mutely lit private room. Their mother was sitting in a rocking chair looking tired but happy. She smiled at her boys and beckoned them closer. Their father was standing proudly next to something that looked like a plastic aquarium. Gordon liked aquariums. Anxiously, he moved forward, Scott's hand on his back in encouragement and he peered inside to see what was on display. He gasped in surprise and looked at his father. Jeff Tracy smiled warmly, "It's okay," he promised. Gordon looked back at the tiny baby. It was so small… and wrinkled.

"Gordon, this is your little brother, Alan… Congratulations, little man, you're a big brother now."

He mulled the words over in his head as John tackled Scott and the two boys went down to the floor.

Your little brother.

Gordon's little brother.

He pursed his lips. It didn't exactly have the same ring as 'Gordon's puppy' but if Scott was okay with John instead of a water gun – John straddled Scott and they rolled into the wall – then he supposed he could find something to do with this new baby.

And then he thought about Virgil and huffed, Delores?

"Hey Scotty?" Gordon interrupted just as Scott got the upper hand again and was squishing John into the ground. "When is Virgil going to be home?"

John grunted out from beneath Scott's larger bulk, "Fine, you big oaf, jets rule, space drools! Now get off!"

"I dunno." Grinning like a madman, Scott got to his feet, then grabbed John and pulled him up with him. They both leaned over to dust off their clothes. "Tonight sometime, when Dad comes home." Their mother had been discharged a week ago but Gordon knew Alan was still too small to come home so she was staying with him until he could, but their father came home as often as he could. "Why?"

"'Cause I got to ask him why he wanted to call me Delores instead of something really cool like Esmeralda!"

John howled in laughter as Scott just shook his head then deadpanned, "Definitely no one else on the planet like this one."

Thank God.

He's ours.

The End.