A/N: I'm back! I am still working on my other stories, this was just something I had going ages ago and just finished today. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I in no way, shape or form own the Thunderbirds. I am also broke cause this pastime doesn't pay. ;-)
Jeff looked around his house. It was so empty, so cold. They had already put the last of their things in the car waiting outside and now there was nothing but white walls and draughty rooms. The house was never this clean, he thought to himself. He and his wife had arrived here, the boys in tow, some eighteen years ago, and it had been a mess since.
Eighteen years. God, thought Jeff, it seemed like just yesterday they had walked in the door. Lucy holding a sleeping, six month old Alan, Jeff with one year old Gordon on his hip. Eight year old Scott and six year old John had run straight upstairs to see their rooms, followed faithfully by a four year old Virgil. They had been so young, so happy.
But a lot had changed since then. Jeff had lost his dear Lucy to an avalanche, not even two years after moving in. The boys had grown, oh how! Each one was six foot now and each one had made Jeff so proud.
And now they were leaving. Leaving to live on a tropical island no one knew the location of. Of course it was for a good cause. They were going to make Jeff's brain child a reality. A rescue service that would mean no one else would have to go through the pain they had when they lost Lucy.
But that didn't make leaving any easier. Right now the boys were off saying their goodbyes. He knew it was hard for them to leave everything they had known and commit themselves to a life of secrecy, of isolation. It was why he had talked to each of them at length about going. He didn't want them to regret their decision down the line. But each of his boys had stated with complete conviction that they would gladly join the team. Jeff had been very happy to hear this. He would have his whole family with him and he could ask for no more.
He once more looked around the house. Yes, leaving would be very hard. This house was his link to his boys childhoods. He could still remember coming home from work, the boys rushing out to tell him about their day. There would always be something new the babies had learnt and some story for the dinner table.
You could still see the growth chart on the living room wall. A myriad of lines following the growth of five boys. A sad gap about half way up the wall testimony to a time no one had the heart to record anything.
And there was the dent in the hall door caused by Scott's sudden ambition to be a professional baseball pitcher. He didn't have a bad shot for a nine year old, reflected Jeff, examining the dent. Then there was the permanently broken fence post out by the gate. John swore he'd never try to teach Gordon to park again. He'd got it in the end though. The back garden had once been dug up every summer to create, respectively; a swimming pool, a tennis court, a football field, and a whole list of other things.
But there was one thing that was really niggling at Jeff. One thing that was running around his subconscious. Lucy. He knew she would approve of his plans. He knew she'd be proud of the boys for taking on such responsibility. But he couldn't shake the feeling that by leaving this house he was leaving a little bit of her behind. The whole house, even after seventeen years, still rang true with her presence.
It was she that had started the growth chart, she that had greeted him with a kiss each evening. It was in this living room that she had taught Virgil to play piano. Here she had shown Johnny the stars that had later become his career. Jeff could still see her running through the hallway, sitting on the couch, laughing at the table, even after all this time.
For the first time he faltered, truly wondered if he could leave, start new somewhere else. He had never had to make a home. That was Lucy's job, she was so good at it. 'Children make a house alive' he could still hear her say that, smiling after Virgil attempted to finger paint the walls. But the boys weren't children anymore, they were adults. Young men, as Jeff had been, not that long ago.
A horn could be heard beeping from outside, jerking Jeff from his revere. Looking out of the window, he could see that all the boys had returned. They were leaning out of the people-carrier parked outside, waving to him. They also seemed to be having a heated argument over something. He sighed, time to go for real, leave the house to some other family and hope they fared better. Or, maybe to hope they fared even half aswell would be to bless them.
Jeff opened the door and stepped out. He could now hear his sons squabbling over front seats, music choices and car speeds. He closed the door behind him for the last time, and made his way to the drivers seat. His eldest sat beside him and noted his father's quiet mode.
"It's hard, to leave this all behind" Scott gestured to the house, "It's pretty much been our whole lives"
"Pretty much?" came Alan's voice, "Try fully our whole lives. I don't remember a time without this house"
"Me neither" stated Gordon, "It sure will be strange"
"Well, it won't be long before the new place feels like home" Scott once more spoke.
"Yeah" this was John, "Especially after the three babies spread their stuff everywhere for us to trip over, right Scott?"
"Sure thing" came Scott's reply, over a hail of protests.
Jeff smiled. Yes, the new house would soon feel like home. Children did make a house alive, but they didn't need to be children to do it, they just had to your children. With that he put the key in the ignition and started the car. He slowly pulled away from the kerb, putting their old home in rear view mirror, moving onwards to their new life.
A/N: So, what do you think? I tried to capture how hard it would have been to leave but that they was going onto something good for other people. Please review and tell me what you think.
