A/N – Hello, everyone! Here I am again with another little one-shot for you!
This one is dedicated to three wonderful people. Firstly, Loopstagirl, who originally inspired this story, then Teobi, who keenly encouraged it, and also my awesome big sister Kaet Huntacwene, who bought me a new set of Thunderbirds (I will not say toys!) models the other day because I couldn't find the ones we had when we were kids! Eeep!
Disclaimer: Apart from my super, new, mini Thunderbirds, I do not own anything here.
Hope you enjoy! x
I Don't Want to Stay Six!
14th February 2050
Scott watched helplessly as his little brother ran from the room and thudded upstairs. Everyone in the lounge was staring after the redhead and a few moments later they heard his bedroom door slam. Alan made to move towards the stairs after his big brother, but then stopped and looked worriedly at his dad, his lower lip sticking out in an anxious pout.
"I'll go, Dad," Scott said into the silence, turning his gaze from Gordon's abandoned plate of cake, picked at but not eaten. That in itself was strange; the fourth brother hadn't even licked the jam out of the centre of the cake.
The oldest brother sighed and wandered slowly up the stairs to the top floor. He passed John's room, the open door giving him a view of the organised stacks of books and neatly drawn star charts on the desk. Gordon's door was shut and the handmade sign had been changed to 'Go Away'. Scott knocked and waited for a response. When his request was met with silence, he turned the doorknob and pushed the door. It moved an inch or so before meeting the resistance of a small body sitting against it.
"Gordy?" Scott called, again waiting for an answer and again getting none. "Please let me in, Gords." Still silence. "Gordon?" He heard a sniff. "Come on, Fishy, I want to give you a hug." After a second, there was a shuffling sound and then the door opened slowly to reveal a very unhappy Gordon. Scott caught a quick glimpse of red-rimmed eyes and tears tracks before the small boy catapulted himself into this brother's arms, gripping tightly to Scott and muttering something incomprehensible into the fabric of Scott's blue shirt.
"What?" Scott carefully pulled his brother up, lifting him easily into his arms and hugging him tight, before carrying him over to the bed, treading around the scattered Lego that littered the floor in complete contrast to John's tidy bedroom next door. He sat Gordon on the edge of the bed, then kicked a pair of dirty socks away so he could kneel down in front of the redhead.
"Now, what's up, buddy?"
Gordon sniffed and offered him a watery smile, then whispered, "The sky is up, Scotty."
Scott chuckled and ruffled the ginger hair, Gordon leant into the touch causing Scott to smile slightly. Gordon was the only little brother that let him do that, John didn't like Scott messing up his hair and Virgil complained about Scott treating him like a kid. Even little five year old Alan objected to anyone 'scruffling his hair', as he put it, although whether he actually didn't like it or was just copying John, Scott wasn't sure.
"Ok, you've got me there," Scott muttered, grinning, "But what's up with you, eh? Why did you run away? You didn't even eat your cake." Scott's brow creased as Gordon turned away and fresh tears pooled in his eyes.
"I shouldn't get cake," he whispered.
That hadn't been what Scott was expecting, he looked at his little brother with shock clear in his eyes. "But, Gordy, it's your birthday cake. Of course you should get some!"
"But it can't be my birthday anymore; I'm going to stay six." The tears spilled over his reddened cheeks and he let out a little sob before crying, "I don't want to stay six!"
Still shocked, Scott immediately pulled Gordon into a hug, running his fingers through the ginger hair again. "But why do you think you're going to stay six, Fishy?"
"'Cause of the candles," Gordon hiccupped.
"The candles?" Scott frowned again, then gasped as he realised what Gordon was talking about.
Scott smirked as he walked out of his classroom and towards the end of the school where the lower grades had their classrooms. He still had the Valentine's card clutched tightly in his hand. It was from Rylee, he had sent her one too, blushing furiously as he'd handed it over and she had kissed him on the cheek. Ah, to be in love! His dad always chuckled when Scott mentioned Rylee and Grandma commented on how 'sweet' they were together. As if he was a kid! He was nearly eleven for goodness sake, it was only forty-nine days until his birthday. But today was his little brother's birthday.
Scott hadn't realised how far he had walked, while musing about Rylee, until he reached the end of the corridor; he'd walked right past Gordon's class. He quickly turned and walked back to the First Grade room, peering through the glass in the door. His brother was grinning wildly and Scott could hear the excited voices of twenty or so six and seven year olds singing 'Happy Birthday'. Scott grinned and as a last minute decision, pulled his backpack off his shoulders and slipped the Valentine's card into his reading book. He didn't want to detract attention away from his brother's birthday.
As the singing stopped, Scott watched Miss Alexander hand Gordon a big bar of chocolate and then the class all stood up, gathered their bags and headed for the door. Scott only just moved out of the way in time to avoid getting run down by the little kids milling out of the door. He side-stepped a small blonde girl and crouched down, scooping the running redhead into his arms and whirling him around. Gordon laughed, the grin almost splitting his face in half as Scott placed his feet back on the floor.
"Hey, Scott, looooooooook!" He lengthened the word in the way that only a six – sorry, seven – year old could, and held up his chocolate bar.
"Ooh, is that for me then?" Scott plucked it from his brother's grip only to receive an outraged squeal and an elbow in his stomach from the younger boy. He chuckled and handed the chocolate back. "Only joking, kiddo."
"I'm not a kiddo. I'm seven now!" Gordon said proudly.
"Well, not 'til half past four, Fish," Scott pointed out.
Gordon sighed, "Twenty-five past four, silly!"
Scott held his hands up in defeat, "Sorry, buddy. C'mon, we need to go find Al, Johnny and Virg."
Gordon grabbed his hand and began dragging Scott away towards the kindergarten rooms, where Scott knew John and Virgil would be waiting with Alan.
"Did you hear everyone singing? Everyone sung 'Happy Birthday' for me. It was really fun. I love my birthday!" Gordon chattered constantly until they reached the kindergarten. "I can't wait to be seven. Seven will be so much fun. Virg said seven is much better than six and-"Gordon was interrupted by a shout and a tiny figure with a mop of untidy blond hair flying towards him.
"Gordy! Look, what I made. I made it just for you!" Alan was waving a handmade card at Gordon, a very rough drawing of what was probably supposed to be him and Gordon on the front.
Gordon beamed and hugged Alan as John and Virgil laughed at their little brothers.
Scott shepherded them all to the doors of the school, Gordon and Alan talking to each other at a mile-a-minute, their conversation totally indiscernible to Scott, and John and Virgil discussing math homework. Virgil was trying to persuade John to do his homework for him, promising the blond he would give him his dessert all week if he did. Scott smiled to himself, he loved listening to his brothers' chatter. Then he frowned, this was the last year that they would all be at school together; next year he was moving up to the middle school and would have to get the bus home at the end of each day.
Gordon's laugh pulled him from his musings and he grinned again as he looked down at the redhead, who was snapping pieces off his bar of chocolate and handing them to each brother in turn.
"Thanks, Squirt," John put his arm around Gordon's shoulders, "So, only an hour and thirteen minutes until you're seven."
"See, Scott," Gordon turned to the oldest brother, "Johnny knows the right time. Johnny, Scott thought my birthday was at half past four."
John turned an outraged expression onto Scott and shook his head slowly, "It's 'cause he has two numbers in his age, he's getting old and he forgets things." He winked and Scott stuck his tongue out. This was an old joke, which John had been using ever since Scott's tenth birthday last year.
"There's Daddy." Virgil pointed to the entrance of the parking lot where their dad's silver Mercedes SUV had just pulled in.
The journey home was, as usual, loud. Gordon was telling them all in full detail about how everyone had sung him 'Happy Birthday' and how Miss Alexander had given him chocolate and how he had shared it with all of his brothers – Jeff responded with the praise he knew Gordon was aiming for. Gordon would have shared the chocolate anyway but he liked to be told that he was kind and generous, which his grandma and dad always did. Then, he proudly showed off the card Alan had given him, which made the little blond smile too. By the time they got home everyone in the car had massive smiles and were laughing at Gordon's over-flowing enthusiasm. Gordon always had that effect on people, but the added excitement of his birthday pushed the usually happy child into extreme delight.
He was too excited to even undo his seatbelt so Scott had to reach over and unclip him so he could run into the house. Knowing what would be waiting on the coffee table in the lounge, Scott hurried after the redhead, wanting to see the look on his face.
Grandma opened the door, receiving a hug that almost bowled her over and a square of chocolate from the birthday boy. Gordon was just beginning his tale of the class singing, again, when Grandma gently pushed him into the lounge. Scott saw Gordon's face light up and his mouth drop open, before he was momentarily blinded by the flash of the camera Virgil was pointing at the stunned Gordon. The little redhead walked slowly over to the coffee table which was laden with presents and a big sponge cake, decorated with coloured sugar fish candies and seven bright orange candles.
"Happy birthday, my special little man." Grandma knelt on the floor beside Gordon and pulled out a box of matches. "Now, do you want cake or presents first?"
"Ooh cake! Please Grandma!" Gordon added, bouncing on the balls of his feet in anticipation. Virgil came over and put his hands on Gordon's shoulder's, holding the boy still while their grandma lit the seven candles.
Jeff had sank onto the couch behind the coffee table and pulled Alan onto his lap, and John was stood by his knee, beaming at the over-excited brother in the middle of the room. Scott went and stood next to Gordon as Virgil sat down, cross-legged, on the floor by the cake's end of the table.
"Alright, Fishy, ready to blow out all the candles?"
Gordon jumped up and down a few times before realising he would have to stay still in order to blow out the flickering flames.
"Ok, are you watching?" He turned to Jeff, "Are you watching, Daddy?"
"I'm watching, son."
"Ok, ready?" Gordon grinned then sucked in a huge breath and, glancing around quickly to make sure everyone was looking at him, blew out as hard as he could at the candles. Six of them went out at once and the seventh sputtered and looked like it was about to go out. But the second Gordon stopped blowing, it flickered and the flame popped back up. The seventh candle stayed lit.
Gordon stared at it disbelievingly. A fleeting expression of shock, anger and unhappiness crossed his face before he huffed it out. Everyone cheered and Grandma kissed him on the forehead but the slightly glum look didn't leave Gordon's face. Grandma passed him the knife and he cut the first slice of cake, then handed the knife back to Grandma.
He seemed to have lost all of his bounce as he sat down on the floor, leaning against the armchair and quietly watching as Grandma cut up the cake and put each piece on a plate and passed them out with a handful of forks.
Scott watched as Gordon accepted his plate and fork but instead of shovelling the cake into his mouth like Virgil did, he just poked at it with the fork. Wordlessly, the family started to eat the cake, all aware of Gordon's sudden change of mood but unaware of its cause. After a silent minute of staring at the cake in front of him, Gordon jumped to his feet and ran from the room.
Scott ran his hand soothingly up Gordon's back as his younger brother cried.
"You're upset 'cause you didn't blow out all of the candles?" he asked gently. Gordon sniffed and nodded.
"Lawrence said that you have to blow out all the candles to prove you're older. I didn't blow them all out so I'm not seven and I will have to stay six." Gordon let out another sob that broke Scott's heart. "I don't want to stay six! Virgy said seven was better than six but I can't be seven, I have to stay six and I don't want to, Scotty!"
"Gordy, you won't have to stay six-"
"But I didn't blow out the candles!"
"That doesn't mean anything though, Fishy," Scott tried to explain, running his fingers through Gordon's hair once more.
"But… but Lawrence said?"
"Well, he was wrong. C'mon, who knows more, Lawrence or your awesome big brother?"
"Awesome big brother," Gordon sniffed, burying his face into Scott's chest. Scott inwardly winced as he felt the tears soaking through his shirtfront.
"Of course! And I say you will be seven." Suddenly, inspiration hit and Scott pushed Gordon away so he could look him in the face. Gordon's amber eyes were still wet but no new tears fell. "Anyway, what time is your birthday, Gordo?"
"Twenty-five past four."
"Exactly, and what time is it now?"
Gordon glanced up at his alarm clock, and then frowned, "Eleven o'clock?"
Scott followed his gaze to the clock on Gordon's nightstand, it did indeed say eleven o'clock. Scott watched it for a moment before pointing out, "The second hand isn't moving, the batteries must have run out." He chuckled.
"Oh." Gordon grabbed Scott's wrist and pulled the watch towards him. "It's ten past four, then?"
"Yup. And you know what that means?" Gordon looked at Scott questioningly. "It means that you're not seven yet and when you blew the candles out you were still six so you only blew out six candles. If you tried again after twenty-five past four…"
"I could blow them all out! And then I will be seven."
Scott nodded and Gordon squealed and leapt at him, wrapping his arms around Scott's neck. Scott hugged him tight and ruffled up his hair again making Gordon laugh. That was better; Gordon laughing was definitely preferable to Gordon crying.
Grinning at his little brother, Scott turned around so Gordon could climb onto his back, then stood up and carried him to the bathroom. Setting him down on the edge of the bath, he ran the cold tap onto a clean flannel and washed Gordon's face, making a show of pretending to scrub his freckles off. Gordon giggled and splashed water at Scott, who then rolled his eyes and splashed him back, quickly turning the tap off before Gordon could splash him again and get them both soaking wet.
"Time check, Gordo." Scott held his watch out.
"Quarter past four."
"Uh oh, better hurry, or we might miss your birthday!"
He lifted Gordon onto his back again, jumping slightly to get him settled comfortably, then galloped down the hall, Gordon's shrieking laugh loud in his ears.
Once they'd made their way back downstairs, Scott set Gordon's feet back on the ground and pushed him towards the lounge door. As soon as they walked into the lounge, Virgil and John both pulled Gordon into a quick hug then led him back over to the coffee table, still loaded with presents. Jeff looked worriedly at Scott, but the oldest brother just sent him an 'I'll tell you later' look and picked up Alan. Then looked over at Grandma.
"Grandma?"
"Yes, sweetie?"
"Can Gordon have the candles relit on his cake at twenty-five past four, please?"
Grandma shot Gordon an understanding look, she had guessed that missing the last candle had been the reason for the redhead's bad mood. "Of course he can."
Gordon grinned at them all and started bouncing on his toes again, his eyes wandering to the gifts set on the table beside the cake. Scott noticed his dad looking relieved and shot him a wink. They both grinned and turned to Gordon, who was now poking the big pile of presents, Virgil pointing out which was from him and John chuckling at something the redhead had said. Alan squirmed in Scott's arms so he put him down and his grin spread further as the five year old wrapped his arms around Gordon's waist and Gordon pulled him up beside him to see the presents.
"Gords," Scott called, receiving no answer as the excited boy gently shook one of the presents, "Gordon?"
"Huh?"
"Time check, buddy." Scott grinned, having already checked the time himself.
Gordon ran to his side and looked at the watch. Then jumped up, almost bashing his head on Scott's chin, and cheered.
"Ready?" Scott asked, getting an excited nod in return. "Five, four, three, two, one! Happy Birthday!" Scott picked Gordon up and whirled him round, before setting him down next to Grandma, who was lighting the candles again.
Gordon bit his lip as he looked at the seven flickering flames, then stuck his chin out determinedly and took a deep breath. He turned to smile at Scott quickly before letting all his breath out in one long huff. All seven candles went out and Scott released the breath he didn't realise he had been holding and whooped.
"Yes! I'm seven! I'm seven! I'm seven! Scotty, I'm seven!"
"Yeah you are, buddy!"
"Johnny, I'm seven!"
"I know, Gordy," John said around a laugh and a huge grin.
"I'm seven, Virg. You were right, it is better than six!"
"I'm always right!" Virgil said haughtily, before collapsing into giggles and giving Gordon a hug.
"Allie, guess how old I am. I'm seven!"
Alan grinned wickedly, "Yeah, you're old now! Like Scott!"
"Hey!"
"Daddy, I'm seven."
"Yes you are, my son." Jeff couldn't contain his happiness, Gordon's glee was infectious and he copied Scott's earlier actions and picked Gordon up and whirled him around. "Whoa, you're getting bigger now you're seven, Gordon! Too heavy!" He put him down and ruffled up the already messy ginger hair.
Gordon ran to Grandma and gave her a hug before looking up at her with gleaming eyes. "I can eat my cake now, Grandma, 'cause now I'm seven."
Grandma smiled and kissed him on the forehead, passing him a fork and the plate of cake he had abandoned earlier. He tucked in enthusiastically.
"Mmmmmm, best cake ever."
A/N – Virtual cake for reviews this time! Aren't you excited? I have word that it is the 'best cake ever' so I hope that encourages you to leave a little review!
Thanks,
LiGi x