This was it. This was the moment. All eyes swung to the door as four figures entered.
"Tin-Tin, darling, how did it go? Is everything all right?"
Jeff smiled as his mother rushed over to the young woman. A well-meaning struggle ensued, for Tin-Tin would not let the older woman take her bag.
"Grandma, it's fine," she said. "I can manage my purse!"
"I know you can, child," Grandma said, keeping a firm grip on the bag. "But that doesn't mean you should. You've got to protect that precious darling in there. It's my only great-grandchild, after all. Do you know if it's a girl or a boy? No! Scratch that, I don't want to know. I want it to be a surprise!"
Chuckling, Jeff watched as his eighty-four year old mother ushered Tin-Tin to the couch, fussing and clucking. It brought back fond memories of Lucy receiving the same treatment – five times over.
Then he turned his attention to the new arrivals.
Elijah and Matthew Lynch stood side by side, each one a mirror image of the other. They were tall, easily over six feet, with identical shocks of bright red hair on their heads and a smattering of dark freckles across their pale faces. Alan gestured for them to follow him.
"Father," he said, "here they are."
Jeff stepped forward and shook each man by the hand; their grips were strong.
"Good to meet you again," he said.
"And you, sir," the one on the left said. The one on the right nodded.
Jeff looked from one to the other.
"You'll forgive us if we confuse the two of you initially," he said. It was a more tactful way of saying, I don't know who is who! "You are quite identical."
"No worries, sir," the one on the left said again. "We're well used to it. I'm Matthew and he's Elijah. We can wear name badges if you like."
He grinned widely. Jeff shook his head but smiled.
"I hope that won't be necessary. Welcome to Tracy Island." He turned to face the rest of the family. "Some of these faces may be familiar. My eldest, Scott, you met during the interview process."
Scott waved and stepped forward to shake their hands.
"Good to meet you again," he said.
"And you."
It was Matthew who spoke again. Elijah remained silent, but was smiling.
"There'll be time later to meet the rest," Jeff said. "For now, Scott will take you to stow your bags in the Cliff House. Part of it has been converted into an apartment for you."
"This way," Scott said, heading towards the monorail that would take them through Thunderbird Two's hangar.
The three disappeared and Jeff found his mother bobbing at his shoulder.
"You didn't even let them have a drink first," she said, her grey brows drawn low as she gestured to the coffee table, resplendent with an array of light snacks and beverages.
"Well, they aren't here for a vacation, Mother," Jeff said. "But don't worry. I won't go too hard on them...today."
"Land's sakes!" his mother said, giving him a sharp prod in the ribs.
"Mother!"
~oOo~
Gordon flopped down beside Tin-Tin as Scott ushered the two new recruits to their new home.
"So tell me. It's got four wheels and a helmet already, right?"
Tin-Tin shook her head and laughed.
"No, Gordon. Don't be so silly. No wheels. Everything seems to be perfectly fine."
"Boy or girl?" Gordon asked, slinging his arm over the back of the couch.
"We didn't ask," Tin-Tin said.
Alan joined them and swiped a cookie from one of the snack plates.
"We don't want to know," he said as he perched on the couch arm. He popped the treat in his mouth. "We want it to be a surprise."
Gordon pretended to brush crumbs from his face. But when Tin-Tin produced the holocard with the scan on it, all jesting disappeared.
"Oh, wow," he said. "That is just... That's my niece right there!"
"Or nephew," Alan said around his cookie.
"Nah, it'll be a girl," Gordon said. He tapped his chest. "I can feel it in here."
The presence of the holocard drew a crowd and it was passed from one proud family member to another, eventually ending up in Gordon's hands again. He drank in the detail of the holographic image, every little curve and shape.I still can't quite believe it, he thought.
He handed the card back to Tin-Tin again and squeezed her shoulder.
"Awesome," he said.
Tin-Tin grinned anew.
"I know. I can't wait to tell Brains. Where is he, anyway?"
"R-right here, Tin-Tin," a voice called from behind the crowd.
"Brains! Oh, do come and sit with me. Look, it's my baby!"
The engineer made his way through the tangle of Tracys and Gordon watched the emotions that played over his face as he saw the scan. There was joy, of course, but there was also an almost undetectable tinge of sadness. Gordon felt his heart lurch. He had suspected for years that Brains had hoped his relationship with Tin-Tin could blossom into something more. Sadly for him, Alan had always had her affection. She never had eyes for any of the rest of us, Gordon thought. Alan doesn't know how lucky he is.
To his credit, Brains did not betray his feelings and congratulated the happy couple with genuine warmth. Gordon made a note to commiserate with Brains later.
The family settled into comfortable conversation and, as much as she tried, Grandma could not stop her grandsons - and son - from devouring the snacks. By the time Scott and his twin charges returned, there was not much left.
Tin-Tin waved the holocard again and Gordon hopped up, gesturing for Scott to sit and take his turn admiring his new niece or nephew, and made a bee-line for the twins.
"Fellow red-heads, I see," he said.
"The best colour," one of them replied. Before Gordon could ask his question, he got his response. "I'm Matthew - Matt if you prefer. And this is my brother, Elijah."
Gordon looked from one to the other and blinked.
"You're brothers? Really? I would never have guessed!"
Matthew shrugged his shoulders and put his hands in his pockets.
"It's been commented on a few times. Personally, I don't see it."
Gordon snorted.
"Oh, not just a fellow red-head but a fellow funny guy, too?" He rubbed his hands together. "This could prove interesting." He turned to the other twin. "Are you one of us?"
Elijah shook his head.
"No. I'm always the straight man to his funny guy," he said.
His voice was a touch softer than his brother's. Gordon looked from one to the other. They looked identical down to the last freckle.
"Well, you're welcome anyway. I'm Gordon, the dashing aquanaut of the crew. Which one of you is the nurse and which one's the firefighter? And where are you guys from, anyway? Do I detect a hint of the Emerald Isle?"
"I'm the firefighter," Matthew said. He jerked his finger at Elijah. "He's the nurse. And yeah, we're from Ireland - stereotypical, I know, what with us being freckled gingers. But we can't change our genes."
Gordon held up his hands.
"Hey, I'm not judging."
Matthew surveyed the gaggle of gathered family and shook his head.
"So you all live together on an island - three generations, including five brothers - and you're telling me there hasn't been a murder?"
Gordon shrugged.
"Not yet, anyway. And it'll soon be four generations. The first great-grand-Tracy is on the way. Oh, and there are usually only four brothers here. John spends most of his time on the space station. It wasn't supposed to be that way but someone -" he gestured towards Alan, though when caught changed his point to a wave "- manages to wriggle out of a lot of his duty."
"I think that's to be part of my job," Matthew said. "I'll be taking shifts up there once I'm trained."
"One in three months with you in space?" Elijah asked. "It'll be heaven."
Gordon grinned and slapped the man on his back. Elijah did not flinch.
"Ah, not such a straight man after all," Gordon said, giving him a wink.
"He's one of those quiet ones," Matthew quipped. "I'd watch out for him."
"And I'd watch out for him," Elijah said, poking his brother's arm.
"Well, you should both look out for him," a new voice said.
Virgil had extricated himself from the congratulations. Gordon put on his mock-offended face again but Virgil merely rolled his eyes, then shook both men's hands.
"Virgil Tracy. Nice to meet you."
"And you."
"So you'll be completing some of your training with me," he said. "You'll primarily act as my double or triple crew, depending on the emergency, so you'll need to know your way around Thunderbird Two and the pod vehicles."
Matthew blew out a slow breath and shook his head.
"Part of me still can't believe we're actually here," he said. "It's so surreal."
"Once Scott starts putting you through your paces, it'll seem real enough," Virgil said.
Gordon crossed his arms, schooling his face to be as serious as possible.
"They probably didn't tell you this, but he made the last recruit curl up into a ball and cry."
Virgil shook his head. Matthew was in before he could respond.
"Well, he'll have his work cut out to break the Lynch boys," he said. "There isn't much we haven't already been through"
There was mirth in his voice, but it didn't reach his eyes. Elijah nodded, his green eyes equally somber. Gordon shot his brother a quick glance; Virgil gave him a tiny shrug. I wonder what that means, Gordon thought. Strange indeed.