Never a Dull Moment

by Criminally Charmed

Disclaimer - Never had them, never will. Man, is that depressing or what? Also, I do not own "I'll Be" by Reba McEntire. But I REALLY like it.


Chapter Four - Virgil

Virgil Tracy ran a hand lightly over the baby grand piano his brothers had given him as a wedding present so many years ago. Looking at the collection of photographs that had gathered there over the years, Virgil smiled. From the day he and Sarah had married to recent ones with his two sons, as well as his brothers and their families, Virgil drew inspiration from the sight of the people who had been his very reason for living.

Picking up one that his grandmother had taken many years ago, the middle Tracy son's smile became softer and gentler. A four year old Alan sat silent in time next to an eleven year old Virgil as he played a tune on the piano at their home back in Kansas. That same piano was in the main villa across the compound. Since it had been their mother's and one of the few pieces of furniture Jeff Tracy had not either left at the old house or consigned to storage – Virgil supposed the good memories had outweighed the bad on that one item – Virgil hadn't wanted it to leave it's place of honor in the family room. Even today, after a family dinner, Virgil could once more be found playing the piano, the other Tracys gathered around…

Shaking himself slightly, Virgil turned on the bench, smiling at the interviewer. "So – how did Alan Tracy – my kid brother, Alan – change the world? Now was that my world or the world as a whole. Either and/or both? OK. Well, the world part may not seem that profound, but I think it is important. But I guess we need to start with how he changed my life."

"I remember the first time I ever got to see Alan. Dad had come home the day before, all smiles. We had a new baby brother. I was a little disappointed at first. Just like when Gordon was born, I had hoped for a baby sister. When I looked sad for a minute, Dad knelt next to me and asked what was wrong. So I told him."

"Daddy, I wanted a little sister. We've got tons of boys. We need a girl."

Jeff Tracy sat on the sofa next to Virgil and pulled his seven year old son closer to him. "Want to know a secret, Virgil?" When Virgil looked up at him with wide brown eyes, Jeff smiled. "So did I. In fact, when the doctor said it was a boy, I didn't even try to hide my disappointment. But when he didn't cry -"

Gordon and Virgil looked confused while John and Scott became concerned. Jeff quickly explained.

"When a baby is born, it – well, it went from the mommy's tummy where it was all warm and safe to the room in the hospital. It – well, they don't like it."

"Like when you make Virgil get out of bed, Daddy?" Gordon asked, his bright green eyes filled with mischief even as his next oldest brother glared at him. The kindergartener was thrilled. He was finally no longer the baby!

Jeff chuckled, hugging Virgil closer. "Yes, Gordy – exactly like that. Well, Alan – that's your new brother's name, Alan – he didn't cry at first. All I could think was that something was wrong with him. But," Jeff smiled as he looked at his sons, "then he let out a big yell. Alan was fine. Your mom and I got to hold him. He's perfect. He looks like your mom, the blue eyes and the blonde hair -"

Gordon suddenly began to sulk. "You mean he looks like Johnny! It's not fair. Virgil looks like you and Scotty, and Alan looks like Mommy and Johnny and I don't look like anyone. Keeper says you found me by the side of the road like a stray puppy."

"Keeper?" John asked in confusion only for Scott to stand suddenly, the eleven year old's body taut with anger.

"Keifer," he snapped. "A jerk in my class. I'll -"

"Do nothing," Jeff said calmly. "I'll have a word with his parents. And Gordon, you look like my late Uncle Roger. He was your grandma's brother and he drowned in a boating accident when he was barely twenty. When Grandma comes up tomorrow, I'll have her tell you all about him."

Scott sat back down, ready to sulk before it turned to a smirk. When Jeff got up to talk to Ann-Marie, his personal assistant who was watching the boys until Ruth Tracy could get to the house tomorrow, the oldest son leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, "I'll tell Jeannie Bates. She'll nail him!"


"So we went to bed, and I'll admit it – I was still sulking a bit. My much anticipated baby sister was another boy. Nothing special about that, right?"

"Well, I get up the next morning and we march off to school. Dad wasn't there, Ann-Marie said there was a note saying he had headed back to the hospital and she expected to see him at the office. Yeah, Jeff Tracy was always a bit of a workaholic. But I was, I admit, a bit excited when Grandma arrived just as Ann-Marie was pulling out in Mom's minivan. She promised to take us all to see Alan when we got home from school."

"But when school was over, it was Grandma picking us up. Instead of taking us to the hospital, she took us to McDonald's. Now, this was a treat, especially with Grandma, because she disliked take-out or fast food in any form."

"Boys, I have something to tell you," Ruth Tracy said solemnly. When she was sure she had all their attention, she continued.

"Last night, Alan began to have trouble breathing. They took him to a special part of the hospital called the Newborn Intensive Care Unit."

"Is Alan gonna die, Grandma?" John asked softly.

"Now, John, the doctors are doing everything they can and we have to have faith in God and your little brother to show that Tracy stubbornness, alright?" Ruth smiled at her grandsons. "I know your Dad promised you that you would see Alan today, but I'm afraid you have to be at least ten to enter the room. Usually, you have to be at least ten to even go in that ward of the hospital, but your father convinced them to allow you to see your little brother for just a moment through a window."

"Grandma," Scott piped up. "I'm eleven. Can't I go in to see Alan?"

"Yes, you can Scott," Ruth said.

"Not fair," Gordon pouted. "Scotty gets to do everything first."

"It's a privilege for putting up with annoying little brothers," Scott said smugly.

Ruth started to object but seeing how Scott had managed to distract his brothers, she decided not to interfere at this point.

"I still remember my first sight of Alan. He looked like one of Sarah Jane's baby dolls. Well, the ones her sister Holly hadn't stolen or damaged. Scott looked wild, in scrubs that kept slipping past his wrists and threatening to trip him. I never saw Scott so fascinated by anything as he was by our newest brother. At that point I had decided – maybe another brother wasn't such a bad thing."

"Years went by," Virgil continued. "When Alan was three, we went on a family vacation. A ski trip. You know what happened there."

"When we got home, it was to bury our mother and try to help Alan heal. He had been hurt in the avalanche. For a long time, he didn't talk. I don't know what John said to him, but one night we realized Alan was talking again. It was softer than we remembered but at least he was speaking."

"Sometimes, when John would sit on the couch next to Alan, reading stories to him, I would sit at the piano bench. But I couldn't bring myself to play. It just hurt too much, thinking of Mom and how she filled the house with music and laughter."


Virgil ghosted his hand over the piano keys, refusing to press down in the least. John was sitting nearby, reading aloud to Alan when Gordon entered the room.

"Johnny? Can you help me with my math homework?"

John smiled up at the redhead before nodding. "Sure, Gordo. I'll be right there."

Looking over at Virgil, John gestured towards Alan. "Keep an eye on the Sprout, will you, Virg?"

"Sure John," Virgil responded. When the older boy left the room, Virgil walked over to the sofa.

"You want me to read to you, Allie? No?" Virgil said when Alan shook his head. "I guess Johnny is the best reader, huh?"

Alan gave a smile before slipping off the sofa. Tugging Virgil by the hand, he pulled his middle brother towards the piano.

"Allie, baby -" Virgil tried to explain, "I – I just haven't -"

The tow-headed tot, having only turned four that past week, kept pulling until they were standing next to the piano. "Alan, I can't -"

"Play unless someone sings," a new voice popped up.

The two Tracys turned to see Sarah Jane Woodbury standing in the doorway. "Hey, baby," the red-haired girl smiled at Alan. The daughter of the Tracys' closest neighbor, sometimes it seemed as if she spent more time at their house than her own. She was closer to Gordon's age but in the class between them. Virgil knew from an angry tantrum he had heard Sarah Jane's sister, Holly, throwing, that the younger girl was going to be skipping another grade and would be in the same class as her sister and Virgil the next school year.

Between Sarah Jane and Alan, the two younger kids managed to have Virgil sitting on the bench in front of the piano. Flipping the pages of the music book, the two virtually ignored Virgil, before selecting a song with Alan happily nodding and smiling up at his brother, his large azure eyes shimmering with love and faith.

Seeing the depth of emotions in those eyes, Virgil knew he couldn't do anything that could hamper Alan's recovery. Resting his hands over the keys, he ghosted over the keyboard before he began to play, Sarah Jane's soft voice accompanying him in perfect harmony.

When darkness falls upon your heart and soul.
I'll be the light that shines for you.
When you forget how beautiful you are
I'll be there to remind you.
When you can't find your way,
I'll find my way to you.
When troubles come around,
I will come to you.

I'll be your shoulder when you need someone to lean on.
Be your shelter.
When you need someone to see you through.
I'll be there to carry you.
I'll be there.
I'll be the rock that will be strong for you.
The one that will hold on to you.
When you feel that rain falling down.
When there's nobody else around.
I'll be.

Scott Tracy followed the sound of the music from the family room, carrying the sack of groceries he had picked up on the way home from baseball practice. Briefly noticing John and Gordon standing just outside the room, a math book hanging loosely from Gordon's hand, Scott almost cried at the sight of Virgil once more playing the piano, Alan curled up against him, silent as a mouse but smiling in contentment.

Ruth Tracy had entered the hallway, joining her grandsons, grateful to see Virgil playing again. With Lucy gone, Jeff a stranger to his family, and her husband, Grant, once more hospitalized for cancer treatment, Ruth had felt like there just was no more of her to spread around. But thankfully, Lucy's strength and Jeff's stubbornness (although her son would have reversed those) was abundant in the youngest Tracy and he wasn't afraid to give some of that to his brothers. Pulling out a camera from the bottom of her huge purse, she discreetly snapped a picture of the pair at the piano. It was a priceless moment.

Virgil didn't take note of the rest of his family and was barely aware of Sarah's voice gaining strength and confidence as he continued to play. All he knew was that he was making Alan happy. And somewhere Virgil knew he was rediscovering a lost part of his own soul –

I'll be the sun.
When your heart's filled with rain.
I'll be the one.
To chase the rain away.

I'll be your shoulder when you need someone to lean on.
Be your shelter.
When you need someone to see you through.
I'll be there to carry you.
I'll be there.
I'll be the rock that will be strong for you.
The one that will hold on to you.
When you feel that rain falling down.
When there's nobody else around.
I'll be.
I'll be.


"Doesn't seem like much, does it?" Virgil said as he picked up the small picture his late grandmother had taken all those years before. "But it meant so much to me. Music – well, and art," Virgil conceded as he gestured to one of the few paintings of his own that hung in the house he shared with his wife and sons, "are my shelter. No matter how isolated we may seem or the stress of life, this can take me away to a safe place. And I don't know if I would have come back if not for Alan."

"And how did Alan change the world?" Virgil asked with a small smile. "Well, some people may not consider it as big a deal as me but to the world of music, it is significant." Virgil picked up a picture of his oldest son, Michael, playing in concert at the White House when the boy was only sixteen.

"He's wonderful, Virgil," Lady Penelope whispered from behind him as they sat listening to the teenager play.

Virgil nodded, briefly catching his wife's eye as she spoke softly with the President. He couldn't help but smile at how far Sarah had come from that awkward girl he had grown up with. On his other side, his younger son, Tommy, was trying not to show his boredom. But frankly, if it didn't involve field medicine or Thunderbird Two, his youngest child seemed to tune everything out.

Michael had been asked to come and play at the White House by the First Lady, after a fundraiser organized by the students at both his boarding school and their sister school. Both private boarding schools were located just outside of New York and while Michael, Tommy and any male cousins had attended the Regis Academy for Boys, his cousin Elizabeth was a recent alum of Gifford Academy for Girls and soon his cousin, Samantha, Alan's oldest daughter, would be a student there as well. Kate – his brother, Scott's wife – had insisted on the school for both the sister school and the ease of access for whatever Tracy was in New York City at the time.

Independently, Michael and some of his classmates, plus some girls from Gifford's, had organized a concert for victims of a recent hurricane that had devastated the Northeast. Michael had been asked what his inspiration was and had simply said, "It's just what my family taught me to do – help others whenever and wherever you can."

Virgil sighed. He knew Michael had no real interest in becoming a Thunderbird. And his first born son would never be happy living full time on Tracy Island. But the gift he had given his son, inspiring his love of music – maybe in his own way, Michael would still be fulfilling the family creed of helping their fellow man. Only Michael would do it one note at a time.

Penny's small cough drew Virgil's attention away from his son. "You ok, Penny?" he asked in concern.

"Oh, yes, of course," the woman maintained, stiffly holding herself before changing the subject. "Somehow, I don't think this son will be joining the family business."

"And what a waste that would be," a senator next to her admonished. "Such a gift can change the world. And with all due respect, I am not sure – well, I suppose it may. Your father's company has moved the world forward in so many ways. But this – This is priceless."

Smiling again as he refocused on his son, Virgil nodded. Yes, it was. And he knew the world owed it to Alan. If his brother hadn't pulled him back to music – not to mention being the one to make sure he met up with Sarah again years later – the artistic talents of Michael Tracy would not be set to make the world so much more a beautiful place. And what was life without music?


"Michael's music – and the other young artists he has inspired over time – are slowly changing the world, in their own fashion," Virgil mused. "They have loosely formed a group of artists that when the need is greatest, pool their talents and raise funds. There are people like the Thunderbirds who can save lives – people like Michael will help get those lives back into a sense of normalcy."

"Something else you may not know – Alan was the one who suggested to Michael that first fundraising event," Virgil said with no small amount of pride. "So Alan led me back to music, which led to Michael falling in love with music and he also encouraged Michael to use his gift to help others, as well as brightening their lives. Such a small thing, I guess."

"Life is funny isn't it? And life with my little brother? Well, with Alan, there is never a dull moment."


A/N - Aren't you glad I gave the diabetic warning? BTW - Thanks for all the kind thoughts. I am recovering well, but my Dad is in ICU at the moment. Amazingly, I did get a new chapter of Alan and Johh...banged out, and will post that in a couple of days. Enjoy and I hope to hear from you. - CC