Jeff looked over at his engineer and walked through the main gate at Roosevelt School of Learning. Once in the main dorm rooms for the older boys, they smiled as they watched Scott, John and Virgil helping Gordon, Alan and Fermat move the younger boys packed gear into one of the older boys' room. Alan was the first to notice the arrival of the two men.
"Dad!" Alan yelled in joy and dropped the backpack he was carrying. He ran to Jeff and the billionaire bent down so he could give the nearly eight-year-old a hug.
"How're you doing, sport?"
"Great, Dad. What are we going to do for the summer?"
"Well, I will have to work at least some of the time." Jeff looked around the rest of his sons and gave them a smile. "So are you looking forward to the summer?"
Gordon nodded and gave his father a cheeky smile. John and Virgil saw it and they rolled their eyes. "Look out, Dad. Fish face wants the pool as soon as we get to the island."
"Hey Dad," Scott said. When Jeff looked down at his first-born son, the sixteen-year-old continued, "Did you hear about the mine disaster in Malaysia last week?"
Jeff looked toward Brains before returning his attention to Scott. "Yeah, I heard about that."
"What do you think about the two people that turned up to help?"
"I admire them," Jeff said. "If there was an organisation like what those two men did last week when Lucy was alive, then maybe things could have turned away differently for us."
Scott nodded and looked over his four brothers (five if he included his additional brother, Fermat). "Was it you?"
"What makes you ask that?"
"Because if there was a way for you to help others through disasters like the one that took Mom you'll find it."
Jeff swallowed. His eldest son was smart. Far smarter than what he gave Scott credit for. "We'll talk about it at home."
Scott nodded his acceptance. And then ventured the question: "Do you think we'll be able to see Katie at some stage over the summer? It's been ages since we've seen her and I miss her a lot."
The father smiled slightly when he noticed all of his sons were looking at him expectantly. "We'll see." He looked over at Brains and Fermat. The genius and his son were collecting up the last of the boy's gear and were starting to head down to the rental car in the parking lot. "Come on, let's get going."
The five boys began picking up the closest gear to them and started to follow Brains and Fermat down to the car.
TB TB TB TB TB
Newly promoted Sergeant Keith-Tracy looked around the training field. As part of her duties at Fort Knox, she had to run through a morning of simulations with recruits just out of basic training. She sighed and returned to the slide on the projector. Most of the time, those not trained in the field of medicine weren't required to learn a lot of what she knew. All that were required of them is to protect the backs of those in their unit and if one went down, to get the wounded man out as quickly and as safely as possible. Her job was to teach them how to get a wounded man – or woman – out to safety where medics like her could begin to work on saving the soldier's life.
There were many more qualified people stationed at Fort Knox that could've taken the seminars, but Kathryn knew that the people higher up had given her the job. And she could understand it sometimes. It did give her responsibilities and taught her a lot in the way of command and management. If she couldn't get others to listen to her in a peacetime setting, then how was she going to get them to listen to her in a wartime setting?
At the end of the lecture, Colonel Mann approached her and gave her a smile. "You've come a long way since being stationed here, Sergeant Keith-Tracy."
"Thank you sir."
"I wouldn't have expected you to be one to stand at the front of a classroom talking to people older than you."
Kathryn bowed her eyes slightly before returning them up to face Mann. "I may not like it, sir, but I can carry out any and all orders assigned to me."
"I can see that." Mann turned slightly and looked to the back of the classroom where Kathryn had given her interactive presentation. The classroom had emptied of its attendees, but at the back of the classroom stood eight people. Six of them Kathryn recognised. She looked at her commanding officer and then back at her family. Mann smiled slightly. He had really taken a liking to the young sergeant and had been very impressed at her dedication to the army and her work. In all her time on base, she had taken little time off for herself. Most of the other enlisted soldiers had taken at least the weekends off, but not Kathryn. In fact, the only times off he had known Kathryn to take off were the times he assigned her to be off duty. "Go. Report for your normal duties at 0800 tomorrow morning."
"Thank you sir!" Kathryn saluted and then moved to the back of the classroom where her family was waiting. Looking them over, her eyes settled on Jeff last. "What are you doing here?"
Scott was the one to answer the question. "We missed our big sister and I asked Dad if we could see you sometime over the summer. I didn't realise he'd already organised with Brains to stop by here on our way home."
Kathryn looked to the brother closest in age to her. She smiled slightly. "Wow. You've grown up, slugger."
"Don't call me slugger!" Scott protested.
"So I can call you scooter?" she teased. Before Scott could reply, Kathryn looked her other brothers over and held out her arms for a group hug. Alan was the first to go to Kathryn and give her a hug. Soon all five Tracy sons were wrapped around Kathryn (who'd ended up in the middle of them). "I've missed you all," she admitted.
"We missed you too, Katie!" Gordon said.
"But I missed you the most!" piped up Alan. Kathryn laughed at that. She had no doubt all of her brothers missed her to some extent, and each in different ways.
Looking over the top of her youngest brother to her father, Kathryn bit her lip and then returned her attention down at her brothers. "So are you going to introduce me to your friends?"
Fermat and Brains (along with Jeff) had stood off to one side and watched the reunion of the six siblings. When Kathryn turned her attention to them, Fermat shyly hid behind his dad. The young seven-year-old wasn't too sure about being around new people or the intimidating figure Kathryn presented in her uniform.
Gordon turned to see what Kathryn was looking at. He moved from the sibling hug and introduced the two 'non' family members. "These are our friends, Brains and Fermat Hackenbacker. They live on the island with us."
Kathryn realised that the father out of the two must be the 'Brains' that her father mentioned the last time she saw him and in recent letters sent from the island. "So you must be the engineer Dad's hired for that project?" she asked, holding out her hand for Brains to shake.
Brains nodded. "H-Hiram Hac-hackenb-backer."
"Kathryn." The young woman turned to look at the youngest person present. "And you must be Fermat. I've heard all about you from Alan. Alan says you're his best friend." When she saw that Fermat wasn't going to say anything to her, she bent down to his level. "Do you want to know a secret?" she asked. Fermat moved slightly away from his father's legs and nodded. "I think that's really cool. You're the first best friend Alan's told me about. You help him when sometimes it can be very scary to go to big brothers."
That got a smile to light up Fermat's face. "Really?"
Kathryn nodded. "I'm very pleased to meet an honouree member of the clan Tracy." Fermat's smile grew wider. Standing again, Kathryn looked toward her father. He was the only one that she hadn't greeted yet. "Hi Dad."
Jeff nodded at his daughter and he gave her a soft smile. He decided to willingly shorten her given name to something he knew she liked. "Hi, Kate."
The family spent the afternoon together before the eight people heading to Tracy Island had to leave. Kathryn thanked her father for bringing her brothers to visit and was glad for the opportunity of meeting Brains and Fermat. She didn't see her siblings as often as she would like, and she was very appreciative of the opportunity of seeing them. For the first time in three years, the family celebrated Kathryn's birthday and Kathryn was able to wish her youngest brother happy birthday in person.
But still, spending time with them at the base didn't give her or Jeff an opportunity to clear things up between each other. And Kathryn was beginning to think that they might never get the opportunity.
TB TB TB TB TB
There were more introductions to go around when Jeff and Brains finally got their sons back to Tracy Island. Onaha had taken up the responsibility of cooking for those that lived on the island and it didn't faze her in the slightest to add six growing boys to the mix. Kyrano (Hakim had insisted on being called by his last name only), who was so thankful for the new start he and his family had from Jeff, had offered to do the garden maintenance and household tasks with the help of Tin Tin.
Alan and Fermat quickly became friends with the young girl and the older boys took the girl under their wing as they had done with Fermat. Jeff was pleased about the addition to the family and slowly, the Kyrano family had earned his trust and support.
Mid-Summer, Jeff had surprised his sons with a trip to Australia. As he had said to them back at the boarding school, he had to work at least part of the summer, but he thought he could make that up to them by spending a week uninterrupted with just him and the boys on the Gold Coast of Australia. The boys thrived under the attention he gave them and Jeff knew that he was finally finding a balance between being a father and running a multi-billion dollar company.
Toward the end of August, Scott cornered his father again and asked if Jeff remembered the conversation they started to have at the end of the last school year. Jeff sat down with his sixteen-year-old son (who had really grown up the last three years since Kathryn had enlisted in the army) and explained to the young man the idea behind International Rescue and the Thunderbirds.
"Dad, after I've finished with university, do you think there will be a place for me in that rescue operation?"
"Thank you, son. I want you to have a life first before joining my dream."
Scott looked down at his hands before returning his attention to his father. "Wouldn't that be my choice to make?"
"Yes, it would." Jeff thought hard about what he would say next. He really did appreciate the offer his sixteen-year-old was presenting him. He also knew that if he didn't give Scott (or any one of his other sons) the chance of living off the island after their high school graduation, they may end up resenting him. He sighed, thinking over Kathryn's relationship with the family. Her relationship had definitely changed with the family, or at least, with him. "I just want you to be sure of your choice. Anyway, there are a few years between now and when you graduate university." He smiled slightly. "So how is school going?"
Scott returned his dad's smile. And began talking about the last quarter of school.
TB TB TB TB TB
Jeff made another trip to England just after he dropped the boys off at school for the new school year. There was a business take over he needed to finalise in person. And it also gave him to meet the lovely Lady Penelope again. The last time he met the aristocrat, he had been intrigued and had thought that she could be a very good friend. Perhaps even a contact for International Rescue.
He flicked out his phone and dialled the number he'd found for Penelope. When she answered, he smiled. "Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward, you may not remember me. But we met last year. My name is…"
"Jefferson Tracy. The all American Hero and philanthropist. Of course I remember you."
TB TB TB TB TB
Kathryn read over her orders for a fourth time. It was now the end of October and she was looking forward to the new challenge that was presented with her new orders. She looked over her small army issued accommodation and filed her orders away. At least she didn't have a lot of extra things around her apartment, which always made following orders easier. Her cell phone (a recent addition she only used while she was off duty) rang and she picked it up. "Keith-Tracy."
"Hey, Kate."
"Uncle Andy! How are you?"
"I'm fine. I was just ringing to see how my niece was doing. And to see how you were holding up."
Kathryn smiled slightly. "Things are going well here. Army's fine, tough, but fine. I've actually got some time off before I head to my next deployment."
"Really? Where are you headed?"
"I'm heading back to Fort Sam Houston. I'll be stationed there for the next few years as I finish off my study. In a few months, I'll be able to apply for the Interservice Physician's Assistant programme and the first year of that is in the classroom at Sam Houston." Kathryn took a deep breath and heard her uncle laugh at the other end of the line. "What?"
"You sound pretty excited at that challenge."
"Well, yeah. It will be very interesting and being able to get that qualification will give me something to do once I leave the army."
"You're already thinking of what you can do after you leave the army? That's not for another five years, yet."
"But it's good to be prepared. And it'll give me an officer's ranking."
"There is that. I'll let you to get back to packing."
"Okay, Uncle Andy. Thanks for calling."
"Take care of yourself, kiddo."
"You too." Kathryn hung up the phone and placed it back in her pocket. Looking around the room, she sighed and began the task of packing up her belongings. She sighed again and pulled her phone out again. She dialled her father's number and let her phone ring. He answered on the third ring.
"Jeff Tracy."
"Hi Dad. I hope I didn't wake you."
"Kathryn. Hi. No you didn't wake me."
The young woman ran her hand over the back of her neck. "How are you?"
"I'm fine. And you?"
"I'm okay." She swallowed hard and then asked, "So when are you going to be back in the States?"
"At the moment, I'm in New York." There was a pause on the other end of the phone. "What's this about, Kathryn?"
"Um… I was wondering when the boys were next on vacation… and whether or not you could come by and pick me up."
"You've got some time off?"
"Yeah, about three weeks." Kathryn sighed and added, "Don't worry if you don't have time to come and pick me up. I can always go and visit Aunt Su and Uncle Ryan."
"No, no. I was actually going to pick up the boys tomorrow afternoon about 4 pm. And I was going to come down and see you tomorrow morning anyway."
"Thanks Dad. I'll see you in the morning?"
"Yeah." She heard him take a deep breath. "Is everything alright?"
"Why wouldn't it be?"
"I was just wondering. I'll see you tomorrow, baby girl."
"Bye." Kathryn hung up with a smile on her face. She returned her attention to packing up her gear.
TB TB TB TB TB
When Jeff and Kathryn showed up at school to pick up the boys for the fall break, each of the boys were surprised to see their sister.
"What are you doing here?" John asked as Kathryn walked with her to the plane.
Kathryn smiled at her brother. "Well, I have a few weeks leave and decided I'd pay the island a visit. And it will be nice to spend time with the family again."
John returned his sister's smile.
"Hey Katie, did you pack your bathing suit?" Gordon asked.
Turning to face the only brother that shared her auburn hair, Kathryn's grin widened. "But of course, Gordon." She turned her attention back to boarding the plane. All of her gear had been packed in two bags – anything breakable had been forwarded to her new post at Fort Sam Houston.
TB TB TB TB TB
Kathryn loved the island home. It really was paradise. Giving her father a warm smile, she allowed him to show her up to his office. "This is a nice place, Dad. I can see why you decided to live here."
"Yeah," Jeff returned. "It's nice to have you home."
The twenty-one-year-old wrapped her arms around herself and moved to the office window. "Sunset must be one of your favourite times of day."
That caused the forty-one-year-old laughed slightly. "What makes you say that?"
"Most windows in this place face west."
Jeff nodded in agreement and moved to stand beside his daughter. "We really need to talk." He looked her over carefully. Mirroring his daughter's body position, Jeff looked out the window just as Kathryn was.
"I know Dad." The two of them stood in silence for a while. "Where do we start?" Kathryn finally asked.
Jeff shot his tongue out briefly to dry his lips and asked, "Where did I go wrong, baby girl?"
Kathryn shrugged and found her clothing more interesting than looking up at her father. He watched her and waited. When he had asked Onaha what the best approach he could use to get Kathryn to open up to him, the woman had suggested just giving the girl time to start any conversation on her own terms. Jeff hadn't really thought the advice would work back in August, but after giving John some time to open up to him later during one of his visits to the boarding school, he knew that the advice was sound. The billionaire knew that his eldest blond son took more after Lucy than after him, and Kathryn probably would be the same. Kathryn moved away from the window and went to look over the objects on his desk. There were three photos that were framed on the desk – the first was of Jeff and Lucy on their wedding day, the second was of her and her brothers the day Alan was born and the last was from the day Lucy had died. She reached out and picked up the family portrait.
Jeff was watching her closely. He gave a ghost of a smile when he saw her pick up the last family portrait of them. It had taken him years to actually display that photo. That particular photo had only made its way onto his desk in the last few months. When Kathryn broke the silence, he was shocked out of his thoughts.
"It was so hard that day, Dad." Jeff instantly knew what Kathryn was talking about and was surprised. In the four and a half years since the family had lost Lucy, Jeff hadn't heard Kathryn talk once about the events that took his Lucy away. Yes, the young woman had talked about Lucy, but not the day her mom died. "You had taken Scott, John and Virgil up the mountain snowboarding. Gordon wanted to join you but he'd hurt himself the day before that could've been worse if he'd gone with you. So I decided to stay with Mom, Gordon and Allie. Allie was only two." Kathryn couldn't bring herself to put the picture down or even turn to face her father. "Mom was just taking a photo of us and our snowman when we heard the rumble. It was so scary… Mom and I both turned to look up the mountain and Allie hid himself in my legs. He must have thought it was thunder or something. Next thing I know, I was holding on tightly to them and the three of us nearly got swept away. I was facing Mom, with Gordon and Alan burying their faces into my sides." She stopped and placed the photo frame down.
Taking in a deep breath, she continued, not seeing or hearing Jeff move to pull her into his arms. She was lost in her memories. "I don't know how much Gordon remembers. He got pretty banged up. But I saw Mom go under. I couldn't hold my footing and the three of us got pulled down the slope until we hit that rock. Gordon was dazed and had multiple burses. He hit his head on the rock and gave himself a concussion. I can remember Alan's screams for Mom. I stayed with them until the snow had stopped rushing past and made sure Gordon stayed conscious. It took a lot of effort for me to calm Alan down. I told them to keep together and told them to look out for each other. I was going to find Mom." Kathryn finally turned her attention to Jeff and her lower lip quavered. "Daddy, why did Mom have to die?"
Jeff pulled her closer to him and allowed her to burry her face in his chest. He felt her sob against him, and knew his own tears were joining hers. He hadn't heard the full story of what had happened that day, and from what he now heard he was glad he hadn't heard it after he'd first found out his wife was gone. His heart felt for his little girl. She'd carried this around for the last four and a half years – and he was sure she hadn't mentioned it to anyone.
He let her pull away after he felt her cry out the last of her tears. Pulling out his handkerchief, he gently wiped her eyes and cheeks. He wasn't worried about showing his daughter that he'd been crying along side her.
"I don't know why Luce had to die, baby girl. But I am so glad I didn't have to bury any of my children that day along with your mom."
"Me too, Dad." Kathryn turned around and grabbed a tissue of his desk. She blew her nose and gave him a watery laugh. "Just great Dad. I spend my first day on a tropical paradise and here I am crying."
"If you hadn't noticed baby girl," he said without a hint of annoyance or teasing. "I'm not the picture of control at the moment, either." Jeff paused for a moment and allowed the two of them to recover their equilibrium. "I'm glad you're here."
Kathryn rolled her eyes. "Yeah. You're just glad I'm talking."
Jeff slightly smiled at her. "I guess it's both, Kathryn. It's good that you've come, though. We've all missed having you around."
She nodded. "Hey, I'm going to clean up and get ready for dinner. So I'm in the first room on the left, second floor?"
Jeff nodded and placed a kiss on her forehead. "I'll see you at dinner." He watched her leave the office and then he moved back to look out the office window. His mind went over what Kathryn had just said about the day that changed all of the Tracys' lives. Up until his daughter had started talking about that day, he hadn't been aware of exactly what she had seen. He couldn't image actually watching Lucy die. Taking a deep breath, he thought over the past four years of his relationship with Kathryn. And he realised that though the two of them weren't blood related, she had picked up a few of his habits. She kept things close to her heart, and rarely let things out. Like him. Maybe that was why neither of them spoke of what they were really thinking and feeling.
He sighed and ran a hand over his forehead. Trying to patch up his relation with Kathryn was hard work. But from what she'd told him today, he felt that it was on the mend. Perhaps Kathryn felt their relationship problems had started the day Lucy had died. He was sure that was why she had just told him about what had happened four years before. A knock came at his open office door. He turned and saw John standing at the door.
"Dinner time, Dad."
"Thanks son."
TB TB TB TB TB
By the end of the week, Kathryn and Jeff had tentatively rebuilt their relationship. Kathryn still didn't divulge what she was really feeling, but at least she was opening up to him with some things. He was still worried about her, though. It seemed that though she was glad to spend time at home with the family. Yet she wasn't joining in with the boys' activities as much as she used to – or even try and encourage the boys in activities that she would organise herself.
To be sure, Kathryn did join in sometimes and was spending time with the family. Jeff wasn't really sure what the problem was or how to approach Kathryn to talk to her about it.
Kathryn noticed her father watching her and the boys while the six Tracy children plus one of the two additional family members were out in (or by) the pool. The boys (minus Fermat who was somewhere else on the island with his father) and Tin Tin were playing a game of water volleyball. She smiled at him and returned to her attention to her book. Jeff made his way to sit beside her with his coffee and a glass of lemonade for her.
"What are you reading?"
"A novel that Kyrano lent me. One of the John Grissom novels." She picked up the glass he'd brought to her and she smiled in thanks. Putting her bookmark in her place, she placed the book down and focused her attention on her father. "I don't often get the change to actually read for recreation now, so it's nice. And Dad, I can see what you mean by spending time with the boys."
"So you're not going to complain about my choice in sending my boys to boarding school?"
Kathryn shrugged. "Not my place."
Jeff raised an eyebrow. That was a different attitude from what his daughter would usually present. "What changed your mind?"
She turned her attention to the pool and shrugged again. "Maybe I realised I'm not their parent. You are."
He gave her a nod and took a sip of his coffee. "So why aren't you in there with the boys?"
Kathryn pursed her lips. "Dad, just don't okay. I want to enjoy the rest of my leave." She picked up her glass again and stood up. "I'm going to go for a walk down to the beach."
Jeff watched her leave and sighed. John looked up from the pool and stopped playing the game the other kids were playing.
"Is everything okay, Dad?"
"Yeah it is, John. Don't worry about it."
The blond fifteen-year-old got out of the pool and by consent, the other children decided to play tag. "Is Katie okay?"
"Why do you ask," Jeff asked in return.
John copied his sister's actions from moments before. He shrugged. "I don't know. She just doesn't seem the same since she went to the army."
"Well, maybe she's not used to living with us anymore."
The teen frowned at the answer but decided not to pursue it. Maybe Kathryn was just trying to get used to being on the island.
TB TB TB TB TB
No one saw Kathryn for the rest of the afternoon. For the rest of her time on the island, she drew further into herself. John, who had been the brother who was closest to Kathryn while she had lived at home, could tell that there was something troubling his big sister. He'd always thought that nothing worried his big sister.
On the second to last night the family was together (they had spend two weeks together and they all had to head back to the States for school and postings), John had found Kathryn on the beach, sitting by the cliff face that was the east side of the house. It was a more sheltered and private part of the beach than the area the family usually used when they came down to enjoy the surf.
"Kate, there you are," John said. "Dad was looking for you."
Kathryn turned to look up at John briefly before returning her attention back to the ocean. She rested her head against the cliff behind her. "Really? Why doesn't he come looking for me himself?"
"Because I wanted to know why you've been avoiding us." That comment from the brother she was (or had been) closest to really hurt Kathryn. She took her lower lip in between her teeth and refused to turn her attention to John. John moved to sit beside her and started shifting sand between his fingers. "We've all missed you Katie."
"Dad told me," she finally said after a minute of silence had passed between them.
"What's made you so different?"
"You wouldn't understand."
John's jaw dropped slightly at the biting remark Kathryn had just made. All the times he had talked to his sister, she had kept her cool. She had never snapped out at him – or any of their brothers. Not unless they had really really pissed her off about something. Kathryn had learned to reign in her emotions (she had gotten even better at it since their mom had died) and whenever she let them loose, disaster struck. Rarely was it more than a good tongue-lashing (whoever it was directed at usually deserved it – like that time John had seen Scott take Kathryn's biology project and began using the paper for paper planes and Kathryn went mad at him).
But now, John was sure he wasn't in trouble. Not with Kathryn anyway. He set his jaw. "Well, obviously," he shot back. "You won't say anything!"
"It's not your place to fix it."
There was an underlining warning in Kathryn's voice but John ignored it. "If it's affecting me and my brothers, then it is up to me to see if I can."
She turned her hazel eyes on the blond-haired, blue-eyed teen. There were tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "Forget it John. There's nothing you can do."
John scooted closer to her and briefly wrapped his arms around her. He knew that she wasn't all that fond of physical affection, but he didn't know what else to do. Then he sat down and waited. When he was younger, he really liked just spending time with Kathryn, and she liked doing the same. They sat in silence and it was a while before John realised Kathryn had started crying. He couldn't remember the last time she'd cried. And he didn't want to stop her by saying something wrong. In fact, he really didn't know what to do or how to deal with Kathryn (or any girl for that matter) crying. So he just sat there next to her, shifting sand with his feet.
"Johnny," Kathryn began after she'd calmed down and had stopped crying. He turned to look at her. "Are you happy here?"
"Yeah. It's great. Dad spends more time with us." He shifted his eyes downward. "But sometimes I still miss Olathe."
"Why?"
"Because you're not here and you've never lived here. Neither has Mom."
Kathryn bit her lower lip again – and John picked up that she was mulling over her next question before she asked it. "What about school?"
"It was really hard at first. You remember when I called you that first year you were in the army?" Kathryn nodded and let her brother continue. "Well, I was thinking that Dad was sending us to boarding school last year was the same thing as Uncle Andy wanting to take us off Dad way back then."
"But?" she asked.
"Dad seems to really care. He comes out to visit us at school and takes time off during our breaks. Not all of summer, but the other breaks we have, he hardly seems to work. He spends the time with us instead. I can actually understand why he's sending us to school now. It gives him a chance to focus on his work when we're not here and then when we do come home, he takes the time off to spend with us."
"That's good, isn't it?"
John nodded. "Yeah. But why did he move us to the middle of the ocean to our own island? Dad's up to something, but I don't know what."
Kathryn smiled slightly. "I noticed that too. Sometimes, when I expect to turn around and find Dad close by, he's not. And other times I would think he'd be doing something up in his office, he'd show up wherever you and our brothers were playing." She stood and then helped John to his feet. "Thanks Johnny."
"Are you going to tell me what was bugging you?" Kathryn looked away just as a pink blush made its way across her cheeks. John raised his eyebrows. For some reason, his comment had made his sister embarrassed. "It can't be all that bad."
She looked back at her brother. "Promise you won't tell?"
"Promise." He made an 'x' over his heart. Kathryn smiled at that. It was something just the two of them had done when they promised each other something.
"I'm kinda feeling left out on the island."
"What?" John snorted slightly.
She reached out and playfully shoved the teen. "Don't laugh. You've lived here for a year and practically know the island by now. You know all the best spots and where to find the interesting things. I have to follow you or one of our brothers if I want to know where to go. It's hard to try and keep up with you and it's like you don't need me anymore."
John stopped and faced his only sister. "I'll always need you, Katie. No matter what happens."
Kathryn took in a deep breath and tried to accept what the blond was saying. She threw her arm around his shoulders and the two of them made their way back up to the house.
