~TWENTY FIVE YEARS LATER~

If there was one thing that always remained a constant, it was that Tracy Family celebrations were always a very loud and rambunctious time. Of course, the mere size of the family could also factor into that, John mused to himself. And, of course, it always seemed to be getting bigger.

From his vantage point he could watch his family and celebrate the fact that they were all here together. The past year had not been too kind to them. Nine months previous, Jefferson Tracy had suffered a major heart attack. It had been touch and go for a while, and at one point, there had been serious worry that he might not make it. But with the love and support of his family, he was on the road to recovery. John watched with a smile as his father grabbed Penny and kissed her deeply. Oh yes, she was another reason for his father's fight to get better.

John remembered when his father had found out that he was going to be a father again. He would never forget the shocked look on Jeff's face. For a moment, John thought he might fate, but Jeff had somehow held it together. He remembered the meeting that his father had called later.

"Boys," He said. "There is something that I wish to discuss with you. I have been alone for a very long time now. Your mother was taken from us much too soon, and I have felt that loss deeply. I always told myself that I would never love again; that I had found and lost the great love of my life, and would never find her equal again. But I find now that I was wrong." John felt his gaze as he turned to look at each of his sons.

"Dad, does this have anything to do with whatever Penny wanted to talk to you about earlier?" Virgil asked.

"Yes Virgil, it does." He said truthfully. "Penny informed me that she is pregnant." There was silence in the room.

"And you are?" Scott's voice was calm.

"Yes, I am the father of her child."

"How long?" Alan asked.

His father looked down at the desk. For an instant, John thought his father would not answer. Finally he did. "She is due in July. Do not get me wrong, I will always love your mother. She gave me five precious gifts, but I wish for something more than just memories. I want to be truthful with you. For a long time, I told myself that I didn't need anyone special in my life to share it with. I had the love of my children. But I have been lying to myself." He came around his desk and moved to sit over where his sons were sitting. "Over the past year, I have found myself falling in love with Penelope boys. She has been like a burst of sunlight to me, and she has reminded me what it is like to love someone with my whole heart." John could see how much Penny meant to him just by the way his father was talking.

"What are you trying to get at dad?" Scott asked.

Jeff looked at his eldest, as if trying to read the expression on his face. "I would like your blessings to ask Penny to marry me."

Nearly as soon as the words were out of Jeff's mouth, Scott stood up and stormed out of the room. Jeff watched him go with a distraught look on his face.

"Do you love her dad?" Gordon's voice was unusually serious.

"Yes Gordon, I do. Very much." Gordon seemed to ponder this for great moments. Finally his trademark grin broke out over his face and he got up, going over to his father.

"My answer is yes. You have my blessings." He leaned down to hug his father.

"Thank you Gordon."

"My answer is yes as well." Alan also got up to join his father and brother.

"Thank you son." Jeff said as he pulled into his arms.

"Just think." Alan said from his father's embrace. "I won't be the youngest anymore!" That drew a laugh from everyone in the room.

"You'll always be the youngest of us, Sprout." Gordon told him, musing his hair.

"Darn." Alan muttered.

All this time, John had been watching his father. Being up on Thunderbird Five most of the year caused John to miss out on a lot that happened here at home, but it also caused him to have a unique view on a lot of things. He had had a feeling some months ago about his father and a certain member of the English nobility. In the beginning, it had bothered him, thinking that his father could have possibly fallen in love again. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that his father, just like everyone else in the world, deserved to be happy. And if Lady Penelope was the one that made him happy, then John would do nothing to stand in the way of that.

"My answer is yes as well, dad." John stood up and walked over to hug his father.

"Thank you so much John." His father whispered in his ear.

"I just want you to be happy dad." He whispered back.

All this time, Virgil had sat and watched them. Virgil had sat and watched them. Virgil had always been very close with their mother, and as John turned to face him, and read the expression on his face, he truly wondered what his brother would say. Would he be the first to deny his father his blessings?

Jeff also looked to where his second eldest's gaze had turned, and he felt a twinge of fear. Virgil sat unmoving in his chair as he watched them, a blank look on his face. He pulled away from John and took a step towards his middle child.

"Son?" He said hesitantly.

Virgil looked at him, a flash of something crossing his face, before he got up without a word and left the room. John watched him leave, and then turned to watch his father drop to the chair, a spasm of pain crossing his face. Before John's eyes, Jeff Tracy seemed to age at least twenty years.

"Gordo, Allie, can you give us some alone time, please?" John spoke softly. He looked over and caught Gordon's gaze and read understanding in the green depths. He had witnessed Virgil's abrupt departure from the room and now understood that John wanted to talk to their father alone.

"Sure Johnny." Gordon responded just as softly, and led Alan from the room.

Once the room was empty, john quickly made his way over to his father and settled down beside him. At this close proximity now, he could hear something coming from his father that he had only heard two other times in his life; his father crying. And not just little sniffles either. The other man's shoulders were shaking from the ferocity of his sobs. John cautiously placed his arm over his father's shoulders and pulled him against his body.

"What was so wrong about this John?" His father's voice was nothing more than a hoarse whisper. "Do they not want me to be happy?"

"I don't know dad." John told him. And that was the truth.

"I will always love your mother." He continued to sob. "But I don't want to be along anymore. It hurts."

John felt tears prick at his eyes. The pain in his father's voice was hard to ignore. He just wished his older and first younger brothers could hear this, to know how much their reactions hurt their father. But he had a feeling that right now, they would not want to hear anything he had to say. So he was the one who was witness to his father's tears. He looked down at his father, who was lying quietly against his shoulder, his tears silenced for now. He heard long, deep easy breathing emanate from the older man, and he realized that he had fallen asleep. Laying him down gently, John covered him with a blanket and slipped from the room. He met Gordon and Alan just as he was closing the door.

"How is he?" Gordon asked, his voice still subdued.

John looked through the doorway to where he could see his father sleeping and then back to his two youngest siblings.

"Sleeping for now, but Scott and Virgil's reactions really bothered him." He needed to find his two siblings and figure out what was going on with them.

Gordon nodded. "We'll watch over dad."

It took him the better part of two days, but he was finally able to sit his older brother down. For the most part, Scott glared at him and did the no talking thing, but John was determined to find out the answer as to why Scott had reacted the way he had. Finally he was able to get it out of him.

"I don't want him to forget mom!" He exploded.

John nodded to himself. That was the answer he had been expecting. "But Scott," He said. "He will never forget mom. He will always have the memories of the time that he had with her. But don't you think he deserves to have more in his life than just memories?"

Scott nodded after a minute. "I suppose you're right." He looked at John. "Penny will be good for him." John was sure the relief showed on his face, but Scott said nothing about it. One down, one to go. He could only hope his other brother were this easy to convince.

"I'll talk to Virge for you." Scott mentioned as they stood up he clapped John on the shoulder. "And then he and I will go and talk to dad together."

"Thanks Scott." He said as he watched him go and try and track down their middle brother.

Whatever he said to Virgil had done the trick, 'cause a few days later, they had gone to talk to their father together to give him the good news. Jon had not been witness to the meeting, as he had already returned to space, but later that night, John had received a call from his father.

"Thank you John, for whatever you said to them." He could see the lightheartedness that was coming from the older man, and he could not help but smile.

So it was on a sunny day only a month later, prophetically Valentines Day that Jefferson Grant Tracy and Penelope Marie Creighton Ward were married in a quiet tiny romantic ceremony on the beach of Tracy Island with family and friends as witnesses. He could remember hearing Penny's ever faithful butler, Parker sniffling all through the entire ceremony. Penny had looked radiant as she walked down the aisle on Scott's arm, dressed in a simple white dress, her feet bare, her baby bump visible under her dress. She had chosen Tin-Tin as her only attendant, and the younger girl had been dressed in a simple pale pink dress.

His father had been dressed simply as well, in a pair of khaki pants and a white button down shirt, his feet also bare. He had chosen John as his only attendant, which had surprised John. He had been so sure that his father would choose Scott. But when he had asked, the answer had been simple. "You miss so much down here John, being up on Thunderbird Five all the time. You give so much and never ask for anything in return. I want to give this to you." John had been so shocked and touched by it that he had quickly agreed. It had been the perfect day with the whole family there to enjoy it. They would all be called together one again months later when Penny Tracy would go into labor. It took eighteen hours before she safely delivered twins Lily and JT. Of course, they would not be the only children that Jeff and Penny would be blessed with. Three more children would follow; Mitchell Jonathan Tracy, Rachel Penelope Tracy, and Brady Kingston Tracy.

Of course, Jeff and Penny were not the only ones that found love. On April 3, John married the love of his life, Sarah, and they started off their lives together. They would welcome twins Monroe and Madison into the world on January 2, sharing their birthday with their grandpa. Tin-Tin and Alan would also be blessed with children, as Alan Jr. and Lucy would make their ways into the world screaming on August 21.

Scott would meet the love of his life, Alyssa Conrad in the most simple of ways; running onto her in a grocery store. Their path would be a long one, but finally they were able to make their way down the aisle together. Their journey to become parents would be a long battle full of pain and sadness, but finally after five years of trying, they would welcome a son, Grant Charles Tracy into the world. After Alyssa almost died bringing their son into the world, they agreed that they would have no more.

For Virgil, the woman who would be his wife, made her reappearance into his life at a class reunion he attended back in Kansas. Molly Kusher had been a girl that he had always shared the majority of his classes with, but never really had spoken to. She was the shyest girl in school, and never seemed to talk much. But at the class reunion, she approached him to say thank you for always noticing she was there and saying 'hi' even when he knew that she probably would say nothing back. Their romance was like a whirlwind, and it was only two short months after that faithful class reunion that they were married, their first child, Conner Sebastian Tracy following just fourteen months after their wedding. A second son, Nicholas Alexander Tracy would be born twenty three months after his brother.

Gordon's path to love was one that almost didn't happen. He had been asked to go back to the hospital where he had been taken so many years previous after his hydrofoil accident. He was to talk about his own experiences during those trying time, and how the staff at the hospital had helped him to overcome the odds, and how he had gone on to win a gold medal at the Olympics. On the day of the speech, he had run into very congested traffic and nearly didn't make it in time. Thankfully he did, and that was where he met Abigail Wallace. She was a patient at the hospital recovering from a broken back which she had gotten while rock climbing. Slowly the two became friends, and months later, they starting dating. When Gordon finally worked up the nerve to propose to Abby, he surprised her by doing it from the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and then by eloping with her, neither one really caring about having a big fancy ceremony. Their son, Patrick Alan Tracy would enter the world ten months later.

John was marred out of his thoughts by a tidal wave of water, and he looked around startled to see that the big kids had started a cannonball contest in the pool. Of course, the one thing that did not surprise him was that it seemed that his brother Gordon seemed to be the one that had started it, but he was being quickly followed by JT, Al, Roe, and Mitch. It was obvious to John that his brother would never completely grow up.

"You look like you've been lost in thought over here." A voice murmured into his ear as two arms wrapped around his neck. He smiled as he looked up into the loving arms of his wife.

"Just reliving some memories." He told her, pulling her down to sit on his lap.

"Anything good?" Sarah asked, settling herself down onto the chair next to him.

"Was thinking about them." He said, gesturing towards his family. "Just thinking about how much has changed over the years."

Whatever Sarah might have said in response, John would never know. For at that moment, JT called out to his sister from the depths of the pool where he was having a dunking contest with the other boys.

"Hey Lils, you made it!" He was forced back under the water by a shove from Al.

"Of course, I wouldn't have missed this." She told her brother as she made her way over to where their parents were sitting.

"We've missed you sweetheart." Penny said, wrapping her first born daughter up in a hug. "It's been too long since you've been home. And you've definitely gotten bigger." She said while rubbing the giant belly that protruded between them. While at college, Lily had met Adrian St. Jacobs, and the two had fallen hard for each other. They had dated all through college, and then after they graduated, Adrian had approached Jeff and Penny and asked for Lily's had in marriage. They had given their approval, and Adrian had popped the question to Lily. They had had a small wedding ceremony on the beach as had her parents before her, and they were all excited to start their lives together; until Jeff's heart attack put a damper on that. She immediately flew back to the island to be there for her dad, and it was during all of this that she learned she was pregnant. She was now due any day now.

"Yeah well, been feeling too uncomfortable to fly lately." She rubbed at her belly. "I just wish that little Colby would decide to come out. I hate feeling like a whale."

"You look beautiful baby." Adrian said as he kissed the side of her face.

"Smart man." Jeff said from his chair. Lily leaned down to give her dad a hug and hissed as she came back up. "What is it?" He asked, eyes narrowing.

"Have you been taking it easy?" Maddie said as she approached Lily. Maddie had gone into medicine after she graduated from high school and she had just earned her registered nurse's license.

"It's my back." Lily told them. "I've been having pains all day. I tried taking something for it earlier, but nothing seems to be working." She shot Adrian a grateful look over her shoulder as he started massaging her lower back, but then froze as she felt something trickling down her legs.

"What is it?" Jeff asked, seeing the look on his daughter's face.

"Either I have just peed myself, or my water just broke." Lily told him. In an instant, the pool area was a flurry of activity. Every thing was packed up and put away as Lily was hustled down to the infirmary, as she had said before that she wanted to have her baby on the island.

John watched the pandemonium from where he sat, and a smile made its way across his face. There was only one thing to say, and he knew it would be perfect.

"Thunderbirds Are Go!"