Much as Maria wanted to sit in the lounge and soak up information about how International Rescue worked and get some kind of feeling for the personalities of the Tracy men, she felt it would be shirking her duties. She leaned over to Sally and whispered, "Isn't there something I should be doing now?"

"Well, the cookies you made yesterday are gone. We could go make some more."

Maria found it odd that making cookies again was a higher priority than cleaning or laundry, but Sally was the boss. Still, it wasn't necessary for her to move again so soon. "We? You really should rest."

Sally stared at her for half a beat. It made Maria a little nervous. Had she overstepped her bounds? "You're right. Let me know if you need anything."

Maria patted her knee and slipped out of the lounge silently. She whipped up another batch of chocolate chip cookies and a batch of peanut butter cookies. The last two cookie sheets were still baking when she heard Sally's voice carry down the stairs.

"Maria! Virgil's inbound now. We're doing that supply run before he gets called out again!"

Scott's voice came next. Maria wasn't sure whether he was there in person or it was over comms, but he was quite loud and sounded rather cranky. "She doesn't go down to the hangar without one of us with her at all times."

"She has a name, Scott." Sally's voice was much quieter, and carried what Maria thought might be a note of reprimand. "And I wasn't planning to send her down there alone."

Maria was glad she didn't have to face Scott right now. Staying out of the hangar didn't sound like a hard thing to do. She would do her level best to mind his rules. She looked around the kitchen at her cookie-making mess. Did she have time to clean any of it up? "How much time do I have, Mrs. Tracy?" she called up the stairs, remembering to be less familiar with her boss when Scott might overhear.

"Fifteen minutes, but would you be a dear and come help me with the stairs now?"

"Of course." Maria practically threw a pair of batter-encrusted beaters into the sink as she dashed to the staircase. When they made it to the kitchen together, Maria tried to steer Sally to sit in a dining chair. "Sorry about the mess. I can get most of it clean before we go."

"I'll help," Sally said. Then she noticed the kitchen counters filled with cooling cookies everywhere. She gasped. "Oh my! You made peanut butter and chocolate chip that fast?"

It was probably more likely Sally didn't realise just how long Maria had been down here. Maria chuckled. "Maybe if I can build up the reserves, I'll have time later for laundry or something." The timer went off and Maria removed the last two cookie sheets from the oven. She washed the bowls, measuring cups, and utensils, while Sally transferred the cooled cookies to platters. Maria swept some spilled sugar from the floor and glanced at her watch. "Time?"

Just then, Virgil walked in, wearing his uniform. He had a green sash the same color as his Thunderbird, and a big laser mounted on his shoulder. "You two ready to go?"

Maria nodded and reached behind her back to untie her apron strings.

"Hungry, Virgil?" Sally asked him.

He grinned. "You know me, Grandma."

"Well, we saved some breakfast in the fridge," Maria said. Then she remembered that leftovers weren't popular with Tracy men, so she added, "Or there's cookies." She gestured to the two platters piled high.

Sally pulled one of the baggies of breakfast sandwiches from the refrigerator and handed it to Virgil, evidently guessing which of the options he'd prefer. He ran them through a short zap of microwave and took a bite. "Mmm."

"Well, look at that. You do eat leftovers," Sally said bemusedly. Virgil hid a guilty cringe behind another big bite while Sally grinned and shook her head. "Come on, Maria. Let's get this show on the road."

Thunderbird 2 was waiting in the hangar with a cargo module already secured. Sure, Maria had seen pictures before, but nothing could have prepared her for the size and sleek green beauty of the ship's lines. Take-off was a lot more intense than when she flew commercial or FAB 1, but the flight was smooth otherwise.

While they were in the sky, John called with a mission for Virgil. Virgil turned to Sally. "We're almost there, Grandma. Do you want me to drop you off or come with me?"

Sally gave Maria a glance. Maria shrugged. She didn't want to inconvenience anyone, but surely Virgil didn't really want his grandmother and her nurse tagging along when he had something important to do. Sally turned back to her grandson. "You can drop us off. There's only two seats in the pod anyway. We'll get the shopping done and someone can pick us up later."

"F.A.B."

Maria had deduced this meant something along the lines of 'good' or 'yes' but why they didn't use something more conventional like 'roger', she couldn't guess. It was probably some super-elite astronaut lingo they picked up from their father.

They ended up buying everything on Maria's list and then some. Sally didn't bat an eye or question any ingredient Maria suggested. She even bought reusable silicone zippy envelopes and glass tubs for leftovers, so they wouldn't be putting plastic trash in the rubbish bin anymore. They had to wait a while after Sally finished check-out for Virgil to come back, but not so long that anything frozen had thawed.

After putting everything away back on Tracy Island, there was no time left to do laundry, but at least there was enough time and the ingredients to make a better dinner than that first night's spaghetti. Although Sally loitered in the kitchen, she mostly stayed out of the way and only minimally helped with the cooking. Maria didn't care if she helped or who got credit as long as the food was decent.

Dinner was tacos with pan-fried tortilla shells, homemade guacamole, and salsa. Some of the bacon grease Maria had saved from breakfast went into flavouring the refried beans. Spanish rice with sauteed onions completed the meal. If she hadn't already made two batches of cookies that morning, she would have made churros too, but it seemed like everyone enjoyed the food well enough, at least those who weren't on missions. Gordon said they were the best tacos he'd ever had in his life, which Maria assumed must be an exaggeration, considering how well-travelled all the Tracys were, but such a nice compliment touched her anyway and she thanked him profusely.

Brains actually showed up to eat, although a little late. He was really quiet though. He didn't mention whether he liked the food, but at least he ate it and didn't have any complaints. His mind seemed to be working on some mystery of the universe, no doubt more important than tacos.

After eating himself, Virgil gathered a plate of Mexican food, two of the breakfast biscuit sandwiches from the fridge, and some cookies, saying it was for a care package for John. It would travel up to Thunderbird 5 in a space elevator, along with some non-food items John needed. Virgil left the kitchen for the hangar.

When he returned, he leaned over Sally, who was still sitting at the table. His voice was low, but not a whisper, and without trying to eavesdrop, Maria heard him say, "Grandma, how come you didn't introduce Maria to John? I told him who made the food and he didn't know what I was talking about."

"Oh, that's right. She's seen him, but he hasn't seen her yet." Without warning, Sally hit the comms pad in the centre of the dinner table. "Tracy Island to Thunderbird 5. John, do you have a minute?"

Maria guessed what was coming and tried not to cringe. She had to be an absolute mess after shopping and cooking and starting on the kitchen cleanup. How much salsa had she spilled on her apron? Did her face look as greasy as it felt? Reflexively, she ran one hand over her head to smooth stray hairs and used the other hand to push her slipping glasses up her nose.

"What can I do for you, Grandma?" John said. He was hovering weightlessly as he talked.

"I want you to meet Maria." Sally grabbed Maria by the elbow and pulled her in so her image would be picked up by the holo-projection camera. "John Tracy, this is Maria Anderson, my new home health aide. She made dinner tonight."

Maria waved for half a second, then thought better of it. She had to remember that this was normal interaction for the Tracy family, not like some cheesy phone video someone was going to post on the Internet. She tried to look more dignified. "Pleased to meet you, John. Hope you like the tacos."

"Nice to meet you as well, Maria. If they're half as good as Virgil says, I'm sure I will."

Sally let go of her and Maria retracted immediately out of view. "Thanks, John," Sally said as she ended the call.

Alan, Scott, and Kayo came home late after a particularly difficult mission. Most of the food had been put away and the dishes had been done. Alan was headed directly to bed until Kayo yelled up the stairs that Maria had made his favourite food. He rushed in, looking around the kitchen incredulously. "You made tacos for me?"

Maria grinned at him. "I made them for everyone, but we saved some for you, yes."

He skipped the rice, beans, and cookies, but he must have eaten at least eight tacos. "Can you make these all the time?" Alan asked Maria, his crystal blue eyes so sincere it was painful. Kayo elbowed him in the ribs. "Ow. Hey, what was that for?"

Maria chuckled. "I'll make them once a week or so, but I'll always make some extra that you can reheat any time, like at lunch or when I make a dinner you don't like."

This seemed to make him happy. Maria saved all the meat, lettuce, fried shells, and guacamole in silicone zippy envelopes along with half the shredded cheddar. The rice, salsa, and other half of the cheese went into the egg-bacon mixture she had kept from that morning. "Tomorrow is breakfast burritos," she announced to no one in particular.

She thought she might have overheard Scott admit to Kayo that dinner had been good, but Maria was on the far side of the kitchen and he was whispering, so she couldn't be sure.

Maria escorted Sally up to her room and helped her with her shower and dressing for bed. Afterwards, she went back downstairs alone to do some dusting and light cleanup when she wouldn't be disrupting any mission communications because the lounge was finally empty.

After her own shower, she sat on her bed and made notes about the day on her tablet. She named the file "journal" and stored it on the server space Kayo had set aside for her. She also started a list of things to look up. Evidently, she was the only clueless moron about astrophysics and dozens of other advanced topics they regularly discussed around the house and at meals the way normal people discussed television shows or the weather. Maybe someday she wouldn't sound like a complete idiot if anyone ever tried to talk to her about anything beyond food.

Because she was leaving her door open now, she set the sound of waves to lower volume, then pulled Archie into a hug and fell asleep.