Tikatu : I tried to change the word filter but for some reason it wouldn't let me. It registered the change but then didn't apply it. Thanks for the help anyway.

/

New York was a fair way away from their little island. Kayo knows that much. It must have taken them a good few hours.

She watches from one of the windows as the jet lands on Tracy Island runway. Jeff hired them a plane – just one of the perks of being a billionaire. It takes a few moments for it's five passengers to emerge.

She narrows her eyes trying to make them out a little more clearly. The boys' grandparents look a little older than grandma Tracy but not much. She can't quite make out their aunt and uncle. The cousins also look older than any of the boys. Hm... She's reserving her judgement until she meets them face to face.

Jeff's standing in front of them, making sure that they don't rush out onto the tarmac and end up under the wheels of a plane. He waits until it's fully at a stop finally opening the door allowing the five boys to rush out. As always, Gordon and Alan are leading the charge, Virgil and Scott aren't far behind and John who's a lot more reserved preferring to walk along side Jeff. Kayo is hanging right back, she doesn't know these people and is naturally cautious, so she remains with Grandma.

"It's not like you to be shy..." She tells her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

She's a little worried about what they're going to make of her. She's not a Tracy. She lives here but she's not a member of their family, not by blood at least and whilst that doesn't seem to be an issue for Jeff or his sons, she's a bit afraid about how these strangers will react to her being there.

The boys have skidded to a halt in front of their grandparents and aunt who are cooing over them, commenting on how much they've grown, how Alan looks like his mother... The rest of the family is looking around trying to take in their surroundings. Kayo hides slightly behind Grandma, peering at the strangers still a little unsure.

At least she knows where John got his ginger hair from. Mrs. Tracy's sister and niece are both red heads. The oldest of the two cousins is a girl probably about 14 years old, the boy is probably about Scott's age.

"Look at you!" Lucy's sister coos ruffling Gordon's hair. "You've grown so much!"
"So, you live here then?" Her husband looks around the island.
"Yep! Just us!" Virgil declares joyfully. "We have the whole island all to ourselves!"
"Tracy Island, eh?" Their grandmother mutters.
"Well, not just..." Scott cuts in looking around. "Hey, where's Kayo?"

The boys look around a little surprised. Grandma gently pushes her forwards from where she had been sheltering. She takes a couple of steps. She looks at the slightly confused members of Mrs. Tracy's family, blinking a couple of times, she lowers her gaze finding the floor rather interesting all of a sudden.

"My name's Kayo..." She speaks a little quietly.
"My now, a little timid today are we?" Jeff asks her in a reassuring voice, she nods looking down at her feet. "Kayo lives here with us."
"Kayo!" Alan chimes as if to enforce the statement.

She managed a little smile for the youngest of the brothers. She's being stared at and she doesn't like it much. She shelters behind Jeff. She's not used to being intimidated by people but today, for once, she finds herself rather quiet and wishing that she could go and hide some place. Maybe it's the dress...

"Well, it's very nice to meet you." Speaks the boys' grandfather.
"You too..." She managed to get out.
"Why don't you kids show your cousins to their rooms?" Jeff suggests.

The boys nod and rush off. Kayo hesitates before going with them. Jeff encourages his guests to go on ahead to the main livingroom whilst he, the pilot and Grandma deal with their suitcases. There's surprisingly a lot for only three days. The pilot informs them that as far as she can tell, they've packed as if they were visiting the Amazonian Rain forest, fortunately the Island's not quite that wild.

Ruth takes a moment to speak to her son.

"You didn't tell them about her, did you?" Grandma raises a knowing eyebrow.
"Well, considering that they weren't exactly keen on me taking the boys out here in the first place..." Jeff mutters as a reply. "God knows what they'd say if they knew I'd taken in Kayo, three months later."

Kayo is a little more confident when it comes to showing them around the house, maybe it's because the kids are a little closer to her in age. They're strange though. At least she finds it, one of them has already taken a 'selfie' which he plans on sharing on 'social media'. They seem awfully eager to know where the electric sockets are. Still, overall they seem happy with their accommodations and they should, their rooms have pretty good views.

The suitcases are carried in and their visitors begin settling in. Kayo can tell that the atmosphere is a little... Off. It's not hostile but she gets the distinct feeling that not everything is happy reunions.

"So when was the last time that you visited the mainland?" Their grandma asks them.
"We went a few months ago..." Scott recalls his trip to England. "We visited Lady Penelope."
"So, you don't go to school?"
"We're home-schooled." John replies picking up Alan before he can knock over a small table.
"And very smart the lot of you." Jeff replies ruffling John's hair.
"But you don't see any other kids your age?"
"Kayo talks to Penelope, don't you?" Grandma asks her.
"Penny's nice."

Since meeting her, Kayo quite often phones the young Lady or vice-versa. It's good for her to practice her English and she quite enjoys the chance to chat.

The rest of the evening passes fairly normally. The boys and Kayo behave. They do as Jeff suggested, show off their own unique talents and are incredibly polite. They play the role of model children and maybe they are.

It's a relief when the kids see the dinner that John and Kayo prepared for them. The credit automatically goes to Grandma Tracy, as Jeff said he wasn't responsible for the night's meal. The kids don't bother to correct them. Jeff had stressed the necessity for everything to seem normal and apparently routinely defying death with Grandma's cooking didn't fit into that.

"Delicious!" Lucille's sister declares with a beaming smile. "You're a brilliant chef Mrs. Tracy."

Now there's a series of words which just sound unbelievable and downright wrong together!

Still, they don't bother correcting her. The conversation goes back and forth simply. Kayo listens as best she can, understanding most of what is being said. Her English has come on a fair bit but she still can't quite keep up with fast discussion. Well, it's more that she's still translating English into Malay and the time it takes her to do that, the conversation has moved on.

They don't seem that interested in her anyway. She can understand why. This is something for their family and for the first time ever on Tracy Island, she feels like an intruder. They are Tracys and she is a Kyrano. So she stays quiet and eats her food, trying to pick up new words of English.

There's a point when Mr. Tracy looks almost angry, the first time she's ever really seen it. She can't quite understand what's been said. The boy's grandma asked him if he's coping better now. The anger vanishes almost instantly from his face however, replaced by a slightly blank look.

"Yes. Fine."

Usually, she thinks things through. She can read people well enough to know when not to bother them. Tonight however, she's not too sure if it's because she's a little put off by the sheer amount of strangers or if she's just a little sleepier than usual but she turns to Jeff and says :

"I don't understand."
"Nothing to understand Kayo!"

He snaps at her. His voice unusually cold and cutting. She shrinks away, a little surprised. Grandma casts him a glare. His eyes widen as if he's just been caught off guard. There's a couple moment's silence, then Virgil, who must have sensed something was a little off decides to show his aunt, who's into art some of his drawings.

The rest of the evening passes without incident but she remains silent not wanting to risk angering Jeff further.

It's a little later, bedtime, there's a knock on her door. Their guests have decided to turn in a little earlier than they normally would, after all, the trip has taken a lot out of them. She's sleepy herself and about ready to turn in. There's a knock at her door. It must be Grandma, she calls out that it's okay to come in.

It's Jeff. She frowns, a little surprised and assuming that she's going to get a row for earlier.

"I'm sorry Kayo." She apologizes sadly. "I didn't mean to snap at you earlier."
"It's okay." She replies quietly.
"No. No, it's not..." He shook his head negatively. "I shouldn't have lost my temper like that."
"Why did you?" She asks curiosity gaining the upper hand over caution.

Jeff lets out a heavy sigh and sits down in a chair.

He looks tired suddenly like all of his strength has just been sapped out of him. Sad also, strangely sad... She regrets asking all of a sudden. She can't understand why he got angry over dinner but every mention of it seems to upset him one way or another. He runs a hand through his hair before finally looking back.

"When my wife, Lucy died, I was really sad..." She knows he's simplifying things but doesn't really mind. "Like you were, when you lost your parents."

Jeff has NEVER mentioned his wife before. Not to her, not to any of his sons, at least not that she's heard. There's a photo of her one Jeff's desk where she got a brief glimpse of the woman : blonde, brown eyes like Gordon, a face like Alan... She had gathered over dinner that her name was Lucille – Lucy must be the abbreviation but never before has Jeff spoken about her. For that matter, he very rarely brings up her parents either other than to ask her how she's coping.

So, she realizes that whatever's on his mind, it must be something that hurts him.

"Anyway... I was really sad and well, I used to drink a fair bit and I got kind of grumpy..." He pauses for a moment letting out a sigh. "Grandma and the boys grandparents had to step in to look after them. They uh... Weren't too happy when I brought the boys to the Island."
"Why not?" Kayo tilts her head to one side slightly.
"Because I did some stupid stuff, Kayo..." He speaks quietly. "You'll understand one day. Read in between the lines and all... Basically, Lucy's parents didn't think that I was able to look after the boys alone when I brought them here."

He looks over to her. She nods telling him that she understands what he's telling her. It explains some of the things that have been puzzling her tonight.

Jeff still seems sad. He's fixing the wall blankly, probably lost in his thoughts. It's not the first time she's seen him like this : sometimes, if he doesn't think anyone was looking at him, he'll look out the window, towards the sky or the ocean or he'll stare at the photo of his wife on his desk.

"You're a good dad, Mr. Tracy." She tells him, unsure what else to say.
"Thank you Kayo." He smiles whilst sadness still occupies his eyes. "I think you'd have liked Lucy and I just know she'd have loved you."

Kayo just smiles back. It will be a long time before she understands everything that Mr. Tracy told her and before she fully reads between the lines.

They chat for a few moments. Jeff thanks her for cooking and being well behaved. He mentions that Christmas is coming up and asks her just what she would like. She doesn't know. This place is so huge, she finds it hard to think of anything else she would want. They have a pool, a forest, a beach, she has five brilliant playmates...

"Well, have a think about it." Jeff requests before checking his watch. "That late already! You should be in bed!"

Kayo doesn't complain too much. Wishing him goodnight and cuddling her tiger close to her before falling asleep rather quickly.

Their guests enjoy their stay as far as Kayo can tell. Although the life of isolation of a south Pacific Island might not be best suited for everyone. By the third day, the novelty of the pool and beach seem to be wearing a little thin and contact with the outside world is obviously something which the teens miss quite dearly. So when it's time to say goodbye, it's not all sorrow.

Kayo's there with the boys, waving them off. They promise to visit again in the future. Visitors are a rarity for Tracy Island, they always make an effort to accommodate them and enjoy some different company but the Island never seems quite right when they're around. This is their home and anyone else on it seems like something of an intrusion.

So the plane's barely taken off before Jeff's regretting the fact that he didn't make the rules and regulations in case of guests permanent, as he watches the Island's disproportionate number of resident children do what they do best : cause mayhem, in as cute a way as possible.