THANK YOU TO EVERYONE.
This novel has been epically difficult to write…possibly the reason it has taken me so long to complete it. There are times when I despaired of it. When it began, I knew exactly what it was going to be about, what would happen and to whom; and yet almost nothing went to plan. I had even, from the start, destined one character to die, and then fell in love with that character myself and changed my mind!
For several months at the start of 2019 I suffered from severe anxiety which caused me to abandon the thing altogether. It took a great deal of self-persuasion to decide to get back into it and take it to its promised conclusion. A large part of the credit for that go to every single wonderful person who has read/ is reading this; and especially to all those lovely people who took the time and trouble to leave me a review. THANK YOU ALL FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!
This chapter is dedicated to everyone who has left a review, because it was the amazing reviews which helped me to get back to writing after being unwell last year. If your name is listed amongst those who have commented, then this chapter is for you.
Finally, I have to admit that if it had not been for the unending support and enthusiastic encouragement of Bow Echo, this novel would never have been started. So, INTO THE LIGHT is dedicated to her.
At this moment, I am not planning on writing any more fanfiction…at least, nothing of such epic length. I may from time to time appear with a one-shot, as my muse strikes; so, for the time being adieu! And Please enjoy.
EPILOGUE – FIVE YEARS LATER
"Alan, stand still! I can't tie the thing if you keep moving around!" Jeff Tracy complained, still trying hard to tie a bow tie around his son's neck, whilst Scott and Virgil patiently fixed in place Alan's cufflinks. Finally, they were done, and they stood back, and smiled in approval. Alan looked at himself in the mirror.
"Why did I agree to do this?" He muttered with a frown. "I look like a damned penguin!"
His father's brow furrowed, whilst his brothers exchanged worried glances.
"Are you having second thoughts, Alan? Because if you have changed your mind about getting married, we can call the whole thing off. Marriage is hard enough without going into it half-heartedly."
Alan shook his head, looking shocked.
"Of course not!" He exclaimed. "I adore Sonia, and I can't wait to marry her. I just can't believe I agreed to go along with getting married in public! She agreed that John should marry us, on condition that it happens in freezing cold England! At least it's here at Penny's manor, but it means I have to wear a suit. Virgil wore a sarong to his wedding. That was much more comfortable!"
Scott smiled at his baby brother.
"Well, we can still have our island party when you two get back from your honeymoon. Sonia has a big family. Its understandable she would want as many of them as possible to be able to come to her wedding. Besides, a sarong would be very cold and drafty to wear to an autumn wedding in England!"
The three men stood back and admired Alan in his deep blue suit, white shirt, blue bow tie with the tiny red polka dots on it, and gold cufflinks. Virgil smirked.
"I still can't believe our baby brother is getting married! Time flies!"
Jeff rolled his eyes.
"You wait until you're in my position, son. Soon enough it'll be the triplets, and then you really will be wondering where the time went to!"
Virgil nodded, smiling.
"True, but I have a while to go yet, dad. The kids are only five years old at the moment."
Jeff nodded.
"Yes, and only yesterday you were five years old Virgil! Take it from me, enjoy your kids whilst they're small. They grow up much too quickly! The same goes for you too Scott."
Scott nodded.
"I intend to, father. Well Alan, are you ready for this?
In another part of the mansion, Alan's fiancée, Sonia Hart bit her lip in frustration.
"I can't get this to look right. The tiara keeps sliding off to one side, and everything falls. I have never been very good at fancy hairstyles!"
"Here, sit down on the stool, so I can reach you." Came Isla's voice, and as Sonia obediently sat down, Isla carefully fixed her hair so that it stayed in position perfectly. She finally stood back and glanced round at the other two women in the room.
"What do you think girls?"
"Exquisite!" Lady Penelope replied with the twinkling smile, "and your dress…you look like an angel, darling."
Kayo nodded.
"Beautiful. Wait until Alan sees you!"
Sonia blushed.
"Thanks girls. I couldn't have done without your help."
She looked around the room.
"Where is Amelia? She was here a moment ago."
Kayo chuckled. John's wife Amelia was seven months pregnant with their first child and was having difficulties because she was complaining that her unborn child had his foot jammed against her bladder.
"Where do you think? Call of nature."
Sonia laughed.
"Again? Poor Ames. Well…I guess its time to be gone. Who's watching the kids by the way?"
Isla grinned.
"Jeff, Scott and Virgil are helping Alan, John is greeting the guests and performing the ceremony. That leaves grandma and Parker to watch the children. The last I saw, grandma had taken charge of George and Billy, leaving Parker to watch the triplets."
Sonia laughed. Virgil and Isla's triplets, the identical black haired, brown eyed boys Isaac and Joshua were full of energy and enthusiasm and never seemed to tire. Their sister Serendipity was red haired and blue eyed like her uncle John, but full of mischief like her uncle Gordon. With the three of them, Virgil and Isla had their hands full. It was always amusing to see the lesser initiated attempt to tame the triplets.
Grandma had chosen the easier option. Scott and Kayo's little boy George was just over a year old, and easy to entertain. Gordon and Penny's three year old son Billy was lively and inquisitive, but seemed to possess infinite patience, and was always content to sit for hours with a colouring book and crayons, watching from the sidelines as his cousins created havoc around him.
Kayo and Isla adjusted their own dresses. As Sonia's matrons-of-honour, they were dressed in simple, plain, ankle length evening gowns in matching designs, but in their own favourite colours. Kayo's was blue, Isla's was emerald green. Penny's, of course, was pink. Amelia's had had to be altered to allow for her rather large baby-bump, but with her dark brown hair and green eyes, she looked stunning in her glimmering golden dress. Sonia glanced at them and nodded, then opened the door. Downstairs, they could hear the music already starting in the banquet hall. She left the room and walked to the top of the sweeping staircase, where Amelia emerged from the bathroom and met up with them.
"Sorry about that Sonia." She whispered, eyeing the crowd downstairs, clearly waiting for their arrival. "Are you ready for this?"
When Sonia nodded, Amelia picked up the end of Sonia's train and the three women followed her sedately down the stairs, where Sebastian Hart, Sonia's elder brother was waiting to walk her down the aisle.
Tracy Island was warm and welcoming after the chill of England. Even though it was raining, the rain was warm, and the ambient temperature outside was such that one did not mind getting wet. The rains at the moment were frequent, but heavy and short-lived. The jungle was getting its necessary soaking, but the family sat on the patio beside the pool beneath a large open pavilion or canopy that allowed them to enjoy the fresh air without getting too wet.
"Mommy, can I play with uncle Alan?"
Five year old Serendipity was clearly fed up with reading her picture book already. She wanted to be running along the beach and making sand-castles; her favourite thing to do when her uncle Alan was not busy. Isla shook her head patiently.
"Sorry Seren. Uncle Alan is not here right now. He is on holiday. Do you remember, Uncle Alan and Aunty Sonia got married? We went to Aunt Penny's big house and had the fireworks afterwards?"
The little girl nodded.
"Yes, I was cold!"
"I know sweetheart. It is cold in England in autumn. Uncle Alan and Aunty Sonia will be home in a few days. If you ask him nicely when he comes home, he might be willing to play with you before he goes to work."
The little girl pursed her lips and folded her arms.
"But I want to play now."
"Why don't you go and play with your brothers?"
She shook her head.
"Don't wanna. Want Uncle Alan!"
Isla sighed softly. Virgil nudged her.
"Hey, watch this."
He raised his voice and called across to the pool where his younger brother was swimming lengths.
"Hey Gords!"
Gordon swam to the side of the pool and grinned.
"What is it Virge?"
Virgil inclined his head sideways.
"A certain little red-headed someone is bored and is missing Uncle Alan."
Gordon raised his eyebrows and heaved himself out of the pool.
"Really? Bored is she? Bored?"
He wiggled his fingers in the air in Seren's direction, and took a step towards her. She giggled and ran away. Gordon chased after her. Their combined laughter and giggles faded away into the distance, and Isla shook her head.
"Gordon never tires of playing with the kids, does he? He's a wonderful dad and makes a brilliant uncle. He's always willing to make time for them."
Virgil nodded.
"That's coz Gords is still a kid himself."
The two turned as they heard voices drifting back to them from the direction of the house. John was holding his wife's hands, a duffel slung over his shoulder, and looking intently into her eyes.
"Amelia, are you sure you will be alright if I go up to Thunderbird Five? I am concerned about you…you only have two months to go, and I don't want anything to happen to either you or our baby!"
Amelia smiled and stroked his cheek with one hand.
"And I will miss you too, John. Go on, we'll be fine here, honest! I have grandma, Brains and Virgil if I need medical help, and I can't even open a door around here without someone coming along to hold it open for me. If I need you, you can be back here within ten minutes. In the meantime, I am being waited on practically hand and foot."
Her eyes narrowed and she jabbed him playfully in the chest.
"Was that your doing?"
He grinned and shook his head.
"Actually, it was dad's. Ever since the triplets were born, he's discovered that he loves being a grandad, possibly even more than being a dad! He's becoming a bigger smother-hen than Scott, and that's saying something!"
They kissed, and Amelia hugged him as closely as she could. John felt a wave of love come over him as he felt their baby kicking him. Their eyes met, and he saw his wife's playful grin. He leaned forward and gently patted her tummy.
"Alright baby, I get the message. You be good to mommy and take your foot off her bladder, you hear?" he whispered. "Let her get a full night's sleep for a change!"
He straightened and realized that Virgil and Isla were watching him as well as his wife. He smiled sheepishly, turning slightly pink.
"Goodbye all. See in a month…Bye Sweetheart!"
They watched John disappearing down the stairs towards the silos, hurrying to Amelia's side as soon as John was out of sight. She was standing where he had left her, tears in her eyes.
"He'll be calling you three times a day sis. You know that, right?" Virgil told her with a smile. Amelia nodded through her tears and smiled.
"Sorry, I'm alright really. Just a bit emotional at the moment. I miss him so much when he's on duty."
"Look forward to the end of this rotation then Ames. Standard paternity leave for operatives of International Rescue is a standard six months…give or take getting bored!"
"I'm looking forward to it. John told me that he wants to start helping me teach when I start the Tracy Island School in September. The triplets already hang on his every word…"
They were cut off by the sound of a loud siren that had them heading towards the house. Parker and grandma hurried outside to take over babysitting duties whilst International Rescue went into action. Soon, just as the space elevator disappeared from sight, taking John up to Thunderbird Five to relieve Eos, Thunderbirds One and Two took to the skies, roaring off into the distance almost as fast as blinking.
On the beach, three little boys looked up from where they were digging into the sand, under Parker's watchful eye. The identical boys, Isaac and Joshua started a lighthearted argument about who was going to get daddy's ship when they grew up. Finally, they turned to their three year old cousin.
"Billy, don't you want to fly a Thunderbird when you get bigger?"
Billy shrugged and carried on digging, carefully building a moat around his castle. Isaac frowned at his brother, who shrugged and poked Billy softly in the shoulder.
"Billy, what do you like? Do want to fly a big silver rocket like your daddy?"
Billy shook his head and looked up to where the elevator had disappeared.
"Do you want to go to space then, like Uncle Johnny?"
Billy shrugged, then he looked at his cousins and giggled.
"I want ice cream!"
Laughing together, the three little boys ran towards the house, collected Seren from where she was sat in the middle of the flowerbed making a flower-crown, and hurried into the house, followed at a trot by Parker, panting slightly behind them.
He loved kids, he really did. Especially these kids…but…why did they always have to run everywhere?
Oh well, with that kind of energy, International Rescue would be in safe hands when they were old enough to take over…
He followed them into the house.
The End.