For Scherzandro

In their family flying was normal.

Scott had been flying since he was two weeks old. A trip from Kansas to Texas to introduce him to Jeff's best friend Lee Taylor, who should have been there at the farmhouse when Lucy when into labour but had broken his leg falling off a cliff – literally – so they had taken Jeff's private plane and hopped two states.

John had been eight months and Virgil just a seven-month bump when they first flew, their grandmother flying the boys and Lucy over to Houston to watch their father take off on his last trip to the moon.

There had been numerous flights in the years that followed.

Three years later and Gordon had been born. Yes, technically he had also been in a plane when a baby for a family holiday but that was before he had any coherent memory. In the three or so years that followed, while other family members had flown, Gordon had not. For some reason the family holiday that he first remembered had been a road trip (a road trip! With four kids under eight? Were they nuts? Probably – but Gordon remembered loving it). The next year he had broken his leg and last year Alan had been born and had been ill so both had been home-based vacations.

He was now six and about to step onto a plane for the first time in living (his) memory. All his brothers and his Dad were already aboard, along with Grandma and Grandpa who had baby Alan. Gordon was standing on the ground with his Mom kneeling before him, hands gently placed on his shoulders.

The tears were stinging and he hadn't been able to talk from the hiccupping as he tried to get his breathing under control. All the while his Mom held him gently and Scott stood on the top of the steps, worry etched into his 12-year-old face and hopping from one foot to the other in his agitation over a younger brother being upset.

Eventually Gordon calmed down enough to breathe, and Lucy wiped his eyes and cheeks and nose with her handkerchief. He was still hiccupping when he attempted to speak, but his Mom hushed him and pulled him into a hug.

There was something happening behind him, but his Mom held him tight before loosening her hold as he felt other arms around him, picking him up and holding him close as they walked through the field and back into the farmhouse. There was only one set of footsteps following, and Gordon revelled in the comfort of his father's arms.

Keys jangled and the kitchen door creaked as the second person – Scott probably since their Mom would be with his other brothers – opened it, and they walked through to the living room and his Dad sat down still holding him. There was the sound of Scott sitting down on the floor in front of them.

After a short while Jeff shifted his fourth-born son slightly to the side so that he could see both his boys clearly. Fatherhood had taught him many lessons, but one of the biggest he was still learning was that each son needed individual handling. Gordon would talk in a minute, he had needed time to marshal his thoughts and the slight loosening told Jeff Gordon was now ready. Unlike Scott, who would have a flash of hot temper then box it up forever more.

Scott sat forward in anticipation as his Dad gently lifted Gordon's chin to look him in the eyes. Jeff smiled warmly and Gordon's lip wobbled a little. Scott edged forward and placed a hand on his brother's ankle.

'Gordon? Son, what's the matter?' His Dad's tone was warm and a fresh tear fell. It was wiped away ever so tenderly.

'I don't wanna go in the plane, Dad.' It was haltingly said and Gordon tensed, ready for a rebuttal but both his Dad and his brother's hands tightened. They were a family of flyers. Scott, John and Virgil had all flown (supervised) their Dad's small jet that was kept at the airstrip at the bottom of the field. Even baby Alan seemed to love flying.

'Ok. It's ok, son. It's ok.' They sat there for a few minutes, Jeff gently rocking his son until he once more relaxed against him. 'Do you want to tell me what's the matter?'

Gordon nodded but spent a couple more minutes fiddling with the buttons on his Dad's shirt before whispering:

'What if no one believes?'

If the answer caught both his Dad and Scott by surprise, neither of them showed it. Instead, his Dad once more folded him into a hug and Scott sat down beside them and joined in. Once more they waited to be sure Gordon was ready before his Dad gently spoke again.

'If no one believes in what, Gordon?'

'Believes that the plane can fly.'

'What would happen if no one believed?'

'Then all the planes would fall out of the sky and die.'

There was a slightly hysterical edge to the last statement. Again Gordon was shifted until he was now sitting between his father and his eldest brother. Scott wrapped his arm around him as his Dad got up then crouched in front of him.

'Son, did someone tell you our plane was going to crash?' Jeff's concern had shot up at Gordon's worry of crashing, and it was not too farfetched to say he had an enemy that could conceivably cause something like a crash. How Gordon would know that though…no, this had to be something else.

'John did.'

Neither could keep the surprise from showing on their faces at this revelation. John?! Alright, his second eldest was by far the brightest of all his boys, and a computer buff even at the age of ten, but why would John tell Gordon and not himself. Scott looked just as mystified.

'What did John tell you?' Scott asked the question, just as curious as to how John knew anything was going to happen as their Dad was.

'He said that if you don't believe in them then they can't fly and they die.'

'Planes? He said planes die?'

'No…he said fairies. But fairies fly and planes fly so if a fairy cannot fly because no one believes then a plane will too.'

Gordon's face was nothing but earnest, and Jeff was reminded that despite even at six his fishie son wasn't as academically bright as his brothers that didn't mean he wasn't clever. He still had no idea what was going on, but the look of comprehension on Scott's face said at least one of them did.

'John's been reading Peter Pan to you?' Gordon's nod affirmed his suspicions. 'And you got to the bit where Tinkerbell nearly dies?'

'Yes! They have to say they believe in her or she will die!'

The dramatic change in Gordon's tone told Jeff that they had found the cause of Gordon's anxiety, but he had no idea how to help his son. It had been years since he had read Peter Pan. Fortunately, it looked like Scott, as usual, was on the ball.

'Do you think that Dad and Mom and Grandma and Grandpa will ever stop believing that our jet will fly?'

'No…'

'Do you think that John and Virgil and Alan will?'

'No…'

'Do you think I ever will?'

'Of course not! Scotty, you were born to fly, everyone says so.'

'So is that enough belief to keep the plane in the air?'

Gordon turned the reasoning around in his brain. To keep Tinkerbell alive they all had to believe, and everyone had to clap as well. If all his family believed, and since they all flew they obviously did, then maybe it would be enough…

'How about this, Gords. When we get on the plane we'll all give it a clap and she will be happy and fly for us?'

Once more Gordon thought about this before nodding and smiling, jumping off the couch and grabbing both his Dad and Scott by the hand and pulling them out to the plane.

His Mom was waiting, Alan on her hip, on the top of the stairs, and once she saw them coming through the field she relaxed, a smile on her face. It didn't take them long to reach her, and she handed Alan over to Scott while Jeff briefly placed a hand on her shoulder before moving into the cockpit, and swept Gordon up in a tight hug, carrying him through to the seats and strapping him in even as Scott did the same for Alan.

His Dad's voice came over the comm.

'Good morning and welcome aboard Tracy Airways. Today promises to be a nice flight, but we would like to begin our journey by showing Meena exactly how much we believe in and love her. A round of applause please!'

Everyone clapped. If John and Virgil were a little confused they never said anything, and Scott added some yelling too. The clapping died down naturally and Scott looked to Gordon.

His face shining, Gordon looked more like himself than he had done earlier, and it looked like between them all they had helped him overcome his fear of flying.