Hot chocolates were a Tracy cure-all. Bad days, hard days, sick days or long days all qualified for someone pressing a warm cup into your hands with a smile, sometimes accompanied by a hug and sometimes just a hand on your shoulder, reassuring you it was all going to be okay.
Scott's go-to was a simple 'just add water' mix that came in sachets and he just added a couple of marshmallows floating on top. He'd gotten into the habit in the Air Force for something easy to make in the dorms and stuck with it.
John liked to make his 'submarine' style- a stick of dark chocolate in each cup and hot milk poured over the top, preferably almond milk if they had any. It was a drink for savouring, waiting as the chocolate melted and sipping slowly.
Virgil used a spiced drinking chocolate mix with cinnamon and pepper- just enough heat to need the marshmallows to even out the bite of the pepper. His always came in the biggest mugs, ones that had to be held in both hands.
Kayo used a similar blend to Virgil but added her own twist- a swirl of whipped cream on top, homemade marshmallows that only appeared for this particular occasion and little shavings of dark chocolate on top for a decadent touch. Her hot chocolates were a rare treat and reserved for special occasions.
Gordon had come up with a concoction he swore by- cocoa powder, cinnamon, mini marshmallows, milk powder and sugar. There was always a container of it in Thunderbird 4, ready to make up at a moment's notice. Like Scott, he'd gotten into the habit in WASP and hadn't shaken it.
Alan liked to experiment. Currently his favourite was 'hot chocolate bombs', balls of milk or dark chocolate with flavours or spices and marshmallows inside. He'd deliberately take the labels off and pass the box around so you'd have to take one at random. You could never be quite sure what you would get.
But what was really special was campfire hot chocolate. That was a rare treat harking all the way back to the days when they'd spend summer holidays with Grandpa and Grandma at their farm. After a long day, as the sun set and the stars came out, they'd set up a fire in the old fire pit at the back of the farm house. Grandad would hang an old aluminum camping kettle over the fire and fill it with milk and a few scoops of cocoa powder and sugar, the boys would assemble with battered tin mugs and blankets around their shoulders and they'd sit and sip their drinks while listening to old stories or just chatting about life.
Grandma still had the old kettle and tin mugs, a little more banged up than before but with plenty of life still in them. On those days when her family had had their fill and more of the harder side of life she'd pull out that kettle, summon whoever was closest to assemble the brothers, Kayo and Brains and herd them all down to the beach for campfire hot chocolate and a little time amongst those who knew them best.