OMG – you guys are absolutely FAB I've never had any of my stories reviewed so much. This is so cool.
To my reviewers: bograt – glad you're enjoying it and hope John keeps you amused in this chapter - Willow Tracy – glad you found it cute and I don't think the boys will like costumes much but it gives me something to do in later chapters - killhill2003 – thanks very much grins happily - mcj – well you don't have to wait any longer enjoy - Cap'n Phoenix – well the comments for the next chapter as it's the same day but thank you all the same – icequeenam – you must have been on the same wave length as me (read on and you'll find out)- and Alanaya – hope you like the next bit
Chapter 3 – Monday Evening
John sat and stared at the party that Penny was throwing. It was not her usual style but it seemed to work. It was a bright sunny day for Britain and there was a gentle breeze that just kept the temperature down in the heat wave that had been a problem for some time now.
Kids ran around laughing and playing in mad circles, while the older ones either chatted on about something or ate from the vast amounts of food that had been laid on. Virtually everyone in the local area had been invited and a lot of the children were from a school not far away.
John smiled as the DJ put on another chill out song and took a sip from the lemonade that he had. It was a pleasant event and nothing could have spoilt it at that point in time. He followed a group of girls who were playing some daft game and screaming even louder than the rest especially when any boys came near to them. He frowned realising that Phil was not amongst them anymore.
She had been earlier, he had seen her playing clapping games with them, but now she was nowhere near them. He scanned carefully around and eventually spotted the small figure of his younger sister, sitting alone by the roses.
He sighed and walked over to her, thinking quietly to himself that she looked sweet in her purple skirt and white short-sleeved shirt.
"Heya, princess, what you doing over here?" he asked, hunching down so that he was just a little above her.
She turned her face up towards him and it was obvious that she was upset over something, but she shook her head and looked down at her hands, "Nothing" a tiny whisper escaped her lips.
"Princess, I don't think I'm going to fall for that one. You were playing with those girls earlier on, why aren't you now?" John persisted sitting down.
Phil's eyes met with her brothers blue ones and she knew that she could not hide anything from him, "They're mean. They said that I could not play any of their games properly. They wanted to play 'Catchy Kissy' with the boys and I didn't want to. They don't like me"
John sighed and glared at the girls who looked as though they were flirting – or at least attempting to – with a group of boys. They weren't any good at it and were more than likely playing some older pretend game. "Don't listen to them, Phil. They're just a bunch of troublemakers. You stick with your own friends" he said trying to sound like a person who knew what he was saying but entirely feeling it in his own heart.
A smile lit up Phil's face and she grinned happily at her second eldest brother, "You know John, I think I will. Thanks" she said before rising and running off.
John chuckled and watched as she found a girl and boy sitting looking rather nervous and instantly they were all laughing.
"What you laughing at brother?" came Gordon's voice from behind him.
John stood and turned to face the dark red-haired Tracy, "Just Phil playing with her friends. Sometimes I think she needs to get some self confidence"
"Self confidence? Our Mermaid? She's full of it and frequently uses it on us all of the time. She's just like you and Alan – far too nervous over the small things in life" said Gordon leading John back to the table.
One thing that John had come to learn in the few hours he had been with his new family was that each of the Tracy boys had a different nickname for Philadelphia. He still wasn't quite sure as to why but he put it down to her being the only girl of the family other than their mother and Grandma.
Scott called her Feathers due to some toy that she had gotten off him when she was two called Feathers, John himself called her Princess as she was as pretty and sweet as all of the ones he had read about in books, Virgil nicknamed her Note as he said that she could sing when she was prepared to, Gordon had called her Mermaid due to her swimming ability and Alan often called her squirt but Cady was his official one for her. It seemed that she shared something with all of the brothers and her nicknames reflected that part of her.
"Gordon, what are you on about? I don't get nervous over small things!" John shot at the swimmer of the family.
Gordon stuck his tongue out at him and sat down, "Oh yes you do, Johnny, don't even try to deny it. You're just naturally nervous over things. Take that time when that girl –"the remark was cut off by a death glare from John.
"One more word, little brother and Scott will learn of precisely what happened to the you-know-what" his threat was well justified.
There had always been a rather unspoken agreement between the brothers – well unspoken wasn't quite the word to use more like the 'I'll threaten to tell mum or dad or whoever exactly what happened and you'll end up in even worse trouble than you would have been anyway' case scenario – that some things were kept secret but generally most were eventually learned one way or another.
Lucille appeared, a little over her normal drinking limit, "Hey boys" she said flopping down, "I'm going to regret this tomorrow" her head was already within her hands.
"Oh great" Gordon shook his head, "Mum I thought you had agreed with Grandma not to drink tonight"
"I did, but- you know what its like" said Lucille.
John rolled his eyes, shaking his head, "We'd better get some ice water down her neck" he passed a sly grin and a wink between Gordon, "Or maybe we could feed you some raw coffee cause that's meant to make you get sober again, wouldn't you agree brother of mine?" he teased.
"Yeah I think freshly ground British coffee would do the trick, dearest elder brother" said Gordon defiantly trying not to laugh.
"OH no you don't! I am not eating any raw coffee at all...oh my head!" whined Lucille.
"What's wrong, momma?" came Alan's voice as Virgil and Scott led the two babies of the family towards the table, followed closely by the British Miss Penelope who appeared just a bit more exciting and hot in a pink bikini top and pink and yellow checker shorts. Lucille made an unidentifiable jester of recognition but was already starting to feel the effects of the alcohol.
"Ah, I think Mrs Tracy has had one to many" said Penny in well educated tones.
"I think Mrs Tracy is about to be sick" said Lucille, hiccupping slightly.
The boys – excluding the bemused Alan – all closed their eyes, already dreading what she was going to be like later on.
"Don't worry, this time we were prepared for something akin to this happening. Wasn't quite expecting you're mother Scott but she's not the first I'll admit. Come one Lucille, the ice is over the other side of the garden" Penny said helping Lucille to stand and with Scott's help managing to get her away.
"She's going to be fun tomorrow" said Gordon, catching hold of Alan to stop him speeding off, much to the annoyance of the ten year old.
"You're telling me...why Scott went to help her though is a mystery" said Virgil who had scooped up young Phil and sat her on his knee quite happily.
"He wants to spend some more time with Miss Pen" said Phil taking hold of a glass in both hands and taking a long drink of fruit juice from it. Only Phil called Penny 'Miss Pen' as she spent her half-term holidays over in Britain as there was no real point in going back to Tracy island with her being educated in a British boarding school – this John had only just learned when Phil had been complaining earlier on about them all getting longer breaks than her.
Virgil looked down at his little sister with a frown, "What do you mean by that?" he asked. Phil looked up at him with large eyes, "Scott loves Miss Pen, didn't you know that?" she asked.
John nearly choked on his drink, as did Gordon and even Alan looked highly surprised, "What?" they all asked in unison.
Phil looked a little embarrassed, "I thought you would have all know by now. He's fancied her for years" she took another drink, gently swinging her legs.
John couldn't help but laugh, Scott loved Penelope Creighton-Ward! "Where did you hear that young lady?" he asked, still laughing even though he was trying to sound serious.
"Read it in his diary" said Phil innocently. The others starred at her, John remembering his father telling them that truthfulness was a quality that had to be used wisely at all times.
"It's not in the one I read" came Alan's voice from the floor, true it didn't quite sound like that as he was in the process of eating something but it was just about legible to the older brothers.
"You two" scolded Virgil, looking between them, "You're not supposed to go reading stuff that's private"
"You told us where he kept them though, Virg" said Alan, determined not to get all of the blame laid solely on himself and Phil.
"That's true, but I found his really secret one" said Phil, bouncing slightly and upsetting the drink over part of her skirt, Alan's shoe and Virgil's trousers.
"Phil!" shot Virgil standing up and rather none-too-gently dropping Phil to the floor who simply laughed.
John and Gordon attempted to keep their faces straight but where failing by the minuet. Virgil's trousers were wreaked and the glare at Phil said all of what he was thinking.
Taking the hint, Phil and Alan made to go but John caught both of them tightly and spun them around into his tight grip, "Now you two, say you're sorry to Virgil" he said, knowing that if anything happened to cause problems then their mother would not be happy – not that she would really care until tomorrow morning anyway.
"It was an accident" moaned Alan, wriggling hard and kicking John by accident on the shin.
"Ow, Alan! Stop it" scolded John, while still trying to hold onto him, even though he persisted in wriggling.
"Sorry Virgie, but it was Alan's idea" said Phil, all the more sweetly that before.
"Tattle-tale!" shot Alan, glaring at his younger sister.
"Pay back!" she shot back at him.
John saw Virgil's glare at Alan and instantly knew there would be trouble, "Virgil, calm down....ow, Alan, that hurt!" he yelled as Alan hit his forearm and took off, followed closely by Gordon as John had stopped Virgil going any further forward.
"I'm going to kill him one day" said Virgil, but he was laughing at the state of his trousers more than really threatening to kill him in real life.
Gordon appeared several minuets later nearly dragging the struggling form of Alan, "Stop being a pest squirt, sit down and behave for once!" he told him as sternly as he could.
The rest of the evening was rather uneventful – bar poor Scott getting hassled by all of his younger siblings about who he fancied not realising that in fact they already knew and had made an agreement with the little monsters to find this diary and expose what they could of it.
It was dark when the party came to a close, luckily for the boys they weren't travelling home overnight, Parker had personally told them to stay as he said the roads could be fairly treacherous at this time of morning.
John and Scott sat finishing off another round of iced chocolate, which had been left, staring out of a window in one of the many rooms of Penelope's mansion.
The others were asleep, either sharing a bed on curled up on the floor. John grinned and chuckled slightly, "You know, Scott, when you see them all like this you wouldn't even think that they're at each others throat on a frequent basis".
Scott's smiled only broadened, "There are sometimes I'm sure they all just plan things in their sleep. I think we're both going to be for it tomorrow" he started gazing out of the window, his black hair and dark eyes filled with a little bit of concern.
John noticed this easily within his older brother, although Scott prided himself on being able to keep his emotions in check he could never quite hide it from his eyes.
"Something troubling you Scott?" he asked, watching carefully as Gordon shifted onto his back, which allowed Alan to hug into him more easily and Phil to quietly rest on his chest.
Gordon would always deny that the three youngest were as close as everyone knew they were but watching them sleeping made John think about his own Gordon and Alan. Were they all right?
"Fine, just thinking of Dad I guess" said Scott, not even looking away from the window.
John turned at hearing Scott's voice and guessed what he had been fearing. It made sense that something had to be different about this time if their mother was alive, which could only mean one thing. Jeff Tracy was gone and had left his wife with six children to raise. "Hmm, I know – it somehow doesn't feel right him not being around...still" he quickly added as an after thought.
"John...you ever wonder what he would think of us now?" John's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. What on earth was Scott saying? But then again he remembered what the younger Scott Tracy had been like before his mothers death, Scott and John had always been similar in mindset until that day and it was quite a shock to hear it now.
But a smile came to his face, John knew exactly what Jeff thought of them all...he had heard it from his Dad plenty of times.
"To tell you the truth Scott, I think he would be proud of us all. If he was here right now he would be telling you to stop moping about and get on with your dreams – and possibly telling you to get a move on with that certain Lady you fancy – no doubt about that, he would be giving Virgil some rather unwanted advise about what the next stage of life is for him, poor Gordon would be getting frequently told to stop acting like a two year old and get on with his studies and other things. Alan – you can imagine that all to easily – the poor kid would be getting ridiculed about everything. That's what Dad would be doing if he were here" a smiled filtered across John's lips as he recalled all of that information for his own family.
"John, you left two out. You and Philadelphia. What would he be saying about you two?" persisted Scott, a grin of mischief spreading across his face and lighting up his eyes.
John suddenly got rather shy and nervous, "I...I don't know" he stammered.
"Oh c'mon John, you could tell me about all the others including myself why can't you say what he would say about you and Phil?" Scott had an annoying habit of not letting anything drop until he got his answers.
John shook his head, "I honestly don't know Scott. What do you think? I've told you all I can think of right now" it was a back out but hopefully an effective one.
Scott chuckled and then looked out of the window, pausing as if to think, "I think that Dad would be fascinated by you're determination and mind. He would be trying to get you to go further on with you're studies though I doubt that it would take much encouragement. He would be proud of you" the tone was that of a big brother and John had to admit he liked it, but the fact that he was going redder by the minuet was not helping.
"Scott!" he said a little too loudly, causing Scott to wave his hands in front of John's shushing him as quickly as he could. "John don't you dare wake the others up" he whispered, before the pair broke into quirky chuckles.
"You're too flattering at times Scott Tracy" whispered John before looking over at the sleeping form of Phil and smiling. "What do you think Dad would think of our Phil?" he asked, slightly seriously.
Scott stopped laughing and watched her fondly as all big brothers are with any younger sibling, "I think she would be very special to him, a proper Daddy's Little Princess. Out of all of us, she's the one whose the most similar to him. Wouldn't surprise me in the future if she becomes a commander or something similar" he said. His words were true, for John felt that in his heart too.
"Y'know Scott, I think she's already special to all of us. But she's got a lot of spirit within her that's calling to get out. I think being a commander will be something she'll get eventually but I've got a feeling that she'll always be independent and will enjoy life's opportunities whenever she can get them" it was amazing to think that John had only known her since that morning and already he knew what she would be like.
"Life opportunities eh? That I look forward to seeing...it's just going to get interesting when she starts getting involved with boys" he chuckled and John closed his eyes with worry over that very thought, "she'll make Dad proud wherever he is" Scott finished before yawning.
"I think its time we both went to sleep, eh big brother?" asked John, carefully getting off the windowsill.
"Too true, little brother" said Scott before clambering over Virgil and flopping onto the bed.
As John closed his eyes he swore he could see another pair watching him closely in the night but they soon were lost to the folds of sleep.
Silently, Philadelphia rose from the floor and padded across to the window. She had heard all of their conversation and wasn't quite sure what to make of it. She watched the starts and quickly found the North Star, she smiled and waved at it, "Night Daddy" she whispered before crossing over to Gordon and hugging up to him wondering if her Daddy liked it up on the North Star and if he would ever come and see them.
A.N ahem rather long chapter I'll admit but it just kind of all came together so lovely. I'm planning to get a few more interactions in and poor old Scott having to put up with his brothers and little sister
Still review and I'll see what's going to happen next with this