Author's Note - Thanks to all the wonderful people who encouraged me to write another Fanfic. This is a story about how a love of family and a love of life can over-ride the toughest of circumstances. I hope you enjoy it. Yours .... mcj

TALES OF A GRANDMOTHER

PROLOGUE - A GRANDMOTHER WITH A MISSION

Hi there and good evening!

My name is Josephine Alice Tracy. My friends call me Josie actually and you can too if you stay around long enough to hear what I am going to tell you about the things that go on around here.

There's a lot I won't be able to tell you because I am a member of International Rescue, a top secret rescue organisation founded by my son Jeff and staffed by my five grandsons and a few other brilliant people who have grown to be like members of our family.

Oh dear, Jeff won't be too pleased that I told you that but I'm sure I can trust you not to tell anyone. You wouldn't be here if you weren't worth trusting.

However, if I can't talk about International Rescue, I do have a lot I can tell you about my son and my five grandsons and the other members of our team who live on this island in the middle of the beautiful Pacific Ocean. In thinking about what I just said, I probably wasn't supposed to tell you where our Base is either. Well it's not as if I gave you any specifics.

Right?

Please forgive me.

It's obvious I'm making rather a mess of introducing myself at the moment.

I guess that comes from being old, although I don't look upon myself as old, more like I'm experienced in the ways of the world.

It would be easier to tell you things you should know rather than things you're not supposed to, even though you know about them anyway. Does that make sense to you? If it doesn't just remember, I'm old.

Well, what I can say is that I am stuck up here in my bedroom at the moment like some fugitive from the law. My bedroom is a beautiful, tranquil place to be. It overlooks the blue water of the Pacific Ocean and I love sitting out on my balcony taking it all in. However, I don't love the fact that I am up here pretending not to know that my son has arranged a surprise birthday party for my seventy-fifth birthday.

My birthday is tomorrow and as I speak to you, he and four of my grandsons are downstairs making the final arrangements for it. My fifth grandson Alan is currently on duty in Thunderbird 5 - oh dear I don't think I was supposed to say that either. Well too bad; I have and it's certainly no secret now.

Anyway to be quite frank with you, that silly son of mine doesn't think I know what they are up to down there locked behind closed doors. They think I think they are having a meeting about improvements to the communications link in Thunderbird 5. You'd think they would have learned by now that trying to pull the wool over my eyes is a waste of time.

I will tell you this right now, I know everything around here. It's my business to know and over the years it has been fortunate that I have known quite a few things I'm not supposed to. It's changed a lot of things that could have happened around here for the better and those grandsons of mine are lucky I look out for them like I do. Well I'm kind of committed to that more than just any old Grandma. I promised their mother I would look out for them only a few minutes before that sweet little girl died in the arms of their father.

My family, the Tracy family, is a very tight, close and loving one. I am proud to say that about us and every word of it is true. Don't get me wrong; we are not perfect, far from it, as you'll see later on.

We have our moments because of the huge variation in personalities that live within our ranks. On the whole though, I think I've held them all together pretty well. Even though I'm seventy-five years old tomorrow I know which buttons to push in each of my grandsons to keep them in check and I have been pretty successful in avoiding too many disasters with the five of them over the years.

Five grown men with their own opinions all living under one roof with their Father in charge is a task in itself but I have to admit it is much better these days than all that time ago when there were five little boys living under one roof with a Father not in charge of anything, least of all himself.

Jeff raising his little boys alone ...the memory sometimes brings a tear to my eye ... but then other times it can also make me laugh.

He was such a wonderful Father to his little ones despite how hard it was for him to cope. Please believe me when I say there were some really funny moments as well as the very poignant ones during that difficult time.

My son Jeff is simply wonderful and the two of us have been through such a lot together these past twenty one years.

It's my ambition to tell you a little about Jeff and each of the boys before I go on to tell you some very personal things about all of them. None of them will like it but that's too bad as far as I'm concerned. It will serve them right for thinking I'm silly enough to be fooled by this surprise party.

Jeff, my only son, is a billionaire. It is a bit of a long story really. Jeff started out on a wheat farm in Kansas and when he left High School he wanted to be in the Air Force instead of following in his Father's footsteps. That certainly didn't go down too well with his Daddy that was for sure.

But there I go again rushing ahead with details.

Jeff has a captivating history of his own.

But he's done it tough the last twenty years without his precious wife Lucy by his side. She was his world, his life and his soul and when she died I'm afraid to say a part of him died too.

At least he still has his boys and despite the odd rocky patch, they love, admire and respect him more than anything. I don't know anyone else with five sons who can say they haven't gone through some rocky patches in their journey through life.

Jeff doesn't know how lucky he is. He missed most of the bad ones. I sorted them out well and truly before he got wind of them believe you me!

Anyway that's enough about Jeff for the moment.

Let me tell you about Scott, my eldest grandson. He's twenty nine now and I've always called him Jeff's apprentice. He's followed in his Father's footsteps in almost every aspect of his life and he continues to do so as Jeff carefully grooms him to one day take over International Rescue.

However much to my disappointment he's fallen well behind his Father in the finding of some love in his life.

It's a real shame. He's such a fine man and deserves much more fulfilment in his life than travelling to the mainland every few weeks. I know he's tired of being a playboy and simply wants to settle down with a wife and children of his own. As his Grandma I can see it in his eyes.

But it's hard to find a wife when your career won't allow you to trust anyone and you can't bring them home even for a simple visit. Actually it's a bit of a sore point with me. Jeff's insistence for top secrecy is admirable but the toll it's taking on his sons, particularly Scott, bothers me a great deal.

You need very few words to describe my Scott. Jeff's Apprentice suits him fine.

Virgil comes next. He's twenty six years old and he is the artistic one of the family. He can do everything that boy. He can sing, paint, and play the piano just like his mother could. He even looks exactly like his Mother which really upsets Jeff sometimes. I keep telling him God made Virgil like that because he was going to take Lucy away. Virgil is such a thoughtful, sensitive young man, just as Lucy was sensitive and I love him very dearly.

I'll tell you a bit more about Lucy later on too. She was a beautiful little English girl who completely stole my Jeff's heart from the moment they met. He loved her very deeply and even though she's been gone from us for over twenty years he still loves her and simply won't let her memory go.

But that's another big sore point and one I don't want to discuss now.

Now where was I? Oh yes introductions.

My third grandson's name is John. He's twenty four and he is the family Starman. John is an astronaut like his Father and has studied and loved the stars since he was small. Oh dear I didn't tell you about Jeff being an Astronaut did I? Well I'll tell you about that later after I tell you about his time in the Air Force.

Johnny is a quiet retiring boy and I worry about him being up there in that satellite all alone. Jeff tells me that under that quiet exterior he is quite a devil of a boy. I don't think Jeff knows this son very well if he thinks that. But you can make up your own mind about John when I tell you about him.

I have two other grandsons who were born very close together and both of them are very different to the three older ones. It was like Jeff and Lucy drew some sort of line down the middle between where common sense started in their first three children and where it ended before the last two. It's probably because they were both not meant to be born. Jeff told me he was stopping at three children and I know how that all went wrong too. I'll tell you again. I know everything.

You'll see how different these youngest two are once I tell you about them.

Gordon came first. He's twenty two. He's got red hair and a cheeky face and one not so endearing attribute. Gordon Cooper Tracy is the practical joker of the family. I don't know where in the devil he got his warped sense of humour from or his red hair and his honey brown eyes. Not the Tracy family that's all I can say. Jeff always used to tease Lucy that Gordon's Father must have been the milkman not him

Hardly likely.

Those two were in Kansas when that boy was conceived so it was definitely no milkman. Not only that Gordon's got his Father's look in his eye and his way of doing things. He is a delightful boy despite his annoying practical jokes. Actually between you and me he gave us all a bit of scare a while back when he was still in the World Aquanaut Security Patrol. We nearly lost him in a hydrofoil accident and that was more frightening than when Jeff and Lucy nearly lost him as a premature baby at birth. I nearly had a heart attack on both occasions so as you can imagine I'm pretty close to Gordon.

There I go again rushing ahead and trying to tell too many Tales at once.

I simply can't help myself.

Then there's the baby, young Alan. The whole family has a name for our youngest member and that's the wild-child. You'll see why when I tell you a few stories about that boy. He's about to turn twenty one and I have to admit I'm particularly fond of him. Not that I don't love all my grandsons equally. Let me assure you I do. The difference with Alan is that I raised him from the day he was born. His mother died shortly after giving birth to him and I feel I owe him just that little bit more of my heart because his mother never got to love him with her own. Even before he was born she didn't let herself get caught up with her last little boy. There's another story to tell. I hope you've got a while to wait because that story is sad too.

As I have thoughts of family, I begin to think of those who are no longer with us in this life and in thinking about them I'll let you know I have more than a Tale or two to tell about them too.

My husband Grant had to die to get away from me; that's what Jeff once said when he was feeling more than a little exasperated with my input into family business. He calls it interference. I call it input. But I know he doesn't mean the things he says. Without my input he could have made some very big mistakes raising those boys and I am more than very sure that he knows that..

"Go to hell" I used to say to Grant if I didn't agree with him. Grant would always reply, "...that's where you're going Josie and soon too if you don't watch yourself!"

Well he went a long time before I did and I might say if Grant Tracy is in hell that's where I want to be too. I adored that man and I miss him very much.

Now look at me getting all choked up. I'm supposed to be telling you about the living, not the dead.

Our family has a few other people living with us as part of International Rescue. They are our extended family and whilst I know Jeff will kill me for telling you their names, I'm going to anyway. I have some stories about them too that they think I don't know about.

Firstly, there's Kyrano. He's the family retainer who keeps an eye on Jeff's diary and attends to all his needs. He and I didn't see eye to eye at first but that's a story I will tell you later. I still can't believe Jeff thought I was ready to retire when I was sixty-three and brought Kyrano out here to take over from me.

Retire! I couldn't believe it! I've never been angrier about anything in my life.

Oh dear there I go getting myself agitated. It can't be good for me at seventy-five.

Kyrano has a beautiful daughter Tin-Tin. She is a sweet child and is a year older than our young Alan. Those two think I don't know what they're up to in the evenings when everyone else goes to bed. They try to act all angelic the morning after but believe me nobody's fooled in this house and least of all me.

The funny part is I don't really mind that much. I might be old but I'm not a prude and they are definitely meant for each other. It's actually my dream and master plan at the moment to see them get married. Let's face it; with Jeff's rigid rules about relationships, these two are my only shot at getting some great-grandchildren before I die.

To be honest with you I've got a few suspicions about that too. Tin-Tin hasn't said anything to anyone but she's certainly unhappy about something at the moment and if it's what I'm thinking it is, a certain young Tracy son is about to get a very big surprise.

We also have a shy young man called Albert living here. He stutters a lot and I've a mind to tell him it's because he's such a genius he doesn't give himself time to say everything that's in his head. Jeff tells me to keep my tongue still where "Brains" is concerned. Well I have so far but I still think if he wasn't quite so smart he'd be able to talk to me properly. It irritates me a bit sometimes but as he is the Chief Engineer of International Rescue, I guess I can't afford to say anything.

Well I wonder if the Meeting is over yet. I'm hankering for my evening scotch.

Jeff and I always share a scotch out on the balcony in the evenings and overlook the water.

Living out here is paradise.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

THE MEETING

"Dad, you know she's gonna find out about it. Why don't you just tell her you've planned a party and be done with it?"

"Your Grandmother doesn't know about my plans Gordon. I'm telling you that for a fact. She's up in her room sleeping at the moment and is completely unaware of everything."

"The only reason she's asleep Dad is because she doesn't sleep any other time. Last night I caught her tidying out the cupboards in the hallway next to Tin-Tin's room."

"So what's so strange about that Johnny? They needed doing. Have you ever tried to find anything in there?"

"Virgil, it was three o'clock in the morning!"

"No doubt she was straining her ears to hear if Tin-Tin was talking in her sleep about Alan."

"I'd have helped her if I knew she was up to that."

"You?"

"What's that supposed to mean Scott?"

"You hate getting out of bed in the middle of the night Virgil."

"I wouldn't if I thought I could find out something concrete about Alan and Tin-Tin."

"What do you mean something concrete? It's as plain as the nose on your face what's going on between them."

"Scott can you please tell me how this conversation somehow turned around to be about Alan and Miss Kyrano?"

"Sorry Dad. I honestly don't know."

"Listen here ... as far as I'm concerned the only thing going on around here at the moment is a party so pay attention and quit making fun of your brother. He's not even here to defend himself."

"Yes Sir."

"OK Sir."

"Sorry Sir."

"Man ... a guy can't have any fun around here."

"Gordon!!!!!"

"Sorry Dad."

"Thank you. Now Brains has agreed to go up to Thunderbird Five for twenty four hours so Alan can attend the party. I've told your Grandmother he's going up there to install a new communications link so can you all please play along with the story for once."

"Doesn't she believe you Dad?"

"What do you mean by that? Of course she believes me!"

"Dad this is Grandma."

"There is nothing unusual about Brains going up to the satellite Scott."

"And John bringing back Alan?"

"Hell she doesn't have to know he's doing that!"

"She'll find out somehow Dad."

"No she won't. How will she?"

"She's found out everything else we've ever done around here."

"Scott's right Dad."

"Well she'd better not find out that's all I'll say. Now what's the time if you don't mind me asking. "

"Half past five Dad."

"I'd better organise her afternoon scotch for her or she'll start getting suspicious."

"What do you mean start? She's already suspicious Dad."

"She's not Virgil."

"She IS Dad."

"So what's the go with Alan anyway?"

"For goodness sake I only said five minutes ago that there's nothing going on John ..."

"No Sir ... I meant the arrangements."

"Oh I'm sorry son. Err ... I want you to have your brother back here by seven o'clock tomorrow night so as long as you're gone by three that will be fine. Alan can stay the night and head back to the satellite the next morning."

"Staying the night hey?"

"Tin-Tin will be pleased."

"Looks like we'll all be helping Grandma clean out those hallway closets tomorrow night hey Virg?"

"Bad luck Gordie... there's no closets outside Alan's room."

"Damn."

"Boys I've already said that's enough of that. Now I'm going upstairs to wake your Grandmother. I'd appreciate it if you could make sure that when she asks you about the meeting this afternoon you give her some sort of intelligent response about what was discussed."

"Dad I'm sure we've all got the story straight OK?"

"Well I'm relying on you boys."

"Don't worry Dad."

"Not a word."

"I can be as dumb as anybody."

"You sure got that right Gordie."

"Hey smart ass."

"The name's John."

Jeff Tracy shook his head and poured two glasses of scotch before heading in the direction of the elevator.

This was going to be a party to remember and a celebration none of his sons would forget..

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

CHAPTER 1 - THE BILLIONAIRE – PART 1 – THE EARLY YEARS

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000