Recap: There was a considerable amount of silence on the other line and it made Jeff wonder if Alan had hung up on him. When he heard the hitched breath though he knew that wasn't the case.
"Alan? Son are you still there?" Jeff asked softly, using his most tender of voices to let his son know he wasn't mad or angry for Alan's sudden silence.
"You remembered?" And it was Alan's meek, quiet little voice that reminded Jeff that his son was still just as much a little boy in a grown up body than was possible.
"Of course I remembered son. It's not every day that your youngest child turns fifteen now is it?" Jeff replied, feeling his heart twisting in his chest at the notion that Alan would believe he'd forgotten. Sure he'd forgotten the exact day it was, because he didn't have a calendar and all the days were beginning to blend together, but he'd never intentionally forget one of his own children's birthdays.
"I just figured because nobody called me yesterday that it didn't matter that it was my birthday." Alan said softly. Jeff heaved a sigh before he spoke.
"Son, just because I forgot to call to wish you a happy birthday doesn't make you any less important to me or your brothers. You are still the center of our worlds and it's not because you are in the hospital that I say that." Jeff said as he sat up, turning his back to Virgil and the pool so he could focus on Alan and only Alan. His son wasn't getting nearly enough attention and if he was feeling less than significant, it was up to Jeff to right that wrong. "I love you and I'm sorry if my forgetting to call made you question how much I care for you."
"It's alright dad, I might have blown things out of proportion. You guys are having to deal with a bunch more than I am. I'm just being a lazy ass and lounging in bed 24/7." Alan heaved a bit of a sigh.
"You are not being a lazy ass son and don't let your grandmother catch you saying that or she'll have a bar of soap in hand to wash your mouth out before you can say God save the Queen." Jeff admonished, once more granting his son the freedom to say whatever he wants since he was stuck in a hospital. Little freedoms like that worked wonders for your average joe, why not for his son too?
"Sorry dad." Alan apologized after having been admonished for his slip of the tongue.
"You're forgiven, just keep in mind that you won't be able to say those kinds of things once you're out of the hospital and 95 years old." Jeff replied smiling when he heard Alan's chuckle of amusement.
"So do you mean it dad? I get to have one of Sadie's babies for a pet?" Alan asked timidly like he thought his dad would laugh and say psych before telling him it'd been a prank.
"Yes son. I feel it's about time for you to take on the responsibility of caring for a pet and whichever you choose, boy or girl will also be your companion animal as you continue to recover. You brothers have said they'll gladly help out to care for him or her where you are unable to." Jeff said, smiling as he would swear he heard a squeak of excitement come from his son. "And what's more, apparently IR is going to take on a new member of the canine variety."
"What? But dad you hate dogs." Alan said in shock at the big changes.
"I don't hate dogs' son. I just never felt that we were a family suited for animals. Not after your mother, and not after Comet went to go live with your grandmother." Jeff replied, feeling that long forgotten spot in his heart ache at the thought of his beloved wife Lucy and beloved mother to his boys.
"So who's dog will it actually be dad?" Alan asked, sounding unsure. He didn't want to get excited over a dog if it was going to belong exclusively to one of his brothers.
"It'll be a family dog son. When it comes time for us all to return to the island, we'll decide as a family on a name and gender we'd prefer to have and then we'll begin doing a search for a dog to adopt." Jeff replied, actually finding himself getting excited at the prospect of having a dog running around the villa.
"Can I make a request dad?" Alan asked, hoping his input would be considered.
"Sure son? What is it?" Jeff asked, wanting Alan to be just as much involved in the adoption of a dog for the family as his other sons. It would be a family dog after all.
"Can it be a shelter dog?" Alan requested before he began to explain why. "It's just I know reputable breeders ask so much for just one dog and I think that money could be put to better use. There are some good dogs that are locked up in the shelters that don't get new homes and I don't like to see that. Every dog out there deserves a home to call their own."
Jeff paused as he listened to Alan plead shelter dogs case with him. He'd never once considered getting a shelter dog after telling his sons that maybe it was time their family adopted a dog. He'd honestly been thinking of asking Penny to assist him with the search for a good dog that can handle the heat of their island but be good at searching for victims of disaster. However hearing Alan's request made him pause.
"Do you think a mutt would be good?" Jeff asked, wondering for more on his son's opinion.
"Just because they're mutts doesn't make them any less a good dog dad. They are still willing to please and they can be trained to help. We could have Scott train the dog to smell potential explosive devices and maybe have Virgil or John train it to seek people that are in peril." Alan replied.
"And what would you and Gordon teach it dare I ask?" Jeff asked, instantly regretting it as his mind conjured up images of having to dig through Kyrano's garden to find a pair of his shoes that were stolen and buried.
"We'd teach it to play and have fun. It won't always be a working dog, it'll need to relax and know how to catch a ball and bring it back." Alan said, his grin making his words sound assured that that was all he and Gordon would be teaching it…though Jeff knew they'd manage to teach the dog to execute any number of pranks with them.
"I'll mention it to your brothers and we'll take a vote on the type of dog we'll adopt. Whether from a pet store, shelter or reputable breeder. Okay son?" Jeff said as he heard Alan give a yawn on the other line. "Why don't we get off of here and you take a nap…okay Alan?"
"I'm not tired." Alan replied, even though Jeff could hear Alan's fatigue clearly through the phone lines.
"Wow, I've heard that line so much from both you and your brothers growing up. Yes you are tired, now I'm hanging up now and I want you to close your eyes and take a nap. Tired or not, you aren't doing yourself any favors by pushing yourself to stay awake. Okay son?" Jeff said as he prepared to hang up.
"Okay dad. I'll take a nap." Alan said, indignantly that he was listening to his father's gentle commands and taking a nap like a five year old.
"Good boy, now we should be in the hotel al day tomorrow, if I receive word that plans have changed I'll give you a call on your laptop and we can chat for a little bit." Jeff replied softly, hearing his son mumble something before they both disconnected the phone call. Jeff settled back on the sun lounger and pocketed his phone before turning to his other sons.
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Robert heaved a sigh as he stood in line with the other boys waiting to get dinner. He couldn't help but to sneer when he saw the stuff that was supposed to be dinner. It looked disgusting. After removing his tray, Robert turned and felt like the new kid in school. There were boys of all ages there, even some kids younger than him. Finding a relatively empty table, Robert sat down and began trying to eat his meal.
"Fresh meat boys!"
There were a bunch of deeper chuckles and Robert suddenly found himself surrounded by five boys that were older – maybe seventeen or eighteen years old and they looked rough, at least to Robert. Looking back down at his meal, Robert decided to ignore the guys in favor of eating the sludge they called food. He flinched slightly when one of the guys grabbed his tray and pushed it off the table. The boy that spoke first looked down at his feet.
"Aw, look what you did. You made a mess of my regs." The older boy cast a hard look at Robert before looking back down at his feet. "Well, what are you waiting for? Clean it up."
"I never dropped my food on you. If you're so prissy, you clean it up yourself, or better yet maybe get the asshole that dumped my food on you to clean it up." Robert said as he stood up to leave. He'd lost his appetite moments after eating the junk they called tuna casserole.
"Sure you did. That's why…" One of the older boys grabbed Robert by the shoulders when he stood to leave and shoved him on his knees before the boy with the food splattered all over his shoes and pant legs. "You get to clean up this little mess you made."
"No way!" Robert argued, before finding his face being shoved into the mess on the floor.
"But I thought you were hungry?" The older boy taunted once more before catching one of his goons attention. "What'd I tell ya, this wittle baby is nothing but a chicken. Bawk! Bawk! Bawk!"
"Shut up!" Robert yelled as he pushed himself up to his knees before finding a foot shoved into his back and his whole body shoved down into the mess of splattered food.
"Nobody tells me to shut up, you little punk. Nobody!" The older boy reached down and grabbed Robert by the collar of his shirt and hefted the younger boy up from the floor to glare him right dead center in the eye. "Let's see how a knuckle sandwich makes you feel!"
And that was how Robert found himself in the nurse's ward, a towel held up to his nose, lying on a cot after guards dragged him physically away from the second brawl in less than two days. His face was bruised three ways from Sunday and he felt sore everywhere.
"Alright, I think you're okay to head back to your cell." The nurse said as she took the soiled towel from Robert after double checking his nose to be sure it had quit bleeding. When Robert made it back to his cell, he sat on his cot and held his throbbing head.
"Hey! You know you passed Rookie. You're part of the group now."
Robert lifted his head to look out and frowned when he saw the guy Felix he'd learned was his name if the guard yelling that as he pulled him off Robert after the scuffle was any indication of his name. Felix was smiling smugly as the guard led him down the hall.
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The following day Alan lay in his bed, waiting for the phone call from his father to let him know if they were going to be able to chat at all. He actually was beginning to miss his dad and brothers more than he'd ever missed them when he'd been back at school. Grabbing his laptop, Alan logged onto his computer and accessed his files that had mercifully been saved to the cloud. Surfing through his videos, Alan quirked a small smile at the still picture in the frame.
Alan clicked on the video and waited for it to finish buffering. He couldn't believe the school had asked them to do this. Someone at the school had watched one too many videos and had decided to do something like what they'd watched online. It'd been a painstaking process, but they'd managed. And they'd had fun after filming had finished.
Alan and several other boys were all sitting around on the gym floor, red faced, huffing and puffing like their lives depended on it and wearing a mix of gym clothes, sweatpants and school required gym uniforms. Alan was wearing a pair of hand-me-down sweatpants from Gordon that he'd cut off at the knee to double as sleep pants. All the boys groaned when a loud clapping sound. Several groans sounded out loud before all the boys stood up. Their art teacher was an interesting woman. She was always playing classical music when she had students in the studio working on various art projects and would often teach the boys how to dance because she considered dance as well as music a form of art which Alan wouldn't deny.
The camera panned around before going stationary across the room, filming the boys and the intricate and choreographed dance they were doing.
"Alright boys, I just want to let you know that in a few hours, it's going to be show time. Since this is a school project, I know all you boys have gotten a signed permission slip from your parents or guardians to attend an art field trip and in one hour we'll be on our way to join St. Theresa's girl's school to have one last practice before the real deal. Let's do one quick run through, then I want everyone to go get showered and food then be ready to get on the buses."
The music began and all the boys ran through their dances, dancing with imaginary partners as it was obvious they would be dancing with girls. As soon as the songs were finished all the boys dropped to the ground in exhaustion. The art teacher called their practice adjourned before she left, allowing the boys to pick themselves up off the floor. The camera faded to black as whoever was filming shut off the recording and it picked back up what appeared to be a few hours later.
A news caster stood in the streets of downtown Boston, her back facing a crowd of boys and girls milling around talking about stuff that couldn't be picked up on the microphone. The newscaster was talking about how a world class lawyer was celebrating his recent marriage and students from several different schools had showed up as if in response to the marriage. It was quite the spectacle to see students of all walks of life, private and public schools gathered together in the busy city center.
Suddenly music began playing from an unknown source and the kids all began dancing one by one. People that had been walking around the mass of gathered students stopped to watch the kids dance. The crowd broke open when it became apparent that something was going to happen and at least six students from the gathered dancers entered the clearing by doing back hand springs, cartwheels and front flips.
Alan grinned as he spotted himself doing back hand springs. He couldn't believe he'd been able to do that. He'd never done gymnastics before, but the gym teacher he had at Wharton's liked to teach the students things that wasn't ordinarily taught in schools and the man as a retired Olympic gold medalist gymnast had taught them all how to perform various gymnast techniques and Alan's favorite had been the back hand spring, because for one it helped him do bicycle kicks for soccer (knowing how to rotate his body without hurting himself) and second, it was just fun in general.
The news caster was unable to keep a straight face and she'd begun cheering for the dancing students. A few had joined hands with their female partners and danced a form of foxtrot which quickly changed into a hip hop style dance.
Alan continued watching the video, smiling when he caught sight of Fermat and Jem in the crowd of dancers. Fermat looked like he was having fun and he was dancing with a cute girl with glasses, one that appeared his age. The girl took Fermat's hand and they did a quick step before Fermat started to rotate, same as the other guys and performing a body wrap. The girl trailed her fingers along Fermat's back before they did another turn, the girl rotating back into Fermat before they continued dancing.
When the songs were over, all the kids threw their hands up in the air and cheered loudly. Alan smiled his true smile for the first time in what felt like forever as he reminisced over that day. As it turned out the students found out that some of the teachers had a long held rivalry with some of the other teachers at the neighboring schools and they decided to make their students do a dance to see whose school was better. The plan however backfired when all the students began dancing with each other and not caring that some were from public, no uniform schools, while others were from private uniformed schools.
"I wish I could go back to that day and begin again. It's hard to believe it's already been that long ago." Alan bemoaned aloud in his room to nobody in particular. It wasn't until he watched another video, one of him playing basketball that reminded Alan just why he needed to recover as quick as he could. Jem was counting on his big brother to make a recovery and go back to school. No matter if it was a public school, Alan would tell his dad that he'd stay in the family apartment if it'd be okay or he'd go stay with Todd or Josh. His dad knew Todd's mom Kendra, they were occasional business associates because of the line of work her husband was involved in. Alan knew that Todd's father was an accountant for Tracy Enterprises, he'd known that after he and Todd stayed up one night talking and Todd mentioned that he'd never met his father's boss unlike all his previous employers. When Alan asked who his father worked for, Todd had replied that it was Tracy Enterprises and he was an accountant. Alan nearly swallowed his tongue because Todd had yet to put two and two together that Alan Tracy just might be related to the head honcho of Tracy Enterprises.
When Alan had stayed quiet, Todd had asked what was wrong and Alan had squeaked out his reply that his father's boss was a pretty cool guy. Todd had given him an incredulous look at the time, disbelieving that Alan would know his father's boss. When he began to interrogate Alan about it, Alan had revealed how he knew Todd's father's boss. Todd hadn't talked to him for two days when it'd come out that Alan was Jeff Tracy's kid. Alan had assumed it'd been a fleeting friendship until he'd run into Todd over the weekend and Todd had blurted that he was afraid he'd be taking advantage of Alan by being his friend.
Eddie and Josh had literally smacked Todd up the back of the head and scolded him for choosing to not be friends with Alan because of his wealth and fame labeling him as a snob. They'd knocked sense into Todd and Alan had readily accepted his friendship.
"Knock, knock!" Alan paused the video of him playing basketball and looked towards the door and grinned when he saw none other than Dr. Andreessen.
"Hey doc! What're you doing here? This isn't your floor." Alan said as he smiled at the doctor he'd befriended while in the burn unit.
"I know this isn't my floor. But I just wanted to thank you." Dr. Andreessen said as he smiled warmly at the young patient.
"Thank me? Why?" Alan asked, making a face. He couldn't imagine the doctor thanking him for becoming his patient. That'd be too weird.
"Because of your suggestion, with the music. My wife and I were able to get a few good nights of rest before the baby came." Dr. Andreessen said.
"You and your wife had your baby?" Alan asked with a grin. "Everybody's having babies!"
Dr. Andreessen flipped his badge and showed Alan the picture he'd slid in behind his work badge of his baby girl. Dr. Andreesen was holding the little pink bundle in a dimly lit room and appeared to be talking to the pink clothed and brown haired baby.
"Yep, we named her Ciel after her great grandma. Ciel Yvonne Andreessen. She was six pounds, seven ounces when she was born." Dr. Andreessen said as he allowed Alan to look closely at his badge. "She's a good baby and she seems to love classical music. Her mother and I put it on in her nursery every night before putting her to bed and she goes to sleep instantly and stays asleep for several hours. She's not sleeping through the night yet, but she will in time."
"Well congratulations Dr. Andreessen." Alan said, he smiled at the doctor, happy to hear the baby seemed to be doing good. "I'm happy for you."
"Thank you Alan. Anyway, I can't stay long; I have to start my shift here shortly." Dr. Andreessen said as he started to leave. "I just wanted to let you know how much your suggestion helped me and my wife before the baby was born."
Alan smiled at the doctor before a thought occurred to him and he spoke up before Dr. Andreessen left the room.
"When was she born?" Alan asked, genuinely curious. Dr. Andreessen turned back with a small smile that reached his eyes. "I'm sorry for the twenty questions, I'm just curious."
"It's okay Alan. She was born March 12, thirty minutes after midnight." Dr. Andreessen replied warmly.
"She was born on my birthday?" Alan asked with a grin.
Dr. Andreessen paused a moment before picking up Alan's chart which hung from a hook at the foot of his bed and flipped through the papers before he found Alan's medical information and nodded when he read Alan's birthday also happened to fall on March 12.
"I guess she was Alan, who knows…maybe sometime after you get out of the hospital you can meet her." Dr. Andreessen said as he hoped Alan could maybe meet her one day.
"I'd like that, but we'll have to see." Alan replied before he waved at the doctor. You'd better get onto your shift before you're late."
"Okay Alan, you have a good one and hope you'll forgive the belated birthday wish." Dr. Andreessen said before leaving the room. Alan smiled before he hit play on the laptop and continued watching the video he'd been watching before Dr. Andreessen entered the room.
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
Walking into the diner, Jeff sat down – accepting a cup of coffee when the waitress asked him for his drink order. He leaned back in his chair for a few minutes before a hand clasped onto his shoulder. Looking up, Jeff smiled tightly at his eldest son. He had some things to discuss with Scott – things he may not like. Jeff didn't like it and he knew usually if he didn't like it Scott most likely wouldn't like it either.
"Hey pop, what's going on?" Scott asked as he sat on the opposite side of the booth seat that Jeff had chosen.
"There's been a slight change in plans concerning your brother and his care plan and I don't know how to handle it. That's why I wanted to talk to you first before mentioning it to any of your other brothers." Jeff replied as he flipped aimlessly through the menu. He hadn't really been all that hungry for a few days now and he was sure the stress was getting to him and affecting his appetite as it had in the past.
"What's up?" Scott asked, concern hidden in his tone.
"The therapy is no longer working for your brother. According to Alan's therapist, he's still encountering vivid flashbacks and sometimes during their sessions Alan blocks her and any attempts she makes at trying to snap him out of it." Jeff replied morosely. "She wants to prescribe Alan with anti-depressants, but it's just…."
Scott's eyes hardened at the mention of anti-depressants and he started to shake his head.
"No, Alan is not going on anti-depressants! We saw what they did to Gordo after his accident, I don't want to see another brother…I don't want to see another one of my little brothers become a shadow of themselves. It scared me to see Gordo as calm and placated as he was. It was like a scene straight out of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It was Gordo physically but mentally he was someone else entirely. Imagine if those pills made Gordo serious what they'd do to Alan."
"I know. That's why I told her no way in hell was I giving my permission for Alan to be placed on those medications. She asked me why, trying to explain how Alan needed them and she said that with Alan consistently blocking any attempts she makes to have him go through what he does remember of the fire, she doesn't feel that she can be of any further assistance to him." Jeff replied as he pinched the bridge of his nose to ward off a headache he could feel.
"So? Hit me with it." Scott said as he took a sip of his water.
"I asked Alan his opinion and he said he'd be willing to see someone else and got me the phone number to someone from a friend of his. I wanted to run by you and your brothers how you'd feel about Alan getting outside help." Jeff said before washing his hands down his face, showing Scott how honestly frustrated Jeff was. The eldest son thought his father looked as though he'd aged several years physically since this whole incident occurred.
"So did Alan seem truly okay with it or did he seem to be agreeing to it grudgingly?" Scott asked as he raked his fingers through his crew cut.
"Alan was okay with it. He said he didn't want to take pills either so when it was suggested he go to someone else, Alan contacted one of his friends for a reference." Jeff said, frowning as he shook his head. He'd had such high hopes for this therapist that had been helping Alan. It'd seem she either didn't take her job seriously or genuinely thought she wasn't being of any help whatsoever to Alan.
"Well, as long as Alan's up for it, I don't see the harm in contacting this other shrink to see if they can help Alan." Scott said after a few moment of silence. Anything that would help his brother to get better and not require Alan pushing pills, Scott was all for.
Jeff remained silent for a few moments, going over what the therapist said in their meeting about Alan earlier that morning. The therapist had held such high hopes for Alan before she admitted to Jeff that she'd asked Alan about those first moments he remembered after he woke up to discover his room was on fire. After his most recent session, in which he'd remained silent and when asked about the fire, Alan's eyes became distant and he refused to talk about his memories.
'I asked him to tell me about when his friend pulled him up off the floor of their dorm room to the bathtub and Alan seemed to almost become dissociative.' Alan's therapist admitted to the elder Tracy. 'He needs to remember everything about the fire and go over his memories to know that he wasn't to blame.'
My son was never suspected as a guilty party in this fire, he was a victim. Don't be putting ideas in his head.' Jeff had admonished, watching as the therapist shook her head.
'I'm not putting ideas in his head. I am trying to reinforce that he is the victim in this whole thing and that he doesn't need to blame himself. But he is a tough nut to crack.' The therapist replied coolly 'He's the one blaming himself. Every time we go over, what little he remembers he is always quick to kick himself for not doing what he could to prevent the fire from occurring and injuring him and his friends.'
Jeff just couldn't seem to understand why Alan was blaming himself for the injuries he and his friends received. He wasn't the one that lit the fire, it was someone who obviously either just wanted to cause havoc or it was the boy picking on Alan because he was just the wrong kind of crazy.
"Thanks for your input Scott, I'll talk to your other brothers to find out their feelings on this before I make a decision." Jeff replied as he laid his menu down. He couldn't find anything which even seemed appetizing and it bothered him. He knew he should eat, it's just he didn't feel hungry.
The waitress approached and asked if they were ready to order when Scott spoke up in place of his father.
"Yeah, I'd like a BLT and my father is having beef stroganoff." Scott laid his menu down and he winked at the waitress before she took their menus and their order before she left them at their booth. "You're welcome by the way."
"You didn't need to order for me son." Jeff started to argue before Scott interrupted him.
"I did actually. Grandma asked me to make you eat or she'd have my hide. Trust me, just because I'm twenty-five doesn't mean I don't still fear grandma and her wooden spoon." Scott replied as he picked up a packet of sugar substitute to study the nutrition facts on the side. "Grandma said and I quote, you make that stubborn mule eat something or I'll tan both your hide for allowing him to continue starving and I'll tan his hide for mistreating himself. I'm not taking any chances, if I know grandma – then she most likely packed her wooden spoon so she'd have it available. Just like that time we went to Disneyworld with mom, grandma and grandpa. Remember, Al was barely two years old and he stayed with grandpa mostly while each of us was either with you, mom or grandma."
Jeff smiled as he recalled an easier life. Maybe sometime after Alan and Fermat both were out of the hospital and fully recovered, Jeff would purchase tickets and take his small island family to an amusement park to let them relax and just have fun. Alan and Fermat both would need it.
"Alright Scott, I'll be good so your grandmother won't tan your hide."