Thunderbirds and the Tracy Family are the creation of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson

Chapter 45

For a moment there was stunned silence as all eyes continued to look towards the door, although with Scott resting on his bed, his view of the door was blocked by his brothers. Scott had heard his father's voice but couldn't as yet see the need for the now ominous silence that reigned in the infirmary. Granted, his father could project an intimidating presence, though why any of his brothers should seem afraid or nervous of their father's coming to see him now he couldn't understand. He was sure his father could not have heard Virgil's speech to Jenna, when he referred to his father as 'the most formidable opponent known to man', smiling to himself as he thought of how Jenna had not been in the least bit intimidated by his father, when many a man would have shrank away.

"Sure Dad…come on in," John invited, breaking the silence and as Scott observed, not with any hint of fear or nervousness.

"I was..um…hoping you boys might consider me an honorary Traceketeer?" Jeff asked cautiously, as he came fully into the room.

As the boys parted, allowing their father through, Scott could now see the reason for the initial stunned silence, for their father, Jefferson Grant Tracy, was sporting a blue Traceketeer baseball cap.

"Why sure Dad," Gordon quipped up without hesitation. "Hey, if wasn't for you, the Traceketeers wouldn't exist in the first place," he added jovially, lifting his eyebrows up and down in quick succession, causing an instant snigger of laughter from Alan and a roll of the eyes from his other brothers. Jenna almost choked as she put her hand to her mouth to forcibly stop a laugh from escaping.

Jeff chose to ignore the remark, well used to his prankster son's spontaneous and off-the-cuff outbursts, though Jenna swore she could see the ghost of a smile twitch at the corners of Jeff's mouth. "I just wanted you boys to know how proud I am of all of you, for doing what you've done for your brother," he stated, the measure of pride in his voice for his sons making them somewhat emotional. It wasn't often they had heard their father voice his pride in them for their actions, although they did know he loved them and was proud of them.

Breaking the tension of the moment Alan spoke up. "Hey Dad….you know, by rights, to have the honour of wearing that cap, you really should have had your hair shaved down like the rest of us," Alan joked, partly setting his father a challenge which he could hardly see him take up, Virgil, John and Gordon nodding in agreement. "Of course, we let Jenna off, seeing as she's a girl and all that," he added in a light-heartedly condescending manner.

"Well, if I'd known what you guys were up to," she protested good-naturedly but as she caught Scott's pleading eyes for her not to even consider it she gave him a reassuring smile.

"You mean like this. Is this good enough to be a Traceketeer?" Jeff announced, whipping of his cap in one deft move and calling his son's bluff. Again there was stunned silence, followed by gasps of amazement for Jeff Tracy had, indeed, cut down his hair in the same manner as his sons. Jenna felt her eyes moisten and sting with more tears at the very public tribute this father had paid to his eldest son. Although they had had their confrontations she had really come to respect and grow fond of this man who she knew to love his sons deeply, seeing past that gruff outer exterior that most people saw.

"Way to go Dad," Gordon whooped in delighted admiration, giving Jeff a very deep measure of satisfaction that he had managed to impress his sons, everyone else following with similar sentiments.

"Grandma told me what you boys were planning when she overheard you at lunch so I asked her if she would cut mine," Jeff added by way of explanation as to how he came to have his new style. "You young bucks think it's only you can get away with a cut like that," he grinned, proving to his sons that he still knew a thing or two.

"Course not Dad," Virgil offered, still amazed and taking in the enormity of what his father had done, as his other brothers joined in agreement.

"Why….when I was in the Force," Jeff started to reminisce but on seeing rolling of the eyes in heads and forced smiles decided that, perhaps, this was not the time and place to go into lengthy recollections of his younger days. "Anyway…I just wanted you to know that I think what you have done is admirable and I'm proud of you…..and I know your mother would be proud of you all too," he added, causing his sons to feel another well of emotion rising in them for it wasn't often he had openly spoken of their mother either. Turning his attention now to his eldest son, Jeff made his way to his bedside.

"I…I…don't know what to say, Dad," Scott choked back the words, knowing his father had done this for him.

"There's no need to say anything son," Jeff assured him. "I just want you to know I did this to show you my support. I know this hasn't been an easy recovery for you son, and there have been setbacks you could well have done without," he continued, referring to the earlier omission from his son's medical file that resulted in him being violently ill and the fever he suffered due to letting those germ ridden cards get into Scott's hands.

"There….there's…no need to do this Dad," Scott assured his father as his eyes began to moisten again with emotion for he felt somehow his father wasn't going to stop there.

"There's every need, son," Jeff said quietly, now sitting on his son's bed and taking his hand in a firm grasp. "I'm proud of you, proud of the way you've come through this," he added, though something told him that, perhaps, a certain young woman, not too far away, had a big hand in restoring his son's belief in himself and helping this far. Jenna beamed him a warm smile, adding her agreement, her own eyes moist and shining with more unshed tears as she removed her cap and set it lovingly on her desk.

"I'm so proud of the man you've become. I'm proud of your achievements too, of course, what father wouldn't be but they will always take second place to the person that you are. I'm proud of the man you've become despite the father that you've had," he went on, wanting to tell his son things he should have told him before. All this had played on his mind since this morning, when Jenna had come into his office and openly declared her love for his son, which he guessed was not an easy thing for her to do, though he knew she had a reason for doing so. All the same he admired her spirit, willingness and determination to declare her feelings, even though she could have kept those to herself, because he knew it mattered to her what he, Jeff Tracy, thought of her. If she could do that for his son, how much more should he, as his father, be willing and determined to declare his feelings for his son?

Jeff could see his son intended to tell him he didn't need to continue but before Scott could say anything. "Just hear me out, son. I know I wasn't there for you when you were younger….any of you," he said sorrowfully, turning to address his other sons as well, before turning back to his eldest. "I buried myself in my work and that was wrong, I'm sorry. And because of that, a lot of responsibility was placed on your young shoulders, more responsibility than I had any right to expect of you," Jeff continued, referring to Scott's role in bringing up his brothers. "And I know I dealt more harshly with you than any of the others because you were the oldest….that was wrong of me and I'm sorry for that too, Scott. I also told you that I was disappointed in you…well, that's not true son. I was never disappointed in you, Scott and I never could be. You were a fine young man then and you've grown to be a man I both admire and respect, a man of honour, decency and integrity," he went on, his voice both heavy with regret and a great deal of pride.

The openness with which his father now spoke caused tears to flow unchecked down Scott's face; unable to stop the emotion he had felt bubbling to the surface. Jenna, too, had felt the need to wipe away a tear and had wondered if, on seeing Scott become emotional, she should intervene but something told her he needed to hear what his father had to say, guessing it had been a long time in coming; she had a feeling, too, that Jeff needed to say these things to his eldest son, so decided it was in the best interests of her patient to let the heart-to-heart continue.

"You are both loyal to your family and to the ideals of International Rescue and don't think I don't know the sacrifices you have made for both. I know it was a hard decision you made, son…..to give up a career you loved to come home to follow the dreams of this old man. Well, this family is here for you now, whatever it takes…we'll see you through this, son. And I want you to know…that a man couldn't have a finer son than you," Jeff stated with genuine fatherly love, then turning to his other boys he smiled, "finer sons than you all." "And your mother would be more than proud too of the way you've grown. I love you son and I'm sorry I haven't said that more often," he finished quietly.

Without hesitation and seeing his son emotional Jeff took off Scott's cap and pulled his boy into a manly hug, holding him as he let his emotions flow freely. His brothers and Jenna, knowing that Scott was sobbing into his father's strong shoulder, retired to the far end of the room to give father and son some privacy, much discussion taking place not only at their father's spontaneous gesture at having his hair cut short but his willingness to be so open about his feelings. They couldn't help wondering though, if this might not just be a one-off occasion but for now, they wouldn't complain.

After a time and having received congratulatory pats on the back from his still highly impressed sons, Jeff Tracy took his leave. Virgil, having glanced across at his eldest brother to make sure he was all right, noticed how tired and drained he looked but he also noticed that after watching his father leave Scott's eyes never left Jenna and, if he was not mistaken, his tired eyes and face shone with love for her. He had a feeling that, perhaps, they were going to want to be alone this evening, as his brother appeared to have things on his mind, Virgil hoping that Scott was going to get around to declaring his feelings for her at last. With that hope in mind he would make sure they had no visitors this evening.

Within a few moments of having turned back to the general conversation, John nudged Virgil in the ribs. As they looked in the direction John indicated Jenna smiled softly for Scott, due to physical and emotional exhaustion, had finally succumbed to sleep, his head having just fallen to the side. The boys took this as their cue to leave with Jenna, once more, telling them what a wonderful and supportive gesture it was they had done for their brother. She noticed, though, that Gordon seemed reluctant to be the first to leave, rather, almost insisting he be the last, the reason soon becoming apparent as on leaving he grinned cheekily, handing her a piece of paper.

With curious amusement she opened it, putting a hand to her mouth to cover a huge grin that had spread across her face, her eyes going wide in realisation of what she was seeing. For what she was seeing were three measurements. "Why, that little daredevil went and did it," she laughed lightly so as not to wake Scott. Another thought now crossed her mind. "Oh no….now what am I going to tell him," she thought somewhat frantically to herself, knowing that one of these days her joking was going to get her into trouble. On examining the paper again she smiled, finding the statistics actually quite impressive.

(Author's Note: Don't be so nosey. No, I'm not going to tell you what the measurements were. No….not even for a million dollars. Well….maybe for a million!)

With his eyes growing heavy for want of sleep Scott watched his father walk towards the door, still barely able to take in the fact that his father had opened up his heart and told him things he had longed to hear. This had been a day of not only tiring physical activity and high emotion but also a day of declaring love and support, perhaps that being a sign that what he had intended was the right thing to do. His attention and eyes drifted to Jenna, as she stood talking and smiling with his brothers, feelings of intense love for her engulfed him. He hoped that when he awoke he would be feeling refreshed enough to put his thoughts into words and that he was not so tired that he would sleep right through the night. Right now, though, all he knew as he watched her was that….his…eyes……were……heavy….and he….just……couldn't…….keep……them……open…..

Jenna smiled tenderly as she sat down on his bed, lifting his head gently to an upright position on the pillows. Without waking he sighed softly at the touch of her hands on his face. Being filled now with a sudden and intense rush of love for him, Jenna leaned forward and lightly kissed him, to which he responded tiredly with one circle of his mouth, causing her to smile lovingly as she lowered the bed slightly to make him more comfortable.

Some hours later, well into the evening, Scott sighed deeply as he flickered his eyes open to observe her sitting at her desk with what appeared to be her writing up notes.