Disclaimer: see chapter one

AN: Hope you enjoy the next update. As of 16/11/08, I have slightly changed the chapter. It hasn't changed that much, I just extended Jeff's speech.

Chapter Two- Teen Tantrums

Jeff led his sons to the dining room table, and sat down at the head chair. He placed his hands on the table, feeling the solid oak under his hands. "I'm going back to the moon."

There was silence, as his sons blinked at him.

"Dad, April Fools Day was a couple of months ago. Nice try, though."

"Gordon, I'm not yanking your chain. I really am going to the moon." Jeff smiled, as the news sank into his sons.

"But you're too old!" John blurted out before he could stop himself.

"Hey, less of the cheek, John. Besides, thirty nine isn't that old." Jeff said.

"Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that." Virgil quipped, causing ripples of laughter to ring around the table. Even Jeff laughed.

"Daddy, Daddy, can I come with you?" Alan looked imploringly at Jeff. "I promise I'll be real good. You won't even know I'm there. Please Daddy!"

"No, sorry son. You're a bit young right now. Maybe in a couple of years when you're older."

"Promise?" Alan asked crestfallen, his gentle blond curls falling into his eyes as he blinked back tears.

"Promise." Jeff reassured his irresistibly cute six year old son. "Now, go wash your hands before snack time."

Oak chairs scraped against the timber floor, and Jeff could hear the regular I'm-getting-to-the-bathroom-first-and-you'll-have-to-wait-because-I'll-take-forever scramble.

Josie entered the room, and set a big bowl of homemade cookies and cake on the table. "They seem excited. I'm guessing you told them."

"They are. Virgil and John managed to crack a few jokes, but I think they're OK with it. Alan is so excited. He actually wanted to come up with me." Jeff chuckled. "Gordon thinks I'm losing my memory; says I don't know when April Fools is."

"What about Scott?"

"He was a bit quiet, but then again, he's never really shown much emotion, has he?"

"He takes after his father. Not something I approve of, in this case." Josie sniffed, as she put the plates on the table. "Go get the boys. I'm sure they're simply starving."

Jeff moved to the foot of the stairs. "Boys,' he hollered. "Cookies and cake are on the table!"

Jeff was flattened against the wall as his herd of animals, also known as his sons, trampled down the stairs. When he returned, all the boys were waiting for him. Virgil even had his hand poised over the largest, most chocolate chip filled cookie.

"Uh-uh." Josie wagged a finger. "You know what you have to do before you start eating.

Simultaneously, the boys' head dropped.

"Go for it Gordon." Virgil muttered.

"OK, here's the grace that took me a while to think of. I hope you like it." He paused, for dramatic effect. "Good grub, good meat, good God, lets eat."

There was the regular scramble for the cakes and cookies, along with the regular snack time accusations and fights.

"It's MY cookie, Gordon!" Virgil cried out, sounding like a three year old, instead of thirteen. "I saw it first!"

"Nuh-uh!" Gordon shot back. "You've already had three. Greedyguts!"

"Hey, I am a growing boy. I need this to fuel my lean, mean, musical machine!" Virgil yanked the cookie toward him.

"Exactly. Growing fatter and fatter." Gordon parried back without hesitation. "Whereas I'm matchstick thin. I NEED the cookie."

John leaned towards Alan. "Since when do fish need chocolate to survive? Anyway, there's a whole batch of cookies in the cupboard and on the table. I think they're too stupid to realise that. Oh well." John stretched his arm out and split the plate between him and Alan.

Alan giggled and crammed a cookie into his mouth, and Virgil used John's point to his advantage.

"Yeah Leroy, tadpoles don't need cookies to survive."

Gordon snarled, and pulled the cookie back towards him, breaking it in half.

"Well done, genius." Virgil snapped acidly.

Gordon narrowed his eyes, as he chewed on his bite of his half of his cookie. "Don't," he began with his mouth full, spraying Virgil with crumbs. "Call me Leroy, Gus. My name is Gordon."

"Don't call me Gus, Leroy."

Jeff knew better than to intervene. He just had to ride out the verbal slinging match, and make sure it remained a verbal slinging match and didn't develop into a flinging food frenzy

Josie looked over at her eldest grandson. "Scott, sweetie, are you feeling alright?"

"Huh?" Scott looked up from the cupcake he had been fiddling with.

"Are you OK? You've barley touched anything."

"No, I'm fine. I'm just not that hungry."

The room stilled, and Virgil's jaw dropped, revealing cookie mash. Scott was always hungry. He would eat anything, and frequently did. Scott's constant appetite was the source of many family jokes.

Concerned that Scott had caught a bug, Josie moved towards him and felt his forehead. "You look a bit peaky."

Irritated, Scott batted his grandmother's hand away. "I said I was fine! I'm just not hungry!"

He pushed his chair away from the table, and stormed out of the room.

Josie rolled her eyes. Teenagers!

"I'll talk to him later." Jeff promised his mother.

Jeff knocked on Scott and John's closed bedroom door, knowing that only Scott was in there, since John was relaxing downstairs.

"Scott, can I come in?" Jeff asked. He had promised himself that he would respect his boys' privacy, and always knocked before entering their rooms. The only exception to this rule was for the bedtime tuck-in every night.

Jeff took Scott's response, which was silence, as a yes. He entered the room, and felt a surge of pride as he looked at his eldest slaving away over his homework. He frowned when he saw headphones stuffed into his ears. How could his son concentrate while listening to music? Jeff would never understand, since he needed complete silence to focus.

"Scott, put the pen down. I just want to have a little chat. It won't take more than ten minutes."

Scott swivelled round in his chair, shot an appraising look at his father, and swivelled back to his Physics assignment.

Jeff felt a pit of anger bubble in his stomach. "Scott! Look at me when I'm talking to you!"

With an exaggerated sigh, Scott placed his pen down, and turned to face Jeff.

"Take those headphones out of your ears!" Jeff ordered.

Reluctantly, Scott pulled out each ear bud, and stared straight at Jeff.

"Thank you."

"What do you want?" Scott was careful to not sound rude, but imply that he didn't want to socialise.

"I want to ask you if everything was alright."

"Oh yeah. Everything's fine." Scott groused sarcastically.

"Yes. I can see that. Now, tell me what's wrong."

Scott could feel his own anger bubble and boil. Gritting his teeth, he answered his dad. "Nothing is wrong."

"School problems? Fight with one of your many brothers or friends?" Jeff grimaced at the next one. "Girl trouble?"

"Like I'd tell you if I had any girl trouble. From what Grandma told me, you were pretty hapless with the girls when you were my age." Scott threw his father a red herring, and Jeff fell for it, hook, line and sinker.

"So it is a girl. Does she not like you? Did she -"

"It's not a girl, for crying out loud!" Scott interrupted. "This is something I have to deal with on my own. Now, if you don't mind, I have a mountain of homework I have to get back to."

"Actually, I do mind." Jeff leant over Scott, and held his books ransom. "You're not working until you tell me what your problem is."

"Fine. You'll be sitting here a while, then."

Jeff sighed. Scott was so stubborn and obstinate at times. He had obviously inherited that trait from Jeff.

"Has it got something to do with me going to the moon?" Jeff hazarded a guess.

Scott didn't answer, which was an answer in itself.

"It is. What's worrying you?"

Again, Scott didn't answer. He just held out his hand for his books.

"Talk to me Scott. Don't clam up on me."

Scott unclenched his jaw. "You want to know what's bugging me. Read this." Scott ripped the books away from Jeff, rifled through the pages, and then presented them to Jeff.

"Scott, none of this will happen on board Orbita 13. It's the safest space shuttle of the day."

"That's what they said about Apollo 13 and Apollo 1. Look at what happened to them." Scott jumped out of his chair and paced feverishly up and down the room.

"Scott," Jeff sat his son down. "None of that will happen. You have to trust me on this."

"I don't. You can't promise me you'll come back alive."

Jeff swallowed. "You're right; I can't. But I can tell you this. In three months, I will be commanding Orbita 13. You have to get used to that idea. You can like it or lump it; I will be on Orbita 13 as she launches into space. OK? I will be on Orbita 13 as she lands on the moon. I will be on Orbita 13 to carry out the mission I've been given. I will be on Orbita 13. Period."

Scott rolled his eyes. "Now are we done? Can I have my books back?"

Jeff handed them over wordlessly, before walking out of the room and closing the door behind him.

"How is he?"

Jeff jumped, and saw his mother standing behind him.

"He's not sick, is he?"

Jeff shook his head. "He's not taking my space trip news so good. I think it has something to with his Physics assignment. He's so… focused, for want of a better word, on what could go wrong."

Josie bit her lip. "I can understand where he's coming from. He just needs to be reassured by his daddy."

Jeff stared at his mother.

"Under that sixteen year old physique, there's a little boy in there who thinks the world of his father, and can't even begin to imagine his life without you there for guidance."

Jeff raked a hand through his mane of hair. "I don't know what changed. Scott used to be fine with me going on space missions."

Josie smiled sadly. "I think Scott's realised the reality of how dangerous an astronaut's job is. Give him time. I'm sure he'll come around."

AN: Please review.