The Tracy Daughters
I do not own the Thunderbirds nor do I own Bryan Adams' song Everything I Do, I Do It For You. But it was the song my husband and I danced to at our wedding.
Part Four - Julie Maxwell Tracy (nee' Juliet Parker)
Aloysius Parker knew the day he fell in love. It wasn't with his wife. She was a society darling from America who had gotten pregnant after a brief fling with Parker. He had been a jewel thief and his wife had found the thrill of being with a criminal to be exciting. Her parents had cut her off when she became pregnant by someone so socially unacceptable.
His wife was bored and frustrated with the life they lived. Before the baby came, Parker had taken a job working the docks. Being a dock worker didn't pay as well his criminal activities had, but Parker was determined to be there for his child. He knew the marriage would never last. But Parker had been sure if they were married, he would be assured a place in his child's life. And the moment Juliet had been placed in his arms, Parker knew the meaning of love at first sight.
Look into my eyes - you will see
What you mean to me
Search your heart - search your soul
And when you find me there you'll search no more
Parker had come home from a long day of work to find his wife and daughter gone. At first he had thought they had merely run out on a brief errand. But the next day he woke to an early morning delivery. His wife's parents had come to London, and had apparently forgiven their daughter her discretion. In return, they had a ready-made grandchild. And now his only child was enroute to a new life in America.
In Parker's worst nightmares, he had never thought that his in-laws from Hell would block all of his attempts to have any rights to Juliet. Three years later, Parker had finally found a lawyer who had managed to get him a court date in America. Cautioned that he would probably not receive primary custody – Juliet's grandparents had assumed most of her care and were wealthy, connected individuals – Parker was willing to merely be assured a place in his baby girl's life.
But his three year battle had drained every ha' penny from Parker's account. He had no funds left and no money left to even travel to America, forget how much he owed the barrister. An old friend had suggested one last job-on-the-side, just to get him in the clover again. No one would ever have to know and Parker would have his to get his precious daughter back.
A week later, Aloysius Parker failed to show for his court appearance in Connecticut. When Juliet's grandparents' attorney gleefully reported that the reason for his failure to show was that he had been arrested for breaking and entering, the judge had not only declined to give him any visitation rights, but had stripped him of his parental rights completely. Parker was informed of that as well as of the fact that his ex-wife had remarried. He was told his daughter had a new father and he should simply forget her.
Don't tell me it's not worth tryin' for
You can't tell me it's not worth dyin' for
You know it's true
Everything I do - I do it for you
Parker began his prison sentence with a heavy heart. When he looked back years later, he could honestly say he recalled very little of that period of his life. All he knew was that he had lost his baby, his sunshine and the world was darkened by that knowledge.
It was towards the end of his sentence – not a long one, as the judge had been surprisingly lenient with him – Parker was called into the office of the Warden. A rather young lady sat in a chair and rose when she saw him enter. A golden vision dressed all in pink, she extended a delicate manicured hand and smiled as she greeted him. "Parker, my name is Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward. And I have a proposition for you."
"All due respect, M'Lady, but the last person to say that to me was the reason I am behind these walls."
Even as the Warden growled, "Parker…" Lady Penelope merely smiled. "Actually, Parker, your choices led you here. I am giving you another option. I am offering gainful employment. I need someone to be a combination of chauffeur, butler and general work. This person must be able to show a great deal of discretion and is free to travel. As I understand it, you have no ties on the outside that would encourage you to travel the straight and narrow so I am offering you a chance at gainful employment. Your housing, meal and work related expenses would be fully covered and you will find the pay generous. It may not be the life of a thief but I believe you will find the benefits to be adequate and the risks considerably less."
Without his Juliet, Parker knew the aristocrat was right. Besides, having spent several years behind bars and aware that he had no chance now of getting his daughter back, the best he could hope for was that given time, he could be allowed to approach her when she got older and be permitted contact with his precious child.
Look into my eyes - you will see
What you mean to me
Search your heart - search your soul
And when you find me there you'll search no more
In time, Parker came to be aware why Lady P required an individual who could show discretion. It seemed certain members of her family had a long standing tradition of working as agents for the British government. And then Lady Penelope began to have contact with a man with a vision; a man who would not only change their lives, he would change the world.
Jeff Tracy was best known as a former astronaut who had borrowed on his fame and engineering skills to build one of the most amazing – not to mention profitable – companies in the world. Sadly, the man was also the single father to five sons. His wife had died in an avalanche when his youngest child was only three. That boy, more than five years junior to his next sibling, touched a spot deep in his heart. Alan Tracy was "all-boy" as his mother would have phrased it, but he was a child with a good heart and his family treasured him. Having seen a picture of the boy's mother, Parker understood why, in part. The child looked a great deal like his mother. In the active, demanding life the family left, there was not always time for the little boy. As Jeff began the task of starting up International Rescue, and especially once the rescue organization was in business, Parker was occasionally borrowed to watch the little boy. He was often at a loss until he realized things he could teach the lad. By the time the boy was ten, Alan could pick almost any lock, hack into computers and drive a car. He could also make tea and was a passing good cook. It would always be with a smile that Parker would think of the boy. He was not his precious Juliet, but with young Master Alan, Parker found a bit of his heart healed as the child soaked up the attention like a sponge. But a part of him never stopped longing for his baby girl and he knew he never would.
Shortly after the incident with the Hood, as Parker watched with tear-filled eyes as young Alan received the approval and recognition the now teen-age boy had always needed, that Parker vowed to lay down the bridge work to reunite with his daughter. With Lady Penelope's support, he approached his ex-wife, asking that the woman give his contact information to their daughter. As the she-devil coldly reminded him that he had no claim to his daughter, Parker uncharacteristically found himself begging her to at least give Juliet the information when she turned eighteen. She agreed and Parker left, his heart lighter than it had been in years. But he would have been saddened instead if he had seen that as soon as FAB-1 was out of sight, she had burned the paper he had thrust at her and washed the remains into the garbage disposal.
Don't tell me it's not worth tryin' for
You can't tell me it's not worth dyin' for
You know it's true
Everything I do - I do it for you
Once more, time began to slip by. Other events occurred with the family he had come to love as his own. Some things were terrible – such as when young Alan was kidnapped or when he nearly died of a virulent strain of MRSA. Others – such as the older Tracy boys Scott, John and Virgil all marrying or the births of Scott's son Jason and John's daughter Elizabeth, were wonderful. But shortly before Alan fell ill in his Senior year of high school, Parker knew Juliet eighteenth birthday had occurred. And while he allowed the events of the Tracys' lives to distract him, nothing could stop Parker's heart from breaking with the belief that his beloved child was choosing to exclude him from her life. He could only pray that wherever she was, his precious Juliet was safe and happy.
Look into my heart - you will find
There's nothin' there to hide
Take me as I am - take my life
I would give it all - I would sacrifice
Time continued to move on. Nearly four years passed. Alan married his childhood sweetheart, Tin-Tin and the pair moved to Boston to attend college. During that time, Scott had become a father again and Virgil had become a first time dad. Eventually, even John became a father again, for the last time as his wife nearly died giving birth to their son. The family was happy and Parker was pleased at how well the life of his adopted clan was going.
The only fly in the ointment was the fourth Tracy son, Gordon. Mind you, Gordon – a former Olympic swimmer – had suffered a terrible heartbreak years earlier when his girlfriend was killed in a plane crash. Even more tragic was the fact that the Thunderbirds had been called out on that rescue and the young woman had died in Gordon's arms. But then the family received what they considered a miracle. A young woman named Julie Maxwell.
Julie was, like Gordon, an Olympic swimmer. In fact, she had been in France for the Olympic Games when she was given the opportunity to "rescue a rescuer". When Gordon was sent, unconscious, into the waters off Calais in an explosion, it had been Julie who had dived in and pulled him to safety. Finding out that the young woman, who was entering her Senior year at Columbia in New York would be working a paid internship at Tracy Enterprises allowed the Tracys to try and pay the young woman back for her brave act. But in time, Scott's wife, Kate, an executive at Tracy Enterprises, came to care for the young woman she had taken under her wing. And when Julie saved Kate from a disgruntled ex-employee, it gave the oldest Tracy daughter-in-law the chance to do what she had been longing to: play matchmaker for Julie and Gordon.
Don't tell me it's not worth fightin' for
I can't help it - there's nothin' I want more
Ya know it's true
Everything I do - I do it for you
Parker had accompanied Lady P to the Island for New Year's Eve. The only Tracy son not there was Gordon. Kate was bubbling in pleasure as she admitted that Gordon had flown back to Manhattan with Julie and that the two seemed to be hitting it off nicely. While Lady P looked at the pictures from Christmas, Parker found he couldn't. The name Julie was just too close to his own daughter's name. Instead, he allowed himself to be distracted by the news that Alan and Tin-Tin would become parents soon themselves. Parker silently wondered where his precious Juliet was. Had she attended college, was she in love? Could he even now be a grandfather? All Parker could hope for was that Juliet was safe and happy.
There's no love - like your love
And no other - could give more love
There's nowhere - unless you're there
All the time - all the way
Then came that day in early May when Parker was called to the vid-phone by Lady Penelope. Gordon Tracy's face was awash with humor and happiness. It seemed Gordon had been looking for the perfect gift for his girlfriend, Julie, for her college graduation. And it now looked as if he had found it.
Gordon Tracy had decided to find his girlfriend's estranged biological father as a graduation surprise for the girl. Using contacts of his own father in the U.S. State Department, Gordon had broken through layers of red tape to find some long buried files. Cocking his head to the side, Gordon now asked, "So, Nosey, are you now or have you ever been a father to a little girl with ice blue eyes and caramel colored hair? Her name is Julie but she was born Juliet Frances Parker in London, England, to Aloysius and Camille Parker twenty-two years ago. Sound familiar?" Gordon had been at a loss when the usually solemn man had burst into tears. Finding out that his daughter had never been given the information, that her cold-hearted mother had never told Juliet how desperately Parker had wanted to see his daughter, had healed his broken heart.
Oh - you can't tell me it's not worth tryin' for
I can't help it - there's nothin' I want more
I would fight for you - I'd lie for you
Walk the wire for you - ya I'd die for you Ya know it's true
Everything I do - I do it for you
So now Parker sat in the small, upscale restaurant, Trenia's, a few blocks from Tracy Towers. Gordon often brought Julie here when the red-headed Tracy son was in town. As the couple entered the establishment, Parker was watching anxiously as the pair was greeted by the maitre'd. The older man felt faint. His breath was caught in his throat, probably held back by his heart. He would have known her anywhere. Oh, if only he had looked at the images of the Olympic athlete or the ones from Tracy Island instead of refusing because her name had been too close to his Juliet's. She was his late mother's image. Aloysius Parker would have known her at once. As the couple approached the table, Parker could see the confusion on her face.
"Julie," Gordon started, taking her hand in his, "I wanted to get you something very personal and very special as a graduation present. This is Aloysius Parker, a very old and dear friend of the Tracy family. I know you don't exactly remember him, but I think you will recognize the eyes – they are the same as the ones you see in the mirror every morning."
Look into my heart - you will find
There's nothin' there to hide
Take me as I am - take my life
I would give it all - I would sacrifice
Don't tell me it's not worth fightin' for
I can't help it - there's nothin' I want more
Ya know it's true
Everything I do - I do it for you
Looking at the couple, smiling and obviously in love, Parker felt the terrible weight lift from his heart. He had found his baby girl. She had never been told that Parker had been hoping to hear from her when she turned eighteen. Juliet – or Julie as the girl was comfortable thinking of herself – was a lovely, intelligent young woman. And seeing the happy look on Gordon Tracy's face, Parker felt his joy grow tenfold. Not only was his daughter in love with a wonderful young man who loved her back, but the family he had come to think of as his own would soon be complete. The last Tracy son was on his way to finding his own happiness.
There's no love - like your love
And no other - could give more love
There's nowhere - unless you're there
All the time - all the way
When Parker had first discovered that Gordon Tracy had gotten his daughter in the family way without having married her, he had been ready to kill the boy. Even when it turned out that Gordon had eloped with Julie, Parker had not readily calmed down. His only child had been married in Las Vegas by an Elvis impersonator!
Only the knowledge that if he didn't accept his daughter's marriage – and any attempt to kill her husband – would keep him out of her life. Only that kept Parker's temper in reign. And now, standing by the twin cradles set up in the smaller villa that Gordon and Julie shared on Tracy Island, the man couldn't rid himself of the smile that seemed to be tattooed to his face. Less than two days old, Julie had insisted on leaving the infirmary in the main villa and coming home with her sons. Parker Sheppard Tracy and Terrence Alaine Tracy. Gordon had found a way to honor his baby brother with the middle names but Parker smiled at the way Julie had put her father's name as well as a nun from the convent school – a woman Julie viewed more as a mother figure than her own mother – as the namesakes for her sons.
Brushing a gentle hand over Terrence's auburn hair even as Parker clutched at his grandfather's finger, the older man could not stop smiling. For the first time since his daughter had been stolen from him years before, he was content.
His heart was healed and Aloysius Parker was whole once more.
Oh - you can't tell me it's not worth tryin' for
I can't help it - there's nothin' I want more
I would fight for you - I'd lie for you
Walk the wire for you - yeah I'd die for you
Ya know it's true
Everything I do - I do it for you
A/N - That was Julie's turn and it was a lot of what happened or was referred to in the story but this has it so it was told mainly from Parker's POV. I liked Parker and would have loved to see more of him. Review...thanks. - CC