Buried Emotions

Disclaimer - I never saw a purple cow, I never hope to see one. But I can tell you this right now...I'm more likely to see a lavender bovine than own the Thunderbirds.

Chapter Eleven

John Tracy leaned back against the wall, refusing to sit on the couch in the family waiting room of the surgical wing.

"What's taking so long?" the blonde groaned, looking at his watch.

"It's only been forty five minutes," Jeff calmly said as he answered another e-mail using his data pad.

"Not helping, Dad," John grumbled as he stalked over to the window.

Jeff shook his head. This was his calm, rational son? Then again, this was also a frantic husband and father. OK, distraction methods were needed.

"So, when are you getting snipped?"

John whipped around, his mouth wide open. "DAD!"

Jeff shrugged. "Trust me, I made sure it was done before Alan left the hospital. Your mother threatened to do a homemade one if I didn't."

John sat down beside his father. "Actually, I had it done three months ago. After the doctor finally got a hold of some records from Emmy's family, I felt like I had no choice." Seeing his father's confused look, John explained.

"Em's paternal grandmother, she had a small valve defect. It led to her having complications with her second pregnancy, dying with her daughter. And it turns out to be hereditary."

"I'm sure Emily's family didn't know."

John glared. "Her mother knew. Her mother knew and didn't tell her. A doctor who knew about the cause of her grandmother's death ran an echocardiogram on Emily when she was having her tonsils removed at age six. If Emily had the surgery pre-puberty, it would be fine. But Susan Haas felt that a possibly pregnancy complication could make her daughter less valuable as a future bride in high society. She didn't want anyone to know and the doctor had found himself facing some kind of investigation. Nothing he wasn't cleared of but enough to make sure he left New York."

Jeff shook his head, confused how anyone could treat their child that way. Then a horrible thought struck him.

"Hereditary? Elizabeth..."

Holding up his hand, John finally smiled. "Em ran an echo on Little Bit as soon as we got home that day. The pediatric cardiologist she consulted suggested waiting another year and then a simple surgery will be done – a small stent that will reinforce the valve and make sure our daughter never goes through this."

Shaking his head once more, Jeff grimaced as he looked at his second son. "You could have mentioned all this."

"And have Sarah or Kate arrested for going after Susan Haas?" John smirked. "No way. My brothers would get mad at me for their wives going to jail."

"I can't believe no one realized it…"

John cut his father off. "Emmy said it's one of those things that unless you know to look for it, you would never find it, that's its practically microscopic. But we'll have to make sure Elizabeth knows, in case she has a daughter or granddaughter."

Seeing his son's face becoming annoyed, Jeff raised an eyebrow before he started to laugh. "Don't worry, John. You have a long time before you even have to think about Elizabeth being in a position to have children or grandchildren."

"Maybe I can persuade Alan to give the kids a talk on the benefits of waiting…"

Jeff's chuckle at John's idea faded as Emily's obstetrician came into the room, looking serious.

"Mr. Tracy -"

Kate Tracy smiled from the doorway.

"And how many bowls of ice cream has he had?" she asked as she came into the diner.

Robin beamed as she stood, pulling her daughter into a fierce hug.

"Just the one," Robin assured Kate.

Jeannie chuckled as she came up behind the group. "Unless Mama's been getting her ice cream from Willie Wonka, that has to be at least number two. They were eating ice cream when we left and that was two hours ago." Looking over at the playpen, the sheriff frowned when she didn't see her son or DJ in it.

Robin pointed to the back booth, where Alan and Don were both sprawled out, feet propped on chairs and each holding a toddler to their chest.

"The babies are all sleeping," she snickered.

Millie came out from the kitchen to refresh Robin's ice tea and offer refreshment to the other women. Daria, who had just come into the diner as well, smiled gratefully and nodded at the picture the four males made.

"Alan is a natural with kids," Daria softly commented.

"Do not say that around Scott," Kate laughed quietly, even as she sat next to her oldest son who spoke up without a break in his coloring.

"Daddy has trouble remembering Unca Allie is a grown up. At least that is what Unca Allie says. I'm not sure if Unca Allie really is grown up."

Kate frowned. "Baby, why do you not think Uncle Alan is grown up?"

"Well," Elizabeth popped in, her eyes never leaving the picture she was coloring, "he lives with his daddy, he goes to school and he watches Disney movies. Doesn't that make him a kid?"

The women all chuckled. "Kids, do your Grandpa a favor – never say that to Uncle Alan. He might change his mind about him and Tin-Tin living in the main house after they get married."

As the three younger women admired the kids' artwork, Robin looked out the window. She saw someone watching them through the glass and couldn't help but feel she knew him from somewhere…

But Robin had never been to Bailey before. As the man turned and headed back up the road, entering the feed and grain, Robin decided it was all just her imagination.

John nervously got to his feet, his father standing supportively next to him.

"Dr. Henrichs?" John asked, a tremor in his voice. "Is Em and the baby alright?"

"Keith is fine," Dr. Henrichs assured the astronomer.

"And Emily?" Jeff questioned, terrified when the obstetrician didn't immediately mention his daughter-in-law.

"We nearly lost her," the doctor somberly told the two Tracy men. "She'll make it but…it's in her best interest to keep her under for a couple of days. Emily will need the recovery time." He placed a comforting hand on John's shoulder. "I know Emily wanted to nurse her son, but that won't be a good idea with the medication she'll need to take. While we have her here, I'll monitor Emily carefully. I think she can wait a few months, but then we'll have to do an aortic valve repair. And I understand that this situation definitely will not happen again?"

John nodded, biting his lip. "Yes, I took myself out of the gene pool. Any more Tracy grandchildren will have to come from my brothers. Gordon is still single but Alan is getting married in a few weeks."

Putting on a slightly evil smile, he glanced at his father. "Yep. Allie's getting married. Purity ring is being replaced with a wedding ring. Time for grandchildren from the other blonde Tracy…"

"When can we see Keith and Emily?" Jeff asked quickly, eager to change the subject that seemed to be amusing his oldest blonde son waaaaaayyyyy too much.

"Keith immediately," Dr. Henrichs said, hiding his own amusement, having heard this subject from Emily multiple times over her pregnancy. "Emily in about half an hour. We'll let Keith be in his mother's room, so you'll be taken there and Emily will be brought back from recovery soon." Smiling at John, he nodded.

"Ready to meet your son?"

John gave a genuine smile for the first time since bringing Emily to the hospital three days ago. "Very much." And he was. Emily had been willing to risk a great deal, even her own health, to have this baby. John had been afraid he would resent his son if anything had happened to his wife because of her pregnancy. But now he knew – the children he and his wife shared were a precious gift…a gift from her, from him, for them, for their family…for the future.

And John couldn't wait to hold that tiny piece of the future and tell Keith how much his Daddy loved him.

A few days later, Alan was leaning against a tree, watching Elizabeth and Jason play tag with David Sinclair's great-nephew Mikey. Colby Granger, who had recently retired from the FBI to take up a consulting job with LifeLock, approached him with a smile.

"Heya Alan," Colby said with a nod. They had met at Kate and Scott's wedding and had hit it off immediately. Here was another person who had tried to sway Alan from working for his father…and working for him instead.

"Still working for Dad," Alan chuckled as he kept the kids on his radar.

Shaking his head, Colby held up his hands. "No worries – Kate threatened to shoot me if I tried to steal you away again."

Alan smirked. His sister-in-law really could be intimidating.

"It was a nice ceremony," Colby sighed. "But that's the last of the weddings for the old team. At least until Jason grows up."

Chuckling, Alan shook his head. "Well, you should have got married yourself and added to the rugrat population."

When Colby didn't reply, Alan looked over at him and saw the profound sadness on his face. "Sorry," Alan said quickly. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Her name was Kathryn. Kate. Katie is named for her. She was British, an old friend of Charlie's. They had been child prodigies together at Princeton and they stayed friends. Charlie and Don were both married, Edward was a baby and Kate – well, Don and Robin had been told that after the twins, any more children were extremely unlikely. Kate died saving Charlie and Don but before she died, she had made Don promise her that he'd name his daughter for her." Colby chuckled sadly.

"I think she made Don promise her that because it would annoy him. She liked to call him Ducky."

"Ducky?" Alan muttered before he got the joke.

"Kate was amazing – smart, strong, proud with a classic beauty that took my breath away. You love a woman like that Alan and you just can't settle for second best. I wouldn't do that to someone else, marry them while Kate still has my heart. I loved her from the moment I first laid eyes on her and I will love her with my last breath."

Thinking of his own father, Alan nodded. Yeah, he got that.

Before Alan could say anything, a scream from where his niece and nephew were playing drew his focus and made him run forward, his heart in his throat as he saw someone grab the arm of his niece and push Jason to the ground…

A/N - the story of the first Kate has never been published because I was hit with a bad case of writer's block when I started it. I broke it by setting the story aside and trying to write a Thunderbirds story. I haven't really stopped writing those since. One of these days...and it will be a doozy.

And y'all got the joke of Ducky ,right?

More soon - as long as nothing bizarre happens. CC