Scott and John flew home to Kansas the next day.

Letting Scott fly was the only way John knew for his brother to work through the complicated emotions he was dealing with. He didn't envy Scott.

They were heading home for a couple of days before John had to be back at NASA and the teenies back at school. Virgil was already working for their Father with Brains in the R&D department in their Kansas unit where they were guaranteed secrecy. Scott himself was due to fly out to the island to finish his rehab.

Everyone had wanted to be at the ceremony to support Scott, but he had balked at the idea, so in the end only his Dad and John had gone. Now – now Scott was glad it had only been John. He didn't know how he would have reacted if the others had been around.

Still…he had that to look forward to.

The flight from Washington/New York was short, not giving Scott much time to think about how he was going to break the news to his brothers. Or when. Two days were not long together for such news.

By the time they had made it out to the farmhouse Scott still had no idea how he was going to break the news, and as he was mobbed by Gordon and Alan. Their antics lightened his heart and made him grin – it was less than 24 hours that they had been together but they were acting as if it had been months since they had been together. Bearing in mind how long he'd been missing…Scott not only couldn't blame them, he felt the same way.

Alan at 9 was all gangly limbs, clinging to Scott's back as if he was a monkey, barely giving the man a chance to grab him safely and hoisted him higher up to keep Alan secure. Gordon, all of 13 and already making plans to move to a residential school that would improve his Olympic chances even more, latched on to his right arm, dragging Scott forward to the kitchen where Virgil and their Grandma waited.

'Alan, you are too old for behaving like that. Get off your brother. And Gordon, let the poor man alone.'

There was no reproval in their Grandmother's voice though, only soft amusement. Her boys did as she asked anyway, and Scott found himself seated at the table with one on each side and John and Virgil opposite him. Their faces mirrored their Grandma's amusement as the teenies' chatter filled the air.

But then Virgil looked at Scott and frowned.

Scott's eyes flicked to John and Virgil frowned deeper and glanced at John, who gave the minutest of shakes. The frown didn't lift entirely and Virgil's eyes promised questions later. Alan carried on as if he hadn't noticed but Scott caught Gordon's pause as he looked from Virgil to John and back again.

He chuckled to himself. Gordon may only be 13 but he was a Tracy and as bright as any of them.

The doorbell rang and the tension Scott hadn't realised was there dissipated. Gordon jumped up, knocking his chair over in his rush to get to the door. He came back with a stack of pizza's, opening them up to make sure he gave the right pizza to the right person. The three oldest brothers had a pizza each but he and Alan had to share. Thankfully their pizza was divided by half so Alan didn't throw pineapple at Gordon and Gordon didn't throw mushrooms at Alan.

For a few minutes all that could be heard was the munching of food and the slurping of soda. But Gordon kept his eyes on his older brothers. Something was going on. Something that Virgil had not been privy to. He took a large gulp of soda and waited until Scott had done so too before speaking.

'So. How did the after party go?'

Scott choked on his drink.

'That good, huh?'

Alan had jumped up and once it became clear that Scott's coughing was not immediately dissipating he began to enthusiastically slap him on the back. It caused Scott to begin laughing, which also didn't help. He swivelled and snatched Alan up onto his lap, ticking the boy until tears were running down both their faces and their brothers were grinning.

Eventually Scott stopped, holding Alan in a loose hug on his lap with his chin on Alan's shoulder.

'A+ for effort, Sprout. Thank you.'

He looked at his brothers and Grandma, all grinning at him, and Scott sighed happily.

'I'm getting married.'

He hadn't meant to blurt it out like that. The sudden silence told him his family were just as surprised. Alan wiggled around on his lap until he could look at Scott's face. His frown was almost mirrored by Virgil and Gordon's.

'Scotty? What do you mean?'

'I'm getting married, Sprout.'

'To a girl?'

'Yes, Alan. To a girl.'

'Eww! Girls are yucky, Scotty.'

'Wait until you're older, Sprout. I promise you'll feel different.'

'No way!'

'I have to say I'm with Al here, Scotty.'

'Well, thankfully neither of you are old enough to be even showing an interest in girls. I, however, am.'

He looked at the two youngest brothers and then at the two others. Virgil hadn't said a word, just sat there with that frown on his face, looking at Scott. Even his Grandma hadn't said a word, and suddenly Scott was angry. He gently put Alan down on his seat and stood up.

'Is no one going to congratulate me? Fine. At least I know where I stand.'

No one moved as Scott stormed out, his Tracy temper winning out. Virgil made to move but John held him back with a hand on his arm and a shake of his head. He smiled at everyone.

'I got this.'

John didn't exactly rush to follow Scott, but he didn't linger either – it wouldn't do anyone any good. He gave Scott's door his customary knock and entered without waiting for the invite he knew wouldn't be coming.

As he expected Scott was on the seat under the window, hugging his knees and looking out over the drive. He pulled his legs in closer so John could perch on the end.

Neither man said anything for the moment, just sat like they had as kids when they still shared a room. Back then they sat together but did their own thing – John would have been reading and Scott would have been watching the sky or reading, sometimes he read out loud and John listened.

Now, John listened.

'I'm sorry. I – I didn't mean to lose it like that.'

'I know. But it's unfair to take this out on them. The only one you should be shouting at is Dad.'

Scott sighed and swung his legs down, resting his elbows on his thighs and his head in his hands.

'You're right, you're right. I didn't even mean to tell them until tomorrow.'

'I think you should cut yourself some slack, Scott. You've known about this for a little over 24 hours, your emotions are all over the place.'

'And our brothers are no slouch in the brains department.'

'Ahaha, that's absolutely true.'

John and Scott grinned at each other and spoke in unison:

'Gordon.'

'He's a very perceptive Squid.'

'He is. You feel up to talking to them?'

'Yeah. The longer I leave it the harder this is going to be.'

'And the more questions they'll have. You're right, John. Thanks.'

On returning to the kitchen they found the table had been cleared of dinner and everyone had piled into the living room. A movie was playing quietly, one that the teenies were glued to, but Virgil was sitting facing the door, obviously waiting for his older brothers judging from the relief on his face when they appeared.

Scott sat beside Virgil and nudged him gently, eliciting a small smile. He nudged harder and Virgil laughed, alerting the younger ones to Scott's presence. Alan promptly abandoned Gordon, pushing him over as he stood and took a flying leap onto his oldest brother's lap.

'I'm sorry guys. I didn't mean to snap.'

'Is ok, Scotty.'

'No, it's not, Sprout. But it will be.'

'So…tell us about your girlfriend.'

There was laughter as Scott ruffled Alan's hair and pulled him in for a hug.

'Her name is Marion and I hope to introduce you soon. But there are some matters she and I need to discuss first.'

Everyone paused and looked at John, who had been muttering under his breath and swearing a little louder than he had realised judging from the frown their Grandma was sporting. John's sudden realisation that everyone was staring at him made him pause and, giving Scott a wild-eye look, John sunk back into the couch and flushed bright red.

Sally gave her grandsons a look. Something was amiss here, but she had no doubt her eldest three would sort it out to some degree. She sighed. Where was her son? Surely he should be here for Scott's announcement, as unorthodox as it had been. A suspicion began to form in her mind but she dismissed it immediately. No way would her son…

She frowned and sat back, mind whirring and making plans to speak to Jeff when he arrived…whenever he arrived. He'd promised Alan he'd come home before he would take the youngest two to school.

Jeff needed a talking to…she just wasn't sure what for this time.

After the movie and once the youngest boys had gone to bed Virgil grabbed Scott's arm and hauled his brother out to the treehouse. It had been years since Scott had been up here – it had always been 'their place', his, John's and Virgil's, build by Dad and Uncle Lee one summer when Virgil had been just two – but there was little dust around, telling Scott that the teenies also used the den.

From somewhere Virgil produced three bottles of Scott's favourite soda that he'd obviously stashed much earlier – probably in anticipation that he would need to offload about the medal ceremony he'd attended Scott realised with a jolt. That event felt like a lifetime away now, all thought of the bitterness he'd felt at the way he'd been summarily discharged had dissipated in the face of his father's…proposal.

Realising he'd been silent too long Scott looked up and was immediately assaulted by Virgil's eyebrows. The question in them was *loud*, and Scott offered a small smile as he took a swig from the bottle to give himself some time.

Virgil's eyebrows were soon joined by John's – seriously, they definitely lived up to their nickname of 'the quiet twins' – and Scott sighed, putting his drink down.

'I'm getting married.'

'And the reason I'm only just finding out about this now is…?'

'Because Dad only told me yesterday.'

The silence was deafening.

The eyebrows were not.

Scott watched every emotion play across Virgil's face as he tried to reconcile himself to what their Father had done. In the end the hurt that settled there was palpable.

'Why?'

'Does it matter?'

'YES! It matters! Why are you letting Dad do this to you? John – why aren't you saying anything?'

'John's already discussed this with me at length. Honestly, Virg, it's alright.'

'Like hell it is! John – you can't seriously agree with this?'

'Don't get me started, Virgil. I am nowhere near agreeing with this. However, our only oldest idiot brother is determined to be the sacrifice once again and I cannot talk him out of it. Maybe you'll have better luck.'

John sat back and watched Virgil turn his puppy-dog eyes onto Scott. If anyone could dissuade Scott it would be him. John and Scott may be next in age but there was no denying that Scott and Virgil had a special connection. Right now John sat back and watched his immediately younger brother go to work on his oldest brother. It was always an experience to watch, especially since it was mostly a silent battle.

Eventually though Scott sighed and ran his hands through his hair before sighing heavily.

'I'm sorry, Virg. I've already decided and there's nothing left to be said.'

'But *why*?'

'It doesn't matter.'

'It does!'

'Drop it, Virgil.'

Scott growled his name, scowling, and both brothers knew that his mind was made up and nothing was going to change that now. And neither was he going to explain himself to Virgil.

They drank in silence for a bit before John shifted the mood by discussing his up-coming return to NASA. Conversation turned to other more mundane matters and before they realised they were laughing at the latest exploit of their Squid and discussing meeting up in the summer break, just the three of them.

Scott relaxed as the evening turned to night and no one else mentioned his upcoming nuptials. He knew he'd made his mind up and he needed to come to terms with that rather than get angry when his closest brothers pushed to know. It was only natural, after all. Scott took a deep breath and decided to make peace with his decision.

Now all he needed was to make peace with his Dad. He looked at his watch. Dad was due in the early morning, less than eight hours' time.

He wondered if John and Virgil would make their peace with what was happening within that timeframe.

Looking up at them, still frowning despite the ease in chatter, Scott doubted it.

But he was touched that his brothers would fight for him

Tomorrow promised to be…interesting.