Look (TAG)

Breakfast on Tracy Island was quiet, compared to other family meals, it was down right peaceful. Ella sat on breakfast stool and watched as her adoptive flipped flapjacks into the air. She giggled in delight as Jeff Tracy would catch the pancake before it fell to the ground. She had never managed to acquire that specific skill, much to her dismay.

Jeff enjoyed Ella's laughter, it reminded him of her parents. When, he and his wife Lucille had agreed to take in Eleanor Rosewood, it had been a bit difficult. Ella looked very much like her mother, but her golden eyes were her father's. Jeff and Lucy had never had any daughters, at the point where Ella had joined the family; he was a father of three boys, Scott, John and Virigil.

Ella got along with her all of her brothers but she and Virgil did occasionally butt heads with each other. When Gordon and Alan had joined the family, Ella had taken to them, she had been tired of being referred to as the baby. Ella and Alan were quite close despite that they were five years apart, she adored her little brother and was constantly making him various sweets.

Footsteps made their way downstairs, Ella turned in her seat to see Scott Tracy descending the steps. She could hear feet moving upstairs, which meant that rest of her brothers would soon be on their way to the kitchen. Ella looked at her dad with a raised eyebrow as she tilted her head up to indicate that the others would be downstairs soon.

"Dad," the familiar voice of Gordon yelled from upstairs.

Scott, Ella, and Jeff all looked at the stairs. "What happened this time?" Jeff asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

"I'll go," Ella volunteered as she jumped from her stool. She quickly moved past Scott and gently ran up the stairs to see what had happened with Gordon.

Jeff watched as Scott looked after Ella, she hadn't told him good morning or even acknowledged him. The father of six studied Scott's expression as he longingly stared after Ella's escape. The former astronaut recognized that look, it was the look he had worn with Lucy and the look Ella's father had given her mother.

"You know pining after her, isn't gong to do anything for you, Scott," Jeff commented as he poured more batter into the pan.

Scott looked from the stairs to his dad with a frown. "I don't know what you're talking about," he mumbled as he moved to the fridge to grab the orange juice.

"Sure you don't son," Jeff answered as he flipped the flapjack in the air, and caught it in the pan. "She adores you, Scott, but it's hard on her when you're away. Scott you look at her the way I did your mom, and the way Chris looked at Beth," he gently told his son.

-xxx-

In honor of Bill Paxton, who portrayed Jeff Tracy in the Thunderbirds live action film in 2005.

-ADF