A/N: So for now reviews and replies seem to be back to normal...

To Guest 1: Thank you :) That's actually a really good question. I'd pictured her just in civilian clothes, but I realise I didn't mention what she was wearing at all! Feel free to decide whatever you prefer. If she was in some kind of IR-related outfit, I imagine it would be some sort of jumpsuit type thing, maybe in grey, baggier than Kayo's uniform for sure!

To Guest 2: Thank you, I'm glad you liked it :)

Sunshine.

Rubble bounced off Scott's back as he shielded the archaeologist curled into a ball beneath him. It stung a little where it caught his arms, but his helmet and jetpack took the brunt of it. When it stopped, he cautiously eased back, and the woman unfurled herself.

"Has it stopped?"

Scott stood and shone his flashlight upward, examining the rocky ceiling, and the huge pile of rocks and shrapnel that had once been the way in and out. It looked settled and immovable. That was good in the sense that they wouldn't get rained on again, but bad for the chances of making a quick exit.

"Yeah, for now," he reported. In a sudden flare of frustration, he kicked a pebble, sending it skittering across the ground. "Goddammit."

The archaeologist looked understandably alarmed. "Are we both stuck here?"

Reminding himself that he had a job to do, Scott forced his irritation down, turning a calmer expression on the young woman. Her eyes were wide with concern underneath her hardhat.

"We are," he told her, levelling his voice, "but it's okay. My brothers will get us out."

"Scott, come in, are you okay?"

At the sound of Virgil's worried voice, he pressed the comm button on his utility sash and reassured him. "We're fine, Thunderbird 2. The entrance is blocked, though. Gonna need to switch to plan B."

"FAB," Virgil said at once. He must have picked up on Scott's frustration, as he added, "We'll be as quick as we can."

"I know, but be safe. We don't want to cause another cave-in."

"Agreed. Hang tight. We're on our way."

"What else am I gonna do?" Scott commented quietly once the transmission had cut off.

"What's plan B?" the archaeologist asked, panting a little as she stretched her leg out in front of her, favouring her ankle.

Scott crouched by her side, unclipping his med kit. "They'll dig us out from the side," he explained, "but it's going to take a while. They'll need to go slowly to make sure they don't trigger another cave-in."

She nodded, resting her gloved hands on her thighs. "Okay," she said, although it seemed more to reassure herself than answer him.

He found a painkiller patch and gestured with it. "Am I okay to put this on your leg?"

"Please do," she said, reaching to tug the bottom of her trousers from where they were tucked into her boots.

"What's your name?" he asked her, sticking the patch down on a section of bare leg, then easing off her boot.

"Gwen."

"Nice to meet you, Gwen. I'm Scott."

She offered him a tiny smile, wincing as he felt along her ankle and gently rotated her foot.

"I don't think it's broken," he reported. "But it's swollen. I'm going to put your boot back on to give it some support, okay?"

"Okay."

He laced her boot back up, pulling it tight, and she winced again. "Sorry," he said.

"No, it's okay," she assured him. "It actually feels a bit better strapped up like that."

He found her backpack under some rubble and brought it over to her, propping her foot up on it to keep it elevated. Then, because there was nothing else to do but wait, he came and sat beside her. He sighed, briefly fogging up the visor of his helmet, and rested his outstretched arms on his bent knees.

"I'm sorry, this is all my fault," he confessed.

Gwen peered at him in confusion. "How? I was the one who fell down here. If I hadn't knackered my ankle, I could've climbed out myself." Her accent was a pleasant lilting one that he knew to be Welsh, although he wouldn't have been able to identify it.

"Not that. I caused us to be stuck here. I caused the need for plan B." He shook his head, leaning it back against the cave wall. "I was moving too fast. I should have been more careful about causing a cave-in, but I was trying to be quick. Guess this is karma."

"Why, got somewhere to be?"

He smiled wryly. "Yeah. I'm needed here, but…I'm also needed somewhere else. I thought I'd be able to do both."

As if on cue, his wrist comm alerted him to an incoming transmission, and he activated it. Cathy appeared, her holographic figure looking a little stressed.

"Scott, what's your ETA? She's asking for you."

Mentally kicking himself once again for his recklessness, he searched for an answer for her. "I don't know. I'm sorry, Cath. We need to use the Mole pod. My new buddy and I are…kind of stuck in a cave."

His sister-in-law's look seemed to sear him even through the holo. "You're what?"

Gwen gave a quiet, nervous giggle from beside him. Cathy's annoyance didn't show itself often, but could elicit that sort of reaction. Particularly when directed at other people.

"I estimate we'll be out in an hour or so, if Gordon goes carefully in the Mole," he said.

Cathy glanced over her shoulder. "Okay," she said with a sigh. "I'll be honest, Scott…I don't know if you're going to make it in time."

A ripple of disappointment, guilt, and dismay bubbled up inside him, and he squashed it down. He had a duty to the injured girl beside him.

"She'll understand," he stated.

"Yes, but that's not the point," Cathy said validly.

"I know. Shit, I know. But what can I do?"

Cathy's expression turned sympathetic for the first time. "I know. Do you want to explain, or should I?"

"Let me," he decided at once. Shooting Gwen a glance, he said, "Sorry about this."

She shook her head, looking intrigued by the drama. "It's okay."

Cathy unstrapped her wrist comm, and there was a moment of confusion as she handed it over. Then Anne appeared, her hair scrunched into a messy knot at the top of her head, a green hospital gown making her look pale and washed out. Her brow was furrowed in pain.

"Let me guess," she said, her voice a little breathless, "you're delayed."

"Yeah," he admitted. "I'm so sorry, Anne. It could be a couple hours yet."

She nodded, but she couldn't hide her disappointment, and, most cuttingly of all, a tiny flash of fear. Scott felt it like a blade to the heart. The sense of guilt rose up to swallow him, and he ruthlessly shoved it back. The last thing Anne needed was for him to get caught up in self-pity.

"It's okay," she said, which was a blatant lie. "Just come as quickly as you can."

"I will," he promised her. "How are you doing?"

She wrinkled her nose. "This sucks."

Sensing that was an understatement, he smiled. "It'll be worth it."

"I know that, but right now? I hate everything. Including you. Especially you. This is all your fault."

He laughed. "Not sorry."

She grunted unintelligibly.

"You're doing great, honey," he told her, wishing he could be there, trying not think of her thousands of miles away in Tracy Island's medical bay while he was stuck in a cave in Wales.

"I know I am," she said indignantly, which made him want to laugh again. He quashed it.

"Just hang in there. I'll be home before you know it, either to let you crush my hand like tin foil, or…" He faltered a little in his reassurance. "Or to meet our new arrival."

Anne inhaled sharply, reaching out. He saw Cathy's hand grip hers. "At this rate, probably…the latter," she managed to get out, adding a brief exclamation of pain at the end of the sentence. He thought he heard a few swear words mixed up in it for good measure. "Ugh, why aren't humans better at this by now?" she lamented. "Thousands of years of evolution and it still….hurts like hell!"

Scott found himself caught between amusement and sympathy, once again biting down his anger that he'd been careless enough to get himself stuck.

The holo image whirled confusingly, settling on a view of the floor and Cathy's feet.

"Oops," he heard Anne say.

Cathy picked up the comm, her face appearing. "I think we need to go now," she told him. "Get here as soon as you can."

He nodded. "I will. Thanks, Cathy. Anne, I love you. I'll see you soon, I promise."

She made an indistinct noise in response, and Cathy sent him a small smile before signing off.

Scott lowered his arm, feeling annoyingly helpless. He wasn't used to the feeling, and he was notoriously bad at handling it. It was always so much easier to take action, but he had to sit back and trust in his brothers to do so.

He'd almost forgotten his companion, and was a little startled when she spoke.

"I'm sorry."

He turned to her. "What for?"

"If I hadn't messed up, you'd be with her now."

"No," he told her firmly. "Don't apologise. This isn't your fault. I told you, it's mine. I was reckless coming in here. I didn't pay attention to the terrain like I should have."

She didn't say anything more, but she still looked remorseful. "Is it your first kid?" she asked after a pause.

Even though he suspected it would add to her misplaced guilt, Scott answered her honestly. "Yeah."

He remembered the day Anne had told him. It hadn't been planned, but they'd stopped being as careful as they'd been in the past, deciding that what would happen would happen. Scott thought they'd probably both been equally excited and terrified, and that had continued for the entire pregnancy. Everyone else was, of course, just excited. Anne had received multiple calls from her mom, and Grandma and his dad had offered him a lot of advice. Probably too much advice, in hindsight. He wasn't sure how much of it had actually sunk in.

His brothers were already competing for the position of favourite uncle. Their child would be inundated with gifts within the first hour of their birth. Virgil had bought a little hooded onesie in the same shade of blue as their uniforms. John, ever practical, had thought far ahead and bought a picture book about space travel. Alan had bought several pairs of booties that were designed to look like adult shoes. Scott suspected their child would be more fashionable than anyone else on the island. Gordon had somehow managed to find a plushie of Thunderbird 1, although it was so big Scott felt sure that it would take up more room in the cot than the baby would.

Although the thought made him sick to his stomach, Scott knew that Anne and their child would be just fine if anything ever happened to him. They would always be surrounded by family, and he was grateful. It would make it easier to go out and do his job, although…with a pang, he realised that he'd probably never be reckless again.

Having Anne in his life had already tamed that side of him to a fraction of what it once had been, but once he was a father… He would always do whatever was necessary to save people, but equally strong now was the desire to always make sure he would be there for his child. It was a sobering realisation, and he wasn't quite sure how to deal with it.

"Thought of any names yet?" Gwen asked, providing a welcome distraction.

"A few," he told her. "We decided not to know the sex ahead of time, so we have options."

"What are you hoping for?"

Scott answered her honestly. "As long as it's healthy, I'm happy. And…not even that. As long as it's alive and we can care for it. There's a history of boys in my family. I'm one of five. My dad had brothers, and so did his father. Odds are it'll be a boy."

"But what about your wife?"

"She has a sister," he admitted. "That was her on the comm."

Gwen smiled. "It could be a girl then."

Scott returned it, considering the possibility that he hadn't given quite as much thought to as his own theory. "The first Tracy girl in four generations," he mused aloud. "That would be something."

"Wouldn't it? And can I just say that Gwen is an excellent name?"

His smile widened into something a little more genuine. "I'll add it to the list."

Feeling the need to battle his restlessness, he got to his feet to walk a circuit of the cave, taking it all in for the first time. It wasn't anything special to look at to his untrained eye, but his gaze was drawn to a fenced-off tunnel entrance.

"Where does that go?" he asked.

Gwen immediately picked up on what he really wanted to know. "Dead end, I'm afraid. This place is an old mine from the early twentieth century. It was abandoned after a collapse, but the miners left a lot of their equipment down here. I've been hoping to find it, to build a picture of who they were."

Scott's heart sank at her words, but he drifted closer anyway, peering into the dark. "There's airflow through here," he observed, frowning.

"There's an opening in the ceiling a little way through, but it's inaccessible."

He turned to glance at her. "Inaccessible how? I mean, how are you trying to access it? Because we've probably got gear that you haven't. No offence."

"None taken," she waved off. "Uh, well, inaccessible through climbing. But if you have…wait a second. Is that a jetpack you're wearing?"

Scott nodded. "Yeah, but it took the brunt of the rubble fall. I heard something spark back there."

Gwen's face had lit up, however. "Could be worth a try, right?"

Although he desperately wanted to try anything he could, he was determined not to take unnecessary risks again.

"Let's go and check it out, at least," Gwen went on, clumsily getting to her good foot.

Scott hurried forward to help her, letting her grip his arm for balance. "How far is it?" he asked. "I don't want you putting any weight on that ankle."

"Not far. I'll be fine," she insisted.

Relenting, feeling his heartrate increase in hopeful excitement, Scott left her to stand on her own while he shifted the wire fence, then activated his flashlight, shining it into the tunnel. The light picked up the almost-buried cart tracks in the floor, leading the way.

"Okay," he said, business-like as he returned to Gwen, "I'm still not letting you put weight on that ankle, so I'll carry you, you carry the flashlight. Deal?"

"Are you sure? I'm probably heavy."

"I doubt it," he said, shooting her a reassuring smile. "And I'm tougher than I look, in any case."

She nodded, and he picked her up, mindful of jolting her foot. She aimed the beam of light ahead of them, and they began to make their way down the tunnel.

Gwen hadn't been lying when she said it wasn't far. They rounded one bend in the tracks and were able to see the faint touch of daylight ahead. Before long, they'd emerged in another cave, completely empty and uninteresting but for the small hole in its ceiling. Without specialist equipment, it was indeed inaccessible, and the plants half covering the view of the sky made Scott think that it was in an awkward location from the outside as well. That was probably for the best, or unsuspecting hikers would fall through it if they weren't paying attention. But all that paled in comparison to the fact that it was an opportunity to get out of there faster.

"Thunderbird 2, I may have a better plan B," he reported, after setting Gwen carefully down on the floor.

"Which is?" Virgil asked

"There's a small opening in the ceiling of another cavern. North West of where we started. I'm going to try and jetpack up, but it took some damage in the rock fall. Might need a pick-up."

"FAB, Thunderbird 1. I'll tell Gordon to keep going with the Mole, just in case, but in the meantime I'll come find you."

Hold on, Anne, he thought as he prepared to jet upwards, I'm on my way.

The jetpack got him just over two thirds of the distance before it sparked alarmingly and started to conk out. It gave him enough time to load and fire his grapple upward, leaving him safely hanging from its cable when the jetpack gave up altogether.

"Brains is gonna kill me," he muttered. He'd lost count of the number of times it had had to be repaired.

"You all right up there?" Gwen called anxiously.

"Yeah, no problem." He rappelled up the rest of the way, batting plants out of the way as he got to the top. "Don't suppose you've got a machete on you?" he called down.

"You know what, I left my bladed weapons at home today," she replied cheerily.

He chuckled, and started pulling out weeds by the roots instead. "Look out below," he warned, dropping them.

The sound of a familiar engine had him looking up. Thunderbird 2 was always easy to spot, but this close to the ground it was unmissable. He waved. The ship hovered overhead, then the platform descended from its cockpit, and Virgil leaned over the side.

"What do you need?" he called.

"Just a harness," Scott yelled back. "I'm pretty sure I can climb out."

Virgil looked sceptical, but he obligingly disappeared. A harness started to make its way down, and Scott looked back at Gwen.

"Can you get into that on your own or do want a hand?" he asked her.

"I can do it," she assured him, reaching out for it as it got low enough. "I'm a climber, I know my way around a safety harness."

It seemed she wasn't bragging, as she got herself into it fairly quickly, even with her injured ankle, and checked the clips were secure before giving him a thumbs up.

"Bring her up, Virgil," he instructed.

"FAB."

Scott turned his attention to his own ascent, examining the terrain. The ground sloped down towards the cave opening, and was covered in weeds and dry earth that looked worryingly crumbly. Leaving his grapple attached, he cautiously pulled himself out of the cave, feeling the dirt shift under his gloves.

"Nope," he decided, dropping back though and dangling from the one hand that had found purchase on the rock.

Gwen made a small noise of alarm.

"I'm good," he assured her.

She was almost level with him now, and he caught her admonishing look with ease. Reaching up, he released his grapple and somehow managed to reload it with the magnetic ammo with one hand. Aiming again, he fired at Thunderbird 2's hull, hearing it connect with a satisfying clang. Letting go of the rock, he rappelled upwards to join Virgil on the platform.

"You'd best not damage the paintwork," Virgil greeted him as he got closer.

"I broke another jetpack, do you really think I'm worried about paint?"

He disconnected the grapple, then moved to help Virgil bring Gwen aboard.

"We need to get you to a hospital so you can get that ankle looked at," he announced as she got settled in a passenger seat.

"I need to do that, yes," she agreed, "but you need to get home."

Virgil sent him a nod. "She's right. Gordon and I can finish up here." He jumped into the pilot's seat and took them back towards their initial landing spot, where the pod module and Thunderbird 1 waited.

"Dad always taught us not to run out on a job," Scott defended weakly, feeling that he should at least make some sort of argument before selfishly running home.

"You're not," Virgil told him firmly, pivoting in his seat as soon as the ship settled. "The lady is rescued, the situation is under control. Now get your ass back to base and go be with your wife. She needs you now."

Face breaking out into a relieved and somewhat-nervous grin, Scott nodded. "Okay, okay. I'm going."

Despite the fact they'd only just met, Virgil and Gwen triumphantly high-fived each other, which made them both laugh.

Scott stepped onto the platform. "Someone should fence off that hole," he reminded them as it began to descend.

"We know," Virgil said.

"And you should probably tell Gordon he can stop digging now."

"We know, Scott. Will you just go?"

"Fine, I'm gone."

"Thanks for all your help!" Gwen called after him.

"No problem!"

He jumped off the platform before it reached the ground, running towards his beloved Bird. He leapt into his seat, retracted it, and started take-off procedure faster than he ever had before. He'd be pushing the ship to its limits, but it would handle it. It always did.

Instead of calling Cathy, who was no doubt busy keeping Anne calm, he called his father.

"I'm on my way back," he reported "How is she?"

"Fine, I think."

"You think?"

"It's just Cathy and the midwife in there," his dad told him. "The best the rest of us can do is keep out of the way. But we haven't heard any news, which is a good thing. It's going to be fine, Scott."

While he didn't doubt that his dad was right, and the familiar, soothing tone was reassuring, Scott knew he wouldn't believe it until he could see for himself.

Even once he was home, he still felt restricted by the seemingly-endless wait for the ship to travel back down from its launch pad, where he was forced to sit still – something he was notoriously bad at – until he could get out. The moving platform that took him to and from his seat had likewise never felt slower.

In the elevator up to the house, he got changed as quickly as he could, knowing that the midwife wouldn't let him anywhere near Anne in a uniform dusty with mud and dirt. He needed a shower, but that would have to wait.

He had a brief impression of his dad, Grandma, Alan, Kayo and Brains all sitting in the lounge as he dashed past, but he didn't stop to talk to them. Instead, he bolted down the stairs and hurried to the medical bay, finally skidding to a halt outside its doors so that he could open them calmly without startling anyone.

Anne was propped up against multiple pillows, her face flushed and clammy, bearing an expression of tired determination. She turned her head when he entered the room, and sent him a grateful smile. Cathy relinquished her hand so that he could take it instead, and he hurried to her side.

"I'm here," he told her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "I'm here now."

"Good," she said, squeezing his fingers. "I didn't want you to miss it, but…" She paused, wincing and catching her breath. "It's close!"

"We Tracys are always in a rush," he said, rubbing what he could reach of her back.

"Except…when you get stuck in caves," Anne panted.

"Hey, I got out of it, didn't I?" he quipped.

She didn't seem to have an answer for that, but her smile spoke volumes. The relief on her face was palpable, equal only to her thankfulness that he was there.

"I'll leave you to it," Cathy spoke up. "Unless you need me to stay?"

Anne shook her head. "No, I'm fine. Thanks, though."

Cathy nodded, retreating with a smile and an encouraging, "Good luck!"

"Okay, Anne, it's show time," the midwife spoke up from the business end of things.

Scott felt a flare of anticipation and adrenaline, and knew it had to be a fraction of what Anne was feeling. He gripped her hand tight.

"You've got this, honey," he said reassuringly. "And I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

"Better not," Anne grunted.

Scott had never appreciated the grip she had on her until he helped her through those last few minutes of struggle. He was the one who regularly hit the gym, yet he felt in serious danger of having his hand crushed. He vaguely heard the reports and instructions from the midwife, finding his focus resting solely on his incredible wife as she fought to bring their child into the world. It lasted forever and yet no time at all, until finally the med bay was filled with the sound of a new cry. A brand new person, the first of a new generation of Tracys, and by the sounds of it, they were not happy to have been kicked out of their comfy home.

Anne blew loose hair out of her face, and glanced down at the midwife. "Everything okay?"

"Just fine," the midwife said with a smile. She wrapped the new arrival in a towel and put it carefully in Anne's arms. "You have a daughter."

Scott looked down into the tiny, scrunched face, and felt himself lose his heart all over again. Anne was beaming, and she turned to meet his gaze, her eyes shining. He gently kissed her, resting his hand lightly on the back of his daughter's head.

"You're amazing," he told her.

"Me or her?" Anne asked with a little laugh.

"Both of you."

Snuggled up close to Anne's heartbeat, the littlest Tracy began to settle down. Neither one of her parents seemed to be able to take their eyes off her for long.

"Alan will be happy not to be the baby of the family anymore," Anne commented.

He chuckled. "True. How are you doing?"

"I feel like I may never walk properly again, but I'm fine. Just tired."

"Let's get you cleaned up, then you can rest," the midwife said, shooting Anne a smile. "You've earned it."

"Sounds good," Anne said. To Scott, she added, "Do you want to take her?"

Although his heart leapt in sudden fear, he nodded. "Sure."

With the utmost care, they passed the bundle between them, and Scott accepted his daughter's tiny physical weight, and her mind-blowingly huge metaphorical one. He was responsible for another human, and he wasn't sure how the hell someone had let that happen or how he was supposed to manage the task of raising her. And yet he'd never accepted a challenge more willingly or joyfully.

"She's so perfect," he murmured.

It was too early to tell which of them she would take after, although the wisps of dark hair indicated that she'd inherited something of his colouring. Her complexion was still ruddy, and she had yet to open her eyes.

"I know," Anne said, her weary expression lighting up.

The red light on the wall started to flash and softly beep, indicating that an emergency call was coming through upstairs. Anne's face fell, and Scott groaned.

"Not again."

"Can't your brothers handle it this time?" she asked, an edge of caution in her voice. She'd said she understood that the organisation always came first, but that had been when it was just the two of them. Things had unavoidably changed now.

"I hope so." He made no move to go and check. If he was needed, they would let him know. His daughter seemed to sense the sudden tension, wriggling a little in his arms, and he shushed her gently. "Hey, it's okay. It's okay, sunshine."

"Sunshine?" Anne questioned, a smile breaking through her look of awkward discomfort as the midwife tended to her.

"Well we haven't named her yet."

"We should probably do that."

Footsteps clattering down the stairs heralded the arrival of Gordon, who threw the doors open with unnecessary force.

"Scott, we need Thunderbird 1. I'm happy to do it if you trust me to…holy shit!"

Catching sight of the new arrival halfway through his sentence, Gordon halted and broke into a wide grin.

"Is that...?"

Scott rolled his eyes. "No, Gordon, it's a different baby. Get down to the hangar, you can take Thunderbird 1."

"FAB!" Gordon hollered before heading off. "Do we have a niece or a nephew?" he threw back over his shoulder.

"Niece!" Scott called back, covering his daughter's ears.

Gordon gave a whoop. "Excellent work, guys!"

The midwife gave a chuckle as quiet fell once again. "Interesting dynamic you have here."

"Speaking of, when can I go back to the apartment?" Anne asked.

"I want you to stay here overnight so I keep an eye on you, but I expect you'll be back tomorrow," the midwife told her. "Now I need you to move over to this bed so I can change these sheets."

Anne nodded. Scott watched anxiously as the midwife helped her move the few feet to the next bed over. Anne winced the entire time, moving warily, but she didn't seem to struggle. He moved over to her side once she was settled.

"I'll sleep in here too," he told her. "I'm not going back to the apartment on my own when I can keep you two company."

"Good," she said, nodding her agreement. "I'd like you nearby."

"That's good. When you were blaming me for everything, I wasn't sure you'd want me anywhere near you again."

His tone was light and teasing, and she smiled at the words.

"I'm over it," she assured him, and he grinned. "Do you think Gordon will tell everyone?" she mused.

"For sure," he answered at once. "But don't worry. Dad will keep them all out of here until we want visitors."

She nodded, covering a yawn with the back of her hand.

"You should get some sleep, sweetheart."

Anne shook her head, looking at the baby in his arms. "What if she needs feeding?"

The midwife gave a soft chuckle from where she was stuffing soiled sheets into a laundry bag. "Don't worry, she'll let you know. I'll just get rid of these, I'll be right back."

She was gone before Scott could tell her she didn't need to do that.

Anne reached out, lightly stroking the top of their daughter's head. Seemingly quite content, the little one slept on, and Scott decided to enjoy it while it lasted. She would wake them up plenty of times, no doubt.

"The first Tracy girl in four generations," he spoke up softly.

"Did we break the system?" Anne joked.

"Think so. Guess we'll have to wait for the next one to see for sure."

She groaned. "I am not even thinking of doing this again until I've forgotten what it was like."

He laughed at her tone. "Noted, but I didn't necessarily mean us. There are four other Tracy men, remember. One of them can pull their weight. My money's on Virgil."

"Not John? He and Ridley have been together a long time now…"

"I don't know. They'd have to come down to Earth for that. Unless there's a midwife willing to go to them."

Anne gazed off into the middle distance and said thoughtfully, "I wonder if childbirth would be easier in zero gravity."

The first Tracy girl in four generations made a sleepy little sound as she dreamed, neatly reminding them of her presence.

"We should probably give you a name," Anne said, yawning again.

"There's loads of time for that," Scott assured her. "Sleep now. We'll both be here when you wake."

She smiled wearily, reaching out again and finding his hand. "Love you," she mumbled.

He bent to kiss her forehead. "I love you too. You've done amazingly."

"You helped."

Scott smiled, but didn't reply since her eyes had drifted shut. He backed away and settled in a chair, shifting his daughter carefully in his arms. He was tired too, he realised, and all he'd done that day was climb out of a cave and have his hand squeezed.

I'm a dad, he thought to himself, trying the phrase out. It sounded surreal, and pretty fantastic.

"You've been born into a big, crazy family, sunshine," he said in a whisper, gazing down at his sleeping daughter. "They're gonna love you and spoil you rotten. You'll have your grandpa wrapped around your little finger in no time. Your four uncles too. And your aunt. Then there's honorary aunts, at least one honorary uncle, your grandma, your great-grandma…your honorary aunt's chauffer…I'll be honest, there's a lot of names to learn, but I know you'll get there. They'll all always be there for you, like your mom and me. I promise." He ran a fingertip down the soft little cheek. "When you're older I'll teach you to fly like I did your mom. Maybe you'll be an ace pilot like me. Maybe I'll let you fly my ship. Assuming your uncle Gordon doesn't crash it." He smiled at the thought. "Just don't grow up too fast, okay? I'm not gonna be ready for you to be a teenager for at least thirty years."

She slept on, but Scott imagined she'd heard and understood every word, even if only on a subconscious level. In approximately seven minutes, the midwife would return to find all three of them asleep, and she would shake her head and smile. For now, Scott continued to gaze at his daughter, lost in emotions that almost felt too heavy to bear, pondering a potential future where she would take his place as Field Commander. But he knew whatever form the future took, it would be a bright one. How could it not when it had such a promising start?

A/N: Yes, I know I wussed out of actually naming the baby. If I ever return to this family/universe, I'll have to address that, but for now... I'll take suggestions! (I wasn't convinced that Gwen earned the right to have the baby named after her, even though that would have been a very tidy solution.) Also I made the decision not to go into gory childbirth detail, because that would have felt tonally off, so I hope nobody minds this incredibly rose-tinted, clean version! All the usual stuff is happening, I just kept the camera away from it :D

So this is the last chapter for the moment. I'll be marking this story as complete, but feel free to follow/subscribe anyway, because if I ever get one-shot ideas I can just pop back here and post them. I hope everyone enjoyed the journey. It's been fun, and a learning experience. Tracys as parents seems to be a popular topic! I can see why. The thought of all their children carrying on their legacy is pretty satisfying.

Please feel free to find me on Tumblr under the name sweet-christabel. I don't post all that often, but I seem to be posting a lot of Thunderbirds art of late. Other than that, all that's left for me to say is thank you for reading. Stay safe. I hope the Misconceptions universe has been as helpful to you guys during lockdown as it has to me. We'll get through this, even though we don't have International Rescue :)