October 25, 2052

The signature knock sounded through John's room. He looked to the door and sighed. "Come in."

"Hi, John! Can I hang out with you?" Alan asked as he opened the door and walked into the room, shutting the door behind him.

"Why?"

Alan hopped onto the bed and began playing with a model of the solar system. "Well," he decided to go down the line, "Scott's working on his application for that NASA thingy, Virgil is training with Dad, Gordon is swimming, doing a bunch of '400 Individual Medleys', whatever those are..." Alan trailed off, and John chuckled.

He continued, "Brains is down in the hangers working on some Pod stuff, and Grandma is in the kitchen taking her online cooking class."

John chuckled as he listed what everyone was doing. When he finished, he spoke, "Well, Alan, I'm also working on my application for the NASA program."

"Oh," Alan sighed.

"And don't you have school work?"

"I did it already! Grandma made me..."

John smiled. "Good; it's important."

"Yeah, because whether a ball rolls better on carpet or ice is important..." Alan grumbled.

John knew he could probably explain to his brother why it was, in fact, important, but he decided not to fight that battle right now. Instead, he looked to his youngest brother. "Here, you can stay in here and watch if you want, but you have to be quiet, okay?"

The blond nodded, excited.

"Good," John turned back to his work.

Alan jumped over to where he was. "So, whatcha workin' on?"

John sighed, but smiled at the question. "I'm just touching up my map. Weeding out some bugs, fixing a few programing errors..."

"Oh," Alan said, "sounds boring."

John chuckled. "Well, it kind of is..." as he continued working, "How's Scott's application coming along?"

As it turned out, Jeff had gotten the flyer specifically for Scott, but when he saw John's map, he decided John would have a chance to get into the program as well. So, now, three weeks before the due date, the two eldest Tracy brothers were hard at work on their applications, and were at a fairly good spot in the process as well. They had both done the online interview and two of the three STEM exams. John had finished his essay, which was originally ten pages before his father had suggested for him to cut it down. With some help, the required four-page essay was now six and a half pages long. Scott, however, was still working on his essay. They were both always hard at work on their research projects, except when Jeff insisted to take John out for training, which the second son hated doing. Finally, the two had the next and final STEM test to take, which they planned on taking the next week. Jeff had been right; the application process was very tiring, but John knew it'd be worth every drop of lost sleep if he got in.

"Fine," Alan sighed, "His is interesting too, but he's only doing the moon and stupid gravity calculations."

John chuckled. "That's good, too."

"But you have a map! Of the sky! Stars! Planets!" Alan exclaimed, throwing his hands up for added emphasis.

John chuckled. "Mine's just more engaging. Research on the moon and its relationships with gravity are very important."

Alan scoffed, "Pffftt... Who needs gravity? Without it you can fly."

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December 6, 2052

Alan knocked on John's door.

"Come in," a nervous voice said.

The door flew open and Alan ran into his older brother's room. "Guess what day it is, John!" He cried as he hopped up onto the bed.

John was sitting on the edge of his bed, looking down at his hands, which were fidgeting aimlessly in his lap. "I know what day it is, Alan," he spoke shakily.

"It's December 6th!"

"I know, Alan."

"It's the first Friday in December!"

"I know, Alan."

"You get your results back today!" Alan cried with no tact.

John snapped, turning to his brother, "I know, Alan."

Alan shrunk away from his sharp gaze, frightened by the sudden change.  The sharpness in John's voice had returned.  The same sharpness he had used whenever talking to his brother before this past spring.  Alan had almost forgotten about it... Until now.

John's gaze softened, seeing the fear he had struck into his brother's eyes. He looked back down. "I'm sorry... I'm just... nervous." 

For the past three weeks, since John had submitted his application, he had been going through in his head what his results could be.  His brain kept picking out all the things that he could have done wrong or questions he could have missed, and now he was sure he didn't make it in. 

Another major fear he had was if his and Scott's results differed.  If Scott got in and he didn't, he felt as if he would let his family down, especially his father, who was sure John could get in.  His family could stop talking to him again, forgetting he existed.  He didn't like to admit it to himself, but he was starting to enjoy the positive contact he was having with his family.

On the other hand, if he got in and Scott didn't, John's older brother would hate him.  He would be mad not to.  The program was extremely prestigous and a key part to securing one's future as an astronaut. 

The entire family was sure that Scott would follow in his father's footsteps and become an astronaut.  After all, the pair did work well together, in training and rescues, and they were very similar in all aspects, except for a slight difference in appearance.  Even then, though, they didn't look that much different than each other.  Scott was just a little bit leaner than Jeff, and he had lighter hair, too.

John looked back to Alan, who's head was down and had moved farther away from him on the bed.

Alan felt that his trust in his older brother had been cracked slightly by the snap.  The blond had also never really understood 'nervousness,' which meant John's excuse didn't really mean much to him.  As he slid off the matress, he spoke softly, "Well, Dad wants to see you in the kitchen."

John watched as his youngest brother made his way towards the door.  "Alan, wait," he said, standing up as Alan reached the door.  He walked over to the seven-year-old.  "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you.  C'mon," he took his brother's hand, "let's go down to the kitchen together."

Alan nodded as John took his hand.  Together they walked down the stairs to the kitchen.  When they entered, Scott and their father were already there, waiting for them at the island.  John noticed the mail icon hovering from the projector in front of his father, and he began to feel sick as he sat down at the island. 

Jeff looked to his red-haired son.  "Do you want to open it?"

John shook his head.  "Can -" he tried speaking, but it didn't come out right.  He cleared his throat and tried again.  "Can you open it?"

Jeff nodded, and Alan ran over to his father's side of the island, wanting to see what the email contained.  John lowered his head, expecting the worst.

Jeff opened the email.

John G. Tracy,

We are -

"'Pleased to inform you that you have been accepted...'?  That's so weird.  Why can't they just put in big, bold letters 'You got in!'" Alan asked bluntly as he read the email.

John's eyes widened.  He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"John," Jeff spoke softly, and his son looked up.  He smiled.  "You got in."

At that, he flipped the projection around so John could read it, and he did.  Five times over, in fact.  Each time he read it his smile grew, until he looked up at his father, smiling from ear to ear.

"Congratulations," Jeff said simply, smiling.

At that, John slid off his stool and ran to the other side of the island, engulfing his father in a hug. 

Jeff blinked in surprise, before returning the hug, a meaningful smile alive on his face.  John was hugging him, and in this moment, it meant the world to him.

When John broke the hug, it was Alan's turn.  The blond wrapped his arms around John's torso and said with a smile, "I knew you'd get in."

Those simple words, even from the six-year-old, meant so much.  His younger brother had believed in him, even when he wouldn't.

The pair broke the hug, and John looked to Scott, a questioning look on his face.  "Did you...?"

Scott gave a small smile and shook his head sadly.  John's face fell.

At seeing this, Scott stood up, looking to John.  "No, listen.  I gave my best in that application, and I'm proud of it.  If they think I'm not meant to be in the program," Scott shrugged, "then that's fine.  I trust their judgement more than mine.  Honestly, John, the one who really deserves it here is you, and I am so glad that you get to go and do this.  If they didn't let you in, well, they'd be mad," Scott walked towards his brother, smiling. "You're going to have so much fun, and I couldn't be prouder.  Listen to this: My brother is going to spend a year training with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.  How cool does that sound?"

John's smile returned and he hugged his older brother.  "Thanks, Scott."