Here's the next chapter of the Holt family's shenanigans!

THE PIDGE PERSPECTIVE

Chapter 1

Part 3

It didn't take much convincing to get Matt to head towards the dining room for supper, but my dad was an entirely different story. Even though the house was filled with the scent of all of his and Matt's favourite foods, Dad was nowhere in sight. He wasn't in the living room, his office, or his bedroom.

I stood on the upstairs landing scratching my head while I tried to figure out where he could be. It wasn't like him to miss a meal. 'Unless he's caught up in a project, but what would he be working on the night before a mission to space?' My train of thought led me to one conclusion. 'I've got to go check the workshop!'

With a quick jump onto the wooden banister, I slid down the stairs and jumped off before I crash landed on the main floor. I used the momentum to race down the hallway in the opposite direction of the dining room. Once I made it to the back door of our home I threw on a pair of shoes and headed out the door to the garage in our backyard that housed my dad's workshop.

I was relieved to see that the lights inside were on, meaning my dad had to be in there, but I was still confused as to what he was up to. Why risk incurring Mom's wrath by being late to our last family dinner before he headed off to space? Or did he think she would be more lenient because she wouldn't be seeing him for a while?

With a shrug, I walked across the backyard and went to open the workshop door, but what I saw through the window caused me to pause. Dad wasn't at his workbench, he was over near the area that Matt and I use whenever we want to tinker with something, but not get in the way of his work.

The old door creaked like clockwork, even though I had tried to open it slowly to avoid startling my dad. He merely glanced over his shoulder at the noise, a small smile on his face when he saw it was me. "If you're here Katie, that must mean I'm about to be late for dinner?"

"What, I can't just walk into the workshop at suppertime?" I joked.

"Well sure, but you normally dress a little differently when you're here to work and not fetch me for your mother."

I glanced down at the purple dress I was still wearing from our 'impromptu' family photoshoot at the Garrison Launchpad earlier that afternoon. "I suppose not," I replied with a noncommittal shrug. "But what about you, Dad? Do you normally come out here in your uniform?"

My father chuckled. "No, I suppose I don't." He motioned for me to join him with a wave of his hand. I stepped away from the door and maneuvered my way around the large worktable in the centre of the garage to join him. My eyebrows knit together in confusion as I realized what Dad had been looking at.

"How come you're over here looking at the project Matt and I have been working on? I figured you'd be out here fiddling with one of your own devices." I asked.

Dad glanced up at me from where he was seated on a stool and gave his own shrug. "Is a father not allowed to bask in the genius of his children from time to time?"

I let out a snort. "We both know this piece of machinery still has a ways to go before it becomes the crowning achievement of our combined genius."

Dad let out a small laugh of his own. "Perhaps, but there's something to be said about patience and persistence when it comes to solving a problem."

"I think we both know I'm good at being persistent, but not patient. This thing has so many bugs to work out. And, I mean, Matt and I haven't even finished all of the wiring yet, but he's also pretty lousy at soldering but still insists on not letting me do it. And then there's the prototype we worked on last summer that almost set the workshop on fire, and-"

"Katie." I looked down at my dad after he cut off my rambling list of problems. He gave me a gentle smile as he looked me in the eye and said, "If you get too worried about what could go wrong, you might miss a chance to do something great."

We looked at each other a moment longer before I broke eye contact and looked down at the half-finished project with a nod. "Right, sorry. There's just still so much to work out, and it feels like it's going to take even longer to finish without you and Matt here to help me."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dad's smile soften. He stood up and pulled me into a quick, tight hug before turning me around to face the door. "I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out just fine without us Katie, you'll see. Right now, though, we should really get to dinner before your mom has to come out and get us, no one would enjoy that."

"Ah, so you do fear Mom's wrath." I murmured to myself.

"What was that, Katie?"

"Oh, nothing!" I shot a grin over my shoulder at Dad before I made my way toward the workshop door, Dad following behind me.

I paused outside as Dad locked the workshop, and I took a moment to look towards the slowly darkening sky in the east. The sun had yet to set fully, so we would have nice, natural light in our west-facing dining room for supper, but a few of the brighter stars and planets were already visible in the sky. I began searching for where Pluto would be, but was interrupted by my dad placing his hand on my shoulder.

"There will be plenty of time to look at the stars later once it's dark, Katie. Let's head inside and enjoy your mom's great meatloaf."

"Ah yes, the meatloaf. Gunther has been waiting patiently for it all afternoon, you know. Who are we to deny his chance to beg for his favourite dish?" My dad chuckled and gave my shoulder an affectionate squeeze before moved past me and headed for the house.

"Well then, we better not keep Gunther waiting for much longer."

We quickly walked through the back door and made our way into the dining room to join Mom, Matt, and Gunther for supper. I sat down in my chair across from Matt and we both exchanged an amused look as Dad eyed all of the food laid out on the table.

"Well, would you look at what we have here? There's meatloaf, salad, mashed potatoes, cheese, and bread. My, oh my dear, you really out did yourself tonight." My dad praised as he took his seat at the head of the table and his eyes roved over all of his favourite food.

Mom chuckled at his words and stated, "I just hope it's all still warm enough for you."

"I'm sure it's fine, but let's not wait any longer." Dad quickly picked up the dish closest to him and began spooning food onto his plate. We all followed suit and passed the food around the table, Gunther whining every time a dish passed over his head.

Once everyone was served we began to eat, Dad commented, "Hope you enjoy this home-cooked meal, Matt. After our launch to Kerberos tomorrow we'll be eating freeze-dried peas for the next two months!"

Matt cocked his head towards our father and replied, "Don't lie. I know you love those peas, Dad."

"It's true." Dad admitted as he used his fork to spear more food. "Those Garrison chefs really know how to genetically manufacture a delicious vegetable." He looked at me with a grin on his face and his fork lifted in the air.

I smiled at first, but then my face fell. It was always hard to hear Dad and Matt talk about going off into space and leaving the rest of us behind here on Earth, but I suddenly felt a whole lot lonelier knowing that they were leaving tomorrow. I crossed my arms on the table in front of me. I was vaguely aware of Gunther to the right of me, ready to jump at any scraps I might send his way, but food was the least of my worries right now.

I let out a sigh and admitted, "I wish I was going up with you guys."

Dad continued to grin at me as he assured, "Just you wait, kiddo. Something tells me that you're going to have your own crew someday, and you're going to fly with them to worlds so far away we can't even imagine."

I sat up a little straighter in my chair at the thought and listened to my dad conclude, "I bet my bottom dollar you're going to be a part of something that makes the whole universe sit up, and take notice."

I returned my dad's grin and was thankful once more for how he always seemed to have the right thing ready to cheer me up or inspire me. 'I'm definitely going to follow after them one day. There's no way anyone can keep me from outer space!'

"Before you go out and fulfill your epic space destiny though, you might want to eat your vegetables and drink your milk – even Iwas a little on the short side as a first-year cadet when it came to the Galaxy Garrison's minimum height standards."

I frowned and turned to my brother with a glare. 'If Dad is the one who always knows how to inspire me, Matt is the one that feels the overwhelming need to ground me in reality.'

"I'm sure I'll be tall enough when I enroll next year, thank you very much." I retorted.

"I'm just saying that big brain of yours won't get you far if you can't make it through all the basic physical training the Garrison's space exploration program requires." Matt explained before teasing, "You should stop feeding Gunther all your salad."

"It's not my fault he likes salad and green vegetables more than I do."

"Aren't dogs supposed to be colour blind?" Matt raised an eyebrow, seemingly sure of his victory.

"So?" I pointed my fork at Matt. "He can taste if it's green. I mean, he loves broccoli even though it's like putting a little bush in your mouth!" I shuddered at the thought.

Matt snorted. "Think what you may, but I meant what I said about feeding him all of your salad, tonight especially."

"But, I haven't even given him any-" That's when I heard it – the distinct sound of the dog munching and crunching right beneath my noise. "Gah!" I exclaimed as Gunther continued to eat the salad off my plate, sneaking his mouth ever closer to his prized slice of meatloaf.

"Gunther!" My mom scolded.

I snatched my plate away from Gunther and stood with it over my head, unsure whether to direct my glare at the dog or at my older brother cackling away from across the table.

As if sensing I was about to explode at Matt, Gunther, or both, my dad reached across the table to give my dress a slight tug to grab my attention. I glanced at him as he instructed, "Katie, why don't you take your plate to the kitchen and get a new one? There's plenty of leftover food." Turning to Matt, he added, "Since you didn't see the need to intervene sooner, how about you take care of putting Gunther outside?"

Matt glanced between me and Dad before standing up with a dramatic sigh of defeat. "Fine, I'll try to tear the beast away from his beloved meatloaf. But, it was still totally worth it." He shot one last mischievous grin my way before walking around the table to try to physically drag Gunther out of the dining room.

Of course Gunther resisted to the point where Matt could only move him inch by inch as he dug his claws into the plush carpet. With a roll of my eyes at the struggle playing out before me, I walked past Matt and teased, "I can totally see how all that tough, physical exercise has paid off, do they call you Matt the Muscleman?" At Matt's non-committal grunt I antagonized him a little further, "Or maybe they should still call you Matchstick Matt?"

Matt snapped to attention and jabbed a finger in my direction and exclaimed, "That was one time, on my first day! No one has called me that since!"

"Sure, sure." I responded and waved my hand dismissively.

Matt glowered and returned to his task with new fervor, but Gunther seemed to have caught a second wind as well. I glanced behind Matt to see Dad was back to eating his meal contentedly, although there was a slight smirk present on his lips as he chewed the spoonful of potatoes in his mouth. On the other hand, Mom was shaking her head and called out to us, "Just use the meatloaf on Katie's slobber-contaminated plate to lure him outside, already! We all know he won't leave willingly until he gets some."

Gunther's eyes immediately locked onto my plate before he looked up expectantly at me, and then at Matt.

I let out a laugh as I picked up the slice of meatloaf from my plate and tossed it in the general direction of Matt and the dog. Matt let out a yelp and stumbled back as Gunther lunged forwards to catch his meatloaf-prey in midair. He swallowed it whole and then happily trotted towards the back door with a dazed Matt in tow.

"You know what, mom?" I asked once my laughter was under control. "Maybe Gunther is smarter than I gave him credit for."

I hope you all enjoyed the new chapter! Also, for those of you wanting to have Shiro in the picture again, do not fret! He'll return within the next chapter or two!

Until next time,

~Crimson Fox4