Copyright:2008

One day, CJ and Jules Stantz were looking at family photos in the living room. They had nothing else to do on a cold, spring Friday afternoon, while waiting for their parents to arrive home.

As the kids were looking through them, Jules picked up one photo and showed it to CJ.

“Hey, look at this photo,” Jules observed. “Isn’t this when Daddy fought the puma during the Morrisville parade? That caused a lot of trouble for everyone!”

“Yes, that’s the one,” agreed CJ. Both kids loved hearing about the busts their father and his friends had been doing.

“Hey Jules, look at this photo,” CJ said, shaking off some of his red hair out of his eyes. He was holding up a picture. It was an old pic of Ray’s parents, David and Carolyn Stantz, who were in the picture with their three kids, Carl, Ray and Jean, in 1967, a few years before the two were killed in a car accident.

“That’s Daddy's parents and there’s his brother and sister,” Jules replied, “Do you think we should ask him about this?”

CJ nodded his head, “I think we should. We want to know about his side of the family.”

Just then the front door opened. Ray and Elaine walked in.

“Hi, kids. We’re home,” Ray called.

Jules and CJ greeted their parents.

“How was your day?” Elaine asked.

“It went okay. We’re just glad that we’re out for spring break. Plus we already did our homework,” Jules said smiling.

"Really? What have you two been up to since?" Ray asked.

"We were looking at family pictures from the photo albums and we came across this old photo of you and family," CJ explained, handing Ray the picture.

"I remember this," Ray said recalling the memory of his parents and siblings when he was younger. He felt some tears well up in his eyes.

"We wanted to show you. Perhaps you can tell us what were they like," Jules answered. "Did you ever meet Daddy's parents, Mom?"

"Yes, I talked to them a couple of times and I thought they were very nice people," Elaine replied to her daughter.

"We want to hear what they were like," CJ said. "Can you tell us, please."

"Ok, sure. I'll tell you after dinner," Ray said, wiping his eyes.

A little while later, after dinner was eaten, the family sat down on the couch together and Ray began telling the story about his parents.

“Well, this picture was taken in 1967, right before Carl got sent to military school for generally bad behavior. Mom wanted us to have a picture together so we can remember this always. Mom was of Scottish descent, and a lot of people said that I looked a lot like her. She was a pretty woman. She came here to New York when she was a child and didn’t meet Dad till they were like in their twenties."

“She was the nicest person that anyone would ever meet and she enjoyed being a housewife, despite having to put up with our antics, from Carl mostly. She also encouraged me in comic book reading instead of getting into trouble in the neighborhood,” Ray explained while he was showing the kids and Elaine his picture. “My mother and I had a very close bond together, and she comforted me when I was feeling down. She also made the best sugar cookies and everyone kept wanting some of those.”

CJ asked, “What color was Grandma’s hair?”

“Her hair color was a red-orange color and that’s what Jean and I inherited from her. And the brown eyes were from Dad,” Ray told his son.

“Wow!” Jules replied, “She seemed like she was very nice. What was Grandpa Stantz like?”

“Dad was also a very nice man, but he could be firm when needed, and that’s what happened with Carl a lot whenever he got into trouble, or when he argued with him,” Ray showed the family the picture with David and he had a mustache just like Ray's. He had brown hair and brown eyes, which all the kids had inherited from him.

“He was one of the best medical doctors in town,” he explained. “He would also cheer the patients up when they were getting shots or just regular check ups. I admired and loved my dad. I remember he took me to Toad Island when I was nine years old, and it was a great place. I got lost and a mermaid kept me entertained with stories until he found me,” Ray smiled at the memory.

“What happaned to Toad Island?” Elaine asked, “It sounded like a nice amusement park.”

"It closed down a few years ago because of loss of money,” Ray explained.

_________________
I'll get you next time, Gadget! Next Time!- Dr. Claw, Inspector Gadget ending credits

We never would've lost if you koopaling clowns had tried to wake me up! Whose idea was this midnight attack?!- King Koopa, True Colors

"Oh I see," Elaine replied. "Why did your parents send Carl to military school?"

"Well, because he generally caused trouble. The last straw was when he and his friends ran over Mrs. Winkleman's garden," Ray explained. "She wasn't happy with him and she told my parents what had happened. They were real upset with him. She told them to have him repair her garden or send him to military school."

"What did they do at the end?" Elaine asked.

"Mom and Dad thought about what they should do with Carl for a long time, since he was getting too wild and defiant. Then Dad suggested putting him into military school. At first Mom objected, but Dad assured her that he would settle down and behave. So in the end, Carl was shipped into military school."

Wow," CJ and Jules said together. "How long did Uncle Carl stay in military school?" asked Jules.

"He stayed until he graduated and then he went overseas for a couple of years," Ray explained. "He then came back to the States, settled down, got married, and had two sons."

"When's the last time you talked to Carl?" Elaine asked her husband.

"I talked to him a while back," he replied. "He's been doing alright with being overseas and all. He's thinkin' about coming up here to visit. He wants to see CJ and Jules."

"Oh, it's good that you hear from him once in a while," Elaine said.

While the family was sitting in the living room looking at the picture, the cats came in. Fluffy jumped into Jules' lap, Princess into Elaine's lap, Lucky onto CJ's and PW onto Ray's. They nuzzled them and relaxed in their laps.

"Hey Fluffy," Jules greeted the red tabby Persian who was laying on her.

"Hi Princess," Elaine smiled at the tortoiseshell cat that was purring on her lap.

Ray continued with his story. Next he pointed to the little girl in the photo.

"This is my sister, Jean," He explained showing everyone a pic of her. She was born in 1963, the only girl."

"She was the youngest and the quietest of the family," Ray explained.
"She looked up to me when Carl was bothering her."

_________________
I'll get you next time, Gadget! Next Time!- Dr. Claw, Inspector Gadget ending credits



We never would've lost if you koopaling clowns had tried to wake me up! Whose idea was this midnight attack?!- King Koopa, True Colors

"Jean looks a little bit like you, Ray," Elaine smiled as she looked at the picture.

"Yeah, she does," he agreed. "But she looks more like Dad, with features from his side of the family."

"What she was like?" asked CJ.

"She was pretty much a quiet, shy girl and spent a lot of time with Mom," Ray explained, "However she also loved Dad as well. Jean enjoyed spending time with me mostly, since Carl didn't allow her to join him and his friends. It's not that he didn't care for Jean, he just didn't want to be seen with a little kid. She thought I was her favorite big brother," he smiled at the memory.

"Jean was seven when our parents died, and she was sent to a foster home further down in Morrisville," Ray said. "I didn't see her again until she was in her teens, and then a couple of years after she got divorced and had had a child."

"Jean must've been traumatized after the accident and having to learn how to survive without your parents," Elaine replied.

"She was. The last time I talked to her she was doing okay, and Jenny was in school and everything. She sent me a picture of Jenny," Ray said as he took out another picture from a photo album that showed Jean's daughter Jenny. PW growled a bit and scratched Ray as he moved. "Ow! Damn it, PW!" he reprimanded the cat.

"This is Jenny," he said as he showed the family a picture of a young girl with reddish-brown hair and eyes that appeared to be blue.

"Her daughter looks adorable. I'd really like to see her one day," Elaine smiled at the picture.

"Yeah, we want to see her, too," Jules added.

Ray smiled, "I promise that you all will one day."

"What place did you take this picture at?" CJ asked.

"We took this picture at the Galleria Mall down in Morrisville. They had a picture studio called Michael's so that's where we took it at," Ray recalled the memory.

"It must've been a nice studio. Whatever happened to it?" said Jules as she continued to look at the picture.

"It's still there, it's ran by Mr. Michael's son," Ray replied as he ruffled his children's heads.

"Thanks for telling us about our side of the family, Dad," CJ said gratefully.

"You're very welcome. I'm glad that you and Jules found this old picture," Ray told the kids.

"Anytime, Daddy," Jules replied.

Elaine placed her arms around Ray. "What are you going to do with the picture, honey?"

"I'm going to put it in a frame and put it in the living room so I won't ever forget them," he smiled and then gently placed the picture in a frame and placed it on the living room table.

"It looks nice. That way you will always remember your family," Elaine said giving Ray a kiss on his cheek.

"I agree with that, sweetheart," Ray grinned, "I agree."

The End

_________________
I'll get you next time, Gadget! Next Time!- Dr. Claw, Inspector Gadget ending credits



We never would've lost if you koopaling clowns had tried to wake me up! Whose idea was this midnight attack?!- King Koopa, True Colors

Not bad at all. Mentions a couple of things like Ray meeting the mermaid (from Now's RGB#19).

GBOT continuity is different in a couple of places, of course. Toad Island is still running at least as late as September 2004 (per Where In The World Is Chelsea Aberdeen?) while Ray's relationship with his siblings is still acrimonious and distant. As far as we know at this point, he has't seen or heard directly from either one since December 1980. (At the very least, he hadn't as of December 1990)

But Farah's got her own ideas, and that's quite all right.

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Thanks, Fritz. I'm glad that you liked my story. In my timeline I do believe that Ray would still have some contact with his siblings at least hear from them once in a while.

I may try to write a fic when all the Stantz siblings get together. I'm going to try.

Oh and one fact is CJ Carlton James is named after Carl and david. I made James as David's middle name so that's Cj's too. And the Raelynn in Jules middle name is after Ray and the Lynn part from Carolynn.

_________________
I'll get you next time, Gadget! Next Time!- Dr. Claw, Inspector Gadget ending credits



We never would've lost if you koopaling clowns had tried to wake me up! Whose idea was this midnight attack?!- King Koopa, True Colors