For the moment, I have a love affair with drabbles, so this little series here was born. The WIPs (yes, plural) will resume in a few days, as I'm finally work-free for two weeks.
Sands Of Time
by Jules
In May, two years to the day since he joined the Albuquerque bureau, Don Eppes accepts the promotion to Special Agent in Charge. He's grown into this new position over the years and his teammates accept him without reservations.
And he continues dating Kim Hall, even if official procedures might suggest otherwise. Because he's discovered over the months that he really loves her and he's done a lot more questionable things when it came to love in the past and never cared about the consequences.
Their relationship feels like it fills a hole deep inside he wasn't aware of before.
~0~0~0~
In July, he and Kim move into a small, rented adobe in the South Valley, two bedrooms, big patio, nice neighborhood. They settle into life together easily, so effortlessly that it sometimes scares him. She endures his need for structure and he admires her defiance of admitting to sleeping with the boss.
Sometimes at night, he thinks about Nikki and Leah and about his life right now and wonders when will be a good time to take the next step.
His mother calls twice, telling their answering machine how proud she is of him. But he never calls her back.
~0~0~0~
Early September brings a week off and he flies back to LA to reconnect with the family. His parents chide him for not bringing Kim and generally smother him with their attention.
His mother looks tired, but insists she's fine and his father takes him out to a game and asks endless questions about his life. His brother though is busy with his math stuff and absent most of his visit.
The big city is a bit overwhelming after years in the desert, but he goes out one day and buys a ring, knowing it will be now or never.
~0~0~0~
Around Thanksgiving, he finally manages to take Kim out to that romantic candlelight dinner he'd planned for so long. They manage to leave work behind and when the time feels right, he produces the little box and gently places it in front of her. She accepts with delight and he feels as if a big weight falls off of him.
The mutual agreement not to tell their families until a date is set is reached and that night, he lies curled around her, breathes in her scent and knows deep down that this will work out. It simply has to.
~0~0~0~
The new year starts with a bang when his father calls him the first week of January with the horrible news that his mother is sick. He doesn't even have to think about it, in a flurry he arranges for personal leave and books a seat on the next flight.
Kim drives him to the airport early the next morning and they don't speak at all during the ride. He knows she understands.
"Keep your chin up," she says after she kisses him good-bye and Don is too eaten up by worry to realize that it almost sounds like farewell.
~0~0~0~
February seems too long and too short at the same time as the reality of his mother's health crashes down on them. His father is devastated and Charlie seems numb with shock, so the decision to stay here feels logic and inevitable to him. The LA office has an opening and he applies for a temporary transfer.
Space and time appear broken and Don wishes for someone to push the pause button and grant him a break. His mother tells him to go out and enjoy life when he sits with her, but she never lets go of his hand.
~0~0~0~
Bright March sunshine breaks in the chalk particles drafting in the air inside the garage as Don tries yet again to break through to his brother. But Charlie is unreachable, immersed in a famous unsolvable math problem Don knows nothing about. But he knows their mother is dying and his little brother is wasting away the last chance of spending time with her he'll ever have. She'll ever have.
He doesn't succeed and he wonders if he'll ever understand the lure of these numbers and equations, if he'll ever be able to grasp the world Charlie is seeking refuge in.
~0~0~0~
In April, Don Eppes buries his mother and adopts a stoic façade, because someone has to and the rest of the family can't. Even Kim's letter with the short note and the ring enclosed arriving a week before his mother's death can't break it.
He requests his temporary reassignment to be made permanent and goes apartment hunting, because he knows he can't stay forever in his childhood bedroom and the grief permeating the air in the house is slowly suffocating him.
Too many nights, he lies awake, wondering when the pain will finally break through his defenses. But it doesn't.
-The End-