Disclaimer: I don't own Numb3rs.
When the smoke cleared after the experiment went wrong, Larry Fleinhardt and Amita Ramanujan were shocked to find the adult Charles Eppes gone, but surprised to see a little boy in his place.
"Who are you?" the little boy asked.
"I'm Lawrence Fleinhardt. Who are you?" Larry asked.
"I'm Charles Edward Eppes," the little boy announced suspiciously.
Larry looked at him in shock. "Are you sure?" he asked.
"I'm pretty sure I know my own name, Mister," Charlie pointed out.
"He's so adorable," Amita cried. Larry gave her a weird look, but Amita paid no attention to the look.
"I'm going to call Don and Alan," Larry proclaimed.
"My brother and daddy?" Charlie asked happily.
"Your brother and daddy," Amita replied.
"What about my mommy?" Charlie asked.
Amita shot a panicked look towards Larry, who was busy talking to Don.
"She's away," Amita lied.
About twenty minutes later, both Don and Alan showed up at CalSci.
"Hi, Daddy," Charlie cried happily.
Alan looked panicked, but he smiled when Charlie launched himself at him.
"How are you doing?" Don asked.
"Who are you?" Charlie asked.
"It's Don," he said.
"You're old," Charlie said.
"Charlie," Alan warned, slipping back into the mode of parenting an eight year old.
Don just laughed. "What happened exactly?" he asked Amita.
"We were just experimenting and something went wrong," Amita said.
"Can you fix it?" Alan asked as Charlie babbled on happily about "Mr. Larry" and "Miss Amita".
"We can try, but it might take awhile," Larry explained.
"We don't know exactly what happened," explained Amita.
"Can we go home?" Charlie asked Alan.
"Of course," Alan said, putting his son down.
Charlie immediately latched onto Don.
"What are you doing?" Don asked.
"I'm scared and you're really old," Charlie pointed out. Don laughed and picked him up.
"Can I go see the koi?" Charlie asked when Don pulled up to the Craftsman.
"I'll go with him," Don told his father.
"Be careful," Alan warned the nine year old.
"I like koi a lot," Charlie informed Don about ten minutes later.
"I know you do," Don said.
"Miss Amita said Mommy's away. Where'd she go?" Charlie asked.
Don winced at the question. Charlie was a very inquisitive little boy, but Don really didn't want to tell him that their mother was dead. It would traumatize the eight year old. "She's away in another state," Don lied.
"What state?"
Don sighed. "She's in Hawaii," he said.
"Why aren't we in Hawaii with Mommy?"
"It was a business trip," Don lied.
"Oh. That's good. Mommy likes to work."
"Yeah, she does," Don replied.
"What are we having for dinner?"
"Do you always ask many questions?" Don asked.
"Questions get answers," Charlie replied.
"That does make sense," Don conceded.
"So, what are we having for dinner?" Charlie asked impatiently.
"I don't know yet, Buddy."
"Come on in," Alan called.
"Let's go," Don told Charlie, who grabbed his brother's hand. Don looked down in shock, but said nothing.
David, Colby, and Liz were standing in the living room.
"Larry called and told us what happened," Colby explained.
"Who are you?" Charlie asked.
"Manners," Don and Alan warned at the same time.
"I'm Colby Granger. Who are you?"
"Charles Edward Eppes," he said.
"I'm David Sinclair. I work with your brother," David told Charlie.
"I'm Liz Warner," Liz said, introducing herself.
"What do you do?" Charlie asked Don.
"I work for the FBI," Don informed him, smiling when his little brother's eyes got wide.
"But you like baseball," Charlie insisted.
"Baseball didn't work out for me, Buddy."
"I'm sorry," Charlie said sadly.
"It's okay, Buddy. I'm happy where I am."
"We're having hot dogs and macaroni and cheese for dinner," Alan informed Charlie, having remembered his son's favorite meal as a little boy.
"Yay," Charlie cheered happily.
"Would you like to stay for dinner?" Alan asked the three people in his living room.
All three nodded.
"Don, invite Robin, Larry, and Amita."
"I will," Don said.
"Who's Robin?" a curious Charlie asked David.
"Your brother's girlfriend," David explained.
"Don has a girlfriend," Charlie chanted over and over again until Alan warned him to stop.
After dinner, Larry and Amita sat down in the living room to talk with Alan and Don, explaining how long it might take to get Charlie back to normal.
Don and Alan were a little worried, but they knew they could handle raising little Charlie for ten months. Alan had already done it before, and Don had helped.
The next ten months would be… interesting.
TBC
I came up with this idea awhile ago. I just love the idea of Don and Alan taking care of a little Charlie. Please review so I know if I'm doing well or not.