author' s note: After some thinking, I've decided to use Sammac's technique and switch between the different characters' point of views, but with a small difference, I'll put a row of nines anytime there is a switch.

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"You know, I was thinking...maybe it's time you met the boys..." I suggested to my girlfriend, Natalie. We were having breakfast at her place. I had made cheese omelets. After three months of dating, I wanted her to meet Don and Charlie.

"Really?" She gulped her coffee and looked uneasy. At forty two, she wasn't that much older than Don. "It's only fair; you've already gotten to know my 'kids' "She referred to Rocko and Layla, her dog and cat.

"Could you have dinner at my house sometime next week?" I got up from the wooden table and served myself some more coffee. I hadn't realized how lonely my weekend mornings were until I had starting getting more involved with Nat. It was wonderful to be able to share them with someone.

"Sure! Did you warn your sons...about the age thing?" She asked me. "So by the time I meet them, they'll be over the shock"

"I told them that you were younger. Don't worry! They're very supportive of my dating" I assured her. Though they would be a little shocked at the age difference, I was certain that once they got to know her, they'd get over it.

"That's great!"

"Besides I'm not rich enough for them to be worried about gold diggers!" I joked, and ate more of my omelet.

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After breakfast, we watched TV .

"What do you wanna do after this?" he asked.

"I dunno" I shrugged.

"We could watch a movie?"

"Sure..." I was game for anything, pretty much. It was great just to have the day off.

"Why don't we rent that penguin movie?" he suggested. "And watch it here?"

"Sounds like a plan!" I smiled. I had wanted to see that film, but had been too busy when it was in the theatres.

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"Where's dad?" I asked Charlie when I came into the house and took off my jacket. Since it was Saturday, I had decided to drop by the house.

"With Natalie..." he munched on cereal in the dining room.

"The vet?"

"Yeah.."

"Still?" I was surprised. He had been dating for a while, but hadn't settled with anyone yet.

"He spent the night, again." Charlie told me. "But he promised that he'd make steaks for dinner."

"Sounds worth staying for" I nodded.

Dad did return, but in the late afternoon. There was a bounce in his step and a grin on his face.

"I take it things are going well?" I teased when he hung his coat.

"Yes! So well, that I'm inviting her here for dinner next week. I want the both of you to be here, to meet her." he told us.

"Sure dad."

"Is Tuesday okay?" he asked us in an expectant tone.

Charlie and I both nodded.

"Good!"

We looked at each other. Dad hadn't introduced any woman to us, since the duck lady. Maybe things were not as casual as we thought.

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Finally, the day came. I didn't have any last minute emergencies at the clinic, so I was able to leave on time. Alan's house was in a nice, suburban neighborhood. Actually, it now belonged to one of his sons, who had brought it from Alan, when he tried to sell it. Thankfully, I found parking. Alan kept nagging me to get a new car, because he felt that mine was too old, pointing out that his eldest, on an FBI salary, had managed to buy himself an SUV, which I saw when I got out of the car.

Gingerly, I rang the doorbell, and hoped that I had dressed to impress. Alan opened the door. He wore slacks and a red shirt. Kissing me, he said "Welcome!" Then he led me to the living room, as I held his hand. Standing in it, were his two sons. One of them had curly hair to his shoulders, while the other had short, straight hair. Both smiled at me. I didn't know how sincere those smiles were, as I only knew how to read animals. Both looked like Alan somewhat. The curly haired brother had his nose, while the other one had his eyes. I kinda had a feeling that he was the FBI agent. I had trouble picturing the curly haired one, with his skinny physique, capturing criminals.

"Natalie, this is Don!" he pointed to the straight haired son, who shook my hand. "And this is Charlie" the other brother shook my hand as well.

"It's a pleasure!" Charlie said

"Nice to meet you!" Don told me.

"We don't you all sit, while I check on dinner?" Alan suggested.

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I was not prepared for how much younger than dad she was. When he had mentioned the age thing, I thought that maybe she was ten, fifteen years tops, younger, but it looked to be more than twenty. Thankfully, Charlie controlled himself, and managed to act polite.

Carefully, she sat on one of the couches, and turned to me.

"So...Alan tells me that you're in the FBI?"

"Yeah I am."

"Sounds like exciting work. One of my regulars is retired from the FBI. He used to work the Atlanta office." she said. I could tell that she was nervous.

"Really?"

"He's got a couple of greyhounds."

"Oh..you're a vet!" Charlie remembered suddenly, as I inwardly sighed. Get with the program, man!

"Yeah. I own a private practice with two other vets" she told us. "We mostly deal with household animals ya..know cats...dogs...the occasional bird or reptile..."

"It must be tricky, diagnosing someone who can't talk." I commented to make conversation.

"It's a matter of being in tune with the animal." she began. "And paying attention to body language, the eyes, and sounds. Basically, vets have to be animal profilers."

"That's a good way of putting it." I told her.

"It's just a matter of being observant" she added. "I admit, it's a little trickier with reptiles, at least with me, but I'm more of a fur and feathers girl myself."

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"But enough about me..." In my nervousness, I had babbled about my work, again. "Anyway, Alan tells me that you guys work together because Charlie is a consultant?"

"Math consultant" he corrected me.

"I see..." I knew to be careful about what I said about math. People who lived and breathed it tended to be sensitive about others saying that they found it useless. I only knew this from offending patients' caregivers over the years. "So you help solve crimes using math?"

"Yeah I do" he told me.

"Sounds interesting!" I said. The last time I met a boyfriend's kids, they mostly talked about video games, their favorite TV shows, and school.

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Don looked at me. He knew that normally I would be explaining about how I use math to solve crimes, with specifics, but I just didn't feel like talking. She's too young for dad! What was he thinking?

"Would you like something to drink?" Dad came into the living room to ask us, and then turned to Natalie. "I've got some Merlot."

"Sure."

"I'll get it." Don offered, and got up. Soon, he came back with the bottle and four glasses.

"Speaking of wine, did any of you see Sideways?" Natalie asked, as my big brother poured wine for all of us.

"Nope" Don shook his head.

"My friend Larry saw it." I told her, as dad shook his head. Soon, he was back in the kitchen

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I hoped that Charlie wouldn't ask for more wine. I knew his problem. It was one thing to be all cool and supportive when dad was casually dating, but now that he had brought someone to the house, that was a totally different story. I was prepared for this day, but I was picturing someone Dad's age, which had her own grown children. Maybe she'd have a son or two who liked sports.

Soon, but not soon enough, dinner was ready. Natalie, I noticed, drank two glasses before dad made the announcement that dinner was ready. Charlie did too.

"Smells great Dad!" I told him, as I sat in my seat. He had made beef stew.

"This is delicious, babe!" Natalie commented, as she took a bite. "The meat just melts in my mouth like butter!"

"Glad you like it" Dad said.

"It's actually my mom's recipe" Charlie said out of the blue. "Though she would put more bay leaves"

Suddenly, Natalie's cell rang. Dad sighed, as she went to the living room to answer it.

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"My cat vomited!" Ronnie, the daughter of a friend of mine said in a panic.

"Does the vomit look like undigested food?" I asked her. Sometimes, cats threw up their food without digesting it.

"Yeah!"

"How much did you feed her?" I got into doctor mode.

"I went to San Diego today, so I just left her five pouches of wet food." she said.

"Five pouches a day is too much for a cat her age. That's why she threw up" I said. "She should be fine. Just don't feed her too much."

"Thanks! " With that, she hung up, and I returned to the table.

"I'm so sorry, honey!" I apologized to Alan, then explained.. "The daughter of a friend of mine left too much food out for her cat, which of course ate it all and threw up. . I had to reassure her that it was nothing serious."

"Is it her first cat?" Alan asked.

"Yeah. It is.

"Reminds me of when Don was a baby. Every little thing that he went through got me into a panic." Alan chuckled at the memory.

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"I'm sure." I said neutrally, not liking the talk about cat vomit. Dad had given me a warning look when Natalie had left for the living room.

"I'm looking forward to helping you two through that" Dad told us, again hinting about wanting grandchildren.

" Is there a chance you'd want Dad to help you through that in the future? "I asked Natalie without thinking. She did a spit take.

"Charlie!" Dad said sharply. Both of them knew what I meant.

"Sorry!" I said truthfully and with some embarrassment. I hadn't meant to express my concerns about the age thing aloud to her and dad.

"Charlie doesn't drink that much, and when he does, it affects him more" Don explained to Natalie.

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Alcohol my ass! Charlie drank like two glasses of wine! Come on! Alan gave me an apologetic look, and then scrawled at Charlie.

"He didn't mean anything by it" Don added "Right Charlie?"

"Yeah.. I didn't!. Again, I'm sorry"

"Don't worry about it." I said for Alan's sake. I was still annoyed that Charlie made a big deal about the age thing by mentioning that I was young enough, in theory, to have children. I wasn't really interested in having kids, and Alan already, for better or worse, had his boys.

After a bit, Alan said. "I'm going to get desert, why don't you help me, Charlie?"

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"Sure Dad" I reluctantly got up, knowing full well what was to follow. As soon as we were in the kitchen, the tirade started.

"What the hell was that all about? Is that the way your mother and I raised you to treat guests? So what about the age difference? It doesn't concern you! ..."

"I already said I was sorry!" I told him before he could continue.

"I expect you to treat Natalie with respect and courtesy, is that clear?" Dad made me feel like a teenager again, and not in a good way.

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"Yes Dad..." Charlie said.

"Get out the cake so I can cut it." I requested. I was still angry with him. Charlie's little incident had angered Natalie. Soon, I started to cut and serve. It was a chocolate mousse cake, her favorite.

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"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" I asked as we waited for Dad and Charlie. Something told me that the poor guy was probably getting a lecture from dad.

"I've got an older brother, and an older sister" Natalie told me. "They've got six children and a couple of grandkids between them." Before we knew it, Dad and Charlie came through the door with plates of cake slices in their hands.

"It's your favorite!" Dad told Natalie, while serving her cake.

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Soon, I walked Natalie to her car, which I felt was a piece of junk. I apologized for what Charlie had said.

"Are you coming over?" she asked.

"I've got an early meeting" I told her. The house was closer to where I had my consulting business. "Why don't you drop by the office, maybe we could have lunch?"

"Sure" We kissed, and then she went into her car.

"Drive safe" I told her as she turned the ignition. "Call me when you get home"

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"How did it go?" Vera, a friend of mine, who was a vet assistant in the clinic asked when I came in.

"One of his sons made a big deal about the age thing."

"How?"

"He made a stupid comment " I sighed with annoyance at the memory.

"That stinks!"

"Alan defended me of course, and the guy apologized. His big brother used the lame excuse of drinking too much, which was so not true!" I looked over some case files.

Soon, we both had to work, and the topic had to be shelved.

Lunch came, and I went to Alan's office.

"Hey Natalie!" Stan, Alan's business partner, greeted me. "How are you?"

"Good...and busy. Is Alan here?"

"He went to pick up lunch for you two." Stan, said. "I'm just about to go grab a bite with my son, Alex."

"See ya around!" I told him. He was always pretty nice to me.

He then left, and a few minutes later, Alan came in with two large bags of food.

"I got us Chinese" he told me, and we kissed.

"Sounds great!"

"How's business?" I asked as we both sat at his desk.

"I got a new client today, and a crank call" Alan answered as he served himself.

"Crank call?" I was curious.

"Some dumbass with nothing better to do called and said that he wanted to build a large torture chamber to cater to the BDSM crowd." Alan sighed. He hated to have his time wasted on the job.

I laughed, and then shared. "When I was in my residency, I worked shifts in the emergency room, and I got to this guy, who I noticed didn't have a pet with him. At first, I thought it was maybe some bigger animal like a horse, so I asked him, 'Where is your pet?' Know what he tells me? That he in reality is a centaur, and he thought he had cancer. Figuring that he was a 51/50, I gently said that I didn't have the training required to treat centaurs, and that he'd be better off going to a centaur specialist. He said that he couldn't find one, and that since centaurs had bodies like horses, I should do just fine. Before I could call security , he said 'ha ha!' and just walked away."

Alan laughed so hard that he choked on his coke, causing him to cough.

"You okay?" I asked with worry as I got up. By the time I got to him, the coughing had stopped.

"I'm fine..." he said. "Let's eat! How's work?"

"Good, I don't have many appointments, and there haven't been any emergencies." I replied, grateful for a light day after last night's disaster.

"That's good to hear." he smiled, then added. "I was thinking we could go out to eat after work."

"Sounds good to me"

"How about that Thai place you like?" he suggested. "Then we can just hang out at your place"

"It's a date!" I beamed, then reminded him. "You've got a couple of your suits there"

All too soon, it was time for me to go. We said our goodbyes, and I went back to work.

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"How did dinner go, Charles?" Larry asked me, as we had lunch in one of CalSci's cafeterias. I poked at the so called lasagna.

"It could have been better" I shrugged. "Dad's new girlfriend is too young for him."

"Really? Your father never struck me as the kind of man to get involved with a much younger woman" Larry sounded puzzled. He and my dad got along pretty well.

"yeah well...that's what's happening" I sighed.

"It must have been a big step for all of you, having her come to the house." Larry said gently.

"I'm fine with my dad dating! But it should be with someone his age!" I insisted, knowing what he was implying.

" Casually dating and having a relationship are two different things" He told me.

I gave him an exasperated look.

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As Alan and I looked over the menus, a caregiver of one of my regular patients, who was a Siamese cat, came over to say hi. He was in his seventies.

"Dr. Core! How are you?" he asked.

"Great! How's Groucho?"

"Spoiled as always!" he joked, then turned to Alan. "Your daughter is the best vet around! You must be proud. She is a true pet psychic!"

Alan looked uncomfortable, and I said, " Actually, he's my boyfriend. My dad is with my mom at their condo in Miami Beach."

"Oh...sorry..." the man looked embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it" Alan told him nicely.

"Well. I uh..Need to join my party." he lamely said, and left us.

"My mom once did that to a divorced friend of my brother's." I commented.

Finally, the food came.

"Whoa!" I gulped some water when I tried my order. My mouth felt like it was on fire!

"Maybe you should have stuck with medium spicy?" Alan teased.

"It's fine!" I insisted, though my eyes were watery. Why oh why did I decide to ask for it to be spicier than usual?

"Leave the food! Just get some of mine" Alan suggested gently, he got the waiter's attention, and asked for another plate. Soon, it arrived.

After dinner, we went to my place, and played scrabble.

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"Where' s Dad?" I asked Charlie when I came to the house.

"He's probably with Natalie" he muttered, while taking a bite from a sandwich. From his tone, I could tell that this was now bothering him.

"Okay..."

"Statistically, it's possible for us to find ourselves with a half brother or sister." He shook his head.

"That's for Dad to worry about" I told him.

"He's too old to put himself in that position" he sighed.

"Remember what I said last night? This thing with Natalie isn't gonna last! Don't worry about it" I figured that between the age difference ,and her other quirks, things weren't going to progress beyond a year. "Dad will come to his senses"

"I hope you're right!" Charlie sighed.

TBC