Dislaimer: I do not own Numb3rs as much as in my mind I like to think I do. But the OC's are mine.
Don Epps felt completely helpless. And he hated it. However this was not the first or the last time he would feel this way. Of that he could be certain. But this was a happy occasion, one that was made possible after many years of waiting.
He thought back over the past couple of years, seeing how his life had completely changed. With the death of his mother brought pain but also healing. A different kind of healing he had never experienced. Moving back home, working and becoming closer Charlie was something he had never foreseen for himself, leading up to his life now.
He also thought of his father, wondering what his thoughts were at the very moment.
Getting married was another feat Don never thought he would come to. Years and years of failed relationships mixed with the pressure of his job, he had all but given up hope. Yet, there was Emily. He had met her in New Mexico and surprising she was the one girl he did not date there. She was the wealthy daughter of the director of the FBI in the office Don worked for. It was there they met, however a relationship was never considered due to the facts; she was quite younger then him and they were both involved in relationships. Despite the odds they became great friends. While they were very similar in some ways in others they were completely different. She was the rich, shy girl and he was the outgoing all-American boy. But they were both much more than they seemed. She also, like Don, experienced the death of her mother due to cancer, while she was not an agent, understood the pressures of his job, and had suffered through a broken engagement. She was there for him when his mom died as he had been for her. Not to mention she was one of the few who could put him in his place and really make him laugh. And in the words of his father, they just had great chemistry.
However shortly after her mother's death and failed engagement, she moved to Europe and he of course, ended up back home. Yet their friendship did not end in New Mexico. They talked to each other frequently, keeping up on each others lives. And she did return shortly to attend his mother's funeral. He would listen to her boring days of shopping and going to museums in France, and she would listen to the ins and outs of his latest case. She would be the one he called when a case got hard and had not dared to explain to his father and brother. After about a year of being away, she returned home. Her father had been relocated to LA and her family was now in California. So she returned and so did a piece of Don's happiness he never knew was gone. She was older now and he had given her the time she needed to grow up, because they both knew when they first met, they would end up together. So they started dating and some time later were married. Time and love were no issue because it truly had been love at first sight. Life seemed to tie up its loose ends for the Epps family. Amita had turned down the job at Harvard and she and Charlie finally started a relationship. And his dad continued to move on, however still making his requests for grandchildren.
Bringing them now to the birth of his first grandchild, Don's child. Coming back to reality, Don looked at his wife. He was so scared; he was not fearless as his brother thought sometimes. Yet, now as his son was delivered to his arms he looked at the miniature version of himself, he was scared. But he was consumed with another feeling. A different, powerful feeling of love as he looked at his child and his wife, the two most important people in the world to him. And he felt his mother. Don finally understood and felt completely happy, more than he ever thought he could. He was a hard working agent, a "sweet" fun brother, at times a smart-ass son, a loving husband, and now a proud father. With insistence from his wife, Don carefully carried his child out of the delivery room into the hallway where his father, brother and Amita were anxiously waiting. "Dad", he quietly, "I want you to meet you grandchild" with a huge simile on his face. Alan, with quite skill took to bundle from his son's arms, and looked with great joy looked at his first, of what he hoped to be many, grandchild. Putting his arm around his brother, Alan asked Don the child's name. "Charles William, Charlie", he replied as their eyes misted over. Life is a funny thing he thought, we lose the ones we love, we get hurt and bruised, and make mistakes, but we pick ourselves up, we forgive, learn to love, the earth turns again, and miracles happen.
The End
