1993
It is a proud day in the Eppes family as The president of Princeton called out Charlie's name. Don's graduation was to be two days later. Years of sacrifice and family separation had added up to this moment. He graduated with highest honors. After the cermony, the family took several shots with Charlie in his graduation gown.
"Let's do one of the two of you!" Margaret told the brothers, who soon started to pose for the camera.
"Charlie! Quit fidgetting!" Alan said as he focused the camera.
Meanwhile, David found out that his wife died on the freeway because of a drunk truck driver.
2005
"I'm sure mom meant to get around to it" Don lied
"No she didn't!"Screaming, Charlie banged on the chalkboard again, picked up a book and threw it across the garage with a force that startled Don. Then he continued with N vs NP at a more frantic pace and pressed so hard on the chalk, that he broke it in half.
"Charlie..." Don put a hand on his shoulder.
"I'd rather be alone right now!" Charlie told him acidly.
1993
Fall came and Charlie attended Cal Sci to obtain his masters. Not only was it a very prestigious institution, but he could live at home and bike to school.
"How was your day, sweetie?" Margaret asked one day when he returned.
"I attended this brilliant lecture on multi-dimensional theory" Charlie said. "Afterwards, I had the most facinating discussion with the professor."
"That's wonderful." she said, unsure of what Multi Dimensional theory was.
As Charlie worked on some project for school in the dining room, Margaret could not help but be reminded of David. The two made the same facial gestures when deeply focused on something. Discretly, she went to the garage to look for that drawing that David had done all those years ago. She had gotten rid of the drawings she had done of David, but somehow, finding that drawing proved elusive even now.Margaret wanted to get rid of it not only because of what it reminded her of, but someone could find it. This would open a pandora's box, especially if Alan found it.
"Where did I put it?" she muttered then added cynically. "Maybe I should look for something else then I'll find it."
That night,Margaret had a nightmare. There she was,cooking dinner, when Charlie showed her the drawing and asked,
"Where did you get this mom? I found it in the garage"
2005
Just then, Don got a call from work and he had to return. On his way out, he said goodbye to Alan.
"How is he?" he asked the agent.
"The same" Don shrugged.
As he puttered around the house,Alan remembered the first time he really began to suspect Margaret.
One day while waiting in line at the bank, he overheard a middle aged man advise a younger one.
" With your girlfriend, you'll pick up some new stuff bedroom wise, but under no circumstances try them out on your wife. This'll raise a red flag"
After his errands at the bank were done, Alan remembered how Margaret did change her routine in the bedroom and she seemed to be at home less when he called . To boot, she bought a bunch of new clothes.
1994
The drawing was in the garage, waiting to be found. Margaret had put it in an envelope, which in turn she put in a bag during her affair with David. Before that it had been in her underwear drawer. Unbeknowst to her, Alan, one saturday morning, had put that bag in some other box to make room for some stuffhe had to put in the garage.
2005
Larry worried when he saw the garage full of chalkboards and Charlie working on P vs. NP. When he had heard that Charlie planned to take several days off, this had given Larry a bad feeling. Alan had vaguely said that Charlie was getting through some family issues.
"Charles..." he began.
"I can't be entering any conversation right now!"
1997
David visited the cemetary on the anniversary of his wife's death.
"I miss you, every minute of every day." he said to her grave. "I miss your smile, laughter, even the way you used to accuse me of living in my own world. The kids are doing as well as can be expected.Dawn wants to be a doctor, and Marc still dreams of being a writer. They miss you so much! Dad had a heart attack last week..."
As he spoke some more to his wife, the drawing got moved yet again, as Alan made a half hearted effort to organize the garage one week when Margaret had to visit an older brother because his wife got sick.
"I'm gonna go help Larry with something!" Charlie told him on his way out.
"Larry?" Alan wondered who he was.
"Dr. Fleinheart."
"The guy who believes that other dimensions exist?"
"It's multi dimensional theory, dad" Charlie smiled.
Later on, Alan got a much anticipated call from Don. He worked fugitive recovery and seemed to be in habit of losing touch for weeks at a time.
"How are you?" he asked worriedly.
"Fine" Don answered.
"Where the hell have you been?" Alan demanded.
"Some backwater town." Don said. He was tired from two days without sleep and didn't like to get into much detail about his work. Cooper and he had to stay in some barn for a day and a half to catch a fugitive.
"They must have phones there!" he scolded the agent.
"It was hard for me to get to a phone" Don said. He loved the rush that he got from gaining ground on a fugitive, and then cuffing them. "Where's mom?"
"She's at your uncle Nero's. I'll give you the number so you tell her how you are. She's been worried sick."
2005
"Perhaps some time outside could be of some help?" Larry suggested in the form of a question.
Charlie just ignored him, and Larry decided to see if he could get Alan to tell him what had driven his friend to this point.
"So...you said that uh...Charlie was dealing with some family issues?" Larry tried to be diplomatic.
"Yeah, that's what I said." Alan, a rather private person,turned on the T.V to avoid any more questions from Larry.
1997
A month later, Don got shot in the leg. He got time off, and went home.
"What happened to your leg?" Margaret worridly asked as her eldest got out of the airport shuttlein a partial cast and crutches.
"Was it on the job?" Alan gasped.
"Are you okay?" Charlie worried.
"I fell down in the parking lot of my apartment because some jerk spilled oil" Don lied, and they believed him.
"You're lucky you didn't break your neck!" Alan exclaimed.
"Statistically..." Charlie began.
"Charlie!" Don groaned. Sometimes he had little patience for his brother.
2005
For the rest of that day, P vs. NP took over more and more of Charlie's being. Larry could not do much but watch his friend and mentee lose himself.
"Charles...what is it that is troubling you so?" he asked the mathematician, who just answered by telling him some issues related to the problem.
"I was refering to the family issues mentioned by your father..."
"He's not my father!" Charlie blurted out and snapped with repressed emotion.
"That would qualify as a family issue..." Larry said awkardly and with some extra twitchiness.
1997
Charlie dominated the dinner conversation by talking about some paper he was working on. He grew so animated, that he even started to write down stuff on a napkin. For once, Don did not mind. Margaret, yet again was reminded of David.
"Charlie, why don't we let Don share about his work?" Alan asked diplomatically.
"It's going fine" the agent said vaguely.
"Couldn't you work fraud or something?" Margaret asked. Bot she and Alan hated that he worked fugitive recovery. Not only did Don lose contact for large blocks of time, but they worried about getting the call.
"I've gotta work where I'm assigned." Don said.
2005
Charlie went outside for a bit the next morning to contemplate the koi pond. Larry, after a few hours sleep, was at his side.
"I'm glad to see that you decided to get some fresh air, Charles" he told his friend.
Charlie puttered around in the garden. fter a while, he returned to the garage.
1997
Alan was so happy about Don's arrival that he decided to take the family out the dinner the next evening.
"The place has the best sweet and sour shrimp!" Don commented as he took a bite. Charlie took a couple of shrimp, while Don countered by taking some of his brother's mongolian beef.
"I'm so happy to have my family together again!" Margaret beamed.
"How long can you stay with us? Alan asked.
"A couple of weeks." Don said.
Coincidentally, Marc and a couple of friends were eating at the next booth.
2005
At dinnertime, Don returned to the house.
"How's Charlie?" he asked.
"Larry said that he went outside for while" Alan said as he swept the kitchen.
Meanwhile, Larry tried to talk to his friend. Charles... what you said about Alan, is both true and untrue. It really depends on how you define the term 'father.' "
"I'm at a very important line of thought, Larry! I can't be entering a discussion with anyone!" Charlie told him impatiently.
"Alan may not be your biological father, but he was the one who helped your mother raise you."
"If my mother hadn't cheated on him, He could've been my father in every sense of the word!"Charlie raised his voice in anger.
2005
"I am your father in every sense of the word" Alan said quietly before Larry could argue that Charlie wouldn't even exist if Margaret hadn't cheated. Neither professor had seen the retired city planner come into the garage.
"Who was there for you?" Alan asked. "He sure wasn't."
"Did he ever try to contact me?" Charlie countered.
"He called once" Alan told him.
"That mom told you about" Charlie said bitterly.
"I'm going to go contemplate the Koi pond." Larry excused himself.
"Your mother and I both felt that..."
"I should be lied to!" Charlie snarled.
1998
One day, while Alan was at work, and Charlie was at Cal Sci, David came to visit Margaret, who tended to a rose garden in the front of the house. She grew pale and dropped her tools when she saw him.
"We need to talk" he told her.
"There's nothing to talk about" she hissed. "Charlie is not yours!"
"So you still got your husband thinking that Charlie is his?"
"He is Alan's in every way possible!"
"Except one"
"It's not the most important!" she blurted without thinking.
"Ah...you admit that he's mine."
"No! A friend of Alan's is his father!" Margaret said lamely.
"Come on! You couldn't have had two affairs at once!"
"I've got to go run errands" Margaret walked away.
TBC