2005

"Let's go back to my office" Charlie suddenly said, grabbing the albums. "You can choose which pictures you want, once we get there"

"Charlie!" Alan said, but the professor was angrily out the door. With a lame goodbye to Alan, David followed Charlie.

"He loves you so much!" David remarked as they got in the car. "I could see it in his eyes."

Charlie didn't answer back, and was silent during the trip back to Cal Sci. Everyone had gone by the time they returned to his office.

Back at the house, Alan remembered a conversation he had with Don, when the latter was in kindergarten.

"Mommy says that you are being mean to the other children. Why?" the two were in the dining room. The boy and Alan sat across from each other.

"They make me mad!"kindergartener explained.

"You dumped orange juice on another little boy!" Alan's voice grew sterner. "You have to learn to be more patient! Your mother and I are thinking about maybe giving you a little brother , and you can't be hitting him, or pulling his hair!"

"I don't wanna little brother! You and mommy will not pay 'tention to me like Bob's mommy and daddy!" Donnie pouted.

"You'll have someone to play with!"

"I've got GI Joe!"

"Aw well...when the time comes, you'll love him more than your G.I. Joe" Alan said, with a wistful smile, as Margaret gave him a look.

"Can I go play now?"

"No!" Alan replied and added"Whenever another kid makes you mad, take a deep breath and count to ten, understand?"

"Okay daddy"

"Next time I hear about a fight, there will be no T.V for week" Alan's voice grew firmer. He could see Margaret nodding in agreement with him.

"Yes daddy"

"Go brush your teeth"

"He has to learn to control his temper!" Alan told Margaret when the boy was in the bathroom.

"With you around, he will" she said, then asked."What was that talk about a little brother?"

"I want to prepare him just in case"

The ringing of the phone brought Alan back to the present. It was some telemarketer. After hanging up with annoyance, Alan thought about how true Don's prediction had been trueto some extent. He wondered if the recent revelations put a different light on things for Don.

2004

The three Eppes men celebrated Margaret's birthday by going to her favorite restaurant. They sat in at her favorite part of the restaurant.

"It's changed!" Charlie complained as they all got into their seats.

"It's been a while since we came." Don reminded him.

"The carpeting looks terrible! Why couldn't they stick to the old one" the professor continued, while opening the menu. Don sighed, opened the menu, and tried to be patient with his brother. He had a long day, working a horrible case involving child victims. Alan wistfully stared at the empty seat, even without the changes in the interior decor, the place felt different without Margaret. They had first gone when Don was three years old, on the recommendation of friends. The rambunctious toddler embarassed the young parents by, getting out of his seat, walking around, and stealing a breadstick from an older couple. The retiree laughed at the memory.

"What's so funny Dad?" Don asked.

"I remember the first time we came here...you were three and stole a breadstick from someone on that table" Alan pointed to it, while Charlie laughed, and Don looked Chagrined. "Your mother asked where you got it because we hadn't ordered it. You pointed to the table, and she angrily made you take it back. The couple told her not to worry about it, as their grandkids have done worse"

"Don could never resist a freebie!" Charlie made fun of his brother.

"Hey boys!" the waitress, named Sue , who had brown hair, tied in a bun, greeted them. Most of the servers knew them. "How are you? Boys night out?" She was surprised that Margaret wasn't there. The three men swallowed the lumps in their throats.

"My wife...passed away recently" Alan told her.

"Oh...I'm so sorry!" she said. "She was such a sweet woman!"

"I think we're ready to order" Charlie said brusquely, he didn't want to dwell on this at the moment.

"Yeah...let's order" Don agreed, and they did.

When Sue picked up the dishes, she noticed that most of the food had been left untouched.

TBC