Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Numb3rs or any character therein. All characters are fictional, and should not be associated with any other person- real or imagined.

I do not own the words to "Bye-O" baby- they are from Terry Kluytmans, 1998.

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Amanda and Alan were walking away from the koi pond, still talking but now making plans to meet the following weekend for a short trip to one of his favorite spots in wine country. His eyes sparkled as he continued to talk to the younger woman, the crinkled lines encircling them reminiscent of his eldest son and his smiling face. As they entered the house, they greeted Charlie, Amanda enquiring as to the whereabouts of her daughter.

"Shelby?" Charlie asked, shaking his head. "She ran past me a couple hours ago. I haven't seen her since."

"Oh." Amanda looked at Alan, suddenly worried about her daughter.

"She's here somewhere," he said reassuringly, bravely taking her hand in his. Relaxing, she allowed him to keep it there, returning the gesture with a firm squeeze of her own. Charlie raised his eyebrows at the pair, smiled and discreetly left the kitchen, humming satisfactorily to himself as the door swung shut behind him.

Amanda and Alan walked together through the dining room, their eyes darting about the room- but no Shelby. Leaning slightly into each other, Amanda slid her hand from Alan's, moving it to his upper arm, spontaneously laying her head against his shoulder. They were looking at each other, he down to her silky face and she up to his tough but gentle features…when they heard the sobbing.

Both stopped in the entrance to the living room, their eyes suddenly discerning Shelby and Don on the couch opposite them, the sunbeams streaming in from behind them dancing across their entwined bodies and laying kisses of heavenly love over their emotionally electrified solace of unrepentant crying and moans of sorrow. Alan and Amanda moved as one to their children, squeezing on opposite sides next to them on the couch, trying to offer arms of comfort, but neither child acknowledged their presence.

Don was lying on his side with his back to them, his head firmly planted on Shelby's breast while his arms were wrapped around her body. He was staring at her face as if she were his last hope on earth, tears streaming down his face as he cried softly, "Mom, mom." Shelby was laying into Don in a slow, soft rocking motion as she cradled his body against her own, her left hand rubbing his arm back and forth in a gentle caress, her right hand holding a silver brush that she lovingly stroked through his hair- all the while singing the only lull-a-bye her father had ever sung to her.

Alan and Amanda looked tearfully at each other, she sitting beside Shelby and he next to Don, their hands and arms reaching to each other and around their entangled children, meeting in an unbreakable circle of love and completion.

Once I was a little baby;
Long, long ago!
Bye-O! Bye-O!
Little baby in the cradle!
But I started right away
To grow and grow and grow!
Bye-O! Bye-O!
Little baby, you will grow!

Bye-O! Bye-O!
Bye-O, little baby!
Bye-O! Bye-O!
Sleeping all the day,
Bye-O! Bye-O!
Bye-O, little baby!
Sleeping in your cradle
All the day.

Mommy dear, when I was small,
Took good care of me:
Bye-O! Bye-O!
Little baby in the cradle!
Now I'm big enough to care
For Mommy, don't you see?
Bye-O! Bye-O!
Little baby, you will grow!

Bye-O! Bye-O!
Bye-O, little baby!
Bye-O! Bye-O!
Sleeping all the day,
Bye-O! Bye-O!
Bye-O, little baby!
Sleeping in your cradle
All the day.