Title: When Charlie Met Maggie.
Author: Bichonmom
Rating: K+ for a couple of words.
Word Count: 3215 so far.
Summary: "That explains the conspicuous lack of grandchildren." What if it wasn't the grandchildren that were lacking but just their presence?
A/N: Except for a CSI short last month it's been about 2 years since I wrote anything so please be kind. Also I needed Mariana to have been military to make the story work but I've got very little military experience except an unpleasant time as an Army wife at Fort Carson, Colorado, so forgive me if I'm vague. Also for my purposes Charlie drives. Haven't watch enough of season 3 to know if does or doesn't and don't care.
Disclaimer: I don't own Numb3rs or any of its characters, if I did the current idiot in charge of my professional life would have already heard the words "I quit."
Mariana Green hung up her phone and clunked her head on her desk in her brand new cubicle in the LA FBI offices. Her first assignment in Los Angeles meant she was going to have to deal with some stuff sooner rather than later.
"Doesn't that hurt?"
Mariana's head shot up and around. She couldn't believe her eyes a friendly face. She was going to need that in the next few weeks she was sure.
"Colby!" She smiled at him and waved for him to sit down.
"So what's going on Mariana? Last I heard you'd been shipped home from Afghanistan."
"Yeah, getting pregnant while deployed to a war zone tends to get you shipped home and discharged." Mariana remarked dryly.
"That would do it," Colby chuckled but before he could say anything else his cell phone rang.
"That would be my boss looking for me and the new computer person that I'm going to assume is you since I can't imagine there is another newbie in this office."
"Let's go." Mariana put on a cheerful face and followed Colby out of her cubicle and down to the elevator.
"Okay everyone, this is Mariana Green," Colby said as they walked into the conference room. "And Mariana this is Megan Reeves, David Sinclair, Don Eppes, and Dr. Charlie Eppes."
Mariana stopped short. She knew she was going to run into Charlie eventually, I mean hell she was going to be working with his brother but she didn't expect it to be quite this soon.
"Mariana!" Charlie looked truly shocked to see her. "When did you get out of the military?"
"About 4 years ago." Mariana decided that it was best to keep her answers short.
"Well, unfortunately we need to get to work. You two can reminisce later." Don took control of the meeting cutting off any further discussion between Charlie and Mariana.
Something for which Mariana was very grateful.
Mariana pulled up in front of the daycare building and parked. As much as she hated to she figured tonight was going to be a take out night. She usually cooked for her and Maggie but tonight they'd do McDonald's for a variety of reasons. Those reasons being she was late, she was tired and stressed and Maggie was in the middle of a growth spurt right now and the longer she made the preschooler wait for dinner the more likely she was to a be cranky and a cranky Maggie was never a good thing.
She opened the door to the daycare and prepared to apologize for being twenty minutes late picking up her child.
An hour and a half later Mariana stepped of the elevator of her apartment building trying to retrieve her keys while carrying her laptop case, her purse, Maggie's backpack, and of course a sleeping Maggie.
"Here let me help you with that."
Mariana about jumped out of her skin at the comment from Colby Granger.
"Colby! Don't scare me like that! How'd you find me anyway?"
"Wasn't hard. I work for the FBI, you work for the FBI. I asked HR for your address."
"And they gave it to you?"
"Of course, I told them it was related to a case." By this time, they were in the apartment and Mariana head down the hall to lay Maggie down with Colby trailing a few steps behind.
"Well she answers that questions," Colby, gestured at Maggie.
"What question?"
"How well you know Charlie. She looks just like him."
"You think she looks like him now you should see her awake. So what other questions do you have?" Mariana chuckled while heading to the kitchen to start coffee.
"What the hell was Charlie doing in Afghanistan since that's where she was conceived? How did you two manage to conceive a child in the middle of that god-forsaken country? And how in the hell did you avoid a court martial?"
"To answer your questions in order, consulting for the NSA, the old fashioned way, and the lawyer my mother hired promised to make a big deal out of the fact the father worked for the NSA. Nobody wanted that kind of publicity."
"I can see that happening. So how is your mother?"
"Dead. She had a massive heart attack about 6 months ago."
"Sorry to hear that. Are you going to tell Charlie he's a daddy?"
"That's the plan. Not sure how but I know I want Maggie to have more family than just me and that means letting Charlie into her life."
"Well buckle your seat belt because I do believe it's going to be a bumpy ride." Colby couldn't help observing. He knew Mariana quite well and he'd like to think he knew Charlie Eppes fairly well.
Mariana poured coffee into two mugs and handed Colby one before commenting, "Yeah having your past come back and bite you in the ass usually makes things bumpy."
"Amen." The two clinked their coffee together as if they were wine glasses and each took a sip.
After a minute Colby started to chuckle.
"What's so funny?"
"Don will probably kiss your feet. You bringing Maggie around should get Alan off of Don's back about and I quote 'the conspicuous lack of grandchildren' in his life."
Mariana just shook her head at him.
The two days Mariana was doing some computer searches Don's team needed when a familiar head popped into her office.
"Hi."
"Hello Charlie how are you?" Mariana smiled at him.
"Okay, I was wondering if you had time for lunch?"
"Dr. Charles Eppes willingly taking lunch. Will wonders never cease?" Mariana's smile let Charlie know she was teasing.
"Well I thought we needed to talk and the walls around here have ears," Charlie responded.
"You're right. They do and we do too. Just let me grab my bag."
The two headed out just minutes later and headed for a restaurant Charlie knew of nearby that was a common lunch spot for FBI staffers and agents.
"So what made you decide to get out of the Army and move to LA? You're a New York girl born and bred."
"Well the moving to LA was to find you and the getting out of the Army was not my choice."
"What do you mean not your choice? And what do you mean find me? You knew where I was."
"Okay maybe find wasn't the best word. Let's deal with the other question first. The Army doesn't take kindly to one of the female officers getting pregnant in the middle of a war zone." Mariana decided the direct approach was probably the best bet. Charlie could be pretty clueless sometimes.
"P-pregnant?"
"Yep, does that answer the question about finding you?"
"Yeah, it does. Contrary to popular believe I'm not that clueless. Why now? If I may ask?"
"Of course. Well you remember my dad's gone right?" Mariana questioned getting a nod from Charlie. "Well my mom died about 6 months ago after a massive heart attack and I just felt Maggie needed more family around."
"Maggie?"
"Yeah, Maggie Ann Green. She'll be four in 8 weeks and she looks a lot like her father."
"Really?"
"Yep. Colby met her the other night and he knew right away who her father was and this was while she was asleep."
"Do you have pictures?"
"Of course I do! I'm sorry I should have gotten them out already. I was so worried about telling you. I wouldn't blame you if you were furious with me," Mariana reached into her purse and pulled out her wallet which contained several pictures of Maggie at various ages, " The top one is about a month old."
"I'm not mad at the moment. I'm far too shocked to be mad. I do want to know two things."
"Okay." Mariana was more than a little surprised. She knew how Charlie felt about family and had expected more of a reaction. Of course she chosen a public location where they were both unlikely to run into someone they knew and that may be what was tempering Charlie's response.
"Why didn't you tell me back then and when can I meet her?"
"I was going to tell you but your mom was dying and all the reports I got was that you weren't doing so well yourself and I didn't want to add to your problems. After a while it was just easier. As for meeting her let me you give you our address and you can come over tonight if you want."
"I want."
"Charlie, I need to tell you something else."
"Oh boy."
"No, it's nothing bad. I just want you to know you to know you can walk away. Even after tonight you can walk away if you want to but if you're going to be involved I want you to be involved. If you decide you want to be her dad then I expect her to be major priority in your life." She really didn't think Charlie would not be involved but she still felt the need to spell things out.
"I understand. What time tonight?"
"About 6 if that's okay. Come for dinner and you can stay until she goes to bed."
"I can do that. Shall we head back to your office?"
"Yeah, the sooner I get back the sooner I can leave tonight."
Knock, Knock, Knock
Mariana opened the door and sure enough there was Charlie looking about as nervous as she felt.
"Hi come on in, Charlie. Maggie's in the front room watching the Incredibles."
"The Incredibles?" Charlie was just a bit confused.
"It's a Disney movie that's her favorite right now. I put it in when I'm trying to do something because if I have to watch it one more time I'm going to scream."
Charlie chuckled.
The pair headed into the front room where a little girl with dark curly hair, and Charlie's eyes sat glue to a cartoon. Charlie's first thought was why didn't she introduce him as dad and second was I see why Colby could tell she was mine. She looks just like I did at the age except her hair is longer.
"Maggie, this is my friend Charlie. He's going to have dinner with us tonight. Can he watch tv with you?"
"Okay." Maggie grabbed Charlie's hand and dragged him over to the couch. Charlie wondering what he was going to do alone with a not quite 3 year old he just met.
"Have you ever watched 'credibles?"
"No, I haven't."
Mariana headed to the kitchen while Maggie began to explain the movie as only a preschooler could.
"Goodnight."
Mariana led Charlie out of Maggie's room and down the hall for some coffee.
"So what now?"
"Why didn't you introduce me as dad?"
"Did you tell your Dad about tonight?" Mariana could play the question/accusation game with the best of them.
"No, but only because he would have wanted to come and I thought that might be a little
overwhelming. You?"
"Because while I'm 98 sure you're going to stick around that other 2 didn't want to get Maggie's hopes up."
The voices were calm and quiet but part of the reason for that was the desire of both Mariana and Charlie to not disturb Maggie.
"I'm sticking around," Charlie said with a touch of finality.
"Okay so let's plan out a schedule for you to spend time with her for the next week and we'll tell her tomorrow that you're her dad."
"So, soon?" Charlie was stunned Marianna gave in so easy.
"Yep, She'll be fine she's 3. In a year she won't remember you not being around. I really was only waiting because I wanted you to be sure."
"Okay, then what's your schedule look like? I'd like to get to know my daughter."
Charlie walked down the hallway to his office and was surprised there wasn't anyone waiting for him. He was half an hour late after all. Well he might as well check his voice mail. He was learning to check that a little more regularly in case Mariana or Maggie called him.
Over the course of the past three weeks Charlie had found himself learning all kinds of things that had nothing to do with math. He could do a ponytail, he knew Disney movies, he knew the procedure to pick Maggie up at daycare, he knew that Maggie's first name was just Maggie (named her grandmothers, Margaret and Margot), he knew his daughter was very smart, and he knew what it felt like to be called Dad.
What he didn't know was how in the hell he was going to tell his friends and family about his daughter. He and Mariana had actually fought about it once. Mariana was concerned he was having second thoughts or was ashamed of Maggie. It'd taken Charlie a couple of hours to convince her that wasn't the case at all.
There were two reasons Charlie hadn't told everyone. The first one was he didn't know how. How do you tell people you fathered a little girl while consulting for the NSA in a combat zone? The second reason was everyone was still a little overwhelmed. Everyone being he, Maggie, and Mariana.
Charlie had less than a week to figure out how to tell his family because Maggie was supposed to stay with him for the first time on Friday. Mariana had a date with Colby. If he thought his dad would freak now, it would be even worse if he just showed up to dinner with Maggie in tow.
Actually Charlie needed to tell everyone. His Dad and Don for obvious reasons, Millie because he was going to ask her to cut back on some of his responsibilities and baring that he might take some leave and just consult for awhile. For the first time in his life Charlie had to admit there was something more important than Math in his life. Amita thought he was seeing someone else and Larry would just feel left out if he didn't tell him.
He and Mariana were still working things out. They'd finally got child support ironed out to Charlie's satisfaction. People never really understood what kind of money Charlie had in the bank. Mariana had worried about bankrupting him while he'd felt like he wasn't contributing enough.
Mariana was willing to let Maggie go to his house overnight. At first her resistance to the whole idea had irritated him, until her realized Maggie had never spent a night away from home. Sure she'd spent the night away from Mariana but never out of her own home. Once he understood where her reluctance came from they'd been able to address the issue.
Charlie's plan was to pick Maggie up from daycare on Friday. They'd spend the day night at his house Friday night and then go shopping Saturday. Finding a bedroom for Maggie wasn't the issue, make the room inviting for an almost 4 year old girl was going to take some work and she wanted to help.
Charlie was jolted out of his thought by the vibration of his cell phone. Something else that had changed recently. He'd started leaving his phone on vibrate so it didn't interrupt his time with his daughter.
"Hello."
"Charlie? It's Megan. Don was wondering if you could come down to the office for a bit? We could use your help."
"I'll be there as soon as I can."
Charlie started to grab his stuff thinking that maybe some time up to his elbows in data would help him figure out how to tell everyone about Maggie. Maybe he'd been over thinking the whole situation.
Several hours later Charlie excused himself from the conference room and headed off in search of Mariana.
"Hey Charlie."
"Colby, have you seen Mariana?"
"She went to run an errand it's 5:50." That was Colby's way of saying she went to get Maggie without spelling it out since David was with him.
"Okay then I'm going to get back to work so I can get out of here sooner." Charlie head back for the conference room that Don's team always seemed to use.
"Since when does he care what time he got off work?" David wondered.
Colby just shook his head and didn't say a word. It wasn't his place.
Thirty minutes later Charlie was thinking about asking Don to call out for some food so he could keep working when he heard her.
"Daddy!" Maggie yelled as she wrapped herself around his legs.
Charlie winced. It wasn't that he was in pain or didn't like Maggie doing that, because he did. The problem was if he heard her over his i pod everyone else heard her too. Which meant he only had a couple of minutes to talk to her until Don practiced his interrogation techniques on him.
Charlie bent over and picked Maggie up, "Hey, how are you today?" He tried to focus his attention on her but couldn't help but notice the lack of activity in the general area that had heard his daughter's greeting.
This meant that any plans he may have made to tell Don and Amita were now irrelevant. Also there was no need to mention anything to David, Megan, or probably anybody else on that floor of the building and with in the hour probably anybody in the entire building.
Guess that just left his Dad, Millie, and Larry.
"Hungry! Why are you here?"
"Sometimes I work here." He'd learned to only answer the question Maggie was asking not the one he thought she was asking.
"Really? With Colby?"
"Really. Sometimes with Colby"
"Yes I did. Maggie, why don't you and I go eat dinner in my office and let daddy get back to work?" Mariana stepped forward to take Maggie.
Charlie didn't know whether to thank her for giving him a chance to talk to Don without Maggie there or throttle her for leaving him alone with his brother.
"Okay, I be back later Daddy." Mariana set Maggie on the floor and took her hand to lead her to dinner. The two left the room with Mariana sparing Charlie a look of sympathy as she headed out. She'd stay and help Charlie explain things but they'd both agreed they didn't want Maggie exposed to any of the conversations about Charlie being her father.