Title: Mango
Rating: PG-13 (some violence, angst, a couple f-bombs)
Characters: Charlie Crews, Dani Reese, Kevin Tidwell, Ted Earley, a few OCs
Pairing: Crews/Reese
Summary: Crews and Reese, five years post-series. Life is changing.
Spoilers/Time Period: Set five years after One. (August 2014)
Disclaimer: Most of the characters (sans the Ayers) aren't mine, but the situation is.
Author's Note: The recent plethora of new Life fic inspired me to continue. I hope people are still enjoying! There are about six chapters left, sketched out. Thanks for reading.
Chapter Nine: Redemption
Daniel Ayers has changed everything.
Of course, he has always been important to Charlie and Dani, and, of course, the impending arrival of baby Mango is certainly a factor, but Ted Earley can see how much Little D has fundamentally changed life in the Reese-Crews household.
The change is perhaps first most noticeable in Sergeant Reese, for a variety of reasons. Her changes are physical as well as personal, and her body softens in the same way her outward demeanor has with D's continued presence. Despite the grief he knows she still wrestles with, he's heard her laugh more in the three months since D came to live with them than he ever had before. D brings it out in her, with his goofy grin and wild theories, whether they are about dinosaur invasions or superhero battles. She scruffs his hair, grins adoringly, and says things like, "Sorry, buddy, you're wrong. Batman would totally win." It's simply beautiful, even when he sometimes catches the devastation in her eyes when she looks at him; she must be seeing his mother.
The change is the most profound, if more subtle, in Charlie Crews. Little Danny, for Charlie, is the culmination of his redemption: a child. This same change would probably have occurred six months later, with the arrival of Mango, had fate not chosen to take D's parents, but it's different, because D is a kid who has lost everything, more even than Charlie. D is resilient, but broken, and earning his love, trust, and acceptance is fundamental for Charlie. He is becoming the quintessential father to D: catch in the backyard, baseball games on the weekend, fast cars, and hilariously ill-fated construction projects. Of the last, their next is building the long-promised tree house, as soon as D's cast comes off. Dani is opposed, given how said cast was acquired, but for the first and only time Ted has witnessed, she has been overruled by twin puppy dog pouts and an endorsement from Maaman-bee. D chases away the last of the darkness in Charlie, in both of them, at least for the minutes or hours they can steal with him daily.
He does, of course, also test their patience, especially on days like today. Charlie, Daniel, Ted, and Teddy watch The Lion King on a Saturday afternoon, while Noor, Olivia, and Rachel take Dani shopping for baby stuff in lieu of a shower. (The person who should have been throwing said shower is not there, and so this is the compromise.) The frequent references to "Dad" had set D on edge, and Mufasa plummeting into the ravine, a horrifying scene in and of itself, has sparked an entire meltdown.
As Daniel flails and screams, Charlie tries to keep his voice calm and even, calling upon all of his Zen training, Ted's sure. Teddy grabs his grandfather's hand, flicking his eyes up nervously at his friend's behavior.
"Maybe we should…" Ted starts, unsure of how to proceed.
Charlie nods curtly, his full attention focused on Little D.
"He's gonna be okay, right, Grandpa?" Teddy asks as they gather their things and head for the door.
Ted looks over to where Charlie has finally coaxed D into his arms, still bearing the brunt of small punches on his chest and murmuring soft reassurances.
"He'll be okay, Teddy," Ted promises, believing it whole-heartedly. For all of the bad hands Charlie, Dani, and Daniel have been played, they all had just enough luck to fall into each other's lives.
"Hey, you wanna grab dinner after we sign this back in?" Charlie asks as they drop off evidence. "Or should we eat in?"
"I actually have plans with the Ayers," Dani declines him gently.
"Oh. Oh, okay."
They've been 'seeing' each other for the last five months, but she is still reticent to include him in her life with Daniel Ayers. He doesn't know if she has even told Katie about their relationship yet.
"You could come, if you wanted…" she says, not without trepidation. "I mean, if you don't want to, that's okay, but…"
"I'd love to," he smiles.
"Yeah?" she smiles back briefly, putting a little space between them as they emerge from the evidence locker.
"Yeah. Haven't seen Little D since this summer. He's almost two, right?"
"Just about."
"Must be getting big. Where are we eating?"
She smirks at him. "I'll drive."
Katie Ayers doesn't look at all surprised to see him and just gives him a knowing look. He guesses she must know after all.
"Detective Crews," she greets, as Dani moves immediately to greet D.
"Charlie, please."
"Charlie," she nods. "It's good to see you."
Behind her, Reese has picked chattering Daniel Ayers up, nodding along to whatever he is saying. It's a beautiful sight.
"D," Katie interrupts. "Can you say hi to Charlie?"
D immediately halts his stream of conversation.
He turns wide green eyes towards him and, despite not showing an ounce of bashfulness before, tucks his head onto his godmother's shoulder, waves and shyly says, "Hi."
"Hello," Charlie greets him.
D smiles and ducks his head playfully.
"Look at you. Have you no shame? Flirting with Aunt Dani's boyfriend?" Katie teases her son.
"Oh, he flirts with everything," Dani smiles, poking the boy's ribs and earning a giggle. "I won't take it personally."
And though they've both made leaps and bounds in being open, Charlie certainly didn't expect for Dani to not only take Katie's teasing well, but to acknowledge it and play along. Charlie's smile just grows wider, realizing more and more what a big step this is.
All throughout dinner, D regales them with his almost two-year-old speech, of which Crews understands half, Reese seems to get three-fourths of, and Katie seems to completely comprehend. He's quiet only once the diner waitress supplies chicken fingers and fries.
Dani and Katie tell stories of their childhood, and Dani only makes token objections about the embarrassing ones.
"How'd you meet?" Charlie asks once he gets a word in edgewise.
That one makes each woman pause, looking to each other. Dani shrugs, and Katie frowns.
"I have no idea," Katie admits, surprise in her voice. "Do you remember, Dani?"
Dani shakes her head. "Not at all. I guess pre-school or kindergarten. Or just playing in the neighborhood?"
"Neither of you remember anything?"
Dani laughs a little. "I don't remember NOT knowing Kate."
Katie grins at that. "Yeah, I have memories going back to kindergarten, so it had to be before that. Weird."
"I think it's nice," Charlie says. "Having a friend so long you can't remember how you met."
"You don't have any of those, Charlie?" Katie asks.
"I can't remember the last time I talked to someone who knew me when I was a kid. Oh, hey. I bet I know who you can ask: Noor."
"Oh, I bet Noor does know!" Katie gasps, "Ask her." With that order, she nudges Dani.
"Okay, okay. You don't have to hit me."
"I have another question."
Dani rolls her eyes. "Hopefully this one's not as hard."
"Ask away, Detective."
"What did you swear? The pinky scars. Friends forever?"
Katie smiles. "Pretty much. We were eight."
Dani's face is more serious. "That no one and no thing would come between us. No boys, no parents, no clique-y girls at school. Not being grown ups."
Katie meets her eyes, and her smile gets softer. "Guess we did okay on that one."
"Yeah, guess we did. There were rough spots."
"Yeah, you were so much more popular than me, but any time you tried to ditch me, I blackmailed you with our scars."
Dani laughs, loud and genuine. Charlie loves it.
"Blackmailed with a blood oath. I love it. Story of our friendship."
"Hey," Dani greets Charlie warmly as she enters the living room. Noor is right behind her. Both are laden with shopping bags. Her eyes glance up the stairs and a tinge of worry enters her voice. "How's he doing?"
Charlie looks up from his book with tired eyes, unfolding his long legs and standing to greet his wife and mother-in-law.
"He fell asleep about half an hour ago," he answers, relieving her of her bags with a soft kiss at her cheek. "Early for him, I know, but I think he was exhausted. He calmed down right before dinner, but he barely kept his eyes open long enough to eat."
Dani nods, resisting the urge to run up and check on him.
"This is all you got?" Charlie says, just a little too brightly, but genuine all the same.
"Oh no, the car is full," Noor half-smiles. "We thought we'd leave those for you."
"I guess that is my manly duty," Charlie teases.
"I'll come with you," Dani volunteers.
"I'm going to turn in for the night. I'll stick my head in on Daniel on my way up. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Maaman-bee."
Dani wishes her mother sweet dreams and thanks her for a lovely day in their shared language, kissing her goodnight.
"You should have called me earlier," Dani scolds as they return to the garage, and she would die before she admits that it comes out a little petulant.
"D and I had it under control," he assures her softly. "You couldn't have helped any more."
At her angry glance, he continues, "Not like that, and you know it."
She crosses her arms over her expanding stomach, already six months along.
"Sometimes he just gets in these moods," he presses on. "I should've known the movie was going to be a problem, but it'll be okay."
Dani bites her lip, obviously still a bit put out but willing to drop it.
"Did you have a good time?" Charlie asks, bright again as he leans into the open trunk to retrieve some of the bags. He's willing to keep talking until she's ready to talk back. "Whoa, that's a lot of pink."
An unconscious smile plays at Dani's lips as she rolls her eyes. He's rewarded early for his patience.
"Those three together are deadly. We should've never told them it was a girl. That's half of the pink they wanted to buy! I made them buy other colors, too."
"Girls like pink, right?"
She fixes him with a withering stare, but her eyes are still grinning, which completely softens the blow.
"You really think he's going to be okay?" she switches back to the topic they're still both actually thinking about.
"He's D," Charlie assures her. "He'll wake up in the morning, and his only worry will be how many pancakes he can con Maaman-bee into making him."
"True…" Dani draws out, grabbing the last few bags out of the backseat as Charlie shuts the trunk with a dull thud. "School starts in less than a month. Do you think he'll be alright at the new school?"
"He'll be great." They enter the kitchen and set the monstrous piles of shopping bags onto the island. "Did you call and make that appointment for the conference?"
"Left a message," she confirms, lifting herself onto one of the stools with an audible sigh of relief. Her feet are killing her. "I'm sure his teacher will get back to us."
"Hey, you decided what color we're painting Mango's room yet?"
"Not. Pink," she groans as he passes her a glass of water and a bowl of cookie dough ice cream. She manages a warm smile at the latter. "Thanks."
"Mango always seems to like her cookie dough at the end of the day."
"Mango. Sure," she grins. She looks down into the bowl, contemplating.
Charlie lets her think while she methodically devours the ice cream, busying himself in the kitchen easily.
"I'm gonna go check on him," she announces as she deposits her empty bowl into the sink.
Dani takes her time up the stairs, half listening to the comforting noise of Charlie loading the dishwasher and humming an indeterminate tune under his breath. In Daniel's doorway, she pauses, leaning against it. He sleeps deeply, as he always does, splayed out on the entire width of his bed. She inhales deeply; the room already smells like D, of bubble gum and kid sweat and Katie.
"I'm sorry," she whispers softly into the room, which is lit only by a small nightlight in the corner. D sleeps on, unaware.
She stares, praying (to what, she doesn't know) that Charlie would walk in and stop her. But he's stuck in traffic, she knows, the weight of the day pressing down on her. Unruly suspects, dead end leads, and a dead third grader. Reviews and the lieutenant's test. Tidwell being Tidwell, passing on the pressure from upstairs about hers and Charlie's string of unsolveds. A fight with Charlie, about work or home or how difficult it is to keep the two apart.
She continues to stare, and then slowly removes the vodka from its paper bag, desperate now for anyone, Ted, Rachel, the cleaning lady, the pool guy, to walk in and catch her. To stop her. Because she can't stop herself.
She reaches for the vodka, unscrewing the cap. They say you can't smell good vodka, but its scent still hits her like a brick. Before she can take a swig, her cell rings. The sound is harsh and painful and blessed.
"Katie, now isn't really a great time," she lies in greeting.
"D wants to talk to you," Katie ignores her, and before Dani can protest, the three-and-a-half year old's voice fills her ear.
"Hi, Aun' Dani," he says brightly. "Mama and me went to the park today."
She feels overwhelmingly sick now at the smell and sight of the bottle.
"What you did?" he prompts.
"I went to work."
"So you can buy me toys?"
She laughs, hearing Katie's scolding on the other end.
"Yeah, buddy," she answers, picking up the bottle and walking over to the counter. "Is today a preschool day?"
"No, tomorrow."
"Oh, okay. What did you do at the park?"
"Play," he answers simply.
"Right, of course. Silly Aunt Dani."
"Silly," he giggles. "When are you 'n' Uncle Charlie comin' over?"
"In two days."
"How many sleeps?"
"Two."
"Mama says time for dinner."
"Oh, okay."
"Gotta go, bye! Love you!" D says by rote.
"I love you, buddy," she says seriously.
"Mama says hi! Bye!"
The phone clicks off. Dani sets it on the counter and stares one last second at the bottle.
Then she pours it down the drain.
TBC