Part 6 – Expanding the Team

Don opened the door to his family's house and let the cats dart in ahead of him. They went straight to his dad and began meowing. Alan dutifully turned to go get them some of the cat-safe milk.

"You'd think we don't feed them," Will said, coming in behind him and closing the door.

"No, they're just spoiled," Don said with a smile. He looked around for Charlie or Colby. He was curious about this last-minute dinner invitation that had come from Colby instead of Alan as usual. He didn't see Nena, either, though he knew she was in residence by the pink backpack near the front door.

After they stowed their guns in the safe, Don and Will went into the kitchen. Charlie, Colby and Alan were putting together dinner.

"So what's up?" Don asked. "If Dad invites us to dinner, we haven't been around in too long and he's got extra brisket. If Charlie invites us, he wants to pick our brains about something. If Colby invites us …" He looked at Will. "Not sure he ever has."

"Busted," Colby said. "We might as well just tell you. Charlie, you get to do this one."

"But you do so well—"

Colby just raised his eyebrows and Charlie relented. Don would have to get Colby to teach him that trick.

But Charlie's next words knocked that thought right out of his head.

"Me and Colby are going to have a baby."

Don stared at him then began to smile. "Buddy, I think you need a biology lesson." He smiled wider, remembering Will saying ages ago that he'd tried to get Don pregnant to invoke a shotgun wedding.

"Seriously?" Will asked.

"Yes," Charlie said.

Don's smile vanished. "Whoa, wait, seriously?"

"Adoption?" Will asked.

"Nope," Charlie said, "A genetic child, an Eppes baby."

"Whoa …" Don said, at a loss for anything else to say. "How? Cloning?"

"No, not cloning – egg and sperm, the usual."

"Not usual at all …" Don said.

"Are you sure about this?" Will asked.

Colby and Charlie both nodded firmly.

There was a stunned silence and Don leaned against the counter. He looked over at his father, who had been silent. "Wow, Dad, you're gonna be a grandfather again."

"That's right," Alan said with a smile.

"Ha!" Will said. "I called it!"

Don eyed him then began to laugh. "Oh, no, you're not claiming this one. You thought it was Dragon!"

"I didn't say I was sure …" Will said with a smug grin. "Hindsight counts."

"It does not!"

"What's this?" Alan asked.

Don said, "Oh, Will had a dream a while ago – six months? – where Mom told him that there was gonna be a new grandchild."

"Really?" Charlie said. "And you thought it was your cat?"

"Well," Will shrugged. "She said the child would be a handful and Dragon certainly is."

"Did she say boy or girl?" Colby asked.

Will shook his head. "Nope, she was mostly there to tell me to get the Hell out of undercover work before I got myself killed."

Alan smiled sadly. "Yeah, that sounds like something she'd say."

"And you did get out," Charlie said, "Into teaching."

"I still go under sometimes," Will protested.

Don hid a grimace. This was a sore point between them and he really didn't want to bring that argument up tonight.

"C'mon, guys, tell me more about this baby plan," he said instead.

"It's not really a plan yet," Charlie said. "More like a, uh …"

"Statement of intent," Alan supplied.

"And that intent is?" Don asked.

Colby answered, "Charlie's sperm, a donor egg, surrogate mother, then, voilà, baby."

"Then diapers, spit-up, and no sleep," Will said.

"Yep," Colby smiled.

"We're already moving ahead, though," Charlie said. "I talked today with that clinic in Oregon."

"What clinic?" Don asked.

"Oh," Charlie said. "Guess I never told you about that. A while ago, I donated to a sperm bank that's collecting genetic material of humanity's 'best and brightest.'"

"How'd you get asked then?" Don responded, the tease coming automatically.

"Sounds kind of … Eugenics," Will said uneasily.

"That was the Nazi science about creating the 'perfect race'?" Don asked.

"Yeah," Will said.

"I was worried about that too," Charlie said quickly. "But I checked it out very thoroughly and so did Millie, and you know she can find out anything about anybody."

"But maybe you could check them out, too?" Will asked Don.

"Run an FBI check?" Don asked. "I could probably run a basic check without needing to justify it."

Will nodded.

"That's a great idea!" Charlie said. "Because Colby and I are going to fly up there on Monday to meet with them." He looked at Don. "That's if Colby's boss will give him the time off."

"Sure, of course," Don said.

"That was easy," Colby smiled.

"Probably the only part of this that's gonna be easy," Don replied.

Colby shrugged.

"Wow, a baby," Don said. "They don't start out walking and talking and feeding themselves, you know, Charlie."

"I know that," Charlie snapped. "But there's books, I can figure it out."

Alan snorted and shook his head.

Colby smiled wryly. "So, guys, can we count on you to help out?"

"Uhh," Don said, meeting Will's alarmed look with one of his own. "How much help out?"

"Just occasionally take care of the baby or something. We're hoping to be able to afford to hire a nanny, but the surrogacy could cost a ton of money."

"Umm," Don said with a half-shrug, "How can we say 'no'? It'll be family. But we'll just be backups, occasional backups, right?"

"Right," Colby smiled. "But they say it takes a whole village to raise a child."

"What village?" Charlie asked, startled. "We don't live in a village. Do we need to live in a village?"

Don chuckled at Charlie's anxious expression and turned to Charlie's husband. "Colby, you really don't take the easy road in life, do you?"

Colby smirked. "Naw."

The oven dinged and Alan pulled out a roast chicken that smelled wonderful. There was a sudden hustle of food and plates. Don and Will cleared out of the kitchen and went to claim their chairs.

"A baby …" Will said in astonishment.

"A Charlie Junior …" Don replied, equally stunned. "What if the kid's a genius, too?"

Colby came out of the kitchen, holding a salad bowl, and called up the stairs. "Nena, dinner's ready! The book will still be there when you're done."

"Hey, Don," Will said quietly, "I know how you can justify running an FBI check on that clinic."

"How?"

"So they have Charlie's sperm, and women could be using it to have babies, right?"

"Right …" Don said, always wary when Will was wearing this particular wicked expression.

"In theory, there could be hundreds of little Charlies and Charlenes all over the place by now."

"Yeah …"

"That has to be investigated," Will grinned. "Sounds like bioterrorism to me!"