Disclaimer: I don't own Numb3rs.
AN: I'm not around eight year olds too much, so I don't really know how they act. I do know my eight year old cousin's extremely hyper, so that's how Charlie's going to act. I blame Charlie's acting like a little boy on his fear of everything changing for him. He doesn't really understand what's happening. However, he will still refer to Alan as Daddy, and Margaret as Mommy. My eight year old cousin still calls her parents that. Charlie will be acting older now.
Charlie Eppes was scared. Daddy was with him, but Mommy was gone and Donnie was really old.
"What's wrong?" Don asked his little brother. He was still freaking about the fact that his thirty-one year old brother was now eight.
"I miss Mommy, and I want to go to school," Charlie confessed.
"I know you do, Buddy. But we can have fun here," Don assured his brother. He was still a protective older brother, whether Charlie was thirty-one or eight.
"Do I have to go to bed?" Charlie asked. He didn't want to sleep. What if he was kidnapped? He had watched the news the other night, and someone had been kidnapped. Charlie was in high school with Don, but he knew that bad people were still out there.
"Of course you do," Alan told him.
"Daddy, I don't have school in the morning," Charlie whined.
"Charles," Alan warned.
"Sorry, Daddy," Charlie said. He was eight and in high school. He was practically a grown up now.
"It's okay," Alan assured him. He couldn't believe how quickly he had stepped back into the mindset of raising an eight year old, especially his genius eight year old who still could get into some trouble.
"Can I read a book?" Charlie asked his father nervously.
"Of course you can," Alan said.
"Lights out by 9:30," Don reminded him. He flinched in shock. How had he remembered such a miniscule detail like that?
"I know," Charlie said.
"I'm going back to my apartment," Don informed his father.
"No," Charlie cried, surprising Alan and Don. He didn't want Don to go.
"Why not?" Don asked.
"You need to stay here," Charlie insisted.
"Why?" asked the concerned Alan. He didn't remember Charlie being this clingy when he was eight the first time.
"Because he needs to stay," Charlie said.
"I'll stay," Don promised. He got out the spare clothes he kept at the house and changed into his pajamas. He slipped into his old bed.
He was woken up at 3:30AM by a very scared little boy.
"Donnie," cried Charlie.
"What's wrong?" Don murmured, still sleeping a little.
"I didn't want to bother Daddy," Charlie frantically explained to his brother.
"Charlie, calm down and explain what's wrong," Don said, now worried.
"I had a nightmare and it scared me," Charlie explained. A werewolf had been attacking Mommy, and Charlie (who was really old, like Don) had been in the garage. He hadn't been able to stop Mommy from dying.
"You want to sleep with me?" Don asked, remembering that when Charlie was older, he always used to want to climb into bed with his brother after a nightmare or a thunderstorm.
"It's okay. I'll go back to my bed," Charlie sadly told his brother.
"Buddy, it's fine," Don said. Charlie gave him a watery smile, and barely managed to get up into the bed.
The next day would be spent getting even more adjusted to eight year old Charlie.
TBC