Everyone has two families. The one they are born into, and the one they chose

THE FAMILY I CHOOSE

Eric and Nell's apartment

Nell woke up in blackness and rolled onto her side. The clock showed that it was 5 am, 30 min before their alarm went off. She rolled over to curl against her fiancé, Eric but felt only empty bed. She sat up, looking around trying to see where she was. She stood up, slipped on her pajamas that had found their way to the floor last night and went out into the living room.

Eric sat at the table, a bunch of papers spread out in front of him. He took a drink from his coffee and read the most recent letter that he had received yesterday. He felt her hands glide over her shoulders.

"Morning." She whispered to him.

"Morning. Sorry if I woke you up." He said.

"It's ok." She said as she went to grab herself a cup of coffee.

"What is all this?" She asked, glancing over the pages.

"Family stuff. It's complicated." He said, obviously dodging her question.

She knew he wasn't willing to talk to her about it so she kissed his cheek.

"Ok, Eric. Just let me know when you are ready to talk." She said, taking his hand and squeezing it.

"I will, Nell. Thank you." He said, truly grateful that she understood his need for space.

"I am going to get ready." She said as she left to go take a shower and prepare for work.

An hour later she came out dressed for work as Eric was gathering up everything and putting it in his bag.

"Nell, I'm sorry about earlier. I shouldn't hide things from you. All this stuff was from a lawyer in San Jose who is representing my Great Aunt Deloris. She is dying and has prepared a will that includes me." He explained.

"I thought you didn't have any contact with your family?" She asked.

"I don't. She was the only one who tried to keep in touch with me. She was the only one that remotely cared for me after my parents were killed. Last night I received a letter from the lawyer that she is on her death bed and she wants to see me." He said, handing her the letter.

"Do you want to go?" She asked, looking up from the letter.

"I don't know. Half of me does want to because it's her. But the other half of me doesn't because I don't want to see them." He said, the bitterness barely veiled in his voice.

She reached out and stroked his cheek. "It's up to you, Eric. I will back you up regardless." She said as she giving him a reassuring kiss.

"Come on, I'll drive." She said as she grabbed the keys to their car and they left to head to the Mission.

Mission

Eric opened the door and let Nell pass as he closed the door behind them. Walking down the hallway Nell went up to Ops to start the day while Eric walked over to Hetty's desk. She looked up at him as he stepped up to her.

"Can I talk to you a moment, Hetty?" He asked.

"Of course, Mr. Beale. Please sit." She said waving him to one of the chairs. She poured him a cup of the tea she just made.

"Thanks." He said as he took it and took a drink.

"What is on your mind?" She asked.

"Do we have any cases today?" He asked.

She pursued her lips. "Not that I have heard of, why?"

He pulled out the letter and handed it to her.

"Because I just received this yesterday." He said.

She took it and read over it. "And you are conflicted if you should go?"

He smiled. She knew how to read his mind.

"I understand your confusion, Mr. Beale. From what you have told me in the past your Aunts and Uncles are not the most pleasant of people." She said.

"I really want to see her but I am worried that something will happen and a huge scene will be made." He said.

"A valid fear, but one I think the risk is worth. She is the last real connection to your family. And you did not get to say goodbye to your parents." Hetty said.

"I shouldn't be gone for more than a day at the most." He said.

"We will worry about that when the time comes, Mr. Beale. I have no qualms allowing you and Miss Jones the time to go." She said.

"I really appreciate it, Hetty." He said.

He reached into his bag and pulled out the rest of the papers.

"Can I ask one more favor?" He said as he set the papers on her desk.

"Do you mind looking over these? This is not something I'm familiar with and I want to do it properly." He said.

"I will make some calls. Now, go take care of any business you have here and then have Nell and yourself meet me in wardrobe. I will have suitable attire ready for you." Hetty said.

6 hours later

Eric pulled the car up to the large house and put it into park. He turned the car off and they both got out. Eric smoothed his shirt out and grabbed the suit jacket from the back and put it on. Nell adjusted the dress she was wearing as she walked over to him and help adjust his tie.

"You will do fine. Let's do what you need to do and go home. Not one second longer then we need to be, okay?" She said.

"Okay." He said. She kissed him gently and then took his hand and walked up the stairs to the door. He rang the doorbell. After a few moments an overweight man in shorts, tank top, and Hawaiian shirt with a horseshoe head of hair answered the door. His eyes looked shocked and then changed to suspicion.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He asked.

Eric pulled out the letter from his jacket.

"She wants to see me." He said, his eyes narrow. Nell squeezed his hand gently.

The man took the letter and read it. As he did he backed away and let them in. A man in a suit walked in.

"You must be Eric. I am glad you could make it. I'm Richard Franklin and I am representing Deloris." He said as she stuck his hand out. Eric shook it.

"To be honest I almost didn't come. This is my fiancé, Nell." He said.

"A pleasure." Richard responded.

"I will go see if she is ready to see you. She has been resting constantly. I'll be right back." Richard said as he walked up stairs toward the master bedroom.

"Are you going to introduce us?" The fat man said, shoving the letter back toward Eric.

"Hadn't planned on it but since you insist. Nell, this is my Uncle Jessie, his wife Donna, their 3 daughters Lisa, Laura, and Lana. Also my uncle Charlie and his wife Maria." Eric pointed them out

Donna was skinny, almost to the point of being skin and bones. She had the bronze skin of a sun worshiper and wore a faded summer dress. The 3 girls all had the same bronze skin and blonde hair, typical valley girls. Charlie was dressed in a suit that made him look like a used car salesman from the 80s and Maria looked right out of the same era.

One of the girls, the name Nell instantly forgot, made a snide comment about Nell's dress that she heard. Something along the lines of getting it at a flea market.

"Actually, girl whose name is not important enough for me to remember, this dress is 100% Egyptian cotton, hand woven in Cairo, by a master seamstress. Its worth 5 grand, and you know what? I can afford it because he is a computer programmer and I am a national news producer and together we make over 70k a year. Comes with each of us having individual IQs that are higher than your bra sizes combined!" Nell lashed out, instantly shutting them up. She glared at the parents, almost begging them to say something before Richard came back down.

"She is ready to see you." He said as he waved them up. As they climbed the stairs Richard leaned into Eric.

"I spoke with Miss Lange. She said she would handle everything on your behalf." He whispered.

"Thank you. I appreciate it." Eric replied as he opened the door to the master bedroom.

Lying on the bed was a frail woman propped up by pillows. There was an EKG machine monitoring her heart beat and an oxygen tank with tubes in her nose. Eric moved over and sat down in the chair next to the bed. He reached out and took her hand gently.

"Deloris?" He said in a low voice. Her eyes fluttered open. She blinked a few times trying to focus and when she did her face erupted in a smile.

"Eric? Oh my sweet Eric. I was hoping you would come." She said as she reached out to him. He leaned in closer so she could kiss him on the forehead.

"To be honest, I almost didn't" Eric said as he sat back down.

"I don't blame you, Eric." She said as she settled back down against the pillows.

"One of my biggest regrets is what happened to you after your parents died. I spent months trying to find you but I couldn't" She said.

"I didn't want to be found." He said, his voice cracking.

"Still there was so much more I could have done. But I was too self absorbed to try." She said, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Don't blame yourself Aunt Deloris. I turned out better than I could have dreamed." He said, Nell shut the door and walked over to stand behind him.

"I am a Federal Agent for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. I have a family there. A former Cold War spy as a mother, a Navy Seal, Marine brat, CIA agent, and LAPD detective as siblings. And I have the most beautiful woman in the world as my best friend, my partner, and my fiancé." He said as Nell placed a hand on his shoulders.

"We do good things. We save lives, we make the world safe." He said.

"I am so proud of you Eric. I can leave this world happy that you turned out better than I could have ever dreamed of." Deloris said, wiping a tear from her eye. She looked over at Nell.

"Come here, my dear." She reached out and kissed Nell on the forehead as well.

"You take care of my Eric." She said.

"Eric is a lot stronger then he gives himself credit for. You have nothing to worry about." Nell said as she squeezed Deloris' hand.

"I love you, Eric." Deloris said.

"I love you too, Aunt Deloris." Eric said, smiling.

"When I see your Mom and Dad I will tell them how much of a good man you grew up to be." She said.

"I think they will like that." Eric said, wiping a tear from his eye. He leaned in and kissed her and then stood up. He took a moment to compose himself before opening the door and leaving the room.

Richard walked up to him in the living room.

"Thank you for letting me know." Eric said as he shook hands.

"It was the least I could do." He said.

"You aren't staying for the Will?" One of his relatives said, Eric didn't even bother finding out who.

"No, I have work to do back in LA. There is nothing left for me here" Eric said. Nell took his hand and kissed him.

"Let's go home, Wolfram." She said.

"Lead the way, Rockstar." He said. They left the house and got into the car. Nell decided to drive back to give Eric some time to think.

Mission

It was well into the evening when they pulled into the Mission. Walking inside they saw that Hetty was waiting for them.

"I take it your visit was worth it?" Hetty asked.

"It was. Thank you." Eric said as Nell went to go change.

"I did speak with Mr. Franklin. I provided him all the information for the charities you asked for. But I just have one question. Do you want to at least keep a little bit of the money? There is a lot you could do with it." Hetty asked.

"I could never use 5 million dollars Hetty. And after what I saw greed do to my family I don't even want a thousand. I am happy where I am and that is not going to change." Eric said.

Nell walked up to him and wrapped her arm around him. She looked at him with loving eyes.

"How much of that did you hear?" He asked, embarrassed.

"All of it. And I am not upset in the least. You are a good man, Eric." She said as she kissed him.

"Now, go change so we can go home." She said.

"Don't worry about coming in tomorrow." Hetty said to them.

"Hetty?" Eric said questiongly.

"Eric, you need to grieve in your own way. Go surfing tomorrow; spend a day at the beach, whatever you need to do. We will last the day without the two of you." Hetty said, giving him a reassuring smile.

He nodded in acceptance and left to go change.

Eric and Nell's apartment

"So she is leaving you 5 million?" Nell asked as they walked into their apartment.

"Yea, her entire fortune. The rest of them get nothing." Eric said as he set their stuff down and sat down on the couch.

"And you are donating it all." She said, more of a statement then a question.

"Various military and orphan charities. It can be put to better use then anything I could do with it." He said as she curled up against him.

"I remember why I love you." She said as she flicked the TV on and pulled up a show they recorded on the DVR. She set the remote down and took his hand. He thought in the back of his head.

Everyone has two families. One they are born into and one they choose. I'll choose this family any day of the week.

He smiled as he gently squeezed her against him.

Let's face it. The Nerds don't get enough love around here. Eric is really the only character they have not touched on his history. No mention of family or anything before he joined NCIS. I hope at somepoint they do an episode that focuses completly on him and his past.

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