Title: Archaeopteryx
Author:
loozy Characters: little!Don- pov; Eppes- family
Rating: PG- 13/ K
Summary: On weekends, when his parents are not too occupied and Little League has finished, he begs them to take him to the Natural History Museum so that he can look at the skeletons and fossils. Again. And again. And again.
Word Count: 405
Spoilers: none
Notes/Warnings: Just yet another wee ficlet that came to mind when I was trying to write job applications...
Prompt/Challenge (if applicable): none
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this fic. Numb3rs and everybody associated with it belongs to Cheryl Heuton & Nick Fallucci and CBS. I’m just having fun.
Feedback: Yes, please. I love all criticism, as long as it is constructed and helpful.
Don loves dinosaurs.
He has a lot of books on them, he even has some of them build from wood and set up in his room, waiting for Charlie to sneak in and go through his stuff. Then they will attack him, because dinosaurs love little brothers.
At least that is what Don tells Charlie.
Charlie, nods as if he believes him and then still goes into Don’s room. He goes through Don’s baseball- card collection, he sits at his desk and goes through his books. And he does not put the things back. Don begs his parents for a lock.
Of course, his parents refuse.
They think it is cute that Charlie, with his diapered bottom, always waddles over into Donnie’s room when his brother is in school. Don doesn’t see the humour, especially not on the day when he comes home to find Charlie sitting on the floor, while Mom is cleaning the bathroom, bits and pieces of wood- dinosaurs strewn around him.
That is the first time that Charlie gets grounded and Donnie gets a little bit more ice cream for desert and Mom takes him shopping on Saturday for new dinosaur- models.
On weekends, when his parents are not too occupied and Little League has finished, he begs them to take him to the Natural History Museum so that he can look at the skeletons and fossils. Again. And again. And again.
Usually, it is Dad who takes him. Mom stays at home with Charlie.
His favourite dinosaur is not the tyrannosaurus rex or any of the other hunters, but the first bird ever, the transition between dinosaurs and birds. He imagines being one of them, in a different time and place, of course, nothing touching him while he is soaring through the air, no family. No little brothers. People would be afraid, he could properly protect his room from inquisitive little hands.
It would be just him.
Don likes the thought of that.
Until Dad carries him to the car on his shoulders and runs around madly to give Don a feeling as though he was flying or swings him around in his arms. At home Don does the same to Charlie and the squirt squeals and claps his hand hugs Donnie, tells him he loves him and Don realizes that having a family is not half- bad.
Escape is always nice, but the security of love is even nicer.