FIC: In the Arms of the Wicked, 34/36 (Colby/Charlie, Alan, David, Don, Liz, OFC, PG-13)
Title: "Father"
Series: In the Arms of the Wicked, Part 34/36
Characters: Colby/Charlie, Alan, David, Don, Liz, OFC.
Rating: PG-13.
Spoilers: None.
Warnings: None.
Summary: Who is the father of Amita's child?
Disclaimer: I don't own anything (characters, situations, etcetera) except my OCs.
Beta: The fantastic twins_m0m and the great lillyg
Previous chapters: Click here.
Previous chapter
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34: Father
The days went by too fast. People kept talking, coming up with ideas. Colby didn’t really pay attention to them; something was keeping his mind busy enough.
When the date of the appointment at the medical center arrived, he felt numb. What if Amita’s child was Charlie’s? What would he do? He wasn’t ready to raise a kid; neither of them was.
They hadn’t avoided conversations about it. During the last week, they’d touched the subject a few times. They’d talked about what would happen if the baby turned out to be Charlie's and they had to take care of him or her. But their assumptions and ideas always seemed to be incomplete. A kid coming into their lives would change everything, and they still had so much to learn about each other. They still had to learn to live as a couple, to understand about what they felt.
Now, conversations didn’t matter much. It was time to find out the answer.
Colby rang the bell at the Eppes house and waited. Breathing hard, he wondered what Charlie’s family would say. They’d had a lot going on, with Don’s suspension and Charlie’s possible fatherhood.
Soon, the door opened and Alan offered Colby his hand. “Hello, Colby. Please, come in.”
“Good morning, Mr. Eppes… How’s your heart?”
“I gotta take life easy, rest, do some exercise, take my pills and see my doctor frequently.”
That didn’t sound so good. “Will you be okay with… you know… this?”
Alan nodded. “I'll be okay. Besides, it’s my son who we’re talking about here, I have to be there.” He was very serious when he gestured Colby to sit down. “Come in, please. I want to tell you what I told my son an hour ago.”
“What was that?” Colby muttered as he sat down. The situation was a bit uncomfortable for him.
“I told him that no matter what, he has you.”
The words hit Colby’s heart hard. He’d been repeating those words to his lover during the last days, without getting any results. He’d known for long time that Alan was okay with his relationship with Charlie, but hearing him say this was very touching.
“After all, you told the FBI that you are together,” Alan continued. “That means something.”
“Yeah, it does.” Colby rubbed the back of his head and added, “I care about Charlie a lot. I’m all in.” He got a sweet smile from Alan.
“Then everything will be all right.”
Smiling back, Colby watched him get up. “Thanks.”
“For what? I’m just telling the truth,” the older man stated, and winked. Then he grabbed his jacket, which was over the next couch. “Donnie, hurry up! You got up at five today, shouldn’t you be awake?”
Don had been up since five a.m.? The idea of him not working still managed to affect Colby. He wondered what kind of collateral effects that could have on his former boss.
“Coming!” Don yelled from the kitchen. When he came in, he greeted Colby by raising the cup of coffee he was drinking. “Hey, I use to get loads of this stuff at the office. It’s not like I can suddenly quit.”
Colby grinned, trying to keep up with Don’s optimism, but it was strange that he was taking his suspension so well. He’d always been a man of action, and leaving a job that had absorbed most of his time, efforts and thoughts couldn’t be easy. But then again, he was probably doing this to not add more drama to the current situation. Charlie was in the spotlight today, and he didn’t need any extra stress.
“Where’s your brother?” Alan asked, and Don was about to respond when Charlie’s voice came up.
“I’m here, Dad.”
There was no smile on his face, like Colby expected. “Shall we go?”
Nodding, Charlie walked down the stairs and avoided talking to him as he grabbed his coat. Colby didn’t push. It was neither the right time nor the place. He tried to remember Alan’s advice, to just be there for the one he loved, and stand by him whatever came along.
They all came out of the house and split into two groups for the ride to the medical center. Don drove his car with Alan by his side, and Colby drove his, accompanied by Charlie. Colby didn’t ask any questions, and once they arrived at the hospital, he didn’t even tried to touch him.
Once they found the doctor’s office, they saw David seated down on a chair in front of the door. He looked seriously broken. He had bags under his eyes and he was messily dressed. Don put a hand on David’s shoulder, and Alan sat in another chair. Colby just hoped he hadn’t been drinking, like he used to do. He couldn’t stand to see him like that.
He noticed that Charlie had stopped in his tracks when he’d noticed David, and that for a moment, they’d locked eyes. Charlie walked towards David, and then sat on the next chair. Colby stood up beside his lover, resting his back on the wall, wondering how everything would turn out and which outcome would be the worst.
The door suddenly opened. “Charles Eppes, David Sinclair,” a dark-haired woman with glasses and a white lab coat called. The two men hesitated but then got up. She nodded as they went into her office, and finally closed the door.
They were gone. They were gone, about to find out how their lives would change forever, and Colby was out. He couldn’t be there at the exact moment the mystery was revealed. If Charlie broke, he wouldn’t be able to hold his hand, and if David did, Colby wouldn’t be able to support him and tell him that everything would be all right.
Where was everyone else? David had asked for only the key people to go to the hospital. Apparently, he didn’t want anyone else to see him break if he did. But that didn’t mean that no one could come just to support him.
Just as he was wondering why no one had showed up, he heard footsteps coming towards him, and noticed Alan raising his eyebrows. “Hello,” Charlie’s father said, and when Colby followed his gaze, he saw a worried woman coming closer.
“Hello. Are you David’s friends?”
Colby nodded and offered a chair to her. “Yeah. I suppose you’re his sister. He told us you were coming.”
“I’m glad,” she said, shaking his hand and then everyone else’s. Then she took the seat Colby had offered her and started rubbing her palms anxiously.
But that wasn’t the only visitor David would get. Someone was running towards Colby and the rest. It was Liz. “Are they in already?” she yelled when she was almost at the doctor’s door.
To Colby, it was so good to see all the important people there. He knew that Liz worried about David, but seeing her flushed and sweating from trying to get to the hospital in time was heart-wrenching.
Don rubbed his forehead and responded, “Yep, they’re in and we’re here, waiting.”
Shaking her head, Liz sat down and tried to catch her breath. “Damn, I would have liked to talk to him first… I’m not sure what I would have said, but…” Her eyes landed on David’s sister and she offered her hand to her. “Sorry, I hadn’t seen you… I’m Liz Warner, one of David’s colleagues.”
“Jay Sinclair,” the other woman introduced herself, accepting Liz’s hand. Then they joined the rest of the group waiting for the news.
Colby could barely concentrate on them, though. People came and went - nurses, doctors, patients, relatives - and it was hard for him to think of anything but the noises and the hard beating of his heart. The sound of blood flowing pounded in his ears as he got more and more nervous. All his previous conversations with Charlie swirled in his mind, dragging him away from the moment.
“What if it’s mine?” his lover had said once as he took off his socks beside the bed. Then he’d thrown them onto the floor with anger.
From between the sheets, Colby had tried to assure him that he’d help him face what may come. “Charlie, calm down… You’re not alone.”
“I know, but I’m not ready to have a kid! I’ll never be ready!”
Those had been Charlie’s exact words, and even now, Colby couldn’t really figure out what they meant. His lover had never shared his exact feelings, though he’d stated over and over again that he really didn’t want Amita’s child to be his.
The memory of that night disappeared as Charlie and David came out of the doctor’s office and the door closed behind them. Equally affected, they stared at the floor, not paying attention to anyone. The stress had to be that tough.
Charlie took a deep breath and David looked up with the eyes of a desperate man.
There it was, the answer Colby was expecting. It wasn’t his lover who would have a child, it was his partner, and how could someone deal with a child born from a rape?
David looked around and found his sister. She went towards him and hugged him like it was the last thing she’d do in her life. They started walking out together, and after Liz patted Charlie’s shoulder, she followed David and Jay.
“Hey, buddy… There’s nothing to worry about, after all,” Don muttered, leaning over to give his brother a short hug. Charlie didn't react.
Alan suggested to Charlie that he should sit down and he did. Then Alan said something about going to get some coffee with Don, but again, Colby wasn’t paying much attention. He didn’t even hear Don and Alan’s footsteps as they left. He was completely into what Charlie could be feeling right now. His lover’s hands were resting on his thighs, and his body seemed to have lost all energy as it sat languidly on the chair.
“Charlie,” Colby muttered, being careful about asking any specific questions. He felt that it was better for the kid not to be crazy Bob Berenson’s son or daughter, though.
The other man’s gaze remained fixed on the doctor’s door. “I feel so… relieved… and I shouldn’t… I mean, I’m just thinking… I wouldn’t have been able to raise a kid. Not now… not ever.”
There it was, the same conversation again. However, there was no rage this time. “Don’t say that.”
“Don, he could always connect with kids. Me… I was never good at anything related to them. I can’t even babysit…”
So that was where all his fears were coming from. Colby didn’t know how to make his lover’s sadness go away.
Charlie turned to face the end of the corridor. There, David was holding Liz as tight as possible, hiding his face on the crook of her neck. Beside them, his sister couldn’t stop crying at the news. “Do you think he’ll be able to take it?”
It was a hard question to answer. There was only one thing Colby could say about it, though. Looking in the same direction as his lover, he took a deep breath. “I’m not sure, but I know him and he’s strong,” he muttered. “I think he’ll be a good dad… and so will you someday, if you really want to.”
He was counting on his words to make Charlie turn back to him. But when the mathematician reached out for him and embraced him, he could understand all the feelings that were going through Charlie.
He couldn’t do anything but reciprocate. Sometimes, a warm, soft hug was all that was needed, especially in moments like these, when one perspective of a new life faded away as another was born.
Series: In the Arms of the Wicked, Part 34/36
Characters: Colby/Charlie, Alan, David, Don, Liz, OFC.
Rating: PG-13.
Spoilers: None.
Warnings: None.
Summary: Who is the father of Amita's child?
Disclaimer: I don't own anything (characters, situations, etcetera) except my OCs.
Beta: The fantastic twins_m0m and the great lillyg
Previous chapters: Click here.
Previous chapter
Next chapter
34: Father
The days went by too fast. People kept talking, coming up with ideas. Colby didn’t really pay attention to them; something was keeping his mind busy enough.
When the date of the appointment at the medical center arrived, he felt numb. What if Amita’s child was Charlie’s? What would he do? He wasn’t ready to raise a kid; neither of them was.
They hadn’t avoided conversations about it. During the last week, they’d touched the subject a few times. They’d talked about what would happen if the baby turned out to be Charlie's and they had to take care of him or her. But their assumptions and ideas always seemed to be incomplete. A kid coming into their lives would change everything, and they still had so much to learn about each other. They still had to learn to live as a couple, to understand about what they felt.
Now, conversations didn’t matter much. It was time to find out the answer.
Colby rang the bell at the Eppes house and waited. Breathing hard, he wondered what Charlie’s family would say. They’d had a lot going on, with Don’s suspension and Charlie’s possible fatherhood.
Soon, the door opened and Alan offered Colby his hand. “Hello, Colby. Please, come in.”
“Good morning, Mr. Eppes… How’s your heart?”
“I gotta take life easy, rest, do some exercise, take my pills and see my doctor frequently.”
That didn’t sound so good. “Will you be okay with… you know… this?”
Alan nodded. “I'll be okay. Besides, it’s my son who we’re talking about here, I have to be there.” He was very serious when he gestured Colby to sit down. “Come in, please. I want to tell you what I told my son an hour ago.”
“What was that?” Colby muttered as he sat down. The situation was a bit uncomfortable for him.
“I told him that no matter what, he has you.”
The words hit Colby’s heart hard. He’d been repeating those words to his lover during the last days, without getting any results. He’d known for long time that Alan was okay with his relationship with Charlie, but hearing him say this was very touching.
“After all, you told the FBI that you are together,” Alan continued. “That means something.”
“Yeah, it does.” Colby rubbed the back of his head and added, “I care about Charlie a lot. I’m all in.” He got a sweet smile from Alan.
“Then everything will be all right.”
Smiling back, Colby watched him get up. “Thanks.”
“For what? I’m just telling the truth,” the older man stated, and winked. Then he grabbed his jacket, which was over the next couch. “Donnie, hurry up! You got up at five today, shouldn’t you be awake?”
Don had been up since five a.m.? The idea of him not working still managed to affect Colby. He wondered what kind of collateral effects that could have on his former boss.
“Coming!” Don yelled from the kitchen. When he came in, he greeted Colby by raising the cup of coffee he was drinking. “Hey, I use to get loads of this stuff at the office. It’s not like I can suddenly quit.”
Colby grinned, trying to keep up with Don’s optimism, but it was strange that he was taking his suspension so well. He’d always been a man of action, and leaving a job that had absorbed most of his time, efforts and thoughts couldn’t be easy. But then again, he was probably doing this to not add more drama to the current situation. Charlie was in the spotlight today, and he didn’t need any extra stress.
“Where’s your brother?” Alan asked, and Don was about to respond when Charlie’s voice came up.
“I’m here, Dad.”
There was no smile on his face, like Colby expected. “Shall we go?”
Nodding, Charlie walked down the stairs and avoided talking to him as he grabbed his coat. Colby didn’t push. It was neither the right time nor the place. He tried to remember Alan’s advice, to just be there for the one he loved, and stand by him whatever came along.
They all came out of the house and split into two groups for the ride to the medical center. Don drove his car with Alan by his side, and Colby drove his, accompanied by Charlie. Colby didn’t ask any questions, and once they arrived at the hospital, he didn’t even tried to touch him.
Once they found the doctor’s office, they saw David seated down on a chair in front of the door. He looked seriously broken. He had bags under his eyes and he was messily dressed. Don put a hand on David’s shoulder, and Alan sat in another chair. Colby just hoped he hadn’t been drinking, like he used to do. He couldn’t stand to see him like that.
He noticed that Charlie had stopped in his tracks when he’d noticed David, and that for a moment, they’d locked eyes. Charlie walked towards David, and then sat on the next chair. Colby stood up beside his lover, resting his back on the wall, wondering how everything would turn out and which outcome would be the worst.
The door suddenly opened. “Charles Eppes, David Sinclair,” a dark-haired woman with glasses and a white lab coat called. The two men hesitated but then got up. She nodded as they went into her office, and finally closed the door.
They were gone. They were gone, about to find out how their lives would change forever, and Colby was out. He couldn’t be there at the exact moment the mystery was revealed. If Charlie broke, he wouldn’t be able to hold his hand, and if David did, Colby wouldn’t be able to support him and tell him that everything would be all right.
Where was everyone else? David had asked for only the key people to go to the hospital. Apparently, he didn’t want anyone else to see him break if he did. But that didn’t mean that no one could come just to support him.
Just as he was wondering why no one had showed up, he heard footsteps coming towards him, and noticed Alan raising his eyebrows. “Hello,” Charlie’s father said, and when Colby followed his gaze, he saw a worried woman coming closer.
“Hello. Are you David’s friends?”
Colby nodded and offered a chair to her. “Yeah. I suppose you’re his sister. He told us you were coming.”
“I’m glad,” she said, shaking his hand and then everyone else’s. Then she took the seat Colby had offered her and started rubbing her palms anxiously.
But that wasn’t the only visitor David would get. Someone was running towards Colby and the rest. It was Liz. “Are they in already?” she yelled when she was almost at the doctor’s door.
To Colby, it was so good to see all the important people there. He knew that Liz worried about David, but seeing her flushed and sweating from trying to get to the hospital in time was heart-wrenching.
Don rubbed his forehead and responded, “Yep, they’re in and we’re here, waiting.”
Shaking her head, Liz sat down and tried to catch her breath. “Damn, I would have liked to talk to him first… I’m not sure what I would have said, but…” Her eyes landed on David’s sister and she offered her hand to her. “Sorry, I hadn’t seen you… I’m Liz Warner, one of David’s colleagues.”
“Jay Sinclair,” the other woman introduced herself, accepting Liz’s hand. Then they joined the rest of the group waiting for the news.
Colby could barely concentrate on them, though. People came and went - nurses, doctors, patients, relatives - and it was hard for him to think of anything but the noises and the hard beating of his heart. The sound of blood flowing pounded in his ears as he got more and more nervous. All his previous conversations with Charlie swirled in his mind, dragging him away from the moment.
“What if it’s mine?” his lover had said once as he took off his socks beside the bed. Then he’d thrown them onto the floor with anger.
From between the sheets, Colby had tried to assure him that he’d help him face what may come. “Charlie, calm down… You’re not alone.”
“I know, but I’m not ready to have a kid! I’ll never be ready!”
Those had been Charlie’s exact words, and even now, Colby couldn’t really figure out what they meant. His lover had never shared his exact feelings, though he’d stated over and over again that he really didn’t want Amita’s child to be his.
The memory of that night disappeared as Charlie and David came out of the doctor’s office and the door closed behind them. Equally affected, they stared at the floor, not paying attention to anyone. The stress had to be that tough.
Charlie took a deep breath and David looked up with the eyes of a desperate man.
There it was, the answer Colby was expecting. It wasn’t his lover who would have a child, it was his partner, and how could someone deal with a child born from a rape?
David looked around and found his sister. She went towards him and hugged him like it was the last thing she’d do in her life. They started walking out together, and after Liz patted Charlie’s shoulder, she followed David and Jay.
“Hey, buddy… There’s nothing to worry about, after all,” Don muttered, leaning over to give his brother a short hug. Charlie didn't react.
Alan suggested to Charlie that he should sit down and he did. Then Alan said something about going to get some coffee with Don, but again, Colby wasn’t paying much attention. He didn’t even hear Don and Alan’s footsteps as they left. He was completely into what Charlie could be feeling right now. His lover’s hands were resting on his thighs, and his body seemed to have lost all energy as it sat languidly on the chair.
“Charlie,” Colby muttered, being careful about asking any specific questions. He felt that it was better for the kid not to be crazy Bob Berenson’s son or daughter, though.
The other man’s gaze remained fixed on the doctor’s door. “I feel so… relieved… and I shouldn’t… I mean, I’m just thinking… I wouldn’t have been able to raise a kid. Not now… not ever.”
There it was, the same conversation again. However, there was no rage this time. “Don’t say that.”
“Don, he could always connect with kids. Me… I was never good at anything related to them. I can’t even babysit…”
So that was where all his fears were coming from. Colby didn’t know how to make his lover’s sadness go away.
Charlie turned to face the end of the corridor. There, David was holding Liz as tight as possible, hiding his face on the crook of her neck. Beside them, his sister couldn’t stop crying at the news. “Do you think he’ll be able to take it?”
It was a hard question to answer. There was only one thing Colby could say about it, though. Looking in the same direction as his lover, he took a deep breath. “I’m not sure, but I know him and he’s strong,” he muttered. “I think he’ll be a good dad… and so will you someday, if you really want to.”
He was counting on his words to make Charlie turn back to him. But when the mathematician reached out for him and embraced him, he could understand all the feelings that were going through Charlie.
He couldn’t do anything but reciprocate. Sometimes, a warm, soft hug was all that was needed, especially in moments like these, when one perspective of a new life faded away as another was born.