New Numb3rs fic for times_for_three
Title: Under the Lucky Stars
Fandom: Numb3rs
Characters: Don Eppes/Billy Cooper/Melinda Reeves (OFC), Megan/Larry, Colby/Charlie, Alan/Millie, and Alania
Prompt: #8 Starlight
Word Count:1779 (considering this is 5 pages in Word that seems short, but I’m so not hand counting it.)
Rating: FRT
Summary: Don, Coop, and Melinda explain their relationship to the rest of the family.
Disclaimer: The closest thing I own to Numb3rs is a calculator. CH and NF own the boys. I do own Melinda.
Author's Notes: Enjoy!
The one problem with the condo was that it had a ridiculously small dining room. (They had opted for the huge master bedroom, instead.) Well, it wasn’t that much of a problem cause the kitchen was eat in and it wasn’t like they intended to do much entertaining. Until tonight that was.
When Alan had walked in on Billy Cooper kissing Melinda they had no choice but to… well… come out didn’t seem right, but it was the closest thing. So they didn’t have a choice but to come out to Alan. He had taken the situation well. Confused, sure, but still pretty well. He had also promised not to tell anyone about it as long as they promised to tell the family and soon.
After much debate and one full blown argument, they had decided to tell everyone over dinner at the condo. The dining room (suddenly size mattered) being too small for nine adults and one toddler, Melinda suggested moving the whole affair to the back deck, which stretched across the width of the condo and was thus twice as large as the dining room. That is how, on a Friday night, Coop came to be cooking corn beef and cabbage while Don and Melinda set up the deck as a dining room.
Fortunately, as the hour approached it became clear that the weather was going to cooperate. The few clouds that had lingered during the day cleared and the sky was filled with stars, bathing the deck in starlight.
“The stars are a good thing, right?”
Don looked at Melinda from where he was lighting a torch, “It means that it won’t rain, so that is good.”
“No,” Melinda sat on the deck railing, “I mean a good omen. You know, like the stars are out, so everything will go okay tonight.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t put much stock in that type of stuff,” Don joined her on the rail.
Melinda put her head on his shoulder, “Neither do I, but I’m so scare right now I’ll take anything.”
“Hey, my dad seems pretty okay with it. That has to be a sign. I don’t think this is going to be as bad as you think.”
Melinda snorted and hopped off the rail, “Yeah, just remember: She may be a Fleinhardt now, but she was born a Reeves.”
###
Dinner went amazingly well. Both the outdoor dining and the corn beef and cabbage had been hits. Conversation and laughter had ebbed and flowed like any other family dinner. If anyone thought this was more than just Don and Billy wanting to host their first family dinner, it never seemed to come up.
At a lull after dessert, Alan picked up Alania, “I think it’s time this little one got into her jammies.”
“Need any help,” Megan asked with absolutely no intention of moving. One of the traditions of dinner was Alan changing his namesake into her pajamas and, hopefully, reading her to sleep.
“No,” Alan shook his head as he cuddled the little girl to his chest. “I think Donnie has a bedtime story of his own for you all anyhow.”
“Subtlety thy name is Alan Eppes,” Don called after his father’s retreating form as all eyes turned to him. A glance at Melinda and Coop to assure they had his back was all he needed before he started, “So, you guys know that Coop and I have had an off and on thing since our fugitive recovery days, right? The type of thing that if we were together it was on, but if we weren’t, then it was… well, not off, but okay to see other people.”
Different variations of yes came from around the table. Except for Charlie, whose eyes bored into Coop, “You are leaving my brother again, are you?”
“Whoa,” Coop’s hands went up. “First, he left me the first time and, second, no!”
“Please, Charlie, just let me get this out, okay?”
Charlie nodded.
“Well, during our last, and I do mean last, off period, I starting seeing Minda.”
“What,” Megan went from looking at Don to staring at her sister.
Melinda shrugged, “Hey, we’re two consenting adults. I knew there was someone else, but it just a bit of fun.”
“I just don’t believe it,” Megan slumped back in her chair. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Melinda laughed slightly, “Oh, so many reasons.”
Larry leaned forward resting his elbows on the table. The heals of his hands supported his cheekbones as his index fingers tapped against his temple, “I believe I’ve had an epiphany.”
“Not now, Larry,” Colby grumbled.
“Yes, now,” Larry grumbled back. “This is concerning the matter at hand. Melinda, are you and Don attempting to procreate?”
Millie started choking on the sip of water she had just drunk, causing Charlie to slap her on the back.
“That means ‘have a baby’, right, Lar,” Melinda asked with false innocence. At his nod, she smiled, “Then, yes, we are.”
Megan sputtered for a few moments, looking between her former boss and her sister. Finally her gaze fell on her husband, “How the hell did you know that!”
“Well, outside of yourself, since you are still breastfeeding, Don and Melinda are the only two who have not imbibed anything this evening. If attempting to get pregnant, Melinda would be sure to stay away from alcohol. Plus, during our own endeavors, I read a few studies that suggested a correlation between sperm motility and alcohol. Don has liking read or heard similar ideas and is himself tempering his intake. Also we all know of Don and Bill’s desire to parent a child, and with adoption out of the question, it would make sense to turn to a surrogate, especially one with whom there has been previous intimacy. I considered it briefly, before I met my own beloved,” Larry took Megan’s hand.
“Here’s a new rule,” Coop spoke when Larry stopped. “Fleinhardt never uses the term sperm motility at the dinner table again.”
“How about no one ever uses the term sperm motility at the dinner table again,” Millie amended.
Coop raised his beer bottle and clinked it against her glass, “Deal.”
“Gang, I think we’re moving away from the topic at hand,” Don announced.
Megan put up her hand, “No, we get it. Melinda is acting as a surrogate and I think that is great, if not a little surprising. But, as much as I love you, Don, and am learning to love Coop, I hope you’ve all been sensible and gone to a lawyer about this. You’re going to want joint custody or at least visitation, right,” the last was addressed to her sister.
Melinda looked at Don, “I don’t think they’ve gotten the point here at all.”
“Nope. We got on the baby tangent and they missed the real point. Why don’t you explain it the way Dad found out,” Don suggested with a sigh.
“Good idea,” Melinda stood and moved over to Coop’s side. Her hand on his shoulder made him push back his chair, so she could onto his lap. “Hey.”
“Hey, yourself,” Coop smiled as she began slowly and deeply kissing him.
By the time Coop’s hand had made its way into her hair, Charlie was on his feet, “Don, what the hell is she doing?”
“Calm down, buddy,” Don’s eye flickered momentarily off the two of them and to his brother. “You sounded just like Dad, there. She’s just kissing her boyfriend.”
“But, he’s your boyfriend,” Colby stated the obvious.
Melinda and Coop broke the kiss.
“Yup, I am and I’m Minda’s boyfriend. Just like Don’s my boyfriend and Minda’s boyfriend. And, if I never use the word boyfriend again it will be too soon,” Coop leaned his head against Melinda’s shoulder.
She giggled, “Better than beau, though.”
“You’re sleeping with both of them,” Megan stared at her sister, several emotions, including anger filtered across her face.
Melinda twisted slightly, so that she was leaning against Coop and able to reach Don’s hand, “Not that it is really any of your business what our sex life is like, yes, I am. In fact, it is often, most commonly at the same time. But that still isn’t the point. The point is I’m in a relationship with and love both of these men. We want to have a child and build a life together.”
“And that is what matters,” Alan’s voice broke the uneasy silence that followed Melinda’s declaration. Moving across the deck, Alan handed a sleeping Alania to Larry, “You’re happiness and your own unique form of love. Oh, and I think I’d like a grandson this time. Work on that, would ya.”
Don laughed, “Our pleasure, Pop.”
“I’ll bet,” Colby grinned wickedly.
###
After a little more, somewhat heated, discussion and a tentative agreement to accept, if not understand the situation was reached, the family started parting ways. Colby and Charlie headed for the Craftsman, while Millie and Alan made for her apartment. Megan, Larry and Alania were the last to head out.
While Megan and Melinda talked as they put a surprisingly still sleeping Alania in the car, Don pulled Larry aside, “How did you really figure it out?”
Larry looked out towards his wife, “You look at Melinda the way your father looked at your mother and the way I look at Megan. It is different that just a look of love, which is how you look at Bill and he at you. It is a special look that a man has for the woman with whom he’s decided to have children.”
Don crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe, studying his friend, “What about Coop?”
“He looks at her the same way you do.”
“So, who taught you how to spot this look,” Don asked with a smile.
“Well,” Larry blushed, “it was the woman whom I asked to be my surrogate. She declined, because I didn’t look at her that way.”
Don nodded, “Amita always was a smart girl.”
“How did you know,” the blush intensified.
Don shrugged, “If I hadn’t met Minda, she’d have been my first choice, too. Well, after Megan, but I think you’d object to that.”
“Most vehemently, I’m afraid.”
“I guess we should thank our lucky stars,” Don looked up at the stars that still shone as he thought back to his earlier conversation with Melinda, “for our two Reeves women.”
“Amen,” Coop agreed as he walked up behind the two other men. “And we should wish upon those lucky stars that we may be protected from their wrath, cause those are two scary ladies.”
“Amen,” both men agreed with a laugh.
Fandom: Numb3rs
Characters: Don Eppes/Billy Cooper/Melinda Reeves (OFC), Megan/Larry, Colby/Charlie, Alan/Millie, and Alania
Prompt: #8 Starlight
Word Count:1779 (considering this is 5 pages in Word that seems short, but I’m so not hand counting it.)
Rating: FRT
Summary: Don, Coop, and Melinda explain their relationship to the rest of the family.
Disclaimer: The closest thing I own to Numb3rs is a calculator. CH and NF own the boys. I do own Melinda.
Author's Notes: Enjoy!
The one problem with the condo was that it had a ridiculously small dining room. (They had opted for the huge master bedroom, instead.) Well, it wasn’t that much of a problem cause the kitchen was eat in and it wasn’t like they intended to do much entertaining. Until tonight that was.
When Alan had walked in on Billy Cooper kissing Melinda they had no choice but to… well… come out didn’t seem right, but it was the closest thing. So they didn’t have a choice but to come out to Alan. He had taken the situation well. Confused, sure, but still pretty well. He had also promised not to tell anyone about it as long as they promised to tell the family and soon.
After much debate and one full blown argument, they had decided to tell everyone over dinner at the condo. The dining room (suddenly size mattered) being too small for nine adults and one toddler, Melinda suggested moving the whole affair to the back deck, which stretched across the width of the condo and was thus twice as large as the dining room. That is how, on a Friday night, Coop came to be cooking corn beef and cabbage while Don and Melinda set up the deck as a dining room.
Fortunately, as the hour approached it became clear that the weather was going to cooperate. The few clouds that had lingered during the day cleared and the sky was filled with stars, bathing the deck in starlight.
“The stars are a good thing, right?”
Don looked at Melinda from where he was lighting a torch, “It means that it won’t rain, so that is good.”
“No,” Melinda sat on the deck railing, “I mean a good omen. You know, like the stars are out, so everything will go okay tonight.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t put much stock in that type of stuff,” Don joined her on the rail.
Melinda put her head on his shoulder, “Neither do I, but I’m so scare right now I’ll take anything.”
“Hey, my dad seems pretty okay with it. That has to be a sign. I don’t think this is going to be as bad as you think.”
Melinda snorted and hopped off the rail, “Yeah, just remember: She may be a Fleinhardt now, but she was born a Reeves.”
###
Dinner went amazingly well. Both the outdoor dining and the corn beef and cabbage had been hits. Conversation and laughter had ebbed and flowed like any other family dinner. If anyone thought this was more than just Don and Billy wanting to host their first family dinner, it never seemed to come up.
At a lull after dessert, Alan picked up Alania, “I think it’s time this little one got into her jammies.”
“Need any help,” Megan asked with absolutely no intention of moving. One of the traditions of dinner was Alan changing his namesake into her pajamas and, hopefully, reading her to sleep.
“No,” Alan shook his head as he cuddled the little girl to his chest. “I think Donnie has a bedtime story of his own for you all anyhow.”
“Subtlety thy name is Alan Eppes,” Don called after his father’s retreating form as all eyes turned to him. A glance at Melinda and Coop to assure they had his back was all he needed before he started, “So, you guys know that Coop and I have had an off and on thing since our fugitive recovery days, right? The type of thing that if we were together it was on, but if we weren’t, then it was… well, not off, but okay to see other people.”
Different variations of yes came from around the table. Except for Charlie, whose eyes bored into Coop, “You are leaving my brother again, are you?”
“Whoa,” Coop’s hands went up. “First, he left me the first time and, second, no!”
“Please, Charlie, just let me get this out, okay?”
Charlie nodded.
“Well, during our last, and I do mean last, off period, I starting seeing Minda.”
“What,” Megan went from looking at Don to staring at her sister.
Melinda shrugged, “Hey, we’re two consenting adults. I knew there was someone else, but it just a bit of fun.”
“I just don’t believe it,” Megan slumped back in her chair. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Melinda laughed slightly, “Oh, so many reasons.”
Larry leaned forward resting his elbows on the table. The heals of his hands supported his cheekbones as his index fingers tapped against his temple, “I believe I’ve had an epiphany.”
“Not now, Larry,” Colby grumbled.
“Yes, now,” Larry grumbled back. “This is concerning the matter at hand. Melinda, are you and Don attempting to procreate?”
Millie started choking on the sip of water she had just drunk, causing Charlie to slap her on the back.
“That means ‘have a baby’, right, Lar,” Melinda asked with false innocence. At his nod, she smiled, “Then, yes, we are.”
Megan sputtered for a few moments, looking between her former boss and her sister. Finally her gaze fell on her husband, “How the hell did you know that!”
“Well, outside of yourself, since you are still breastfeeding, Don and Melinda are the only two who have not imbibed anything this evening. If attempting to get pregnant, Melinda would be sure to stay away from alcohol. Plus, during our own endeavors, I read a few studies that suggested a correlation between sperm motility and alcohol. Don has liking read or heard similar ideas and is himself tempering his intake. Also we all know of Don and Bill’s desire to parent a child, and with adoption out of the question, it would make sense to turn to a surrogate, especially one with whom there has been previous intimacy. I considered it briefly, before I met my own beloved,” Larry took Megan’s hand.
“Here’s a new rule,” Coop spoke when Larry stopped. “Fleinhardt never uses the term sperm motility at the dinner table again.”
“How about no one ever uses the term sperm motility at the dinner table again,” Millie amended.
Coop raised his beer bottle and clinked it against her glass, “Deal.”
“Gang, I think we’re moving away from the topic at hand,” Don announced.
Megan put up her hand, “No, we get it. Melinda is acting as a surrogate and I think that is great, if not a little surprising. But, as much as I love you, Don, and am learning to love Coop, I hope you’ve all been sensible and gone to a lawyer about this. You’re going to want joint custody or at least visitation, right,” the last was addressed to her sister.
Melinda looked at Don, “I don’t think they’ve gotten the point here at all.”
“Nope. We got on the baby tangent and they missed the real point. Why don’t you explain it the way Dad found out,” Don suggested with a sigh.
“Good idea,” Melinda stood and moved over to Coop’s side. Her hand on his shoulder made him push back his chair, so she could onto his lap. “Hey.”
“Hey, yourself,” Coop smiled as she began slowly and deeply kissing him.
By the time Coop’s hand had made its way into her hair, Charlie was on his feet, “Don, what the hell is she doing?”
“Calm down, buddy,” Don’s eye flickered momentarily off the two of them and to his brother. “You sounded just like Dad, there. She’s just kissing her boyfriend.”
“But, he’s your boyfriend,” Colby stated the obvious.
Melinda and Coop broke the kiss.
“Yup, I am and I’m Minda’s boyfriend. Just like Don’s my boyfriend and Minda’s boyfriend. And, if I never use the word boyfriend again it will be too soon,” Coop leaned his head against Melinda’s shoulder.
She giggled, “Better than beau, though.”
“You’re sleeping with both of them,” Megan stared at her sister, several emotions, including anger filtered across her face.
Melinda twisted slightly, so that she was leaning against Coop and able to reach Don’s hand, “Not that it is really any of your business what our sex life is like, yes, I am. In fact, it is often, most commonly at the same time. But that still isn’t the point. The point is I’m in a relationship with and love both of these men. We want to have a child and build a life together.”
“And that is what matters,” Alan’s voice broke the uneasy silence that followed Melinda’s declaration. Moving across the deck, Alan handed a sleeping Alania to Larry, “You’re happiness and your own unique form of love. Oh, and I think I’d like a grandson this time. Work on that, would ya.”
Don laughed, “Our pleasure, Pop.”
“I’ll bet,” Colby grinned wickedly.
###
After a little more, somewhat heated, discussion and a tentative agreement to accept, if not understand the situation was reached, the family started parting ways. Colby and Charlie headed for the Craftsman, while Millie and Alan made for her apartment. Megan, Larry and Alania were the last to head out.
While Megan and Melinda talked as they put a surprisingly still sleeping Alania in the car, Don pulled Larry aside, “How did you really figure it out?”
Larry looked out towards his wife, “You look at Melinda the way your father looked at your mother and the way I look at Megan. It is different that just a look of love, which is how you look at Bill and he at you. It is a special look that a man has for the woman with whom he’s decided to have children.”
Don crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe, studying his friend, “What about Coop?”
“He looks at her the same way you do.”
“So, who taught you how to spot this look,” Don asked with a smile.
“Well,” Larry blushed, “it was the woman whom I asked to be my surrogate. She declined, because I didn’t look at her that way.”
Don nodded, “Amita always was a smart girl.”
“How did you know,” the blush intensified.
Don shrugged, “If I hadn’t met Minda, she’d have been my first choice, too. Well, after Megan, but I think you’d object to that.”
“Most vehemently, I’m afraid.”
“I guess we should thank our lucky stars,” Don looked up at the stars that still shone as he thought back to his earlier conversation with Melinda, “for our two Reeves women.”
“Amen,” Coop agreed as he walked up behind the two other men. “And we should wish upon those lucky stars that we may be protected from their wrath, cause those are two scary ladies.”
“Amen,” both men agreed with a laugh.