Work Text:
Deterioration
by Spikedluv
Don yawned as he stumbled into the kitchen. It was nearly noon, but he'd gotten in late last night, or rather, very early that morning. His team had just closed a case they'd been working on for over a week-the last thirty-six hours straight, following a lead that had actually panned out-and he had barely managed six hours of sleep. Thankfully, it was Saturday and he didn't have to go into the office unless they called him, but he did desperately need a cup of coffee.
The shower had wakened him enough to pull on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, slide his feet into a pair of sneakers, and make it down the stairs without falling, but his eyes weren't quite open all the way, yet. He followed his nose to the coffee maker that had only recently stopped dripping and just stood there, leaning against the counter and breathing in the scent of fresh coffee.
Charlie's laugh made Don open one eye and glare at him, but Charlie ignored him. He poured the coffee into a waiting mug, got the creamer out and fixed it just the way Don liked it before picking the mug up and waving it under his nose.
"You're a riot," Don said, taking the mug and wrapping his hands around it, inhaling once more before taking that first sip. "Ahhh."
"So, case closed?" Charlie asked.
"Yeah," Don said. "Yeah." He nodded a little, and smiled at Charlie. It was a relief to close a case, but especially when the closing of it reunited a family. He reached out and ruffled Charlie's short curls, still a dark brown though Don had started to gray at the temples.
Charlie just grinned sideways at him, and continued slicing a cucumber.
"What's that you're doing?"
"Slicing a cucumber," Charlie said, and Don could hear the smile in his voice.
He leaned his hip against the counter and watched Charlie slice, took a sip of cooling coffee. "Really? Wow. That's pretty impressive, Charlie."
"Now you're just being mean."
Don nudged Charlie's shoulder when he picked up the cucumber slices to dump them into a waiting bowl. Charlie nudged him back, then chose a tomato from the basket.
"Where's Dad?"
"On the back porch. With Jane."
"How's he doing?"
"Good today."
And that, Don thought, was the best they could expect. "Okay. Listen, I'm gonna go out and say ‘hi', okay?"
"Yeah, sure. You know, I, uh, I think he missed you."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. He's been kind of...."
"Restless? Fidgety?"
"Yeah. Like he, like he couldn't settle down. I think he realized that you hadn't come home."
"Okay. Thanks." Don refilled his mug, added a little more cream, then turned to leave. "Hey," he said when he stood at the door, waited for Charlie to look over at him. "You doing okay?"
Charlie smiled and nodded. "Missed you, though."
"Yeah, I could tell," Don said, "by the way you were hogging the bed." He pushed the swinging door open and headed for the back porch.
Behind him Charlie laughed and called out. "Hey, you know I like to spread out."
Don smiled to himself as he recalled having to push Charlie's limbs onto his own side of the bed when he'd finally crawled into it this morning, and how Charlie had remained there for all of two seconds before sliding back onto Don's side of the bed and wrapping around him like an octopus.
With his hand on the screen door, Don paused. He stood silent, watching his father and Jane. His father sat in the wicker rocker, a blanket over his shoulders. He was staring out into the yard at something Don couldn't see. Jane sat beside him, a closed book in her lap.
Don pushed the door open and stepped out onto the porch, drawing Jane's attention. "Hey, Jane."
"Don, hello."
"Hey, Dad." He bent over his father and placed a kiss on his forehead.
His father didn't respond, but Don hadn't expected that he would. He squeezed his shoulder and straightened.
"How's he doing?"
"He's doing well," Jane said. "He took a shower this morning and picked out his own clothes."
Don looked down at his father, then followed his gaze out onto the lawn where a squirrel was hanging upside down from the bird feeder. "He likes watching the squirrels."
"Yes." Jane held up the book. "We were reading, but he got distracted. I guess the squirrels were more interesting."
"Hey, Donny."
Don immediately knelt beside his father, focusing all of his attention on him. "Hey, Dad."
"You're late."
Don rubbed his father's thin arm through the blanket. "Yeah, sorry about that. I'm here now, though."
"Good, good. How was practice?"
There was only a second of hesitation before Don answered. "Practice was good. It was great."
"Did you give Charlie your numbers?"
"Yeah, Dad, I did."
"Okay, good. Because Charlie likes numbers."
"I know, Dad."
But his father wasn't listening any longer. He was staring out over the lawn at the squirrel, which had been joined by another.
Jane stood up. "Why don't I leave the two of you out here while I go help Charlie with lunch."
Don stood with her, his horrified look only partly faked. "Charlie's making lunch?"
Jane smiled and handed him the book. "Enjoy your visit," she said, and then slipped past him into the house.
"Yeah," Don said, weighing the book in his hand. He sat down in the chair Jane had just vacated and took a sip of coffee before setting the mug down. "What have we got here?" he asked. He turned the book over to read the title on the spine. "Ah, ‘The Hobbit'. Charlie must have picked this one out for you, huh, Dad? Where'd you leave off?"
Don opened the book to the page Jane had marked and began to read out loud.
END