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Monster stories	By : IrenaAdler Category: M through R > NUMB3RS Views: 1176 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own NUMB3RS, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Visitor--

Charlie frowned as he put out another place-setting.� �Someone we want you to meet,� Don had
said.� Who could he and Will possibly be bringing to supper?� Unless his social memory was wrong � which
was always possible -- that sort of phrase was usually reserved for a
girlfriend or similar.� Considering they
already had each other, who on earth could this third person be?� He supposed that there could somehow be a
third person added to their couplehood � he�d heard of such things �

That gave him the willies so he quickly dismissed it.� He wished that Colby was back from the store
so that he could discuss it with him.�
Colby understood people so much better than he did.� Okay,
so the overwhelming majority of the world understands people better than I do.� His father would be late for dinner, so it
was left to Charlie to meet this unknown person by himself.� He fiddled with the paper napkins, folding
them into shapes of birds.

Couldn�t Don have given him a clue?� What if the person was vegetarian?� Charlie�d just cooked steaks and potatoes.�� Colby was at the store getting beer.� What if this person expected wine or fancier
food?

Charlie heard the sound of Will�s Explorer pulling into the
driveway and ran to the door.� Opening it,
he stared at the car, but all he could see were Don and Will.� A very small person?

Will turned off the car, unbuckled his seatbelt and opened
his door � and out jumped a cat.

Charlie pulled back in surprise, then
wondered if he should try to catch the cat.�
The cat, however, wasn�t going anywhere, just sitting on the driveway
waiting for Will and Don to get out of the car.

Charlie stared at the cat.�
He was only using the term, �Cat,� because he couldn�t think of a better
one.� But this �cat� was the size of a
medium dog and had white tufts of fur coming out of his ears and large tufted
feet.� His golden eyes were large, round,
and fixed on Charlie.

Don came around the side of the SUV, and the cat stood up
and trotted purposefully towards Charlie.�
Charlie found himself backing up.�

�Hey, Charlie,� Don called with a laugh in his voice, �Meet
Monster.�

�An appropriate name,� Charlie murmured.� The cat came up to Charlie and swirled around
his legs.� Charlie leaned down and
carefully patted the cat�s head.� It
accepted his pat and moved on into the house.�

Charlie watched Monster sniff out the front room and then
move on.� Charlie turned back to
Don.� �You got a cat?� he asked.� Don had
never seemed like a cat person.

�Will�s idea,� Don said.

�He got him while I was gone,� Will said, �I probably would
gotten something ��

�Smaller?� Charlie said with bemusement.�

�Yeah,� Will said with a
laugh.� �He�s a Maine Coon.� They come large.�

�And � outgoing,� Charlie said, watching Monster climb the
stairs to investigate the upstairs.

�Yeah, he likes to ride in the car and visit other people.�

�Weird,� Charlie commented.�
He went towards the stairs to see what Monster was doing, but the cat
was already coming back down.� He probably smells dinner.

Indeed, the cat headed straight for the table and jumped
up.� He batted one of Charlie�s folded up
napkin-birds to the floor.

�Monster,� Don chastised in an entirely too calm voice, �Off
the table.�

Monster looked up then casually jumped off the table, as if
it was his own idea.� He chased down the
paper bird and patted it across the floor, his fluffy tail twitching.� Charlie watched him dubiously.� He�d never had a cat, and they always seemed
like alien creatures, with even more unfathomable behavior and motivations than
people.

�Why did you get a cat?��
Charlie asked.�

�For company,� Will said.� �We both work strange hours, sometimes long
hours.� This way there will always be
someone home with the other person.�

Charlie eyed Monster.�
�Couldn�t you have gotten a dog or a � parakeet?�

Monster knocked the paper bird beneath the couch.� He swiped a paw underneath the couch but
couldn�t reach it.�� He turned and began
trotting towards the table, probably for another napkin-bird.

Will headed him off and pushed the couch so that the bird
was visible.� Monster pounced on it and
it skittered off across the floor.�

�I like cats,� Will said.�

�You would,� Charlie grumbled.�

Will smiled.� �What�s
that supposed to mean?�

Charlie flushed and picked up another napkin to fold.� �I just meant that I don�t get cats.�

�And you don�t get me?��
Will asked.

Charlie glanced over, but Will seemed amused rather than
annoyed.�� No,� Charlie acknowledged.

Will�s smile widened.

�Oh, don�t get all puffed up,� Don laughed.� �Chuck here doesn�t get anyone he hasn�t
known for ten years, and maybe not even then.�

�Humph,� Charlie said.�
�I get Colby.�

�I�ll bet you do,� Will grinned.

Charlie blushed and mumbled that he needed to get
dinner.� He pushed open the kitchen door
and somehow Monster was there, dashing in ahead of him.

�Hey! Your cat is in my kitchen,� Charlie said accusingly.

�He won�t get into anything � I hope,� Don said, brushing
past Charlie like Monster just had.

Charlie followed them into the kitchen to see that Monster
was more interested in the back door than food.�

Don shook his head.�
�No, I don�t think the Koi would enjoy a visit.� I think the pond�s deep enough they can hide
from you, but you might be tempted to take a swim.�� Monster stared at the door for a moment, his
tail twitching, then headed back into the front room.

Grimacing, Charlie opened the oven door to check the
potatoes.� Who brings their cat to
dinner?

Don handed him an oven mitt.�
�I should have warned you, but we thought it would be funny to surprise
you.� I didn�t know you didn�t like
cats.�

�I don�t dislike cats,� Charlie said defensively.� What he hadn�t appreciated was being the butt
of Don and Will�s joke.� Charlie was very
glad that Don was so happy these days, but did it have to come out as constant
jokes on Charlie?

�Hey, buddy,� Don said quietly.� �Something wrong?�

Frowning, Charlie pulled the tray out of the oven.� �Will doesn�t have any younger brothers, does
he?�

�No brothers at all, just two younger sisters.�

�Well, it feels like he�s been saving up a lifetime of
little-brother teasing and you just go along with it.�

Don blinked, surprised.�
He didn�t say anything while Charlie moved the potatoes to a serving
dish.� Charlie picked up the dish to take
it out to the table.

�Hey,� Don said, putting his hand on Charlie�s arm.� �I hadn�t realized � I�ll rein him in, okay?�

Charlie nodded and started to move away.

Don stopped Charlie and made him set the dish back
down.� �Look.� Will comes from a pretty messed up family,�
Don said, holding Charlie�s eyes.� �He
doesn�t know what to do with a family that talks to
each other and actually likes each other.�
To be honest, I think we make him nervous.� In Will�s family, niceness and politeness are
used to cover up a lot of unpleasant feelings underneath.�

�Yuck,� Charlie said faintly.� Will�s family sounded awful.�

�Don�t tell Will that I told you this.�

�Yeah, sure, of course.�

�So just give Will time, okay?� And stand up to him.� I think that he�d find that a relief.�

�Really?� Charlie frowned.

�Definitely,� Don said.�
�But if he�s getting on your nerves, let me know, okay?�

�I do like Will,� Charlie said quickly.

�Good,� Don smiled, gripping Charlie�s shoulder.� ��Cause he�s gonna be part of my life for a
very long time.�

Charlie nodded slowly, trying to process what Don had just
told him.� He�d have to talk to Colby
about it.� Colby might understand.

Don picked up the bowl of potatoes.� �I�ve got this.�

�Okay,� Charlie said and followed Don out of the kitchen
door.�

Will was sitting on the far side of the room, tossing the
paper bird for Monster.� To Charlie�s
surprise, Monster was catching the paper bird and patting it back to Will for
him to throw again.� Will looked up.� With his new knowledge, Charlie could see a
flash of nervousness behind Will�s dark eyes, anxiety at what Don and Charlie
might have been talking about in the kitchen.�
Then Will blinked and it was gone.

�He fetches?�� Charlie
asked.� �Are you sure he�s a cat?�

Will smiled.�
�Reasonably sure, though we haven�t done any genetic testing.�

�You know, I remember reading something about how they�re
using modified feline immunodeficiency virus for gene therapy in humans.�

�Feline AIDS you mean?�
Well, he�s clean.�

Charlie nodded distractedly and went back into the kitchen
and through to the back porch.� He got
the steaks from the grill and carried them to the table.� A few more trips back and forth and he had
everything that he could think of for the table.

�We�ll give Colby a few minutes, but not much longer since
the steaks are best hot.�

Charlie sat down at the table.� Will got up from playing with Monster and
came over to take a seat.� Monster
followed him.

Charlie said, �Don�t tell me he eats at the table ��

�No,� Don laughed.�
�And he doesn�t beg either, which is good.�

�Is he neutered?��
Charlie asked.� �Did you know that
one female cat can produce 420,000 cats in only seven years?�

�He�s neutered, Charlie,� Don said and sat down.�

Charlie removed the extra place-setting he�d brought for
Don�s mystery guest then sat down himself.�
He fiddled with his napkin, unsure how to embark on this new policy of
�standing up� to Will.� Then he
smiled.� �You had to get a male cat?� Don�t you already have enough testosterone in
that house?� It must be practically
dripping down the walls.�

Will laughed and Don snorted.�

�Figured a girl cat would drown in it,� Will said.�

�You said that Don got him while you were gone?�

�Yep,� Will said, �Came home from
four days straight sniffing out a drug connection on the docks and looking
forward to taking a shower and seeing Don, or maybe both, and then I open the
door and here�s this big cat staring at me.�

�I see,� Charlie said, with mock solemnity.� �So you don�t mind if Don brings home strange
males while you�re gone.�

Will�s eyes widened, Don stiffened, and Charlie wondered if
he�d gone too far.� Before he could
apologize, Will began to laugh.�

Will shook his finger at Don.� �I told him that if it happened again that it
would be him getting neutered.�

Charlie chuckled and Don relaxed.�

At that moment, the front door opened and in came
Colby.�� Hey guys,� Colby called then
did a double-take when he saw Monster.�
Monster walked straight up to Colby and stuck his head in one of the
plastic grocery bags Colby was carrying.

�Colby, this is Monster,� Don said.� �Our cat.�

�Umm, what�s he doing here?��

�Visiting,� Will said.� He stood up.�
�Give you a hand, Granger?�

Colby said nothing but didn�t resist when Will took a bag
from his hand.� Colby was still staring
at Monster.�

�Monster,� Don called, and Monster took his head out of the
bag and looked over at Don.� �Hey, Will,�
Don said to Will, who was going through the kitchen door.� �Find Monster some milk?�

Monster�s ears shot forward and he moved quickly towards
Will.� Will went into the kitchen
followed by an eager cat, who was followed by a
bemused Colby.

�Adult cats I�ve had would throw up if I fed them milk,�
Colby said as he disappeared into the kitchen.

Charlie watched him go and traded glances with Don.� Will and Colby weren�t the greatest of
buddies, but they seemed to be fairly comfortable around each other.� Wouldn�t have guessed that from their first
meeting �

�So Don,� Charlie lowered his voice.� �A joint pet.� That�s a big step.�

Don looked surprised then thoughtful.� �Yeah, I guess it is.� It seemed perfectly natural, like moving into
Will�s place.�

�Cats can live for fifteen or twenty years,� Charlie said,
�Though I don�t know about the life expectancy of Maine Coons in particular.�

�Overt signs of commitment,� Don murmured to himself.

�Hmm?�

�Oh, just something Megan said.�

�You talked with Megan about getting a cat?�

�Not directly, no.�

�Then what��

Don leaned closer.�
�So when are you and Colby shacking up?�

Charlie�s mouth dropped open and he stared at Don.� �We, never, I mean, we haven�t, we haven�t
talked about it.�

�Why not?� Don smiled.� �I tell you that it�s wonderful to have
someone to come home to, someone to share a bed with.�

Charlie nodded slowly.�
He knew how lovely it was to sleep with Colby.� He�d done it for a long time, but when the
nightmares began to fade ��
Why hadn�t they talked about it?�
Colby probably wanted his own place, somewhere to go to get away from him ...�

Charlie offered up the only argument he could think of,
however weak.� �What about Dad?�

�What about him?�� Don
asked.� �I don�t think he�d mind.�

�Come on, don�t you��

At that moment, Will and Colby came out of the kitchen,
Colby carrying a bunch of beers and Will carrying a bowl with milk in it.� Monster trotted after them.� Will set down the bowl and Monster�s
nose dove into it.

Colby opened the beers and passed them around.� Charlie took his and started portioning out
the steaks.� Colby and Will were talking
with animation about various cats that they�d had.� Charlie listened closely, but didn�t learn
anything new about Colby�s past.� Yet another thing we haven�t talked about.�

While Don asked Will about one of his cats, Colby touched
Charlie�s hand.� �Everything ok?� he
asked quietly.

Charlie nodded and smiled.�
What they had now was good � why do something that might mess it up?

Colby eyed him, like he wasn�t sure to trust that smile, but
he shrugged and turned back to the conversation.� That was one of the many things that Charlie
loved about Colby � he didn�t push.� There
was plenty of time to deal with other things.�

Right now �
Charlie looked over at Monster and smiled.�
He was a big odd cat, but he made Don happy, which is really all that
mattered.� Will too, in fact.� It was only a bonus that both Will and
Monster were growing on Charlie.� He
scooted back from the table and went to look for some tuna for the newest
member of his family.
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