Title: Separation Anxiety

Summary: Ralph is growing up. Paige is not ready.

Author's Note: Just a little one-shot, set in the not-too-distant future. I needed something to distract me from another week before we get another episode.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own /scorpion. This story is for entertainment purposes only. I make no profit and no infringement of copyrights is intended.

"I just think he's too young. This is Los Angeles, after all. We have to be fifty times more careful than parents in other areas about what he's exposed to."

"Look, I know we agreed that you would have the final say in major decisions about Ralph. Be we also agreed that you would consider my opinion. And in my opinion, you're being over-protective. Sweetheart, Ralph isn't eight years old anymore."

"I know." There was a hint of a whine in her voice. "What if he winds up in one of the…" Paige lowered her voice to a whisper. "...the sex districts?"

Walter spewed his coffee across the table. "Sex districts! Is that what you're worried about?" He stood and took his cup to the sink, grabbing a clean rag from a drawer. "I thought you'd be more worried about him speeding or getting into an accident. Sex districts!" Walter shook his head as he began to mop up the coffee with the rag.

"Well, I'm worried about those things, too." Paige raised her own cup so that Walter could wipe the table underneath. "It's just that when I think of my little boy driving, it's marginally preferable to think of him driving into areas where he shouldn't be than it is to think of him actually getting hurt in an accident." Paige stood and walked up behind her husband. He was still bent over the table, polishing away the stain, and she laid her head lightly on his back, giving him an awkward back-hug. "I worry enough about you speeding. Heaven knows he copies you in everything, so I suppose his driving habits will be similar. I'm just not ready to find out that I have TWO speed demons in my family."

"Paige," Walter coaxed, reaching a hand over his shoulder to take hers. He straightened, so that she had to stand back up. Then he pivoted and tossed the soiled rag into the bin in the corner. "Ralph needs a car of his own," he stressed, placing his hands on her shoulders and gently nudging her to face him. "You know I love him, but frankly, I'm looking forward to the day that we don't have to constantly shuttle him from regular school to college classes and then to his research lab. We'll all be much more efficient if he can get himself from place to place; and with everything he's got going on, he won't have time to explore any sex districts – even if that was something he was interested in, which I can assure you, he isn't."

Paige scoffed. "I think he's probably interested… or at least curious. And when Ralph is curious about something, you know what he can be like. Just like…"

"Just like me," Walter grinned. "I know. You keep reminding me. But on this subject, I really don't think you need to worry. Ralph is… curious… about sex; but he also has a very clear idea of what he wants, and it doesn't include the sort of experience you're worried about."

Paige eyed him suspiciously. "How do you know this? Has he talked to you?"

Paige started talking to Ralph about sex shortly after she joined Scorpion. The first few discussions were simple, the sort of things a young child would understand. When Happy announced her pregnancy – the real one – Paige decided the time was right to give him the full details. She barely introduced the subject when Ralph assured her that he knew – from a very clinical perspective – all about human reproduction. He made it clear that it wasn't a subject he wanted to discuss with his 'Mo-omm'. Paige still shuddered when she remembered him telling her, "If I have any questions, I'll ask Toby." She tried to remain open; listened carefully for months for any hint that he might have questions he wanted to ask her; but he never gave her an opening. Finally, she decided that she would simply have to content herself that he would learn what he needed to know from the male role models in his life. She had to admit that all of them – Cabe, Sly, Walter of course, and even Toby – were more than any mother could ask for.

But now she was dying to know just what he might have confided to the man who was his father in every way that counted.

Walter sighed. "You know that if he did, I won't tell you. We also agreed that we would foster Ralph's confidence by making sure he knows that we won't gang up on him or share things he tells one of us without his permission."

"Sometimes I wonder what I was thinking when we made these agreements!" She let out an exasperated sigh. "I should have realized you would follow every one of them to the letter."

Walter drew her forward, wrapping his arms around her and ignoring the stiff stance she affected.

"I just don't want him to grow up!" Paige relaxed and melted into the hug, allowing the comfort that could only come from Walter to flow into her.

"I know," he soothed. "Truthfully, it bothers me, too. He's starting to talk about staying on with the research lab. I always thought Ralph would join Scorpion – officially – once he had a doctorate or two. I know he still enjoys pitching in, but I just don't think he'll ever want to do this full-time."

"To be honest, I can't say I'm upset that he wants to do research in a nice, safe lab. But I understand how you feel. Scorpion has always been our family. It feels strange not to have him there all the time."

"If he's going to do research, he needs a car to get to that nice, safe lab."

Paige leaned back, staring at the man who still held her firmly. "You sneak! You brought Scorpion up on purpose!"

Walter released her, shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "I knew I had to make you realize that there are a lot more dangerous things Ralph could be doing than driving a car. We'll be sure to get him something safe and reliable. We can go shopping right after work tonight, and give him the keys this weekend, right after he defends his dissertation. He'll be thrilled."

Paige nodded. "He will. He's still upset that he's only the third youngest person to earn a PhD."

"But he appreciates that his very smart mother made sure he had a sort-of normal childhood."

Paige laughed. "Are you going to tell me now that getting a car is a normal right of passage for an adolescent?"

"I wish I had thought of that!" Walter quipped. "Who knows, maybe with his research on aging, Ralph will find a way to keep his sisters from growing up!"

Paige reached up and captured his lips with hers. "Are you sure you want two ten-year-olds underfoot for the rest of our lives?"

Walter shuddered.

April 3, 2017