WOOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

AN: I can't stop. It's been over a year and I can't stop. On the bright side? If the Scorpion writers wanted a way to fix the Waige situation, no one can say I didn't have any suggestions.

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She'd been a nearly constant invading presence in his thoughts since they'd split up, so he didn't realize she was actually there at first. He thought his overtaxed mind might have conjured up her image again. It wasn't until she cleared her throat and offered him a stiff smile that he realized she was actually present.

"Hello, Walter," she said calmly as if it'd only been hours before instead of months since they'd last met face-to-face. Her fingers were twisting in her purse strap. It was the only indicator of any tension she might be feeling. Her beautiful face gave nothing away.

"Oh, um… hello," he answered her polite greeting automatically with one of his own, like she'd taught him to do years before.

She shifted uneasily. "Is this a bad time?"

He stood frozen, a thick file dangling from numb fingers. The contents slid to the floor and scattered in different directions.

Like his wits.

They both stooped and began shuffling and sweeping, wrinkling a few of the errant white papers in their haste to cram them back into the file.

"No. Not-not really," he finally replied once everything was gathered and stuffed away in the folder.

The both of them straightened at the same time and stood staring at one another across the awkward silence.

"Could we sit?"

"Uh, sure. Okay." He indicated the red couch by the door as if she was unable to find the furniture on her own in an office where her son had run tame and she'd worked and sometimes lived for nearly four years. That thought caused a throbbing heaviness to take up residence in his chest where his heart used to be.

He dropped the offending folder onto the coffee table and perched on the edge of the sofa about as far from Paige as he could manage, making touching her or even feeling the warmth from her body out of the question. It was necessary for keeping up a serene façade and a steady voice.

"So… how have you been?"

Walter sighed. He'd never had any real patience for small talk. Paige was well aware of that fact. She was obviously stalling.

Instead of answering with some blatantly false banality, he prompted shortly, "Why are you here?"

She chuckled nervously at his characteristic bluntness. "Sorry. I have some news. And it's a little hard to jump right in. I'm trying to figure out how to phrase it…"

"An inefficient waste of time. If you have something to tell me, just say it…"

"I'm pregnant," she blurted in the middle of his lecture.

All the blood drained from his head and he gaped impolitely at his guest unable to formulate a single coherent word or thought.

"Say something," she urged, wincing slightly.

"Is it…? Am I…?"

"Yes, Walter. Of course it's yours. Ours."

"But it's been months since we… since we…?" He gawped at her, his eyes falling to her stomach trying to evaluate if it was slightly more rounded than when he'd last seen her. It was impossible to tell because of her loose-fitting outfit.

"I know. With everything that's happened, I wasn't paying attention to the signs."

"But-but we were always careful. We-we always used…"

"We did. But we had a couple of… mishaps, remember?"

Did he remember? What a stupid question. He relived all their intimate moments over and over. If he attempted to suppress them in his waking life, then they would haunt his nightly dreams too.

She kept talking, more like babbling, and wringing her hands uncomfortably, "…and since, as you know, I'm sensitive to the artificial hormones in so many forms of birth control, we were only ever able to use the most unreliable method on the market anyway…"

"How long have you known?" He interrupted, the words sounding choked even through the ringing in his ears.

"Not long. Toby recognized the symptoms and mentioned it to me about two, no three weeks ago. I only just had it confirmed by a doctor today."

"Oh." Walter swallowed hard. "What do you want from-from… n-need me to do?"

"I'm not expecting anything from you. I just thought you should know."

Highly insulted and suddenly angry, Walter barked, "You damn well should expect something from me! I'm not Drew!"

"I'm aware," Paige snapped back, standing immediately to her feet, "If we can't manage to keep things civil, I'll go."

He sighed. "Wait. Please? I apologize for being abrupt. I only meant... I'm willing to do anything you want. I have no intention of making you go through this on your own."

"Again." She slumped back onto the sofa, sitting closer than before. "I know. You've got to be shocked. I certainly am and I've had longer to think about it. I suppose I'm a little edgy too. I knew. I knew you wouldn't be the same as... But still…"

Hesitantly reaching over, he gathered her hands into his, pulling them over onto his lap. Her fingers were like ice. "I'm here in whatever capacity you-you'd like me to be." He chafed her cold hands between his warm palms.

She looked at their joined hands, her expression turning to sadness and longing as she tugged hers away from him. "Hypothetically, if you… If you didn't have to consider my feelings at all, what would you want to do about this? How involved would you want to be?"

Walter's thoughts were reeling. He was having trouble processing it all, so it was a struggle to formulate what he hoped would be a proper reply.

"If it was entirely up to me?" He asked to buy himself more time.

Paige nodded.

"Whatever it takes." When she frowned her displeasure at his non-answer, he continued on, "My f-feelings for you haven't changed. So… I would be as close to you as you would allow me to be. If that's only sharing parenting duties and meeting as much as that required, I would do that. If you wanted to be my friend and spend time together with me while I help you out during the pregnancy and we figure out how to co-parent, I would welcome that. If-if you were up to… If you would want to live together as a family? I would do anything. Absolutely anything. Go to counseling. Talk nothing but inanities on dates. Never attend another science lecture. With the eventual goal of making things legal… maybe get married? You know, to-to offer the child stability? That would be the outcome I would most desire. If-if it was only up to me, that is."

Her eyes filled.

"Of course, I understand that…" He huffed out a little laugh. "I'm being ridiculous. I know that isn't anything like what you would want. You don't really enjoy being around me. So… I promise to contribute income, time, childcare, whatever you would need. I'll read up on how to be a supportive and effective father both for you and for the baby…"

"I don't deserve you," she whispered.

Walter's heart sank. "I know. I know you can do so much better. I won't interfere. I just want to be a part…"

"Stop. Walter stop." It was her turn to reach out. Her hand settled over his. The contact was so welcome, such a relief, like a cooling balm on a bad sunburn. He'd positively ached for her these past weeks.

Paige's throat worked as she swallowed hard. "I was so cruel to you. I'm so sorry. I haven't been happy one second since I walked out on you. Please believe I said lots of things I didn't really mean that day because you hurt me and over the years you'd let me in far enough to know exactly how to hurt you back. Forgive me?"

"Nothing to forgive, Paige. I understand. I took you for granted. I dismissed you and I lied..."

"You didn't do it with the express purpose of hurting me though."

"No. No, I didn't do that."

They stared at each other for a few long moments, then Paige smiled at him and he felt cautiously hopeful again. "If we do this, we're going to be spending lots of time together. It's going to require lots of late nights and weekends. Maybe years and years of it. What do you say? Parenting partners in crime?"

Walter grinned and laced their fingers together. "Deal."