Okay, just to warn you, this story is pretty tragic from the get go! But I hope you stick with it, because I do have a plan, and it will have its uplifting moments!
Also I'm so sorry I haven't updated my "Stay With Me" story for ages. I'm having a major writers block with it, but I will update soon. I've just been struggling with where I want the story to go.
PROLOGUE ...
"Hang on!" Paige shouted, as she made her way from the kitchen sink, wiping her wet hands on her jeans as she made her way to the door. She was expecting a delivery, so was entirely unprepared for the man who stood before her when she opened it.
"Walter!" she gasped, as her heart immediately began palpitating. He was the last person she expected to see and her body wasn't coping well at the revelation. "Walter, I, I ... what are you doing here? How, how did you find me? Walter you shouldn't have come here, I can't ..." she trailed off, as her quavering voice began betraying her emotions.
"Hi Paige" Walter said nervously. "Ummm, Toby saw you. I, I didn't realise you were back in town. If I'd have known I wouldn't have waited..."
"Walter ... I can't do this, I'm sorry" Paige interrupted. She couldn't face seeing Walter right now. Everything was coming back to her, threatening to overwhelm her. The memories of that day, they were with her constantly, but seeing Walter again was too much for her.
"Paige, I" Walter began to say, before Paige held up her hand to stop him.
"Walter please, I can't ... please go." She took a moment to look at the man before her. His hair has grown wild and unkempt and he had huge dark rings around his eyes. He'd lost weight too, an awful lot of weight. He was a shadow of the person she knew before that day that had changed everything, but then he was probably thinking the same about her too. Part of her wanted to embrace him, to tell him to never let go, but the pain was still too much. Nothing could ever be the same again.
"Paige"
"Walter, please, please just go" Paige pleaded quietly as her tears began to fill her eyes. Walter nodded regretfully.
"Okay, understood. I'm, I'm sorry I disturbed you ... I, I just ... I miss him too Paige. And you."
"No! You don't get to miss him Walter" Paige fired back bitterly. "It was your arrogance, your attitude that, that ... " She shook her head, unable to finish the sentence. She was crying properly now. "I, I can't do this Walter!" she sobbed. "I'm not ready. I, I don't know if I'll ever be. Please don't call here again. I'm sorry."
She saw the hurt deep in his eyes as she shut the door. Her legs gave way and she slumped down against it, burying her head in her hands, trying to control her sobs. She must have stayed like that for a good 20 minutes before a familiar sound roused her. She wearily scraped herself off the floor and made her way and into the spare room.
"Hey, what's this all about" she said softly, as she looked down into the cot at the little baby boy staring up at her. He immediately calmed at the sight of her, giving Paige a big toothless grin. She smiled as she reached down to give his tummy a rub before lifting him out of the cot entirely. "You're meant to be sleeping" Paige murmured, as she held her son against her and began to rock him gently, and kissed his head tenderly.
Her eyes fell on the picture frame on the cabinet next to the cot. It was a picture of Ralph, standing next to Walter's rocket, with a big smile on his face. Paige had always loved that snap, and everything it represented, but right now, looking at it was too much for her. God, she missed him so much. The pain was still so raw, but she supposed this was her punishment for not protecting him like she should have done. She was his mom. She had one job, to keep her son safe, happy, and she had failed. She wouldn't make that same mistake again, not with Samuel. It was why she had cut herself off from them, the team, her family ... from Walter. Self preservation. But something had made her come back, to Los Angeles. She'd wanted to be closer to Ralph, the memory of Ralph, but it was more than that. Deep down she knew that she needed to face up to the reality of the little boy she was cuddling in her arms. She just hadn't begun to figure out how, which was why she was so thrown to see Walter standing before her.
"That man at the door" Paige whispered, as she ran her fingers tenderly through her son's messy mop of black curls. "That man is called Walter O'Brien ... and he's your daddy."