This fic was entirely inspired by a conversation Heidi (FoxPhile) and I had at Fanforum. And I am on vacation, but had enough energy tonight to type this up while watching TV. Thanks for everyone's patience while I travel and sleep.
"And that's why we now use the phrase, madder than Cabe in a bread basket!"
There wasn't a guest in the room who didn't laugh. Ralph glanced at his mother with an eyebrow cocked. Paige smirked. He'd never found that joke amusing.
Cabe and Allie had wanted each of them to speak, and the vote to save Toby for last had been unanimous. By the time he got to talking, people would be growing impatient to get to the buffet and, sensing that, he'd keep what he had to say short. But it seemed as if all the guests were not that hungry yet. Either that, or Toby's speech was as amusing as he'd been promising for the past six weeks. Paige knew he was a lot funnier to people who weren't as of yet familiar with his sense of humor.
"I never thought we'd be standing here today," Toby was saying. "Because I don't think any of us thought that Cabe would ever propose. Possibly Cabe and Allie included!"
There was a smattering of laughter from the room. Toby looked pleased.
Paige felt Ralph elbowing her and when she looked at him again, he was the one smirking. Paige grinned back, reaching over to run her hand through his hair.
"And so," Toby said, "I think I've kept you all from dinner long enough – almost as long as it took for these two to make it to the alter!" More laughter. Toby raised his glass. "To Cabe and Allie Gallo."
Paige clinked her glass against Walter's, and then against Ralph's water.
They'd gotten together at a wedding. Maybe it was because of that that all of the jokes about how long it took Cabe and Allie to make it to the alter were suddenly hitting Paige really hard.
She pushed her remaining chicken around her plate. Cabe and Allie had been engaged for a little over a year. They both wanted what family they had left to be there when they wed, and with their jobs, they wanted to take time with the planning.
But they'd been dating for nearly three years before that.
And Paige and Walter had gotten together shortly after Cabe and Allie.
Paige glanced next to her. Walter's eyes were trained on something across the room. When Paige strained her neck to see, she realized he must be eyeing the chocolate fountain. She was pretty excited about that, too.
She felt a tap on her shoulder, and turned to see Sylvester. "Love Shack," he said, referencing the song the DJ had just put on. "You wanna line dance with me?"
Paige grinned, pushing her previous thoughts out of her head. She and Sylvester loved dancing to this song. "Oh, absolutely."
Sylvester grinned, holding out his hand, and she exchanged a smile with Walter before taking it and standing up, running out onto the dance floor, lining up with Sylvester on one side and Allie's sister on the other. She laughed when she noticed Cabe struggling to remember the steps, clapping two beats late and turning the wrong way. Allie was almost falling over backward with laughter, and Cabe looked half confused and half giddy at his ability to make her laugh like that.
"Look at Cabe!" Paige shouted to Sylvester, holding her hands up around her mouth so he could hear her.
Sylvester glanced in the older man's direction and looked back at Paige with a wide smile and scrunched up nose. She grinned back.
"My new brother – in – law doesn't have any slick moves!" Allie's sister yelled in Paige's ear.
"Hey, we warned her!" Paige joked back.
The song faded out, another fast one starting, and the group fell into a circle. When it ended, slow, romantic notes filled the air, and most of Allie's younger nieces and nephews scurried off the floor with comments of gross and sissy stuff. Paige smiled at the sight of Happy and Toby melting into each other, starting to sway to the music, and with that image in her head Paige turned to walk off the floor and back to the table. Maybe she'd check out the chocolate fountain and then ask Walter to dance the next slow one.
He suddenly appeared, standing in front of her and smiling. "Hey, you want to dance?"
He looked so handsome tonight. Paige smiled. "Yeah, very much." Walter offered his arm, and she wrapped hers around it, letting him walk them back out onto the floor. She stepped close, their bodies nearly touching as they fell into step.
"I know I told you this already," he said in a low voice, "but you look absolutely stunning tonight. Even in this low light. Maybe…especially in it."
Paige smiled, feeling her body flush. "Thank you. You don't look too bad yourself, Mister."
"I'm the guy with the loveliest girl in the place," Walter said. "Any appeal I have is from being with you."
"Stop it," Paige said with a smile, "you're gonna make me blush so deep I no longer look good in this light."
Walter chuckled. "Somehow I doubt that."
Paige hesitated before speaking again. She hated to ruin their dance. Dancing with him was one of her favorite things to do, and she knew that he loved this every bit as much as she did. But being at Cabe and Allie's wedding…it put thoughts in her head. Thoughts about how they'd been together for almost four years. Thoughts about how she wanted those four years to turn into every year to come.
"Hey, so…" Paige patted his shoulder lightly.
"Is something that matter?" Walter asked, his brow immediately furrowing.
"No, of course not," Paige said. It was mostly the truth. "I was just thinking about Cabe, and Allie, and how Toby keeps joking about how we never thought that we'd actually be here…at their wedding…"
She hesitated again, then drew in a breath. "Are you…were you ever planning…" she bit her lip. "Do you ever think about us spending the rest of our lives together?"
Walter smiled lovingly at her. "Of course I do," he said.
Paige knew, deep down, that he was every bit as happy in the relationship as she was. But hearing him reaffirm that no reservations about her had manifested themselves over time was still a nice bit of relief. She leaned in and bumped her nose against his cheek. "Do you ever think about taking that step? You know, to us…starting that life?"
Walter tipped his head slightly to the side. "I'm confused. Isn't that what we're doing? Already?"
It was Paige's turn to be confused – but only for a moment. "Yeah," she said, rubbing his shoulder. "We have started the rest of our lives. You're – you're right. I just mean…" She hesitated yet again. For some reason, she suddenly felt unreasonable. Her and Walter loved each other. Neither of them were going anywhere. Did she really need anything else?
"I guess I just always thought that one day I'd meet a guy, a great guy, and we'd fall in love, and…" she trailed off momentarily. Four years together and it was still so easy for her to get lost in his eyes, especially as they swayed back and forth. "I always thought that one day I'd walk down an aisle in a white dress. Do you ever think about that? The two of us getting married?" She gave a smirk, hoping to lighten the mood. "Makin' this lady an O'Brien?"
Walter's face grew a bit more serious. "I…I have thought…many times…about us being married. But I…" He seemed to be thinking about how to phrase what he had to say. "I usually had those thoughts before you and I were together. I was longing for you, for years, even before I realized that's what was happening, and now, ever since we've been together, I've been so happy. So fulfilled. I didn't realize you were unhappy."
"Oh Walter," she said, lifting a hand to stroke his face. "I'm not unhappy, Love. Just…I've always wanted to be married. To fall hopelessly in love and seal that deal. I know it's just paper. Well, paper and some tax benefits," she said with a wry smirk. "But what it represents…I know we already have that and I suppose I can't really explain it, but I want it."
"Okay." Walter nodded. "When do you want to get married?"
"What?"
"You want to marry me, don't you?"
"Well, y – yes, but…"
"I haven't proposed because I'm so happy with what we have now. Not because I have anything against it. And I do admit, the idea of you being Paige O'Brien is…" A corner of his mouth turned up, "…quite appealing to me." He smiled. "Do you want a large wedding? A live band and extravagant flower displays? We can afford it."
"Wait," Paige said, feeling as if her head was actually spinning. "Are…are we engaged?"
"Well, I suppose so," Walter said. "Since we've both declared our intention to marry. But let's not tell anyone until I buy something for your finger."
Paige hadn't been sure how she felt about the events of the last few minutes, but the reality was slowly sinking in, and when she smiled, she had to make a conscious effort to not betray her excitement on her face. "Okay but," she said, putting both hands on his chest and curling her fingers around his jacket. "Can I tell Ralph? We have to at least tell Ralph."
Walter chuckled again, leaning in to brush his lips over hers. "Whatever you want."