WriterFreak001:

I had fun writing this little one-shot! :)

Title | Can You Be My Dad?

Fandom | Scorpion (CBS)

Description | I wrote this after having a fun discussion with webuiltthepyramids on FanForum. She also wrote her version for this topic so be sure to check hers out! :)

Rating| This fanfiction will be rated K for light and fluffy fluff.

POV | Limited Third Person

Disclaimer | While CBS owns Scorpion, I am the owner of this masterpiece.

Claimer | I am human; there are bound to be mistakes. If you feel like something should be changed, you have the power to send me a review/private message. I can't guarantee if I'll change it every time, but I do read all of my reviews and all of my private messages!

Can You Be My Dad?

Written by WriterFreak001

One Shot

~ SCORPION ~

"So, are you going to the father-son retreat next weekend?"

Ralph turned to his friend, Billy, as they walked to Billy's house and sighed. "Probably not. My dad's in Portland; he won't be able to make it."

"You can hang out with me and my dad," Billy smiled as he walked backwards, hugging his backpack straps with his small hands. "It'll be fun!"

"I don't know... I'd have to ask my mom." Ralph shrugged while staring at the ground in front of him.

"Or," Billy turned back around and smirked, "you could ask your friend, Walter. You two hang out a lot so I'm sure he wouldn't mind coming."

Ralph smiled at the thought of spending an entire 'father-son' weekend with Walter. Though, camping wasn't exactly something Walter would like to do... nor Ralph. They'd rather go to a science convention or chart stars. Camping seemed... tiring and a waste of time... "Maybe..."

"It wouldn't hurt to ask." Billy laughed. "Besides, isn't he dating your mom? You three are practically family."

"Walter and my mom's relationship is... complicated." Ralph sighed. "They spend a lot of time together, but they're not dating. I think they want to date, though... I'm just not sure why they're not..."

"Grownups," Billy rolled his eyes perceptibly. "They never make any sense."

"Agreed."

~ SCORPION ~

"Hey, honey!" Paige smiled and greeted her son with a short hug as Billy's parents drove away from the garage. "Did you have a fun time at Billy's?"

Ralph nodded, returning his mother's smile. "After homework, we played video games. It was quite enjoyable." He shrugged his backpack off of his shoulders and asked, "Where's Walter?"

"He's visiting Megan; he'll be back shortly." Paige said as she picked up Ralph's backpack. "Do you want a snack?"

"I'm good." Ralph answered quickly and then softly added. "But thank you for asking."

"Manners," Paige hummed and poked his nose. "I like it."

"Can I play Proton Arnold until Walter returns?"

"Sure, baby," Paige grinned and kissed Ralph's forehead. "I'll be at my desk if you need anything."

"Okay." Ralph nodded while racing towards the arcade game.

Paige carefully carried her son's book bag to her desk and gently dropped it to the floor next to her chair. She pulled out her son's orange folder to see if his teacher had sent any important information home, and spotted a neatly folded green paper hiding behind a few old notes from his teacher. She quietly unraveled the note and skimmed over the form. She quickly wiped away the tears falling from her eyes and slowly approached her son. "Ralph, honey, can you come here for a sec?" She walked over to the couch and sat down to wait for Ralph.

At first, though, the boy didn't respond, but after the second time Paige called for him, he paused his game and met her at the couch. He noticed the permission slip sitting in her lap. He gulped, unsure how his mother was going to react.

"Why didn't you show this to me, sweetie?"

Ralph shrugged. "There was no reason to. My dad's in Portland; he doesn't have time to come down here."

"Did you ask him?" Paige lifted an eyebrow.

"... No."

"Then how would you know?" Paige placed the permission slip on the table and leaned towards her son.

Ralph inhaled a slow, deep breath before quietly answering his mother. "I overheard you talking to him on the phone; he wanted to reschedule for the weekend he had planned on coming down here; if he can't make something that's planned a few months in advance, I can't expect him to come down here last minute."

Paige covered her son's hand with hers and squeezed his fingers as she brought them to her lips. "Oh. I see."

"Are you mad?"

"No," she shook her head and wrapped her arms around Ralph's shoulders. "Of course not."

"Should I have asked him?"

"I think," Paige kissed his forehead, "I think it would have been polite to have asked him... Drew's trying to be a good dad, but he still has a lot to learn, Ralph. I understand why you didn't ask him, and I'm not going to force you to ask him, but... let me ask you this... is this retreat... is this something you want to do?"

Ralph shrugged. "Billy and his dad are going. I am not particularly fond of camping, but I hear the stars are easier to see in the wilderness, and there could be educational benefits to this retreat, but..." Ralph didn't finish his statement.

"But what, baby?"

"But... I don't really want to go with my dad..." Ralph twiddled his thumbs and stared at the floor. "Even if Dad was able to come, he wouldn't really enjoy it... And because he and I don't always connect, I don't think I'd enjoy the retreat with him. We have almost nothing in common, and I'd rather go with someone I can easily converse with; the retreat would be more enjoyable that way."

"I know it hasn't been easy being just the two of us, but," Paige kissed her son's hair, "it's not just the two of us anymore." She rocked him in her arms and softly asked, "Did you think to ask Walter?"

"I thought about it," Ralph shrugged, "but... camping really wouldn't be Walter's thing either. I'm not entirely too excited about the camping myself, but... I don't know, I guess it would be fun to spend a weekend with Walter; we could go stargazing, probably. And inform everyone about the different kinds of trees and plants in the area, or something."

Paige smiled and blinked back her tears at the actual thought of her baby boy wanting to go on a retreat for the first time. Never before had he been interested in a school outing of any kind, but here he was, secretly wanting to go on a retreat with Walter just to spend some time with him. "Believe it or not," Paige kissed Ralph's cheek, "Walter's more of a nature guy than you give him credit for. He likes the beach, and he likes quiet places. You never know, he might like camping."

"I guess it's possible." Ralph sighed.

"Then what's with the sad face?" Paige pulled away from her son and cupped his cheeks. "What else is bothering you?"

"I don't know...," Ralph pressed his lips together. "I guess I don't want him to say no..."

"He won't," Paige smiled, knowing Walter would give up every project he ever worked on to spend time with Ralph. "Walter is a good man with a good heart; he adores you, Ralph, and I'm sure he'll be delighted to go with you."

"Really?!" Ralph's eyebrows reached for the ceiling as a wide smile beamed across his face. "You think?"

"No, baby," Paige laughed and then kissed his nose. "I know." She hugged him before he climbed off of the sofa and headed for Proton Arnold. "You can ask him after dinner; okay?"

"Kay!"

~ SCORPION ~

While Ralph was busy helping Sylvester with an algorithm, Paige waltzed over to Walter in the back of the garage and watched him work on his rocket for a few minutes. Walter, who was very aware of Paige's presence, eventually stopped adjusting some of the bolts on his rocket and turned to face her. She was smiling, which, in turn, made him smile too. He stepped off of his ladder and wiped the oil off of his hands with a rag as she walked up to him. "Is there something you, uh, you need?"

"Actually, there is." Paige laughed as she took the rag out of his hands and dipped it into his cup of water.

"I was, uh, drinking that." Walter blinked as Paige rolled her eyes. She shook her head and giggled before dabbing his cheek with the wet rag. He grew rigid under her touch but eventually relaxed as she wiped the oil - he guessed - off of his face.

"Much better," she grinned as her eyes found his. She dropped the rag onto the workbench and noted how incredibly good-looking Walter was in black. How toned his muscles were... how sexy - "Okay," Paige took a step back and shook her thoughts away before she traveled down what could be a very dangerous path.

Walter cleared his throat. "So... you needed something?"

"Yes," Paige nodded, visibly creating a few inches between them to keep her sanity in check. "Ralph."

"Ralph?" Walter folded his arms and leaned forward a little, shifting the weight from his heels to his toes. "What about Ralph?"

"He's a little shy about asking you something so when he does," Paige bit her lip, "do me a favor and say 'yes.'

"What sort of question?" Walter shifted his weight again, clearly interested.

"Umm," Paige thought about telling him, but she decided it would be best to let Ralph have all of the fun, "you'll just have to wait and see."

Walter blinked, slightly confused. "Okay?"

"Don't worry,' Paige laughed and lightly smacked his cheek. "I promise it's a good thing."

Walter pursed his lips and nodded. "If you say it is, then," he smiled, "I believe you."

~ SCORPION ~

After dinner, Paige encouraged Ralph to talk to Walter so her son asked Walter to follow him to the back of the garage, and she couldn't help but want to eavesdrop. She followed them but kept her distance to give them some privacy. Walter spotted her almost immediately, and then Ralph saw her too. She gave her son a thumb's up, and he gulped in response.

Ralph, after looking at his mother, turned to Walter and pulled out his permission slip. "I wasn't sure if it was okay to ask you since you didn't contribute to my conception, but," Ralph gulped, "there's a retreat next weekend, and I'd like to go..., but I can't go unless I have a dad who's also willing to go... So..." Ralph suddenly got quiet, trying to figure out the best and most efficient way to get his thoughts across. Walter could almost guess what the boy wanted, but he stayed silent and waited for Ralph to continue. "Walter?" Ralph suddenly knew what he wanted to say.

"Yeah, buddy?"

"Can you be my dad?"

At first, Walter was thrown off a bit by Ralph's question but then smiled after piecing together everything the boy had said. "Sure, buddy." He ruffled Ralph's hair, "I'd like that."

~ SCORPION ~

Paige wiped the tear falling down her cheek as she watched her happy son surprise Walter with a quick, but oh-so-endearing embrace before racing off to play Proton Arnold. She slowly walked up to Walter and bumped her shoulder to his. "Thank you, Walter."

The genius grinned. "No. Thank you."

~ SCORPION ~

WriterFreak001:

UPDATE:

Updated note: My previous note was an accident; I forgot to erase it from a different story template. Ooops! Anyway let me know what you think! :)