With the Moon on Their Wings
Peter Bishop had never pegged his father as a Sound of Music fan. Oh, he knew Walter loved movies, but they usually tended to be more along the lines of 2001; Hal vs. Maria? No contest.
That is, until he came home early (feeling only slightly guilty about leaving Olivia with the paperwork - she had insisted, after all), to find Walter and Etta waltzing around the living room floor. Sofa pillows were strewn about the room as they twirled to the sound of Julie Andrews' voice coming from the TV. "What the… "
"Door bells, and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles…" Walter sang.
"Shitzel!" Etta squealed as Walter swept her off her feet, laughing. Peter didn't think he'd ever heard such a joyful sound.
"No, no, my darling," Walter chuckled. "Schnitzel. Doorbells, and sleigh bells, and…"
"Daddy!" Etta yelled.
Walter turned, Etta securely in his arms. "Peter! Hello, son. Didn't expect you home so soon."
"I can see that," Peter said wryly, removing his peacoat and gesturing around the messy living room.
"Ah, yes, well…" Walter stammered as he gently put Etta down and watched her run to her father.
"Hiya, Beautiful," Peter said, just as Etta slammed into him like a linebacker.
"Daddy, it's so much fun! Grandpa made pancakes! And you know what? They look like whales!" Etta wrapped her arms around Peter's neck.
Peter smiled tenderly over Etta's shoulder. "Those are the best kind."
"I'll get this place cleaned up, son. I'm sorry, we were having such a lovely time - we were recreating the scene in the movie." He looked over at the screen, picked up the remote, and pressed OFF.
"It's okay, Walter, don't worry about it. So, Princess Henrietta, Mommy and I were thinking… what would you say to a road trip tomorrow? You, Mommy, Grandpa, Aunt Astrid, and me? We'll go out to Gloucester."
"And see the lighthouse? Can we?" Etta grinned, but the smile didn't last long. "No work?" she said glumly.
"No work. I promise." He looked hopefully at Walter. "You don't have any plans, do you, Dad?"
Walter returned Peter's smile as he picked the pillows up from the floor. "Oh, I think I could squeeze you in."
"Excellent. Now, you go wash up, Etta, and I'll help Grandpa get this place in shape before Mommy gets home."
Etta ran toward the bathroom, but stopped, and turned, jumping up and down gleefully. "We're going to the lighthouse! We're going to the lighthouse! I love the lighthouse. Don't you, Daddy?"
"You bet I do, kiddo," he said, winking at Walter. "It's one of my favorite things."
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"Mommy, I'm gonna be so pretty! As pretty as you," Etta said, holding her new dress in front of her.
"You're already prettier than me," Olivia smiled. "Like Daddy said, prettiest girl in the world. But baby, you have to stop pulling that dress out every five minutes. You're not wearing it until Sunday, and you don't want it to get dirty before then."
"Wait 'til Grandpa sees!" She held the dress close to her body and twirled. "Girls in white dresses with blue satin splashes!"
"Sashes, baby, and yeah, Grandpa is going to love it." How she managed to find a white dress with just the right shade of blue sash to satisfy her sartorially stubborn daughter was a minor miracle, but what part of their lives wasn't, Olivia mused.
"I'll be all dressed up pretty, and then we'll tell Daddy and Grandpa our secret," Etta said, slowing to a stop with a conspiratorial smile.
"Yup. And I must say, you've been a very, very good secret-keeper for me," Olivia said, poking her daughter's tummy. Etta had surprised Olivia in the bathroom two days before, and Olivia had dropped her pregnancy test on the floor.
Picking it up, Etta said, "What's this, Mommy? Look! That's a 'plus' sign. One plus one equals two!" she said proudly, as she handed the stick to Olivia.
"Wash your hands, baby," Olivia said absent-mindedly as she stared at the test result. Her four-year-old daughter had just told her she was pregnant… what a world. As Etta happily over-soaped her hands, Olivia felt tears prick the corners of her eyes.
"Right, Mommy? One plus one equals two?" Etta asked.
"Huh? Oh, yes, that's right. And do you know what three plus one equals?" She placed the test on the sink ledge and washed her own hands, watching Etta's brow furrow in a way that was so Peter, her heart clenched.
"Three plus one equals… four!"
"That's right!" Olivia exclaimed proudly. "You, plus me, plus Daddy, equals three… and soon we'll be four. Etta, how would you like to be a big sister?"
"Yeah!" Etta shrieked, jumping into Olivia's outstretched arms.
"Yeah!" Olivia echoed. "But you know what? Let's keep this a secret, okay? You know what a secret is, right?"
"Yup, it's when I know something, and don't tell," Etta said seriously.
"Exactly right. Now, some secrets are bad, but this? This is a very, very good secret. And I think we should wait until Sunday, when we're all dressed up for Daddy's birthday, to tell him you're gonna be a big sister. That'll be a really neat birthday present, don't you think?"
Olivia smiled at the memory as she took the dress from Etta's hands. "Let's put this away, shall we?" She put the dress back on its hanger in the closet, and suddenly realized she hadn't heard a sound from downstairs since she, Peter, and Etta had gotten home from the park. She walked to the door and called down, "Peter?" Receiving no reply, she called again, "Peter, you down there?" Looking over at Etta, who was sitting on her bed quietly playing with her stuffed rabbit, she said, "Be right back," and headed downstairs.
She found Peter standing near the door, holding a piece of white paper in his hand. "Peter?" she repeated, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder, and looking at the paper - a sketch of a white tulip. "What's that?"
"It's from Walter," Peter said numbly. Pulling his cell phone from his pocket, he hit Walter's home speed dial number and waited.
"Hello… this is Doctor Walter Bishop. Leave a message at the beep if you'd like. Otherwise I won't know to call you back, now will I? Thank you for your attention."
At the beep, Peter said, "Walter, it's me. Pick up if you're there, huh? I got this weird thing in the mail from you. Walter? Okay, um… I'll check at the lab, then. Call me back, okay? Bye."
"Peter, what's going on? Are you okay?" Olivia asked, worried.
"I gotta get to the lab," he said briskly, grabbing his car keys.
"I'll come with you," she said automatically. "Etta, come on downstairs, baby. We're going over to Grandpa's lab." Etta's footsteps pounded down the stairs. "Hey," she said to Peter, rubbing his back. "What's going on?"
"Dunno, but I just have a weird feeling…" he said, his voice trailing off.
"Yeah," Olivia replied, touching her head to his shoulder. "Me, too. I'll call Astrid on the way."
Etta skidded to a stop, bumping into Olivia's hip. "Are we gonna go play with Gene, Daddy?"
Peter placed a hand on his daughter's head. "Sure, kiddo, let's go."
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Etta happily watched a movie, headphones bouncing on her small head, as Peter, Olivia, and Astrid watched their own video. They had entered the empty lab and found a half-finished strawberry milkshake and an open package of Red Vines on the table near Gene's stall, as well as a video tape addressed to Peter. "It says it's only for you," Astrid said, looking at Walter's writing, and turning to go.
"Please," Peter said, "Stay?"
Astrid and Olivia stood on either side of Peter; he shivered, and Olivia put an arm around his shoulder. "What's wrong?"
"Déjà vu," he replied as he started the tape.
They watched in stunned silence as Walter said his farewell. "The time we had together we stole. I cheated fate to be with you. And we shouldn't have had that time together, but we did. And I wouldn't change it for the world. I don't want to say good-bye. But I will say... I love you, Son…"
Silent tears streamed down Peter's face. Astrid turned to him and said, "There has to be a way we can find him. I mean, how many wormholes, and vortices, and… "
"No," Peter whispered, his voice failing him. He had paused the tape to show Walter's face, and he reached out a trembling hand to touch his father's image. "This is what he was supposed to do," he choked out, before lowering his head, unable to look at Walter's face anymore.
Astrid, openly crying herself now, ran a hand through Peter's hair. "But why?"
"For us," Olivia said, sniffing back her own tears. "For Peter, and me, and you… and for Etta. Don't ask me how I know this, but I just… know. Walter somehow just… saved us all." She crouched next to Peter, and placing a finger under his chin, tilted his face up to hers. "You know it, too" she said, wiping tears from his face.
Peter nodded. "I know it, too." He looked to Astrid with swollen, red-rimmed eyes to match hers, and took her hands in is. "It has to be this way," he said, heartbroken. "But… he's okay. In my heart, I know he's okay. And that's what I have to hang onto. What we all have to hang onto." He sniffed loudly. "Just think of the havoc he's causing where he is, huh? Walter Bishop on the loose."
Astrid gave a watery chuckle. "Walter in the future. However will it survive?"
"It will. And we will… because of him," Peter replied.
"How are we going to tell Etta?" Olivia asked, crestfallen. "She loves him so, so much. We can't tell her he's dead, Peter, that would be awful."
"We'll say he's gone far away on very important scientist business. Very urgent, and secret - she loves secrets, our girl."
Olivia smiled knowingly. "Yeah, she does. Walter's like a superhero to her. Running off to save the world will probably work for her." "I'm so sorry," she said, kissing the top of his head.
"I'll tear Etta away from her movie and get her ready to go," Astrid said, composing herself.
Peter nodded, took a deep breath, and stood. Touching the screen with Walter's face on it one last time, he mouthed, "I love you Dad," and turned the player off. "I wonder if he fed Gene…" As Olivia helped Astrid get Etta ready, he wandered over to Gene's stall, and smiled to see Gene had, indeed, been fed, watered, and groomed.
He reached out to stroke the cow's head…
"You are my favorite thing, Peter… "
He closed his eyes, one more tear sliding down his face as the voice echoed in his head.
"My very favorite thing…"
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