**Fan Forum Secret Santa Gift For: WriterFreak001**
I don't often write from a prompt, but we decided to do a Secret Santa in the Fan Forum Scorpion group this year and this is the result.
Merry Christmas, Kimberly!
I hope everyone else enjoys it too. All reviews welcome!
A PERFECT CHRISTMAS
"Toby, did you get everything we need for the eggnog?"
Toby placed two bags of groceries down on the kitchen table in the garage and shot Paige a look of mock indignation. "Of course I did," he replied. "When have I ever let you down?"
"Frequently," replied Paige, rolling her eyes.
"Well that's just Rude-olph," said Toby, more than a little pleased with himself that he'd managed to slip in his fifth Christmas pun of the day.
"Enough!" pleaded Paige.
"Hey!" Toby objected. "Remember, 'tis the season to be jolly."
Paige shook her head in despair. "Happy! How are the lights?" she called out.
"Just about to test 'em," replied Happy from her slightly precarious position at the top of the ladder.
Ralph looked up at her. He had been holding the ladder for the last ten minutes as she'd arranged the lights on the tree and his hair was now full of pine needles.
"You and I have a combined IQ of almost four hundred," noted Ralph. "And we're decorating a stupid Christmas tree."
Happy stopped working for a moment and frowned. "Since when did you turn into the Grinch?" she asked, looking down at him.
Ralph just shrugged.
"We need those fairy lights on!" Paige called out as she wiped her floury hands on a tea towel. "It's Christmas Eve and the tree isn't even ready yet."
"Maybe if you'd picked out a smaller tree?" suggested Happy, trying desperately not to snap at her.
Paige crossed from the kitchen towards them with a bounce in her step. Ralph could hear her lightly humming Winter Wonderland under her breath.
"Stupid song," he muttered to himself.
Paige draped her arm over his shoulders and admired the tree she'd chosen. She had to admit it was taller than ones they'd had in previous years, but there was space for it in the garage – just about – so she saw no reason for anyone to object.
"It's the perfect tree," she said. "Isn't it, honey?"
Ralph forced a smile onto his lips and nodded.
"Best tree ever," said Happy, but if Paige picked up on her sarcasm she didn't show it.
"Just… just do your thing," said Paige with a smile. "And please be careful up there, we don't want to spend another Christmas at the hospital."
Paige shuddered as she remember last year when Walter had had his accident. She most definitely did not want a repeat of last Christmas, the repercussions of the dream he'd had while the team had been battling to keep him alive had almost destroyed everything.
"Copy that," nodded Happy.
She didn't want to think about last Christmas either. None of the team did and going along with Paige's over-elaborate plans for this year had seemed the best way to put it all behind them. Now, with just one day to go, Happy couldn't wait for it all to be over and neither, it seemed, could Ralph.
Just then Sylvester arrived carrying three large bags of shopping in each hand. His face was red and dripping with sweat as he shuffled into the garage.
"I am never, ever, doing that again!" he announced, dropping the bags and collapsing onto the couch. "There are way too many people at the mall on Christmas Eve! And they're all coughing and sneezing and… and touching things. If I get sick for Christmas, Paige, it's your fault."
Paige laughed and joined him on the couch, handing the grateful genius a glass of water. "Thank you for going to the mall for me," she said. "I would have gone myself, but I still have the baking to finish."
"And it smells delicious, my love."
Paige looked up and smiled at Walter as he walked down the ramp from the loft.
"Thank you, Walter," she said. "I'm trying some new recipes this year. I got them all from that book I ordered – The Perfect Christmas. Ralph is going to love the walnut tarts I'm making."
"Dumb book," mumbled Ralph with a sneer. He didn't think he was going to love walnut tarts at all. What was wrong with good old-fashioned chocolate, anyway?
"I think I've finished the playlist you asked for," said Walter, walking over to his desk with his tablet in his hand.
"At last!" exclaimed Paige, crossing the garage to look over Walter's shoulder as he tapped the screen to link his tablet to the speakers. "I hope you put all of Ralph's favourites on there. Christmas preparations just aren't the same without the perfect Christmas soundtrack." She wrapped her arm around Walter's waist and lovingly rested her head on his shoulder.
Walter turned his head and kissed her tenderly on the lips, more grateful than ever that he still could.
They'd been back together for months and their relationship was so much better now than it was before the break-up. They understood each other more now and when they didn't understand they talked about it until they did. All they'd talked about lately, though, was Christmas and they'd both agreed to do everything they could to give Ralph the best Christmas he'd ever had.
Suddenly the garage was blasted with the opening bars of White Christmas at full volume.
"What the…?" exclaimed Sylvester, covering his ears with his hands.
"Sorry!" yelled Walter and he quickly adjusted the settings on his tablet. "My fault."
"White Christmas? Since when has that been one of my favourites?" asked Ralph, but Paige didn't hear him.
As the sound settled at a much more acceptable volume, Happy came half way down the ladder and perched on the middle step. "Y'know, Ralph, I figure you need to talk to your Mom and Walt about all this, don't you?" she said in a low voice.
Ralph sighed. "I can't," he replied quietly. "I don't want to upset her. She's doing it all for me."
Happy raised her eyebrows. "But you don't want any of it," she pointed out. "And I'm with you, believe me."
"I don't, but..." Ralph trailed off and sighed again.
Happy wasn't very good at this kind of conversation and she didn't know what else to say to him, so she gave him what she hoped was an encouraging look and went back up the ladder.
Ralph looked over at the sound of the door opening and he managed a small smile as he saw that Cabe and Allie had arrived.
"Hey gang," grinned Cabe. He stopped dead in his tracks as he saw the huge Christmas tree. "Woah, how did you get that in here?" he asked.
"With great difficulty," replied Happy, rolling her eyes.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" asked Allie, glancing around at the chaos.
The garage was a mess of half-wrapped presents, half-unpacked boxes of decorations and piles of packages that someone – she assumed Paige – had ordered online.
"Maybe you could unpack the rest of the decorations, please?" asked Paige and Allie nodded.
"OK, I'm ready," Happy called out from the top of the ladder. "Doc, hit the power."
Toby skipped over to the socket and turned on the lights. For a second or two the huge tree lit up, but then there was a bang, followed by the sound of Happy swearing under her breath and it all went dark again.
"You OK, darlin'?" Toby asked with concern as he ran over to the ladder.
"Peachy," came the droll reply. There was a moment of silence as Happy fiddled with the wiring. "Try it again," she called out eventually and this time Cabe did the honours.
To Happy's – and everyone's – great relief, the lights came back on and stayed on this time.
Paige smiled with glee as she admired the tree. "Oh, Happy, it really is the perfect Christmas tree!" she exclaimed. "Thank you!"
"No problem," she said through gritted teeth.
"Perfect," Ralph repeated, flatly and he walked away leaving Toby to hold the ladder as his wife descended the steps.
Toby watched him go, more than a little concerned about his demeanour.
Happy followed her husband's eye-line. "Yeah, he really ain't in the Christmas spirit," she noted. "And neither am I. If the waitress doesn't get over this 'Perfect Christmas' crap, this year's gonna be worse than last year. And I drilled a hole in Walt's skull last year."
Over the past few days, Paige and Walter had repeatedly proclaimed that this year Christmas would be perfect, Paige in particular, but it was obvious now that Ralph didn't agree. Paige had become more than a little obsessed with the planning and everyone had been going along with her ideas for the sake of a peaceful holiday season, but now the cracks were starting to show. Toby knew Happy was one more broken bauble away from saying something to Paige that she'd regret.
Cabe walked up behind them. "You guys talking about Ralph?" he asked in a low voice and they both nodded. "Allie and I are kinda worried about the kid," he admitted. "Paige and Walter have really gone overboard with Christmas this year, but he just seems kinda down about the whole thing."
"Paige has totally misjudged his feelings," agreed Toby. "And that doesn't happen very often, but she's gotten herself so engrossed in Christmas she just can't see how overwhelmed he is. You could say Ralph's feeling more than a little Claus-trophobic."
Happy slapped him on the arm. "Give it a rest, Doc," she hissed. "Are you gonna try to talk some sense into the waitress?"
"I can try, but it could backfire," replied Toby.
"Uh-huh," agreed Happy, reluctantly. "The last thing we all need to finish off this year is a huge fight. O'Brien sure is getting better at listening to us and respecting our opinions and all of that kinda stuff, but…"
"But underneath he's still the same Walter O'Stubborn," Toby finished her sentence for her. "And Paige… well, Paige is still trying to come to terms with aspects of herself that she didn't know existed. Pointing out now how she's letting Ralph down could set back a lot of the progress she's made."
They glanced over towards Walter's desk where Walter had Paige's hands in his. They were smiling adoringly into each other's eyes and even Happy could see how very much in love they were.
"Everything will be perfect for Ralph," they heard Walter say before he kissed her again.
Cabe exchanged a concerned glance with Toby. There was that word again – perfect.
"Cabe, you think you can talk to Walter?" asked Toby. "Persuade him that they need to ease off a little?"
"I don't know, Doc," replied Cabe with a shrug. "He thinks he knows Ralph better than any of us."
"He knows Ralph," agreed Toby. "But he's blinded by love and this is one hundred per cent Paige's influence."
"Ralph doesn't care about a giant Christmas tree," said Happy. "Or about dumb Christmas songs, or hanging up stockings any more than Walter does and it's making the kid miserable."
"I'll do some groundwork with Paige," Toby agreed. "But I really don't want to push too much, or her elf-esteem could take another nose-dive. Elf-esteem… geddit?"
"Jeez, Doc!" exclaimed Cabe. "If you don't quit that right now, my foot'll be jingling all the way to your ass."
"This is serious!" snapped Happy. "Paige's expectations are way too high and if we don't do something about it now Christmas is gonna suck big-time."
"Sure is," agreed Toby. "With luck we'll get through this year without any life threatening disasters, but if anyone so much as spills the gravy…" but his sentence was cut short by the sound of Sylvester's voice.
"Jumping Jingle Bells!"
"What's up, Sly?" asked Cabe as they re-joined the rest of the group.
Sylvester was slowing backing away from a square box on the coffee table.
"Are those Christmas crackers?" asked Sylvester, as the colour drained from his face. "We're not British! Who bought these?"
"That would be Paige," answered Happy.
"Walter mentioned he remembers having them as a child so I thought we could try some this year," explained Paige with a warm smile at Walter.
"You do know they're made with real gunpowder, don't you?" asked Sylvester. "Paige, you brought a box of explosives into the garage!"
"Cabe, call the bomb squad," deadpanned Toby.
"It's just some harmless fun for Ralph, that's all," said Paige. "I really want us all to have a perfect Christmas."
Suddenly, Ralph leapt to his feet. "I can't take any more of this. I'm going to work on some coding in the loft," he announced and strode purposefully towards the steps.
"But Ralph, honey, I thought you could help Allie with these paper chains?" said Paige, her voice tinged with disappointment, but Ralph had already disappeared upstairs.
Toby pressed his lips together. He couldn't let this go on any longer, it wasn't fair on Paige, Ralph, or the rest of the team. "Paige," he said, briefly glancing at Cabe. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure," agreed Paige. "In the kitchen," she added. "I need to get those tarts in the oven, so we can talk while I bake."
As Toby followed her to the kitchen he let out a slow breath. This was either going to smooth things over for everyone, or it was going to be a disaster. Scorpion had had their fair share of Christmas disasters though and Toby was determined this wasn't going to be another one.
"What did you want to talk about?" asked Paige as she sprinkled flour over the work surface.
"Christmas," replied Toby.
"OK," Paige responded with a confused frown.
"Y'know, when I was Ralph's age, Christmas was just another day," Toby began. "My mom was never well enough to cope with it and my dad… well, he'd forget it was even Christmas and then blow whatever cash he'd saved for presents on the ponies."
"I'm so sorry you had to go through that," said Paige, sympathetically. "But that's exactly why I want this Christmas to be…"
"Perfect," Toby interrupted her. "I know, you've mentioned it once or twice already."
"Perfect for Ralph," Paige clarified as she began rolling out the pastry. "Walter and I put him through hell this year and he didn't deserve it. We just want to make sure he knows he's loved and that we're sorry."
"He knows that already," insisted Toby. "Look, I understand this is the first Christmas since you and Walter…"
"Broke up," Paige finished his sentence for him. "But…"
"Oh, interesting word choice," Toby noted. "I was going to say since you guys got back together."
"Same thing."
"Not really, but I think we'll talk about that another time. Right now, let's stick to Christmas."
Paige sighed and put down the rolling pin. "All I want is a normal Christmas," she insisted.
"A normal Christmas?" repeated Toby, his eyes widening as he spoke. "That's very different to a perfect Christmas."
"Stop doing that!" begged Paige. She really didn't want to be analysed today.
Toby pulled himself up onto the worktop sending a puff of flour into the air. He swung his legs slowly as he carefully chose his next words. "You're Ralph's mom, so I hate to break it to you, but you're always gonna carry the guilt for what happened with Walter and about the effect it had on Ralph."
Paige nodded. She would never stop feeling guilty about it and she knew Walter felt the same. One of the first really good conversations they'd had after reigniting their romance had been about Ralph and how desperately sorry they both were for putting him through so much pain during their - albeit temporary - split.
"But he's fourteen years old and he's a genius," continued Toby. "And he doesn't blame you or Walter anymore and he sure as heck doesn't want you to make up for it by pretending we're living in one of those cheesy Christmas TV movies they've been showing since November."
"I just thought this year…" she began, but she trailed off to compose herself before continuing. "When he was little I always tried to make Christmas special for him," she explained. "Even when we had nothing, but I guess I still felt like a failure because I couldn't give him a shiny new bicycle like the other kids, or a…"
"Or a dad who gave a crap?" offered Toby.
Paige closed her eyes and swallowed hard, Toby had hit the proverbial nail on the head, as usual.
"Hey, if it helps he wouldn't have wanted a bike," said Toby, gently. "Paige, listen to me," he pleaded. "You don't have to make up for Drew not being there all those years and neither does Walter. You and Ralph have a home and a family now and if you want to give Ralph the perfect Christmas then maybe you should start by asking him what exactly his perfect Christmas is?"
Paige looked down at her flour coated hands and then around the garage at all the tinsel, paper chains and lights and realised Toby had a good point. She'd been so consumed with her plans for Christmas she'd forgotten to even talk to her son about what he really wanted.
"This isn't Ralph's perfect Christmas at all, is it," she said quietly as the realisation hit her.
Toby slowly shook his head. "Who are the two most important people in his life?" he asked. "Apart from his Uncle Toby, of course," he added with a wink.
"Me, I hope," replied Paige. "And… and Walter."
Toby gave her a knowing look before jumping down from the worktop and leaving her alone with her thoughts.
"How did it go, Doc?" asked Cabe as Toby walked over to join him and Allie who were still unpacking decorations.
"I just saved Christmas!" announced Toby, although his confident manner hid his concern that Paige was already too wrapped up in her plans to change them now.
"You'd better be right," replied Cabe, as he held up a rather scary looking Santa decoration in one hand and a knitted reindeer in the other. "I don't think I can stand looking at this pile of junk anymore."
Just then Paige walked out of the kitchen. Toby studied her intently, assessing her mood and was relieved to see she was reasonably calm. "You OK?" he asked her and she nodded.
She went over to Walter's desk and he got to his feet to greet her with a kiss.
"Walter," she began. "Um, I've been thinking about Christmas… actually Toby made me think about it and… and I think we're going about this all wrong."
Walter frowned in confusion. "But… but I don't understand," he said "And I don't like being wrong," he added and Paige smiled. "I thought you wanted to make this Christmas special for Ralph?"
"I do," she agreed. Then she spun round and addressed the rest of the group. "Actually you all need to hear this," she said.
"What's happened?" asked Sylvester, nervously.
"Nothing bad," replied Paige. "Don't freak out. It's about tomorrow. I was wondering… that is, would you guys object if we didn't all spend Christmas together after all?"
"What about all the food?" asked Walter, still confused.
"It'll freeze," replied Paige. "At least we won't go hungry for the next month… or two."
Toby smiled and draped her arm over Happy's shoulders. "Actually we did see this great deal on a five night break to Hawaii, all inclusive, luxury suite, beach-view balcony," he admitted.
"That sounds wonderful, you should definitely go!" exclaimed Paige.
"And my sister was hoping Cabe and I would spend Christmas with her," said Allie, glancing at Cabe. "My niece is leaving for Europe in the New Year, she has a work placement in Rome and she'll be away until next Christmas."
"Why didn't you tell me?" asked Paige. Now she was starting to feel really guilty about the way she'd been behaving these past couple of weeks. She didn't like this side of her, the side that forced the people she cared about into doing things they didn't really want to do.
Allie exchanged another awkward glance with Cabe.
"Listen, kid," began Cabe. "We all want to wipe out the ghosts of Christmas past, but – and I'm speaking for the group here - but I think we'd just be happy knowing you guys are happy and that includes Ralph."
Paige nodded and gripped Walter's hand tightly as she turned to Sylvester. "Do you have any plans?" she asked. She didn't want him to spend Christmas on his own, but now she'd thought about it she really wanted a quiet family Christmas after all, if it really was what Ralph wanted.
"Well… I was asked to play Santa and hand out the presents to the kids spending Christmas in the Megan O'Brien-Dodd Paediatric Unit," he replied, a little gingerly.
"What!" exclaimed Paige, glancing at Walter. "And you turned them down to spend Christmas with us?"
"I… I kinda said I could give them thirty minutes max," explained Sylvester.
"Call them back right now and tell them you'll be there as long as they need you!" insisted Paige.
A huge smile spread across Sylvester's face and he ran forward and hugged her tightly. Then he looked at Walter, realising the mention of his sister's name had invoked precious memories of her. He hesitated for a moment, before hugging him too.
Walter patted him affectionately on the back. "Megan would… she would be so proud of you," he said.
"Well I guess this is where we wish you all a very Merry Christmas," said Toby with a grin. "We should go call the airline and pack our hula skirts!"
"Hula skirts?" queried Happy. Then she shrugged. "OK, why not."
Toby grabbed her by the hand and half-dragged her towards the door. "Gifts are under the tree!" he called out and before anyone could answer they were gone.
"Merry Christmas, everyone," agreed Cabe and after a quick round of hugs and kisses, Walter and Paige were left alone.
"I guess we should go talk to Ralph," said Paige. "I'm sorry, I just want Ralph to have good memories of Christmas," she explained as they headed for the stairs. "When he was little – before I met you - I didn't understand what he wanted, what he needed and every year must've been awful for him."
Walter thought for a moment. "My guess is if you ask Ralph, he'll have only good memories of those Christmases when it was just the two of you," he began. "You're a fantastic mother, Paige and all he would have wanted for Christmas back then was to spend time with you."
Paige fought an overwhelming wave of emotion. "When I was a kid, I'd write to Santa every year wishing my Mom would be home for Christmas," she explained. "And every year I felt crushed when she didn't show up. Then when I was older I used to wish she wouldn't come home so I could spend a peaceful Christmas with my Dad."
"You're not Veronica," Walter reminded her and he wrapped his arms around her. He felt Paige nod against her chest.
After a moment Paige pulled herself away from his arms and walked with determination up to the loft.
"Ralph, honey, can we talk to you for a second, please?" she said.
Ralph was sitting at Walter's desk working on his computer and he turned his head at the sound of her voice, but demonstrated very little enthusiasm for a conversation.
"Am I in trouble?" he asked.
"No!" exclaimed Paige. "Not at all, I promise you, Ralph. It's just we were wondering if you'd prefer to have a quiet Christmas this year, just the three of us, what do you say?"
"I hope he says yes, because everyone else has already left," noted Walter.
Paige glared at him. She already knew what Ralph's answer would be, she just wished she'd seen it sooner, before she'd become totally self-absorbed in all the preparations.
Ralph's eyes lit up. "Just you, me and Walter?" he queried.
Walter nodded and smiled.
"I'd really like that," he said, then his face fell. "But… but I thought you wanted a big family Christmas?"
Paige shook her head. "I thought I did… I, well, we thought it was what you wanted," she explained. "I'm sorry, Ralph. I should have talked to you about it."
"It's OK," replied Ralph. "You guys are only just learning to communicate with each other, you can't be expected to figure me out too."
Paige looked horrified, but then she noticed the corners of his mouth twitching into a smile.
"Why don't we sit down together and watch a movie?" she suggested. "We can open a box of chocolates, how does that sound?"
"Sounds good," replied Ralph. Then he screwed up his nose. "What's that smell?"
"Oh my god!" exclaimed Paige. "The walnut tarts are burning!" And she ran back down to the kitchen.
"Don't tell Mom," began Ralph as soon as she was out of earshot. "But I'm kinda glad those tarts are ruined. They sounded gross."
Walter smiled at him. "Me too," he agreed. Then his face became more serious. "I'm concerned that you didn't feel you could talk to me about… about Christmas," he said. "I know it's been a… a difficult year for all of us, but these past few months… I thought things were good between us now?"
"They are!" insisted Ralph. "I guess I just… I just didn't want anything to come between you guys."
"Ralph, you mean too much to both of us for that to happen," Walter assured him. "Your feelings are… are of paramount importance and if you're having difficulty expressing yourself to your mom, then you must come to me and we'll figure something out together. That's… that's part of why our relationship is so special."
Ralph smiled. "Geniuses gotta stick together, right?"
Walter nodded and patted Ralph's shoulder affectionately. "Come on," he said. "Let's go watch a movie and then maybe we can clear away some of those awful decorations."
xXxXxXxXxXxXx
"Merry Christmas, my love."
Paige opened one eye and tried to focus. One of her pillows had fallen out of the bed and her neck was a little stiff. She rubbed it with one hand and pulled the duvet back over herself with the other.
"I'm… I'm sorry, I thought you were already awake." Walter leaned over and kissed her tenderly on the lips. "Go back to sleep," he whispered.
"No, it's OK," replied Paige, blinking deeply. "Merry Christmas, Walter."
She reached up to cup the side of his face and pulled him in for another kiss.
"Now this really is the perfect way to start Christmas Day," she whispered.
"Mmmm," agreed Walter. He had been awake for an hour already. His plan had been to cook breakfast for Paige and Ralph, but so far he'd only managed to make a mess in the kitchen. Right now he didn't care, though, as he kissed Paige again. "I love you," he said.
Paige's heart skipped a beat. It wasn't often that he said those three little words and each time he did it meant more to her than the last.
"I love you too, Walter," she said. "And I love waking up with you, especially on Christmas morning."
"Would you like your Christmas present now?" he asked, sitting down on the side of the bed.
Paige sucked her lower lip in between her teeth and smiled seductively. "Yes please," she breathed and she kicked off the covers.
Walter blushed. "Oh… oh… I… I…" he stammered.
Paige giggled and sat up in the bed. "I guess you weren't thinking what I was thinking," she said.
"Um, um… it's not that I don't want to," he replied. "But… we were intimate last night and…"
"It's OK," said Paige. "It's fine, last night was so good, we should pace ourselves. Besides, Ralph is probably already awake."
"So… would you like your gift?" prompted Walter. Without waiting for an answer he skipped over to his desk and opened a drawer. "There are other gifts for you to open later with Ralph," he explained. "But… but this one is… well, I want you to open this now."
Paige reached out and took the neatly wrapped box from him. It was small, around six inches long and weighed almost nothing and Paige clutched it tightly in her hands as her eyes met Walter's.
"Open it," he urged.
Paige nodded and tore off the paper. Inside was a box from her favourite jewellers and she snapped open the lid to reveal a delicate, gold necklace. "Oh, it's beautiful!" she exclaimed.
"The… the design… that symbol… it's the symbol for infinity," explained Walter. "It represents my love for you."
Paige couldn't speak. Not only had Walter chosen an item of jewellery for her, he'd chosen one that meant so much.
"Do… do you like it?" he asked, nervously.
"I love it! Thank you!" she replied and she threw her arms around him.
Walter breathed a huge sigh of relief. He'd really wanted his gift to her to be special and even he couldn't believe he'd got it so right.
"And I love you," continued Paige. "And… and I'm so sorry that I almost screwed everything up this year."
"What?" said Walter. "You? No, you didn't screw anything up, it was all my fault…"
"Hey!" she interrupted him. "Y'know, I think we've talked about this enough already, don't you? We've both apologised enough and… and we've both cried enough and… and now I wish I'd never mentioned it today because you're absolutely right about this necklace… about our love… it is infinite. Our love will last forever, it will last despite anything that life throws at us and I think we've proved that this year, don't you?"
Walter took a moment to think about her words. "Yes," he agreed eventually. "Yes, we have." He held her tightly, losing himself in her for a moment. Only a few months ago he thought he'd never be able to hold her again, but now everything had changed and holding her meant more to him than he could ever put into words.
Eventually Paige lifted her head. "We should go see if Ralph's awake," she said. "The bed in the Airstream has never been the same since Ray was living in there."
"He's probably waiting for breakfast," agreed Walter. "I tried to prepare something earlier, but… but it didn't go well."
Paige laughed and pulled on her robe. Then she picked up her new necklace and lifted her hair away from the back of her neck. "Help me with this, please, Walter," she said.
Walter slipped the necklace around her neck and fastened the clasp. Then he placed a kiss behind her ear in the spot he knew made her go a little weak at the knees. He smiled to himself as she gasped.
"Hold that thought for later," he whispered.
"Are you teasing me, Walter?" asked Paige, spinning around and smiling coyly at him, but he didn't reply.
xXxXxXxXxXx
"Is Mom asleep?"
Walter peered closely at Paige. She was slumped against the cushions with her eyes closed. "Pretty sure she is," he confirmed and he turned down the volume on the TV. "So, have you had a good Christmas?" he asked.
Ralph nodded. "The best," he replied. "I know it's kinda corny, but just having you and Mom together is everything I ever wanted."
Walter glanced over at Paige again. "It's everything I ever wanted too, Ralph," he said with a smile. He knew this was the most contented he'd ever been in his life and he didn't quite know how to process it. The overwhelming feelings were wonderful and terrifying at the same time, but he didn't want anything to change after they'd worked so hard to get here.
Just then Paige stirred. "What… what?" she said. "What's going on?"
Ralph laughed. "We were just talking about you, that's all," he said.
Paige sat up and groaned. "I ate too much," she said.
"We could go for a walk?" suggested Ralph. "Exercise helps with digestion."
Paige knew he was right, but she really didn't feel like moving. She was about to make up an excuse when her phone beeped. She reached down to the floor and picked it up.
"Oh, it's a message from Toby," she said.
"I hope it's not another corny Christmas pun," said Ralph, rolling his eyes.
"If it's a picture of him wearing nothing but a hula skirt," began Walter, turning up his nose. "Then I don't want to see it."
"No, it's OK," Paige reassured him with a laugh. "He says we should take a look at the hospital Facebook page."
Ralph had opened the page on his tablet before Paige had finished typing a quick reply to Toby.
"Look, it's a video of Sly!" exclaimed Ralph and he turned the screen round to show them
Walter and Paige couldn't help but smile as they saw the images of Sylvester dressed as Santa Claus handing out presents to the children in their hospital beds.
"He… he almost didn't get to do that today because… because of me," said Paige, suddenly choked with emotion.
"But it all worked out OK in the end, Mom," smiled Ralph. He really didn't want to end today with her upset again.
Paige smiled back at him. "Yes, it did," she agreed.
"Is it OK if I go up to the loft and set up my new microscope?" asked Ralph. He realised Walter and his mom needed some alone time and besides, he was really keen to take his new 'toy' out of the box. "This really has been the perfect Christmas. I'm sorry I was kinda grouchy before."
Paige leaned forward and planted a kiss on the top of his head. "You have no need apologise," she insisted. "I thought I was doing the right thing for you, but I guess I wasn't thinking straight. We've had so many crappy Christmases that I thought if we went big this year it would erase all those memories. I was being a moron. I think I was trying to create my own childhood dream Christmas, not yours. You're my son and I love you, but sometimes I forget just how different we are."
Ralph smiled. "And I forget to remind you," he noted and he scrambled to his feet and headed to the loft.
Walter grasped Paige's hand tightly. "Ralph's right, today worked out just fine for everyone in the end," he said.
"Eventually," Paige agreed. "But… but we need to make sure he feels comfortable speaking up when he disagrees with something one, or both of us, says or does."
"True," nodded Walter. "And that goes for the rest of the team too."
"I guess we scared them all more than we realised this year," noted Paige. She closed her eyes and let out a long, slow sigh wishing she could undo all the damage they'd done when they broke up. Then she remembered how much stronger they were since they'd got back together and realised that if things hadn't happened the way they had everything could be so much worse now.
"Hmmm," agreed Walter. "I'll certainly be glad when this year is over."
"Oh!" exclaimed Paige suddenly. "I haven't given you your present yet!"
She leapt up and ran to the tree. Tucked behind the unopened presents for the rest of the team was the gift she'd wrapped for Walter.
Walter took it from her, carefully removed the ribbon and gold bow and tore off the shiny paper. Inside was a printed certificate in a wooden frame.
"I named a star," said Paige as Walter scanned down the words on the certificate. "I know you'll probably tell me that particular star actually exploded a billion years ago and all we can see is the light from the moment it went super nova, but…"
"You… you remembered all of that?" Walter interrupted her. "I… I didn't realise that you…"
"You didn't realise I was listening that evening when you lectured me about stars?" offered Paige, raising her eyebrows. "Well, I was and I found it really interesting. You know, Walter, I do find a lot of things interesting. Science things, I mean. I do. And I know I'm not always the best as showing it, but…"
"Oh dear."
"I thought you'd be pleased?"
"What? Oh, yes, yes I am," replied Walter. He was staring at the certificate with a frown etched across his brow. "It's just… it's just, there's a typo on this certificate. They've typed the letter W in place of a P."
"What? No, I don't think so," replied Paige.
"Look, they've spelt your name incorrectly," continued Walter, turning the frame around so Paige could see it.
Walter's frown turned into one of confusion as Paige burst into giggles.
"It's not a typo," she explained. "I didn't name a star after me, silly. I named it after us – Waige."
"Waige? What does that mean?"
"I thought we should have a name, a couple name," smiled Paige. "Walter and Paige makes Waige. Like Toby and Happy are Quintis."
"But Toby created the word Quintis by amalgamating his surname with Happy's – Quinn and Curtis," replied Walter. "Following that logic you and I should be O'Brineen, or Dinbrien."
"Which are both clearly ridiculous, so I went with Waige," explained Paige.
"I see."
Paige's face fell. "You don't like it do you."
"What? Oh, no, I mean, yes, I do!" exclaimed Walter. "I guess I'm… I'm overwhelmed that you did this for me. For us."
"We're Waige forever, now, Walter."
"Or at least for a few million more years until the light from that star finally fades," added Walter.
Paige shook her head in despair, but she was smiling. She took the frame from him, placed it on the table and threw her arms around his neck. "I don't care about the science now," she said. "Our light will never fade, whatever happens a billion light years from here. I love you so much, Walter."
Walter held her tightly. "Reciprocated," he mumbled into her hair.
They stayed like that for a moment, neither wanting to be the first to break apart. Eventually Paige spoke.
"Ralph's telescope is still set up, isn't it?" she asked, the sound a little muffled as she pressed her face into his neck. "Shall we go up to the roof and find our star? The co-ordinates are on the certificate."
"I'd like that," agreed Walter and they headed outside.
It only took Walter a few minutes to find the star. "There it is," he announced. "Waige."
Paige squinted through the viewfinder and Walter did his best to direct her line of vision, but she was still not sure which tiny speck of light she was supposed to be looking at. In the end she decided it didn't matter, it was comfort enough just to know it was there somewhere.
"Merry Christmas, Walter," she said. "I think this turned out to be the perfect Christmas after all, didn't it?"
"It certainly did," he agreed. "Merry Christmas, my love."
THE END.
**Thank you to everyone who has been following my stories throughout this year. Plenty more to come in 2019! **