Title: The Littlest Bishop
Author: Me!
Beta: jandl
Rating: K+
Warnings; Spoilers for 4x19-Letters in Transit
Summary: This focusses on Walter Bishop and how he handles the news that he is going to be a grandfather.
Authors Note: I've never written Fringe fic before and since last Friday's episode I have been wanting to see a Walter centric fic about Walter and Etta. I kept hoping one would show up…but alas I had to do my own. So please review and be nie…Thanks!
XXX
It took about several different tries to tell Walter Bishop that he was going to be a grandfather. Every single time Olivia and Peter went to tell him, something seemed to come up that they managed to use as an excuse to not tell him. The couple didn't exactly know why they were nervous to tell Walter, but regardless of the reason, it was there.
On the first attempt, Olivia had walked in on the middle of Walter conducting an experiment on a dead...well whatever it was, it was dead and due to Olivia's heightened sensitivity to smell - a charming side affect of the pregnancy - she rushed out of the room in search of the nearest bathroom. Walter didn't even look up. Peter had given his father a look, one that was a mixture of 'Thank God,' and 'You have got to be kidding me,' before following Olivia out of the room. With the second attempt, they actually managed to tell him but at the time he had been tripping on LSD. The next morning when they returned to the lab, Walter didn't even remember seeing his son and Olivia the night before.
Finally, one rainy night in Boston, when Walter was having a very good night and Peter had left Olivia at the lab so as to go and pick up dinner for the three of them and Astrid, Olivia finally blurt it out to Walter. He had been in the midst of creating a design on the lite brite that Astrid had dug out of storage when Olivia finally said, "Walter, Peter and I are going to have a baby." Her message had come about in a completely unintentional manner - unplanned and delivered with a loud, awkward tone that comes when the speaker unburdens themselves from a long-held secret. It was the strange tone and not her words that caused Walter's initial mental pause in his work.
Walter stopped what he was doing before standing to his full height and looking at Olivia. Before anyone could comment however, the doors opened and a soaked-to-the-skin Peter walked in with a paper bag filled to the brim with Chinese food. He saw the dumbfounded look on Walter's face and the awkward look on Olivia's, and he carefully set the bag down before saying, "So I'm just gonna go out on a limb here and guess that you told him?"
However, once again, before Olivia could say anything this time, Walter's face broke into the widest grin they had ever seen on his face. It was even wider than when he found his old 'Iron Butterfly' album, and if you thought Walter was happy then it had been nothing compared to when he found his entire collection of 'The Alan Parson's Project' records. But to Olivia, Peter, and Astrid, nothing in the world had ever made Walter Bishop smile wider than when he heard the news that Olivia Dunham - his Olivia - was going to be the mother of his grandchild.
Peter didn't have a chance to process anything because before he knew it, Walter had thrown his arms around his only son, and was laughing. "Haha, son! That is the most phenomenal news!"
"Thanks, Walter. We've been trying to figure out the best way to tell you, but there never seemed to be a right time," Peter said slowly as he hugged Walter back.
Walter pulled away and gave Peter a look. "Peter, anytime is the right time to tell me that you and Olivia are starting a family!" He smiled at Olivia and hugged her before kissing her on the forehead.
She smiled. "Well, there is still a matter of learning how to be mom and making it work with my job."
Walter then gave her a stern look, the parental side of his personality suddenly coming to the fore with surprising speed. "My dear, we will not be having you doing half of the things you do now! You have to rest up and take care of yourself!" He grinned. "You know, when Elizabeth was pregnant with Peter, I cooked her breakfast in bed and made sure she had the best care and always had what she needed."
Olivia nodded. "I know. I'm working things out in my head for how to make sure this will work when I go to tell Broyles. I don't know if I could stomach a lifetime of desk duty."
"You know, it is really no surprise that you are pregnant, dear," Walter began, smiling and getting that familiar glint in his eye that the others knew usually preceded an embarrassing comment for all concerned.
Olivia and Peter exchanged looks, not at all sure where this was going and they weren't sure they wanted to find out.
"Bishops have always had very fast swimmers. That's why all Bishops have children early on in their relationships. The birthing process is a different story though. But don't worry, Olivia! I'll be there every step of the way!" Walter told her grinning.
Peter raised an eyebrow. "Uh... hi, Walter, I think you forgot about me. The thing is, the baby is actually my baby, so I think when it's time for Olivia to give birth, I will actually be the one there in the delivery room with her."
Walter looked at Peter. "Oh, but of course, son! I just thought she could have the baby here!"
"Here?" Peter looked around the lab, "Here, as in "the lab" here? No, that won't be happening."
"Well, why not?" Walter asked.
"Because, Walter, this is no place for a baby to be born. This child is going to be born in a normal way, because god knows we won't be able to keep the weird away from it," Peter explained.
Walter was about to offer a rebuttal, but Olivia nodded. "Walter, Peter's right. But you can be there, and you'll be the first person we call when I go into labor! I mean, it's not like I have parents to call, and you've been like a father to me these last few years. It'll only seem right."
He seemed to contemplate this for a moment before deciding this was a fair enough compromise. "Very well." Walter's smile returned, and he grabbed the nearest beaker of unidentifiable liquid and raised it in toast. "We should celebrate!"
Astrid disappeared and returned a moment later. "I actually bought sparkling grape juice for this occasion1"
Walter looked at Astrid. "You knew, Astro?"
She nodded, managing to look somewhat contrite, despite her excitement. "Yes Walter, I knew before Peter knew actually."
Walter looked from Olivia to Astrid to Peter and then back to Astrid, clearly perplexed.
"Well, Olivia had been showing the signs and she asked me to come with her. So, we went together and bought the test and we found out the results together," Astrid said, her grin growing wider for a minute before she added, "And Olivia asked me to be the God Mother. Naturally, I agreed."
Walter grinned even wider at this news. "You really are part of the family now!" he told Astrid as he threw his arms around her.
Astrid grinned as she hugged Walter back. Peter smiled at Olivia and the couple crossed the small space to each other and embraced, allowing themselves a small moment to kiss and revel in their good fortune, and then they turned to face Walter and Astrid who were opening the bottle of cider. Astrid poured the beverage into glasses and passed them around, Walter abandoning his beaker in favor of more palatable smelling liquids.
Walter picked his glass up and looked at the drink. "To Peter and Olivia - for giving me the family that I didn't think I would ever be able to have."
The four of them chinked their plastic glasses together and took a sip.
Xxxxx
When Olivia went into labor 9 months later, she and Peter rushed off to the hospital, calling Walter and informing him that Astrid was on her way to pick him up. Walter was standing outside on the sidewalk when she pulled up in her car.
"It's about time, Asteroid!" he said before getting into the car, slamming the car door behind him and pulling on his seat belt in a harsher way than was really needed to pull it across his body.
"I tried, but traffic is bad at this time of the day," she said, resisting the urge to be annoyed with Walter's tone.
They drove as fast as the law would allow, which just increased Walter's annoyance level. And it may have been Walter's imagination (or the drugs that he was on), but he would later swear to anyone who asked that they literally did hit every red light in Boston on their way to the hospital. Eventually they did arrive at the maternity ward and that was the longest wait of Walter Bishop's life (beating out his wait for Elizabeth to give birth to Peter by only microseconds, but that's an interminable period of time to a scientist). He sat down for awhile but once Broyles showed up Walter spent the rest of the evening pacing back and forth.
"Walter, would you like to maybe go and get something from the cafeteria?" Astrid offered, pulling her wallet out.
He looked at her like she was insane. "Asterisk, I can't leave! Peter said the minute someone could go back there that he would come and get me."
Astrid sighed and got to her feet, the length of the sigh the only sign to the outside world of how long she had been waiting with him. "Well, I'm going to get some coffee." She looked at Broyles. "Would you like some, sir?"
He shook his head. "No. Thank you"
Astrid nodded, acknowledging his response in her usual submissive way and then gave Walter one last concerned look as he tapped his foot impatiently against the ground before she turned her back to them.
Walter and Broyles watched Astrid walk off to the elevator and Walter resumed his pacing, the foot tapping no longer being enough action for the easily excitable physicist.
Sometime later, long after Astrid returned, Peter appeared, still wearing the scrubs they had given him. Walter looked up at Peter and rushed over to him. "Is everything okay? How is Olivia? The baby?"
Peter smiled at Walter, chuckling slightly at his father's nervousness. "Everything is fine. Olivia is doing wonderful, and the baby is..." he paused and just smiled, a look of pride coming across his face that only new fathers seem to possess. "She's perfect."
Walter looked up at his son and his eyes were twinkling. "She?"he asked, half tremulous and half breathless with wonder.
Peter nodded, giving a brief salute to Broyles and smiling at Astrid before he said, "I'll be back for you guys."
Astrid grinned, her eyes shining at the look of rapture on both Peter and Walter's faces. "Take your time."
Peter led Walter back to the delivery room and they quietly entered it. Olivia was sitting up in the bed, a small bundle wrapped in pink in her arms. She smiled at Peter and Walter. "Hi, Walter," Olivia greeted. She was exhausted, but Peter had honestly never seen a more beautiful sight in his life.
Walter approached the side of the bed and looked at Olivia and the baby. "Hello, dear," he greeted in response to Olivia, but his eyes were fixed on the tiny bundle.
"This is Henrietta Elizabeth," Olivia told Walter. "Henrietta," she said to the baby in a quiet whisper, "This is your grandpa."
"Oh... she," Walter's voice was full of emotion and he took Peter's hand when the hand came to rest on his shoulder. "She's beautiful."
"You want to hold her?" Olivia asked, smiling at Walter.
He looked at Peter as if searching for an assurance, and after Peter gave his father a nod, Walter nodded at Olivia. She carefully handed the sleeping child over to Walter. Henrietta made a slight noise of annoyance but she settled into her grandfather's arms.
"Hello, Etta," he greeted, the on-the-spot nickname seeming to fit her in the same way Olive had always worked for Olivia in her youth. "I am your grandfather, Walter Bishop...but you can call me grandpa."
Olivia and Peter watched Walter beam at the child as he carefully walked around the room with the child, whispering silliness to the baby.
After that first night in the hospital, it proved to be very difficult to separate Etta (Walter had coined the nickname and everyone just called the baby that as it worked so well,) from Walter. If Olivia came to pick the child up, Etta would throw fits and it was only with warnings like, "Etta, only good little girls get red vines," from Walter, that she would consent to go home. For that short period of time in the lives of the Fringe team, everything was perfect, because Walter refused to let Etta's surroundings be anything else. Everything was perfect in the lives of Walter, Peter, Olivia and Etta Bishop. That is, until Etta turned four, and that was when everything changed. But the future didn't matter to Walter the night Olivia Dunham gave birth to his granddaughter. Nothing else mattered but right then and right there, in a quiet hospital room in Boston.