Glad everyone seemed to enjoy the first chapter - and I really appreciate the reviews! Just want to put a little disclaimer on this and future chapters - this takes place four years after season two, so if the characters seem a little more 'developed' socially than they are in the show, remember they have four years to get to where I have them here. Also, because of the time jump from current events, try to picture a fifteen year old Ralph if you can. ;)

"Ralph!" Paige called, handing Walter three bowls from the cupboard. "If you want to eat, get out here!"

"It's 6:18," Walter said, setting the bowls at the places at the table. "He usually comes to the table at 6:30, and he gets to school on time. You calling him out here twelve – eleven," he corrected, noting the time on the microwave, "minutes early, he will know that something is up."

"Something is up," Paige pointed out.

"Is that someone me? Ten minutes early?"

Paige noticed Ralph's tone plus the cocked eyebrow and made a mental note to stop letting him spend so much time with Toby.

"Hey Ralph," Walter said.

"Morning, sweetie," Paige said. "How'd you sleep?"

"Okay." Ralph sat down and poured cereal. "You guys?"

"I woke up with a towel on my face," Walter said.

Paige handed him a spoon. "Shut up and eat."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, the only sounds the clinking of spoons and the dull thuds of glasses coming down against the table. Then Paige spoke. "So Ralph. Sylvester told me something yesterday."

"Is it that he actually doesn't think the Super Fun Guy puzzle is all that hard but he likes the time you guys spend together so..." Ralph trailed off at the expressions on both Paige and Walter's faces. "Oops."

"He told me that he and Megan had discussed...well, they'd discussed the fact that they had an option of being parents one day. Megan had some of her eggs frozen."

"And Sylvester wants to use them?"

"Yes." Paige said, noticing that her son immediately glanced at Walter. "He's thinking about it. There would be a lot of steps involved, it's pretty complicated actually."

"It's not really that complicated of a process," Ralph said. "Beyond the fairly low chances of success, of course. They would take Megan's eggs out of the freezer and thaw them down to a viable temperature. Then they'd be fertilized with Sylvester's swimmers and implanted in you. The baby would be biologically Megan and Sly's, but you would be the carrier. Then once the baby is born, Sylvester would raise him or her as a single parent."

"Yes, exactly," Paige said, nodding. Then she furrowed her brow, realizing they hadn't yet mentioned to Ralph exactly why they were bringing this up. "Me?"

Ralph shrugged. "We don't normally discuss surrogacy over breakfast cereal; I assumed you were planning on telling me you were going to be the surrogate. Plus..." he glanced at the microwave, "you did call me out here eleven minutes early."

Paige rolled her eyes at Walter's triumphant reaction to Ralph's comment. "You're right, Ralph," she said. "I'm thinking about offering to do that for Sly. What do you think?"

Ralph looked at Walter again, then back at his mother. "I think you should do it."

Paige smiled. "Yeah?"

Ralph nodded. "It's what Sly wants. And if Megan left this option for him..." he shrugged. "She must have wanted it too. Although..." he trailed off, frowning, "Mom...do you want to?"

"Come again?"

"Well...you've been sacrificing for other people all your life. For me, for my father..." he shrugged again. "Owen told me his mom went through a lot, to have him. I know pregnancy isn't easy. You always want to make everyone else happy but you have to calculate if it's worth everything you'll go through."

"You barely said a word during that entire conversation," Paige said after Ralph had left for school.

"You were doing an adequate job of getting across what you wanted to get across," he said, drying the dishes and putting them back in the cupboard. "Did you want me to say something?"

"What do you think of him implying that I shouldn't sacrifice for Sly?" Paige asked. "Do you think he doesn't want me to do it?"

Walter sighed. "I think he knows how lucky he is to have someone like you. Someone who has been putting him first without hesitation since before he was born." He turned to her. "And I can't say I know how you do it, but..." he put his hands on her hips, "it's one of my favorite things about you. You're just so good, Love. You care so much. And you do it without reservation. Anyone who comes into contact with you is better for having been in your life. Ralph is lucky to have you as his mother. I'm lucky to be loved by you. And Sly...Sly's lucky to have you as a friend."

She was smiling. "Are you saying you think I should do it?"

"I'm saying I think you really do want to do it," Walter said. "And uh, by extension, yes, I think you should."

She smiled at him. "I really appreciate your support."

He hugged her then, and she slid her arms around him, letting him sway her slowly from side to side. "You gonna tell Sly today?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said.

"I think he'll be happy."

She smiled. "I hope so."