Sorry it has taken me so long to update guys. I had two chapters written and ready to post ages ago but somehow they got deleted which really bummed me out and made me loose motivation for this story. In any case I'm back now and trying to decide whether I want to give this story a slightly more sexy ending. Let me know what you think!
Paige drove to the grocery store with Walter riding shotgun and Ralph chatting from the backseat. There was an easy comfort to all of it and she looked over more than once to see Walter smiling softly. Paige had appreciated the relationship the three of them had shared from the moment Walter revealed the truth about her son but this new familiarity and family intimacy was even better.
As they pulled up at the grocery store to pick up everything they needed for the grill, they all piled out of Paige's chevy and headed for the entrance. Paige watched amusedly as Walter pulled a grocery cart from the bay.
"What?" Walter asked when he noticed Paige grinning at him.
"Oh nothing." Paige smirked. "I just think I like this domestic Walter."
Walter scoffed but she could see a grin even as he rolled his eyes at her.
"Paige I am capable of caring for myself and that involves grocery shopping." Walter pointed out. "Contrary to what you seem to think, I didn't subsist solely on Pizza and Mountain Dew before you came along."
"Keep telling yourself that, 197." Paige teased back. "The styrofoam temple I saw in your fridge on my first day tells me otherwise."
They both laughed softly and Walter was forced to admit to himself that Paige did have a point. They began slowly walking through the isles as Paige mostly grabbed things. She laughed to herself a little when she noticed Walter and Ralph following from behind the trolley with the exact same bored and disinterested look on their faces.
Of course, Ralph perked up considerably in the frozen food isle. The child was absolutely obsessed with ice cream and Paige knew from experience that he couldn't walk past the tubs of ice-cream without asking if he could get some and unleashing the typical, yet effective puppy dog eyes. He asked for more times that Paige could say yes to in good conscience, trying to ensure her son had a nutritious and balanced diet. It seemed though, that Ralph had identified an easier battle.
"Hey Walter, could we get some ice-cream to have tonight?" Ralph asked innocently but Paige knew better. She watched the exchange with an amused grin.
"Sure buddy." Walter immediately answered, walking over to the glass doors to survey the options. "What flavour would you like? I'm partial to mint chip."
"Mint chip sounds good." Ralph answered and Walter immediately grabbed it off the shelf and he was about to put it in the cart when he saw Paige's smirk.
"What?" Walter asked for the second time.
"You're such easy mark." Paige laughed as Ralph looked sheepish. "Put it in the cart, come on."
Walter and Ralph did as they were told, even if Walter was still a little confused. His first unconscious instinct to spoil Ralph with anything he could reasonably provide and while potentially damaging, it was too endearing for Paige to really put a stop to.
They finished grabbing everything, checked out and were soon headed back to the garage. Walter carried in the groceries as Ralph bounded along beside him talking excitedly about whatever it was they planned to do with telescopes. Paige just followed along, smiling at her son's boundless enthusiasm for anything astronomical even if she didn't understand it.
"So is there any point in me asking exactly what is so special about tonight or should I file it under genius stuff?" Paige asked with a laugh as she and Walter put away the groceries while Ralph ran off in the direction of the telescopes.
"Well it isn't actually very complicated." Walter assured her.
"Why don't I believe you?" Paige joked. She was very used to feeling out of her depth when it came to the things Walter and Ralph talked about but she did her best to show interest.
"It isn't I promise." Walter continued. "Tonight Saturn will be at opposition so it's the best time to photograph it."
"Opposition?" Paige asked.
"It just means that Earth is directly between Saturn and the Sun, which illuminates the face of Saturn better than any other time." Walter explained.
"Like headlights on a highway road sign." Paige added.
"Exactly." Walter added with a smile.
"That doesn't seem so complicated." Paige mused to herself, surprised by how simple it actually was.
They both failed to notice that they had finished putting away the groceries and were now standing closer to each other than normal.
"You know…" Walter said softly. "Most scientific principles might seem complicated and impenetrable at first but they just take a little patience."
Paige was left wondering if they were still actually talking about science as they got caught in a moment that lasted a little longer than usual. Before either one of them could really process, Toby walked into the kitchen and paused with narrow eyes as they both stepped back from each other unconsciously, the moment broken.
"Am I interrupting something?" Toby asked with a probing tone and a raised eyebrow.
"Of course not." Paige answered in a tone that was at least half an octave higher than her normal voice while Walter simply responded with a stoic "No." and left the kitchen in search of Ralph.
"Suuuuurrreee." Toby said, still suspicious but obviously more concerned by his need for coffee. He let Paige off the hook and walked over the the coffee pot.
"Ugh, I feel like a Christmas Elf." Toby grunted as he took a sip but still he took another and walked back to his desk with his unsatisfactory coffee in hand.
"Cinnamon is good for you, Toby!" Paige teased his retreating back.
"So is yoga but you don't see me bending like a pretzel." Toby mumbled to himself as Paige couldn't help but laugh.
She was thankful he had resorted to his usual witty banter instead of probing too deeply into what he had walked in on. Paige barely knew what had held her in the moment herself so she would hazard a guess that Walter wouldn't take to well to being grilled about it. One thing was for sure; things were changing and Paige had to admit that it was kind of thrilling.
She went to check on Ralph on her way back to her desk and found he and Walter fiddling with telescopes and cameras. Happy seemed to be building some kind of mount for them and it all looked very complicated so Paige left them to it and decided to get some study done while she could.
The afternoon passed in companionable silence as everyone was working on their own things and when Paige saw the retreating light through the window she decided it was time to get started on the grill. She packed up all her textbooks, after all she had earned at least a one night break.
Paige got started preparing the dips and salads after a while Slyvester poked his head into the kitchen to ask if she needed help. Paige was pretty sure it was just a pretence to check on the hygiene of his food preparation but Paige put him to work anyway, handing him a bunch of plates and condiments to take up to roof.
Happy and Toby came in to help too and Paige gave Happy grilling rights, handing her the burgers.
"Since we would rather not set things on fire, how about you take care of the grilling Happy?" Paige said with a teasing grin, sharing a laugh with Happy.
"Miss Dineen! You wound me." Toby said clutching his hand to his chest in mock pain.
"You're a messer, Doc." Happy laughed as she starting carrying the burgers up to the roof.
"But messy can be fun." Toby countered in a suggestive tone as he followed after her.
Paige laughed at them both and thought that surely she and Walter had a better chance of figuring out where they stood, especially compared to the crazy whirlwind that was Happy and Toby.
"Mom, we're heading taking the telescope up to the roof." Ralph called from the stairs.
"Be right there, Honey." Paige answered as she gathered the last few things they'd need for the grill and made her way up to the roof with the others.
When she got there she saw Happy at the grill, trying to act annoyed as Toby flirted with her but even Paige could see her amused smirk. Ralph and Walter were setting up the telescope and attaching the camera so they could take photos as Sylvester helped them set the telescope to the perfect alignment for where Saturn would appear once the sun set.
Since it would be another hour or so before the sun set properly and they were able to see Saturn, Ralph and Sylvester started a few rounds of chess while Walter walked over to help Paige.
"Need me to do anything?" Walter asked.
"Nope, all done." Paige answered with a smile. "Thanks for doing this for him, Walter."
"It's my pleasure." Walter answered quickly.
"I just want you to know I really appreciate it. There was a time when he barely said a word to anyone, let a alone chatting excitedly about things. I couldn't help him with that but I'm glad you could."
"You help him in other ways, Paige." Walter assured her, surpassing Paige with a soft touch to her arm. "More than you know. You are better at dealing with geniuses than you give yourself credit for."
"How about we call it a team effort?" Paige suggested.
"Deal." Walter agreed.
Paige looked at Walter and thought of all the things he had been able to do for Ralph that she couldn't and more than every she was glad she didn't have to do all this alone anymore. She loved her son and she would have always done everything in her power to provide for him on her own but it was nice for her to have help, especially the genius kind.
"Grubb's up." Happy shouted as she put the burgers down on the table.
Paige and Walter shared one last look before the went to sit with everyone else at the table. They fell into a typical family rhythm of reaching for plates, passing condiments and comfortable chatter. It was times like this that Scorpion felt more like a family than any of them thought possible.
As their dinner came to an end Sylvester and Toby offered to clean up while Happy went back downstairs to work on her bike. Paige, Walter and Ralph were left on the roof. Walter was showing an eager Ralph how the digital camera attached to the telescope worked.
"Mom, come look at this." Ralph said, dragging Paige over to the telescope.
"Okay, Ralph. I'm coming." Paige laughed as her tiny ten year old actually dragged her over. She shared a joking eye roll from Walter who only laughed in return. Walter didn't often laugh and smile so openly and Paige couldn't help but think what a shame that was.
"What exactly am I looking at?" Paige asked as she lowered her face to the viewer. She squinted awkwardly and tried to find something vaguely Saturn-like.
"Oh, wow!" Paige exclaimed as she saw what was unmistakably Saturn, rings and all. "It's beautiful."
Paige looked up and grinned at Ralph and Walter.
"Yeah it is." Walter agreed though he wasn't looking at the stars.
About an hour and a million digital photos of Saturn later, Ralph started looking very sleepy. Paige suggested that he might want to lay down on the couch in the garage and he begrudgingly agreed.
"Thanks Walter." Ralph said on his way to the access door. "Goodnight."
"Night, buddy." Walter replied.
Paige quickly gathered the last of the things from the grill and took them down to the kitchen. When she peaked in, Ralph was already sound asleep on the leather couch.
Walter was finishing packing up the telescope on the roof when Paige returned.
"He's already fast asleep." Paige laughed as she walked over to help. "I think you tired him out."
"Well his enthusiasm was bound to catch up with him." Walter grinned.
"Thank you again, Walter." Paige said sincerely. "He really loved it."
"Like I said, It's my pleasure." Walter replied. "I like doing things for him."
"I know you do and I'm so happy that you do." Paige said, taking a step closer. "For the longest time it was just the two of us and me trying desperately to connect with him. I don't know where we would be if it hadn't been for that one day in the diner."
"I guess it changed a lot of things for all of us." Walter admitted.
"For the better?" Paige asked with a raised eyebrow and a grin.
"Definitely." Walter answered, his tone soft and sincere.
The moment between them dragged on but neither of them moved.
"Walter, I…" Paige began at the same time Walter said her name, as though he was about to make some sort of big admission.
They both laughed at the awkwardness but somehow it wasn't all that uncomfortable.
"Walter, things are changing between us." Paige began. "Do you want them to."
"Yes." Walter breathed. "But at the same time, no."
Paige's smile faltered for a moment as she was second guessing whether all of this had been one big horrible idea.
"Not like that, Paige!" Walter quickly assured, grabbing her hand as she moved to back away. "I'm sorry, I'm no good at this."
Walter was suddenly nervous and unable to slow his frantic thoughts enough to string them together into sentences.
"Walter, relax." Paige said softly, lacing her hands around his as he wrung them together nervously. "I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. Please just talk to me."
Walter met her reassuring smile and took a deep breath to steady his thoughts and heart rate.
"Since I met you and Ralph, I have been so much happier. I've wanted things I never even thought about." Walter said, gripping Paige's hand tighter like a lifeline. "I know I'm not his father, but I've never been so happy helping Ralph and getting to know him, and you. I don't want to overstep and I don't want to loose anything that I already have."
"I understand, Walter." Paige said softly, steeling herself and fully expecting to be told that they should keep things the way they were.
"But I want more, Paige." Walter said, hesitantly moving his hand to rest on her cheek as she looked up at him with wide-eyed surprise. "I know it's greedy and I have no right, but I want…"
Walter big speech was cut of when Paige pulled him down by his tie to crash her lips to his. The surprise made him freeze but he was soon swept away as Paige threaded her long delicate finger through his curls.
Paige hummed softly as Walter got over the shock of the kiss and wound firm hands around her back, gripping her close. Paige grinned against his lips as she pushed him back against the brick wall behind them. She was rewarded with a soft groan that made her giggle. She quickly decided that a great deal of her time and energy from now on would be committed to making Walter, a man so in-control and insistent he had no feelings, loose control completely.
Finally Paige pulled away, smiling at Walter's groan of protest.
"I want all those things too, Walter." Paige said softly, her hands still threaded through his curls. "And as much as I want them right now, my son is asleep downstairs."
"You're right, I'm sorry." Walter said, brushing a stray smudge of lipstick from the corner of Paige's mouth with a soft touch that took her breath away.
"I kissed you remember, and I'm anything but sorry." Paige grinned as she ran her hands down his chest to grip his waist. "But right now I need to get Ralph home."
"Have dinner with me tomorrow night." Walter blurted out without his usual careful forethought and planning.
Paige smiled widely at him.
"But we had dinner together tonight." Paige said with grin, teasing Walter.
"Is there a limit?" Walter asked. "Besides I was hoping it would just be you and me."
"I was teasing you, Walter." Paige laughed. "Of course I'll have dinner with you, as many times as you ask."
Walter answered her with the widest smile she'd ever seen on his face. He looked so happy she simply had to kiss him again. She was already enjoying the freedom to kiss him when she wanted, instead of just wishing she could.
"I'll pick you up at 7?" Walter asked, still processing the fact that he actually had a date with Paige. Not an undercover date or a dinner disguised as a business meeting; and actual date.
"I can't wait." Paige said with a smile and one final kiss before she took his hand and led him downstairs so they could gather Ralph and his things into the car.
Paige quickly grabbed her bag and her textbooks, she tried to balance them on each shoulder so she could carry Ralph.
"Don't worry I've got him." Walter said softly.
Paige watched as Walter picked Ralph up as delicately as she would cradle him herself.
Paige led the way, opening the back door of her car so Walter could put him in the seat and fasten the seat belt. He quietly shut the door, though he needn't have bothered. Paige knew better than anyone that her son slept like the dead.
"So, um… I'll see you tomorrow night?" Walter asked to confirm their plans.
"I hope so." Paige answered with a smile, hugging her hands around his shoulders as Walter stepped closer.
Walter's hands came to rest on Paige's waist as his eyes flickered down to his lips. He softly kissed her on last time.
"Goodnight, Paige."
"Goodnight." Paige replied and got into the car as Walter held the door.
With one last happy smile, she started the car and drove home.
The whole way back to her condo, Paige couldn't keep the smile off her face. It was like she floated home on a happy cloud and she even caught herself humming along to the cheesy songs not he radio. She knew it was cliched but she didn't care. When she got home she carried Ralph up and put him to bed and he barely stirred.
Paige got ready for bed, singing as she showered and rubbed her lavender scented lotion into her skin. It took forever for her to fall asleep but eventually, in the wee hours of the morning, Paige finally fell asleep still with her smile firmly in place.
