Updates to both Cyclone Trap and Season Five will be coming this week!

Paige's pregnancy would, occasionally, get her extremely emotional over little things. The other day, she saw a GIF of a Koala eating a leaf and wouldn't stop talking about it all the way through dinner. Walter agreed that the animal had the type of aesthetic value that could be categorized as cute, but not that incredibly so.

That also meant she cried more often, but even when it wasn't anything major, he still hated to see it. So when he got home from the garage to see her sitting on the couch with her phone in her hand and tears in her eyes, his immediate concern was for her, since he would have been notified as well if something was wrong with Ralph or Florence.

"Love," he said, sitting on the coffee table so he could face her. "What's the matter? Who was on the phone?"

"Nobody." She sniffed. "I keep stopping myself from calling Ralph."

Walter was confused. "I don't understand. Is he busy?"

"No. I don't know. I just…" She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "I know I'm being selfish. I just want him home. I need all of us together."

Walter bit his lip.

"Dammit, Walter, say something to make me feel better."

"I'm sorry," he said. "I don't know what to say."

She sighed. "I know. I just wish you did."

He knew she knew he wasn't a mind reader, but he still felt a jolt of annoyance. "Sorry I'm not perfect."

She looked up, seeming alarmed, then she closed her eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be like that."

"It's okay." Walter reached over and took one of her hands. "We're all under a lot of stress."

"Including him. I want him to stay away as long as he wants. But…"

"I miss him, too," Walter said gently. "I want all of us here, too."

"Remember the night we got back together?" Paige asked. "We were in Europe and it was a long flight home."

He remembered. The corporation had insisted they fly first class. The cabin had cozy little mini bedrooms, too open and in too close of quarters for true privacy but with definite separations between each little section. "We all piled into one," he said.

"We squeezed into that bed with Ralph between us and we held hands." She smiled, looking down at where their fingers were linked. "Almost just like this. He slept, but we didn't. We just locked eyes and smiled at each other in the dark." Wiping her eyes again, Paige continued. "He's too old for that now, I know. But with everything going on…I just really wish I could hold him right now. If only for a second."

"I know." Walter put his other hand on top of theirs. "I understand."

"I remember that night, even though it was night and almost all the lights were off, it didn't seem so black," she said. "And now, it's daytime. The sun is out. And yet I feel it's almost darker than it was on that flight."

He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "I know it's hard to smile right now," he said. "But for what it's worth, you'll always have my eyes."

"That's the weirdest sentence," she said, looking at him affectionately. "But I think that was pretty close to exactly what I needed you to say."

"Happy to be of service."

She gave a little laugh in spite of herself. "I love you."

He reached out and tapped a finger against her nose. "I love you, too."

She leaned over, they kissed, and Walter squeezed her hand, excusing himself briefly. He went to their room, pulling out his phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Ralph."

There was a brief silence. "I'm coming home."

Walter paused. "What?"

"I can tell by your voice."

"Ralph…"

"No. It's okay. This was a good idea, but…" Walter couldn't see him, but he knew Ralph was nodding. "But I think I'm ready to see you all again."

"It occurred to me the other day that I shouldn't have told you that Will is transgender," Veronica said, wringing her hands. "That was his thing to tell you if he wanted. So…don't call him on it, or anything like that."

"Grandma," Ralph said, reaching for his jacket, "you call someone on something they're being deceptive about. He's not being deceiving."

"Right, no, I – I know that. Phrased badly. But you know what I mean."

"I'm not going to say anything to him," Ralph said. "Like you said, it's up to him if and when he wants to tell me. And I wouldn't blame him if he never says anything. There's this girl Elena at my school who once she came out, she was everyone's Transgender Friend. It was all anyone focused on. I would imagine people would hate being nothing to others but one part of their identity."

Veronica shook her head. "You're much more awake than I am."

"You mean woke?"

"Is that what it is?"

"Yes."

"Ah." Veronica nodded. "Don't stay out too late, okay? I'm making dinner for us tonight, and we want to get up early to drive to the airport."

"We're just getting lunch at the Wild Whale and then going for a walk. I'll be home hours before dinner."

"Okay. I love you, Ralph."

Ralph was already halfway to the door, but he turned and crossed the kitchen to give Veronica a hug. "You too, Grandma. And, uh…" he smiled. "Thanks for letting me come here."

"You're my only grandchild," Veronica said. "And it's only a few more months I can say that. But it's always a joy to have you. I hope you'll come back, sometimes."

"Of course." The family he wanted, he would always make an effort to keep. "I'll see you later, okay?"

Ralph was certainly going to miss East Coast fish and chips. In the three days since he talked to Walter – the waiting period for a day of the week where there was a decently priced flight – he had eaten them every day. Twice with his grandma, and once with Will. All at different restaurants. He never thought of himself as a foodie. But this town…

He and Will walked over the bridge to the better beaches, and the younger boy seemed to eat up Ralph's lessons about algae and tide pools. Sometimes he wondered if he talked about science too much. Will, thankfully, always seemed interested.

It was nearly three when they crossed back over the bridge and headed back toward the fork in the road where Ralph would go right and Will left, back to his mother's tiny lifted house by the shore. "See this, here?" Will asked, pointing to a bench. "That is where she sells seashells by the sea shore."

"I hate tongue twisters," Ralph said. "There's only one I can do."

"Which one? Do it!"

Ralph rolled his eyes. "No."

"Oh, come on. Is it Peter Piper?"

He took in a deep breath. "Betty Botter bought some butter, but the butter, it was bitter. If she put it in her batter, it would make her batter bitter. But – a bit of better butter, that would make her batter better. So Betty Botter bought some butter better than the bitter butter, and she put it in her batter and her batter was not bitter! So, t'was better Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter."

Will's eyes widened. "Holy damn."

"Ha, thank you."

They reached the fork, and Will picked up a stone, throwing it at a wooden target nailed to a tree. Bullseye. "It's been a lot of fun these past weeks, Ralph."

"Agreed." Ralph nodded. "I didn't think I would find a friend here, and it's been…it's been great."

"Can I kiss you?"

Ralph was surprised. "Wait, what?"

"Sorry," Will looked away. "Sorry, that was impulsive."

"No, it's okay." Ralph reached out, putting his hand on Will's arm. "It's just, you know…"

"You're straight. I get it. I got ahead of myself."

"No, I mean…I mean I've only dated girls, yeah, but mainly, like…I'm leaving tomorrow."

Will shrugged. "No day but today, right?" He held up his arm. "From Rent."

Right. Ralph had spent the past week trying to remember when they said that in The Lion King. He'd assumed it was somewhere in the remember who you are scene, but turned out his grandma had her musicals mixed up. "I want to stay in touch," Ralph said. "Kissing wouldn't make it weird?"

"I don't think so. But again, it's fine, really." Will shrugged. "I swear. I didn't catch feelings, I promise. I just thought…I haven't kissed anyone in a long time, so…"

"No…" Ralph shrugged. "Like a kiss for luck, right? Only this time for goodbye?"

A corner of Will's mouth turned up. "Something like that."

Ralph leaned in and put his lips on the younger boy's. When their lips separated, their eyes opened and they smiled at each other.

"Cool," Will said.

Ralph's smile turned into a grin. "Cool."