Lord Walter and Lady Paige walked into the great hall for breakfast and saw most of their family and friends already there. Clustered about in small groups of two or threes, it was a bit different since normally everyone would already be seated. And most would already have ordered breakfast. But from the general words that were easily over heard they were all still talking about the revelations of Athena and Simon. Ralph ran over excitedly after seeing them walk into the hall.

"Good morning Dad, Mom. I love you." Ralph said as he hugged them both.

Paige smiled fondly as she reached out and touched his cheek.

"We love you too my little man." Paige told him as Walter pulled him up to sit on his hip.

"And did you have a good night's sleep my son?" Walter asked.

Ralph nodded even as Walter walked over towards his Dad as he stood talking with Raynold.

Paige moved over to where Happy and Allie were talking with Amanda.

"Good morning ladies." Paige greeted them with hugs.

"Good morning my Lady." Happy said as they broke their hug.

Paige winked at Happy.

"After breakfast I want you to come with me as I tend the twins." Paige told her.

Happy's brow arched up but slowly nodded. She felt nausea building as she wondered what she might have done wrong.

"I do have some work I'm in the middle of my Lady." Happy told her truthfully.

"That can wait. Walter said there was nothing that important that it couldn't wait another day or two. So please, come with me." Paige smiled at her.

Happy nodded even as she was fearful of what was to happen.

"Congratulations Allie, I'm so happy for you and Cabe." Paige told her while hugging her.

Allie smiled as they separated.

"Thank you my Lady. It will be a real test I suppose. I've done everything I can to get Cabe as healthy as possible to ensure our child will have as much time with him, given his age." Allie told her.

"Well none of us are guaranteed tomorrow so, we can only do what we can do and then trust and rely on our family and friends if the worst happens. But if you need me to, I'll be happy to issue an edict to him to follow your every order concerning his health." Paige told her with a grin.

Allie laughed.

"And how about you Amanda, how are you? You and Raynold seem to be getting along rather well yourselves. Is there any chance of a third wedding in the future? Or maybe it can be a triple wedding?" Paige asked as they hugged.

Amanda laughed and shook her head as they parted.

"He hasn't asked and to be honest I don't know if I would accept if he did. Don't get me wrong. Ray is a wonderful man. And he is completely different when we're alone. But I don't know if he is the one." Amanda said even as they moved to greet Walter's Mom who had just walked in with Veronica.

"Don't let her words worry you my Lady. Amanda's first husband did her really dirty. I doubt she'd marry anyone after him." Allie whispered to Paige as they walked.

"Good morning Father, Raynold." Walter greeted the two men.

"Good morning my Lord, I hope our Lady and you had a good and restful night, as well as our twins." Raynold said.

Lord Walter nodded as he shook his hand before looking at his Dad.

"Good morning Walter. What a day we had yesterday." Sean told him even as they clasped hands.

Walter nodded.

"A lot has been revealed. And one of those matters made me think that since you have arrived we haven't really spent much time together just you and I. I thought perhaps if you were interested we could take a couple of horses down to the Lake after we eat. Maybe test the waters." Walter told him.

Sean grinned.

"Sounds good to me, it has been a while since I had the luxury of fishing. That is weird considering I have been living here at the Keep on your good graces, and without any obligations other than self imposed ones helping with the horses and the carpenters." Sean told him.

"Well as I told you when you got here, you have the agency to do as you wish. If you are happy working with the stable hands and the carpenters you are more than welcome to continue doing that. If you'd rather take a step back from the grind the wise Lady has made great provisions for me and I would be happy and honored to share them with you. I love you and Mother and I will be happy to ensure your well being in whatever you need or want." Walter nodded.

"Thank you Walter. I'm not sure if that is what I want but I do have to admit the tolls of toiling with the farm and animals have made things a bit harder to do. I will give your words further thought. And too, perhaps I should discuss them with your Mother." Sean told them.

"I don't believe I've ever heard you say you'd ask Mother what she thought about anything back when I was young." Walter smiled and nodded.

"That's because I'm slowly growing up, I've got to admit, you are far more of a better man than I am. And I don't just mean as a Paladin of the wise Lady. You treat our daughter with the love and dignity that she deserves. Just like you sang to her yesterday I would never have thought of doing something like that." Sean told him as he pointed to Louise as she walked into the room.

Walter looked over before he nodded as he moved to greet his Mother even as Paige stepped up and hugged her Mother and Louise.

"Good morning Paige." Veronica and Louise both said.

"My two Mothers, I am so happy to have you both here and in my life now. Good morning to you both." Paige said as she hugged them.

"How are you and Sir Frederick getting along Mother?" Paige asked as they separated.

Veronica smiled.

"He's still a very interesting man. His daughters aren't too happy about the two of us spending more time together. I suppose that is only natural. They like to try and make things more difficult on me.

Paige frowned.

"I can't believe they would be so selfish that they'd rather their Father be lonely for the rest of his life." Paige fumed.

Veronica just smiled.

"Well it has only been a couple of years. I suppose they just feel he should wait a bit longer. But I do agree with you." Veronica reached out and ran her fingers through the side of Paige's hair. She smiled seeing Walter walking up with Ralph. "Good morning Walter and Ralph."

Walter smiled as he kissed Veronica's cheek.

"Good morning Veronica, Mother, I trust all of you ladies slept well?" Walter asked even as he stepped over to hug Louise.

Louise nodded as they broke their hug.

"How is my grand?" Louise asked Ralph.

"I'm doing pretty good Grandma." Ralph grinned.

Walter sat Ralph down on the floor before he took Paige's hand to lead her to the table.

"Father liked the idea of going fishing after breakfast." Walter whispered softly to Paige.

Paige smiled.

"I had a feeling he would. Happy is a bit worried about me wanting her to come up with me while I nurse the twins." Paige said with a light laugh.

The conversations around the great table were lively and spirited. It seemed as if being in the presence of the wise Lady for so long had lifted everyone's spirits as well give them hope of the future. Uncharacteristic Raynold joined the large group at the table for breakfast. He'd always been invited and welcomed but he had always put his duties first which meant he missed out on a lot of the normal camaraderie that went on between Lord Walter and his company.

Finally Paige grew tired of Happy's nervousness and she kissed Walter's cheek.

"I'm getting tired of Happy being so nervous Walter. I'm going to go ahead and go upstairs with her." Paige whispered.

Walter's eyes had instantly sought out his oldest friend and saw she'd barely eaten her breakfast and fidgeted as she sat there. He saw Toby trying to help calm her but he wasn't haven't any success.

"Very well my love." Walter told her as he stood.

The action immediately drew everyone's attention and they watched as he put his hands on the back of Paige's chair. All the men stood up even before he pulled as Paige pushed back and stood knowing what was coming.

Paige smiled at everyone.

"Good morning, my dear family. I must tend to the twins." Paige told them looking at Happy.

"Would you like me to come with you?" Veronica asked.

"Happy's going to tend me since Walter is going to go fishing with Dad." Paige told her after shaking her head.

Happy scooted back sighing silently as she did.

Together the two women moved out of the great hall to climb the stairs.

For Happy it seemed to take forever to get to the master chambers but at the same time it seemed once she got there it had taken no time. Her stomach rolled nervously.

Lisa smiled as they walked in and moved into the bedroom to get the twins as Paige got herself ready to nurse them.

As Lisa held Aine, Paige got Daithi latched on and once he was suckling Paige let Lisa put Aine along her right side and together got her latched on.

"Thank you so much Lisa. I hope you know how much Walter and I appreciate and love you." Paige reminded her as she did every morning.

Lisa smiled and nodded before looking at Happy who stood there fidgeting.

"I do my Lady. I can only hope that you both know how much I love and respect you both." Lisa told her.

Paige nodded with a smile.

"We do, your love and respect shines with everything you do. If you don't mind Lisa, Happy and I need to discuss some things." Paige told her.

Lisa nodded as she left for the living room.

"Happy, come, sit here on the side of the bed please." Paige told her.

Happy stood there for a moment before she finally nodded and stepped over and sat down looking away from Paige.

"It's okay Happy, this isn't something you need to fear, I hope. You are more than welcome to look at me while we talk. And I would appreciate that." Paige told her.

Happy slowly turned as she nodded.

"Happy, as I told you yesterday I am so sorry that you've lived with what has happened to you far longer than the wise Lady had wanted you to. And that is entirely my fault. But I'm here now and I believe the two of us have grown so much closer. I imagine had I been there at the start our relationship would be much deeper because my becoming Walter's wife and then the Lady of Scorpion Keep would have happened over a longer period of time. Just like you use to call him O'Brien when we first met, I'd imagine you'd have always called me Paige instead of now my Lady. I want you to consider that in the future. You are more than welcome to call me Paige." Paige said seeing the shocked expression on Happy's face.

Happy slowly shook her head.

"I'm not sure I can do that my Lady." Happy told her.

"Not even here in private?" Paige asked. "What if I made it a demand, would that make it easier? You used to call me Paige before I married Walter."

"Maybe I can do that in private." Happy said unconvinced.

"The wise Lady made it clear that part of your healing was to come from explaining what happened to you. I know she touched on those things. But I wanted to give you the chance to tell me now. I want to do anything I can to help you. You mean so much to me." Paige told her.

"I'm not sure what I am supposed to say." Happy said feeling a bit helpless.

"You aren't supposed to say anything, just what you want to say. She said your Mother died in childbirth. That has to be so painful." Paige told her.

Happy half shrugged but nodded as well.

Walter had denied Ralph's request to go with them and even put his foot down when his Father suggested it would be okay.

"Next time Father. There are things we need to discuss that would be inappropriate for Ralph to hear." Walter told him as they left the great hall.

It only took a few minutes, since he'd sent word for the two horses to be made ready, but they were quickly riding out the south portcullis and down the hill towards Lake Athena.

"You or the wise Lady picked a fair piece of land to build on son." Sean told him.

Walter smiled.

"It came together slowly. It took Happy and I about a month to clear the land you can see of the various entities that resided here. Most troubling was the mountain giant that lived on the ridge above the north side of the Keep. We finally reached a compromise with him. We saved him for last. That was probably a mistake as I was certainly feeling the strain of constantly fighting. As long as I wouldn't seek to push him further, he would move into the mountain pass to the East." Walter gestured back past where the home Raynold had built for Walter and his family.

"But we've become neighbors of sorts. Only members of my company on official business are allowed to pass through. Not that there are much reason for them to go through there. The entrance and exit are clearly posted no trespassing through that pass on pain of death." Walter told him.

"And you haven't gone in there and gotten rid of him after all of this time?" Sean asked surprised.

"Nay, he has kept his word. He only wishes to live in peace and I think we all can agree to that. I've spilled plenty of blood for a thousand lifetimes. I don't need to add his to that count unless he decides to break his oath." Walter told him.

"Part of what I wanted to talk with you about Father, is first to apologize for not being more reserved in my response at your words after you first came back into my life. I am not saying I was wrong, as I will always defend my Lady with every fiber of my being. Part of me was still mad at what Sylvester and Toby had allowed to happen with Paige being taken by those bounty hunters. And while I had physically chastised them for it, my Lady had stopped me from seeking full retribution from them."

"But now thinking of that it seems I must apologize to them as well, since Toby's desire for ale had been prompted by the wise Lady." Walter sighed.

"Well Walter I don't blame you for being mad at me over that. I was a right horse's arse and you had a right to respond as you did. But let's just forgive ourselves and continue to move forward." Sean smiled and held out his hand and Walter shook it before they stopped at the bank of the lake.

Greetings! Hope everyone is well!

Railman - LOL Too true on that!

2LawDog - Thank you! Sometimes it is funny how a song comes up in rotation and I think, man that works so well here. lol No, they both are the same age as they are in the show. Allie is approximately 43 and Cabe 58. Glad you enjoyed Simon and Farrish!

Lucy - Thank you! LOL Yep, trying to sneak out on them for sure...maybe I can just kill some people off. lol Here Paige is trying to get another one going with Amanda and Raynold. lol

Susan - hehe Glad you approve! lol Fair warning...next chapter while mostly about Paige and Happy ends with a bad cliffhanger! Stay tuned! lol

Margaret - Yep, missing a loved one is sad, but glad you had your sisters to fall back on!

To the Adventure! -Tim