CAN I GET A WITNESS?
CHAPTER 5: PREGNANT PAUSE
AN: Waiting for an update? Here you go...
OXOXOXOXOXO
A sulky Ralph slouched up to Walter. "Grandpa made me come out here to see if you need any help with the fence posts."
"Nope. Not any more. Scooter helped me get them all secured."
"Scooter? So, you guys are best buddies now?" Ralph's eyebrows nearly disappeared into his hairline.
"I wouldn't say 'best buddies', but we bonded over our women getting mad at us. Oh, and the fence repairs." Walter took off his leather work gloves and slapped the dust off of them. "What I'd really like to hear is if we're okay? You and me."
The boy shrugged.
Walter slung an arm around Ralph as they walked toward the house. "Look. I know it seems like I'm being unreasonable at times. You do realize it's just because I want you to be safe though, right?"
"No. That's not it."
"It is. I don't feel like I can offer you protection…"
Ralph pulled away and scowled at him. "No. That's not the reason I'm upset. I'm mad because you treat me like an idiot. Like I'm some stupid kid," the teen snapped. "You need to trust me not to go wandering into danger unwittingly and I really need you to stop thinking I'm a useless moron!"
"What? Where is this coming from? I'm well aware your IQ is technically a few points higher than mine…"
"And yet you won't even allow me in the room when you and Cabe contact the Marshals. Even though I'm actually the one with the information they need and your decisions directly affect me. You won't let me help with the research of the criminal network. Even though I'm the one who initially discovered the evidence against them. I guess you think I'm too dumb or too delicate to hear about the kinds of things they've done to people. Even though they nearly succeeded in killing me," he sneered, "You wouldn't even let me go into a barn to look at a-a… damn horse. You made me look like a baby in front of … everyone!"
Ralph stalked away in the direction of the house. Walter was stunned, rendering him inert for a few seconds. He quickly recovered and hurried after the irate boy. When he caught up, he placed a hand on his shoulder. Ralph stopped and turned but jerked away from Walter's touch. The young genius' jaw was clenched and the accusation in his eyes almost made Walter stagger backwards.
"Ralph," Walter said in a tone that was meant to be pacifying. He wore a puzzled frown on his face. "Hey. I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean…"
"I know. But you gotta stop looking at me like I'm that same nine year-old you met in a diner all those years ago. I'm fourteen! Almost fifteen. And a genius. At some point you have to acknowledge that you can use my intelligence to help us get out of this situation. And you can trust me not to take unnecessary risks. I can calculate the odds every bit as easily as you can."
"Yeah… Your mother told me earlier I've been shielding you and hovering a little too much. I just don't want anything else to happen to you. What happened to you and your mom at that safe house? I'm still not dealing with it real well. Part of me doesn't want either of you out of my sight ever again. I realize how illogical that sounds."
Ralph sighed and continued more calmly, "You've been a regular helicopter dad. Don't get me wrong. I understand and appreciate what you're trying to do here. And believe me I'm not over what happened to us either. Or what… nearly happened to us. And I'm not over what I saw or what I know about these people who are after us. I won't be for a long time. But I also know it would help me to be able to do my part to stop them! I want to feel useful. Toby even agrees with me. He told me it would be better for me if I took some power back by helping to put these-these…" Ralph eyed him sidelong, "…uh, bastards - don't tell mom I said that - in jail. I want to put them away where they can't hurt anybody else. The least you could do is allow me to contribute. I'm going crazy."
Walter decided to ignore the colorful language and nodded thoughtfully instead. "You're absolutely right. I guess I've been scared because you helping on that Centipede case is what got you into this mess to start with. I didn't want things to get worse for you. But it's true. I really could use your skills. You'll have to run it by your mom first, but if it's okay with her, you and I can do some research together this afternoon. And I can catch you up on what we've found out so far. How does that sound?"
"Good."
The two geniuses stared at each other for a few minutes until they both grinned.
"So… We're okay then?" Walter asked cautiously.
Ralph's gaze dropped to the ground as he scuffed the dirt with the toe of one of his brand new boots. "Listen. Another thing is you can't… wreck my mojo with girls, Dad."
"I can't…? Wait. What?"
"You made me look like a total tool in front of those girls the other night."
A snorting laugh burst out of Walter before he could stop it, making his son look up and glare at him. "I'm serious."
"I know. I obviously embarrassed you by reacting poorly and not listening to you. I should've considered all the facts and run the odds first before I stepped in. It won't happen again." Walter did his best to suppress another chuckle.
"That's all I ask. Now let's go see what Mom says about me helping with research. I want to get started right away."
OXOXOXOXOXO
"Mr. O'Brien, it would be in your best interest if you would let us know your current location." The guy in the suit looked reasonable enough but the old adage was true, looks could be deceiving.
Walter's mouth twisted into a sarcastic smile and his finger hovered over the 'escape' key in case the Fed he was video chatting with kept making stupid comments. "How exactly would that be in my best interest?"
"Don't forget, an official subpoena has been served. Ralph is court mandated to appear and to testify when we need him. One could perceive your hiding him as a violation of the law since you're preventing him from appearing."
"No. I'm not technically preventing him from doing anything. His live feed testimony was sufficient for the grand jury to indict on all charges. When the official court date is set and his testimony is required for the trial, he will appear online again. From a safe distance."
"It's up to the judge whether or not that's good enough for the trial. Besides, we can better ensure his safety from here…"
Walter erupted into mirthless laughter then quickly sobered. "Sure. Look how well it turned out last time your people tried that."
At least the guy had the courtesy to seem slightly contrite. Well, before he went and opened his mouth again. "I assure you we've found the source of the leak and dealt with it accordingly." He cleared his throat, probably to dislodge the remnants of the blatant lie he'd just told.
"You'll have to forgive me if I don't feel it's wise to trust you at this juncture. 'Fool me twice' and all."
"Can you at least confirm that the Dineen boy is indeed with you? From the trace we're running, we've got you in The Maldives by way of… Kentucky?" The man's lips thinned at the corners. "I'm assuming that's a false location."
"I will neither confirm nor deny," Walter replied cheerfully, "And Gan is nice this time of year. You really should visit soon. I've been working on my tan…"
The stoic expression morphed into contempt. "We will need you to continue to check in on a regular basis and let Agent Gallo know he's officially on suspension. This whole situation is entirely unprecedented."
The screen went blank.
Walter turned to Ralph and Cabe. "He hung up on me. And people say I'm rude," he said almost gleefully. "Now we need to get down to business."
Cabe shook his head. "I almost feel sorry for him. Okay, no I don't. What else have you got on the money laundering? This organization is like an octopus, it has so many arms."
Ralph tapped away on his laptop. "More like a hydra. Or a bowl of spaghetti. Oooo, spaghetti. Is anyone besides me getting hungry?"
"Kid, you're always hungry…"
"Hey! I found another possible link!" Walter motioned for the other two to come and have a look.
For a few minutes, Paige stood at the bottom of the stairs watching her boys work together. Here were three generations of men, all unrelated. Yet anyone looking on would swear they were family. Her son was surrounded by people who understood him, who cared for him. Had she honestly almost made him give up that connection? Because of hurt feelings? It was unfathomable.
"Hey, guys," She interrupted after a while, "When you get to a stopping point, you really should come upstairs and eat before the food gets cold."
OXOXOXOXOXO
"You got a secret admirer?" Cabe eyeballed the flowers on the dining table critically.
Allie's face lit up and she gave him a teasing glance. "What can I say. I've still got it!"
"Seriously, where did these come from? Did you check them for bugs?"
"I think they came from a florist, so they shouldn't have any bugs on them…"
Cabe scoffed derisively. "Not those kinds of bugs. Listening devices. We can't be too careful what we accept into this house from outside sources…"
Allie giggled. "Calm down. Consider your blood pressure. Scooter brought them by as an apology gift for me. I thought it was a very sweet gesture."
The Homeland agent snatched the offending blossoms across the table, sloshing water over the rim of the vase in the process. "We have to be sure," he growled as he practically tore the flowers apart pretending to search for spying equipment when they both knew he just didn't care for another man bringing Allie flowers. In fact, he was so uptight about it he didn't see the tiny black circle under the florist's seal on the bottom of the vase.
OXOXOXOXOXO
Walter pressed his lips to her forehead. "It doesn't seem like you have a temperature, but I'd rather err on the side of caution when it comes to your health. I'll get the thermometer."
Paige stopped him from rising with a hand to his arm. "I'm fine, Walter. I'm just feeling a little… off right now. Especially with food for some reason. When Allie brought out that slimy, goopy pudding with the chia seeds…" she shuddered in revulsion, "…I don't know. I can't even think about it now without getting nauseated. Ugh. The smell. I don't mean to complain. She's trying so hard. Maybe if I did more of the shopping or cooking…"
"Out of the question."
"Walter! Do we really need to have another conversation about how you aren't actually a dictator?" Paige rolled toward the side of the bed as if to get up.
It was his turn to lay a quieting hand on her arm. She looked over her shoulder at him. "I'm sorry. I know. Perhaps if you could let me come with you to the store? As I was explaining Ralph earlier… I'm experiencing an uncharacteristic amount of anxiety when you two are out of my sight. I, uh, I'm trying… It-it isn't that I don't think you're capable. But now you're feeling poorly again. What if you've worn yourself down by doing too much? Or what if you didn't heal properly in the first place? What if you've developed an infection after all?" He swallowed hard and gazed at her with anguished eyes.
She laid back down and turned toward him so she could rest her head against his chest. She slipped an arm around his waist and felt the tension begin to leave his body. "Hey. You aren't getting rid of me that easily, mister. I think I could tell if something was seriously wrong. Besides, I've been on antibiotics for nearly six weeks now, so I don't think it's an infection. It's hard to explain. I don't feel like I'm coming down with anything. It's just… When I get hungry, I feel sick. And certain smells are really getting to me right now. The last time I felt this way…"
Paige suddenly sat bolt upright, her eyes wide with shock. "Oh, crap," She whispered, "I've been on antibiotics for six weeks."
Walter sat up and looked at her with a puzzled frown. "What does that signify? Do you think the medicine is making you sick to your stomach?" The expression on her face was equal parts fear and awe. He'd never seen anything like it before.
She huffed out a little laugh. "No. Well, I guess it's all in how you look at it."
"I'm confused. What do you mean?"
"I can't be sure. But if you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Oh, Walter," she breathed covering her flushed cheeks with her hands. Tears gathered in her eyes.
He looked at her in alarm. "What is it? What's wrong?"
She winced a little, giving him a timorous smile. "You see, I didn't take my pills while I was in the hospital recovering from surgery. I mean, who thinks about those things at a time like that. I was too out of it and the doctor didn't even know I was on them. And why would a surgeon think to ask much less prescribe them. Then they put me on these dumb antibiotics, so when I went back on my pills, they probably didn't work properly. Hey, let's face it, since I started feeling better, you and I have… Well, we've been a little busy in the bedroom making up for lost time. Wow. This always happens at the absolute worst times…" Her smile grew and she shook her head in wonder.
"What?!" He was almost frantic now.
"Walter, I think I might be pregnant."
