Part 9 Thursday night back at the suite

Walter made a few phone calls when they got back to the hotel thanking all his friends that had helped make this past week so special for them. He told them they would all be a part of the wedding and reception whenever they had it all planned out. Whale watching boat trips and hot-air balloon rides at a wedding sounded pretty romantic. Catered by the top Italian restaurant in the state. That sounded like the beginnings of one amazing wedding. They were all happy for the couple and they all, every single one of them, told him how lucky he was to have a woman like Paige to spend the rest of his life with. They also all raved about Ralph and how nice and polite he was. He told them that was all because of Paige. Paige spent the time calling and texting some of her friends as well and they all told her that they were so happy for her and for Ralph. After twenty minutes or so, they sat next to each other Paige eye-balling the gorgeous rock that was so proudly displayed on her finger, and Walter eye-balling the gorgeous woman who said yes. They decided the three of them needed to call Cabe together and let him know about their news. They let Ralph call him and when he saw the three of them together on the couch his eyes told them he was glad to see them together again.

"About damn time kid. Sorry Ralph, about darn time."

"Cabe, I am sorry about what happened, and I am thankful for you keeping in touch with me and Walter during this mess. We wanted you to be one of the first to know."

Paige turned her hand around for him to see the ring.

"Holy cow. Hey Allie, Walt finally did it, the kid finally asked Paige. And it looks like she said yes."

Cabe and Allie were so happy for them.

"Hey Walt, before I go, I got a question for you. I got a letter from my mortgage company the other day…"

"I don't know anything about it."

"Son, you know I can't accept it."

"Cabe, he's not going to listen to you. He is a stubborn man." Paige interjected with a kiss to Walter.

"Well, we will get this figured out when we see you guys again. Congrats again from the both of us, and we really couldn't be any happier for you both. You belong together, I hope you know that."

"Thanks, coming from you, it means even more. Thank you." Walter told him before hanging up the phone.

Paige took Ralph back to their room and told him she was going to stay up for a while and spend time with Walter. Ralph told her he was so happy for them, and he was so glad he got to be a part of the engagement. He also told her she didn't need to come back to their room for the night. Paige blushed. He was a genius, and he knew about stuff like that. She told him good night as she exited the room turning the lights out and moving her bag out of the room closer to the bathroom.

When Paige got back out to the balcony where Walter was waiting for her, she smiled at him and still couldn't believe the events that transpired this past week, but especially today.

"Walter, how do you always know?"

"Always know, always know what?"

"Always know exactly what to do, or what to say, or how to be so handsome and charming."

"With you it is easy. I just have learned to follow what my heart tells me."

"See, you are proving my point again."

"I am a little sad though."

"Why is that Walter?"

"Not about us, not at all. I am so completely happy about us."

"Me too."

"I just wish we could share the news with you know."

"I do. But you know what, this whole week I haven't had one sad moment, not one bad thought about anything. Because I was with you and Ralph. You two are the most important people in my life. And I know you have known Happy and Sly, and Toby longer than I have. And they became my good friends too. Honestly though, they have changed. And I'm not just saying that to make my point. Happy and Toby are married, and they still have been trying to adopt. Who knows how long it will be before they do, and you know they may decide to move somewhere to raise a family. And Sly, he has changed a lot too. Being a councilman and I guess being with Florence now, he may want different things planned also. Scorpion was a family for a long time for them and maybe it's time to move on. I'm not saying that this rift will last forever but maybe it is the beginning of different chapters of all of our lives. I will support you Walter, in any way you need me to when it comes to the relationships you have with them. But so you know, Monday when I go see them again, I am going to tell them I can no longer be a part of CP. And I want you to come with me to show them that we are back together and whatever they want to do from there is up to them. I hope they will be happy for us. But if they aren't I think I am ok with that too. I don't care if we tell them about the new direction Scorpion is headed or not. If you want to wait to tell them we are engaged, I am fine with that as well. I just want you to know I have everything I need with you."

Walter smiled at her and held her tight for a long time before he started to kiss her and after several moments, he told her he was thinking the same things. He knew how much he loved having them around, but once Paige became a part of the cyclone, his definition of everything started to change. He would always care for them, more than they knew. But he also knew it wasn't going to last forever. And if this was a part of the new dynamic between all of them, he knew in his heart he got to keep closest to him the one person who meant more to him than anyone else. And getting to have Ralph too, made it all the more special.

Paige excused herself for a minute to use the restroom, and Walter had closed off the balcony doors and was pouring them some wine to continue celebrating their day. When she re-emerged wearing that, he knew he was in for a treat that evening. They didn't touch the wine, and instead headed back to the room Walter had stayed in. They closed the door and didn't come out till sometime later the next morning. She was glad she packed for all occasions. Walter was pretty happy she did too!

The long drive back took the better part of Friday. They made some stops along the way to break up the length of the drive. And when they finally arrived back at the Paige's condo, they were all exhausted. Walter grabbed their luggage and brought it inside as Paige and Ralph plopped down on the couch. They had picked up some takeout and they sat at the table and ate it reliving some of their favorite moments of the trip. Ralph got up first and went to get ready for bed.

"Walter, will you spend the night here with me? I just, I'm not ready for this to end."

"Paige, I want to, more than anything. But I don't want us rushing into this again and I know what happened last night. And it was so magical to be with you again, but with Ralph next door and I just want to make sure we do everything right this time."

"Walter, what if we don't do anything tonight, just sleep with me in our bed, like we used to. I really need you to stay with me."

"I would really like that, but you can't make me um make me kiss and um hug you all night and make me do stuff with you."

"Walter, I would never manipulate you like that." She smiled seductively at him. But she knew as much as she was kidding, she didn't want anything to go on that they both weren't ready for. And having him spend the night with her was all she really wanted. To just fall asleep in his arms and know that he was back with her for good.

The rest of the weekend was perfect. Walter wound up spending Saturday night with them again. Being near her helped him to sleep better. And she slept like a rock, next to him. It was the best sleep either one of them had since the last time they slept in each other's arms. Towards the end of the day on Sunday evening Paige started to get a little anxious about what would happen the next morning. Having Walter accompany her there made a lot of her nervousness go away. Walter promised her he would only be there to support her. He offered to wait in the car if she wanted or right outside the front door. Whatever she wanted he was fine with it. He told her he would only interject if they disrespected her or made her feel any less important than any of them.

Walter told her he needed to go back to the garage to get some clothes to wear, and he could spend the night with her at her condo or back at the garage if she needed some time to clear her head and think about things. She asked him to come back to her condo and he gladly did. He made it back to her place before ten and that gave them some time to spend together before they went to bed. It had been a while since they had showered together, and the extra barrier it gave them with Ralph across the hall gave them the added privacy they needed. They made it back to bed around midnight and cuddled together before drifting off to sleep.

"I'm ready when you are." Paige informed Walter who was sitting across from her at the kitchen table.

"You let me know what you want from me today and I will be by your side for anything you need."

"Thank you, it means a lot knowing you are there with me."

"Did you want to drive the Malibu or the Mercedes?"

"Knowing that I am turning in my notice I don't think it matters which one we take honestly. I just really hope they are accepting of our relationship and don't try to upset us."

"Any way it goes, you know I will be there for you. I don't think Happy or Sly will have any issue with us. I just hope Toby acts civilized. I was going to ask if you wanted me to bring the patent rights for the wench and water purification system. I figured we could give it to them, so they knew I wasn't trying to hold something over them."

"I think that's a good idea but wait to give it to them until after we talk about CP stuff. I just want to get that part over with so I can relax my nerves some. And knowing you will be there with me has already helped to calm most of them."

"OK, let's head over there and see what happens."

They got to CP a little early. And purposely so. Paige didn't want to walk in having the three of them looking at her, like the last time, as she made her way in. So, by getting there first she felt more at ease because she could be sitting at her desk and Walter could be there so nothing would go askew.

But it didn't take long for things to start to go off track.

"Well, well, well what do we have here?" Toby said as he was almost glaring at Walter.

Walter didn't respond to his comment. He told Paige earlier he would take any insult flung at him, but the second something rude was said to her, all bets were off. She hoped it wouldn't come to that, but she agreed to it.

"Looks like ol' 197 is back in the saddle with sweet Ms. Dineen."

"Toby, please don't start out like this. We had all week to calm down and talk about the future of our company, don't be so immature." Paige said trying to keep the situation from going awry.

"Cool it, Toby." Happy added.

Sly didn't say anything at all. He looked at Walter unsure of what he wanted to do. Being with Florence for the past several weeks, he knew she didn't have feelings for him anymore, but a part of him didn't want to forgive him for some of the things he said to him that night.

Things calmed down for a minute after Paige and Happy both told Toby to stop. It was obvious he was not on board with Walter being there and as usual he felt inferior to him. Walter kept restrained the whole time and let Paige tell them what she was there to say. She gave them her resignation and told them if they had any questions for her, she would gladly answer them.

"What are you going to do now that you are leaving CP Paige?" Asked Sly.

Paige looked at Walter who smiled back at her before she said, "I am going to go back to work with Walter. We have been talking the last couple of weeks and I feel like that's where I need to be. We talked through our breakup and are going to work on making it last this time."

Toby looked over at her before kicking his feet up on to the conference table and crossed his legs and leaned his arms over his head.

"Good riddance, then."

Before Walter stood to say something to him, Paige put her arm out towards him motioning for him to wait.

"Toby, why have you been so disrespectful towards me? Have I done something to you or to Happy that is making you act this way towards me?"

"Let's start by asking whose new car is in the parking lot with the 4PAIGE license plate, some sort of bribe? Or just something to get you in the sack?"

This time Walter stood, and Paige had to put her arm on his to keep him from advancing towards Toby.

"What does that have to do with anything, or the way you were acting last week towards me? And it was not a bribe, I can assure you of that."

"Fine you know what, he lied to you, and when he saw you joined a team that was better than his, that's when he tried to get you back."

"Who I do or do not spend my time with is my decision, do you understand that? And as I remember we all started this partnership together; I didn't join it. You guys may have come to me with the idea, but it was sold to me as equal partners. Is that not, correct?"

Paige had kept her cool the whole time; she had kept her ring on her finger, she just kept it covered by her other hand. In no way was she embarrassed by it, it was just once Toby started in with her, she knew he would eventually say something about it and then all bets were off.

"Equal my ass." Toby blurted out.

Walter had had enough, and Paige wasn't going to be able to stop him now. He didn't like seeing her being made to not feel like an equal to them.

"Before I engage with you Toby, you need to apologize to Paige right now for your last statement."

"You don't have any right..." Toby started but Walter raised his voice over him.

"No Toby, you don't have any right to talk to her or anyone for that matter like that. What makes you feel like she is not an equal to you? Because you went to Harvard? Or because your IQ is higher? What is it? I would love to know."

Toby didn't say anything back. Either too scared to say what he wanted to or too nervous that whatever excuse he used, Walter would prove his point as false.

"You know how much of a difference Paige made when she joined Scorpion. She helped it grow and flourish more than any of us. So why would you try to say she is not an equal to you. If anything, she is far superior to you."

"I don't know which head your thinking with, but I don't think it's the one with your giant brain inside of it."

Walter was not making this about himself, and he refused to get sucked into it with Toby, he continued to take the high road.

"This has nothing to do with me. Why are you so infatuated with Paige and her relationships? You are almost obsessed with it."

"I have nothing against her, but she can do much better than you."

"Of course she can, you don't think I know that. But she gets to decide that, not you, or me, or anyone else. Why can't you see that? And it also doesn't answer the questions of why you have been so disrespectful towards her."

"This was supposed to be a meeting between the four of us, whoever let you show up, didn't clear it with me."

"Toby, you need to remove yourself from the room. I'm not joking around right now." Happy said, as Paige rose to her feet as well.

"No way I'm leaving my own company with Mr. 197 standing over there."

"Toby leave now, or we are done. Not this meeting is done, I mean you and me are done."

Toby knocked over a chair on his way out. Walter sat back down before he said anything else.

"Paige, I apologize for him. I don't know where it's coming from. All week he was fine and then we get here, and he turns into an ass."

"Did I say something at some point or do something to either one of you?"

"Not that he told me, he has been having some issues again, now that money has been a little tight, and Walt, you probably don't believe it, but I think he misses you and Scorpion. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry I walked out on you the way I did. You didn't deserve that."

Paige grabbed Walter's hand and let him know it was ok for him to say something.

"Happy, thank you. For the record, I feel bad for you guys, and I hope he isn't gambling or drinking again. I don't think he misses me though. I've made peace with you guys leaving and moving on. I understand that Scorpion for you guys is finished, but for me, for us, we have a new motivation and a new purpose again. I wish all of you success and I hope you know I don't hold any ill will towards any of you. I terminated my relationship with Homeland and told them they should contact CP as a majority of my colleagues are now working under that name. You may want to reach out to them at some point if you don't hear from them soon. I brought these with me to give back to both of you. Your wench patent and Sly your and Florence's water filtration patent. I don't want them and the way that Scorpion is changing we won't be needing them either. Hopefully they can help you guys in some way. I do hope at some point we can be friends again, but if we can't I think I can live with myself and how I dealt with our falling out. My cyclone may have changed, but I will always care for you guys. I don't really have anything else to add."

"Paige, any chance we could change your mind in to staying with us?" Happy asked knowing the answer.

Paige didn't have to say anything, she raised her hand showing them the ring on her finger.

"Walt, thank you for being civilized today, I know the old you wouldn't have been able to do that. Thank you for these too. I feel like we owe you something for them since it was done on Scorpion time."

"No need, like I said, we are taking Scorpion in a different direction now, one that won't be a threat to you guys here and hopefully you can flourish."

"What the hell, O'Brien. You're not gonna give me anything to be mad at you about. Toby has been on me all week about this. He knew Paige was going to be quitting. Even thought she was going to try to reconcile with you."

"Happy stop. This meeting today was not about me. I only came to support Paige and to be here in case anything was said that was inappropriate. This was supposed to be about you three and how you have been treating Paige. Don't make it into something about me. You missed the whole point of why Paige is leaving. You didn't include her on company issues and kept things from her. You only questioned her when she was late or left early, while no one questioned it when it was anyone else. You guys made her feel like she wasn't an equal part of your team. She didn't quit for any other reasons than that. I would have supported her if she stayed here with you guys. I would have found a way to look past any of it, because I valued her above any of the things that were said back in the garage. Yes, I wanted her to come back and work with me and yes, we decided a few days ago that she would. But if we got here today, and you guys apologized to her and made things right, and she decided she wanted to stay and make this a success, I would have stood by her side and supported her 100%. Maybe we all have changed. Because the team of friends I had around me when we first started is far different than the people that are here with me now. And like I said, I've made peace with it."

After a moment or two of silence Happy spoke again.

"Damn. I really can't disagree with anything you said. We have changed, life took us in different directions than I think any of us thought. Me married, you engaged. Sly as a city official. Paige and Ralph with someone who cherishes them both. Don't screw it up this time. And I do want to congratulate both of you. I'm sure Ralph is really happy for both of you."

Happy hugged both of them hoping this wasn't the last time they would get to see each other. She was the only one who made an attempt. Sly never said anything else. Toby went outside after being kicked out by Happy and just let off some steam.

After Walter and Paige left, Toby rejoined Sly and Happy and the three of them decided they would continue on with CP. They all were able to admit what they did to Walter and now to Paige was on them, albeit they wouldn't admit it to them. They chose the path they were on, and it was now time to make the best of it.

Paige felt relieved for the morning to be over. All she wanted to do now was head back home and be with Ralph and Walter. The couple picked up Ralph and headed out to eat something and to spend the day at the beach. A place where they could relax and get any remaining thoughts about CP out of their heads. It was hard on them, not having their three old friends around to celebrate with them, but they knew those relationships would find a way to be repaired, it was just going to take longer than they had hoped.

There were lots of decisions to be made between Walter and Paige. They included Ralph on lots of them, but there were others they kept between themselves. One of the biggest, was going to be the new living arrangements. As much as Paige loved her condo, and as much as Walter loved staying in the loft at the garage, they agreed the best thing to do was to find a new bigger condo for them to all share. One with some more separation of spaces and maybe an extra bedroom or two for any guests or family that may visit. Walter found them a beautiful condo overlooking the ocean that had everything they were looking for. He didn't let Paige know how much the price on it was, he just asked her if she liked it. She did, and it was taken care of. Instead of leasing it, he paid the full asking price for it. Since Paige would never accept the check he wanted her to have, they decided to use it to pay for the condo. Working in one place and living in another made the most sense to them. Having a place to leave work behind was going to be a new challenge for Walter, one he was more than up for.

Rebranding Scorpion and planning for their wedding took up the majority of their time. They were sure to set aside times for both, and to have plenty of time to spend with Ralph as well. They also made it a point to have at least one romantic date night a week for just the two of them and one family dinner date a week as well.

….A year later, now officially married, and wow was the wedding something, and co-owners of the newly opened and highly successful Scorpion, Walter and Paige were on top of the world.

"I've got a little present for you Walter." Paige handed him a box that fit inside his hand. He opened it and pulled back the tissue paper uncovering a small stick with a couple of lines on it.

"Are you…?" Walter asked with a look of amazement and joy on his face.

"Yes, I am, we are…." Paige was glowing.

A/N Definitely left some room to squeeze in a sequel leading up to the marriage and baby. Let me know what you think. As for Toby, ehh he had it coming. Hope you liked it.