Part 6

After dinner was over, Paige had Walter come in for a while after he drove them back to their condo. Ralph headed to his room to get on his computer.

"Thank you for an amazing evening and a delicious dinner." Paige said.

"It was my pleasure. And again, you looked absolutely stunning tonight."

"Aww, thank you. You are too kind to me. Thank you for handling that question from Ralph, it took me by surprise at first."

"Me too. We do need to discuss the next steps of our relationship though. Not tonight. But soon. I hope it was okay for me to ask you to dinner in front of everyone tonight. I should have talked to you about it beforehand. I got carried away a little. I'm sorry about that." Walter told her.

"Oh yes it was more than fine. I was getting tired of dodging all Toby's questions. He is just so obsessed with our relationship for some reason. He always has been. I wonder if he's like that at home with Happy too. Just always questioning her about everything I do. And yes, we do need to talk about us. I do love where our relationship is right now. I think it is stronger than it ever was before. Do you?"

"I do. Having time set aside for just you, it has made me realize how much I miss you when you're not there with me. I should have realized that before. And I am sorry I didn't. I won't ever lose sight of that again. I won't ever take the time we share together for granted either."

"Mmm that was a good answer, Mr. O'Brien. Now, I have another question for you. One you have been dodging for weeks. Since the book is all finished now and we have an idea of the next steps, will you finally tell me where did you find the artwork for the book? Did you hire a local artist? Because I'll be honest with you, whoever sketched them is very talented."

Walter was blushing. Embarrassed almost to tell her where they came from. He wanted to delay his response a little longer.

"They are um from someone local. Not probably an artist you would've heard of before though. It's not something they have ever done before. As far as I know this will be the first time their work will be seen in public."

"Wow, it's a shame they've never released anything before. Like I said it's really good. So tell me, who is it?"

"I um, did them." Walter nervously said, with his face blushing.

"No, you didn't. Tell me the truth Walter, whose sketches are they really?" Paige said with a questioning smile on her face.

"I'm telling you the truth. I promise you, I did them." He said again.

"Oh my gosh, you're not kidding, are you?" Paige was flabbergasted.

"No, I'm not kidding, these are um my sketches."

"Walter O'Brien! First of all, you never cease to amaze me. Second, I'm a little upset with you for never telling me about this talent of yours before. And third, how can someone who can draw like that, not appreciate art?" Paige wasn't upset with him; she just couldn't believe how good they were.

"Sketching was something I used to do when I needed to get out of my head for a while. It was always an escape for me. Nothing more. Something no one, not even Megan knew I did. You are the only person I have ever told. It was something that I was just always able to do."

"Is that why you never appreciated art? Because you could draw like this?" Paige asked.

"I never really thought about it. But that may be the reason, I guess." Walter tried to think if that really was why he didn't appreciate other people's art.

"You do know they are really good, don't you?"

"I never drew them for any reason other than to relax my mind. I never thought about if they were good or not."

"Well, just so you know they are amazing. I would buy any one of them. They could be in a gallery. When did you draw these pictures for the book?"

"A lot of the scenes with the stars in the background were from when I actually would look at the sky with Ralph up on the roof of the garage."

"Wait a minute, you were sketching these amazing pictures on the roof. Where was I? I was usually up there with the two of you. I would have seen something."

"I would um look through the telescope and find images and patterns in the sky that I thought were pleasing and I would memorize as many of the stars as I could."

"You drew these from memories?" Paige asked almost in disbelief.

"Some of them, yes. Others from pictures or images I had seen in textbooks and on websites."

"But you drew them without the image being in front of you?"

"Usually, yes." Walter said.

"I am just amazed. Do you have other sketches you have drawn?" Paige asked.

His eyes were glossed over. He knew the question would eventually come. And he had told himself he was never going to lie about things to Paige again. He wanted to be completely honest about everything, even if it made him uncomfortable.

"I may have um, some other sketches that I have done before. At the um garage."

Paige could see he was very nervous, and she didn't want him to shut down, but she did want to know about this part of him that he had never shared with her or anyone else before.

"Walter, you have nothing at all to be embarrassed or nervous about, okay?"

Walter nodded his head.

"If I asked you to see some of them, would you let me. If you don't want me to, that's okay. I would just really like to see some of what you have drawn. I truly am fascinated by these here. I still can't believe you sketched them."

"Paige, you are the only person in the world I would trust to see them. I knew if I wrote this book and showed it to you, you would ask about some of the sketches. And I never planned on keeping any of it from you. It was just always a part of my life I used to deal with my mind. When you entered into my life, I didn't need to draw anymore, because you could always ease my mind. But a few months ago, after our fight when you left I found myself needing to sketch again."

"Walter, I would be so honored to see your work tomorrow. Is that okay? I want to see as much as you'll show me. I would say, let's go see them right now, but it is late."

"I would love to show them to you tomorrow."

"Can I ask you another question, Walter?"

"Anything."

"Have you ever sketched any of me or Ralph?" Paige asked with bated breath.

With a few tears rolling down his cheeks he said, "Yes, of course I have."

Paige leapt into his arms and shared a tender kiss with him. She was falling more and more in love with him seeing the emotions coming out of him.

"Will you spend the night with us? We can maybe just snuggle and fall asleep on the couch in each other's arms like we used to do. I just don't want to be without you right now. You truly are something special you know that."

"I would really like that. That is one of the things I missed the most, just being close to you and staying up and talking about anything." Walter said, not letting go of her.

The rest of the evening for the two of them was spent on the couch. Talking, laughing, and more cuddling. At some point Ralph came out to tell them goodnight. They told him tomorrow they were going to hang out at the garage for most of the day. Ralph thought that sounded great. Before they drifted off to sleep, they shared a few more passionate kisses.

"Paige, I know I haven't said this to you in a while. But I wanted you to know that I am still madly and deeply in love with you. And I know there will never be anyone else for me. I just felt like I needed to tell you that right now."

"Thank you Walter, it always feels good to hear. Especially from you. And I am still just as madly and deeply in love with you. And I can't wait to see anything you are willing to show me tomorrow. I love you."

"I love you too." Walter said smiling. He was nervous and anxious about tomorrow, hoping the love of his life would like what he had to show her.

Saturday Morning September 8, 2018

They spent the last eight hours asleep in each other's arms. Paige got up first to fix some breakfast for them while Walter was tasked with trying to get Ralph out of bed. After the fourth attempt, he was finally able to get him to wake up and get ready. The three of them ate together and then took off for the garage.

Paige was so excited to see some of Walter's artwork. Walter was just as nervous with the thought of someone seeing his work. Ralph was looking forward to a day of video games from his command center.

"Walter, before you show me any of your sketches, I want to say thank you. I know this is a big deal for you. These were meant only for you, so if there are some you don't want me to see, that's okay with me. I really mean it. Thank you for trusting me to see them."

"Like I said yesterday, you are the only person I would ever feel comfortable enough with to show them to. I am still nervous as to what your reactions will be."

"You didn't sketch me in any um erot…"

"No of course not." Walter said.

"OK, what about without any…" Paige wondered.

"Paige! No."

She gave him a kiss. "I mean, if they were only for you to see, I wouldn't be offended if you did."

"Lucky for me, I um have all of those images up here in my um head." He said with a grin. Pausing for a minute looking off into the distance pretending to go through some of the images of her.

"Walter! Alright, enough stalling. Show me some of what you have." Paige said with a genuine smile on her face.

Walter went over to his closet and pulled out a stack of 15-20 sketches. He showed them to her one by one. The outside of the garage, the cliffs by the ocean, a few of Megan, and some other sketches of places he had been to and had fond memories of.

"Walter, these are amazing. I can't believe you can draw like this. And to do it from a memory and an image in your mind is unreal."

"I honestly never thought of them as art really, just a way to take an image from my mind and to recreate it on paper. Something to try to calm my mind down. You look a little disappointed."

"Disappointed? No, the artwork is beautiful. I just thought you said you had some of me and Ralph. I was really looking forward to seeing them. But these are magnificent. They really could be in a gallery."

She reached over and gave him a kiss and a hug. A small tear started to roll down her cheek; Walter hadn't noticed it yet.