A/N Hope you enjoy!

Part 8

Back at the garage after their meal was finished, Ralph asked if he could mess around with some of Walter's computer stuff. Even he knew he had played video games for too long that morning. Walter was fine with it, he always trusted Ralph with all of his computers. He knew almost as much about them as Walter did.

As Ralph started tinkering with one of the hard drives Walter had at his desk, Walter and Paige headed back up to the loft.

"Walter, if I asked you to sketch something for me right now, could you do it?"

"I've never tried to um do that before, but I don't know why I couldn't."

"Do you remember taking me and Ralph to the zoo a few years ago after Drew skipped out on seeing his son? I know he did it more than a few times but there was one specific time you took us to the zoo and then out for pizza."

"I do. I just wanted to help take Ralph's mind off of Dr... him. It always really upset me when he did things like that, well almost everything he did irritated me but yes, I think Ralph had fun that day eventually."

"Yes he most definitely had fun that day, and you did take his mind of things too. That night after we got home, Ralph told me he wished he had a different father. I know he thought about it before then, and often, but that was the first time he ever said something to me about it."

"You know I have always thought about him like he was my own son. I would do anything for him."

"Walter, we both know how much you have done for my son. But that day at the zoo, you made him forget all about his troubles with his, with Drew, and he needed it. We were in front of the monkey exhibit, and you started jumping up and down like you were one of them." Paige explained to him with a smile growing on her face.

"I remember. I remember you started laughing at me too." Walter said with a smile.

"Yes, I was definitely laughing at you, but so was Ralph. He never laughed much if at all when he was little. And to see him like that after knowing how disappointed he was earlier let me know he was going to be okay. And again, you did that for him. Can you sketch that moment for me?"

Walter closed his eyes and thought back to that memory in his mind. When he had it there, he studied it for a little while and when he had the image captured, he opened his eyes again.

"Give me about thirty minutes, okay?"

"Can I watch you; I think it would be fascinating."

"I don't see why you couldn't. But I will need complete silence and you must keep your hands to yourself." Walter told her trying to hide his smile.

"I'll be quiet, but I can't promise you my hands are going to be able to stay away from you." Paige whispered back to him seductively.

As Walter grabbed a blank canvas and some colored pencils, Paige took a seat to the side of him just smiling. She took her phone and set it to the side of Walter so she could record him, she asked to make sure it was okay first. He usually let her do anything she wanted within reason, and she never tried to take advantage of hm because of it.

She watched intently as Walter started sketching the image that was engrained in his mind. At first, she could only see the rough image on the paper, but after a few minutes she was awed at how he perfectly stroked his pencil creating the exact moment in time she was hoping for. It was one of those instances she always wished she had a picture of. And soon she would have something so much more powerful and meaningful.

Twenty-three minutes and forty-five seconds later Walter was finished. He looked over at Paige and she was sobbing uncontrollably, completely moved by what he had just created for her. Walter reached over to her and again just held her and rubbed her gently letting her know everything was okay.

"This is the most special thing anyone has ever done for me. Thank you so much for giving me this memory to have forever. Can we go and show Ralph?"

They walked downstairs and over to the desk Ralph was working on.

"Hey Walter, I took the hard drive apart you had over there, I found the problem you told me about. If we adjust it like this, I think it might work better."

"Wow, good job buddy. I think you're right. We can test it out tonight if you get it put back together."

"Sweetie, I want to show you something. Something that is very special to me."

"OK. What is it mom?"

"Do you remember when Walter took us to the zoo a couple of years ago?" Paige asked him.

"Yeah, when da.. Drew bailed on me again."

"Yes, unfortunately it was because of that. But do you remember what happened at the zoo?"

"Yeah." Ralph said with a chuckle, "Walter acted like a monkey and made you laugh."

"He did, but he also made you laugh, remember."

"Not as much as you were laughing though." Ralph tried to assure her.

"I beg to differ; I think you were laughing just as much as I was."

"Too bad you can't prove it. Besides I still think you were laughing more." Ralph said knowing how much he did laugh at Walter.

Paige showed him the sketch Walter just made her. His eyes got big, and he started to relive the moment in his own mind again.

"Where did you get that?"

"This guy right here just sketched it for me."

"Walter did? He doesn't even like art. He couldn't have drawn that. Where did it really come from?"

"Ralph, I just watched him sketch it."

"Prove it." He said smiling at her, knowing she couldn't.

"Am I going to have to prove you wrong twice in two minutes?" Paige smiled back at him.

She took her phone out, brought up the video and pressed play. Ralph was amazed watching the sketch come to life. Walter just smiled and took the whole thing in. Another memory of his favorite two people in the world that he may have to put to paper someday.

Later that night, after Paige and Ralph had gone back to their condo, they were getting ready to go to bed.

"Mom."

"Yes sweetie."

"Do you remember what I told you that day when we went to the zoo with Walter?"

She knew what he said. She couldn't get herself to say so though.

"What did you say, I'm not sure if I remember or not."

"I wished I had a different dad. Someone who would always be there for me and you."

With tears in her eyes she told him, "Oh baby I do remember, I'm so sorry."

"I still wish Walter was my dad." Ralph told her.

"Walter is more your dad than anybody else. And I know he feels the same way." Paige reassured him.

Paige made it out of his room before she lost it. She had cried more today than any other day in her life. Almost all the tears were happy tears though, and knowing how her son felt about Walter, and how he felt about her son let her know she was grateful to have him back in their lives, for good.

Sunday at Paige's condo September 9 2018

Paige invited Walter over for dinner. She was going to make a big pot of spaghetti and meatballs. She knew both of the men in her life loved the dish. Walter showed up early to help her prepare the meal. But she kindly ushered him out of the kitchen. She told him to relax, and Ralph wanted him to play some video games with him anyway.

They played a few games and Walter told Ralph that the hard drive he fixed for him was now running the way it was supposed to.

"You know, I should be paying you for fixing that for me."

"I am old enough to work now. I'm thirteen. Maybe I could come work for you some afternoons, I mean if you need some extra help. I know it's just you and Cabe at the garage."

"Wouldn't you want to work with your mom, at um Centipede Partners?"

"I would rather play with dolls than work with those three. I wish mom would just quit already and go back to working at Scorpion."

"Ralph, if you're serious about helping on some of the coding and software jobs I get, I could maybe try to figure something out. We would have to talk with your mom first though. Before anything gets started."

"OK, I'll ask her at dinner."

"OK, hey I'm gonna wash up before dinner is ready, okay? Your mom said it would be ready at 7:00, so about 5 minutes. Don't keep her waiting."

Walter wanted to give her a heads up, so she wasn't blindsided at dinner. He explained it to her real quick and she was grateful for the information. It gave her a few minutes to think over what she would say. Walter told her he would go along with whatever decision she came to. His act of kindness earned him a pre-dinner kiss. He asked her if there would be any more of those for dessert.

"Hey mom, I've been thinking." Ralph began.

"Thinking about what exactly?"

"Well, I'm getting pretty old, and I think it's probably about time I started to help out around here, you know maybe help to pay for some of the food I eat."

"First off, you are not getting old, you are still my little baby."

"Mo-om." Ralph said with a blushed face.

"And secondly, we're doing okay with money. I mean you have been eating more."

"Yeah, and I'm probably going to be eating even more soon, and you know I'll need some new clothes as I grow too."

"I'm not sure what you mean." Paige told him with a smile.

"Mom. I'm just saying, if we had some more money, you know."

"How would we get more money though?"

"Mom, are you gonna make me spell it out for you? I want to get a job; you know for after school or maybe some on weekends."

"A job? Where would you get a job? You're only thirteen."

"I'm sure I could find someone who would hire me." Ralph said hoping Walter would say something.

"I mean, I guess I could ask the guys at Centipede if we have some jobs for you to do to earn some extra money."

"Mom, no offense but I would rather go live with the monkeys at the zoo, than work with the guys at Centipede. I mean Happy is alright I guess, but the other two, I'll pass."

"Ralph, that was uncalled for."

"Well so is making this conversation this difficult. You know I want to work at Scorpion with Walter. You know I've always wanted to work there. And he probably even told you about it before I got in here for dinner."

Paige and Walter were both laughing.

"I'm sorry sweetie, I was just having some fun with you. Yes, Walter told me before you got here."

"Traitor." Ralph told Walter while smiling. He was almost fooled by his mom at first.

"Let us talk about it a little. Walter, is that okay?" Paige said to Ralph and asked Walter.

"Yes. Ralph, I would need to talk to your mom about all of this anyway. Like I told you in your room."

Ralph was glad that was over with. Now he could eat all the spaghetti and meatballs he wanted. Dinner after that was delicious. Walter told Paige he would clean up and start some coffee for them.

"How precious was that? He thought that whole thing through. I love that kid." Paige said to Walter.

"He is one-of-a-kind. Just like his mother." Walter told her.

"You trying to butter me up so you can poach my kid away to your company, O'Brien?"

"Is it working? And when have you ever called me O'Brien; Dineen?"

"Do you prefer Doctor?" She said in a much more seductive and sexier voice while raising her eyebrows.

Walter spit part of his coffee out of his lips realizing how often she could make him do things like that.

"Would you really be okay with him working over there with you guys?"

"The only person I would want working there more than him would be his mother. But I hear she's kind of a hard ass, or did I hear she has a hard ass, now I can't remember."

Paige spewed coffee all over the table and a little on to Walter. He didn't seem to mind, finally getting some much-needed payback for all the times she got the better of him.

"You wanna head to my room and find out which one it is?"

Walter put his hands up surrendering. "I don't know why I even try to do that to you; I'm never going to win am I?"

"Is losing to me really that bad?" Paige asked with a wink.

"Not at all." Walter said with a smile and then proceeded to give her a nice kiss.

"Seriously, I would be thrilled to let Ralph come by once or twice a week and help with some coding and programming. No missions, no interaction with other people. Just working alongside me and Cabe. Cabe could even pick him up from school on those days, and I could bring him home. You could get a couple of nights a week to relax and unwind. Everyone would benefit."

"I don't know whose more excited about this. You or Ralph. If we decide to do this, you have to promise me he will not get in the way. Or be exposed to anything I think would be inappropriate."

"I could make you a report to see what he would be doing each week if that helped."

"You really wouldn't mind him being there?"

"Seriously? He would be more than welcome."

"Let's do it then. But I want to pick him up some nights too. I wouldn't mind seeing Cabe more often anyway. And that would give us a built in excuse to have dinner together." Paige told him.

"Let me look at what we have coming up over the next couple of weeks and I will get you a rundown on what he would be doing."

"Before we tell Ralph, we still need to discuss what you're going to pay him."

"OK."

"You know… I…um. have been told…. I'm kind of…. a um hard ass… when it comes….. to negotiating." Paige told him very seductively.

"Oh boy." Walter gulped. He never was going to win. "Why d-don't you um j-just write a um n-number down on th-this um piece of paper and I'll agree to it." Walter told her.

"You know, you sure are sexy when you're flustered." Paige grinned at him and then attacked him with some kisses.

They filled Ralph in on their agreementy and he was ecstatic. He would start in a week, giving Walter some time to arrange his jobs so Ralph would be able to assist him.

"Now that we got my son a job. I have something else to talk to you about."

"OK. What's on your mind?" Walter asked.