Part 6 May 3, 2018 Sunset

"I want you to read mine first. My thoughts that night were um pretty scattered to say the least, so it may not make much sense to you, but I can explain anything you need me to. I was um pretty upset so please don't get mad at me for anything I wrote down." Walter explained to her.

"Walter, we promised each other we wouldn't get upset. I want to know what your feelings were that night, just like I want you to see mine. It will help us to better understand each other, do you feel the same way?" Paige told him.

"Yes, I do. We can learn from our mistakes."

"Good answer. That will get you another kiss, mister." Paige told him.

8:30pm It's suddenly quiet. What have I done?

I should have run out after Paige and told her I messed up. Why can't I do what I know I should

Why did I keep anything from her. I know better. It was a lecture with a colleague. She didn't want to go. No one wanted to go with me. Are they even my real friends. They all walked out. Do I have friends? Real friends?

Cabe stayed. Baghdad. Everyone else left. What did I do to them. I hurt Paige by lying. Why did I lie?

I'm confused. I love Paige. And Ralph. What's going to happen to Ralph?

Paige knows I only love her. Doesn't she? Does it even matter now? I wasn't enough for her?

I shouldn't have smashed my phone

11:00pm I should go to her condo, no it's too late. I can call her. She won't want to hear from me.

I'm being immature again. Damnit. why do I act like that. I'm not 15. Why couldn't I tell her how I felt 4 years ago. I am 15. I don't like who I am. Why can't I change? I hate myself.

Why did I listen to Toby. Or not listen. I don't even know what he said to do now. I wanted to protect Paige. I'm so confused. I miss Paige. I love her.

2:17am Can't sleep. Didn't think I would. Don't know when I will be able to. I hate my mind.

Need to focus on work now

2:41am Can't work or sleep. Why didn't I tell her the truth?

I wasn't doing anything wrong, what have I done to her

Paige doesn't trust me, did she ever? I don't satisfy her. She satisfied me.

I don't know if she ever loved me. Why couldn't I satisfy her? Too Immature?

Was it all just an experiment to her? I thought it was real. Maybe I was a fool. I hate my IQ. I wish I was normal. For once. I was a fool. Why do I still love her? She doesn't love me. Did she ever?

4:32am it had to be real. Was it all in my head. I thought she felt like I did.

Maybe I was always right, maybe love doesn't exist

6:11am I miss Paige and Ralph. Why do I miss them if love isn't real

I hate love. Science and math are what I need. Not love. Love hurts. A lot.

8:15am it's still so quiet here. I can't do this anymore. Paige left me. It was all my fault

Paige cried the whole time while she read through the notes. She could see how conflicted he was. How hurt he was. Questioning himself, and she felt horrible that he felt the way he did. Her words, causing him to feel the way he did. Questioning her love for him. Never his love for her. He never questioned that. Or for her son. The lies she told him that night hurt. A lot.

She glanced over at him as she finished reading with tears running down her cheeks. "Walter, I am so sorry. I made you question so many things. I was so wrong to say those things to you. Please forgive me. Please, please…" She couldn't go on anymore, she was getting too emotional.

"Paige, it's okay." He told her grabbing on to her tight and hugging her. "You've already been forgiven. Maybe this was a bad idea." Walter told her not wanting to see her get so upset.

"No, Walter, it wasn't. I need to know what I did to you. How much my actions and my words hurt you. I was so mean to you; I can't believe how mean I was." Paige told him as she wiped away her tears.

"Let's um take a break for a little and enjoy the beautiful sky. Besides, I want to take in the scenery next to me a little more anyway." Walter told her as he pulled her in even tighter for a hug and some tender kisses. He wanted to let her know how much he cared for her. She kissed him right back, even more passionately, letting him know that she truly did love him and always would.

Ten or fifteen minutes later, they were ready to continue. Walter was handed the letter Paige had written to him and before he started to read it, he kissed the top of her head and held her close to him with one arm while holding the letter in his other hand.

Walter,

I tried to call you this morning, but you didn't answer. I need to talk to you and tell you how sorry I am for saying so many things that were not true. I was hurting and part of me wanted to hurt you back. And that was so very wrong of me to do. I should not have said anything in front of the rest of the guys, this should have been a conversation between you and me. We need to talk and figure some things out. I know you didn't cheat on me, but I wish you would have told me the truth. I gave you so many chances to tell me. I knew you were keeping something from me and that scared me. I'm still mad at you, but you need to know I still love you too. You have always satisfied me too. In every way. I said things to you last night intending to hurt you. I hope you will be able to forgive me. I was scared that you were getting ready to leave me, and I don't know if I can do this without you. I've never felt like that about anyone else. I think that's why I said everything I did. To make myself believe that I could do it alone when you left. Ralph told me you were his best friend today. You're my best friend too. You always will be. I should not have been so mean to you. I need to talk to you. Please call me back. I Love You, Paige

Walter could see how right away she knew she overreacted. If he could have only not smashed his phone, or if he could have driven over to her condo that first night. Gone to see her, they could have gotten over this so much quicker, everything could have been back to how it was.

"I wish I never smashed my stupid phone." Walter said with a laugh. "But mostly I wish I just told you everything. I was trying to not hurt your feelings, but I knew I should have told you. My insecurities got a hold of me, and I was lost on what to do. I had always turned to you for help and without your help I found myself completely as a loss. Like anything else I told you was only going to make it worse. I felt like you were eventually going to realize how much better than me you deserved, and I was so scared to lose you."

"Walter, I never wanted to leave. I was so happy where I was with you. And there is no doing better than you either. Please don't ever think there is. I knew how special everything was with you. And my insecurities almost made me lose the best thing that has ever happened to me in my entire life other than having Ralph. And they honestly may both be of the same importance to me. Because without you Walter, Ralph may not have ever been able to become the amazing person he is now." Paige told him hoping Walter knew she meant every word of it.

"You would have found a way for Ralph to thrive, I have no doubt about that." Walter told her with a smile.

They talked a little while longer about how they both messed things up the last time and how they were going to make sure not to do the same thing again. They finished watching the sun set over the Pacific Ocean and then headed to the garage for a quick stop.

Walter led Paige up to the loft. Walter went over to his safe he kept in the closet. He came out holding a folder with several forms inside. He sat down on his bed and waited for Paige to join him.

"What's wrong Paige?" He asked as he noticed a look on her face.

"Oh, nothing wrong, just glad to be back up here with you. It feels really good." She said with a smile before joining him on the bed. "What's in the folder, Walter?"

He handed the folder to Paige and had her read it. It contained a contract naming her as a fifty percent owner of Scorpion, reverting to a 25 percent stake when Ralph turned eighteen, when he would take over the other 25 percent. Walter had the contract drawn up a few weeks before everything happened and was going to surprise her with it when he proposed to her.

"Walter, why would you do this for me?" Paige asked almost in disbelief.

"It wasn't just for you. It was for Ralph as well. And for me. It was how I envisioned our future together with Scorpion. Our family. I always wanted to share this with you. I never knew exactly how I was going to do it without alienating anyone else. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I couldn't be so concerned with how they would feel. This was my company, and I was the one who would get to decide how I wanted to move forward with it. I had a couple of meetings with Richard, and he told me ultimately it was going to have to be my choice. To not be worried about someone leaving or getting upset. If they left, they were probably here for the wrong reasons anyway. So, I planned on showing you these papers sometime soon after I proposed to you. That first part may be delayed a little, but I don't want to wait any longer with Scorpion. There was no way I was going to ask you to marry me and not have you run Scorpion with me by my side. So, this could be another step we take back to the future I hoped to share with you and Ralph."

"Walter, you don't have to do this to keep us around, you do know that don't you?" Paige asked him as she continued to look over the papers.

"Of course, I do. But like I said, there is no way I would not share all of this with you when we got married. And you know now that is what I envisioned for us. I already trust you with everything else I have. Why wouldn't I trust you with this?"

"Walter, I still can't believe this is real. You have worked so hard to make Scorpion what it is. You built this from nothing into something so amazing."

"Yes, and with your guidance and help we turned it into a success. It was never truly successful until you joined Scorpion. I wasn't kidding when I told you that you were the most important part of all of this. Not me, or Happy or Toby or Sylvester. You made the biggest difference. So, take this home with you, talk to Ralph about it, because he will need to decide if he wants to be on board with this too. I can only choose to offer this to you, you have to want to accept it."

"Walter, I desperately want to accept it, I just don't know why I deserve it. I was horrible to you the other day, and even if you forgave me for that, how can you just hand over half of your business to me?" Paige asked still unsure of why he was always so kind to her.

"Paige, you deserve everything I can give you and so much more. What you have shown me since we met has changed everything for me. You showed me an entire new way to see everything. To interact with people. To have feelings. To understand and feel love. To be able to share that love with someone. A real sense of family. None of that happens without you. So how can you not see how much I want to do this with you." Walter told her with his eyes starting to glaze over.

"Walter, you have done so much more than that for me already. The simple fact of what you did for Ralph could never be measured. I struggled my whole life with him, and you unlocked all of that for us. I should be indebted to you forever for that single thing alone. Then on top of that, you have been the best example of how a father should be to his son. And I don't care what any piece of paper says, Ralph is your son without question. I fought with him when he told me that you were his dad after our fight. I was so wrong. So wrong Walter. I know how long he has thought of you as his dad, and I have secretly wished it for him for just as long. Promise me right now when we do get married, we make it official. I want you to find a way to adopt Ralph as your son, our son." Paige told him with her own tears falling down her cheeks.

"Nothing in the world would make me happier than the day I get to call you my wife and Ralph my son. I promise you, 100 percent, that is the first thing I will do after we get married."

They had another 45 minutes before they needed to get Ralph, and as much as they wanted to spend it together, alone, in the garage, they decided this time to run to the store and pick up supplies to make a sundae bar to share with their son after they picked him up. Paige wanted to show Ralph the contract Walter had drawn up. She knew how excited Ralph would be knowing that Walter wanted them to be a part of Scorpion with him.

After successfully picking up all the supplies they needed and getting Ralph they headed back to Paige's condo. As Paige set up the sundae bar, Walter and Ralph played some video games. Walter finally was able to win a race against Ralph, but when it was all said and done, Ralph had won four races to the two that Walter won.

"Hey, at least you didn't lose them all this time. Hey mom, Walter actually won a couple of races." Ralph told Walter and then his mom.

"Yeah, I think he felt bad for me and let me win a couple." Walter told them with a wink.

"I promise I didn't. Scoop." Ralph told him.

"I believe you." Walter told him while ruffling his hair.

"You know he doesn't let me do that anymore." Paige said while trying to ruffle his hair.

"Mo-om." Ralph said as he moved his head before Paige could get her hands over it.

"See." Paige said with a smile. "But at least I can still give him a big kiss on the cheek every once in a while." As she reached to pretend to kiss him.

"Mo-om stop, you are so embarrassing." Ralph said giggling.

"Hey, guess what?" Paige told Ralph.

"What?"

"Walter has something he wants us to look at. Are you interested in what it is?" Paige asked her son.

"Is it the new coding algorithm contest that people are trying to figure out and win?" Ralph asked, hopeful.

"Nope, I think it might be just a little cooler than that." Paige told him with a smile.

"I don't know, that would be pretty cool." Walter told her, while winking at Ralph.

"Walter O'Brien!" Paige said with a raised eyebrow. "Here Ralph, look at this and tell me what you think."

Ralph took the papers and started to read through some of them.

"Wait, you want me and mom to own scorpion with you? Why would you do that? Even after what mom did and left?" Ralph asked

Before Paige could say anything or get upset Walter began to answer his question.

"Ralph, I had hoped you understood what I told you yesterday. We all make mistakes. I made plenty of mistakes, and some of those mistakes led to the fight we had. But me and your mom have talked a lot about what happened, and we both have decided together to move forward. Now, if you don't want to be a part of Scorpion right now, or ever, I can have the contract changed. And I would respect your decision. But what I will not stand for is you blaming your mom for what happened. I am just as much or more at fault. I would not offer part of my company to anyone I did not fully believe in or trust. That is why I wanted to share it with both of you. You are the two most important people in the world to me."

"What about everyone else? What are they gonna say?" Ralph asked.

"Ralph, right now, I cannot be concerned about what they might think. At the end of the day, as of right now, I solely own Scorpion. It is my company. And yes, it took everyone there to make it run the way it did, but I also have to be the one to make hard decisions on how to continue to make it work. So, if Happy or Sly or Toby decide they don't want to work for me anymore, I am the one who has to rebuild. As much as I would still like them to come back if we can work through our problems, I don't get to decide if they come back, they do. I can only offer them a job. It's the same with your mom. I told her already that I want her to work with me again, but she gets to decide if she wants to. And so do you."

"So, if we decide to own Scorpion with you, do we get to help decide what cases we take or who gets to work on those cases?" Ralph asked again.

"Well, that's a good question. Yes, we would all have input on what cases we accept. But just because you would be listed as an owner wouldn't mean you get to go on or help out with all of the cases. That is part of why you wouldn't officially have a share in the company until you are 18. And if your mom would feel better to amend that to 21, I think that would be something we would need to do. Me and your mom would need to have a talk to figure out what your roll would be starting out. I would definitely want you involved in coding work and certain software jobs, but as far as dangerous missions, no you would not be a part of them. I do have an immediate opening for janitor and window cleaner though." Walter told him ruffling his hair again getting a smile from both of the Dineen's

"Sweetie, this is a big decision and I hope you know I tried to turn it down. I didn't think Walter should give up part of his company to us." Paige said.

"And I explained to your mom how much she means to the success of Scorpion, how much she has always meant; more than she realized. So, I am hopeful that you guys really consider this. I won't be upset if you say no, but I do hope you will accept the offer." Walter told them as he left the room for a few minutes for them to talk.

"I would be the only kid at school who owns a company. And Scorpion is like the coolest company on earth." Ralph said to his mom.

"It is pretty cool, isn't it? What do you think you want to do? I know what I want to do." Paige told Ralph with a smile.

"Me too." He told her back.

"Should I tell him, or do you want to?" Paige asked her son as he smiled.

"Walter, can you come back over here." Paige yelled out.

"I was just getting to the good stuff on the sundae bar, you put all the best toppings at the end. Chocolate overload." Walter told them. Showing off his heaping bowl of ice cream.

"Partner." Ralph held out his hand.

"Partner." Paige held out her hand.

"Partners for life." Walter told them as he put his sundae down and grabbed them both into a hug. As the three of them all got a little emotional.

A/N The first letters and a new job offer. It was a pretty good day for our favorite couple.

Marti - yeah it seems Toby needs a little help in the tact department. Only use the tissues sporadically. You never know when more will be needed and you don't want to run out!!

Railman - Happy has been a good friend ish so far. Toby not so much. Let me know what you thought of the first letters. Can centipede make it?

Grykon - Toby always knows just what not to say doesn't he.

LouBe - Paige will get there. Just wants to let Walter know she really really means it! Let me know what you thought of the letters.

Pearliegirl - glad you enjoyed it. Hopefully the next couple of chapters keep you interested.