A/N - Thanks again for everyone who has been reding the story and the few who actually take the time to review it. Excited for the next group of chapters coming up.
Railman - Walter is trying to stay open to future possibilities. As are some of CP currently. Ralph was ready to work at Scorpion when he was 9, so it was about time to make it official. Sensing a home move, not a bad idea...
Grykon - Love the comment and three lines into this chapter you should chuckle. Great minds!! There are many flavors of cotton candy still to come.
Margaret - thanks for the review. I think you will like the direction of the story these next few chapters.
LouBe - I'm glad you are enjoying it. Walter and Paige are definitely on the right path and both in love with each other. They are trying to make things right. Walter had some engineering skills himself, not at the Happy level but he knew his way around motors and such.
Part 11 May 31,2018 Late night
After dinner and a few hours spent in total bliss they made their way back out to the couch to snuggle up with each other and talk about what was on Walter's mind earlier in the day.
"Thanks for making my fortune come true." Walter told her while leaning his head on top of hers. "A couple of times."
"Whatever, nerd. Everyone knows you have to add "in bed" to the end of your fortune." Paige playful told him. "So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about tonight?"
"Well, there are a few things. The first one is actually a little embarrassing to me."
"Walter, nothing you tell me should embarrass you, I will never laugh at anything you tell me in seriousness. You should know that by now. I will tease you sometimes about things, but I never will make fun of you. And you should know I only tease you because you are so gosh darn cute when you're flustered." She told him while putting her arms around his waist.
"I know Paige. And thank you for being patient with me when you know I struggle to get through things sometimes."
"Of course. Are you okay now? I want you to talk to me about everything on your mind tonight. It's just the two of us, no distractions."
"Yes, I'm fine. What I meant earlier about embarrassing was because this is actually something I did years ago and somehow, I forgot about it, and never got around to telling you about it."
"Oh, nothing incriminating I hope." She said with a smile, knowing there was no way it could be.
"No, um nothing like that."
"I was kidding Walter." Paige told him nudging his side.
"Oh. When you first started at Scorpion and I knew how much you had struggled up until that point with Ralph, so I um did something for you, for both of you, well for Ralph, and I um honestly forgot about it. The weeks we were apart I was going back through my memories and that's when I remembered it."
"Oh. What was it you remembered doing for Ralph?"
Walter went over to his backpack and pulled out an envelope and handed the papers inside to Paige.
"Walter, what is this?"
"Like I was saying, when you first started at Scorpion, I was of course immediately drawn to both you and Ralph, and I wanted to do something for you. So, I started this savings account for Ralph, just as a way to let you know how special you both were to me. I um wanted to make sure that you wouldn't have to worry about or struggle with any education that Ralph would want. I know he will get a full scholarship to anywhere he wants to go, but this was just set aside for you and him to use when he needed it. The um initial deposit of 10,000 came from the money we got from our first case you worked with us. And then I had 500 every pay period put into the account since then. I completely forgot about it, and I can't explain how I did. I think I was just always so mesmerized by you I could never remember to tell you about it."
Paige had tears in her eyes. This man never stopped amazing her with his kindness to her and her son, or his generosity.
"I can't believe this Walter. I am literally speechless. Crap, there's a lot of money in this account." Paige said as she wiped away her tears.
"I um had done research on several markets when I first started the account and the aggressive strategy I used seemed to have paid off. When I remembered the other day about the account, I took it out of the markets it was in and thought I should let you be in control of it. I wasn't sure at the time if we would be able to get back together or not. Then when we did get back together I kind of neglected to bring it up again. I was a little scared at first you would be upset thinking I kept it from you earlier. I just didn't want to upset you again, but I knew I needed to tell you about it."
"Walter. I would… you know, you may have been right. I can't say I wouldn't have overreacted at first, I still have to work on that. But this is so generous and so kind of you to have done. There's almost 200,000 dollars in there. Knowing how much you always loved both of us is so unbelievable. Thank you for being the amazing man that you are." Paige told him with more tears.
"There should be enough in the account now for Ralph to attend any university he wants to. And like I said earlier he will probably have a scholarship to cover all of it. Hopefully he chooses to stay close to home, but if he doesn't, we can use the money to go see him anytime you want to."
"I would like that. We. That sounds really nice." Paige told him with a big smile.
Walter got up and got them a little snack and something to drink.
"The um second thing I wanted to talk to you about may seem a little odd to you at first, but it will make more sense after you hear the rest of it."
"OK. Let me have it." Paige told him with a big smile.
"I want to take a flight to Portland by myself for a day or two." Walter told her.
"What is up in Oregon you need to do?" Paige asked confused.
"Not um Oregon; Maine." Walter told her with his eyes glossing over and slowly starting to drip down his face.
"Why would…" Paige said as tears started coming to her eyes when she realized why.
"I um want to talk to Drew. Face to face about something." Walter told her seeing her start to cry and knowing he wasn't going to be too far behind.
He quickly hugged her tight and gave her several kisses on her check and the top of her head as she continued to cry.
"I'm pretty sure you know what I'm going to tell you, but I want to say it anyway if that's okay."
Paige was only able to nod her head in approval.
"I have talked to Sylvester about this a little bit, and he was kind enough to tell me everything I would need to do in order to officially be able to adopt Ralph after we get married. The first thing I would need would be a signed and notarized letter from Drew allowing me to become Ralph's legal parent, because his name is on the birth certificate. If everything is in order and there are no objections it can sometimes only take a few weeks to process. Once that is done the rest could possibly be less than six months but can also take more than a year. Then I would be able to legally adopt him, with your approval of course. I hoped that last part wouldn't have any objections." Walter said with a smile trying to get one from Paige.
All Paige could do was to launch her body into a full hug with Walter. She was so in love with the man sitting down next to her and she couldn't believe what he had just told her.
"Paige, I checked the schedule for the team Drew works for and they are home in Portland all next week. I would like to go as soon as possible if you are okay with it. I wanted to ask you about it before I did anything. As much as I wanted to surprise you with this, I needed to get your blessing with it first. I also didn't know what you would want me to say to Drew if he asked about Ralph and how he has been doing concerning Drew. And I know this is a lot to take in right now, so let's um maybe take a walk around the park across the street for a little and get some fresh air. Is that okay?" Walter wanted to make sure Paige had time to take all of what he said in.
"I think that sounds really nice. Thank you! I do love you so much Walter." Paige wanted to tell him again.
The sun had set a few hours ago and the moon light lit up enough of the park that the overhead lights were almost not needed. The romantic setting was ideal for the couple as they walked hand in hand around the jogging track that meandered through the park. They stopped several times to either steal a kiss from the other or just to admire something that caught their eye. They spent most of the time walking in blissful silence and as they got back to the front of the condo, they both felt like the fresh air was exactly what they needed.
"Do you want me to come with you? I mean Drew can be an ass sometimes. I'm more than capable of putting him in his place when he needs it." Paige told him, flashing one of her amazing smiles.
"As much as I love it when you do that, I am hoping that won't be necessary." Walter told her while holding her hands in his. "I promise I will fill you in on everything he says the second I talk to him."
"You better."
"So does that mean you are okay with me going?"
"Knowing why you are going to see him is the only reason I am okay with it."
"Thank you. I will make a reservation to fly out Monday morning. In the meantime, I will have Sylvester print out the paperwork for me that Drew will need to sign. Sylvester told me he had everything ready to go, so I can do that tomorrow morning, which will give us the weekend to figure out anything else. The one thing I need from you is a copy of Ralph's birth certificate, because I don't want to chance Drew not being able to locate his."
Paige started to realize that Walter had been working on this for some time. Researching what needed to be done and the time it would take to accomplish everything. Knowing that he was planning on having all the loose ends tied up before getting married also made her realize he must be getting to a point very soon where he was going to ask her to actually marry him. That brought a huge smile to her face.
"What was that for?" Walter asked Paige.
"What was what for?"
"That smile, I mean I'm not complaining, your smile is beautiful. Just like you are."
"Thank you Walter. That was sweet of you. I was smiling because I'm happy. I was just thinking of something that made me really happy that's all."
"I figured that part out, but I was asking you what made you happy, I guess that is the question I should have asked."
"You'll find out soon enough." Paige told him with a kiss.
Walter didn't push the question any further. Whatever he either said or did to warrant the smile didn't matter. He just loved to see her smile like that. It always reminded him of just how lucky he was to have a woman like Paige Dineen as the love of his life.
"Are you getting tired Paige?" Walter asked her after they were back inside.
"No not really, I mean if you're ready for bed I am more than ready to join you, but I'm in no rush to leave your arms right here either." Paige told him and then reached up for a passionate kiss with him.
"Mmh. I um did have one more thing I wanted to ask you about. Well, a couple of things, but they are related."
"OK, what were you thinking about?" Paige asked him again leaning in for a second kiss.
"I'm uh having a hard time keeping my thoughts together with you kissing me like that."
"Is that so, are you wanting me to stop?" Paige said again kissing him for a third time.
"Not now, not ever." Walter told her.
"Good answer; come on, follow me."
"Where are we going, I said I wasn't ready for bed."
"Who said anything about sleeping." Paige purred.
After Paige finished thanking Walter in her own unique ways, they found themselves lying next to each other under the sheets of their bed.
"I'm glad we had the place to ourselves tonight." Paige told him rubbing his arm.
"Me too, that's actually kind of what I wanted to talk to you about."
"Oh. About what exactly?"
"Well, hearing you and Ralph in the car talking about sleep overs and his room, it made me want to talk about this tonight. I have been thinking about it for a while. I know we never got around to talking about moving in together last time and I'm not trying to be presumptuous and try to move into your condo. I was thinking maybe we could start looking into buying a house together or getting a larger condo where there would be more room for Ralph and his friends to have those sleep overs."
"Walter, don't think you have to move in with us because of what Ralph said today."
"I don't, I mean that is only one of the reasons. A small reason. I don't have any desire to live any more of my life without being around you as much as possible. I have given away enough time fighting my undeniable feelings for you and there is honestly nowhere else I would rather be than anywhere you are." Walter told her.
"Wow, that was beautiful Walter. I don't want to be anywhere but with you too, either. What makes the most sense to you? We can stay here, and you are not being presumptuous by bringing this up, I, we would love for you to move in with us. We should have talked about this a long time ago, but I am glad we are talking about it now. You officially moving in would be something that would make myself and I know Ralph extremely happy."
"I know you need to talk with Ralph before anything is settled, but I would be honored to share a home with you, both of you." Walter told her.
"We both need to talk to Ralph, this new living arrangement is something we both want, so we both need to talk to him about it."
"When do you think we should talk to him?" Walter asked.
"The sooner the better as far as I'm concerned." Paige told him before leaning over and kissing him.
"I would be fine with tomorrow then. Should we talk about maybe looking at other options or do you want to stay in your condo?"
"I honestly do love my condo; it is the nicest place I have ever lived. It was a real sense of accomplishment when I was able to move in here, but I can't make that the reason why we stay here."
"Earning a place like this is a big accomplishment, and you should be proud of this, you deserve it, you definitely earned it. And if staying here is ultimately what you want then we will make it work."
"You do realize almost everything good in my life somehow always relates back to you. I don't even know how to thank you for all of it. Really Walter, you have changed so so much of my life, and Ralph's life."
"You are being way to modest Paige, you are the one who accomplished this for you and Ralph, I was just a part of it. Don't sell yourself short."
"Walter, you are the first person whoever believed in me. You don't know how much that meant to me. You gave me a real chance in this world. Saw the potential in Ralph. You. No one else. No doctors or specialists or teachers. You did. You gave me a job, a waitress, that gave me a chance to get out of the shit hole of a life I was stuck in. How did I ever push you away from me." Paige said with tears in her eyes.
"Paige, I love you so much and I don't think you ever pushed me away from you, I messed up and didn't hold up my end of the bargain. I was the one who wasn't honest with you when I knew I should have been. You only did what you thought you needed to do to protect yourself and Ralph. And that was what you should have done. So don't ever think you pushed me away because that is not the case."
"Thank you for always caring for me and Ralph, and always believing in me even when I didn't."
"Paige I will always believe in you, always, don't ever question that, okay."
They spent the next few minutes in each other's arms again. Grateful to have one another.
"Walter, what do you think would be best?"
"My thoughts were to maybe try to find a house to buy. There are more options available to us that way. It would be a good financial investment, and it would also be something we could be proud of. A place with more room for friends for Ralph but also room for our family to maybe grow as well."
Paige loved listening to Walter and the way he was talking and looking towards their future. Like she said earlier she loved her condo and what it meant to her, but she would be lying to herself if she didn't say she wanted everything Walter just told her he wanted more.
"So, if we were going to look in to buying a house, what kind of steps would that entail? I didn't ever think I would be able to buy a house. I wouldn't know the first thing to do."
"I think the best thing to do is to always make a list of pros and cons, you know figure out what things are most important to us. Number of bedrooms and bathrooms, type of kitchen. Different neighborhoods. Shopping and dining that are nearby. Proximity to highways. Things like that."
"School district? You know for if we would need that." Paige said blushing a little thinking about how different things may be for them in the future.
"Yes, that would be at the top of the list." Walter told her smiling and pulling her in for a kiss.
"I know how expensive some houses can be here in L.A., do you think we can afford it?" Paige asked.
"Maybe not some of the bigger houses, but yes, I have a good idea of how much we could spend and not have to worry too much about financial liability. Remember, I have been pretty much living rent free for years. Paige, we both want this, for our future, our family's future, right?" Walter asked her.
"Yes Walter, but we will need to take out a mortgage, and that is a big responsibility." Paige said wanting to remind him how big of a decision this was going to be.
"What if we don't though? Need to take out a mortgage I mean."
"Walter?" Paige said with a quizzical look in her eyes.
"About eight years ago I helped set up several larger computer systems for some startup companies and as my compensation from them I was offered cash or stock options. I was never good with money, so I opted for the stock options from three of them instead. After I got my portfolio from them, I checked the prices every day. They would go up a little and down a little and after 83 days one of them went under. So, I lost out on 10,000 in under three months. Then I just stopped looking at the other two and figured I wasn't good with stocks either. I didn't think about them for years, figuring the stocks were worthless, and then about two years ago when I changed my will and listed you as the benefactor, I saw they had increased significantly in value."
"You did what?" Paige asked shocked at what she thought she heard Walter say.
"They were worth around three and a half million dollars at that time." Walter kept saying without pausing.
"Whoa, whoa, Walter, what did you say?" Paige asked again shaking her head, thinking she must be out of her mind.
"Three and a half million dollars?" Walter asked her.
"No, wait what. Um, what. No before that, what did you say before that." Paige was flustered when she spoke, did he just say three and a half million dollars.
"That I named you as the benefactor of my will?" Walter said like it was nothing.
"Yes. That. Walter, why on earth would you have done that?" Paige asked thinking he was out of his mind.
"If anything were to happen to me, I wanted to always make sure you and Ralph were taken care of. It was about five months after Megan had um.. passed." Walter told her always saddened when he spoke about his sister passing away.
"Wait, was that when I was.." Paige started to say.
"With Tim, yes."
"I don't understand, why would you have done that?"
"It didn't change the way I felt about you, and how much I still wanted to provide for you and Ralph. Nothing was ever going to change that."
Paige could never understand how much or sometimes why Walter always looked out for her and her son the way that he did. But the more she was with him the more she knew she would never in her life ever question him about where his loyalties stood.
"I don't know what to say." Paige told him.
"There is really nothing to say, I made that decision for you a long time ago." Walter told her.
"And did you say there was an account with three and a half million dollars in it?" Paige asked almost not able to get the words out.
"Well, there was. I don't know how much is in there now. I haven't looked at it since that day. It was never something I felt I needed to keep up with because it was meant for you and Ralph if I wasn't there anymore." Walter told her.
"Walter, just knowing how much you have always looked out for us is unbelievable. You amaze me more every single day I know you. And knowing you did all of this for me, and Ralph, even before we finally were in a relationship, it just, I have no words."
"This had nothing to do with our um romantic relationship. I knew I would always care for both of you, and this was a way to insure both of your futures."
"Well, you have always been more than generous to both of us, and you have done more for us than anyone could ever dream of doing. And i know you would never have tried to use this in any other way. I'm honored that you love us the way you do, I hope you know that." Paige honestly told him.
"Thank you Paige. Maybe we should see how much the account is worth now and then if you are in agreement, we can use the money for a house. It would be a good investment and something that we could enjoy together as a family." Walter said shrugging his shoulders.
"So, this originally started out with 20,000 worth of stock options?"
"Yes, well 30,000, 20,000 after the first company went bankrupt." He told her.
After a quick search, they determined the value of the account was no longer worth three and a half million dollars, it had more than doubled in the two years since Walter last looked it up and was now worth a little over eight million dollars.
"I had no idea. And it looks like it has been only recently that these jumped in value. Last year they were worth a little under three million dollars, so now might be a good time to pull some funds out to buy a house, what do you think?" Walter asked her.
"I still can't believe this is happening. Why didn't you ever tell me anything about this?"
"Paige, I didn't want you first of all to say no to it, like I know you would have. But I didn't want you thinking I was doing it for any kind of selfish reason." Walter told her.
"You're right I would have told you I couldn't accept this, but how in the world could you think this would seem selfish?" Paige asked him.
"We weren't in a relationship, and I didn't want you feeling obligated to be in one…" Walter started.
"Stop. I understand. Walter, you are so kind. So generous. I would never think in a million years that you would try to buy your way into a relationship with me. Ever. But I do understand what you were getting at. Oh my gosh, you are simply amazing." Paige told him before kissing him senseless.
"So, what do you think about buying a house with me?" He asked after a few more minutes.
"Walter, I'm really getting excited at the possibility of doing this. Would it be too crazy to drive around a little tomorrow and see what's out there, or at least through some of the different neighborhoods around here."
"I think that is a perfect way to spend tomorrow, that is, after I make my airline reservations." Walter told her. "And you know what else I just realized?"
"What?"
"Maybe those fortune cookies are onto something. Didn't yours say "your kindness will bring you fortune." You have always been kind to me and that was part of why I always wanted to make sure you were taken care of, and um not only in bed." Walter told her with a big smile.
"Well, I think your fortune is about to come true again too, after I get to have my wicked ways with you." Paige told him before rolling over on top of him again.
A/N This was one of my favorite chapters to write. Hope you enjoyed it as well. Let me know. Thanks again.
