Part 3 – My Son's A Genius?

"Excuse me?" Paige said, her eyes opening wide.

"In the diner this morning, when you came up to us, do you know what we were doing? We were playing chess. Ralph used the salt and pepper shakers and the creamer packets to play chess. You um don't believe me, do you?" Walter said to her realizing the shock she was experiencing.

"You're not joking are you?"

"No, bring up the calculator on your phone; let's see who's faster. Ralph what's 745 * 176?" Walter asked while Paige started to press buttons on her phone.

"131,120" Ralph blurred out right away.

"How did he do that so fast?" Paige asked almost stunned.

"Who was the nineteenth President of the United States?" Walter asked again.

"Hold on." Paige said.

"Rutherford B. Hayes." Ralph said just as quick.

Paige was trying quickly to google the answer but had only typed half of Walter's question when Ralph answered.

"In what year was George Washington born?"

"1732."

Walter was smiling while listening to Ralph and looking at Paige.

"I need to sit down." Paige said as her legs looked a little unsteady.

Walter sat down right next to her to make sure she was okay. Paige reached over to grab his arm, and he flinched slightly when she did.

"Sorry, Ralph does the same thing to me when I touch him." Paige told him apologetically.

"A um s-side effect of genius is the aversion to touch. I-I um struggle with to-touch myself."

Out of instinct, she again reached out to him out of kindness and touched his face. Only Walter didn't flinch one bit; surprising both of them.

"How can he know all the answers to those questions?"

"The way we think and absorb knowledge is different than most people. Ralph's brain retains information that a normal brain does not. Things he hears, he remembers. If you were to read him a menu from a restaurant, he would be able to later recite it back to you word for word." Walter told her.

Ralph was looking at his mother while Walter was talking to her, and for the first time, she started to feel like she was about to have a breakthrough with her son.

"We are now starting the preboarding for flight 3758 to Denver, for those customers who need some extra time or are traveling with small children. We will start regular boarding shortly." Came the message over the speakers.

Paige heard the announcement but she didn't want to get up. She felt like she needed to get some more information from the man sitting next to her.

"How did you know?" Paige asked politely.

"Know that he was a genius?" Walter asked making sure he understood what she was asking.

"Yes."

"I saw the way he looked at everything this morning in the diner. He reminded me of myself at that age. I could see his mind working. I knew it instantly." Walter told her.

"I feel like such a bad mother." Paige told him dejectedly as she sighed.

"You are not a bad mother. You have no-name sneakers and he has orthotics. The inflammation under your eyes comes from the lack of sunlight, from working two jobs." Walter pointed out to her.

"And you can tell that by just looking at me? What else can you tell me?" Paige asked back not knowing how in the world he could tell.

"You have anemia. It turns your fingernails pitted. You need more iron. And as for the boy's father, I'd make calculated assumptions in the realm of interpersonal communication issues."

"I thought it was the blonde in Tahoe. That hurt my feelings. Do you understand?" Paige told him a little upset.

"I-I um a-am sorry. I've be-been t-told those things be-before." Walter apologized.

"Ralph likes to paint my fingernails; he loves to paint." Paige told him looking back over at Ralph trying to take in what Walter was telling her.

"He doesn't like to paint your nails, he does it because he wants to hold your hand, but he can't process physical contact. So, help him, or he will never connect with you." Walter told her sympathetically, an emotion that was hard for him to show.

Paige had tears forming in her eyes. Here before her sat a man she hardly knew, and in the five minutes they were talking was able to see straight through her. Still not wanting to get up and get on the plane, she continued to talk with this almost stranger.

"This will be your last call for preboarding flight 3758 to Denver. Regular boarding will begin in a few minutes." Came the last preboarding message over the speaker system.

"I am s-sorry if I spoke unpleasantly, I h-have a problem wi-with many inter um interpersonal skills myself. I find it v-very hard to um co-communicate and to um sugar coat things. I did not in a-any way mean to upset you." Walter told her hoping she could tell he was not trying to be rude to her.

"Are you nervous? You seem to stutter a little when you seem to be nervous." Paige calmly asked him.

"I um ye-yes I d-do stutter when I am um nervous."

Paige again out of instinct reached out for his hand. She grabbed hold of it and again Walter did not flinch or pull his hand away. And for some reason he began to fell himself relax.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I keep forgetting you don't like to be touched, although I didn't feel you flinch when I grabbed your hand. Is it okay if I keep my hand here?" Paige asked smiling at him.

She was starting to feel some kind of connection to him already.

"I um don't see why you can't. And for um some reason it does seem to be keeping me calm and relaxed. I haven't ever had that happen before." Walter told her thinking he would have to research why that could be happening.

Paige smiled at him again.

"Where are you guys traveling to?" Walter asked.

"We are going to Portland, Maine. Just trying to get an idea of what it's like."

"Cold and wet." Walter deadpanned.

Paige laughed, "That is exactly what Ralph said.

"Does he know you are going to see his um…" Walter started to say.

"No. We're not going, how did you, Hold on. Hey Ralph, is it okay if I go right over there and talk to Walter for a minute?" Paige asked as she pulled Walter over to a section of unoccupied seats about twenty feet from where they were.

Ralph nodded his head. Walter wasn't sure what he did, but he was a little nervous again.

"Did I s-say something I-I sh-shouldn't have? I'm sorry. I overstepped, di-didn't I?" Walter was nervous.

Paige again reached out to touch his arm, without a flinch again, and spoke kindly to him, "No, you didn't overstep. Look, I'm not sure how you can know all of this about me without me saying a word. But we are going to Maine because Ralph's father, if you can call him a father, lives up there and I have been thinking maybe it would be easier to have some help with him. He doesn't even know we are going to be in Maine. I have been struggling to make ends meet here. Yes, working two jobs. But I haven't spoken to him since Ralph was two, so I don't know if this is the right thing to do or not. I looked him up online a month ago just to see where he lived. I just want what is best for Ralph. And I feel like I am running out of options here."

"Will you stay and have coffee with me?" Walter asked her matter of factly not knowing what came over him. He never was able to do anything like this before.

"Did you hear anything I just said?" Paige asked him thinking he wasn't really listening to her.

"Yes, I heard all of it. Stay and have coffee with me. I'll explain it all to you." Walter told her not sure of how else to get across to her what he was trying to say.

"We would like to begin boarding all passengers in rows 21-40, all passengers in rows 21-40, please begin boarding flight 3758 to Denver." The message said.

"I need to do this for Ralph, we need to see what Portland is like."

"I don't think you do. I think you know I'm right too. I know we only met, and you have no reason to believe me, but I promise you I can help; both of you. Please stay." Walter told her not trying to sound too arrogant.

Paige was conflicted. She didn't want to go. Reuniting with her ex was the absolute last resort. Even the thought of being around him again repulsed her. He had abandoned them and had no contact with her for seven years. Why was she going to Portland again?

"I used all the money I had saved up for these tickets, I can't let them go to waste. We have to go. Ralph, sweetie, let's get ready to board." Paige told him, not knowing why she still was wanting to go.

Paige stood up and started to get Ralph ready to board the plane. Walter didn't know what to do. He felt something for her, instantly; what it was he didn't know. He knew he had never wanted to be close to anyone else in his life before, and for some reason the thought of being close to her didn't frighten him, it made him feel alive. For the first time in his life, he reached out and grabbed hold of someone on purpose, the woman he had only ever seen, let alone known for less than six hours, and looked her directly in her tear filled eyes.

"Paige, I promise you, I can help you. I can help Ralph. I can help you connect with him. Please believe me." He said it with one hundred percent certainty.

Walter had never initiated physical contact with anyone before. He didn't know what came over him, but something made him reach for her and say to her what he did. It stopped her in her tracks too. As if something inside of her was telling her to trust him. To trust this man she barely knew. They stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds, lost there, together, before another word was said.

"All passengers in rows 1-20 you may now board flight 3758 to Denver, rows 1-20." The announcement said.

Paige looked at Walter and then to Ralph. They had the same look in their eyes. She hadn't noticed how similar they looked at her. Pleading for her to understand. All this time, not knowing what was going on in Ralph's mind. Trying to connect to her, trying to process touching her. And she saw the same look in Walter's eyes too. I can trust him. I should trust him. He seems to know everything about me when he looks at me. How can that be? Not sure of what to do, she was honestly considering not getting on that plane. How could she even consider it? She spent her last dime for these tickets. Walter was pretty much a stranger. How could he know? Why should she trust him? But she did.

"Mom. I don't want to go to Portland. Can we stay here with Walter?" Ralph said as he grabbed hold of her hand.

Paige gasped. She was about to take an enormous leap of faith. With a stranger. She had known for six hours. Who somehow got her son to talk. To open up. To grab a hold of her hand. Tears were in her eyes, and she knew what she was going to do. She was going to stay. For Ralph. For herself. For this stranger. She decided to stay.

"This better be some cup of coffee." She smiled as she gave Ralph a hug, and he didn't pull away either.

"This will be your final call for flight 3758 to Denver, all ticket holders should now be on board. This will be your final call. Gate check." The announcement said.

A/N Thanks for all the comments. You guys are good! Just so you know, all my stories are fully written before I start to post them. So, if I start a story, it will 100% of the time be completed.