I apologize for not updating this sooner. Between working, looking for an apartment, looking for a new job, visiting my grandfather while he was in the hospital (he's okay now!), I didn't have much time to sit down and write! I'm hoping to be better at updating, but every time I try to update, I tend to fall asleep. Oops.
"The regret of my life is that I have not said 'I love you' often enough. ― Yoko Ono
Fading
Chapter Four
~ SCORPION ~
Los Angeles, California
"Do you want me to stay until Ralph gets home from school?"
Paige shook her head and inhaled deeply before exhaling. "No, I'll be all right. It's just a few hours until the bus drops him off. Besides, I have a lot of thinking to do, and it would be best if I was alone for a while." Paige did her best to force a smile, but it didn't convince Cabe one iota. But he didn't argue, and Paige was grateful.
"If you need something, anything, let me know." Cabe gently placed his hand on her shoulder. "In the meantime, I'll see what I can find out about Walter's whereabouts. I plan on stopping by the Centipede office to let everyone know they have a day off… What do you want me to say to the others in case they ask where you are?"
Paige pursed her lips together and exhaled audibly. "Just tell them I had a headache and went home after my appointment to sleep it off."
Cabe nodded slowly as he pulled her in for a light hug. "Everything's going to be okay, kid. Whatever you decide, it'll be okay."
Paige closed her eyes and bit her lip before blinking back her tears. When he released her, she took a step back and tried for another smile, her eyes beginning to leak with fresh tears. "I know, Cabe," her voice broke a little, "and remember, I don't want the others knowing yet. Not until I figure out what I'm going to do."
"Scout's honor," Cabe smiled a little, mock-saluting her.
Paige curled a strand of her loose hair behind her ear as the wind swished her locks across her face and turned towards her condo complex. Without another word, she slowly walked away from Cabe's SUV and slipped inside the building before he took off towards the office. She dragged her feet towards the elevator and mindlessly found herself in front of her apartment a few moments later. Once inside, she gently closed the door and locked it before hovering over to the couch in the living area. She dropped into the soft cushions and covered her face, sighing deeply into her hands.
What was she going to do?
If Cabe finds him, should she contact him? Let him know he knocked her up? Should she keep it to herself? Raise the child on her own as she did Ralph and never tell him?
No matter how many questions ran through Paige's mind, she already knew her answer. How could she not tell him? Even if… even if they couldn't make things work somehow, it wouldn't be right to keep the pregnancy from him. He at least deserved to know, and if he decided not to be involved in their child's life, then that would be that, and she would have to do the single mother dance all over again.
At least she wouldn't have to raise this child alone this time. Toby, Happy, Sly, Cabe and Allie would surely help, wouldn't they?
Paige, for a moment, wondered what would happen if she decided not to tell Walter. Everything would run smoothly if he never found out, but if he did and had wanted to be involved had he known, he would never forgive her, and she wouldn't be able to forgive herself for hurting him again.
Exhaling softly, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the letters Walter had written to Ralph and her. She placed Ralph's off to the side onto the cushion next to her and carefully opened hers, slowly slipping out the folded letter within. Flipping the letter open one flap at a time, she leaned her back into the couch and closed her eyes for a moment before adjusting them to the chicken scratch scribbled on the creased paper in her hands. Others might not be able to read it, but she knew his penmanship very well and could read his writing with ease, down to the very last letter.
Her fingers touched the dried ink and inhaled deeply before reading what might be the last words he would ever write to her.
Paige.
I tried to be angry with you for everything that transpired since you left, but no matter how much damage you caused, no matter how much you broke my heart and stole everything from me, my anger never sustained. In fact, the last time we saw each other, it dissipated because, if you want honesty, I missed you and still loved you.
I apologize for the misconception regarding Florence; it was not my intention for you to perceive it the wrong way, and you're right. I should have been more forthcoming rather than hiding the truth, and because I withheld it, I hurt you, and I hate myself for it.
I also apologize for not trying hard enough. You're right. I disregarded your interests multiple times without hesitation or much consideration, and I'm sorry for the ways I treated you at times. I should have been more of a boyfriend to you and should have tried being more romantic, I should have done a lot of things I didn't do when we were together, and for that, I'm sorry.
I could apologize to you a hundred times over, but it wouldn't matter, would it? Whether it was then or someday in the future, if we were to ever be together again, the result would end up being the same… so why bother fixing what's already been broken?
When I finally came to that realization, I decided there was no reason for me to stick around so I left. You started a successful company and can give Ralph everything and more without my involvement. You no longer need me to translate him as you have Happy, Sylvester and Toby to aid you. I have asked Elia to assist Centipede if needed since Scorpion no longer exists. He's a good person, and he promises to look out for your company.
I hope you are faring well, and I promise to continue improving my emotional quotient. You can rest assure in knowing you won't be bothered by me again.
Have a good life,
Walter
Paige's emotions were all over the place. Her eyes were red with tears flowing down her face, her nose was runny and her broken heart nearly shattered. She tossed the letter aside and curled into a ball before leaning most of her weight against the couch cushions. She didn't know how long she sat there, wailing her heart out, wishing the last several months had ended differently. If only she wasn't so insecure, Walter would still be in her life, and they could have raised their unborn child together.
But…
He's gone now, without a trace, and she had nobody to blame but herself.
Eventually, when there were no more tears left to shed, she sat up and pulled her knees to her chest, her eyes zoning in on the letter. She inhaled deeply to calm herself, reminding herself that she needed to stay strong for Ralph… and the baby. If she was destined to live the rest of her life as a single parent, then so be it. But first thing's first: she needed to find Walter. If anything, he deserved to know, but she wasn't going to force him into raising their child with her, and she shouldn't expect him to want to be involved. Especially after the terrible things she had said to him.
She found herself neatly folding the letter and slipping it back into its envelope before picking up Ralph's. Finding the strength to stand, she floated towards her son's bedroom and placed Walter's note on top of his pillow before heading towards the kitchen to make herself some much-needed coffee.
As she hovered over to the counter, she felt her phone buzzing in her back pocket. With nearly inhuman speed, she whipped her cell out in case it was Walter but frowned when she noticed it wasn't. She answered anyway.
"Cabe?"
There was a short moment of silence before the man on the other line answered. "Are you sitting down?"
"Should I be?" Paige swallowed thickly, unsure she could handle any more bad news.
"Let me know when you're sitting down."
Paige could feel her heart racing with fear and anxiety as she rushed over to the couch and plopped herself down. Placing the phone to her ear, she exhaled deeply. "Cabe, what's going on? Is Walter… is he okay?"
"We haven't found him yet, but we're still looking." He answered slowly.
Paige closed her eyes and felt her throat tighten. "Cabe," her voice was now thick with worry, "What's going on?"
Again, silence.
"Dammit, Cabe! I'm not going to ask again!" Paige shouted into the phone. She combed her fingers through her hair. "Out with it already!"
"Ralph's missing. He never showed up at school today."
Callan, Ireland
It was about 2 a.m. when Walter glanced out the window, frowning as he spotted the storm clouds rolling in. He lightly touched the faded scars on his lips as the thunder clashed, reminding him of an unfavorable memory.
Because his father ended up breaking his foot due to a farming injury when Walter was eleven, he had to take on a lot of the chores for several weeks. Among one of those nights was a nasty storm much like this one, and Walter had tie down the windows in the barn to keep the animals dry. The last window was above the loft, and once it was secure, he started his way back down the ladder.
Of course, with his luck, when he was still about five feet away from the ground, the ground shook hard after a roll of thunder roared in the skies above and sent the ladder flying away from the loft, hurling him downwards. He ended up breaking his nose and scarring his face that night.
After that incident, his mother hired a second hand to help with the chores and would only let Walter work on the smaller things like feeding the animals to avoid further injury. By the time his nose healed, his father was able to return to working on the farm, and Walter was mostly relieved of his duties.
Never did he think he would be back home indefinitely after leaving for the United States. He chuckled humorlessly to himself. So much for becoming a U.S. citizen. That was such a wasted endeavor.
Walter walked over to the kitchen counter and poured more coffee into his mug before making his way over towards his makeshift desk on the kitchen table. He opened up his laptop to check the radar when he heard a soft knocking on the front door. To avoid waking up his parents, he quietly walked towards the source of the noise and slowly opened the door, cringing only slightly as it creaked. When he glanced down at his visitor, he froze in place as the oh so familiar face stared up at him, tired but smiling. Ralph.
"Thank goodness. I found you." was all the boy could say before fainting from exhaustion.
…
Walter could have called Paige the moment he tucked Ralph in to his bed, but he didn't deny the small sense of satisfaction that Ralph preferred to be with him than his mother. Still, after three long hours of contemplation, he finally deserved to know where her son was, and it wasn't fair for him to make her heart ache any longer than necessary.
Though he dreaded calling her and no longer had her phone number saved in his contact list, he still had it memorized. Before initiating the call, he checked his watched, realizing Ralph should have gotten out of school about an hour ago back in LA. She more than likely knew her son was missing by now.
After noticing that the storm was no longer around, he stepped outside and sat down on the cold, wet cement steps leading to the pathway in front of the house. Without much more delay, he pressed the TALK button.
Los Angeles, California
Paige couldn't help but pace the floor as Cabe spoke on the phone with one of his coworkers. Toby and Happy came right over the moment they heard Ralph was missing and tried to offer Paige any sort of comfort, but she didn't want it. All she wanted was for her son to be home, safe in her arms.
At first, she thought Mark Collins had kidnapped him, but Toby reassured her that he wouldn't go out of his way to kidnap a child who was infinitely smarter than him. At least not in broad daylight.
Her second thought was that he was abducted by aliens, but Happy was quick to squash that one.
Paige's third theory involved the government swiping her kid off the street, but neither Happy nor Toby could debunk that one since it's happened once before.
"Have you noticed Ralph behaving weirdly? I mean, more so than usual?" Toby asked as he touched Paige's shoulder to console her. Paige shrugged him off and combed her fingers through her hair as she swallowed the vomit threatening to erupt.
Cabe then ended his phone call, and the expecting mother met his eyes with hope. "Well?"
Cabe didn't smile. "Unfortunately, no one has seen or heard from him in the last day. If he went somewhere, he paid in cash or stowed away because there's no record of credit card payment."
Paige's phone began to ring. "Oh! Maybe it's Officer Bailey! Maybe he found him!" She didn't hesitate to answer as she walked off for some privacy and exclaimed, "Did you find him, officer?!"
"Don't worry," Paige nearly dropped her phone. "Ralph's safe. He's here with me."
Paige opened and closed her mouth in shock. She could have been angry at him, assuming he kidnapped her baby. She could have been upset for knocking her up and leaving without a goodbye. She could be a lot of things, but an eerie calmness overtook her at the realization that her son was all right. She closed her eyes. "Where is he? I'll come and pick him up."
There was a short silence and then a sigh. "That might be rather difficult." She was about to yell at him, but he continued. "He's back home with me."
"What's the address? I don't care how far you are; I'm picking up my son." Paige said with a frown stretched across her lips. But then his words sank in. "Oh."
"Yeah… We're in Ireland."
YAY! ANOTHER CHAPTER DONE!
I apologize for this not being updated as soon as possible. One thing led to another, and while I intended to update it on Thursday, I ended up getting into a car wreck and didn't have the energy to finish. I'm better now though. The car… not so much.
