MULTIPLICATION EQUALS AN ADDITION
AN: Total fluff for my fellow Waige shippers. Happy Valentine's Day, all! Hang in there. I think we've finally turned a corner in our battered ship.
Rated K+ for some suggestive stuff.
'We're all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness – and call it love – true love.' – Robert Fulghum
oXoXoXoXoXo
This could NOT be happening. Not again.
Paige stared at the little pink plus symbol willing it to morph into a minus. How did this happen?!
Well, she knew exactly how it happened.
After nearly two and a half years of foreplay in the form of dancing around each other and lots of steps forward and many, many steps back, it had finally happened… on her desk. And on the bed in the loft. And then against the wall in the shower… Before anything like protection ever crossed either of their minds. Thinking wasn't much of a priority at the time.
She meant to go get a morning after pill. She really did. But the team caught an urgent case early the next morning and she wasn't able to excuse herself for a quick trip to the pharmacy. Then in the usual whirlwind of danger and intrigue, she totally forgot. After all, her brain was still mushy from the culmination of all her fantasies coupled with the sweet fog of euphoria that comes with being completely in love and knowing she was so thoroughly loved in return.
It didn't occur to her again until the next time they had an evening to themselves. Eight days too late. When she mentioned it, Walter quoted the statistical likelihood of pregnancy after three 'encounters' in such a short time frame. Odds were in their favor and they had better things to do, so they carried on with much more interesting activities and put it from their minds. Plus, they'd been a lot more careful from then on.
Not that it made much difference. No matter how conscientious you are after the fact, you still can't unring a bell.
Apparently the entirety of Walter had a 197 IQ, including his gametes. She suppressed a hysterical bubble of laughter at the mental image of his curly-headed, genius swimmers calculating trajectory and the most direct route to her normal, unsuspecting egg. Because here she was, in the bathroom in Walter's loft holding a thin, white piece of plastic with a glaringly obvious pink plus sign on it. Paige suddenly hated pink.
And the panic set in again moments later.
They'd only been officially dating a little over seven weeks. They'd wanted to take it slow. See how things would progress. He said he would need her honest input and guidance on how to be a good partner for her. It was all very sensible.
What they hadn't counted on was their mutual inability to keep their hands to themselves. They had been so frustrated for so long they just couldn't help it. Biology and chemistry overrode all their good intentions. You evidently can't fight science when dating a genius.
And in a little less than two months, not even enough time to settle in and get comfortable as a couple, she was six weeks pregnant. Nothing like adding a bunch of pressure to a brand new relationship, one that was already strange and much more intense and unlike anything she'd ever experienced.
Walter had never mentioned wanting to be a parent. Sure, he was always amazing with Ralph. But her son was half grown and the two of them had so much in common they'd never had trouble relating. It was a small relief that it seemed like her boyfriend showed the most EQ during his limited interactions with children. He seemed more compassionate and patient with kids than adults as a rule.
However Paige had never seen him around a colicky infant, or a toddler in the throws of a tantrum. What about potty training? Would he draw up a schematic diagram? Or a flow chart? Definitely a flow chart.
A giggle escaped before another dark cloud floated over her thoughts. What if this child was a 'normal'? Would the two of them connect as the child grew? Or would history repeat itself? If Walter's normal parents didn't connect with him, would a normal child? That would be devastating for him and the child both.
There was a soft tap on the door.
And she jumped like it was the report from a firearm.
"Paige?" She heard Walter's muffled inquiry, "Are you okay? Cabe just brought us a case. It's time sensitive and we really need to get going."
"Yeah. I'm-I'm fine. I'll be out in a sec." She ran the cold water and splashed it on her face. She carefully wrapped the evidence in tissue, put it back in the box and placed it in her purse. The difficult discussion would have to wait. She couldn't say she was disappointed about that.
xOxOxOxOxOx
The two year old appeared to be trapped. They couldn't get to her without taking out the whole wall behind her and they couldn't do that without risking crushing her or causing sparks. No one knew how she managed to wedge herself into the crevice behind the pipes. The only facts in evidence were 1. they couldn't reach her to pull her out and 2. she was terrified of anyone who approached pushing even further back and curling into herself even tighter.
The old apartment building had faulty gas lines. It probably hadn't been updated since the 1970s. When a pipe blew in the basement and caused an explosion, the child's mother had been injured and her petrified daughter had run away and hidden herself so well the firefighters couldn't find her. The mom was in the ambulance pleading for someone to find her little girl. Paige stayed with the woman trying to calm her and get information about where her daughter might have hidden.
Happy had engineered a device that picked up the girl's specific heat signature. They'd been able to turn off the gas and contain the worst of the fire, but the mechanic was still hesitant to use any power tools because of any residual gas pockets either in the air or the pipes. And the whole building was about to come down.
The only solution was simple. But it was also impossible. Walter would have to coax the child into crawling out on her own and quickly. He and the little girl were the only ones left in the evacuated building that was on the cusp of collapse and even Toby's coaching via the comms was, up to that point, unsuccessful at helping to convince the toddler to come out.
"Ava?" Walter said softly over the groans of walls settling and straining to stay upright. He was trying to sound relaxed. "I know you're scared. I can take you to your mother. Can you trust me to do that?" Nothing. He was afraid the girl might be in shock because she was trembling even in the heat. So the genius changed tactics. "Please, Ava. I'm scared. Do you think it would help me if I had a friend?" The little girl looked up. "But I can't come in there to you. I'm too big for the available space. I have a blanket the firefighters gave me. If you're cold, you could share it with me. Please? I really need your help."
Walter walked out of the structure seconds before it collapsed. He was holding little Ava in his arms and she was adhering to him like she was stuck on with super glue.
As soon as Ava was out safe, her mother was immediately whisked away to the hospital. The paramedics on the scene tried to see to the child, but she would scream any time someone would try to take her away from her protector. So in the end, it was decided Team Scorpion would take her to the hospital and stay with her until she could be reunited with her mother or another relative.
Once he was introduced as Walter's friend, Ava finally submitted to letting Toby take a look at her as long as she was allowed to remain bundled in the Scorpion leader's lap.
The girl's grandmother was on her way from San Diego, but until she arrived the genius was confined by circumstances to the waiting area outside the emergency department where they'd taken her mom. The traumatized child clung to him even as she slept, one dimpled hand clutching a fistful of Walter's shirt, the other up by her tear-streaked face, thumb in her mouth. Her cheek was pressed firmly to the center of his chest.
Paige watched in fascination from a chair across from them as Walter crooned quiet reassurances into the girl's ear and tenderly brushed her soft, baby-fine hair off of her forehead.
Who was this guy? And what did he do with Walter? Where was the man she'd met three years ago? The one with no EQ? The one who hated physical contact? Had the change been so gradual she didn't catch it?
Or was their love the last piece of the puzzle? Maybe being encouraged to grow and change had only gotten him so far. Maybe knowing he was loved in spite and because of his awkward, quirky, weird personality was the push he needed to open up all the way. And she was so blessed to be the one too see it. To be his one. And together to grow their awkward, quirky, weird little family with their love as the center.
He looked up and caught her staring. He gave her a wry smile and shrugged.
Yes. It was going to be just fine.
