DECIPHERING WALTER

AN: I'm working on Home Fires, don't worry. This story idea kept me up last night thinking though. I've been curious about this POV for a while because it was hard for me to understand. Tell me if you think I got it right.

The pregnancy was absolutely normal in every way. The labor was average in length and intensity with no complications or trauma.

But the second the nurse laid him in her arms, she knew her son was different. They'd swaddled him and covered his little head after they'd cleaned him up. Everything was hidden from view, all but his tiny face. His eyes looked up into hers trying so hard to bring her into focus. It sure felt like he was detached and curious and concentrating, as if he was studying her.

Her husband dismissed the notion. Bursting with pride he was, to have a son, wanting to name the boy after his own father.

Over the next several months, however, Walter's father began to notice the differences too.

The boy rolled over, sat up, crawled and walked right on schedule. But he rarely smiled or laughed. He didn't even cry that often unless he needed something and he never fussed or just wanted to be held or rocked. It was hard to interact with him because he really didn't seem to want or need attention.

It didn't stop his big sister from fussing over him as if that little boy was all hers. She wasn't quite three yet, but she adored her baby brother the minute she saw him. All his rare smiles, he saved for her.

By contrast, Megan had always been so easy to love. Gregarious and social and happy from the very beginning, old folks to little children, everyone adored her. Even her odd baby brother appeared to have a soft spot for her.

But Walter? Well he was just…difficult. And Louise worried a lot at the start.

His eyes seemed to absorb every detail around him, but he didn't talk until he was almost four. No babbling, no cooing, nothing. It didn't seem to bother his sister at all. When she was with him, she spoke for the both of them.

But the O'Briens thought he might be hearing impaired, so they had him tested. His hearing was fine.

So Sean decided Walter was merely being stubborn and that was the beginning of the tension between the two males in the family. The boy's father insisted he learn to ask for what he wanted. Walter held out until he was three; nearly four. No pointing and grunting or making unintelligible noises for him though. The first words out of his mouth were perfect in elocution and formed a complete sentence.

Louise would never forget it. She'd been admonishing him to use his fork because it was impolite to eat with his hands. And Walter shocked everyone at the table when he calmly replied, "Using a fork is an inefficient way to eat."

Try writing that in a baby book on the line to record the first words.

His sister was delighted and burst into giggles causing the boy to grin widely around the mouthful of shepherd's pie he'd just stuffed in with his fingers. His father was not amused and ordered him to 'Use the damn fork!'

But it was Megan who was finally able to convince him to always use his utensils. She explained to him it would help with coordination. He agreed he needed to work on developing his fine motor skills and that was the end of it. She could always communicate with him in a way he would accept.

Louise didn't know what to do with a child who didn't seem to need her affection or attention. Even when he was ill, which wasn't often, he didn't want her to touch him. He would shrink away from any contact she initiated.

She tried to understand him in the early years, but how do you relate to a boy who doesn't get excited about Christmas, never showing the least amount of gratitude for the gifts or the feasting or the visitors. One who resolutely refused to believe in Father Christmas.

Who ever heard of a kid who never played with toys and disliked most programs on the telly or movies? One who would rather read an instruction manual for the tractor or the old, dusty encyclopedias he found in a box in the attic than Dr. Seuss. So much for bedtime stories.

Or someone who asks so many questions in his catechism class, the bishop tells his mother not to bring him back.

And school. Heaven help her. Walter was miserable at school and made everyone around him miserable too. He didn't make one friend. He was ostracized and bullied by teachers and peers alike. The first few years, he spent more time in the headmaster's office than in his classroom.

His teachers thought he had everything from developmental delays to behavior disorders because he refused to participate in class and his mind was often wandering off in outer space. They had him tested for ADD, for OCD and many other rather ominous sounding mental maladies trying to find a classification for her eight year-old. Until somewhere along the line someone finally had the bright idea to test his IQ. Initially it was intended to show if he belonged in Special Ed classes. Walter shocked everybody when he scored a solid 197.

Louise was hopeful for a while after they found out he was actually a genius, but he was so prickly and strange for a child. And he had all these wild, unfathomable ideas and was forever taking things apart to see what made them run. She soon despaired of ever understanding him. She still loved him, but she felt herself drawing away from him emotionally.

After his arrest when he was eleven, there were a few days she was ashamed to find herself wishing they hadn't had him. He was so troublesome and he and Sean never agreed on anything. There was always strife in the house.

Sadly, she was almost relieved when Walter immigrated to the United States. It broke her heart when he took Megan with him, but she knew her daughter would get better care in America. Walter could be counted on to see to his sister. Of that she was convinced. Megan was the only person on the planet he seemed to care about. He'd been friends with an FBI agent for awhile and his mother was grateful he seemed to connect with another person no matter the gap in age. However they'd had a falling out when Walter was sixteen and her son had cut all ties after that. Louise never knew what caused the rift.

For many years, Sean and Louise kept up with Walter through Megan and only got the very occasional email directly from him. He was never one for sentiment and many birthdays and Christmases went by with not a word from him.

On the awful day they lost their daughter, they heard Megan's words to Walter and Louise wished so hard they were true. It did her broken heart good, even though it was awkward, to see Walter take Paige's hand when he told his story about his sister. But the gestures she and Sean made after that were still more often rebuffed than not. They also heard from Sylvester a few months later that Paige, who she prayed was the answer to solving the mystery that was her son, started dating someone else instead.

Things had gotten some better after Megan's Pattern Day ceremony three years past. There had been a few overtures and they'd heard from him more often afterwards at least.

A very large part of her still couldn't reconcile what she was seeing today with the son she'd always known.

She'd stepped out on the porch in the early afternoon to bring Sean his medicine. He'd been hurt in a farming accident a few weeks ago. After his surgery, Sylvester and Walter had come to help with the farm for a few days until her husband was back in full fighting form.

As she gazed out over the field, she spied her stolid son leaning his back against a tree obviously taking a break from the chores. His very beautiful and very pregnant wife was sitting between his splayed knees, her back resting against his chest. Walter had one hand on her swollen belly. Apparently the baby was awake and doing acrobatics, because every so often, she would look over her shoulder at him and the two of them would beam at one another or exchange a soft, awestruck laugh or a gentle kiss.

Their teenaged boy Ralph was riding around the pasture on the go cart her son built out of spare lawn mower parts when he was twelve. The two of them unearthed it from the barn, cleaned it up and had been tinkering with it. And Walter, her quiet, unemotional child had been all but gushing at dinner the previous evening, spouting a bunch of nonsense about how Ralph had the idea to reverse the manifold and adjust the choke and 'wasn't he the most brilliant boy that ever lived' because now the blessed thing was faster than a race car. She and Sean had looked at each other and shaken their heads. Who was this man at their table? What happened to her stoic, robotic son who never got worked up about anything?

And now to see him cuddled up and obviously very much in love with the woman in his arms? Louise realized she'd never seen Walter truly happy before. Her heart filled up and simply overflowed.

Sean followed her gaze, and grinning, said, "Who'da thought in a million years?"

It was in that instant Louise O'Brien swore to love her daughter-in-law with all her power for the rest of her days. She was so very thankful Paige's love was the key to unlocking her indecipherable son.