"It wasn't bad. She seemed happy with my progress so far. But she said I might be moving faster than she would prefer or that I should be. She also has me working on a workbook for people with post traumatic stress disorder. I'm hoping that is why the dream hasn't been back and not because you aren't there." Walter told her.

"I want you to really listen to what I am saying here Walter. Your recovery isn't a sprint, it is a marathon. The damage I caused it has hurt you so much. So yes, I want you to be healed, but I don't think you will do yourself much good if you try to rush the process. Don't worry about how long it takes, or if you have problems with any part of it. Do what Sarah wants you to do and do it to the best of your ability and I will be more than pleased. And just be honest with Sarah, she can't help you if you lie or try to cover for anything." Paige said as she nuzzled into his chest.

"I'm not going to abandon you no matter how long it takes for you to be healed from what we did. I caused this, so please, take your time. And you got to remember Walter, what happened last Monday wasn't your fault. I chose to do whatever it took to save Happy. You didn't fail me, you didn't do anything to hurt me and I wasn't hurt because you weren't able to help. Please remember that." Paige told him even as she yawned.

Walter just nodded.

"Don't just nod Walter Patrick O'Brien." Paige slapped his left arm even as she smiled listening to his heartbeat.

They lay there just enjoying the moment they had together and before long Paige had drifted off to sleep.


Toby and Happy walked into the room and smiled at Walter lying there with Paige draped across him.

"How is she comfortable enough to sleep like that? I would think it would be bothering her ribs too much." Happy asked quietly as she stepped up even as Toby turned to the computer and began going over her records.

Walter smiled.

"She took a couple of pillows and tucked them under her in certain points to relieve the stress on her left ribs. It did take her a bit of adjusting them before she settled into this spot. But as long as she is comfortable and not hurting herself I'm okay with it." Walter whispered back.

"Where's Cabe and Sly?" Happy asked quietly as she sat down.

"They went to get Paige pizza for lunch. Speaking of which, it kind of looks like you need to eat a bit more yourself. You are a bit under the average for weight gain they recommend for women at this point of your pregnancy." Walter told her as he studied her face.

"Hey, I'm eating healthy, don't be so pushy." Happy said jokingly but it immediately made Walter feel like she was making a demand to him and he nodded quickly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it, I won't bring it up again." Walter promised quickly.

Happy frowned.

"Walt, I was only teasing you. I appreciate that you have an interest in my health and well being. Thank you." Happy told him.

Toby turned around and held up three fingers.

"Walter, how many fingers?" Toby asked in a whisper.

Walter rolled his eyes.

"Three up, one tucked under your thumb, no clue about your other hand as I can't see it." Walter replied in a whisper.

Toby grinned.

"That's my 197. How long has Paige been asleep?" Toby whispered.

"Ninety six minutes and twelve seconds." Walter told him.

Toby laughed as he shook his head. He walked over and turned on the monitor and checked the readouts for her vitals and nodded.

"Well when her surgeon gets down here I'm comfortable with him releasing her. But Walter I'm serious, just canoodling with her after she is home. Even if she insists she wants more 197." Toby told him.

Walter frowned.


Paige's eyes opened and she looked back behind her at Toby glaringly.

"Listen here, Dr. Curtis. If I want to do more than canoodle with Walter when I get home I will. And if I don't get to go home tonight then Walter is spending the night and I will be doing more than canoodling in this bed with him later." Paige said adamantly.

Happy grinned even as she snickered.

"You tell him girl." Happy told her.

Paige looked over at Happy and smiled.

Walter coughed uncomfortably.

Paige laughed.

"My poor Walter, I don't get you sometimes. Just why are you so hung up on talking with others about sex?" Paige asked as she kissed his cheek.

"Yeah, I get why Vulcans don't. The whole Pon farr is illogical thing but you." Toby teased.

Walter kind of shrugged.

"I guess it was who I was brought up around and then I never really had a drive towards discussing it even after Megan and I moved to the States. I was certainly interested in the act itself but until that day on the dance floor I never thought it would happen." Walter said simply.

Paige kissed his cheek.

"That's okay Walter. Whatever you are comfortable with." Paige told him even as she tugged at the right hem of his button down shirt until the button hole popped over the button. She smoothed the material after opening the collar a bit more revealing a little more of his chest.

Paige smiled at the look on his face.

"That is all I am undoing here and now Walter. You just looked a bit too stiff." Paige teased with him.

Walter nodded.

"Oh, speaking of popping. The server was popping off with some alert while we were there but it wouldn't allow either of our access codes to turn it off." Happy told Walter.

Walter frowned and pulled his phone out and saw it was still turned off from before his meeting with Sarah. He sighed as he turned it back on and waited until it came up and he entered his pass code and then connected to the Garage and turned the alert off. He smiled at Paige and shared a kiss with her.

"What was the alert for baby?" Paige asked.

"Oh, software compile for a project." Walter told her.

"I thought Cabe and I had made it clear to you when we told you to take your time and relax? Sly will pick up the slack and if it is critical we can get Ralphy-boy to help." Toby told him.

Walter nodded quickly.

"I wasn't disobeying. It is for a personal experiment, honest." Walter said quickly.

Toby shook his head.

"I wasn't trying to make you feel bad Walter. Just wanting to ensure you remembered you are not supposed to be working on cases. You've got enough going on trying to repair that noggin of yours." Toby told him.

"Did you know that Walter appears to be trying to rush his way through Sarah's timeline of recovery?" Paige asked Toby.

Toby frowned.

"No, I hadn't had a chance to talk with Walter or Sarah since his appointment. Walter you know Sarah is brilliant but rushing through this process is bad. You got to slow down and take your time. I know your argument, you are a genius, and that is true. But this is dealing with things you don't have a lot of experience in. So take your time and get it right." Toby told him as he walked around and sat down next to Happy.

Paige frowned.

"Walter, I hate to have to do it, but I need you to get out of bed. I've been in this position too long." Paige told him as she rolled back off of him.

Walter nearly leaped from the bed and nearly landed on top of Happy and Toby as Paige rolled her eyes.

"I didn't mean that quickly Walter." Paige told him with a slight laugh to her voice.

Walter nodded but helped her to adjust her position and pulled the pillows back out.


Walter sat with his back against the headboard in bed working with his tablet. Paige was lying next to him sleeping soundly. So far he was feeling pretty good over all with Paige back in the Loft with him. He'd given in to her desire and they made love before her night medicines. And after helping her to and from the bathroom after they made love he gave her the medicines and shortly after that she was sound asleep.

Paige's surgeon reluctantly gave in to her demand of wanting sex. He gave them permission to have sex as long as they made sure not to do anything that could jeopardize Paige's health or recovery.

Walter had worried about it but following Toby's recommendation, Paige gave Walter complete latitude in how to go about it. He found that being in control of what they did really helped him. More so than he ever thought it would.

Toby and Happy stayed downstairs like normal giving Walter and Paige their privacy but still present to ensure that if anyone was to come to the Garage, Walter wouldn't be in a position of being taken advantage of.

Walter worked on his tablet until just after 3 a.m. when Paige woke one time with a spasm and complained of the light. Walter just nodded and turned the light off and sat the tablet on the nightstand. He moved down in the bed carefully so as not to jostle Paige too much. He rolled onto his right side at her request and slipped his left arm across the top of her chest where she could hug his arm as she slept. She'd missed sleeping with him and not being able to curl up along side of him to sleep stung, so this was the best they could do.

Walter found falling asleep on the other side of the bed difficult. But with Paige's surgery site on her right side they had no choice other than Walter sleeping on the couch and neither of them wanted that. Walter would have because he was scared of accidentally hurting her but Paige had said no to that immediately. It took him quite sometime to finally fall asleep.


He ended up sleeping about 80 minutes before his alarm went off. Walter groggily groaned as he reached over and turned off the alarm. It took him a few minutes to finally get up. After using the restroom and washing up he dressed and walked down the hall and knocked on Ralph's bedroom door. He smiled not hearing anything other than his alarm and so he turned the handle and opened the door.

Ralph was sound asleep and his alarm blaring out that it was time to get up. Walter walked on in and turned off the alarm before he sat on the edge of the bed. He smiled down at Ralph sleeping so peacefully. His hand reached out and ran through Ralph's hair before he shook his son's shoulder. Walter was so happy with almost everything in his life now. He was sorry he didn't get to experience more of Ralph's life as a child.

He would have loved doing diaper duty, trying to comfort him during a bout of colic. Walter missed his teething, first tooth coming out. Watching him take his first steps, saying his first real word. It was like a morning ritual for Walter whenever it was his turn to wake Ralph for school. He would dwell a bit on the things he missed with his son. But he'd smile knowing that those opportunities were coming up for his next child. He just worried about connecting to his next child.

Ralph's eyes opened slowly and as they focused he saw his Dad and smiled at him.

"Good morning Dad. Thinking about me as a baby again?" Ralph asked.

Walter laughed as he nodded and Ralph could see his eyes brimming with tears.

"That and of course your sibling. Did you sleep well?" Walter asked.

Ralph nodded.

"Well don't worry Dad. You'll connect with my sibling no matter what. I know you probably worry with that a lot. But you do great with me, even before I was able to express my intelligence. How about you and Mom?" Ralph inquired.

"Thank you Ralph. Your Mom slept pretty well. I didn't sleep very well. What would you like for breakfast?" Walter asked as he stood.

"I wouldn't say no to McDonald's." Ralph said as he gave his Dad those eyes. Though Ralph knew they weren't really needed, his Dad's state would allow him to get whatever he wanted by just demanding it. But Ralph didn't want to cross that line for himself. For his Dad's own good, yes, he'd demand that Walter do something.

Walter nodded with a smile.

"I think we can do that. Or if you get ready quick enough we could hit Kovelsky's." Walter told him.

Ralph looked at him in surprise. It was the first time his Dad didn't just give in but offered an alternative.

Ralph slowly nodded.

"That might be a good thing if timing works out." Ralph told him before he got out of bed. He planned to let Toby know about that.

"I'm going to check on your Mom and I'll meet you downstairs shortly." Walter told him before closing the door as he left.

Walter smiled down at Paige as he sat next to her on the edge of the bed.

"Good morning to you my love." Walter said simply as he ran the back of his index finger down her cheek. "Paige, I love you."

Paige slowly smiled up as she felt the tender pressure of his finger and then hearing his words.

"Good morning to you my heart. I'm sorry you slept so badly last night." Paige told him.

Walter just smiled.

"Ralph would like McDonald's for breakfast, unless he gets ready quick enough, then we'll hit up Kovelsky's. Does either of those sound tempting?" Walter asked after he bent over and kissed her.

Paige smiled as she tried to stretch without hurting herself.

"You know what I like Walter. But hurry back. I want to get cleaned up and go down to sit at my desk for a while." Paige told him.

Walter frowned as he reviewed what her Dr. told them she could do but he didn't recall that he said she could sit up.

Paige smiled.

"It'll be part of my physical therapy Walter. I won't over do it. Besides, staying in bed so much is never a good thing either." Paige told him softly.

Walter nodded and he turned as he heard a knock on their door.

"Good morning to both of you. How'd you sleep Paige?" Toby asked as he stood there at the door.

Paige nodded.

"Not too bad, at least after the light was turned out." Paige teased. "I'm just teasing Walter. I slept fine until I had that muscle spasm." Paige told them.


Greetings! Hope you all are well!

2LawDog - Thank you! I like Toby better as a support with some teasing than as the minor antagonist they turned him into after season 1. Yep, slowly Walter is responding to Sarah's work pretty well. A Homeland case such as the past is questionable. I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't send a letter to Katherine Cooper limiting Walter's involvement for the time being.

Railman - As many of the nurses had told the wife and I when she was in there the hospital really can't do anything about what she chooses to eat. IE had me bring for her. The kitchen on the other hand could only provide exactly the diet the Drs ordered for her. Some nurses got a little judgmental at times over things as Cathy was a diabetic but for the most part as long as we could provide them with dietary information they didn't care, they could just plug those numbers into the computer and it would spit out how much insulin to give her. Of course if you are eating too much junk your Dr could simply have you kicked out because you aren't following orders and why treat you if you aren't.

Margaret - Paige would do it in a heartbeat but Walter isn't going to let her regardless. As he said he'd feel worse knowing she was at the condo rather than at the loft and over all that would be worse for him mentally. Sarah seems to agree at this point. At least judging by chapter 31. lol

Lucy - Thank you! Well that is what the Cyclone is supposed to do, support and protect each other! Yep, it was only a matter of time before Paige started catching on...hehe As for WUTB (Walter Under The Bridge) since I rode my mobility scooter all the way to the VA and back and had a chance to think about it, it has really been talking and I like where it is headed now into chapter 11!

To the Adventure! -Tim