CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Walter glanced over at Paige, saw her panic-stricken face, and immediately rushed to her side. She clutched his arm with one hand as she held her belly with the other.
"What if it's her?" she murmured a bit breathlessly.
"Who?" he asked, concerned she may be having contractions again.
"The woman from the trial, the one who threatened Ralph and the baby."
Oh, shit. He'd been worried it was Linehan, there to tell him his citizenship had been denied and he needed to be on the next plane to Ireland. The other woman, that militia bastard's wife and her ugly threats never crossed his mind.
"Hey, Ralphie boy," said Toby, interrupting his anxious thoughts. "It wasn't Ms Linehan, was it? Oh, that's right. . ." The shrink smacked his own forehead. "You weren't here when she dropped in on us last week."
"Why would she come back?" Happy asked. "She said she had everything she needed to process the application."
"Oh, my God," Sylvester chimed in, his voice brimming with alarm. "What if she's here to deport Walter?"
"Settle down, everyone." Cabe walked into the middle of the room, holding a cup of coffee. "It could just be someone who's lost and trying to figure out where she is."
Walter couldn't stand the suspense another second. "I'm going to find out what the hell whoever it is is doing out there," he announced. He started toward the door, only to have his progress halted by Paige as she squeezed his arm.
"You could be making things worse," she said, and he stopped in his tracks, seeing her eyes brimming with tears and trepidation.
He didn't get a chance to respond as the door creaked open and a woman walked inside. Paige relaxed against him as he recognized Ms Jones, the campaign manager for Sly's opponent in the alderman race.
"Hello?" the woman asked anxiously. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?."
"No, not at all," said Cabe as he stepped toward her. "We were, well, expecting someone else."
"Yeah, the pizza man." Toby exaggeratedly rubbed his stomach before pointing at Paige. "We're having a baby shower."
"Oh, I can come back later."
"No, stay," said Walter, glad she was neither Ms Linehan nor the woman from the trial. "This is about the campaign?" He fully supported his brother's decision to enter politics, although he was apprehensive about how well someone like Sylvester could handle such a corrupt business.
"Yes," she replied with a nod. "I've set up Mr Dodd. . ."
The human calculator rose from his chair. "Sylvester, please, Ms Jones."
"Sylvester," she replied, "I've set up an interview for you with a reporter from the West Altadenia Shopper. She should be stopping by tomorrow afternoon. If that works for you, of course."
"Why?" Walter thought Sly's question was valid. She worked for his rival. Why would she be helping the younger genius?
"Dr Patel has already been interviewed and since he usually runs unopposed, they always endorse him. It's only fair you should receive equal time in the press."
"I should have thought of that," said Cabe with a shake of his head. "My only excuse is that I've never run a political campaign before."
Toby giggled. "Yep, you and Sly, just a couple of political virgins. . . And Sly's just a virgin. Ow!" he exclaimed as Happy slapped the back of his head.
"Grow up, numb nuts," the mechanic hissed. Walter wholeheartily agreed with her, wondering why the psychiatrist had such an obsession with virginity.
"It's okay, I've been doing this for years. And I really do like some of Sylvester's ideas," she explained, moving closer to Cabe.
"Don't you feel a little disloyal to your boss?" asked the human calculator.
"Not really. If I didn't work for him, I wouldn't campaign for him," she answered with a shrug. "Well, I better be going. I don't want to intrude on your party."
"You're more than welcome to stay if you want," said Paige as she smiled at the older woman. "The more the merrier."
"If you're sure. . ." Allie still seemed hesitant.
"Come look at this crib." The liaison led the woman toward Happy's workbench.
"She's definitely interested in you," Toby said to Cabe once the women were out of earshot.
"You're reading way too much into this, Doc," the agent chuckled. "She's just helping Sly."
"Yeah, right, that why she keeps coming up with excuses to come to the garage because it's sure not for the ambiance. She wants to see you."
Walter was surprised as the older man's faced reddened. Cabe had been alone for a long time, longer than they'd known each other. Maybe it would be a good for him to develop a romantic relationship with this woman.
"I, uh, maybe you should," he began, darting his eyes between the agent and the floor. "Go talk to her, I mean."
"Fine," growled Cabe. He straightened his suit jacket and ran his hand over his slicked back hair before walking over to where the women were admiring the crib.
"Excuse me," he said, feeling like a teenager about to ask out a girl for the first time. Out of the corner, he noticed Paige slip away, a knowing smile on her lips.
"Have you seen this?" Allie gushed. "It's quite innovative."
"Yeah, Happy's got quite the knack for building things," he said, unable to keep the pride from his voice. Clearing his throat, he stroked one of the steel bars. "I was wondering if maybe you could give me a few pointers on managing a campaign," he said. "I'm going to need all the help I can get."
"Oh, sure," she said. "I'm an old pro at this."
"You're hardly old."
"Thank you." The way she ducked her head and smiled shyly. . . Well, it did something to his insides. Something he hadn't felt for a long time. Something he thought he'd never feel again.
"I, uh," he began, "maybe we could. . ."
"Woo hoo! Pizza's here!"
Cabe didn't know which was worse, Toby's shout interrupting him asking Allie for a date, or his stomach being too tied up in knots for him to enjoy one of his favorite foods. With a grimace, he led her over to the kitchen where the rest of the team were grabbing slices of pizza and popping open cans of soda.
ooooo
Paige agitatedly tapped her fingers on the arm of her chair, counting the rings on the other end of the line. Walter and Ralph had gone out to get dinner since she was too tired to cook. She'd been putting off this conversation for the past couple of days because she knew it would be unpleasant and she didn't want either of her geniuses to overhear it. Their absence made this the perfect opportunity to get it over with.
The fifth ring was cut short and Drew's voice came over the line. "Hey, Paige. What's up? Is Ralph okay?"
Ignoring his questions, she decided to get right to the point. "Why won't you let Walter adopt Ralph?"
Her ex huffed out an angry breath. "He's my son, not O'Brien's."
"He's more Walter's than he was ever yours."
"What's the big deal? Isn't he getting a son of his own? And yeah, thanks for telling me you're pregnant," Drew sneered.
"It's none of your business." Paige pressed a hand to her forehead. "You and I may share a child together, but that's all. A child you abandoned. remember? I thought you wanted to make up for that."
"Yeah, I do," he conceded. "I am sorry about. . . you know. . . what I did, but. . ."
"But not sorry enough to let Ralph have what he wants. You always were selfish. You never did love us. . .love me. . . Did you?"
"I did."
"Then why did you leave us? Why did you cheat on me?" She was pretty sure she knew why he'd strayed. She just wanted to hear him say it.
"Because I was young and stupid and scared. You weren't the same girl I'd fallen in love with. We used to have fun together."
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, partying and being irresponsible."
"You changed after you had Ralph."
"Changed?" Paige asked incredulously. "Of course I changed. I was a mother. "
"Well, I was turned off by the whole 'motherhood' thing. You never wanted to go anywhere. You were always spending time with Ralph. . ."
"You were upset because he needed me?" She couldn't believe how petty he'd been. . .and still was. "He was a baby for heaven's sake. And you were supposedly a grown man."
Yeah, but you acted like I wasn't even on your radar anymore. And you changed physically too. Really let yourself go. It was a huge turn off."
"I'd just had your son. Of course my body changed. You don't get to use that as an excuse for cheating on me." She wanted to tell him Walter had the opposite problem, that he couldn't get enough of her, but Drew didn't need to know that. "Walter, unlike you, loves me for more than just my body."
He laughed nastily. "Well, he's sure not interested in your mind. He's probably just using you to add Ralph to his collection of nerds. You'd better hope this baby is a genius too, I wouldn't be surprised if he'd dropped you both from his life if it's not."
"You bastard," Paige said. "Walter's not like that. He's not like you. You couldn't leave fast enough when it became apparent Ralph had developmental issues."
"Yeah, I know, and I'm not proud of it." He sighed. "But he's still my son. I'm still his father."
"Only because of an ill-timed orgasm," she shot back.
"What? You're blaming me for knocking you up? You were there too, you know."
"No, I don't blame you," she said with a sigh. "I don't resent having Ralph for one second. He means the world to me. But you can't say the same, can you?"
"No but that doesn't mean you and O'Brien can take him away from me," he said and she could just imagine the pout on his face.
"No, we can't and we don't want to. You'll always be Ralph's biological father, but Walter is the father he needs. . .and wants. You can't take that away from him."
"My answer is still no."
"Fine. You wanna be Ralph's father? How about you start paying all the back child support you owe?"
Drew didn't say anything but she knew he was still on the line because she could hear him breathing. "I can't do that," he finally said.
"And why the hell not?" she demanded to know.
"Uh, I was gonna tell you but. . . I figured you'd be a bitch about it."
She had a feeling he was right. "Tell me what?"
"I've been seeing someone. . ."
"For how long?" she asked, not caring it was none of her business.
"A little over six months," he replied. Okay, so not long after his visit in January. She was sure he'd had other girlfriends since he'd left her, it was hardly a big deal he had one now. She had to wonder though why he was so hesitant about telling her about this one. It's not liked she was concerned with what he did anymore. . .except when it affected Ralph.
"Does she have a name?"
"Tiffany."
She had to suppress a giggle. Obviously Tiffany's mother had been a fan of either the lamps or the mall singer. Knowing Drew's taste in bimbos, she guessed the latter. "So, what does Tiffany have to do with you not paying child support?"
"Well, uh, she's pregnant," he confessed. "And hey, we found last week she's having a boy too."
"You son of a bitch." Paige ended the call, wishing she had an old fashioned phone she could slam down. Pushing a screen just didn't have the same violent satisfaction. Turning off her cell so he couldn't call her back, she leaned back in her chair, idly stroking her belly.
God, Drew was such an asshole. What right did he have to be pissed off at her because she never told him she was pregnant when he was hiding not only a relationship with another woman but that she was going to have a baby too. Since he'd left her, she often wondered what the hell she'd ever seen in him, and this was certainly one of those moments.
His remarks about how she's changed after having Ralph. What had he expected? That she'd leave the baby with a sitter while they continued to go out and act like a couple of reckless kids? And what really burned her ass was his insinuation she was at fault for his infidelity. Letting herself go? She'd been pregnant, dammit. And so what if it had taken awhile for her to get back into shape. She'd been sleep deprived, taking care of a baby and still working her shifts at the Pick 'n' Save so she could pay the rent and utilities while he blew his money on baseball gear and alcohol and sluts.
She glanced down at her stomach. She felt like a beached whale, but it didn't stop Walter from lusting after her. Or did it? He had turned her down several times in the last two weeks when she'd suggested doing something. And he had seemed rather reluctant when they finally did anything.
Was he losing interest in her too? Just like Drew had? Stifling a sob, she bit her lip. They weren't married. They couldn't be married for six more months. He hadn't even given her an engagement ring. What if. . .
A tear slithered its way down her cheek. No, she wasn't going to allow her ex to poison her mind against Walter, making her doubt his love. His sincerity. His faithfulness. His. . .
Her troubled thoughts were cut short as the front door of the condo opened. "Mom, we're back!" shouted Ralph, as if both he and Walter tromping through the living room with delicious smelling food wasn't enough to signal their return.
She hastily wiped her eyes and plastered a smile on her face before hauling herself out of her chair to help them set up their meal.