Walter has a lot to think about, Sylvester goes on a date and Toby and Happy have an early morning with the twins.

Thank you to everyone who is still reading and reviewing this story, I really appreciate all your comments. With any luck updates will appear more quickly from now on. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

CHAPTER 13

"Sorry about our date."

"We can go another time, Sylvester." Kimberley looked into his eyes as she spoke. "This could be important."

Kimberley had been disappointed and confused to receive Sylvester's text message asking her to meet him at the garage instead of the movie theatre, but as soon as she realised it was related to the ongoing investigation she understood.

"Josh came all the way here to talk to us," replied Sylvester. "I couldn't turn him away."

Kimberley glanced over towards the couch. "Are you sure Toby knows what he's doing?" she asked.

Sylvester followed her gaze. He'd seen Toby hypnotise people before and Josh had readily agreed to the process so he was confident it would be successful.

"When I count to three, you'll be back in the room," said Toby in a low, calm voice. "One, two, three."

Josh opened his eyes and blinked deeply. He pushed himself to a sitting position on the red couch and looked slowly around the garage before his wide eyes settled back on Toby. "Woah," he said.

"You OK, pal?" asked Toby.

Josh nodded. "That was, like, weird," he said.

"And a waste of time," noted Walter. "His focus during his time in the ocean appears to have been on his female companion's décolletage."

Walter's temper was short after being dragged away from his evening with Paige. She had decided to go straight home and enjoy a soak in the bath and Walter was trying not to get distracted by his thoughts, but every part of him was dying to get back to her.

Happy nodded. "So all the kid remembers from the day he almost died is his girlfriend in a bikini."

"Kelly's not my girlfriend," insisted Josh.

"Kinda makes it worse," Happy pointed out. She folded her arms across her chest and raised her eyebrows towards the teenager.

Josh's cheeks flushed and he turned back to Toby, keen to change the focus of the conversation. "I thought you said I'd, like, totally remember what I saw when I was underwater? You sure you did it right, dude?"

"Y'know, maybe I didn't?" retorted Toby. "Maybe I'm just a quack and when Sly called me I figured dragging my wife and kids all the way over here to mess with your head was a good way to spend my evening?"

"I definitely remember getting dragged under the water," Josh reminded him.

But Toby wasn't listening. He was on his feet, standing in front of Happy. He clutched her shoulders and his eyes were wide. "I… I have a wife and kids," he half-whispered, smiling lovingly at her. "I have a wife and kids."

His comment to Josh had flowed so naturally from his mouth that the significance of his own words had taken a few seconds to sink in.

"I love you," he added and he had to swallow hard to quell his emotions.

Happy raised herself onto her tiptoes and kissed him tenderly. She hadn't thought twice about Toby's words either, but now she realised how important they were to her too. They really were a family now, husband, wife and two children - soon to be three. She knew, of course, that families came in a huge variety of different shapes and sizes, but to Happy the old fashioned nuclear family unit was special because it was the one thing she had wanted so desperately as a child and never had.

They broke apart and both instinctively turned to look at the twins who were sleeping contentedly in their double stroller. "Love you too, Doc," said Happy.

Walter was transfixed by their interaction, almost mesmerised by the way they looked adoringly at the sleeping girls. He swallowed hard as a sudden feeling washed over him. He wanted what they had and he wanted it now. With Paige. He loved Ralph as his own son, but Ralph was a young man now and starting to make his own way in the world and Walter knew he had more love to give. He had rambled about procreating earlier at the beach, but now his thoughts and feelings were beginning to coalesce.

Toby caught Walter's eye as he headed back towards a slightly bemused Josh, and smirked as he quickly read Walter's expression. Walter glared back and shook his head, he didn't want to discuss this with Toby, not now anyway. His mind was suddenly full of excitement and yet fear, anticipation and yet anxiety, elation and yet trepidation and he had no idea how to process any of it. He longed to get back to Paige so that she could help him make sense of it all.

"N…n…nothing unusual showed up in the water samples," said Walter, quickly dragging everyone's attention – including his own - back to the investigation. "But based on Josh's statement, we… we should make a visual inspection. Now." His desire to be with Paige tonight would have to wait a little longer.

"A swim in the ocean in the dark, what a really, really safe idea, One Ninety Seven," smirked Toby. "I'll get my Speedos."

Walter sneered at him. "Alright, maybe we should wait until morning," he admitted, relieved that Toby had been the one to quash his idea before he'd had to do it himself.

"So, can I, like, go now?" asked Josh.

"Sure," agreed Toby. "But… um…" A grin twitched at the corner of his lips. "Don't go chasing any cats."

Josh's face fell into a frown. "Cats?" he repeated. "Wait, I've seen this on TV…. you didn't, like, put something in my head to make me bark like a dog when you say some dumb a trigger word… did you?"

"Me?" replied Toby, innocently. "Would I do something like that?"

"Yes!" chorused Walter, Happy and Sylvester in unison.

"Hey," responded Toby with mock indignation, but then he slowly turned back to Josh and locked his gaze with the teenager before adding a single word. "Cauliflower."

The room fell silent as everyone held their breaths. No one really believed Toby would play such a trick on a kid they barely knew… would he…?

Josh froze… and waited…

But nothing happened.

Toby pressed his lips together for the briefest of moments, but eventually he couldn't hold back any longer and he spluttered as a deep guffaw exploded from his mouth, followed by a high pitched wail of laughter. "Your face!" he exclaimed. "All of you! You should've seen yourselves! Oh that was a classic."

Happy stepped forward and knocked his hat from his head. "Jerk," she snapped, but Toby caught the twinkle in her eye and knew she had found it at least a little amusing. He couldn't help the smug grin that formed at his lips as he bent over to pick up his hat

"I'll make sure you get home safely, there's a bus in eleven minutes," said Sylvester, addressing Josh. "We really appreciate you coming here to talk to us. I'm sorry about Toby."

Josh shrugged. "It's cool. Getting hypnotised was, like, actually kinda fun," he replied. "Beats dying in the ocean, anyway," he added, flippantly.

Sylvester shuddered. Drowning was one of his worst fears… and he had a lot of fears. He couldn't help but admire the way Josh was recovering from his ordeal. He turned to Kimberley. "Sorry we missed the movie," he said.

"That's OK," replied Kimberley with a smile. "We can still grab some dinner… if you want to, that is?"

"Sure."

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Hey, you're back!"

Walter had barely closed the door of the condo behind him when Paige appeared wearing nothing but a towel. Her hair was wet and her face glistened with freshly applied moisturiser.

"Y…yes, I am," replied Walter, barely able to get the words out. "D…did you enjoy your… your…"

Paige giggled. "Walter O'Brien, you're acting like a teenager who's never seen a woman in a towel before," she said, sucking her lower lip in between her teeth in a move she knew made him go weak at the knees.

Walter cleared his throat. "I… I… um… talking of teenagers, Josh was able to s…supply some information that may be p…per...pertinent."

Paige smiled and nodded. "I'm glad," she replied. "I'll be glad when this investigation is over."

Walter took a deep breath and tried to pull himself together. "Happy and Toby brought the twins," he told her.

Paige stepped forward and surprised him with a kiss. "Walter, we talked about this," she said. "You can't go getting broody every time you see Toby and Happy with their babies. We'll get there, we'll have what they have, we're just a little way behind them, that's all. They've been married for two years now, remember."

"M…married… yes, of course," replied Walter and he turned away from her for a moment.

"Walter?" said Paige, frowning at his sudden distance. "Earth to Walter?"

"What?"

"Where did you go?" Paige's frown deepened as she spoke.

"Nowhere?" Walter replied, his expression of confusion now mirroring hers. Then the familiar scent of lavender, chamomile and honey suddenly overwhelmed his senses. She had used all her favourite beauty products and the smell was highly stimulating.

"How about we go somewhere now?" suggested Paige. She slipped her hand into his and squeezed tightly.

"I'll wait for you t…to get dressed," answered Walter, missing her point entirely. "Where would you like to go?"

Paige laughed and shook her head. "I wasn't thinking of going far," she replied. "Somewhere close by… somewhere we've been before." Without taking her eyes off him she released the corner of the towel and it fell to the floor.

Walter's mouth fell open. He was always taken aback by the sight of her naked and tonight she looked particularly beautiful to him. He stepped forward and rested his hands on her hips. "Oh, I see," he mumbled, pressing a kiss to her collarbone. "I… I think I would like to… to go there too."

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Tell me about Megan."

Sylvester almost choked on his pasta.

"Oh… oh my god, I'm so sorry," said Kimberley, handing him a glass of water.

Sylvester took two gulps, waving his free hand apologetically in front of her. "No… no, it's OK," he insisted. He glanced round and smiled at the waiter who was looking a little concerned. "I'm fine," he added.

"That was totally insensitive of me," Kimberley continued. "It's just, when I stayed at your place you talked about her a little and… and…"

Sylvester smiled. "I'm happy to talk about Megan," he said. "I love talking about her. She was such a special person. It's just that I… I suppose I didn't expect you to… I mean I…"

"I can be a little blunt at times," admitted Kimberley. "I guess it's not one of my best features."

"I like it," responded Sylvester, trying his hardest not to blush. "And you don't need to apologise. Megan will always be a part of me."

"So she was Walter's sister, right?"

"Yes. Older sister. She was much older than me," explained Sylvester. "I mean, not that old, but… well, if the circumstances had been different I don't know if we…" he trailed off.

Sylvester had often wondered if the age gap would have been a barrier had Megan been fit and healthy. They'd met in such difficult circumstances and their love had grown so quickly that it had been irrelevant, but something inside him told him that she would always have been a special person in his life and that filled him with warmth.

"It's so sad," said Kimberley. She didn't really know what else to say and she was beginning to regret bringing up the subject of his late wife. She reached out and touched his hand, but Sylvester snatched it away.

Kimberley gasped and looked horrified.

"Oh… oh, Kimberley, I'm sorry," said Sylvester. "I didn't mean to… I… I… I'm a germophobe," he reminded her. "I still struggle with… well, you just saw."

"I was being too forward," replied Kimberley. "It's just… I like you, Sylvester and… and I wanted you to know."

This time Sylvester couldn't help blushing hard. "Oh... oh…" he stammered. "I… I…"

Kimberley giggled. She found his awkwardness incredibly endearing. Sylvester was unlike any of her previous boyfriends – not that she'd had many and certainly no serious ones – but the more she got to know him the more she was attracted to him. "I was being blunt again," she admitted. "But it's the truth. I like you, a lot and I'm really enjoying our date."

Sylvester nodded and took two deep breaths. He hadn't struggled with his anxiety in a long time and for a moment he was worried he was going to have a panic attack, but then he realised that this was an entirely different feeling. His heart was beating fast and his chest was tight, but in a crazy kind of way this felt good. He hadn't felt like this since…

"I admire you for being able to… to speak out about… about how you feel," said Sylvester. He took another deep breath. "There was someone… a girl… and I had feelings for her, but I didn't say anything. For months. And in the end my feelings became all confused in my head and I wound up declaring my undying love for her. It was silly. One of the biggest mistakes of my life."

"Oh no, how awful," said Kimberley, sympathetically. "I guess she didn't feel the same way?"

"No," admitted Sylvester. "But… it was my fault. If I'd only talked to her sooner, maybe we could have… maybe… I mean something might have happened, or it might not have. The thing is, I'll never know. And in all honesty it was probably for the best that she left. I wasn't in love with her, not in the way I thought I was anyway."

Sylvester let out a slow breath. He couldn't quite believe he had admitted all of that to Kimberley. He barely knew her, but he felt comfortable in her presence and it had felt right to open up to her. Once thing he had learnt after the mess with Florence was that communication was the key to any relationship. Walter and Paige were shining examples of that… and how lack of communication could cause catastrophic damage. They had been able to repair the damage, but it had taken a long time.

In the end, he and Florence had parted as friends and deep down Sylvester knew that had been the right thing for the both of them, but he never wanted to make the same mistake again. His feelings for Florence, no matter how confused, had opened his eyes to the possibility of falling in love with someone after Megan. Florence hadn't been the right person, he knew that now, but he also knew that what happened with her was all part of his journey to recovery. He hadn't dealt with losing Megan as well as he thought he had. Toby had helped him to understand what had happened a year ago and not to blame himself – although he still blamed himself a little – but he now felt free from the weight of being a widower and empowered to take control of his life.

Whether Kimberley would factor in his life he didn't know, but he was ready and willing to find out.

"You're a very sweet man," smiled Kimberley. "I… I'd really like to touch your hand now. Is that OK?"

Sylvester smiled warmly. People often shied away from him once they'd seen his OCD and germophobic ways rear their ugly heads, but Kimberley was different. He couldn't express how much it meant to him to hear her ask his permission in such a direct way. She didn't seem phased by him at all. "Of course it's OK," he said. "But… but I will probably use hand sanitiser afterwards," he admitted with a tiny grin.

Kimberley laughed. "That's OK," she said. She reached across the table again and covered his hand with hers. "Is this alright?" she asked.

Sylvester nodded. "Yes," he replied. It was the only word he could get out of his mouth. This was more than alright, he realised. Her touch was electrifying. "If… if you've finished eating, we could… we could go for a walk, maybe?" he suggested. "Although it's late, if you'd rather get home…"

"No!" she interrupted him. "I don't want to go home," she said. The truth was she still felt nervous being alone in her apartment after the break-in, but there was more to her declaration than just that. She didn't want this night to end.

Sylvester paid the bill and they left the restaurant hand-in-hand and headed for the beach. "Are you warm enough?" he asked her as they made themselves comfortable on the sand.

"Mmmm," replied Kimberley. "You know, you haven't used that hand sanitiser yet," she pointed out.

"I know," he replied and without missing a beat he slipped his arm around her shoulder and they stayed like that until dawn.

xXxXxXxXxX

"Stella, I'm trying to change your diaper!" Happy glared at her daughter, amazed at just how wriggly a one year old could be first thing in the morning.

"And yelling at her is totally gonna help," retorted Toby, smiling at Caitlin who was being far more co-operative than her sister.

"I wasn't yelling," retorted Happy. "I was exerting my authority. Didn't you read any of those parenting books you insisted we buy?"

"Of course, Sugarplum," replied Toby. "But I guess you didn't get to the chapters on reinforcement, or avoiding escalation."

"Too tired to read," replied Happy. She took a deep breath and pulled a funny face at Stella who immediately giggled. "Yes, got your attention," grinned Happy, sticking her tongue out at the little girl. "Don't know how long I can keep this up," she added, grabbing some cotton wool before wriggling her nose and crossing her eyes. Stella squealed with delight, captivated by her antics.

"Now you're getting it, Mommy," smiled Toby. He had already finished changing Caitlin and quickly got her dressed. "Aren't you a good girl for Daddy," he smiled, rewarding her with a kiss on her nose. "I guess I forgive you for keeping me up half the night."

"Keeping you up?" replied Happy incredulously. "Where were you at ten past three this morning? Or four fifteen, or five past six? I'm pregnant, Doc, you're the one who keeps telling me I need to rest!"

"Not my fault if you don't wake me," shrugged Toby, lifting Caitlin into his arms.

"Maybe you could hypnotise our kids into sleeping all night?" offered Happy, grimacing as Stella pulled off the sock she'd just struggled to get onto her left foot.

Toby's brow furrowed. "Hmmm, you may have something there, Lovebug," he replied.

"I was kidding," responded Happy, picking up a clean babygro. "Doesn't hypnotising babies go against shrink ethics?"

"Oh yeah, totally unethical," he agreed. "But I do have a theory. Leave it with me, I'm gonna do some research."

Happy hoped whatever idea her husband was formulating actually worked, because if she didn't get a good night's sleep soon someone was going to bear the brunt of an exhaustion-fuelled outburst.

Just then there was a knock at the door. "I'll get it," said Happy, taking Caitlin from Toby's arms before he had time to protest. "You can take over here."

Toby chuckled and wandered over to Stella. "Your Mommy is good with machines," he began. Stella smiled at the sound of his voice and Toby tickled her tummy. "She's the best engineer there is, but… well, she's not so good with human beings, especially the small ones. But she's learning, OK? So I need you to help me out a little. We'll figure out some kind of deal. Extra bubbles in your bathtub? How does that sound?"

"Toby!"

Toby scooped up Stella and walked out of the room towards the sound of Happy's voice. His pace slowed as soon as he saw their early morning visitor.

"Cabe…"

"Don't start on me, Doc," Cabe interrupted him. His face was red and he was dripping with sweat. "I just went out for a run and… "

"Where did you run to?" asked Toby, looking him up and down. "Mexico?"

Cabe glared at him. "Shut up, Doc. Look, this ain't easy for me. Y'see last night Allie and I talked… a lot, but… and… well, running always gives me time to do a little thinking." He paused to wipe his forehead with the back of his hand. "And I think… I think I'm gonna take you up on your offer."

Toby smiled warmly. "So you're agreeing to more therapy?"

Cabe frowned. "I'm agreeing to sit down a talk with you about Amanda, that's all," he said.

"Good call, Roomie," said Happy with a nod of approval.

Cabe let out a slow breath. He had no idea if he was doing the right thing, but the people who cared about him seemed to think he was and so he owed it to them to try.

Toby moved Stella onto his hip and offered his free hand to Cabe. "You won't regret this," he said sincerely.

Cabe's grasp was tight as he shook Toby's hand. "I'd better not, Doc," he replied. "Or your ass will be in therapy for the rest of its life after my foot's finished with it."

Toby was taken aback at how much fear he could read from Cabe. He knew the older man was scared about the prospect of bearing his soul to him for the second time, but until that moment Toby hadn't realised quite how terrified he was.

"Cabe," said Toby, his voice suddenly gentle and reassuring. "I'll take good care of you. I promise."

To be continued...