-After the stressful events of the past few weeks, Paige organises another family picnic at the beach.-
Sorry for keeping you all waiting so long! This is the final chapter of this story, but there will be a sequel - look out for the first chapter of Volume 2 very soon. Thank you so much to everyone who has followed this story, I appreciate every one of your reviews more than I can say. I really needed to write something for these characters that shows how their story continues because I still love this show and this family. I hope you enjoy the chapter, all reviews are very welcome.
CHAPTER 21.
"Ralph! Sunscreen!"
"Mom!"
Paige threw the bottle towards her son and it landed in the sand a few inches in front of him. Paige raised her eyebrows and he begrudgingly picked it up. Satisfied that he was about to apply another layer she returned to her original reclining position, with her head resting on Walter's chest.
She glanced over to the shoreline where Sylvester and Kimberley were standing hand in hand looking out to sea. It was the day after Charlie Snyder's funeral and Paige had decided today was the perfect day for another family picnic at the beach to cheer everyone up, especially Kimberley.
"Walter, have you seen Sly and Kim?" she said in a low voice.
Walter opened his eyes and Paige moved her head, allowing him to prop himself up on his elbows. He blinked a couple of times, realising that he had been on the verge of falling asleep.
"They're over there," he replied, with a puzzled expression and he pointed towards the sea.
"No, silly," said Paige with a giggle. "I know where they are, I just wondered if you'd seen them. Holding hands, I mean. They're so cute together!"
"Well, um, yes," agreed Walter, not quite sure what response she was expecting. "They are dating, after all. I know my experience is limited, but dating couples tend to hold hands, so I'm not sure they're doing anything particularly surprising?"
"Oh, Walter!" exclaimed Paige with a laugh. "Just agree with me that they look cute together!"
"They look cute together," repeated Walter, flatly.
"Ralph building sandcastles with Caitlin and Stella over there is cute," retorted Paige, pausing for a moment to imagine how Ralph might be with a baby brother, or sister and smiling to herself. "But Sly and Kimberley are cute," she continued eventually.
Walter's mouth twisted into a confused sneer. "That's the same word."
Paige pressed her lips together in defeat and pushed him back down onto the towel. She planted a kiss on his lips. "Is something bothering you?" she asked. "I mean, today you seem… I don't know, even more infuriating than usual. You disagreed with me about sandwich fillings this morning, argued with Toby about laying out the beach towels and now this."
"In… infuriating?"
Paige smiled warmly and kissed him again. "I'm not picking a fight, I'm not trying to be rude, I just… I just worry about you when you get like this. I know you have something on your mind and you're not sharing it with me and that… well, that makes me feel kinda… kinda nervous, I guess."
"I'm sorry." Walter closed his eyes and tried to focus on the feeling of the sun on his face. It was true he did have something on his mind and he knew he should be talking about it with Paige, but he wasn't sure how to put it into words so he'd decided to try to work through it on his own this time. Clearly that had been a mistake. "I'm sorry about the sandwich fillings," he continued, opening his eyes and turning his head to look into Paige's eyes. "I can't help feeling that I've let Kimberley down, that's all."
"What?" exclaimed Paige. "How have you let her down?"
"I promised I'd find Charlie's killer and bring him to justice."
"And you did."
"We did," Walter corrected her. "But in the process I put everyone in danger… I put Ralph in danger… because I got it wrong. I pieced the puzzle together incorrectly. I can't apologise enough."
"OK, here's the thing, I was kinda mad at you for a while," admitted Paige. "But that's just because of my overwhelming desire to protect my son. I don't think that'll ever change and I don't want it to - I'll still want to protect him when he's twenty-five years old and a foot taller than me – but I realise now that it wasn't your fault. You did everything you could to keep him safe and I should have trusted you. I guess if there's a lesson for you to learn from all this it's just that you need to remember to communicate with the team. You and I are getting so good at communicating, but now you need to apply everything you've learnt to them. You're already so much better at it than you were and there's less friction at the garage because of it."
"I thought I had all the answers."
"You always think that," noted Paige with a grin.
Walter nodded. "I assumed it would be easy and I did not anticipate the dangers. The whole process took far longer than I thought it would when I made my promise to Kimberley and it was… well, it wasn't easy. Not easy at all."
Paige smiled. "Kimberley didn't expect you to solve the case in a day," she said. "But you did because you figured your IQ would lead you straight to the killer and now you're sulking because it didn't wind up being quite that simple and you took a few wrong turns along the way."
"Something like that… although I don't think I'm sulking… am I?"
"I guess not," she admitted with a laugh. "Maybe we'll call it being introspective. Anyway, the thing about murderers is they don't behave logically, just ask Toby."
She glanced across to where Toby and Happy were both fast asleep under the parasol and chuckled as she remembered how she was constantly exhausted with just the one toddler to take care of.
"He can probably explain it much better than me," she continued eventually. "Pete Mullins killed Charlie in the heat of the moment, because he was jealous of him getting back in contact with Kaye. It's not logical at all, it was all about uncontrollable emotion and you're still learning how people – how normal people – react in those situations."
"I was convinced either Sanders, or Sametti, was the culprit," replied Walter. "Both of them had logical reasons for wanting Charlie out of the way and I wasted time pursuing that line of enquiry."
"Listen, Walter, don't beat yourself up over this," insisted Paige with a frown. "Neither of them were exactly innocent - you and that kid, Josh, almost died because they dumped chemicals in the ocean and now they're both facing lengthy jail sentences. The ocean has been cleaned up and we can all enjoy the beach again safely now. You did good, Walter."
Walter sighed. "We've successfully solved crimes before using our skills, but this was different somehow."
"All crimes are different, all criminals are different," Paige explained. "I don't think you can apply the same kind of problem solving skills that you use for our regular cases."
"Hmmm," replied Walter, seemingly unconvinced.
"Look, why don't you talk to Kimberley about it?" suggested Paige. "I'm sure she'll tell you that she's grateful for everything you did to figure out who murdered her friend."
"I'll do that." Walter pushed himself up to a sitting position, but Paige put a firm hand on his chest.
"Not now!" she hissed. "She's kinda…" she paused, glancing over her shoulder and smiling at the sight of the newest Scorpion couple gazing lovingly into each other's eyes. "She's kinda busy right now."
At the water's edge, Sylvester could tell Paige was talking about them. You didn't need to have Toby's skill's to notice how often she glanced over and quickly looked away, but Sylvester had also noticed the smile on her face and he took comfort in that.
He'd taken Kimberley away from the rest of the group because it was obvious that she needed some quiet time. They'd mostly been standing in silence, looking out to sea and Sylvester hadn't felt this calm for a long time.
Calm.
She calms me…
Sylvester hadn't had that particular thought in a long time and it sent a familiar sensation swirling through his body, one he'd started to wonder if he'd ever feel again. He squeezed Kimberley's hand tightly.
Yesterday's funeral had been tough for her and he'd done everything he could to support her. There had been a lot of tears last night, especially at the revelation that it had been her boss, Captain Sanders who had broken into her apartment looking for evidence about the seaweed. Now, with the sun shining and the waves gently lapping at their feet, things felt completely different.
"Maybe we should go back and join the others?" she suggested.
"We will… soon," replied Sylvester. "Right now I'm quite liking standing here in the ocean with you." They were only just in the ocean, not even ankle deep, but it was enough for Sylvester.
"I thought you hated the water?"
"I do," agreed Sylvester. "But you love it and so I'm here, dipping my toes in… figuratively and literally… because I… because I enjoy spending time with you. Alone. Because I care about you. A lot. An awful lot, actually."
For a brief moment he'd almost said '…because I love you,' but he'd made the mistake of rushing into an unwarranted declaration of love once before and he wasn't about to make a fool of himself again. Not that this situation was anything like the last, but he'd learnt a lot about himself and about his feelings since then and he knew there was no need to say those three little words yet. It didn't mean the way he felt about Kimberley was any less real.
Kimberley's face lit up. "I care about you too, Sylvester," she replied. "And this… just being here at the beach with you like this… it's so special."
Sylvester's free hand slipped around her shoulders and he pulled her close. His light cotton shirt was open almost to the waist and as he pulled her in, her hand naturally came to rest on his bare chest.
"Is this OK?" she whispered. She was still learning about his reactions to touch and about her own desires and she didn't want to mess with either of their heads, but it had felt so natural to press her palm to his skin.
"It's fine," responded Sylvester with a warm smile. "I like it."
The way Kimberley had embraced all his anxieties - the fact that she didn't seem to find it at all awkward to ask him if he was OK with various things – was a huge reason for why he felt so comfortable around her.
Yes… she calms me…
She asked, he answered and it was so simple. No panic, no regrets about doing, or not doing something, or about saying, or not saying something. Being with her felt so easy.
He leaned in to kiss her, but Kimberley pulled her head away. "Here?" she asked. "You know people can see us, right?"
"I know," replied Sylvester. "And I'm OK with that," he added with a confident grin.
"Oh, good, because I'm just fine with it too!" exclaimed Kimberley and she smashed her lips against his.
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
"What time is it?"
"Almost five, time for your nap, old man."
"You're the one who's been asleep half the afternoon, Doc," retorted Cabe with a scowl. "Pass those chips, will you?"
Toby obliged, handing him the half-empty bag and the jar of dip to go with them. "I don't think there's too much sand in it," he said with a wicked grin.
Cabe peered into the jar, turned his nose up in disgust and handed it to Paige.
"I think we know how that got in there," she said, rolling her eyes in Toby's direction.
The evening sun was glaring off the ocean and Paige had already started to pack away the picnic things, so she placed the lid on the jar and put it in the bag with everything else.
Happy was still dozing and Toby momentarily contemplated waking her, but immediately thought better of it. If it meant she had difficulty falling asleep in bed tonight, he could think of one or two things to do to occupy her and tire her out at the same time.
"Where did Sly and Kim go?" asked Cabe, looking up and down the beach.
"For another romantic walk," replied Toby. "Maybe I should offer the Sly Dog some hints and tips for tonight?" he suggested with a wink. "If I was still a betting man, I'd put a hefty wager on imminent bedroom action."
Paige frowned at him. "No, Toby, they're taking it slowly. They only met, like, three weeks ago. Sly is a gentleman and Kimberley is young and I don't think either of them need to ruin what they have by following any of your advice on… on bedroom action."
"Give the kids a break," added Cabe. "They'll get there when they're ready. Right now I figure the thought hasn't even crossed Sly's mind."
"Oh, it has," insisted Toby.
"They're happy, they don't need any more pressure," added Paige.
"Pressure? I object to the insinuation there, Paige," responded Toby, with mock indignation. Then his expression became more genuine. "I guess I haven't seen Sly this relaxed in a long time," he admitted.
"I'm just so happy for Sly," smiled Paige.
"Me too," agreed Allie, with a smile. "Now come on, Gallo, your nose is a little burnt. I think we've had enough sunshine and sea air for one day."
"Aloe and a little lavender oil," said Toby with a knowing nod and Allie smiled, grateful for the skincare advice.
Allie began gathering up her belongings. "Your girls must be exhausted, Toby," she said as she slipped her bare feet back into her sandals.
They all looked over to where Ralph and Walter were sitting with Stella and Caitlin, playing in the sand.
"I think they're probably a little overstimulated," said Paige. "Walter said something about demonstrating how sand dunes form," she added.
"Kinda young for a science lecture, aren't they?" noted Cabe with a frown, as he began buttoning his shirt.
"Never too young for science," replied Toby. "Besides, when Walt goes into lecture mode his voice modulates and young kids respond to the changes in tone and pitch."
Cabe got to his feet and held out his hand to help Allie. She took it gratefully and slung her bag over her shoulder as he pulled her up. Just then her phone rang and she took it from her bag. "Oh," she exclaimed, staring at the number on the screen. "It's the foster agency."
"Well answer it then!" exclaimed Paige, frustrated by her hesitation.
Allie put the phone to her ear. "Hello?" she began in a nervous voice. "Yes, speaking. Yes… yes, that's right." She turned and walked away from the others to continue her conversation.
Paige and Toby looked over at Cabe who had frozen to the spot. "You OK, Cabe?" asked Toby with concern.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure," he replied nonchalantly. "Just… y'know, surprised to hear from them already. They said it would take a couple week at least to process everything. Unless… unless they're turning us down?"
"They'd be fools to turn you guys down!" exclaimed Paige, but Cabe just shrugged.
Paige exchanged a glance with Toby. She knew Cabe could be right, there was always the possibility that the fostering agency could consider their combined age as good reason to decide they were unsuitable to be foster parents, not to mention Cabe's dangerous occupation, but Toby and Sylvester had written strong supporting statements for their application and the initial response had been good.
They all waited silently for a minute or two until Allie returned. Her expression was unreadable to everyone except Toby.
"Good news, huh?" he offered.
Allie nodded and finally a smile appeared. "Yes," she agreed. She swallowed hard before continuing. "The application is still being processed," she explained. "But there's a girl, she's thirteen years old. Her mother is scheduled for major back surgery next month and she won't be able to take care of her for four to six weeks afterwards. The agency have put our names forward, assuming the paperwork all goes through in time. The lady I was speaking to thinks we'd be a perfect."
Cabe slipped his arm around her shoulders. "You happy?" he asked, his huge smile negating the need to ask him the same question.
"Oh, Cabe," she replied, as her smile broadened. "Yes!"
"Congratulations!" exclaimed Paige and she flung her arms around both of them at once.
The noise woke Happy and she sat up, momentarily confused. "What the hell…?"
"Cabe and Allie are going to experience the joys of parenthood, darlin'," Toby explained, dropping to his knees beside his wife.
"Allie's… pregnant?" Happy responded, rubbing her eyes. "Oh, wait, you mean the fostering thing don't you."
Cabe chuckled. "Fostering," he confirmed. "I think you'd better get your good lady wife home, Doc," he added.
"I gotta pee first," said Happy and she walked off towards the bathroom block.
"Well we have a lot to organise now... this is really happening," said Allie, as the reality of the news started to sink in. "Thank you for arranging the picnic, Paige. It's been a lovely afternoon."
They went over to say goodbye to Walter, Ralph and the twins before heading for home.
Paige's eyes were drawn again to Walter and her son playing with Stella and Caitlin. Caitlin appeared to be captivated by Walter's demonstration of how sand slipped through his fingers. Stella, on the other hand, was digging a hole with a plastic spade as Ralph did his best to stop her sending too much sand flying into the air.
"Getting a little glimpse of the future?" asked Toby. "You could wind up with twins too, y'know. I'll ask Sly to calculate the odds."
Paige shuddered. "I think one set of Scorpion twins is enough, don't you?" she replied.
Then her face fell. She turned away, but it was too late of course, Toby had already noticed.
"Hey," he said in a low voice. "What's wrong?"
Paige considered her answer for a moment. This afternoon at the beach, surrounded by her whole family, had been idyllic and yet Paige had been wrestling with her thoughts for the last couple of hours.
"Trying not to build my hopes up, I guess," she replied, eventually. "It's just that things have a habit of not going to plan for us. I keep having these flashes of how our future might be – all blissful and joyous, I mean – but what if it doesn't happen like that after all? Walter and I have all these ideas and plans now, but you can't really plan everything, can you. I've wanted this life with Walter – and Ralph - for so long, but now I guess a part of me is scared… I guess because of what happened last year… and I can't push those feelings away, Toby."
Toby drew a slow breath. "You know what I'm going to say, don't you?"
A small, knowing smile danced at the corners of Paige's lips. "Talk to Walter about it?" she offered.
"Exactly!" replied Toby. "It makes sense to have a discussion about it, to have an idea about how you'll deal with, say, not getting pregnant straight away, or whatever else is on your mind. Hap and I never had that discussion, we just assumed because I'm so damn good in bed that we'd get pregnant just like that and when we didn't… well, the reality hit us hard because we weren't prepared."
"And now look at you," smiled Paige. "Two kids already, Toby and another one on the way!"
"I know! How did that happen?" he smirked. "Anyway, I'm not saying that you'll have the same problems we had – I suspect One Ninety Seven's spermatozoa are just waiting for the right moment to impress your ovum with their IQ…"
"Toby! Even I know how scientifically inaccurate that is, not to mention... weird and gross."
"OK, fair point," agreed Toby. "Talk to Walter. And then have lots of sex."
Paige felt her cheeks flush red and Toby's grin grew wider. "Just help me fold this picnic blanket will you?" she asked.
They'd almost cleared everything away by the time Sylvester and Kimberley returned.
"Lovebirds are back!" Toby called out.
"What did we say earlier about giving them a break?" hissed Paige, but Toby just winked at her.
"Sorry we didn't hang out with you guys much," said Sylvester.
"No need to apologise," replied Paige. "As long as you had a good time, that's all that matters."
Sylvester and Kimberley exchanged smiles. "Yes, we did, thank you," Kimberley said.
"I'm glad to hear it," said Walter. Then he turned to Happy. He had Caitlin in his arms, she was half asleep with her head resting on his shoulder. "Your daughter is a quick learner," he said. "You should continue with her studies when you get home, she appears to have an aptitude for particle mechanics."
"Walt, she's a baby and she likes playing with sand," retorted Happy. "Now I'm not saying she's not smart and I'm all for starting 'em early, but I think I'll hold her next lesson over until the morning. Look at her, she's pooped."
"She does that a lot," grinned Toby, pinching his nose. "And it's not nice!"
Happy glared at him. "You know what I meant!" she retorted. Then she turned back to Walter. "Hey, O'Brien, thanks for keeping her entertained for so long. She really likes you." She smiled as she peeled her daughter from his arms. "You might just make a good dad after all, assuming you and the waitress can figure out the baby making thing."
Paige glanced at Toby, wondering for a moment if he'd told Happy about their earlier conversation, but Toby shook his head and Paige realised it was just a throwaway comment.
"We'll figure it out," she replied, smiling coyly at Walter. "But with Cabe and Allie preparing to welcome a teenage foster daughter and you guys having a baby in a couple months, maybe spreading out the new arrivals wouldn't be such a bad thing?"
Toby nodded approvingly, glad to see her notably less tense while discussing the future. "C'mon beautiful wife and beautiful daughters," he said. "Bathtime awaits!"
"We're going too," said Sylvester as Toby and Happy left, each carrying an exhausted toddler in one arm and a bag of baby paraphernalia in the other. "Kimberley and I have plans for a quiet evening in front of the TV."
"Thank you, Paige, for today," smiled Kimberley. "It means so much to me that you… that all of you…" she stopped, choking back tears and Sylvester pulled her into a hug.
"She means thank you for welcoming her into our family," he said, gently stroking her hair as he spoke and realising, for the first time since they solved the case, how they might never have met if Charlie Snyder had not been murdered. Suddenly their relationship seemed even more important to him than it had already.
"It's our pleasure," Paige responded. "Enjoy your evening." She slipped her hand into Walter's as Sylvester and Kimberley left, aware somehow that she had just witnessed an important moment in the evolution of Team Scorpion.
"I'll take some of this stuff to the car," offered Ralph and he gathered up the rug and one of the parasols in his arms.
"Thank you, honey," replied Paige. It was obvious that he was making an excuse to leave her and Walter alone for a few minutes and she couldn't have been more proud. "We'll be with you in five... or ten," she added.
Walter held her hand tightly as Ralph headed off towards the car. Neither of them said a word for a few minutes. Eventually it was Walter who broke the silence.
"When I set up Scorpion," he began. "I wanted to… to create a place for people like me, for geniuses, for people who were different. Somewhere we could belong, somewhere we could learn from each other, somewhere we could use our abilities for the greater good."
Paige nodded slowly. "And you did that, Walter," she replied, not entirely sure where this train of thought had sprung from.
"I did," agreed Walter. "But I created so much more than I could ever have dreamed of, Paige. Toby and Happy and the twins and their new baby... you and me and Ralph…" he paused as he tried to take it all in. "Cabe and Allie... and Sylvester… first he had Megan and now he has Kimberley. I created a home, I created a family. I don't quite know how to process that, Paige, but… but it feels good."
"It should do, Walter. You've built something wonderful here."
"But I've never known anything like this," he continued, shrugging her away as his mind continued to race. "Except maybe with Megan, but that was all because of her and who she was. I look around me now, Paige and… and everyone has a future… there's all this… love… and I don't just mean you and me, it's everywhere and… and…"
Paige pressed her finger to his lips. "Ssshhh…" she soothed. He was becoming overwhelmed and she knew she needed to slow down his thought processes. "Sometimes I wonder if you understand just how important you are to all of us and how much we all love you because it's so far away from the way you perceive yourself and your achievements… your emotional achievements, if that makes sense."
"Do… do the others really feel that way?"
"You don't always give yourself enough credit for changing all of our lives for the better," she smiled. "You claim the credit for everything else," she added with a smirk.
Walter nodded slowly and smiled. Their ever expanding family was one giant leap further than he could ever have envisaged when he'd first connected with Happy, Toby and Sylvester, but now he couldn't imagine his life any other way.
He wrapped his arms around Paige and held her close. "We've achieved so much this year," he whispered, not quite able to believe it himself.
"We have and we have so much more to look forward to," agreed Paige. "I love you, Walter O'Brien."
Walter pressed his lips against hers. "And I love you… more than I can comprehend."
"You don't have to comprehend it, Walter, you just have to feel it."
"Oh, I feel it, Paige. I feel it every moment of every day."
THE END.
...but the story isn't over! Volume 2 of this series will follow shortly, I hope you all decide to come along with me for another ride. I enjoy playing with these characters so much I can't let them go!