PROCREATION SCIENCE – A MISCONCEPTION

CHAPTER 7

AN: This chapter teeters on the edge of 'M' in a couple of paragraphs. You have been forewarned. There will be a short epilogue after this because even though I left Waige in a good place, there's a pretty significant loose thread that needs to be sewed up.

Disclaimer: This author is not responsible for damages to any reader's computer equipment due to spewage of any kind. HaHaHaHa! Some of your reviews make me laugh so much! They all make my day better! Thank you!

xXxXxXxXxXx

He scolded himself silently. He was disgusted with his earlier outburst in front of Toby. It was uncalled for and completely illogical. It solved nothing.

He recognized he also needed to go downstairs and clean up the mess. Not only the shattered mug and its contents, but Walter knew he should try to divert the shrink's attention away from analyzing a situation that wasn't his business, before he made it his business to intervene.

But she might be down there now. And he wasn't ready to face her. He didn't know if he'd ever be ready.

In retrospect, his brilliant plan wasn't all that brilliant. It was pretty basic as it turned out. Pretty ordinary. Normal even. It took hours of exhaustive analysis and uncomfortable introspection to figure out the real reason it appealed to him in the first place. It wasn't because he thought Ralph deserved a sibling like Megan, although that certainly was a factor. And it wasn't because he wanted DNA and characteristics similar to Megan's to live on through his progeny, even though those outcomes would be favorable as well. It wasn't even due to the tremendous attraction he felt toward her, even though it was much stronger than anything he'd felt toward any other human in all his thirty-two years. Those all made good arguments in favor, but they weren't at the root of his motivation.

Truth be told, her statement about wanting a sibling for Ralph wasn't the first time the idea crossed his mind either. The origin of the thought process could be pinpointed to the case when they 'got Paige pregnant' to break into the UN. Even if it was false, the sight of her in that condition sparked something primal in him.

And all of it boiled down to one simple bit of rationale. No amount of logic could touch it. No amount of rationalizations could refute it. Not for lack of effort on his part.

The fact was, Walter loved her.

He wanted to make a family with her. And Ralph. He wanted to be a permanent part of their lives. And the impulse had become stronger since Megan died. He missed having a connection like that.

He sorely wished he hadn't made that promise to be less reckless, because what he needed more than anything was a shot of pure adrenaline to get him out of his head space. He couldn't find a solution, he was unable to think of a way to proceed and the consistent barrage of disquieting thoughts was slowly driving him mad.

It appeared love was a problem that couldn't be resolved.

Walter rubbed his aching temples and stared at the home screen on his laptop to keep up the pretense of doing something productive. He'd tried several distraction techniques throughout the night with little to no success. So he slapped his computer shut with a growl.

That's when Paige walked in, of course.

The sight of her sent a jolt straight through him and he froze, just staring. His perfect memory bombarded him with vivid images of her sleepy and satisfied and disheveled in the aftermath of their sexual encounters and he unintentionally took mental inventory of all her curves and angles, his fingers aching to retrace them. He had to look away from her, sure the visions were going to damage his mind's eye like staring at the sun too long could cause blindness.

Paige hovered in the doorway for a few seconds before hesitantly stepping into his living room. She stopped just a foot or two shy of the end of the couch where he sat. Walter would have sensed her nearness even if he couldn't see the tips of her shoes in his peripheral vision. He was vibrating like a tuning fork in awareness of her presence. Similar to a radio built to receive waves of only one frequency.

Her quiet, "Hey," startled him as if it was a cannon blast.

"Can we talk for a few minutes?" Paige asked when he didn't respond.

Walter thought, 'I can't', but his mouth said, "Okay." His brain was obviously not in command of his body, since he scooted over making room for her on the sofa too.

She settled in beside him making a fuss over the placement of her skirt around her then worrying the hem with nervous fingers. "I'm sorry this is so awkward. It's my fault. I made a huge mistake."

Walter's palpitating heart sunk like a stone. So, she was just going to reiterate their previous conversation? How was that going to make things better or less strange between them? He clenched his jaw for a beat to keep the acidic nature of his answer to a minimum. "You said as much yesterday. No need to repeat it. I understood the first time."

"No, Walter. That isn't the mistake I mean. It wasn't even the mistake I meant then, but I didn't realize it until Toby…"

His eyes flew to hers. "Toby?! You told Toby about… about…"

Paige laid a hand on his arm and the fists he didn't know he'd clenched began to slowly relax. "He guessed as soon as he saw me. I didn't go into details, don't worry. But he did help me see something big I missed."

He angled his body toward hers relishing the little bit of contact and warmth he was getting from her fingers clutching at his shirt sleeve. How odd to have touch aversion with almost everyone else, but hers was like heroin and he was a total junkie. Stupid, inconvenient love.

"What?" Walter rasped through his suddenly tight throat. He cleared it and started over, "What did he help you see?"

Her tender smile reminded him of her kisses, and he had to look away before he did something purely idiotic. She answered, "The actual reason we started this whole thing."

"What's that?" He prompted, his interest piqued. What conclusions had she drawn? Were they the same as his?

"We've admitted to being attracted to each other, to caring about each other, but saying those things wasn't too risky. We were always too cautious to try a real relationship. We both have abandonment issues. We both don't want to risk Scorpion or Ralph or… ourselves. This was a way for us to be a couple without being a couple. Right?"

"That sounds fairly… accurate. But if-if we were successful in deluding ourselves in that regard, why did you want to stop?" He hated how needy he sounded.

"Because I saw pretty quickly what it all really meant to me. Everything was so intense and so wonderful and so much what I wanted... what I've wanted for a very long time that I was afraid. I was afraid it wasn't the same for you. I didn't want to be in l-… to feel… all that by myself." Profound relief flooded him with her words and hope flared to life.

Covering her hand with his, Walter's eyes bravely met hers and he murmured. "You were afraid I didn't love you? You've never needed to worry about that."

Paige's mouth formed a perfect 'O' of astonishment and he couldn't resist the urge a minute longer. He closed the distance and kissed her right on those shocked lips. It only took her half a second to recover and wrap herself around him, kissing him back and exploring his mouth with her own. Neither much cared that it was business hours and they were on the clock or that the rest of the crew was downstairs. Being close again felt so overwhelmingly good.

Her skirt rode up her thighs when she moved to straddle his lap. And they groaned into each other's open mouths when her warm softness came in contact with his answering hardness. She gasped when he instinctively nudged against her. Only a few layers of damp fabric separated them from being where they truly wanted to be. Needed to be. His fingers dug into her hips as he pulled her impossibly closer. His hands slipped from her hips and crawled their way under the back of her shirt, and she bit his ear in retaliation then smoothed it with her tongue. Walter pressed his palms on her back bringing her chest flush with his, breathing love words into her neck.

"Uh, gross!" Happy's outburst put a halt to their frenetic petting, thankfully before clothing started coming off. The mechanic whipped around, her back to the couple on the couch. "Can we make a new company policy? No groping during work hours. I may be scarred for life."

"Sorry," Walter muttered unrepentantly while Paige bit her lips to stop the embarrassed giggles from escaping.

"Okay, well if the two of you are done, Cabe is here and he's got a case for us."

"Understood," Walter said a little sourly, "We'll be down in a minute."

"You realize they are going to have a field day with this, right?" Walter sighed after Happy tromped loudly back down the stairs.

"That's okay. I'm ready to tell anyone who will listen that we're together and I love you, Walter O'Brien. And if they still give us a hard time? I'll bring out my secret weapon." Paige stood up and straightened her clothes while her boyfriend watched grinning in pleasure at her declaration.

When his thinking caught up to her last statement, he inquired, "What secret weapon?"

"Oh, I saw them coming out of the Airstream early one morning last week. Let's just say my ears are still blistered from what I overheard beforehand."

"WHAT?!"

It was Paige's turn to kiss the appalled expression off Walter's face. Then grabbing his hand, she led him toward the doorway.

Time to face the music. Together.