Making Relationships Work

Part 17

Saturday June 2, 2018

Walter and Ralph spent the morning hours working on finishing the coding work on the Greentech job, leaving them a few hours of review on Tuesday to complete it. They also spent a little time on the United Airlines weight distribution project. Ralph wanted to get started on the design of the crutches for Happy right after lunch.

Paige used the morning to get some needed shopping done and she also wanted to run by the hospital to check on Sylvester and Happy again. By the time she got there around 10:30, Sylvester had just been discharged and he was sitting in the same room with Happy and Toby.

"Hey guys, just wanted to see how you were doing."

"Hey Paige." They all answered.

"Sly, good to see you in here, I guess that means everything went well this morning?"

"It did. Other than a minor cough that should go away in a few days they said I should have no lingering effects." Sly told her as he squirted some more hand sanitizer on his hands.

"Good, and how about you Happy? Any pain?"

"No, they got me on some medication for pain, good stuff too. Other than that, I can't complain. You come up by yourself or are they coming in too?"

"They needed to finish up some work from yesterday and Ralph was pushing Walter to help with designing you some crutches this afternoon. We all planned on coming up in the afternoon when they finished, if that was okay."

"They don't need to do that for me."

"Oh, Ralph wanted to. Trust me."

Paige stayed for another twenty minutes before she needed to grab some lunch and head back to the garage.

With everything that happened yesterday, they still planned on finalizing the deal with Richard and take ownership of the house on Monday. Paige wanted to make a special treat for her two geniuses to help celebrate the occasion, so she planned on heading over to her condo to do some prep cooking while they worked on Happy's crutches. Nobody else knew about the house as of yet, and they hoped by the end of the week they could have everyone over to see it.

"I will give you boys until 4:00, and then we are going to see Happy. I've got some more stuff to run around and take care of. And then tonight, the three of us are spending a date night together. But no pizza." Paige told them before pulling Walter over to speak to him for a second. "I got the forms sent off this morning, Drew should have them Monday and hopefully just sign them and send them back the same day. I will call and remind him while you guys are at Richard's talking to the engineers."

"Thank you for getting that sent off today. And just to clarify, you are okay with me wanting to do this."

"Oh my gosh Walter. Yes. The sooner the better as far as I'm concerned. And I know how much this will mean to him too." Paige told Walter with glistening eyes knowing how much it would mean to Ralph. And to her.

A few minutes after four, Paige got back to the garage to corral her men and go to the hospital to see Happy. Much to her delight they had cleaned up everything they had gotten out and even had a 3-D sample of a new crutch design to show Happy. They really were a couple of geniuses.

Florence had stopped by earlier and taken Sly home for a while, so when they got to the hospital it was only Happy and Toby there. Toby had calmed down and was not causing any more trouble with the nurses. They seemed to have the situation under control.

"Happy, look we made a sample of a new design for a crutch, what do you think?"

"That looks really good guys. Having it flare out at the bottom would make it sturdier. What type of material are you thinking of using for it?"

"Walter said we could try to use titanium for yours, It will be lightweight and super strong, you know in case you wanted to beat Toby with them for anything." Ralph said getting some laughs from the room.

"That's not a bad idea, but titanium is expensive, why not build it out of aluminum?"

"It would be more fun to work with titanium, plus one good whack with aluminum and it would probably break."

"Can't argue with that." Happy told him.

"Hey, I picked up some magazines for you to read, nothing girly though."

"Motors and Carbs, Gearheads, and Choppers. Wow Paige, thanks."

"Toby, how are you holding up?" Walter asked him.

"I'm good. Just don't like seeing the misses like this." Toby told him, knowing it still wasn't time to talk about things with Walter.

They all talked for another hour before Sly and Florence got back just as Walter, Paige and Ralph were leaving for their dinner date.

"Have fun on your date tonight waitress."

"Oh, I will. I plan on them showering me with affection." Paige told them as she hugged Happy goodbye.

They wound up eating at a new Asian fusion restaurant and enjoyed the food. After they ate, Walter took them to an outdoor concert at one of the nearby beaches and they sat on a blanket and listened to the musicians sing. Ralph ran into one of his friends at the beach and the two of them hung out for a while leaving Walter and Paige to have some alone time.

"Yesterday I overheard something I wanted to talk to you about."

"OK. Was it something I did wrong?"

"No, not at all. Something I got wrong a long time ago." Paige told him as her eyes glazed over.

"Are you okay?" Walter asked seeing the emotion in her eyes.

"Yes, I'm okay. It's about the day when you found out the full truth about Baghdad and I told you we were going to move to Maine." Paige started out telling him as the tears in her eyes spilled over. "I know that day is not a pleasant memory for you, and it isn't for me either. But the talk we had before I was going to leave, when I was upset about Ralph risking his life." She went on as tears continued to fall. "And I told you how much he admired you and worshiped you. And that I didn't want him to become you. I couldn't have gotten that any more wrong Walter." Paige finished bawling.

"What um, what made you think um think of that today? You were trying to protect Ralph, I know how difficult that day was for you."

"My son, hopefully soon our son, still admires you and worships you Walter. I heard him talking to Sly yesterday and he told him he hoped someday he can be as smart and brave as you, so he can help people like you do. If he could be anything like you Walter, I would be so so very proud of him. There is not a single person on the planet I would want him to be more like. I need you to know that and how sorry I am for ever thinking differently." Paige finished telling him before burying her face in his shoulder and holding on to him tight.

Walter was at a loss and didn't know exactly how to respond to her at first. He just continued to hold her in his arms and tell her how much he loved her.

"Ralph will be a far greater person than I could ever be. He has always had you as his foundation, and I can't think of anyone stronger or more qualified to have raised him."

"I love you so much Walter, and I know Ralph does too."

They spent the rest of the concert with Walter's arms wrapped around Paige as she leaned into him and enjoyed the music. After it was over, Ralph made his way over to them and they returned to Paige's condo for the night.

Sunday June 3, 2018

Cabe pulled up in his packed SUV to the hospital right before noon when Happy was scheduled to be released. Everyone wanted to be there when she left, and they all planned on eating together at Kovelsky's for a late lunch. Cabe was hoping that the gathering would be the start of finding a way to become a family again.

They sat together at one big table and ate as a unit for the first time in close to two months. The conversation mostly revolved around the fire at Beauchamp's building.

"I'd like to say something to everyone if I could." Toby started out saying. "I need to apologize to all of you for the way I acted Friday. I'm ashamed of what I did. I not only left my wife and my friend in a burning building, I also almost caused the rescue of them to fail with my childish behavior. And it wasn't just Friday, I have some serious issues I need to get figured out with how I have been acting, and I will. I know I have a few difficult conversations I need to have with some of you guys too when you are ready to have them with me and for now, I will just say I am sincerely sorry."

"I need to say something too. Walt thank you again for saving my life for the umpteenth time. I just need to tell you I appreciate your friendship, all of you guys." Happy added keeping it short.

"I guess as Centipede Partner's attorney I should be the one to inform everyone else that we have officially decided to cease being a business. We talked about it last week on Wednesday and agreed that after we finished the Beauchamp job we didn't want to do this anymore. It never felt right to begin with."

"That's because it wasn't right. And I think all four of you know that. Paige too." Florence said after suddenly finding a voice. "She was just smart enough to realize it before you three did that's all."

"Florence is right. It wasn't right. Nothing that happened that night was right. I said some pretty awful things that I will never be able to take back. I jumped to conclusions." Paige started out saying as tears came to her eyes. Walter quickly grabbed a hold of her hand to show her support and understanding. "But that night did happen. And I promised to make myself a better person because of it. And to learn from it. And I will only speak for myself right now, but that was the biggest mistake of my life. One I will never make again. I'm sorry Walter."

"You have nothing to be sorry for anymore." Walter told her still holding her hand. "You know how much of that night was my fault, and you have already apologized to me for everything. If anything I need to apologize to you again and in front of everyone that was there. I hurt you when I kept the truth from you. You only reacted to the situation you were in, the one I-I put you in, so please know how sorry I am for that. I should have t-trusted you more to tell you everything that was going on knowing we would find a way to get through it. That is a mistake that I made and one I won't ever make again. You're right, that night unfortunately did happen, but I also learned from it, and will be better because of it too." Walter finished saying before hugging Paige making sure she was okay.

"What are you guys going to do now?" Ralph asked of the three Centipede members.

"Good question squirt. I have a good month and a half to figure that out. Maybe I'll open up my dad's shop."

"Yeah, first thing I need to do is make sure the wife gets better."

"Me and Florence talked about maybe working together on some more projects. And I do have some Alderman duties I need to get caught up on too."

"Was I that bad of a boss that none of you would even consider Scorpion?" Walter asked.

"Honestly Walt, I couldn't ask for a better boss than you." Happy started to tell him. "I wouldn't think that was an option though, not after what I did."

"Me neither." Sly told him. "You were always a good boss Walter."

"Me too Walt, I know we have some major discussions to have but you were always a good boss to us no matter how bad I treated you."

Walter was not sure what to say next and Cabe and Paige both picked up on it.

"I think maybe that's a good place to stop for now, don't you think Walter?" Paige said still holding onto Walter's hand making sure he was okay. He nodded in agreement.

"I agree." Cabe added before anyone else said anything. "I think maybe we meet up again later in the week and we all have another meal together. Everybody okay with that? Paige you okay with setting everything up?"

"I can do that. Not a problem." Paige told him. "I will send out a group text to everyone."

Cabe dropped Sly and Florence off first and then took Walter, Paige and Ralph to the garage. They invited him in for a few minutes to talk about the lunch they just all shared.

"Son, I want you to listen to me on this. Do not feel under any obligation to offer everyone their job back. I'm not telling you to turn them away either. I think you two, maybe even three of you need to figure that out amongst yourselves."

"I think Cabe is right. I know you always want to make sure everyone is safe and okay. It is one of the qualities I have always admired about you and one of the reasons I love you. And I will never tell you how to run Scorpion, I only want to be there and support you and give you guidance when you need it." Paige told him reassuringly.

"OK kids, I'm gonna take off. I'm not coming in tomorrow because you guys have that thing with Elia; bright and early Tuesday, before the cinnamon hits the coffee maker." Cabe said as he winked at Paige.

"Thanks Cabe. For everything." Walter told him.

"Anytime son."

After Cabe left, Walter and Paige sat down on a couch and continued to talk while Ralph was busy tinkering with computer parts.

"Tell me what's on your mind Walter."

"Thank you first for realizing I needed some time to think and process my thoughts. I don't know how I feel about them coming back to work here yet. I um was initially hurt that none of them considered it."

"I could tell. I don't think it was because they didn't want to Walter. I kind of got a free pass in that regard, because honestly I was at a loss on how I was going to ask you for my job back. I was embarrassed by what I did by leaving and you were kind enough to not make me ask to work with you again. That may be how they all feel too."

"What do you think we should do?"

"Walter I will help you with any decision you want me to. I would say you need to think about it for a while. Nothing needs to happen tonight or tomorrow or even later in the week."

"Can I just put you in charge of all new hires? I mean the summer intern you hired has been phenomenal." Walter told her kissing her hand. Paige smiled at him knowing he was trying to get out of making a decision.

"Like I said, I will help you any way you want me to. I will. But I want you to think about this first okay?"

"You're right. Thank you." Walter told her before giving her a kiss on the top of the head as he got up. "You want some coffee?"

"Yes, please."

"Let me get some started, I'll be right back."

A few minutes later he was back with an idea while they waited on the coffee.

"What if we had everyone over later in the week for dinner?"

"Are you talking about at the house or here? I don't think we would be all moved into the house this week."

"Would that be okay? Maybe just use the big table out on the deck and have everyone see the house."

"I do like that idea. Have a dinner at sunset. People can hang out on the beach if they want to. It would be a good way to show everyone the house too." Paige told him.

Monday June 4, 2018

Today was a special day for Walter and Paige, another big step in their relationship. After today the three of them would officially be living together. They couldn't wait to surprise Ralph.

They arrived at Richard's office at 9:30 with all the signed forms and paperwork they needed to turn over the rights to the work that Walter and Ralph had done on the engine. Richard had one of his attorneys with him to go over everything and also in case any questions were needed to be answered. Richard even agreed to pay all the closing costs on the house as well as an extra $100,000 for any additional upgrades they wanted to have done as a house warming present.

While all of that was going on, Richard had set up a tour of the manufacturing facility for Ralph after finding out how he was interested in some of the projects he had going on there. It was a good way to distract him for the hour or so they needed to sign all the forms and go over everything.

By 11:00 Walter, Paige and Ralph were not only the proud owners of the house, but they were also millionaires. After they realized it was official, they needed a few minutes to soak it all in.

By the time they met up with Ralph in the manufacturing plant they were both smiling and relaxed. This was more the area that Walter excelled in and was looking forward to. Boardroom meetings and offices were not his thing, working on inventions and upgrades, yes please. Ralph was the same way. This was what they were both looking forward to. The money meant nothing to them, Paige felt the same way. If they were together and happy, nothing else mattered to the three of them. They weren't going to turn down living on the beach in a house like they now owned, but being a family unit was secretly what all three of them had wanted for a long time.

A few hours into the presentation, Richard had one of his chefs start to prepare everyone's meals. Paige excused herself to follow up with Drew before the food would be ready. Drew surprised her a second time by not only answering the call, but by telling her he had signed everything and had dropped it off at the post office by 2:00 his time. He apologized to her for the way he acted on the phone the other night and even tried to set up a time to come out to L.A. to see Ralph, on their dime of course.

At lunch, Paige pulled Walter aside and told him about Drew which brought a big smile to his face.

"I think that definitely calls for a celebration tonight." Walter told her with a smile.

"I agree. Surprising him with our new home will be a big treat for him. Like you said, he will have several ideas for experiments the two of you can do within a few minutes of being there. I still can't believe this happened today."

"Me neither, I'm just glad I get to share the experience with both of you."

"We feel the same way; but let's eat. The sooner you guys finish up here, the sooner we get to surprise our son."

"You know every time you say that it makes me love you a little more, if that's possible."

"Aren't you the sweetest."

By 4:00 everything was finished. The engineers all shook hands with the three of them and were congratulating them on the amazing work they accomplished. They were given very detailed instructions on the entire process. Richard was grateful as well. Richard told Walter he was going to pay him $250,000.00 a year for ten years, as his retainer fee. He thanked them all several times and told Ralph he was more than welcome to pick a piece of equipment from the plant to work on with Walter if he wanted to.

"Most kids ask for pets to take home, ours wants a jet engine or a booster rocket. How did we get so lucky?" Paige asked Walter as they were walking to their car several paces behind Ralph.

"Who wouldn't want a booster rocket at home?" Walter asked, not sure what was wrong with that.

The closer they got to the house, the more excited Paige got. Ralph had his air pods in and was engrossed in a lecture that was playing on his phone. He never looked up to see where they were headed. He assumed it was either to the garage or the condo. He was fine with either one, as long as it was the three of them going to the same place. When the car stopped and he finally looked up to see which bed he was sleeping in for the night he wasn't sure what to think.

"Whose idea was it to come out here again?" Ralph asked as he pulled his air pods out of his ears and started to open his car door. "I could have brought my swim shorts if I knew we were coming."

"Can we all go inside first, then we can tell you what's going on." Paige asked.

"OK."

Once they were in the house, they told Ralph the big news.

"Ralph, we don't like keeping secrets from you, and it's not something we plan on doing moving forward." Walter started out telling him as he grasped a hold of Paige's hand. "But this was a part of our compensation for the work we did for Richard."

"Wait, do you own this house now Walter?"

"Not quite, well partially I do."

"Partially? Why only partially, does Richard still own it and you just get to live in it?"

"No, Richard doesn't own any part of it anymore." Walter told him before turning his head towards Paige and smiling. "We own the house; equally. You, your mom, and me."

"That's right sweetie, are you okay with that?" Paige asked him as she saw a big smile start to move across his face.

"Does this mean we are all going to live here?" Ralph cautiously asked.

"Yes, that was the other thing we wanted to tell you today." Paige said now with a matching big smile. "Walter asked us to live with him, and we hoped you wouldn't mind living here instead of the condo or the garage."

"When do we get to move in?" Ralph asked her excited for the answer.

"Right away, if you want to. Since it's fully furnished there isn't much we need to do. Just bringing over our clothes and personal items. So I would think by next week we could be officially moved in."

Ralph couldn't contain his excitement any longer. He hugged both of them in a big embrace before taking off through the house figuring out which room he wanted to claim as his own.

Paige told Walter she needed to run back to her condo to pick up some food she had prepared as a treat for them.

While she was gone, Walter and Ralph did indeed come up with a few experiments to work on in the garage workshop. They also set up the table on the deck with some candles and string lights to make it look special for Paige.

By the time she got back with a tray of some of their favorite snack foods they were sitting on the deck enjoying the amazing view of the Pacific Ocean.

"Did you guys do this for me? It looks so nice."

"We put it together while you were gone." Ralph told her as she placed the tray on the table before hugging her son and kissing her man.

"Can you believe we are going to be able to eat meals up here all the time, just looking out at the ocean and the sunset every night." Paige told them both while they sat up there and ate.

Greetings! I hope this finds you all well!

To the Adventure! -Tim