I'm glad you guys liked the last chapter! And thanks to Nicoledbishop who suggested the possibility that Ralph mentioned the Waige troubles to Veronica in his letters to her in prison. Gave me some ideas… ;)

Ralph had really come up with this on a whim, but now he had to work out the details. He was sitting on the couch, doing research for this project he'd dubbed Operation Blue. He named it after the Blue Bayou restaurant, which he'd quickly discovered was the most romantic restaurant in Disneyland. He wanted to make sure the name was vague enough in case anyone, namely Walter, found it, though he was pretty confident he hid it well enough.

He looked up at the sound of heels, and saw his grandma walking through the doorway. She raised one eyebrow, "Hey, you wouldn't have anything to do with this whole Disneyland situation, would you?"

He smirked, "Maybe."

She just winked at him as she crossed the room to the coffee pot. Then she made her way to the back of the couch, leaning over Ralph's shoulder with the steaming mug of coffee, and whispered in a conspiratorial tone, "So, what are you planning?"

He shook his head no. He knew that the fewer people who knew about this, the more likely it would go smoothly.

But she pressed on, rounding the couch to sit next to him. "Oh come on. Whatever you have planned, I want it to work as much as you do. Maybe I can help."

Ralph weighed his options, and eventually decided she'd probably be more help than a liability. He sighed, closed his research and his laptop, and got up to close the door.

Turning back to her and sitting on the couch, he said in a hushed voice, "Okay, this is what I have so far." Veronica smiled that she'd be in on his secret. "The Blue Bayou is the most romantic restaurant in Disneyland. There's also a star room at the Rancho del Zocalo restaurant that's supposed to be romantic at night. The best place to watch fireworks is outside Small World... The only problem is, I can't figure out how to get them alone together. I don't think I'm old enough for my mom to let me do stuff alone for very long."

"Hmmm, that is a problem." After a few seconds, she looked sideways at him through narrowed eyes. "What if..."

"What?"

She faced him fully, "I was thinking, if I came as well, I could look after you-"

He interrupted her with a shake of his head, "I don't know, we might be pushing our luck. It already took some convincing to get Walter to come."

"I'll care of the convincing for you, and you can take care of the rest. What do you say?"

Ralph sighed in resignation, "Okay."

A week later, Walter had endured many interrogations from Toby about this trip. As always he'd deflected, but Toby would read him like a book. He warned Walter this would have repercussions. He knew it would, but he convinced himself he could keep his distance. Sure it'd be hard, but he'd been doing it in some form for almost four years now. So what's three days?

Paige had spent the week quietly nervous. She was sure Toby noticed, but thankfully he didn't say anything to her. She was still trying to figure out to what extent she trusted her mom, and wasn't sure what to make of her coming with them. She hadn't put up much of a fight when her mom had approached her about it, mainly because it wasn't worth the effort. Her mom had claimed to want to spend some quality time with her daughter and grandson, but despite things going (mostly) without incident since her return, Paige still couldn't quite shake off years of her lies.

The four of them piled into the car with their luggage, ready for the typical LA traffic. Paige started the engine and the radio came on.

As they backed out of the garage driveway, Paige prompted Ralph, who was in the backseat, "Alright, you ready to meet Mickey?"

Ralph rolled his eyes, "Mom, I'm not five. I don't care about the characters. I want to ride Space Mountain!"

Paige laughed, "I know you're not five, sweetie. But I do want to get a picture with one of the characters."

He groaned in that way only a preteen can, "Mom…"

She replied playfully indignant, "Oh, come on, you don't have to be a kid to get excited about kid things. Isn't that what Disneyland is for?" When Ralph didn't reply, she turned to the other adults, "Guys, help me out here!"

Walter had been listening with mild amusement in the backseat next to Ralph. But he wasn't exactly looking forward to huddling up with adults in silly costumes. He was a little taken off guard when she had incited his help, so he faltered, "I, uh, do I have to be in the picture too?"

Veronica giggled at that in the passenger seat, while Paige glared at him briefly, mouth open in half-mock exasperation. "Yes, of course! All of you are taking pictures with me and at least one Disneyland character, whether you like it or not." Despite her smile, they all knew when she used that tone, there was no arguing with her. She continued more seriously, "Besides, Ralph, I know you're too old to be into that stuff, but I want the picture anyways, okay?"

Walter looked at her, remembering that neither she nor Ralph had ever been to Disneyland. Neither had he, but he never cared about that stuff, but Paige did. He wondered if she wanted those memories, even if they weren't obtained at the typical age.

When Ralph just mumbled something incoherent, Walter spoke up, "Your mom's right, Ralph. We can take one picture for her, right?"

Veronica sighed in exasperation, quietly so the others wouldn't notice. She read people for a living, and the person that she could read the best had always been her daughter. She'd drawn the same conclusion as Walter had, and wondered how that man could think he didn't deserve Paige.

Ralph sighed in defeat, "Yeah, okay."

Paige glanced in the rearview mirror at Walter, "Thank you."

They drove for a while in comfortable silence, only the sound of the car and the radio playing faintly in the background, until Paige reached for the radio to turn it up, "Oooh, I love this song."

She started singing along, "So gather all the rebels now, we'll rebel rouse and sing aloud…"

Walter couldn't hide his smile. Her voice really was incredible. It was like the smooth, gentle tone of her speaking voice amplified into a striking, compelling ring with an undeniable undercurrent of sweetness and grace, and he just thought it so fitting to her personality.

Then Veronica joined in, and Walter found out where Paige had gotten her voice.

Paige waived to Walter, "Come, on sing with us!" He shook his head no as she kept singing, "We will leave the empty chairs for those who say we can't sit there." She glanced back at Walter, "Oh, I know you can sing."

"I don't know the lyrics."

She rolled her eyes, knowing he had won this one.

When they arrived at the hotel and walked into the lobby, Paige gasped, "Wow, this is beautiful."

The lobby was a huge, open space arranged with couches and tables, and there were large, beautiful chandeliers of rich brown wood which matched the wood panels of the walls. The ceilings were high, revealing a second story balcony encompassing the entire lobby. There was a stony archway leading to a smaller alcove filled with seats around a big fire. Just outside the entrance to the alcove was a grand piano, which Paige imagined would be played in the evening. The whole room felt cozy, intimate, and inviting, despite its large size.

Paige felt compelled to enter the fireplace alcove, but Ralph tugged her to the check-in counter, anxious to get to the park 'sometime before noon,' as he put it. She scolded him for being so impatient, but headed over to check in regardless.

Their rooms had the same feel as the lobby, full of rich browns and warm colors. They had booked two adjoining rooms, girls in one and boys in the other. Ralph thought it was kind of fitting: mother and daughter, and, well... father-like and son-like.

Ralph had always thought of Walter as his closest friend, the person who understood him best and always would, ever since Walter began playing chess with him in the diner. But their relationship was something... different than a best friend. Ralph hadn't been able to put his finger on it until he found out Walter and his mom had feelings for each other, just after Walter crashed over the cliff. And that's when it hit him: Walter was more like a dad than a friend. He'd assumed at that point that his mom and Walter would eventually end up together, even if they took a long time. But... then things got messed up. And he wasn't blind; he could sense the tension and distance between them, starting when Walter went out with Linda, and it only grew since then. He spent awhile wishing Walter hadn't done that: Ralph was convinced Paige wouldn't have gone out with Tim if she thought she was getting anywhere with Walter. And he'd spent nights laying awake, arguing with himself. It felt like his parents were divorcing, but that's insanely illogical because they were never together, let alone married.

He didn't dare do anything while his mom was with Tim. If she found out... Oh, boy. But now? Ralph didn't see anything in their way, except themselves. He was sure that if he could just get them talking, they'd talk some sense into each other.

When the adults finished getting settled in their hotel rooms (why do they always take so long for such things?) Ralph tugged his mom down the hallway to the elevators. He wanted to put Operation Blue into action as soon as possible. And he wanted to ride Space Mountain.

Well, that's the second chapter, hope you enjoyed! Next chapter will take place in Disneyland! I know there wasn't much Waige in this one, but it's coming, I promise.