Chapter 5

Olivia stuck her head into Walter's old office. "C'mon, Bishop, time to go."

"Can't, Liv. One more box of files."

"You said that 2 boxes ago." She walked into the office, surveying the chaos. Peter had brought up all the files from Walter's lab basement, everything from the offices, and emptied all the filing cabinets. Bankers' boxes lined the perimeter of the room. "Peter, you can't go through it all tonight. And even if you could, how you could remember any of it?"

I don't know how to do this.

"I can't figure out how to neutralize the compounds if I don't understand the components, and most of them are synthesized."

"And Nina has her best people on the analysis."

I can't do this without Walter.

"I need to be ready once they're through."

How many more people are going to die before I figure this out?

"Peter, Massive Dynamic can tag-team their scientists 24 hours a day…. But there's only one of you, and you've been at this a couple of days already." She looked pointedly at the empty coffee cups lining one edge of the desk. "Etta misses you."

"Alright, alright, you played the trump card," Peter ran his hands through his already-disheveled hair and rose slowly to his feet, rolling his shoulders to ease the cramped muscles. He powered down his laptop and studied the pile of folders on his desk, then picked out a dozen or so and shoved them into his backpack along with the computer.

Olivia walked closer to the desk and thumbed through the files remaining on the desk. "What does anamorphic polygenetic algae have to do with the case?"

"Probably nothing. I'm trying to get into Walter's state of mind, if nothing else. Figure out how his brain worked."

Olivia laughed. "Are you forgetting that Walter was crazy and high on one or more illegal substances most of the time this work was done?"

He shouldered his backpack and slung his arm around her as he rounded the desk. "Ah, that's what I've been doing wrong," he joked as he kissed her temple and strolled out of the office.

ooo

A pink, blue, and green projectile hurtled through the door as Peter opened it.

"Daddy, I missed you!"

Etta tightened her arms around his neck as he shrugged the backpack off his shoulder and dropped it by the door.

"I missed you, too, Princess. But you have to be careful flinging yourself at open doors, okay?"

In the confident way that children speak their truths, Etta said simply "I knew you'd catch me, Daddy. You always do."

Not always, kiddo, but I get a second chance to try.

ooo

"OK, kiddo, we're flipping a coin…. What are the odds?" Peter idly flipped a quarter over his knuckles.

Olivia rolled her eyes? "Teaching her odds? Really?"

Peter gave her his best conman grin. "Hey, between your ability to count cards, my good looks and charm, and her lightning intellect…"

Etta giggled at her parents' banter.

"So, what is it, kiddo, what are the odds? Heads, Mama gets bath duty, and tails, I do?"

"Fifty, fifty, Daddy."

Peter beamed at his daughter, who was mimicking his hand movements now, watching the coin skim over his hand.

"Unless you break the laws of physics," Olivia added, laughing.

Peter flipped the quarter, caught it, and slapped it into Etta's waiting palm. "What's the verdict?"

"Mama gives me a bath, and you tell me a bedtime story!" Etta announced triumphantly.

"So, off you go, Princess. The cleaner you are, the better story you get." Peter hugged his daughter, then stood up and pulled Olivia into a hug. "S'alright with you, my Queen?" He kissed the corner of her still grinning mouth. "You clean the kid, and I'll clean the kitchen?"

Olivia smiled. "You've been up forever, I can take care of the kitchen. Why don't you relax a minute?"

"Nah, I don't mind." He lowered his voice and looked at Olivia. "It's normal, you know?"

She nodded her head, then turned to look at Etta, trying to flip the quarter across her hand.

"I need it, Liv."

She nodded again, then pulled Peter's head down for a quick, hard kiss. "We'll talk later, okay?"

"Alright, baby girl, let's get you in the tub." Olivia leaned over to tickle Etta, and the little girl headed upstairs, giggling and squealing.

ooo

Peter leaned against the doorway and watched as Etta splashed in the tub. Olivia's t-shirt seemed to have blocked most of the water, since it was drenched and the floor was (relatively) dry. She didn't seem to mind, though; she was leaning over the tub and splashing with Etta to make her flotilla of rubber ducks bob amid the bubbles.

"We gotta get the ducks clean," Etta said between giggles.

"You AND the ducks," Olivia replied, feeling around for the washcloth. "We'll take turns, okay?"

Peter felt a tightness in his chest.

How many baths, how many days in the park, how many bedtimes has Walter given us back? How many 'Grandpa's' will he miss?

The first time Etta went to Reiden Lake, she and Walter built a sandcastle taller than she was. Walter had infinite patience with her and, at the end of the day, proclaimed her to be an architect to rival IM Pei and Frank Lloyd Wright. She fell asleep draped across his shoulder on the walk back to the house.

"Peter?"

"Hmm? Sorry, thinking about something else…"

"Could you hand us a towel?" Olivia pushed a strand of hair out of her face and sent bubbles drifting through the air.

Peter grabbed a couple of fluffy bath towels from the stack, then leaned over and kissed the top of Olivia's head. "I can do better than that… whaddaya say I take over from here, kiddo? Are you very, very, very clean and ready for a bedtime story?"

"Yes, Daddy," Etta giggled.

Peter knelt beside Olivia and tilted his head back and forth, as if he was studying Etta. "Are you SURE you're very, very clean?" he teased her.

"Of course, Daddy! I'm IN the bathtub, after all!"

They both suppressed a chuckle at her adamant reply. Olivia leaned into Peter and whispered "You just wanted to check out the wet t-shirt, didn't you, Bishop?"

Peter flashed his conman smile again and shrugged his shoulders. "Just here to help," he murmured, holding out his hands to Etta.

He wrapped the towel around her and patted her dry, then handed her the pjs that Olivia had placed on the vanity behind them.

"Unicorns, huh?"

"They're Grandpa's favorite animal. He says he sees them running around the lab sometimes," Etta said seriously.

Olivia stood in the doorway, with a towel wrapped around her shoulders. She and Peter exchanged a look, amusement tinged with sadness. "Well, that may be true, Princess. Would you like a story about Grandpa and the unicorns tonight?"

"Oh, yes, Daddy… and the unicorns are green! Grandpa said so!"

Shaking his head, Peter let the little girl tug him towards her room.