As Paige came out of her last period class agent Todd was standing there like normal but the look on his face was anything but normal and she frowned.
"Ms Dineen, your Father wants you at home immediately." Agent Todd told her while gesturing down the hallway to the closest set of doors where the SUV was parked.
"I'm not leaving without Walter." Paige told him defiantly. "You know how things went last time."
"Yes ma'am. We anticipated that, but your Father wants him too and so agent Makle is upstairs right now collecting him.
Paige frowned but nodded and began walking with him.
"Not that I don't trust you, but I'm not getting into the SUV until he is with us." Paige told him.
Agent Todd laughed.
"Noted." Agent Todd replied. And then he smirked. "You do realize of course, if this was an emergency like last time, we simply wouldn't give you the chance to stop us."
Paige glared at him but he just kept walking with her.
As they passed the last set of steps before the door Paige heard Walter call out for her and she looked up the stairs. She grinned watching him running down the steps.
"Walter." Paige smiled and rushed into his arms.
"Come on Ms Dineen. Your sister is already in the SUV." Agent Todd prompted her.
Paige pulled on Walter's hand and they both hurried on out and got into the SUV and found that Happy was indeed already there.
"Any idea what this is about?" Happy asked.
"No clue, but they said Daddy wants Walter too." Paige shook her head.
The SUV took off quickly but not as quickly as the day they had to go into lockdown and they turned to go to their house not away from the house.
"Well at least we're headed home this time." Happy said as she looked forward out of the SUV for a moment. Her thoughts churned as to why their Father wanted Walter with them.
Paige nodded even as she held Walter's hand a little tighter. It wasn't like her Dad to be mysterious like this and she worried about what it could mean. She tried thinking about where she'd hid the remaining pregnancy tests and wondering if somehow they'd found them. But she was quick to decide that wasn't possible. They'd have to think something was hidden there to dig around. She didn't exactly care if they knew they were having sex, but she didn't want them to blow a gasket and forbid her from seeing Walter. At least until she was able to move out of their house.
Walter squeezed her hand back and she just smiled a little nervously at him.
The house was quiet like normal but for some reason that amped up Paige's nerves, a bit of soft music would help she thought. She was just short of tip-toeing and Walter frowned at her.
"I can't help it, I'm nervous about what Dad wants." Paige whispered to him.
Walter nodded and then Ralph stepped out of the hallway that went back to his den. He stared straight at Walter.
"I want a word with you Walter, in my study, now." Ralph told him.
Walter frowned but squeezed Paige's hand and started to walk down the hall.
"Wait, what is this about Daddy?" Paige asked as she refused to let go of his hand.
"What this is about is a discussion I'm going to have with Walter. At this time your participation isn't required. Go start on your homework." Ralph pointed off towards the living room.
Paige's mouth flew open but the look on his face darkened and Paige slowly closed her mouth and walked on down the main hall to the hallway that led to the living room.
"What is Dad mad about?" Happy asked quietly, following along with her.
"I really don't know, but he is mad about something." Paige told her as they walked into the living room.
"Oh I need a book from my room." Happy said suddenly and ran for the backstairs. Happy was worried, her brain was running several scenarios. Had her Dad or Mom gone in her room and found the print out Walter had given her of Toby's records. It wouldn't be hard to figure out he was the one that had given it to her. She flew into her room and closed the door. She moved to her desk and opened the drawer and moved a couple of notebooks she had ideas in. She inhaled sharply seeing the papers still there. Folded and tucked inside the back of the bottom one. She pulled the papers out and stuffed them into her back pocket and grabbed her robotics book and walked back down to the living room.
Ralph pointed at a chair in his den before closing the door. He turned and sat down.
"Walter, I think I've demonstrated how much you mean to me. You are as good as my own son ever could be." Ralph told him.
Walter frowned but nodded.
"You've been the Dad I've always wanted Dad. I'm sorry if I did something that angered you." Walter apologized with confusion.
"Are you really sorry for what you did? Or just sorry I know what you did?" Ralph asked sharply.
"I don't know what you know or think I did. If I've hurt you or Mom in any way I am especially sorry. If it has caused you to rethink your feelings for me I'll be devastated." Walter told him earnestly.
"Do you remember what I asked you last Saturday morning?" Ralph demanded.
Walter nodded.
"You wanted to be sure I knew why you were so worried about Happy's penpal and that I knew I could come to you with questions or concerns." Walter told him.
Ralph took a deep breath.
"Look Walter, first and foremost something you have to stop doing. Do not offer more information than you are asked for. If you are ever in another legal situation that can get you caught up in some trouble. Only answer what is asked." Ralph told him.
"I'm sorry. I don't think that way Dad, especially with you." Walter told him.
"Start trying, you might need it." Ralph barked.
Walter jumped a bit at his tone.
"Walter, you know I have the Secret Service at my disposal right? Along with a wealth of people throughout the world I can get information from." Ralph asked.
Walter nodded.
"Did you hack into the Cambridge city computers and delete that menace's police and court records?" Ralph demanded.
Walter swallowed hard and he slowly nodded.
Ralph stared at him unbelieving. He was sure Walter would tell him no and be truthful about it. First the color drained from Ralph's face and then flushed to a deep and angry purple.
Paige and Happy both shot up and out of their chairs as they heard their Dad bellow. "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"
"Not good." Happy echoed their Father's favorite phrase as she and Paige raced through the house and nearly ran into Walter as he almost stumbled out of the hallway to Ralph's den. Paige barely kept from tackling him as she caught him up in her arms. Tears running down her face.
"Leave Walter alone." Paige demanded.
"After he betrayed this family? He's lucky I'm not calling and informing the authorities of what he's done. You're not to have anything to do with him from now on." Ralph told her.
"Stop it Daddy! Walter is Paige's boyfriend, my brother and your son! You can't treat him and us this way." Happy jumped between Ralph and Walter.
"You don't even know what he's done, young lady." Ralph almost yelled.
"I know you claim you love him like a son. You claim you love me like a daughter. Does this mean that one day if I do something you don't like, that you will kick me out and throw me away too?" Happy cried as Ralph gasped and took a step back.
"How could you ever think that?" Ralph asked.
"Because of how you are treating Walter. You chose us and you are throwing him to the wolves. Despite how much he loves us." Happy cried.
"Pumpkin, you don't understand what he did. That man that has been writing to you, he's years older than you, he's got a criminal record, for drinking and gambling. And Walter covered it all up and hid that from us, not to mention the judicial system. How can we trust him? Don't you see how potentially dangerous that is?" Ralph asked.
"He didn't cover it up Daddy. He gave me the information, I just hadn't given it to you yet." Happy cried as she pulled the papers out of her back pocket and thrust them out to Ralph. "I was trying to figure out how to talk to you about it. I was scared of how you might react."
Ralph took the papers from her slowly. Just before Veronica came around the corner and pulled Happy into her arms and hugged her tightly.
"Why wouldn't you just come to us with this?" Ralph asked as he looked at her.
"Because, I'm not your flesh and blood. I was scared you'd throw me away. Just like you did with Walter." Happy cried as she hugged Veronica back.
"Happy, being my flesh and blood has nothing to do with it. You are our daughter, period. You're stuck with us." Ralph told her.
"If you can throw Walter away, you can throw me away too. You've known him longer than me. You've treated him just as good as you treat me. I don't see a difference." Happy cried.
Ralph tried to appeal to Veronica.
"Oh no you don't Ralph Emmett Dineen. I'm not defending you. You started this mess. I told you not to get upset but try to talk and rationalize it." Veronica told him.
Ralph sighed.
"Fine, all of you to my den." Ralph said.
Slowly the kids all moved down the hallway even as Veronica shook her head at Ralph.
"What do you expect?" Ralph whispered to her after the kids entered his den.
"I expect a world class diplomat to purport himself in a better manner than you did." Veronica told him sharply. "And you were supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt."
"I did until he admitted it." Ralph told her.
"Did you bother to ask why?" Veronica snapped.
"No." Ralph told her. "But is there really a good reason for this? For withholding that vital information from us?"
"You heard Happy. He gave it to her, so she probably had a chance to process it. She just hadn't figured out how. And now you have made her feel unsafe in her own home. Wondering when you'll get mad at her and want to get rid of her." Veronica tormented him.
Ralph sighed as he turned and walked down to his den and stepped inside.
Happy flew into his arms crying.
"Please don't get rid of me." Happy begged.
Ralph choked up as he hugged her to him. He stepped over pulling her with him and set her on his lap after he sat on a chair.
"I'm not ever getting rid of any of you. But look, kids, this has to stop. The two of you may have astronomical IQs, but Veronica and I are the adults here. We need to know who is in your lives, we need to know all about them so we can take care of our responsibilities to you. And no more hacking police and courts and altering records Walter. If the authorities find this out, it can seriously hurt your chances of moving to the US. That is still something you want isn't it?" Ralph asked.
Walter shrugged.
"I'm not sure." Walter admitted. "I figured I'd wait until after Paige graduates college here or if she wants to transfer to the States for college."
"Well something you might not know Daddy, Toby is the doctor who figured out that Walter needed Paige in order to come back from that rabbit hole." Happy told them.
Ralph smiled as he nodded.
"I know pumpkin, it was in the report I got on him." Ralph told her. "Look kids, I may have jumped the train on this one, and Walter I'm sorry. I should have approached this differently, I should have asked why you did that. But, I didn't because of how much Happy means to us. So please, don't keep things from us anymore." Ralph told them.
"So you aren't banishing Walter from the house and us?" Happy asked first.
"No pumpkin, but I mean it, no more hiding things." Ralph said as he bopped her nose.
Happy grinned and hugged him and then left the room.
Paige was glaring at her Father and he slowly looked at her.
"Yes?" Ralph asked calmly.
"That was so mean of you Father. You might be the adult here, but you didn't even discuss this with Mom. You didn't even discuss it with Happy and I. You just unilaterally decided your position was the only valid one. Why?" Paige asked.
"Fear baby girl. Fear of what this man could represent for Happy. The last thing you want to find out is a criminal, of any sort, has an interest in your child. You want to know that information well in advance. Do you know the statistics on human trafficking? Everyday you three are out there I worry, hoping that the detail protecting you is enough. You girls could be taken into a world of sexual deviants and tortured and demeaned in ways that break you, and the wonderful person you are supposed to be is lost forever to that cruel world. Walter is so brilliant he could be taken for that or used to help develop only God knows what. Look what our own government did by using him. Walter didn't do anything wrong, but he still suffers because he feels guilt over what happened in Baghdad. That isn't anything I want for you guys." Ralph told her.
"But you had already kicked him out, sending him out there to face that world you claim you are so scared about for him. How could you do that if you truly were that scared?" Paige demanded.
"Just like how I went after Volkov that day. Rage is a terrible thing and blocks critical thinking. I was wrong that day just like I was wrong earlier. My anger over how vulnerable that potentially made Happy clouded my thinking on Walter. Just like my anger over what Sean did that day, the next day I still went over and assaulted the man." Ralph explained.
"Do you understand that this is why kids don't want to tell their parents things? You tell us to trust you but you demonstrated why we can't. People blame kids for being irresponsible, we don't think things through. But sometimes in the heat of the moment, and after, neither do adults." Paige hammered at him.
"I know pumpkin, all I can say is I'm sorry, I overreacted and I will strive to always do better." Ralph told her.
Paige looked at Walter.
"What do you think?" Paige asked.
Walter gave her a half smile.
"Well to be honest, it was a far better reaction than I would have gotten from over at my house." Walter told her.
"Well Walter, please forgive me. When I asked you to get me the information on this guy, I never dreamed you would hide it from me. It hurt. But I did mean what I said. Please, do not do what you did again. And if you do get information Veronica and I should know, talk to us." Ralph told him as he stood up and opened his arms.
Walter nodded as he stood and stepped up and hugged Ralph.
"Wait." Walter said as he stepped back. "You never asked me to get you any information on Tobias Dad."
"Yes I did, Saturday morning, when I came over to explain I was worried about Happy and him." Ralph told him.
Walter ran the memory back through his mind and shook his head.
"I'm sorry Dad, you didn't ask me. I just did it hoping to give you some comfort. And I screwed up by not giving it to you." Walter told them.
Ralph looked stunned for several seconds as he tried thinking of that morning. He sighed.
"You're right Walter, I was going too and I forgot. I'm sorry." Ralph smiled at him.
Paige sat there thinking about what happened and wondered if she should talk to her Mom about having sex with Walter. She knew she wasn't about to talk to her Dad. Or maybe she should talk to Louise first.
Greetings! I hope this finds you all well! Well...I wonder what Walter would say if Paige tells him she's thinking of telling their Moms they are having sex? LOL
Railman - Things looked a bit bleak there for a bit. Happy seems to have returned the protection favor to Walter. She took the wind out of Ralph's sails quite nicely. LOL
Margaret - Hope your anxiety has been calmed now!
RiseOfDespair - Horrible isn't it? lol
Drn - hehe It wasn't proven, Ralph only knows one person who could do what was done. So naturally his thoughts went to that person.
Susan - Yeah, Walter...What are we going to do with him? Put him on an Amish farm for a few months? hehe That would drive him crazier than when Paige and her family were whisked away!
To the Adventure! -Tim