December 5th 2003:
"You wanted to see me Robert?" Toby asked as he entered the hospital's administrators office.
"Toby, good. Have a seat." Robert pointed to the chair in front of his desk.
Toby nodded as he moved over and sat down.
"How's things going with the outreach program for students?" Robert asked.
"Really good actually. As far as my participation goes. My worst case is really shaping up and I've got high hopes for it. He's really been responding well to a roleplaying game he was interested in. It has been a lot of fun shadowing him during them. I've actually put in far more hours than I report with his case." Toby told him.
"That's great, I was a little leery about the program to begin with but I think it is really working out well. How's the legal side of it? Any problems that you've had with the courts or participants?" Robert asked.
"No, the courts have been very grateful for our assistance. Sometimes DCF is a little difficult, I don't think they understand that they aren't paying for our services. They often question how expensive things are." Toby told him.
"Huh…That's weird, I know Clyde understood the program. I wonder if somehow it got lost in translation from his office to the rest of DCF? I'll give him a call later to make sure he sends a memo down the line. There is no reason for them to bother any of you who are helping keep the kids safe over costs." Robert sighed.
"That would be appreciated sir." Toby told him.
"While this is good to know, that isn't really why I called you in." Robert told him.
Toby grinned.
"You think I don't know that?" Toby asked with a bit of snark.
Robert chuckled.
"Well if you didn't then I think we'd need to reevaluate those who championed you for school and everything else." Robert told him laughing. "No, I wanted to thank you for what you did for a friend of mine. Ralph Dineen." Robert told him.
"Oh, well you're welcome. I'm really good friends with his youngest daughter and friends with her sister and her fiancé. So I couldn't let something happen to him." Toby laughed and Robert joined him.
"Well to that end, I'm giving you the two weeks of Christmas and New Years off. I've already adjusted the schedule and as it turns out Dr David needs time off in March and she's gladly agreed to swap it out." Robert explained.
"Oh, well that's great. Though I might have to go to my parents' house for the holiday then." Toby sighed.
"Daddy?" Happy called out as she ran through the house to his office.
"Yes Pumpkin?" Ralph said as he hung up his phone and then turned in his chair.
Happy jumped into his lap and hugged him tightly.
"Not that I am complaining, but what is this for?" Ralph laughed.
"Toby said another doctor needs time off in March so they switched his Christmas time with it. So he could go with us to Callan." Happy grinned.
Ralph sighed as he rolled his eyes.
"Daddy!" Happy said sharply before slapping his shoulder.
Ralph chuckled.
"Okay sweetie. If he wants to come I'll make the arrangements." Ralph told her.
Happy grinned and kissed him.
"Thank you Daddy!" Happy jumped up and ran out of the room.
Veronica walked in with Emmett smiling.
"Well what was that all about?" Veronica asked.
Ralph laughed.
"Happy just found out that Toby has had his shift changed and she came to ask if he could go with us to Callan." Ralph told her as he took Emmett from her.
Veronica laughed and sat on Ralph's knee before sharing a kiss with him.
"You okay? You look like you might be in pain?" Ralph asked.
"I'm okay, just some cramping." Veronica smiled. "I take it you didn't tell her you arranged for him to get the time off?" Veronica asked.
"No, I am not about to encourage anything by making them think I approve of them. I know Paige from the other world said Happy and Toby were engaged in her world but Happy is just too young to be in a relationship like that at this time. Not to mention it could get complicated for him legally." Ralph smiled.
"You're such a softy." Veronica smiled and kissed him again.
Ralph frowned as they broke their kiss.
"What's wrong?" Veronica asked apprehensively.
"My knee feels wet." Ralph told her.
Veronica frowned and stood up and they saw the blood soaking his pants leg.
"I thought it was a week or so away?" Ralph frowned.
"It should be." Veronica said and then she gasped before she cried out as the pain got more severe.
Ralph paced back and forth in the waiting room of the ER as they worked to ascertain what was going on with Veronica.
"Daddy?" Paige cried out worriedly as she moved through the doors and saw him.
"Hey Pumpkin." Ralph said as he stopped and opened his arms.
Paige flew into his arms and they hugged for several minutes.
"Has there been any word yet?" Walter asked as he stood there.
"Not yet." Ralph said as they broke the hug. "Thank you both for coming down."
"Dad, you don't have to thank us for that. She's my Mom, and you are my Dad. I'm always going to support you." Paige waved her hand at him. "Where's Happy?"
"Toby took her to get something to eat." Ralph told her even as Paige pulled him over to a chair and they sat down.
Walter stood back a bit as he was working on his laptop.
"Walter, you can put that away for now. Work can wait, this is family." Paige told him.
Walter frowned as he looked up puzzled.
"No, I'm hacking the hospital to see what is going on with Mom." Walter told her as Ralph began laughing. "Oh…no." Walter said as he looked at Veronica's chart.
"What?" Paige almost yelled.
"It looks like Mom has an ectopic pregnancy. They are calling for a surgeon." Walter told them.
"Oh Daddy…I'm sorry. Did you even know?" Paige asked as she hugged him again.
"No. This happened once before you were born. It was why we never thought we'd have a child and then you burst through into life." Ralph smiled as they broke their hug. "They'd taken her right fallopian tube but were able to leave the ovary. Hopefully it hasn't been more than a month, if not they might not have to remove the other one either." Ralph sighed.
"Family for Dineen?" A young woman called out as she stepped through the back doors.
Ralph raised his hand even as he stood up with Paige.
"Mr Dineen. Your wife is stable but unfortunately she has an ectopic pregnancy. We've called for a surgeon but if you'd like I can take you, alone, back." She told him.
"Well one of my agents has to come with me but that is fine." Ralph said as he gave Paige a side hug. "You stay here for your sister? Let her know?" Ralph asked.
"Of course I will, Daddy. Give Mom a kiss for me." Paige told him.
"Me too Dad." Walter told him.
Ralph smiled as he reached over and squeezed his shoulder. And then he turned and walked with the woman and passed into the ER.
"I never knew I had an older sibling." Paige said softly.
"Sometimes people don't like to talk about it." Walter pulled her in with his one arm and hugged her.
"And now I have a younger sibling I'll never get to meet either." Paige said as she softly cried.
"Paige?" Happy said scared as she came in and saw her crying and their Dad nowhere around. She ran over and hugged her fiercely. "Mom's okay, right?" Happy nearly begged.
"She should be." Paige nodded as they hugged. "But she's going to have to have surgery. She's got an ectopic pregnancy. We're going to lose a sibling."
Happy cried a bit harder at that.
Paige smiled Saturday morning as her Mom slowly woke up.
"It is so good seeing you Mom." Paige said softly as she reached out and took her hand.
"Oh it is good seeing you kiddo. Do you know how much I love you?" Veronica smiled tiredly.
"As much as I love you." Paige smiled.
Veronica grinned for a moment.
"More like how much you love Walter." Veronica winked. "Where is your Father?"
"He's down in the café with Happy and Toby. Walter had a meeting with Richard so he said to tell you he loves you." Paige smiled.
"I love that boy so much too. I can't imagine our lives without him." Veronica said with happy tears in her eyes.
"I feel the same way." Paige told her and paused for a moment.
"What's up sweetheart?" Veronica asked.
"Is this going to cancel our trip to Callan?" Paige asked while still holding Veronica's hand as she sat talking with her.
"No sweetheart. I'll be okay to travel in a week or so." Veronica smiled.
"I'm really sorry this happened Mom. I'm really going to miss my little sibling." Paige told her.
"Thank you. But I am so glad I still have you, Happy and Emmett." Veronica smiled as she reached up and brushed her hand through Paige's hair.
"Me too." Paige smiled and then looked a little bit sad. "I wish I had been brave enough to talk to you about Walter and I having sex originally. It would have been nice to have you when I was worried about being pregnant." Paige told her.
"I wish you had been too sweetheart. I didn't want to be a Grandmother then, but I would have loved your baby no matter what." Veronica grinned. It is why we kept trying to make sure you understood we were here for you. But I get it, the stigma and uncertainty. I'm just glad we didn't lose Walter over it. That was so scary the day he disappeared." Veronica sighed.
"I can't believe how stupid I was. I should have trusted your words but I was so scared. And then I did the worse thing by alienating Walter. That's my number one regret. As much as I should have trusted you and Dad I should have trusted him. The moment I finally told him, he didn't flinch, he went out and spoke with a friend he trusted and he went and got us a pregnancy test." Paige smiled. "And Walter came right back to comfort me. How I could be so stupid back then and still got a full scholarship from Harvard is beyond me."
Veronica chuckled.
"Dad said this happened before you got pregnant with me." Paige said quietly.
Veronica nodded and then sighed.
"Yes. We had agreed we wouldn't talk about it, but your Father was mainly trying to comfort you over it. About two and a half years before you were born I lost our first. I was such a nervous wreck when we found out I was pregnant with you. I hounded my doctor constantly." Veronica laughed. "Using your Father's connections to get all the information I could to ensure nothing went wrong with you. Sadly nothing you can do for that type of pregnancy. But for any other, just learn how to live to give the baby the best chance of developing." Veronica told her with a smile. "All I went through was worth it to have you in my arms. I would have killed then and now for you. Your Father was extremely leary of me as time passed by." Veronica said with a smile and tears in her eyes. "It isn't an easy thing to get over when it happens and you already know you are pregnant and looking forward to the baby. It is a little easier when you aren't but it is still a horrible feeling."
Paige laughed as Veronica told her about being pregnant with her and then nodded about the feeling of the ectopic pregnancy.
"Am I more at risk because it happened to you?" Paige asked quietly.
"Thankfully no." Veronica smiled. "There doesn't appear to be a hereditary factor thankfully, so you aren't at any greater risk than anyone else who hasn't had one."
"There are days I really want to get pregnant and then days I definitely do not." Paige smiled.
"Well you got plenty of time so don't rush it." Veronica smiled as she reached up and poked Paige's nose.
Paige laughed.
"Walter, I am just amazed at how well you guys have gotten this project back on track. Absolutely amazed." Richard told him.
"Thank you, but the project is far from the goal line." Walter nodded.
"Yes, but you have fulfilled your part of the contract." Richard smiled.
"I thought maybe if we could work out some things that maybe I could stay on the project." Walter looked up at him over his water he brought up to his lips.
"Now that is an interesting proposition." Richard grinned. "What things were you wanting?"
"For the most part I am fine with how the contract was written. I'd be comfortable if we renew to be the same, but bump my share of the residuals up from six percent to sixteen." Walter told him as he sat his glass down.
"Sixteen? That's pretty steep Walter." Richard said as he rubbed his jawline. "Are you trying to take advantage of me?"
Walter smiled as he shook his head.
"Well, I've had to sacrifice my time to build up our start-up capital so, I need a bit extra. But the ball is in your court Richard. So I can't really be taking advantage, can I?" Walter asked.
"Oh I think you can." Richard laughed. "You know how bad I want you to keep working for me."
"True, but this is just one project." Walter told him.
"What's this I hear about a rover explorer you are developing with Happy Dineen?" Richard asked as his eyes narrowed.
Walter nodded.
"Happy has been building robots and exoskeletons almost as long as she's been with the Dineens and this is just the next step in that process. She's worked out some truly gifted designs for them. One version of it is for asteroid farming." Walter told him offhandedly, since he knew by his computer records he had a team working on that.
"Really?" Richard asked and Walter saw how interested he was so he just nodded to keep it low key. "One of my divisions has been exploring the concept of asteroid harvesting but their plans have been no-gos so far. How far along is she?"
Walter lifted up his laptop out of his shoulder bag and booted it up. After entering his password he brought up a video.
"We have the prototype. But the rocket to assist it in space still has to be designed. This was created using a physics program to emulate the variables. It assumes a vehicle to get it into space of course." Walter told him and watched Richard nod as he moved around to watch it.
"First the asteroid needs to be moving towards the sun. Then the rocket has to get within five kilometers of the asteroid." Walter told him and watched Richard nod again. So he hit play and they watched the emulation displayed on the screen, the modified rover launched off the rocket. "I wrote the code for the operation of the rover, of course, Happy is just hardware. But if she really wanted she could design the code for it too. She just gets impatient. She likes seeing things come together faster."
"Is that a large antenna on its back?" Richard's hand came up and brushed across his lips as he watched.
"No, you'll see in a moment." Walter told him.
The rover reached the surface of the asteroid and instead of wheels it had long tines at the end of the wheel wells. Once the rover discovered the optimal spot to anchor itself, the rover's engine that was on the top of it fired. Pressing the rover hard against the asteroid. Then a powerful mechanism in each wheel well caused the tines to dig into the surface towards each other gaining a stronger foothold. The antenna seemed to feed out more and then it opened partially. Exposing a silver surface material.
Walter tapped the display showing the rover and rocket slowing down. And the more it slowed the more the antenna device opened until it had completely opened and the asteroid came to a stop before it reversed its course as the solar radiation pushed back against it.
Richard whistled and then watched as the rocket recoupled with the rover and was pulled along by the solar sail that had been inside the antenna-like device. The engines of the rocket kicked on and off as it adjusted the asteroid's course towards Earth and a recovery vehicle.
Greetings! I hope this finds you all well!
Railman - His emotions definitely were going nuts! lol Thankfully he had support for it. Well, since he is the main character I suppose it only makes sense he'd win. hehe Good question...if he doesn't I suppose someone else will. lol Ralph has definitely soften on the Toby front...but more like going from a granite wall to a granite wall with a hard rubber mat in front of it. lol Ralph said he wasn't taking anything out of his pocket for it. lol
LouBe - Thank you! I'm so glad you enjoyed his turmoil! I wasn't sure how to really add his scholastic achievement to the story, but the Muse sure did. lol Walter is definitely sneaky and it looks like his gamble with it hooked the whale too! lol Oh man, I'd hate to think what Ralph would have done catching Toby deliberately lying like that...*yikes* "Not good" wouldn't begin to cover it! lol HAHAH I didn't even think about the backyard argument when you said that! Happy still being a young teen (almost 14) and a genius who nearly always does things right the first time, made her pretty cocksure! lol Walter of course as a young adult (19 if my math is right, lol) Had just enough presence of mind to stay calm, besides, Paige was on the case. LOL Oh goodness...mine definitely wasn't heroic. Wasn't even doing something I never did before. lol Probably done to 2 or 3 times a day at work. Part of me did want to put it in because, he's so different from all his doppelgangers. But hopefully everyone sees he's so different without that added to it. Well since no one seems to have a preference I'll just have to flip a coin...heads I win, tails you lose! lol
Pearliegirl - So glad you enjoyed it! Thank you! Walter said pass on the Xanax. lol
Susan - I can believe a lot about Happy! lol She's quite gifted! hehe Good bye to both Mark and Drew! So glad you enjoyed the chapter! We'll have to wait until 2004 to see if they meet or not, while short (4 chapters) it packs a lot into those 4 chapters. Ralph was absolutely successful in removing the stain of Drew! lol
To the Adventure! -Tim