Ralph started off by calling his Grandparents down to the Garage floor and while they all got comfortable on the couch or desk chairs he went back and brought his whiteboard around to the front.
Cabe and Allie along with Louise, Sean and Veronica sat listening to Ralph as he presented his theory. He walked them slowly through the math he had on the whiteboard. Walter's eyes were trying to pay close attention, especially after Robert had filled in some of the values he remembered off hand.
"Uh, I don't want to seem dumb here." Cabe started. "But, what exactly does all this math mean?"
Allie smiled encouragingly at him.
"I don't mind seeming dumb, because this is straight up beyond me." Sean said as Louise and Veronica nodded.
"Ralph's math is trying to explain his theory that the very substance of Paige has merged into my body." Walter yawned tiredly.
Cabe, his parents and Veronica all gasped at that admittance.
"Is that even possible?" Veronica said, looking at Walter rather learily.
"If we had this conversation before Ralph left for school yesterday, I'd say no." Walter yawned again. "But…Well, it does explain something that Janice noticed from my medical exam last week. I currently weigh a bit more than three hundred pounds."
That illiciated another gasp from his parents and Veronica.
"It sheds light on why they thought I was having tachycardia. When I passed out upstairs the other night, it created an opportunity for the additional heartbeats to be detected. It is picking up both of our hearts. It also explains why I'm so hungry lately. I'm literally eating for two." Walter explained.
"So…how do we fix this and separate Paige from you?" Sean asked.
"We don't." Walter yawned. "There is no technology that can do that. And even if there was, I wouldn't do it. There is no guarantee that Paige would survive the separation. I promised her she wasn't going to die, and I have never failed a promise to her before that. If all that is left of Paige is her atoms inside of me, I'm keeping them. I'll just have to rest more."
"Dad, there's more." Ralph told him.
"What more could there be?" Walter frowned.
"I believe Mom's still alive inside of you. At times when you are asleep it gives access to her. The problem as I've calculated is, both of your bodies are so tired from the strain of your body trying to be a life support for hers. Your physiology is trying to adapt, it is just taking time." Ralph told him as he moved over and sat in a chair next to him.
"Ralph, it isn't possible." Walter told him as gently as he could as his left hand came up and sat softly on Ralph's shoulder. "I want your Mom to be alive too, but this is science fiction."
"No, it isn't." Ralph told him forcefully. "It is what explains your screams. It explains why you don't remember anything about them. Mom's consciousness is waking up to some degree at some point and she is shocked and horrified by what she discovers."
"Ralph." Walter shook his head. "You're trying to make the facts fit your narrative. That's all."
"No, I'm not. And I can prove it, if you are willing." Ralph asked as he pulled his cellphone out.
"Of course I am." Walter frowned.
"Okay, I'm going to have you say a few things while I record them as a control." Ralph told him as he wrote down several lines of text on a piece of paper. "I want you to try and say them to me with as much love as you can." Ralph told him.
Walter frowned but nodded as he looked at the paper.
"Thank you baby, sleep well." Walter frowned.
"Did you have a bad dream baby?" Walter said.
"Oh baby, that's so sweet. We'll see each other in the morning. But it's much too early and I'm so tired. I should have taken some aspirin, my arm is killing me. Go to bed sweetheart." Walter read.
"Night baby." Walter finished the last line.
Ralph sat the phone down and pulled his laptop over.
"Now, let me say I'm sorry I did this without your permission. A couple of days ago I set up a wireless webcam in your bedroom. I was trying to understand what was going on and had hoped it would confirm some of my thoughts. I didn't want you to be conscious of the fact which could have skewed the results." Ralph explained.
Walter nodded, understanding the need to keep the experiment unbiased.
"The other night I went into your bedroom after you were asleep because I thought maybe by placing some of Mom's lotion around your nostrils it might help you sleep better. And this is what happened." Ralph told him as he hit play and pointed to the monitor tree. Everyone could see it play out on the monitors there.
They watched as Ralph put the lotion around Walter's nose and the slight smile that came to Walter's face.
"I hope you sleep better." Ralph said softly. As he turned and started walking away he froze.
And then they heard the conversation between Ralph and Paige.
"Thank you baby, sleep well." They saw Walter's lips moved, they heard his voice but in a pace and cadence that clearly was not Walter. They all looked over at Walter and saw him staring with rapt attention to the video.
On screen, Ralph spun around staring almost in fear at Walter.
"Mom?" Ralph said softly.
"Did you have a bad dream baby?" Walter said. His eyes still closed and his voice sounded very tired.
"Uh, no Mom, I didn't. I just really missed you." they heard Ralph say and they could hear his voice breaking.
"Oh baby, that's so sweet. We'll see each other in the morning. But it's much too early and I'm so tired. I should have taken some aspirin, my arm is killing me. Go to bed sweetheart." Walter told him.
"Okay, good night Mom." Ralph said.
"Night baby." Walter said.
"My Lord." Veronica said as Ralph stopped the video. "While it sounded like Walter's voice, the tone, the inflections. It had to be Paige."
Walter shook his head, still not quite believing what he heard.
"I know you have got to admit this is pretty telling." Ralph told him. "There might be a way to further prove this. But you won't like it."
Walter looked up at Ralph, and Ralph could tell even through his grief stricken flushing, his expression was one of puzzlement. Even as his he saw the curiosity in his eyes.
"We call Toby and ask him to come over. He could hypnotize you." Ralph explained his thoughts.
"Ralph…I don't know…" Walter paused before he sighed as his head dropped. "Fine." Walter finally said. "I'll call him." Walter pulled his phone out.
"Hey Toby." Walter said but everyone could hear the strain.
"Walt, it's good to hear your voice." Toby answered.
"Was your offer to help us genuine?" Walter asked.
"Of course man. Anything we can do to help you guys." Toby said quickly.
"We could use your help with something. Can you guys come to the Garage? Please." Walter said.
"Of course we can, we'll be there in about twenty minutes if that's okay." Toby said while looking at the surprised expressions on Happy and Sylvester's faces. "Alright then, we're packing things up here now and heading over. See you soon." Toby hung up.
"What does he want?" Sylvester asked.
"No clue to be honest, but man the amount of emotion in Walter's voice is unreal." Toby told them.
"Did he want all of us, or just you?" Sylvester asked.
"He said "guys" so we should go on over there." Toby told them.
"Well, let's go see what he needs from us." Happy jumped up eagerly and headed for the door.
The Garage door opened and Walter was surprised to see Jill walk in carrying a box.
"Oh Jill, I'm so sorry. We had something come up and I forgot about you guys having dinner for us tonight." Walter told him.
"No worries Walter." Jill smiled. "Like I said, we're here for you and Ralph." Jill said as Cabe jumped up to take the cardboard box from her. "I'm so glad to see all your family with you guys."
"Thank you Jill. We really appreciate this and we all enjoyed your lasagna last night as well. In fact I had some for lunch today." Walter smiled.
"Some?" Sean teased. "You probably ate half a kilogram for lunch."
Everyone chuckled as Walter blushed.
"I'm so glad you enjoyed it. Hope things will be better tomorrow." Jill smiled as she waved before leaving.
"Sure smells good." Cabe grinned before peaking inside. "Oh, it looks like some kind of pot pie." Cabe told them.
"I'll go put it in the microwave to keep it warm." Louise said as she got up and took it from Cabe.
The Garage door opened as Toby came through it quickly.
"Hey guys." Toby said cheerfully before seeing everyone right there around the couch. "What's…going…on?" He paused seeing the whiteboard and all the math on it.
Before anything could be said Happy and then Sylvester came through the door. Sylvester's eyes took in all the equations and he quickly stepped up to the whiteboard and was going through the math quickly.
"Guys." Ralph started knowing his Dad was pretty tired. "This is Dr Robert Phillips. Robert designed Beauchamps eradicator. I sought Robert out today to try and help prove my theory." Ralph told them and then went on to explain what his theory was and how the math along with physical events support his theory.
"Wait." Toby shook his head. "While all of this is fascinating and unbelievable, what did you want from us?"
Ralph sighed as he realized Toby's skepticism was a problem.
"We want you to try hypnotizing me." Walter said tiredly.
"To what end?" Toby demanded.
"To see if we can help Mom communicate with us." Ralph told him.
"Why not get a ouija board then?" Toby scoffed.
"Toby." Happy said admonishingly. "Don't belittle what they have experienced and have demonstrated to us."
"Belittle them? There is no way this is medically possible." Toby told her.
"Toby, watch this." Ralph told him before playing the video again.
The other three geniuses were bewildered by what they saw and heard in the video.
"This is why we need you to try and hypnotize Dad." Ralph told him.
"To what end?" Toby asked soberly. "This seems more cruel than…therapeutic."
"Ralph's right." Happy said. "If his theory is correct, Paige deserves to know the truth. Even if there is nothing we can do about it."
Toby's eyes saw through Happy instantly.
"You're just feeling guilty." Toby told her. "You want this to be true so it can relieve some of the guilt you carry because she died saving you."
"What does it matter if that's why Happy wants us to do it? She's still right. Think about it Toby. If you were trapped in some kind of limbo, with only limited moments of reality reaching you at times and they are horrible." Sylvester stuck up for Happy and Paige. "You could help ease your wife's guilt AND help Paige understand some of the momentary confusion."
Toby sighed as he slightly nodded looking at Happy and how miserable she felt. He opened his arms and Happy stepped into them so they could hug each other.
Walter's growling stomach caused everyone to chuckle and they decided to eat first before attempting to hypnotize Walter.
Toby decided to try and do his best, even if he didn't believe what they were saying. He first set the mood by getting his phone out of his pocket. He pulled up his music playlist that said "Centering" and hit play.
He guided Walter through some relaxation steps before he decided he was at an optimal place to try.
Why he fell under the hypnosis so easily wasn't questioned, Toby just considered it a good omen.
"Paige, if you can hear me, keep your eyes closed but we need to talk to you." Toby tried.
Toby frowned as silence seemed to be the only response.
"Mom, I know you are really tired. But if you could talk to us for a moment, we'd appreciate it." Ralph spoke up.
"R-Ralphy?" Walter said tiredly.
"It's me Mom. Please don't open your eyes but talk to us." Ralph asked.
"Who's us? Did I hear Toby?" Paige frowned as she tried to clear her throat.
"Toby's here with me, so is Happy, Sylvester. Cabe, Louise and Sean are here. And your Mom is here too." Ralph said hesitantly.
"Mom?" Paige frowned and then opened her eyes. "What are you doing here?" Paige panicked and then saw they were in the Garage. "Wait, why do I sound like Walter? Where is Walter? What is going on?"
"Paige, close your eyes. We'll do our best to explain." Happy pleaded.
Walter's eyes began to close and then opened wide as Paige looked down.
"Where are my breasts?" Paige screamed as she stood up and began freaking out. "Why am I in Walter's clothes? What is going on?" She began breathing faster.
Ralph and Veronica both hugged Walter tightly to them.
"Baby, please. Try to calm down." Veronica pleaded through tears.
"You've got to calm down Mom. I promise we'll explain as best we can." Ralph told her.
Paige felt them pulling against her and she sat back down even as they sat down with her.
"Look if it will help you, leave your eyes open, but you've got to try and relax. We will explain as best we can." Toby told her. "You'll make things more confusing if you keep hyperventilating. Listen to the music playing, center yourself."
Paige nodded before she closed her eyes and tried to focus on the music and her breathing.
Toby watched as the moments passed. Slowly nodding here and there as Walter's breathing came down and he saw his body relaxing.
"I want to ask you a question first. What's something you've told one of us present that Walter doesn't know about." Toby asked. He was about to put this nonsense to bed.
Walter's brow furrowed as Paige thought.
"Well, when we went to the Faire for Sylvester's birthday I tried talking to you about the frustrations I was facing with Walter as my boyfriend." Paige answered.
"That won't work. I kind of teased Walter about that." Toby sighed as he realized what a jerk he had been.
Paige's eyes opened as she glared at him for that.
"Anything else?" Toby asked, trying to redirect her anger.
"Well when Happy and I were trapped in that gondola I was trying to use the time to talk with her about the wedding. About wanting to help her plan it, to be her maid of honor." Paige said and they could all see the pain in her eyes as the memory came up. "She said we were just "friends-ish"."
They saw a tear run down Walter's cheek.
"I'm sorry about that." Happy said. "I didn't stop to consider my words."
"This isn't a therapy session for you my Asian princess." Toby told her softly. "But I think that might confirm the memory."
"Wait. Did you ever write about that in your diary?" Ralph asked quickly.
"What? Of course I did. That's what my diary is for." Paige told him.
"Then Walter might have known about it. He's been reading your diaries." Ralph told them.
"No, I don't think so." Cabe spoke up. "After reading that one diary from 2005 he hadn't moved beyond that."
"Wait, why was Walter reading my diaries? And when did he find time? Not to mention get them?" Paige demanded.
"Okay, calm down. It's time to explain some things to you." Toby told her as he sat on the coffee table in front of Walter.
Greetings! I hope this finds you all well! Well, now we know. lol While this story is still coming slowly, I did finish chapter 18 Friday. I am also almost finished with chapter 101 of "Callan". I also have a new actor who would be a wonderful person to play Secret Service agent Charles in "Callan". I've recently watched a series that was only the last couple of years of Scorpion called Designated Survivor. And LaMonica Garrett plays the president's lead protector. He just fits that role so well.
Railman - Yup, Ralph felt he had enough to at least share his thoughts and get help in proving them. To the scientists before the transistor, they'd have never considered a computer so small as what is in our cell phones, the ENIAC computer weighed over 27 tons and its physical memory could only store 20 words. And it consumed 150kw. Compared to the iPhone ipro 15, sticks and stones against a nuke indeed! Definitely science fiction to them. Glad you are motivated to read my more outlandish stories when you don't normally consider such genres! Definitely like the community vibe of Jill and the other parents! Yeah, FFN is really dropping the ball. Last night all the comments to this story weren't showing up. So I hadn't planned to reply to you guys today. But thankfully they finally came back.
LouBe - And here she is again, bringing dinner to them since they didn't show up to pick up Ralph. lol Yeah, I wasn't a fan of Nemos in the show, but I did like him a bit more in "Piège de l'innocence". So bringing him back for this story was fun. Glad you enjoyed the humor! And it seems that they have now explained it and moved forward! Yeah, fat chance of that. lol They claimed they are looking to get a 2nd server with another company to help when there is a failure with the current server. Problem with that is, there are still so many problems they haven't fixed. Story stats, emails and comments as well as stories are still disappearing. It is so frustrating.
DaToad - And now you know what they extracted! lol I think you are right, I am not sure they ever got to that point of saying they love each other. But Tim had to be there, to introduce Paige and Ralph to his family was a big step...I wouldn't disagree about the problems, but I wonder how often they are because the step parent sees them as "not theirs" or if it is other issues from the child(ren) being upset at their parents not being together or if the biological parent has "discipline issues" as in, they don't want their partner trying to correct issues. I know my one aunt had a daughter before she met the man that became my uncle and he wanted nothing to do with her because she wasn't his, so my Grandparents raised her as their daughter.
Pearliegirl - So glad you are still loving it! And now they have! lol
Lucy - Looks like with his help, Ralph's math has had an impact! And the video helped flesh it out. And you are quite correct about his weight! hehe
James - Nope you and Cabe were right, it wasn't good for him to keep it from him, but that secret is out in the open now too. lol Hopefully this chapter helped with the heartbreak and sadness of last chapter. Well have to wait and see about the memorial...as for more info on the diaries, I will say they haven't played much of a part so far up to chapter 18. There are a few discussions about them later, but nothing beyond Ralph's parentage. You're welcome, I would love for this story to really cut loose so I could get it out faster to you guys. I truly hate the piecemeal approach. Until next Sunday!
To the Adventure! -Tim