Since Louise hadn't had a chance to really get lunch started, Walter had her call a local eatery and placed a large lunch order as his Father was hungry. He had his Mother order several TV trays and chairs as well from the general store. That way they could all sit with his Father and eat together. And since his Father hadn't yet let go of his hand Walter asked Paige to go with Mark to pick everything up. Louise stopped them before they left.
"Here you go dear." Louise said as she held out several bills to her.
Paige smiled and showed her credit card to Louise.
"This is Walter's and my treat Louise. You don't have to pay for the meal or anything." Paige smiled.
Louise nodded and hugged her tightly for a moment.
"Thank you dear, you both hurry back and be careful." Louise told them.
Sean was reluctant, but once the food arrived he let go of Walter's hand finally. He surprised Louise and Elizabeth by eating nearly two thirds of the meal he ordered.
They all sat around talking and laughing, sharing stories of the US. Walter had a number of Paige's paintings on his phone and shared them with his Mother and Father. He showed them the one he had the backyard of the property he bought landscaped after and then showed them the picture he took of it.
"You've got an amazing talent my daughter." Sean grinned looking at them.
"Thank you Sean, Walter's been so kind. He's really encouraged me to embrace this part of myself. He even gave me an extra day off from taking over Megan's job each week just so I can practice. He got me some amazing teachers to help me improve my skills so much." Paige was saying but was interrupted.
"Took over your job?" Sean looked at Megan.
Megan sighed as she nodded.
"Daddy, we don't know how long I have left. And while Mark is doing all he can to find a solution, I don't want the rest of my life to be spent chasing after adults and making them behave. So we both took a leave of absence and Walter and Paige took over for now." Megan squeezed his hand.
"But, can you afford that?" Louise asked.
"We get quite a bit through the company from the profit Louise." Mark told her. "But Walter was kind enough to give up half of his salary to us to make up any shortage and the other half to Paige."
Louise looked at Walter quizzically.
"I don't need the money, Mother. And I wasn't sure if Paige would be able to forgive the way I used to be and want to become my partner in life. So I wanted to be sure that she'd make more than enough to give her and Ralph a good solid life." Walter told her.
"And why wouldn't I want to be your partner in life?" Paige winked at him. "Walter you lived through some horrible things and while it doesn't excuse what you did, you have shown your true heart to me. And that means the world to me." Paige kissed him before changing the subject so hopefully no further questions would come up. "But my paintings aren't anything. You should see all of the photographs Walter has taken over the years. He's a genius with the camera as well, and the art world loves him." Paige smiled while hugging Walter's arm.
"Really?" Louise asked even as Paige nodded.
"Some of his work is a bit inappropriate for these two boys, but he has quite the collection. As well as he's got a large following in the art world. We've been to several parties of the rich and famous, in the last few months and almost every one of them had photographs he's done, proudly on display." Paige grinned.
Walter sighed inside as he readied for a lecture.
Sean began chuckling.
"Well art is like that sometimes." Sean said as he reached over and squeezed Louise's hand.
Walter's eyes opened wide. He hadn't thought he'd hear his Father chuckle and make light of it.
"I still remember we went to that one art gallery on our honeymoon in Dublin. I was completely shocked by what I saw there." Sean nodded.
Louise laughed as she nodded.
"Oh that was so funny. He had walked into the next room while I was still looking at Judy Chicago's "The Dinner Party" and as I came out of that room he came back out of the next room and looked at me, almost white as a ghost." Louise laughed even as Sean turned a bit red. "He didn't want us going into the next room but I insisted and the displays, while beautiful, were quite explicit."
"Sorry we weren't able to go to a tropical place like you wanted to for our honeymoon." Sean said as he pulled her hand up and kissed it. He desperately wanted to change the topic of conversation.
"I've never cared about that, Sean. Having you and our kids has been my life." Louise smiled.
Paige looked at Walter and gestured with her head towards them.
Walter frowned but mouthed, "Seriously?"
Paige nodded.
"Well." Walter said hesitantly as he saw Paige nod at him encouraging him. "What say we all go to St. Kitts or Nevis since you feel better Father."
Louise laughed at the absurd thought.
"Walter, that is such a whimsical thing to say. Thank you for the laugh." Louise said as she reached up and wiped at the tear that had made its way over her eyelid.
"No Louise, Walter is serious." Paige nodded. "We should all go. Sean is doing better, why not? We can get a scooter like Megan has and a nurse to go with us to help ensure Sean is well cared for."
Louise saw Walter nod.
"Oh I don't know." Louise sighed as she looked at Sean. "That's a lot of parts to have to deal with. Not to mention I'm not sure Sean could sit up all that time. And then there is the cost…renting out the land doesn't pay nearly enough for such an extravagance."
Sean scratched his head as he thought about it.
"It is a tempting offer Walter. But if anything went wrong, I'd hate to waste so much money and time on it." Sean said.
Walter could see the regret on his face.
"Father, cost isn't an issue and neither is the plane trip. This will be our treat." Walter laid his hand on Ralph as his other arm hugged Paige to him. "To you both…an early anniversary present if you'd like. You won't have to sit up if you get to a point you want or need to lie down. I can call my service and get a couple of aides and nurses to travel with us. I'm sure they'd have some people that wouldn't mind a working vacation basically. As for the plane, we do own our own plane and it has two bedrooms on it." Walter smiled.
"What?" Louise asked, shocked even as everyone else nodded.
"Mom, Daddy, Walter's rich…like Rockefeller rich." Megan grinned as Walter rolled his eyes.
"Is this true?" Louise gasped.
"I'm not quite that rich. But we're very comfortable, Mother." Walter nodded.
"He's even part owner in the new electronic facility going in on the North side of town. He even named it after me." Megan grinned as she got her phone out and pulled up a website on it.
"We heard about them naming it after you, but no one knows, or they didn't say they knew you were part owner Walter. That was very kind of you to do after how you've been treated by the community." Louise sniffed back her sorrow.
Walter gave her a weak smile.
"Ralph showed me this on the way over here." Megan grinned. "Don't get fooled by his "we're very comfortable", I had no idea how rich my little brother is. While he has always been very generous to us and I know the home he lives in, I never expected it to be anywhere close to this." She turned the phone around and showed them the website ranking the top one hundred Irish families and their estimated net worth. "Here he is, at number seventeen and a very comfortable net worth of seven hundred and fifty million euros."
"Walter?" Paige gasped. "I knew you had a lot of money and the mansion, but I never knew it was that much."
"That's fairly close to the truth of how much we have." Walter nodded at Paige even as his cheeks reddened. "If you take everything at market value. Depending on how the electronic plant works out, within two years of opening that should increase to one billion."
"You and Grandpa should move to the US and stay with us Grandma." Ralph grinned. "We have got lots and lots of rooms. And I can show you the movie theater! It doubles as an amusement ride!"
Walter chuckled nervously.
"Ralph, we haven't even convinced them to go on a vacation with us yet." Paige told him.
"But it will be like they are on a vacation the rest of their lives if they lived with us. Agnes and William, along with the housekeepers, would love to have more people there to help keep them busy." Ralph told her quickly.
"Be that as it may Ralph. Let's tone it down and not shock your grandparents so much." Paige smiled at him.
"Not to mention you'd love his car collection." Megan decided to chip in as Walter shook his head. "If you really felt better I'd even let you drive my birthday present that Walter, Paige and Ralph got for me. And it would be very nice to have you guys so close at hand. Whether you are coming to the end of the journey or not Daddy." Megan grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly.
"Well." Sean said as he tried clearing his throat. "It all sounds wonderful, but all of you have to remember something. I was a horrible person and Father to your brother and he's got the right to his privacy from us until I can earn some of his forgiveness. But, I do like this idea of yours to go to Nevis. If you are serious."
Walter looked shocked but slowly nodded.
"I can make some calls and get this ready in three days at the most." Walter told them. "Assuming you don't have your passports updated."
Louise looked from Sean to Walter and finally at Paige. Her mouth half opened as if she couldn't believe they were serious.
"I can't believe we're talking about this like it is a done deal. Are you sure?" Louise asked, still looking at Paige.
"Absolutely. And trust me, that is how I feel around Walter a lot when it comes to money. I'm used to pinching pennies, and of checking the price, looking for sales. Everything to save a penny. Walter blew my mind one day when I jokingly said, like I could just go out and buy a fifty million dollar yacht with his money. Without a second's thought he whipped out his credit card and tried to give it to me." Paige grinned.
Louise smiled.
"Can I have a moment with my boy first?" Sean asked quietly.
Everyone nodded and moved out of the room with Louise closing the door behind her.
"Walter…Are you sure about this?" Sean reached out for Walter's hand and took it almost gently in his. "I mean I'm willing to do anything with or for you, anything to make up for even the tiniest shred of the horrible things I did to you. But I don't want to push you into something you aren't ready for. You've got thirty long years, at least, of memories of the wrongs I've done. I don't expect you to get over it that fast or to put yourself out when you have just cause to be upset with me. But if you are, I thank you for this opportunity, not just for your Mother, but for this time that you and I can be together. I don't know how much time I have left, but by God, I want to spend every minute I can with you. Because I love you and I have so much regret because I was nothing but a fool when it came to you for all these years."
Sean watched as a tear ran down Walter's face. And Walter just sat there trying to control what he felt.
"Thank you Father…I'm sorry I've been so pig headed since you got sick, I should have tried reaching out to you instead." Walter told him softly.
Sean shook his head.
"No Walter. You were right to be upset and distrustful. I never gave you a good reason to trust or forgive. But I do honestly love you." Sean grinned as a tear ran down his own face.
Walter stepped out of his Father's room while Megan and her family went back in. He pulled out his phone and made a phone call.
"My boy can call officials on a Saturday and work deals to make this happen? I'd never have believed it if I didn't see it myself." Louise half whispered to Paige. "He's truly special."
"That he is Louise." Paige smiled. "And I'm going to love him for the rest of time."
As Walter worked with the person he was talking to, the new washer and dryer showed up and was quickly installed after removing the used ones. The owner of the company had come with the delivery people and he apologized to Louise for the company that had taken Walter's order. He couldn't offer any reason why the other company had switched models, but refused to comment like they did it to cheat someone.
It took some doing with the US Embassy in Dublin but one of the diplomats was able to get the passport office in Dublin to arrange a new passport for both Sean and Louise on the following Monday.
December 23rd, 2014:
Walter and his family arrived at the Dublin airport along with his extended family and the small entourage of medical professionals to help care for his Father. Sean stared at the large plane as he carefully got out of the vehicle that had brought them all there. He sat down on the new mobility scooter Walter had gotten for him and just shook his head in wonder.
"It looks like a fine aircraft Walter. I can't imagine…my boy, despite how horrible I was to you, you were able to raise yourself up in the world to such a position. I'm positively proud of you." Sean told him with a large grin.
Walter gave him a weak smile. He still wasn't used to positive talk from his Father and outright compliments completely threw him off.
"My daughter, you did bring some of the fine Irish stew you made for us Sunday right?" Sean asked looking back at Paige.
Paige grinned and nodded.
"Louise and I even made some fresh soda bread to bring with us this morning." Paige told him as she bent over and kissed his cheek.
Walter had secured a special lift from the airport and it was used to raise Sean and Megan in their scooters up to the doorway of the plane so they didn't have to try and climb the stairs or be manhandled into the plane.
Thirty minutes later the plane was flying west to the US to refuel and then to head south to St. Kitts and Nevis.
Greetings! I hope this finds you all well! Happy Thanksgiving if you celebrate it, Happy Thursday if not!
Railman - Louise was very happy to see Walter again. She'd about given up hope. Not sure what Walter will do either. Right now he is too wrapped up in how his Father is treating him. It definitely looks like Sean has seen the light and it would be nice if there was some miracle...Maybe? And now they are off to the Caribbean!
LouBe - hehe Well, maybe she just wanted to maximize her alone time with Walter, Paige and Ralph? Glad it was a surprise though, how disappointing it would have been if you screamed "I knew it!" lol I'm with you on that front, I would never want this Walter, reformed or not, mad at me! Thank you, so glad you enjoyed those moments and I hope you enjoyed this too! Nope, I promise no dreams, unless one comes up in the next leg. Probably can get them here, since Scorpion was cancelled I haven't really watched TV so I don't see a lot of commercials unless they advertise on YouTube so, I'm usually late to the party on new things! lol That definitely would be a drawback on a washer/dryer combo, especially with kids. Kids amplify laundry at least 3 fold. lol Like that pun? Laundry, fold...LOL I slay myself! Looks like her replacement machines got there in time!
Marie Mac - I would agree about that, and only having to put them in and take them out once instead of once each machine. Thank you, glad you enjoyed it! I have been slacking off a bit again. The Muse has been speaking of this other original story and I've been happily writing it. Took a few days to play the Sims as well. I've got the rough beginnings for the next chapter of Callan as well I need to work on, I think there will be 1 more chapter after it, bringing it to chapter 104 and that will finish 2005. Then we'll have to see where it goes.
Pearliegirl - So glad you are enjoying the new chapters! It has been very sweet, but, well we know Scorpion...can it continue in a sweet vein or will something derail our enjoyment? lol
To the Adventure! -Tim