Saturday morning , Walter was up , showered and was sitting in the kitchen ,drinking coffee and eating toast . The cleaners were due at 8.00am. , pool cleaners at 9.00am.

His thoughts went back to the previous evening , he needed to get a copy of the ring design , Paige had told him about . If that was the ideal style of ring she wanted , he was determined to ensure that it would be in the box when he finally asked her to marry him .

He knew he would need help to get hold of the design , so he hoped he could get Ralph on his own tomorrow and involve him in a little bit of subterfuge .

So engrossed was he in his thoughts , he had not realized how long he had been sitting there . He was bought out of his thoughts by some loud banging on the front door . He got off his chair and made his way to the front door . He opened it slowly to be greeted by a group of ten people .

" Good morning Mr O'Brian , my name his Jackie , i am team leader of your cleaning crew for today . "

At first Walter was like a deer caught in a car's headlights , he shook his head and thought of Paige , which immediatly calmed him down .

" Sorry you took me a little by surprise , i was not expecting so many people to be involved . Please come in . "

" Thank you but with so many rooms to clean , which i believe you told my manager had not been cleaned in almost five years . "

Jackie explained as she marshalled her cleaning crew through the door .

" We will split into two teams of five , one team to concentrate on downstairs , the other upstairs . Before we start are there any places you do not want us to enter ? "

" Just one , the first door on the right side of the landing , that is my bedroom . It is the smallest of the bedrooms and en-suite , i intend to stay in there while you work . There is coffee , milk and sugar in the kitchen if you want a coffee break at some time . With regard to all the other rooms , please take care with all the bits and pieces . Do you offer a laundry service ? "

" We do , but nothing as been built into our quote to cover anything like that . " Jackie told him .

" Would it be possible to remove all the curtains and bedding and arrange to get it laundered . Then send a bill for the extra work . " Walter asked .

" That will not be a problem , i will instruct everyone . What about your room ? " Jackie asked .

" Do not worry about that room at all . "

" Ok , we will go and get all our equipment out of the van and begin . We hope to finish before 5.00pm. , unless we come across any problems . Should we not be finished by 5.00pm , if it is alright with you , we will send a smaller crew back tomorrow to finish off any work as necessary , this will not affect the quote we have already given you . "

" No problem the pool people have a different team coming tomorrow . " Walter explained .

Jackie sent people out to collect items from the van . Walter went back to the kitchen to
await the pool people to arrive . Thirty minutes later Walter heard another loud knock on the door .
This time it was just a team of four people . Walter came out of the house and led them down the side of the house and through a gate that led to the garden .
Once he had shown them , he left them to get on with their work and made his way , this time , back to his bedroom .

He pulled his laptop out of it's case and began to work on it . His anxiety was building , he had not expected so many people to turn up , but he realized that the amount of money he was paying them , the companies had pulled out all the stops to impress him in order to maybe obtain a permant contract , for regular house cleaning and pool maintenance .

By 10.30am. . the noise of vacuum cleaners indoors and Diesel pumps emptying the pool , also the pool cleaners had a radio on at full volumn , that played constant music that Walter had never heard before .

By 11.00am. , he was ready to start throwing things , his anxiety had built up so much . He looked at his mobile phone laying on his bed at the side of him . He reached over towards it , then pulled his hand back . " You are a grown man , an I.Q. of 197 , you can deal with it . You can deal with it , i think i would be happier , jumping onto a runaway train , traverlling at over 80 m.p.h. , than just sitting here all because i have fourteen strangers in my house . " These were the words going through his mind .

He stayed sitting on the edge of the bed just stareing at the opposite wall . After another thirty minutes , his hand reached for his phone again , this time he picked it up and hit contact for the only person he knew would be able to calm him down , Paige .

" Good morning my handsome man . " Paige answered a smile could be heard in her voice .

" Paige i have fourteen strangers in my house , i do not think i can cope , i am so useless . What is wrong with me ? "

Paige could hear the panic in his voice . " Walter , listen to my voice , you trust me right ? "

Walter nodded before he realized she could not see him . " Yes Paige , i always trust you . " Walter finally replied .

" Good , now close your eyes and think of my face or Megan's . now keep that image in your mind . Take a deep breath , now slowly release it through your mouth . "

Walter followed Paige's instructions and slowly he felt a lot calmer . After ten deep breaths he opened his eyes .

" Walter are you alright ? " A concerned Paige asked .

" Yes , you certainly know how to help me . " Walter told her .

" It was my pleasure Walter . Would you like us to come over ? " Paige asked , her fingers crossed he would say yes .

" I would very much like you to come over , but it would be unfair , the only room i have told them not to touch is my bedroom . That is the smallest of all the bedrooms , it does not even have a proper chair . " Walter told her .

" Walter my darling man , i will sit on the floor all day and i know Ralph will as well . We all just want to be near you . " Paige was almost pleading .

Walter remained silent for a while . " Well if you really mean that . How soon can you be here . ? "

Paige gave a big sigh of relief . " I will make a flask of coffee and bring some water for Ralph . On the way over we can pick up some ready prepared food and snacks . Hang on a sec. " Paige shouted Ralph . " Do you want to go to Walter's now ? "
Ralph was quick to answer . " You bet . "

Paige went back to Walter on the phone . " We should be there in about a hour , can you give me your Zip code and house number so i can put it into my GPS. "

Walter gave her the zip code and also the full address of the house . He told Paige to ring when they were outside and he would come down and let them in . Both then said their goodbyes .

As the time passed Walter was at first relaxed after speaking to Paige , but as the time passed and the hour Paige had told him it would take to get to him , he began to get apprehensive . Would Paige like the house as it was not the style her condo was done in , would she think it was in the wrong area , Richard had . Would Ralph be able to still attend his school and Caltec if she moved here .

Before he could put any more obsticules up his phone rang . As soon as he saw Paige's name on the I.D. all he could feel was love and happiness . He answered immediatly . " Hello my love , i am coming down to the door . "

" We will be waiting . Paige replied and then disconnected the call .

Walter was at the door in less than thirty seconds , he threw the door back and a big smile came across his face as he saw his little family standing there .

" Come on in . please don't look at anything , there are ten people trying to make it look clean . " Walter told them .

" Walter we are here for you , if it was a total garbage dump , with you there , to us it would be heaven . Would you please take Megan and we will bring the bags in . " Paige said a big smile on her face .

Ralph went round his mom , before she passed Megan to Walter , and gave Walter a big hug .

" Mom is right , when you are there , anywhere could be home . So lets go up to your bedroom .

Walter was a lttle chocked as he said . " Thank you both . "

Walter took Megan's bassenet from Paige and led them upstairs . Once in his bedroom , Walter placed the bassenet , with a sleeping Megan in it , on the bed .
Paige looked around , Walter had kept the room tidy , no dirty clothes on the floor , or dirty cups and plates lying around .

" I thought you said this was a small bedroom , it is at least twice the size of mine at the condo . " She had been totally taken by surprise at what she was seeing .

" I think what i said was that it was the smallest of the bedrooms in the house . " Walter replied .

" Then i cannot wait to see the rest of the house . " Said an excited Paige .

" I would not mind if this was my room , it is massive compared to mine at the condo . " An even more excited Ralph replied .

Paige had noticed a pink tub chair , in front of what appeared to be a dressing table . She walked over and pulled it over to the side of the bed . " Well i have got my chair . " She said with a laugh in her voice .

Ralph was content to sit on the floor , Walter sat on the bed so he could watch Megan as she slept .

Just as they were getting comfortable , there was a knock on the bedroom door . Walter carefully got of the bed , so as not to wake Megan and walked over to the door and opened it .
" Hello Jackie , Problem ? "

" Not at all Mr. O'Brian . It is just the carpet in the living area , there are two large stains on it ,in very noticable places . With your permission , we would like to remove as much furniture that we can into the conservatory . Then clean as much of the carpet we can . The problem will be that it will take up to twelve hours to dry . We will then send a team of four back on Sunday morning around 10.00am. to replace the furniture . The price you are paying us will cover all the extra work .

The alternative would be to clean just the patches , by doing that i fear the cleaning would be very visable , when it is finished . " As Jackie was explaining all this to Walter , Paige got out of the chair and made her way over to Walter .

" She is correct i have cleaned patches of stains from carpets in the past and what she says is true . "

Walter looked at Paige , then back at Jackie . " Jackie , let me introduce you to my partner Paige Dineen . "

" Pleased to meet you Ms Dineen . " Jackie said .

" Call me Paige please . "

Jackie looked at Walter . " I thought you lived here alone . "

" I do at the moment , but once everything is clean , i hope Paige and the rest of my family will be moving in with me . " Walter explained .

" There is no hopeing , we cannot wait to move in , Ralph already has big plans for his room . Please Jackie come in for a minute and meet the rest of the family . " Paige asked , a big smile on her face .

Walter and Paige stepped to one side and Jackie walked in .

" This is Ralph our son , and the little bundle of joy in the bassenet , is our daughter , Megan Louise .

Ralph stood up and walked to Jackie " Very pleased to meet you ." He told her as he held his hand out to shake hers .

" What a pleasure to meet such a well mannered young man . " Jackie said . " May i look at your daughter ? " She asked as she turned to Paige .

" With pleasure , however she his asleep at the moment . " Paige told her .

" I will be quiet . " Jackie said as she walked over to the bed . " Oh she is gorgeous , how old is she ? "

" Three months . " A proud Walter said .

Five minutes later Jackie left the bedroom to arrange for the carpet cleaning .

The three of them settled back down . Walter looked at Paige , with a look that concerned Paige a little .

" Is something the matter Walter ? "

" Not really , but it is something that has been bothering me since we got back together . "

" You know we said no lies , no secrets so please tell me . "

"I have just been wondering how you have managed financially since you left C. P. "

" Well that is down to you . "

" Down to me ? "

" Yes you taught me to keep money in reserve . So the first reward i got after i first met you , i put half of it in a high interest rate account . Then when you fired me and gave me twelve months wages as severance pay . As the wage Richard paid me was more than generous , i put the severance pay into the account as well . However i had invested $10,000 in C. P. and never got any return on on my investment . In fact even though we won those two jobs , once we had paid for the extra equipment we needed to complete them and Toby had insisted we quoted 50% lower than your costings , we made just about enough profit to pay for one months rent .

In fact that was one of the reason i quit , it was started as a partnership with everything being decided by a vote . The problem with that i would nearly always lose 3 to 1 , Toby had to have things his way on everything . Happy would follow him , because they were married , Sly, he usually would bully him into voting in his favour . All Toby really seemed to want to do was make sure we undercut you on every job .

Once i left i had enough money in my account for a good twelve months , but i became bored doing nothing , so i joined the same agency as Amy . In fact i worked in the H.R. department of Richards office for nearly four weeks . "

" You were working in the same building as me ? How come i never saw you in the Company resturant . " Walter asked his face full of confusion .

" I never went in there , i only worked 9.00am till 2.00pm. to fit around Ralph's school time . That was before he went to stay at Drews . Anyway on my six month check up , the doctor was worried about my blood pressure and he told me i needed to rest and give up work . So that is what i did . " Paige said with a smile on her face .

" I hope you still have some savings left ? " A Concerned Walter asked .

" Well yes , although it is a little depleted now , but your kindness with the maintenance more than compensates . "

Walter smiled and simply said . " Good . "

Paige leaned into Walter and planted a kiss on his lips . Just then Megan began to grizzle .

" It would appear the little lady is awake . " Said a smiling Paige as she walked over to the bassenet and picked Megan up .

" I think the little lady needs changing , i'll take her into the bathroom , Ralph could you take the changing bag into the bathroom for me . "

" Of course mom . " Ralph replied .

As Ralph went into the bathroom , there was another knock on the door . Walter walked over and opened it . " Hello Jackie , another problem ? "

" No , well not with the cleaning . The pool men need a word with you . I would not let them come in with their boots on as a lot of basic cleaning is well underway . "

" Not a problem , please tell them i will be down in a moment . " Walter informed her .

Jackie turned and walked away , Walter turned and walked back into the room .

" Take Ralph with you , give me thirty minutes on my own , so i can change Megan and feed her . "

Walter looked a little downcast . " I was hopeing i could feed her again today . " He told Paige .

" Sorry , we were not expecting to be coming today so i have not had time to express any milk . So today she is going to be fed straight from the source . " Paige told him , with a bit of a devilish smile on her face .

" Oh , i see . Ralph do you want to come with me , maybe have a look around the garden , it is somewhere i have not even been . " Walter asked his face having gone a little red .

" Yes please dad , are you ready now . " Ralph replied .

Walter walked over to Paige and gave her a kiss , then gently kissed Megan on the brow . "We will see you in about thirty minutes . "

Walter and Ralph made their way down to see the poolman . Ralph looked around him as they made their way down the stairs and through a couple of the downstairs rooms . They were soon outside and Walter spoke to the man he had spoken to when they first arrived .

" You wanted to speak to me i believe . "

" Yes sir , we have emptied the pool and are ready to start cleaning . However there is a large crack in the tiles that line the pool . Our maintenance team tomorrow will be able to repair and ensure it is water tight , but we wanted to show you , before we started cleaning , so we cannot be blamed for the damage . "

" I understand and appreciate you showing me the damage . " Walter told him .

" Ok , we will begin the cleaning process . "

Walter and Ralph left them to get on with their work .

" Lets go for a walk around this rather overgrown garden , i think i am going to call in a landscaper in to sort it all out , but i think i will have to speak to your mom first . " Walter told Ralph .

Ralph smiled before speaking . " Mom knows nothing about plants , she can even kill catcus plants . "

" Well i am no better , so we will have to put someone on a monthly contract to look after the garden . But for now lets explore . " Walter suggested .

They got about halfway round the garden and were confronted by a hedge , that had got out of control , in the five years it had not been attended to . There was a gap just about wide enough to walk through . Ralph ran forward and went through first . All Walter heard was .

" WOW ! "

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Grykon Thank you , the safe soon patience please , the memories that Paige remembered , was the the reason Don't remove your com was written . I used Megan as a " mouthpiece " for Walter as i do not think it had been used before . I think you are correct he cannot see the change in himself , at least not yet .

Pearliegirl Hope this chapter pleased you as well .

Loube 96 Thank you , really enjoy writing Walter's talks to Megan . pleased you enjoyed reminisces and her reaction , as i explained to Grykon , they were the reason i wrote don't remove your com . the safe chapter 8 and a few surprises .