Monday, January 5th, 2004, 4:47 p.m. Dineen residence:
Ralph Dineen heard the doorbell and he got up from his recliner and walked through the house to the front room. As he reached for the door handle he saw through the curtain three men on the front porch.
Ralph's mouth curled up into a grin.
"Mr Ambassador, welcome back to the US. I hadn't heard. Please come in." Ralph said as he stepped back.
"Gerald is fine in this setting Ralph, thank you." The Ambassador told him even as he stepped into the house along with his two agents.
"What brings you by?" Ralph asked as he closed the door and then began to lead them through the house.
"Fine choice in a home." The Ambassador said as they walked through the rooms. "Actually I came hoping to speak with Walter."
"Well they should be home by now, let me call my wife first and then the apartment." Ralph told him. "Sweetheart." Ralph called out. "We have a guest." He reached down and grabbed the phone off the table and punched in the intercom number and waited.
"Who is it?" Veronica called out as she walked out of the kitchen and then saw them in the family room on the other side of the dining room. "Oh, Mr Ambassador. What an unexpected surprise. Welcome back to the States. Can I get you a coffee or something?"
"I'm fine Veronica, thank you. You are welcome to call me Gerald." The Ambassador smiled.
"Paige, we have company. Can you and Walter come up here please?" Ralph asked.
Ralph smiled and nodded as he hung up.
"They'll be here in just a moment." Ralph explained and then asked the Ambassador to have a seat before sitting himself.
"When did you get back?" Veronica asked as she walked over and sat down with Ralph.
"Friday." The Ambassador smiled. "The President needed to have a face to face meeting. I'll be honest I miss being in your position Ralph. If you ever get the chance to accept an Ambassadorship, pass. Being the actual Ambassador has been the most boring job of my whole career in the field. And I'm not saying that just to keep you working for me." The Ambassador laughed along with Ralph and Veronica.
"We really appreciate you helping to keep the media back as far as Toby escorting Happy at the ball." Veronica smiled.
"Not a problem Veronica. I was happy to do it. If not for that young man, I might have lost my most valuable asset." Gerald smiled. "Plus once they realized he had been instrumental in saving Ralph's life, that was the story again."
"Dad?" Paige called out as they entered the kitchen.
"In the family room pumpkin." Ralph replied back.
They saw the young couple walking through the dining room holding hands.
"There you are." Ralph smiled as he stood.
"Mr Ambassador." Paige grinned seeing him. "It is so wonderful to see you again."
"Thank you my dear. And you certainly are getting more beautiful every time I see you." The Ambassador said as he stood up.
"Mr Ambassador." Walter said as he reached out his hand.
"Good seeing you too Walter." The Ambassador told him as he shook his hand. "Well I might as well get to the point, and then this young couple can go back to whatever they were doing." He smiled even as he took an envelope from one of the agents.
"Walter, the President and the Senate certainly understand your reluctance to that part of the oath of Citizenship. And as such, at the President's request, they created a special exception just for you." The Ambassador told Walter as he opened the envelope.
Paige grinned and squeezed Walter's hand tightly.
"In your case the line requiring you to take up arms in defense of the State has been changed. That you swear to never pick up arms against the State." The Ambassador explained as he pulled the paperwork out of the envelope.
Ralph stepped forward and took the papers and quickly read through them.
"This is a big honor Mr Ambassador." Ralph said as he nodded reading the papers.
"Thank you Mr Ambassador. I am very grateful that you felt I was worthy of such a thing." Walter smiled.
The Ambassador nodded with a smile to Walter.
"Ralph, would you like to do the honor?" The Ambassador asked.
Ralph looked up shocked and slowly a grin spread across his face as he nodded. He turned to Walter who had his arm in a stranglehold by Paige.
"Repeat after me." Ralph grinned.
February 3rd, 2004, 6:30 p.m. Murphy's Pub:
Happy was holding hands with Toby as the entire family moved through the restaurant to their table. Ralph settled Emmett into the high chair as Toby and then Happy slipped into the same side of the booth. Walter, Paige and then Veronica slipped into the other side. Ralph turned and sat down next to Happy.
The memory of what happened in the restaurant about five months ago was fresh in everyone's mind. Including the owner and staff. The high profile room had been renovated. Several of the booths had been removed and the others adjusted allowing room between them in case an emergency happened again. And now there were three defibrillators in the building with signs and quick access to them. The staff had been put through extra training in case a need arises as well.
After the meal they heard the low hum of bagpipes that always began the restaurant's traditional happy birthday song. A violin quickly joined in and then they heard the clapping of hands and the stomping of feet. Then they heard the drums start. Happy blushed as various members of the staff came around the corner and into the room. A young woman was playing the bagpipes as a man played the violin and two women both had small drums they played. A man stepped in with the three tier birthday cake as five others were clapping and dancing. About halfway to the table they began singing "Happy Birthday!"
Everyone was grinning at Happy as she laughed but you could see the blush on her face, announcing to everyone that she was still embarrassed a bit.
The family and the other diners all joined in singing Happy Birthday.
Happy made the same wish she had made since her birthday in 2000.
"Please let me have another year of love with my family." Happy thought and then blew out the candles.
As it was Happy's request, the top tier was cut up for the family and the other two tiers were given away to any patrons who wished to celebrate her birthday as well.
Paige gave her a small gift bag and Happy quickly pulled the colorful tissue paper out of the bag and found an iPod 3G.
"We were going to get the new one, but the tech said it isn't worth the expense. So we were hoping this one is okay." Paige told her.
Happy nodded with a grin as she thanked Paige and Walter.
Toby handed her a small two inch by two inch by one inch wrapped box. The paper had obviously been specially printed just for this use. While the base color was Happy's favorite shade of blue, the decoration on it was the equation F = μ d2r/dt2. Happy grinned at him as she recognized it as an equation of two bodies with respect to each other. She pulled the paper off quickly and saw the felt covered jewelry box.
Ralph closed his eyes as he was slowly counting as he hoped this wasn't something he'd regret.
Happy opened the box and saw a crystal globe mounted as a necklace. She pulled the strand of gold chain up, lifting the crystal globe out of the soft padding. Inside was an intricate armature and she frowned as she looked at it and then to Toby.
"I had this specially made for you. The mechanism was made by a talented artist and another made the crystal globe." Toby told her.
Ralph opened his eyes and exhaled happily that it was just a necklace.
"Hold the crystal in your hand." Toby told her.
Happy sat it gently in her palm and then Toby reached over and his finger came within an inch of it. Slowly the mechanism began to turn around inside of the globe.
"It is sensitive to the difference between two separate people and it causes it to turn like that." Toby explained.
"Thank you Toby!" Happy grinned and held it out to him and turned for him to put it around her neck. As it clicked she turned and hugged Toby tightly after kissing his cheek. She turned and showed it to her Dad first. His finger came up close to the crystal and she could feel the mechanism as it began to spin inside the globe.
"I can feel it spin!" Happy grinned as she felt the movement against her breastbone.
Walter smiled at her.
"This isn't really a present, but I thought I would give it to you now anyway. Mom and Dad need to go over it with you and an attorney." Walter told her as he held out a large manila envelope.
"What is it?" Happy asked.
"I need an engineer on my team that will listen to what I need. This is a contract for part time work for 2 years to design and build the sensors I need for the self-driving cars." Walter told her.
Happy gasped as she pulled her hand back from the envelope.
"Are you sure?" Happy asked.
"Positive. I know I can count on you and you're far more brilliant than the dunderheads I have to deal with." Walter grinned.
"Uh, aren't those so-called dunderheads in the 160 to 170 IQ range?" Toby asked.
"I don't care if they have IQs over 200, if they won't listen to me they are worthless." Walter told him.
March 5th, 2004, 6:53 p.m. The Cambridge Wizard's Chest:
"What are we doing here?" Walter whispered to Happy as they walked into the game and comic store.
"I told you, Toby wanted us to meet this math genius he's been working with. He feels he is strong enough to start interacting more socially and not just playing that game." Happy whispered back.
"Good evening, weary travelers! I trust your long journey has had some bright days! Welcome unto the Wizard's Chest!" The man behind the counter greeted them as he flung his arms out wide. "No matter what you seek, you shall find it here. In what way may I help in your noble quest for adventure? Perhaps your taste lies in a familiar board game? Or perhaps you prefer that magic that exists only inside of computer video games? But I sense not, my psychics tell me you'd love to delve into the abyss in "Fantasies and Frolics". I pledge before you now, I can help you find the perfect adventure for your life this evening."
"More like psychosis." Walter said under his breath while he rolled his eyes.
Happy elbowed him even as she looked at the man.
"Uh, we're actually supposed to meet a friend here." Happy said looking around.
"We're all friends here my friend. But if there is a special someone, perhaps he is a rogue in disguise." His eyes squinted even as he looked about the room at the few other people milling about the shelves. "Or a magic user who has changed shape?" He continued looking around but at the different objects throughout the room. "But if your friend isn't here within these walls, perhaps your friend might be delving into an adventure of their own, in another far off realm. If that is the case, all you need to do is to step through the magical portal over there and climb the cobblestone stairs you find on the other side to discover the adventure that calls to you." He smiled pointing to a green curtain over a doorway.
"Thanks." Happy said through a sigh and began walking towards the back wall.
Walter sighed as he shook his head and walked along behind her.
Happy pushed through the curtain and saw the wooden stairs with a sign. "Made of the finest granite stone in all the land, placed by Roudabar the mason." The steps were about three feet back from the curtain. She shook her head as she stepped up on the first step and continued climbing to the store's attic. She realized quickly why the game area was upstairs. The air was much warmer and there was a soda machine selling drinks at almost double the price of outside machines. As well as snack machines, at inflated prices as well. And of course, there were many signs prohibiting food and drinks from outside the store.
She saw Toby leaning back against the railing watching the game being played. She stepped over and Toby smiled as she turned and leaned against the same railing and watched the group of people playing.
His finger reached out and touched the crystal globe and Happy smiled as she felt the mechanism begin spinning.
Walter sighed again, seeing everything and listening to the players speaking much like the man downstairs. He walked over and looked at Toby.
"They should hit a breakpoint in a moment." Toby whispered as he smiled at Walter.
Walter shook his head and turned to look at the group.
A woman in a green cloak and what looked like a tiara made of antlers on her head seemed to be the person in charge of the group of people.
"What do you do, Everace the noble?" The woman said as she sat behind some panels blocking her side of the table off from the others.
"The situation is grave!" Everace declared. "I've only one choice. I must use my staff of Abalam!" He declared.
"Give me a magic roll." The woman told him.
"I got a thirteen on the die plus with my wisdom bonus that gives me a sixteen." Everace told her.
"Your staff activates, roll damage. And don't forget your intelligence modifier and your Gnomish gift this time." She told him.
Everace picked up a number of six sided dice and rolled them. Slowly he began counting the dice.
"53." Walter told him.
"Hey, thanks!" Everace told him. "Let's see, my intelligence modifier is times two and a quarter and my gift is fourteen plus my intelligence of eighteen."
"One hundred fifty one point twenty five." Walter told him.
"Damn Sylvester the Conquestor! This guy can give you a run for your money!" One of the others said even as he slapped Sylvester's back.
"His magic resistance fails to counter most of the magic fire of your staff, your staff's remaining damage inflicts serious damage against the vampire lich king. As he screams out. "Death is but a window! I will return for vengeance!"" The woman cries out as she moves a figurine off the table in front of them.
"Hey guys, do you mind taking a short break so my friends can meet Sylvester?" Toby interjected.
The woman looked at her watch and nodded.
"We can take a ten minute break guys, but be ready we only got two hours to get through the next level." She told them.
"Hey Sly." Toby grinned as Sylvester moved over to them. "These are my friends, Happy and Walter."
Sylvester uttered a strange sound and then shook his head for a moment after.
"Sorry, I almost continued in character." Sylvester smiled. He reached out his hand covered by the robe he wore.
Toby had told them he had a germ phobia so they knew what was going on with him.
"Nice to meet you." Happy said as she shook his hand.
"Sylvester." Walter said as he shook his hand.
Sylvester rattled off an equation and Walter instantly answered and rattled off another. Sylvester grinned and answered and gave him another.
The pair stood there for three minutes solving harder and harder problems.
"I've never met anyone who could keep up with me before." Sylvester grinned.
"I've got a feeling your math proficiency might end up slightly higher than mine." Walter nodded.
"As I explained to you guys before, with his permission, Sylvester is still recovering from the abuse he suffered at the hands of his Aunt but he's come a long way guys." Sylvester blushed at Toby's words. "But I believe he's come to a place where he needs to venture further out socially. And I wanted him to meet you both here because of his feeling safe here. But I wanted you to meet them because both of them have overcome their own share of hardships. I also thought Sly might be valuable as a member of Scorpion in the future." Toby explained.
"What's Scorpion?" Sylvester asked.
Walter explained it briefly and the four of them talked for about five minutes before everyone began coming back upstairs.
Toby promised to bring Sylvester over one afternoon when everyone's schedule meshed up and they could test the waters of personality a bit better.
Walter and Happy nodded even as they turned and left.
Greetings! Welcome back to Callan! I hope this finds you all well! So glad you all enjoyed "Lycosidae"! And so glad to have finally finished it.
Railman - They really did put on the dancing display!
Guest197 - Glad you enjoyed the story so far! Becky's parts were definitely some of my highlights! lol It would be wonderful if this story continues that long, but I am a little concerned with the Muse. Since Cathy passed I've had significant silent periods associated with dates around our lives but for whatever reason the Muse has gone a bit silent for a while now and it isn't because of any sadness or anything connected to Cathy.
Susan - Yup, Walter's got game in the sculpting world! hehe I hear you on the Ralph's dilemma on Happy and Toby, at least the Ambassador helped keep things from getting carried away in the media with it. I was surprised with the Muse on the ectopic pregnancy. But glad it led to a good heart to heart between Paige and her Mom. Yep, Toby went to Ireland, just didn't get much about what happened while there. Walter I think has the upper hand at this time with Richard. lol Yep, Veronica recovered well!
2LawDog - So glad you enjoyed it! Walter and Paige certainly enjoyed it! lol Very understandable. I was a little surprised that wasn't an issue for him in the show. They just glossed right over it. Maybe show Walter felt since they lied to him, he could lie back to them. But thankfully this version Walter isn't quite the same cynic as he was in the show. Glad you liked how it ended!
Pearliegirl - So glad you enjoy the story! I think it is Tinker Bell...Yep, just checked. lol I don't think I ever saw her as a small pixie'ish entity that could sit on my shoulder...would be an interesting take. I almost always envision her as a large spectral type entity.
LouBe - So glad you enjoyed the ending! hehe Walter definitely set the bar high! Maybe one day Ralph will retire or they'll wave the protection detail and Paige won't have to attend the Christmas ball. lol Where's the fun in that? lol Nope, Toby was denied his fedora by the office of protocol. lol Nope, Ralph isn't retiring just yet. Yep, as I said to 2LawDog, I was surprised they never used that as part of his problem with citizenship in the show. Seemed like a natural extension. Walter said "Thank you". LOL I think Walter would be almost as happy not going to Christmas mass as he will enjoy what they were doing! lol
Lucy - So glad you were able to finally catch up! Yeah, I was worried about actually writing too much about them there as a couple with the age difference. You never know how readers will embrace such a situation and I just didn't want the drama. lol
To the Adventure! -Tim