Monday, November 21, 2005:
"Mrs O'Brien, Happy is here to see you." Agent Makle called over the small intercom to their bedroom.
"Thank you agent Makle, have her come back to the bedroom." Paige said as she relaxed on their bed.
After taking Paige back downstairs following dinner, Walter went back upstairs to have a session with Toby.
Happy rapped gently on the door frame of Walter and Paige's bedroom.
"Hey sis, get in here." Paige smiled as she looked up from her pregnant belly.
"Bet you can't wait, just sixteen days to go." Happy grinned as she stepped in and sat down on the side of the bed next to Paige.
"Definitely. It's been such an amazing experience but I'm ready to stop feeling like a bloated cow and waddling like a duck." Paige grinned.
Happy laughed.
"You didn't come down to try and figure out the sex of our baby, did you?" Paige laughed.
"Well, I'll always want to know if I have a niece or nephew cooking inside of you." Happy grinned. "No, I thought I would keep you company for a bit, at least until Walter gets back."
"Oh Happy." Paige smiled. "That's so sweet, thank you."
Happy just nodded.
"How's MIT going?" Paige asked as she looked at Happy. Happy had come so far since the scared and worried little girl they took in almost 7 years ago.
"Good." Happy smiled. "I think my professor regrets making me his TA sometimes."
Paige laughed and then they both watched as her stomach seemed to convulse and then the skin rolled from just under her right ribs all the way down to her left hip.
"Damn." Happy said, her eyes opened wide. "Does he do that very often?"
"They." Paige stressed. "Have been doing a lot of traveling this past couple of weeks. Most of it isn't too bad, unless I'm asleep or they hit my bladder. I can't just jump up and move to the bathroom very fast anymore."
They both laughed at that.
"Didn't fall for it huh?" Happy grinned as she reached a hand out and laid it gently on the section of Paige's stomach that still stretched a bit out of shape with the rest. "Wonder if this is her head."
Paige grinned.
"You'll just have to wait and be surprised with us when this little one finally makes their appearance." Paige said as she put her hand on top of Happy's.
"Like you don't know the sex of your baby." Happy rolled her eyes. "Is it very painful?" Happy asked softly as she looked up at Paige.
"This stage has more pain to the movements, because the baby is nearly fully developed. There is more weight to the baby, as well as the strength of their muscles have really increased. I got a feeling this little one is going to come out as a bodybuilder." Paige grinned. "But it is mostly discomfort. Searching for a position that gives me some comfort and breathing space, as well as more room for the baby, without forcing the baby to be on top of one organ or another is very difficult. Last night it felt like they had their feet on my spine and were trying to push their head out through my belly button. Some of the rib shots have been a good bit more painful than in months past. Riding in the wheelchair is the worst time. I try to ride with my hips as far forward as I can and kind of recline so we're not so cramped." Paige smiled.
"Walter has been talking to the baby a lot. He made a special speaker setup." Paige pointed to what looked like a large pair of headphones. "He puts it across my belly when I'm asleep and talks into the microphone. I'm quite positive the baby is getting used to his voice. Whenever we're separated for more than about thirty minutes, the baby reacts more to Walter's voice."
Happy grinned.
"Are you thinking about your Mom?" Paige asked in a moment of insight.
Happy nodded as her smile took on a sorrowful expression. She looked down as she felt the baby shift again.
"Well, I can say this with perfect certainty to you, Happy." Paige said, looking at her watching her stomach move. "Like your Mother, I wouldn't want to die, but bringing this little one to life is the most important thing right now. Knowing he made it before I died, like your Mom knew you made it, would make me so happy."
Happy's eyes opened wider at that and then she pushed over Paige quickly and engulfed her in her arms.
Paige smiled as they both cried a bit as they hugged.
"I was so scared when I first woke up after the attack. He wasn't moving, I panicked thinking I had lost him. But Walter was right there assuring me that we were both fine. Because of the drugs, I wasn't sure at first, I was even more confused being in the hospital. But Walter pointed out the fetal monitor and the signal it was providing helped me to understand Walter was telling me the truth." Paige said as she stroked the back of Happy's head. "Of course Mom, Dad and the doctor were all there, telling me the same thing."
"Oh I was so freaked out that night it happened." Happy whispered, still clinging to Paige. "Thankfully Toby was with me and kept intervening for me. I think in some ways I was more scared that night than I was when your plane first went missing. Part of me knew…Walter was with you on the plane so you'd be okay. But you weren't with Walter when the attack happened. I was so scared I was going to lose you."
"Well you didn't, I'm still here with you." Paige smiled.
"Sorry." Happy nodded as she finally broke the hug and sat back.
"Nothing to be sorry for. I love you, Happy, if you need a hug or comfort, I'm here for you." Paige smiled.
"So you'll go through this again?" Happy smiled as she pointed to Paige's belly.
Paige laughed.
"Not anytime soon, but I can see a day in the future I'd be happy to have another." Paige nodded.
"So, what's his name then?" Happy asked.
"Walter picked it. You'll have to wait to find that out." Paige smiled. "So, why did you say your professor might be sorry for making you his TA?"
Happy laughed.
"Have you met me?" Happy asked.
"Yes. And you are a brilliant woman with a gifted mind for anything engineering related." Paige told her.
"Thanks." Happy gave her a small smile.
"Well, let's just say I don't think he expected me to argue back so much on his course. I really believe he thought it might make me not as confrontational. But I have had a lot of fun grading papers for him. I wasn't being very effective in helping the students understand as a tutor. They were driving me crazy with how slow they are in getting things. So he traded me grading the papers and he took the duty of tutoring. Apparently I do a good job of answering their emails though. It helped that Walter wrote me a bit of code to use in my email that strips the extraneous information out so I can read the important part they need help with." Happy explained.
"Well that's not bad then. I didn't know Walter did that, I'm glad he was able to help you." Paige smiled.
"Are you all caught up on your classes now?" Happy asked.
"I am." Paige smiled. "And I did finally give up and accepted that director's request to produce my script. He promised to at least consider my idea of having all the parts played by a woman, but I have my doubts. He hopes to put it on during the week of Christmas."
"Oh, that's cool." Happy smiled. "Who knows, maybe some broadway producer will be in the audience on one of the nights it is put on and will be so moved they want to buy it!"
"Oh, that would be too amazing. I already have a wonderful family, an amazing husband and my first baby is almost here. I don't want to be too greedy." Paige smiled just before they were interrupted.
"Mrs O'Brien." Agent Makle said over the intercom. "Your Father called down, he said you have guests upstairs."
"Thank you agent Makle." Paige responded then released the talk button. "I wonder who it is?"
Happy shook her head as she stood up.
"I hadn't heard that anyone was coming over." Happy said as she helped Paige to sit up on the side of the bed.
"Would you hand me my dress please?" Paige pointed to the dress she had worn during dinner that Walter hung up on the back of the door.
Happy grabbed her dress then helped her put it on.
"Thank you." Paige smiled as she brushed her hair and then they left the apartment.
"Mom? Dad?" Paige exclaimed as she came through the side door of the main house and saw Louise and Sean O'Brien standing there talking to Ralph and Veronica.
"There's our girl." Sean said as Louise stepped over quickly.
Paige saw the tears of happiness in Louise's eyes as she moved into Paige's arms and hugged her tightly.
"Not that I am not happy to see you, what are you doing here? They're still breaking ground in twelve days aren't they?" Paige asked as she continued to hug Louise.
"Bah, you expect us to miss our grand's entry into this world?" Sean laughed.
"We're pushing the ground breaking to March, when you are on Spring Break and you can be there to help." Louise said while sniffing back tears before breaking the hug. "You look so beautiful." Louise told her as she held Paige's arms out from her body and stared at the large bump in her belly.
"Thanks Mom." Paige grinned before stepping over and hugging Sean.
"There's my little heart." Louise said as she hugged Happy. "How are you dear?"
"I'm good, Aunt Louise." Happy replied while hugging her back.
"Well I can finally tell you guys I got Paige to spill the truth earlier!" Happy said suddenly. "She said they are having a girl…" Everyone looked at Happy and then to Paige with excitement. "Or a boy." Happy finished and started laughing as everyone complained.
"Oh I want to tell you, when the news broke over who was responsible for what happened to you, I half expected Callan to declare war on Newry." Sean told them as they all sat around in the family room talking. "Even the parish priest is mightily upset over it all."
"Thankfully Ralph was able to step in and help calm things back down a good bit." Louise nodded.
"Yes, it helped that there was no resistance in getting Reid and the others in jail so they will stand trial for what they did. If the government had balked at releasing them to the US to try, we might have seen bloodshed over it." Sean nodded.
"Well we are glad there aren't any lasting issues from it. And I can speak for Walter on this, we're both very glad there was no more bloodshed over it." Paige smiled as Walter hugged her tighter with his right arm.
"That's the truth." Walter nodded.
"And how are you doing son?" Sean asked Walter. "You getting what happened squared away?"
Walter nodded.
"Toby's been a big help." Walter told them as he looked at Toby on the loveseat with Happy. "I know there was no way I could account for everything, I'm just so glad the system worked as designed. It might have actually put Paige at risk, but it didn't do it on purpose. If everything had been as the system expected them to be, they would have been safe, instead of at risk." Walter told them. "The fact that the system is never offline while the car is turned on, saved the day in the best way it could be done. While I'm free from the bulk of my contract with Richard, as part of my support role, I've poured over the analytics so many times. Scrutinizing every sensor measurement, every decision the program determined as the best course of action. And there simply wasn't a better option. Had the car not been modified, no one would have died. And agent Makle wouldn't have gotten quite as banged up."
"As if you wouldn't have done that for free." Paige smiled. "You felt so guilty over me being hurt and agent Todd being killed, and none of it was your fault."
"Speaking of that, Richard has told me many, many times since that day that he is so happy he got you to agree to the project and so proud of the job you and Happy did on it." Ralph explained. "He even had a showdown with his board over it after the fact. They had tried to get him to force you to remove a lot of the restrictions you insisted on. He even got the board to expel the three people who opposed your designs the most."
"Well the whole town is so proud of you son and they are especially happy that you and the baby are fine." Louise told Paige as she squeezed her hand.
"That they are, Mr and Mrs Walsh have got a grand baby pool busting at the seams about you." Sean said as he pulled out his phone and showed them the pictures he'd taken to show them. "They had so many people wanting entries they had to create ten different boards covering the same span of days because there were just so many people. They've got bets from December 7th through the 14th." Sean laughed.
"Nearly the whole town is represented on those ten boards." Louise nodded as she laughed. "Remember Mr O'Connell that drove your carriage? He bought a ticket for each board for December 11th at 3 pm. He's pledged the winnings to the school for a better arts program in your honor."
"That sweet man." Paige smiled.
"Why don't you show them your apartment, then we can all turn in for the night." Ralph suggested.
"That's a good idea." Paige nodded. "I am getting tired."
"You should have said something earlier." Walter complained.
"I said I'm getting tired, not tired yet." Paige told him before everyone got up.
"It's a fine apartment you have here." Sean said and Louise nodded as they were shown the basement that Walter and Paige called home.
"You've got to see the tub." Paige gushed. "Walter surprised me and while we were in New York for two weeks he had the bathroom completely remodeled."
"Oh, that tub looks wonderful and it has water jets." Louise said dreamily. "I've been after Sean to get us something like this." Louise sighed.
"I know, maybe when we get home we can get some estimates." Sean told her.
"It would help with your sore muscles too Dad." Paige grinned.
Louise enjoyed working with Veronica preparing their Thanksgiving day meal that Thursday. Paige sat at the small table in the kitchen helping with small tasks to free the two Mothers to work on the bigger dishes.
Walter took Happy to the track so she could ride her motorcycle. She'd long ago got the hours she needed, but she enjoyed going just to ride.
Sylvester and his parents were the last to arrive and then the celebration began. Each one taking a turn listing three things they were grateful for this year. For the most part they could have just said two things as nearly everyone listed Paige and the baby surviving the attack as one of the things they were grateful for.
Like every year, Happy's first thing she was grateful for was her family. Without them in her life, she wouldn't have anything else to be grateful for. She listed Paige surviving the attack as her second and then for how Paige's pregnancy and their relationship has come to help her deal with her own feelings over her Mother dying giving birth to her. She'd spoken privately with Toby about it the night before. She really wanted to include him in her thanks, but she was having a hard time deciding which she should express.
Toby just smiled and encouraged her to go with what she had chosen, he promised her he wouldn't feel slighted. Toby's list was of course, getting to meet Happy, which had diverted his life course. Walter for saving his life and for the Dineen's who had changed Happy's life so much for the better.
Greetings! I hope this finds you all well! A heads up for everyone, Railman informed me his computer has gone into a tizzy and is going to be in the shop for a while. So hopefully his story will only be delayed 1 week, but it could be longer depending on what the problem is and what it takes to fix.
Champagne42 - They said "Thank you." I'm so tickled so many of you have come to embrace them! Thank you, I do try and do as much research as I can. Sometimes it is pretty easy and other times it is not. Google may have all the answers, but formulating the proper question to get the information you want is next to impossible sometimes. Like, I had an idea for a scene in a story where a camera plays a part and I'm trying to find an image or even a written word on how the flash attaches to the camera. 40 years ago I had a Minolta XG-1 SLR, the flash had a dock point on top of the camera, but the camera I had picked for the scene didn't say where it connected. One thing I found said it had a port on the side to connect a flash with a cable. *sigh*
Railman - Indeed, Agent Charles is without a doubt a fellow badass! The Muse didn't relate if he helped beyond finding the driver or not, but I'm assuming not, as long as they were able to get each person they found, give up whoever they knew in the line to the perps. Walter is definitely devoted and Toby is amazing!
Guest - Thank you! Maybe I shouldn't have said anything about "Dark Walter", the Muse grew quiet after I mentioned it last week. lol Still got 3 weeks so, plenty of time.
Pearliegirl - Absolutely he will be here soon! lol Glad you guys are looking forward to DW continuing!
LouBe - hehe Nick was a bit on the whining side! lol He needs to stop trying to tell jokes to the people he fights. lol Simone just grinned rather evilly. LOL Absolutely right for Walter. He knows without a doubt it made the right call with the information it had, he's almost to the point he can admit it to himself. Richard had nothing specific in mind, just his belief in Walter that something he'll be involved in will warrant some kind of interview. Thank you, glad you love my idea to try and coordinate KT & LK!
To the Adventure! -Tim