Not a fool this time…. Chapter 26
Walter got into the habit of checking over the Ferrari for tracking devices. He also took to checking the classic American Iron sites in search of a '62 Buick Special convertible with the 'odd-fire' V-6 and finally found one for sale in Arizona, black with blue interior. He had a local mechanic check it out who reported it was a very well done, professional ground up restoration, never been hit, no rust. He had it purchased and shipped to the house in LA. He asked Adam and Sue if they would be home when it was to be delivered by the auto shipper so he could take Gale out for lunch and surprise her with it when she came home- Sue even said she would make a big bow to put on it.
"I don't know about you, Gale but I could go for some tandoori for lunch, care to join me?" Walter said looking up from his flat screen. Gale was working a small coding job at her desk in the den.
"Sounds good to me. Have a hankering for some chicken masala on basmati rice, huh?" She chuckled. "Seems I have heard that before." She got up from the desk and stretched, "some time away from the computer is just the thing, can finish this when we get back."
They asked Adam and Sue if they would like them to bring some Indian chow back for them, got a very enthusiastic YES from Adam, got in the Ferrari and waved as they left.
Walter took a longer, more roundabout route to the restaurant than usual. When Gale remarked he merely said it was nice to get away from the computers for a while. While at the restaurant Walter seemed to take longer to order, ate slower than usual, and talked to Gale about her coding job wanting an in-depth explanation of her methodology, when his phone buzzed. "O'Brien… yes, OK, understood. Thank you."
"What was that about?" Gale asked.
"Just some business that needs to be attended to. Let's get Adam and Sue's take out and get going," Walter said with a barely contained grin.
Coming back to the house, there in front of the garage was a black, 1962 Buick Special convertible with a big blue bow on the hood.
"OH MY GOD, WALTER! Look at that…. oooooh, I told you it was a cutie, isn't that a cutie?" She opened the Ferrari's door before Walter had it parked, jumped out and went to the Buick, a huge smile on her face. "Did you get this for me?! You remembered… of course you did. You never forget." She gave Walter a big hug. "Start it up, the V-6 or V-8 in it? Dad's was the V-6…. manual… come on Walter, let's go for a ride."
"But you said you wanted to finish your coding job when we got back" Walter said handing Adam the bag of take-out. "Change your mind?"
"YES! Let's go for a ride, it is beautiful….." She gave him a hug. "Bet a lot of people will wonder what it is… bet a lot of people will be jealous, stuck in their plastic, everything looks the same, blah cars." She gave him hug and a kiss. "The top is down, the sun is out, not a cloud in the sky, the road is ready for us!"
"Here are the keys, don't slip the clutch." Walter said with a big grin. "Guess the job can wait until this evening."
Walter pulled the Ferrari into the garage, said thanks to Adam and Sue before getting in the passenger side of the Buick while Gale got behind the wheel and started it to take a drive.
She took side streets to get out of town and onto the back rural roads. "Thank you Walter, you are the very finest of husbands." She glanced over at him. "I only mentioned a '62 Buick Special once… was it hard to find?"
"Took a while to find one restored to pristine condition." Walter said. "Not exactly the most sought after classic car, but, must admit, it is a nice little runner."
"Women see me with such a handsome man in a classic car like this- they will be so jealous." She said. "I cannot thank you enough."
"Well, I enjoyed the payment for dinner- what do I get for a classic car?"
"I could not love you more than I already do." She said laughing. "But, yes, let's go home…. I want to love you all night long."
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Five months they were in the house. Married life was agreeable for both Gale and Walter. Not one incident of being followed or any problems at home or on the jobs. The Ferrari was seen at some of the Elias Enterprises sites, a Buick Special was spotted at times as well. Gale and Walter appeared to be living an idyllic life. Saturday or Sunday afternoons were frequently spent with Ralph in the garage. Ralph lived in the loft, his college buddy Wayne in the Airstream.
One Saturday Gale and Walter were spending time with Ralph in the garage. Walter going over equations on the white boards with Ralph and Wayne…. Wayne being slow, but eventually grasping the concepts and got there…. with the help of a scientific calculator.
"Walter, I graduated from high school. Richard's councilor got all the paperwork done, the school councilor agreed and got all the testing lined up and here I am, fifteen years old, high school graduate and adult," Ralph said. "Pretty neat, huh?"
"Yes, congratulations are in order." Walter said. "What are your plans now?"
"Believe it or not, I will be getting an internship in the space division- working with the engineers." Ralph said. "I might be able to sit in on some of the space think tank conferences…. will I see you there?"
"You very well may. I pop in there quite often- their brainstorming can be quite interesting at times. I generally listen when there then contemplate the issues and submit suggestions. You know me, not overly politic when in groups of people. I found that a better option all around- causes less friction than my usual social interaction."
"I have no problems whatsoever with your 'social interactions', my love," Gale said joining them handing Walter a cup of coffee.
Ralph and Walter laughed, "You are one of a very select few, Gale," Walter said.
"I don't have any problem with you, either," Wayne said. "You have helped me immensely with my math issues…. course the calculator does, too. I just do not understand how you two guys do all this so easily and effortlessly."
"Don't feel alone, Wayne. You should have seen me working a coding job next to Walter," Gale said. "Talk about intimidation. I was totally blown away by how FAST Walter typed code in, and so precisely. That is why I took the time to go get lunches and stuff- just to get a break from the intense atmosphere." She shook her head. "When he is focused, the world could stop rotating and he would not notice… intense."
"I might not notice the world no longer rotating, but I do notice you walking by," Walter said giving her a kiss. "Congratulations on getting out of high school, Ralph. Starting classes next semester, right? You and Wayne on a similar schedule?"
"Yup, all is clicking right along and falling into place." Ralph said. "I look forward to seeing you at one of the think tank conferences- maybe we can discuss the topics afterwards. Would be fun."
"I'll order a pizza for you guys then Gale and I need to go." Walter said.
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Monday, Walter was called for a consultation by Steve Beck, head of the propulsion engineering section. He gave Gale a kiss, "Have no idea how long this will take. May not be back until this afternoon. You have a good day stuck at your computer."
A short time after seeing Walter off, Gale was back in the den working some code on her computer when it hit her. She looked to her calendar, recalculated, made a call to make an appointment. Later in the afternoon she hopped in the Buick and left for the appointment to return three hours later to the den to continue her coding job with a smile that would not go away.
Walter got home from the consultation and decided to see if Gale wanted to go out for dinner. He walked into the house and heard her typing away in the den so went to see how her job was going.
"Gale, how is the job going and would you like to go out for dinner?" he asked entering the den. "The consultation went well, a minor change in two component placement and issue resolved- amazing how difficult it is to get minor issues resolved."
Gale got up from her desk, walked to him and gave him a hug and a kiss. "I am overjoyed your consultation went well, I would love to go out for dinner and I have some news for you, too, so sit down," she said leaning against his desk.
"OK," Walter said sitting down at his desk. 'What is your news? Got your job done?"
"Walter….. I'm pregnant." Gale said with a smile.
"Walter…. did you hear me?" Gale asked her smile fading.
"Yes, you said you are pregnant." Walter said continuing to stare at her with a slight frown forming. "You said….. you… are… pregnant."
"Yes, Walter, I am pregnant…. with a baby…. with our baby…. yours and mine."
Walter frowned. "Yours and mine…. baby…. you are pregnant…. gods, are you sure?"
Gale looked at him, "would I say I was pregnant if I were not sure, my love?"
"You were not pregnant when I left this morning," Walter said.
Gale laughed, "I was pregnant this morning when you left, just didn't know it… now I do. I was typing away on my job after you left, it hit me so I checked the calendar, calculated, made an appointment at the clinic, went in and I am about six weeks pregnant."
"Ahhh… calculated… calculated what?" Walter said.
"Yes, my love. Calculated when I had my last period, how long it had been, obviously missed my cycle, called the clinic, made an appointment, went in and got back before you got home, but the doctor said sure enough, pregnant."
"Pregnant." Walter said. "And you are sure?"
"Yes, sure, doctor confirmed." Gale said. "I don't think I have ever seen you in such a state… are you in shock, Walter?"
"Oh my god, you are pregnant and we are going to have a child." Walter said no longer frowning but looking stunned. "No, no, not in shock, just so incredibly overwhelmed, or is that the same thing?"
"Well, you have a few months to get used to the idea." Gale sat on his lap.
Walter put his arms around her and held her tight. "Incredible. A baby, us having a child. You know the whole world is going to change."
Gale laughed, "I don't know about the whole world, but certainly our little corner of it will… are you happy, my love?"
"You have absolutely no idea how incredibly happy you have made me since the day I met you. You changed everything, you changed my world, you changed me, you made me a better man and I so love you for it."
"So, my love, you said something about taking me out for dinner….. I already have plans for dessert." Gale said seriously. "Gods I do love you, Walter."
"Ahhh, 'love' seems so small a word for what it totally encompasses in my being," Walter said, "especially now- we are going to have a child. What an incredible feeling that gives me who is supposed to be an emotional dumpster fire….. all thanks to you."
Gale gave him a hug and a long, slow kiss. With a smile she said, "Shall we take the long way to the tandoori restaurant and pop in to see Ralph and give him the good news? He is going to have a sibling…. think he will be happy about it?"
"I will message that we will be coming by," Walter typed then hitting send, he stood up and, putting his arm across Gale's shoulders to go to the garage, asked "Want to take the Buick or my car?"
"I want to take the Buick as in a few months I may not be able to get behind the wheel…" She stopped and looked at Walter, "will you still like me when I am big as a house? You may not be able to get your arms around me for a hug…. I will miss that."
"You will miss nothing, my love." Walter said giving her a kiss. "I would devise a way to move heaven and earth for you if you want." He held the door for Gale, got in the passenger side and they went to the garage to see Ralph.
"Was surprised you popping in during the week. What's up?" Ralph asked opening the door.
"Gale has some news for you," Walter said.
Ralph looked to Gale…. "Yes?"
"You are going to have a brother or sister," Gale said with a big grin. "Walter and I are going to have a baby…. just found out this afternoon."
"Oh my god! Walter, Gale, congratulations!" Ralph exclaimed with a big grin. "I can tell you from experience, Gale, Walter is a great dad. Such wonderful news….. wow, maybe a little Walter crawling around…. won't that be something. Sorry Gale, I know it could be a girl, and great if it is, but just the idea of a baby Walter makes such incredible mental pictures." He laughed, "all these years, I have NEVER pictured Walter as a real baby- always pictured him born walking, talking, doing math."
"Wow," Walter said with a chuckle. "This is quite enlightening. Why do people have such unrealistic ideas about me and my childhood? I really wasn't a freak as many thought back then, you know."
"I know, my love. But all that, from birth to this very moment made you who you are and you are wonderful and the man I love," Gale said.
"I got some spaghetti going, want to join Wayne and me for dinner?" Ralph asked. "We got plenty, and Gale can kick back while we fix everything…. sauce from a jar isn't so bad when you add a few things."
"Walter, maybe we should order a pizza to add to it- I have gone through the college student spaghetti dinners years ago." Gale whispered to Walter. "Still planning on dessert when we get home, though."
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