Making Relationships Work
Part 18
Tuesday June 5, 2018
It had been almost three weeks since the last Homeland case Scorpion was on. But when Cabe busted through the doors removing his phone from his face saying, "Gang, we have a case." Walter knew it was time to get back to work.
"Alright listen up, this isn't our normal type of case, but Carson gave it to us anyway."
"Cabe, before you go any further, is there anything that Ralph shouldn't be here for?"
"No sweetheart, I informed them last week that Scorpion hired a brilliant summer intern while I was in Washington, and I filled them in on everything. This case might be right up Ralph's alley actually. The Science Museum is hosting a big gala next month. Something to do with a meteor shower and a lunar eclipse."
"Perseids and Apogee." Walter and Ralph said at the same time as both Cabe and Paige turned to look at them. Paige with a smile on her face.
"Perseids is named after the constellation Perseus. The meteor shower comes from the dust of the Swift-Tuttle comet. Scientists have data going back to 1865 although it has been there for thousands of years." Walter told them.
"And the lunar eclipse at Apogee will be the longest eclipse of the 21st century. The moon will be at apogee, its furthest point from earth and it's passing right through the center of the earth's shadow. It's pretty rare, they call it a central lunar eclipse. But it's not visible here. Eastern Africa and Central Asia are the best places to see it." Ralph added.
"How do you know all of this?" Paige asked amazed at what Ralph knew.
"Walter sent me a link about a month ago. He always finds me cool articles to read about stuff we both like." Ralph told his mom. Paige turned and smiled at Walter who had a goofy grin on his face.
"Yeah, those. Anyway, they have a bunch of dignitaries coming in for the event and they need to upgrade security big time."
"Why do they need the work done so soon?" Paige asked. "You said the gala is next month. So, it's at least three weeks away."
"Seven actually, the eclipse won't happen until July 27th. And the shower is visible a few weeks after that, but Paige is right, why are they needing the upgrade done so soon?"
"Look kids, that was the info they gave me. I'm sure there's something they are keeping from me, but…"
"Got it." Ralph said as Walter smiled approvingly as Paige frowned at him making the smile go away.
"Found what sweetie, and how did you find it?"
"Wal…" Ralph started to say.
"Stop. Did you do anything you weren't supposed to?"
"No mom. Walter showed me an algorithm he built to use for researching stuff, that's what I used. It filters out all the bad stuff that can pop up from searches and it eliminates all the ads too."
"I learned my lesson years ago. A genius only needs to mess up one time." Walter told her with a kiss to her cheek.
"Sorry, I wasn't accusing you, I just, sorry." Paige told him. "Can you show me how to use it, I'm tired of all the crap that comes up on my laptop too."
"I'll set it up for you later." Walter told her as he pulled her in front of him and held on to her as they listened to what Ralph pulled up. "He might give you a run for your money for the best hire Scorpion has ever made." He finished whispering in her ear, making her smile.
Ralph read off the names of some of the guests that were going to be there.
"Holy smokes, the President himself and the British Prime Minister are both attending. That makes sense then. Protocol would mean there will be checks every week for a few months before the event to make certain everything is secure. Secret Service will probably be there, so we don't need to tick anybody off today, that may be Carson's play. This is a big deal son." Cabe told Walter in particular.
"Well then, it's a good thing I have Paige and my right hand man to work with me again. Maybe we can get a tour of Air Force One this time, instead of having to sneak on." Walter said to Ralph as they high fived each other.
"I still can't believe you two got onto Air Force One. I would love to step foot inside that bird one day." Cabe told them. "Check off a bucket list item."
The upgrade went off without a hitch and Walter and Ralph even strengthened their firewalls to levels more secure than the White House while they were there. The agents were thoroughly impressed with Ralph and what he was able to do. Paige supervised the whole visit and made sure that anything either one of her geniuses needed was taken care of. She was ready to do whatever it took to make sure nothing happened. As a thank you for all they did, they were given VIP passes to the gala as well as a special tour for the four of them on Air Force One when it arrived.
On their way back to the garage, they all stopped to get a bite to eat. Walter and Ralph were up waiting for the food while Cabe and Paige were sitting in the booth.
"Cabe, we were thinking about having dinner for everyone on Sunday again like last time."
"That sounds like a great idea to me. Maybe Allie can even join me this time. You guys have a restaurant in mind?"
"Not a restaurant exactly. We were thinking of something a little different this time. Let me have this evening to iron out the details. But you better insist she comes with you, the more normals at the table the better. Besides, she may like the surprise we are planning." Paige told him, now thinking it would be amazing to not only have the dinner at their new house, but to also let everyone know that Walter was going to be adopting Ralph.
"Everything okay?"
"Oh yes. Better than okay. Here come our geniuses with a couple of trays of food."
At the same time that conversation was going on, Walter and Ralph were having one of their own.
"I'm glad we are all living together now. I mean you basically lived with us before, but it wasn't the same."
"Yes, your mom told me the other day you had been asking her about me moving into the condo and I didn't even pick up on all the clues you told me. Can I tell you a secret?"
"Are you sure keeping a secret from mom is smart?"
"She already knows the secret."
"Oh, then okay."
"I had been looking into finding a place for the three of us to live in for a few months before everything happened. I was wanting to surprise you both. So I am grateful to have a second chance to do everything right this time. And speaking of doing everything right, I have an idea that we need to talk about tomorrow when we have some privacy. Something big." Walter told him knowing Ralph would understand.
"Order number one hundred ninety seven." The high schooler said over the restaurant speaker.
"Did you plan that?" Ralph asked as they grabbed their food.
There wasn't much to do by the time they returned to the garage. Paige went ahead and got the paperwork started right away to turn into Homeland, while Walter looked over the jobs that were still outstanding.
"Did we get the final proposal numbers set for the Aviator and Langley pitches?"
"Yes, I sent them both to the printer this morning before we left with Cabe. I'll grab them in a minute, but first, I checked the mail when we got back, and I found this overnight package in there. You want to come up to the loft with me to look at it?" Paige told him with a sense of relief in her voice that nothing happened to the important papers they hoped were inside and signed.
Walter couldn't get out of his chair fast enough. Luckily Walter kept his printer upstairs and they used that as an excuse to head to the loft. They told Cabe and Ralph they were going to go over the two proposals and would be upstairs if they needed them for anything.
"I want you to open this, Walter." Paige told him handing over the package.
"I'm a um little nervous that Drew just wrote a bunch of obscenities about me on them."
"If he did anything other than sign them like he was supposed to, I will be on the next plane out to Portland to give him a piece of my mind." Paige said bringing a smile to his face.
"I want you right next to me for this." Walter told her grabbing a hold of her hand. "I love you so much Paige."
"I love you too babe. Don't be nervous." Paige told him as she moved right next to him and put her other arm around one of his.
Thankfully everything was there and signed. The forms that needed to be notarized were also included. Walter started to have tears well up in his eyes as he looked over the forms realizing one of his dreams was another step closer to reality. Paige saw the emotion in Walter's eyes and had the same tears start cascading down her cheeks.
"Tell me what the next steps are now. I can't remember what we need to do next." Paige asked him as she wiped some of her tears away and held on tighter to Walter.
"The um hardest parts are all over. Other than the actual waiting. We need to go to the courthouse and file a petition for adoption. With all of this paperwork signed and notarized we have everything we need for the next step. They will send a court order to Drew informing him he will be giving up his legal rights to Ralph. Once he signs that and sends it in, we will have to go through a series of interviews and home visits. Everything could take anywhere from six to eighteen months. Hopefully closer to six, since we already have most everything done."
"Oh wow Walter, so possibly by the end of the year all of this could be official?"
"Yes, it could be. I was hoping we could go by the courthouse tomorrow morning before the meeting we have. Cabe would be here with Ralph and filing the petition shouldn't take more than an hour or two, since we have everything else signed and ready to turn in."
"Let's get there when they open at seven. That will give us plenty of extra time." Paige told him before giving him a kiss. "I love you Walter. And I have so much respect for you."
"I love you too. I can't wait to call Ralph my son; my actual son." He told her back with another kiss.
The kisses turned a little more passionate and before they lost control of themselves, Paige remembered they needed to look over the proposal for the Aviator Group they were meeting with tomorrow. "You better promise me you are going to finish what you just started with me when we go to bed tonight. Mama needs some genius tonight." Paige informed him.
"With um pl-pleasure." Walter responded before kissing her once more for good measure before she went to retrieve the papers. Tonight couldn't get there fast enough as far as he was concerned.
"If Cabe didn't know he was getting a couple pairs of prototype sunglasses I would say we just bow out on the bid. But he was pretty excited about them." Paige said as she returned with the papers from the printer.
"I think he wants to show them off to the other agents at Homeland." Walter said as they started looking through the bid. A few seconds later he closed them back up and said, "Looks good to me." And then proceeded to start kissing Paige again, receiving no complaints from her.
Twenty minutes later they headed back downstairs a little wound up from the make out session. But they knew if they didn't stop when they did things would have gone a little too far with a couple of people downstairs. They hurried back to their desks hoping not to be noticed for a few more minutes.
Cabe showed up extra early at the garage the next morning as promised so Walter and Paige could head to the courthouse to file the paperwork necessary to begin the actual adoption process. They were done by nine and were given a certificate explaining what was going on in case they wanted to present it to Ralph before it became official. Which of course they wanted to.
Since they had a couple of hours to kill before their scheduled meeting they stopped at a small diner to eat some breakfast.
They talked all throughout breakfast about how and when they wanted to let Ralph know what was going on.
"Today was a big step for us Paige. There is no way to know exactly how long the um process is going to take now. Once we hear back from them and have some scheduled meetings we will have a better understanding of everything." Walter started telling her.
"Right, you said a few home visits too. And I'm assuming these can be random like with your citizenship status from a few years ago."
"Yes, I was thinking maybe after we tell everyone what's happening, we can talk to Sylvester and ask him for any legal advice he can give us, to um see if we can possibly expedite the process. That is if you are okay with that."
"I would be more than okay with that. And I don't want to wait long to tell Ralph what's going on. I know he will be excited when we tell him of course, and he will be anxious for it to become official, but I think he would want to know as soon as possible." Paige told Walter.
"I couldn't agree more. I was hoping maybe Friday evening the three of us could have a special meal at the new house up on the deck and we tell him."
"That sounds like a genius idea to me." Paige told him with a kiss. "Now I know you got some of that bacon for me right?" Paige said as she grabbed a piece from his plate to eat.
They returned back to the garage around 1:00, with a few bags of food for lunch. Both of them sporting new prototype sunglasses that were of course meant for Cabe.
"You better not get any smudges on my new shades you two. Although I will say sweetheart they look pretty good on you."
"Tell me about it. She had four of the workers carry out the food for her. There were two bags, mind you. These two small bags. They were basically drooling all over her." Walter let him know before turning to Paige. "I can't blame them, you do look amazing in them, I mean you look amazing without them too. But maybe we just give those back to Cabe, what do you say." Walter finished.
After lunch, Paige got a phone call from the Aviator Group informing them they wanted to use Scorpion to do the upgrade on their computer system as well as a new install for one of their sister companies. Paige negotiated everything with them over the phone.
While that was going on, Walter and Ralph got to work finishing the United Airlines weight distribution project. It was set up far enough away from Cabe giving them a chance to talk about his big idea from yesterday.
"I wanted to talk to you for a minute about something really important to me."
"Is it about my mom?"
"Yes, how did you um know that?"
"You said it was something important to you, and I know mom is important to you. And I can see how nervous you are right now, and usually you only get nervous when you are thinking about my mom."
"I uh can't argue with either of those points. Let's um take a break for a few minutes and come with me." Walter told him as they headed to a more private area of the garage.
"So what's your big idea from yesterday?"
Walter took a couple of deep breaths. He wanted to be as composed as he could be for this. "I know I have taken a long time to get to this point with your mother. Longer than it should have taken. And you know how much I care for her and love her. In the research I've done I know it is typically the father I would be having this conversation with, but you are the most important thing in the world to your mom, so I thought I needed to do this with you. I want to marry your mom, I have for a really long time. And before I ask her, I wanted to get your blessing."
Ralph couldn't hug him fast enough as his eyes had tears spill out of them. "Mom would really like that, and I would too. We really will be partners forever." Ralph told him wiping away his tears.
"Do you think you could help me come up with a plan to ask her Friday night? I don't want to wait any longer." Walter told him as he ruffled his hair.
The two geniuses got right to work on a plan. After going back and forth with ideas for the rest of the day they had one in place.
They all left work early Wednesday as Cabe was going to bring dinner over to Happy and Toby and check in with them to make sure Happy was still doing okay. Walter and Paige were using the time to start moving some of their stuff into the new house. They hadn't spent the night there yet as they planned on doing that for the first time on Friday.
Thursday was another productive day for Scorpion as they locked down another job with the Langley and Sons law firm. Cabe had another meeting to go to for Homeland in the afternoon, so when he left so did everyone else. Again, they used the time to continue to move into their new home and Paige even got to do some shopping for a few items she wanted to add. She promised Walter he would approve of anything she ordered. And if he didn't, she knew she could persuade him into agreement.
Walter and Paige talked about how they wanted to tell Ralph about the big surprise they had planned for him, just as Walter and Ralph confirmed that their plan was set up for the proposal. All of it was going to happen tomorrow night. Friday couldn't get there fast enough as far as Walter O'Brien was concerned.
The two geniuses spent most of Friday morning plowing through the rest of the work they had left to finish on a few smaller jobs and the bigger one for United Airlines. By 12:30 they were putting the finishing touches on a spanking new set of titanium crutches for one Happy Quinn. The memory foam armrests and shock absorbers they added at the end made the crutches 62 percent more comfortable than a standard set. They also weighed 45 percent less than a typical aluminum crutch.
After showing them to Paige and Cabe they collapsed them down into the small travel bag they made sure they fit in. Oh yeah, they made sure to make them telescoping as well.
Paige sent out the group text to everyone with the time and date to meet. She told everyone she would send the directions on Sunday, as the location was a surprise.
Friday evening was finally here, and Walter O'Brien was beginning to realize exactly what he was about to do. If everything went according to plan, in the next sixty minutes or so, his entire life was about to change. All of it for the better.
The fact that they all knew Friday night was going to be their first night sleeping at the new house and a special meal was going to be eaten to commemorate the occasion was the perfect cover up to have everyone wear some nicer clothes for dinner. Walter had set up a few discrete cameras on the roof top deck hoping to record the night from several different angles and vantage points.
Paige had prepared a meal of chicken tetrazzini for the night, one of Ralph's favorites. She wanted tonight to be extra special for him. The three of them ate together watching the sun drop across the sky and head towards the horizon. The lighting was perfect, especially with the string lights that were still there from the other day.
Walter's nerves were starting to get a hold of him, and he knew he was going to need to get them under control. He began taking slow deep breathes for several minutes and when Paige's hand slid into his under the table, he knew the first part of the night was going to be okay. She sensed his nerves and took care of them just like she always did, and always would. He knew that he would always be able to lean on her with the way she knew and understood everything about him. She was always going to be there for him.
Walter excused himself for a minute to go inside. Paige smiled at Ralph knowing what was about to happen. Ralph was smiling back at her thinking maybe Walter was a little nervous and was about to go off script and propose a little sooner than planned.
"I think Walter will be right back mom, I think he might be a little nervous that's all." Ralph told his mom.
"You may be right sweetie, let me go and check on him to make sure he's okay." Paige said back to him hoping he didn't figure out what was going on.
"No mom, you should stay here, let me check on him." Ralph said back, not wanting his mom to leave her seat, Ralph did not want his mom leaving the deck until after her surprise.
About the time both of them were going to get up and look for him, he reappeared, wrapped box in one hand and smaller box in the other. Both Dineen's were so preoccupied with what was happening they didn't notice the other boxes. Walter slowly placed the small box in Ralph's lap as he sat back down keeping the hand off from Paige's view.
Paige saw the wrapped box as he placed it on the table next to her. She looked more nervous than Walter did now. She noticed how nervous her son was looking as well, she thought he must know something was going on.
Showtime.
Paige once again slipped her hand inside of Walter's as he sat back down next to her. She couldn't believe this was about to happen. She knew how long Ralph had wanted Walter to be his dad. All the talks they had over the years about how Drew was never there for him. How every time he said he would be there and then wasn't. How there was always one person, one man, who time after time always found a way to make it right. Always found the time for him. The same man who basically unlocked her own son to her. Told her how special he was and the amazing things he would be able to accomplish. She wanted tonight to be perfect for her son, and for Walter too.
"Ralph, before we had dessert tonight, me and your mom have something we wanted to give to you. Something we have been um working on." Walter told him drawing from the feeling of calm that Paige's hand was giving him.
Ralph smiled at them. He knew how nervous Walter was going to be tonight. He thought this was a way for him to ease into why they were there. Paige had some tears start to show in her eyes as Ralph started to unwrap his present. Ralph saw them and stopped for a second to make sure she was okay. Walter squeezed her hand a little tighter offering her the same reassurance he got before.
"Of course I am sweetie. I'm just really, really happy right now." Paige told him clutching Walter's hand even a little tighter still. Ralph thought to himself that if his mom was really, really happy right now she might pass out in a few minutes.
Ralph finished unwrapping the box and when he opened it up the frame was purposefully turned upside down.
"Ralph before you turn your present over, I wanted to tell you something first. Today is a very special day for me. I am here with my two favorite people in the entire world. The two people that mean everything to me. I told you a couple of weeks ago when we were at Richard's plant that I was working on something important. This is something I have wanted for a very long time. You and me, partners forever." Walter finished telling him as he had tears streak down his face matching the ones that had been flowing from Paige's since Walter began talking to her, soon to be their, son. Paige took her free hand and put it in front of her mouth as she started crying a little more.
Ralph turned the frame over and started reading what it said and within seconds was crying uncontrollably as he jumped into and wrapped his arms around Walter. Completely shocked and surprised at what was happening.
"You're adopting me and you're going to be my real dad." Ralph asked him through sobs.
"I am, is that okay with you?" Walter asked as he had his arms wrapped tight around him hugging him and wishing he never had to let go. Paige placed her arms around both of them as she continued to cry watching the event unfold.
"I've wanted to call you my dad since I first met you." Ralph told him still unable to let go of Walter.
"Oh sweetie, I'm so happy for you. I know how much this means to you." Paige was telling him as she rubbed his back before leaning over and kissing Walter.
They spent the next few minutes hugging and crying and rejoicing in the moment. After Paige composed herself she headed inside to the kitchen to grab the chocolate cheesecake she had gotten for dessert.
"You tricked me. I thought you were going to ask mom to marry you tonight." Ralph started telling him. "I thought we had it all planned out, is there even anything in the box you gave me?"
"I would like to use the word surprised instead of tricked, if that's okay with you. And we do have everything planned out. I have every intention of asking your mom to marry me when she comes back out here. You haven't forgotten the plan already have you, I thought you were supposed to be the smart one in the family." Walter told him with a smile.
"I remember the plan, I just thought you were so nervous you were messing everything up." Ralph assured him. "Partners forever." Ralph told him before hugging him again.
"Partners forever son." Walter told him kissing his head.
"Aww, aren't you guys the sweetest. Who's ready to celebrate with some dessert?" Paige said as she got back to the deck.
Walter's nerves suddenly skyrocketed as he realized what was going to happen next.
"Oh mom, before we eat dessert, I wanted to show you something on the telescope. It will only take a minute."
Paige made her way over to the telescope to look at whatever it was that Ralph wanted her to see. As she leaned over to peer into the lens, Walter stealthily made his way in front of her and positioned himself on a single knee. He made sure to be in the exact spot he scoped out before for the cameras to catch Paige's reaction. Ralph watched with a huge smile for a few seconds as Walter readied himself and when his mom looked up from the lens and saw Walter on his knee, she instantly placed her suddenly trembling hands over her mouth as whatever tears she had left sprang from her eyes.
"Paige, the only thing in the world that could make this night any more special is you. Finding you in that diner that day is still the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. Until tonight that is. Tonight, I found first my son, who has been with me for as long as you have. There is nothing else I would ever need in my life if tonight I also found my wife. Someone to be with for the rest of our lives. I wanted to try and express to you how completely and deeply I love you, but words don't exist to tell you. So instead, I will promise to spend the rest of my life showing you and proving to you how much I do in fact love you."
Ralph took the ring box out of his pocket and opened it up right next to his mom. "Whoa." He exclaimed as the ring glistened and sparkled in the little bit of light that was left in the sky.
"You knew about this." Paige was able to whisper to her son who was smiling from ear to ear while Walter was taking the ring from its box.
"I want to spend the rest of my forever with you and only you. Paige, we need you to be the centerpiece of our family. Our strength and our heart. Paige Dineen, will you do me the honor of allowing me to be called your husband. Will you marry me?" Walter asked her holding the most brilliant and stunning diamond she had ever seen. She remembered him talking about it at the seminar. He wanted it to be perfect, just like the woman it was meant for. Her. It was meant for her. He thought she was perfect.
"Oh my God." Paige said as her hands couldn't stop trembling. She looked at him as he gazed up to her with eyes that always took her breath away when she saw all the love and passion and desire he had in them for her. It was all for her. "Yes, oh my God, yes I will marry you. I love you so much."
Greetings! I hope this finds you all well!
Guest - JerBr felt he was becoming to obsessed with writing and he needed to step back. He felt deleting his account would help him with that. He didn't want people left out on the story so he gave me the remaing chapters to post here.
To the Adventure! -Tim