Walter stood leaning against a support column as he watched Ralph working on his homework.
Paige smiled to see him standing there. It warmed her in a way she hadn't known before, seeing Walter with such an avid interest and concern for Ralph. Her Father had been the only man in Ralph's life but despite his love for her and Ralph, he still felt the sting of betrayal when Paige hadn't listened to him in college. Paige sighed. He always supported her, but she could always feel the judgment and so she tended not to go around him very often.
She often wondered if her Mom had lived, instead of dying in that car wreck when she was two, if maybe her Father would have been better today. In some ways she felt lost like Happy at times. He had made her life a dream for the first eighteen years, but meeting Drew had really been a weight that still tore at them and had bad repercussions on their relationship. Even years later after Drew was gone.
Paige sighed.
"Long feelings?" Toby said from the side of her desk.
Paige didn't quite jump but it was clear he had shocked her.
"Oh…Toby. Kind of…just thinking of my Father." Paige sighed.
"Is he still alive?" Toby asked as he sat down next to her desk.
"Yes." Paige nodded.
"Let me guess, he was all fun and games growing up. Strong, supportive, caring and a good listener." Toby said.
Paige nodded but was looking at Walter again.
"And then you met someone, maybe in college, that he disapproved of. You rebelled in a big way and nothing has been the same since." Toby asked.
"Pretty much. Dad could tell the guy was a low life but…I couldn't see past the stars in my eyes." Paige sighed.
"Then the guy knocked you up and he revealed his true colors so you ran. Ran to the only place you had ever truly felt safe and loved. Of course he took you in but you could always feel that rift between you. Not judgment per se but that sense that he felt you didn't trust him anymore." Toby said softly.
"What?" Paige turned to look at him. "Of course I trust my Dad. Why would you say that?"
"Did you or do you now? Do you have resentment towards him because he was right and you couldn't see it?" Toby asked. "You fear if he won't like Walter?"
"That guy didn't knock me up, by the way." Paige told him. "And no, I'm excited for Dad to meet Walter. Walter is perfect, he might be a little strange in some ways. But those things are almost as endearing as his interests in Ralph. Nothing means more to me than that." Paige paused. "It isn't that I didn't trust my Dad. He has this way with his tones and inflections to voice his disapproval even as his words say the opposite. Like when I called him the other day to let him know about this job, about Walter. At first it was all good and pleasant and then when I said Walter and I might have news for him in a couple of weeks he cracked about me being pregnant. That's how little he thought of me."
"But you are having sex now." Toby pointed out.
"Only just and not until after Walter proved how much he respected me." Paige told him.
"So, you've told your Dad you met an amazing guy and you are dating, but not having sex at that time. So you weren't going to tell him you were pregnant, but traditionally when an adult child is going to tell their parents something it has to do with an offspring." Toby told her as his eyes narrowed and then opened wide as he looked over at Walter staring at Ralph. "Jumping Jehoshaphat!" Toby said a bit louder because of the excitement. His hands grabbed the brim of his hat.
Paige frowned as she looked at him sharply.
"Walt is Ralph's Father? How?" Toby asked quickly.
Paige sighed.
"Keep it down." Paige chastised him. "Walter isn't positive, at least…well Walter said he believed me but wanted a DNA test to confirm it. It will help with the legal aspect as well. But yes, I had wanted a child and got inseminated. The morning that Walter brought me in to meet everyone officially we had sat talking at Kovelsky's restaurant. And it finally dawned on me why Walter looked so familiar to me. He confirmed he could have been Ralph's Father. I hadn't had sex for a month before being inseminated and I hadn't had sex for a very long time after, so I knew it had to be him." Paige told him.
"Well damn, that takes some of the fun out of it." Toby grinned. "But still, when were you going to tell us?"
"When Walter gets the results. He should get an email any day now really." Paige told him.
"Well if you ever want to talk about your relationship with your Dad or want me to act as an intermediary for you to discuss things with him, just let me know." Toby told her.
"Thank you." Paige smiled.
When Ralph finished his homework Walter took him up to the Loft where they began working on the transmission protocols to contact satellite Ares-b. An old third generation communications satellite, who's company had gone out of business before Walter had even started school. Paige had come up and started on dinner for the three of them shortly after.
Toby was putting together his backpack as Sylvester finished tidying up his desk. Happy was moving her cutting rig over against the wall where she could chain it up to prevent anything from knocking it over.
The door opened suddenly and a very large man about Cabe's age stepped into the Garage. Toby turned to greet him and kind of swallowed hard. He'd seen that look before, usually from a bookie he owed money to.
"Umm, welcome to Scorpion. Can I help you?" Toby asked as he looked up at the much larger man.
The man looked him up and down and shook his head while clearing his throat.
"You better not be Walter O'Brien." The man said as he stepped up closer to Toby.
"Uh, no. I'm doctor Toby Curtis. Walter is our boss. He's at home with Paige and Ralph." Toby told him.
"Great, where the hell is that?" The man asked.
"We don't just give out personal information like that." Happy told him as she began walking over towards them.
Toby just kind of pointed towards the Loft.
"Idiot. At least find out who he is before giving away info like that. What if he is a maniac?" Happy chastised Toby.
"I'm Paige's Father." The man told them even as he walked towards the steps of the Loft.
He paused as he saw the monitor tree and saw Ralph working with a guy he didn't recognize.
"Not good." Happy said, watching him as he stopped.
"Is that?" Mr Dineen started.
"Yes, that's Walter with your grandson. Up in his research area of the Loft." Toby told him. "Walter has completely taken him under his wing. He's been working hard to help him learn to express himself."
Mr Dineen continued on even as he saw Walter pull his phone out of his pocket. He got about halfway up the stairs and he could hear Paige humming. He smiled. She only hummed when she was really happy. He turned his head as he climbed the stairs and saw her in a small kitchenette preparing a meal.
"Hey Pumpkin." He said after stepping off the stairs.
"Daddy?" Paige said shocked and then looked back and saw him standing there. "What are you doing here?" Paige asked with a smile before she moved over quickly and hugged him.
He chuckled as he engulfed Paige in his large arms.
"You guys said you were too busy to come see me before the 10th, but you didn't say if you were too busy for me to come see you." He smiled at her.
"I'm really glad you are here Daddy. Will you stay for dinner?" Paige asked.
"Of course I will." He told her.
"Hey Paige…I…" Walter paused as he came around the wall to his experiment area. "Oh, hello." Walter said as he tried to assess the situation.
"Walter." Paige grinned and held out her hand to him. "This is my Father."
"Grandpa?" Ralph said as he suddenly came around from behind Walter and moved over quickly to the large man.
Mr Dineen looked at Paige in shock.
Paige just nodded with tears in her eyes even as Walter reached her and took her hand in his.
"I'm speechless." Mr Dineen grinned and reached down and picked Ralph up. "How is my young man?"
"I'm good. Have you met Walter yet?" Ralph asked as he pointed to Walter.
"Not yet. He told me over the phone the next time I met you I would be amazed. And that doesn't even begin to describe how I feel Ralph." Mr Dineen said and hugged Ralph tightly to him.
Mr Dineen's eyes opened briefly and looked at Walter. Walter and Paige both could see the tears in his eyes.
"Thank you." Mr Dineen said as he reached a hand out.
Walter nodded as he slowly reached out and shook his hand.
"How is this even possible?" Mr Dineen asked as they sat down at the table while Paige kept working on dinner.
Walter offered to take them out to eat but Paige had put her foot down.
"Well it is a series of complex reasons Mr Dineen." Walter said before Mr Dineen stopped him.
"The name is Ralph." Ralph Dineen told him. "So use it."
Walter nodded as they shook hands again.
"Suffice it to say, now that he is being properly stimulated and challenged he's finding out that self expression is much easier." Walter told him. "Originally he was most comfortable with his Mom and that was why he only talked to her. But when I connected with him through chess and the crisis we went through it helped him to start working his way through the issues. Toby has stopped most of the medication for him and they are currently cutting the rest down to stop completely."
"That's something else I want to know about. What in the hell happened that they gave my little girl a fifty thousand dollar reward?" Ralph Dineen asked.
"Daddy, I told you. We signed confidentiality agreements. We can't tell you." Paige told him as she put the dinner in the oven.
"Actually as long as you are willing to promise not to discuss it beyond us, I'll tell you." Walter told him.
"I promise." Ralph Dineen nodded.
"No Walter." Paige told him.
"The worst they can do is take my share back. And I'd gladly give it up to give your Father some peace." Walter told her before he proceeded to explain what happened in broad strokes as Paige moved over and sat down beside him. Her arm linked around Walter's.
Mr Dineen sat staring at them as Walter came to the end.
"That's incredible…and dangerous. How could you do that Pumpkin? What about Ralph?" Ralph Dineen asked.
"Daddy…It was a risk, I agree. But I saw Ralph opening up to Walter in a way he's never opened up before. And Walter's friends all knew more about Ralph than I did. When Ralph gave me my keys, I knew then, the thing I had to do was show Ralph that I believed in him and that I supported him no matter what. At one point Ralph had been staring at the clock and Sylvester saw me watching him and he explained what was most likely going through Ralph's mind. I had no idea Ralph liked chess, but Walter did. Picked up on it right off the bat." Paige's hand came up and brushed a tear away.
"Sylvester told me something that drove home the point that I had to help Walter. He said, Few parents meaningfully engage with mentally enabled children. Can you understand how that affected me? It killed me. And he went on to say, It's not your fault." Paige told him.
"I am not going to fail my son." Paige told him fiercely.
"Our son." Walter said gently.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ralph Dineen asked.
"D-Did you get the results?" Paige gasped.
Walter nodded as he kissed her.
"It's what I started to say when I walked in here.
Paige hugged him tightly to her and then kissed him deeply.
"Daddy, you know because I told you the whole story about what happened in San Francisco. As it turns out, the reason I thought I knew Walter is because he was who I was with that last night in San Francisco. While Walter was under the effects of GHB and doesn't remember, he promised me that he believed what I said. But for legal reasons he wanted to run a paternity test so the courts wouldn't have a problem with having him declared on Ralph's birth Certificate. Ralphy, Walter really is your Father." Paige told him.
"Dad!" Ralph said excitedly and ran over to hug him.
After dinner Walter and Paige showed Mr Dineen around the Loft and then the Garage. Walter explained the original concept for Scorpion was to be for computer services. But after he met Happy and saw what an amazing person she could be if he could help guide her, and so he transformed Scorpion. And now it was more of a think tank and problem solving company.
He explained the contract they now had with Homeland. And it was Walter's faith that with Paige acting as their translator to the world of EQ normals that Scorpion would excel at what he wanted it to be.
"Well I got to say kids, I'm pretty impressed here. I'm not crazy about the area you are in but I get that. LA real estate is crazy expensive. Are you going to be leaving soon with Ralph?" Ralph Dineen asked Paige.
"Leave? No Daddy. Walter didn't like where we were living anymore than you or I did. And he offered to let us move in here with him. Either temporary or permanently." Paige told him.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ralph Dineen demanded.
"It means that after I had gone to their place to bring them some fresh clothes last week I offered to let them live upstairs while I would sleep in the RV over there. And they are welcome to stay as long as Paige wants." Walter pointed to the RV.
"Oh, okay then." Ralph Dineen nodded.
"But I told Walter I would not kick him out of his bed. So we share it. And Walter has been very respectful of me. We moved all the stuff I wanted to keep to the Loft Sunday." Paige told him before she hugged Walter tighter to her.
"Paige." Ralph Dineen sighed. "Didn't you learn anything with Drew?"
"Do not even begin to insult Walter that way." Paige snapped. "There is nothing I would trust Drew with, but I trust Walter completely."
"So when we talked on the phone you tried to act like you weren't having sex. Now you are telling me you were lying to me?" Ralph Dineen asked.
"No, the night before I spoke with you, Ralph and I had fallen asleep on the couch. Rather than wake us up, Walter covered us with a blanket and let us sleep. He spent the rest of the night finding out all the information he could on Drew and the other two guys who were involved in what happened." Paige told him.
"He found out that Drew moved to Vegas and was running some kind of internet porn site. And he found that Drew carried out his threat and had that video posted there." Paige told him.
Walter saw Ralph's heart break and he stepped up and pulled Paige into his arms and hugged her tightly.
"But I destroyed his website and the place where their backups are kept. I also raided his bank accounts. Drew is flat broke now. And unless he can get some kind of loan he'll be pushing a broom for an income." Walter told him.
Ralph grinned as he broke the hug.
"You did good Walter." Ralph Dineen said as he nodded.
Greetings! I hope this finds you all well! For those who might not know, I'd always imagine Paige's Father would be played by David Morse, you might remember him as Brutus/Brutal, one of the guards in the movie "The Green Mile".
Guest - Puns are life blood. lol Thank you, glad you are enjoying the story! As the old saying goes you have to watch out for the quiet ones. lol
Railman - Indeed she did! lol With him seemingly always rising to the occasion let's home this AU has better birth control! LOL The furnishing definitely aren't cheap particle board. lol Yes, definitely the drug helped wake up the more impulsive side of Walter that night. lol Thank you! lol
Marie Mac - Hrmm...well I'm not comfortable with posting out personal info like that, so if Jer wants it, I'll leave it to him to figure out how to get it from you. lol
SkunkeeFunk - lol Should I be upset or happy you forgot about my "hot and bothered" scenes? LOL I guess in some ways it is a good thing...Maybe that will mean if FFN ever cracks down on sexiness again they won't toss a bunch of my stories. No worries about remembering the names...as long as the fire of the scene came back. lol So glad you did check out the song and that it made the chapter more enjoyable. I enjoy reading it with that song playing. It is a little difficult for me to read trying to stay up on the speed of the song. lol
LouBe - Where would the fun in letting it go be? lol hehe Glad you enjoyed Walter's glitch. His mind was definitely reliving what happened. lol Glad you enjoyed Paige's inneundo! And it is definitely fitting the song titles into the conversation. lol Absolutely join in! The water is fine. lol I always thought Happy and Walter probably had a bit of a deeper relationship than they showed. And given the right situation she'd enjoy teasing him. lol I like that Walter and Paige are much more open to her too. Just shows Toby that being more of a friend than a buttinsky could get him more info. It seems he has finally figured that out in between last chapter and this. Yes, while Bobby isn't innocent, things did get out of control rather quickly. Walter definitely had poor impulse control that night. lol
Susan - hehe Glad you enjoyed the visuals! lol Walter definitely appreciated her skills! lol
To the Adventure! -Tim