Megan sat in her small assisted living apartment. Walter had tried to get her to move into the Garage with him. But Megan knew her brother. His heart was ever in the right place but she knew what a burden she would have been on him. Here she had a clean, decent place to live. People to help her with life, and constant interaction and physical therapy. She didn't want to be a distraction to him.
"Knock knock." Walter said at the door that was propped open. The front desk had called to let her know she had company coming so she had opened the door for him.
"Come in, little brother." Megan told him, smiling as she looked at him.
Walter stepped in with his left hand held back and Megan frowned until she saw he was holding someone's hand. Megan grinned as Paige stepped into view.
"Walter!" Megan's grin grew bigger. "Who is this beautiful lady?" She asked as her eyes teared up.
"Megan." Walter said softly. "This is Paige Dineen. My love, my sister Megan." Walter told her as he closed her door.
"Love?" Megan said excitedly. "Paige, it is so good to meet you." Megan's arms were out before her and Paige moved up. They hugged tightly for a few moments.
"It is good to meet you too Megan." Paige told her.
"Yes, love. Also the Mother of my son." Walter told her.
Megan's eyes shot open as she gasped. She pulled back from Paige and looked at her.
"Walter, we weren't going to just blurt it out, remember?" Paige asked as she smiled and nodded.
"Sorry." Walter hemmed.
"I don't understand. Both of you sit and explain this." Megan said pointing at the chairs around the table in her room. "Last I knew you were dating that doctor."
Walter held the chair for Paige and then pulled his phone out as he sat down.
"Wait a minute." Megan said. "You held her chair for her!"
Walter chuckled.
"I read an etiquette website a few nights ago." Walter said before he pulled up a picture on his phone. He smiled seeing himself holding Ralph on his right thigh and Paige sitting next to him.
"Paige's Father took this picture of the three of us the night before last. That's our son Ralph." Walter said as he sat down and handed her the phone.
"I can't believe you read anything on etiquette. That isn't the little brother I know." Megan smiled. She looked at the picture and saw how big Ralph was. Her hand came up and touched her chest.
"Oh, so you didn't mean biological son." Megan continued smiling at the picture.
"No, he is my son biologically." Walter told her.
Megan frowned as she looked at the couple and Paige nodded.
Walter took back his phone and showed her the email he'd received.
"But Walter, you've never spoken of Paige before or having a son." Megan frowned.
"That's because I didn't find out about Paige and Ralph until the day after I broke up with Janice last Monday." Walter told her.
"Okay, this is going too fast. Explain this to me slowly." Megan asked while giving his phone back.
Paige smiled and took Megan's hands into hers.
Megan looked expectantly at her for a moment and then Paige began explaining the truth of what happened almost ten years ago.
Megan felt a lot of conflicting emotions as Paige relayed the story. But she was smiling at the end of the story. While keeping a grip on Paige's hand with her right hand, she let go of Paige's hand with her left hand. She reached over and took Walter's right hand into it.
"While I am sorry you went through all of that Paige. I am so happy this has worked out in such an amazing way for you both. I couldn't be happier. Especially knowing my little brother found love. That's probably been my biggest hope and worry for him." Megan smiled at them.
"Thank you." Paige told her.
"One thing though, I'd explain it differently to Mom and Dad." Megan told them. She saw Walter sigh. "I know Walter. But as complicated as your relationship has been with them, especially Dad. This has a really bad potential to cause things to be even worse between you. Dad will fly off the handle, you'll become defensive protecting Paige from his stupidity and then the next world war happens. They do love you. And I promise you, they will be so happy for you over this. Just tell them you met back then and things didn't work out between the two of you. Tell them that Paige found out after you were gone, that she was pregnant." Megan looked at Paige. "But you didn't want to force or trap Walter, so you never told him." Megan smiled at Paige. "And when you ran into each other last week the sparks flew and you are back together."
"You have to understand Paige, they are old school and Catholics, especially Dad. There isn't anything that will make what really happened better in his eyes for sure. Mom will be so happy to have a grandbaby she won't care. But the real story will definitely sit badly with Dad. And I don't want Walter, or you for that matter, to have to deal with his nonsense if he knew the truth. It'll be bad enough that you had sex outside of marriage. He's such a hypocrite too. He was definitely having sex with Mom before they got married." Megan laughed.
"How do you know?" Paige frowned.
"How many babies born a month premature weigh three point nine kilograms?" Megan laughed.
Paige looked at Walter and he smiled.
"That would be eight pounds and ten ounces." Walter told her.
Paige laughed while shaking her head.
"So he claims you weighed three point nine kilograms and were a month early? Wow…talk about being delusional." Paige laughed.
Megan nodded as she laughed again.
"And I hope you will bring Ralph around soon and often to see me." Megan smiled.
"We'll bring him and supper with us tonight if you'd like." Paige told her.
"I would love that." Megan smiled.
"You can also come to the Garage to visit too." Walter told her.
"I have an Aunt?" Ralph said excitedly as he sat listening to his parents after he was dropped off from school.
Paige grinned as Walter nodded.
"Yes, my sister Megan. She's expecting us for dinner tonight. So you need to get your homework done as soon as you can." Walter told him.
Ralph nodded as he turned away from the milk and cookies without consuming them and began opening his books.
Paige grinned as she hugged Walter with the arm that was around his back.
Walter smiled as he felt it and hugged her back with his arm.
"Did you want to buy dinner to take with us or did you want me to make something?" Paige asked.
"If you are in the mood for them. Megan really likes tacos from the vendor down by Rat's beach." Walter explained.
"I think tacos sound amazing." Paige smiled and kissed Walter.
Their evening with Megan went well. Ralph spent a lot of that time on her lap being hugged and kissed as Megan tried to cram nine years of love into a few hours. Like Father like son, Ralph hadn't felt the same urge to shy away from his Aunt.
Ralph looked at his Dad as he read to him later that night.
"Dad? Why did Mom have tears in her eyes at Aunt Megan's?" Ralph asked.
Walter sighed as he closed the book and smiled at his son.
"Ralph, there is something within you and I that makes us uncomfortable with others touching us. My sister was the only one for years I could stand to touch me. It still bothered me a little but not like others. Your Mom loves you so much, like my Mom loves me. But to me, there was something that made me pull away from my Mom's touch. And sadly when I first met you I saw that same thing between you and your Mom. And I saw how much it hurt her. What made your Mom so sad this evening was seeing how much easier it was for you to let my sister touch you. Your Mom knows it isn't a conscious choice, but part of our makeup." Walter explained.
"But it still hurt her to think there was someone else that could touch me without that triggering me as much." Ralph nodded. "May I get up and go talk to Mom?" Ralph asked.
"Of course you can." Walter nodded as he moved back out of his way.
Ralph quickly sat up and got his slippers on and as he stood he saw his Mom watching from the wall that separated the front of the Loft. He ran to her quickly and threw his arms around her.
Paige almost cried but quickly hugged him.
"I'm sorry Mommy. I didn't realize my reaction to you trying to touch me hurt you so much. I don't really understand it myself and it isn't that I don't want you to touch me. I wish I could explain it." Ralph told her.
Paige smiled as she sniffed and nodded her head while still hugging him.
"It does hurt, baby, but I know now it isn't a conscious choice. I love you so much." Paige told him finally.
"Goodnight Mommy." Ralph said before kissing her quickly.
"I love you, Ralphy." Paige said as he ran towards his bed.
She watched as he stopped and looked back.
"I love you too Mommy." Ralph said and then ran on to his bed.
Walter watched as Paige reached up and brushed away a tear. He smiled at her and she smiled back before he sat down to finish reading to Ralph.
Walter woke up at 2 am. He felt something he hadn't felt in a long time, apprehension. Being in America had separated him from his parents, especially his Father, he'd grown used to the distance and the peace it afforded him. He laid awake for quite a while just staring at the ceiling. He looked over and saw Paige sleeping peacefully. Knowing he wasn't going back to sleep he carefully slipped out of bed and put on his slippers. He walked around the Loft and checked on Ralph but found him completely lost in the land of Nod.
Walter moved over to his laptop and sat down. He stared at it for a minute and then turned it on. As it booted he hit a key combo and entered his password into the box that appeared. The first thing he did after the OS loaded was wipe out the data that was contained on his hard drive about Drew, Bobby, William and Jake.
Walter stared at the video file that Drew had recorded of him and Paige. Having experienced sex with Paige, it had made him curious about the video. He debated watching it for about ten minutes before he decided to talk to Paige about it first.
Walter's attention was drawn to another icon on the screen. He sighed even as he touched the mouse pad and moved the arrow to the icon and clicked on it.
Louise O'Brien was checking the stew she had simmering for their lunch when she heard the beeping coming from the dining room. She smiled as she moved into the other room and saw the screen of the laptop lit up and a message displayed. Sitting down her hand rose up and touched the mousepad even as she saw it was Walter and not Megan calling.
Her screen seemed to lock up for a moment as the software initiated and established a connection to Walter's computer.
"Walter." Louise smiled seeing his sleep weary face. "Are you okay? Having a hard time sleeping?" She couldn't help noticing how dark it was around him. If not for the light of the laptop screen it would be impossible to see him.
"Good morning Mom." Walter said. "I am fine, so's Megan. There is something I need to tell you, maybe you could tell Father and help ease the shock. I'll be calling a bit later for a video chat if it is okay to talk with you both."
"Of course it is okay my boy. What's going on?" Louise asked, her curiosity was mounting.
"I have someone I need you to meet. Two someones actually." Walter smiled. "Mom, I've never told you much about my relationships. But there is one I need to tell you about."
"Oh, is this about the doctor Megan told me about?" Louise asked hopefully.
Walter shook his head.
"No, it isn't Mom. Janice and I broke up a week ago this past Monday. No, this is about someone from my past. From ten years ago. I met a wonderful woman in San Francisco. I'd gone there trying to secure a job for my new business. She is amazing, Mom, but you know me." Walter told her.
Louise nodded knowing how hard of a time he had relating to people.
"Well we didn't know it when I left, but Paige found out later she was pregnant." Walter told her. He saw a big smile appear on Louise's face. "Paige had no doubts that her child was mine but she didn't want me to want her because of a child. She didn't want me to feel trapped or resentful, so she has borne all the responsibilities all these years caring for our son."
Louise's hand flew up to her mouth, her shock was clear in Walter's mind. But what he didn't see at first was the love she felt. There was sadness that tugged at the edges of her eyes but her smile was undeniable.
"Oh Walter…You have a son?" Louise said almost reverently.
Walter nodded.
"He's simply amazing, Mom. Paige and Ralph have changed my outlook so much. I don't think anything could make me happier. I love reading Ralph to sleep, he's simply brilliant as well. He came home from a science exhibit Saturday. He was so excited and since then we've been working on an experiment to try and contact a decommissioned satellite, based on part of one of the exhibits. There simply isn't anything I wouldn't give or do for him or Paige." Walter smiled.
Louise had tears running down her face.
"Oh Walter, you have no idea how happy it makes me to hear you talking like this. Of knowing you have a family. I'm a little sad to know he's so old already, but I'm still so happy." Louise told him.
"That makes me happy to hear Mom. Megan reminded me what Father is like and I just don't want him to be insulting to Paige or anything. If he can't accept the situation, then we'll have to arrange any video calls when he'll be out in the fields. I won't allow him to demean Paige or disparage my son." Walter told her resolutely.
Louise smiled and nodded.
"You leave the old goat to me Walter. I'll set him right. When do you think you will call, with my daughter and grand?" Louise asked excitedly.
"Well I know you both go to bed early. But he won't be out of school until after that time, nearly 11 pm in your time zone. We could call in four hours. That would give us about fifteen minutes before we have to take him to school. Otherwise I guess we'd have to wait for the weekend." Walter explained.
Louise looked at the clock on her wall.
"Four hours then, I'll be sure we're here waiting." Louise smiled. "Walter, I'm so happy and proud of you."
"Thank you Mom…and again, I'm sorry for the hurts I inadvertently made you feel over the years." Walter smiled.
"Don't think anymore about that. Try and get some sleep my darling boy." Louise said as she blew him a kiss.
Walter gave her that grin he sometimes has, especially when he's happy. And the connection ended.
Walter sighed happily as he shut down the laptop. He turned after standing and his eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness. He was sure he saw something. And then he saw her standing there just watching him and he smiled.
"How long have you been there?" Walter asked softly.
"Since you told your Mom about the amazing woman you met in San Francisco." Paige smiled as Walter took her in his arms.
Greetings! I hope this finds you all well! This story is now 20 chapters instead of 18. I've been considering stopping after chapter 16, that would settle the cliffhanger but leave a few chapters in case anything else comes up between now and the end of "Callan". Would any of you be objectionable about pausing the story then or do you want all 20 chapters?
Railman - Right...Toby has to be up to something. lol Yep, Paige is very serious about her relationship with Walter, no ands, ifs buts about it. lol He is definitely considering her words from Sylvester, but he is also trying not to let it bother him. Looks like Megan is pretty tickled, as is Louise...now the question is...what about Sean?
LouBe - I argued with myself over that question...whether to include it or not. But ultimately it is what the story wanted so it had to be include. lol Thankfully this version of what happened to Walter wasn't as bad as Dark Walter's. hehe Rest assured I won't stop on the cliffhanger. lol
SkunkeeFunk - hehe I never wait too long. hehe Glad you enjoy rereading the stories!
Susan - Glad you enjoyed the story! The donuts was a favorite tickle for me. As I was writing it, it reminded me of the episode following Tim's departure and Toby ate that donut asking "How can you mess up a donut?" LOL Right? Toby totally shocked me. I'm with ya about Paige.
Pearliegirl - I've been a bit in another dry spell writing wise, but that's okay, I got around 35 chapters of stories to post so I'm not going to run out of things for a while. Ask away.
Lucy - Yeah I think over all Bobby told the truth, but I have a feeling it was told in the best of light...there is probably some nuisances that might change some parts of it. Walter definitely has an itch! lol
To the Adventure! -Tim