32- New Beginnings… chapter thirty-two

One month has passed, Walter passed his last check-up with Dr. Wilson with flying colors and was even told by Nurse Sargent-major Rachael she was going to retire her patient beating device…. until Walter was brought in again for some reason in future.

During that month, the loft floor was extended over the second bay and the remodeling of the now combined loft was moving along. The weekly schedule of Dave driving Walter to data centers got four more data centers completed with up-graded security software. The primary care doctor OK'd Lynn getting off birth control and had a schedule for check-ups to monitor her health every two weeks. The one event that caused a bit of a quandary for Walter was a message from Gene in Arizona the last day of the month that said nothing more than 'Thank you, LA goofball.' without any explanation of what he was being thanked for. When Walter replied 'thanks for what?' there was no reply. Bringing it to Lynn's attention, she said maybe it was due to the extended ramifications of Walter catching the engine fluctuation issue so it was spaced as unimportant or merely some strangeness from slow reading Gene in Arizona.

A second month of happy married life for Walter and Lynn passed- four more trips with Dave to data centers with successful security programming being downloaded, the remodel one month closer to completion….. and the last day of the month, Walter received another 'Thank you, LA goofball." message from Gene in Arizona. Once again Walter replied 'thanks for WHAT?' but again, no reply.

Month number three arrived and departed with four more data centers up graded with O'Brien security software. Walter had messaged Richard that he was capable of driving himself to the data centers, but was told Dave handled the list so would continue with the driving schedule to ensure Walter arrived on time- as Dave said, punctuality was a wonderful thing. Lynn's health check-ups every two weeks was extended to once a month. She continued to show good health but, to her disappointment, no pregnancy. The remodeling was nearing completion at long last, the final, finishing touches, electrical lighting and sound system throughout getting closer to completion. Once again, the last day of the month Walter received a message from Gene in Arizona: 'Thanks, LA goofball.' to which Walter this time replied, 'Whatever you are thanking me for, you are most welcome, slow reading Gene.'

Three weeks into month number four, Lynn sent a message to Richard that he was welcome to visit to walk through the newly finished remodel of the garage and possibly come to think better of the place. End of the workday Richard visited Lynn's office.

"Afternoon Lynn," Richard said entering to sit on the chair in her office. "Got your message that the remodel was completed. I said when done the party was on me, so the first Saturday of this coming month I will be catering a get together, so invite everyone you can think of- I will be inviting some people as well. You can take that Saturday and Sunday off as well as your normal weekend. You will have a nice long weekend, so let Walter know the garage will be invaded by a pot full of people- he has a week to get himself prepared for a social gathering he won't be able to disappear from." He rose to leave, then turned at the door, "will be a casual affair, no need to dress formal. I will let you prepare Walter." He laughed and left saying "have a good evening," as he strolled down the hall.

Going home that evening, Lynn walked into the garage to see Walter at his desk working on a coding job. He looked up and smiled, hit a few keys and closed the file.

"You don't have to stop what you are doing, Walter," Lynn said leaning against his desk by his chair. She leaned over to give him a kiss causing the rings on the chain around her neck to dangle in front of her chest. Walter kissed her rising to clasp her to him.

"Thought it was said that ardor was supposed to taper off after marriage- you disprove that theory, visitor from Arcturus," Lynn whispered in his ear.

"The cause is all you, Lynn, what you do to me every time you get close….. waiting for you to get here, I got to thinking of watching you battling a lobster. Been quite a while since seeing you with buttery fingers. Then come back here and enjoy the new bedroom. The remodel all done, new furniture in and I made the bed with the blue sheets you picked out that will enhance the blue of your eyes especially when wide with lust and languid in fulfillment."

"Walter, lobster dinner sounds good, and we have something to discuss."

"Something wrong?" Walter asked with a frown. "You unhappy about something?"

"No, nothing is wrong and how can I possibly be unhappy about anything? Why do you always go off the cliff when I want to discuss something?" Lynn laughed. "Lobster sounds good- I will try and be ladylike this time…. but won't guarantee it. And I will discuss it in the car as we go."

Walter set security and opened the convertible's door for Lynn to get behind the wheel and stuff her hair under the fedora while he got in the passenger side and buckled up. With a slight frown he looked to her while she smiled at him and turned the ignition key. "You always worry, Walter. And you have to admit there has NEVER been a reason for your worry. Same this time, love." She put the car in gear and they took off for the restaurant. "Remember a couple months ago Richard said when the remodel was done he would throw a party? I spaced that when I messaged him the remodel was done and he was welcome to do a walk through and possibly change his attitude about the place."

"So when is Richard going to come check the place out?"

"Well, he came by my office and said he was going to cater a get together at the garage the first Saturday of next month. He said to invite everyone and that he was going to invite some people and you have a week to get prepared for a social gathering you can't disappear from."

"Have any idea how many people may be invading the garage for this catered fiasco?"

"Well, I will invite people from work, Joe and his wife, Sue and hubby, Tim and date of the week, and Ben and his wife… wow, to be honest, can't think of anyone else. Just hit me of how few people I know…. nobody outside of work apparently. Sad, huh?" She said rather despondently. "So how about you, you have people to invite to a party?"

Walter looked at her, gave her a halfhearted smile, "you, Richard…. Dave?"

Lynn laughed, "wow, we sure are a couple social butterflies, aren't we? Sure hope Richard does not cater for too large a number of people, we will be eating leftovers for a month. But then, he always caters really good stuff, so we be eating really well for that month." Pulling into the parking lot of the hotel/restaurant she found a spot and parked. Pulling her hat off, she brushed her hair while Walter got out and opened her door. She got out and they walked into the restaurant. She ordered the lobster and he the seafood platter. He sat back and smiled watching her get buttery fingers fighting the lobster.

The last Wednesday of the month as Dave drove Walter to the next data center on the list, Walter hesitantly said to Dave, "Dave, the first Saturday of the month, Richard is catering a social gathering at the garage now that the remodel is done, I would like to invite you to join us- with wife…. or date… whichever."

Dave laughed, "Richard already let me know all about it. I take it you are not too used to this kind of thing."

Walter looked at Dave's reflection in the rearview mirror. "That obvious? Only people I know to invite is Lynn, Richard and you. Do I strike you as an over the top party animal? If you are there it will be nice that I know someone invading my place. Like Lynn said, though, Richard always caters the best so we should have a lot of leftovers, so you can always come early Wednesday and have leftovers lunch with Lynn and me."

"You don't enjoy parties, Walter?"

Walter smirked, "Not a person people would invite to a party, so never had a chance to find out. But, no, generally rubbing shoulders with a number of people in a social setting is not my forte…. a math seminar, science lecture, though, whole different story."

"Here we are, Walter right on time. Manager Tom Wright is at the gate waiting." Dave said as he parked, then got out to open the door for Walter.

Friday when Lynn came into the garage after work, Walter looked up from his desk and smiled. "How did your day go?"

"Everything was just fine- got that little APU done and the report sent out, all is well, how about you?" Lynn said leaning on Walter's desk by his chair to lean over and give him a kiss.

"MMmmm, I do like seeing those rings dangling…." He sat back, "I will behave myself. I got the security program downloaded for Tom Wright's data center this afternoon so, as with you, all is well. Sitting here waiting for you, I got to thinking. The caterers are supposed to arrive at eleven tomorrow morning, we can open the place up then you and I can ease on down the road to the townhouse…. or if you prefer totally disappear by booking four days at a full service hotel to relax and enjoy ourselves… what you think? Sound like a plan?"

"While it sounds like a great plan, think Richard might get a bit miffed and he IS my boss, remember. Signs my paychecks and he dumps a wad of money into your bank accounts for your software and designs. We will just have to suck it up and endure it all- should be but a few hours…. then we will have the place all to ourselves and the REAL party can begin. I do so enjoy night time parties with you." She said again leaning over to kiss him allowing the rings to swing on their chain. Walter rose to wrap his arms around her placing a hand on the rings against her chest when the laptop sitting open on the desk signaled new mail.

"Maybe we got lucky and the whole fiasco is canceled," Walter said reaching over to open the message. "Damn, the end of the month 'Thank you, LA goofball' from Gene. He must have this on some kind of automatic schedule so may not even be aware of its being sent out. Every time I reply but then nothing. Slow reading Gene is certainly a strange one- and he had the gall to talk of fruits and nuts here in LA."

Still holding Lynn with one arm, he reached over and hit 'reply' and with one hand typed out, 'YOU'RE WELCOME!' then hit send.

"How about I make a couple sandwiches and heat up some soup, then a game of chess? I only have eighty-one more games to go. I do get a kick out of you just laying back to call moves." She kissed him again, "You are an amazing man. Then to bed as we will have to open the place up for the caterers, though I am looking forward to a four day weekend, three days all alone with you."

Saturday morning, they awoke early, showered, dressed in jeans and t-shirts straightened up the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen as people may be wandering around the place, then headed downstairs to open the bay doors and front door for the impending invasion. Lynn got the coffee started in the downstairs kitchen then sat on the common area sofa while Walter laid with his legs over the arm and his head on her lap. She placed one hand on his chest that he covered with his and ran her fingers through his now long, curly hair. He relaxed and closed his eyes.

"You know," Lynn said looking down at him. "I just thought of something."

"Hmmmm?"

"Do denizens of Arcturus GET gray hair? Maybe you started out with gray hair and it goes black! Would not be surprising as for an old man you sure do have a very, shall we say, young man's energy. I may be looking at you all wrong."

"As long as you look at me and see an entity that loves you, you will not be looking at me all wrong," Walter murmured raising her hand from his chest to kiss her fingers. "You know, as long as we stay like this the whole world could troop through and I would not notice."

"Well, I heard a car pullup outside- someone is here early. Want some coffee? Like it or not the fun and games for the day may be beginning already."

Walter raised his head so she could get up, then he sat up, "yes, some coffee would be just the thing. The sooner this fiasco gets cranked up the sooner it will be done and we can go back to normal."

"Wonder what kind of yummies Richard is going to shower us with," Lynn said bringing a cup of coffee for Walter then going to the open front door to see what car pulled up. "Dave, you are here before the caterers have even arrived." Lynn said waving him into the garage. "Thought it was supposed to be fashionably late, not first on the spot. Want some coffee?"

Dave entered the garage, "good morning, Lynn. Habits don't go away when the job changes. Just like to check things out and cover the area- never know. Yes on the coffee, black, thank you." He chuckled, "good morning, Walter, nice to see you here- was afraid you were going to have an emergency programming download or some such pop up and be gone."

"Well, I did suggest to Lynn we open up and then ease on down to a five star hotel and book a room for four days, but she is much more responsible than I….. plus she remembered Richard signs her paychecks so ducking out was not an option."

Lynn handed Dave a cup of coffee and waved him into one of the easy chairs by the sofa. "So what are you checking out in the area? Nothing goes on around here- especially on a weekend- mostly an industrial area. Closest activity would be a couple blocks away by Kovelski's."

"I am sure you understand, anywhere Richard goes, especially when his daughter is along, and yes, Zoe will be here, the area is checked out. Unlike Walter saying he does not have a pack of baddies after him, Richard may be a target. Prescreen of an area is just a daily precaution as Richard likes to move freely."

Walter rose and went to his desk to power up the desktop computer. "Would it help to have the security feed open for you? This is a six segmented screen view of the building, the second is a four segmented screen of the surrounding area up each of the streets and the alley."

Dave rose to look at the screens. "You have an excellent system, Walter, top of the line, too. I scoped the place and did not spot but two fairly well hidden cameras."

Walter smiled, "those two cameras were placed to look 'fairly well hidden' but seen so anyone endeavoring to stay out of their sight line would be directly observable by," Walter hit another key to a third set of views, "these cameras they do not see."

"Who put this system together?"

"All my own work, why the system is not seen- made a concerted effort to make it unnoticeable and obtained the Homeland state of the art equipment through a, shall we say, circuitous purchasing routing." Walter stood up. "Don't worry, all perfectly legal and aboveboard, but untraceable to me so the security of the garage is an unknown quantity should anyone happen to look into it."

"And yet you were assaulted here?"

"As you well know, when someone is going to be deliberately targeted, there usually is some noticeable circumstances prior- an argument, stalking, people hanging around, odd behavior which would make keeping an eye on the security system paramount. I never expected a former team member to attack weeks after the separation especially when the others made nonviolent appeals for rejoining." Walter said. "While I worked WITH Homeland and military, I never had formal training in personal protection or covert operations." Walter chuckled, "I am just a computer nerd with math proficiency."

"If just a computer nerd with math proficiency, why you go through such extremes with a security system?"

"The cellar," Walter said. "The cellar, the whole reason for having this place, has my personal server setup. Over many years I have written millions of line of code, all invaluable. There is a separate security system for the cellar, separate power input with back-up. Should anyone endeavor to breach it they will get nowhere as it will all be made useless."

"Would it be possible to have someone man this computer for the afternoon?"

"Give me a few minutes with your tablet or a laptop and I can set up for the feed only. No one uses this desktop as it has direct access to my servers- need the codes and passwords but, I will not risk it."

"I will get my tablet from the car and would like to introduce you to a buddy of mine who will be more than happy to kick back at your desk for the afternoon." Dave went out the door pulling his phone out of his pocket.

Getting his tablet out of his car while talking on his phone to return to join Walter at his desk handing him his tablet. "You won't put any funny stuff on here will you? I know you and computers are way above my ability- trust is a wonderful thing."

"Don't worry, Dave, have absolutely NO desire to get back into the military mind set- had enough of that with cases with Homeland, SEALS, and Navy. And the trust is there- you now know more of my security than anyone besides me." Walter sat down to set up Dave's tablet to receive the security feed.

Lynn came in from the kitchen to hand Walter a cup of coffee, "You want more, Dave? Just made a fresh pot." There was a knock at the door when Lynn turned she instinctively put out a hand grabbing Walters arm.

Dave chuckled, "Jack always affects people like that. Come on in Jack, meet Walter and Lynn, the stars of this party today."

Jack, all musclebound six foot five of him entered. "Good afternoon. Dave says you have a lovely security system- I only spotted two cameras so I gather it is much more extensive."

Walter rose and handed Jack the tablet, showed him the feeds and how to switch screens to utilize the entire system. "Wow, this is nice. Look Dave, call Jim and tell him he is sticking out like a beacon."

"Would you like some coffee….. Jack?" Lynn asked. "Sorry, bit overwhelming all this." Turning her head to the vehicles arriving "think the caterers arrived."

"That's OK, Lynn, I will see them in," Dave said pulling his phone out while walking to the open bay doors. "I know them so they will figure out where to set up. You and Walter are supposed to be sitting back relaxing and just enjoy the day." Dave went to the open bay to talk to the catering crew. They went into the kitchen, set up tables in front of the kitchen door and started to set up.

By one o'clock the caterers had the BBQ, drinks and urn of coffee set up when people started arriving. Richard and Zoe in the yellow Ferrari. Assorted cars parked where they could fit in as Joe and wife Anne, Sue and her hubby Steve, Tim with date, Ben with wife Kate all showed up. A couple of the managers of the data centers came in to join everyone, Richard introducing everyone. Everyone broke into groups as always happens, eating, talking and laughing while Richard kept the conversations going and Zoe talked with the different women about the loft kitchen and bathrooms color schemes. Three musicians, guitar, fiddle and synthesizer made country and western tunes while a couple people, notably Sue, Steve, Tim and his date tried their best to clog in the open area of the second bay.

Walter and Lynn led the tour around the remodeled lofts.

"Well, I must admit, Walter, won't have much to carp about this place anymore," Richard said.

"I absolutely LOVE the bathroom- if I had a tub like that I might never get out of it," Sue quietly said to Steve. "Looks like fun, huh, honey?"

Tim's date turned to him, "You said this guy lived in a garage so I kinda' wondered, but this place is crazy neat."

Kate leaned against Ben to quietly say, "you check out the library shelves? Worse than yours."

Walter, arm around Lynn was leading everyone down the second set of stairs after touring the entire joined loft area when the roar of a pack of motorcycles came down the street to pull up at the open bay doors. Shutting down the bikes, the Arizona contingent had arrived…. closely followed by four LAPD squad cars.