Chapter Text
It was March 16, 2005, San Francisco, cold and wet, almost miserable. Paige was pissed. She was a young college woman whose boyfriend had ditched her once again to hang out with his buddies from his minor league baseball team. Drew was a decent enough guy if you could keep him away from his friends and booze. But more often then not, if she was at college they came around and Drew would give in and head out with them.
Case in point, she got home from school to find a message on their answering machine from him. He was out with the guys and wasn't sure when he would be back. She hit *69 and got the lounge in a casino in Lake Tahoe. She'd grabbed a bottle of vodka he had left over and began drinking. She normally only drank wine or wine coolers but she didn't feel like going out to spend money when she didn't know how much he was already blowing.
They had orange juice so she used it with the vodka. There was only enough for just over three shots of vodka but coupled with not eating, she was already a good bit more drunk than she'd ever been before. She was mad and thought. 'To hell with it, if he could just go out and blow money and do whatever the hell he wanted, so could she.'
Paige made it down the flight of stairs of their apartment and walked the short distance to the corner liquor store. The cashier was surprised to see her and even more surprised her breath smelled of alcohol.
She bought a four pack of wine coolers. She really didn't care for the taste of the vodka and the orange juice did little to help the taste. As she walked back towards their apartment building she saw several young men run off from one of the motel rooms. She shook her head. It was one of the seedier motels in the city. She hated living so close to it but when money is a concern what could you do?
She saw the door they ran from was ajar and she tried looking and she was quite sure she saw a hand or was that a foot sticking out? She sighed. Even intoxicated, her sensible side said she needed to do something. She made her way over and the closer she got she realized it was a foot sticking out of the door. It looked like a patent leather men's shoe.
She kicked the bottom of it.
"Hey, are you okay?" She heard a soft moan and she struggled to push the door open. His other leg was over the one sticking out the door and the door scraped along his leg as she forced it open. She saw a young man about her age laying there mostly unconscious. She looked into the room but didn't see anyone else. She stepped inside and sat her package on the small table in the room. She walked over and grabbed the man's hands and pulled and got him in just enough for the door to close before she lost her grip and fell back onto the floor.
She laughed as she sat there and her hair was skewed all over her face. She got up and sat at the table and opened a wine cooler and looked at the young man.
"S-sorry, I need this-s before doing anything els-se." She drained the cooler and then slowly got up and stood straddling the man's waist. She bent over and put her arms under his and pulled up. She struggled but got his head a little higher than the bed and she half dragged him forward to the bed. As she got his shoulders onto the bed she let go and he slid backwards and onto the floor.
Paige began laughing as the image of him sliding down replayed in her mind. She saw her coolers and decided she needed another one before trying again. She sat down and opened one and started drinking. She smiled down at the guy. "You're cute. I bet if I was your girlfriend you wouldn't go running off with your buddies, would you?"
Paige smiled.
"It's okay, I'm not trying to put you on the spot. You don't have to answer." She laughed as he kind of moaned again.
She finished her cooler and then stepped back over to the bed and looked at him and the bed trying to decide how to get him up on it. Then she seemed to think, "Just what is your name anyway cutie?" She rummaged through his pockets and couldn't find a wallet. She frowned and looked around. She saw his room key lying on the floor a few feet in from the door against the wall. She went ahead and took his shoes off.
"They must have hit you as you came in the door and took your wallet huh?" She smiled down at him before she sat on the corner of the bed. She reached down and unbuckled the little strap on her shoes and kicked them off. She reached down and slipped her hands under his arms from the front this time and strained and got him up a bit higher and pulled him forward.
His chest was between her knees as she took a deep breath and pulled up in a curl and he rose up higher until his face was buried into her neck. She struggled until she got her arms around his chest and locked her hands together behind his back. She planned to stand and turn him around and lay him back on the bed. She struggled to stand up with him, as she stood and pulled him even closer she lost her balance and fell backwards onto the bed bringing him with her.
They bounced on the bed and she began laughing even harder.
"Boy Drew would be pissed right now if he could see me. So do me a favor and don't tell him about this." She laughed again. She pulled her left arm out from under his and felt around his head and felt a pretty big knot on the back of his head. "Wow, they got you pretty good."
He moaned a bit as her fingers felt along the bump on his head.
Paige lay there for several minutes. Her eyes closed, breathing into his neck as he was breathing into hers. She was actually enjoying the feeling of his weight upon her a little. Slowly because of the alcohol and reduced ability to breath she drifted off to sleep.
How long she was asleep she wasn't sure but she felt Drew move above her. She grinned as she raised her legs up around his hips and pulled him tightly against her. She heard him groan and felt him harden as she pressed her pelvis against him. She kissed the side of his neck and he moaned and she grinned again.
And then it was her turn to moan as he kissed and then bit her neck.
She felt him squeeze her breast through her dress and she relished the feeling. His hips began trying to thrust against her and she breathlessly asked.
"Someone is a bit desperate huh baby?" She ran her right hand up and down his back as his thrusts grew in intensity. He was actually moving her back further onto the bed with each thrust. "Calm down a little baby, let's get some of these clothes out of the way at least."
He rose up a little as he kissed down her neck following the neckline of her dress to the first button and began unbuttoning her dress until he exposed her bra. She grinned as she felt him reach around inside of her dress to unhook her bra.
"It's in the front baby." She pulled his head up and kissed him.
His hands came back around and fumbled for a moment and then the clasp gave and her breasts were released. His hands squeezed them as he brought his mouth down to kiss and suck on her nipples.
Paige grinned as her breathing increased. She reached down and began unbuckling his belt. She unbuttoned and then unzipped his pants before she began yanking them down along with his boxers.
He groaned loudly as his hands moved down and unbuttoned the lower buttons of her dress. Once he was at the waistband of her panties he stopped unbuttoning and grabbed hold of her panties. He growled against her breasts causing her to smile as he pulled when she lifted her hips and slid her panties down and off her feet.
Drew buried his face between her legs and Paige gasped as she moaned feeling his tongue. "Oh Drew, you've never done that before baby."
She'd always heard alcohol would dull sexual response but either his tongue was defying that or it wasn't true as she had an orgasm quickly. Drew kissed his way back up her body and she wrapped her legs back around his waist and they both groaned as he entered her.
Their love wasn't long but it was enjoyable and Paige managed a second orgasm just after Drew had an orgasm.
Paige enjoyed the feeling until her breathing was more affected and she nudged him. "Drew, roll over baby. There is too much weight against me."
Drew grunted and rolled over and hit his head on the headboard of the bed. Paige smiled as she reached over and caressed his cheek.
"Feel free to do that more often for me, baby. It was very enjoyable." Drew didn't respond and she frowned as she looked up at him. The alcohol was still messing with her and she rolled onto her side.
"Drew?" Her eyes opened wide as she realized it wasn't Drew, she was still in the motel room.
Paige scrambled up off the bed and looked around and grabbed her shoes and put them on before buttoning her dress back up. She grabbed her package off the table and left the room as quickly as she could.
She made it home and pushed the last two coolers into the fridge and went and took a shower. She sat crying as the hot water cascaded over her before she began washing. She was sure Drew had cheated on her before but she never had any proof. Not that it would have made what she did any better if she had. The alcohol was slowly leaving her system and she couldn't believe what she had done.
She left the bathroom after getting out of the shower and toweling dry. She dressed in her sweats and then grabbed her dress from the bathroom. She grimaced as she realized she'd forgotten to grab her panties when she left the motel. No way she was going back to get them.
"God, I'm going to have to get tested for STDs now. How could I have been so stupid? I'll have to take a pregnancy test too. I'll need to get some morning after pills too. Oh God, what if I am pregnant but it is Drew's, I can't do that then." Paige walked feeling defeated into the other room and started the laundry and threw her dress and some other clothes in before she walked over and got one of the wine coolers out and sat down on the couch and drank it as she considered all of her options.
Roughly fourteen years later:
Walter woke up before Paige and he smiled down at her as she lay in his bed sleeping. Her words, "Buckle up Nerd," still rung in his head. They'd been charging towards this day for three years. They'd had some starts and stops and a lot of obstacles between then and now. What with Drew coming back into her and Ralph's life that first year. Then he panicked and he feared what would happen after they kissed the next year.
He still couldn't believe he had been so stupid to step away from her then. Then Tim came into their lives and he pushed her into Tim's arms. The mess he made trying to reinsert himself into her life beyond as a boss. Then making things so bad that Tim took a job overseas and they broke up and the hard feelings it created.
Walter stroked her arm before he got up and slipped on his black slacks and his black pullover long sleeve shirt. He slipped on his black tennis shoes and stepped over to the small desk by the bed and took out his laptop and began working.
Paige lay there in bed snuggling into the covers smiling. The sounds of keystrokes on the keyboard intruded upon her mind as she thought back to their first night together. Her right eye opened as she groaned softly. She turned her head and saw Walter was not far away working. And she smiled. She knew normally he would be downstairs by now so she took that as a good sign. She opened her other eye and rose up in bed.
"Walter? Last night was worth waiting three years for, huh? How do you feel this morning?" Paige asked with a smile.
Walter looked back with a grin on his face as he slowly turned sideways in his chair to look at her. His left arm came up and his elbow landed on the desktop as his hand moved across his mouth.
"How do I feel?" The grin of pleasure was clearly on his face as he spoke.
Paige waited patiently as she enjoyed the look on his face. It was the most emotive he had ever demonstrated to date.
"It was worth waiting for even though I wish it had happened earlier. But too, there was something familiar in it. Not familiar as in having done it with someone else but, it almost felt like it wasn't the first time we made love together, if that makes sense." Walter did his best to explain.
Paige looked at him for several minutes as she tried to decide if what he said was good or bad. It started off really good but then in true Walter fashion he went off on a tangent and left her confused. But as she thought about it she slowly nodded her head.
"At first I thought you were cracking up but now that you mention it, it felt kind of familiar. What would cause that?" Paige asked as she got up and walked over and sat down on his lap.
Walter wrapped his arms around her waist as she wrapped hers around his neck. They kissed for a moment.
"Well for me I don't have much experience in the field of love. None of my relationships ever went that far. I usually alienated the person before I could ever get past the whole skin contact issue. But there was one time. At least I think there was one time. I don't recall anything about it though. I had gotten mugged and when I woke up later that day I was laying in my motel bed half undressed. My pants and underwear were pushed down to my knees and obvious signs of sexual fluids on my genitals. And I found a pair of ladies panties on the floor beside the bed. But I don't recall anything about it. At least not clearly, I had a pretty large knot on the back of my head." Walter explained.
Paige sat staring at him as it all sounded so familiar.
"W-W-what motel?" "There is no way it could be." She thought nervously.
"Oh I doubt you'd know it. It was rather seedy. It wasn't far from a lecture hall and a friend had gotten it for me. It was a Travelodge motel in San Francisco." Walter told her.
Paige's hand came back around from his neck and to her mouth as her eyes opened wide. "Oh God, when? When did this happen?"
Walter looked at her confused. "Why are you freaking out? It was March 16, 2005."
Paige's eyes went wide and she jumped off Walter's lap and moved backwards away from him.
Walter frowned. "Paige? Please talk to me. What is wrong?"
Paige sat down on the foot of the bed as tears ran down her face.
Walter became concerned and he got up and moved slowly towards her.
Paige watched him apprehensively as he moved closer.
He squatted down in front of her and reached a hand out to her.
Paige ignored his hand and extended her right hand and reached behind his head and touched him right on the spot where he'd been hit.
Walter's eyes opened. "H-how do you know where I was hit?"
Paige drew in a ragged breath. "Walter. I need to tell you something." As soon as she started the story it was like a dam burst and her words flew out as fast as the tears ran down her face. As she came to the end of the story Walter sat down beside her and took her into his arms and hugged her tightly as she clung to him.
And then all of a sudden what Paige had told him seemed to hit him all at once. "A-are you telling me that you think Ralph, that Ralph could actually be my son?"
Paige looked up and nodded. "D-do you hate me?"
Walter smiled as he looked at her. "I could never hate you. While the odds of a genius having a genius child aren't much better than two normals we should probably get a paternity test to be sure. I-If you'd want too. I know that would mean questions you'd rather not answer with Ralph and Drew."
Two weeks later:
Paige walked through the front door of the Garage after dropping Ralph off at school. Happy looked up from her workbench. "Damn Waitress. You look like you've seen a ghost."
Paige stopped and looked at her questioningly. "What?"
Happy shook her head, "Nothing."
Paige walked past Toby on the couch and over to Walter sitting at his desk.
Walter looked up and smiled. "Good morning."
Paige kind of smiled and lifted her eyes up towards the loft.
Walter nodded slightly and stood up and followed up to where his bed was.
Paige turned and threw her arms around Walter and hugged him tightly.
Walter was puzzled and concerned but he returned her hug trying to give her the time she needed.
After several minutes Paige drew in a ragged breath and pulled back and smiled at Walter. "Thank you for just holding me."
Walter nodded, "Anytime Paige."
Paige reached into her purse and pulled out a letter and handed it to Walter. "I've been a bundle of nerves since I found it last night when we got home. I haven't been able to sleep all night."
Walter nodded as he looked at it and saw it wasn't opened. "You should have called me, I could have come over and we could have handled it together then."
Paige nodded as she gestured to the letter.
Walter slid his finger under the edge and ran it down tearing the lip of the flap. He reached inside and pulled the letter out. He looked at Paige. "We could just throw this away and leave it as it is."
Paige shook her head. "Ralph deserves to know the truth. You do too. And Drew deserves to know if he isn't Ralph's Father."
Walter opened the letter and began reading.
Paige began pacing back and forth with her eyes closed. She wasn't sure which answer she would prefer. Obviously if it was Drew she wouldn't have to reveal the truth. But if it was Walter, how much happier it would make her and Ralph. What about Walter? He wanted to be part of Ralph's life before. Surely this wouldn't change it, would it?
Walter looked up from the letter, a tear in his eye. He reached out and his hand touched her shoulder as she passed by.
Paige turned and looked at him and saw the tear and she rushed in and hugged him tightly.
Walter cleared his throat. "I don't know the protocol for this. Is it appropriate for the Father to pass out cigars after thirteen years?"
Paige's head shot up and looked him in the eye. A desperate look on her face and she saw him nod and she grinned and hugged him tightly as she began crying. "Congratulations Walter."