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Ralph bounded through the Garage door after being picked up from school and dropped off by the carpool. He paused to slam the Garage door. So hard everyone looked up from what they were doing to see what was going on. Even Happy, who was in the middle of drafting a schematic for a client's distribution center conveyor line, jerked at the sound and now she had this three inch line across the paper where there wasn't supposed to be one. She glared at the young genius and he just glared back as he stormed over to his Mom's desk.
Walter and Paige had given Happy and Toby time off so they could finish preparing for the birth of their first child but a week at home alone with Toby and she demanded to be allowed to return to work. It ended up working out for them since a client had called with a need to update his system.
"Ralph, don't do that, you'll wake your sister." Paige admonished him.
At the mention of Megan Ralph's eyes naturally sought out the bassinet that his six month old sister slept in. It sat between his Mom and Dad's desks when Scorpion was open.
Ralph finally stopped in front of her desk scowling.
Paige's brows furrowed as she looked at the anger on his face. "What is wrong Ralph? Talk to me."
"Fine, when were you going to tell me that Drew isn't my biological Father?" Ralph almost yelled at her.
Toby nearly jumped up from lying on the couch and turned to face the young man. "Damn it, I'm out of popcorn. This is going to be good. Can you give me a minute to make some before you continue?"
Paige was flabbergasted and unable to even form a sentence at the moment.
"Can it Doc." Cabe growled at him.
Walter had stood and stepped over ignoring Toby's comment. "Ralph, I understand you are upset about something. But you owe your Mother more respect than that. So calm down and talk to us."
Ralph turned and glared at his adoptive Father. "You're no better Dad, you could have told me the truth over four years ago."
Walter looked puzzled but reached out to put his hand on Ralph's shoulder.
Happy's eyes opened wide and she put down her pen and moved over and sat next to Toby on the couch to watch.
Sylvester sat at his desk completely uncomfortable. He'd never seen Ralph so mad before. He also saw the flush on Paige's cheeks growing deeper with each harsh word that came from Ralph's mouth.
Ralph jerked back away from his hand. "I can't believe all this time I have been surrounded by liars." He yelled at Walter.
Walter's face showed the pain he felt at Ralph withdrawing from him. "Hey, Ralph. I might have problems telling things about myself emotionally, but I have never lied to you about anything. Where is all this anger and accusations coming from?"
Ralph rolled his eyes. "As technically true as that is, you have still been hiding this from me my whole life and I deserve an answer as to why."
Paige finally found a bit of her voice. "Ralph, please, calm down. Don't wake your sister. Sit down here and talk to us, we really don't understand what has made you so mad or why you don't think Drew is your biological Father."
Ralph looked from Walter to Paige and stepped to the side of her desk and sat in the chair beside it while Walter walked around to stand behind his wife and put his hands on her shoulders.
Ralph stared at his parents for a moment and then he opened his backpack. "Do you remember my genetics class at Caltech?"
Paige and Walter both nodded.
"Well, the last time I was out to visit with Drew he let me take a swab sample so I could run a test for my genetics class assignment." Ralph's expression became angered again. "Imagine my surprise and humiliation when the results came back that Drew can't possibly be my Father."
Paige's mouth opened wide as she gasped.
Toby was sitting there grinning as they watched as everything played out.
Ralph slapped the paper showing the test results down on her desk in front of her.
Walter reached over and picked it up and read the results as he frowned. "According to this, they ran the sample three times and there is no way Drew could be Ralph's Father, Toby your thoughts?"
Toby stood and walked over and took the paper from Walter and read it. He nodded his head. "Well unless there was some error in sample collection or handling, your right this shows there is no way Drew could be Ralph's Dad."
Paige sat there with a look of worry on her face as she thought back to 2005.
Walter looked at Ralph. "I get you are upset about this Ralph and I am not saying I blame you, only how you are acting. But why do you think I would know anything about this? I only met you and your Mother in 2014 in the diner."
Ralph glared at him. "Oh, you think so huh? Well read this then. As part of the assignment I also ran Megan's DNA and according to the test Megan and I are full siblings. Since you don't have a brother and I doubt your Father was here visiting in 2005 that leaves you as my true biological Father."
Ralph slapped the second and third test result pages down on Paige's desk.
Walter reached down but Toby who had started laughing as Ralph told them was quicker and grabbed them up. He read over the data as he continued laughing. He wiped at the tears running down his face and reached the papers out to Walter. "Where's my cigar?"
Walter looked at Toby as he snatched the papers from him, "Very funny." Walter's eyes fell onto the two pages and his brow furrowed and he looked up to Ralph and back at the papers. "This can't be right. Somehow the samples had to be contaminated."
Ralph rolled his eyes. "Check it again Dad. Even if I had messed up Drew's sample or the testing company messed something up, there is no way that explains how my sister and I share so much DNA. The only thing that makes sense is that we both have the same Mother and Father."
Walter stood there staring at the papers knowing his son was right. He wasn't sure how to explain the DNA matches between his daughter and son, unless he really was Ralph's Father too. He looked at Toby who was still laughing. "Toby, that's enough. This isn't funny."
Cabe had moved over to stand in front of Ralph hoping his presence would help the young man to calm down. Cabe nodded as he pointed back towards the couch.
Toby grinned and waggled his eyebrows at Walter and walked over to sit with Happy.
Paige still sat there as she went through her memory. Megan began crying and it brought her out of her thoughts as Walter reached into the bassinet and picked his daughter up and pulled her up to his shoulder. Walter's free hand sought out her diaper and felt it wasn't wet or dirty. "I'm guessing she's hungry. Do you want me to get a bottle?"
Paige shook her head. "Let's take her upstairs and the three of us can talk while she nurses."
Toby's face scrunched up and he threw his hands up. "You can't leave us like this. We need to know what is going on."
Paige ignored him as she got up and started climbing the stairs.
Walter shot him a dirty look as he carried their daughter upstairs as Ralph walked along behind them.
Cabe looked at Toby. "What is wrong with you? Can't you see the emotional pain in this? Can't you just give it a rest and let them figure this out?"
Sylvester nodded as Happy punched Toby's leg.
Toby sighed. "Fine, spoiled sports."
Paige sat down in the rocker in the living room of the loft and began unbuttoning her blouse as Ralph sat down on the loveseat behind her. Walter stood there waiting until she was ready and then passed their daughter to her. He went to get a towel while she talked with Megan and helped her latch on.
Walter placed the towel over her shoulder and then sat next to Ralph. They sat there for a few minutes until Paige finally spoke.
"There is only one way to explain this. Walter, do you know where you were on March 16, 2005?" Paige asked.
Walter frowned and nodded. "I was in San Francisco for a lecture."
Paige nodded. "You were staying at a Travelodge in San Francisco right?"
Walter frowned. "Yes."
Paige inhaled sharply. "Well based on the DNA tests that's what I figured. And you were mugged that day weren't you?"
Walter continued frowning. "Yes." He nodded as his hand instinctively reached up and rubbed the spot he had been hit in. "How did you know?" But instantly his memories of how he found himself later that day came to mind.
Paige sighed. "Well as it turns out, Drew and I were living in San Francisco then. When I got home from my college classes that day, Drew's buddies from his minor league team had come by and picked him up and took him drinking. When I got home there was a message from him saying he didn't know when he would be home. I called the number back and found out he called from the lounge of a casino in Lake Tahoe."
"Well I was so mad I started drinking the only thing we had in the apartment. When it ran out I went to the corner liquor store for some wine coolers. I was already too intoxicated and shouldn't have gone but my anger was still up. Anyway on the way back I saw some young men run from one of the rooms and the door was ajar." Paige smiled down at the little girl as she nursed.
"Anyway, I should have just called the police but being intoxicated and outside I didn't want to get arrested so I just tried to help the man. I struggled to get him in bed and when I finally did he fell on top of me. I passed out for a short time and I sort of woke up when the man had moved a little." Paige stopped nursing and lifted their daughter up and burped her.
She smiled at the little girl and kissed her before putting her back down to her breast. "Anyway, I thought I was home and it was Drew and I ended up making love to the man. Things were different enough that after we were done I realized something wasn't right and I looked at the man after and realized it wasn't Drew and I was still in the motel. So I left as quickly as I could."
"I tested negative for any STDs and when I tested positive for being pregnant I just hoped that you were Drew's. I suppose in some ways it is why I never went after Drew to make him pay child support more often than he did. Over the years I thought less and less about that day. My heart was just too full of love for you and I didn't care who your Father really was."
"I can understand how this upset you Ralph and I am really sorry. If I had understood exactly what this assignment was about I would have told you before you found out this way that it was possible that Drew wasn't your Dad. I was just wrapped up in your sister at the time that I didn't give the assignment my full attention." Paige looked half back towards the love seat.
"I really hope you can believe that Ralph. It is the truth." Paige finished the story.
Ralph stood and stepped up and wrapped his arms around his Mom's neck and hugged her gently. "I do and I am sorry for my attitude downstairs." Ralph looked up as the idea formed and he turned and ran over and jumped into Walter's arms. "You've always been a real Dad to me but now, you have gone from on paper as adoptive to biological. I love you Dad."
Walter sat struggling with the emotion as he hugged Ralph back. While with Paige he was worlds beyond where he was emotionally when she broke up with him. He still struggled with others. But he had been getting better with Ralph and certainly his daughter. Now the thought that Ralph really was his had him completely overwhelmed. He found himself weeping in joy. He felt like he did that day six months ago as Megan was born.
Ralph looked up and saw his Dad struggling with the emotion, trying to rein it in. Ralph shook his head. "Just feel it Dad. Don't try to push it out. I'm not going to judge you for it and neither is Mom. We love you and want you to continue growing emotionally and that is the best way. If you go ahead and experience your emotions, letting them out without trying to censor them, you will get better with them."
Paige smiled as she heard the soft sobs from the man she loved. She moved Megan up to her opposite shoulder and covered herself with the edge of her blouse. "Ralph, will you take Megan for me for a moment please?"
Ralph nodded as he let go of his Dad and moved over and took Megan and walked back to sit next to Walter. Walter wrapped his arms around both of his children. Mentally he didn't feel any different about Ralph but emotionally, it was like a whole world of color just burst out of him.
Paige stood and walked back into the hallway and into their bedroom and the master bath.
Sylvester looked at Toby and Happy. "So how do you think this happened? It isn't like Walter would hook up with someone for a one night stand. And how could he not remember Paige?"
Happy was stumped. She'd known Walter longer than the rest of them and in that time she'd seen him through so many things. As Sylvester said Walter wasn't a one night stand type. It took a lot of time for him to get past the touch-feel issue that Walter shared with Ralph, Sylvester and her. Though in her case, she was able to work through the feeling a lot easier.
Toby sat there speculating as he ran some of his own probabilities. For Paige not to remember Walter he was sure there was either some alcohol or drug use involved. Walter was a bit trickier. He was betting on some kind of trauma in his case. Toby jumped up and walked over to his desk and grabbed his pen and a piece of paper and made a note and then folded it up and stuck it in an envelope. He sealed it and put it in his pocket before sitting back down.
Happy looked at him. "What was that all about?"
Toby smiled. "I just wanted to make a prediction about how this happened."
"Care to share Doc?" Cabe asked.
Toby shook his head. "After they tell us I'll share it."
The small family came back downstairs and Paige put Megan in her bassinet before sitting in her chair.
Walter stood behind her and put his hands on her shoulders as Ralph stood next to them.
"I'm assuming you guys are dying with curiosity about what is going on." Walter asked in his best emotionless voice. The red in his eyes told them he had been crying.
The four other members of Scorpion all nodded their heads.
"First, this is the only time we're discussing this with you guys. There will be no teasing or anything else from you about it. If that is too much for you to agree with then you can stay in the dark." Walter looked at them sternly.
They all nodded their agreement with his conditions.
Walter took a deep breath. "Basically it boils down to a day I had gone to San Francisco to attend a lecture. I was mugged as I had opened my motel room door. Paige in a situation of emotional pain had been drinking. She'd seen my attackers running away from my room and came to investigate. Fearing about getting arrested for public intoxication she decided to just try to help me by getting me into my bed."
"Paige passed out and at some point I moved, and she felt that. She thought she was at home and Drew was with her and we made love. When she became sufficiently aware of some differences she realized she wasn't with Drew. Because of the alcohol she didn't remember what I looked like. And because of my head injury I have no clear memory of it." Walter finished.
The four friends all nodded with huge smiles and then let out an excited whoop of celebration.
Toby pulled out the envelope and handed it to Cabe.
Cabe opened it and read the note. "Doc nailed it in one."