literature

Surprise

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Literature Text

Surprise


Paige woke up and had to untangle herself from Walter as the need to go to the bathroom became overwhelming. She hurried to the toilet and fell to her knees to expel the contents of her stomach.

Walter awoke to the sound of his wife retching and began to feel queasy himself. He didn't trust himself to go in there, and his brain began going into overdrive as to what could be wrong with her. He knew she was nauseas, but the answer lay in any other symptoms she was experiencing. He then did a self-awareness check to make sure he wasn't sick. They sometimes had different things to eat for lunch. Did she get something bad? He mentally went over the ingredients available in their kitchen that he could use to make her some tea.

That was when a solution arose in his mind. They had a stick of ginger in their freezer. Paige always kept it in there 'just in case' and to add extra flavor to their meals.

He made his mind up when Paige gave her last hurl and flushed the toilet.

“Honey? You okay?” Walter called out cautiously.

“I'll be okay. It’s just something I ate I think,” Paige replied, turning on the faucet to wet a wash cloth, and she wiped her mouth before washing her entire face.

“I'll make you some ginger tea,” he offered as he got out of bed and padded to the kitchen.

Ginger was world renowned to aid in any kind of nausea. He filled the teapot with water and put it on the stove, setting it to high so it would boil quickly. Then he retrieved a grater from a cabinet and the ginger-root from the freezer. He washed his hands then got to work on grating the ginger until the teapot whistled. He grabbed Paige's favorite mug before dumping the grated ginger in it and added the boiling water. He reached for the jar of honey and added a good sized dollop and stirred it in.

Just then, he turned around to see a very sleepy Ralph looking at him curiously.

“Mom is sick, so I'm making her tea. She’ll be okay soon,” Walter assured him. “Go get some more sleep, Ralph,” he urged him, gently grasping Ralph's shoulder to usher him back to bed.

Ralph nodded and went back to his room to try to get some more sleep. Walter smiled fondly after him and went back to his own bedroom to deliver the tea to Paige.

He went into the bedroom to find that Paige wasn't there. He took a deep breath and prepared himself for the possible states she could be in. He walked over to the bathroom door and knocked as softly as he could.

“Come in,” came Paige's muffled reply.

Walter slowly opened the door to see her sitting on the floor, resting her back against the sink cabinets with a wet wash rag on her mouth and another at the base of her neck. He also noted the smell of an air freshener that she must have sprayed to keep the smell at bay.

Walter couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She looked miserable. He sat down next to her and held out the tea.

“Thank you,” Paige murmured before putting the wash cloths down so she could grasp the mug with both hands.

She inhaled the scent deep into her lungs and a little smile bloomed on her lips before she took a tentative sip.

Walter watched her anxiously, feeling rather helpless. But as the tea seemed to wash down her throat and coat her upset stomach, relief was evident on her face. Paige looked over at him and gave him a grateful smile before leaning over and resting her head on his shoulder.

“Are you going to be okay?” he asked softly.

“Yeah. I'm sure it was just something I ate,” Paige repeated as she snuggled closer to him.

Walter smiled softly down at her and wrapped his arm around her so she could rest her head on his chest. Paige hummed her appreciation and closed her eyes as he kissed the top of her head and gave her a small but meaningful side hug.

“I love you,” he said warmly.

“I love you too,” she returned, a grin spreading across her face.

“You're taking a sick day,” Walter insisted after a moment of silence.

“No. I'm feeling better already. I just need a little more sleep,” Paige countered.

“If you come in, Sylvester will freak and think you have the plague and follow you around with a can of Lysol.”

Paige groaned in response.

“So by this afternoon, if you really and truly feel better, you can come in; otherwise, I need you to stay home and rest, okay?”

“Fine,” Paige gave in. “Help me back to bed then.”

Walter nodded and shifted. “Don't spill that on me,” he requested as he lifted her from the floor and carried her to bed.

“Aw, you're carrying me. That’s so sweet,” she commented sleepily.

Walter smiled smugly before gently setting her down in a sitting position on the bed. He kissed her forehead then went over to the other side of the bed to get some more rest himself.

“Walter?” Paige asked.

“Hmm?” he answered, opening an eye to peek at her.

“Would you rub my back? Please?” Paige pleaded once she had finished her tea and laid back down in bed.

Walter grunted his agreement as he rolled over to face her and watched as she rolled over toward him to rest on her stomach. He had no idea what he was doing, but he just focused on rubbing his hand up and down her spine .She seemed to make the most pleased noises when he was touching her lower back, so that was where he spent most of his efforts.

After a few minutes, she was fast asleep and Walter ceased his actions as he snuggled closer, putting his arm around her waist and trying to get a little more sleep before he had to get up for the day.

Walter's alarm sounded and he turned over quickly to turn it off so it wouldn't disturb her. He rolled back over and kissed his wife's brow before pulling the covers up to make sure she would stay warm and comfortable. He felt her head to make sure she wasn't running a fever. She was just a little warmer than usual but nowhere near hot enough to count as a fever.

He got up and took a shower, and when he was dressed, he came back out to the kitchen to see Ralph sitting at the counter, eating his breakfast and reading a book on neurobiology that Toby had given him.

“Mom is still not feeling well, so she's going to rest this morning. I'm going to take you to school, okay?” Walter informed him.

Ralph didn't really respond, but Walter knew that he had heard him.

He grated up the rest of the ginger, making a note to pick up some more at the store before putting it into the teapot so Paige could make more tea for herself when she woke up. He also left a sticky note telling her as much, along with a reminder that he loved her and hoped she felt better with plenty of X's and O's. Because he knew she loved that sort of thing. Then he joined Ralph at the breakfast bar with his own bowl of cereal as he mentally prepared himself for the day.

“Want to go to Scorpion before school?” Walter offered.

Ralph nodded enthusiastically before closing the book and jumping down to put his bowl in the sink and put his cereal box away, signaling he was already ready to go.

“Hold on, I'm coming, I'm coming,” Walter teased as he picked up his bowl to gulp down the remaining milk.

Ralph took Walter's box of cereal and put it away as Walter put the bowl in the sink, quickly rinsing both bowls out before grabbing his backpack and car keys.

Once at Scorpion headquarters, the team looked up and collectively frowned when Paige didn't walk in with Ralph and Walter.

“Where's Mrs. O’Brien?” Toby asked.

“She's not feeling well this morning,” Walter answered and immediately cut his eyes over to Sylvester. “No, she doesn't have swine flu, bird flu, or the plague. She just ate something that didn't agree with her,” Walter assured him and everyone else.

Cabe came in after a beat. “Where's Paige?” he asked as he approached the group.

“She's feeling under the weather,” Walter answered. “What do you have for us?”

“The Federal Reserve would like a consultation to make sure their latest software updates and firewalls are as impenetrable as they think they are.”

“Pfft, so that'll take, what? Ten minutes?” Walter retorted condescendingly.

Cabe gave Walter an unamused look before he noticed Ralph standing there with them.  “Hey, how's it going, Ralph?” he greeted.

Ralph shrugged and Walter put his hand on the boy’s shoulder to get his attention.

“Actually, it's time for you to go to school. Come on, I'll drop you off,” Walter reminded him.

“The school is on the way; he can get in the van and we can drop him off,” Cabe suggested, which Ralph and the rest of the team seemed to like much more.

After dropping Ralph off at school, Cabe leaned over to Walter and gave him an expectant look. “What's really wrong with Paige?” he asked quietly.

“She just ate something that didn't agree with her. She isn't running a fever and she isn't congested, so the flu is out. She was just nauseas this morning.

“Huh. Did she throw up?” Cabe inquired.

“Yeah. I made her some ginger tea early this morning. It's not a crisis. I can handle my wife being sick, and I'm more than capable of taking care of her,” Walter insisted.

“I'm sure you are. Did her lower back hurt too?” Cabe asked with glimmer in his eye.

“Yes. The act of throwing up often puts a lot of stress on the body. A body ache and certainly a back ache is a reasonable side effect,” Walter explained.

“Sure it is,” Cabe replied, his tone disbelieving and hinting at something else entirely. but it was completely lost on Walter.

Toby and Sylvester gave each other confused looks as Sylvester went over all the possibilities and probabilities of what could be wrong with Paige. Happy, however, just rolled her eyes and continued to drive to the Federal Reserve.

Once back at Scorpion headquarters, Paige was sitting at her desk and eating a large bowl of pho from the Vietnamese place a few blocks away as she continued drinking the tea Walter had started for her that morning.

“It certainly smells good in here,” Toby proclaimed the moment he opened the door and smiled as his eyes landed on Paige.

Paige smiled back from her seat, despite her mouth being full of noodles and broth.

“Honey, I thought I told you to take the day off?” Walter contested as he walked over to her.

“Well I’m fine now, so I decided to come in,” she told him before eating another big mouthful of her soup.

“Well I'm glad to see you're doing better,” Cabe cut in with a proud smile before noticing a buzzing sound. “What's that sound?”

“Oh, me,” Paige answered as she leaned to the side so they could see the seat massager she was sitting on. “My back has been killing me lately,” she explained.

“Okay,” Cabe replied with a slow nod, looking pointedly at Walter who just looked back at him, confused. Cabe finally gave up and rolled his eyes. “You know, you had me worried this morning, with the symptoms Walter told us you had I thought you would be out of commission with the flu or…  something else,” he hinted.

“Nope, I'm fine,” Paige repeated as she downed a spring roll in two bites.

“You know it must be that newly married thing, where the bride just continues to glow,” he hinted again.

“Well, you know what they say about a bride who gets married in the month of June,” Toby chimed in, watching the scene with curious interest.

“Oh, oh, the bride who marries in June, stays a bride all her life, and that the bride groom who marries in June, gets a sweetheart for a wife,” Sylvester answered quickly, proud that he remembered the lyrics to June Bride from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, a classic film from the fifty's.

“And it's November. What’s your point?” Walter asked, not seeing the connection.

At that point, Cabe groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose before looking at all of them. “You know for a bunch of geniuses, you guys sure don't have a clue,” he finally told them, shaking his head at them.

They all looked at him, confusion clear on their faces, except for Happy, who was wearing a mischievous grin for once.

Toby glanced at her and noted her grin, which Cabe was now sharing with her. “What are you two grinning about?”

“Wait,” Happy cautioned as she nodded over to Paige who had stopped eating and looked to be deep in thought.

She appeared to be doing some mental calculations right before a moment of realization flashed on her face. Bolting up from her seat, she grabbed her purse and left without saying another word to anyone.

Walter simply stared after her in complete confusion.

“She'll be back in a few minutes,” Happy announced with a knowing grin. “Good call,” she told Cabe.

“I've been around enough to know it when I see it,” he replied.

“Know what?! What are you guys talking about?!” Walter demanded.

“Let's just be patient until Paige comes back. No one say anything,” Cabe suggested, grabbing Walter by the shoulder and giving it a comforting squeeze.


After what seemed like an eternity later, Page came back with an unreadable expression on her face. Walter immediately came to her side, and the rest of the team tried to listen to the low murmurs of their conversation, Happy and Cabe still giving each other knowing looks. Toby's understanding finally dawned on him, and he couldn't help but smile excitedly as he wrote down 'pregnant' on a piece of paper and gave it to Sylvester, who nodded and tried not to cry with the sudden joy blooming in his chest.

Meanwhile, Paige held up four pregnancy test sticks, all showing a positive result for Walter to look at. They were all different brands, but Walter examined the digital one, the readout giving an estimation of how far along she might be.

“We need to see an OB/GYN,” he said suddenly.

“I already made an appointment for Wednesday,” Paige told him, an excited smile spreading over her features.

“You're going to have a baby,” he said, mostly to himself to help it sink in. “We're going to have a baby,” he repeated, his voice getting a little louder, and before he could stop himself, he had gathered Paige into his arms and kissed her soundly.

The rest of the group let them have their moment before erupting into applause.

Paige and Walter broke apart and laughed.

“Congratulations!” Cabe said as he shook Walter's hand and welcomed the hug Paige gave him. “If you need anything, you say the word, okay?” he added when Paige pulled away.

“Thank you,” Paige replied with a grateful smile.

“I think this calls for a group hug!” Sylvester shouted.
Many great thanks to Alaburn for betaing and thank you for reading! This is the result of seeing a list of prompts for Scorpion on Tumblr and at the top of the list was this one- established Paige/Walter, Paige gets pregnant and Cabe or Hetty is the first to figure it out. and viola, one-shot. 
© 2014 - 2024 candyholic85
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QueensOfRoses's avatar
This is so cute OMG I love your writing so much!!