A/N: Okay, so I have been out of the fic-writing world for a while - I've just been reading lately - but I finally found a show that I love enough to start writing again. I'm a bit rusty, so sorry if this got a bit long-winded.
You're My Chosen: Ten times Walter was a dad to Ralph. Mainly a dad!fic, but of course I can't do it without Walter/Paige undertones! Each chapter is its own individual story, but they do go chronologically and build from each other like a continuous story. Inspired by the song "Family Tree," by Matthew West. ("You're my child, you're my chosen, you are loved.") Please R&R, to let me know if I've completely lost my mojo!
Disclaimer: Come on. It doesn't take a 197 IQ to tell that I don't own Scorpion.

Chapter One:"Birthday Wishes" - Walter wants to give Ralph a very important birthday gift, but is unsure if he'll want it. (This is the last one, guys! Thanks so much for sticking with me this whole time, your feedback has been amazingly inspiring, and I hope to write another one soon! I've never done prompts before, but I might consider it, so if you want to inbox me some ideas I might get the bug again! 3 )

~~00~~

Paige was a monster. Momzilla. She tore through Scorpion for the entire week leading up to Ralph's eleventh birthday party, barking orders and shoving important work out of the way to clamber onto desks and hang streamers from every surface. Overcompensating, Toby said. On Ralph's last birthday, he thought his father was just busy seeing movies – on this one, he knew he was out there, and had elected to not stay with his son, and had in fact signed over his rights a month after leaving California. She needed him to feel loved, like he had a full family and everything he needed right in front of him. Though they weren't crazy about her madness, the team loved Ralph and signed on for various tasks to help give him the best birthday ever. Happy was in charge of decorations (electronic gizmos to put a new spin on traditional party ideas), Sylvester was on invitations (coding the coolest display of e-vites ever seen), Toby had party games (Paige told him it was because of his knowledge of adolescent psychology, but really it was because he was so childlike himself), Cabe was on food (he had friends in high, tasty places), and Walter was with Paige, bouncing around from project to project. They dabbled in a little bit of everything, on top of coordinating gifts from the grown-ups and shopping for party favors. They'd decided to have the party at the garage, because it was Ralph's favorite place, and a lot of Walter's time was going into making sure the building was safe for children who had substantially lower IQs than Ralph, and wouldn't necessarily know what to touch and what to steer clear of. Paige had noticed (though just barely) that her boyfriend had started to get a little more tense as the party grew nearer – fidgety and unconfident, like he wanted to say something but the words weren't coming.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Paige asked for the third time as they strolled together down an aisle in Home Depot. Happy had told them that if they picked up some compressed wood and copper piping, she could do a cool twist on pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey.

"I'm fine," he told her as his eyes scanned the line of copper; they needed 3/8th inch ductile tubing, and he located it quickly. "I'm just thinking about this gift I want to get Ralph."

"You already got him his gifts," Paige said, surprised. He'd bought the boy a desktop for his "room" because it had more RAM than his laptop, a guitar so he could teach him to play, a robotics kit, and several very thick, very complicated books on various subjects. He'd spent an entire month's pay on the gifts and Paige had felt guilty about allowing him to do it, but trying to talk Walter out of anything – especially when it came to Ralph – was useless. He loved that boy so much, and he would truly give him the world if he could.

Walter made a noise in the back of his throat and plucked a coil of copper from the shelf, starting to walk again. "I've been really wanting to get him this gift, but I'm not sure if he'd even want it, so I'm still thinking about it."

Paige waited a moment, but when he said nothing else she asked, "Are you going to tell me what it is?"

"Not yet," Walter said simply. "Later. Here." He handed her the coil so he could take a large sheet of plywood from the rack in front of him, then gestured to the front of the store.

"When you're ready," she told him with a smile, and Walter leaned in to press a brief kiss to her lips. He wasn't normally a fan of PDA, but times like this he couldn't help himself. He could really tell how Paige had come to trust him, when she didn't press him on the matters that seemed to weigh on his mind – she gave him his time, and knew that he would talk to her when he had a better idea of what was going on. It meant a lot to him.

She kissed him back, smiling even wider, and began following him to the front of the store. "Oh, and Paige?" He said over his shoulder.

"Hm?"

He stopped walking and put the plywood down, resting it against his side so he could put one hand on her shoulder, looking her in the eye. "This party is going to be great – one that Ralph will never forget – but I don't want you to stress about making it perfect. He understands what happened with Drew and why. He may not be okay with it, but he understands, and he's going to be fine. Amazing party or no. He's got you, and that's all that really matters to him."

"And you," she said in a whisper, putting her hand over his and blinking heavily. "I know he doesn't call you 'dad,' but you know that's how he sees you and he needs you, too."

Walter smiled one of those rare, genuine smiles and let out what seemed to be a sigh of relief. "That's something I needed to hear."

Confused, but accepting that he was still thinking through something, Paige just gave his hand a squeeze and led him to the check-out. He had her drive the truck back to the garage (which was technically against Happy's rules) and played with her hair for the entire drive, lost in thought but his fingers constantly curling through the locks at the nape of her neck.

~~00~~

"Sly and I found it at an estate sale," Megan said, her breathing a little labored – getting around had been harder for her lately, but she had insisted on helping with set-up the day before Ralph's party, as well as coming to the party itself. She was sitting on the couch now, a huge, square chest at her feet, and she was excited.

Paige sat down on the coffee table and looked at the box, "What is it?"

"Do you remember when I was in the hospital and you guys came to see me?" She and Walter nodded, and Megan opened the box while the rest of the team bustled around them finishing decorations and game set-up. "Ralph set up that awesome shadow puppet screen for me, and we had so much fun with it. And I know you're all probably going to get him a bunch of smart, techy stuff, but I wanted to get him something that was just fun. Sylvester and I were out for a drive the other day and I saw this and I knew it was perfect." She leaned forward and unlatched the box, flipping the lid open.

Inside was a round base with a tall glass cylinder in the center and two moving rings around it. Sylvester stopped what he was doing to help her pull it out of the box and put it next to Paige on the coffee table, and Walter squinted at it, trying to figure out what it was. Megan picked up the two smaller boxes in the chest and opened the first one, taking out thin piece of blackened tin shaped as a tree, followed by a few other scenic pieces. In the second box there were thin wooden pieces shaped like people, with pivots in the joints so they could move.

"You put a candle in the middle, see?" Megan pointed to the glass tube on the round base, "or a light or something. And you put the figures in the rotating parts and spin it, and it's a shadow caster!"

"It looks like the one from Buffy!" Paige squealed, looking at the pieces. She noticed a few of the human pieces and said, "Oh my god, it is the one from Buffy!"

"It's a replica," Megan smiled. "The guy selling it said his mother had been a huge fan and he'd made this for her, but then he ended up buying her the real one when Joss Whedon auctioned it for charity. The cool thing is, apparently the figures are really easy to make – you just get some wood or tin, draw your design, and then cut it out. I thought I could buy him a few sheets of tin and some pivots, but only if you don't think it's too dangerous."

Paige looked over her shoulder to Walter, who shrugged and nodded. "Happy could help him, if it makes you're more comfortable with that, but tin is really easy to work with."

"I have an extra pair of tin snips," the mechanic called from her ladder, which she was using to reach her LED streamers. "They're really just short scissors."

The mother smiled, "I think that would be fine, then. Thank you, Megan; I know he's going to love it. He could make his own people and use it as a night light."

Megan clapped and took hold of her braces, pulling herself to her feet. "Okay, what can I help with? Decorations? Food?"

"You can help me blow up balloons," Toby said, gesturing to the helium tank he'd rented, and the hundreds of limp lumps of latex on his desk. The ones he'd already blown up were tethered on too-short strings, and Bixby kept jumping up and sinking his large teeth into them, then barking when they popped in his mouth. "We're going to fill the whole place with them, and I am so not patient enough for this." She laughed and nodded and walked over to him while the rest of the team busied themselves with the final touches.

"Paige," Walter said softly later that night as they lie together in bed, cuddled under the covers, her head on his chest and his fingers playing through her hair. Ralph was staying the night at Cynthia's so he wouldn't see the party set-up, and they had retired early so they could pick him up for a special breakfast in the morning.

"Mm?" The woman turned her head slightly so she could kiss Walter's bare chest.

He took a deep breath and Paige heard a tremble to it, and paid very close attention. "Do you remember a few days ago, when I told you there was something else I wanted to get another gift for Ralph?"

She nodded, "You said you weren't sure if he'd like it."

"Yeah," he said softly, "and also, I'm not sure if you'll…if it's something you'd let me get him."

Paige rolled her eyes and laughed, "I keep telling you guys: No soldering gun until he's in high school."

"It's not a soldering gun," Walter shook his head, his hand stilling in her hair. "What I want…I mean…and it may be out of line to even ask, but…" He trailed off helplessly.

The woman propped herself up on her elbow. "Hey," she whispered, then reached out to brush his hair away from his eyes, a soft, encouraging look on her face. "Just say what you need to say."

He bit his lip and took in another deep breath. "I…I want to adopt Ralph."

Paige stared at him for a long beat, until he squirmed under her gaze. "You," she repeated slowly, thinking it through, "want to adopt my son?"

"I've done the research," Walter hurried on. "Since Drew signed over his rights, the hardest part of the process is over. I'd apply for the adoption, and the state would do a home study to make sure we lived in a good environment. So you guys would have to move in here or I could move in with you – we could even get our own separate place – it doesn't matter, though, as long as we're all together and we practically live together already anyway. And after the home study, the state would come in for random inspections and supervised interactions, and after six months of that I could petition the court for parental rights. That usually takes about a year, but given our pull with homeland, we could probably get it expedited a bit; it could all be finalized before Ralph's twelfth birthday."

"Walter." Paige held up a hand to stop him, and he felt like his heart stopped beating in his chest. He was very still, silent, waiting to hear what she had to say. "How long have you been thinking about this?"

"About being Ralph's dad?" Walter asked with a short, breathless laugh, "Practically since the day we met. But the actual adoption process? Since the day Drew left."

"Hm." The liaison began absentmindedly drawing patterns onto his chest with her index finger, but for the first time he didn't lose his train of thought at the touch – he was too nervous, too focused, too terrified of what her reaction might be. "Walter, you know we'll be okay, right? It's like you said the other day: Ralph understands what happened with Drew, and as long as he has us and this big, crazy family, he'll be fine. You don't have to go the extra mile to make him feel more secure."

"That's just a small part of it, though," Walter insisted, sitting up so his back rested against the headboard, and bringing Paige along with him. "Yes, of course I want him to feel secure, but this is something I would really want no matter the circumstances."

Paige nodded again, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Okay, well, this is a huge decision, Walter. Bigger than you and me, and bigger than anything you've ever experienced. This is the least temporary decision you will ever make – you would be Ralph's father for the rest of your life. It doesn't stop when he turns eighteen."

"I'm aware of th—"

"I know you are," she cut him off, voice slow and patient. "I'm just saying, this is a huge thing. So before I say anything one way or the other, I need you to tell me why you want to do this. I know you love Ralph, but I need you to tell me specifically why you want to love him in this big, official way, when you know you're going to be in his life for a long time anyway."

Walter thought for a moment, choosing his words more carefully than he'd ever chosen any others in his life. How could he describe the way he felt about the boy? Paige probably couldn't articulate her own love for her son, but then again, he was hers by blood, and nobody would ever ask her to. Walter understood her needing to know this; after all, they'd only known each other for a year and a half – had only been a couple for six months – and this was moving very quickly. He tried to think of every extraordinary moment he'd ever had with Ralph, but they were all extraordinary, and it was overwhelming.

"I have felt," he finally began speaking, slowly, as he was forming his thoughts as he spoke, "like Ralph's father for as long as I've known him. Protective, encouraging, nurturing, all of the things a father is supposed to feel. And I know I'm lucky that you allowed me to take on that role with him, because not a lot of people would have let this…weird, unsociable genius into their kid's life. I intend to be in Ralph's life forever," he said definitively, "no matter what happens between you and I, I will always be there for him.

"The reason I want it to be official," he went on, "is because I want to be able to be there for him without questions asked. Drop him off and pick him up from school without you having to notify them in advance. Take him on trips that you would find boring. Take him to the doctor when he's sick, and fill out his paperwork. I want to drop him off on his first day of college, which he could do in just a couple of years, by the way. I want to teach him to drive and talk to him about girls and, hell, even be the one the cops call at two o'clock in the morning because he got caught doing something stupid with his friends. I want him to mention me in his valedictorian address, Paige," his voice was desperate now, full of emotion. "And I want to finally be able to tell people what I'm always thinking when we're out together: 'Look at my son. Isn't he amazing?'"

Paige was crying now. Smiling, which was a good sign, but the tears still made Walter feel like his chances were dwindling away. He held his breath and reached out, thumbing one of the salty drops from her cheek and letting his palm rest against the side of her face. "Someday," he told her gently, "I want to marry you. Not now, because you and I are still getting to know each other in this way, but I want you to know that that is my intention. With Ralph and I, however," he smiled, "we already know each other. I know that I love him, and that he is my son, and I will never second-guess this decision. But he is and will always be your son first, and if you say no, I will respect your decision. I just need to know where I stand."

There was silence, and then the woman sniffled and turned her face into his palm, kissing the heel. "It's not my decision to make," she told him finally, her voice thick with emotion. "It's your gift to Ralph – whether or not he accepts it is up to him." She moved so her head was on his chest again, her ear just over his heart. "We'll talk to him privately tomorrow and see what he has to say." She smiled even wider when she felt Walter's heartbeat speed up.

"So you're not saying no?" He confirmed hopefully.

"Of course I'm not," she said against his chest. "Like I said, you're Ralph's dad, paperwork or no. If this is what you needs – and what he wants – then we'll do it."

Walter said nothing, but slipped down so he was face to face with Paige and kissed her deeply, holding her face between his hands. She responded eagerly, both of them full of emotion that they had no way of getting out otherwise. They clung to each other and kissed and touched and whispered lovingly into each other's ears, and all hopes of going to bed early went out the window.

~~00~~

"This is awesome!" Ralph announced for the umpteenth time, as he and a few friends trampled through the bounce castle Toby had rented at the last minute the day before. It was small enough to fit in the empty front area of the garage, and it was a hit – Toby had suggested that they just buy it after the party, and Walter was almost considering it, seeing how much Ralph loved it. He laughed when he saw the boy reach out and grab the arms of a small blonde girl – who he now knew to be Sloan – and they used each other to get a higher bounce, laughing all the while.

The party had a great turn-out, with Ralph's five close friends – Billy, Evan, Marcy, Daniel, and Sloan – and about half a dozen other kids from class, as well as an assortment of parents, Megan, Hetty, and Ralph's two main babysitters, Cynthia and Mrs. Boxmeier. They'd already had lunch – sliders with cheese on the inside of the burgers, barbecue meatballs, baked mac-and-cheese, and little hotdogs with five different sauces – and played all the games, and were now just running around, playing, trying to do as much of everything as possible.

"All right, guys!" Paige raised her voice and clapped her hands a few times to get the attention of all the kids. "Who wants cake?!" Immediately, eleven young bodies stopped what they were doing and rushed toward the long dining table that had been set up in front of the kitchen. They sat down and waited eagerly while Paige and Walter went into the kitchen and lit the candles, and then carried the gorgeous, layered chocolate-and-raspberry cake into the main area, where Happy had dropped all the lights so the only illumination came from the tiny flames. They all sang "Happy Birthday" as loud as possible, and when the cake landed in front of Ralph, he stared at the candles for a long time before finally taking in a deep breath and blowing all eleven out in one shot.

"Good job, Ralph," Happy said, hitting a button that turned the lights back on, then clapping the boy on the shoulder. "What'd you wish for?"

Ralph opened his mouth to tell her, but Megan immediately started making an "eh eh eh" noise, waving her arms urgently. "You're not allowed to tell your wish," she reminded him, "otherwise it won't come true."

"Wishes don't come true anyway," Ralph said, confused.

"How do you know?"

"Because…it's unscientific."

"Well, think about this," Megan said seriously, and Walter recognized her tone as the one she always used to use with him as a kid, to make the illogical seem logical, "you've never heard someone say their wish came through, right? That's because if they said so, it would be talking about it. And the people that talk about their wishes not coming true, they talked about it! Do you really want to risk it?"

Ralph looked at her, then to Walter who shrugged and nodded slightly, then back to Megan. "Okay," he said with a smile, "I won't tell."

"Good choice, sweetie," Paige told her son as she came back with a second cake – marble, for the kids who didn't like raspberry – and handed a knife to Cabe so he could start cutting out chunks to put on paper plates. The kids ate until there was hardly anything left, and the sugar buzz started to set in soon after – they would all crash soon.

"Hey," Paige whispered, nudging Walter's arm with her own, "why don't we talk to him now, before presents?" Walter nodded and swallowed, his throat suddenly very dry. "Ralph," Paige called to her son, waving him over, "can Walter and I talk to you for just a minute?"

The boy nodded and hopped down from his chair, walking over and immediately slipping his hand into Paige's, then taking Walter's with his other. They walked upstairs together, with Bixby following close behind (he never liked to stray too far from his masters), and sat down in the living area. Ralph immediately sensed the tension and asked, "Am I in trouble? I'm sorry I didn't use my inside voice."

Paige was shocked into laughter, and she put a hand on her son's shoulder, "No, sweetie, you're not in trouble. Walter just wanted to give you a gift, but he wants to ask if it's something you want."

Ralph looked at Walter expectantly, and the man shifted uncomfortably, suddenly very sweaty and nauseated. "Ralph, what I'm about to offer you is a big deal, and you have to be very honest when you say yes or no, okay? I don't want you to think about anyone else's feelings but your own – not mine, not your mom's, no one else but you." The boy nodded slowly, still waiting. Walter cleared his throat and took in a deep breath. "What would you think," he said slowly, "about me adopting you?"

The boy glanced at his mother, confused, "You want to take me away from my mom?"

"No, no," Walter said quickly, shaking his head, "of course not. Your mom would still be your mom, but I would legally be your dad. We would be your parents, together." Seeing the boy's confusion and knowing the only thing that would ease him were facts, he began telling him all the things he'd told Paige the night before, about the process and the benefits following approval. He told him about trips and college and girls, and how much he loved him and would always love him, no matter what he chose.

Paige took over the more emotional aspects, explaining how they would all move in together officially (though they basically lived together as it was), and Ralph would have to get used to having another parent telling him what to do, dishing out discipline when necessary; there would never be any "you aren't my dad, so you can't tell me that," because Walter would be his dad. The boy listened to them both with full attention, one hand absently scratching Bixby's ears.

When they'd finished and asked him for his thoughts, Ralph considered for a couple of minutes, still petting the dog, and both adults thought they might drop dead from anxiety before he finally spoke again. "Well," he said thoughtfully, "I do love Walter. And I like being here, at the garage, with Mom and Bixby and everyone else. I know Walter is my dad," he smiled at the man, who beamed back, "and I would like him to be my dad officially, too, because then I can factor him into my future." To Paige, this statement sounded calculative, but as a calculative person, Walter knew it wasn't. "I would like to be able to call him Dad, and go places just us if we wanted to."

Walter was cautiously hopeful, "You're saying…"

"Yes, please," Ralph said politely, "I would like that gift very much."

The man immediately wrapped his arms around the boy, who hugged him back while Bixby whimpered at their feet, then hopped up and laid his two massive arms onto their shoulders, joining in. "I love you, Ralph," Walter murmured against the boy's hair.

"I love you, too, Dad," Ralph said for the first time. "Is it okay if I call you that, even though it's not legal yet?"

For the first time in a long time, Walter cried.

~~00~~

"You guys, look!" Ralph said as he tore off the paper that covered the box for his new computer, "Look what my dad got me!"

All of the kids rushed in with loud, excited chatter as they examined the top-of-the-line computer, but there was a slightly quieter gasp from the adults in the room, who all turned to face the man who stood, still teary-eyed, by the kitchen entrance. He was smiling so wide they thought his face might split in two. Later, when the kids were gone, he would tell his sister and the team that he was adopting the boy and they would all forget his aversion to contact and hug him hard, and he wouldn't mind at all. He was going to be a father, truly, officially, and nothing could bring him down today.