Why yes, I am alive. And for my final author's note on this story, I have an apology and an expression of gratitude.

First, the apology. I vanished from this site for the better part of two weeks, without reading or writing. It wasn't intentional. I had assumed when I published the previous chapter last Tuesday that I'd be concluding this fic or updating something else – or even publishing something new – within 48 hours. But Tuesday night was a bit of a turning point in my life, completely unexpectedly. I went, fairly spur of the moment, to the theater to see Wicked in Detroit, a show I've seen bootlegs of and was already familiar with but had never seen live. And the long and the short of it is it's always been a show that makes me sad at the end, because of the characters who will never see each other again, but while watching it I thought to myself, you can tell these women are super close in real life. And it made me…less sad about the way the story ends, because what's real is better than what's fiction. And in an instant, that snapped me out of the funk I've been in since Scorpion was cancelled. I'm still sad about it, but it doesn't consume me. I spent days without even thinking about fanfic, which is something I haven't done in years. I'm still going to write, I'm sure, and I'm certainly still going to read, but I don't think I'm going to have to rely on it as much anymore.

On to the gratitude. I said when this fic started that there would be content some wouldn't like, and indeed, I got all sorts of threats, both of the "I will never read you again" variety (bye) or of the "I wish I could cause your death" variety (yikes). I greatly appreciate all of you who kept reading anyway despite potentially worrying about where I was going to take this or that. Writing this fic has been so incredibly fun, and I hope you all have enjoyed reading it even a tenth as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

And now, long ass author's note over, on to the concluding segments.

"Hey."

Ralph had thought that Bri saw him approach, but at her jump he realized he was wrong. "Sorry. Wasn't trying to scare you."

"No worries," Bri said. "I was just…lost in my thoughts, I guess."

Ralph nodded. "How are you feeling?"

She shrugged. "Physically? Terrible. Mentally? Just as bad, honestly."

"Where's…" Ralph looked around, even though with Bri's arms and the basket being empty there was really nowhere else for the baby to be. "Where is he?"

"A social worker took him," Bri said. "I guess they're trying to figure out what they're going to do."

"Did they talk to you about the process at all?"

"They went over it all. I just told them I'll sign whatever they need me to sign. They might want you to do something too, I dunno."

"Okay. Whatever you need."

Bri's eyes dropped to the floor. She wrung her hands, lightly tapping her foot. "I've already destroyed my chance at what I need."

Ralph sighed. "If you're trying to guilt me into being with you again, it's not going to – "

"I'm not guilting you into anything," Bri said shortly. "I'm just expressing it. I love you. I've fucked up my chance with you. And it makes me sad. I know you think everything is a trick but I'm just talking, okay?"

Ralph held up his hands. "Fine. Fine. But when you've been hit enough times you're gonna flinch when someone lifts an arm regardless of their intention. I'm head shy now and there's really no magical way to stop that."

"I'm sorry." Bri shook her head, slowly, her expression both incredulous and sad. "I just can't imagine life without you."

"I really don't know what to say to that, Brianna." Ralph shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Did you…" There was pain on her face. "Did you love me? Back then? Was it real at all?"

Ralph opened his mouth, then closed it again. The response on his tongue was yes. Yes, of course he loved her when they were together, up until he found out what she'd done, which led him to realize how manipulative she had been all along. So did I really love her? Or was it a combination of the manipulation being attached to one's first serious relationship? Suddenly he was doubting the answer he had been so sure of just seconds before.

"Don't," Bri said, holding her hand up before he could say anything. "I don't think either answer would make me feel better."

Ralph always knew that Paige was an incredible mother – one that everyone deserved to have – but going directly from seeing Brianna to frozen yogurt with her made the contrast all the more sharp. She had just given birth a couple of days ago, her newborn was at home with her husband, and yet here she was, making cheerful small talk with Olivia while their desserts were weighed and rung up, because somehow she knew this – all of this, every last little detail of this – was exactly what her other child needed, and Amber being so much younger didn't mean she was more important. Her oldest needed time with her, and she was more than willing to give it.

"I haven't had froyo in so long," she remarked as they sat down in one of the booths.

"You and I haven't gone out and done anything together in a long time, either," Ralph remarked. "It's crazy how busy adulthood is."

"And you have been a busy guy for a long time already," Paige said. "At the age you were when you started helping Scorpion, I was reluctantly running scams with Veronica. And at the age you are now, well…" she gave a dry laugh. "I was skipping out on my voice lessons to watch your father pitch."

"Well, we all make mistakes," he joked.

"We even called ourselves Pitch Squared," she said, shaking her head. "You know, he was a pitcher, and I had perfect pitch."

Ralph couldn't help but laugh. "You never told me that."

"By the time you came along I was far too embarrassed to tell anyone that," she pointed out. "God, I was ridiculous at your age."

"We're all ridiculous at my age, to be fair." Ralph took a bite of his dessert. "Ugh, this hits the spot."

"Agreed."

"So," he said, "what's the cute nickname for you and Walter? I mean, other than Toby calling you Waige."

"We don't have a nickname," Paige said. "Those are juvenile."

Ralph raised his eyebrow. "Come on, I know you. You would hate that you and Drew had one and not you and Walter. That's the whole reason we have Amber, right?"

Paige rolled her eyes. "Very funny."

"Spill, Mom."

Pink appeared in Paige's cheek. "Fine. We're Salty Sweet. Although who is Salty and who is Sweet kinda depends on the day."

"Give and take. That's very healthy in a relationship. You go, Mom."

She laughed. "You know, when you were born, I hoped you would grow up to be my friend. I'm glad you did."

"I'm glad you're my friend, too" Ralph smiled. "It's much easier, and nicer, when you're in a family that wants you."

"Agreed." Paige slowly ran the spoon through her lips. "Not to ruin the light mood here, but you said when we were in line that a social worker is looking at Bri's baby?"

"Yeah. I guess they feel pretty confident they have someone to adopt him, but they don't want to tell us until…"

"Wait, adopt? Not just take into a foster home?"

"I'm sure she said it wrong. There's no way anyone would be adopting him yet, not unless it was someone who knew him and wanted him specifically and Bri and I would basically give him to them. And we know that none of us are taking him." Ralph shrugged. "It would be nice if it were true, though. I hate the idea of him languishing somewhere he doesn't want to be. Or just somewhere he doesn't feel like he belongs."

Paige grew quiet. Ralph could tell that she was thinking about something very specific, and he also knew what it was. "Mom…"

"You're not going to stay in Los Angeles, are you, baby?"

He took in a breath. In his defense, he hadn't been keeping this from her. It had all been arranged in the past day or so, and they both had had other things on their minds. "Patty is starting school with the summer semester – late May. She got an apartment – two bedroom was all that was left – and I think I'm going to go up there with her, at least for a while. Apparently they're always hiring people to do computer repair, it is a set your own hours kind of deal and since I wouldn't be going to school, I could come home whenever I wanted or when Scorpion had a big case." He reached out and put his hand on his mother's arm. "Mom, I'm not running. I just need some space."

Paige pressed her lips together. She drew in a long breath and nodded slowly on the exhale. "Okay. I understand."

"You do?"

"Yeah." She got up to throw away her froyo bowl, and Ralph followed her. "Or I guess I should say…I always understood. I can't keep you next to me forever. I guess what I'm saying now is I accept it. That that time has come." She reached out and touched the tip of her finger to Ralph's nose. "You'll be here with us until May?"

"You will see so much of me until May that you'll be glad when I go."

Paige bit her lip, reaching out and pulling Ralph close to her. "I know you're joking," she said in a low, heavy voice, "but it's not funny."

Since Allie had come to join Team Scorpion – at least by proximity – what felt like forever ago now, she knew she had contributed to their accomplishments. To their family. It was undeniable, even if the arrival of Florence Tipton mere months after her full acceptance into the group had pushed any usefulness she had in chemistry off to the side. Scorpion made it very clear who was welcome into their little group and who was an outsider, and Allie knew she was the former. But of the nine of them, she was the only one who contributed by cooking, or by organizing parties, as opposed to doing anything significant to hold the family together.

You do so much, Toby had told her once. People like you help us keep our sanity, and that's invaluable.

She knew he was right. But she was also incredibly pleased with what she was finally allowed to announce to the group.

"Hey, guys?" She said, slight hesitance in her voice. They were all at Walter and Paige's place, eating and chatting and cooing over baby Amber. Currently, the baby was in Ellie's lap, who was in turn in Happy's.

Everyone looked up. Allie had never been post – partum and she knew it wasn't pleasant, but her eyes fell on Paige resting in a giant beanbag chair that Sylvester had brought over and was almost jealous. "I have something to announce. A few of you already know this. I let Ralph know earlier this evening and surprisingly he had not gotten it out of Sylvester yet." She smirked to herself as Sylvester lifted his hand toward his wife for a high five, and she rolled her eyes before obliging him. "Ralph came with me to the hospital and everything is finalized, just a few more hoops to jump through, and, well, I'm getting ahead of myself."

"Just a little," Cabe said, looking at her curiously.

"Okay." Allie put her hands together. "We all know that two babies were born this week. Amber is with us. The little boy was born in very different circumstances. The parent who claimed to want him ultimately was using him in an attempt to manipulate our Ralph. She's young. I don't want to speak ill of her. But Ralph came to me and asked if I had any idea of anyone who might want to adopt him, so he wouldn't have to go into foster care and join the queue of hundreds of thousands of children waiting to find their families." Allie wiped her eye. "Well, I found someone. And it's someone we all know. Someone who has experience raising children who aren't her own, but who had a son, once. He's no longer here. A few of you met him once."

She could tell by the look on Cabe's face that he had suddenly joined the group of them that knew where she was going with this. She smiled at him before continuing. "She's older now, but women older than her have taken in children, and she has a reputation in the community that will help speed the process along – pulling some strings, if you will. Aimee Tracker is going to adopt the boy."

Happy's jaw dropped. The others looked varying degrees of amazed. "Oh my God," Paige said, putting a hand to her mouth and looking over at her son. "That's perfect."

"I know," Ralph said with a smile. "When she told me, it felt almost too good to be true."

"She's going to name him Caleb," Allie continued. "Her late son, Lane, had had that as his boy name, if he ever had children of his own. Brianna and Ralph don't want to be in his life, but both have agreed to his file being opened when he turns eighteen, if he gets curious and wants to know where he came from."

Walter was sitting on the floor next to the bean bag chair. He took his wife's hand and squeezed it. Paige looked like she was struggling not to cry.

"So we know he will be in safe hands," Allie concluded.

"That's amazing," Toby said, looking down at Amber and then back to Allie. "You're a miracle worker."

She blushed. "Well. I can try, at least."

"Ralph," Paige said, slight sternness in her voice. "You're texting right now?"

"What? I have to tell Patty and Will, and I didn't think it would be right to tell them before you guys found out."

Paige shrugged. "Fair enough."

"You know what's going to happen now, right?" The behaviorist asked, his voice taking on a mischevious tone.

"Oh no," Florence said.

He cocked his head at her. "What?"

"I just know this is going to be something weird."

"Well, as I do not like to disappoint," Toby smirked, "I present the following scenario to watch for. Amber and Caleb grow up completely separate from each other, meet in college, and fall in love before they realize she's actually his aunt."

The long silence in the room was broken by Happy. "Stop it."

"What?" Toby shrugged. "Could happen."

"Um, ew," Sylvester said pointedly.

"Ewwwww!" chorused Tad and Ellie, neither understanding what they were reacting to.

Paige was slowly shaking her head. "Oh God, we're gonna be on something hosted by Jerry Springer."

"Aw, no we won't, Mom," Ralph said, his tone light while giving her a pat on the shoulder. "He will be long dead before any of that happens."

THE END