This has been playing at the edges of my mind for about a year now. Now I've finally found the words to sufficiently execute the tale, so I didn't want to disappoint anyone by keeping it locked away. Here it is! Enjoy!

Given a Moment

There was sand in her hair from lying in the sand box, there were grass stains on her knees from crawling around bushes, there were smudges of dirt on her clothes from her explorations, and there was a whole lot of ice cream melted on her face from the cone that was dripping on the table from her hand, but that's the way I loved her. I was never going to be like my mother had been with me, denying my imagination and chastising everything I did. No, this little girl was going to have a wonderful childhood, free of the shadow that came from being the younger sibling. Laura Emily was perfect just the way she was. I just hoped her father would think the same way, you see, there was a little technicality that meant he hadn't yet met her, nor did he even know about her, but that was about to change.

We were in town for a specific reason, to surprise dear Ricardo for his birthday; at his birthday party to be specific. It wasn't just Ricardo I had kept this little adorable little secret from, it was pretty much everyone; the only exception being my father, and little Laura's Uncle Lester. That's who we were waiting for now, Lester, not Dad. Strangely enough, though, he was running late. It was very unlike him, or any of the Rangeman men, to be late at all. They were always prompt.

"Where is he?" I asked Laura. She gazed past me and started giggling. I turned to find Lester just lowering his hand from his lips, he seemed to be mid sneak. Three guesses who he was sneaking up on. "There you are!" I exclaimed, jumping up to hug him. "I was worried you weren't going to show!"

"Yeah, so was I; I had a spot of trouble getting away from the office alone. Don't worry, I'm sure nobody followed me, plus I disabled the GPS unit." He paused for a moment, really looking at me for the first time. "Wow! You look great!"

I felt colour rise in my cheeks as I looked down at my fitted jeans and stretchy top. "I'm no different to last time you saw me."

He grinned. "Yeah, but that was months ago, I needed to remind you."

At that moment Laura came running full pelt toward him, screaming, "Uncle Lester!" I managed to stop her about a foot from his pants leg. And she struggled against the restraints. "Mummy! I want to hug Uncle Lester!"

Smiling down at her I told her, "You can, just as soon as you've cleaned yourself up. I don't want you getting chocolate all over his nice clean uniform. Go get the Wet Ones." She sulked off to the abandoned table in search of the Wet Ones and we followed behind, grinning widely. "I figured you'd be questioned why you had melted ice cream smeared on you. The rest of it you could handle, but ice cream's a little out of the ordinary to be smeared on clothes for a security worker."

Laughing, he responded with, "Well it wasn't so uncommon with you."

I gave him my best glare and helped Laura to wipe the chocolate from her hands and face. By the time I was finished, she was practically jumping in anticipation. Lester opened his arms and she ran into them without hesitation. Instead of simply hugging her, however, he ended up spinning her around in the air to the tune of her giggles. Eventually he stopped spinning and positioned her on his hip. "How are you, Squirt?"

Laura put on her serious face. "I'm good, Uncle Lester. How are you?"

"I'm in the mood for tickling!" And he did. Laura's laughter filled the air for several minutes and he continued his assault and I sat down to wait for an end.

In the end they both collapsed on the grass, giggling. Laura climbed on his chest, looking into his face and traced her fingers over his features. A frown furrowed her cute little brow and she stated, "This is a new scar. What happened?"

"A knife happened," Lester said, sobering instantly. "But we're not here to talk about my face, we're here to organise tonight!" He jumped to his feet in one swift motion and carried Laura over to where I sat. She sat between us on the bench seat following the conversation with great interest. For a three year old she didn't miss much, it was rather scary at times, actually. I'm sure she got it from her father, that and her big brown eyes.

After that we got into the car and followed Lester to his house, where he had insisted we stay. Not only was he insisting we stay there, he was refusing to even allow me to carry even one of our bags in. I had no other choice than to sit on the stairs and watch him pass several times carry them all in.

Exhausted from the morning's explorations, Laura was passed out leaning against my knee as I absently stroked her gorgeous curls, occasionally twirling one around my finger. My own hair was cut short and chemically straightened; I liked it and all, but sometimes I miss my mop, which is why I'm grateful the Laura inherited my hair. I was starting to get nervous about tonight now, what if he didn't want me anymore? What if he didn't want Laura? Would I just be added to his string of mistakes? Would Laura end up like Julie? Only seeing her father twice a year? Admittedly, after the Scrog incident it had increased to every three months, but that still was no relationship I wanted my daughter to experience. I either wanted her father in her life all the time, or not at all. I wasn't going to cause her any unnecessary hurt.

Lester had stopped at the bottom of the stairs, watching my face run through the emotions of my thoughts. He lifted my face so that we were eye to eye and smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry," he implored. "He loves you."

I frowned, uncertain of this. "How can you know that? He's Ranger, he doesn't let anyone in on his feelings."

"Steph, there's always an exception to the rule."

I stared at him, silently reviewing the common argument regarding that statement. I had heard it so many times from Ranger over the years that I knew it off by heart. If every rule has an exception, why not include the exception in the rule? Kind sloppy not to, don't you think? And if every rule has an exception, no matter how many times you change the rule to accommodate the exception, there would always be another exception. If so, then there must already exist an unlimited number of exceptions to every rule, which makes rules pointless and futile. However, if your original statement is correct, and there is an exception to every rule, then your rule, about there being an exception to every rule, would also have an exception. This means that some rules do not have exception, which negates your original argument.Needless to say the standard reply to that was a big fat sigh and a shake of the head, but that was beside the point. Lester was trying to tell me that Ranger loved me, so I should hear him out, rather than sit here thinking about a stupid argument.

"What's the exception to the Ranger rule?" I asked, picking up a still sleeping Laura.

"Come on, I'll show you to your room so you can put Laura down for a nap and then we'll talk."

Once I had tucked Laura in, he lead me to the kitchen where he turned on the coffee maker and sat me down on the counter. "Ranger may be a closed lip type of guy, but I've known him my entire life. When he broke his arm when he was ten, I was the one who backed up his cover story. He trusts me. Furthermore, he doesn't need to talk to me for me to know exactly what he's thinking. I've memorised every expressionless expression he's ever made and I know what each one means. He's been moping around ever since you left. Not outwardly, but I know him, ya know?" He paused for moment a thoughtful expression on his face. "I bet you'll be the highlight of the evening."

I gave him a smile and reached out to hug him. "Thank you so much for keeping this secret for so long," I whispered in his ear. "I don't know what I would have done without you."

"It's nothing Bombshell," he said, at the very moment a cry emitted from upstairs.

I sighed, "Waking up in a strange place without Flipsey." He gave me a curious look as I jumped down from the counter. "Her bunny," I explained. "It's probably a good thing she woke up now. She still needs a bath before tonight, and if she slept much longer she'd be up all night." Entering the room, I found my sweet little angel sitting up in the corner of the bed next to the wall. She leaped off the bed as I approached and I caught her, just. Thankfully, Lester was there and wouldn't have let her fall.

"Where's Flipsey?" she accused, glaring at me.

"Sorry, sweetie, we left her in the car." She cuddled into my shoulder and I knew she had forgiven me. It was that simple when they were kids. Say sorry, and give a simple explanation and they're happy. "Why don't we get you a nice bath so you can get clean? How does that sound?"

She lifted her head. "We bring duckie?"

I chuckled. "Of course we did. We can't have a bath without duckie can we?" She shook her head and I carried her downstairs to where our bags had been piled to locate duckie. "Which bag did we put him in?" I asked her, setting her down next to the luggage.

"Bathroom bag!" she exclaimed, climbing over the suitcase that had all our clothes in it, to get to the 'bathroom bag' behind it.

"Careful," Lester warned, a huge grin on his face. "Gee, she's just like you. Jumps in without hesitation."

I nodded, never taking my eyes off the perfect little girl. "We'll need the whole bag, Loza, can you lift it?" Her head popped up from behind one of the taller suitcases, she nodded and bobbed out of sight. "Well, you lift it then, do you need help?" She popped up and nodded again and Lester laughed.

"Uncle Lester!" she told me, by way of saying she wanted him to help her and I held up my hands to say that I wouldn't touch anything.

Lester took two long strides over to the pile of luggage and leaned over to see the little girl hiding in there. "What seems to be the problem?" he asked, as if she were a client.

"It's too heavy, Uncle Lester. And I'm too little. I can't lift it. I told mummy I would, but it's too heavy. Can you help me?"

He was sporting that huge grin again when he replied, "It would be my pleasure. Why don't you grab hold of the bag and I'll lift you?"

There was a rustling sound, and Laura's voice carried over to me, "Like this?"

Lester nodded. "That's perfect. Now, hold on tight." He reached in and picked her up. When she emerged she was hugging the bathroom bag to her body and Lester was hugging them both t his chest. They were both laughing and it made me laugh too.

"Look mummy! I did it!" she exclaimed as Lester dropped her to the ground. She galloped over to me, dragging the bag behind her, the biggest smile imaginable on her face.

"You did!" I congratulated her. "What else do we need for a bath?"

She thought for a moment. "Clean clothes!" she said triumphantly.

"Right! Can I trust you to stay clean if I put you in your party clothes?" She nodded emphatically. "Okay, that makes things a little easier, then I don't have to dress you twice." I looked past her to Lester. "The blue suit bag, could you take that up to the bedroom for us? And that red case at your feet." He gave me an affirmative nod and I lead Laura back upstairs to the bathroom.

I was half way through washing her hair when there was a knock on the bathroom door. "Just a second!" I called, "Laura has soap in her eyes." Of course it was non-eye-stinging shampoo, but it was the principal of the matter.

"I just wanted to let you know that you've been in there for an hour. It's five o'clock, so if you wanna wrap Laura in a towel when she gets out and I'll dry and dress her, then you can go for your shower."

I leaned over and opened the door a smidge. "Have you ever dressed a child before?" I asked him.

He smiled. "No, but I gotta start some time. Besides, I'm sure little Loza would be able to tell me if I'm doing something wrong."

I didn't doubt that. Returning my attention to Laura, I asked her if she was okay with Uncle Lester helping her get dressed. She nodded. Several moments later I had her soap free and wrapped in a towel. I opened the door all the way and shoved her out. "Pull ups are in the green back pack by the stairs," I told him, "The picture goes to the front. The buttons on her dress go to the back and if you could brush her hair that'd be wonderful, the fro comb is in the red case I got you to bring up."

He nodded at each instruction, so I guess he got it all. I mean, he's used to a rapid string of commands right? That's all he ever dealt with. With that reassuring thought I closed the door again and took a shower with my favourite Bubble Gum scented body wash and shampoo and conditioner. When I came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, I heard familiar giggles coming from the bedroom. I entered to find Laura sitting on a stool in front of Lester, who was sitting on the edge of the bed. He had half he hair secured in a cute little piggy tale on the side of her head and was struggling to position the other so that she was symmetrical. I laughed at the sight before me and they both looked up.

"Going like that, are you, Steph?" Lester commented, a familiar twinkle in his eye.

I gave him an 'oh ha' expression and grabbed my lace panties from the suit bag hanging on the closet door. I slipped them on without revealing anything, how talented am I? And went for the bra, it was one of those suction ones that had absolutely no straps what so ever. Shooting a glance at Lester, I turned away and stuffed the bra into the towel, positioning it just so. Wow, I am super talented, huh? When it came to the dress though, I wasn't sure how I'd get that on with Lester in the room. I guess he saw my thought, cause he said, "Well, I'm done. I'll leave you to finish getting ready." He stood and took one last glance at Laura's hair, turning his head to the side and tweaking the left tail before he left.

"He tried to put the dress on upside down," Laura told me, as I removed the towel and slipped on the low backed, midnight-blue, halter dress and secured it around my neck. "He held it upside down and told me to step in!"

"He's a silly boy, isn't he?" I commented, keeping up the conversation, because I knew she would be discouraged if I didn't. "Did you set him right?"

"Yep," she conceded, standing up and coming over to the mirror where I stood putting in my earrings. "Are you gonna paint your face for tonight?" she asked. This meant was I going to where make up.

"Yes. And you," I spun around to face her, "Are going to where this." I held out a fine chain with an angel pendant. Her face lit up like the Eiffel Tower at Christmas time as I secured it around her neck. I then proceeded to secure and identical one around my own neck. She sat beside me as I applied my makeup, all the time admiring her necklace in the mirror.

"We have to go!" Lester called up the stairs, and I was reminded of all those times I'd been with Morelli. "We're gonna be late as it is!"

I smiled. "Isn't that what you wanted?" I called back.

"Yes, but I was aiming for five minutes, not half an hour."

"Relax," I told him, coming out of the bedroom, holding Laura's hand. "We're ready."

Relief washed over his face as he grabbed his keys and head to the door. I grabbed my handbag, making sure I had a book for Laura to read while we were hiding behind the stage. The plan was, he'd sneak us in through the stage door of the hall they had hired for the occasion. Laura and I would wait for the cue, which would be obvious. And then we would make our entrance and surprise the birthday boy. He would be opening his presents on the stage so that everyone could see, and I just hoped that he would be made to wear a funny hat like they did to me when they threw me a birthday party.

So do you like it so far? Review and let me know. There's more too come if you're good reviewers.