The Forever House

By Misha

Disclaimer- They are not mine. I'm just borrowing them for a while.

A.N- This one popped into my head a long time ago and I finally got around to finishing it. It's a look at Ranger's inner thoughts and how he gets to his 'someday'. I stopped reading after seventeen, but this one takes place sometime after "Twelve Sharp". I'm a Babe fan forever and this is just a sweet Babe Place.

Pairing- Babe.

Summery- The house became a symbol of the life he wanted, of the 'someday' he hoped to have.

Spoilers- Up to "Twelve Sharp".

Rating- PG-13

May 2007

"What do you think Mr. Manoso?" The real estate agent asked after she finished showing Ranger around the house.

He looked around the living and nodded appraising. "I'll take it." He declared. "Tell the owners I'll pay the asking price. In cash."

The real estate agent stared at him, her jaw hanging open. "Mr. Manoso, I know I'm the seller's agent, but I feel like I should advise you…"

"I want this house and I'm willing to pay full price for it." Ranger told her simply. "Make it happen." He could afford the price and he didn't want to haggle or risk losing this house.

The real estate agent nodded and took out her cell phone. "I'll get on it right now."

She walked into the kitchen, leaving Ranger alone in the living room. He took another look around. It was a beautiful room. In fact, it was a beautiful house. It was large, the kind of house meant for a family, and located outside of Trenton with a huge backyard. It was a place where you could raise a family and have a good life.

It wasn't a house for someone like Ranger, whose life didn't allow for relationships and yet… He wanted it badly. He wanted this house, needed to know that this place existed and that, someday, he'd live here. Someday they'd live here.

Though he wouldn't admit it out loud, Ranger knew that he was buying the house for Stephanie. It was a symbol of the life he wanted to have with her. It had been a month since he'd sent her back to the cop and every night since he'd been haunted by the memories of what it had been like to be in her bed. He could still feel, smell and taste her… Just the thought of her made him ache.

Sending her back to the cop had been the hardest thing he'd ever done, but it had been the right thing to do, for a variety of reasons.

He didn't have anything to offer Stephanie right now. He lived in his office building and still had a vacant lot listed as his official address. He routinely took on dangerous assignments and could die any day. He lived and died by his reputation and he couldn't afford weaknesses. He'd killed Abruzzi to protect Stephanie, but also because it was what his reputation demanded. He needed his enemies to know that she was off limits and that if you messed with her, he'd take you out.

It was a rough life though and Stephanie deserved more than that. She might not think she wanted it, but she deserved a husband, a family, a home like this. That meant he wasn't the man she needed. Not now, maybe not ever.

Besides, that wasn't the only reason he'd sent her back to Morelli. If he and Stephanie were ever going to be anything, she needed to get the cop out of her system and realize for herself that she could be more than Morelli wanted her to be.

Ranger might not be the man that Stephanie needed, but neither was Morelli. The cop was a good man and he loved her, but he also wanted to change to her and make her into something that she wasn't, instead of loving her for the extraordinary woman that she was. Ranger hoped that eventually Stephanie would realize that for herself and that was one of the reasons he'd sent her back to Morelli.

He didn't want Stephanie when she was still confused over what she wanted. If they ever ended up together, he wanted it to be because she knew that he was the man she needed. Of course, he wasn't sure he'd ever be able to be that man.

Just then the real estate agent re-entered the room. "The place is yours." She told him, looking a little stunned. "This is the quickest transaction I've ever done."

"I don't like making things more complicated than they have to be." He told her.

"There are still a few details that needed to be sorted out," she told him, "Closing dates and such, but my clients accept your offer."

"I'm flexible about the closing date," Ranger told her, "I'm in no rush to move in."

He looked around again, taking it all in. It was a beautiful house, but there was still a lot of work to be done to make it his dream house. However, that was okay, because as he said, he wasn't in a rush. As much as he wanted it, someday was still a long way off.

October 2008

The day that Stephanie moved back into her own apartment after the Slayers fiasco, Ranger drove out to his house to meet the decorator he'd found. She'd done some work for a few of his clients and he was confident she'd be able to deliver what he wanted.

He'd own the house for over a year, but hadn't done much with it besides upgrading the security system. He'd been busy building up his business and watching out for Stephanie.

Plus, sometimes during the last few months when she'd seemed so settled with the cop, he'd wondered if there was any point in even having the house. Then she'd turned up in his bed. Nothing had happened, but she'd still run there. He'd been her safe place and that meant more than he could ever put into words.

It had also renewed his interest in the house and convinced him that he wanted to have the house ready for her, for 'someday'. When she'd asked him about the "Batcave", his mind had flashed to this place that only he and Tank knew about.

Of course, this place was really more like Wayne Manor and Haywood was the Batcave. Haywood was where the man in the mask lived, where Ranger survived on a daily basis, but it wasn't home. He didn't have a home… Not yet. Ranger looked around the empty house and thought that someday this place could become his home.

"Mr. Manoso?" Ranger turned to see an attractive woman in her early 40s standing there and he gave her a rare smile. "I'm Laura Jackson."

"Thank you for coming on such short notice." He told her, shaking her hand.

She simply smiled. "It was no problem." Of course it wasn't, not when he'd offered her 10% more than her usual fee if she was willing to drop everything to do this job. "What do you have in mind here?"

"I want this to be a house fit for a family." Ranger told her, leading her through the house. "I bought this house as a gift for my future wife."

It wasn't a lie. He'd bought this house for Stephanie, in the hope that someday she would live there with him, as his wife. If that someday didn't come, Ranger knew that he'd never live there.

Laura smiled. "What does your fiancé like?"

"She likes blues and greys and she likes thing to be cozy. So the furniture should be comfortable, not just look nice. She's not much of a cook, but she'll want a fully stocked kitchen, just like her mother's, besides we'll also have a housekeeper. Oh and she has a hamster and she'll want a place for him."

Laura nodded. "What else?"

"The guest house out back can be left alone," Ranger instructed, "my housekeeper and her husband will live there and they'll want to do it themselves."

He knew that Ella and Luis would be happy to move with him, should the time come. Ella had been ecstatic over Stephanie's presence in his apartment and what it might mean and she wanted nothing more than for him to settle down and have a family.

"As for the house," he continued, "we'll each need an office, I'll give you the exact specifications for mine, which will be the downstairs one, but you have free reign with hers. I want her office to be the smallest upstairs bedroom."

It was a large house and downstairs there was a large kitchen and separate dining room, a large living room, a bathroom and the room that Ranger wanted as an office. Upstairs there were five bedrooms, one of which was a master suite complete with an ensuite bathroom, and another bathroom.

"Any other specifications for the downstairs?" Laura asked him.

"No." Ranger told her. "Just that we want an eating area in the kitchen, as well as the dining room."

She nodded. "What about the upstairs?"

"Right now all we need done is the master suite, the small room as an office, and one of the other rooms as a guest room." Ranger instructed. "The other two rooms can stay empty."

It was hard enough picturing himself actually living in this house with Stephanie, he couldn't bring himself to imagine a family. She nodded. "Any preferences?"

"Just for the master suite." Ranger told her. "We need a king sized bed, with colour in the room and the best quality sheets you can find."

A small smile passed Ranger's face as he remembered how much Stephanie had loved his sheets. "The guest room can be bare bones for now, I just want it to be functional."

Laura nodded once more. "And the basement?"

"Leave the basement," Ranger instructed. He had plans for the basement and intended to install a home gym down there. If he ever lived here, he wanted it to be fully functional. It wouldn't be able to replace Haywood, obviously, but he needed a place where he could be comfortable and which would suit all of his needs.

"Sounds good," Laura told him, "I'll start work on it right away."

Ranger just nodded and then walked away from her, taking in the details of the empty master suite. He closed his eyes, picturing Stephanie there with him. He wasn't really much of a dreamer, but… He could see it so clearly. Wanted it so badly.

Having her in his apartment, in his bed… It had been a mix of Heaven and Hell. Heaven, because she'd been right where she'd belonged, Hell because he hadn't been able to claim her as his. The timing hadn't been right. The cop was still in her system and his life still didn't lend itself to permanent relationships.

Ranger opened his eyes and looked around the empty bedroom once more. Someday still hadn't come, but today at least, he had hope that one day it would.

October 2009

"Mr. Manoso, what is that you want done with the house?" Laura Jackson asked him as Ranger met with her for the second time.

It had been almost a year since their first meeting and she had done an amazing job with the house. The house now looked like a home, but he had two things he needed to change. He was ready to decorate the two rooms that he'd originally left empty.

"I need you to finish the two empty rooms." He told her.

Laura smiled. "Of course, what do you have in mind?"

"The larger of the two rooms needed to be decorated for a teenage girl." Ranger told her, thinking of Julie. It had been a few months since Scrogg and she was doing that. More than that, she wanted him in her life on a more regular basis and he found that he wanted that too. So he was going to make room for her in this house, because he hoped that when the day came, she'd be a frequent visitor.

Laura looked surprised, but nodded. "I can do that. The other room?"

"A nursery," Ranger told her, "gender neutral."

Watching Stephanie with Julie, seeing the lengths she had gone through to protect his child… It had made him want things he hadn't realized he was capable of wanting. He didn't want to marry Stephanie, he wanted a life with her. He wanted to have children with her, to be a real father right from the beginning.

He still didn't know if it would ever happen, though the Scrogg incident had brought them closer. He knew that she could handle his life and that she could be an equal partner and it had brought them closer emotionally. There were still complications, like Morelli, but Ranger was starting to really believe that someday might actually come.

If it did, if the day ever came where he could bring Stephanie here and show her this house, he wanted it to be completely read for her. He wanted the house to represent the life he wanted to give her.

Laura beamed at him. "Congratulations, that's wonderful news. You and your wife must be very happy, does that mean you'll be moving in soon?"

It was obvious that the house wasn't lived in. It was just a very beautiful showpiece, waiting to become a home, when the time was right.

"Not in the near future, no." Ranger told her.

She looked confused, but let it go and instead started asking him questions about his preferences.

Ranger answer the question, but his mind was on Stephanie and what she would think of this house… The house he had so carefully prepared for her and for the life he wanted to someday have with her. He just hoped that the day would come where he could bring her here and tell her how he felt…

May 2011

"Ranger, where are?" Stephanie asked as Ranger parked his car in front of his house.

It had been six months since Stephanie had ended things with Morelli and started to change her life. She'd started working for Rangeman full-time and she'd gotten serious about her training.

"You'll see in a moment, Babe." Ranger promised, as he unlocked the door and led her inside.

"Whose house is this?" Stephanie asked, looking around the foyer.

Ranger stayed silent and simply took her hand, leading her into the living room. Stephanie looked around, her eyes widening as she spotted the pictures of them together, of her family, and of Julie… The little touches he'd added after their relationship had become official and he knew that his dream of a life in this house would become a reality.

"Ranger?" Stephanie asked, her voice trembling.

"This is my house, Babe," he told her, "but I want it to be our house."

She just stared at him, not saying a word. Ranger didn't blame her for being stunned. Their relationship had changed in the past six months, in fact she was living at Haywood now, but he'd still made it clear that his life didn't come with any promises. Except that had finally changed, he could finally offer her a life.

"I'm done, Babe." He told her, looking into her beautiful blue eyes. "I completed my last mission. I'm free. My someday has come."

Stephanie looked stunned. "Do you mean it?" She asked him.

"I do." He told her, taking her hands in his. "I bought this house four years ago and when I bought it, I knew I was buying it for you, for us."

"When exactly did you buy it?" Stephanie asked softly.

"A month after we slept together for the first time." Ranger told her.

"Four years ago…" Stephanie murmured, looking around. "You've had this house just waiting for four years?"

"Well, it went in stages." Ranger told her. "I decorated it after the Slayers incident, added more after Scrogg and only added the last details in the last few weeks. Every time I started to feel more confident that we could have a future, I did a lot more to the house."

"Why?" Stephanie asked him.

"Because it was my dream," Ranger said simply. "I would come here and wander around and it made it seem a little more attainable. The idea that you and I would have our someday."

There were tears in Stephanie's eyes at his words.

"What do you say, Babe?" He asked her. "Will you live here with me? Will you be wife?"

"Yes!" She answered, throwing her arms around his neck. "Show me the rest of our house." She said after a moment.

Ranger nodded and took her hand and gave her the grand tour.

Stephanie drank in all the details, smiling as she saw the room for Julie and blushing when she saw the nursery.

"This house is perfect," she told him when the tour was done. "I love it. It's exactly the house I've always dreamed of."

"There's a guest house in the back for Luis and Ella." Ranger told her.

Stephanie grinned. "That's even better, that way Ella can take advantage of that beautiful kitchen." She wrapped her arms around Ranger's neck. "Thank you," she told him, "for this house, for having faith in our 'someday'."

"That faith kept me going through some hard times," Ranger admitted.

Stephanie smiled. "Those days are over, our someday is here."

"Yes, it is." Ranger agreed, bringing her close for a kiss.

As he held her in his arms, in the middle of their house, he marvelled over the fact that this house was no longer just a dream, it was the house where he and Stephanie were going to live their life together. His someday had finally come.

The End