The Perfect Name
By Misha

Disclaimer- I don't own Stephanie Plum or any of the other characters (though I wish I owned Ranger). They belong to the incredibly talented Janet Evanovich and I'm just borrowing them. I'm not making any money off this, so please don't sue me.

Author's Notes- This is just a short fluffy Babe fic that came to me while at work. Ranger might be a little OOC here, but I couldn't resist. I hope you enjoy it!

Pairing- Ranger/Stephanie.

Summery- After a proposal from Morelli, Stephanie contemplates the perfect name. Babe fic.

Spoilers- Up to "Twelve Sharp" to be safe.

Rating- PG-13.

Stephanie Morelli.

Hmmm, it didn't quite fit.

Stephanie Plum-Morelli. Ugh, that sounded worse.

I could stay Stephanie Plum, but I didn't see Morelli going for it. He was a little too old-fashioned for that.

The reason I was contemplating my last name was that Morelli had proposed, complete with ring and everything. I said I'd think about it and now I was trying to decide if I wanted to marry Morelli.

I probably should, after all I loved him and he made me happy. Yeah, maybe I didn't love him with my whole heart since a big chunk of that was reserved for someone else, but that was never going to end in marriage, so Morelli was the better choice. But, for some reason I was stuck on the name thing.

"Stephanie Morelli." I said out loud, testing it on my tongue. "Hmmm... It just doesn't sound right."

"I agree." A voice said from behind me. I turned, not at all surprised to see Ranger in my apartment.

"Contemplating a name change?" He asked me.

"Morelli asked me to marry him." I confided. "I'm trying to decide how to answer, but I can't get over the name thing."

"You could keep your name." Ranger suggested.

I glared, because it almost sounded like he was trying to talk me into marrying Morelli and I didn't want Ranger to talk me into marrying Morelli, I wanted him to try and stop me. Or at least act jealous at the possibility.

"Morelli wouldn't go for that." I pointed out. "And hyphenating sounds worse, so I'd have to be Stephanie Morelli. To be fair, it sounds better than Stephanie Orr."

The first thing I did after my fifteen-minute marriage was over was change my name back to Plum and tried my best to forget it had ever been anything else.

"That's true." Ranger agreed. "But it still doesn't fit. I do have another suggestion, though."

"Oh?" I asked, honestly curious as to what he'd suggest.

"How about Stephanie Manoso?" He suggested, his face still expressionless.

I froze, he couldn't mean what I thought he meant, could he?

"I love you, Babe." He told me, looking me right in the eye. "Not just in my own way, but completely. I heard that Morelli proposed, Lula told Tank, and... I knew I couldn't just stand by, I couldn't let you go."

He cupped my face in his hands. "My life doesn't really lend itself to relationships, but for you I'd try my best." He told me. "I can't guarantee it'd be happily ever after, but I'd do my best to keep you safe and to make you happy."

I just stood there in shock. Ranger was proposing. In less than two days, both men in my life had proposed. Wow, this sort of thing doesn't happen to normal people. Then again, I never claimed to be normal.

Ranger let go of my face to take a velvet box out of his pocket and hand it to me. "This is for you, Babe."

I opened the box, to see a flawless diamond engagement ring. This had to be a dream.

"Stephanie Manoso." I mused out loud. I liked the sound of it, it just seemed to fit... I looked at Ranger and realized why I'd told Morelli I needed time, because I wasn't sure, because a part of me had been holding out for impossible and now I'd actually gotten it.

"What do you think?" Ranger asked. "Do you like how it sounds?"

I gave him a big grin and slipped his ring on my finger. "Its perfect." I told him, not just talking about the name, but about everything. I hated the fact that I was going to hurt Morelli, but better now than after we actually got married, right?

"Babe." Ranger said, sounding happier than I'd ever heard him and then he gathered me in his arms and kissed me deeply. I kissed him back, thinking how lucky I was.

Stephanie Manoso...

It really was the perfect name.

- End