Only You, Babe
"Ranger, you're back!" Tank greeted his friend standing in the doorway of his office.
"Yeah," he nodded, "in one piece," a very weary and thinner man said.
He had been in the wind for almost four months tracking a terrorist through a very hot and bug infested jungle, but he got him, finally, and delivered him into the hands of the American and British governments for the continuation of some very intense interrogations that he and his team began. His hair was longer, his body wanted a hot shower in his own bathroom, and his eyes wanted to see one very special blue eyed woman.
Ranger asked very generally, but his best friend knew actually who he was referring to in his question, "So, what's been going on?"
"The office has been busy. I sent Lester to Miami to assist with a problem on a contract down there since I didn't want to leave Trenton. Morelli accepted a position in Chicago since he and Stephanie called it quits. He attempted a couple of times after you first left to get back together, but Bombshell didn't bite. The idiot expected Stephanie to believe the blonde triplets he was caught with were taking advantage of him and he couldn't call for help," Tank still laughed about that.
"Good." Before his assignment Ranger began dating Stephanie. He would invite her out to dinner, go to the movies, and doing couples stuff. Sometimes she spent the night on seven; sometimes he stayed at her apartment. There were even a couple of dinners with her crazy family. He went with the understanding her Grandma Mazur sat across the table. It didnt help, because she had a reach extender under the table one time grabbing at his pants. Stephanie placed a cucumber in the pinchers so they stopped pinching him. Nothing surprised him anymore about those dinners, but he did miss the insanity at times while he was gone. "Where's Stephanie?"
"She's in Point Pleasant. Rex died a week ago and she was still quite upset so she took a few days off from doing searches. It was too difficult staying in her apartment not hearing that wheel turning at night. The silence was too much and she was having trouble sleeping. I offered your seventh floor apartment and Ella's cooking, but she didn't really want to be alone upstairs. Stephanie's at 'The Point Guest House' where the two of you stayed for a weekend before you left. To help her accept Rex's passing, Bobby, Lester, and I attended Rex's funeral in the backyard of the Plums. Her father made a cement grave marker with his name on it. The hamster was buried in his soup can. Here's the funeral bulletin." Tank opened a desk drawer handing Ranger a folder piece of paper.
The front had a picture of Rex looking out of his beloved soup can with his twitching whiskers with the date Stephanie adopted him from the pet store and the day one week ago that he died. Opening it, Ranger read the service began with 'Con Te Partiro' (Time to Say Goodbye) by Andrea Bocelli. The Lord's Prayer, Grandma Mazur read 'Funeral Blues' from 'Four Weddings and a Funeral', and the short service ended with Barbara Streisand singing 'The Way We Were' .
"Mr. Plum buried Rex to bag pipes playing on the CD player. Bobby and Lester lit twenty-one firecrackers. It was crazy," Tank enlightened Ranger wiping his eyes from laughing. "Mrs. Plum had pineapple upside down cake and punch for after it. The hamster had the nicest service I've been to."
"Poor Babe," the Man of Mystery couldn't help but chuckle. "Stephanie cried at the funeral of that nasty woman who was blown up like she lost her best friend. Hold down the office for a few more days," Ranger told him as he turned around in the direction of the elevator for a hot shower before heading to Point Pleasant.
The Porsche parked into an empty spot at the 'The Point Guest House' next to the black Rangeman Explorer Stephanie drove working for Rangeman. It was once a run down motel remodeled with large guest rooms across the street from the beach. Ranger and Stephanie had spent a day at the beach and were able to get a room after someone cancelled. He preferred it because it was down the beach from the boardwalk with a private beach across the street.
He didn't have to look far; Ranger spotted Stephanie sitting on a beach towel on the sand watching the water. There were a few adults and children in the water, but she was off by herself.
Stephanie was wiping a tear off her cheek when something wet touched her cheek. "Hello, where did you come from?" she asked a small brown and white collie looking puppy. It just began licking her face and the tingle in her spine caused her to turn and looked up the beach from her. There was Ranger walking to her.
"Babe," he whispered kneeling down next to her on the striped beach towel, "I'm sorry about Rex."
"Ranger." Stephanie wanted to hug him but the puppy was all over her. She began searching all around the beach for its owner, but no one seemed to be missing a dog. "I don't know where he came from," she said holding the fluffy puppy.
"It's a Shetland Sheepdog or a Sheltie," Ranger told her petting the puppy. "His name is Koda. I know he can't replace Rex, but maybe he can help you get over him."
"You got me a puppy?"
"Babe," Ranger brushed a tear from her cheek and Koda was licking her other. "I have a friend whose wife assists with a rescue of Shelties. You loved Rex and gave him such love and a good home. I know you miss the attack hamster, so I called Tyler and they've been trying to find him a home where Koda will be loved. Someone abandoned him at a bus station and the rescue took him temporarily."
Stephanie was running her finger through the puppy's sable and white coat. "I may not be allowed to have him in my apartment building."
He was smirking at her cupping her face in his hands, "I bet I know an apartment building with a Bad Ass owner that would allow you to live there with Koda."
"Really?" She asked slyly kissing Rangers lips, "You're so sweet."
"What have you been doing in Point Pleasant?"
"What a sad Burg girl would do. When women are depressed, they eat or go shopping. Men invade another country and rescue puppies. It's a whole different way of thinking about the circle of life."
The sexy Cuban eyebrow was up, "Babe, you never disappoint," he chuckled at her way of seeing things.
"Well, Koda, what do you think about living on Haywood?" Stephanie asked her gift. His brown ears perked up and gave a small 'WOOF'. "I think that means we accept."
"Good," Ranger hooked a leash to Koda's collar handing it to Stephanie. He stood up holding out his hand to help her up. She was wrapped in his arms and given a proper 'I'm back' kiss.
Stephanie shook out her towel and folded it under her arm before they walked down the beach.
"Babe, did you really have Andrea Bocelli music for Rex's funeral?"
Stephanie said with all seriousness, "Well, it was my second choice because Bruce Springsteen was out on tour."
He shook his head, "Only you, Babe."
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Funeral Blues-
Made popular by the movie, Four Weddings and a Funeral
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.
Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He is Dead.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.
He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.
The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.