Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers and I am only borrowing them.
This song was suggested by Babe Love – MM Love. It took a while, but the song finally spoke to me and hear is what came of it. The song is Somebody's Chelsea by Reba McEntire. This is from Stephanie's POV and the story is complete with this chapter.
Somebody's
I managed to make it to the airport and through customs, security screenings, and everything else the airport could throw at me to make me miss my flight only to reach the boarding gate with seconds to spare. I handed the stewardess my ticket and she smiled telling me I made it just in time before allowing me to pass into the plane. I made my way quickly to my seat. A voice came on the loud speaker telling us to buckle our seat belts and so I quickly complied and readied myself for the take off by gripping the seat arms with a death grip. I held my breath as we raced down the runway to take off. I figured the pilot needed all the help he could get and I didn't want to distract him by making too much noise breathing.
Once we were in the air I relaxed marginally and loosened my grip on the arm rests. I looked out the window and was amazed that we were already so far above the Earth. I shook my head and then I smiled as I remembered the trip out to L.A. yesterday. I had been seated beside an older man who had to be close to 80. I smiled as I remembered the conversation we had had during the flight.
Met an old man yesterday
Next to me on a westbound plane
He said "I was married sixty years
I swear it feels like she's still here."
Then he took out a picture
As I listened to him and watched his actions, I got a lump in my throat and my eyes burned with unshed tears and the beauty of emotion he held for his deceased wife. I felt an answering desire in my own heart to have what this gentleman had given to one lucky woman.
Staring at that black and white
The tears filled up in his eyes
I said "You were a lucky man."
He said "I feel like I still am."
I smiled at the picture he showed me and asked, "What was her name?
When he told me her name
I heard myself say...
He told me her name and I saw his eyes light up with just the memory of her. I smiled and told him my name was Stephanie Plum and I was honored to meet him. I added that I hoped one day I would have someone to love me the way he still loved his Chelsea.
I wanna be Somebody's Chelsea
Somebody's world
Somebody's day and night
One and only girl
A part of a love story
That never has an end
You know that's what every woman wants to be
Somebody's Chelsea
As the plane flew us to L.A., I listened to his stories of the "love of his life".
He made me laugh when he talked about
Their first date and her father's doubts
He said "Even as her hair turned gray,
She still took my breath away."
And that it never changed with time
That's when I closed my eyes
I listened to those stories and fought back the tears as I thought about my own life back in Trenton. For maybe the first time in my life, I was getting a glimpse of what I wanted for myself. I closed my eyes and battled the lump in my throat as I thought to myself, 'I want that. Why can't I have someone who loves me like that?'
I wanna be Somebody's Chelsea
Somebody's world
Somebody's day and night
One and only girl
A part of a love story
That never has an end
You know that's what every woman wants to be
Somebody's Chelsea
When the plane landed at LAX in Los Angeles we departed the plane.
And when we finally said goodbye
I hugged him and said "I'll never forget
How you showed me what it means..."
I hailed a cab and gave the address for the hotel where Ranger had made arrangements for me to stay overnight and when the taxi pulled up to the luxury hotel, I rolled my eyes and smiled. Leave it to Ranger to pick the ritziest hotel. I checked in and took my things to my room before heading to the local police station. Three months ago I had gone with Ranger, Cal, Ram and Manny to L.A. to pick up a couple of skips. One of them was a woman so they asked me along to help out. While we were there I witnessed a crime and was able to describe the suspect with enough detail that the police had located a suspect. If I gave a positive I.D. then the case would go to trial.
Ranger was slotted to come with me but a high dollar skip had come along and he was needed for the take down. I had assured him I would be okay on my own and even though he didn't like it he had allowed me to come on my own…well, along with several high tech tracking devices and a phone with an inbuilt tracker.
It didn't take me long to I.D. the suspect and grab a cab back to the hotel. I knew if I came to L.A. and didn't sample the sights, that I would never hear the end of it from Lula and Connie as well as the rest of my friends. Once I returned to my room I changed into the other outfit I had brought; black slacks, white blouse, 5" black FMPs, and I pulled my hair back with combs before adding makeup. I grabbed my bag and headed out into the city. I had a marvelous time even if I was on my own. I found treasures for everyone back home and had a lovely dinner before sampling a couple of nightclubs. When the taxi finally dropped me off at the hotel I was ready to call it a night.
Once in my hotel room I lost no time in getting ready for bed and falling asleep. I managed to only oversleep by thirty minutes…okay; it would have been longer if Ranger hadn't of called. I rushed through my morning routine and made sure I packed everything to catch my flight back home. There were two planes flying into Newark. I bit my lip and took the one on the left. I had been required to check all my luggage before boarding so I had nothing with me. Even my purse was in the luggage hold.
I leaned back and tried to relax. For some reason my stomach felt like there was a lead weight in it. I tried to distract myself once again by remembering the old man from yesterday. It worked for a while. I closed my eyes as tears burned at the backs of my eyes as I thought…
To be Somebody's Chelsea
Somebody's world
Somebody's day and night
One and only girl
A part of a love story
That never has an end
You know that's what every woman wants to be
And I wanna be
Somebody's Chelsea
Somebody's Chelsea
Somebody's Chelsea
Somebody's Chelsea
About 20 minutes before we would land at Newark Liberty International Airport, the pilot came over the loudspeaker to let us know the other plane that was scheduled to land before us at the airport had just crashed and there were no survivors. I felt cold chills race down my spine and the feeling in my stomach got worse. I was anxious to land and make contact with my family.
I reached back to rub the back of my neck. I had the weirdest sensation…as if I was needed desperately somewhere. A few minutes later we were being asked to fasten our seat belts and prepare for landing. Once we had landed I stood and made my way inside the terminal. There was a commotion and I looked to see what was going on. There was a wall of black and I had the feeling I desperately needed to get over there. I hurried as fast as I could and had nearly made it when a couple of airport security guards stepped in my way.
"Ma'am, we can't let you go over there. It's not safe."
"Why isn't it safe? What happened?"
"Someone got some bad news. His men are working on containing the situation."
The tingling on the back of my neck got worse and I was drawn to the area that was being blocked off. I shook my head, "I think I need to get over there."
"Sorry ma'am. We can't let you…"
I caught a glimpse of Ranger and stepped forward. One of the guards caught my arm and I was no longer thinking. I just knew I needed to get over there where Ranger was and lifted my knee and it connected and I started to run towards where I had seen Ranger. I managed to get a couple of feet before the other guard caught hold of me and I cried out in surprise. Suddenly the next thing I knew the guard went flying through the air and Ranger was on his knees with his arms wrapped around my waist, his head was pressed into my waist and there were sobs wracking his body.
I placed my hands on his shoulders and he looked up at me to ask, "Are you real?"
I gave him a puzzled look, "Why wouldn't I be real? What's going on?"
"I thought I had lost you Babe. They told us your plane had crashed and Hector confirmed that all your trackers had gone off the grid."
I wrapped my arms around him and said, "I didn't know which plane I was supposed to get on so I just picked one. I had to check everything, including my purse. It must have gone to the other plane."
Ranger's shoulders started to shake. At first I thought he was crying again but he threw back his head and laughed loud and hard before looking up into my eyes and saying, "You never disappoint Babe."
He hugged me to him tight and I heard him whisper, "Thank you God."
Ranger stood and looked down at me. I was wrapped in his arms and although he was holding me snugly I wasn't going to complain. I had an intuition that he needed the contact as much as I did. I looked up in his eyes and remembered the old man I had met yesterday on the plane. The tears slipped down my cheeks as I smiled shakily. Why hadn't I realized this long ago?
I was somebody's. I was Ranger's Babe. I knew then he loved me every bit as much as I loved him.
And they lived happily ever after.
THE END