Title: Haunted by a Moment
Disclaimer: If you recognize them their borrowed, if not their mine!I'm not making anything except, happy people, I hope. And I promise to return them unharmed.
I want to thank my wonderful beta Jo, babe you were great and very supportive. Thank you.
Chapter One
Tank, Bobby, and Lester looked first at Ranger, then each other. They did their ESP thingy; whatever had happened between Ranger and Bomber this afternoon must have been really bad to put him in this foul of a mood.
Ranger held up his hand and signaled to the waitress to bring another round of drinks.
They had all known something was up when Ranger suggested the night out. Right out of the Army, nights out at bars had been normal; pick up a willing woman and spend the night fucking her brains out. Hell, many times, they found a group of woman and shared, but things hadn't been like that since Ranger met Stephanie Plum. Something had happened to the man the day he had met her—something good.
These days, Ranger had rules he followed. He exercised to stay in the best top physical shape he could. This also enhanced his odds of returning from missions breathing. He ate well balanced nutritious meals for the same reason. And he didn't sleep around. If he had an urge, he went for a run or out of town. He kept it quiet, but they all knew Ranger had willing women—women who knew the score and didn't care.
Ranger had legendary control, and the guys knew that it had been over a year since Ranger had made a visit to any of those women. Personally, they thought he was crazy, but none of them were crazy enough to confront Ranger. After all, it was his life.
They all knew it had to do with Ranger's feelings for Stephanie Plum. It was common street knowledge that Stephanie was Ranger's woman, and if you messed with Stephanie, that was the same as messing with Ranger. And you had to be crazy to mess with Ranger.
"Man, are you sure you want another one?"
Tank hadn't seen Ranger drink like this since they were in the Rangers together and a mission went completely FUBAR. They had not only lost some good men, but the intel had been bad, and innocents had died, including some women and children. It had been the baby that had torn Ranger up; little thing was about the same age as Julie, and had looked way to much like the picture Rachel had just sent Ranger.
Ranger had sat in the bar for hours looking at Julie's picture, drinking and crying. He had cried for the dead baby, he had cried for his own child he didn't think he would live to see. Ranger only signed up for the most dangerous, risky missions. The missions no one else wanted.
At the time, Tank had thought it was because Ranger had a death wish, but in the bar that night, he had learned the truth. Ranger had been the black sheep of his family. His father had disowned him and sent him to live with his grandmother in Miami when he got involved with a gang in his teens and was involved in the near death of one of his sisters.
His father hadn't been glad to see him back in Trenton after he graduated from high school. Ranger had begged his father to give him another chance.
Ranger had moved back into the family home and started college. It wasn't long before his former gang started contacting him. Ranger had done his best to avoid them, but he realized that as long as he was in Trenton, his family was in danger. When he came home from college one day, he found one of his former buddies from the gang giving his little sister some drugs to try.
The next day, he joined up.
"Yeah, Ranger, it's getting late. Why don't we head home?" Bobby asked. Whatever had happened, Bobby knew Ranger would regret all the heavy drinking come morning.
His speech slurred as he spoke. "Think I want to dance."
Ranger lifted his drink and seemed to be staring at it. Then he looked out at the dance floor. His eyes fixated on a pretty brunette. He stood and walked toward the brunette.
They all watched as Ranger walked up to the woman and smiled.
They were not really sure what they were seeing, but they all knew this would not end well, not with Ranger as drunk as he was.
"Man, this is a really bad idea," Lester groaned. They watched as the two danced. Hell, it looked more like they were having sex on the dance floor, both kissing and hands moving. "We need to get him out of here before he does something he'll regret for life."
Ranger and Stephanie may not have had a traditional relationship, but they knew she would be hurt if she heard Ranger had taken some woman to his bed.
"I think we need some info." Tank flipped open his phone. Bobby and Lester listened as he asked a series of questions and made noises at the answers. They raised their brows in question when Tank closed the phone and looked sadly out at the dance floor.
"Tank, what the hell is going on? You look like—" Bobby paled. "Shit, Tank, who died? This is how you looked when your brother died."
Tank glanced from Ranger to his best friends; Ranger's best friends. He swallowed and sighed. "Lula says Bombshell…well, Bombshell is moving in with the cop. The cop proposed. Bastard even had a ring…"
"They're getting married…" Bobby and Lester said at once.
Tank nodded. "Maybe. I guess they're going to do a trial run at it. From what Lula said, they had made up this list. In six months, if things work out, they'll announce their engagement to the 'Burg. Stephanie told Ranger this afternoon."
Bobby lifted his hand and flagged to the waitress to bring more drinks.
Lester and Tank looked at him.
"What?" Bobby asked. "I think news like that calls for at least one more drink."
"What are we going to do about Ranger?" asked Lester. They all looked out at their boss—who was their friend and mentor, as well—and sighed.
Chapter Two
Later that night
As it turned out they didn't have to figure out a way to get Ranger out of the club. The bartender announced last call, and Ranger wrapped his arm around the woman he had been dancing with and steered her toward the door and out into the parking lot.
They had watched as Ranger leaned her against his truck and proceeded to make out with her. Even as they watched Ranger do something they all thought was stupid, they were his friend first and had his back.
"Hum, Bobby I think one of us should do something." Said Tank.
Now they had all seen Ranger drunk. They knew that Ranger's legendary control went right out the window when he was like this. It was seldom that Ranger let his guard down enough to actually get drunk. Especially since he met Stephanie Plum and instituted all of his rules. Ranger was normally a nice friendly drunk but come between a horny drunk Ranger and a woman and they all knew it wouldn't be good.
They heard Ranger call the woman 'Babe' and knew that the time to interfere had come.
"Shit," Lester said. "Okay, rock, paper, scissors loser tries to stop them before it's too late."
By the sound of things, there were lots of deep moans and some healthy sounding groans of pleasure. Shit, they didn't have time to waste.
Lester groaned and mumbled. "Stupid scissors."
Then he looked at Bobby. "You do have your full kit with you?"
Bobby nodded.
Lester squared his shoulders and walked up to the entangled couple and cleared his throat.
"Ranger…" Was all he got out before Ranger turned and hit him square in the jaw knocking the air out of him and stunning him.
Ranger growled. "Fuck off. Get your own woman, this one is mine and I don't share."
Lester grinned at that from his spot on the ground. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth; Ranger had hit him harder many times when they were in the ring. Truth was that Ranger really didn't mind sharing in the right circumstances. There had been many times on missions when they had shared women. The only woman Ranger had made clear he wouldn't share was Stephanie Plum.
Lester looked to Bobby and Tank who shrugged. By the look and sound of it Ranger was just about to finish. They would grab him when he stumbled away, make sure the lady got into a cab, and get Ranger to Rangeman to sober up.
They didn't have to wait long. Ten minutes after they walked out of the bar Ranger had not only finished but he'd also passed out soon after. That had made it easy for them to load him into one of the Rangeman SUVs.
Bobby looked into the back seat at a sleeping Ranger. Bobby wouldn't have believed that Ranger had just had sex with a stranger in the bar parking lot if he hadn't witnessed it with his own eyes. Okay it wasn't the fact that he'd had sex it was that he'd had sex without using a damn condom. Since Ranger had gotten Rachel pregnant with Julie he had been extremely careful.
Tony's Bar and Grill
Amber watched as her partner Danielle moved around the dance floor. Danielle with her long brunette curls and bright green eyes attracted a lot of attention from the men. Add in her lithe dancer's body and it was seldom that Danielle didn't have men drooling over her.
If Amber wasn't so sure of her partner's sexuality she might have been jealous of all the attention she drew, but Danielle had been her lover since they had both graduated high school five years ago. To her knowledge Danielle had been with a man only once and that had been Tony Kessler, the bastard who had taken Danielle's virginity and never looked back.
Danielle, broken hearted, had come to Amber they had been lovers ever since.
Amber and Danielle talk the next morning!
Danielle rolled over and groaned.
"I can't believe you had sex with that man in the parking lot. What were you thinking?"Amber said.
Danielle held up a hand. "If you're going to yell at me could you give me something to tame the pounding in my head first?"
Amber stalked out of the room, returning shortly with a glass of water and a couple of Tylenol. She waited until Danielle had swallowed then took the glass and sat it on the bed side table.
"Ready to talk?" Amber asked in the tone of one who is annoyed and knows she's not going to like whatever answer she gets.
Danielle put her hands to her head as she sat trying to hold her head on, or maybe she was trying to keep it from exploding. She gingerly cracked open an eye and peered at her angry lover. Yup, she had really screwed up last night.
"I'm sorry…" Danielle finely groaned out. If only the little men with pick axes would quit she figured maybe she's be able to think clearer. As it was she didn't really remember much about last night, and she didn't remember having sex at all. This was bad.
"Sorry, you're sorry. You do realize I sleep with everyone you sleep with, what if you picked up some awful disease last night? Maybe you're dying right now and we don't even know it…"
Danielle had to almost yell to get Amber's attention. "Amber, did you see that guy?" She may not remember having sex but she remembered the man. He had been sex on two feet, very sexy yummy feet. Last night had been the first time in five years she'd even looked at a man.
Amber sighed and sat on the side of the bed. "Maybe I'm just a little jealous; after all he never even looked my way."
They hugged. "Tell me you at least used a condom?"
Danielle sighed. "Truthfully, I can't even remember having sex"
They both just held each other tighter.
Chapter Three
Later that Night
Tank dropped Ranger onto his bed and let out a sigh of relief. Ranger wasn't as big as him, but what he had was solid muscle.
"I can't believe he hasn't even moved since he collapsed in that parking lot." Bobby Said.
Lester grinned. "That was some fucking he gave that girl. Wonder if he'll remember it in the morning?"
Bobby frowned at Ranger and you could tell he wasn't happy with the man as he spoke. "Oh, he'll remember. I'll remind his dumb ass every month when I test him for the next six months to see if he picked up anything."
That thought made them all go quiet. One of the first things that had been drilled into them in the service was to always be prepared, always wear a sleeve, never believe a woman; whores would love to fall pregnant and trap a G.I. There were even nice girls out there who would love to get their hands on a G.I's benefits.
Ranger and his Merry Men have a talk
Ranger woke to the sharp sting of a needle. His first instinct was to fight, it was then that he realized that he was pinned to the bed.
"What the hell…"He growled as he struggled to orientate himself.
"Stop fighting Rangeman…"Bobby snapped.
"Shit, are you almost done…"Lester asked as he held Ranger's legs, pinning them to the bed.
"Huh, what the hell is going on?" Ranger moaned.
He tried to process what was going on, but his alcohol soaked brain wasn't working very well this morning. For the life of him- and at this minute he was hoping it was a short life because the pain in his head was bad. He couldn't think of a reason Bobby would be sticking him. He was up to date on his inoculations, had to be to go on some of the missions he went on. Then he tried to look on the positive side, maybe Bobby was giving him something that would help the pain normally he was against taking drugs of any kind but right this moment he was wavering. This was not good, he had suffered worse pain. He was an army Ranger…yeah just what he needed right now a pep talk.
"Rangeman if you're done giving yourself that pep talk. I think we need to talk about last night." Tank said.
Bobby finished drawing the blood he would need to send out for test. He knew it was probably too soon to pick up anything, but it gave him some satisfaction after Ranger had been such an ass last night. Once he had everything cleaned up he answered Ranger.
"What do you remember about yesterday?"Bobby asked.
Ranger ran his fingers through his hair and looked at his men who were looking for all the world like men who had lost their best friend.
Ranger closed his eyes; his mind was a jumbled mess of images, memories, most distorted or foggy. Then a clear image came to him. Babe, she was telling him that she had accepted Morelli's proposal. They were going to try to make a relationship work. The engagement was to be a secret, he was the only one she was telling because she needed him to understand and not poach. He grimaced at the memory and the pain it caused his heart.
"Rangerman?" He detected the slight hint of worry in Tank's voice.
He shook his head to clear it of the image and groaned. Note to self, don't shake your head when it hurts, it just makes the little men stumping your brains to mush angry and it hurt like hell. Shit, he felt like he'd gone a few rounds with Tank. No scratch that, he never felt this bad after fighting Tank. It had been close a time or two but never this bad. He cocked an eyebrow at Tank. Tank had a shit eating grin on his face so he came to the conclusion he wasn't this way from fighting Tank.
Bobby dropped some pills in his hand and pushed a bottle of water at him. He frowned at Bobby. Shit, the man knew how he felt about taking drugs of any kind.
"Swallow the damn pills Ranger and then we'll talk." Judging by the tone of Bobby's voice he figured he'd better just swallow the pills, if they killed him at this point that might be a good thing. Then he thought 'what the hell? His men hardly ever talked to him this way'.
Tank sighed and sank down on the bed next to Ranger. "I take it you don't remember much about last night?"
"Man went to a bar." Lester added.
Images started popping into Ranger's head. Brown curls, dancing….uh shit drinking. Way too much drinking.
He cocked an eye at his friends. "Did I do anything stupid?" What he really wanted to know was if they had stopped him.
He got his answer when Tank turned away and suddenly Lester found something of interest on his ceiling. Shit, he wondered for only a minute how bad it was then Bobby spoke.
"You had sex…"
"SEX…" Shit, I almost yelled it.
This time it was Lester who talked. Damn him I could hear the amusement in his voice. His older cousin, the great Ranger, had lost his control and fallen to the level of normal mortal men. All his men knew about his rules and sometimes kidded him about his legendary control.
"In the bar parking lot…I tried to stop you." He turned his check slightly and I could see his developing black eye.
Bobby started packing up his kit. "You didn't use a condom. I'll draw blood for the next six month…hopefully everything will be fine. You'll have to talk to your handler. I don't think this will make him happy."
Shit, could things get worse? Then Tank spoke and they did.
"Jerry called this morning." Jerry was Ranger's handler and if he called it was for one reason; he had a mission for him to go on, his last mission. Maybe the timing was good, after all if he died on this mission- which was a strong possibility- then he wouldn't have to worry about dying of whatever he might have picked up from this as yet unknown woman.
Chapter Four
The Mission from hell
Ranger sighed as he collapsed down on the bunk. This was supposed to be his last mission, it was supposed to be fast, in, out and home. That had been over eight months ago and it was looking as if he'd be lucky to get home this century.
That was the bad news, the good news was that he was clean. He didn't know how Bobby had done it, but even in the armpit of the world Bobby had arranged for some needle happy medic to find him and stick him. At his check in he'd been given the good news. Now if he could only find the bastard they were after and neutralize him for good. Oh, and it would be nice if he could get out alive which every day he was here was looking less likely. It just figured Tank had gotten news to him that Steph had made a final clean break from the cop and he was going to die in the sewer of the world.
He heard the drone of an engine as a vehicle turned onto the mostly deserted street and stopped in front of the lone occupied building; anywhere else it would be called a bar.
Slipping farther back into the shadows he waited. It was time to push Steph out of his thoughts and get in control if he wanted any chance of making it home alive.
Stephanie has a skip
Stephanie sighed as she plopped down on the worn couch in the bonds office. Ranger had been in the wind for what seemed like forever. In truth, if asked she could tell you the exact number of months, days, hours and minutes it had been since she'd last talked to him.
She had been in her bed sleeping when something had woken her. Opening her eyes she'd noticed Ranger sitting in the chair she thought of his next to her bed. No one else ever used it and more than once she had woken to Ranger sitting in it. Just as she was about to admonish him for breaking his agreement, she notice he didn't have his blank face on. Ranger stood before she could speak.
He leaned down and kissed me softly. "Babe, I'm leaving. If you need anything, please call Tank."
Before I could respond to his statement or the kiss he was gone.
Stephanie had broken up with Morelli two months ago. They had finally sat down and really talked. Joe had been stunned at how far apart they were in what they wanted for the future; he wanted a wife who was waiting for him with dinner when he got home and a few kids. Joe had told her his dream of a little boy with her blue eyes and a little girl in pig tails and pink dresses. In Joe's future they had kids and family dinners.
Stephanie wanted to fly. She wanted adventure and some thrills. She admitted that some days she yearned for a child, but she also admitted that she didn't want, nor could she see herself being a stay at home mom anytime in the near future. Joe was stunned when she said that even if she were to get pregnant, she doubted if she would want to stay home much after the first few weeks, preferring to hire someone qualified to watch the baby.
That had led to a small fight which had lead to their breaking up. Each secure in the knowledge that they would always be friends, just not lovers or spouses.
"Hey, Connie what do you have for me today?"
"I thought you were working for Rangeman now?" Lula said.
"Just one." Connie said. "Amber Watts 28, she shot her domestic partner. She swore it was a mercy killing; judge believed her which is why she got bail."
Stephanie nodded. The sad case had made lots of news in Trenton. Amber's domestic partner had been hit crossing the road and she in a coma. Amber had shot her in her hospital room after being told that her partner could possible live for years, even decades in her current condition.
Isn't that a baby!
Tony looked up as the sensor on the door sounded indicating someone was entering. At the same time the sensor sounded, camera and sound recording was automatically engaged.
This was Tony's first full week on the job and he was eager to prove himself. Since he had entered the service six years ago he had hoped for a chance to work for the great Ranger Manoso. When Ranger had looked him up after his medical discharge, he had been thrilled that a man as busy as Ranger had remembered him from their one mission together. It had taken him over a year of rehab before he had been able to pass the Rangeman required physical, but now that he was here he couldn't be happier and he really wanted to prove himself.
Tony stood and looked at the woman who entered. She was carrying one of those seats you used in a car to hold a baby. She sat it down on the chair and walked to the counter.
Shaking the water off her jacket she spoke without meeting Tony's eyes.
"I need to see Mr. Manoso."
Tony looked from the woman to the baby carrier to the door, where it was raining cats and dogs outside. Tony knew that Ranger was not in the building; in fact he had been gone on a mission for months. In the week he'd worked in the building he'd only come face to face with two women: Ella whose husband took care of the building and Stephanie Plum who worked on five doing searches. That had been fine with him. In high school he'd been something of a geek, tall skinny and gangly. His time in the service had added on bulk and muscle, but it hadn't helped with his natural shyness around the opposite sex.
"Uh, I'm sorry Miss, but Mr. Manoso is not available."
Without another word the woman turned and walked out of the building. And to Tony's shock and dismay she left the baby carrier behind. At first he thought maybe it was empty until a loud wailing shriek emanated from it.
The shriek made him freeze, but only momentarily. Then he flew to the door and looked out, but the woman had vanished from sight. Well shit, how had she disappeared so fast and why had she left a baby behind? Thinking quickly he went through his options and realized just as fast that he really only had one option. He would have to call upstairs; this was definitely something that needed to be handled by someone with more experience than he currently had.
Shit, he liked this job. He looked at the car seat. Nowhere in his training had a situation like this been covered. Better to check it out before he made the call. He walked slowly toward the seat as if any minute was going to explode. Then he peeked inside. The baby was bundled, to protect it from the rain probably; he also noticed a letter shoved in the side.
He backed to the desk and hit the switch to call upstairs.
"Hey Tony, what's up and what is that noise? You know the rules about watching TV during a shift…" He cut Bobby off. Bobby might be a senior member of the Rangeman Staff. But damn, he had a situation here.
"That's a baby, some woman walked in and just left it…" The phone went dead before he could say anything else.
Chapter Five
Help, Bomber we need you!
Bobby walked out of the elevator; Tony was leaning over a baby car seat. The normally quiet lobby was filled with the unhappy crying of a baby.
Reaching into the car seat Bobby brought the baby to his shoulder in seconds the baby quieted. Once the baby calmed and only emitted a few hiccups Bobby turned to Tony.
"Transfer the video upstairs." Bobby then turned and walked back into the elevator carrying both the baby and the seat.
Stepping onto five Bobby nodded to Lester who was on monitors.
"Get Tank and meet me in the conference room." Lester nodded and headed to Tank's office.
Tank and Lester looked at each other as they walked into the conference room. Bobby was pacing, patting a baby on the back.
"A woman walked into the lobby five minutes ago, asked for Ranger. Left the baby and walked out." Bobby pointed to the screen where he hit a few buttons and the video and audio from the lobby played.
"Do we know who she is?" Lester asked. "I don't recognize her. Why did she bring the baby here, and why did she leave it?"
Tank held out his hands for the baby. "Tell me what you know about the baby?"
"I haven't fully examined her…"
"Her?" Tank questioned.
Bobby nodded. "Female, I would guess six weeks or less is my best guess. There is a letter in the carrier."
Tank pulled on gloves and removed the envelope from the carrier. "It's addressed to Ranger Manoso, looks normal. Guys this is bad, Ranger missed his last two check-in's if he misses one more."
They all knew if he missed one more he would be assumed missing, killed in action. There would be no search, missions like the one he was on didn't exist as far as the government was concerned.
Steph pulled into the underground parking garage at Rangeman and wondered what was so urgent that the guys had sent her a 9-1-1 page. When she had answered it, the man on the switchboard had just said that they needed her at Rangeman ASAP.
Under normal circumstances they would leave the letter for Ranger to read. It was easy to figure out it was probably private, then if Ranger felt the need he could share the information. But things weren't normal, Ranger was out of contact and they needed to find out about this baby.
Tank carefully opened the letter and started reading.
Mr. Ranger Manoso
Rangeman Building
Trenton, NJ
Mr. Manoso, if you're reading this letter then it means that I am dead and you have just been given your, our, daughter. When I found out I was pregnant my first reaction was to hunt you down and make you help. Then I realized just how much of a gift you had really given me, probably without either of us really knowing it.
I'm writing this as I sit in my hospital bed staring at my baby and I think that you probably don't even remember me. But that's okay, I have already decided that unless something happens to me I'll raise her myself. You probably are wondering how I know your name, since you didn't share it with me the night we met. So you know that I am being honest, let me tell you what I know of our short time together.
We met in a bar- the name isn't important- I was on the dance floor and you joined me. The whole time we danced you whispered in my ear; you spoke Spanish which to me is a second language so I understood your words they were sweet and loving, but I can guess they weren't meant for me. I need to admit here that we had both had more to drink than we should have. From what my partner and friend tells me, we ended up in the parking lot and there you made love to me.
That was it. Our brief time together that created the sweet angel I'm now looking at. You see, I know you are her father because you are only the second man I've ever been with. My partner and I will raise her as our own. When she gets older, if she questions us, we will be honest and might contact you then.
Oh, our angel's name is, Shelly.
Danielle
Tank handed the letter to Bobby who handed it to Lester. Under the letter was a birth certificate. On the birth certificate under father it said "unknown", since Ranger wasn't listed it would make the legal issues harder. They would have to do blood test to prove paternity.
"Lester, take the car seat and the letter to the lab. See if they can find anything. Then start a search on the mother listed on the birth certificate, see what you can find." Tank ordered.
"Bobby, check out the baby." He handed her back to Bobby.
"Tank, were going to need someone to take care of her. I know Ella would love to but she handles the whole building…"
"I'll call Stephanie. We need to keep this quiet, plus she has nieces I'm sure she won't mind helping until we decide what to do."
Lester voiced what they all knew. "You know the mother is probably that woman Ranger fucked in the parking lot just before he left for this mission. What are we going to tell Steph, she'll want to know why we have a baby."
Tank grin. "I'll think of something." He pulled out his phone and sent Steph a 9-1-1 page. He knew that would get Stephanie to the building fast. Once she was here he would figure out what to tell her, maybe she would be so distracted by the baby she would forget to ask questions. Yeah, sure, and pigs could fly. If he could count on one thing, it was Stephanie would ask questions and lots of them.
Chapter six
Guys, whose baby is this?
Steph did a finger wave as she drove into the garage, parking in one of Ranger's open spaces near the elevator. Gathering her bag she stepped from her latest POS car and walked to the elevator. She wasn't surprised when the doors opened just as she reached it. But she was surprised when it didn't stop on five, but continued up to seven.
The dragon's lair, Ranger's private apartment. She knew that not everyone who worked in the building even knew about the apartment's existence. The few that knew were closest to Ranger: Ella of course, and his main men Tank, Bobby, Lester, Hal and a select few others.
After a gentle tap on the door it opened. Steph was stunned to see Tank holding a baby; she could hear Bobby in the kitchen.
"Damn it Tank there's nothing in here we can use for a bottle, maybe Ella has something." Bobby stopped talking when he spotted Stephanie at the door. Stephanie suddenly had a strong urge to step back. The smile on both Tank's and Bobby's faces was something she'd never seen before and suddenly she felt like she was in a spotlight she had no desire to be in.
"Hey Tank, I cut up some of Ranger's shirts…" Lester stopped talking and his smile joined Tank and Bobby's. Under the gaze of all three men she took a step back, all her senses telling her to run. But she didn't understand why. She knew these men would never hurt her.
"Steph, I knew you'd come." She didn't miss the relief in Tank's voice and she wondered about it. Of course she came; she always came when Ranger or the guys needed her so why would they think that she wouldn't come this time? Tank walked to her and handed her the baby he had been holding. She watched as all the men visually relaxed once the baby was in her hands as if they had just gotten rid of a ticking bomb.
She glanced at the baby and it smiled; it was cute for a baby with dark wispy hair and dark eyes.
Stephanie walked to the couch and sat, and then she looked from one merry man to the next, her eyes finally settling on Lester as the weakest link.
"Lester, want to tell me how it happens that Rangeman has a baby?"
Lester cringed and looked to Tank for help, no way was he telling Steph that the baby she was holding most likely was Ranger's child.
After Stephanie had fired off several more questions Tank rose and held up a hand.
"Okay Steph…" He walked to the player and slipped in the tape of the lobby showing the unidentified woman dropping off the baby. Stephanie gasped.
"I know her. She's my FTA Amber Watts, she killed her domestic partner. But why would she drop off their baby at Rangeman?" Then she carefully looked from the baby in her arms to the men sitting around her. Could one of them be the baby's father?
Tank could see the question in her eyes and decided it was time to change the subject.
"Steph, I know you have nieces. I was hoping you could help with the baby until we figure out what to do with her."
Steph's first reaction was to hand the baby to one of the guys and run, but before she could the baby gripped her hair and pulled. She knew from taking care of baby Lisa that it would take some work to get her hair free.
"You want me to take care of a baby?" Stephanie practically squeaked.
Bobby placed one hand on the baby and the other on Steph's shoulder. "Stephanie, if you can't we'll have to turn her over to children's services, and we really don't want to do that."
Bobby prayed that Steph bought the bluff; there was no way he would ever turn a child of Ranger's over to the state. They really needed Steph to help them; Ella was out of town helping with a new grandbaby and wasn't due back for another week.
"Ella…"
"Out of town. Please Stephanie, we really need you."
The baby started sucking on her finger and she hated to admit it, but just holding her felt so right. How was it possible for such a little baby to have already started making a place in her heart? Steph told herself this was just another Rangeman job, it wasn't dangerous unless you counted in the fact that she'd probably get her heart broken when it came time to give the baby to…shit who would they give the baby to? More than likely Amber would go to jail. Danielle was dead. The search she had done on Amber had revealed that neither Amber nor Danielle had any family other than each other.
The baby started to get fussy as it sucked and got nothing.
"Uh, guys was there anything in that carrier? Like maybe a bottle or instructions?"
The guys looked at each other and Steph could see some guilt there; okay when had she learned to read their blank face so well? That didn't matter, what did was that they were clearly hiding something from her. She would find out later, right now the baby needed feeding and if her nose was correct changing. She gave a slight smile, now which of these men should she make change the baby's smelly diaper? Because it wasn't going to be her, she had avoided that duty with her nieces and couldn't think of a reason to start now.
"No, Steph no instructions or anything." Said Tank.
"Well someone is going to have to go shopping."
Steph rolled her eyes when the guys just stared at her. She turned her eyes to Bobby, he was the medic; he must know something about what babies need.
"The baby is hungry and need her diaper changed. If there's not a bottle or diapers in the carrier, someone needs to run to the store and I would suggest they hurry. My nieces were never very patient when it came to either."
Tank pulled out his phone. I don't know who he called but I almost curled up laughing at his list.
"Go to the store; buy diapers, baby formula and whatever else a six week old baby needs and bring it to seven."
"How the hell should I know what size…"
"Ask at the store, someone there should know…"
Tank let out a weary sigh. "Yes, you'll get hazard pay, just hurry."
Chapter seven
Merry Men go baby shopping!
Cal and Hal looked at the list Tank had given them, what the hell was going on? Baby supplies?
Cal looked at Hal as they pulled into the parking lot of the Piggly Wiggly and raised a brow. "You really want to shop here for baby supplies?"
Hal looked at the store and back at Cal. He just didn't see why it made a difference where they got the shit, only that they got it and got back to Rangeman ASAP. Tank had said hurry, he planned to hurry; this was the closest store to Rangeman that would have all the items on the list.
"Dumb shit, it's in the burg. Everyone will think we're getting this stuff for Stephanie and even if they don't, they'll talk. Maybe Tank doesn't want the world to know about this baby." said Cal.
"What baby? Have you actually seen a baby?"asked Hal.
"Why would Tank have us out buying baby shit if there wasn't a baby? And remember he said to get whatever a six week old would need, therefore there must be a six week old baby." answered Cal.
"Maybe it's for Steph's niece."
Cal paled and looked at his watch. "Her niece is Seventeen months, fifteen hours and fourteen minutes old."
Hal sighed."Okay, we can't shop here, where do you suggest?"
"There's one of those baby supercenters just outside of town."
Babies, Babies and More Babies
Hal and Cal looked at the aisle of baby formula, yeah they had a whole fucking aisle of nothing but formula.
Hal picked up a bottle. A woman walked past him and frowned. "My Joey was allergic to the Iron in that brand, just keep throwing it up." She said as she moved past him her cart full of baby items.
Hal quickly put the bottle down, softly like it was a grenade that might go off any second. Just the thought of a baby puking made him ill. Last time he visited his sister her baby puked right in his mouth, damn, not a good memory.
Cal picked up a bottle it had a smiling baby on the label. "This one says it's good for brain development and easy on baby's tummy."
Hal took the bottle and read the label. "But it says for baby's over six months."
It took them almost an hour to find one that they thought would work, then they threw some others in just in case. On the way to the diaper aisle they spotted books. Who knew there were so many books about how to take care of a baby? I mean really babies are just small people, right? Wrong. It seems they need care instructions. The problem was when they started looking at the books not all of them gave the same advice, so who do you believe? They picked a few and threw them in the cart.
Both men stopped in fear as they rounded the corner to the diaper aisle. Great, just fucking great, there were more kinds of diapers then there were formulas. How was that even possible?
They debated on whether to get the newborn or the small; they threw some of each in the cart. Then they spotted the wipes, lotions, shampoo, etc. They grabbed and tossed figuring they'd better hurry.
It seemed at every turn a woman was either staring or commenting on what was in their cart. Of course it wasn't everyday that they saw two such prime examples of perfect male physique shopping for baby items.
Steph questions the baby's parentage
Tank watched as Steph played with the baby, why wasn't he surprised? She was a natural with the baby, he'd never seen her with her nieces, but he had heard enough to know that they adored their Aunt Stephanie and loved the time they spent with her.
Steph looked up from the baby and caught Tank's eye watching her. "Tank, we know Danielle is/was the baby's mother, but who is the father?"
She slowly looked from the baby to Lester and grinned.
"Les, I think she has your eyes."
Lester shook his head and started sputtering as he spoke. "Uh…no…I mean…you really think she looks like me?"
Lester was Ranger's cousin, but Lester figured Ranger hadn't shared that little detail with Stephanie. Just like his cousin to keep his private life private, even from the woman they all knew he loved. Stupid idiot, he deserved to lose her.
Tank side stepped the paternity question. "Steph, I think I need to go see Amber tomorrow and ask her why she dropped the baby here."
Stephanie smirked and held in a barely contained laugh. "You really think she'll answer your questions?"
"Of course she will." Tank was big and he was used to people doing what he said, and when he asked questions they normally answered. He couldn't understand why Steph thought Amber would be any different. Plus, no way was he sending Steph, one, someone had to watch the baby and she was the best candidate-after all she had the right working parts, two, no way was he taking the chance that she would tell Steph that Ranger was the father. No, he would tell Steph that himself in his own time, hopefully that time would be after Ranger got his ass back from this god-forsaken mission. What a time for his best friend to by MIA.
Therefore that meant that he had to go question Amber.
"Tank, you're big."
We duh, like I didn't already know that. "So…"
"And you're male."
Tank blinked. Of course he was big and male. A good thing to or Lula wouldn't be the happy woman he'd made her last night. "Steph, what am I missing? I know you're trying to tell me something."
Steph pointed to her bag and Tank saw a file sticking out of it. He pulled it out and read it. Shit, Danielle had been raped in high school by a big, black man but the real kicker was that a big, black man had been driving the truck that had struck Danielle as she was crossing a street. He was starting to see Steph's point. Amber was much more likely to speak to a woman, shit, someone like Stephanie Plum.
Chapter Eight
Stephanie watched as Tank, Bobby and Lester did the whole silent communication thing they did so well. They all sighed and sat down.
"Steph, there is something we probably should tell you before you go see Amber." Tank Said.
Bobby pulled some folded papers from his back pocket. "Steph, maybe you should read this." And he handed her the letter that had been in the carrier with the baby.
Steph carefully handed the baby to Bobby so her hands would be free. If the guys' reaction was an indication, whatever was in this letter she wasn't going to like.
She carefully started reading, our daughter, startled she took in a deep breath and held it, then nibbled on her bottom lip as she continued. What was Danielle to Ranger? It was obvious from the letter that Ranger didn't know about the baby.
They met in a bar, shit, did Ranger regularly pick up woman in bars? Steph hadn't even insisted Ranger wear a condom their one night together; well you can bet your sweet ass he'll be wearing one next time. Then Steph stopped herself, what the hell had she been thinking? There will be no next time, after Morelli she didn't need a man who couldn't keep it in his pants. But look at Ranger, why would he need to pick up a woman in a bar, woman throw themselves at him. This just made no sense unless there was more to it than the letter indicated.
Wow, the baby had a name, duh, of course the baby had a name. Shelly was a sweet name. Steph wiped the tear that was running down her cheek, then she held out her hands out for baby Shelly.
"Ranger's her father?" I tried to look into Tank's eyes but he wouldn't meet mine.
I looked at Bobby. "You knew that Ranger was her father when you called me?" Bobby gave the slightest of nods.
"Why, why did you call me? I mean Ranger must have family. Do you really think Ranger would want me to know about this baby, uh, Shelly? Don't you think he would think she would be better off with his family?"
Tank stood and paced a minute before answering Stephanie's questions. He figured that Ranger hadn't shared much with Stephanie about his family situation. Thanks to Scrog, Stephanie knew about Julie and Rachel, she had even met his mother once while he was in the hospital. He knew it was Ranger's place to tell her but damn it, Steph had a right to know if they were going to involve her in the whole cluster fuck.
"You're right Steph, Ranger probably would just send the baby to one of his sisters to take care of, you know Ranger has four sisters. Celia the oldest has four kids, hellions, the devil's own spawn. This baby wouldn't last a week in her house. Okay I'm sure they wouldn't hurt her, but she wouldn't get much attention either. Celia's oldest is seven and her twins are only six months; we kid her that her four year old Aaron is following in his Uncle Carlos' footprints. Believe me when I tell you, Celia really has her hands full. She would take in this baby and give her as much love as she could, but she already has four of her own to look after."
"Juliana, is the second oldest. She's single and in residency, when she finishes she'll be a cardiac surgeon, her shifts are crazy. If we asked she'd take the baby, but she'd spend most of her time in the hospital daycare." Bobby said.
"What we're saying Steph is that Ranger's family would love the baby, he would provide for her like he does Julie…" Stephanie interrupted before Lester could finish.
"What you're saying is Ranger wouldn't get attached, emotionally, and it's possible that his family wouldn't either. She wouldn't even have a mother to love her like Julie has…" Steph sniffled, and fought to hold back tears.
"Steph, I don't want you to get the wrong idea…it's just that Ranger and his family…well they…Steph, Ranger keeps himself distant from his family. He does it to protect them, plus…well he kind of scares them. They know that he has killed, they don't understand how he lives."
"Steph, we think it would be best if we kept the baby here…at least until Ranger returns."
Totally changing the subject Stephanie asked a question that had been bugging her.
"The letter says that Danielle and Ranger met in a bar, uh, they had sex in the parking lot. If Ranger didn't know Danielle and only saw her that one time, how did Amber know where to drop off Shelly…how did Danielle know who Ranger was and how to find him?"
Tank sighed. "Maybe we should talk about that night."
Steph nodded and let out a groan when Shelly started to really fuss. Before Tank could start talking there was a knock at the door, Lester answered it and Hal and Cal walked in carrying what looked like a million bags.
"I think we got everything." Hal said with some pride in his voice.
Tank sighed again with relief; he really didn't want to talk to Stephanie about that night and hoped with the distraction of Hal and Cal arriving with supplies that she would forget. She had brought up a valid point though. How had Amber known where to bring the baby; how had Danielle learned who Ranger was?
Stephanie handed the baby to Bobby and walked to the dining room table where Cal and Hal had placed the bags and started going through them.
"Guys this is a good start…"
"Start…" Cal almost shouted. "We almost bought out the damn store. It's a little baby, what else could it need?"
Steph did a come here with her finger and walked to Ranger's bedroom. The guys all followed her.
She made a hand waving around the room. "You plan on keeping a baby here?"
They looked at each other, it sounded like a question, but somehow it didn't. How did woman do that; ask a question and make a man feel like he was stupid before he had even answered?
Since none of them spoke Steph continued. "Where will she sleep? You know she can't sleep in Ranger's bed, she could fall off and get hurt." She walked into the adjoining bathroom. "We need someplace to give her a bath, wet babies are very slippery. She needs one of those little baby bath thingies like my sister has for Lisa." Steph walked from the bathroom to Ranger's dressing room. "She'll need clothes…" Steph thought for a minute. "Lisa has these one piece things she wears during the day and jammies for at night. And we'll have to baby proof the place and she'll need baby toys…you know thing to play with and blankets…"
"Shit." The guys all said at once.
Then Tank spoke, "back to the store." Cal and Hal blanched at the order. Hal looked at his watch.
"Sir, its 2130. The store will be closed." He actually sounded kind of relieved.
Tank walked into Ranger's dressing room and returned with a deep drawer. He handed it to Cal and gave him some instructions; he left the room with the drawer.
"Tomorrow we'll find someone to come in and baby proof. Tonight we make do. Steph, what else do we need to do tonight?" Tank had younger siblings but it had been ages since he'd taken care of a baby and he preferred to have Steph in charge. He was still hoping he could talk her into moving in and being the baby's primary caregiver until Ranger returned.
Steph threw up her hands. "Uh, uh not me. Why are you asking me? That is not my baby."
"Please Steph, we need you. Please take care of the baby until Ranger gets back."Tank asked.
"I hate changing diapers, they smell…BAD."
"Steph, as you know we're bad, bad army guys. Babies aren't exactly in our line of business. But if you don't want to, I guess I can get a couple of the guys…"
Steph paced for a minute, stopping when she heard the baby crying. Okay she wasn't just crying she was screaming so loud Steph was afraid they could hear her at her parents' house. Shit, what would her mother say? She could hear it now.
Mrs. Lewinski's daughter would never turn her back on a poor parentless baby. How could I have such a heartless, mean daughter? Why me?
Stephanie took the crying baby from Bobby and started patting her back; tears were running down Steph's cheeks.
"Fine, I'll look after her. But boy do you owe me, big time buster; now make the baby a bottle, she's hungry."
By the time Stephanie finished feeding the baby, Cal had returned with the drawer. It was now padded and lined and would make a fine baby bed until they could buy one when the stores opened. Steph smiled at the thought of Tank explaining to Ranger what had happened to his drawer.
Chapter Nine
Baby on deck!
Stephanie looked at what had been Ranger's office on the seventh floor. In the last month the guys had repainted. The walls that had been white were now a pale yellow; the ceiling was blue with stars that glowed at night and a rainbow you could see in the morning light. With some help from Mary Lou, Steph had decorated what was now a nursery for Shelly, none of the men called her the baby anymore.
A routine had been established; Shelly spent her nights on seven with Stephanie and whatever of the core team who had the night off. Once Shelly was in bed Steph would kick her guests out and curl up and watch a movie until she fell asleep.
During the day Shelly had a travel bed next to Stephanie's work station. Steph no longer worked at her cubby. Tank had set her up with her own work station in Ranger's office. When Shelly was awake the Merry Men took turns holding and playing with her.
Tank and Stephanie had visited Amber in jail. She had been quick to clear up some of their questions. With all the press Ranger had received after Scrog, it hadn't been hard to find out who Ranger was and where his business was located. She had told Stephanie where to find Shelly's birth certificate and had signed the papers giving Stephanie Plum legal guardianship of Michelle Rebecca Thomas. Amber confided that looking at Shelly made her sad and constantly reminded her of Danielle.
Stephanie stood and stretched. Her searches for the day were done, she looked at the clock, and it was only two. Then she smiled, Mary Lou had been bugging her for weeks to meet her at the park. Mary Lou was part of a mommy and me class that met there most afternoons, she would just have time to make it.
Then she looked around, that was if she could find Shelly. She knew Bobby had picked her up earlier but the guys had a way of passing her around. The only thing she could be sure of was that Shelly was somewhere in the building.
She walked over to the monitor area and looked, not spotting Shelly she made her way to the private offices and conference rooms. She tapped on Tanks door.
"Enter."
Steph smiled as she entered and spotted Shelly obviously asleep on Tank's huge chest.
"I was just looking for Shelly."
Tank raised a brow. Normally when Steph finished her work she would do whatever errands she needed to do and then would go up to seven where whatever Merry Man had Shelly at six would bring her. During the work day the guys took turns caring for Shelly. Shelly had been at Rangeman for six weeks and Steph had never taken her out of the building.
"Mary Lou is part of this mommy and me class and she asked me to come and bring Shelly, and well I thought I'd go. All my searches are done."
"Steph, you do know you can take Shelly out whenever you want."
Steph blushed. "Uh, well she's Ranger's baby and you know how I draw crazies…"
Tank laughed. "Bombshell, I know you'll keep her safe. I'll have one of the men follow you for back up. You have a tracker on your car and you have a panic button. Maybe I'll see about getting a tracker we can put on Shelly, something safe that she couldn't possibly swallow."
Tank handed Shelly to Steph after giving her a kiss. "Uncle Tank will finish our story later pumpkin."
"Wait a minute Steph." Tank walked to a cabinet near the door, opened it and pulled out a set of keys. He handed the keys to Steph.
"Take the new truck, it has a baby seat in it."
"Tank." The guys knew she hated to use Rangeman vehicles; the last three had gone to car heaven.
"Steph, it has all the bells and whistles." Steph started to get drowsy as he described all of its amazing features. It sounded like it could do everything but drive itself.
"Fine, I'll take it. But only to keep Shelly safe."
Cupcake, that is not your baby?
Stephanie was sitting on a blanket talking to Mary Lou when Joe Morelli walked up and sat down next to her.
"Hey, Cupcake. Hum, you smell good." He kissed her neck and nuzzled her ear. "Baby powder and milk."
Stephanie pushed him away. "What do you want Joe?" Shelly started fussing and Stephanie expertly picked her up and patted her back. Joe was stunned when Shelly spit up and all Steph did was grab a nearby cloth diaper and wipe the spit up off of where it had landed on her shirt.
Joe looked from Steph to the baby. "Cupcake, that's not your baby?"
You could just hear all the questions in his voice. Shelly did look something like Steph with her soft curly brown waves, of course Shelly's waves were darker than Steph's by several shades. And Shelly's skin color was darker, Steph was pale and Shelly was sun kissed. It was Shelly's eyes that really stunned Joe, not Steph's ocean blue, no, Shelly's were brown but not just brown, they were chestnut. He'd seen that color before but couldn't remember where. His own eyes were a chocolate brown.
The baby looked to be two or three months; no way had Stephanie been pregnant when they parted company, or had she? Could this be his baby? Then he frowned. If it wasn't his, and it was Steph's, then who the hell was its father? He clenched his fist, that damn Manoso. Yeah, this could be Manoso's kid. Steph had cheated on him with Manoso, then broken up with him.
He was pulled from his thought by a pinch to his arm.
"Shit, that hurt. Stop."
"Will you listen to me? This is Shelly, I'm watching her." No way was Steph going to tell him more. For one thing it wasn't any of his business, hadn't he got the memo they were broken up? Her life was no longer any of his concern.
"So you're babysitting?" Steph looked at Mary Lou then nodded.
"Cupcake, the guys have really been missing you and I have tickets…"
"Joe, I'm busy." Stephanie cut him off.
Joe gave Mary Lou one of his most charming smiles. "I'm sure Mary Lou wouldn't mind watching the baby for a short while. We could go to my house…"
"Joe, we broke up." Steph started gathering up Shelly's things. "Mare, I'll see you later."
Chapter Ten
Ranger let out a small sigh as he exited the freeway, fifteen minutes and he would be home. Never had he wanted to see Rangeman so much, this had been his worst mission ever. Who was he kidding, he'd known going in that his chances of being here today were slim. It was one reason he had always pushed Stephanie away. Well pushing was over with. Stephanie didn't know it, but Someday was here, now. This had been his final mission; he was a free man and did it ever feel good.
For the first time since he was fifteen he could do and be whatever he felt like. Damn, it felt like it had been a lifetime.
He was tempted to flick on the GPS and find out where Stephanie was, find her and drag her to his private lair and fuck her brains out. Then he reminded himself the last time he had seen her, she was engaged to Morelli, shit, they could be married. It went against his moral compass to go after a married woman.
No, he would go to Rangeman. Check in with Tank, if Steph was free then he would make his move.
Home
Tank looked at the screen and grinned. Ranger had just pulled into the underground parking garage. Just like Ranger not to let anyone know he was home. He watched as Ranger scrambled the cameras. Only Ranger and Tank could see what was happening once the cameras were scrambled. It was a safety that Ranger himself had built into the system.
Tank watched as he pointed his fob, the fucker wasn't even planning on telling him he was in the building; instead he was heading right up to the seventh floor. Tank grinned. Maybe he should just let Ranger walk in and find out that Stephanie had moved in. Find that a baby also shared his living space.
Looking at the clock Tank grinned, it was just after midnight. Steph would kill him if he let Ranger walk in and Shelly got woke up.
Tank hit a few buttons and redirected the elevator to five. Then he stood and walked, he was waiting when the doors opened.
Ranger Returns to find Steph in his bed and a baby in a crib in his bedroom, what the hell is going on here?
"Tank, you fucker." Tank knew Ranger wasn't really mad. He was asking him, without asking him, why he'd stopped him from going to seven. He was asking if there was a threat or if he was needed for an emergency.
"We need to talk." Tank turned and walked to his office knowing Ranger would follow. When he heard the door close, and Ranger sat, he started.
Tank spent an hour bringing Ranger up to date on everything that had happened since he had left.
Ranger looked up. "Steph is in my bed?"
Tank nodded. "You did hear everything I said, right? You have a baby up there. Stephanie has been taking care of it; in fact she is the baby's legal guardian."
Ranger smiled. "Good."
"Good, that's all you have to say."
"I'm tired Tank, I'm off line. Until…whenever, I'll let you know."
Tank smiled as Ranger walked out of his office. He watched as his partner and best friend practically ran up the two flights of stairs to the seventh floor.
And Tank thought that having Stephanie and Shelly in the building had made life more interesting. He laughed to himself, no, watching Ranger court, and hopefully win Stephanie Plum would be even more interesting. He just hoped they worked it out. For two smart people when it came to love they were pretty stupid.
Ranger silently opened the door to his apartment on seven and stepped in, closing the door behind him being careful not to make any noise.
Ranger moved across the apartment making note of the many changes. Stephanie really had made the apartment into a home. There were pictures on the wall and baby things everywhere, who would think that a small baby would need so many things? Ranger still wasn't sure what he thought of having another baby, Julie hadn't been planned but that had worked out okay. But then again Julie hadn't been dumped on his doorstep; he hadn't had to be involved in most of the day to day issues of raising Julie. Rachel had taken care of everything and then they had divorced and Rachel had remarried. Ranger had only been as involved with Julie as Rachel had wanted, which hadn't been much more than a visit once a year and gifts on special occasions, gifts that he normally had Ella purchase and send.
Ranger spent some time just watching Stephanie sleep in his bed before making his way to what had been his office. Tank had told him of the conversion, his office was now the baby's nursery.
He tiptoed in; Tank had warned him about waking the baby. It seems that she had just started sleeping through the night and if she was woken up it took a long time to comfort her back into sleep.
Ranger's heart skipped a beat when he saw the baby. She was so small, one of her little fists held the blanket and the other was by her lips where she was making little sucking sounds. Her hair was downy soft dark curls, her skin lighter than his but much darker than his Babe's. He carefully ran a finger down her soft cheek. Damn, if she didn't look like the baby he'd seen in his dreams. Dreams of a child he and Stephanie had created.
Then he pulled himself back. He hadn't created this child with Stephanie, no, this child was a mistake. His carelessness had created this child. He gave himself a mental kick in the ass. He had swore after Julie that he would be more careful, that he would never again have another child except a child created through love, and damn it here he had done it again.
He was glad that Stephanie had helped take care of the baby, but now that he was back she was his responsibility and he would make sure she was taken care of. His first thought was of placing her with one of his sisters, but some thinking quickly convinced him that was the wrong solution to this particle problem. Then he thought of Rachel, after all the baby was Julie's half-sister, they should grow up together, right? But would Rachel want to raise another one of his children, would Ron let her? After all, they did have two children of their own. If they took this baby then they would have four children to raise.
Ranger would explain to her that he would be more than generous with his financial assistance and of course he would set up a college fund, just as he had for Julie. Yeah, Rachel would be what was best if only she would agree. He would call her in the morning and explain the situation. With luck they could be on a plane tomorrow and everything could return to normal by the next day.
Chapter Eleven
After getting everything straight in his mind Ranger walked into his bedroom and changed into his silk boxers. He crawled into bed pulling Stephanie to him until he had her back cuddled to his front, then he sighed and slipped into sleep. He always slept best with Stephanie's warm body next to his where he could feel her gentle breath and smell her unique aroma.
Stephanie woke slowly and attempted to stretch. That was when she noticed the arm across her waist; a strong, muscular mocha brown arm. She inhaled and almost groaned as she took in Ranger warm intoxicating scent.
She looked down at Ranger's hand cupping her breast. Now why hadn't she noticed that earlier, and what exactly had woken her? She listened, Shelly wasn't crying, which is what normally pulled her from sleep these days.
There was a soft knock on the door and it opened revealing Tank holding Shelly to his chest. In his other hand was a cup of the most delicious smelling coffee.
"Uh, I'm not interrupting anything am I?" If a black man could blush Tank was. Even though he had known that he would find Ranger in bed with Stephanie, he had no idea if Ranger had talked to Steph last night or not.
Steph scrambled and pulled the sheet to cover herself and at the same time remove Ranger's hand from her naked breast. Naked, she looked under the sheet then glared at Ranger. She had been wearing her panties and one of Ranger shirts when she had gone to bed last night, now she was naked.
Ranger pulled himself up until he was resting against the headboard of the bed. He watched as Steph first took the coffee and inhaled a sip before sitting it on the bedside table and putting her arms out for the baby. Not an easy feat while holding the sheet to cover her breasts.
Ranger didn't miss Tank's grin.
"Steph, I already fed the princess and we were just about to head down to five."
Ranger spoke before Stephanie could reply. "That's good. Steph and I need to talk."
Steph kissed Shelly and handed her back to Tank. They both watched as Tank left the room and closed the door behind him.
"What are you doing in bed with me and where are my clothes?"
"Babe, you were sleeping in my bed."
Ranger grinned as Stephanie blushed.
Stephanie pulled the sheet free, wrapped it around herself, and headed into the bathroom, making a detour into the dressing room to grab clothes for the day.
She rushed through getting ready; she had known this day would come. Her heart soaring, but hurting at the same time; Ranger was home. She knew they needed to talk. Damn, she had promised herself she wouldn't fall in love with Shelly, but she had and now Ranger was home.
What if Ranger didn't want her or Shelly in his life? She had guardianship but knew Ranger wouldn't have any trouble proving he was Shelly father and getting custody. Would he want custody? He had made it pretty plain in the past that he didn't want to get married or to have more children. Would Ranger let her raise Shelly, could she raise Shelly on her own?
Steph slowly opened the door to find Ranger still reclined in the bed. He made a come here with his finger and gave Steph a smoldering partial smile. Her panties instantly dampened and she felt heat in her belly. Ranger was a panther about to leap onto its mate.
Steph stuttered as she spoke. "We need to talk."
Ranger's voice was a low growl. "Later Babe." He lifted the sheet in an obvious invitation.
Stephanie grabbed her cup from the bedside table and slowly backed from the room, when she reached the door she turned and ran. When she reached the kitchen she leaned over panting. Shit, why had she run? The man she was in love with had just invited her into his bed. Wasn't that what she wanted, what she had dreamed of more than one night? Then she answered her own questions, yeah she wanted into Ranger's bed, but more than that she wanted into his heart. She couldn't be with him if they didn't have a relationship and Ranger had made it clear he wasn't looking for a relationship.
"Babe, you didn't have to run."
She looked up. Ranger was standing in front of her in his black silk boxers.
She wet her lips and watched his eyes darken.
"Uh, we need to talk."
Ranger sat on one of the stools at the breakfast bar and removed the silver lid from one of the waiting dishes.
"Tank filled me in last night. I'll call Rachel and see if she can take the baby…"
"WHAT?" Ranger didn't think he had ever heard Steph's voice filled with more emotion and fear.
"You can't just give Shelly away like she's an unwanted puppy."
"Steph…"
"You… you bastard." Steph grabbed Rangers plate and emptied it into his lap, then marched to the door grabbing keys from the dish on her way out.
Ranger shook his head. What the hell just happened? He thought Steph would be happy to be relieved of having to care for a baby. She had made it clear that she didn't want a baby, it was one of the things he knew that she fought with Morelli about. Morelli wanted her to pop out babies and she didn't want to.
Ranger stepped onto the fifth floor and could feel it, that vibe deep down that something just wasn't right.
Ranger walked past the room full of monitors. All the men had their faces down seemingly intent on work.
Ranger noticed that Tank's door was open and he walked in.
Tank spoke but didn't look up. "You fucked up didn't you?"
Ranger sighed and sank down on Tank's couch.
"I told her I was going to call Rachel and see if she would take the baby. It's what I thought was best."
Tank laughed full out. "Man we need to talk."
Tank and Ranger talked and talked. Ranger walked from Tank's office shaking his head. He would never ever understand women; maybe that was a good thing.
Ranger pulled out his cell and called Ella and arranged a romantic dinner for him and Steph, and also made arrangements for her to keep Shelly overnight.
Romantic Moods
Stephanie stepped cautiously into the apartment. Tank had called her and calmed her down after they'd had a long talk. He had asked her to give Ranger another chance. She smiled when she remembered his exact words.
Stephanie sometimes men are just asses, but a good woman can change that. Please give Ranger another chance. Talk to him. Explain to him how you feel about Shelly. Steph, I know you love Ranger, I also know you love Shelly. You could both be the parents she needs.
So here she was on seven. Steph noticed Ella's touches right off, the lights were low and candles glowed from almost every surface. The dining room table was set, and a delicious aroma wafted through the air. There were also flowers.
Ranger stepped out of the bedroom dressed in a tux and bowed, then held out his hand for hers as music filled the apartment.
Stephanie slowly walked to him until she was wrapped in his embrace. Ranger held her to him showing her with his movements and actions his love. Time passed, they both fell into the rhythm of the dance.
They danced and talked. "Babe, I'm sorry. I didn't want to force you into the role of mother. I should have known with your kind, loving heart that you would have already fallen in love with Shelly…"
Stephanie silenced him with a finger to his lips. "She's part of you…how could I not love her?"
"Babe, I don't deserve you."
They only stopped dancing and talking when Steph's stomach growled.
"Babe, why don't we finish this at the table? I know Ella went all out tonight, she made your favorites."
Steph looked confused at this.
"Babe, you know she loves you like a daughter. She was rather mad at me." Then Ranger did a little laugh. "She told me I better get my head out of my ass and do right by you before someone else stole you from me. She said if they did it wouldn't be more than I deserved for being an ass for so long and not telling you how I feel.
They continued talking as they ate.
After dinner they sat on the couch, Ranger's arm around Stephanie holding her to him. Ranger nuzzled Steph's neck and ear. "Babe, I love you."
It was the first time he had said the words to her without a qualifier.
Steph looked into his eyes then her lips met his.
Six Weeks Later
After Ranger's return Steph and Ranger had talked and agreed that if Steph wanted to do an occasional skip she should. This had been her first, and not only had Ranger and Joe shown up, but so had half of Rangeman.
Stephanie turned and glared at Ranger who had a shit eating grin on his face.
"That would have worked if you hadn't stopped me." Stephanie said.
"Babe, you are a legitimate phenomenon, you can't trap a skip with cheese."
"Why not, you saw his picture? Little beady eyes, twitchy nose, and he's a slime ball. I figured cheese was the perfect bait."
Just then Joe Morelli walked up. Steph was surprised when he put out his hand and shook Ranger's hand.
"You, why are you here? We broke up. Wait a minute; you're working together…aren't you?"
"Yes, we both have the same problem. You." stated Joe.
Stephanie pushed her finger into Joe's chest. "I am not your problem…" She jabbed again for emphasis. "We broke up…" She poked again. "You said I was too much trouble…" poke "I needed to quit my job…" poke "Start having babies…" poke "Stop shooting people…" poke "Quit having stalkers, like I want some freak of nature stalking me…" Stephanie threw up her hand, growled and stomped off.
Ranger brought his hand down gently on Stephanie's shoulder. "Babe, I just want you safe."
Stephanie tried not to jump at the touch, life had been hard lately and she knew Ranger had felt her flinch just a little. He pulled her into his comforting embrace. He was warm, and damn if he didn't smell so good she just wanted to melt.
"Sometimes you smother…"
"Because I love you and can't have you hurt."
"You love me. But your love comes with a condom, no ring."
"Babe, would you really want a ring? If I offered one right now what would you do?"
Stephanie stiffened just for a second then relaxed back into Ranger. "Just what I thought, Babe. And if I didn't use a condom the next time we made love, and you got pregnant…"
Steph's mind drifted to the image of her stomach being big with Ranger's child, and she smile. Then she stiffened; what the hell was that about? She had always thought that she didn't want kids: That she could hardly take care of a hamster. But a little boy with Ranger eyes and mocha latte skin, or a little girl with his almost smile-she felt a small quake in her stomach. Damn, she needed to stop thinking those thought. Those kinds of thoughts could get her heart broken.
"Babe, are you back with me; where did you go? Damn, I wish I could read that mind of yours sometimes, to be privy to your most intimate thoughts. I love the emotions that washed over your face, so I know whatever you were thinking they were happy thoughts, Babe, please let me in. Tell me."
Stephanie brought her hands up and framed Ranger's face. "You are my best friend, I trust you with my body like I trust no one else. If you disappeared from my life it would have no meaning and I would miss you until my soul found yours."
She brushed her lips across his in a gentle sharing.
"Babe, you love me?"
"Yes."
The END