Author's Note: Hey Guys! Yes I'm back... And for now I will not be finishing my Lester/Steph story. Not forever just not now. I'm not feeling it anymore so if I tried to write it, it would be forever stupid. So I'm writing a Ranger & Steph story. I just finished reading JE's latest book and just wow... I have no words. I read it because I've never not read one of her Plum stories, but just wow.. I won't post any spoilers and I'm definitely not letting on if that's a good wow or a bad wow. :-) Just wow.. (snorts)

Now Yes I'm writing a Ranger/Steph story but I'm still working non stop. I've written chapter one while at work and finished it today. Saturday & Sunday will be the only days I post. If I skip a weekend its because I'm working or just extremely busy. Please forgive me. I miss our JE world of Ranger and Steph and the guys. So here it is...

My New Normal

Prologue:

I've never had a normal life. My life would be boring if it was normal. I didn't want normal or boring. I wanted crazy, chaotic, different. I wanted fun too. So I wished for it. I've always wished for it. Since I was a little girl and jumped off the roof pretending to be Wonder Woman. I wished for that crazy life. Sometimes wishes shouldn't be made.

I learned that the hard way.

Chapter One:

Normal was my life at the moment, but boring was not. I was currently chasing an 80 year old woman that had a farting problem. I can not make this up nor would I. She wasn't particularly fast or anything, but I was pretty sure she broke my ankle when she clubbed me with her wooden cane. A cane she didn't need I'm going to throw in there. So I wasn't really 'running' after her as much as I was hobbling after her. I just wanted her to stop moving so I could talk to her but she was refusing to stop or listen really. Whenever I got close, she would swing that cane at me. You know, the one she didn't need. And let me tell ya, that damn thing fucking hurt. She didn't need the offensive piece of wood, not to walk with. But I already said that. Just wanted to be clear. It wasn't that I couldn't catch her or that she was faster than me.

She seemed to be doing fine on her own, the walking thing that is. My ankle on the other hand was throbbing and I was in a lot of pain as I hobbled after her stinky ass. I just really wanted to call it a day and go home. Maybe order a pizza and watch Ghostbusters. Drink a beer. You know, normal.

"Velma, all I need is for you to come with me. We can get you rebonded. There's no jail time even involved in this today." I called out to the old fart. Pun intended.

She stopped suddenly and I almost tripped over her. She let a nasty smelling odor before slowly turning around. Her small beady eyes narrowed in on me and I backed up several feet. "You lying, missy?" She asked my accusingly. "It ain't nice to lie to old ladies."

I shook my head in denial. "I'll call Connie to make sure she's waiting on us when we get there." I assured her.

She nodded, happy with me at the moment and started walking towards me. At this point, I got a little scared and eyed that cane closely.

"I want to bring Snowball with me." She declared, still walking closer. Without the cane I might add. "You can watch him while I gotta do my thing."

Thinking Snowball was a miniature dog, I nodded my agreement. "I would be happy to look after Snowball while you get rebonded. Come on and let's go get him."

She laughed loudly, sounding more like a trucker that smoked more than a pack a day than the little old 80 year old lady that she was. "I carry Snowball with me every where I go." She announced before pulling a very large white rat out of, well I don't know for sure. I'm pretty sure she pulled that very ugly thing from her boob area, but I couldn't be too sure.

I let out a very girly squeak and jumped back. I knew it was just a rat and I had a hamster which was technically a type of rat, but Rex had fur and he was cute. Snowball was a giant ball of white skin and tail. He was creepy looking. No offense to all the rats and rat lovers out there. I just couldn't see him as anything but ugly.

"Let's go." Old fartmiester snarled as she passed by me, cradling the rat in her hands.

I gave a shudder, but followed as quickly as my ankle allowed which wasn't that fast. We rode in silence to the cop shop. Well, I was silent. She cooed to the rat while I watched in disgust. It was a rat, people!

We pulled up and together entered the station. Connie, true to her word was waiting on us. Velma thrust Snowball into my hands and hurried off. I looked down, watching the rat in my hands and grimaced. Man, little dude ugly and he had some kind of tumor thing...

OH! MY! GOSH! That wasn't a tumor, that was... Oh hell no! The set on this rat was... oh my gosh! No words!

My ankle was throbbing so I found the nearest chair and took a seat. With my hands full of rat, I wasn't able to get a closer look but my ankle was definitely swollen and probably, maybe not, broken.

"Hey Cupcake!"

I looked up at the happy and familiar voice and grinned. "Hey Joe! You look good." I commented. "Happy too!" I added after a moment of him nodding and smiling like a lovesick fool.

He took a seat beside me, still smiling. Eyeballing the rat in my hands, he replies, "I am happy. Sometimes I feel almost guilty about how happy I am." He admitted.

I shook my head. "Don't be. You deserve to be happy, Joe. Hell, I'm happy you're happy."

His eyes finally meet mine and his grin got wider. "Thanks Cupcake!"

I nudged his shoulder with mine. "Do I hear wedding bells in your future?" I teased him.

About two months ago, I had an epiphany. I wasn't in love with Joe. Yes, I loved him, but he was safe. I felt safe around him in the sense I knew I would never fall in love with him. When I just out of nowhere blurted this out, Morelli looked relieved. He then told me that he felt the same way. We're still friends, better friends in fact. Although, he did try for friends with benefits in the beginning. Honestly, I almost caved. Hey.. he's great in bed so sue me.

Then it happened. It was barely a week after when Morelli was downtown at a lawyer's office. He was asking questions about a murder that he believed this lawyer or his client was involved in. It was then that Joe talked to the lawyer's paralegal. And I'm pretty sure it was love at first sight.

I've met her. Sara, she's nice. She's petite, pretty, and sweet. She seems like a good fit for Morelli. She's so damn domesticated. She loves to cook and bake and she's really good at it. Like really good, better than Joe's mom good. She's a complete neat freak but she loves all animals and she wants to be a mother. Oh and she thinks the sun rises and sets on Morelli. And he's crazy about her too. They fit perfectly.

Almost two months later and I believe they're living together. I'm happy that he found his one.

I glanced over at him and found him blushing. I couldn't help but laugh.

"We haven't set a date yet, but I asked her on Valentine's day and she said yes." He told me in hushed whispers.

"What?" I practically shouted. Valentine's day was a month ago. Now see why I'm flipping here!?

He shushed me as he looked around in a slight panic. "We don't want the Burg to know yet. She wants to marry me, but she wants to wait at least another six months before we actually set a date."

"Oh." I nodded my understanding. "I won't say a word, Joe. Promise."

He let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks Steph."

"Congratulations though!" I whispered in an excited but low tone.

He chuckled. "Thanks. I'm excited too."

"Stephanie?"

I looked up at the sound of my name and found myself staring at a man(boy maybe) that I've never met. He's maybe a few inches taller than me with sandy blond hair and brown eyes. He's cute in the boyish way. As in, he's way too young to think about in that capacity. However since he's wearing a police uniform, I know he's at least eighteen. I stand up slowly and hobble over to him. "That's me."

He handed me a piece of paper and blushed. Wow.. didn't expect that kind of response. "Here's the receipt for Velma Hughes."

I took the paper from him but frown. "Where's Velma?" I asked, only slightly concerned. She did hit me with her cane and maybe break my ankle after all.

He shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. "She... Um... she had a heart attack."

I gasped and took a step back, almost falling in the process. The man/boy reached out and caught me before I fell. "Thanks." I replied, straightening myself and taking a step back.

"Is she going to be..."

He shook his head. "No Ma'am. She died."

"Oh." I turned around and walked numbly to the doors. I shook my head and turned to look at the man/boy. "Thanks again..."

He nodded and then smiled. "I'm Bailey."

"Thanks Bailey."

I don't know if he replied because I walked out of the cop shop and towards my car. Well, I hobbled to my car. All the while carrying a white rat that I didn't know what to do with. I drove on autopilot to the bonds office, got my check and then went to my bank. I didn't really remember doing any of this. I was shock. I was sad. Of course, I sad. A woman I had met and was in the presence of, died. She was a horrible woman who liked to hit people with her cane. That's why she was arrested in the first place. She hit a police officer with her cane and he arrested her. But she was dead and that was sad. I didn't even realize I was at the pet shop until I left PetSmart with a new aquarium for Snowball with rat food and rat toys. I had officially lost my mind.

I then drove to the emergency room. I had a broken ankle, remember. Maybe I did. Wasn't so sure. I left Snowball in his new cage in the car. It's not hot. Don't judge me and hobbled inside. My ankle had done doubled in size. It throbbed as I gave the nurse behind the desk my information. After waiting thirty minutes to see the doctor, I was finally called back into the triage room. There I met another face I didn't recognize.

He smiled at me and I swooned a little. I wasn't ashamed to admit it. He was gorgeous. I smiled back. He was taller than me. Hell, he was taller than Morelli. He had thick wavy dark black hair and dark brown eyes. He was thick with muscles. He looked like he could work at RangeMan. He didn't look like no nurse.

"I'm Nick and you're Stephanie?"

I nodded dumbfounded. He chuckled and began to take my blood pressure. "How did you hurt your ankle?" He asked me.

My brows furrowed. "An old lady hit me with her cane."

"She did! Why?"

I shrugged. "I was trying to take her in. I'm a bounty hunter." Come to find out, he was fascinated by my profession. I think I was in love.

We talked for a few minutes while he took my vitals. He laughed at my antics in the field and I was ready to fall in his laughing dark eyes. The man was gorgeous and sweet!

"There ya go, Steph. The doctor will see you now. You take care and no more old ladies." He winked at me before leaving the room.

When I left the emergency room an hour later, my ankle was only badly sprained. The doctor gave me some pain killers and told me to take it easy. I gave my nod of understanding and left. After getting my prescription filled, I stopped at McDonald's and got me some chicken mcnuggets and a large fry with a large cola. It took some smarts to get into my apartment with my food and my new rat, Snowball but I managed it.

After eating my food, I got Snowball set up on another counter in my kitchen. I gave him his rat food and gave Rex his food. I then gave them each a carrot and a grape. Rex shoved his food into his mouth and ran back into his can. Snowball came out of his little hideaway and watched me as he ate his carrot. He was kind of cute, but he was creeping me out the way he was looking at me.

I settled down in front of my tv and watched Ghostbusters. I had a taken a pain pill so I was feeling pretty mellow. I fell asleep to the sounds of the Ghostbusters theme song and Snowball going rounds on his wheel.

This was my normal.