Author's note
Yeshh I finally managed a happier story.
Enjoy!
Erdi
Ranger's POV
"You listening to me cuz?" Lester, my cousin, questions and bumps my shoulder.
Instead of answering him, I ignore Lester and make my way down to the bar, where a woman with curly hair, who I been watching most of my night, is trying to get the attention of the bar tender.
I squeeze in right next to her and wave at Alex, the bartender, who promptly comes up to me. "What would you like to drink?" I ask her.
Her blue eyes find mine and they sparkle of excitement. "Just water please"
"A bottle of water and a beer" I shout at Alex over the music and then turn my body to face her completely. "Ric."
"Steph" She smiles and shakes my hand.
"You got some moves on you" I comment and nod towards to the dancefloor.
"You been watching me?" She raises an eyebrow in question with an amused smile playing on her lips.
"Every male in this building is watching you dance, babe" I smile back and my eyes may or may not have strayed to her breasts for a few seconds. She is wearing short denim shorts, with black biker boots attached to her feet and a tight black top displaying her great cleavage. Her hair has long been pulled into a messy bun, with a few strands sticking to her sweaty forehead. In other words she looks stunning.
"Instead of watching, they should rather come and dance...it's much more fun and a lot less creepy" She winks at me and accepts her bottle of water from Alex. Before she goes to join the other people on the dance floor again, she turns around and says "Dance with me!"
I hand Alex the money, accept my beer and lean against the bar. Cheap Thrills by SIA starts blasting from the speakers and Steph starts moving her hips with the rhythm. "Ah what the hell" I mutter to myself, drown the beer and make my way over to Steph.
There is only so much restraint I can manage and tonight, I have reached my limit. I will no longer try to stay away from her.
Time to make her mine!
"FUCK YOU" The perp shouts and Steph just flips him off.
"That worked like a charm" She turns around to face me with a huge grin.
"Thank you for your help, Babe" I smile and draw her towards me at the hem of her shirt.
"Get a room" Les mutters when he walks past. Funny, as that is exactly what I was planning to do, but he does not need to know that. Despite of that, I really want to go after him and smack him over the head for that comment, but Babe blocks my way. "Where have you been hiding those dance move?" She questions and raises an eyebrow.
"If I tell you, I will have to kill you" I grin and pull her in for a kiss, forgetting about Les and his stupid comment.
"What are you doing?" She questions shocked and takes a step away from me.
"I don't want to be standing on the side-lines anymore watching you dance by yourself or with someone else. From now on you will only dance." I reply and pull her closer again. Her eyes are big like saucers, but she steps closer nevertheless.
"So we are doing this?" She asks and I simply nod. "One Day Ranger...One Day I will know all your secrets" Babe shoots me one of her special smiles and kisses my cheek, before turning around and walking her fine ass over to my Carrera, leaving me standing there grinning like a fool.
"You are one scary dude when you are happy" Hal says when he steps next to me.
One year later
"OHHH come on...you can't shut down already" Steph wines with a big grin on her face
"Honey, you do this every month...you know the drill" Hugo, the Bouncer, says and pushes her gently out of the door.
"You suck" Steph pouts, but Hugo just laughs.
"Come on, Babe" I chuckle and pull her down the street. "Thanks Hugo."
"She is trouble Ranger" Hugo shakes his head, before closing the door.
"Tell me about it" I mutter and with that I drag a protesting and tipsy Steph down the road to my car.
"I just wanted one more dance" Steph pouts and it puts a smile on my face.
"One more dance?" I ask.
"Yes, just one more dance...my feet only have one more dance in them" She retorts in all seriousness.
An idea pops into my head, making me smile again. "Ok...I will get you one more dance"
"Yeah" Babe cheers and throws her arms in the air in celebration, while turning to go back to the Club.
"No, not in the Club" I pick her up and throw her over my shoulder, making her squeal.
"What are we doing here?" She questions and looks around the roof of Rangemen Inc. "We going base jumping?"
"No" I snort and then add "We are going to dance" Having a Helipad on the roof of our Haywood building means that the roof has a smooth surface, which means it's perfect for dancing and we can watch the sun come up in about half an hour.
I put down the portable speaker, which I picked up from the fourth floor and is a leftover from our Rangemen Summer Party two years ago. I pull up Spotify on my phone and put on Ed Sheeren's 'Perfect'.
"May I ask for this dance?" I ask, when I turn around just as Babe is shedding her high heels.
"You may" She nods and steps closer. I hold out my hand for her to take and with one quick pull I have her in my arms. I draw her even closer, claim her right hand with my left one and my right hand goes around her waist to the middle of her back.
I start swaying, before leading her around the 'dance floor' in a slow waltz. "One of these days I will figure out where you learned to dance like this" She whispers, raises her chin and leans it on my shoulder.
"My mother would dance around the house whilst cleaning... singing of the top of her lounges. Then my dad would come in, swoop her into his arms and they would dance around the house" I explain, my heart aching at the memory "When he died, Mom stopped dancing and singing. My brother Jose and I, tricked her into dancing with us by asking her to teach us. It cheered her up and to this day, we just pick her up and dance with her whenever we can."
"I am sorry Ranger" Steph whispers and pulls me even closer.
"I am not. He made my mother happy just by dancing with her." I tell her. "If that is what I have to do, to keep you happy, smiling and laughing, I will do that for the rest of my life. Even when we can only use walkers to get around."
Her breath hitches at my comment. "What are you saying?" She asks and pulls away slightly, so she can look at me.
"I didn't want to do this today, but I think this moment is more perfect than anything I could have ever planned." I pull her closer again. "What I am saying is that I love you, that I will do anything to make you happy, even if it means to stay out until early morning hours dancing or getting you those artery clogging doughnuts. What I am saying...well more asking is: Marry me!"
Babe suddenly stops moving and pulls away from me. My heart skips a few beats and I am sure that I screwed this up, that this isn't what she wants, but then I look into her eyes and they are sparkling with excitement and happiness. "Are you sure about this Ranger?" She asks, but before I can answer she goes on "I am not perfect, I screw up a lot, make a mockery of everything and I can't eat twigs and barks. Let's not mention my hate for cardio. I can't come up with anything else right now...but if you give me a while, I am sure I can come up with more reasons that this could backfire on you. Because if you are sure... this is it for life. I am not getting divorced again…"
While she was ranting, I stepped closer to her, so that my face is now only inches from mine. "I am sure. 100%. Hell I am less than perfect, but I want you, I love you and I want to be with you forever. No more running, no more denying this. We belong. You know it, I know it."
"In that case…" She takes a deep breath "Yes...Yes I will marry you."
Six months later
"Dance with me" I whisper in Babe's ear and a grin spreads across her face.
"It is two in the morning Ranger" She groans, without opening her eyes.
"How do you know it's two am?" I ask, knowing full well that she can't sleep when I am out. Ever since a takedown gone wrong three months ago, she always stays awake worrying too much about me. "Just one dance" I plead and help her out of bed. I have just come from a takedown where the guy was holding a woman captive. Luckily we managed to get the woman out without her being harmed. But it is making me want to hold Steph close.
"My choice this time" She mumbles and lets me drag her to her feet. Steph grabs her phone and puts 'Dance with me" from Olly Murs on. It is one of her favourite songs to dance to. She must have realized that I need some cheering up.
I pull her into my arms and start moving us around the bedroom in a quick pace. After only a few twists and turns, I feel the tension leave my body. "Thank you" I whisper into her ear.
"Anything for y…" She suddenly stops, clamps a hand over her mouth and runs into the ensuite bathroom, where she empties her stomach.
"Babe?" I follow her, worry cursing through every vein of my body, and hold up her curls while she brings last night's dinner back to life. "Do you want me to wake Bobby?" I already know her answer, but it never hurts to ask.
"He won't be able to do anything about this" She mutters, before retching again. "This will be my life for a while."
"What is going on?" I ask confused and even more worried now. "How bad is it? I will find the best doctors…" I start, but she just waves off.
"Not that bad" She lifts her head and wipes her mouth with the wet towel I hand her. Her eyes are red and her face void of makeup and paler than normal, but to me she couldn't look more beautiful. "Why are you smiling?"
"You are beautiful" I reply and my smile grows, when she rolls her eyes.
"I had this whole thing planned and I didn't mean for you to find out this way" Babe groans and shakes her head "Best laid plans and all….I am pregnant Ranger."
I must have been silent for too long, because she waives her hands in front of face. "Say something."
"Pregnant huh?" Is all I can get out.
"Yeah...pregnant."
"We need a bigger house. The seventh floor is not going to be big enough and it doesn't have a backyard. The child needs a backyard." I comment and groan inwardly.
"Since you are already mentally planning our move, does this mean you are happy?" She asks with a smile on her face.
"Very" I grin and pull her closer. Ever since I thought about proposing to her, I thought about having a family with Babe. I knew she didn't want kids and I would never push her into anything she didn't want, but this, this is kind of perfect. We will be good parents and this child will be loved.
Five years later
"Dance with me" I whisper in my wifes ear and run my hands down her white dress and around her waist.
"Excuse me" She smiles at Les and his wife, before stepping out of my arms and towards the dance floor.
In that moment the DJ puts on 'Shape of you' from Ed Sheeran and I can't wait to lead her around the dance floor to the song.
"This was a perfect day" She smiles when I pull her into my arms.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MR AND MRS MANOSO" The DJ shouts and the whole rooms hollers and whistles.
"Where did you find him again?" I ask. Les did the background check on him and refused to tell me about it, after Steph announced that Tuck Smith is our DJ. I could have ran the search on him myself as well, but I trust Steph.
"Well it is kind of a funny story" She grins up at me, when I dip her down, before bringing her back and kissing her on the mouth.
"Ah yeah? Tell me" I encourage her.
"He may or may not have been my Skip" She looks at me sheepishly and I just shake my head. "The cop who arrested him believed he was stealing as well as breaking and entering. Turns out Tuck was getting his stuff out from his ex-girlfriend's place. But because she changed the locks he had to find a different way in." Babe shrugs. "I helped him prove his innocence and as payment he offered to DJ at our wedding."
"You meet the strangest people" I chuckle. Suddenly there is a tug on my pant leg and I look down, to find my son standing next to us. "Want to Dance?"
"YES" he shouts over the music.
"Do you mind Babe?" I ask, while letting go of her to pick up Jose.
"Not at all, you two have fun" She starts leaving, when Jose shakes his head.
"Not with you, with mom" He insists, walks over to my wife and holds up his tiny arms.
"Seems like he loves me more" Babe laughs and picks him up.
"Seems like you will have to make do with me then" Julie pipes in. I didn't realize she had approached us.
"It will be my pleasure" I draw her close. "Just don't step on my feet."
50 years later
"Dance with me" Babe tugs at my hand.
"I am 86 years old. I can't dance anymore" I groan, but push to my feet anyways.
"Stop playing the age card Dad" Jose shouts across the room, where he is feeding his daughter. "We all know you can still kick ass pretty good."
"I will show you pretty good in a moment" I grumble, making the whole room laugh. I pull my wife close and start moving from one foot to another.
"Come on... you can do better than that Rangemen" Tank, who is dancing with Lula next to us, comments and I flip him off behind Steph's back.
"We did good" Steph says and watches the people all around our backyard while I turn us on the dance floor. Family and friends, all together for our 50th Wedding anniversary.
"We sure did" I shoot her a smile that is only reserved for her. "And it all started with a dance while arresting a skip. Who would have thought?"