Sorry this is a week late but it was my daughter's last week of 9th grade. What belongs to JE is hers, I borrowing and adding in a little Caden to the mix. Lee Anne
A Caden Mother's Day
"Yo."
"Yo, yourself," came the response over the office telephone.
Ranger's eyebrow shot up hearing that little boy's voice. "Midget," he muttered.
"Did you get the fax?"
"You sent me a fax?"
"Yeah."
The fax machine beeped in the corner of his office. Ranger stood up begrudgingly shaking his head from and to his desk reading a list sent to him.
He had no choice but to ask the question. "Midget, why do you need cement?"
"It's for Mother's Day," the too-smart little boy replied back. "Check your calendar."
Popping up on Ranger's laptop was a calendar reminder. "MOTHER"S DAY MAY 13."
"Stay off my home computer," the man in black grumbled attempting not to laugh.
"I'm using Mommy's I-Pad," Caden said. "Take the stuff to Grandpa's house when you get it."
"Marbles, too?" Ranger asked reading over the page.
"Yeah, get colorful ones. Ruth at the fabric store said they got them. She's expecting you."
Ranger snapped, "I'm not going back to that store!" Since Caden announced to 'Jo Ann' customers Ranger went commando much of the time, he gratefully let Stephanie and Caden shop there without him. He, Ranger Manoso, wasn't buying any marbles in that store from that old lady.
"We need them," Caden instructed. "You'll figure it out."
His head hung. "What was worse," Ranger thought, "dealing with Caden and his plans or an old lady at a fabric store." It was enough last week taking the six children by himself to the jewelry store. Julie, Ben, Danni, Caden, and Cassidy all picked out beads to personalize a bracelet for Stephanie. They looked over hundreds of beads; Caden had to meticulously inspected the twenty-five beads he liked best. He whittled down the stash with each
going-over until he finally chose a colorful butterfly. The jeweler wanted to close up but stayed open 30 minutes longer while the little boy found the perfect one. For Aubrey's bead, Ranger picked a pink rattle and his was a heart with a diamond.
Blowing out a breath, Ranger knew he was in. It was for Stephanie. He was taking Tank with him. He could go in for the marbles.
Picking up his truck keys and the list, he was heading to the hardware store. "Only one bag, Midget?"
"Yeah, Grandpa has some in a bag."
Another reminder message popped up on the computer screen. 'DINNER at 5:30.' And another. 'Grandpa at 7'.
"I can keep my own schedule, Midget."
"We got things to do. I'm keeping to it."
Shaking his head and chuckling at the same time, Caden could frustrate and make The Cuban Bad Ass laugh at the same time. "I'll be there after I buy cement."
"OK, I got to help Mommy with the lasagna roll-ups. Don't be late."
Ranger was glad to hear the dial tone.
He walked down the hall towards the elevator. "Come on, Tank," Ranger called out.
The best friend of Ranger walks out of his office with casual ease. "Where are we going?"
"I need cement and marbles. You can go into the fabric store to get them."
Tank began laughing. "Afraid the ladies might remember you go commando?"
"I'm married. What are you wearing?"
"Boxers."
"You're going in."
That made the big man laugh more stepping on the elevator. From Ranger's answer, he wasn't. Tank's cell phone beeped and he read a text message. 'GRANDPA AT 7 W T & N. CADEN.' "I'm to be at the Plum's at 7 with Trey and Natasha."
"Good, we're on the same schedule. You can ride over with us." Ranger would have Tank there for his own sanity's sake. He was bringing his adopted son and daughter. Before the night was over that little boy of Ranger's would drive him bonkers with one of his plans.
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"Babe," Ranger spoke against Stephanie's lips, "enjoy your facial." With his wife having a few hours to herself tonight, he booked facials for Stephanie and Lula.
"Can you handle all the kids?"
"No problem," he told his wife with a sexy arched eyebrow taking Aubrey from her mother. "We'll be at your parents for whatever he has planned." He nodded his ponytail in the direction of the little boy grinning with his black Buddy Holly glasses.
"It's a surprise," Caden grinned at his parents with Julie, Ben, Danni, and Cassidy agreeing. Even their Lakeland terrier was going for a ride.
"Have a good time," Stephanie told each child hugging them as they stepped up into the motor home her husband was driving to her parents' house ten minutes away. If the whole family was going together in a distance, then he drove the motor home. There was a black Expedition waiting at the cabins so he could drive it there. Ranger's reasoning was 'it was big and everyone was comfortable" and Stephanie could either drive his Porsche or their Mercedes if she went out herself. Both has state of the art security systems.
Stephanie thought he had too much fun driving it across the country with his family to the big potato and couldn't stop driving it.
"All aboard," he called as Tank, Lula, and their adopted children were walking around the corner towards the Manoso townhouse. The Sherman's lived in a townhouse two streets back.
"We're going in this?" Tank asked.
"Everyone will fit" was Ranger's response buckling Aubrey in her car seat inside.
Lula was hugging her son and daughter as if she would squish them. "You have fun."
"Bye, Mom," Natasha and Trey told her joining the Manoso kids.
"Bye, My Big Hunk of Tank," she purred laying a big wet kiss on her husband.
Rangeman's second in command was grinning ear to ear taking his front seat. "Oh, yeah, Sweetie," he called blowing a kiss.
The motor started and Ranger pulled away from the curb.
"Skinny White Girl, it's a funny thing watching Batman drive off into the sunset in a motor home It ain't what it used to be."
"I'm happy because Ranger enjoys it, Lula." A few years ago, she never would have guessed they would be married to each other and have a family, but they were. And happy in the center of all the 'Burg' craziness.
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"Thanks, Frank," Ranger told his father-in-law shaking his hand. The Mother's Day project Caden came up with was over and from the fun time all the children had, it was a success. He was ready to load up and head home.
"It's my friend Joe," Caden yells running down the sidewalk with Zeus.
Joe Morelli was walking Bob. He stops greeting the small boy with the black taped glasses.
Walking towards Mr. Plum, Ranger, and Tank, the cop was checking out the large RV parked in front of the Plums. "Is this how you travel now, Ranger?"
Joe Morelli still found it difficult to swallow at times. He was still single with Bob 'the Eating Machine' and Ranger was married to Stephanie. They had six children and he had a dog.
Somewhere the 'Burg' karma tipped their way.
"Just charging the battery," Ranger said with a shrug. His known blank face was on the outside, his happy face was on the inside. Morelli was an open book. He read the longing on him; Ranger had the 'Burg' girl and the family the cop dreamed of in his life. Well, Caden always made everything more than interesting.
Ellen Plum walked out of the front door carrying Aubrey. "She's all clean, Ranger."
"Thanks, Ellen, " Ranger said claiming his blue eyed daughter. "If I took her home messy like Aubrey was, Stephanie would never let me take her again."
"Cement will do that. Oh, Caden," Ellen remembered something handing the little boy a bag of homemade cookies, "that hint of adding brown sugar to my sugar cookies made them soft. Thank you for adding me to your blog," Stephanie's mother said kissing the top of his wavy hair.
"No problem. I'm glad to help," he replied with a pleased grin.
Dumbfounded, Joe asks, "He has a blog?"
"Stephanie types what Caden says," Ranger explained like it was nothing. "He sews and cooks, too. We had a tasty talapia dish last week."
Now the cop really had a stupefied expression on his Italian face.
"Stephanie wants Caden to be a little boy doing little boy stuff, but he needs more stimulating activities, too. He helps cook dinner, organizes the house, and sews."
"Caden has all my spices organized, Joe," Ellen Plum added proudly.
"We're an organized house, Morelli," Ranger explained. "All the cupboards, closets, and garage are set up in alphabetical order. Ask him and he'll tell you where it is."
"Joe," Caden said looking up at the cop, "I'll come over to your house, but I got to be home to help cook dinner."
"Your house will be organized, Morelli." Ranger was about to wet his pants from chuckling. "Let's go home." He waved a mocha latte hand towards the open RV door. His daughter was yawning in his arms.
"Take the short route home," Caden instructed. "Aubrey's sleepy."
"Midget."
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"Ranger-Dad."
A dark eye was opened under the power of a small Caden finger. Focusing having been woken up out a deep sleep, the little boy was awake dressed in his white chef's hat and his black taped glasses appearing as a 'nerdy' dough boy. "Midget, what do you want?" Ranger grumbled still half asleep and comfortable. He felt Stephanie giggle pretending to still be sleeping.
"We got to cook breakfast for Mommy. It's Mother's Day," Caden whispered in his ear.
As a rule, an adult had to be in the kitchen with the little boy when he 'cooked' or 'baked' assisting the chef-in-the-making. So the Cuban was elected, but he was still recovering from the grocery shopping excursion for the food for Caden's Mother's Day breakfast menu. "I'm coming."
"Oh," the dough boy's head peeked back in the door, "Aubrey's really stinky."
"Thanks."
Stephanie stirred. "I'll change her," she said against Ranger's lips waking her.
"No. It's Mother's Day," Ranger spoke quietly in her ear. "I can change our daughter." Since the birth of their beautiful baby girl, the owner of Rangeman was not only a security expert, but became a diaper-changing expert. He was very hands on.
XXXXXXXXXX
"They're beautiful!" A very weepy Stephanie Manoso lovingly gazed at each stepping stone with a hand print of Julie, Ben, Danni, Caden, Cassidy, and Aubrey in the middle decorated with colored stones and marbles. There was one with paw prints of Zeus, Athena the cat, and a tiny Rex one.
"Happy Mother's Day!" The five older children sang out and the youngest Manoso child banged her spoon sitting in her highchair by the table. Caden and his kitchen assistant out-did themselves with fresh squeezed orange juice, sweet cream filled French toast, and perfectly crisp bacon.
After the leisurely breakfast, Julie placed a laptop on the table in front of her step-mother. Stephanie was the one who came when the young girl's world was devastated with the death of her parents. Ranger was 'in the wind' at the time and she came in his place. She was the one who opened their home to her younger half-brother and sister so they were together again. She drove them through the night to reach Caden and Cassidy to bring them back to Trenton. Stephanie gave each child love, security, and a home.
On the screen was Caden's blog page 'Caden Talk' or in the smaller font 'Notes from the Future King of the Universe'. The paragraph under 'Happy Mother's Day' was titled 'What is a Mother?'.
"She a woman and the heart of the family," Stephanie read to the table, "and it so true in our family. Stephanie isn't the biological mother to five of us. Circumstances changed our lives and brought us into her life. With arms ready to hug us and make us secure along the way, she stepped in. She had to question this role she found herself in so suddenly, but we never knew if she did. We've grown since those first unsure days. We're taller and older, but more importantly we grew into a family with Stephanie, our Mom, to guide the way. Our 'birth' mothers are watching us from heaven and happy because Stephanie gives us a little bit of crazy and a whole lot of love. And we're so lucky she's our Mother. Happy Mother's Day. Love, Julie, Ben, Danni, Caden, and Cassidy."
Blue eyes teary looked at every face around the table. "I'm the one who is lucky. I have each of you." Arms belonging to the 'Burg' girl were filled with her children. Her eyes were locked on the man holding Aubrey next to her.
"Thanks, Babe," Ranger leaned into her kissing the curls he loved. "for walking into that diner. My life has never been the same."
Stephanie's was never the same again either she knew and she was happier in the life they chose married to each other and with 'their' children. It was crazy at times and always filled with love.