"Where's Daddy?" Laura asked, slurping up the dregs of her cereal from her breakfast bowl.
"Da?" Bailey asked eagerly from her highchair. Next to her, Emmanuel just nodded his head. He was never much one for vocal opinions.
It was breakfast time, also known as ask-where-Daddy-is time, not that there was any time of day that they would not ask after their father, it was just that breakfast time was the beginning of the day and they always woke up with the intention of seeing both their parents, but one of them was routinely missing of late. Guess which one. Ranger had been in the wind for a little over a three months now, and boy did I feel every minute of his absence. Every day started the same way. Observe:
"I don't know where Daddy is specifically."
"Why not?" Laura insisted.
"Da!" Bailey exclaimed, clearly just as outraged as her sister was by the reply she'd received.
Emmanuel simply opened his mouth to receive the spoonful of mashed banana I offered and gummed it happily.
"Because I'm not allowed to know. He's doing a special job for very secretive people and if he told me where he was he could get into a lot of trouble."
"That's stupid." This was Laura's new phrase. Everything was stupid. She wasn't allowed to have a lolly, that was stupid. I didn't allow her to stay up and watch a movie, that was stupid. In short, if she didn't like it, it was stupid. Beats me where she picked it up from, probably one of the guys. "When will Daddy come home?"
"I'm not sure," I replied, spooning some mashed banana into Bailey's mouth, with great effort. "Could be days, could be weeks."
"That's stupid."
"Toopee," echoed Bailey, spitting mashed banana down the front of her PJs.
"Well you can ask Uncle Tank or Lester when we get to Rangeman if you like. They might know more than I do." I felt completely evil for putting the thought in her head, but it was the only way to get her to stop pestering me with questions. Most of the time they had no more information than I did, but they didn't mind answering Laura's insistent questions. To tell the truth, they loved everything about the three of them. In the almost two years since I had returned to Ranger with Laura as my big surprise, the Merry Men had fallen absolutely under her spell. They would do anything they could in order to spend time with her and that included shirking their duties to hang out with me and the Loz-meister in the park, or the zoo, or the house, or wherever we were really. Then when the twins came along I was hard pressed to keep up with them as the Rangeman employees stole her the minute I arrived on the floor and continued passing them around, arguing over who's turn it was with either of them. The only time they were brought back to me was if they "began to stink" or started crying and they couldn't get them to stop (in the latter case it was hilarious to watch their panic stricken faces as they handed them over with alarmed, I-don't-know-what-to-do's).
Their first excursion to the Rangeman building had been when they were just two weeks old and was followed by the Merry Men insisting that I bring them back the next day. Again. And again. And again. After about two weeks of this I noticed a lack of work being done while I was there what with everyone cooing over the gorgeous little angels with Ranger's deeps chocolate eyes and my pale skin. I decided I should stop the visits.
Three evenings later, Ranger came home from a full day of work and insisted that I take the twins to Rangeman the next day. It seemed, that while little had been achieved while we were there, the productivity plummeted when we were not. So, visits resumed and I decided to do something helpful with the time I was spending in the building: I ran searches.
Ranger wasn't aware of my actions at first. I had simply taken to hanging out in the spare cubicle with which ever Merry Men were in possession of my babies at the time, that's what it seemed like. Laura would either sit at the desk and colour in and draw, or would wonder from Merry Man to Merry Man observing what they were doing. The men got a kick out of this and it meant that she wasn't constantly in my hair. On occasion, when Ranger wasn't doing his boss thing and 'running' from meeting to meeting all day, Laura would shadow her father, but generally, it was me or the men.
It took Ranger nearly two months to realise that I was running searches under the radar, at which point he immediately put me on the payroll (why, I don't know, he was the boss and I was his wife. What was the point of transferring the money from him to me via official channels when he could just give it to me when I needed it like a regular family? Then I realised that he didn't want to take away my independence. The money I 'earned' from running searches was primarily or myself, I was told. And so I did what nearly every parent did in that situation, I spent my first pay check on necessities for the house and kids. I was further reprimanded for my behaviour and told to go buy some shoes... clothes... jewellery... anything, so long as it cost the equivalent of what I had spent on the house and kids. My life was so hard).
"Go get dressed and we can get going," I told Laura, knowing that she would have no trouble choosing or putting on her clothes since she had been alternating two outfits since Ranger left on his mission. She'd had enough practice dressing herself in them. Today was the pink denim ra-ra skirt with the matching bolero jacket and pink and purple horizontal stripe t-shirt. Tomorrow would be the black overalls and red t-shirt that both had "RangeMan" embroidered on them. This outfit was the product of begging on Laura's part, kind hearted enthusiasm on Ella's part and resignation on Ranger's part. He hated the idea of his little girl wearing a uniform, but he loved seeing her in it none the less.
When we arrived on the control floor Laura literally flung herself into the lap of the first available Rangeman she could find. Today it happened to be Bobby, who was on monitor duty (as a general rule, whoever was on monitor duty was the person she flung herself at first, because they were always the closest to the elevator door). Bobby put down his coffee as soon as he heard the doors ping open and moved far enough out of the way of everything that Laura wouldn't hit any of her appendages on anything that would cause her harm.
"Where's Daddy?" she asked him at once.
"On a secret mission," Bobby replied, an air of mystery inching into his voice.
"Where?" she persisted.
"I can't tell you, it's a secret."
"You don't know." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. She'd ultimately resigned herself to these answers, but couldn't break the habit of asking. "When will Daddy be home?"
"When he gets here."
"When's that?"
"Later."
"When's later?"
"Not now."
"Why?"
"Because if later were right now you wouldn't be asking me these silly questions, you'd be hugging you Daddy so hard that his head popped open and a Mariachi band sprang out."
"What's that?"
"A musical group."
"Okay."
Laura turned around on Bobby's lap to watch the monitors with him and I made my way to my cubicle, with Emmanuel on my hip and Bailey toddling along beside me. Lester was there waiting for us, a huge smile on his face. I immediately grew suspicious of his intentions as I set Em down on the floor and put the child gate up in the doorway, not that this prevented Bailey from getting out, I swear, she's more Houdini than anything else.
"What?" I asked, drawing out the word for several seconds to let him know that I was wary.
"Guess who we got word from early this morning," he teased, waving a discoloured envelope in front of my face like a carrot in front of a donkey.
"Da?" Bailey suggested from the floor where she was pulling out the blocks from the box beside the file cabinet.. There was no doubting that she was a Daddy's girl all the way. Every second of her day was spent asking after her father.
"Got it in one my favourite little niece!" Lester exclaimed was Em tugged on my pants leg. I ignored him, but Lester scooped him up into his arms and tickled him energetically. Em made one of the only sounds I'd ever heard him make, apart from screaming; he giggled. It was the sound of angels, I swear. It always brought a smile to my face.
"Don't let Laura hear you say that," I warned, dropping my handbag into the bottom draw of the pile cabinet and tucking the back pack with everything in it into the negative space under the chair Lester was sat in. "So what's the latest?"
Lester stopped tickling long enough to hand me the envelope he had been waving about, before turning my child upside down and dangling her in front of his face. A myriad of comments followed, including, but not limited to, "You're face is all weird, since when is your nose above your eyes," and "You're hair's standing on end."
I recognised the handwriting at once and quickly tore it open.
Steph,
I know Laura's been pestering everyone for details of my whereabouts, it's just her nature, so first off: Laura, I am somewhere near STOP-ASKING-EVERY-TWELVE-SECONDS-YOU'RE-DRIVING-MY-COMPANY-NUTS! Second, I love you all and I can't wait until I'm back there with you. I don't have a lot of time as there is a man willing to take this letter to the nearest village for me, but he must leave in the next half hour. All the men with families are sitting around me, frantically scribbling messages of love and assurance to their loved ones. There's so much love in the air right now that it's making me feel like I want to cry. I'm now wishing I hadn't just written that, because now there are actual tears in my eyes, and if I'm not careful they'll spill over and smudge this note. Now, don't you cry, it won't do any good and you'll make the men worry. There's at least one with you right now.
I'll be home the moment I can. Hug the kids for me and make sure they don't grow up too much while I'm away.
Love forever
Carlos.
Tears were streaming down my face when I finished, despite him telling my explicitly not to cry. By this time Em was seated on Lester's knee watching me. There was a confused look on her face as she stared up at me.
"Is everything alright, Beautiful?" Lester asked as I fell backwards into the empty seat. "Is the boss man okay?"
"Ma?" Bailey enquired from the floor.
"He's fine as of two weeks ago," I sobbed. Em reached out for me and Lester lifted him and held him toward me. I took him into my arms and buried my head in his shoulder, still teary. "Daddy loves you baby," I told him, a lump in my throat. "He loves you so much."
"Da home," came a demanding little voice from down by my knee.
I lifted my head to see Bailey standing there, beseeching eyes gazing up at me. A shaky laugh escaped me. "No, honey, he's not home. He just sent a letter to let us know how much he loves and misses us."
"Da home!" she insisted, jiggling a little.
"I know you want Daddy home, but we have to wait." She didn't like that answer and let me know how much by toddling over to the gate and rattling it violently. I simply turned my chair around and adjusted Emmanuel on my lap so that he could watch as I started up my first search. He knew well enough not to touch any of the buttons, but that didn't stop him from reaching longing for the keys on occasion. He was as curious as the day was long, his sisters doubly so. I had hoped it would wear off as she got older, but apparently, the genes were too strong. Laura just could not be stopped. Fingers crossed it wasn't the same with the twins.
"This isn't fair," Lester complained from behind me, both of us ignoring the continued bashing of the gate. "You had them all to yourself last night and this morning. It's my turn." He spun me around mid type and seized the child from my lap. I didn't mind. "Were you a good boy for your mama last night?"
Emmanuel nodded and opened his mouth as if to say something only to be cut off by his overly vocal sister.
"Da!" she demanded, having managed to move the gate enough to squeeze her way out of the cubicle. "Da! Da! Da! Da! Da!" She must have been stopped by one of the men, because she squealed and started babbling in protest.
I pushed off the desk and rolled over to the doorway to check on her. Tank had her by the ankles, dangling her above his head so that they were eye to eye... sort of. She was squirming of course.
"What are you doing to my kid?" I exclaimed, mock indignation lacing my tone.
"I'm not sure," he grinned. "It sounded like a good idea at the time. What do you think?"
"Certainly seems like fun," I agreed thoughtfully, a grin playing on my own lips. "How does it feel for you?"
"Feels great, but she's kinda slipping..." He momentarily let go of her ankles before gabbing her around the waist and flipping her so that she was seated on his forearm, giggling as per usual. "You, kiddo," he went on, addressing Bailey. "Have got to come with me for a moment. We're gonna do something real fun. As I gave questioning looks, Tank whisked her off down the hall to his office. Lester following behind with a silent, but smiling Em on his shoulders.
When I was alone in my cubicle I let out a sigh of relief. I hadn't had any time alone since the weekend Lester had taken Laura camping and Ella had offered to mind the twins for the day. Needless to say, the feeling was a little foreign, but not unwanted. I leaned back in my chair and revelled in the freedom I temporarily had. Propping my feet on the desk, something I would never allow the kids to do, I closed my eyes and must have drifted off, because the next thing I knew, Ella was waking me with a cup of coffee and a BLT.
"Lunch, dear, you need to eat," she told me when I startled into an upright position.
"Where are the kids?" I asked, remembering that they were here with me... somewhere...
"They're with Lester and Tank in his office. I've not seen hide or hair of them in a couple of hours."
I was curious as to what was going on in there, but knew that I would never find out. Once Tank took the kids into his office there was nothing that could penetrate the confidence that was instilled there. If I didn't know better I'd be suspicious of his intentions.
As much as I knew it was useless, I crept up to the door to eavesdrop. I had just made it within three feet of the door when Laura thrust it open and stood there with her hands on her hips and a stern, Ranger-like expression on her face. Behind her Bailey mimicked the stance as best she could. They both pursed their lips and pointed toward my cubicle. I took the hint and turned tail.
Back in my cubicle, I devoured my BLT in a series of large bites followed by ungraceful, food-falling-out-the-corner-of-my-mouth chews. It left a pile of scraps on the plate that seemed almost as big as the original sandwich, so I quickly scooped them into my mouth before chewing ungracefully once again. I was glad I had hurried through lunch when there was a commotion out in the main area.
Ever since Ranger had been gone, arguments had been sprouting up about the most insignificant things you could imagine. They were worse than the kids at times, if you can believe it. I made my way out to the large, normally empty, carpeted space in the middle of the comm. centre to find a ring of enormous muscled men all calling out and jeering. I caugt a glimpse of a pair of grappling figures in the centre and pushed myself through to the inside. Pulling the whistle out from down my shirt where I stashed it habitually, I stuck it in my mouth, held my hands up and blew out a lungful of air. The circle of men were silenced at once and stood at attention, the grappling pair fell to their backsides and were looking up at me rather dazedly.
"What are the rules?" I asked in my authoritative voice.
"No fighting, arguing, grappling, or otherwise showing violence or negative energy on the comm.. floor," they all recited in perfect, rumbling harmony.
"And?"
"All disagreements are to be taken directly to Steph ("Bomber," I heard a few of them substitute) to be resolved in an orderly fashion. If you require a physical encounter with the other party a gym time will be appointed to you."
"So?" The ring dispersed, leaving the guys on the floor staring sullenly at the carpet. I stood over them in the power stance I had perfected in recent weeks (it worked on the guys as well as the kids). "What do you have to say for yourselves?" I prompted.
"Sorry for disturbing the office's positive energy flow," they mumbled dutifully, still gazing at the floor.
I took the, into Ranger's office and closed the door, making sure they sat separated; one on the couch against the wall, the other in one of the visitors chairs near the desk. I planted my ass on the polished wooden surface in between the laptop and the "In" tray. They kept their eyes averted in shame, or embarrassment, I wasn't sure which, but I was strictly forbidden to see either emotion on their faces according to guy code. "What happened?" I asked.
"He was making lewd comments about my baby sister!" Hal exclaimed from the chair, and while it was clearly an exclamation, it was only loud enough that we, in the room, could hear.
"I was just saying that she looked nice in her prom dress," Junior defended.
"Oh, and I suppose sweet luscious ass was just you admiring the fall of the skirt?" Hal retaliated.
"It was in conjunction with it."
"Bullshit!"
They shot such comments back and forth for several minutes until they seemed like they were going to pounce at each other again and I blew the whistle to bring it to a halt.
"Sorry, Steph," they both muttered as they fell silent, staring back down at the floor once more.
"If this is going to continue to happen I'm going to have to talk to the tech department about filtering websites so that anything not work related, like Facebook, will be banned. Do you want that do happen?" They shook their head obediently. "Well then, you," I pointed a finger at Junior, "Keep your comments to yourself. And you," I turned the fearsome finger on Hal, "Tell Kimmi safeguard her profile so that only her friends can view her photos if you're that worried about it. I don't want to have to keep breaking up these silly squabbles, are we clear?"
"Yes, Steph."
"Good, now get back to work."
They left quickly and without a word, leaving me in the silent solitude that was my husbands' office. I sat down behind the desk and fired up the computer to leave today's note. I'd made a habit of coming in here once a day and leaving a short note about how things were going, sometimes adding in a few little tidbits that had been bothering me, always ending with assuring Ranger that I loved him. They were all in a document, complete with photos of the kids, marked "URGENT: Read Me!" It would be the first thing he did when he got to his office after returning; it wasn't like he could miss it, it was the only icon on the desktop. I knew he would be grateful for the informal running commentary of his time away. Progress reports bored even him to death.
"Mummy?" came Laura's voice from the doorway. Can't run, can't hide. "Whatcha doin'?"
"Leaving a not for when Daddy gets back," I replied, adding the time and date to the end of today's entry and saving the document. "Why? What's wrong?"
She came around to my side of the desk and looked deeply into my eyes. "Nothing's wrong with me. What's wrong with you?" She continued gazing into my eyes as she waited for an answer.
"Nothing's wrong, sweetheart, but you're freaking me out a little with your staring. Are you sure everything's okay?" Her only reply was a short nod as she hoisted herself up so that her torso was lying on Ranger's desk and her feet were dangling. She grabbed the family photo from the corner and let herself drop back to the floor with a thud. I wrapped my arms around her middle so she couldn't get away, as I knew she had intended to do. "Where are you going with that?" I asked.
"Uncle Tank needs it," she informed me, spinning in my arms to hug and kiss me. "Love you, Mummy. Don't come near Uncle Tank's office."
"Let me guess: Top Secret Business?"
"Yup." She grinned, planted another kiss on my cheek and wriggled free of my grasp.
If you like what you see, please review. If no one reviews I shan't continue.