AN: Hey everyone! Sorry for the lapse in updates! I work retail, so the holiday shopping just wore me out. This chapter was intended for a different turn, but the emotional start of it just seemed like it had to play out a bit. Hope y'all enjoy it!

Chapter 2

When the Parents Are Away the Kids Will Play

Cami came bounding down the stairs the next morning. To her it had been the best 4th of July ever! Even if she hadn't had a date, she'd gotten to see her older sister again. Plus, she figured Elise would have some knowledge of how Dad worked since she had been in the Army Rangers too. That was her theory and she was sticking to it.

"Morning Julie!" She chirped brightly as she came into the kitchen. Julie waved at her. Cami paused by the fridge to study her sister. She was hunched over nursing a cup of coffee. Alan walked into the kitchen and leaned down to kiss Julie's shoulder.

"Where's Elise?" Cami asked. "I didn't see her go to her room last night."

"Elise…is…" Julie shrugged. "In the wind."

"What?" Cami's voice rose. "She just said last night she was done! How could she tell us that and then suddenly disappear! That's just so mean!"

Alan looked at Julie who was giving him a look that said to help her. He held up his hands and backed away. He quickly exited the beach house and took off for his run. He wasn't going to get into that mess.

"Cami, keep your voice down." CJ yawned as he shuffled past her. "You could wake the dead, which is Mom usually."

"Elise is gone again!"

"Cami, relax—" Julie started.

"No!" Cami shook her head. "I want Elise to come back! This isn't fair!"

"What is going on?"

All three of them looked at Ranger and Stephanie as they stepped into the dining room looking disheveled.

"Daddy, Elise is in the wind again!" Cami cried looking precariously close to tears.

"What?" Stephanie looked surprised. "I thought she was done."

"She is." Julie ground out rubbing her head. "Cami just won't let me explain."

"Fine. Explain." Cami said.

Julie sighed and looked at her littlest sister. "Elise deals with a lot of shit wherever they send her. She can't let her emotions get in the way of what her job is. They go on a back burner. It gets pent up. She used to stop here and lie low to regroup before she'd fly back to Trenton to be with you guys."

"Why can't she do that here?"

"Dad." Julie closed her eyes and rested her head on the counter. God she was exhausted. She had had a blast the previous day and the night had been spent with Alan. It had been so intense she wasn't sure she was going to recover any time soon.

"Cami, we're not exactly quiet." Ranger said gently. "Soldiers can come home on edge." He looked at Stephanie both of them remembering the first time Elise had come home from a mission. She had looked drained; both of them noticed when she stepped in the house. She had maintained a carefree, boisterous attitude with her brother and sister, but Ranger could see she was still on edge. That night, he'd seen how much she put on her back burner. CJ had been sneaking in from a date. He'd been careless and knocked over a large, priceless vase. The vase had been sitting outside Elise's room. She'd come out of her room gun at the ready. When they had gotten to her, Ranger could see her eyes unfocused and unsure of where she was. He'd had to bark at her like he would have to one of his men when he'd been in the service. It had snapped her out of it, and she realized where she was.

"Is that still bothering her?" Stephanie asked softly.

Julie lifted her head. "Not always. Usually she'll sleep it off in a night. Then you'd never know she'd gone to hell, as she puts it. There've been a few times where she's slept three or four days straight, but those are usually far between each other." She shrugged slightly. "She figured it was safer to go crash at—elsewhere for last night. She didn't think she'd need to be gone more than one night."

"Oh…" Cami tilted her head as she thought of what her dad and sister told her. It all made sense, sort of. She knew she really wouldn't understand because she wasn't a soldier and didn't plan to be one, but she could understand the need to decompress and be alone for a bit. "And I bet Trevor had something to do with that." She said out loud without realizing it.

Julie nodded and smiled. "Yeah, probably."

Cami came and sat across from Julie at the breakfast bar. "She's going to be hell to live with while he's gone, isn't she?"

"Yeah."

"Well, then we'll just have to snap her out of it!" Cami decided with a grin.

Ranger and Stephanie exchanged a concerned look. Things were never a good thing when their youngest got that determined look in her eye.

…

True to what Julie had said Elise only spent one night in the wind. When she arrived at her parents place later in the afternoon she felt refreshed. It was easier this way, she thought. She had a better sense of herself after allowing herself to go into her emotions on the whole thing. She was calm, collected and more herself. Her heart was squeezing painfully whenever she thought of Trevor. She had never been on the side where she waited for him to come home. It was unusual. He hadn't been gone twenty-four hours, but the antsy feeling was creeping around her. She wasn't sure she liked it.

"Elise!" CJ called over to her when he spotted her coming out of her jeep. She angled her head and walked over to where he was. She didn't know why he was on the side of the house.

Rounding the corner she found all three of her siblings there. Cami was bouncing up and down looking like she was about to burst from excitement. Julie and CJ were looking amused and mischievous.

"Mom and Dad are going to dinner tonight with Ron and Rachel." Cami said grinning. "So we're going to a bar!"

"Cami, you're not old enough." Julie chuckled.

"Not with my real ID." She said smugly. Reaching into her back pocket she pulled out an ID. The four of them crowded around to look at it.

"Damn! That's a really good fake!" CJ sounded impressed.

"I know!" Cami was proud of herself. "So, since we're all being legal…"

"I don't know, Cami…" CJ looked torn. On the one hand, this was his baby sister. He would do anything to protect her. He would do anything for Julie and Elise, but Cami was the baby. The other hand weighed the fact that she was his sister and it was bound to pull out some sibling confidentiality.

"Oh, please!" Cami whispered. "You snuck out way more times than I have when you were a teenager! At least I'm trying to do this with my family! Besides, Uncle Tank, Lester, Bobby, Seth, AJ…they all took you drinking. I don't get to have that kind of fun!"

"She's right." Elise said leaning against the wall of the house taking off her sunglasses. She took Cami's ID from her and looked at it. It was really good. "It'd be a shame for us not to put this ID to good use tonight."

The grin that Cami let off brought grins from the other three. Yeah. They were going to have a lot of fun tonight.

Elise let herself into the house to find Ranger and Stephanie waiting for her. "Um…hi?"

Stephanie laughed. "What? Are you sneaking in from a date?"

"Depends. Am I in trouble?"

"We're just checking on you." Stephanie smiled and hugged her. "Julie mentioned that you stop here first before heading home when you're finished with your missions. I wanted to make sure you're okay."

"I'm good." Elise shrugged. "Did what I had to, now I'm me again." She could see her parents searching her face. Finally she let her mask drop. "Alright, I'm not as good as I'd like to be, but it comes with the territory, right? Usually sleep is key for me, but I don't think I'm digging the fact that Trevor is out there and I'm…here. So the adjustment made for a rough night, but I finally got where I needed to be."

She blinked as she found herself incased in a hug from both her parents. One hugged her because she knew how it felt to not know if the person you loved was coming home or not. The other hugged her because he knew what she had gone through and knew that she would never forget what she'd seen. Elise's eyes filled and she felt herself shudder slightly from a repressed sob. The hug only got tighter, letting her know she was home and she was safe.

"So," Stephanie smiled when they broke apart, "What are all of you up to this evening?"

Elise gave a thoughtful look. "We're talking movies and pizza. A quiet night is in order after the loudness of yesterday. It could be fun."

"Pizza and movies are definitely fun." Stephanie nodded. "Now, where are you really going?"

"Pizza and movies." Elise repeated.

"Elise." Ranger tried hard to look serious.

She raised her eyebrows. "Dad."

"Answer your mother."

"I already did." She replied nonchalantly.

"With the truth."

Elise kept silent for several minutes then said. "I'm sorry, but I have to plead Sibling Confidentiality."

"Sibling Confidentiality?" Both repeated.

"Yup." She nodded as she walked away. Glancing over her shoulder she called, "You both have siblings. I'm sure you know what that entails."

Stephanie blinked for several minutes before turning to Ranger. "What the hell just happened?"

"I do believe we were told to mind our own business." Ranger said with a floored look.

"You know those four aren't up to any good if they won't spill." She said. Ranger leaned back against the couch and pulled his wife to him. He reached up, tucking a curl behind her ear. He kissed her thoroughly.

"No," He said, kissing her again, his hands roaming, "But there are trackers on all the cars in the driveway. We'll catch them."

Stephanie's eyes fluttered closed as she moaned, leaning forward to him. "Carlos…" With the realization that the kids could walk in any moment she got flustered and put a foot of distance between her and Ranger. She grinned wickedly at him. "You are a bad, bad man!"

"Yeah," He caught her and brought her to him. Whispering in her ear he said, "But it's one of the many reasons you love me."

"Perhaps." She kissed him lightly, then stepped out of his embrace. "And tag. You're it."

Ranger gave a wolf grin as his wife took off running from him toward their bedroom. In seconds he was running after her. They swung into the bedroom, the door getting kicked shut and locked. Stephanie laughed as he caught her and threw her onto the bed.

While they were loving one another as they had so many times over the years, their children were busy removing all the trackers on one of the SUVs.

…

Elise and Julie looked surprised as their littlest sister came out of her bedroom. If they didn't know better, they would've sworn Cami looked like she was in her twenties. Even CJ was looking surprised. Her blue eyes always contrasted against her skin, but her make up made her eyes stand out even more. Her wavy hair was curled up more than usual. She had on black jeans and a corset shirt that hugged her perfectly. Added to that were the FMP shoes she was wearing.

"What?" Cami laughed. "I can look hot."

"We know." Elise laughed. "Has Dad seen this side of you?"

"If he had, do you think he'd be letting her out of the house?" CJ asked. "I've got half a mind to lock her up for him."

Julie laughed. "You do that, we'll lock you up where you'll never be able to touch a woman again."

"And I'm an Army Ranger." Elise grinned evilly at him. "I can make it so you have no idea where you're at."

CJ paled at the thought of either threat. He was relatively certain they were only kidding. He hoped.

"Let's go!" Cami said grabbing her purse. She glanced back at her sisters. Elise was wearing jeans and a tank top with heeled boots. Her curly hair stopped just below her chin. You could hardly tell she had been in the army, Cami reflected. Julie was wearing jeans also, but with granny style boots that were mostly covered by the flare of her jeans. Like her sisters, she was wearing a tank. She also had a gun concealed on her leg. You just never knew.

And CJ…well, Cami was relatively certain they weren't coming home with him. She loved her brother, but she could see the man-whore he'd turn into when women were around.

Their drive was a relaxed silence. They had been able to sit comfortably with each other without talking for years. Occasionally they did it because they knew that it made Ranger and Stephanie nervous that they'd all be so quiet in the same room. Other times it was just nice to have the companionship of each other without talking.

The bar was busy, but comfortable. They gave the outside bouncer their IDs. The normally stoic man got slightly flustered when Cami flashed him a winning smile and thanked him warmly.

"Careful, Cami." CJ chuckled throwing an arm around her. "You're going to have every man in here drooling over you and buying your drinks."

"Really? That's awfully sweet of them!" Cami grinned.

"Yeah, but if you decide to get drunk, don't expect to wake up at the beach house." Julie laughed. "We're not letting you go back there drunk."

"I won't, I promise!"

They sat at a table and ordered their drinks. They were talking amiably, teasing each other and just enjoying each other's company. They had been there for about an hour when a voice said, "Well, well, well. What do we have here but the tribe of Manoso kids?"