Chapter 2! Now, chapter one left many questions for you, but I will say this, they'll be answered as the story progresses! Just wait. Anyways, I'm feeling happy, so two chapters in one day!

Warnings: none

Disclaimer in chapter 1

This is unbetaed so any mistakes are my own! :P

ENJOY!

The Mercenary's Daughter

Chapter 2

Stir Crazy

"She's so precious," Ella said, as she held the infant in her arms, "I know your poor mother fought tooth and nail to keep you, I understand the sacrifice…"

Carlos gave Ella a look of thanks and said, "What would I do without you, Ella. Heidi woke up in the middle of the night and she wouldn't go back to sleep, I check her diaper and tried to feed her, but she wouldn't stop crying."

"It's alright, Carlos," Ella said as she walked around the living room of Carlos's penthouse, "Babies do this all the time at this age, they cry, sometimes, for the attention, come here, let me show you how to calm her down."

Carlos got up, dressed in only a pair of snug pajama bottoms and took Heidi from Ella, who instructed him to gently pat the baby's back gently and walk around. Babies loved movement, and they loved the contact of their parents. Ella recommended that Carlos take off Heidi's one piece and hold her to his bare skin, so she could bond with him.

"I'm sorry to have woken you up, Ella," Carlos tried to apologize, but Ella waved him off.

"No, it's alright, " Ella said, leaning up and patting Carlos's cheek, "You're a new father and you have a lot to learn, now, Heidi's calm and I'll go back to sleep, have a good night's rest, Carlos."

Carlos walked around the penthouse, bouncing the small body lightly and making his way to the bedroom. He looked around the room and then asked, "Do you think a penthouse is a good place to raise you in, Heidi?"

In the dim light, Carlos could see that Heidi was wide awake, her eyes unfocused but alert and sharp. She was kicking her legs and arms, dressed in a thin one piece. Carlos had turned the heat up in the penthouse, before he put Heidi down to sleep. The crib and the other baby things he ordered would arrive in the morning, so in the meantime, Heidi was sleeping in a little fort, made by Carlos in the middle of the large bed Carlos slept in. That left another problem for Carlos, where would he put all the baby stuff?

When he created the penthouse on the seventh floor of Rangeman, it wasn't built to house a child. It was a place for him to rest his head and for him to think. He wasn't a homey type of man, he usually got calls in the middle of the night from Uncle Sam, and was off like the shadow of the night. The penthouse screamed man, with black furnishings and sliver accents. It lacked personal touches, because he didn't have very much to begin with and it was almost generic. The penthouses that were in Rangeman Miami and Boston were almost identical to the one in Trenton.

Carlos shook his head and said, in a soft voice, "You'll be fine here for a bit, but then, I'll look for a home for us."

Carlos sat down on the edge of the bed and looked down at his daughter. Even after having her for nearly one full day, he couldn't believe it. He was a father, well he was a father before this incident, but he was a legit father, he would be taking care of this tiny creature for next several years. As he looked down at her small frame, he could see bits and pieces of him in her. She had the shape of his eyes, she had his nose and she had dimples, which he could see, whenever she gave him that not so smile. Her tiny fingers would grow into his long pianist fingers and she'll have his chin. She was a beautiful baby, she was his baby.

"Okay, Quedria," Carlos said softly, laying Heidi down in the middle of the fort he built for her, "Time for bed, give me at least three hours to sleep, before you cry."

Carlos ran a hand over Heidi's small tummy before he lay down beside her. He tried to go to sleep, but he couldn't because he was afraid that she might move in her sleep, she might roll off the bed or something else. What if she hurt herself while sleeping, and he couldn't help her because he was sleeping?

That thought alone prevented Carlos from falling asleep again. He kept watch over his child, who fell asleep the instant she was laid on the bed. Carlos finally managed to get an hour's worth of sleep, before Heidi woke up at 5 in the morning, crying for food and from being wet.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Honestly, I don't know what to do with you, Stephanie, Sarah Wonzski's daughter doesn't get fired from a job because she's too pretty, Sarah Wonzski's daughter is a stay at home wife, raising three kids, while her husband works for a computer company, why did my child have to shame me again."

Stephanie Plum rolled her eyes and as she did, someone beside her whispered, "Sarah Wonzski's daughter looks like a mule, remember when you pointed her out to me, Steph, god…."

Stephanie giggled and turned to slap her friend on the arm saying, "Behave, woman!"

Helen Plum, Stephanie's mother, coughed loudly and said, "Stephanie, I don't see why you had to bring a friend with you to Sunday dinner, usually it's a family thing."

Stephanie shrugged her shoulders and said, "Well, Brittany and I were doing things, you know, before you called, and I can't put my life on hold for a pot roast."

"Yeah," Stephanie's friend, Brittany exclaimed, holding up a glass of wine, "As her bestest friend and her personal attorney, I cannot simply leave my friend in her time of need. We were going over litigation to sue Stephanie's former employee, because she was fired under false and illegal pretenses."

"This sounds like a good lifetime movie!" Edna Plum said, leaning back in her seat, "My beautiful granddaughter, fired by her boss, because he hit on her and she said no to his advances and so she'll fight him in court, now, ain't that a pip!"

Frank Plum turned to his child and asked, "Did he put his hands on you?"

"He tried to, but I got him in the balls," Stephanie said, earning a head nod from Frank.

"Good, glad you took care of the problem," Frank said before going back to eating his meal.

"Well, what are you going to do about a job?" Edna asked Stephanie, earning a shrug from the woman.

"Who knows," Stephanie sighed, leaning back in her seat, "I still get alimony, the money I got from the divorce settlement is thriving from the investments I got, maybe I won't work and enjoy my free time."

"Or, maybe you could go and get married," Helen said, quickly, chugging her wine, "You know, that handsome boy, Joe Morelli is-"

"Oh no," Stephanie said waving her hands in front of her, "No Joe, Mother, I'm sorry, but he's out of the question!"

She had heard from her grandmother that Joe Morelli had moved back to Trenton from LA, when his Aunt Rose died and left her house to the man. She hadn't seen Joe in a long time, not since they were 18, when she ran him over with her father's Buick and broke his leg. She should have done more because thanks to him, she had gotten a bad rep in the neighborhood for being loose. The tasty pastry incident was still fresh in her mind even after 11 years. She wouldn't kill Joe, if she saw him, but she would do things to him that weren't ethical.

"You should have tried harder with Dickie, he's a lawyer, he would have taken care of you," Helen said, earning a snort from Stephanie, Brittany, Edna and Frank.

"He was taking care of his little prick, banging the town slut, Helen," Edna said, waving her fork, "Thank goodness Stephanie met this lawyer here, she made sure Dickie was left penniless and paying alimony."

"Yeah," Stephanie said, pushing her plate away, "I don't want to talk about that, okay, you know what, Brittany and I have some things to attend to, maybe coming over to Sunday dinner was a bad thing, come on Brittany, we need to leave."

"Gotcha!" Brittany said, getting up from the table, not before snagging a dinner roll, "Well, see you everyone, Edna, stay beautiful, Frank don't eat too much, Helen, I'll bring you a bottle of whiskey…"

"Come on you," Stephanie said, grabbing her friend's wrist and leading her out the room, "Bye Grandma Mazur, bye Daddy, bye mother, see you all later."

When the two women were in Brittany's dark blue Lexus, they both heaved a sigh of relief and leaned back in the soft seats of the car.

"Man, your mother was on you like a hornet, she's like a dog with a bone about you not being married, what's up with that?" Brittany asked, as she started the car up.

"She's the queen of the 'Burg," Stephanie said, with a causal eye roll, "it makes her look bad, if I'm not married."

"These close knit communities sure are scary," Brittany said, as she drove out of the 'Burg, "It's like the Stepford Wives, but worse."

Stephanie let out a sound and laid back in the leather seat of Brittany's car. Brittany drove for 15 minutes, humming along to her music, before she stopped in front of Stephanie's condo, pulling into the narrow driveway and stopping behind a bright red Mazda Miata. Stephanie got out of Brittany's car and said, "Hey, I was lying about the important things, I'm going to head in, take a shower and maybe pig out on ice cream, you head off."

"I figured as much, but that sounds way better than listening to your mother whine about your hardening ovaries," Brittany said, giving Stephanie a finger salute, "Okay, smell you later, I'll by this week, with some information, and for heaven's sake, Stephanie, don't go stir crazy."

"I won't Stephanie said, as she walked up to her front door and unlocked it, "Promise!"

Brittany drove away from Stephanie's condo and Stephanie entered inside, closing the door and locking it. She kicked off her shoes and made her way into the master bathroom. She took a long luxurious shower and spent an extra five minutes under the spray, using the shower massager. 20 minutes later she was curled up on her couch, eating ice cream and watching a stupid lifetime movie, bemoaning her situation.

She had worked for six years, at lingerie business, buying and selling lingerie for stores and companies. She made good money and enjoyed her job, but two months ago, her boss, an old fart, began to hit on her, asking her out on dates and promising things to her, if she did go out. When she rejected him, the first few times he threatened her, afterwards, he singled her out, harassing her and then he fired her on false pretenses. Lucky for Stephanie, She had a good friend who was an excellent lawyer and so, three days after being fired, Brittany showed up at E.E Martin's with a hefty lawsuit.

It wasn't like Stephanie needed the money, she had plenty of it, but…she just needed a job to keep busy. She needed to do something to prevent herself from going crazy. Maybe she should pick up a hobby, or maybe start her own business. Brittany kept telling her that she could make her own lingerie, so why not do it now, she was sound moneywise and she was about to have more money soon, because Brittany never lost a case. She would call up Brittany in the morning, and tell her the good news, Stephanie Plum was going to open up her own Lingerie shop, right here in Trenton!

Take that, Helen Plum!

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"You know, when I told you to go out and find a bird," Lester said off handedly, bouncing Heidi in his arms, "I meant a bird that you can fuck, not a baby for you to raise!"

"Don't be so loud," Tank hissed, watching Lester bounce Heidi, "She's finally asleep, do you know how long she's been crying, hours."

Carlos nodded his head and said, "Besides, Santos, it's not as if I wanted to become a father, but…her mother is gone now, and I'm not about to give my child away to some strangers."

"You never told me about how you got Heidi's mother knocked up," Lester said, as he walked Heidi around in his arms, "When did you get lucky?"

"Remember that mission almost 2 years ago?" Carlos asked, earning a head nod from Lester, "Yeah…"

"Oh…" Lester said softly, looking down at Heidi's sleeping form, "That mission…okay, I see what happened. Now what are you going to do?"

"I need to buy a house soon, and get some legal things situated," Carlos said, looking down at some paperwork, "I have no doubt in my mind, Heidi is my child, and I would like to see to it that things for her will be in place, just in case something happens. I'll call my lawyer about writing her into my will and set up a trust fund for her."

"You mean that lawyer of yours?" Tank asked, his eyes getting a bit wider, "Please, don't have the meeting here, do you remember what happened?"

"Oh yeah, I remember," Lester said, his eyes getting misty, "We should have the meeting here! I don't mind!"

"I'll set the meeting up after hours, so you won't have to worry Tank," Carlos said, earning a sigh of relief from his friend, "I'll call them up at the end of this week, I want to get things done as soon as possible."

Lester laid Heidi in her bouncer and said, "She's cute, gotta give her that, don't worry, Heidi, Uncle Lester is here, if any boys try to make push you in the mud, I'll whip his little ass, okay?"

Carlos could already see his men getting attach to Heidi and he found out, to his surprise, he didn't mind that situation. His daughter was cute and when she wasn't crying, she was silent, looking around at her surroundings, or trying to look, her eyes weren't focusing yet and the baby book Ella bought for him said that she wouldn't be focusing until she was three or four months old, which means Heidi had to be two months old. Carlos would be around to see every milestone and to celebrate every little thing that Heidi did.

A weird feeling bubbled up in Carlos's chest and he almost cracked a smile.

TBC...

Stephanie appears on the horizon! Like I said, though, this is a slow building babe, so enjoy the ride! Please leave a review, They make me write like I'm on speed!