6 months later…

Tank shuffled the papers on his desk and sighed. He rubbed his hand over of head, wishing he had hair just so he could pull it out in frustration. Ranger was still gone, but had been making his check-ins. Ranger had actually been able to call twice while gone and the first time, he only spoke with Stephanie. The second call came when Steph was out of the office at a doctor's appointment with Bobby, so Tank was able to talk to him. He thought the job would be over within a few weeks and that call had come about five weeks ago. He hated paperwork and Ranger knew it. Sometimes he thought the man left for these jobs just to dump all of the paperwork on him.

Life with a pregnant Stephanie was a challenge. Bobby had been made aware of the baby soon after Steph and Ranger found out about it. She had a bit of a problem with morning sickness, but it was almost gone by the time Ranger left on the job. The baby was doing great, growing on schedule, but there was one complication for Steph. Being Ranger's child, the baby only liked it when Steph ate healthy. Anytime she ate sweets, such as donuts or cake, she would become ill, usually throwing up and having horrible indigestion. No one mentioned it in front of Steph because her hormones were out of whack and anything could set her off crying, but when she wasn't in the room, they laughed at the irony of the situation.

Bobby took Ranger's place and went to appointments with Steph. He was there for all of the testing and held her hand during the ultrasounds. He was there to wipe her tears when she found out the sex of the baby. He held her when she cried about Ranger missing out on everything with this baby, just as he missed out with Julie. After the first time she said this, he got Hector on it and he was able to put together a video of her appointments and got copies of the ultrasounds and strung them together so they could run as one video. Bobby made sure to take a picture of Steph standing sideways in front of Ranger's office door each week holding a sign with how many weeks pregnant she was at that time. The guys were making sure that Ranger would know everything that he missed.

The guys had helped Steph put together a dinner for both sets of parents. Not only did Steph break the news of the baby, but when her mother started to say something about them not being married, Steph dropped the other surprise. A few weeks before Ranger left, he and Steph and gone to the beach for a long weekend and had gotten married. They were married privately on the beach with only Tank, Lester and Bobby as their witnesses. It was done in the manner that they wanted and not how their mothers would have insisted. After sharing that news, both mothers jumped at the chance to help Stephanie however they could. The guys worked with Rangers dad and brothers to remodel their apartment, adding more bedrooms and bathrooms. The entire top floor of the building was now their apartment, as before it only took up about half of the floor. Steph was worried how Ranger would react, but Tank reassured her that he had talked about remodeling even before they found out about the baby.

The moms and Ella put together a baby shower for Steph and they held it in the remodeled apartment. The guys were invited, but once they found out what went on at baby showers, they all declined. However, they did make an appearance once Ella notified them that the presents were being opened. Tank opened the door to the apartment and led the parade of men in black. Lester and Bobby were the last two to arrive and were each carrying a large present covered in a blanket. They set it down in front of Stephanie and Bobby said, "Steph, all of us, your Merry Men, went together and got you this. It wasn't on your registry but we hope you like it." He pulled off the blanket and Stephanie gasped. In front of her stood a wooden cradle and rocking chair. The rocking chair had a cushion on it and a yellow handmade blanket over the back of it. The cradle had another handmade blanket and a few stuffed toys. She ran her hands over the wood and looked up at the guys with tears running down her face.

"Oh God, she's crying. Tank, you said she'd like them but she's crying," Lester said. Bobby smacked him on the back of the head and said, "Stupid, she loves them. Those are happy tears. I thought by now you'd know the difference in her crying." Steph looked at them and smiled, even though the tears were still running down her face. "Guys, I love them." Bobby said, "Most of the work was done by Cal and Hal, but we all did a bit so we could say we built them." She gasped and said, "You made these?" She kept running her hands over the wood and said, "These are the most beautiful pieces of work I've ever seen. I'm so lucky to have you guys. I love you all so much. Thank you." Lester helped her stand up and she went around to all of the guys and hugged and kissed them. Cal and Hal got the biggest hugs and extra kisses to the point where they both turned fire red from blushing.

Everyone came over to admire the cradle and chair and starting talking to Cal and Hal about making other things for them. Steph had Tank put them in her and Ranger's bedroom. Once the baby was big enough to sleep in its own room and crib, she'd move the chair there, but the cradle was only for her and Ranger's bedroom. After the women all left, the guys helped clean up and put things away for Steph. The guys trickled out of the apartment as the evening went on and soon it was just Steph, Tank and Lester left. The guys were sitting on opposite ends of the couch with Steph laying on her side, with her head on one lap and her feet on the other. As they watched a movie, her feet were rubbed and her hair was played with by the guys. About twenty minutes into the movie, they noticed she had fallen asleep. Les set her feet down on the couch and went to get a blanket and covered her. He helped Tank put a pillow under her head after Tank slipped out from under her. They turned off the television, and left a lamp on low so she wasn't totally in the dark. As they walked out of the apartment, Lester said, "Man, he better get his ass home soon. I don't want to watch her deliver the baby, that's his job."