Thank you Amy (Stephfan6511) for all your help with this story... with out you, this probalby still wouldn't have a great name!

Thank you all for the reviews and messages... I hope you'll continue to enjoy my story... don't worry, questions will be answered in time!

Stephanie opened her door and found her living room transformed into a camping site. Almost every blanket she owned had been used as a fort cover; chairs and cardboard boxes made the walls and secret entrances.

Stepping through the door, she saw the babysitter sitting at the kitchen table. Smiling and sneaking past the complex fort, Stephanie made her way to the table and sat down. "Hey, whatcha working on, Lu?"

"Just my paper for English. How was work?"

"It was… great," Stephanie replied as she grabbed the paper from the sitter.

"Was Tank working tonight?" she asked.

Laughing, Stephanie nodded, "Yeah, Lula, he was working tonight."

"Oh man, one of these day's I'm just gonna have to get my courage up and say hi to that fine specimen."

Stephanie tried to stifle her laugh, as she didn't want to wake her son up. "Whose idea for the fort, or do I even need to ask?"

"Oh it was all his. I at least kept him from dragging the blankets off your bed this time. I think he's asleep in the red tower," Lula replied as she packed her books up.

"Thanks for sitting him tonight. I'm off tomorrow, so we'll see you this weekend?" Stephanie asked as she began cleaning up the kitchen.

"Yeah, I'll be here Friday at noon. Me and J Man have some coloring to do," Lula laughed as she checked under the red blanket. Seeing Joshua fast asleep with his thumb in his mouth made her smile, "He's sleeping sound," she said as she grabbed her jacket.

"Thanks, Lu. I'll see you Friday." After Lula left, Stephanie changed into her t-shirt and shorts, grabbed her pillow, and crawled under the red tower to snuggle up with her son. As she brushed his hair out of his face, she kissed his forehead and whispered, "Always remember, you are my I love you," before closing her eyes.

OOO

Fighting back a laugh, Stephanie opened her left eye to find her son prying her right eye open. "J.T., what are you doing?" she asked.

"You wake?" he questioned her.

"I am now," she told him as she pulled him down to her. "And I'm in a tickle mood," she giggled as she began tickling his sides.

"Mommy, stop. I gotta potty," he said through his laughter.

"Are you still dry?" she asked. They had been working on potty training since just before his second birthday and he'd been doing well the past few weeks.

"I dry," he yelled as he moved away from his mother.

Stephanie let him go and watched as he crawled through the fort to run down the hall to the bathroom. While he was in the restroom, Stephanie made her way to the kitchen and began working on pancakes and coffee.

"Panakes?" came the little voice from behind Stephanie.

Turning around, she picked J.T. up, hugged him, and ruffled his blond hair. "Yes, I'm making chocolate chip pancakes this morning."

"YAY!" he squealed as he hugged his mother tight. "Ove you."

"I love you, too, baby." She sat him back down and flipped the pancakes before they burned. Turning around she smiled at her son as she watched him climb up into his booster seat. "Milk or juice?"

"Both?" he asked. She had no idea where he got his appetite from; he had no problems eating his fruits and veggies. Loved his milk and juice; and yet had no problem eating what everyone would consider unhealthy. Yet, he was as healthy as any kid his age and he was full of energy.

When the pancakes were ready, she sat them down on the table and grabbed his milk and juice cups from the fridge. Getting ready to cut up the pancakes, she had to stop when her phone rang.

Looking at the caller id, she laughed when she answered, "Morning, Big Guy. What can I do ya for?"

"Just wanted to make sure you made it home," came Tank's gruff voice.

"Oh please! If you wanted to make sure I made it home, you'd have called ten minutes after I left. What you really wanted to see is if I allowed him to come home with me last night," she scoffed at him.

"Well, is he there?"

"Pierre Joshua Williams, how dare you!" she yelled in the phone. "You know me better than that, or at least I thought you did," she said as she hung up.

J.T. looked at her and asked, "Mr. T make you mad?"

Wiping her eyes, she smiled a sad smile at her son, "Yes, baby, he upset me, but that's okay. Let's eat."

Just as she picked up her fork, her phone rang again. Deciding to ignore it, she took a bite and smiled at J.T.

"Mommy, you phone," he told her.

"It's okay, sweetie. I'm going to let it ring. I don't want to talk to anyone right now."

After breakfast was done and the dishes were cleared, Stephanie took J.T. to his room, "I need you to pick out your clothes so we can get ready to leave for the day."

"Where to?" he asked as he looked for his favorite shirt.

"We're going to the zoo."

"YEAH! I love zoos," he squealed as he flung his guitar shirt across the room.

OOO

Stephanie and J.T. spent the entire afternoon at the zoo. On the way home, J.T. fell asleep and Stephanie knew if she stopped the car, he'd wake up, so she drove around Miami for a few hours, letting her son get the rest he needed.

As she jumped on the highway to head towards home, her phone vibrated against her hip. Pulling it off, she looked at the display and answered, "Tank."

"I didn't mean to piss you off this morning, Steph. I know you wouldn't have taken him home with you. I'm sorry."

"You know, I was really hurt by your comment this morning. You were my first friend here and then you say that shit. I thought you knew me," she sighed.

"I'm sorry, Angel." He sounded defeated as he hung up and she knew he really was sorry. Angel was the name Tank had given her when he first found her. She was sleeping on the street behind The Play House when he'd left one night.

Tank walked up to her, hands up showing he wasn't a threat, and saw that she was just a young woman. "Hey there. What are you doing out here?"

She sat up and looked at him. Her face covered with the day's dirt and grime. All she had with her was one duffel bag stuffed with what clothes she was able to grab. "I was sleeping until you woke me up," she growled at him.

Laughing, Tank extended a hand, "Come on, let's get you cleaned up and fed." She took his hand and allowed him to lead her into the club. He showed her the bathroom and gave her some towels from behind the counter. While she cleaned up, Tank grabbed some food from the backroom and heated it up for her. Turning around, he saw she had come out of the bathroom and looked better than she had ten minutes prior.

"Here, have some food," he told her as he pushed the plate down the bar.

"Thank you," she muttered.

As she ate the food, Tank sat down next to her, "What's your name, Angel?" When she refused to tell him her name, he sighed, "Okay, I'll just call you Angel until you figure out you can trust me."

When she was done with her food, he led her to his car and drove her over to Todd's place. Knocking on the door, Tank placed a hand on her shoulder, "Don't be nervous. They own the club we were just at and they'll have a place for you to crash for the night."

The door opened to reveal Todd standing there looking. "Tank, what can I do for you?"

"Todd, Angel here was sleeping on the street behind the club. I gave her some food and a cloth to clean up with, but she needs a place to stay."

"She'll stay here for the night," came a soft voice from behind Todd. As he turned, Stephanie saw a woman in her thirties. "Come with me, dear, we have a spare bedroom you can borrow for the night."

As the woman led Stephanie up the stairs, she heard Tank and Todd whispering. Opening the door, the woman told Stephanie, "My name is Mary. What's yours?"

Stephanie looked at her feet and muttered, "Angel."

Mary looked at Stephanie and nodded, "When you're ready you can tell us your real name. There is no reason to be scared around us; we won't hurt you." As Mary pulled the covers back on the bed, she looked at Stephanie's profile and asked, "How far along are you?"

Stephanie's hand instinctively went to her growing belly, "How did you know?"

"Oh sweetheart, I've been pregnant before and I've seen plenty of pregnant girls. You are just starting to show." Mary sat down and patted the space next to her on the bed.

Sitting down, Stephanie began wringing her fingers as she spoke, "Four and a half months."

"Mommy," J.T. said bringing Stephanie out of her daze.

"Yes, baby?"

"Hungee," he told her as he clutched his puppy to him.

Looking in the rearview mirror, she smiled at her son. "We'll be home in just a few, okay baby?"

"Kay," he said as he stuck his thumb in his mouth.

Seeing what he'd done, Stephanie sighed, "J.T., how many times do I have to tell you not to suck on your thumb?" She watched as he pulled his thumb from his mouth and pouted.

OOO

J.T. had been fed, bathed, and in bed for forty minutes when Stephanie sat down to watch a little T.V. As she reached for the remote, her phone rang. Grabbing it off the table, she looked at the display and didn't recognize the number. She was about to let it go to voice mail, but decided to answer it instead.

"Hello?"

"Stephanie?" came a voice on the other end.

"Yes? Can I help you?"

She heard the man on the other end of the phone clear his throat, "Ma'am, it's Woody," he told her with his southern accent shining through.

"Woody," she smiled. "How are you?"

"I'm doing good, Andeo. How are you tonight?" he questioned as his heart rate slowly returned to normal.

"I'm well. I'll admit, I'm a little surprised to hear from you."

"Why's that? I told you I'd call you. I just didn't want to interrupt your day or I'd have called sooner," he told her. She could hear the rustling of paper on his end and wondered what he was doing.

Standing up to get a glass of water, she told him "Well, honestly, I figured after you saw the car seat in the back of my car that would have scared you off. Not many men want anything to do with a kid."

"Oh darlin', I'm not like the rest of the men. Kids don't scare me," he laughed.

Hearing his laugh made her smile. He had a catchy laugh and she couldn't help but laugh with him, "Well, I'm glad you called."

"How was your day at the zoo?" he asked as she heard him typing on a keyboard.

"It was fun," she replied. "Are you working?" she asked when she heard another voice in the background.

"Yeah, I'm on nights tonight," he told her. "I hope I'm not calling too late."

"Oh no…."

They talked on the phone for almost two hours before she told Woody she needed to go. It was past her bedtime and she was getting tired.

"Good night, Woody, and thank you for the call. I really enjoyed talking with you."

"I enjoyed it as well, Andeo. Maybe I can see you tomorrow?"

Stephanie thought for a moment before replying, "I'd like that. I work at two but the sitter will be here around noon."

"How about lunch at twelve thirty?" When Stephanie agreed to lunch, she could hear Woody let out a breath. She could hear the smile in his voice when he told her, "Ja ne mogu cekati do sutra."

Unable to understand him, she laughed, "What did you just say?"

"Sorry. I said I can't wait until tomorrow."

Shaking her head, Stephanie replied, "Tomorrow, you'll have to tell me what language you're speaking."

"I'll make sure to do that. I'll call you tomorrow around noon and we can set up some place for lunch. Good night, Andeo."

"Good night, Woody," she said as she hung up the phone with a smile.