As always, I am not making any money.

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"Daddy?"

Ranger looked up from the fire at the sound of his son's voice. He was standing in the doorway of the hallway in his football pajamas, his hair sticking up in every direction and his big blue eyes were trying to blink away the sleepiness that obviously still had a hold of him.

It amazed Ranger just how much he looked liked Stephanie. "What's up little man? I thought I put you to bed already."

Nicholas tottered over to his father rubbing his sleepy eyes with tiny fists. "You did. But I woked up," he said in his little four year old voice.

Ranger scooped him up into his lap. "Is that right? Well, you'd better go back to sleep, Santa won't come if you're still awake," he lied.

"I know dat!" Nicholas rolled his eyes dramatically and it made Ranger smile. It was no secret where he picked up that little trait.

"Then why are you up?" Ranger asked.

Nick bit the corner of his bottom lip, a quirk Steph said he got from his Father. "Daddy?" He questioned quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Where's Nat?"

Ranger swallowed and tried not to wince visibly at the question."She's - she's out tonight buddy."

Nick's doe eyes filled with tears and his bottom lip began to quiver. "When she comin' back?"

Not for the first time that day, Ranger silently cursed his daughter's name. "I don't know pal, probably not till late."

A few tears escaped from the corners of his eyes. "But - but she posta read me da story!" He cried and buried his face in his Father's shoulder.

Ranger hugged his son tightly to his chest. "Shhh, don't cry Nicky," he soothed as he once again cursed Natalie. She'd been reading it to him every Christmas Eve since his very first one. She'd read it and then she'd tuck him into bed and he'd beg her to stay with him until he fell asleep.

And that's where Ranger would find them on Christmas morning because Nat would inevitably fall asleep beside her little brother. He had a dozen pictures of them curled up together.

But not this year. This year she was out God knows where doing God knows what with God knows whom. Damn it.

"Don't she like me no more, Daddy?"

"Of course she does, buddy. She's just-well she's been kind of a different person lately. It's not about you though, okay?"

Nicholas squeezed tighter and Ranger's heart broke just a little bit more. "I miss da old Nat," he whispered.

"Me too kiddo, me too."

"Hey, how bout I read the story to you this year? Would that be okay? I know it's not the same but…" Ranger trailed off as he rocked his son.

Nick sniffled and wiped at his nose. "Kay. I guess so," he agreed reluctantly.

"All right, C'mon little man." Ranger stood up with his son in his arms and carried him off to his bedroom. He tucked him into his dinosaur sheets and Nick handed him the book.

Ranger settled in beside him and began the story.

" 'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse…"

########

"It's Christmas Eve and she's not coming home, is she?" Ranger poked at the fire, moving the logs around.

Stephanie shook her head sadly. "I don't think so."

He turned slowly away from the flames. "That's not really the answer I was looking for."

Steph shrugged apologetically. "You don't really want me to start lying to you now, do you?"

"Maybe. I mean, a little white lie every now and again never hurt anybody, right?"

Stephanie tilted her head as if pondering the possibility. "Okay," she agreed. "You still look as young and sexy as the day we were married."

Ranger's lips turned up at the corners. "That's not a lie, Babe."

A low throaty laugh burst from her mouth. "Arrogant bastard," she murmured but she was smiling.

Ranger closed his eyes and let her laughter envelope him like a warm blanket. There weren't many sounds he loved more than Stephanie's laugh.

When he opened them again she was standing mere inches from him. He watched the reflection of the fire dance in her eyes.

"What if she's lost or hurt or…I should have never agreed to remove her trackers."

Steph tenderly cupped his cheek and caught the tears that fell with a swipe of her thumb. "I'm sure she's fine; she's just…"

"I called Melissa's an hour ago. She wasn't there - hasn't been there all night," Ranger informed her.

"You already knew that," she reminded him.

"I know." He covered her hand with his and leaned heavily into her touch. "I just hoped."

"I know baby, I know."

"Tell me what to do, Steph," he begged. "Please, what do I do?"

"You know what to do."

"I thought we'd already established that I don't have a clue."

Steph smiled and pulled him into her arms. She wrapped him tightly in her embrace and spoke quietly into his ear. "You have to talk to her, Ranger. Make her hear you. She needs to stop blaming you and you need to stop blaming you. It wasn't anyone's fault. It's time to let go and move on. Talk to her."

"Why can't you talk to her?"

Steph smiled and kissed his neck. "You know it doesn't work that way. This is between you and her. Fight for your daughter or you'll lose her forever."

"I think I already have." His voice quivered with emotion and Stephanie pressed her lips gently to his.

"No, you haven't."

######

Headlights flooded the living room as a car pulled into the driveway. Ranger glanced at the clock above the mantel. It was just after two in the morning.

"I'll kill her," he grumbled and stormed for the front door.

"Ranger…" He heard the warning tone of Steph's voice but he ignored it and barreled outside where Natalie was exiting a car that Ranger, if he'd been paying attention, would have recognized immediately.

Nat froze in mid step when she saw her father pounding down the front walk. He was pissed, that was for certain.

Ranger also froze when he saw that she was watching him. There were perhaps two feet between them.

"Are you hurt?" He managed to ask after seemingly endless minutes of staring. "Broken bones? Bleeding?"

Natalie slowly shook her head in the negative.

Ranger exhaled loudly through his nose and slowly counted to ten in a vain attempt to control the boiling anger threatening to explode at any moment.

"Then why don't you tell me where the hell you've been," he said with a shaky voice. "And if the name Melissa comes out of your mouth, you're grounded for the rest of your life."

She opened her mouth to speak, but the driver of the car who'd exited during the confrontation answered instead.

"I'm sorry, Ranger. I would have called but I thought I should just bring her home."

Ranger turned at his voice and locked eyes with the man that brought his little girl home in the middle of the night.

"Dad…." Nat spoke tentatively.

"Go to your room Natalie," he commanded through clenched teeth. "Right now."

She ran for the house, not even attempting an argument.

"What the fuck is going on, Joe?" Ranger demanded when he heard the front door close behind his daughter.

Joseph Morelli moved slowly around the front of his old green Chevy Tahoe so he could face Ranger. He'd never seen the guy look as mad as he was right then and frankly he was rather intimidated, but he wasn't about to let Ranger see that.

"I guess I really should have called, but when I found them, my only thought was to get her right home. I'm sorry that you had to worry," he added sincerely.

"What?" Ranger questioned, confused. "Found who?"

"Natalie and Tony," he said slowly.

Ranger blinked repeatedly; the name resonating in his head. Tony. Tony. Tony. Tony. Tony. Tony.

Finally he spoke. "Tony. As in your son?"

Joe nodded. "I'm afraid so."

"My daughter….and your son?"

"Yeah."

"And they were…"

"Not quite, but if I hadn't walked in at that moment, it certainly would have ended up that way."

"My daughter and your son?" Ranger repeated.

"Yep."

Ranger ran a hand over his day old stubble. "Is that irony, or poetic justice?"

Joe scratched nervously at the back of his head and pulled on the zipper of his leather jacket. "A little of both, I think."

Ranger shook his head in disbelief and leaned against Joe's car. It was all too surreal. "Where did you find them?" he wanted to know, imagining Tony groping his daughter in some dark dirty alley or in the back of the multiplex on Walnut; the one that was so filthy your feet stuck to the floor.

"My place," Joe answered unexpectedly.

"Your place?" Ranger was confused again. "I thought Tony moved out."

"Me too," Joe sighed in exasperation. "He moved back in a couple of weeks ago."

"Kids," Ranger shook his head. "They always think they're ready for more responsibility than they really are."

"That's the truth," Joe agreed and leaned on his car next to Ranger. The two forever rivals stood side by side staring out into the dark night.

"I can't believe that this car still runs," Ranger mused after a time. "It must be what? Twenty five years old?"

"Yeah. I guess I have a good mechanic."

"Yeah." Ranger was a loss for what to say next. He hadn't talked to Joe in nearly a year. "What should we do about this?" he finally asked. "Is there anything we can do?"

"Well, I've already told Tony that he's not allowed to see her anymore," Joe offered.

"And he was just okay with that?"

"I don't know. He's refusing to speak to me at the moment."

A short laugh escaped Ranger's throat. "Did you try and talk to her on the drive over?"

Joe nodded.

"Nothing?"

"No. You know she really hasn't talked to me since…" Joe trailed off.

Ranger nodded and ran a hand through his hair, bewildered. "Do you think they're in love?"

Joe frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. "Honestly, I don't know. I had no idea that they were even seeing each other, but I guess anything is possible at this point."

"Well, there's not much I can do about it, she's nearly eighteen."

"Yeah," Joe said. "But Tony is almost twenty three."

Ranger let that sink in. "Shit," he muttered. "He's too old for her."

"That's what I thought," Joe concurred.

Ranger exhaled noisily and pushed away from the car. "I'd better go talk to her before she sneaks back out of the house."

"Good luck," Joe sympathized.

Ranger turned and stuck out his hand. "Thanks for bringing her home."

Joe looked from Ranger's face to his hand and back again. "Sure," he said and finally shook the outstretched hand. "You know I'd do anything for that kid."

"I know. Good night."

"Ranger, wait." Joe called to his retreating form.

He stopped and turned back expectantly.

"Listen, I know we've never talked about….well anything, but I want you to know that I'm sorry - for everything." Joe was on the verge of tears and was furiously fighting them.

"I know you are, Joe," Ranger said gently. And he did, because he was sorry too. "I am too, you know. We've done and said a lot of stupid things to each other and it's time for it to stop. She told me that it's time to let go and move on. I'm pretty sure she meant you too."

A small smile found its way to Joe's face. "Yeah, that's easy to say isn't it?" he asked wryly.

Ranger smiled back. "Yeah. But I guess it won't hurt to try. Well, not too much anyway."

Joe agreed with a shrug. "Okay. Good night, Ranger. Oh, and don't be too hard on her, she's really hurting."

Ranger nodded and started back to the house. "So am I," he whispered. "So am I."