Thank you to one and all for reading and there reviews. It's been awhile and I appreciate all who took the tome to read my version of Ranger's Birthday. It amazes me how many of you still like hearing about family adventures and Caden after "How Many Children Do We Have?". Thanks so much. Lee Anne
************************* Ranger's Birthday **********************************
He sighed as the garage door went down, Ranger was home finally and could spend the last part of his birthday with his family. There had been many birthdays he never acknowledged, but now that he had a family of Stephanie and six children, he looked forward to coming home everyday to them.
Stepping up into the townhouse, he was aware instantly the townhouse was quiet. Not even Zeus, their Lakeland Terrier greeted him.
"Babe?"
"Babe?" Ranger called again from the hallway. He gave a quick glance in the laundry/Caden's lab with jars of herbs in olive oil for cooking. It was empty.
It was still like he never experienced before. The townhouse was always full of energy. Instinctively, there was a reach for his pistol. The control room never alerted him to any problems at his home. What was going on? He stopped in mid-step, his ears picked up music outside. He relaxed a little. His heart began beating again. He recognized the song as it got louder walking towards his office, 'La Bamba'. Going through his office, Ranger pulled open the French doors.
"Feliz Cumpleaños!"
He couldn't believe his eyes. There were Cuban flags, streamers, and paper lanterns moving in the afternoon breeze around the townhouse backyard. Hanging from trees in front of the back fence was a painted backdrop. It was a street scene of Havana complete with an old Chevy parked in it. The table on the deck and another in the yard were decorated with bright green tablecloths and plates of blue, red, and yellow under the sweeping umbrellas to match the tables. There was a donkey pinata dangling from a tall hook. It was a surprise party and for one who preached about being 'aware of your surroundings' he was completely unaware this it was in the works.
Standing in the middle of his children, the loves of his life, was his heart and soul, Stephanie singing 'Happy Birthday' to him. He did an intake of breath, she was wearing a white off-shoulder midriff top and ruffled skirt which many Cuban women wore for special occasions
Julie, Danni, Cassidy, and adorable Aubrey were dressed similar to their mother in colorful outfits. He chuckled at both Ben and Caden with his taped Buddy Holly glasses. They were dressed in pale blue Guayabera or Cuban Wedding shirts and straw hats with their shorts.
His mother and mother-in-law were in bright cotton dresses. Frank and his father tipped their straw hats at him was they smoked cigars in their Cuban styled shirts.
"Are you surprised?" Stephanie asked walking to her husband in her bare feet. Watching her walking to him, Ranger fell in love with her all over again. Stephanie was beyond beauty in her tropical attire.
"Completely," Ranger whispered against her lips. "How did you do this?"
"I just helped with the purchases and set up, they came up with this," Stephanie revealed to her Cuban Bad Ass.
A man of few words, he was speechless at the work his children did in the backyard. It didn't look like the townhouse backyard.
"Thank you," Ranger said hugging each one and picked up Aubrey. He walked over to stand in front of the large painted canvas. They painted colorful buildings with stores, balconies over the street, pots of flowers, and people walking around the old Chevy. It reminded him of a really big postcard.
"Me do," his little girl pointed to a corner where there were lines painted with green paint. To blend in the scribbles, some red flowers were added on them. Across the bottom was printed 'Happy Birthday, Dad. Love, Julie, Ben, Danni, Caden, Cassidy, and Aubrey."
He was choked up. "That is so pretty, Baby Girl. I love it. When we take it down, I'll hang it on the back wall in the lunch room at the office. I'll see it everyday."
"Wow, you would do that, Dad?" Julie asked. She was shocked her father would do that. They painted the Cuban scene on a large painter's drop cloth. It was the biggest thing Stephanie could find.
"Of course." Ranger was extremely proud of his children and their very large artwork.
Next he found himself in a motherly bear hug. "Happy Birthday, Ricardo!"
"Thank you, Momma."
'Happy Birthday, Son," Manuel Manoso said hugging his youngest child after his wife finally let him go.
His mother-in-law kissed Ranger's cheek and Frank patted his favorite son-in-law on the back, "Happy Birthday."
"OK," Caden runs over, "I got a schedule going here. You got to change your clothes and I got to get dinner ready with my assistants."
He remembered his day and Ranger had to ask, "Midget, did you have Tank keeping me busy all day?"
"Of course. How were we going to surprise you and I had a back-up plan if you didn't want to talk about the weather." The little boy was looking up at his muscular dad with those taped glasses and a cocked straw hat over his curls.
An eyebrow went up. "What was the back-up plan?"
"I ain't telling," he laughed taking off for the house, "cause if you don't know then you weren't paying attention."
Ranger stood there watching the running genius disappear in the townhouse thinking about Tank, the weather question, him looking at his watch numerous times, Grandma Mazur.
"Grandma was your back-up plan!" Ranger yells when all the pieces of his birthday from HELL came together. All he heard was an evil laugh from inside.
Stephanie was giggling. Even though they were married for a few years, Ranger was still wary of her sweet, little, old grandmother. "Grandma helped fill your day until we were ready?"
His Cuban eyebrows knitted together. "She set off a fire alarm at 'Pleasure Treasures' with incense and I had to smell candles and massage oils with her! I even bought some. We get a tip on a skip and there she was. I drank beer samples and ate pretzels with her until the skip strolled in!"
"My, what a fun filled day you had with Grandma, Ranger." Stephanie teased knowing how untrue it was..
Realizing everything and how he was kept in the dark by Caden's plan, even the security expert couldn't hold back his laughter, "Babe, he's too smart! I saw your Grandma twice on my birthday."
His wife held up three fingers. "Three times. She'll be popping in later after a viewing."
He hung his dark head repeating Edna Mazur's words, "There's a luau thing in the neighborhood. I should have asked what neighborhood." He resigned himself to another appearance by that crazy old lady before the night was over. The bright spot was he would be with Stephanie and she would protect him. "Come on. I'm going to change," Ranger said scooping Stephanie up in his arms and walking up on the deck.
"Hmm, Babe," Ranger was kissing his wife lifting his painted-on black T-shirt over his head.
"You really were surprised weren't you, Ranger?" She thought her husband was caught off guard which was one of the very few times since meeting him in that small diner.
"There were no unusual groceries or anything. I just figured we were going out. Babe, I love that backdrop."
"Well," Stephanie kissed Ranger back raising her arms in the air and clasping them around his neck, "you need to be aware of your surroundings. Your parents have been in the spare townhouse since yesterday. All the cooked food and decorations were stored there so you wouldn't know. Caden I know enlisted Tank's help, but I didn't know what he concocted for a back-up plan. The kids had so much fun painting the drop cloth. They were messy, but got all the paint washed off before you came home."
"They're all sneaks," he chuckled.
"Our mothers."
"Were in Cooking Heaven with the Midget," he finished for his wife. They cooked Thanksgiving dinner together and loved it with Caden.
They heard a shout, "Dinner!"
"We're coming," Ranger yelled back. "Pushy chef."
With one more kiss on his birthday lips, Stephanie purred in Ranger's ear. "I'll see you downstairs, Birthday Boy."
"Later, Babe," he whispered arching an eyebrow and nodding towards the big bed of theirs. "I have massage oil."
"Ooh la la."
On the bed laying out was his Guayabera shirt for his party. It wasn't his style or color. The shirt was a pale evergreen with braiding down the front and a straw hat. It wasn't his SEALS cap, but Ranger wouldn't disappoint his family.
He looked at himself in the mirror. The shirt was comfortable and he actually liked the color now that it was on his body. The straw hat was placed on his head with a Cuban touch and given a tug to dip it over his eyes. "Looking good, Birthday Boy," he told his reflection before going to join his family.
Coming down the steps, everyone was waiting for him. Stephanie met him by the last step with an outstretched hand. "Very sexy, Husband."
"You too. Babe," he replied brushing his fingers over her the bare skin of her back before locking fingers.
"Midget, is there any food left at the grocery store!"
The dining room table was fully extended and food was lined from end-to-end. A large birthday cake was in the middle of a sea of blue and white cupcakes with flowers and ripples on the breakfast bar. Caden was trying out his newest kitchen gadget, a cake decorating set.
"Aren't those lovely, Ricardo? Your son is will be showing Ellen and I how to make roses and all those fancy leaves."
He could only respond with 'Wonderful." Ranger was eying up his birthday feast.
The little boy comes forward with one big step with his straw hat, black taped glasses on his cherub face, and Cuban wedding shirt to begin his very serious mini-speech. "Good afternoon. Welcome to our Cuban Surprise Party. On the menu today is Mojo chicken, corn fritters, Cuban salad and bread, and shrimp casserole. For the younger eaters we have grilled cheese sticks. May I suggest you begin with grilled pineapple slices. We have freshly juiced fruit punch and for our adults Grandpa Manoso mixed in a little something extra into the blue bowl. After singing "Happy Birthday", we can partake in Tres Lech cake and cupcakes. Please enjoy," he finished giving a slow arm wave in the direction of the food topped table. "Music, Ben."
The older Manoso son clicked something on the Stephanie's I-pad, Latin music began playing from an Internet station
Ranger was smirking at his little boy. He said that perfectly without a blink of an eye or missing a word. Dapper dressed Anthony Bourdain would have been proud of one of his biggest fans. "Midget, one of these days I am going to cancel that cable, but not today. I'm hungry."
"Well, I think Grandmas and me outdid ourselves."
He picked up the little boy so they were nose to glasses giving a wolf grin. "I do too. Thank you and I know you gave all those appliances a workout."
"It's all in a days work for a birthday."
Ranger hugged him. He could drive Ranger insane because nothing got past him and he remembered everything, but without Caden, his days would be dull and so would their home. And, he was a really, really good cook.
Stephanie was laughing at Ranger he was sounding like her. He was moaning through his dinner. "Oh, this is good," he repeated with about every bite sitting at the outdoor table with his family. There parents were at the smaller one in the grass.
As dinner was finishing, one of Ranger's sisters and her family were coming in the front door followed by Tank, Lula, and their adopted children.
Both were chuckling over the day and both groaned when out the French doors waltzed Grandma is a bright pink ruffled dress to coordinate with the few pink curls peeking from under the Carmen Miranda style headdress with twinkling bananas and shaking maracas.
"Oh God, look what the wind blew in," Frank muttered.
"Grandma, you're here!" Stephanie rushed over to greet her beloved grandmother.
Ranger followed from his comfortable deck chair. "Grandma, I understand you were in on this surprise."
"I did pretty good. You never knew and in this outfit I was the talk of the funeral home. I upstaged Ned and Baby Stuey McBrew."
Stephanie asked the question for everyone, "Brothers?"
"Well sort of," Grandma explained, "they think Ned was a twin, but the other one never developed. That vanishing twin syndrome or VTS. Right here," Edna said pointing opposite her heart, "he had this growth of toes on a partial foot sticking out. It was never removed in his life and when he got excited those little nubs moved. That was cool. He named his twin 'Baby Stuey'. So when Ned died, so did the little foot. I'm getting something to eat." Grandma turned around to head in the townhouse, but stopped. Shaking her maracas, she called out, "Happy Birthday!"
His eyebrow shot up smirking at Stephanie, "Babe, only in the 'Burg'."
The front door barely shut when others of Ranger's family or Merry Men and their families were coming in to celebrate. The backyard was a mass of lawn chairs and bodies.
"It's time for cake!" Chef Caden announces as Julie, Ben, and Danni carefully carried out the large birthday cake on the tray. Ellen and Selena had cake plates of the decorated cupcakes.
She counted out thirty-seven candles placing them in the cake and Stephanie carefully lit them. Waving his hands in the air, the large group of family and friends began singing "Happy Birthday."
The dark eyes went to every face in his family resting on his wife's beautiful face, the one who gave him the life Ranger loved waking up to everyday. There were soccer games, school open houses, cabin weekends, traveling across the country in a motor home to see a giant potato, and trips to the mall to buy numerous small appliances. It was normal and downright crazy all mixed in and he Carlos Manoso couldn't be happier.
"Make a wish, Ranger," Stephanie encouraged.
Closing one eye he wished for only that this 'someday' went on and on for a very long time and one Ranger-sized breath, the candles all went out.
The yard cheered "Yeah!"
"Ha, no you didn't," a little voice called.
Four candles re-lit on the cake. It took three blows from the Cuban, but they were out.
"Midget."
With laughing, innocent blue eyes, Caden let out, "I gotta go." He takes off down the steps weaving around people and chairs with a Bad Ass hot on his heels.
A large hand caught the young boy and they were eye to black glasses staring for a second. Caden's arms were around Ranger's neck and he was hugging back his genius of a son. "Only you, Midget."
The cake tray and plates were empty. Dishes were in the dishwasher. Cassidy, Julie, and Danni with their girl cousins were doing cartwheels and back flips. Ben and his male cousins were kicking soccer balls in the common space behind the back fence. Diego, his brother with a restaurant that Ranger's family frequented, was asking Caden about his flowers and fancy leaves he decorated on the cupcakes. And, the recipes would soon be on 'The future King of the Universe's' blog when Stephanie typed them.
The pinata was opened with one Ranger strike and the candy gobbled up. The paper lanterns, solar lights, and white lights strung along the fence tops were glowing. The furniture on the deck was moved to the sides opening up to a dance floor with Latin Music. There was where Ranger spent the last of his birthday dancing with Stephanie. A portion of his day was nothing but 'Burg' crazy, but the afternoon and evening were perfect. It was where he wanted to be, with Stephanie, Julie, Ben, Danni, Caden, Cassidy, and Aubrey. His family. It was a really good birthday for a certain Cuban security expert, all around Bad Ass, and more importantly, family man.
The End.
Happy Birthday, Ranger