ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS …

To Get Back Home

A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! I haven't had a chance to respond to all of them yet. I will get caught up on replies tomorrow. :) I'm so happy that everyone seems to be enjoying the story!

Thanks go to Ashley for helping create this little story and Jenrar for being an awesome friend and beta. :)

The same warning as last time for language

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters.

Steph and I took off toward the SUV. "Julie!" Steph yelled as we reached the door.

There was blood on the seat, but I sighed with relief when I saw the cut on her hand. At least it wasn't the baby. There was a broken snow globe on the floor.

"What happened?" Steph asked.

"Ricky was playing with his snow globe from Great-Grandma and accidently dropped it. I tried to pick up the broken glass so he wouldn't get cut."

I shook my head. "So you picked it up to try to keep your brother from cutting himself and cut yourself instead." I pressed a T-shirt I'd received from Frank to the cut on her hand.

She looked at me and blinked. "It's not that bad."

Only a daughter of mine could have a huge gash on her hand and act like it wasn't a big deal.

"It's not that bad, right?" Julie asked me, her voice turning a little panicky.

I shook my head and kissed her cheek to reassure her. "No, mi hija, it's not that bad. But you're going to need stitches," I told her.

I saw the reflection of lights flashing through the SUV's windows . "Steph, hold pressure while I go talk to the EMTs and Trenton PD."

I walked toward the ambulance and recognized the two guys who hopped out. They'd worked on Steph many times before.

Mike walked to me and stuck out his hand. "Carlos, what happened?"

Carl and Big Dog got out of their cruiser and walked over to join us.

"Minor car accident. No injuries from the collision, but my daughter cut her hand trying to pick up some glass. Looks like it needs stitches."

Mike and his partner Trent began to walk away.

"Mike, Julie's sixteen and pregnant."

Mike seemed a little shocked before his professionalism took over and he took off towards the SUV. We followed behind him. When he reached the vehicle, he stepped up beside Steph.

"Steph, normally when we get these calls, it involves something you've done." Mike chuckled.

Steph turned away from kids and flipped him off.

"Nope, not Mommy's fault. Mommy was peeing in a bottle," Ricky interjected. He pointed toward Morelli and said, "He did it."

Everyone chuckled as Mike introduced himself to Julie. "All right, Steph. Step back and let me get a look at this cut. Ricky, scoot over to Trent, and he can check on you while I help your sister."

Ricky reluctantly complied as Mike started talking to Julie. "How did this happen?"

"Ricky was playing with his snow globe and accidently dropped it. It shattered, and he was going to try to clean it up. I told him to let me."

"Well, your dad was right and you're going to need a few stitches. Do you know how far along are you?"

Julie gaped at Mike before turning to me. "You told him?"

Steph saved me. "Mike has to know, sweetie. It's important so they don't do or give you something that can hurt the baby."

Once Julie's hand was bandaged, the guys chatted quickly before turning to me.

"Ranger, everything looks fine with both the kids, other than Julie needing stitches. We're going to take her to the ER to get her hand stitched. They might do an ultrasound as a precaution," Mike said as he started packing up his supplies.

"I'm going to send Steph and Ricky in with you guys while I help TPD deal with Morelli," I replied.

I helped load everyone into the ambulance, and Julie was complaining about having to lie on the gurney as I shut the door.

Then I turned to deal with the other pain in my ass.

Considering Morelli's usual temper, I expected there to be a problem.

"Joe, what the hell happened and what were you thinking?" Carl asked.

Joe shrugged and looked sheepish. "I was over at my girlfriend's house, and my mom called. Grandma Bella fell, and they needed me to come over. I didn't think I'd had that much to drink."

The guys shook their heads at him and started walking him toward the car.

I walked back toward the SUV and noticed the back tire seemed low. I yelled at Carl and Big Dog, "Would you mind dropping me off at the hospital on your way back to the station? The back tire's flat."

"Want me to call a tow truck?" Big Dog asked.

"No, I'll call RangeMan and send someone out to get it."

They agreed to give me a lift. The chains on the squad car got us to St. Francis fairly quickly, but I was shocked to see my family still waiting to be seen. The ER was busy, but not nearly as bad as I'd seen it on other days.

I saw Dr. MacKenzie, one of the doctors we knew well, and stopped him as he walked by.

"Carlos, what brings you here Christmas night?" he asked.

"This is my daughter, Julie. She has a cut on her hand that needs stitches," I explained.

"I'm sure that someone will be right with you. I'm sorry to hear you got hurt, Julie." He tried to scurry off, but I crossed my arms and glared at him.

"Or...I can get you taken care of now. Julie, follow me and let's get you fixed up."

Steph hit my arm for scaring the doctor. I looked at her and shrugged. The donations I gave this hospital should help me sometimes. Besides, I was only trying to get us home faster.

We all trouped back to a curtained area, and Dr. MacKenzie asked a nurse to bring him a suture kit. After we explained about Julie being pregnant, he gave her a numbing agent that he assured us wouldn't hurt the baby. Since she wasn't having any cramping or bleeding, they decided not to do an ultrasound.

I held her hand while she got stitched up. Both she and Ricky watched while the doctor while he worked.

Dr. Mackenzie finished up quickly. "I'm going to go grab the discharge nurse. Julie, let your parents know if anything changes, and come back here immediately if you have any cramps or spotting. Merry Christmas, everyone."

A few minutes later, Steph's friend Marley walked in. "Hey. It's been a while since you've been in here. You ready to go home now, Julie?"

"Yes!" Julie screeched. "This place is so boring. At least Dr. MacKenzie was hot!"

"Julie!" I barked, causing Steph and Marley to laugh.

"Every girl here agrees with you. But you shouldn't say things like that in front of your dad. You'll give him a heart attack." Marley winked at Julie before continuing discharge instructions. "Your hand will be sore, and you need to keep it dry and try not to use it too much. Take Tylenol if needed for discomfort and Benadryl if they itch. Come back in a week to have them removed here, or Mr. Brown can do it if you'd prefer." She handed Steph the discharge papers and let us go.

I'd called Lester on my way to the ER to tell him to send someone to pick up the SUV and us.

When we walked out, Julie and Ricky flew at Les and hugged him.

Les ruffled Ricky's hair and turned to Julie. "Hey, niña. I thought you were flying up next week. Since you're here early, you can come keep us company tomorrow. It's bowling night."

Julie nodded vehemently.

"Julie's grounded," I stated, causing all heads to turn toward me.

Julie gave a frustrated groan before whining, "Daddy! Why? What did I do?"

I felt like hitting my head against the wall.

"Running away from home? Showing up pregnant? Calling the doctor hot? Take your pick!" I said a little too loudly.

Les looked at me and then Julie. "Pregnant! You're sixteen! You can't be pregnant!" Lester said. He gave me a look of utter disbelief. "And you! If she's pregnant, you're taking this too well. What the hell, man? Why aren't we in Florida lynching the little punk?" His arms were flying as he paced back and forth, having a mini-meltdown outside the ER.

"Because the little punk," I spat out, "who did this is evidently in Iraq, and there's no one stateside to lynch. And I, for the record, am taking this as well as any father can in this situation." I ran my hands through my hair. "But what the hell am I supposed to do? Screaming at her won't do anything but make her cry, and that's not good for the baby." I sighed.

Lester shook his head, as if to clear it. "Someone needs to tell me what the hell is going on here."

Ricky spoke before anyone else could. "Sissy comed home and is having a baby! And Imma be a big brother, too! All at once!" His eyes gleamed with pride.

This time, Lester's gaze fell on Stephanie and his jaw hit the floor. "Joder! Pregnant? Both of you? Dios te ayudas, Ric."

Stephanie grimaced. "Santos! Language!" she admonished him as she helped Ricky climb in Les's SUV.

"Sorry, Bomber, but at least I said it in Spanish!" Lester smiled at Steph.

I shook my head, knowing his defense was weak at best.

"Les, come on. The kid knows more Spanish than I do!" she answered him as she climbed into her own seat and buckled in.

Julie climbed in beside Steph, and I climbed into the driver's seat. Lester slid into the passenger seat grudgingly, still seemingly in shock.

We were halfway home when Stephanie's phone rang. She checked the display. "Ric, it's for you!" She smirked before thrusting it into my hand.

I groaned as I looked at the display before flipping it open. I didn't even get to say hello before Helen was screeching at me.

"Pregnant? My grandaughter is pregnant? My sixteen-year-old granddaughter!"

I opened my mouth the say something, but Helen kept talking.

"Mary Jakowskie's granddaughter isn't pregnant! And certainly her daughter isn't pregnant at the same time. Why me?"

"Are you done, Helen?" I asked, becoming slightly annoyed.

"Hmph," was her only reply.

"Yes, Helen, Julie's pregnant. Yes, Stephanie's pregnant. You were ecstatic about our baby when we were at your house. Now you'll have two babies to love. Your grandchild and your great-grandchild." She was pissing me off. "I'd like to know why my mother-in-law is calling to bitch at us about a situation that we just learned about ourselves yesterday. The only thing this phone call accomplishes is upsetting Julie and Steph. You should be ashamed of yourself." I snapped the phone closed.

There was dead silence for a minute.

"Carlos, you probably made her cry," Steph whispered.

"Oh, come on. Like you wouldn't have said worse. It's been a while since I've told her off. She'll get over it, in a day or two, once your dad talks to her."

Julie looked over at Steph. "I'm sorry I made Grandma mad. Do you think she'll still love me?"

I sighed as I watched Steph wrap her arms around Julie. "Of course she'll still love you. It's just a shock. She didn't handle it the right way, and once she realizes what she said, she'll feel horrible. Don't let it upset you, sweetie."

I turned off Steph's phone after the seventh or eighth phone call. Once the phone was off, the rest of the drive was uneventful.

We arrived at the house, and I looked over at Lester. "Come on in, man. You're going to crash in the guest room tonight."

Lester stopped in the living room and gasped. "What the hell happened in here? It looks like a tornado hit."

Both kids started retreating upstairs to their rooms.

"Freeze!" I said to the room at large. "Anything left in this room that doesn't belong, besides the train table, will be gone in the morning!"

Both kids scrambled back and began to collect their Christmas bounty.

Stephanie went to help the kids clean up the living room before putting them to bed. She came back downstairs to find Lester and me working on laptops.

"What are you two doing?" Steph asked suspiciously, coming over to sit down beside me.

"Trying to find information on a little punk that needs to have his ass kicked," Lester said, fuming.

Steph looked down at my laptop and sighed. "Maybe there's more to this than we know. He may not be a bad kid. Dumb, yes. Bad...maybe not."

I gave my wife an incredulous look, causing her to shake her head.

"Just remember, you can't always judge a book by its cover. At least give the kids the benefit of the doubt." Steph pulled her own laptop over and began to run one of her search programs on Jason.

We looked over his school records and did a background check on him and his parents. He didn't have anything more than a speeding ticket on his criminal record, and his military record looked spotless. I wanted to contact an old buddy that had run his basic training. Everything about Jason seemed okay on the surface.

I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to say to him when I found him, but I knew I wanted to scare him so bad, he'd never touch my daughter again.

TBC...

Translations

Joder - Fuck

Dios te ayudas, Ric. - God be with you, Ric.

A/N: Please review.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a blessed New Year. More soon. :)