Author's note

Thank you very much for your comments. I am glad that you all liked it.

Please note that the Speech further down, given by one of the characters in this chapter, is taken directly from the Blue Bloods Pilot. The Writers and TV station hold all copyright!

Also to clear something up, because I have not included this in this chapter: (Because Jennifer asked again awesome question, and i forgot that you all probably had them)

Lester and his wife were expecting twins in the last chapter and Little Eva got food poisoning through a broken and rusted water pipe in the kindergarten.

This is the last chapter for this Story, Enjoy!

Steph's POV

"I cannot believe I let this happen!" my husband of over 20 years, and the father of my three beautiful children, grumbles.

"Cut it out, Ricardo" I growl under my breath, as we make our way through the crowd of people.

"Why can I not say how I feel about all of this?" He asks motions around and scowls at me for using his first name.

"Because, this is the most important day in your son's life and you better show your support" I retort and push him forward, to where our daughter is currently sitting.

"I am not happy about this...not happy at all" Ranger exclaims and I roll my eyes. We have been through this countless of times and my husband has yet to stop complaining about it.

"Dad…please...don't make a scene today and don't fight with Alex" our daughter Eva begs, as she moves down the row, so that we can take a seat as well. Eva is 22 years old now and she and Alex are really close. "Or I will get Uncle Tank to kick your ass."

"With his broken hip, I'd like to see him trying" Ranger replies, which earns him an eye roll from his daughter. All our kids are the spitting image of their Dad, but inherited the wild curls and jersey attitude from me.

"Dad..." Julie says, as she approaches and nods at Ranger, before giving me and Eva a hug.

"I don't get a hug?" My husband questions, as he glares at his oldest daughter.

"No...You don't deserve one" she replies and sits down next to Eva. I am happy that all of them get along with each other. Ranger and I first thought Julie would be jealous; turns out she loved the idea of more siblings.

As she turned 18, she moved to New York to get away from Rachel and to attend the Columbia University of Arts. This brought Ranger and her even closer together.

"Last night was amazing..." Eva gushes.

"We are proud of you Julie" I add and smile at her. Yesterday was the opening of her first own gallery, where she showed of her masterpieces.

"Thank you... It was a great success. We sold multiple paintings" She beams and then looks around. "Where is Diego?"

"He is driving in with Uncle Lester and Tia Maria" Ranger informs her. "They are running a little late."

Diego is our youngest and is only 17 years old. He was born, as I just had turned 41. It was certainly a surprise, but it was never a question of not having him, even though the Doctors said there are great risks.

"Dad...can you please at least slide your blank face in place, so that not everybody sees how unhappy you are about this?" Julie asks, satisfied with the answer she was given.

I can see that my husband is about to say something, but I elbow him into his ribs, to keep him from doing just that.

"Babe" Ranger sighs and shakes his head.

"Don't Babe me. I don't want you guys fighting today. This is Alex's day and you will not ruin it." I tell him sternly.

Behind me Lula and Tank are laughing, as they sit down, with mine and Carlos's parents. Tank and Lula had their ups and downs over the past 20 years, but I am glad that they fought through them, just like me and Ranger.

"Still won't let up I see" Tank chuckles and Ranger shoots his best friend a glare.

"You know this is preposterous. He only does it to spite me!" Ranger grumbles and I roll my eyes again, at this rate I won't be able to look straight ahead again.

"Oh no, not again Ranger" Bobby sighs, as he sits down with Hector and Zip, in the row behind us. Bobby was married for all about 5 minutes to a Woman, who turned out to be a real...well slut. Anna slept around and cost him a great deal of money, after they got married.

But one good thing came out of that Marriage: His Daughter Victoria Marie. Alex is quite interested in her, but they are still in the Friend zone at the moment.

Hector and Zip took a while to get together. Both of them were afraid of taking the plunge, but in the end Hector manned up and asked Zip out, which could not have made me happier.

"Dad" Eva and Julie sigh at the same time and then whisper shout "Jinx".

"That is not the reason he does this and you know that. He wants to be like you... a good man. He just chose a different path than you. And I am glad about that!" I repeat, what I have been repeating for the past year, since our son announced his plans.

"Son, it is not about what you want, it is about what Alex wants" Ricardo Manoso, Ranger's father says from the row behind us.

"Had I not pushed Stephanie so hard into something she did not want to do, our relationship could have been a lot better, when she was a Teenager or a Bounty hunter" My mother adds and Amrita Manoso nods.

I am glad, that mine and Ranger's parents were still fit enough to make the trip for Alex's big Day. Like all our kids, he is close to his Grandparents and between the four of them; they have spoiled them rotten over the years.

Like a moping child, my husband shuts up and looks everywhere but us.

More people come in and take their seats, making me worry that Les, Maria and Diego are going to be late. But just minutes before the Ceremony starts, Lester, they come rushing in.

"Sorry Mom...first Tio Les couldn't find his hair gel, then Tia Maria had the wrong shoes, so we had to drive back and then we got stuck in traffic" Diego whispers and kisses my cheek.

"It's ok. Come take a seat." I tell him and give him a kiss on the cheek, as he sits down next to me.

"Next time you should plan those things in...The Santos family is never on time...makes me wonder if my cousin ever went to the Army!" Ranger says around me to our son and Les 'accidentally' pushes his elbow against his head. "Hey!"

"Shut up or I will both take you to the mats" Tank grumbles and I shoot him a grateful smile.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Commissioner Donnelly" The speaker says and the room applauds as the Commissioner, dressed in his Dress Blues, comes out on stage.

He is an impressive man. Tall, with blonde hair and blue eyes and quite handsome too. I read that he is one of the youngest Commissioners this country has ever seen, coming into Office at the age of 40.

"Good Afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen" Donnelly pauses and looks around the room. "You have earned the distinction of being the best trained and best prepared police officers in the world, ready to serve and protect the most vibrant city in the world, in one of the most demanding policing environments anyplace, anywhere. To whom every day brings the responsibility of keeping all New Yorkers safe from crime and the threat of terrorism."

"And though the city is on the very cutting edge of technology, nothing replaces your eyes and ears on the street" The commissioner adds in a serious tone "And we remain safe because of the hard work and dedication of the men and women of the New York City Police Department."

"Congratulations to your families, your friends and congratulations to you, our new New York City police officers!" He adds and concludes his speech.

All the Rookies throw their hats into the air and we all stand, cheering and clapping for our relatives.

I am so proud of Alex for becoming a Cop in New York, even though his father sees it as a slight insult, that his oldest Son went to become a cop, rather than joined the military. Like Ricardo said earlier on, it's about what Alex wants, not what we want.

But secretly I am happy, that he will be close by. If Alex has inherited any of my bad luck, he will be shot at plenty of times, but at least he will be stateside, where there are a lot of hospitals and doctors and not in a God forsaken desert with only the army medic around.

I love that Ranger was so dedicated to the Army; that he proudly served his country, but I also hate what it did to him. Uncle Sam left him hanging plenty of times and I do not want my son to go through the same thing.

Ranger's POV

Since he was little he followed me everywhere and always announced he wanted to be 'Just like Daddy'. I taught all my kids, how to defend themselves and to pick locks, but Alex was the only one who showed interest in the security Business. So it hit me hard, as he announced last year that he enrolled into the Police Academy.

"Dad" Alex nods and holds out his hand for me to shake, after he was hugged and kissed by everybody else.

"Alex" I nod, take his hand and pull him into a hug. I can see over his shoulder, that Steph ushers the rest of the family towards the exit, to give the two of us a moment alone. "I am proud of you!"

"You are not saying that, because mom threatened you to cut off your balls?" My son asks warily and hugs me a little tighter, before letting me go.

"We both know that she doesn't back up her threats with actions." I state. "And yes I am proud of you, even though I have a hard time accepting that you'd rather become a cop, than step into my footsteps."

"Dad…" Alex sighs. "At some Point, when you only can take down a skip with your cane and an electrical wheelchair, I will step into your footsteps and take over Rangemen, but I need to get some bad ass skills first."

"Well that is not going to happen for another 10 years or so" I mutter, making Alex laugh. "Don't tell your mother, but I am also glad that you decided to become a cop. You got your curiosity from her mother and it would be wasted in the Army."

"Mom's the word" He replies and hooks my arm into his "Come on old man; let me escort you up those stairs."

"Call me that one more time and I will show you, my bad ass skills!" I retort and take my arm back.

As we walk outside, I see my wife of over 20 years standing between our children laughing with the wind blowing, her now grey, curls into her face, I cannot help the smile on my face. Life could not be better. We surely had our ups and downs, but in the end it worked out well for us.

Author's note

So this is it. It's done, finished. Did you like it? Leave me a comment, good or bad, they are always welcome! (Well...if they are bad, Ranger threatens retaliation, so be careful what you write ;D)