Chapter 3
Ranger and I had to hurry to get ready and make it to my parents' house by six. When we pulled up in front of the house, Grandma was standing on the front porch. I got out and walked in front of Ranger. Grandma Mazur had an unfortunate habit of pinching the butts and copping a feel of men that came to my family's home.
"Your mother is excited. She thinks you're looking for houses in the Burg, but she thinks you only had Ranger there because he owns a bunch of properties." I groaned aloud. I had been dating Ranger for the past four months, but Mom still insisted that we really weren't dating. She had, however, finally stopped trying to thrust Joe at me. She was still inviting men over for dinner, which was incredibly awkward when Ranger happened to join me for dinner as well.
Ranger guided me into the house with his hand on my neck, leading me into the living room to greet my father. Dad and Ranger got along well—I think it had something to do with both of them being fairly quiet. We had only a few minutes to chat before I was summoned to the kitchen by Mom so I could help her carry the food out, and the gentlemen were instructed to the table.
Ranger and I sat down across from Grandma and the first few minutes were filled with the sounds of food being placed on plates, asking for food to be passed, and beginning the meal. I glanced over at Ranger, nervously expecting my mother to start to barrage me with questions. He rested his hand on my thigh under the table, calming me slightly with his touch.
"Stephanie, why were you at the real estate office today? Are you finally looking for a home?" Mom began. Dad looked up from his dinner briefly, focusing on the two of us for a moment, before shrugging and turning back to his dinner.
"Yes—"
"Oh, well, of course you're looking in the 'Burg. You know two streets over Donald Orszag is moving to Florida with his family. You could live there," she offered helpfully.
"Mom, I don't want to live in the Burg. Anyway, I'm moving in with Ranger, and he has security requirements that aren't met in the Burg," I replied. Mom dropped her fork suddenly, her eyes widening.
"You're going to be living in sin? Again?! Why me?" Mom wailed, taking a liberal drink of her wine. I rolled my eyes. "You know, Stella Markowitz's daughter never lived in sin—"
"That's because she's a lesbian. You know that roommate Courtney of hers? Yeah, that's her lover," I interjected. Grandma Mazur laughed at that and I noticed that Ranger was smiling slightly.
"Well, Kayla Stinson's daughter then," Mom said.
"She had three kids by three different men before she got married," I pointed out. "I'm not saying that there aren't any good Catholics around here," I told her, thinking to myself that pretty much was what I was trying to tell her.
"But why can't you get married?" she griped. I bit my lip to hold back my sigh.
"Mrs. Plum, just because we aren't married now doesn't mean we won't ever get married," Ranger explained. I cut my eyes over to him quickly. What the hell was he doing? We hadn't discussed marriage! We discussed babies and houses, but not marriage! Not that the idea of marrying him was bad, mind you. It's just, why the hell was he bringing it up with my mother? She takes this subject and runs with it! Didn't he remember the time I got forced into almost buying a wedding gown when Morelli and I weren't even properly engaged? Ah, look, see, I was right. Her eyes immediately brightened up and I don't think it was from the excessive alcohol consumption.
"Really?" she asked. "Well, are you thinking about it? You know how hard it is to reserve the Hall. Reservations have to be made a year in advance. And let's face it, you're not getting any younger, Stephanie." I groaned and drank my glass of wine quickly.
"Mom, he hasn't asked me to marry him. We're not getting married any time soon. And I got married to Dickie there. Why would you think I'd want to use it again?" Ranger's hand, which was still resting on my thigh, began to move in circles, ostensibly trying to calm me. I glared at him.
"Babe," he whispered to me, leaning down so only I could hear him, "you can't be mad at me. I'm cute. I might even be adorable.*" I looked up at him and couldn't stop the smile that broke across my face. He really was cute. Though, it would be better if he managed to get me out of this mess that he had gotten me into.
"Mrs. Plum, rest assured, if and when I propose to Stephanie, we'll find a lovely place to have a wedding and a reception, but it will be our wedding and reception. It certainly won't be to appease anyone else," he told her sternly. That was better. I smiled up at him. Mom was doing her best fish impersonation, as if surprised that he talked to her that way.
"Really, Helen, let them do what they want. Like he said, it's their wedding. You've already had a good one for Valerie and Stephanie before. Val's second wasn't that great, so Stephanie's next one will surpass that," Dad said. I was very happy that my stuck up for us, allowing dinner to finally recommence.
As Mom brought out dessert, the front doorbell rang. Who would be coming over now? And why?
"Ooh, I'll get it! It's my latest stud muffin!" Grandma squealed. I winced—I had been subjected to a few of her "stud muffins" before.
"Let's go," I muttered to Ranger. "Seriously. I don't want the cake." He looked up at me, and then looked into the living room, where Grandma was enthusiastically kissing the, as of yet, unnamed man.
"Okay, Babe," he agreed quickly. We swiftly said our goodbyes, and then hurried out to the car. During the drive home, I turned to face him. Ranger was in his driving zone, but I knew he would answer my questions.
"So, marriage?" I asked him.
"It's not that big of a step from living together and talking about children," he answered. I slowly nodded my acceptance.
"It would have been nice to have known that prior to dinner with my parents, when you mentioned it." He looked over and smiled at me.
"I didn't really plan for it to come up. I thought it might help get your mom off your back," he told me. "Like I said, you aren't mad at me. I can definitely make it up to you later."
"I like the sound of that. You sure can and I have a feeling that you will," I murmured seductively, leaning over to place a hot, open mouth kiss on his neck. "And you'll love every second of it." He looked over at me with dark eyes and instantly accelerated towards the RangeMan building. When we arrived, we scurried into the elevator, both of us careful not to touch the other, lest we give the Control Room a show. When we made it to the apartment, he leveled a determined look at me.
"I'll be happy to make it up to you now."
He definitely made it up to me that night.
*From TS
