Ranger's POV
the next morning
"You've had enough" Tank comments as I get in position again. We have been at it for a couple of hours now and are both dripping with sweat.
"Come on you big lug" I tease and Tank growls.
"Permítanme tomar vaya en él. Ganó't ser impertinente ya, después de que él me enfrentó (Let me take a go at him. He won't be this cheeky anymore, after he faced me)" Hector says with a grin from his spot on the treadmill.
"Usted lucha sucio. (You fight dirty)" I reply with a grin of my own. "La última vez que usted trajo sus blades. Tengo las cicatrices para demostrarlo (Last time you brought your blades. I have the scars to prove it)."
"Usted dijo que todo es un ir (You said everything is a go)" Hector shrugs.
"Deberíamos abrir nuestra propia versión de el club de la lucha (We should open our own version of fight club)" Zip comments.
"Estoy seguro de que nuestro seguro nos encantaría que (I am sure our insurance would love that)" I reply dryly and watch Tank closely. I don't want to be surprised by one of his attacks. I may be smaller and faster than him, but once he gets his big mass going, he is like a rhino.
"Y Madre Bobby tendrían un día de campo. (And Mother Bobby would have a field day)" Hector laughs, making the tear drops under his eyes dance.
"So last night didn't go so well" Tank comments as he enters my office a couple of hours later. We ended up going another couple of rounds, before calling it quits. Apparently all the employees watched us spar, when they should have watched the monitors. Les and Bobby told us both, in no uncertain terms to knock it off to prevent crimes from happening at the properties we protect.
"Not really" I admit.
"I ran a background check on Miss Plum." My best friend informs me and I shoot him a grateful look. I would have done that eventually, but I was just too wrapped up in my own emotional turmoil to even think of that yesterday. I am glad Tank is looking out for me. "She is thirty years old, was a BEA, before she started fostering Julie."
"She told me about that." I acknowledge.
"Julie is doing very well in school and Miss Plum is running a successful business with a Lula Jackson, a former prostitute, turned filer for Vinnies, turned Lingerie seller." Tank reads from the file.
"Both her parents are still alive, a sister who is married and a grandmother who has been arrested a bunch of times by causing trouble at Stivas...all live in Trenton" Tank goes on. "Miss Plum has been married once, but divorced shortly after. The guy left her with nothing. She dated Trenton Detective Joseph Morelli on and off for a while, before they split just before she took Julie in.
Word around town is they are admirable towards each other and the Detective is part of Julie's regular live, as is his girlfriend and parents."
"Thank you" I nod. "Most of that I knew. She told me all about it yesterday."
"Listen…if by some miracle, after last night's FURBAR mission, you are going to meet your daughter, make sure you are approachable" Tank suggests.
"You think I am not approachable?" I raise an eyebrow in question.
"You know what I mean…" Tank isn't really good with words and only talks when he has to. "You always wear you blank face…"
"So do you" I quickly point out.
"…Difference is, I am already married with a child, you on the other hand are so closed off that no woman ever stays more than a night." He retorts.
"You know the reason why that is" I shoot him a pointed look.
"Point is...if you want to make some kind of connection with your daughter or the woman that wants to adopt her, loose the blank face...let them in...I am not saying that you become Mr. Open-all-the-goddamn-time, but around them, give it a try." And with that he stands and leaves the room.
Steph's POV
"What happened to you?" Julie nearly shouts, as she sees my wrist the next morning.
"I may or may not have punched your father" I answer, as if it is not a big deal.
"YOU WHAT?" This time she does shout and immediately grabs my hand to inspect it.
"OWWW…watch it" I quickly retract my arm, as pains jolts from my wrist.
"Sorry…why did you punch him?" Julie questions and eyes me with suspicion. I sit down at the kitchen table and try to pour myself a bowl of cereal very awkwardly with my left hand, until Julie has enough and does it for me.
"He came by the shop last night and afterwards he walked me home…he said a few things that I didn't like and…well you know…I went into rhino mode" I shrug.
"OH MY GOD…He walked you home" Julie screeches. "Mom…do you like him?"
"Seriously…that is what you want to talk about? Not about what he said to make me punch him?" I ask baffled.
"Pfft…I know how you can get….you once punched the Rangers mascot for saying Marc Staal is better than Ryan McDonagh..." she points out.
"That guy had it coming...how can he be the mascot and have no clue about ice hockey?" I exclaim.
"So do you like him?" Julie probes, ignoring my comment.
"Julieeee" I sigh. "He is very attractive…basically sex on…"
"EWWWW too much information" Julie screeches and covers her ears.
"You asked…I answered" I shrug once more. "He wants to meet you though…would you be interested?"
She stays silent, while she finishes her own bowl of cereal. "I don't know" she finally answers.
"Take your time" I tell her and finish my breakfast too.
As we start clearing the table, she stops and looks at me a little vary. "Are you sure he wants to meet me? He wasn't too happy to find out about me yesterday."
I drop the bowls into the sink, before pulling her into a hug. "He said he would love to, but he left it up to you. But you should know that he didn't know you existed. Your mother never told him that she had you. Which of course is not an excuse to get him off the hook, because he should have made a better effort to find out if she got the abortion…so whatever you decide, I have your back." With that I let go of her and leave the kitchen.
Today is Saturday, Julie doesn't need to go to school and I don't have to go to work. And because it is summer and a sunny day, we will go to Point Pleasant, with my childhood friend Mary Lou, her kids and a couple of Julie's girlfriends.
"Ok…I will meet him" Julie agrees suddenly, later that night, as we are lying on the couch watching TV. She got a nice tan today, where as I burned my face into a lobster colour. It really isn't fair. "But only if you are there."
"All right then, I will set it up." I nod and take out my phone to text Ranger. 'She agreed to see you, but only with me there. When do you wanna meet?'
Only seconds later, my phone vibrates with a text from him. 'Next Weekend? There is a farmer's market in Philly, we could drive out there together?'
"He suggests a farmers market in Philly next weekend" I look at Julie, to see if she likes the idea.
"Sure" She only nods, without looking away from the TV.
'Agreed. 10am?' I write back.
'Ok. How is the hand?' I receive as answer.
'Still in a little pain, but I will live...for future references, if I need to hit you again, which part of your head or body is softer than you jaw?'
Truth be told I am a little nervous about what this means for me and Julie. I love her to bits, but what if her real parents don't want to give up their rights? Until I met Ranger I didn't really think of that, because I figured they didn't want Julie then, so they wouldn't want her now. But now that he wants to meet her and potentially have a relationship with her, it worries me.
I came to the conclusion, that the main thing is that Julie is happy. It doesn't matter what I want.
Ranger's POV
later that afternoon
"This is a Surprise" my father says as he opens the door.
"Hi Dad" I nod at him.
"Come in" He steps away and lets me pass. He is still the tall, broad shouldered rock that I remember from when I was a kid. Ricardo Manoso was always hard, but fair and loved us all equally, just like my mother Rosa did and still does.
The last time I was here, was 6 months ago, when I just moved to Trenton to set up the new branch. Back then my mother had voiced the wish for me to come home to dinner more often, but I was so busy that I either always forgot or had to cancel, just like I had done since I left for the army. My father had to order me to come home a few times, because I was upsetting my mother.
"Carlos, what a surprise…" My mother jumps up from the couch and envelopes me into a hug. I have long outgrown her and now I am nearly two heads taller than her. "Did something happen? Anyone die?" She probes with a heavy Cuban accents, as she lets go of me.
"No Mamá, no one died, but I came to tell you something. Could we sit down?" I ask, as I guide my mother back to the couch. My father sits down next to her and mutes the TV. "15 years ago I met this girl Rachel. We had a one night stand and she got pregnant….let me finish" I say before my father has time to interrupt. "She told me just before I was shipping out to Ranger training and we decided it was best that she didn't go through with it.
However, I found out a couple of days ago that she didn't get an abortion and that we have a daughter, called Julie."
"How did you find out?" My Dad questions. "And why didn't we know about this?"
"I didn't want to tell you back then, because at the time I was handling it and I knew you would have been disappointed. I tried getting in touch with her after I was stateside again, but her number changed and the letters came back unanswered." I explain. "I found out because the woman who is fostering Julie, Stephanie Plum, contacted me. She wants me and Rachel to sign away our rights, so that she can adopt Julie."
"I hope you are not seriously thinking of signing away your rights?" My mom asks angrily. "Don't abandon your child."
"You know how demanding my job at Rangemen is and that I am not done with missions, so I want to do what is right for Julie. If this means signing away my rights to give her a stable life and a family she has never had, I will do just that…not that I need to rectify my decisions to you" I say a little harsher than intended. "I came here because I thought you would like to know that you have a grandchild."
"Son, whatever you decide we will support you. But I think you should explore all your options. Support Julie maybe financially?" my father suggests.
"They don't want my money, that's what they made clear from the beginning." I sigh and lean back in the one seater.
"And you sure she is yours?" My mother questions.
"She looks like me as a teenager. There is no denying our relation." I tell them. "She has been through so much. Julie never stayed long in one foster family, one worse than the other…"
"And this Stephanie..?" My mom looks at me for confirmation of the name and I nod. "Stephanie… is better?"
"Much better. She gave up her old job for Julie. She gave her a stable life and her family cares about Julie." I inform them.
"Like I said, son, whatever you will decide we will support you. But I think I speak for us both, when I say, we would like to meet her." My father says.
"Sure...but I don't want to rush it. I haven't even met her yet properly" I tell them.
"We can wait" My mother says and pats my hand.
Steph's POV
Next Saturday
"Alright, let's hit the road" I clap my hands and walk towards the black Porsche Carrera.
I just had to watch the most awkward greeting between two people. Neither Ranger nor Julie knew what to do. Ranger stuck out his hand and just as Julie was about to take it, Ranger changed his mind and enveloped her into a weird hug. To add to the awkwardness, he clapped her on her back, as he let her go. I had to look away to not start laughing.
"Your mom, uhh Steph, said that you like doughnuts, tasty cakes and so on…so I got you a bunch of different stuff" Ranger looks at Julie through the rear view mirror, as we drive away from our building. "It's in the back, behind the passenger seat."
"Thank you" Julie smiles and immediately grabs the bag from behind my seat. "Ohhh Boston crème…our favourites."
"Thanks for the intel" Ranger mutters and smiles gratefully at me. Today he is dressed in black shorts, black sneakers and a plain loose fitting blue t-shirt, with black sunglasses guarding his eyes. Basically he looks good enough to eat.
"You are welcome" I nod, stretch an arm back and wiggle my fingers at Julie. "Hon…how about you share…?"
"There are only six in here" She mumbles, with her mouth full of doughnut.
"I figured six were plenty…" he shoots me a slightly worried look. I am happy to see that he seems to have left his blank face at home today.
"Ha…together we could kill a dozen doughnuts" Julie laughs and digs into her second one. "Do you want one?"
"So he gets one and I don't?" I question in mock anger.
"Ranger bought the doughnuts, so yes he does." Julie informs me, but as she tries to hand him one he just shakes his head. Instead I snatch the doughnut from her and quickly take a bite, before he can change his mind.
"I don't really eat that stuff…and please call me Ric," He declines.
"Oh…ok your loss" Julie shrugs and glares at me "You are not getting any of these tasty cakes."
"What do you mean you don't eat that stuff?" I question, before taking another bite out the doughnut. He went all out and got the good stuff too.
"I need to stay fit and healthy and that stuff can kill you" he nods towards the half eaten treat in my hand.
"So what do you eat?" I probe.
"Healthy…you know vegetables, nothing deep fried…" he answers.
"So you eat rabbit food?" Julie enquiries from the back, drowning her third doughnut.
"And what you mean that stuff can kill you? It has all the nutritious value you need…depending on the doughnut of course" I add with a smirk.
"Not rabbit food, just healthy" Ranger corrects Julie.
"Urgg that sounds awful" Julie shudders, making us laugh.
As we get to Philly, we walk through the farmer's market and instead of having lunch there, we chose to go to Max Brenner's Chocolate themed Restaurant. After much pestering we even convinced Ranger to get a burger.
"Congratulations" The waitress smiles at me, as she clears our table. "How far are you along?"
"Excuse me?" I look at her confused.
"You are expecting right?" She questions and points at my stomach.
"No…this is actually fat. I have to pack on for winter, so I don't freeze to death" I answer deadpanned with a bright smile. On that note Ranger and Julie lose their battle against the laughter and double over.
"Oh…I am so sorry" The waitress apologizes and quickly hurries away with a red face.
"Ohh Mom…" Julie laughs, almost falls of her chair.
"That poor woman" Ranger shakes his head and wipes the tears away from his face. "I haven't laughed like this in a while."
"So what about dinner?" Ranger questions quietly, just as we pass the 'Welcome to Trenton' sign. After we left the restaurant, we went to The Philadelphia Magic Garden, where I haven't been since I was a child. All in all it was a great day and Julie and Ranger got along quite well.
"I heard food" Julie's head snaps up and she rubs her eyes.
"Apparently she wasn't as asleep as I thought" Ranger smiles. As soon as we got into the car her eyelids dropped and she was fast asleep.
"Nah, that is pretty normal. She can be dead to the world, but as soon as someone mentions food, she is wide awake….she really should be 300 pounds, with what she stuffs in herself" I laugh and look at my daughter.
"You are worse than me" Julie exclaims from the backseat. "So dinner?"
Loved it? Hated it? Let me know
