Author's notes: After rereading my chapters, something I'm usually obsessive about before I continue on to the next chapter, I've noticed an inconsistency: Morelli left Steph on the morning of her birthday, not the evening – they were going to meet up for their evening out (not their evening "nap"). He called to tell her that they couldn't go out. Sorry! I really do try to stay consistent. And, it has been months since I wrote the first chapter. My only excuse is that I wrote the first two chapters on a different computer in Word and the last 2 chapters on my laptop in OpenOffice, and they're not always compatible, and I went from memory.

As always, Janet created the characters and we just get to play with them, for which we are very grateful.

…..previously...

Stephanie felt faint. "Propose?" She slipped to the ground and put her head between her knees. "Marriage?"

"Yes, Cupcake," Joe knelt down next to her. "Marriage. Forever. For better or worse. Sickness and health. But, for you, it would mean no more bounty hunting and especially, no more Ranger. Your job makes me sick with worry. And, so does Ranger."

"No more Ranger?" she thought to herself. And started to hyperventilate.

The Good Towels

Chapter 4

Stephanie couldn't breathe. Her heart was racing. She was dizzy and falling forward. Joe caught her before her head hit the pavement. She knew she was supposed to say something to him, but she couldn't remember what it was.

"Steph? Cupcake?" Joe sounded worried. She could barely hear him over the pounding of her heart. Then, she heard the pounding of other feet.

"Pumpkin?" "Babe?" Daddy. Ranger. Breathe.

"What happened?" Her father asked Joe. "What did you do to her?"

"She's having a panic attack!" Joe responded. He was trying to stand her up, but her knees wouldn't cooperate.

Ranger was on the other side of Stephanie, pressing her head between her knees with one hand and rubbing her back with the other. "Calm down, Babe," he said.

Steph heard his voice, and started to breathe in and out. She leaned towards him, and he put his arm around her. After focusing on him, a few minutes later, she was lifting her head up. "What happened?"

"You tell us," he responded. "Or, Morelli can."

"Morelli?" She looked over at Joe. "Morelli!" Steph became embarrassed. He had just proposed, and instead of saying 'yes', she almost fainted.

He frowned. "I guess I have my answer." Joe shook his head. "The last time I saw you have a panic attack was when he," gesturing towards Ranger, "was shot." He looked down at the ground and then back at her.

"Joe, I'm sorry." Stephanie tried to stand, but Joe waved her away and threw his leg over his bike.

"So am I, Steph," he spoke sadly. He wheeled his Ducati further into the parking lot and turned the engine on, revving it several times before pulling into the street and away from her. She watched him as he rode away, but he never looked back.

After Joe turned the corner, Stephanie looked up to find Ranger's gaze upon her. Her dad had disappeared. He appeared stunned.

"What?"

"I don't know," he replied. "What did he mean about you having a panic attack when I was shot?" She tried to look away, but he put his hand on her chin. "Tell me, Stephanie."

She studied his face for a minute, laying a hand on his cheek. "Do you really want to talk about this here and now?"

Ranger glanced around and shook his head, giving a rueful grin. "Talk about being aware of your surroundings. Would you come to my apartment?"

She nodded.

Stephanie breathed deeply before stepping out of the car, thinking about the previous twenty-four hours, how much her life changed. She went into the elevator with Ranger, waving to the camera as the elevator lifted, and knew her life was going to never be the same. There would never be any going back to Joe. Her decision had been made. Now, she just needed to know if Ranger felt the same way.

He had stayed in his "zone" in the car. It had been several years, but they never talked about what had happened when Scrog tried to take over Ranger's life. After Ranger came home from the hospital, the two of them just went on as if nothing unusual had happened. They sometimes talked about Julie, because Ranger became closer with his daughter after she was kidnapped, and Steph heard from her as well, because Julie wanted to know the woman who risked her life for the daughter of just a friend. But, Stephanie never told Ranger how she realized that she loved him before he walked into her apartment to save her and Julie. She never mentioned to him how she still avoided walking on the spot on her carpet where he had almost bled to death. And, their conversation never returned to the fact that a perfect stranger saw them as a couple when they denied it to each other.

They walked into his apartment, her haven from the rest of the world when she had needed a place to hide, just as her apartment had been his haven during the Scrog incident. With each step, she grew in confidence as memories of their trust in each other replayed in her mind. She may not know everything about Carlos Manoso, but she knew that he loved and trusted her in his moments of need as she had with him. From the moment she had met him, she knew she could trust him. She had seen underneath his street persona and knew him as a person of honor. Now, she was about to find out if he was as ready for their "someday" to come as she was.

She sat on his couch, accepting the bottle of water he gave her before he sat next to her. They faced each other, and smiled.

"What just happened with Morelli?" Ranger asked her.

"He proposed," she replied.

"And?" he frowned.

"I almost fainted, so he took that as a no," she smiled.

He was silent for a minute. "Did you mean to say no?" he gently questioned.

Now it was Steph's turn to be silent as she thought over her answer.

"Well?"

Steph looked into Ranger's dark eyes as she answered. "He gave some conditions to the proposal that I didn't like."

He shook his head. Both he and Morelli had been unsuccessful in the past to give Stephanie orders. "Do you want to tell me what they were?"

"The first was to give up my job," she said. She placed her hand on his leg. "The second was to give up you. Apparently, that's when I stopped being able to breathe, so he took that as a no to the proposal."

Ranger covered his mouth. Stephanie thought he was trying hard to not smile.

"Tell me about your panic attack," he returned to being serious.

"Just now? Or, after Scrog almost killed you?" Steph asked.

"Scrog." Now, his eyes looked haunted by the memories.

Stephanie sat closer and put both arms around his neck. "Don't shut down on me, Ranger. We've never really talked about what happened that night. You almost died. I," she closed her eyes, "realized that I was in love with you. And, Morelli. And, when you were shot, I didn't want to breathe if you didn't." She kissed him on the cheek. "Joe convinced me to live. That you were going to make it. And, you did. Then we went back to how things were before." She shook her head. "I can't do that anymore."

He whispered into her ear, "what do you want, Babe?"

"You." She kissed him, pouring her love into the kiss. When they stopped, she looked up at him and returned the question. "What do you want, Ranger?"

"You. I've finished my contract with the government. My life is finally in a place where I can have a relationship, and I want one with you." He smiled his 1000 watt smile at her. "Since I've met you, I've only wanted you."

Stephanie smiled at him. "Can it be this easy? Can we finally be with each other?"

Ranger kept smiling back at her. "Babe, it hasn't been easy getting to this point, and I doubt things will stay easy. But, we are definitely getting our someday together." He stood up and held out his hand to her. "Why don't we talk some more about what the details will be in the bedroom? I can promise the sheets are softer than the couch. And, we can finish hammering out even more details in the shower later." He lifted his eyebrow.

She placed her hand in his and kissed his lips again. "Hammering, hunh? I just want those towels afterwards!" She walked backwards into the bedroom, smiling. It may no longer be her birthday, but the best night of her life had continued into the best morning of her life and promised to continue for many more days to come.