The Magic Kingdom

Chapter 4

A Ranger POV

Steph was still smiling broadly as I helped her back into the living room after dinner. I was pretty sure it had more to do with the bite of chocolate cake that I had, than my making an elaborate dinner or even cleaning up after it. Yes, the dinner was uncharacteristic of me but a bite of dessert was something she could more readily relate to and it brought us one step closer to evening the playing field between us. I wonder what she'd do if I shared my philosophy on this 'us' with her?

Of course, I wasn't ready to go there yet. I needed to organize my thoughts and prepare a detailed plan first. If things went as anticipated I'd have about 3 months to build up to my finale. But then again, with Steph nothing ever went as planned.

We were back to the Food Network but thankfully Fieri had been replaced with some kind of cooking game show. Or at least that's what it looked like to me. I could understand the need for comfort after all she'd been through but there must be other forms of comfort that would work? I could think of a few off the top of my head but I didn't think she'd appreciate any more physical contact than being helped getting around right now. And I didn't think sex would be all that comfortable for her anyway, between the full leg cast and her Morelli epiphany. But I knew I could relax her another way, by holding her close and then running my lips across her neck. Although I doubt she realized it, it was something I did with her whenever I could. It relaxed me, too.

So, I sat on the couch next to her and waited for her to cuddle into me. About five minutes into this Cook Or Con? show she leaned in. Of course I took full advantage of the situation and wrapped my arms around her. Oxytocins are powerful 'feel good' hormones and it takes very little body to body contact to activate them.

"Thank you, Ranger," she told me again. "I really appreciate that you're letting me stay here and giving me such good treatment. I'm sorry I didn't call you on Tuesday. I don't know what I was thinking."

"No price, Babe. And I mean it." I knew why she didn't call and it had more to do with self preservation than anything else. Steph is afraid that if she spends too much time in my presence that she'll get hurt. I think that may have been true a long time ago but I've made peace with the fact that I'm attracted to her and even after 3 years she holds a big piece of my heart. Probably all of it.

We both fell asleep on the couch, which is rare for me, and I awoke only because my arm was numb. It was numb because it was still around Steph and all her body weight was currently pressing down on it. I didn't want to wake her but I needed to get the circulation back. Gently I lifted her off of me, but I guessed not gently enough.

"Ranger?" she questioned sleepily.

"I think we should go to bed, Babe. It's almost midnight."

"Oh crap. I need to wash my face, brush my teeth and um...you know, first. Can you help me to the bathroom?"

I knew it took a lot for her to ask but instead of making her feel more uncomfortable, I helped her up and acted as her human crutch. I don't know why she was embarrassed by personal cleansing and bodily functions, we'd already shared just about everything. But knowing her reservations on such matters, I left her at the bathroom door. It probably would have been easier if I'd helped her get changed for sleep, but I respected her desire for privacy.

My bed is big and there is more than enough room for Steph, myself and her cast. I couldn't help but smile as I helped her into the side of the bed that I know she considered hers. I also knew full well that sometime during the night she'd be on my side of the bed and all over me anyway. I just hoped she wouldn't inadvertently kick me with her casted leg. I was pretty sure it would hurt and might cause irreparable damage if she got me in the wrong place.

The night was uneventful and we both slept soundly. I was used to being interrupted by calls at all hours, but even my phone slept through the night. Could be because I took myself off the grid. Up at 5, I wrote a quick note to Steph asking her to not get out of bed on her own, that I'd be back in an hour, (although I doubted she'd even awaken) then went down to the gym.

Tank and Bobby were spotting for each other on one of the weight benches, so I got a treadmill up to speed. About twenty minutes in to my cardio the both of them came over.

"How's Bomber doing?" Bobby asked, taking the treadmill to my left.

"She had a good night. I'm surprised that after all she's been through there were no nightmares," I told him, not letting on that I'd been in her apartment after a few other traumatic experiences and watched her toss, turn and call out until my heart ached.

"You talk to her?" came from my right. I knew what Tank was referring to, he's been wanting me to man up since way before this ordeal.

"Not yet. I figure I have another couple of months."

"Ha. You think she's going to stick around for that long?" Bobby interjected. "She'll have a walking cast on in about 3 weeks and then I see her taking the rat and heading home."

Unfortunately, I did too. I knew my timeframe was a lot shorter than I cared to admit to, but that was my problem. I couldn't admit that I cared.

I took a quick shower in the gym so as not to disturb Steph, then headed upstairs. I was still thinking about what Bobby had stated so emphatically that I was taken aback to find Steph sitting up in my bed reading the note I'd left her. There was more than a trace of annoyance on her face, which surprised me. There were no double entendres or hidden messages in my note. I had simply asked her to not try to get out of bed until I got back.

"Babe, is everything ok?"

"Just what is it that you want from me, Ranger?"

This line of questioning caught me off guard. Obviously, she'd been doing some thinking.

"Like I've told you before, there's no price."

"Everything has a price. I thought it was sex and I'm pretty sure that's still a part of it..." she responded bursting into tears. "I'm not a kept-woman kind of person."

I really hoped that wasn't the vibe I was sending out.

"I'd never..."

"Then what do you want?" she asked again, sniffling back a few tears. "And on what terms? Whose terms?" she added.

"No terms. I've cleared my schedule so I can be here for you while you mend."

Steph continued to glare at me.

"I mean that, Babe, no terms," I repeated, somehow finding more words to add to that. "I've tried keeping my distance from you. I thought that would be better for the both of us. But that didn't seem to work out too well. And I've tried sending you back to Morelli but I don't like the way he's treating you," I added, slowly making my way into the room.

"Can you say that again?"

I knew I wasn't clear. I wasn't expecting this line of questioning and I hadn't prepared any answers. I took a deep breath and started again.

"I know I've given you my bullshit, 'I'm not relationship material' spiel. And the truth is, I wasn't, I'm not...and I'm probably going to get this wrong on the first try, but I'd like to try. You've been used before to get to me and it makes me crazy that you may be again but that's a bullshit excuse for not trying to take what we obviously feel for each other to the next level. I guess I'm trying to tell you that I love you..."

I finally looked directly at Steph. Her mouth was open and the tears were starting to flow again.

"I'm sorry. Did I say something wrong?" I asked. "I told you I wasn't going to get this right on the first try..."

"Not wrong. But not what I expected. You love me? You'd like to try to have a relationship with me?"

"I've told you before that I loved you..."

"Yes...but you said in your own way and I took that to mean that... I don't know what I took that to mean. That maybe I was one of many..."

"No, you are definitely one of a kind. The only one," I told her. I was fully in the room now and had made my way over to the bed. I hoped she wouldn't lash out at me but I had to make contact so I slowly took both of her hands in mine.

This certainly wasn't how I expected my confession to manifest itself and it certainly wasn't a romantic situation but I got into bed with Steph and we just held each other for probably half an hour. Her, trying to get her emotions under control. And me, my thoughts. This was so out of character for me. I wasn't sure what to do or to say to move things forward from here. I didn't think she was ready for the "M" word to make an appearance but that's where I fully intended to take this once we'd formalized things.

"Stay with me, Babe," I asked, although it was more of a statement. I wasn't going to let her back out.

"Ranger..."

"No, I mean it. I've told you before that I envisioned sharing my closet with you," I purposely left out the marriage part that I had also told her about, "let's make that a reality, move in with me."

"Well, I'm kind of here. Rex, too. Let's see how this goes over the next few weeks before we make that kind of a commitment. I'm not saying no, I just want to take it slow. I need some time to think about all of this."

I could give her that. After all, it's taken me years to get up the nerve to say what I've felt, pretty much right from the start. If she only needed weeks, I was good with that.

"I understand. Whatever you need, Babe."

That wasn't entirely true. If she needed more than a few weeks and demanded to go back to her rat-trap apartment once she was fitted with a walking cast, I'd have to come up with something to keep her here. I already knew what that something was. And it had been in my safe for the last year. Getting her to accept it and say yes was another story.