They aren't mine. I wish they were. Just going to borrow them for a while. Continuation of Christmas Eve Visitor, Starting Our Life Together and Holy Matrimony, Batman!. People, places and things in the story may or may not be totally factual or real.

Christmas Past and Present
By JayCee08

Chapter 7
First Christmas

We pulled up outside my parents' house. Ranger helped me with the gifts and entwined our hands as we walked up to the door. Grandma was there with the door open. She had a grin on her face. She was dressed as Santa's elf complete with shoes that curled up at the toe with bells on the end. The dress was red and green and was short. It was cut low in front and did nothing to enhance her breasts.

"Merry Christmas, Grandma." I said as I kissed her cheek.

"I see you got a nice Christmas present. Was he under the tree this morning?" She asked.

"Something like that." I said. I wasn't going to explain it to her.

I led Ranger into living room. "Merry Christmas, Daddy." I said as I went to put the gifts under the tree. Dad looked at me and then at Ranger and then back to me and gave me a smile.

"Stephanie!" My mom called from the kitchen. I got up with a sigh and went into the kitchen.

"Merry Christmas, Mom." I said as I gave her a hug.

"You seem a lot happier today than yesterday. Did Santa leave you a nice present?"

"Yeah Mom, he did."

"What a beautiful necklace. Is that what has you smiling?"

"Yeah. It is from Ranger."

"I take it that Ranger is here?"

"Yeah, Mom. We are going to see if we can make a relationship work. I can't explain it. I feel a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders. The burden I was carrying around by hiding how I felt, is gone. I am free to express my happiness and my love."

"I'm happy for you, Steph."

"Oh, and I won't be around for about a week."

"Oh?"

"Ranger is taking me to Miami to see his daughter."

"Seems kind of sudden don't you think?"

"He was planning to go like he does every year. He just wants me to be with him."

"Are you sure he just isn't after something else?"

"Like what, Mom?" I knew what she was getting at. I just wanted to see how she would say it.

"You know perfectly well what. I just hope you aren't giving away the milk for free."

I crossed my arms. "And what am I supposed to do? Sell myself to him?"

"Good heavens! Of course not. You are not a prostitute. You know exactly what I mean, young lady. I hope you aren't sleeping with him."

I rolled my eyes. "Mom, I am a thirty-year-old woman. I think I can make my own decisions. If I choose to sleep with Ranger then I will. I am not some teenager who doesn't know what she is doing. I am using birth control."

"I did not just hear you say you are using birth control. You know that it's a sin in the eyes of the church."

"Mom, is the church going to be there to raise my child should I get pregnant? I don't think so. They have enough problems with keeping their priests from molesting young boys. I am doing the world a favor by not overpopulating it with unwanted kids."

"How can you say such a thing? Every woman wants to have children. It's what they were put on this earth to do."

"Mom, we have been over this. I don't want kids. At least not right now. I'm not even sure if I want to get married again. Ranger and I have both had bad experiences in that area. Neither one of us is looking to get married again anytime soon. I thought I explained this to you as one of the reasons Joe and I broke up. He wanted something that I didn't. Neither one of us would have been happy. I think that Ranger and I are going to be happy together because we both want the same things. No marriage and no kids."

"I just don't understand you, Stephanie. I thought I raised you better."

"Oh, Helen. Just leave her alone. She is her own person. If she just wants to live with that bounty hunter than let her."

"Thank you, Grandma." I said.

"Mother! How can you say such a thing? It goes against everything that I tried to teach her. It's bad enough that she is the talk of the Burg as it is with her job. Now she is going to get a reputation of being a slut like, like, like that Joyce Barnhardt."

"Mom, I am not sleeping with a different man every night." I turned around and grabbed the plates to set on the table. I then went into the living room to find Ranger and my dad in a deep discussion. They stopped when they noticed I had entered the room.

"Pumpkin, is everything O.K.? You look a little upset." My dad asked.

"I'm fine. Nothing that hasn't been brought up before."

"Your mom giving you a hard time because of me?" Ranger asked.

"Not really. At least she didn't bring up that I would be better off with Joe." I sat down next to Ranger and he put his arm around me and kissed my temple. PDA in front of my dad. Oh boy!


The rest of the day went by in a blur. I was glad I didn't have another encounter with my mother. Soon we were on a plane headed for Miami. Ranger held my hand the entire trip. I laid my head on his shoulder. We talked a little about what we could do while in Miami.

We landed in Miami and headed to the baggage claim area. After we had collected our luggage, we headed to the parking area. Ranger knew exactly where to find the vehicle that was left for us to pick up.

We stopped for some dinner before heading for his house that he has here in Miami, rather than go to the penthouse at RangeMan Miami.

It was a long day so I closed my eyes. Soon I was sound asleep. I felt him nudge me. "Babe, wake-up. We're here." I opened my eyes. I couldn't see much as it was dark out. But the house looked beautiful. I opened the car door as Ranger went to the rear to collect our luggage. I looked around.

It was a Mediterranean style house with a tile roof. The entryway was in an arched Portico. I waited for Ranger to unlock the door. We entered the house. Ranger went to enter the code in the security key pad. I looked around at the entryway. There was a curved staircase with wrought iron railing leading up to the second floor.

"You can look around tomorrow in the daylight." Ranger said to me. He took my hand and led me up the stairs.

"Is this the Batcave?" I asked.

Ranger smiled. "One of them."

Omigod! I was actually in the Batcave. And there was more than one. "Does that mean that there is a Batcave in Trenton?" I asked.

"Yes, there is. I'll take you to see it someday when we get back."

There was a long hallway that led to various rooms. The ceiling was arched. We stopped at the door at the end of the hall. I assumed it was also the back of the house. Ranger opened the door and let me go in first.

The bedroom was large. There was a king-size bed that dominated the room. It was four poster bed made of white washed oak. It had an open wrought iron canopy. The headboard was wrought iron too. There was a dresser with a mirror over it and night stands on both sides of the bed. There was a marble tiled floor. The windows overlooked the backyard. There was a veranda outside the French doors. I opened the doors and stepped out onto the veranda. There was a wonderful looking pool with a waterfall. I could see a patio with a roof over it. There were tables and a built in gas grill.

Ranger came up behind me. "I've wanted to bring you here for a long time."

"This is a beautiful house. Why don't you live down here permanently?"

"I have my reasons. Mainly because Trenton is closer to my family and you."

I turned to face him. "Me?"

"Yeah you, Babe. I have been patiently waiting for 'someday' to come. Every time you got back with Morelli, I think I died a little bit. I hoped and prayed that it wouldn't last."

"Why didn't you say something? I would have waited until 'someday' came."

"I didn't want to come between you and your happiness and if your happiness was with Morelli, then who was I to intrude."

"Even if it made you unhappy?"

"Babe."

"We make a wonderful pair, don't we? We both were willing to be miserable for the rest of our lives because we didn't know the other one wanted the same thing."

"So what was your mom saying to you today?"

"I really don't want to get into it again."

"Babe, if we are going to have a relationship then we shouldn't start out by holding stuff back from the other partner."

"Partner, huh?" I said wrapping my arms around his waist and looking up at him.

"Yeah, we are partners. We are partners in love, in work and in life."

"I like the sound of that. It sounds so much more grown up than boyfriend and girlfriend. And not as confining as husband and wife."

"You don't want to get married again?"

"Do you?" I asked surprised.

"Well, not any time soon."

"Good. Then we are on the same page. It was what I got into with my mother. I informed her that I didn't want to get married and have kids for the hundredth time. I told her that you didn't want that either. She more or less called me a slut."

"She called you a slut?"

"Well, she said I becoming like Joyce Barnhardt. She said I was giving the milk away for free. And she was absolutely appalled when I told her that I was using birth control. She said it was against the church."

"You're using birth control?" Ranger asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Nothing. I just didn't know how to bring it up to ask you if you were using something or if I needed to stock up on condoms."

"Stock up on condoms? You are really sure of yourself that we will be having sex."

"Making love, Babe. Not sex. Making love." Ranger said quietly. He leaned in to give me a tender kiss full of promise.

I moaned into his mouth. He scooped me up and carried me back into the bedroom. He set me down gently on the bed. His lips never leaving mine. "I love you, Babe." He whispered when our lips parted.

"I love you, too, Carlos." I whispered back. His lips crashed into mine and soon we found ourselves skin to skin.


The next morning we woke and took our time getting ready for the day. We took a nice long shower with a little aerobics thrown in. Did I tell you about his shower? It was marvelous. It was huge with multiple shower heads. The bathroom had two sinks and a toilet that was separated from the rest of the bathroom. In addition to the huge shower there was a spa tub that was big enough for two.

We were dressed and heading downstairs. I got to see what it all looked like in the daylight.

"Let's eat first and then you can explore, Babe." Ranger said. He led me to the kitchen where there was a Hispanic woman making breakfast for us. "Babe, this is Olivia Ortiz. She and her husband, Arturo takes care of the place. Olivia, this is Stephanie."

"Hola, Stephanie. Welcome to Miami. I hope your stay here will be enjoyable."

"Thank you. It's nice to meet you, Olivia." I said.

"Please sit down. I have breakfast here for you both. I have fresh squeezed orange juice. I have whole wheat pancakes with bananas. There is a carafe of coffee on the table."

"Smells wonderful, Olivia. Thank you." I said as she set a plate stacked with pancakes. She placed a small bottle of syrup in front of me.

"Is there anything else I can get for you?"

"No. I'm good. Thank you, Olivia."

"I'm fine, Olivia. Thank you." Ranger said.

"Are you planning on being home for lunch?"

"I don't think so. We should be here for dinner though." Ranger said.

"Anything in particular that you would like?"

"Anything you make I am sure Stephanie will like." Ranger answered.

"Very well. I will see you both for dinner then." She said. And she left the kitchen.

When we were done eating, we cleared our plates and rinsed them off and placed them in the dishwasher.

"So do you want the guided tour? Or do you want to explore on your own?"

"I think on my own."

"O.K. Babe. I'll be in my office. Don't take too long though. I told Rachel we would be over around 10:30 a.m."

"O.K." I skipped off to explore the Batcave.

I started at the entrance. It was very nicely decorated. Not overly ornate. Every room it looked like was painted in a cream color. There was a round table with a bowl of flowers and a dish with Ranger's keys in it. There was a grandfather clock standing by the wall that had the stairs. There were two urns with flowers in them on either side of the door. The door was wrought iron and glass. I am sure that it was bullet proof glass. The floor was marble tile with a design using a dark color giving it a parquet look.

I walked into the living room. The living room was done in browns. Brown leather couches were laid out in an u-shape in front of a fireplace. There was a square glass and wrought iron table in the middle. Again, there were marble tile floors with an area rug on the floor under the couches. There were some interesting paintings on the walls.

From the living room, I entered the dining room. There was a large table that sat ten. The chairs were oak with leather. The table was solid oak. There was a wrought iron chandelier hanging over the table. Here the floor was wood with an area rug under the table.

I was then back in the kitchen. It was very bright with oak cabinets and stainless steel appliances. There was an island in the middle that contained the cooktop. There was a breakfast bar with three bar stools around it. There was the small dining area where Ranger and I ate breakfast. There were French doors that lead outside to the pool and patio area.

A laundry room was in a small room off the kitchen. There were the usual washer and dryer. An ironing board. A table for folding. A mobile clothes rod for hanging up clothes after they came out of the dryer or after being ironed.

I went back to the entryway and noticed a small hallway off to the side. I followed it and discovered that there was a door that led to the basement. I went down and found a game room/rec room. There was a billiards table and a bar with four bar stools surrounding it. There was a couple of cream-colored couches and chairs. I went through a door and found a movie room with movie theater chairs and a big screen TV. Through another set of doors I found the furnace and water heater.

I went back upstairs and down the small hallway again I found Ranger's office. He was on the phone so I quickly left and headed up the stairs to check out the second floor.

I already had seen Ranger's bedroom, so I check the room across the hall. Inside I found a gym with weight machines and a treadmill.

I continued down and found what I assumed was Julie's room when she came to visit. What tipped me off were the Jonas Brothers' posters plastered on the walls. I was surprised that Ranger allowed that, but I guess he would let Julie do it if it made her feel more comfortable and let her feel that this was her home too when she was there. The room was painted in an aqua color. The bed was the same white washed oak with wrought iron headboard and footboard. There was a matching armoire and night stands on either side of the bed. There was a dresser with an attached mirror. The floor was wood with an area rug. There was a comfy looking chair and large pillows on the floor. A compact stereo system sat on a small table. I am sure that there were Jonas Brother CD's somewhere in the room too. Unless she brought them with her when she came over. She had her own bathroom with a tub/shower combo.

There were two more doors on the other side of the stairs. I didn't venture to look in those rooms. I didn't know if Olivia and Arturo lived on sight and I didn't want to intrude. I headed back downstairs and to Ranger's office. The room was nice sized. One wall was nothing but bookcases and cabinets. The window overlooked the pool and patio area. The floors were wood with an area rug. The desk was situated in front of the bookcase and cabinets. It had a leather inlaid top. And a comfy looking leather chair. There were two leather wing-back chairs in front of the desk. Ranger motioned for me to sit. I sat down in one as I waited for Ranger to finish up on the phone.

He finished up the phone conversation. "So did you explore the house?"

"Yes, I did. Except for the rooms on the other side of the stairs. I didn't know if Olivia and Arturo lived here and I didn't want to trespass."

"I should have mentioned that. And you were correct. That part of the house is a suite of rooms that Olivia and Arturo live in. They have their own living room, bedroom and bathroom and a small kitchenette. Olivia uses the main kitchen for when she does a lot of baking around the holidays. They can also use anything they want in the rest of the house too. Ready to go?"

"Yeah."

TBC Chapter 8 - Julie