Hahahaha I liked everyone's theory on how they think Ranger is going to be at the wedding. Good guess, but no. Anyways, I'm still trying to keep up with the updates, I'll try my hardest not to fall this far back again. I still love all of you guys, keep faith in me and enjoy the new chapter :)

Previously:

"You really do look beautiful right now Steph and Carlos is one lucky bastard to have you as his." I turned to Tank and saw the sincerity, but with the mention of Carlos, tonight didn't seem so fun anymore.

Tank turned to face me after we had gotten in the elevator and grabbed the sides of my face, "They're going to find him and bring him home. We're going to keep getting updates from them as often as we can, but there's only do so much from this end. Just hope and pray he comes back. I know boss man doesn't want you to worry over him like this, so just for tonight, try not to worry. Think positively, that he's alive and just walking through whatever jungle he's in this time," he kissed my forehead and turned to stare at the double doors.

When the doors opened up to the garage, I walked out and over to the waiting limo, thinking to myself, "That man better be found soon, or I'm going to fly anywhere around this world and start looking myself."

Some say you can feel butterflies in your stomach when you're nervous, or it feels like you're on a rollercoaster, or even like someone's got their fist clenched on your insides. I, personally, never believed them, but on the drive to the wedding… man! I seriously thought I was going to puke up everything I had eaten in the last three days just from being so nervous.

When we pulled up to the chapel, I looked to Tank, "I hope you know, if anything goes wrong at this wedding, I'm blaming you and telling Carlos this was your bright idea."

He smiled, "No problem hun, if it gets Ranger to rethink shit, I'm down."

I shook my head and watched as the rest of the guys pilled out of the limo. When Tank reached back to grab my hand and help me out, I realized, "Oh shit, I'm about to meet the man I love's family… without him."

Depressing, is it not?

As I took the time to actually look at the chapel, Ricardo and a woman walked up to us, smiles on their faces. Everyone was happily greeted, hugs all around, kisses on every cheek. When it came time for me, I noticed the woman Ricardo came with no longer had that radiant smile on her face.

"Stephanie! I'm so glad you decided to come, and the dress looks beautiful on you. Don't you think so, Maria?" Ricardo looked to the woman next to him and noticed the way she was looking at me.

"Well, Stephanie, this is Maria, my wife. Maria, this is Stephanie, Carlos' amante secreto, the one I was telling you about this morning." As he gave his introductions, Maria gave me an appraisal look, up and down, probably internally thorough too, from the disapproval look she was giving me.

Maria finally took her eyes off of me and turned to Ricardo, "No me importa lo que digan o piensen Ricardo, que nunca volverá a ser lo suficientemente bueno para mi hijo."

"Maria!" Ricardo looked at his wife with such disdain I knew I shouldn't have come.

"Look, obviously I know when I'm not wanted, and honestly it's ok. Maria, I didn't mean to come here and upset you, so if you would like me to go, I can." I gave her my most sincere look, despite the fact on the inside, I was falling apart.

"Yes, please do. I know my son wouldn't ever go for someone like you. I really don't know why you came." She turned on her heels and walked back inside the church. I closed my eyes and turned to the boys.

"Can one of y'all please call the limo back? I'm going back to Haywood, call me and tell me how the wedding goes an-"

"No!" Ricardo raised his voice and everyone jumped. I'm guessing that's something that doesn't happen very often.

"Ric, look, if Maria wants me go-" He raised his hand to silence me.

"Stephanie Manoso, you will stay at this wedding. You'll will meet your future in laws and become a part of this family. My wife does not and will not run this family, I do. So no, none of them will call for the limo and you will not go back to Haywood. Is that understood?"

I looked down at my shoes and paused long enough to truly grasp the fact that Ricardo was definitely serious; serious enough to go against his wife.

"Stephanie, do you hear me?" He grabbed my arms and made me look him in the eyes.

"Yes, I do hear you. I'll stay… but if the slightest confrontation pops off between Maria and me, I'm gone."

"I'm telling you right now, Maria won't even glance at you the rest of the night when I'm done talking to her." I nodded my head and began walking inside the church with everyone else.

As soon as we walked in, I heard raised voice speaking in a rapid Spanish and knew Maria was probably telling someone in the family about what a horrible person I was. We turned the corner and saw three other women, including the bride, surrounding Maria.

Maria whirled around to face me, "Didn't I tell you to leave?"

"Maria, I told her she was staying, and that's final." Ricardo stared down at Maria and waited for her to respond. When she didn't, he turned and left for her to follow. After she left, it left the three women, the boys and me all by ourselves. Lester was the first to open his mouth.

"Well now that that is over and done with, ladies, it's nice to see you again. I missed all three of you little brats."

"Well if you came and saw us more often, there wouldn't be a problem. And I know you know where we all live, you big jerk."

The one speaking was probably the oldest of the three, she looked about as old as my sister. She was short, curves like nobody's business and a face like the angels throughout the church.

"Steph," Lester said, "This is Cecilia, Carlos' first younger sister." She stuck her hand out and gripped my hand in a firm grab, declaring she was glad to meet me. I was definitely impressed, and actually somewhat comfortable.

He moved to the next female across from me and Cecilia, "Bomber, this is Liliana, younger sister number three and baby of the family."

"Lester, I don't know why you insist on letting everyone how much younger than everyone else I am, we get it," she rolled her eyes and turned to face me, "It's nice to meet you Stephanie."

"Nice to meet you too," she nodded her head and that was the end of it. Last one to be introduced… the bride

"Gabriella, most beautiful bride on the planet, this is Stephanie. The one your mom was talkin' smack on." She turned around and my breath stopped. I had never seen a woman so damn beautiful. This woman had the natural beauty most women try to achieve with makeup. She had no makeup on!

She hit Lester in the chest and turned to speak to me, "Stephanie, it's so nice to finally meet the girl who took over my brother. I don't particularly care for my mother's first impressions, since they're usually wrong, so don't worry about us three having a problem with you." She ended her statement with an astonishing smile and walked away.

"Stephanie?" Liliana sounded nervous or worried and I looked at her questioningly.

"You can just call me Steph," I smiled.

She beamed at me and said, "Cool, do you want to sit next to me during the wedding?"

I paused and looked at Tank and Lester, knowing surely my eyes were pleading for help. Lester just laughed and walked away, shaking his head and saying something about Carlos. Tank shrugged his shoulders, "I wouldn't know what to say either, hun. Do what feels right." And he turned and left me to flounder for a decision..

"Liliana, how old are you really.?"

"I'm 22, why?"

"Ok, so you should be mature enough to know why your mother doesn't like me, right." I looked to her and waited for a response.

"Yes, this is why I want you to sit up with me and my family during the wedding. My mother isn't always right when it comes to her kids' relationships. If it makes you uncomfortable, then you don't have to, but since Carlos isn't here, I would like for you to sit in his place."

With Liliana being so young, I didn't expect her to be so grown and knowledgeable to grown up, adult… shit.

I thought about it for a few more minutes and said, "If you're willing to deal with your mother's fire, then yes, I will. But if you feel like you don't want to deal with it then just let me know and I won't sit with you."

Liliana looked and smiled, knowing exactly what she was getting herself into. She walked up to me, linking her arm in mine and walking us to our seats. I noticed that Tank and the guys were in the pew behind the family, but only on Carlos' side.

When we finally got to our seats, Ricardo and Maria stood to make more room for us. I obviously got a dirty look from Maria, but I ignored it, since I got the constant warm welcoming from Ric.

As we waited Tank leaned forward, "You ok Bomber?"

"Yea, Liliana and I talked so it's cool, I hope." I smiled at the end to hide that fact that I was practically dying on the inside, just waiting for Maria to blow up on me. Then I realized that if she was anything like my mother, she would be polite, wait till after the wedding, then scream, yell and act a fool.

On cue, the wedding march began and everyone stood. Gabriella came through the doors and Ric walked to meet her. He kissed her on both cheeks and stuck his arm out for her to walk with.

As she walked down the aisle, you could see her and her father talking, about what… probably father daughter things. Weddings are the only time a girl's father will be the biggest sap.

When they reached the groom, he took her from Ric and shook his hand. He leaned to kiss his daughter one more time before he took his seat. The priest began his speech and I tuned into my own show, picturing me and Carlos up there next. With the way things were going, we most likely won't ever end up together, but a girl can dream.

They each said their vows, written on their own, and ended the ceremony with I do. As they walked down the aisle, traditional rice was thrown, while everyone watched them stroll, grins on their faces, ear to ear.

As everyone met up at the reception hall, I got the chance to really talk to Liliana and Cecilia. Cecilia wasn't very much of a talker, but what she did have to say left a profound impression. Liliana was just the regular chatter box, but it wasn't about just anything, at least it was about things that kept it interesting.

"So Steph, how come you and my brother have been together for so long but we've never met you?" Cecilia gave me the look saying she knew what was really going on between me and Carlos.

"Well, technically… um, your brother and I aren't actually 'together'."

"Then you're just sleeping together?" Liliana asked the question and sipped on the beer she had in her hand, eyebrow raised in a question.

"Liliana! That is definitely none of your business, that's between your older brother and her. But it would be nice to know how to refer to you…" Cecilia said.

"Well," I cleared my throat and looked around, hoping to find one of the guys to come and save me. When I saw no one, I gave up on the lost cause and just spilled my guts.

"Well, I've been in love with your brother for almost three years now. Um, he didn't really know how much I loved him until recently. I don't know how much I can tell you about where he is or what he's doing, but something went wrong, and when I got the chance to talk to him, he told me he loved me too.

"My whole issue is, if he loves me the way he says he does, why did it take him three years and something going wrong to make him realize it? And when I told him, I wouldn't accept it, he got hurt but then I told him why. I've known since three years ago when I would wake up wanting to roll over and see him, not empty sheets. Or better yet, when he got shot, I dropped everything and ran to him."

"The point being, your brother, mijas, is an idiot, and doesn't know what he has standing in front of him." All three of us spun around to see Ricardo standing behind us with Maria, a look of astonishment on her face.

"Stephanie, is that how you really and truly feel about my son?" Maria asked.

"Yes, it is. I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to be with your son for the rest of my life."

Maria looked to Ricardo and let go of his arm. She walked up and stood right in front of me, staring. Out of nowhere, she wrapped her arms tight around me and whispered, "Thank you."

I looked to Ricardo and the girls to see if this was to be expected of their mother and when Ricardo nodded his head yes, I raised my arms to embrace her back.

As we let go of each other, Lester came out to let everyone know the reception was about to start.

Throughout the ceremony, beginning to end, all I thought about was Carlos. Wondering if they'd found him, wondering if he was ok, wondering if he knew I still loved him.

On the limo ride back to Haywood, I told myself I wouldn't let this get me down or stressed. Tank walked me up to the seventh floor and told me, "Steph, you know we all love you? And no matter what happens, you'll always have a family here, right?"

"Yes, Tank I know. What are you saying this for?"

"No reason, I just wanted to make sure you knew what we were all about, who you are and what you mean to every single one of us."

"Awe, Tank. I love you big guy."

"Love you too, Stephanie."

A week's gone by and still no word on Carlos. Every day I go and bug each and every single one of the guys, asking if they knew something, anything. I made it my daily task to accomplish my agenda on getting some kind of information.

"Stephanie!"

I turned and saw Lester, pale faced and breathing fast. "Lester…"

"Joey's looking for you… Stephanie."

I took off at a dead sprint to the conference room. As I turned the corner, I saw everyone piled in the small room, heads hung low and faces forlorn.

I walked up to the screen, looking Joey straight into his big blue eyes. Pretty, but not the eyes I wanted.

"Joey, you better be giving me good news, or I swear…" My voice broke towards the end and I looked away from the screen.

"Stephanie, you know I love you. You're like my little sister, which is why I asked to be the person to tell you."

I looked around the room, noticing no one was talking, or even looking in my general direction.

"Stephanie, we found Ranger… he's dead."