I woke up the next morning in the way I'd awakened every morning for the last several days. I was nauseous and it wasn't a good thing. I carefully reached for the crackers I kept by the bed being very careful not to move too much so I wouldn't lose control if I could avoid it. I finally got my stomach settled enough to get out of the bed and go to the bathroom. I'd probably throw up anyway once I got there, but at least I'd make it that far.
"Is it like that every morning," Ranger asked softly when I returned to the bedroom.
"Yep," I dropped back on the pillows. "Every morning is a delight. I wake up. I try to stave off the vomiting till I can make it to the toilet. I do my business. I brush my teeth and the cycle begins again until some point during the day when I don't feel like utter and complete shit. That's my life as it is right now. Thanks for asking."
He winced, "I'm really sorry."
"I wanted children," I sighed and shook my head slightly with closed eyes. "This is what God does to keep you from having too many of them I think."
He smiled and kissed his shoulder, "my mother had six."
"She cheated," I opened my eyes to meet his soft brown ones, "she had the last three at once."
"But the bean," he bit his lip as his hand slid lightly over my belly, "the bean is the only one in there…right?"
"Right," I nodded and a glimmer of doubt formed in my mind. "That's all I saw on the monitor. Celia would have told us if there was more than one, right?"
"Right," he nodded and swallowed. "She damn well better have."
I took a deep breath and changed the subject before full blown panic set in and I was throwing up all over the bed. "How do you feel this morning? You look like you have a little sparkle back."
"I do feel better," he admitted. "I know I'm still on bed rest, but I'm glad just not to feel like I was in surgery."
I smiled, "yea…I hate when that happens."
The monitor by the bed squawked. "I hear you. Are you up?"
I smiled, "No Lester. We're asleep. We're talking in our sleep."
"Well, listen in your sleep too. What do you want for breakfast?"
I groaned, "Toast."
"Just…bring us food," Ranger said quickly. "We'll each eat what we can."
"Done," he said and the squawking stopped.
"He'll bring me toast and you whatever," I sighed. "Listen, I'm going to take a quick shower while I'm feeling up to it. You eat while I'm in there. Do you need the bathroom first?"
"No, I'm good," he said watching me get up.
"Okay," I nodded and went into the bathroom.
When I exited the bathroom, Lester was sitting on the side of the bed giving Ranger a run down on his business. Tank was sending some faxes over according to him.
"Steph, Mike called. He says that he realizes that you're under the weather and it's unlikely that you'd want to leave Ranger alone so he wants to know if he can come by tonight and discuss the menu with you? He wants to complete the menu and get it to the printers as soon as possible."
"You know he could just go with the menu he already has," I said walking to the closet. "He doesn't have to change it."
"The things you said made sense," Lester smiled. "They made sense to all of us and not just to him. He wants to grow the business. You're giving him good advice."
"What do I know about running a restaurant," I sighed exiting the closet in sweats claiming I was Ranger's and a little tee shirt that said the same.
"Babe," Ranger sighed.
"What," I blinked and followed the direction of his gaze, "it's the hockey team. The coincidence is only that, a coincidence."
"Right," Lester shook his head. "Anyway, Mike wants to talk to you."
"That's fine," I agreed with a slight smile, "I just can't guarantee that I'll be able to stay in the room the entire time. I'll probably have to excuse myself and well…you know…"
He grinned, "I know. Mitch will be back at about one. He said if you want him to pick up some groceries on the way to give him a call. Mike's planning to be here around five or six. Mitch said you're usually in pretty good shape in late afternoon."
"Right," I nodded in bemusement.
"I'll leave the food. You should try to eat Steph," Lester said seriously.
"Tell you what Lester, when you get pregnant you can give me advice," I said with a raised brow.
He just shook his head and left the bedroom.
"He's just worried about you Stephanie."
"I know. But he doesn't know what it's like to toss up almost everything that enters your body. He can't understand."
"Okay," he nodded.
"What about you? You obviously can't take a shower. What do you need me to do?"
"Well, I'm going into the bathroom and take care of that myself, but I'll probably need you to replace bandages when I get out."
"Done," I nodded and picked up a piece of dry toast and nibbled on the corner. "You better hurry. There's no telling how long my stomach will stay settled and therefore how long I can replace your bandages without hurling on you."
"You say the sweetest things," he grimaced and headed for the bathroom.
I straightened the bed and made it up. Then I took my toast and went to stand at our bedroom window and look out. Spring was definitely coming to New Jersey. There were blossoms on many of our trees. I could now identify some fruit trees by the pretty flowers on them. The yacht that had been sitting at the dock on the day we'd toured the house was still anchored there. It had been part of the sale. I'd never even been on the boat. I wondered if Ranger had. I knew I wouldn't be on it anytime soon. My stomach definitely wasn't going to handle the pitch of a boat if it couldn't handle the comfort of our non moving mattress.
Eventually the entire slice of toast made it down me and I sat down on the window seat to tell the bean how much I appreciated it.
"That was a good baby," I said seriously. "If you don't let Mommy get a little nutrition in her some time, it's going to become very uncomfortable for you in there. All right, things every baby born to me needs to know…Trenton New Jersey is the suck zone. Things happen here that aren't our fault. You father is unmentionable and it's suspected that your mother is unmentionable, so it's likely that you'll be unmentionable. Things will happen that won't be your fault," I smiled and rubbed my belly lazily. "Okay number two…just because you're Hungarian, Italian and Cuban it doesn't mean that you have to grow up to be a sex fiend. I'm not going to tell you that sex is bad; if I do you'll be doing it as soon as you hit puberty. I'm just going to say that sex between two people who love each other is a wonderful thing and…"
"Stephanie, do not tell the bean about sex," Ranger groaned. "The bean isn't going to have sex."
"You don't want grandchildren," I raised a brow.
He glared at me.
"You can't have it both ways Ranger," I said smugly.
He cleared his throat, "you can have sex when you're forty."
"That's too late. I'm thirty and…"
"And you're probably too young. Dear God it's a wonder Frank didn't put a bullet in my brain before we got married. If he knew the things I've done to you he'd…" His voice trailed off as he went to the drawer and started rummaging. He muttered as he rummaged. I could hear bits of phrases. I heard things like "he could have cut my balls off" and "my daughter will be a virgin" and "I'll buy more guns". Really it was a very interesting conversation.
He let me put the bandages on him after he'd gotten into some underwear and some pants. Then I helped him into a loose shirt.
"Ranger…have you been on the yacht yet," I asked.
"No," he shook his head. "Cal checked it out though and he says it's sweet."
"Sweet," I grinned.
"Honey…Cal has an urban tongue," he shook his head.
"Right," I nodded. He called me honey. This was surely a good thing, right?
Lester came upstairs and helped me get Ranger down the stairs. Really all Lester did was walk down the stairs in front of him to catch him if he fell. Ranger's too macho to let anyone really help him up and down the stairs.
We took him into the office and sat him in the rolling chair so he could reach the fax machine that was spitting out papers and his computer. He was going to be busy and happy for a little while.
I went into my kitchen and was happily surprised to find it clean.
"You did a good job of cleaning the kitchen Lester."
"Thanks," he grinned. "Between the army and Marina, I think I have a handle on things."
"What time is it?"
"About ten," he said checking his watch.
"I'm feeling pretty good. I think I'm going to take Mitch up on that grocery stop."
"Cool," he said. "I'll grab a pen."
I went through the cabinets and called out items to Lester who put them on the list. I planned a few things to make for Mike to check out and I also planned on some dinner that I was pretty sure that Ranger and I could both eat that wouldn't leave either of us tossing our cookies later.
Lester disappeared to email the list to Mitch and left me alone in the kitchen. I rummaged through the other cabinets and found the candy thermometer hidden in my big stock pot in the bottom corner cabinet where those little used pans are kept out of the way.
I went straight to the office with the object in my hand.
"Ricardo Carlos Manoso," I raised a brow at him.
"Are you going to call me by my full name every time I'm in trouble," he said with a frown.
"Maybe," I frowned thoughtfully. "My mother does it. I suppose it's worth doing. I like to think of it as an early warning system that you're going to benefit from."
"You only said maybe," he reminded me.
"Yes I did. I don't want you to get too comfortable." I shook the candy thermometer at him, "did you hide this in the back bottom corner cabinet in a big pot?"
He frowned, "maybe. What were you doing in there?"
"I'm planning on doing a few recipes for Mike today. I needed my big stock pot."
"Hmm," he frowned keeping his eye on the thermometer.
"Why did you hide it?"
"Well…I'll be honest with you. It scares the crap out of me. I know what it's supposed to be used for, but with your Hungarian genes and your mother's keen use of food during sex, I figured it would be no time till you started checking the kitchen for kinky sex toys."
"Don't you think it would be a good idea to wait till you thought it may be possible that we'd ever have sex again before you hid it?"
"Well, I was afraid I'd forget and besides, it was before you know… You know," he said miserably.
"Don't hide it again. I need it for Christmas for divinity and peanut brittle and all kinds of things."
"Do we need those things," he frowned.
"I do," I glared at him. "Just because your temple can't handle a little sugar, it doesn't mean that mine won't."
He nodded, "yes ma'am."
I glared at him and leaned over him with one hand on either arm of his chair, "and if you ever call me ma'am again, I'll use this thermometer to create your worst nightmare."
"Right," he blinked, "Got it."
"Good," I straightened. "Do you have any preferences for lunch?"
"Nope, not hungry oddly," he blinked and turned back to the computer.
I smiled and walked away, "good."
When Mitch got there at one, Lester helped him carry the groceries into the house. Then Lester kissed me on the cheek and headed out with a grin. Mitch stayed in the kitchen and helped me make the cheesecakes.
"So how is it going with Captain Courageous in there?"
I snorted with laughter, "what do you mean?"
"I mean, are you making strides into fixing your marriage or are you both just puttering along hoping things will fix themselves?"
"Ouch," I winced, "who made you our marriage counselor."
"Well, I don't see anybody making any appointments for…"
"I hear you Mitch. I just think we ought to give him a little time to heal from nearly dying before we start demanding he make appointments for head shrinking."
"Steph," he reached for my hand and met my eyes with his serious silver gaze, "you deserve the whole thing."
"I know," I said softly. "But I think I finally realized he's human."
He grinned, "It's about time."
"Yea," I smiled, "it is. But as soon as he's off bed rest I'll tell him that it has to be done for this to work. But Mitch…he already offered."
"Offered what," Ranger asked entering the kitchen.
"Offered ideas on which recipes to do for Mike," I stammered.
"Steph…you're a bad liar," Ranger said kissing my cheek. "What did I offer to do?"
"Get therapy," Mitch said meeting Ranger's dark eyes with his silver ones.
Ranger's eyes stayed on Mitch's for a few moments before moving to mine, "yes, I did and I will as soon as the doctor says I can get out of the house."
"The ivory tower isn't as appealing as you thought it was, is it," I smiled up at him.
"Not so much," he reached behind me for a bottle of water from the refrigerator. "But, Mitch has a point. We should check to see if Dr. Addison will be willing to see me when I'm able and if he'll see us for marriage counseling and if not if he can recommend someone preferably in his building so we can do one after the other or something like that."
"I can call him," I said biting my lip.
"I'll do it," he said and tugged my lip from between my teeth. "I said I would and I meant it. I'll do whatever it takes." He leaned down to kiss me lightly. "Whatever it takes," he said softly resting his head against mine for a moment before leaving the kitchen.
I took a deep breath, "happy Mitch?"
"Yes and no," he said and put the cheesecakes into the refrigerator.
"Yes and no," I laughed.
"Yes because he's pulling his head out of his ass and that will make you happy," he turned to lean toward me with his hands on the counter, "and no because if he keeps it up…I don't get the girl."
I shook my head, "you're going to get a great girl Mitch. You're a great guy."
"Yea," he smiled and tapped my nose lightly with his fingertip, "but this is the one I wanted."
"Thank you. You have no idea how flattered I am."
He leaned back, "what's next heartbreaker."
I laughed, "Well, there are no Spanish dishes on the menu. I thought we'd try a little something."
"What do you want to try," he leaned over the counter again with interest.
"It's a vegetarian version of Ranger's breakfast burrito."
"Cool, let's do this," he nodded.
"This is a new recipe. We'll be creating it today."
It took us four tries to get the right recipe, but once we did, it was good.
"We could adapt it more like Ranger makes it if he ever adds breakfast or brunch too," Mitch said taking another bite of the burrito.
"What smells so good," Ranger asked coming into the kitchen.
"We've been working on some recipes," I grinned and offered him a fork full of burrito with a little salsa and sour cream on it.
"Oh my God," he groaned. "That is so good. What is it?"
"That's a vegetarian variation of your breakfast burrito tweaked for the lunch and dinner crowd. What do we serve with it," I frowned. "I mean we can't just serve it like this."
"It's got everything in it," Mitch frowned thoughtfully cutting another bite. "Since we're hitting the vegetarians maybe we should go with a fruit salad."
"Good idea," I nodded. "I think Mike's already got fruit salad on his menu, so this is good to go."
Ranger took my fork and took another bite of the burrito, "can this be my lunch?"
"Of course," I smiled.
He took the plate and disappeared.
I smiled after his back, "well, I'd say our burrito is a hit."
"I would have to agree," Mitch said polishing off the last of his.
I turned around and grabbed the menu Mike had faxed me and opened it on the counter. "Okay, where else is he missing the boat?"
Mitch and I pored over the menu for hours. We also put some dinner in the crock pot so we'd have something for later. I was feeling pretty good and hadn't been sick since morning. Maybe I was getting a little cocky, but I was beginning to think I had the all day morning sickness licked and would now be concentrating only on the early onset.
We discussed the side items at length. We both felt that it was an area that the menu was lacking that could help with business down the road. We were going to research that next. Then we went back to the dessert. The menu currently included apple pie, hot fudge sundaes, cookies and a raspberry tart.
"It needs more chocolate," I said thoughtfully. "I mean it's only got the sundae. If we add cheesecake and the lemon cake, it will be better, but it won't have enough chocolate. We need a chocolate something to die for."
"Not literally right," Mike grinned as he entered the kitchen in front of Ranger.
I laughed and hugged him tight, "no, not literally."
"Ranger says you've been hard at work," he said dropping his arm around Mitch's shoulders. "He says you've been cranking out some good stuff."
"We have," I nodded. "And we've got a couple of things for you to taste. We've got the two cheesecakes prepared and we've got a vegetarian burrito that we think can reach two audiences. It's spicy and it's vegetarian."
"Let's see," Mike sat on the bar stool.
Mitch and I got to work and within minutes had the burrito ready and in front of Mike.
"God this takes good," Mike moaned. "And it's good for me?"
"Yep," Mitch nodded.
"It's fantastic," Ranger said dropping his arm around me proudly.
"We think you can serve the fruit salad you already have on the menu with it and you should be good to go," I nodded.
"Hmm," he said as he chewed. He swallowed, "you wrote down the recipe?"
"Of course," I handed him the paper. "You can adapt it pretty easily for breakfast or brunch later too. It's pretty versatile."
"I agree," he nodded. "Okay, what about those cheesecakes?"
Mitch pulled the cheesecake out of the fridge and we tried those and he agreed that they were definitely on the menu. Then we spent more than an hour discussing what other side dishes we could add as well as the decadent chocolate thing I felt the menu still needed.
After that I served dinner at the breakfast table and we all four sat down to eat it.
"So have you heard anything about the explosion yet," Ranger asked Mitch.
"It was a bomb. It was in the men's room in the front of the restaurant which is why it affected you guys more than it affected the three of us out back. We were in the outside freezer at the time. If we'd been inside the restaurant, we'd be dead."
I swallowed. "Do they have any suspects?"
"Nobody mentioned any," Mike shook his head. "Can we get this pot roast on the menu?"
I grinned, "Sure you can."
"Who have you pissed off? Is there somebody's husband after you," Mitch asked.
"Dude, the only woman I've flirted with lately is Stephanie. I've been working my ass off. As long as Ranger didn't do it, I should be okay."
"Wasn't me," Ranger assured him.
"There you have it," Mike frowned. "They made sure it was after hours. The restaurant is usually empty at that time of night. Maybe it wasn't a bomb intended for a person but instead for the business itself."
"Have you had any threats or anything?"
"No," Mike shook his head. He sighed, "The only thing wrong with the theory is that the bomb was a good one. Whoever built it knew what it would do and it wasn't over done. It was just the right size for the building to be destroyed."
"Interesting," I said with a frown.
"Yea," Ranger nodded. "So, you need to check your records…if there are any left and find out who had a beef with you purchasing the location."
"Good idea," Mitch nodded. "You might want to check on your competition as well."
Mike sat back, "the police think it was someone with an agenda, but they don't know what the agenda is. They're looking into my financials."
"That sucks," I bit my lip.
"Yea, but I have nothing to hide so it's all good. The new restaurant is going to open on schedule. I just need to nail down the menu."
"We're working on it," I assured him. "Give me a couple of days."
"I can give you more time than that," he said with a grin. "Especially now that I've tasted your cooking."
I laughed, "I'm glad you like it."
"When you guys come by to install the security systems maybe we should consider upgrading from my previous package," Mike sighed. "My insurance company is having fits over this."
"I bet," Ranger nodded. "Yea, we'll upgrade you. You need something."
"Yea," he nodded. "I do appreciate your help Stephanie. I talked to a couple of my servers and they agree totally with your assessment that the menu is not attractive to women."
"Well, I like food," I shrugged.
"She does," Ranger nodded. "You should believe her."
"I do," he laughed. "I appreciate dinner, but I have to get back to work. I'm going to turn these recipes over to my chefs to practice with. We'll put them in the menu program. We'll have to come up with some clever names, but I can handle that one."
"Good," I smiled and got to my feet. The men got up and we all walked Mike to the door. "Thank you for coming by. I hope you're really happy about the recipes because I'm having fun with it."
"I am," he assured me and hugged me. "I promise you. If you're ten percent close to right, this is a good thing."
"She'll do better than that," Ranger assured him.
"You have a lot of confidence in her," Mike said assessing him.
"She inspires it and she never disappoints," he said seriously.
"Maybe you should remember that all the time," Mike said with a raised brow and walked out the door.
"What he said," Mitch said heading for the kitchen.
I looked up at Ranger.
"I don't disagree," he finally said pushing curls from my forehead. "I was an ass."
"Yep," I nodded.
"I'll do better."
"I really hope so Ranger," I said with a slight sigh.
