Ranger's POV—Fifteen years later

My baby girl is getting married. Rosa is twenty-three, marrying a good man in Michael Bello. They met in high school and have been inseparable since. It took her time to warm up to me, and I to her, but we have a strong relationship. Julie and I are also close, and I enjoy seeing her children when they come to visit. At thirty-six, she is still beautiful, and a wonderful mother. Nine months after I returned, Stephanie and I welcomed our second child, a boy we named Ricardo Carlos Manoso, III. Eleven months later, his brother, Mateo Lester Manoso joined the family. Six months after the Consuela incident we welcomed our fourth child, a girl we named Estefania Angelita, for she was our miracle.

I often think back to that day on the beach, knowing that things could have been much worse then they were. I took almost five years of counseling before we were all recovered from the ordeal, and RC still has issues with the ocean to this day.

Flashback

I am standing in front of Consuela, ready to kneel before her as she ordered me. I will sacrifice myself for my family, for my Babe. I watch in horror as she throws RC into the water, grateful that Cal managed to enter and swim behind her with her knowing. He quickly grabs RC before any physical harm could come to him. I see her raise the gun, not at me, but at my Babe, and I fear for her life along with the life growing inside her. We haven't told anyone yet, but she's pregnant, again, expecting our fourth child in six months. We were planning on telling the kids tonight. I reach for my back, pulling my gun and taking the shot without thinking, my military training taking over. I watch her body fall into the ocean; my kill shot hitting her directly in her heart. I hear a blood-curdling scream and snap my head towards the sound. I see Lester lying on the beach, at Stephanie's feet, blood pouring out of him from some unknown location.

Stephanie is trying desperately to find the wound and stop the bleeding, but her hands are shaking too much. Bobby makes his way over and takes over the search. He finds the wound in Lester's shoulder, a clean hit that went straight through. He's going to be fine. I make it to Stephanie, holding her in my arms as the adrenaline crash hits her hard, causing her to faint. Hal, Cal, and Vince gather the kids, bringing them into our beach house, where they are safe and away from the chaos. Once the sand settled, Tank called the EMTs and cops. I hear the sirens approaching. Bobby has the blood stopped by the time the EMTs arrive on the beach. They load Lester into the ambulance to properly treat and clean his wound. Getting shot on a beach means a lot of contamination of the wound, so a hospital visit is unavoidable. After Tank gives his statement to the cops, he rides with Lester to the hospital. Bobby remains behind with my family and me, being the only one who knows that Stephanie is pregnant.

Once she comes to, we tell her that Lester is fine. She calms down considerably. I ask her what happened.

"She raised her arm, pointing the gun at me. I had Matteo behind me, trying to push him out of the way. I had no time to react, no time to get out of the way. Then Lester jumped in front of, pushing me down and the bullet hit him. Oh God! How am I going to explain this to Melanie?" Stephanie exclaims before she is overcome with tears once more.

"Babe, it was just a shoulder hit, a clean wound. He'll be fine. He was taken to the hospital because too much sand and sediment are in the wound. It needs to be cleaned properly to avoid infection. He'll be back here tonight. As for Melanie, you have nothing to explain. She'll understand."

It was at that moment that I notice Stephanie was bleeding. It seems that the bullet went through Lester and nicked her in the abdomen. We quickly rush her to the hospital, concerned for our unborn child.

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At first, the doctors didn't think Estefania would make it, because Babe lost too much blood. She passed out again en route. The baby's heart rate was low. However, after three nerve-wracking days, we were given the all clear and Stephanie came home with me. The reason we named our little girl "Estefania" is because she is a fighter, like her mother, a Wonder Woman in the making.

Lester and Melanie got married two years before that day on the beach, after dating for eleven months. Melanie knew about Lester and Stephanie's arrangement during my absence, and was fine with it, understanding how hard it had to be for Stephanie. They had a two-month-old daughter, Lianna Marie. Melanie was with Lianna in Trenton, not wanting to have her at the beach yet, when all Hell broke loose.

Stephanie and I still work at Rangeman Trenton, running the office with the Core Team. We are as in love today as we were twenty-five years ago. Consuela was the only one left, and once she died, the threat died with her. Well before that day, I discovered the mother fucker who sent me to hell and his reason. It seems that Senator Juniak, my friend and Stephanie's Godfather, had blocked a few major programs the good General wanted to initiate regarding treatment of inmates in Guantanamo and elsewhere. In order to punish Juniak and force his hand, he played me, hoping the Senator would choose me over his values. He didn't budge, refusing to be blackmailed into doing something morally wrong. When I confront the Senator, he had no idea that the General was planning to us me. He only found out after. He would have warned me and contacted other allies in the Pentagon to block the assignment, but he was too late. He tried to find where I was, to get information to Stephanie but was blocked every step of the way. I hold no hard feelings to the man, for his statement holds true. I took care of the General, with Juniak's help, and he's now spending the rest of his life doing hard labor in a military prison.

RC is almost eighteen, planning on enlisting in the Army once he finishes college, wanting to follow in my footsteps. As much as we would prefer that he didn't join the military, we will support him. Matteo is sixteen, planning on following Bobby's footsteps and becoming a doctor. Our daughter, Estefania, is fourteen and beautiful, making my hair turn grayer by the day. She has the eye of way too many boys for my liking. I barely survived Julie's teen years and Rosa's, now I have to deal with Estefania. However, my boys are equally as problematic. They are trying to be the new Lester and Carlos of the town, but I put my foot down firm. If I ever hear a rumor of them having sex or touching any girl, I will send them to an all boy military school. With Hector's ingenious tracking devices, I think they're still safe, however, I hold no illusions that they will hold one they get into college. But by that point, they will be adults, and will need to take responsibility for their actions. They know about Julie, and the circumstances of her birth, and I warned them about making the same mistake I did. Lester had another two girls after Lianna, and has no more brown hair, all grey. Stephanie said that his daughters are punishment for his playboy ways. I guess Rosa and Estefania are mine as well.

When Stephanie was waiting for my return, her parents continued to try to marry her off to every guy with a pulse in the Burg, not understanding that she didn't want them. After I returned and we married, they still tried to get her to pick a Burg man. She stopped talking to them the day RC was born after they tried to change his name to Stephen Francis.

Joe married a Burg woman, who in turn gave him his little Morellis to run around town. Together, they have six girls. RC is infatuated with one of his daughters, which is causing him to have ulcers once again. I find it amusing that he can't escape the Manoso men. Stephanie even encourages RC, saying it would be great to be with such an upstanding Burg girl, knowing full well that she is more like Stephanie than her mother, Joe's wife.

As I walk my daughter down the aisle, I think back to that moment when I first laid eyes on her, when I was standing behind some trees in Arlington. I saw the pink bonnet, and the pink dress, glad that she wasn't wearing black. I saw her in her mother's arms and knew that at least if I didn't make it home, my Babe had a piece of me. Knowing that she was mine helped me to push forward, to live, to return. I missed out on so much, but thanks to my amazing wife, most of those moments were captured on video or in pictures, so I was able to experience them.

I hand my daughter over to her husband-to-be and sit next to my wife, who I still love to this day and thank my lucky stars that my last mission was a successful mission.

The End

Author's Note: I know I originally said eight chapters, but I felt like I needed to expand it a little more. So I added Consuela's POV. When I first wrote this, the story ended at Arlington with Carlos' death. I had not planned on bringing him back. But, I couldn't leave it like that, even though I know that is a reality for the loved ones of many of our service men and woman. So, I'd like to take this time out to thank all of our Veterans and active military personnel for their sacrifice for our freedom. I have the utmost respect for the sacrifices they, and their family and friends make to keep us safe. I wish that all would have an HEA, but I know reality isn't is kind.

I'd also like to thank all the readers and reviewers for your overwhelming response to this story. I am glad that I was able to reach you on an emotional level. I could never permanently kill Carlos or Stephanie, not at least until they have their HEA and are old. I started reading book 25 today, and know that I will probably be disappointed, but I'm a glutton for punishment. I'm working on Metamorphosis, so hopefully, I'll have the next chapter for tomorrow. I'm trying! Until then, keep reading and reviewing, Babes. You're the best.