Still not mine, still not making anything.

Bad Day – Chapter 10

Three Months Later

Steph's POV

I flopped down on the couch; today was a good day, both boys were happy, fed, clean and sleeping. If I did this right, I could get a nap in before the party. I thought about moving to the bedroom, too far, the couch it was. I think I was asleep as soon as I closed my eyes.

I woke up some time later. It was still quiet in the apartment. I couldn't be that lucky that the boys were still sleeping. Needing to check on them, I got up slowly and wandered into their bedroom. The twins were both wide-awake and lying on a blanket on the floor. Stretched out with them was their father, gently playing with their toes, fingers and tummies while they just stared at him.

"Have a good nap Babe,?"

"Mmmhmmm" I mumbled not taking my eyes off my three men. Enjoying how the three of them looked so right together.

"You've got an hour until the party. I'll watch these guys, you go get ready."

"An hour, only an hour" I nearly yelled as I rushed from the room.

The Merrymen had planned a combination wedding shower and baby shower for us. All the Merrymen were invited, Tank had arranged for back up from the Boston office, Mary Lou, Connie, Lula and several other friends would be there. None of our family was invited.

I was excited; this was the first time I'd get to show off my boys to everyone. It had taken awhile to heal from the gunshot wound and the birth and then there were the boys. My time was spent taking care of them and then sleeping any chance I could. Ranger had been great; he helped taking care of them; he walked the floors with them by the hour if they were colicky, fed them and played with them. The only thing that he was lame on, was diaper changing. The man of mystery still could go in the wind when it was time to change a diaper.

The party was downstairs on the first floor. We each grabbed a boy and headed down. The room was already packed when we got there. The boys were immediately taken from us; Mary Lou held Kelly, and Connie was gently bouncing Kyle on her shoulder. I leaned back into Ranger and felt his hands go around my waist and then his lips were nuzzling my neck.

"Hey, none of that," I opened my eyes to see Les standing in front of us, his arms folded across his chest. "This is a party; go party."

With one last squeeze of his hands, Ranger let me go. I checked on my boys, and seeing that they were safe, now being held by Hal and Joe, I continued through the room, visiting with everyone. The time pasted quickly, there were presents and food, and then more food. I was full, tired and very happy, contemplating heading upstairs when Tank announced one last gift to the boys.

He dimmed the room lights and turned on the ceiling projector. "We've been collecting pictures and have made a book for you two" he said speaking to the twins, who were now conked out in Ranger's arms.

With that, the slide show started. There were pictures of Ranger and I labeled "Mommy" and "Daddy". There were pictures of all the Merrymen and Joe as "uncles" and pictures of the girls as "aunts". I felt tears pooling in my eyes which quickly turned to laughter as the pictures changed.

Candid shots followed. We were all laughing as we saw Ranger passed out in the police car, and me asleep in the Porsche, both from celebrating the news of my pregnancy. I wasn't quite as amused when they started showing me eating; eating donuts, eating pizza, subs, cookies and cake. But then there was a picture of Ranger, eating a donut. I looked at him and raised my eyebrows.

"Babe"

"What happened to the temple?" I asked.

"Day off," he responded.

I just laughed as one donut picture was replaced by another and then another. And then there were pictures of him eating cookies, but the cake picture was the best, he was eating it with his fingers, stuffing it in his mouth.

"Looks like there were lots of days off," I giggled.

"We were pregnant." He replied, his blank face firmly in place.

The next set of pictures had my mouth dropping open as I saw pictures of Ranger ring shopping. In the first picture you couldn't make out who was on the floor in handcuffs, but as the angle changed you could definitely see it was Ranger. I turned and just stared at him.

"Babe," he replied but I noticed a tinge of red to his checks. Wow, it is possible to make him blush.

Sleeping pictures were next: Ranger asleep at his desk; me asleep at my desk; us together asleep on the couch. All had titles such as "Kyle was colicky", "Kelly was colicky".

But it was the pictures of the babies with their aunts and uncles that had the tears back and falling. There were pictures of one or both of them with everyone. There were even pictures from the party.

"You okay, Babe?"

"Yeah, just feeling the love."

The end.