So I did not reply to yesterday's reviews, for which I sincerely apologize. But I have the flu, and I have about four minutes of energy, and I figured posting a chapter would be more appreciated. I'll make every attempt to respond tomorrow, I promise!

Still don't own them, make no profit, rating for language…

…

Ranger bit back a sigh and put the car in park. Julie stayed slouched in the passenger seat. She had shown up at his office after school, and generally been such a pain in the ass that Ranger had decided to drive her home early.

"Mom said she wants to talk to you. You have to come in," Julie said. She huffed and crossed her arms over her skinny chest. She was still sulking, and he'd just about had it.

"I'll come in. But next time, I expect you to be in a better mood."

She kicked the underside of the dashboard. "You're not my father. You can't tell me what to do."

The words had a sharper impact than he was willing to admit, but he didn't let that show. "I am your father, Julie, whether you like it or not."

The little girl's face scrunched up and her eyes filled with tears. She threw open the car door, but turned back to yell at him when he got out as well. "No you're not! You're not my father, just like you're not Livy's father. You've never even seen her! You don't care about either of us. I hate you!"

Ranger stood frozen, while Julie kept screaming that she hated him. She turned and ran past Rachel, who had come outside, and slammed the screen door behind her. He started after her, but Rachel stepped in front of him.

"Let her go, Carlos. And stop scowling. She's a teenager, what did you expect?"

He swallowed hard and focused on Rachel. "Does she really hate me?"

"Not yet."

The unspoken half of Rachel's words hit him square in the chest. But she will. He took a deep breath and tried to tell himself that it was for the best – that he should be limiting his contact anyway, but it did nothing to relieve the unexpected ache in his chest. "What'd she say that baby's name was?"

Rachel stared at him for a minute before answering. "Livy. Olivia Katherine."

The name echoed in his mind. His daughter - his and Steph's. "How did Julie even find out?"

"I took her to Trenton."

"You what?" This whole situation was getting more fucked up by the day. Steph had known he didn't want Julie to know about the baby.

"It wasn't your decision, Carlos," Rachel said softly. She turned and walked into the house. He followed and wandered through the tidy rooms, toward the kitchen in the back where he assumed she had gone. He could hear noises coming from upstairs, but stopped himself from going up there and setting Julie's attitude straight himself.

Rachel was chopping something in the kitchen. He approached her warily, knowing she wouldn't just let this go.

"You can't just keep spend time with her when it's convenient for you," she said, "and expect her to run for her daddy. She's too old for that now. She's not one your men you can just command to respect you and follow your orders."

"I don't command anyone to respect me. I earn it."

She stopped chopping gave him a pointed look. "Well, doesn't that tell you something?"

He sank onto a stool on the other side of the counter and ran his hands over his head. "You expect me to earn the respect of an eleven-year-old girl."

"No," Rachel said with a casual shrug. "I expect you to say that it's too much trouble, wash your hands of all of us, and have your accountant start sending monthly checks. I think you'll give Olivia a wide berth so you don't go through the same thing with her that you're going through now with Julie. And I also suspect that you're giving Stephanie more money than you give me, so you don't have to think about how you bailed on yet another wife and yet another daughter."

Ranger grimaced. The words hit much closer to home than he was willing to admit. "That's not fair. My job is–"

"It's dangerous," Rachel said. "I know. And when you and I were deciding custody ten years ago, I agreed with you. I thought distance was best for everyone. But then Julie was kidnapped and distance hadn't done any of us an ounce of good. In fact, it probably made the situation worse, because she wasn't prepared."

"That's my point. If I hadn't been here at all–"

"Then she would hate you even more. Little girls don't forgive daddies who walk out on them, Carlos. Ever."

"She has Ron."

Rachel shook her head. "It's not the same. They have a good relationship, and I'm glad of that, but it's not the same. And if Stephanie marries someone else and he raises Olivia, it won't be the same for her either."

Something fierce and protective ripped through Ranger at the thought of someone else marrying Stephanie and raising their daughter. He tried to shake it off - just another sign of how weak he really was when it came to her. He had no problem with Ron marrying Rachel and raising Julie because he hadn't loved Rachel and Ron was a good guy. But he loved Stephanie – "Fuck." He dropped his head and closed his eyes.

"You can't have it both ways, Carlos. Julie and Olivia are sisters, and Stephanie and I aren't going to keep them apart just because you don't like it. You either need to back away entirely, or actually be a father to both girls." Rachel glanced up at the ceiling as they heard more angry thudding noises coming from above. "But you'd better decide soon."

He sat there in the small kitchen, listening to Julie bang things around in her bedroom above them. Rachel was right – he had to decide. His head and all his years of training were telling him to walk away. That everyone involved would be better off without him in their lives. But he couldn't stand to do that.

He'd never been emotionally connected to Julie. He still wasn't. That lack had saved him when she was kidnapped, had kept him objective and able to work. But he cared deeply about her and wanted to be a part of her life. They had been spending more time together over the past six months, getting to know each other and form a relationship. It still wasn't an overly emotional attachment, but that seemed to suit them both. Whatever kind of relationship it was, he didn't want to lose it.

Little feet pounded down the stairs, and Julie appeared in front of him, her eyes red and puffy. She shoved a photo album-sized book toward him.

"Here," she said, anger coloring every word. "I made this. It's all the newspaper articles from when I was kidnapped. I showed it to all my friends and they thought it was so cool that you're my dad and that you saved me. But I don't want it anymore. I don't want you to be my dad anymore."

"I didn't save you, querida," he said, his voice horse. "You saved me, remember?"

Her lower lip started trembling. "Well maybe I shouldn't have." The second she said it, her eyes got wide and she clapped both hands over her face. Ranger watched as sobs broke from her tiny frame.

Rachel started to come around to comfort her, but Ranger shook his head. He set the book on the table and gathered Julie to him. Carrying her into the living room, he sat on the couch and pulled her into his lap.

"I'm sorry," Julie said in between hiccups. "I didn't mean it."

"I know, baby," he said. He smoothed her hair and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. She kept hiccupping and sniffling and the little arms wound around his neck as she clung to him were enough to make his heart break in two.

He glanced up at Rachel, and mouthed 'help me.' She just smiled and walked away. The fact that Rachel obviously trusted him to do the right thing didn't help him figure out what the hell he was supposed to do next.

"I'll make you a deal, Julie," he said. "As soon as Livy gets a little bigger, she's going to start staying with me some. Do you think, when that happens, that you can come stay too and help me take care of her?"

Her little body came up like a shot and she stared at him. She sniffed "I can come stay with you? We both can?"

"We'll have to talk to your mom and to Stephanie to work out all the details, but yes, I want you to come and stay. I'm not very good at being a dad, so you'll have to help me. That's the deal."

She nodded seriously. "I can help." She regarded him for another minute before saying, "I'm sorry I said I hate you. I don't."

He smiled at her. "That's good to hear."

She cuddled back into his chest for a moment, all traces of her earlier anger gone. When Rachel joined them in the living room, he lifted her up and set her on her feet.

"Why don't you go up to your room for a few minutes while I talk to your mom, okay?"

She made a face, but headed upstairs. Rachel sat down beside him.

"You did good."

He leaned his head back on the couch. "I hope you're right about this. How long has she known about the baby?"

"Olivia," Rachel corrected.

He glared at her.

"Since the beginning," she said, "Stephanie and I kept in contact after you two were here. Neither of us could see keeping the two girls apart so we've gotten to know each other. As soon as the baby was born she called us, and Julie and I got on a plane. Julie got to see Livy when she was only a few hours old. Big stuff at her age."

Ranger didn't even hear the last half of what Rachel said. "She called you?"

Rachel gave him a funny look. "Yeah. Why?"

It was just one of those days when the blows kept coming. He didn't know why it kept bothering him - all these people she called when she hadn't call him. First Morelli, then Tank, now Rachel. He shook his head and forced his focus back to the issue they were discussing. "Never mind. Are you okay with Julie coming to Trenton now and then?"

"Are you going to follow through? Or are you going to do this once and send her home? I'm not going to let you start something you can't finish."

"I'll follow through. We can start with short visits. Maybe next year she can spend part of the summer in Trenton or something."

Rachel nodded. "We can work that out. Can I give you some advice?"

"Nothing's stopped you yet."

She gave him a friendly whack on the arm for his sarcasm before standing. "Get yourself back to Trenton. Steph has a three day old infant at home. She needs help. Believe me," she said, giving him a dirty look. "I had to do it alone. It wasn't easy."

He stood up. "You're right."

"She loves you, you know."

"Julie?"

Rachel sighed like she was talking to the dumbest man in the world. "Stephanie. Don't mess this up. There's going to come a point where you can't undo it."

…

It was two thirty in the morning when Ranger pulled into Steph's apartment complex. Normally, he would break in without a thought, but he hesitated to do that without knowing her schedule or who was with her.

He approached her door and listened, but couldn't hear any noises to indicate that anyone was awake. Within seconds, he was inside the dark apartment. As soon as he shut the door behind him, a lamp in the living room clicked on. He didn't mask his footsteps, not wanting to scare anyone, and walked into the living room.

Morelli, who looked exhausted and half asleep, was sitting in a rocking chair with the baby bundled up on his lap. A wave of instant, instinctive jealousy washed over him at the sight of the cop holding his child.

He made eye contact with Morelli, who wasn't bothering to hide his scorn. "If you're not planning on sticking around, you can just leave now," he said.

He probably deserved that one. "I'm staying."

Morelli studied him for another minutes before finally standing and lifting the baby. He walked over to Ranger and held her out. Since Ranger hadn't been at the hospital, he hadn't seen the baby yet. But the very first sight of her was enough to erase every single doubt that had cropped up on the plane ride from Miami. He didn't want to miss out on his daughter.

He took the baby from Morelli and held her carefully. His attention was riveted on this tiny, squirming thing in his arms. She was awake, and staring up at him. Then her eyelids drooped and she was asleep again. He glanced back up at Morelli.

"She'll need to be fed again in an hour. Take her to Steph, and watch the time and write it down in the little book in the dining room. I don't know why, but the nurses at the hospital said to keep track. Steph will probably sleep through most of it. You'll need to change Livy's diaper, and write that down too. She just started really eating today, and she's been fussy about it, so you may need to walk her."

Ranger nodded. He was used to babies - maybe not this young - but hell, he could call his mother and wake her up if he really ran into a crisis.

"Steph's mom will be here around seven. Try to keep them apart. And watch out - Steph hasn't been sleeping much, and she's in a bitchy mood."

"I think I can handle it."

He barely noticed as Morelli left, his total attention still fixed on this little scrap of a person who was somehow already half him and half Steph. She was going to look like Julie - he could already see it in her eyes and nose. He wondered if she'd have Steph's curly hair. He hoped so. He sat with her in the rocking chair, content to just hold her.

Showing up in Trenton, though, didn't answer the question that had been hounding him since he'd left Rachel's. What the hell was he going to do about Stephanie? If he wanted a relationship with Livy, he had to have a relationship with Steph. And as much as he didn't want to love her - as much as he tried not to love her - he did. Ignoring it and denying it wouldn't make it any less true - the last five months of his life were proof enough of that. So the question was, what was he going to do about it?

He couldn't love her the way she deserved. To love someone - to truly love them - you had to open yourself up to them. You had to be vulnerable. And worse, it gave them power over you. He couldn't love Steph that much - he wouldn't - no matter how much his heart disagreed.

Because if his heart was right, then he already loved her that much, regardless of how badly he wanted to hold himself back.

There had been a moment, in Miami, when it had all almost come crashing down around him. When he had been inside of her and for a split second, been willing to sacrifice everything to be with her. To stay with her.

But she had stopped him and that was for the best. He couldn't be that man for her. He wished he could. God, he wanted to. But even if he knew how, not even for Steph would he allow that level of weakness in his life.

But that didn't mean he couldn't be with her – hell, they could even stay married. Before, he'd been almost content to walk away, let her find someone else who could love her better. Almost. He wasn't so much a bastard as to expect her to settle for what he could give her. But a child changed the playing field. He was no longer willing to be that noble.

He'd just have to be careful.

…

An hour later, right on cue, the baby started squirming, opening and closing her mouth and making sucking noises. Out of sheer habit from his nieces and nephews, he stuck the crook of his pinkie in her mouth to keep her from crying, and headed for the bedroom.

Steph was sprawled on the mattress, lying on her side, wearing only a bra and a pair of sweat-pants. Her belly was still swollen, but not like he assumed it had been a week ago. Her breasts, however, were significantly larger than he remember. "Lucky little girl," he murmured to Livy as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

Steph stirred as soon as he sat down, her arms instinctively reaching for the baby. Ranger nestled Livy against her, and she unclipped the top of her bra. Livy greedily started eating. Steph winced, even while rubbing the baby's back and holding her close.

"Does it hurt?" Ranger said.

She shook her head. "Not too bad," she said without opening her eyes. "I'm just sore."

They sat in silence for a moment, the only sound a soft sucking noise from Livy. "How long has it been?" Steph said.

"Twelve minutes."

"How long is it supposed to take?"

Ranger blinked. "I don't know."

"Come on, Joe. I told you to read the baby books."

He flinched. She still hadn't opened her eyes, and with him only whispering, it made sense that she hadn't realized Morelli had left. But before, they had always had a weird connection, one that always let them know when the other was nearby. He was surprised how much it bothered him to realize they had lost that.

Another ten minutes passed before the baby stopped eating. Steph shifted to sit up and lifted the baby to her shoulder. He watched, still astonished that he and Steph had created this little thing. Then his eyes drifted toward her face - she was staring straight at him, wide-eyed.

Her breath came in an audible gasp and she leaned back, away from him, pulling the baby tighter to her. "What are you doing here?" she said, her voice low and furious.

He cursed under his breath. It was the first time he had seen her in three months, and he hadn't stopped to think about how she would react to his sudden appearance. "I'm here to help."

"Well you can go. Joe's here, he's helping."

He kept his features carefully blank. "Joe left."

"Did he call you?"

"No."

She stared at him for a minute. "It doesn't matter. I'll call my mom, or Valerie. Either way, we don't need you to be here."

He didn't respond. "Is she done?" he said, holding out his hands for Livy.

Steph leaned down and broke the suction, but didn't hand the baby over. "I can do it myself." She started to scoot toward the edge of the bed, when she glanced down and realized her stomach was showing. "Shit." She grabbed the sheet and pulled it up over herself, covering Livy in the process. "Will you just get out?"

Rachel's prophetic words rang in his ears. Some mistakes were just too big to undo. But he had no intention of giving up without a fight, not when it came to his daughter. He reached over and snatched the sheet back off of her and took Livy out of her arms. Then he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, ignoring her stricken look and wide eyes. "Go back to sleep. You need the rest."

…

Steph sat in bed and stared at Ranger's retreating frame. She could hear him whispering to Livy as he headed for the changing table she had set up in the dining room. Her stomach dropped and she had to take a deep breath. He had just appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, after months of absence. If he thought for a split second that he was taking her baby away -- she was out of bed in an instant and following him to the dining room, pausing only to scoop a t-shirt up off the floor. Her mind raced ahead, leaving her body to its slow and measured steps down the hallway. But her abdominal muscles were virtually worthless in holding her upright so rushing out to confront him was out of the question.

Finally, with her mind cursing her body's slowness, she made it to the dining room in time to see Ranger rubbing Livy's belly, her clean diaper already in place. He lifted her, resting her tiny body against his chest.

"Ranger, I swear to god, if you think for one second that you can take her from me--"

"Stop." His voice was calm, but it wasn't the same bitter, controlled calm that it had been for the past few months. There was almost a hint of warmth in it. Almost.

"I'm not taking her anywhere, Steph. Sit down." He gestured toward the dining room table. "You look like you're about to fall over."

With a hand across her belly, she sank into the chair he had pulled out, her confusion over his appearance and motives making her compliant.

"Where do you want me to put her?"

She glanced up at him and blinked. Focusing on anything seemed almost impossible, between not having enough sleep and Ranger's sudden, startling appearance. "What?"

"She's asleep. Do you want me to lie her down?"

"Oh. Yeah. There's a bassinet in my room, by the bed."

Ranger headed that direction, rubbing Livy's back as he walked. Her heart clenched painfully - Livy's skin tone was identical to his. Even at that early of an age, with him holding her, she could see that the resemblance continued to more than just her coloring.

He disappeared into the bedroom, and Steph used his absence to grab the papers she had gotten from her lawyer the day before. She set the stack of papers on the dining room table, and limped into the kitchen to grab something to drink.

She grabbed an extra bottle of water, and handed it to him when he reappeared.

"Thanks," he said.

"We need to talk."

He nodded and followed her into the dining room. She waited until he sat down and pushed the stack of papers toward him. "I want a divorce."

…