Nothing Is What It Seems To Be

Chapter 10

JE owns them, I play with them, Tom is mine and I'm not sharing

I was sitting in my home office printing out the pictures I took tonight on the roof. If the guys thought the one taken at Point Pleasant was hot They should see the ones on the roof with Trenton at night in the background. But, they would never see these pictures they were mine like my babe was mine. Tonight had been more than I ever hoped for. I felt her arms go around me.

"See something you like Ranger? "

"Oh Yeah!"

"These pictures are just for you Ranger, promise me no one else will see them."

"Babe, These pictures will be locked up in the safe along with those boots. Only you and I have the combination. But, I will tell you this, in all the missions I have been on and in all the places of the world that I have looked at the stars in the sky I never imagined how beautiful they were till I held you in my arms tonight and looked at them with you. You have complained in the past about my communication skills and I admit I am a man of few words, but never doubt how much I love you. I will try harder in the future to share more of what I am feeling with you, I love you Stephanie."

"Never stop telling me you love me Ric. I don't know what would happen to me if you withdraw your love. I have to ask what is your obsession with those boots?"

"I will never stop loving you and I am not obsessed with the boots well, maybe I am. Promise you'll only wear them for me - but tell me about you and Tom."

"Ric, he is like a big brother"

"He doesn't look at you like a big brother would. I know because I am a big brother and I don't look at my sisters like that. I don't think he has big brother thoughts concerning you."

"Are you jealous?"

"No, just stating the facts."

"Ric, when I was 14 I did have a crush on him. He dated Valerie 2 or 3 times. He was the team's quarterback. I would go to the Friday night football games and cheer like crazy for him. I know I was an embarrassment to him but I couldn't help it and he never mentioned it maybe he didn't hear me. He was so handsome and all the girls would hang around after the game to see him. He would come out with Lenny and Lenny would start teasing Mary Lou. We would all walk home and make plans for hanging out the next day. I would go home and get the paper and read and study the sports page so when Tom and the guys would talk about sports I could add in a thing or two. He would always stop and listen to me, not ignore me. He would always smile at me like I was important to him."

"One day we were out back at my house and Joe came by and was saying these awful things to me. I didn't know exactly what they meant but I knew it made me feel icky and I got really embarrassed. The next thing I knew Tom was beating the shit out of Joe - I mean really beating him up! I don't know how my mother got him off of Joe but she did and she took Tom in the kitchen to clean him up. She wouldn't let me in to help. They talked for a long time."

"After the Tasty Pastry incident Tom acted funny for awhile it's like he blamed himself but, it was my fault, I should have known better."

"Then all these guys started hanging around and making remarks and hitting on me. Tom, Lenny, Eddie and Big Dog closed in around me and scared them off. I wanted to go to my Junior Prom but I didn't get asked to go because I was the Burg's bad girl and you don't take a bad girl to the prom. The night of the prom Tom showed up dressed in a tux with a rose corsage. My Mom and Dad surprised me with the prom dress I had been drooling over at Macy's. My Mom helped me get ready. It was a night of magic for me - I still have that corsage."

"Tom made me feel like a princess that night I will never forget that he did that for me. I'm pretty sure my Mom coerced him into taking me. Maybe Val was right when she told me I was a pity date. I had a great time anyway and with Tom's support I wasn't considered the bad girl of the Burg. Joyce Barnhardt had taken over that position when she was caught on the football field with 3 guys."

"Ric, you know the "Dick" story but it was Tom who got me away from the house and provided an alibi that I was at Pino's the whole time with pictures of a clock in the background. He's always looked out for me and I think he always will."

"Should I be worried Babe?" Next thing I knew she was sitting in my lap and kissing me her hands roaming over my chest and she whispered "want to go up on the roof with the hat, flag and camera and get some daytime shots?"

Toms POV

To see Ranger's face when Steph jumped into my arms was priceless. I'm surprised he didn't shoot me. I've known Steph since she was 14, I was 17 and dating her sister Valerie. My God, how can one girl be so everlasting boring. Valerie's conversation consisted of gossip and the straw that broke the camels back for me was her excitement that she had come up with 17 ways to serve cocktail franks for company. God, I was 17 and looking to possibly score like all horny 17 year olds. I didn't give a damn about cocktail franks . Valerie could put anyone into a coma.

In spite of the 3 years difference between us, Steph was cool, she was into sports, could sit and watch baseball, football and hockey and know all the facts and statistics about the sport and her teams.

I was the quarterback for our high school team. On Friday night I could hear her in the stands cheering me on. I'd get a lot of kidding about my "fan" from the guys but, once they met her she made them her friends also. On Saturday afternoon we would hang out with Mary Lou, my friend Lenny who was the teams wide receiver, Eddie and Big Dog(Yeah he was called that in High School) Lenny told me he was waiting for Mary Lou to grow up -and he did wait. Steph to me was a friend until one afternoon when Joe Morelli started saying really vulgar things about what he wanted to do to Steph. She was so innocent that she didn't even know what he was talking about. That's the first time I found out that I had a monster inside of me and all I remember was Mrs. P. pulling me off of Joe. She took me inside to her kitchen and cleaned me up and talked to me. I told her I would always protect Steph and I had until the Tasty Pastry incident. In my heart I had let her down that day. I should have been there. That bastard not only took her on the floor but wrote all about his conquest all over town and in all the men's rooms. Lenny, Eddie, Big Dog and myself tried to go all over Trenton to erase his message, but it was to late a lot of guys had read it. The bastard enlisted in the Navy and left within 2 days.

Before I enlisted Steph's junior prom was planned and she didn't have a date. Lenny told me that no one asked her because she was consider a "bad girl" courtesy of that little bastard's bragging. So I called Mrs. P. and told her I wanted to surprise Steph and take her to the prom. I showed up that night in a tux with a corsage. Her eyes lit up and her smile made me feel 10 feet tall. Her Mom and Dad had bought her a dress and her Mom helped her get ready. I heard Valerie tell her she was a 'pity' date. Christ, her sister was a bitch. This was not pity date. I was proud to take her to the prom.

When I enlisted in the Navy Steph was so sad. She wrote me every week, she sent me her Mom's cookies. Thank god she didn't send the ones she baked we could have used them for ammunition they were so hard. She stopped being a little sister when she was 18 and sent me those pictures from Point Pleasant, I realized she had grown up and I couldn't wait to get home to her. But, I was a SEAL by then and the Navy had other plans for me.

Joe likes to brag all over town about his time in the Navy. He was a refuse man he "specialized" in offloading the ship's garbage. I can't prove it but I bet Mrs. P. engineered that. My buddies used to rag on him big time. He was always trying to mooch stuff off of the guys. He always complained he never got paid. I was home on leave when he got back to Trenton and Steph ran him over and broke his leg. Before I left town I paid him a little visit. After my visit he couldn't 'remember' whose car hit him. Good thing, because if he had remembered the other break in his leg would have been minor.

Next time I got home was right when Steph discovered the "Dick" nailing Joyce on her dining room table. That girl wields a mean rolling pin and she puts new meaning into swinging a golf club. I stood off to side and watched the "Dicks" stuff fly out the upstairs window. Eddie and Big Dog gave her suggestions on how to make a bigger bonfire. They turned their heads while I spirited her away to Pino's. Mr. Pino went about setting all the clocks back and Mary Lou took pictures hell, even Carl Costanza posed with Steph. Alibi perfected. That night pictures of the "Dick" and Joyce were posted all over town.

I wanted to let Steph know how I felt but she was to fragile and hurt by the cheating Dick. I decided to wait. I guess I waited to long.

I worked missions with Ranger, Tank, Brown, Santos, Hal and Cal. We worked hard and we played hard but, no one played harder than Santos. That's why I was ready to take him out when I thought about him messing with Steph. I had heard that Ranger had a woman in Trenton but it wasn't till I got home a month ago and stopped by to see Mrs. P and she told me.

She knew Ranger was in love with Steph but was always making excuses about his life and no relationships. Then Grandma Mazur and Mrs. P told him to get his head out of his ass. I missed the boat again. Mrs. P. then told me about Joe and how he was starting to drink and get more aggressive. She told me that Joe's mom and grandma were really worried that he was becoming the typical Morelli male and they were afraid for Steph. They were all upping their strategy to keep Steph away from Joe. I told Mrs. P. I would watch over Steph. First thing I did was plant listening devices in Joe's house and I put trackers on his cars and motorcycle

I know Steph always uses this one particular purse so I went into her apartment and sewed a microscopic tracker in her purse. I also put one in her work boots.

I'm meeting with Ranger tomorrow afternoon and I will let him know if he hurts Steph with any of his bullshit I'm stepping in. I'm also going to rub it in That I watched Steph for over 4 weeks and his team never saw me. When Steph jumped into my arms and he realized I was her Tom, He knew instantly who Mrs. P was referring to when she said she a shadow on Steph. My tag was Shadow in the SEALS.

I was taking Steph to the mall when I saw one of the Rangeman trucks go past with a load of lumber in the back. "Babe, do you know anything about construction at the office? I can't think of anything Louis is building." Steph just looked at me and giggled. I have never heard Steph giggle. "What's going on?"

"Paybacks Ranger and it's going to be so much fun"

"Fun for who Babe?"

"Fun for everyone except Lester! We have so many volunteers Cal and I don't know what to do with them!"

Being the wise man that I am I let that go so I could plead ignorance to my family if I had to. I had a greater mission in front of me ...I'm starting to build memories.

Note: During surgery it was found that Lester has a reflex muscle in his foot that is directly connected to his mouth. Surgery unsuccessful - physical therapy recommended along with counseling