A/N: Thanks again for all the great reviews. Ideas and suggestions are appreciated, and once again, if you recognise it, I don't own it.

I left the house the next morning feeling optimistic about the day ahead. As I lay awake in bed last night I thought about the whole house thing. I had been living in my apartment for as long as I could remember; maybe it was time for a proper change, and not just a change of wallpaper. I also decided that Ranger's goodnight kisses never happened. I'd figure out what they meant later.

The first place we looked at was a two bedroom, one storey house. It was nice. It had a large bathroom, living room and kitchen. The décor was an effective mix of modern and Victorian style.

"I like it," I said to Ranger as we entered the second bedroom. It was smaller than the master one, but had a nice view of the neighbour's houses from the window. The building itself was a few miles away from the 'Burg and was on a quiet, usually vehicle free road.

Ranger walked over to the back door and looked out the window. "The yard is not big enough," he said simply.

I came to stand next to him and realised he was right. The yard was small, barely enough room for a swing set. Every kid has to have a swing. There really wouldn't be enough room once the child reached five. Not a positive start to the day of house hunting; I left feeling slightly disappointed.

Cop cars and paramedics surrounded the next house. It smelt suspiciously like someone had died. Obviously we turned around and got back into the Porsche.

"Where's the next house?" I asked as he pulled the car away from the curb.

His eyes stayed focused on the road in what I called his pre-zone state. "On the outskirts of the Burg."

I mentally sighed. I didn't really want to live in or near the Burg if I could help it. The pressure to become a stay-at-home-raise-the-kids housewife would always be hanging over my head, - even more than usual - a constant reminder of what people expected of me. I didn't want my son or daughter to become typically 'Burg either, growing up in a place where imagination is frowned upon, and I doubted Ranger would.

The house was bigger than the first one, but not as nice. It had three bedrooms, which meant that I could have friends over. Or Ranger. It was a typical 'Burg house. Not a speck of dust anywhere, nothing out of place, no dirty clothes or dishes left lying around and everything was squeaky clean. It wouldn't stay that way for long if I moved in.

"Steph, how do you feel about damp?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Why."

He was standing next to a large family portrait that was hanging from the wall. He pushed a corner of the picture up to reveal a large area of damp. I was shocked. 'Burg houses don't have damp, they just don't. "How did you know?"

He let go of the picture frame and it swung back down, covering the damp once more. "The wall paper was bubbly," he pointed, and indeed there were bubbles.

I groaned. So much for the third times a charm. We left the house and returned to the car.

The baby kicked and I watched with some amusement as a bump appeared on my shirt. "Where are we headed next?"

Ranger shifted in his seat. "Slater Street."

Slater Street? That was the street Morelli lived on. His Aunt Rose had left him the house after she died and he had moved in. He still hasn't got around to decorating it properly, and at first I found it hard picturing him living anywhere but his flat, but now it was hard picturing him living anywhere but the house. Joe and I may have a weird friendship, but I didn't want to move in next door to him and accidentally catch a glance of him screwing some blonde in his bedroom through my bathroom window, thank you very much.

Ranger just laughed. I gave him a look. I said that out loud, didn't I?

"Yep."

I really need to work on that.

"Sure do, Babe."

I gave him another dirty look and got out the car. Might as well at least look at the house I'm not gonna buy, just for comparison later on. Ranger shook his head and followed me as I knocked on the front door. We introduced ourselves and were given a tour of the house. The interior was almost identical to that of Joe's place, except for the beer cans and pizza boxes that made Joe's feel more like him, and kept the traditional décor.

The owner of the house showed us the second floor. Just as I thought, there was a direct view of Morelli's room from the bathroom. He'd been starting to date again recently. I was a little uncomfortable with the idea at first, but he introduced me to each of his girlfriends; they had seemed nice. None of them lasted for very long though.

I looked at my watched and sighed. We'd been looking around for three hours and still haven't found a good enough house.

"How many more have we got to look at?" I asked.

"A few."

I gave a nod of acknowledgment.

"I'm sorry, there's not much on the market in this area," he said, tucking a stray curl behind my ear. His fingers lingered for just a second to long. "You hungry?"

I smiled. "Always."

"Pino's?"

"Sure."

We drove to my favourite pizza place and took the booth at the back. As usual Ranger had his back to the wall, giving him a clear view of his surroundings. We ordered a meatball sub for me a green salad for him. I'm been trying to eat well during the pregnancy and for the baby, but sometimes a big, greasy, artery clogging sub sandwich is exactly what I need. Ranger just shook his head when I took a big bite in the middle, being careful not to get any sauce on my shirt.

Just as I finished I saw him sit up straight in his chair, his dark eyes trained on the door. I turned around and followed his gaze to Joe Morelli himself. His hair, as per usual, needed to be cut. He was dressed in jeans and a tight T-shirt that defined his excellent washboard abs. He locked eyes with me and started to walk over. Dammit! I looked over at Ranger. "Babe," was all he said, his eyes never leaving Joe.

Morelli came to stand next to me. "Cupcake," he said. "I heard you were back," he turned to Ranger.

Ranger said nothing, just continued to stare. I could feel the tension between the two alpha males. They'd always had a weird relationship. A professional relationship, and could work together when they had to. They both had things the other needed. I had always been sort of in the middle.

"Morelli," Ranger finally said.

They continued to watch each other and I could swear I saw lightning bolts flash from their eyes. "Guys?" I said warily.

Joe was wearing his unreadable cop face, devoid of any emotion. The paper thin scar through his eyebrow was just visible through his long bangs. Ranger's expression wasn't much different. I had a sudden urge to duck for cover in case they decided to have shootout just for the hell of it.

"Why?" asked Morelli, taking his hands out of his pocket.

Ranger raised an eyebrow. "Why what?"

I watched Joe's fists clench. "Why did you leave her?"

"I didn't have a choice."

"Do you care about them?" he asked, obviously meaning the baby and I.

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't."

I looked at Joe and waited for a reaction. It was like watching a tennis match, back and forth, back and forth. I had never liked tennis.

Then he did a very unexpected thing. His fists unclenched and he extended his right hand. When Ranger didn't take it he said, "If I have to loose her, I'm glad I can loose her to someone who can look after her. Take care of both of them."

Ranger accepted Joe's hand with a firm shake, neither of them breaking eye contact. Great, now the cops have ESP as well. When they were finally beginning to loose feeling in their hands they let go. Well, that was certainly odd. Did Joe just approve of Ranger?

He gave my shoulder a gently squeeze. "I'll speak to you later, Cupcake," he smiled. With a final nod at Ranger he turned around, collected his food and left as suddenly as he came.

Ranger looked at his watch. "Ready to go?"

I looked out of the window and waved to Joe as he drove off. I nodded and Ranger paid for the food, leaving a generous tip. I offered to pay, but he refused.

"How many more houses do we have left?"

"About five."

The rest of the afternoon was spent touring Trenton. We looked at four more houses and a large apartment. I had liked them all. They were all spacious, modern and felt warm. However, Ranger didn't seem to think so. He found something wrong with each of them. They were too small, too cramped, or there were too many gangs in the area, or they were too far away from the RangeMan office.

By the time we got back to Ranger's house I was pissed off. I collapsed onto the leather couch and sighed loudly.

I felt the couch dip and Ranger began to take off my shoes. "There are some others we could look at. There are few near you parent's house, and a few near your sister's."

I shook my head. "No way."

"We'll work something out."

"And what do I do till then?" I demanded.

He began to rub my left foot. That man and his hands…

"I meant what I said, Steph. You can stay here," he met my gaze, chocolate brown meeting electric blue.

I shook my head again, my dark curls flying around. "You don't have to do that. I know you don't want me here."

He stopped the foot massage and his eyes narrowed slightly. "Why do you think that?" he asked.

I looked at the ground, suddenly finding it very interesting. "Because…of the way you hesitated when you said it last time."

I was hoping he would drop the subject, but he carried on. "If I didn't want you here then why would I have brought you here? Like you said, I could have had one of my men do it."

I sat up and ran a hand over my face, trying to cover the discomfort I was feeling.

"What's wrong?"

Damn him!

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, mentally building myself up for what I was about to do. "I don't think I can do this anymore, Ranger," I said, my voice just above a whisper.

"Do what?"

I let out a frustrated sigh and waved my hand around. "This. I don't think I can keep doing what were doing."

He reached out to me but I pulled back. "What are we doing?"

I jumped off the couch and walked to the other side of the room, turning around to look at him. "You tell me!" I could feel my anger levels rising well above the norm.

"All the stolen kisses behind the bonds' office, the flirtations," I said my voice slightly louder than usual. I could feel an Italian temper coming on. "And then we finally do sleep together. It was one of the best nights of my life and I wake up stupidly early the next morning only to hear that your leaving. Then you tell me to go back to Morelli!"

"I did what I though was best for you. I always have your best intentions in mind, Babe."

"Don't Babe me! What does that word mean anyway?" I held my hand up to stop him when I saw he was about to speak. Surprisingly, he let me continue.

"And right now, I'm more confused than ever. When you suggested I found a new house, you sounded like someone I didn't know. It was cold. Then you introduce me to your family and I find out that they know me better than I know myself. And to top it all off, you tried to seduce me only to leave me standing there in my underwear in the middle of the hall!"

I was waving my arms all over the place, but I didn't care. I wanted him to know that I wasn't willing to be his toy any longer. Being picked up whenever he was bored and then thrown away again when I got old.

"Stephanie," oh great, full name.

"Why, Ranger?" I interrupted. "Just tell me why. Please. Tell me why you mess with me so much."

He was off the couch by this point, watching me intently.

"Why?" I whispered, tears beginning to sting my eyes.

"Because I love you!"

I glared at him. If looks could kill, he probably wouldn't have lasted long. "What!" I yelled. "You don't do that to people you love, Ranger. You don't hurt them, don't make them think you care and then push them away. You just don't."

Now he was the one looking at the ground. His tone was calm but tense. "I never wanted to push you away. I did it to protect you."

The hot tears were falling freely from my eyes, butI made no attempt to wipe them away, knowing that more would take their place seconds later. "To protect me from what?"

"To protect you from me, Babe. I was afraid that you'd get emotionally attached, and then I'd go away on a mission and may never return. I never meant to hurt you. If I knew I was I would have stopped," he looked up and met my gaze. "I can't control myself around. Whenever I'm near you all I can think of is how good you smell or how soft your skin is or how wild you curls are. And maybe that's the reason we're in this situation."

He meant the baby. My hands unconsciously reached for my stomach. "Well to late! I'm already emotionally attached. I have been for years."

He swiftly took two steps forward and before I knew what was happening he was kissing me. Except the kiss was different from any other we had shared. But that didn't stop me from pushing him away; I had half a mind to slap him. That was exactly what I meant.

"Stop," I said harshly.

He pushed me against the cold wall and held me there, pinning my arms above my head. "You stop. Anger will only increase your blood pressure and that's not good for you or the baby."

I felt my body temperature skyrocket at the proximity of him. I could feel his body heat seeping through his clothes and through mine. The smell of Bulgari filled my senses; the stuff is a lethal weapon.

"Now we are going to sit down and we are going to talk about this like civilised adults," he face was inches from mine, his lips brushing against mine as he spoke.

He released my hands, leaving unintentional marks on my pale skin. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself and watched as he sat down. He was serious.

A/N: I hope Ranger's declaration of love wasn't to sudden. I really can't decide what gender Steph's child should be, so how about I take a vote. Boy or girl? Thanks for reading!