Disclaimer: I love the Stephanie Plum series, but I don't own them and I don't make anything off of them.

Warning: Those that like the Cupcake ending will not be happy with this story. Not much physical harm comes to Morelli, but his ego definitely gets beaten to a pulp. Not sure if this is a HEA story at this point, but let me know if you have any suggestions. This is my first FanFiction attempt and I Promise to complete it. I am having a lot of fun with the story so far. Thank you in advance for reading and please let me know what you think.

Thank you to suedesigns101 for reading this ahead of time and giving me the encouragement I needed to get up the nerve to post the story. I truly appreciate it.

A big thank you to those who have reviewed my story as well and let me know what you think. I look forward to hearing what you think should happen next.

An Evening with Family

The night out with Adrian, Tony and Marissa had been wonderful. The restaurant was a very expensive Italian Food hot spot on the outskirts of Trenton called "Bella". Tony mentioned that he picked the restaurant for Marissa and I. There was a huge dance floor in the middle of the restaurant and there were many couples out there enjoying the music and their partners. I could tell this was going to an enjoyable evening. We all ordered our food, with wine and left our table to take a spin on the dance floor. Adrian and I were immediately in each others arms and you could not have even put a piece of paper between us. We twirled around the floor and were so lost in each other that Tony actually had to tap us on the shoulder to let us know that our food had arrived. The conversation over dinner was very upbeat and Marissa and I discussed possibly making a shopping trip to New York before she left to head back to Chicago. We talked about travelling to different cities and locations of possible vacation spots for our next opportunity to get away. I would love to go back to Paris, without having to work, but maybe a better spot would be somewhere I don't have any work contacts. I could use some down time and getting away with friends would be a great way to do it.

By the time our evening came to a close it was about two o'clock in the morning. Adrian and I headed back to Deal for the night and Tony went with Marissa to her family's estate. Adrian and I were more than ready for bed by the time we arrived and went straight to sleep. We knew we would be seeing Grandma Mazur, as well as Val and her family for dinner the next day. We were planning on getting some time in the sun on the beach as well. The weather had been beautiful the last few days and we were worried that it wouldn't last.

Adrian and I spent the morning walking on the beach and splashing each other or throwing one another into the incoming surf. Since there weren't many people around we were able to just be ourselves and have a good time. It had been so long since we'd had the chance to let loose and enjoy each others company outside of the house. We kept the conversation off my work topics, but Adrian told me about some of his most challenging cases at the hospital that he had and how he felt about being able to assist in their recovery. Adrian may come from a family of Arms Dealers, but he is as honorable as they come. He works especially hard to help those that are brought in with gun shot wounds knowing that the injuries could possibly have come from his families business. He does not look down on others and supports his family no matter what. Adrian has helped not only me, but has also been there for my Grandma Mazur while I have been away.

"You know you grandma is very proud of you. When I spoke with her the last time before you got back she couldn't stop telling me that she believed in your work and how she wished others would feel the same." He smiles at me before there is a darkness that appears in his beautiful hazel eyes. "Apparently her daughter and son-in-law have been pressuring her to move into an assisted living community. They say that as she gets older she is losing her ability to take care of herself. There was a small fire in the apartment a few weeks ago, but it had nothing to do with her. One of her friends was over and decided to smoke in the living room while she was cooking in the kitchen; the couch caught fire, as well as the curtains on the window. It was a good thing there was a fire extinguisher in the kitchen that she was able to use to put out the fire before it got out of hand. However the fire department had already been called and then the news got through the 'burg' grapevine and blew it out of proportion as they always do." He pauses to take a breath and shake his head. "Her daughter started yelling at her in front of everyone when she ran into her at the store, and she did not hold back. She even brought up the fact that you had turned into a criminal." I sucked in a breath at the idea of my grandma being yelled at in public, I could care less what people think of me. "Edna just told her to stuff it and she could not be more proud of what you had become. She also mentioned that she should 'get that huge stick up her ass removed before it caused any more damage'." He made the air quote at her statement. "Your grandma certainly doesn't worry about what others think which is good, but it only made things worse. The yelling started getting louder and the police became involved and almost arrested Edna for being a public nuisance. Luckily the guys from Rangeman arrived and removed her from the store before she could say anything else, but they had to take her to Bobby because she was having a difficult time breathing from all of the yelling. I checked her out that night and found out that she if suffering from a mild case of asthma, but other wise is perfectly healthy. But, her daughter is trying to go to court to have her be deemed as having diminished capacity. They want control of the funds that you give her as well as to limit your access to her."

I was not completely shocked at what I was hearing, but when I spoke with grandma on Friday she hadn't mentioned anything about this and the guys at Rangeman hadn't either. It angered me that I was just hearing about this, but at the time it occurred I wasn't available to do anything about it. The guys and Adrian had stepped in the best they could at the time, but now it was my turn to step up and deal with it.

"Do you know whether they've been able to get a judge to see their complaint? I mean if this was a few weeks ago they may have back off of this attempt and are just waiting for something else to happen would be my guess."

"So far grandfather and I have been able to hold off any judge from making a decision on whether they will see the evidence. We figured that the best bet would be for you to deal with them directly when you got back, and however you want to handle it is fine with us. I think your grandma was planning on talking to you about this tonight, I just wanted to give you a heads up so you wouldn't get too upset in front of her, not that I expect you wouldn't but, I thought if you could get out some frustration ahead of time that might be better so you can enjoy the visit. It has been a long time since you've seen them and the girls have grown a lot. You may be surprised by what they look like now and what they have to say. I can't wait to see your reaction to them." There was a broad smile on his face when he said the last part.

We stopped walking and I pulled him into a hot kiss that lasted until we needed to break for air. "Thank you for taking care of her for me. You have always been there for me, and I know that she really likes you. I think she may be more interested in seeing you tonight than me." I smiles up at him before I say, "But you may want to make sure that she doesn't see all of you or you'll never be able to get away from her." I giggle at the horrified look on his face. "We should probably head in to get ready. I think a good workout may be a good idea." I wag my eyebrows at him and we run into the house.

A few hours later we were heading to the restaurant to meet with Grandma Mazur, Val and her family. When we arrived we made sure that we had a table that was in the back of the restaurant where we didn't have to worry about the kids getting too loud and we could discuss the issues that had come up with the Plums. I also made sure that the tables close to us remained empty offering to pay to make up for the lose of business for the privacy.

When everyone had arrived, hugs and kisses had been given and general pleasantries were out of the way, we were all seated and I was between Grandma Mazur and Adrian. Mary Alice was on the other side of Adrian, while on the other side of the table sat Val, Albert, Angie and Lisa. We heard about school for the girls and all of the activities that they had been involved in. Adrian was right about my being surprised by what the girls looked like. They both had grown quite a bit taller, but what surprised me the most was that they both had long brown curly hair. When I asked them about it they said that they wanted to be just like me when they grew up. That comment alone actually brought tears to my eyes. I turned to Val and the only thing that she said was that they knew I was helping to prevent others from being hurt and that they wanted to do the same thing.

After dinner was finished and dessert had been ordered I turned to Grandma Mazur and asked in a soft tone "I can see that there is something that you need to tell me, would you like to wait until we take you home or would you like to talk about it now? I can see the worry in your eyes grandma."

"Steph, I don't want you to think that you need to take care of me. I'm just an old woman that has been through her share of hurt and it is finally catching up to me. You don't need to worry about me I can take care of myself." She says to me with a shaky voice.

"I know you can. You're where I get it from, but I also have learned that sometimes it takes others to help before an issue can be resolved. What is it that you're worried about?"

"Helen is trying to have me sent to a retirement home so that she can isolate me. Apparently I'm an embarrassment to her and she is tired of having to hear about my comings and goings. There was a fire in the living room that I put out that was caused by a friend and she accused me of starting it. Val even spoke up and told her it wasn't my fault but you know her, she didn't even listen. Then a confrontation in the store and I had a hard time breathing. She is trying to use that to her advantage to gain legal power over me." Grandma says sadly.

"So she's turned her anger on you since I'm not around to lash out at. I think she may just want control of your money and to keep you away from me. Don't worry about anything I'll make a few calls and it will all be taken care of. Is everything else alright? You have everything that you need?" I asked her trying to change the subject to something a bit happier.

"Oh yeah, everything else is great. I have a new boyfriend that I hope you will have a chance to meet sometime soon. He's a real looker, and he has a good ticker. I went to his doctors' office with him last week so that he could get approval for bedroom activity. I got checked by your boy there and he told me I was good to go other than a bit of asthma, otherwise I am healthy as a horse and rearing to go." I winced at the choice of words as well as the image that was just placed in my head. Looking at Adrian he had a somewhat dazed expression on her face at her comments.

The only thing I could say to that was, "That's good to hear."

Dinner came to a close and we all agreed that we would have to get together again soon and I mentioned that maybe we could go out to Point Pleasant as soon as it warmed up a bit more. That got a squeal of delight from the girls and a smile from Val and Albert. After the goodbyes were said we dropped grandma off at her apartment and reminded her not to worry about anything that I would take care of it first thing tomorrow.

When we got back home Adrian and I discussed a few ways to handle the issue with my grandma and left a message with the Family attorney. This way he could get to work on both a restraining order for the Plums and get grandma's medical history to show that she is in fact capable of taking care of herself. We knew that in her 'will' she left it up to me to decide how all of her things should be divided among everyone and I knew what her wishes were. The money that I had given her she wanted me to take back, but I had convinced her that we would put it in a college fund for Val's girls instead, since I didn't need it. The money is really what the Plums wanted to control. I guess that since the money had been filtered through grandma it was no longer the 'blood money' that they had said that I was making. Go figure, if it fit their purpose they would do anything to get that amount of money and that included selling out their family. Adrian and I went upstairs to bed shortly after making the call. Tomorrow would make for an interesting day.

I am not 100% happy with this chapter, but I needed to move the story along. I hope that you enjoyed it.

Please let me know if you have any ideas that you would like included in the story. There is a lot of action coming up next so be prepared. I am excited for what is to come next.