Steph's POV
I heard the knock at the door and slipped out of bed. Walking down the hall, I checked on Alex and he was still sleeping. I went to the door and flung it open and said, "What?" Lester looked around the apartment, presumably for Ranger, and then reached out to hug me. "Beautiful, boy are you a sight for sore eyes." "Les, what do you want? It's the middle of the night and I'm tired. Alex will be up in about an hour and I'd like to sleep." "Steph, can you sit down so I can talk to you about Ranger?"
We sat down on the couch. I didn't let on that Ranger was back, because I wanted to hear what Lester told me. He launched into a very long story about what he and Tank were doing when they left. He talked about all the struggles they went through to get in touch with Ranger's handler and how Hector joined them once he discovered activity on Ranger's credit cards. He talked about tracking Ranger's movements once he landed back in the states. He sat back and ran his hands through his hair.
"Beautiful, have you heard from Ranger in the past few days?"
Before I could answer, a cry came from the nursery. I jumped up and went to get the baby. I'm sure Lester could hear me murmuring to the baby, but he couldn't make out the words. I changed his diaper and brought him out to the living room and sat down in the rocking chair. I situated Alex at my breast for a feeding and looked up to see Lester's face turn bright red and he quickly looked away. I chuckled and said, "Les, it's what I need to do, there's nothing sexual about it." He just nodded and wouldn't turn his head around until I told him to do so.
"When he's done eating, do you want to hold him?" "If you are okay with it, I'd love to hold him. You said his name is Alex?"
"Yep, Alejandra Carlos Manoso; a big, strong name for a big boy, isn't that right? Alex, this is your Uncle Lester." I reached down and rubbed my finger down his cheek. Lester sat mesmorized by the sight before him, so much that he forgot for a moment why he was there. "Um, Steph? Have you heard from Ranger?"
I started to answer, but stopped when I noticed Ranger standing in the doorway. I smirked a little and then waited for it. Ranger reached out and with his crutch, smacked Lester in the back of the head. Lester jumped up and reached for his gun at the same time. Ranger stood and just stared at Lester. "Looking for me?" Les dropped his gun in the chair and reached out to pull Ranger into a hug. "Oh, I'm so glad you're not dead." Ranger sighed and said, "So am I, so am I, now that I have something to live for. Where the hell have you been?"
Lester sat back down and motioned for Ranger to sit down and then proceeded to tell his story. By the time the story was over, there was another knock at the door. Ranger stood up and balanced on his crutches. "I'll get the door. It's probably the other two stooges." He walked over and yanked open the door and barked out, "Report." Tank and Hector stood there and couldn't speak. Ranger just continued to stare at them but I finally took pity on them and called them into the apartment. They both walked in and then gave a yelp as they walked past Ranger. He had smacked both of them on the backside with his crutch. I gave a chuckle and motioned for them to sit down on the couch. Lester was now holding Alex and I noticed that Hector was staring at him. I walked over and took the baby from Les and handed him to Hector. Ranger stood in amazment, watching the former gang member cradle the baby and coo at him. Alex was awake and alert, with those big blue eyes staring back at Hector.
I cleared my throat and said, "Well, since you all finally decided to come home, meet your new nephew. Uncle Tank and Uncle Hector, meet Alejandro Carlos Manoso." Tank tried to take the baby away from Hector, but he wouldn't give him up. Ranger stood and shook his head. "Sit down, all of you. I want to hear your version of this mess. Why the hell was an answering machine picking up my call the one time I finally got through?" Hector snuggled the baby started talking. By the time he got to the part of the credit card charges, Alex had fallen asleep. I stood up to get him and take him to the nursery, but Hector waved me off and kept holding Alex.
The guys talked about Ranger's mission, well as best as they could with unclassified me in the room. Ranger filled them in on his hospital stay, at least what he knew about it. I noticed that Ranger was starting to look tired and I told the guys to end the party and they could talk again tomorrow. I went over to Hector and took Alex away from him. He didn't look pleased, but I said, "Let me know when you can nurse him and I'll let you keep holding him." He stood up and gave me a kiss on the cheek and gave Alex a kiss on top of his head. He stroked Alex's hair for a minute and then said something in Spanish. I looked to Ranger for translation and he said, "Hector said that the baby is beautiful, a perfect combination of the two of us. He also said that he will be back tomorrow to help you and you are not allowed to refuse his help." I gave Hector a kiss and then wiped the tears off my face. "Sorry, still have the hormones."
The guys left and then I got Alex settled back into his crib and got Ranger and myself put to bed. I reached over and snuggled into him and sighed. "Babe?" "Just glad you're home and we're finally a family."
Steph's POV
The next few weeks went quickly. Ranger got into the orthopedic doctor and got changed into a walking cast and seemed to be doing well with it. He was back to work almost full time in his office and Bobby had set up a modified training program for him. Alex was growing and thriving in his first few weeks. Our first doctor's appointments went well and he was on track for height and weight. Much to my delight, his eyes stayed the same bright blue as they were when he was born.
Before I knew it, it was time for my six week checkup at the doctor's office. I was hoping to be cleared for bedroom activities, as Ranger, and ok I'll admit, myself as well, were anxious to continue what we had started when he left for his mission. Alex was starting to sleep a bit longer and I was planning to see if Ella would keep him overnight if things went the way I hoped at my appointment. Ranger insisted on keeping Alex in his office while I went to my appointment. I had pumped a few bottles that would tide him over in case I was delayed. I dropped him off with Ranger and with a kiss to both of them, I headed down the stairs to the garage. I was walking to the car when Hector came running after me. "I go with you." There was no chance of a rebuttal, because he grabbed the keys from my and jumped into the driver's seat.
I stepped out of the doctor's office and found Hector leaning against the door of the car. He didn't say anything, just raised an eyebrow in question. I smiled and said, "I'm good to go." He smiled and we got into the car. When we pulled back into the garage, I jumped out of the car and followed Hector upstairs. I bounced into Ranger's office and jumped in his lap. I gave him a big kiss and said, "Good to go." He kissed me back and sighed. I wasn't the only one that was frustrated with the waiting.
I got up and picked up Alex. "I'll go check with Ella to see if she can keep him tonight and then I'll meet you upstairs." Before I could leave, Hector grabbed my arm and said, "No." I looked at him, "Huh?" "No Ella, I will keep tonight." He grabbed my handed and pulled me out of Ranger's office and into the elevator. We went up to the apartment and he waited while I pack a bag of clothes and diapers for Alex and then we went into the kitchen and I packed a small cooler of bottles that would hopefully get him through the night. Hector had grabbed the portable crib we had set up in the living room and I followed him down to his apartment. Surprisingly, I was okay with Hector keeping Alex overnight. I knew he would be in the building, just two floors below us and I could be there in a minute if he needed me. Hector set up the crib in his bedroom, next to his bed and we laid Alex down. I leaned down to kiss him and made sure he was okay.
I took the bag of bottles and put them in his refrigerator. I showed him how to heat them up and handed over the bag of diapers and clothes. He pulled the baby monitor out of the bag and went back into his bedroom to set it up. "I really appreciate this Hector. Just call us if you need anything and I can come down." He looked at me and then kissed my forehead. "I will not call unless urgent. Go, go back upstairs and enjoy your man. We will be fine." He pushed me towards the door and then gave my butt a swat on my way out. I laughed and ran upstairs. I jumped in the shower and quickly got ready. By the time I was walking back into the bedroom, Ranger was already laying across the bed in all his naked glory. "Babe."
I woke up in the early morning hours and my breasts were throbbing. I needed to pump or nurse, and soon. I sat for a minute trying to decide what to do when Ranger handed my phone to me. "Just call and go get him. You're leaking Babe." I looked down and sighed. I called Hector and then cleaned myself up and waited for Alex. A knock came at the door a few minutes later and Hector walked in with Alex. I reached for him immediately and got him situated to nurse. Hector had been spending a lot of time with us in the past few weeks and was quite comfortable with my nursing. We talked quietly about how their night went and when Alex was done feeding, I took him into his nursery and put him in his crib. I came out and found Hector sleeping on the couch. I chuckled and covered him with a quilt. Babies are hard work. I headed back to bed and snuggled into Ranger. "Everything okay Babe?" "Yep, little guy is fed and back in his crib and the big guy is passed out on the couch. I guess Hector's not used to being up every couple hours for a bottle and diaper change!"