I don't own anything. Please review and let me know how you like this chapter! It took me a while to figure out how I wanted it to play out. Thanks for reading! :)

Rpov

I had wanted to kill that drunken blonde idiot. But Steph's voice had shaken me out of it. She had looked so tired, and even now with her sleeping in the passenger seat beside me, she still looked completely wiped out of energy. I looked down to her stomach and thought of my child growing inside of her. I needed to pull my focus back on the road and on driving.

I had already called Tank and had him pull the other men off of the search. I'd called Mary Lou myself and had let her know that Steph was safe and sound. She hadn't been too happy when I'd sent her to be driven home with Rico after we'd made it to the boardwalk.

I pulled up to Steph's apartment and turned off the car. I walked over to the passenger door, opened it, and pulled my Babe in my arms. She didn't stir and was still asleep whenever I put her down on her bed and covered her up.

I wanted to talk to her, but I'd let her sleep a while longer while I made some calls. I dialed Rangeman's number and waited two rings before I got an answer.

"Tank, have you heard anything from our contacts about Daniels yet? He should be surfacing any day now and I want to be the first to know it."
"No boss man. I'm going to meet up with Rico tonight and we're going to set up surveillance on the neighborhood where he makes the drops."
"Ok. Call me if anything goes wrong."

I hung up and went to check and make sure everything was locked. I wouldn't be allowing Stephanie to stay here much longer due to the damn fire escape. No matter how many times I told her it was unsafe, and how many times she'd actually experienced how unsafe it was, she refused to move.

I opened the bedroom door and Stephanie was sitting up in bed. She had her knees pulled up to her chest and she was staring down at the blankets.

"Babe?"

She looked up at me and gave me a weak smile.

"Hey."
"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Just kind of shaken up."
"The guy on the boardwalk?"
She shook her head and I know that she had meant the pregnancy.

"Well, are you ready to talk now Babe?"
"If you are."
She looked like she was scared again. Scared of me, and what I was going to say. I took a deep breath and carefully chose my words.

"I'm sorry for the way I reacted in my office today. I would like to blame it on shock, but in reality it was just my own stupidity."

I looked at her and waited for her to say something, but she just sat there staring at me. I wasn't great at talking but I knew what needed to be said so I decided now was the time to get it all out. Well time to get most of it out.

"I want you to know that you aren't going to be by yourself in this. I'll be here for whatever you need me for. I'm going to stay with you, and make sure that you're comfortable. If you want me to go to the doctor visits, I'll be there. If you want me to come along when you pick out the furniture for the nursery, I'll be there. If you want me to be included when you pick out the name, I'd really love to. I've never given you any sign that I'm here to stay, but I'll tell you now. I'm here for you and I'm not going anywhere."
I had to laugh when I finished. She just had this look of complete awe on her face. I think it's the first time I've ever really rendered Stephanie Bombshell Plum completely speechless and nearly catatonic.

I let the time pass for a few minutes and stood my ground. It was Steph who would be having to come to me. She had to show me she wanted what I was offering.

"I didn't think about a nursery. I don't have a room for the baby."
Out of all of what I'd just said her worries were on a baby room.

"I've got it taken care of Babe. You just need to pick the colors and the furniture."
"No Ranger, I've got to do it. I'm the pregnant one."
"Low blow. We're pregnant. I told you, I'm in this just as much as you are. If you want me to be…."

Spov

All I could do was stare at Ranger, open mouthed. Everything he had said to me sounded like I was in a dream, or even my own fairy tale. The Cuban God wanted to hold my hand through doctor's visits and help me pick out a baby name?

The world must be caving in. The sky must be falling. I never thought I would live to see the day that Ranger wanted to stand by my side and promise to stick around.

I looked into his eyes one more time, and for the first time in a long time he wasn't shielding anything from me.

"Alright Ranger, you can chauffer me around to the doctor and help me pick out a crib. But I don't know how you plan on taking care of a baby room. Unless you plan on knocking some walls down."

He laughed at me for a second time.

"Oh I won't be knocking down walls."
"Then what's your plan Batman?"
"I'm finding you a house."
"WHAT! No you are not! I like my apartment, and Rex doesn't like change."

Ok maybe Rex doesn't give a rat's ass, but I wasn't going to let the man buy me a house!

"Babe, Daniels is still out there. You're carrying MY child. Even if you weren't pregnant right now, I wouldn't be taking any more chances. That fire escape has seen enough of your demise. We'll look at some of the houses online, and you can pick one. RangeMan owns several around the area as safehouses."
Shit. I didn't want to move. And my bank account didn't want to move either. We were comfortable enough in this cozy small apartment, and a new house would take way too much money to keep up with.

"And don't worry about expenses. It's fully furnished and paid for. I'll just sign the deed over to you and all you have to worry about is the electric bill."
Batman is reading my mind again. Damn it. He sure was making it hard to find excuses out of this.

"Babe, it's not just you anymore. You've got to think about another life now. You know this apartment isn't safe."
I knew he was right. I just hated to lose my independence. I didn't want people knowing that my baby daddy gave me a house. People might see it as hush money about him not wanting to marry me. Great, now I'll have a bastard child and still end up in a different stereotype that I'd been trying to avoid.

But I knew deep down I didn't care. I'd spent the better part of the day having silent conversations with the tiny dot. And even now, I was rubbing my stomach wanting to ask if he/she was up for moving into a new home.

"I'll agree to move into the new house on one condition."
"And what exactly would that be Babe?"
"You still let me work."
His face went dark and he looked like he would be happier with anything but me working right now.

"I don't mean bringing in skips. Let me help out at RangeMan or something. I'll die from boredom if I just sit around doing nothing. And RangeMan will be safer than another desk job. There's no way Daniels could get to me there."
"Well I guess you've got yourself a deal."

I was so happy he had agreed that I couldn't sit still. I got up out of bed and walked around in circles. He was laughing at me again and reached out for my arm. He got a hold of me and pulled me down into his lap kissing my neck and making me moan.

"Babe, we've still got one more thing to talk about…."
I racked my brain trying to figure out what we'd left out. Nothing was coming to mind.

"And what exactly would that be?"
"You've got to figure out when and how to tell your parents."
My stomach dropped to the floor. I'd been in so much shock, and a little joy, over Ranger saying he wanted to stick around that I'd completely forgotten about the rest of the world. I hadn't spoken to my mother since the other day. I'd made sure to turn my cell phone off to avoid it even.

"Yea I guess I should tell them. Might as well give my mother another reason to be a drunk and throw insults at me."
He tilted his head and didn't look too pleased.

"What do you mean throwing insults at you?"
"Joe told her that we ran off and got married. She always saw me as the future Mrs. Morelli. So as you can imagine, the gossip of her daughter running off with another man hasn't really made her the proudest mother."

"And when did Morelli get the chance to tell your mother all these things?"
"According to my grandmother he just stopped by one day and chatted her up for a while."

"You really should let me take care of that problem for you." His eyes had gone dark.

"What problem? People chatting my mother up with my sins, or the jackass of an ex-boyfriend that I have?"
"Both if you want."

"No, I'll be ok. Grandma Mazur gets a kick out of me living in sin. And where would the Burg be without me to provide the entertainment?"
"You're not living in sin Stephanie."
I laughed. "Whatever you say Batman."
The look on his face cut my laugh short and I just looked into his eyes not knowing what to say. He still had me on his lap and I could feel him getting hard against me. I leaned over to kiss him but he stopped me.

"You're not living in sin. This baby isn't going to have a mother that is the source of the town's entertainment. It's not going to have a mother who has an ex that constantly butts into her life and tries to ruin the good things if it doesn't involve him. And it's certainly not going to have a mother whose own mother insults her and refuses to see how amazing she is. If you can't fix these problems, then I will. I'll have every employee from Rangeman make sure of it when it comes to the town and Morelli. And we'll be having the talk with your mother together. I don't want you to think that you're less than this bullshit town. You're far above it."

I sighed. Batman against the world when it came to me and his child. The thought of his child made me sigh again. I was really worried that I'd not be good enough. I wanted the best for the tiny dot, but I was always getting myself into one thing or another that never ended too well. One thing was for sure though, I'd never end up like my mother did.

"Alright Ranger, I'll call my dad and tell him we'll be over on Sunday. He'd already planned on seeing me anyways."

"Good girl, now come here and give me that kiss I interrupted."
I leaned over again and put my mouth on his. I was worried that Ranger would walk away when he found out about the baby. When he told me he wouldn't, I was worried he was going to treat me like something fragile. But now he was kissing me and pulling me down with a force that was sending shivers down my spine.

"Ranger, hurry up and take your clothes off."
"Easy mi mujer, I'll get there eventually."

Mi mujer? I know I should probably understand a little bit of Spanish but truth be told, Mary Lou and I always snuck off from school during that class. I didn't care if I didn't understand it, it sounded hot coming out of his mouth.

I went to pull my shirt off but he caught my wrists above my head and pulled the shirt off while still holding me in place. I tried to pull my arms down but he just gave me a dark smile and held firm.

"I have a lot planned for tonight Babe. I've been waiting for as long as I could, trying to give you time to sort things out. Would you say they were officially sorted?"
He was grinding his hips into mine and I was moaning. I wanted him so badly and he was teasing me!

"Yes Ranger! Things are sorted."
He laughed and then stuck his hand around my back to unhook my bra. He took it off effortlessly, and a tiny part of me got jealous thinking of why he could do it so easily and the practice he must have had.

I didn't have much more time to think of the other practice he'd had because in a few seconds he'd pulled his pants down and was inside of me.

"Sorry Babe, but I just couldn't wait any longer."
"Mmm."
That night we'd stayed up until dawn, filling our need for each other and I didn't want it to end. But I was tired beyond belief and needed sleep. Ranger had already begun to lightly snore next to me and I stifled a giggle.

Ranger must be extremely comfortable around me to sleep deeply enough to snore. It was kind of sweet, but also funny. Big Cuban tough man, snoring. Jeez, the night had been long. I really needed sleep, so I moved Ranger's arm over and snuggled up next to him.

Rpov

I had woken up an hour later and Steph was dead asleep next to me. I needed to call Tank and let him know I wasn't going to be heading into work for the next few days. She needed me, even if she wouldn't admit it. The pregnancy had thrown her for a loop and I didn't like the thought of her sitting here alone scaring herself over it.

I pushed some curls out of her face and put my hand on her cheek. I'd been with actresses, models, and my fair share of other women. But none of them held a torch compared to my Babe. She wasn't what others would probably consider the most beautiful, but to me she was gorgeous. Maybe it was her personality and attitude towards everything that made her that way to me.

She never gave up. Even when we'd first met and the whole town had been buzzing about Stephanie Plum trying to give up the lingerie retail business to become a bounty hunter, I knew that this was a woman to be reckoned with. You don't meet a girl like that every day. One that would give her all to do what she'd set her mind to. She didn't want to fit into the mold of the Burg and wanted more for herself. This baby was going to have a hell of a mother.

I looked down and put my hand on her stomach. I'd thought she had just been gaining a pound or two from the extra donuts I knew she liked to have. But now I could tell it was the start of a baby bump. Something about her getting bigger with my child really turned me on. She was going to look great pregnant. And I knew if she wanted ice cream and mashed potatoes at two in the morning I'd have no problem waking up to get it for her.

This wasn't just any woman. She was my woman. Mi mujer. And I wasn't going to let my job screw this up any longer. I had found myself daydreaming of us having a home together and me coming home to her every day. I even thought about what it would be like to have other children with her.

These thoughts I were thinking of were typically the thoughts of a married man. Then it hit me, I wanted to marry Stephanie Plum and make her Stephanie Manoso. I knew she hated the thought of the housewife life. But I'd make sure she'd never have to get tied down with the stereotype. We'd travel the world, and I'd give her the world.

I'd seen enough of Morelli treating her like less than what she was worth. Enough of the police department placing bets on her. Even her own mother had started to grate my nerves. I'd settle all of this first, and then I'd propose. But we were going to have to get through Sunday dinner with her family.

The thought of it made me tired all over again and I fixed myself back down next to my Babe. I pulled her in closer to me and fell back to sleep