I do not own these characters. They belong to Janet Evanovich. Thank you all for your reviews. They mean a lot to me. I am really enjoying telling this story. I hope you enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 14
Ranger's POV
I couldn't sleep. It was as if a war was being fought inside my head. I was seething that Alverez had gotten to Steph, right under my nose. He had committed a crime so evil that I had no doubt any ounce of humanity Tony once had was now gone. But because of this action, the love that Stephanie and I had for each other had created a life. The thought of having a child with my Babe made me euphoric. I would start to let that take over and then I would be slammed with the reality that Tony's plan was for us to create a child, only to take it away for us; to take both of them away from me. That was when panic set in. And I don't do panic.
Steph was sound asleep. I didn't want to wake her, but I had work to do. I kissed her on the forehead as I slowly pulled my arm from under her. I sat up so I wouldn't jostle the bed and went into the bathroom, showered and dressed in the dark. Good think I didn't have to worry about walking out mismatched. I watched Babe for a minute. She seemed so peaceful and I wanted her to remain that way. I would do everything in my power to keep the truth of how our child came to be away from her.
I left the apartment and went down to five. I run a twenty four hour business, but at 3:00 in the morning, I was expecting to see my B team on staff. I got off the elevator and nodded to Wilson, one of my new guys, who was on the monitor desk. As I walked to my office I noticed the light on under the door to Tanks office. I knocked and then opened the door.
Tank, Lester and Bobby were all looking at individual laptops, each lost in their own intel gathering. When I entered they all looked up at me and nodded.
"How's Bomber?" Bobby asked. I assessed all their faces before I spoke. They looked haggard. I actually haven't seen them look this tired since our last Black Ops mission.
"She's sleeping. Have you guys been to bed yet?" I walked closer and looked at Lester's computer screen.
"We tried, but we all ended up back here." Lester took a long drink from his coffee cup. "We have exhausted all of our contacts and we're coming up empty. Some of them are starting to get pissy with the amount of times we've been checking in."
"I want you all to go and get some sleep. We're not going to get anywhere if we are all dead on our feet. Babe's safe here, and we can breathe for the time being."
They all stood and shut their laptops. "You need sleep too Ric. She's going to need you when she wakes up if we have a repeat of the morning sickness she had yesterday." Bobby gently reminded me of the reason we even found out all this mess had happened.
We all left Tank's office, the three of them heading towards the stairs to make their way down to four, me to the elevator to head up to seven. Before I could get on the elevator, Bobby ran over to me.
"She's going to need to try to eat something, and if she can't keep anything down, call me and I'll get her another IV. Keeping her hydrated is the most important thing. Call me if you need me." I patted Bobby on the back and got on the elevator.
When I opened the door to the bedroom, I suddenly felt very tired. I undressed and climbed into bed next to Steph. She was on her side facing away from me. I wrapped my arms around her and slid her back up against my chest.
"Are you ok?" She asked sleepily.
"I'm fine Babe. Just go back to sleep."
"I love you Carlos."
"I love you too Babe." I reached out and placed my hand on her stomach, pulling her even closer to me. "Both of you."
Stephanie's POV
I woke up feeling energized. Much to my surprise Ranger was still in bed, sound asleep beside me. I was able to gently roll out of his arms and out of bed without waking him. I think that was the first time ever.
I went into the bathroom, and started the shower. I got in and stood under the water and started talking to myself, kind of.
"Ok kiddo, Uncle Lester and Mommy have work to do today, so no using my stomach for punching bag."
I finished my shower, did my hair and makeup and slowly opened the door into the bedroom. Ranger was still sleeping. I watched him for a minute to make sure he was actually breathing. He was. The news that he was going to be a father must have taken more out of him than he let on.
I got dressed and went out to the kitchen. My stomach was still a little unsteady, so I decided not to risk it. I went over to Ranger's office and wrote a quick note.
Carlos,
I went out with Lester to finish up some FTA's. Don't worry, I'll be fine.
I forgot to tell you, but Bobby set up an OB appointment for me at 3:30 today. If you can make it and want to come, please call me and I'll come by here first and we can go together.
Have a good day.
I love you, Baby loves you.
Stephanie
I placed the note on the kitchen counter, grabbed my bag and keys and headed for the elevator to five. It was 9:30 and I figured Lester would be waiting, very impatiently for me.
I stepped off the elevator and Tank, Bobby and Lester were huddled together in front of the monitor station. Tank saw me first and smiled.
"Good Morning Bomber." He was smiling too much and I realized that they had told him of my condition.
I quickly closed the distance between me and them, hitting Lester and Bobby on their arms. "You told him. I told you not to say anything." I wasn't really mad, but I thought I could at least make them feel guilty.
"Sorry" They both said together, looking down at the floor.
I patted Lester on the back. "You ready to go?"
He looked at me confused. "Ready to go where?"
"To work silly. You know. You, me, finding idiots and hauling their stupid irresponsible asses to jail."
They all just stood there and looked at me like I was speaking Greek.
"What?"
Lester put his arm around me and pulled me to his side. For a second I thought that maybe this was more about detainment, than friendly affection.
"I was under the impression that you'd be working in the office from now on. Didn't Ranger talk to you about that?"
I looked up at him, narrowing my eyes. "Excuse me?"
Just then the elevator bell ringed and I turned to see Ranger quickly crossing the room to us. I wiggled out of Lester's grip and turned to face him, folding my arms across my chest. He stopped and looked down at me.
"Ranger, can I speak to you in your office for a minute?"
Ranger motioned his hand for me to lead the way. "Babe."
When we got into the office and he shut the door behind me I was all prepared to let him have it. Just because I was pregnant, that didn't mean he could dictate my life. I turned to confront him, but the look I found stopped me in my tracks.
He looked at me with panic in his eyes. I had never seen him that way. He started to walk towards me and I was backed up against his desk. He put his hands on either side of me and leaned me back slightly. I could tell he was trying to not let the panic in his eyes leak out into his voice.
"Please, Babe, don't ever leave like that again. When I woke and you weren't next to me or even in the apartment, my mind went down a very dark road." He leaned down and kissed me. He moved one of his hands behind my head and deepened the kiss. When we finally came up for air, the panic had disappeared from him.
"I'm sorry. I just wanted to let you sleep." I took a deep breath. "I need to get to work though. I want to get at least one of these files taken care of before my appointment." I pushed back against him so I could leave, but he didn't budge.
"Babe." I just looked at him with a silent What.
He took a breath to steady himself. "I don't think that it is safe for you or Junior to be going after skips anymore. I would really prefer it if you worked here in the office." I knew it was out of worry, not a want for control, that he was making this request.
"Just let me finish up my outstanding files and then I will be on desk duty." He still didn't move. "I'll be fine. Lester will be with me the whole time." He still didn't move. "Don't make me shoot you."
A slow smile formed on his face. "Fine. But I'll be going with you, not Lester."
But I wanted to work with Lester. I had had a lot of fun over the past few months. "No. I'm working with Lester. I am sure you have things to do here."
He stood back then, resolve covering both our faces. He turned, opened the door and walked back to the threesome standing by the monitors. I followed, feeling as if I had just won a battle. But I should have known not to underestimate Batman.
"Santos, looks like we are going to need the Escalade today. I'm going with you guys."
Lester gave me a look that reminded me of one Mary Lou gave when we were kids and my Mom would tag along with us to the mall.