Disclaimer still applies.

~oooOOOooo~

Chapter 20: Surprise Reception
Stephanie's POV

I blinked into the sun as I walked off the plane in Trenton. It had been a perfect three days since Julie left Las Vegas. Ranger and I had spent the majority of the time in bed together, although we did get out and about a few times. I smiled as he took my hand, and I remembered one of my favorite trips out of the hotel.

~oOo~

"Stay here," Ranger murmured when room service knocked on the door.

I yawned and stretched, the sheet falling around my waist as I watched him walk from the bedroom to the living room. I heard muffled voices as he tipped the room service waiter and then the slight rattle of the dishes as he wheeled the cart into the bedroom.

His eyes darkened when he walked in and saw me naked from the waist up. I'd gotten over all my shyness about being nude in front of him within the first twenty-four hours after Julie had left, so I leaned back on my hands, pushing my chest out.

"Babe, we need to eat. We haven't had food since yesterday afternoon."

I pouted until he came over and captured my lips with his.

"You aren't getting away from me that easily. Let's eat so I have the strength to keep up with you," he growled against my neck.

I nodded and held out my hands for my plate. "Feed me!" I said, laughing.

Thirty minutes later, I set my plate carefully over on the tray after finishing my omelet with fresh fruit and whole wheat toast slathered in butter and delicious strawberry jam and then lay back. "Ugh. I can't eat another bite. I think I need a nap now," I said, looking sadly at the leftover bits of food on the cart.

"I promise we'll get out for lunch later, okay? Just relax, Babe." Ranger set his plate on the cart and wheeled it out to the hall, closing the suite door behind him when he came back inside. I heard him rustling papers on the table before he walked into the bedroom.

"Babe, I have something for you. I know you've wanted to see this show since it was on Broadway." He handed me an envelope.

I gasped when I pulled open the flap and pulled out two tickets and two other cards. There, in big, bold letters, were the words Phantom of the Opera. "Carlos! Really?" I was nearly speechless. I was instantly reminded of him taking me to see Ghostbusters on Broadway, and I was just as excited now as I was then.

"An old Army buddy is married to one of the cast members, so when I heard that, I knew I had to get us tickets. I called him and was able to get the passes to meet the cast after the show, as well. We go tonight."

I threw my arms around him, nearly knocking us both off the bed. His lips met mine, and he pushed me back on the bed until he was hovering over me.

~oOo~

We'd stayed in bed for hours before I'd shot up, worried about what I would wear that night. Ranger had known me well, though. I smiled, remembering the new dress and shoes he'd had ready for me later that day. It had been a night I'd never forget.

"C'mon, Babe. Time to get to the office," Ranger said as he took my hand to walk to me to the car.

We drove to RangeMan and parked in the spot Ranger had reserved for the Cayenne. I grabbed the bag full of souveniers I'd brought back for a few of the guys and for Mary Lou's and Val's kids. Ranger carried the rest of our bags, and we piled into the elevator, planning on making a stop on five to say hello before heading up to seven to drop off our bags.

We stopped at Ranger's office and set all the bags down, wondering why the floor was so quiet. We had waved to the guys in the control room but hadn't seen anyone else.

"Where is everyone?" I asked Ranger. I knew he'd called Tank the night before to let him know when we'd be home.

"Not sure, Babe. Let's go see if Tank's in his office." Taking my hand, he had just turned us to head out of the office when Tank stepped into the doorway.

"Hey, look who's back!" He gave us a big grin. "C'mon, Bomber. Let me see the rock!"

I laughed and held out my hand.

"Woah, it looks perfect, Steph. Congratulations." He gave me a hug and then reached out to shake Ranger's hand. "It's about time, man."

Ranger rolled his eyes but couldn't keep the huge smile off his face. "Where is everyone?"

"Some of the guys are out on a couple of calls we got, checking security. A few are in the kitchen. Les and Bobby are there. Want to go share the good news with them?" Tank asked.

I nodded. "Please! Carlos, is that okay? I want to tell the guys now."

"That's fine, Babe. Lead the way, Tank."

We followed Tank down the hall, but when we got to the big conference room door, he stopped.

"Oh, there are some papers in here I meant to give Lester. Let's stop here for a minute." He opened the door and walked in. "C'mon in, guys. It'll take me a minute to find them. Steph, can you get the lights, please?"

I flipped on the lights, and suddenly, we were bombarded with shouting.

"Congratulations!" and "Welcome home!" were shouted by many of the people in the room, but several voices, mainly the guys and Lula, cried, "It's about time!"

I blinked my eyes and grasped Ranger's hand tighter. There in front of us were Lula, Connie, and all of the RangeMan crew, along with my entire family and most of Ranger's family, as well.

"What the hell?"

The guys began laughing at Ranger's outburst.

We were rushed by both our mothers, followed closely behind by the rest of our families.

"Stephanie Michelle Plum! Or should I say Stephanie Michelle Manoso now? How could you go off and get married without telling me?" My mom's voice was loudest in the crowd.

"Mom! We didn't want to make a—" I couldn't get out the rest of the sentence before she grabbed me in a huge hug.

"I know, Stephanie. I was teasing. I wish you had waited, but Pierre came and explained that you and Ranger had wanted to do something simple and just for the two of you. I was disappointed, but he said I could work with Ranger's mother and plan this party for the day you came home."

My jaw dropped. She was being so...unlike my mother. What in the world had Tank said to her?

"You didn't give us much time to work, sweetheart! I hope you know how hard it was to plan all this in such a short time!"

Ahh, there was the mother I knew and loved.

"I know, and I'm sorry, Mom. It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing, but it was just right for the two of us. It was beautiful and perfect. I have pictures and a video, though, so you'll be able to watch."

"Beautiful, that's part of today's festivities. We're going to eat cake and have a viewing party!" Lester's voice called out to us from back in the crowd.

I looked over at Ranger, who was surrounded by his mom, dad, and siblings.

He glanced at me and held his hand out. "Come here, Babe."

I moved over to his side and was immediately pulled into a hug by his mom and sisters.

"We're so glad you are an official part of the family now, Stephanie," Celia said over the noise of the crowd.

I hugged them all and then turned and hugged my mom, grandma, Val, and Mary Lou. I noticed my dad sitting with Lenny, Albert, and an older gentleman who I could only guess was Grandma's date.

I got turned around and pulled into a giant bear hug by Lula, who passed me to Connie.

"Skinny ass white girl! You're glowing! Vegas must have done you some good! Or is it all the Batman-loving you got?"

I laughed. "I think it was a little of both," I whispered to them, looking lovingly over at Ranger. "I'm glad you both could come today."

"We wouldn't have missed it, Steph," Connie said, smiling. "Hal and Tank had us here helping Ella for hours today, getting it all set up while they worked to get cleared for the afternoon. Vinnie is having a fit that we're both gone, but he can answer his own damn phone for a few hours!"

We laughed as I looked around the room. I noticed that all the tables but one had been taken out of the room. The single table that was left had been pushed up against the wall and held a large cake and a huge punch bowl, which was filled to the brim with a pretty pale punch.

"Okay, if everyone will find their seats. Boss, Bomber, the two of you take these two up front in the middle. Moms on either side and then dads. Everyone else, the seats are up for grabs." Bobby's voice was loud enough to be heard over the crowd.

There was a scramble for seats, although I noticed the guys were all being very sweet and waited until everyone else had found seats before claiming the ones at the very back. Tank moved to the front of the room and handed my mom the envelope of pictures from the wedding.

"Mrs. Plum, after we watch the video, look at the pictures and then share them with Maria. After you all have had a chance to look at them, pass them around for everyone else to look. Bobby, hit the lights!"

The room was thrown into darkness, and Tank hit play on the DVD player. The big screen TV lit up, and when I heard the opening music, I watched as Ranger and the officiant came into view. The chapel looked beautiful, and as always, Ranger looked amazing. I curled up next to him, and we did more watching each other than watching the video.

When it was over, I looked at my mom and Maria, seeing tears in both of their eyes.

"Stephanie, Carlos," they said at the same time. They stood up and wrapped their arms around us, making a group hug of four, and I found myself crying tears of happiness with them.

"It was the most beautiful thing I've ever witnessed," I told them honestly, looking softly at Ranger. "He made all of my dreams come true and then some. I couldn't be happier."

As Ranger brushed his lips against mine, my mom said quietly, "That's all I've ever wanted for you, Stephanie. I know I went about it the wrong way for a long time, but I'm glad you found the right path for yourself."

"Thanks, Mom," I said, choking back the storm of tears threatening me.

"Okay, you guys, break it up! It's time for cake and for the mothers to look at pictures. The cake was made by Ella, Bomber, so you know it's good!" Tank's voice boomed above the rest of the chatter in the room.

Ranger and I got up and walked over to the table with the cake to take the first pieces and get some punch. When I looked back, our parents had scooted closer to each other and were looking through the pictures together.

My mom had a piece of paper and a pencil out, and I knew she was writing down which pictures they all wanted copies of. I made my way back to them and said, "Mom, Maria, I already have plans to get copies made of all the pictures for both of you. If there are a few you want more than one copy of to give to other family, write those down and I'll get those made then, okay?"

They smiled gratefully at me, and as I walked away, I heard my dad and Ricardo, Ranger's father, talking about the latest sports scores. I rolled my eyes and smiled as I walked back to Ranger.

"What's that look for?" he asked me, half worried since I had just come from talking to our parents.

"Just laughing at our fathers. Even here, they are talking sports."

"At least everyone is getting along," he said, laughing. "It could be much worse!"

We took our plates and little cups and made our way back to our seats, smiling and nodding as everyone we passed congratulated us.

We had just gotten seated when Lula's voice called out, "Okay, now that the bride and groom have gotten theirs, it's cake time! Don't push and shove. There's plenty for everyone!"

I looked back and saw her eyeing the Merry Men.

She continued, "Boys, wait till all the little people have been served. Don't want you eatin' all the cake 'fore everyone else gets some!"

The guys all laughed.

"Fine, fine. We'll let everyone else get their share," Lester called out.

There was a low-level hum for the next few minutes as everyone sat around eating cake. Every couple of minutes, someone else would come by and shake Ranger's hand or give me a hug. Everyone seemed so happy for us, and no one seemed too surprised that we'd run away to Vegas.

"I knew once he'd proposed that you guys wouldn't waste any time," Tank said happily. "When Ranger called, it didn't take me long to figure out that's what was going on. I started planning this then."

He stood up at the front of the room. "If I could have everyone's attention. Have a seat and hush so Carlos and Steph can hear me please." He waited till the room was mostly still and silent before continuing. "Guys, we all know you aren't lacking for most things. Anything you don't already have, Carlos can buy easily. So after talking to both your mothers, the entire group in here went together on your gift." He handed Ranger an envelope.

My eyes widened. "Tank?"

"Open it up, Babe," Ranger said, handing me the envelope.

I slowly opened the flap to find a piece of paper. Unfolding it, I sat staring at the page for a minute before Ranger gently tugged it out of my hands. "Is that what I think it is?" I asked him when I found my voice.

Ranger took several seconds to answer. "Yeah, Babe. It's hotel reservations for a trip around the world. The note at the bottom says the RangeMan plane will be fueled up and ready to go whenever we are. Our first stop is Hawaii. We stay there for four days." Ranger was speechless for a minute. "Dios! Venice, Rome, Berlin, Paris, Moscow, Beijing, Sydney..." His voice trailed off.

"You guys! This is too much!" My voice cracked as I began to cry.

Ranger pulled me into his arms.

"Carlos, you've—" Tank paused "—no, we've, been in some of the worst places in the world. We all wanted you to have some great memories of other parts of the world, too. Steph, this way, you and Carlos have memories of the world together."

I jumped up and threw my arms around Tank. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I shouted. Turning around, I let everyone in the room see the huge smile on my face. "Thank you all so much!"

Ranger sat in his seat with a stunned expression on his face. I'm not sure I'd ever seen him as shocked as he was at that moment. "Babe..."

"C'mon, Carlos," I whispered into his ear. "Thank everyone so we can go upstairs and start practicing for our honeymoon."

His eyes darkened, and he shot out of his chair. The look on his face sent shivers down my spine and a shot of need all the way down my front. "Let's hurry, Babe. I think we're going to need lots and lots of practice."