I do not own JE's characters. I just like playing with them.
A/N: My muse fluctuates and this story came out of me trying a twist. I wish I could have a do-over like this sometimes, but I guess I will just make it good for Steph and Ranger.
This fic is a little slow moving as is their relationship. Sometimes, the buildup is better. I am trying to show a new Ranger and a new Steph.
Bear with me and my silly sense of humor. The rating is earned for some language.
Thanks for your messages! Please read and review.
Stephanie POV
I was sitting in my office talking to Lester. I know it is his job to keep me busy. While we talked, we went over the FTAs. Lester was staring at me. "What?" He smiled.
"You look beautiful, Beautiful." I was in a black and white mini dress and I was wearing thick black tights. The top of the dress looked like a corset and I had a matching black sweater jacket that was the length of the dress and it had oversized buttons. My hair was held back in a black sparkly headband and I was wearing heeled boots. I felt good about myself today, so I took the compliment.
"Thank you, Lester. Now, do you have any questions about my notes on the takedowns?" He shook his head. Max whined so I got up to take him for a walk. Lester blocked me. I sighed.
"Um, I can walk him for you, Beautiful!" I smiled and kissed his cheek.
"Thank you, Les. I will wait here for you to bring him back, then." He smiled relieved and left. I made a call.
"Yo." He seemed upbeat.
"Batman how much longer do I have to wait? I am hungry." He chuckled.
"The food and your surprise just arrived, Lester will bring you up in a few minutes. I love you, Babe." Awww.
"I love you, too, Carlos." I hung up and Lester came back.
"Beautiful, come with me!" He is excited. He is so funny.
He leads me to the stairs and we climb to the roof where a large group of people including Woki, his sisters Mercedes and Reina, Emilio, Celia, Isa, Ana and Ricardo. Next to them is Gram, Connie, Lula and my mother. She looks nervous. They yell surprise. Woki cannot take it anymore and he runs up to me.
"Estefania! Happy birthday! See, I came to your party and I dressed like the Justice League!" He hugged me while I carried him over to the rest of the group. He was in dark grey cargos and a long sleeved tee shirt that said Rangeman. He had a little vest on, and it looked real.
I raised both eyebrows at Carlos and he nodded. I just shook my head and I greeted his sisters. They told me they loved my dress and asked me to show them to be a badass princess. I just hugged them. Mercedes was eight and Reina was seven. They were very pretty and they had lighter brown eyes than Woki.
"Hello, Stephanie. I kept this a secret from you yesterday. Are you surprised?" I really was. I hugged my mother and she hugged me back. This was new and it has been a while since we have hugged.
"These nice boys came to the book store and said they would bring me back after our appointment. It was very hush hush. They gave me a secret password and this really nice chain with a diamond phone on it. They said if I was ever in danger to press it! Isn't that just the most wonderful thing! Of course my necklace is a secret." My mother was babbling.
"It does not look like a dungeon at all here. People really need to stop spreading lies about this place, Stephanie. Ella introduced herself to me and then she said you told her my pineapple upside down cake was your favorite and had I ever made it as minicakes. Well that sounds like a great idea. We traded recipes and I am going to try to make Magdalenas, they are these little lemon sponge cakes." I continued to nod at her.
"I heard about your tea party tomorrow. That is so sweet of you. Well, I will not hold you up. You have a lot of guests to greet. I will bring over the cakes tomorrow. I hope you and your young man will consider coming to dinner on Sunday." I smile a huge smile at this new and improved Helen Plum.
"Actually Mom, why don't you come to dinner here? I can cook and you can relax. Gram and Daddy are invited as well." She blushed.
"Well, that one boy, I think his name is Cal and he has a very interesting tattoo on his forehead. He gave me a gift card for a massage and hairstyling at Sak's and asked if I ever baked apple pie. I told him it would be my pleasure to bake him one. These boys need a mother's touch and they must run poor Ella ragged." Wow. They are expanding their underground dessert business. I already gave Hector his pie of the day.
"Oh, I missed the surprise! I had to drop the boys off at Chuck E. Cheese with Lenny. He is a big kid. They had no school today so I am very grateful. Hey, Steph. Wow, all of these guys are so cute. Put the kid down and hug me!" I kiss Woki and he agreed that he would mingle with the Justice League for a while.
I hugged ML and she waved at Hector and he came over and took a box from her and kissed her cheek. They are shameless.
"So, were you surprised?" I nodded.
"She sure was! Hey Mary Lou! Don't I look good?" Lula did look good. She was wearing black and white also, but hers was a tasteful zebra print wrap dress that came to just below her knees.
"Wow, Lula, you look great!" She smiled.
"White Girl, me and Connie have been working hard, okay. Now I am having some cake today, but I know how to juggle my calories and all of that good shit, plus we work out. We are going in the middle of the night now, too. Sometimes a bitch cannot sleep." I hugged her. Connie was busy giggling with Ram.
Carlos came up behind me and kisses my neck and Lula and Mary Lou had a glazed look on their faces. "Wow, girl. How can you stand it? He is so fine! Even if you don't wear black all the time, you are still Batman to me! I am headed over to the food, girl. We cannot stay long, but we left you a gift card for Pleasure Treasures. Not that you need it, but they have some really cool costumes." I smile and hug Lula again.
I turn to Carlos. "You let all of them into the building, Carlos?" He smiled and kissed me gently.
"They are your friends and family and Edna promised not to grope the guys if they gave her a pair of their boxer shorts." I laughed and kissed him back. "Thank you, Carlos. I saw the chain you gave my mother."
"That was not from me, Babe. Hector gave Edna and your mother those chains. His mistake was in having Cal deliver them. Now Cal will get apple pie and not him." I leaned into him and watched everyone mingling.
"Ahem." I looked up to see Isa and Celia. They held out their hands and I went with them.
"Chica, we come in peace. I know they are brash but we have to ask you not to attack our sisters any further." I smiled.
"Celia, I only did that so they could see that I will not be bullied. I love Carlos and I am not going to use him. I adore him." I look over at him and smile as I watch him avoid Gram's hands.
"We know. Now, you have the little tea party thing with the girls and Woki tomorrow and that is nice, but we want a girls' night tomorrow night. We talked to that really nice Lula girl and she said she was coming. What do you think?" I looked at Lula and she gave me a thumbs' up. I nodded at Celia and Isa and they hugged me and jumped up and down. They pulled me over to their mother and I guess Lester's mother by the way he was hiding from her.
"Hola, Estefania. Happy birthday. This is Maria, Lester's mother and my sister. She had been out of town last week. Woki and the girls are excited to come here tomorrow. Thank you for being so kind to mis nietos. Now tell me the recipe for your pies." She is so funny but I was not born yesterday.
"Ana, thank you. I cannot just give you that recipe. Maybe you have one to trade me?" She huffs at me and my mother comes over.
"You should have seen the way my Stephanie beat up this woman that tried to take your son from her yesterday. My mother put it on the Youtube. I will give you my lasagna recipe for your chili con carne recipe." I snorted. Did she just threaten Ana? They were hilarious.
"Fine, Estefania and Helena, I will trade you my arroz con pollo recipe Estefania and the one you want Helena." We go to a table and write out the recipes and shake hands. Wow. They get along.
"I must say, Stephanie, I am very proud of you. Now that I have a job, I can see what you mean by wanting to do something outside the home." Am I dreaming? "Besides, people talk like I am not there. I get so much good gossip!" And we are back. She had me going for a minute there.
"Thanks, Ma. I have to go and check on my puppy. Did you see him?" She smiles a huge smile.
"Yes! I am going to make Frank get us one! He is adorable and he growled at Lester when he tried to eat the cake. I like him. You go ahead. I need to get going, but I will see you on Sunday. Carlos said I can keep my new secret phone, too! I just call when I am almost here and they will let me into the back lot and give me my security badge. I have a password and everything so they know it's really me. I love this cloak and dagger, Stephanie." She hugs me again and pushes me towards the kids. Wow.
The guys were laughing and eating the food that Ella, Maria, Ana and my mother cooked. I sat at a table with Woki on my lap. Mercedes and Reina were sitting with us with Max between them. He was on a booster chair and his food bowl was on the table.
"So, Miss Fancy, can we really come here tomorrow?" I laughed at Mercedes. She decided that she wanted to give me my own name. Reina just nodded and said she would think of one. I told her that I liked Wonder Woman and she decided that I am Diana now.
"Yes, Cedes. We will watch a movie and have lunch and our tea party afterwards." She nodded.
"Diana, are we dressing up?" Woki gave me a please don't make me look. I kissed his forehead.
"Maybe we can dress up like a badass, Ray. I will tell your mother to send you a few outfits. I like your chains. I see you both have tiaras on them. That is nice." They beam smiles at me. Woki looks happy that I get along with his sisters.
"See, I told you that Estefania is the best, Ray and Cedes. She is smart and pretty and she has a gun!" They were impressed and asked to see it. I told them I only took it out to practice or when there was danger. I said it was hidden so the bad guys would not know I can defend myself and they looked around and nodded. Woki said he would stop telling people I have a gun so we can surprise the bad guys. They were the cutest.
"So, you are wearing a dress and you can still fight if you have to, Miss Fancy?" I played with Woki's hair while I agreed with Mercedes.
"Yes, Sweetie. When you learn to fight, you can do it no matter what you are wearing. I had to fight just yesterday and I wore a skirt at the time." They look impressed.
"Okay, kids. It is time to go. The party is breaking up and people have to get back to work. Estefania will see you tomorrow for lunch." Celia got three pouts, but they did not faze her. She was a professional at this. I got hugs and kisses and they left. The party was breaking up and I found Carlos by the door saying goodbye to his Aunt Maria.
"Si, Tia. I will try to help Lester to meet someone nice like my novia. Goodbye now. I love you, too." He was cute when he was frustrated. She left and he saw me. The heat in the look he sent me gave me shivers. I walked over to him.
"Thank you again for my party, Carlos. I love you." He just smiled and kissed me. Max barked breaking up our moment. I picked him up and took Carlos' hand and we took the steps to the ground floor and let Max run around the lot.
"You know, you did not open your gifts, Babe." He holds out a small envelope to me and I take it.
"What is this?" He just smiles and kisses my neck again. I love when he does that.
"Open it and find out, mi amor. You look so pretty today. How does it feel to be 27?" I smiled at him.
"It feels great." He was flush up against me and let me tell you it felt wonderful being twenty seven. I opened the envelope and saw an itinerary for a trip next weekend to Louisiana. I squealed and jumped onto Carlos.
In between kisses, I talked to him. "I always wanted to go there! Who told you! Thank you!" He just laughed and held me close.
"I love when your hair is down, Querida. You look so beautiful. Your friend Mary Lou told me when I asked her where you would like to go for your birthday. I was going to take you this weekend, but she said that if I did not let your family see you this weekend, it would ruin things and she was right. Your mother was almost pleasant to me. She asked me my favorite foods but she was pulled away by Mama at the last moment. They were funny." I hugged him again and he put me down.
"So you will go to the game with Lester and the guys tomorrow?" He nodded and whistled for Max.
"Si, Babe. Let's finish our paperwork and then I can give you the rest of your birthday gift." I moaned.
"You give me that gift every night, Carlos and I love it every time." He chuckles.
"Not that, Babe, but I will give you that as well. Did you see your new car?" We detoured to the garage and I saw my blue Jeep. It was cool. I hugged him and kissed him.
"Thank you, Carlos. Did the police contact you yet?" He shook his head.
"I will have Sawyer call them to schedule a meeting for Monday morning, Babe. Do not worry about it." We took the elevator to the fifth floor and Max took off to the control room. I went into my office. Ella had left me a note that my gifts were in my apartment. I loved the guys's welcome home gifts. I am sure I will like those as well.
They gave me a lot of gift cards and perfumes and bath supplies that were my favorites before, plus a new gun that I had not used yet because I only carried one. I carry the knife, though. I know that was from Hector. Oh well, I will see what they got me when I finished my paperwork. I noticed a framed picture on my desk of me and Woki and Max. Hector was so sweet.
Joe Morelli POV
I have had a bad few days. I cannot believe what happened at Rossini's with Joyce and then yesterday with Cupcake. Why were women so difficult lately? I was manning the desk for Lowicki while he went on a late lunch break and one of the Range goons came in with a small box and he had a guy with him that had on handcuffs. They were arguing.
"Come on, Santos. I said I won't do it again." Lester looked at the guy with narrowed eyes.
"Puck, I told you I would give you a piece of birthday cake and a ride to get a haircut. When you are finished getting bonded out, I will give you the piece of cake. You tried to take it all. I will shoot you over this cake. My Tia Ella baked it." The guy looked contrite.
"Sorry, homie. It's just that my birthday was last week and I did not get a cake. I was in a fight with my girl. Thanks for the assist today, man. She loved that Romeo and Juliet singing outside her window shit. I think we are gonna be alright now." Lester laughs.
"Next time, ask questions first. She was not cheating on you. That was her cousin. Just remember to call Al's and he will fix her car windows, Puck. Now wait over here. Some of this cake is for a couple of cops." The guy nodded and sat down and took off his own handcuffs. He started sending text messages on his phone.
"You did not even subdue your FTA, Santos? You guys are inept." He smiled at me.
"Is that your word for the day, Morelli? Anyway, Mr. Phillip Waters has had his charges reduced and he came with me to make sure everything was handled. Please get Eddie and Carl for me." The nerve of this glorified security guard ordering me around. I open my mouth to say hell no, when Eddie and Carl came up to the desk.
"Hey there, Lester. Did you bring it?" Lester gestures to the box by the guy Waters and they walk over to him and shake hands and walk away with birthday cake. I cannot resist asking him.
"Who had a birthday party?" Lester smiles a huge smile.
"It was Beautiful's party. Sorry, I mean Stephanie's party. She was surprised. It was a great time with both families there to celebrate with her and all. She gets along great with Ranger's mom. I like her mom now too. Miss Helen is nice and she offered to bake me a cake when my mother was not looking. I don't want those two beefing over me." What?
"So, sign here and here and I can go and drop Puck off at Keysha's house." I sign the papers while deep in thought and they leave after giving Big Dog a piece of cake too. The guys all ate their cake with relish.
This is all wrong. That should have been me giving Cupcake a party with my mother there not Manoso's! I have to think of a way to get her away from him. I saw what she did to the bitch that blew up her car and I don't want her mad at me, that's for sure. Seeing that though made me want her even more. I don't know what to do, though because I do not doubt she can kick my ass.
Ranger POV
We were having dinner that I cooked and Babe was moaning her way through the chicken and broccoli with brown rice and garlic bread. I adored this woman. I cleared my throat. "Babe, here is my gift to you. " I hand her a jewelry box. She gasped.
"Do not panic. I am not proposing. I got this ring to match your bracelet. It is an eternity band in platinum with small diamonds set into it. Please wear it on your right hand and think of me when you see it. I know I will always love you, Stephanie." She sniffed back tears and I got up and pulled her into my lap.
"I love you, too Carlos. Thank you so much!" She kissed me and I decided that we had had enough dessert for one day and took my love to bed. She had a big day planned tomorrow with the kids but this time was just for us.
I kissed her body from head to toe as I undressed her. I feasted on her pussy and she moaned and screamed with each orgasm I gave her. This was how I loved to see Babe. Her hair was wild and her skin was flushed. She said nothing but my name and yes. I was making her feel this way.
Before I could continue my assault, Babe flipped us and started to torment me the same way I had done to her. She is a temptress and I love that she kissed me and used her tongue to savor her own taste from my lips. My Babe was a freak and dirty talk got her excited. I pulled her down to me and impaled her on my waiting cock and she howled and arched.
"Yes, Babe, take all of me." She rode me like her very own rodeo and I gave as good as I got. By the time she collapsed on top of me, it was almost 2100 hours. I had to get the puppy. I kissed her and took a shower. I dressed in a tee shirt and sweats and cleaned up the kitchen and put the food away.
I went to Hal's apartment and got Max who was waiting by the door lying there listlessly. I picked up the whiney baby and nodded at Hal.
"What is wrong, Max? I thought you liked Hal?" He continued to whine and I rubbed his belly and he whined louder. Oh no. Is the puppy sick? I woke up Babe and we took him to the vet's where they told us that Max just had an upset stomach from eating too much cake. They said he would be fine in an hour so we waited.
"I am sorry I woke you, Babe, but I figured you would want to know if Max was ill." She just kissed me deeply.
"I love you, Carlos. Thank you for being concerned about Max. The poor baby. Everyone must have doted on him today. I would have worried about my poor baby puppy. You are so thoughtful and you came with me. I bet a few weeks ago, you would have sent one of the guys."
I smile and think that maybe she is right. But I get to be here for her to sit in my lap and she looks so gorgeous with her hair in a ponytail and her sweatshirt and yoga pants on. She still has her gun inside of her boot and her knife inside the other one.
"My place is with you, Babe. I love being with you. Max is a part of our life and I wanted to come with you." She just smiled and snuggled into me. They brought a groomed Max out and he barked and Babe took him gently.
"He is just fine, you guys. We groomed him again." We thanked them and paid for the services and left. Max was back in his little car seat and chewing on a toy.
It was a little while before we settled back into bed, but Babe was fussing over Max who was loving the attention. Before she fell asleep cuddling Max and with me cuddling with her, she whispered that she loved me. I kissed her neck on my favorite spot. "I love you, too, Babe."