Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers. Any other character is a figment of my imagination and any similarities to real persons is merely a coincidence

This story is definitely AU. The characters have the same physical appearance as in J.E.'s books; however I have changed ages of some characters. This is a Babe HEA and Cupcake fans may not be happy as Joe is now dead and so are Frank and Helen Plum. They were killed off in the original story. References may be made to any of the books in the series so if you haven't read them all, you may want to wait to read this. That said...

Warning: Violence

Chapter 21: Rafael's 1st Birthday.

Rafael's POV:

I woke up and climbed out of bed. I wasn't sure what momma and dad had planned for the day, but it was time to get this dog and pony show on the road. I was up and there was no reason they couldn't get up too. After all, when momma put me to bed last night she said tomorrow was going to be a special day for me. I padded into their bedroom and climbed up onto the bed. 'Yo! You guys up yet? Let's get a move on.'

Dad opened one eye and narrowed it as he looked in my direction. I smile and give him my cute look but he's not buying it. Damn! Uh oh. Momma's eyes are open now and she has an eyebrow raised. I give her a finger wave and grin, 'Gee momma, I don't know how that one slipped out.'

Momma mumbles, "What time is it?"

Dad checks the clock, "3:30 a.m."

Momma groaned, "Rafael, it's too early. You need to go back to sleep."

'Sleep! No way Jose. I'm up.'

"It's alright Babe. I'll get him. You go back to sleep for a while."

Dad threw back the covers and stood. My eyes widened. 'Whoa! Uh dad, why are you saluting with the pee machine?'

Momma started laughing so hard I thought she was gonna pee the bed. I gave her a look like maybe she was losing it and then dad starts laughing. O…kay… I shake my head as dad lifts me into his arms. He carries me back into my bedroom and grabs a few things and then he carries me back into his room. I frown, 'Uh, dad? You lost or something?'

Dad just chuckles and carries me into the big bathroom. Man! I've never been in here before. This place is pretty cool. Dad strips me down and we step into the shower. I laugh as the water falls over us. Oh man, this is cool! Dad adjusts the water and soaps me up and then sets me down while he soaps up, then he lifts me and starts the water cascading over us again. I love this. All too soon we step out of the shower and dad dries us both off. We head to the dressing room and he puts a diaper on me and then he dresses me before getting dressed himself.

When we head out, momma is surfacing from sleep. Dad stops and kisses her, telling her to take her time. Hmmm, 'Hey dad? Aren't we going to work out today?"

'Not today son. It's your day; we are going to have fun today.'

I frowned, 'Workouts are fun.'

I felt momma join our conversation from the bedroom, 'Just don't say a word.'

'Uh, dad? Is momma mad?'

Dad was smiling ear to ear, 'No son. It's like the clothes. Momma gets you cool clothes but you'd rather wear black. Well, momma thought you would enjoy sleeping in today and going to the zoo or Adventure Aquarium.'

I tilted my head to the side and grinned, 'Sure, that's all good. Which one do you think momma would like to do more?'

Dad lifted me so I was looking him in the eyes. I smiled and dad returned the smile with one of his own. 'She would want you to have the day you want.'

'I will. I want her to have fun.'

Dad lowered me and hugged me, 'Proud of you son.'

When we went back out to the bedroom, momma was sitting up on the bed and her eyes were sparkling with unshed tears. I frowned, 'Momma?'

She smiled, 'I'm okay. I am very touched you would give up your day for me. But I want you to have the day you want to have, so let me get a shower and get dressed and we'll get started.'

I leaned out of dad's arms and momma took me in her arms. I leaned in and kissed her cheek. Momma kissed my forehead and then dad lifted me into his arms and we headed into the kitchen to wait for momma.

Stephanie's POV:

I headed into the bathroom and shaved, shampooed and showered before drying off and dressing. Once I was dressed I worked gel into my hair and went to pull it back into a ponytail but heard a little voice in my head ask, 'Momma? Can it stay down?'

I smiled and left it down around my shoulders. When I went out to join the guys in the kitchen, I was hoping I was dressed right for the day. I joined them at the table and dug into the food on my plate. Looked like Rafael and I were having his favorite breakfast, Belgian waffles, strawberries, whipped topping, bacon, and orange juice. Ranger was eating his usual lox and bagel. When we had finished our breakfast, I looked over to Rafael and asked, "So, what are we going to do today?"

He looked at me for several seconds and the suddenly he smiled and said, "Get skip."

My eyes widened in surprise. I turned to Ranger and lifted an eyebrow only to see he was just as surprised as I was. I turned back to Rafael and asked him, "That's really what you want to do?"

He grinned and said, "Yup!"

I looked back at Ranger, "Do you have anyone?"

Ranger thought for a minute, "Maybe…if we take some of the guys with us."

Ranger's POV:

I wanted my men there if I was taking Babe and Rafael near this skip. He was an elusive SOB and we only had a short window of time left to catch him. I took out my phone and told Tank, Bobby and Lester to meet us in the garage. We cleaned up and headed down to the garage. When we walked out of the elevator, the guy's eyes opened wide in surprise.

Tank made a slight motion with his head, "What's going on?"

I smiled, "Rafael wants to catch a skip for his birthday. Since we only have the one still outstanding, I wanted extra backup."

They were all nodding their agreement. We got in the vehicles and headed out. When we pulled up outside the skips home Babe spoke up, "He's not here. Go to the 5th address in the file."

I took out my phone and relayed the information to the guys. When we pulled up this time, Babe turned and asked Rafael, "What's the plan?"

Rafael's eyes were glowing with excitement. 'Dad and Tank in the back and we'll go in the front. Bobby and Lester can cover the 2nd floor windows on the sides.'

I didn't like that arrangement because it left Rafael and Babe vulnerable. 'It's okay dad. I won't let anything happen to momma. Please? Trust me.'

I closed my eyes and took several seconds before I agreed to the plan. I slipped out of the Cayenne and went over to tell the guys the plan. At first they weren't any happier about it than I had been. Once I told them Rafael would protect Babe, they nodded and we got started. Tank and I went to the back and Lester and Bobby got in position. I narrowed my eyes and let Babe and Rafael know through our link that we were ready.

I heard the knock on the front door and a woman answered the door. "Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for Donald Paris."

There was a pause and then, "Are you his wife?"

"No! I work for his bond agent."

There was masculine laughter, a slap, and then, "You bring your kid to work with you? Lady, you are one dumb bitch."

There was the sound of a gun cocking. Tank had the back door open and we were on our way inside. We moved at a dead run to get to the scene at the front door. The woman who had apparently opened the front door was on the floor holding her cheek. Donald turned and seeing us, he reached out to grab hold of Babe. His hand hit an invisible wall and he frowned.

Donald sneered, "So you have to send a girl and a kid to do your job for you huh? Well I'll just use this here gun and shoot them both."

Rafael's POV:

My eyes narrowed. I understood why dad didn't like the idea of momma being around this asshole. He hit the pretty lady on the ground. We'd have to make sure she got together with Aunt Lula so she could help her find her own way. I turned back to the skip and my eyes focused on the gun. Momma's hair started to blow in the breeze. I could see her gaze was focused on the skip as well. I could feel her anger and it fueled my own. This slime bucket wanted to hurt my momma and I intended to show him just how wrong that thought was.

He screamed and dropped the red hot gun. I smiled, but he must not have liked the smile because he was looking at me with stark terror in his eyes. My eyes gleamed with the rage inside. I harvested the air from one side and swung it at him with all my might. There was a sickening thud and he went down. I thought of all the people he had hurt, and how he hurt them, then I thought of the fact he was gonna hurt my momma and I acted. I could feel momma's rage helping me. I knew her rage was because the man had threatened me. That's right momma, we'll get him…together. The girl lying on the floor was watching and I knew she liked what was happening to the man. She didn't want to be with him. She hated what he did to her. I turned my focus back to him and let him feel the pain he gave to her…only magnified by 10. The screams were deafening till finally he passed out from the pain.

Dad stepped forward when we got done and lifted the skip up on his feet and cuffed him. He handed him off to the guys and told them to take him in. We left the house having given the girl a card with Aunt Lula's number. She was a counselor who worked with young girls who had been runaways or in bad relationships. She was really good at her job too. Momma said it was because of her former life.

Once we got in the Cayenne, momma turned and asked, "What's next up?"

I thought for a minute and then said, "Pino's"

Momma laughed, "Pino's isn't open yet. Somebody wanted to get up super early."

I frowned, wonder who she's talking about. Okay, let's see…hmmm…..my eyes lit up, "Tasty Pastry!"

Dad groaned from the driver's seat but momma grinned ear-to-ear. Two against one dad, deal. Uh oh! I smile weakly and send him a finger wave. He rolled his eyes! Dad rolled his eyes! Crap! I need to start keeping things to myself, he looks pissed again. Yikes! Now momma is frowning. I think I better sit back and relax for a bit. Stop thinking, you know what I mean.

Stephanie's POV:

I had to bite the inside of my cheek so I didn't burst out laughing at Rafael's thoughts. One of these days I'd have to start teaching him about building the wall. Right now it was easy enough for me to protect him by extending my wall for him, but since I was going to start helping Vinnie out 2 days a week, I needed to make sure Rafael could shore his own wall. I'd done a lot of thinking before deciding to go back to working at the bonds office. We didn't need the money, and I was already working from home 2 hours a day 3 days a week helping to develop training videos and games, but I just felt like it was time to do something more.

For the past month I'd maintained a rigid exercise routine, wanting to make sure I was in top form when I went back to Bounty Hunting. If I had any doubts, this morning settled them. I enjoyed the take down, even though I wanted to knock that man senseless when he talked about shooting my son. Even now I wanted to smash his face into a brick wall.

Ranger pulled into the Tasty Pastry and we all got out and headed into the store. I closed my eyes and took a huge inhale of air. The smell was so powerful my mouth was instantly watering for it's first bite of a Boston Cream. We stopped at the counter and Ranger told us to get what we wanted. I chose 3 Boston Creams, 2 jelly doughnuts, 2 long johns with caramel frosting and nuts on top and whipped topping inside, and then I let Rafael choose the other 5. He chose one of each of the same ones I did plus one that looked like a pretzel with glazed topping and an apple fritter. I turned and asked Ranger if he wanted to choose something. He just shook his head and said he was good. I ordered 2 orange juices and we took the box of doughnuts and found a seat where we could enjoy our treat. Thirty minutes later every single doughnut was gone and Rafael and I were taking our last sip of our juice.

I glanced at my watch before looking at Rafael and asking him what else he wanted to do for his birthday. He looked over at Ranger and suddenly smiled. "Workout."

I groaned as Ranger laughed. We disposed of our garbage and headed back to Rangeman. We headed up to 7 and changed into our workout gear. When we entered the gym, several of the guys were already there working out. We went through our normal workout routines and then headed back upstairs. Ranger volunteered to give Rafael his bath while I showered and then he would shower. Once we were all dressed it was lunchtime. I joined Ranger and Rafael and knew by the look on Ranger's face what our next stop was going to be. I raised an eyebrow and asked, "Pino's?"

Rafael laughed, "Yup!"

When we got down to the garage I went to get in the passenger seat and Rafael said, "No. Momma drive."

I stopped and looked over to Ranger to see his reaction. He looked pained but made no comment, just placed the keys in my hand. I slipped into the driver's seat and once Ranger joined me in the front, I started the Cayenne and we got under way. We no more than pulled out into traffic and I felt the menace behind us. I felt Rafael slip in, 'Momma, bad men. You had to drive. Columbians.'

Ranger turned and our gazes met. He reached over and pressed the panic button. I focused on what was in front of us. Rafael started giving me directions and I pressed the gas pedal to the floor. I had a sense of déjà vu taking me back to the time I'd gotten those girls out of the circle on Comstock Street. Suddenly I remembered reading about construction in the paper. That's what they were doing. They were forcing us to the construction site so they could stop us. I saw the scene as we barreled towards the construction site. I told Ranger to hold on and sent a shield to Rafael, making sure it would hold him in place. I ran the driver's side of the Cayenne up onto the ramp and twisted the wheel to put us up in the air as we barreled through the site. Once we were clear I twisted the wheel and we came back down onto all 4 wheels. I spun the vehicle so we were facing back the way we came. The vehicles chasing us all came to a screeching stop and the occupants opened their doors and took aim on us. Over a dozen black SUV's came to a stop behind them and in no time they found themselves surrounded.

Rafael smiled, 'Hey dad, did you arrange this?'

Ranger raised an eyebrow, 'No son.' He turned to me and said, "Stay here with Rafael Babe. I'll be back in a minute."

"I don't think so."

"Babe…"

'Not gonna happen dad. We go with. They need a lesson so they stop now.'

My eyes opened wide in shock and I turned to see how Ranger was going to deal with this.

Rafael's POV:

Oh crap! I could see by the way dad tensed that I was in the deep end of the shit now. He narrowed his eyes and looked at me. 'You want to rephrase the son?'

'Uh…gee dad…uh…sure. What I meant to say was, they aren't gonna give up until we face them together.'

Dad nodded. 'Then let's go explain to them the error of their ways. Let's go kick some Columbian asses and this time make sure they get the fucking message.'

I smiled, 'Oh yeah!'

Dad and I bumped fists and we made our way over to where the guys had them surrounded with their guns pointed at them. Dad's eyes narrowed and he said, "This is the last time you target my family."

It was a hot day today, nearly 102 degrees in the shade with not a breeze in sight. I knew what they were thinking; I could read them through momma. Suddenly her hair started blowing in the wind that was swirling around us. My eyes narrowed and I focused on the guns in their hands. Suddenly they were dropping their guns and screaming in pain, clutching their severely burned hands to them. I saw the way the one was looking at dad and what he was planning. My only thought was, 'Oh no. You will not hurt my dad asshole!'

I sent the man flying through the air into the pit the construction crew had dug. My eyes lifted to the 3000 pounds dangling from the crane and I smiled as I severed the cord holding the weight. The looks on the faces of the others with him fed the monsters within all of us, calling each and every one of them out to play. Suddenly a SUV pulled up behind us and Diesel and Lainey got out. They joined us and I felt the power. I reached out to Lainey and momma looked into my eyes. 'I need to protect Mathew and Lainey. You'll need both hands free. There's someone else coming.'

Momma let Lainey take me and suddenly it felt like all the air was being sucked away. I narrowed my eyes and put up a barrier. A flash of light and then there he was before us. The cold black eyes and pale skin made him appear ghost like. He had the face of evil and when they saw him, the group of Columbians started smiling. I felt the attack on Lainey and I narrowed my eyes and focused before waving my hand and sending it back. The newcomer flinched back as if he'd been hit and then his evil face turned to look at me. He smiled and took a step towards me. Momma and Diesel stepped between us and the electricity danced in the sky.

Dad and the guys were taking on the Columbians while momma, Diesel and I took on the creature before us. He would send a blow our way but before it could land, momma and I were sending them back. I felt him getting weaker at one point and focused. My eyes widened as I realized his goal. I sent out the warning to momma and Diesel just in time. I let momma know I had this one and for her and Diesel to concentrate on the new one because he was stronger. I felt her gently probing to see if I was up to it and I told her not to worry because Mathew was pretty pissed this guy was taking on his momma and dad and planned to help me.

It was all over inside 20 minutes. The group of Columbians had been taken out by dad and the guys, and the two creepy guys were gone in a puff of smoke. Suddenly there was a healing whiteness around us and I felt the presence of such great power. Diesel looked up at the sky and I knew Mathew was copying his dad's actions. I was exhausted and didn't have much energy left. I knew momma was tired too. I reached out for her but before she could take me I felt myself engulfed in gentle hands. A voice inside my head spoke, 'You are stronger than we could have ever imagined.' I remained silent as I listened to their comments. One of them wanted me to be placed in the special place. He said they couldn't chance something happening to me. Others thought I was in the right place, with my parents. I looked at Diesel and he told them they would not take me from my momma. They argued for several minutes while I regained my strength.

Suddenly I had enough and I sent the electricity dancing through the air. 'I am where I am staying. You can't remove me from momma and dad.'

Momma took me in her arms and I felt the wind blowing her hair as the air around us turned hotter than it had ever been before. 'Rafael is my son. He stays with me and my husband.'

Dad came over and wrapped his arm around her waist. 'Our son stays with us.'

I could tell the invisible ones were surprised. One of them nodded to another and I knew there was a test coming. 'You can't see us, how do you intend to stop us?'

Dad narrowed his eyes and pulled us closer to him, then laid a hand on my back. He turned to me and nodded. I smiled and sent them a finger wave before I pushed them away like they were a bothersome fly. Then dad was saying, 'I'm proud of my son and trust him to make the right choices. He has Babe and I to help him. We will always be there for him to protect and love him. If you want to be on the fringes of his life then you need to let us do our job of raising him.'

I knew dad had won them over. All of them except one that is. I knew the motives of the one holdout. Suddenly he acted and I turned on him with narrowed eyes and simply thought, 'You are no more.' There was a puff of smoke and the rest of the group put up a wall. I showed them their wall was nothing and couldn't keep me out if I wanted in. Then dad's hand landed on my shoulder and I turned to him with all my love for him and momma there in my eyes for all to see.

'No son. I won't ask that of you.'

'I'd do it. For you and momma I would do anything.'

Dad shook his head, 'I know son. But I can't ask that price of you.'

I waved my hand and let them go. There was a collective sigh of relief. As quickly as they had come, they left. Diesel came over and placed a hand on my head. 'I'll make sure they leave you alone.'

I bumped fists with him and then the rest of the guys were there and we were all bumping fists. We all headed to Pino's and momma and I shared a loaded pizza while the guys had their own pizza. Once we had eaten lunch, momma and I were ready for a nap so we headed home and dad watched over us while I slept in their big bed with momma. We got up in plenty of time for my birthday party. All in all it was a pretty eventful birthday. At the end of the night, momma and dad, Tank and Lula, and Diesel and Lainey were all standing together as we said our goodnights. Lula was holding Lillie. Lillie turned to look at me and said, 'Hey Rafael, can you help me with that crawling shit? Every time I get up on my hands and knees, the only direction I can go is sliding backwards. It's pissing me off, you see what I'm saying dude?'

I smiled at Lillie and told her we'd work on it while Ella was watching us on Tuesday. She smiled and my eyes lit up as I saw the mischief in her eyes. Oh yeah! We were going to have a blast together while Ella was watching us. Lillie had some kick ass ideas and I couldn't wait to try them out. She smiled and I winked at her.

Well, this is where I leave you. This has been A Year In The Life Of Rafael Manoso. For all of you who have come to love Rafael as much as I do don't worry. At some point there will be another sequel. I plan on taking a short break first though. Thank you all for coming along for the ride and thank you all for the wonderful reviews.