Disclaimer: Anything you recognize doesn't belong to me; anything you do recognize belongs to JE.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed. I hope you have enjoyed the story and let me know what you think of the end of the story. I appreciate any constructive criticism you can provide to help me improve my writing for the next time.

9 months later…

Ranger's POV

Stephanie walked out of my hospital room 9 months ago and I have been unable to locate her since the death of Alexander Ramos. He always thought of her as a daughter or niece and he made that clear in his will. Stephanie has enough money that she will never need to work again and she has disappeared. I love her with all my heart and no one understands why she left, including me. Julie was upset when she came to visit for the month of July; my family is upset and all my men. Stephanie has not spoken her sister, Mary Lou, Lula or her father. Dr. Ramos has finally cleared me for field work. It has been a year since the shooting that put me in a coma for 3 weeks and my skull is healed as is my body but my heart that is another story. Without Stephanie my heart will never heal.

48 hours later…..

Stephanie's POV

It was déjà vu, I woke up from a nightmare screaming Ranger's name and I grabbed my cell phone and hit speed dial 1. Funny after all this time he's still speed dial 1. Tank answered the phone "Talk Bombshell."

"What happened to Carlos?"

Tank sighed "He was cleared for field work 2 days ago and it's like he has a death wish. He was knifed by a skip about an hour ago. You still hold the medical power of attorney. You did a real number on him Bombshell I won't let you do more damage."

I could feel the tears stream down my cheeks and I sniffed "I love him with all my heart but we have only succeeded in hurting each other. We will be flying in; I'll call with our flight information."

Tank was stunned "Bombshell what do you mean we?"

I was sobbing by this point "Me and my daughter, Kayla Marie Manoso." I hung up before Tank could question me anymore about my little girl.

Tank's POV

"Fuck me, that woman will be the death of Carlos" I growled.

Lester and Bobby were looking at me. Lester asked "Is Bombshell coming?"

"Yeah man, with her daughter Kayla Marie Manoso" I whispered.

Bobby and Lester said together "Holy Shit."

Stephanie's POV

2 hours after I called Ranger's phone the plane took off and we would be in Newark in 3.5 hours. Tank said Lester would be waiting at Baggage Claim for my flight with a Rangeman SUV and he would have a stroller and a car seat for Kayla. I know Tank is seriously pissed that I never told anyone about Kayla before this but I wanted to protect my heart and my little girl. Ranger had broken my heart so many times I don't think I could survive if he did it again. I knew that I also needed to protect my baby. I know Ranger loves Julie but he gave up his rights to her and has not been there for her. I know that I will never love anyone like I love Ranger so there will not be anyone to step up in his place like there was for Julie. I was not going to let my baby girl be hurt by the Burg, my mother or Ranger when he rejected her.

I know it was wrong to run but I was dealing with a lot of shit when I left Trenton and then I found out I was pregnant. I thought back over the last year. I spent a few weeks with Ranger and the stalker situation. Lita was arrested and she is now serving her time in a mental hospital. I could not hurt the Manoso's who had raised Lita or Gabby by not agreeing to the mental hospital, even Ranger has agreed to this. The man, who set the car bomb, Peter Kentner, actually loved her and was a dupe. He was sentenced to 15 years for attempted manslaughter. My mother was given community service for her part in Lita's scheme. She did contact Detective Blackmore which helped lead to Lita's arrest and prevented further injections being given to Ranger. My parents are getting a divorce and Daddy has bought a town house in Hamilton Township and is letting my mother and grandmother keep the house in the Burg.

I stayed in touch with Jeanne Ellen and Dmitri. They got engaged on Valentine's Day. After Uncle Alex died they began dating and helped me to disappear from Trenton. Uncle Alex left five million dollars. I was able to leave with $5000 cash and a checking account was set up under my new identity Stephanie Parkhurst. The only other person who knew where I had gone was Eddie Gazzara. His older brother Brian had retired from the Seals and bought a resort in the Turks and Caicos Islands. I went down to spend some time getting my head together but then I found out I was pregnant. Brian gave me a job as Director of Hospitality and helped me through my pregnancy and delivery. However the only person who knew about Kayla was Brian. He had been helping take care of my baby for the first 2 months of her life.

When Tank told me that Ranger has a death wish, I knew I had to go home and keeping his daughter from him was wrong. I let all my old hurts and inability to communicate destroy the best relationship I ever had. I hope he can forgive me. I looked at my sleeping baby girl and whispered "I hope your daddy is happy to see you. I know he must hate me and I will do anything I can to prove my love to him. He just has to live long enough for me to tell him how sorry I am and how much I still love him." I stared at my baby and I was still stunned by how much she looked like her father. She had my blue eyes but her father's hair and her skin was lighter than Ranger's by a shade or two. She was a beautiful baby girl and I hoped she would get a chance to know her father.

Lester met me at Baggage Claim. He looked angry with me but I expected as much. "Hey Les."

"Beautiful. Is this mini-Babe?" He asked, looking at the bundle in my arms.

"Yes, this is Kayla. Do you want to hold her?" I asked him. He held out his arms and took the baby and studied her as I took the bags off the carousel. Lester was cooing at her and had the most amazed look on his face and I began to cry.

"She is so beautiful Bombshell. You can tell who her parents are. She is the perfect mix of you and Carlos" he said. He looked up and saw the tears. "Steph, why did you stay away and not tell anyone? Why didn't you tell Carlos?" He sounded so hurt.

I took a deep breath and wiped my eyes "I love him so much but he had hurt me so many times I couldn't let him hurt me again. Then I found out I was pregnant and I knew I had to protect Kayla. What if he didn't want her? What if he pushed us away like he did Julie? I couldn't let her be hurt that way. I know I was wrong to keep Kayla from her family, you guys and from Carlos. I know you will all love her and that things were different with Julie."

"Steph, he hasn't been the same since you left. Jeanne Ellen and Dr. Ramos said you wanted to disappear and they refused to tell him where you were. He has never stopped looking for you but I think he has given up the last few days. He's still in surgery so let's get you and mini-Babe to the hospital."

We walked out to the SUV and Hal was there to help Lester load the bags into the back and I strapped Kayla into her car seat. I climbed in next to her and 45 minutes later we pulled up to the hospital. I took Kayla out of her car seat and put her into the stroller Les took out of the back and he escorted me to the waiting room while Hal parked the truck. The waiting room was filled with Rangemen and the Manoso family. I knew they all hated me but I also knew I needed to be there.

Tank walked over to me and hugged me "Bombshell I'm glad you came back but what the hell were you thinking?" I began to cry again and shrugged my shoulders. "Bomber is that mini-Babe? Can I hold her?" I shook my head yes and Tank reached into the stroller and took Kayla out and held her up on his shoulder. She was so tiny in her little pink dress in Tank's large arms. "Bombshell she's beautiful. One look at her and you know Carlos is her father."

Maria and Abuela Rosa walked over and hugged me and immediately took Kayla from Tank and took her over to the family. Abuela pulled me along with her while murmuring comforting words to me in Spanish. "Abuela don't you all hate me for running away from Carlos and keeping Kayla from him and you?"

Abuela said "Stephanie we know that you have been mistreated by men, your mother and even Carlos at times. We understand you were protecting yourself. You are here now and you have brought us a beautiful new baby to love. When Carlos gets out of surgery the two of you can work things out and everything will be fine."

Word spread through the Burg grapevine that I returned with a baby and everyone showed up at the hospital including my mother. I refused to allow her to see Kayla. She had refused to accept Carlos so I felt justified keeping her from Kayla. Morelli had shown up to make sure he wasn't Kayla's father and he dragged my mother out. Lula offered to watch her while I waited at the hospital. I thanked her but declined.

Dr. Sampson walked out into the waiting room after 12 hours of surgery to repair the knife damage and said "Ms. Plum we meet again. Mr. Manoso is in recovery and he again is very lucky to be alive. We will bring him up to ICU in a little while and he should wake up from the anesthesia in about an hour."

"Thank you Dr. Sampson" I replied.

Tanks walked over and said "Come on Bomber and bring mini-Babe up and he can see the two of you when he wakes up."

We sat in the room next to Carlos and I took his hand. He looked pale and had an IV, tubes and machines hooked up to him. I began whispering

in his ear, telling him how much I loved him and missed him. I told him about our little girl and how much she needed her father. Three hours later he woke up and said "Babe."

Ranger's POV

I woke up to an antiseptic smell, machines beeping and the sound of a baby crying. I looked to my left and saw my Babe. I must be hallucinating or dreaming. "Babe."

I squeezed his hand and picked up Kayla. "Carlos I want you to meet your daughter, Kayla."

I was stunned my Babe was actually here and she had my daughter. "Babe what's going on?"

I laid Kayla down on his chest after giving her a bottle and she went right to sleep. Every time Carlos woke up I explained where I had been and apologized for staying away so long and not telling him about my pregnancy or Kayla. It took about 12 hours to get the whole story out but he patiently listened and accepted everything I had said.

"Babe I'm so sorry you felt you couldn't trust me. I love you with all my heart and I have missed you so much. I want you and Kayla to be part of my life. I will do anything to keep you both safe and here with me. I want to plan our wedding right away so we will never be separated again and you know how much you both mean to me."

"Oh Carlos, those words mean more to me than anything else in this world except Kayla. I can't wait to marry you."

"Babe I can make a call and get the marriage license today."

One day later a priest came into my ICU room and married me and my Babe. The only other people in the room were Tank and Lula. Lula held Kayla during the ceremony and everyone else stood at the windows and watched. It wasn't the most romantic wedding in history but we didn't care as long as we were able to live happily ever after.

The End

A/N: Special thanks to Margaret Fowler who suggested that Ranger and Stephanie be married while he was in ICU way back at the beginning of the story.