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 kissing Carlos goodbye in the lobby and waiting for the kids. He was dressed in jeans and a Rangers' tee shirt with a hoodie jacket. All of the guys were dressed like fans. They said it would help them to blend in. Carlos was doing his checklist between kisses.
"Babe, I love you. Do you promise to stay here with the kids unless there is an emergency?" He was adorable. I kissed his neck and bit him, leaving a mark. This made his pull me even tighter into his body and when I was done, he gave me a matching mark.
"Yes, Carlos I promise. Do you promise not to shoot anyone unless it is for self-defense?" He looked at me and smiled. No, that was not going to work on me today. His smile got bigger. I must have said that out loud.
"Si, Babe. I promise. Will you call me if you need me?" I love this man.
I nodded and played with his hair. "Yes, Carlos. Go and have fun. I will see you at dinner time and don't forget, I am going out with the girls tonight." He sighed. I had won the negotiations for tonight after he let me ride him like Zorro again this morning. My man was a sex god. We were having guards who would also be our drivers. I am pretty sure it was going to be guys' night tonight as well, but I would not expect any less from Carlos. His watch beeped and he kissed me one last time.
"Have fun, mi amor. I will see you later." He pet Max and left with the guys. They all cheered and took a stretch Hummer that was of course black. My phone rang and I answered it.
"Hello?"
"Stephanie, it's your mother. I am around at the secret entrance. The boys said to call you because they are going to a game and you are waiting for the children. I love this phone. Oh! My password is pot roast." I laughed and walked to the loading dock. My mother was standing there in a denim dress and some cute furry boots. She looked relaxed. I let her inside and she handed me two shopping bags.
"I made extra for the boys that could not go to the game. So, I wanted to see the children. You don't mind, do you?" She was trying to be nice. I could try as well, plus she seemed like she needed to talk to me.
We sat in a room near the lobby while we waited. She sighed.
"Mom, what is wrong?" She looked at me.
"I think that Valerie is getting a divorce. Her husband is cheating on her and well, I don't know how to feel about it. I mean, what will she do now with two little girls?" I inwardly cheered.
"Mom, if the louse is cheating and she is unhappy, she should not stay. Maybe she should move back here. She could be independent for a while and you could help her to get a job. Then, maybe she will meet someone who deserves her. She can raise her standards. Does she have any money?" My mother was deep in thought.
"Well, she had moved more than half of the money and she had me to cosign some things. Maybe you are right. I know she liked being married, but if she is really unhappy, she should leave. No one deserves to be cheated on. I have been reading some nice books recommended by Oprah." I just smiled at her.
"You know it is not your fault when bad things happen to us, Ma. It is the fault of the person that did the deed. Dickie was wrong and now Steve is wrong. If he thinks so little of his wife and kids, he needs a time out and in a marriage, that means divorce. Besides, what if he gave Val some disease or something. That would be bad." My mother was nodding along.
"You are right, Stephanie. I will look for a house for Valerie and the girls. It will be nice to have them around again. Okay, wow. I always thought it was my fault because I pushed you to marry Richard." I took her hand.
"Nope. It was my fault for marrying a man I did not love and it was his fault for cheating, and on my new dining room table! I think I was the most angry about the loss of the table, Ma." She giggled at me.
"You are a hoot sometimes. Do you promise that you do not chase criminals anymore? I worried so much, Stephanie." I hugged her.
"I promise. I just do the research and maybe talk to people on the phone. I even have a guard most of the time because Carlos is paranoid, but I know how to use my gun if I have to, Ma." She sighed.
"Good." My phone rang and it was Celia.
"Hello?" She sighed.
"I am to tell you that Princess Jasmine, Princess Mulan and Wolverine are here." She laughed as she said it.
"Okay. I will be right there. Ma, the kids are here." She followed me back to the door and we let the kids in and I gave them their security badges. They had duffle bags, which I took and placed them onto a cart that Ella assured me I would need. She must be magical.
"So, you have my numbers and blah blah blah. See you kids!" She kissed them and ran away to her car. Celia is hilarious. My mother was exclaiming over the kids and their outfits. They were dressed in jeans and tee shirts that had the characters Celia named.
"Hello, Estefania! Hello Miss Estefania's Mommy!" Woki was the cutest.
"Hello, Miss Fancy." I nodded at Mercedes.
"Hello, Diana." Reina was excited.
"Well, kids, I have to get going. I have to be at work and then my husband is taking me to Rossini's for dinner. It will be nice." I smiled. That would be nice. I wonder when daddy talked to her. He barely spoke anymore. Ma left and I told the kids to follow me. We were hanging in my apartment. I gave one bag of goodies to Marco and he hugged me and promised to call Woody and Linc to get their share.
We took the elevator and went into my apartment. "Okay kids, first we will have lunch. Your mother said no one is allergic to anything, so I thought we could make our own pizzas." They cheered. I know kids.
I gave them all aprons and we used my counter to work on. I explained that Max could not eat too much or he would get sick and they said okay. As they worked on their toppings and laughed together, I was reminded of the children in my other life. They never did things like this with me. Well my life is different now.
Reina and Mercedes decided to show me how to do the dougie and I showed them the running man. Woki said he could do the dougie and he looked adorable doing it. Our hair was in pigtails and we had tiaras on our head and Joaquin had a kangol hat because he was cool. We watched Tangled and The Princess Bride and then the kids fell asleep after a bathroom break. I was not expecting the call I got from Carlos.
Ranger POV
"Man, this box is the bomb!" I just smiled and nodded at Lester and Bobby as they ran around the box like little kids, touching things and spinning in the recliners.
"Are you sure we should have brought them, Rangeman?" Tank was worried.
"No, but the alternative would be that I left them alone without adult supervision." He nodded grimly.
We had shrimp and burgers and we watched the first quarter of the game. Things were going smoothly. Too smoothly and it was kind of quiet. I looked around and Tank was asleep and Bobby and Lester were gone. Cal and Hal were into the game. Dammit!
I told them to watch Tank and I left in search of the fools. I found them arguing with a group of guys that had their torsos painted with the letters D-E-V-I-L-S. People started cheering and I realized the argument was being shown on the large screens. Why did I bring them again.
"Lester and Bobby, there are make your own sundaes in the box. If you come with me, you can each have two scoops of ice cream." They stopped arguing and shook hands with the men and pulled me back towards the stairs to our box. We stumbled and tripped over Joe fucking Morelli. What is my life coming to?
He sneered at me. "You can't control your goons, Manoso? I think I will have to write you up for public drunkenness." Why won't this man just give up?
"Look, Morelli, you are not here as a cop, but as a spectator like the rest of us. We are not drunk." Lester was behind Morelli making bunny ears and imitating him. I had to struggle with my blank face.
Morelli was not giving up. "I have a friend that is a cop in this township and I am calling him. We will see how golden you are when you don't have the rest of the Trenton PD to have your back. You thugs do not scare me." I just stared at him and called Tank. He did not answer so I called Cal. He said he would get Tank to the car and that they would go back to the building and call the lawyer for me, Bobby and Lester.
At that moment, Morelli was doused in cheese sauce that Bobby had found at the concession stand. I just sighed. It was that kind of a fucking day. Lester joined in the fun by throwing hot dog buns at Morelli. They said he was a pig in a blanket. They poured relish on him and he cursed and slipped around. I know someone was filming this for Youtube. My poor Tia Maria. By the time the cops came to arrest us, Morelli had Ketchup, Mustard and onions all over him. Lester and Bobby might actually be a little drunk.
While they were being booked, I called Babe. She said she loved me and that I should stay calm and that the guys can't stand Morelli and that she would have poured soda on him herself. It made me smile. I love my woman. I got the Terror Twins released with a fine for public drunkenness and we left. They kept giving me puppy eyes as we rode with Sawyer.
"What, Lester?" He added the trembling lip as well.
"Cuz, you promised us sundaes." Dios!
"Sawyer, please stop at the Friendly's so I can get these guys their sundaes." He just laughed and nodded. By the time I got them back to the building, they were passed out. Good. Babe still has to go out tonight. I need a fucking nap.
When I entered her apartment after giving the guys to Hector and Manny to deal with, I found her and the kids passed out on the sofas. They looked so cute. Did I want kids? I thought about it. Yes, I do, but can't they come already potty trained? Yes, and that was called adoption. I would talk to Babe about it.
She seemed to love spending time with Woki and now she has Mercedes and Reina as followers. They have little water guns and I see silly string on the floor. They must have had a really good time. I took a shower and dressed in sweats and woke the kids and Babe. Emilio would be here to get them soon.
"What is it, Tio Ric? Do we have to leave? We like Miss Fancy." Mercedes was funny.
"Si, Diana gave us water guns and we practiced shooting!" Reina was bouncing around and they were all doing the dougie to music that they turned on, even Babe. I took another picture of them.
"Estefania is the best Tia!" Wow, they have adopted her. I guess I will keep her even though she is teaching them to breakdance. Her phone rang and she talked, and then she turned off the music. The kids started packing things up and talking rapidly to her. She smiled and nodded and they cheered and ran for the bathroom.
"What did you promise them now, Babe?" She kissed me.
"I promised that we could go bowling again this Wednesday, Carlos. Woki told the girls that we got ice cream and that I had to pay because I lost. Hey, you seem no worse for the wear. When you called me earlier, you seemed like you wanted to shoot someone." She stood on her tippy toes without shoes on her feet and kissed me. I relaxed even further. I love this woman.
"Babe, I feel much better now. Morelli is a nuisance. You were right, it is a little funny now." She smiled at me.
"Are you sure you can handle me going out tonight, Carlos?" Hell no, but I know my woman.
"I will do my best, Steph. Please be careful and do not drink too much." She nodded against my chest and the kids came running up to her. She moved away from me and hugged and kissed them. We walked them to the loading dock and took back their badges and Emilio hugged Babe. She told him about Wednesday and he asked me for a moment. We stepped away from the kids.
"Marry her!" I laughed at him.
"No, really. I love her and she is not even my woman, man. She is great with the kids and she even treats me nice. Do you know how long it took for the other family to accept me? It was brutal and Ricardo still acts like I cannot fish and do the grill as well as the others. He says I am a freeloader sometimes because I work from home." I laughed.
"Emilio, he is just teasing you. He likes you. Now what are you doing while your wife goes out drinking and dancing?" He grinned.
"I am watching movies with the kids and letting you handle the girls gone wild. I know how Isa gets. Is Estefania the same when she drinks?" I do not know.
"I don't know how she gets, man. I am hoping for the best." He snorted and patted my shoulder.
"At least you will know where they are, Carlos. See you later!" He was very smug. If he did not have the kids, I would make him do Babe Watch. I sighed. She turned and smiled at me. I will do anything for that adoring smile she gives me. I am so lucky to have her. Fine. I will do Babe Watch tonight. Bring it on.
Stephanie POV
It was decided by Isa that we would go to Club Picante and Lula and Connie were dressed in red and green respectively. I was wearing a black dress that was short and it was a halter dress. Carlos loves my stockings. He begged to be able to take them off later and I agreed. Isa was wearing silver dress that looked painted on and gave Wyatt heart palpitations or something. He stuttered at her and she just smiled back like she had all of the power. Celia was also in a black dress and it had a flair to it.
"White Girl, I love these little 'yo quiero taco bell' men and they love them some Lula." She was drunk and she was dancing with Diego. He had begged to come and Carlos said fine since he was family.
Lula thought she could do these dances and it was hilarious to watch. When she tried to take off her clothes, we decided it was time to leave, but then Lu wanted waffles so we went to a diner and she danced around and Connie joined in with her.
The guys had a hard time keeping her clothes on and she decided we should have a best boob competition. The rest of the diners were the judges and the winner got a gift card to the diner. The owner was an older black woman and she just laughed at us.
Celia and Lula were tied and Lula took that moment to open the front of her dress. That was the tie breaker. She won because she had a tattoo on her breast. Celia sighed and took her prize which was a slice of apple pie.
I congratulated Lula and my phone rang. "Hello?"
"Babe." This one meant, do not flash your boobs. I giggled.
"Hey there, Batman. Do you want to show me the batcave later? I want you to be rough with me, Batman. I have been a bad girl." He growled and I moaned.
"Si, Babe. Come home. I am waiting for you." I told everyone that I knew Batman and they cheered. I heard Carlos sigh.
"Stephanie, please do not yell things to people." I stuck my tongue out at the phone.
"Babe, stop that. I can think of a better use for your tongue, Querida." I looked around. Where was he?
"Babe, you are on camera. I have the guys wearing the cameras so we can watch you ladies." Of course you do, Batman. I licked my lips and blew him a kiss.
"See you at home, Ricky. Do you have any whipped cream? Will you be my dessert?" Wyatt howled laughing and dragged us to the waiting Hummer.
I sang the Batman theme song all the way back home. Or maybe that was my phone ringing. Who knows? I woke up as Carlos carried me into his apartment. He was so dreamy. He always made my panties wet. I love the way he smells. Oh, he is so strong and I love when he holds me. He is my best birthday gift ever. I kicked Catwoman's ass! Batman is all mine!
Ranger POV
Well, it could have been worse. The guys stopped Isa from giving some random guy a lap dance. They stopped a girlfight even though Lester called and offered to pay them to let them fight. Celia paid them to let her do shots off of their stomachs. They stopped Babe from stripping along with Lula and they took everyone home.
Babe said they needed the cure in the morning and I sent out text messages so that would happen. Now Babe is speaking her thoughts out loud and she is talking about me. I love her, too and I want her all the fucking time. I am glad she had fun, though. Now it's my turn. Heh heh. Maybe a shower will wake her up so we can play a little.