Disclaimer: I love the Stephanie Plum series, but I don't own them and I don't make anything off of them.
Warning: There will be no 'cupcake' in this story. This will be a Babe HEA. This is my third FanFiction attempt, completely different from my first and I Promise to complete it. I am having a lot of fun with the story so far. Thank you in advance for reading and please let me know what you think.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed, especially Margaret Fowler, FairTaxGirl, ShyGirl36, Ziandra2010, at8c, Wanda517, She'sGotHighHopes, Barb4psu for your continued reviews and great ideas.
A special Thanks to Dherea ShyGirl36 for your ideas that molded this addition. I hope you enjoy them.
Previously…
As we made our way off stage Nathan gave me a hug and quick kiss before he took the stage to keep the show moving. Now it was time to face the press in back and answer even more questions. I was still shaking as Jeffrey walked me to the press room.
Before he let me go Jeffrey paused in front of the door and looked at me, "You have a heart of gold Stephanie. I wish there were more people out there like you. Your family must be very proud of you." And with that he placed a kiss to my forehead and then pushed the door open and I walked through with a smile on my face, on to the inquisition.
XXXXXX
As I walked up to the microphone for the interviews the flashbulbs and clicks of cameras were going off like crazy. I shook my head internally at the all the reporters yelling my name trying to get my attention. I only had the intention of answering a few questions so I could get back to my date; this was always the part I hated about award shows. The press was like a pack of rabid dogs that would ask anything and everything.
"Stephanie, what are your plans now?" I heard someone ask.
"Well tonight I plan to enjoy myself with my family and friends, as for the near future I'm pretty busy. I have a benefit concert for the John Mitchell Foundation and USO in Trenton the first week of June, then I will be on Broadway mid summer for 'Chicago', and then I have a mini tour scheduled on the East Coast. Currently I don't have any movies in the works." I replied.
"Did you mean to leave your mother out of your speech?" someone asked.
"Yes. I thanked those that were supportive and have been there for me in my life. She is not one of those people." I replied.
"Wasn't she scheduled to be here this evening?" someone else asked.
"Originally yes, as a favor to my father, never at my request. To my knowledge she was to return to Trenton earlier this week." I replied.
"Then you didn't know that she showed up and was turned away by security? Apparently she made quiet a scene." asked someone.
"No, I didn't, but thank you for letting me know, I'll have to find those security persons who turned her away and thank them." I said with a smile. Which caused them to laugh.
"You went with such a nontraditional speech, why?" asked someone.
"Well, first off I'm not your typical actress, and second, the time is given to you to thank those who have helped you, and I chose to do that. I have had the opportunity to thank those that have had a very close impact on my career at other times, this time I choose to thank those that have helped in other ways. Those that serve in the military deserved to be recognized, but not just them their families as well. They all make sacrifices for the good of our country and are very rarely thanked." I replied.
"Who is the man that is with you this evening?" someone asked.
"His name is Ricardo Manoso. Yes, we are seeing each other and no I will not explain how we met or for how long we've been seeing each other." I replied. "Thank you everyone. I really need to get back now. Have a great evening."
The noise in the room increased with more questions that they wanted to ask, but I turned to the door and walked out with the escort provided to make my way back to my date.
XXXXXX
My Dad and Uncle Mike decided to call it a night and they took Val home so she could make sure the kids were all okay. The guys, grandma, Emma and I all headed for the Vogue after party. This was one of my favorite parties every year. I had already been passed around for the congratulations with everyone and now we were getting ready to party.
As we arrived once again the cameras went crazy. I just had to laugh at the guys, they seemed surprised at the number of press and even fans waiting to get a glimpse of whoever would be here, all except for Ranger that is, he had already been subjected to it.
I was hoping to just get into the party and avoid more questions, but I guess that was too good to be true. We all walked in a large group me leading the pack with Ranger, stopping to take pictures, when all of a sudden I heard the unmistakable voice of my mother over all the other noise. I noticed a few of the photographers turn their heads in her direction with wide eyes. A few glanced back at me with questioning gazes, at least these were the photographers I was friendly with, and I gave them a slight nod giving them permission to take the pictures. If anything happened having photographic proof would be a good thing.
Security was trying to catch her, but somehow she was just out of their reach. Ranger and the guys tried to move me quickly into the party, but we were stopped by her voice, "So your thugs are taking care of you Stephanie? You don't even have the decency to deal with your mother? You ungrateful whore." She called.
At that comment I told Ranger to let me go. Looking in my eyes he saw that I was pissed and released me. Grandma was at my side instantly to stand in front of my mother. "What is you think your going to accomplish by being here? I know you tried to get into the Awards and were turned away, but you couldn't take that gracefully could you?" I said.
"How dare you keep me away. I'm your mother; you owe me respect and will show it to me. You have been nothing but a pain since you were born." She began in her reply. "You've ruined my life. You father is going to divorce me because of you, you heartless child."
"Well, if I'm not mistaken I can't make anyone do anything. I certainly didn't make you hate me. I chose to leave, but you never stopped. I thought that putting a whole country between us would be enough, but obviously I was wrong. You think I was the one that dragged you out here tonight to humiliate yourself? Look at you, you were denied entry to the awards that you were told you were not welcome at. You show up here and offer nothing but harsh words that couldn't be further from the truth. The men that are with me are all my friends, ex-military and honorable men. They have fought for your freedom and what have you done? Called them thugs. You have done nothing in your life besides make other people miserable. Those men standing over there mean more to me than you ever have. I hope you enjoy what you've done, because you just embarrassed yourself on National TV and I'm sure it will be in the paper tomorrow as well. How will your precious 'Burg' react to that?" I said in a calm tone. There was no point in yelling at her she would never agree with a thing that I said.
Before I knew it she was screeching and brought her hand up to slap me across the face. Only to her surprise my reaction was quicker than hers. I was able to catch her wrist and spin her around so she was facing the crowd of reports and photographers with her arm pinned behind her.
"I hope you enjoy your new found fame Helen, because you are now going to have an arrest to deal with that will be in the very 'public eye'. You just tried to assault me and are trespassing on a private party." She stiffens in my grasp and I look up at the police officers that were standing off to the side. "Officers I would like to press charges against this woman for assault. You and everyone else here witnessed what happened here." They nodded their heads in acceptance, handcuffed my mother and read her her rights, she was screaming the whole time. I turned to the nearest film crew and said, "I would like to have a copy of that tape this evening before you leave if it's not too much trouble, completely unedited for my lawyer. I will gladly offer a short interview right now, but won't be answering any questions about this incident tonight." They were more than happy to comply.
XXXXXX
Sometime later after things had calmed down outside we were able to get inside and enjoy the party. The music was pumping loudly, the alcohol was flowing and the rich and famous were out to party. Ranger and I made our rounds speaking to many at the event, but I couldn't wait any longer to get him out on the dance floor. Excusing us from our current conversation when a nice slow song came on I led us to the dance floor. Once we made it there Ranger quickly spun me in around a turn and then plastered our bodies together.
We moved together effortlessly and it was as if there was no one else on the floor. Looking into his dark chocolate colored eyes I was in heaven. The sway of our hips and the beating of our hearts seemed to move as one. With one hand around my waist holding me tightly to him and the other holding my right hand he lead me through a very romantic waltz to the beat of the music. No words needed to be spoken between the two of us; it was like we knew exactly what the other was thinking at the moment. I leaned up to kiss his lips and he returned the kiss with gentleness. The beat of the music changed to something a bit more upbeat and we adjusted as needed, without space between us. I was amazed at how well he moved across the floor. Our steps mimicked each others as he spun us around, gyrated our hips and dipped me.
After a few dances we were breathing harder, but not just from dancing, my hormones seemed to be taking over some. We made it over to a corner of the room where we figured we could be alone for a bit, but were surprised to find my grandmother making out in the corner with Jack Nicholson. So much for my hormones taking control, we couldn't get away from that corner fast enough. So instead we headed to the bar to try to drink that image from our brains.
"How does your grandma do it?" Ranger asked shaking his head. "For as crazy as she acted she's able to land one of the most famous actors of all time."
"It won't go any further than that corner probably. For some reason he seems to have a thing for grandma. That's not the first time I've seen them together, but that is the first time with his tongue down her throat." I did a full body shiver. "I don't think I will ever get that image out of my mind now." I replied. I noticed they were already coming out of the corner and grandma bumped into Lester as they moved through the room. Seeing her whisper something to Jack and then she dragged Lester on to the dance floor. Poor Lester was forced to leave the model he was dancing with in the dust. I tapped Ranger and pointed in their direction. "See, now she's dancing with Lester. I feel sorry for him though, she's going to grope him the whole time. This is one of her favorite songs."
As 'Good Girls Go Bad' by Cobra Starship was playing I watched grandma grind on Lester and even though he had a look of horror on his face he seemed to be playing along. Ranger was leaning up against the bar with his arm around my shoulder as we were taking in the scene. Grandma running her hands up and down Lester's hips and thighs, eventually she made it to get her hands on his butt. Lester's eyes widened at that and I saw his hands move around to move her hands back around to his chest. I saw him speak something to her and she just nodded her head.
I looked at Ranger and said, "Do you think that he knows he's going to get groped from the front now?" I said laughing.
"God I hope not, this is too funny to watch." He said laughing while pulling me into his arms, my back to his front.
"You love to torture him don't you?" I asked.
"He never passes up an opportunity to pull something on me, so I enjoy it when I can." He replies.
We continued to watch them, and all of a sudden I was watching grandma's hand travel south down his chest. Lester caught my eye with a smile I smiled back but quickly had to look away since I knew what was coming next and I didn't want him to see that I knew it. When I looked away I noticed Binkie and Vince standing at the edge of the dance floor holding up their phones to record the show that was grandma and Lester. Then looking to the other side I noticed Tank and Ram were doing the same but from a different angel. Emma and Bobby were off in their own little world dancing in a corner of the dance floor far away from the show everyone else was getting. Even some of the other couples on the dance floor were watching the spectacle that was grandma and Lester.
"Hey Ranger, your guys seem to be taking as much pleasure in this as you are. Four of them are recording it." I stated.
Without looking away he replied, "Who?" pulling out his phone.
"Ram, and Tank from the left, Vince and Binkie from the right." I replied.
I noticed he typed something into the phone then put it back in his pocket. I looked back over at the guys and saw all four of them nod.
"What did you just do?" I asked him.
"I told them to send me a copy to my inbox when it was over." He replied with a laugh.
"And what do you plan to do with it?" I asked laughing.
"Send it to his mother announcing he has a new girlfriend she needs to meet." He says with a smile.
"You're horrible. I want to be there to see the introduction." I laugh.
"Sure thing Babe. You can meet my family then." He replies with a kiss to my neck.
We watched as grandma finally got her hands on Lester's 'goods' and the surprised look on his face was priceless. He tried to jump back but, wasn't able to move. Apparently she must have had a good grip on him, he tried to remove her hands but to no avail. The longer it went on the whiter he got, which with his tan complexion had to be hard to do.
"I think we should rescue him. I think he's put up with enough for now." I said giggling to Ranger as I moved closer to the dance floor. Ranger was right behind me. I noticed that Jack wasn't too far behind either.
"Grandma, I think Lester has had enough, don't you?" I asked her. Lester looked down at me pleadingly.
"You gonna ruin my fun Steph?" She said with a frown.
"Edna, I'll take you for a spin before we go home, how's that?" Jack asks her.
"Alright, that sounds like fun." Grandma tried to step away from Lester, but found herself stuck. I looked and noticed that some of the beads on her dress were stuck to the buttons of Lester's tux. I bent over to unhook them and found Ranger decided to press himself into my back at the same time. Oh boy.
After successfully unhooking them Jack and grandma made their exit and Lester looked much calmer. Ranger and I walked Lester back over to the model that he was dancing with previously. I smiled at her and said, "Take good care of him, he deserves it after putting up with those antics."
She giggled at him and said, "He sure does, that was so sweet of you to do that. You made her so happy. Now let me return the favor." She whisked him off to the dance floor where they started doing a little dirty dancing of their own.
XXXXXX
A short time later Ranger and I decided we had had enough and were more than ready to head back home. It had been a long day and we were both exhausted, but once we climbed into the limo to head back all the hormones were back in action and I didn't think either of us would be getting much sleep tonight. Oh well, it would be damn worth it.
Alright so here we stop for today. Coming up, we will be skipping ahead in time to Memorial Day and then the concert in Trenton. We will still be hearing about the discussion between Bobby/Emma as well as Bobby/Steph, but in flashbacks not as they happen. I hope you enjoyed this update. Let me know what you think.
Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and offered suggestions to the storyline. Your support has meant more than you know. This story has been a blast to write.