I ran into Amelia as I walked down towards the elevator at the end of the day. "How are you?" I asked.

Amelia grinned. "I was just on my way to Ranger's office to thank him. He arranged for a hiring bonus to be paid into my account. It equaled a whole-month's salary! Dave and Daniela, his wife, are letting me stay in their apartment above their garage, and it's a great place. It's clean and the bed is extremely comfortable. They said that the apartment is available for as long as I want to stay. The hiring bonus is large enough that I can pay my first month's rent as well as buy some clothes, and I have enrolled in online childcare courses so that I can get my early childcare education certificate. Dave said that I can use my company laptop to do the work, and the company has lent me a phone to use until I get my own. The IT guy, I forget his name, told me to use it as long as I wanted, but just not to put long-distance charges on it. I am now saving for a car. With the little rent that Dave and Daniela are charging me, I should have the money saved for a car within the next three or four months. My life has done a one-eighty in the last two weeks, and it is all because of Rangeman."

"I would say it is because of you. You're the one doing the work. You're the one furthering your education and taking the steps to pull yourself out of the hole that you were in. We haven't done that much." She was shaking her head. "I have a lot of respect for you", I said. "You have gone through a rough patch, but you remain optimistic and prepared for a better future. You are doing good things with your life. You should be proud of yourself."

Her cheeks darkened with embarrassment.

"Do you think Ranger is in his office?" she said. "I was hoping to thank him."

I smiled. "He would like that."

We got off the elevator and walked down to Ranger's office. He was working on the computer when we got there. "Are you ready to go up, babe?" he said. "I can work upstairs for a while."

"Before we go, Amelia is here to see you."

Ranger smiled at her as she walked into the room. "Actually", said Amelia, "my parents used to call me Mellie, and I was wondering whether you'd like to call me that as well."

"I'd be honored", said Ranger. I smiled and nodded.

"I just wanted to thank you for the opportunity you have given to me", she said to Ranger. "Between you and Dave and Daniela, I have a future again. When I retired from the army, it was because I couldn't take the pressure any longer. I was getting bad dreams and flashbacks, and it wasn't safe for my teammates for me to be in the field. However, when I got back to the States things didn't improve. I had nowhere to go. My friends had moved on without me and I don't have any family to fall back on. I was barely scraping by even though I was living a subsistence life. I couldn't find a job and was facing homelessness because I didn't have the money to come up with rent. And then Hal and Hector came along and took me away from that. I thought, at that time, the best thing to happen to me was for me to be put in jail. However, then you came." She started to cry and swiped the tears from her face. I put my arm around her and pulled her in for a sideways hug. "You saved me", she said with a choked voice. "And I am so damn grateful."

Ranger thought about smiling. "Mellie, you're the one doing the work. All we're doing is opening a couple of doors for you."

"I don't know how I will ever repay you."

"Just keep fighting", said Ranger. "That's all I ask. Dave said that he and Zach are impressed with how much you know and how you fast you are learning to be a bodyguard. Zach has said that you could be his partner when he is guarding people any day and that he thinks you'll be an easy person to work with. Dave said that he has always had a good instinct for identifying those people who would make suitable bodyguards, and you stand out as being stellar. He is very glad, as am I, that you have joined the team."

"Daniela took me out to Walmart to do some shopping on the weekend, and I was able to buy some new clothes and toiletries. Daniela and Dave are still feeding me and said that, since I want to contribute, I could clean up the kitchen after dinner at night. Apparently Daniela likes to cook but isn't as fond of cleaning up the kitchen. Their kids are great kids as well. Being at their house is like being surrounded by family. Daniela said that my friends all basically abandoned me when I returned stateside, but that I now had the opportunity to make new friends."

"That's true. Regular civilians don't understand the rigors and challenges associated with coming back from being stationed overseas, and they don't know how to support a returning vet. It's a sad fact, but it's the way it is. I'm glad to hear that you are landing on your feet."

"For the first time in a long time, I can look at myself in the mirror with pride."

"I'm happy to hear that. That's the way you should look at yourself."

"Steph said that this job was an opportunity to chase my dreams. My dream is to go into childcare though, and that's a far cry from being a bodyguard."

"That's true", said Ranger, "but there are times when we have to bodyguard and take care of children. In that instance, we would designate you as the bodyguard in charge of the detail."

Amelia smiled. "I'd like that", she said. "I've been worried about the fact that you are giving me this great opportunity to get back on my feet, and I want to be doing something else."

"Schooling never goes amiss", said Ranger. "Don't worry about that."

"I should let you get on with your day, but I had wanted to thank you for the hiring bonus and the opportunity you have given me. I won't let you down."

Ranger smiled. "I know you won't, Mellie."

Her eyes welled with tears again, and she ducked around me and strode down the hall.

Ranger looked at me. "Do you think she'll be okay?" he asked.

I smiled. "I think she just needs a minute to herself", I said.

Ranger nodded and shut his computer down before looking up. "Are you ready to go upstairs for the evening?" he said.

I smiled again. "I am."

"Are you planning on having a nap before dinner for an hour? I asked Ella to have dinner ready for six-thirty."

"I think that I'm okay", I said. "That nap at lunch really topped me up and gave me the energy to get through the afternoon. Tomorrow the guys aren't expecting me to be in the office until ten, so I can sleep through some of the morning sickness and can take the time to eat my breakfast slowly. It seemed to work better last week doing it that way than it did this morning when the morning was more rushed."

"That's good", said Ranger. He looked at me with a soft expression on his face. "I love you", he said.

"I love you too, but where did that come from?" I said as I smiled.

"I was just sitting here looking at you, and it overwhelmed me." His face flushed. "I just needed to say it." He got up from his chair, rounded his desk and came over to me. He pulled me into a hug. "You marrying me, you having my baby, my company growing and flourishing…my life is just about perfect right now."

I smiled softly at him. "So is mine", I said.

"Let's get this baby upstairs. I owed you a massage the other day, and you've been too tired at night for me to give you one. How about I give you one now?"

"Oh, no. I know what happens when you give me massages. I fall asleep."

Ranger smiled. "That would be good as well", he said. "I want you to be awake when it is bedtime tonight."

"Why's that?"

"It's been a week since your last obstetrician's appointment and, according to the doctor, we are now cleared for take-off."

I smiled. "You know, an afternoon nap does sound like a good idea after all."

Ranger's lips quirked up in a half-smile. He guided me out of his office while carrying a set of blueprints. "What's on the blueprints?" I said. "I thought the blueprints for the new tower have been finalized." We got on the elevator and took it up to the seventh floor.

"They have. These are the plans for the office retrofit. Our apartment will already be done by the time the office building is being retrofitted. However, we are planning out where to put the different offices. I wanted to go over the new floor plans this evening, and would be interested in hearing your take on things. I have a meeting with Tank and Nate tomorrow about the plans as well."

"I'd love to see what you are planning."

"After your nap."

I grinned. "Can I tempt you with having a nap with me?"

"You think I'm tired?"

"I was thinking of potentially naked napping because, really, that's the best kind of napping around."

"Really? I was thinking about partner showering", said Ranger. "Because partner showering means that you are more likely to get clean." We walked off the elevator and Ranger unlocked the apartment door. We kicked off our shoes, and Ranger put the blueprints on the kitchen counter and led me into the master suite. "We could do a double header", he said. "After all, after a massage you are a little greasy and, although that is intriguing, it would be better if you could then have a shower to get rid of all the…oil." He gave one of his half-smiles that I loved so much, and I leaned forward and kissed him. As our tongues touched and began to duel Ranger pulled me into his body and ran his hands all over my back and sides, grazing the interesting parts with his thumbs and kneading my skin with his fingers. He threaded his fingers through my hair and groaned. "I need you so fucking much", he said.

"I thought you were planning on giving me a massage."

I tried not to smile at the tortured expression on Ranger's face – but then he smiled. "Babe, I have heard that internal massages are the most rewarding massages of all."

"Really? How do you do those?"

"I have a special massage appendage", said Ranger with another half-smile.

"Let's check it out", I said.

"Thank God."