Posted this one a little quickly, may have to re-edit after I read it on-line. Wanted to post quickly as a 'thank you" for all the kind words and reviews. Only stopped writing so I could read "From The Inside Looking Out," latest post by Princessandthepen, and to answer some of the reviews. To those of you concerned that this story is ending soon, don't worry, I have lots of loose ends to tie up and S and R have not had enough "alone time," since dropping off the girls with Val and Albert. Plus we have that Memorial Day parade coming up with Stephanie riding the bonds float. - lots of opportunity for hilarity, and mayhem. Need a good pet name for Steph to call Ranger. I sort of like is when she calls him 'Richard," like he's some big sexy nerdy mercenary. Any suggestions?

I dont own or make money from these characters.

Stephanie's Point of View

After we left Casa Havana this morning we drove to the Newark Airport. Ranger let us out at the curb and parked in the short-term lot. We headed for the security checkpoint where Val and Albert would be exiting. We found a spot where we could sit and wait. According to the information board, Val's plane had landed a little early and was in route to the gate. I looked around and saw Ranger, he was twenty feet away looking at some noise-cancelling headphones in the Brookstone store.

Ten minutes passed and people started to trickle out the exit. The girls stood on their toes, then the chairs, searching for their parents. The crowd became thicker and I started to see people I knew. I looked over at the security screener and realized that was the spot where it had all gone down hill last week, and all of a sudden I didn't want to be there. One of the TSA agents was staring at me, talking into a hand-held radio. I had a very bad feeling and I moved toward the Brookstone to find Ranger. But then I heard the girls squeal and I searched the crowd and saw Val. I waved at her and she waved back right before being tackled by the pair, Albert joined them with baby Lisa, and they were in a little huddle with swarms of people moving around them. I started walking toward them but now two TSA agents were coming my way scanning the area.

"Oh crap, this can't be good." I ran for the nearest bathroom, ducked into a stall and quickly unloaded my gun. I flushed the bullets down the toilet and buried my gun and sure-guard at the bottom of the trash can, under the liner. I looked in the mirror, put on a little of the cherry pink lip gloss Mary Alice had packed for me and walked out slowly.

I opened the door to the bathroom and stepped outside. The area had been blocked off and three TSA agents had their guns trained on me. Holy crackers, not this again, I thought. I dropped my purse and raised my hands in the air and out of the corner of my eye I saw Ranger stalking toward us holding up some sort of identification badge. He pointed to the taller overweight agent who smirked at Ranger as soon as he saw him. The man sauntered over, seeming to enjoy the power he held over the situation. Ranger's arms were crossed over his chest, his brow was furrowed and his hands were flexing. He was talking to the wannabe cop, but half the time he was looking at me. I couldn't hear what they were saying but Ranger's head was nodding to the agent, then to me, then to the agent, then back to me. Finally the guard signaled to the other agent and they holstered their guns, but not before the short skinny dude put my hands in front of me and cuffed my wrists. I just hoped they didn't frisk me or they were gonna be surprised when they got to my skirt.

By this time, a crowd had gathered, and 'oh goodie,' as my luck would have it, it was full of people from the Molnar cruise. Two more agents came over and it looked as thought Ranger was explaining the situation all over again. Ranger was talking in earnest to the new guys and he seemed to be making no progress. A little halo of space surrounded us, and now people I knew were walking by, some stopping behind the barrier to chat.

"Hiya, Steph," No one who knew me seemed to think it was unusual that I was in handcuffs.

"Stephanie, nice to see you, we missed ya, it was a good trip," someone yelled.

"Hey ya, honey, thanks for feeding Muffin, come over tomorrow, I'm baking a pound cake."

I just lifted my cuffed hands and gave little waves, like it was just another ordinary day.

Ranger looked fed up with the whole lot of them. He turned and walked past the men, who tried to grab him on the arms. Ranger brushed them off and took three steps toward me and the agents pulled their guns again, training them on him this time. He raised his hands in the air, but he still proceeded in my direction, with his eyes laser focused on mine. He ignored the rent-a-cops demands, confident in his belief protocol would not allow them to shoot.

"You call Copple, I'll call Weston. They say they don't believe the story about your passport being restored, although they can't name any law you are breaking, since you never tried to pass through security. It's a power trip and they are wrong, but right now we need to get you out of this situation."

I nodded, I had been through this before and I knew the drill. Then out of the corner of my eyes, I saw my father, he was sunburnt, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and Bermuda shorts with ankle socks. He was followed by that woman who claimed to be my mother on most days, but not today, not the moment she saw me. Her mouth gaped open and her purse fell to the floor,

"Oh Jesus, Mary and Joseph," and maybe it was her mention of the name "Joseph," but I just couldn't help myself. I looked at Helen Plum, then I looked at Ranger, then I took a step to him, looped my cuffs over his neck and I planted a long hard kiss on his lips in front of half the lobster-skinned, mouth-gaping, gossip-mongering population of Chambersberg.

After I kissed Ranger all hell broke loose, the TSA agents rushed him, and were trying to cuff his hands behind his back, they started to break us apart, disentangling my arms from his neck, but not before I whispered the location of my gun. Someone, Connie's aunt I think, threw a travel case and hit one of the agents in the head, and members of the Molnar party started to cheer. But when the agent came at her with a stun gun the whole crowd of Mafia royalty started swinging their handbags and carry-ons, and items that never should have cleared security started to materialize. Alarms started going off and emergency lights started flashing at stations all over the airport. Ranger and I just stood there in the eye of the hurricane looking at each other while we were being jostled around and pried apart. I mouthed "I love you," and he smiled a full thousand watts of pearly white while he shook his head in almost disbelief.

"I can always count on you to brighten my day," he laughed.

A few of the older folks were using their canes like martial arts weapons, jabbing at the security agents. Helen Plum fainted and a small crowd gathered around her, meanwhile, more planes must have landed because people kept streaming out of the exit. Mary Lou and Eddie just stood there in shock, staring at me.

Two hours later I was being belted into Rangers Cayenne reloading my gun with a case of bullets I'd pulled from his glove box. Ranger got in the driver's seat, closed the door, and we peeled out of the white zone and headed toward Trenton. When we'd cleared all signs of the airport I breathed a sigh and turned to Ranger. We both talked at once,

"You go first," he said.

"How much is the reward for the burglars?"

"Was ten thousand, but the Crime Stoppers just doubled it, why?"

"Would you like to go on a stake-out around midnight?"

"You've got something?" he puzzled.

"Not just something, I've got everything." I smiled and held up my phone.

After the TSA agents dragged me away, they took me to the office of Homeland Security to the buzz-cut guy who'd interrogated me the last time. He was at his desk working on his computer. I was seated across from him in a low chair. I remained silent until he'd finished talking about how I wasn't under arrest, but according to section such-n-such of the Patriot Act, they had the right to detain me as a possible enemy of the state until further notice.

I tried to tell him about the papers in my purse, but he refused to get them for me. I tried to tell him about the attorney, but he refused to call him. I tried to tell him about the government agent who had issued the papers, but he just shook his head and said,

"All that is fine and good, ma'am, but we're gonna get to the bottom of this in our own way, and in our own time." In other words, you're screwed.

He got on the phone and requested a female officer come take me away for processing and transport to a holding cell. I sat fiddling with the handcuffs, trying to think of a way to convince him of my new status. We sat in silence as he typed on his computer, a red light on the phone blinked and he groaned before he answered. All of a sudden, his face changed, he looked deathly afraid and he stood quickly, grabbed his keys and dashed out the door, locking it behind him.

As soon as he left I reached for my purse, but first, I thought, I wanted to get rid of these handcuffs. Ranger had shown me how to pick the locks with a paperclip so I stood and walked around his desk and looked in the middle drawer. His screen saver was on, it was a photo of him and his hunting buddies smiling over the dead carcass of Bambi, beers in hand. Other photos of him scrolled on the screen, all with him and this group of men. I recognized two of them as agents working the security desk. I rifled through the drawer and found what I was looking for. I bumped the drawer with my thigh to close it, and when I did, the mouse must have jiggled and the screen saver clicked off revealing an airport spreadsheet. I quickly removed the cuffs then took the mouse to reactivate the screen saver but I wasn't familiar with his computer. As I scrolled through the sheets little highlighted names started to jump out at me, Ciak, Roblee, Gunther. I quickly realized this was not an airport computer, but his own personal laptop, and I didn't think these files were supposed to be on it. I grabbed my phone from my purse and snapped photos of the pages, then I called Mr. Coppel and left a message. I was reactivating the screen saver when I heard the key rattling in the lock. I hopped back to my chair, tightened the cuffs on my wrist and assumed a bored expression.

Buzz-cut was not with the men who came through the door. The first to enter looked to be the Airport director, administrator, president, whatever he was called. He was large-and-in-charge and he was flanked by two U.S. Marshalls. One marshal stepped to me and removed the cuffs in a flash. The suit looked at me gravely and apologized.

"I'm afraid there has been a dreadful mistake made from this office, Miss Plum."

Oh, if he only knew, I thought.

As Ranger drove I told him my theory. The common thread between the burglary victims was not a destination, or their choice of security systems, but that all the homeowners had flown out of the Newark airport. Before we reached Rangeman, Hector had already hacked the TSA data sheets and was able to locate all of the victims by their travel itineraries. Of course, only on Mullendore's computer where the names highlighted, including several names of people who were still out of town, whose homes had not been hit. This was our jumping-off point. I went up to Rangers apartment and changed into my Rangeman uniform, I put on a black tee, a black pair of cargo pants, and a pair of black underwear, not a thong, thank God. Ranger organized five teams of two, to cover the houses we thought they might hit. At eleven o'clock we would be ready and waiting. By dinnertime, all the surveillance gear was loaded and plans were set. I sat back in my chair and thought about what had occurred and what was to come.

It seemed that lately the circumstances I'd viewed as crappy, had actually turned out to be disguised blessings. I looked over to his office, his shades were open and I could see him on the phone, business face, pouring over his computer. I was daring to dream a little, and I hoped I wasn't premature. This past week it almost seemed like our lives could be slow enough to accommodate others, small others, but then today, at the airport, I wondered how things would have gone down for the girls if Val hadn't appeared in time. I was deep in thought, zoning out on my computer screen when Ranger's hand rested on my shoulder.

"Babe," he pulled up a chair and sat facing me.

"I just got a call from Hal. He's still in Puerto Rico but your virtual boyfriend gave him the slip."

"Dvorak?"

"Yes," he said, "but they are looking for him, and if he enters the country legally we will know about it."

"What does that mean?"

"It doesn't mean anything right now, I just wanted you to know."

"Does this compromise Costa Rica?"

"Probably not, Hal doesn't think he was made, thinks Dvorak just got lost in the crowd."

I wanted to cheer myself up a bit and our bet came to mind. I looked at Ranger, who was now back in his trademark black, boots and all.

"Hey, you were gonna take me somewhere today." I said, trying to lighten the mood.

He swallowed, pursed his lips and nodded,

"Yes I was," eyes searching his memory.

I shrugged and waved it away,

"Probably not the time now, may never be a good time," I chuckled, "I mean, look at us."

I pointed to our uniforms and my flack jacket slung over the chair.

Ranger studied my face, lots of ideas swirling through his head,

"Actually," he said slowly, looking at his watch, "this may be just the perfect time."

He reached in his pocket and handed me a set of car keys,

"Meet me at the diner in fifteen."

I've never had a brother, no male to talk to about guys, who could tell me what they were really thinking when they were eating pizza and drinking beer in front of the tube on a Saturday night. And Eddie, well, Eddie was one of my very best friends, but he drew the line when it came to the most personal issues. I suspected this was because at one time, long ago, I was pretty sure he had been in love with me, and now he was married to my cousin Shirley. I have a father, but getting information from him was like getting information from, well, Ranger. And Joe, I could never count on him to tell it to me straight, cause I knew his motives always lead back to his "unit". Yes, sadly, the only male counterpart within my orbit was my creepy, oily, unethical cousin Vincent Plum, aka, Vinnie.

I wouldn't trust Vinnie to water my houseplants, cause I was sure he'd rifle through my underwear drawer, and I couldn't count on Vinnie to make a good impression out in public, cause I was sure he would be caught with his hands somewhere they shouldn't be, like down his pants, or worse, someone else's pants. But in the whole "human nature" study, Vinnie was usually dead on target. He knew people. Lots of people, some intimately. Some, most of us never wanted to know, let alone get naked with at a truck stop in Libertyville off I-72. So in my almost three years of working for Vinnie, I had learned a thing or two about how men think, and yes, most of it pointed to the penis.

One thing Vinnie always said about men, they can take forever to pick out a brand of car, or root for a sports team, or smoke a brand of cigarettes, but once they make up their mind about it, the will go all the way, they will buy all the gear, slap on all the logo crap and forsake all others for their team. Contrary to what popular culture likes to spew, once a man makes up his mind about something, he is, in a word, committed, not always faithful, but committed. Which, Vinnie reminded me, were two very separate states of being.

"You're up to something," I told Ranger, as he sat across from me in our booth. We usually met at the diner when we had to talk strategy, or he had a job for me,

"And because of our bet you're gonna expect me to do whatever you want."

Like have a tracker surgically implanted in my femur.

"The terms stated, Babe, that the looser has to say 'yes' to whatever the winners wants."

He was just toying with me, I'm sure whatever he wanted ended with both of us naked. I'd told myself I wasn't gonna be his nooner today, because it was way after noon, and we had a job to think about, and while he'd said the elusive "L" word and run his hands over every naked inch of my body, a little voice was saying "don't be so easy, he needs to "come big or not at all." I was pretty sure I wanted to stick to that plan and just in case, I had my speech ready to go.

He cleared his throat and started out in a serious voice, a new twist, I thought.

"Babe, I was…." He stopped, picked my hand up off the table and started again.

"Stephanie, do you think you would…" He looked at me frozen and I became concerned. Something was wrong. This was Ranger. Ranger knew what to do in every situation, and he always did it with style, he always had a plan, an escape route. But I looked in his eyes and I thought I saw something unfamiliar in them – doubt. Whatever he was about to ask me seemed to be taking all of his concentration, or was he was just trying to keep from laughing, yes, I'm sure that was it.

"Ranger, just ask me, you know I'll do it, whatever it is, I can't say no to you, in fact, I have to say yes, remember?"

"Close your eyes, Babe." Oh no, I thought, I'm not gonna like this. I did as he asked and waited for the question, a little smile playing on my lips. I felt him lift my hand and kiss my knuckles, then I felt metal encircle my finger. I opened my eyes and looked down in shock, and then I started to laugh.

"Ha, ha, ha, you're funny! Yep, sometimes your humor is truly underrated, you know that?" I batted my eyelashes, flashed the big ring and did my best southern Scarlet O'Hara,

"Do you need me to be your wife for a while?" I asked, thinking back to our pretend marriage in Hawaii.

He looked at me, and he was smiling slightly, tracking my eyes that were roaming uncomfortably to avoid his. I assumed he was going to have a good come-back because he always did, I had come to expect it. I sat there waiting for the punch line, the explanation, the big power play to get me into the sack, but he didn't speak, he was just smiling with his eyes, waiting. Time passed and the silence became a little uncomfortable, my eyes fell on the ring and I had to admit, it was a damn good knock-off of the signature Tiffany setting. Suddenly my heart jolted in my chest and my face lost it's expression as I looked into Ranger's eyes, and I knew what he was about to ask.

"How about you being my wife… forever."

I just sat there in stunned silence, staring at the ring, then back at him. My brain hadn't caught up with the situation. My vision went a little fuzzy and I saw images of Mr. Darcy and Miss Elizabeth, Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan, Shrek and Fiona. I'd told myself he'd better "come big," hadn't I? But this? We weren't even dating, we weren't even, anything were we? Hmm, that really wasn't true, that's just the story I told myself so I didn't get my hopes dashed. We had trust, and loyalty, and admiration, and affection, and we had a history. He was my counselor, my one in a million, my elixir of life, the antidote, and it wasn't a coincidence, it was all by choice, Ranger didn't do random.

"Is this what you wanted me to say 'yes' to?" I asked in whisper.

He nodded his head and whispered back, "only if it's what you really want," he looked at me like I was that last woman on earth and the future of civilization depended on my answer. "I could have taken you to Hawaii, or somewhere exotic, but going back to the beginning seemed right, and I didn't want to wait any longer, seems where you're concerned, things never go as I plan them, so when you reminded me of our bet, I took it as a sign."

"No, it's perfect." I added quickly, looking around at the little diner where we first met.

Tears filled my eyes and I leaned toward him. He smiled, took my other hand in his and our lips met over the middle of the table, I thought about the three decades I'd been on this earth, and I tried to remember a more perfect moment, and I couldn't think of one, in fact, I couldn't think of anything but him. We sat there in the booth across from each other, the tips of my shoes touching his boots, leaning over the chrome and formica table, our hands clenched tightly together, lips barely touching, it was straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting, my one-in-a-million, my perfect moment. I opened my eyes wide to keep the tears from spilling over my lower lids, and pulled back just enough to say that word he wanted to hear.

"Yes."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Oh, yes," I said now in a low throaty growl after he'd thrown me over his shoulder in his entryway. I could feel us moving down the hall, me tossed over his back, or it may have been from my head spinning, I was still in a daze. In a minute, we were in the bedroom and I felt Ranger lower me down to the soft mattress.

"Say it again," he whispered in my ear.

"Yes."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

We must have sat in that booth in the diner and kissed for a solid fifteen minutes before Shirley came over and laid down our ticket, upon which she had written "get a room."

"Not a bad idea," said Ranger. We ran to his car and raced back to Heywood, only because it was closer than my apartment. Ranger used a key in the elevator so it would not stop on any other floor, and when we got to his door he flung it open and threw me over his shoulder and carried me to his bedroom to the end of his bed. As soon as he set me down I went straight for his belt and started peeling off his pants.

"Do you want me to go slow?" he asked.

"No!"

"Good, me neither."

I unfastened and unzipped and started tugging his pants down his thighs while he went for the buttons on my army jacket. He got the first two undone, became impatient and decided to pull the whole thing over my head and the buttons got caught in my hair and I lost my balance and started to tumble but he steadied me and I battled my way out of the jacket and tee and he was already working on my pants.

"Finally!" I huffed. I was practically out of breath and we hadn't even started the strenuous part, I cupped my bottom lip and blew my runaway curls out of my eyes and Ranger paused and looked at me and we both started laughing, him with his gorgeous two rows of dazzling white teeth, and as we were laughing he got down on his knees in front of me, both of us gloriously naked still convulsing from the humor of the situation and our laughter began to subside into just a few chuckles here and there, and he got quiet like he was on his knees about to pray for something very serious, and I could see he was focused and he started to move reverently, then he caressed his fingers up the backs of my legs and looked up and searched my face to make sure I was okay with everything he was doing, then he took both of my hands and slowly but firmly placed them on his shoulders and he moved my feet apart a bit and when he put his tongue on just the right spot my last giggle turned into a moan, then a growl, then a… "yesssss."

I must have said "yes" half a dozen more times during the next two hours. We had a good start working our way through Dr. Beverly's Sex by the Numbers positions, and I was pretty sure at least one was not found in any sex book, anywhere. It was nearing nine o'clock and I'd only had coffee at the diner, I actually forgot my hunger after Ranger slipped that ring on my finger, and now my stomach was demanding some attention. He was laid back on the bed propped a little on a pillow and I was laying in the crook of his arm looking at the ceiling. His right arm was bent, hand under his head, and his left arm wrapped around me and held my hand, his fingers playing and twisting the platinum band around my ring finger.

"You must be starving, Babe, let me find you something. Meet me in the kitchen." Ranger slipped on his boxers and stepped out of his bedroom and I saw him stop and adjust the room temperature on the thermostat. I went into his bathroom and looked in the mirror. The first thing I noticed was the smile on my face, followed by the diamond sparkling on my finger atop the platinum band. I held my left hand up to my chin, it looked good perched there. I looked at my face and my eyes and I smiled. I was happy and a giggle escaped as the reality was sinking in and then some tears slid down my cheeks and I was overwhelmed with a rush of emotion. I was going to marry Ranger, the little fairy tale I had never dared to quite believe was going to come true. Mrs. Ranger, no Mrs. Manoso, or Stephanie Plum-Manoso, or Stephanie Michelle Manoso, yes I liked the sound of that. I took care of business and pressed a cool washcloth to my face, I looked at my neck and I had hickies everywhere, I lifted my shirt, yep, everywhere! I shut off the water and turned toward the kitchen, afraid if I stayed in there too long, he would vanish into thin air.

When I came out, a sandwich and a glass of water were waiting for me and he was sitting at the only chair at the table. I looked around but the other chairs were nowhere in site.

"I think you're trying to tell me something." I said.

"He gave me a sly smile, scooted his chair out from under the table and patted his lap."

I sat on his lap and he reached around and started feeding me the sandwich, ever so often I would offer him a bite. I drank the water and turned around on his lap. He pushed us further away from the table and put his hands under my cheeks.

"I'm starting to think you like this position." I teased, wiggling around on top of him.

"Do you remember when we did this in your apartment that morning?" he was asking me about the first night we were together.

"How could I forget?"

"You were sitting on my lap just like this and I was looking at you and how beautiful you were and how giving and trusting, and sometime during that moment, that was the first time that I knew I loved you."

"But…" I said, encourage him to continue.

"But, I knew if I didn't walk away, I was a goner. And at that point of my life, I, I wasn't ready. But I knew it then, and I know it now, that I love you."

"And, I like this position because it gives me access to your greatest physical assets," he said cupping my breasts in his ample hands.

I feigned disgust and snacked him lightly on his shoulder.

"I was going to say 'your eyes,' Babe," he said with a devilish grin.

He lifted my shirt and held my breasts, moving his mouth between one, then the other, like he couldn't decide which tasted better. Then he lightly pressed them together and glided his tongue up and down between the crease. He blew lightly on the wet path he left and I shivered a bit.

I decided as much as I liked being underneath him, this was my second favorite place to be, straddling him in a chair, Dr. Beverly Number-whatever.

I brought my hands up to his temples and massaged my fingers into his hair. My head cocked to one side, studying his face. He nuzzled his face into my neck and his lips found my ear and I heard the inhale and exhale of his sweet breath,

"I love you Stephanie Michelle Plum." I pulled back just enough to look down at him. His eyes were sharp and searching, as though the answers to the mysteries of the universe could be found somewhere on my face. The pained tension he wore told me just how much it scared him to want and need another person so badly.

"I love you too, Ricardo Richard Ranger Carlos Manoso."

I kissed him softly and stood and put the plate in the sink,

"I'm gonna get ready, I'm kind of excited, I haven't caught a bad guy in over a week."

It was after nine. We both went into his bedroom and started putting on our gear and Ranger opened his gun safe and added a few items to his utility belt. He lifted my belt and reached his arms around my waist to fasten it. My back was to him and I was facing his open safe when a stack of papers caught my eye. The header read "Termination Procedure" followed my a bunch of legal jargon with phrases like "as for to," and "termination for convenience."

He caught me looking and picked up the papers and put them in my hands. The papers looked official and had the seal of the Pentagon. I noticed the signature on the bottom belonged to Mr. Copple, the same man who I had met at the Lawyer's office yesterday morning.

"So, is this why he was in town?" I asked, looking over the documents.

"You're giving up your government contract?" I said in disbelief.

"Yes."

"But, what will you do with all your time now? Are you sure this is what you want?" I knew I was okay with it, but I didn't want to end up the Yoko Ono of Rangeman, ya know, responsible for breaking up the boys.

"Babe, you do know you're a full-time job, right?"

"I hope you are not doing this just for me."

"Not just for you, for us," he said.

"Besides, I already told you why I do things for you, get it through your head," Jeeze, it didn't get more direct than that.

"This says you will be finished in July?"

"Yep, a little birthday present to myself."

"Do you think they will call you for another mission before then?"

"Not now, not with this SEC contract in Costa Rica, they can't. I can only work a job with one agency at a time. SEC is thorough, they will keep us until they are sure the threat has been eliminated."

"This is why Tank is taking the lead on this, so he can take over?"

"You've figured it out, Babe."

I let out a breath, "But you are going to Costa Rica, and you could be away for a few weeks?"

"We are going to Costa Rica," he amended. "This is probably my last mission and I want you with me."

I smiled and held up my left hand and waved my ring at him, "About this engagement," he stiffened a bit when I said the word, "how's all that gonna work?" He just shrugged a little, "It's up to you, we could do the traditional, tell the families, drawn out, long boring dinners at my parents house when they tell you all about my childhood and pry into yours. Or, maybe, if you would like, we could just go somewhere, the two of us, and come back as Mr. and Mrs. Manoso."

"Like Costa Rica?" I asked, lifting my eyebrows.

"I like your thinking," he smiled and nodded.

"But what about your family, would your mother forgive us?" I had really just met her this morning and I thought we were off to a good start.

"I can handle my mother."

"I don't know, from what I saw today, she and you sister handled you pretty well."

"Yeah," he chuckled, "and they will have you conspiring with them soon enough. Trust me, I can tell, you can do no wrong in their eyes, the only thing my mother will not like, is hearing you call me Ranger, but she will get over it."

"Oh, why is that?"

"When I became a Ranger, I was gone, and away from her for a long time, and I don't think she liked that. To her, I am Carlos."

"Carlos." It sounded so foreign to me.

"A few people call me Ricardo, or Rick, I answer to all of them Babe."

I thought about the unintended consequences to us running off and getting married. Yes, there would be some hurt feelings I guess, but why shouldn't we. I was determined to do the exact opposite of my first marriage, starting, of course with the groom. So why shouldn't I run off and elope. The one person who would be the most angry had no more say in my life. I decided my daddy would understand and that woman, she would just have to get over it. I did it their way last time, this time I was calling the shots. I wanted to run off and get married and come back Mrs. Stephanie Manoso. My knees went weak when I thought about it. The little fairy tale was spinning in my head and finally I was getting to the happy part.

"When are we going to Coasta Rica?" I asked.

"As soon as possible, could be as early as Tuesday," he said.

"Alright, that settles it."

"Do you want to meet the rest of my family first so you know what you are getting into, Babe?" he asked.

"They couldn't be any worse than my family."

"Depends on the day, and who you ask."