Chapter 25, enjoy!

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A Mommy For Papi And Me

Chapter 25

"Go on and play, Bella," Ranger said to Heidi, who let go of her father's hand and ran over to the playground with a squeal.

"So, where is her mother?" Stephanie asked, sitting down on the bench beside the small playground, "Is she gone, did you divorce her?"

Ranger sighed and sat down beside Stephanie, looking over to where Heidi stood, playing on the monkey bars. He grabbed Stephanie's hand and squeezed it tightly, saying in a soft voice, "Stephanie, Heidi's mother has been dead for five years."

Ranger felt Stephanie's body tense up and he felt her gently grab at his hand. Stephanie leaned over to Ranger and whispered, "Carlos, I am so sorry, I didn't know…I never knew, I used to think that she abandoned you both! Oh my god, I feel like a jerk!"

Ranger placed a hand on Stephanie's and said, "Babe, it's okay, you didn't know that Heidi's mother had died. I didn't tell you, Stephanie, I never told you about her mother."

Stephanie felt tears well up in her eyes and a sob build up in her throat. Ranger let out a sound and said, "Babe, please…it's alright, don't cry," wiping the tears from Stephanie's eyes.

"I feel so bad," Stephanie said, shaking her head, "I was so angry at this woman, of a woman who is dead, who has been dead for so long…"

Ranger let out a sound and hugged Stephanie tightly, rubbing her back as the woman sobbed softly. Ranger pulled away from Stephanie and said, "Babe, it's alright, you didn't know, it's alright."

Stephanie wiped her eyes and let out a shaky sob, "I'm so sorry, Carlos….I..oh goodness!"

Ranger patted Stephanie knee and said, "I really don't tell that fact to anyone, it had been a sore spot for me for years…"

Ranger felt Stephanie's hand on his knee and then he said, "I bet you were wondering why Heidi's mother died five years ago, and yet, Heidi is four. "

"I was," Stephanie said softly, looking over to Heidi, who was hanging upside down on the pull-up bars, "Why….?

"Jeanne, Tank and Heidi's father decided that I needed saving from myself and so they took my sperm and Heidi's mother eggs and Jeanne implanted them in herself and had Heidi for me," Ranger said softly, looking out at Heidi, "And for that, "I'm eternally grateful for what they did for me. In all honesty Babe, if it wasn't for Jeanne, I would have been a dead a long time ago."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Stephanie held Carlos's hand as he told her about his past life. He had met Heidi's mother during a mission, she had been kidnapped by a terrorist group and Carlos had been ordered to get her. Their relationship bloomed after that. Carlos and Heidi's mother had gotten married a year after they met and spent nearly a good four years together, before Heidi was murdered by a man out for revenge.

"I changed into an animal, Babe," Carlos said softly, looking over to Stephanie, his eyes far away, "I went on a revenge hunt for my wife's killer, and when I found him, I had shown him the same mercy he had shown my wife…none."

Carlos growled and said, "Could you believe that that worm had begged me to spare his life, he offered me his children to spare his life…his own children to save his skin…I made sure he suffered for the idea of selling out his own children."

Stephanie felt Carlos tense up at the conversation they were having. It must have taken him so much for him to confess to Stephanie about his past life. It was taking a lot out of him to confess something that was so dark and extremely sensitive. Once Carlos got to the part about his wife's death, he was wound up so tight, she was afraid that he might snap from all the tension. He was trembling slightly, and looking into nothing, he was thinking about his past, his dark and tragic past.

Stephanie turned Carlos's head and whispered, "Hey, Carlos, Carlos, look at me…." making Carlos look into her blue eyes, "Carlos, it's okay, you're here, with me and your child, it's going to be alright…"

Carlos grabbed the hands on his cheeks and said, in a soft voice, "I know it's going to be alright, Stephanie, it's hard, to think about these types of things…I sometimes wish that I could have died, instead of Heidi's mother. She was…so special and she had her life ahead of her and it was stolen, by a man, no a coward who felt powerful when he got a gun."

"Hey," Stephanie said pulling Carlos's face down, "Hey, don't think of those things, you have a child to take care of, please, Carlos, please, for the sake of your child, don't dwell too long, I feel like a fool, for asking you that question and making you think of those horrible things again!"

"Babe, it felt good to tell you about everything," Carlos said with a smile, looking at Stephanie, "I mean, it's good to tell you about my past, to get a jumpstart on my future."

Stephanie let out a sound as Carlos pulled her forward and said, in a soft voice, "A future with you, maybe?"

"Maybe yes," Stephanie said with a smile, "But I need a kiss to seal the deal, yes?"

"Oh yes," Carlos said with a soft purr, "We do need to kiss to seal the deal, on the lips, of course…"

"Of course," Stephanie repeated, leaning in to kiss Carlos.

The two were about to press their lips together, but Carlos jerked back hearing Diesel's voice from across the park.

"KITTEN!" Diesel exclaimed, making Carlos look over and see the boy running over to his child, "I missed you Kitten!"

"Did he just call my Bella, Kitten?!" Carlos exclaimed, looking over to Stephanie, who was shaking her head and giggling at Carlos, "He did!"

Stephanie laughed out loud as Carlos got up and went to confront the 4 year old. She heard footsteps and then Maxim was sitting beside her, laughing along with her, as Diesel and Carlos had a stare down.

"Oh, I didn't know Ranger was that protective over his child," Maxim chuckled, watching Carlos berate Diesel for calling Heidi any type of nickname, "That is too cute, how are things with the both of you, Miss. Stephanie, this week I had my hands full with a depressed Ranger, he was very sad that you left."

"Oh, well, it was Carlos's friend who set me straight, she's a lesbian," Stephanie said with a smile, looking over to Maxim, "Which is good for me, because Carlos wants me in his life!"

"Good, he finally told you!" Maxim said, ignoring Stephanie's sputters, "I'm glad he confessed, he's been pining after you for two weeks, but, you remember, Miss. Stephanie, take it nice and slow."

"Yes, Maxim, Carlos and I will take it nice and slow," Stephanie said, watching Diesel stick his tongue out at Carlos and then grab Heidi's hand and lead her over to the jungle gym, "I can't say the same about your boy though, he's staked his claim on Heidi, and it's driving Carlos nuts!"

"I told that boy," Maxim said, shaking his head, watching Carlos stomp over to Diesel and swing his child over his shoulders and carry her off, "He's too young to be this infatuated."

"So, are there little quirks I should know about Carlos?" Stephanie asked, Maxim , earning a chuckle from the man.

"He tends to drift in and out of his thoughts and that gets him into a lot of things," Maxim said leaning forward, "Like the enrichment program for the children and a few other things.."

Stephanie shook her head as Heidi waved at Diesel as Carlos took her over to the other jungle gym, "That sounds like him, he seems to do that a lot, it must be the bad thing about being a parent, your mind tends to drift to your child and then that gets you in trouble."

"Oh yes," Maxim said, as Diesel let out a battle cry and went charging after Carlos, "But, Ranger's heart is in the right place and from coming from being a renegade mercenary out for blood to a father who has tea parties with his daughter, it's a good thing, parenthood suits Carlos to a tee."

"Oh, yes, it does," Stephanie said with a chuckle as she watched Diesel and Heidi be tossed over Carlos's shoulders, "It's shame he doesn't like Diesel around Heidi, that boy is going to marry that child, when they get old enough to."

"I know," Maxim said as Carlos walked over to the both of them, with the children, "Hello Ranger, I see you have your hands full with the children!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Carlos said, dropping Diesel in his father's lap and then placing Heidi in Stephanie's lap, "Let's go find these two some food, apparently, giving Papi grey hairs works up an appetite!"

"We want Chinese!" Heidi said, as Stephanie wrapped her arms around here and picked her up, "Chinese noodles and egg rolls and those yummy Chinese doughnuts!"

"Yeah! And a Poo-poo platter," Diesel said, earning giggles from Heidi, sliding out of his father's lap, "Come on Deda! I'm starving."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Have a good night, Bella," Carlos said softly, kissing Heidi's forehead, as she let out a yawn and slowly closed her eyes, "Have pleasant dreams…"

"'Kay," Heidi said, sleepily, turning in her bed and wrapping her arms around Harriet the Ferret, "Good night, Papi…"

Carlos turned on the side table lamp and then turned off the overhead light and closed the door. He made his way down to the kitchen, where Stephanie sat cleaning up the remains of their dessert. They had spent the rest of the day and most of the evening with Maxim and Diesel, going so far as to coming back to the house and having a movie afternoon. It was a good day for them all.

"Hey," Stephanie said as Carlos helped her clean up the dessert mess, "Is she asleep?"

"She is," Carlos said, sitting down beside Stephanie and playing with a discarded syrup bottle top , "Stephanie, Babe…we haven't sealed the deal yet."

"We haven't," Stephanie said with a breathless giggle, looking over to Carlos, "But, I do have a few things to say…before we do seal the deal…"

"Okay, shoot, Babe," Carlos said with a smile, looking over to Stephanie, who slid her chair over to man.

"We take it nice and slow," Stephanie said, placing a hand on Carlos's hand, "Just because I'm moving back in here, doesn't mean we can jump into the bed with one another."

"True," Carlos said, as Stephanie got closer to him, "What else, Babe?"

"I want to be wooed, you know, flowers, songs, spontaneous gestures of affection that include a four year old girl with a pretty smile and big amber eyes," Stephanie said with a smile, "I mean, you do come with a pint sized version of yourself, better use the pint sized doppelganger wisely."

Carlos nodded his head and said, "Sounds like an okay thing," grabbing Stephanie's chin, "Anything else?"

"Yes, I-" Stephanie started but Carlos leaned in and kissed her on the lips. It was a deep kiss but a quick one. It left Stephanie dazed and giddy, once Carlos pulled away from her.

"You were saying?" Carlos asked, with a smile, earning a shrug from Stephanie.

"I don't think I remember," Stephanie said with a breathless giggle, "Maybe it had to deal with kisses…." Stephanie pondered earning a chuckle from Carlos.

"Maybe…."

TBC…..

Alright! Finally they're getting together! WOOT WOOT! Please leave a review they tend to make me write faster!