Mr. Fix-It

Chapter 26

Ranger locked the door to the beach house. Stephanie, Mia, and Kayla were sitting in the SUV. Barney was running around the yard before jumping in when he opened the door. He slid behind the steering wheel and looked from sad face to sad face.

He took Stephanie's hand in his and brought it to his lips, "Babe, we'll be back in two days."

"I know, but it just seemed so perfect here the last few days."

And it had been perfect. The weather was turning cooler, but still didn't keep them off the beach. The walked it in the afternoons. The girls collected more shells, contentedly played in the house, or they all went to the boardwalk.

Ninety minutes later, Ranger was opening the apartment door. They walked into the entry and Ranger led them into what was his old office. Now it was a bedroom with two twin beds, a nightstand between the them. There was a large chest of drawers and closet. Ella had pale yellow chenille bedspreads on the beds. On each bed was a brown teddy bear. One bear's shirt was with embroidered with a "M" and the other a "K".

"Wow," was all the girls could say giggling.

The walked through another door which Stephanie thought would be the bathroom, but it was a playroom. Sitting in the middle of the floor was a castle playhouse with a torrent and a little pink flag with a "K" and "M" on it. There was also a small table with chairs with a tea set sitting on it. Coloring books, crayons, and reading books were on a small bookcase.

"Can we play in here?" Mia asked as she and her sister were looking at everything.

"Of course. If it gets messy, we don't have to worry about it."

"No, it's to nice to get messy."

Stephanie had tears on her cheeks, "How did you do all this? This is like every little girl's dream," fingering the playhouse.

"The fairies helped."

Ranger knelt down so he was eye to eye with the twins, "Do you like it?"

Stephanie was kneeling beside him looking at Mia and Kayla.

"It's beautiful."

"Is this where you would like to live?" He asked unsure of himself.

"Forever?"

Stephanie stated simply, "Yes, forever."

They got their answer as both girls were hugging them tightly. An arm of Ranger's went around one girl and Stephanie's around the other with their fingers meeting.

The doorbell rang.

"That's probably Trish. I called her before we left so we can get everything started."

Ranger got up and went to open the door. Stephanie looked into the updated bathroom. The old powder room now was slightly larger with a bathtub and shower. Pale yellow towels were on the racks.

"Hi Girls," Stephanie heard Trish's voice.

Ranger asked "What do you think?"

"Hi, Trish," Stephanie met them in the bedroom.

"This is amazing," she said after seeing the playroom and bathroom.

"Hey, why don't you two play for a few minutes while Ranger and I talk with Trish."

"Ok," Kayla looked out a window in the playhouse.

Ranger was leading them out into the living room.

"Ranger, you and Stephanie still want to go through with this?"

They looked at each other and nodded their heads, "Yes," before sitting on the sofa.

"Your attorney sent back all the papers to me after he read them over. Mia and Kayla will remain in your custody. You both will need to sign them since both of will have physical custody. Your attorney, Mr. Ritcher, is going to pick them up and take them downtown to the state office building. It seems you have some friends there."

"I have a few in the government."

Stephanie tried not to giggle at that comment, but Ranger had connections practically everywhere.

Trish continued, "My file on the girls and your personnel information will be submitted also. The state worker reviewing the file may approve both of you as adoptive parents since you are together, but," Trish was laughing, "since we have no particular definition on the forms of 'My Woman' under the marital status on our paperwork, Ranger, you will more than likely be named the adoptive parent and Stephanie as guardian in your absence."

Stephanie was glancing at Ranger beside her as she elbowed him,

"I'm sure that's a technicality you'll get changed."

Raising an eyebrow to her, "Babe."

They signed the papers and slid them back across the coffee table to Trish.

"We are starting an investigation into Mr. Elias and his treatment of the girls. I'm going to have to ask them some questions."

Stephanie got up and went into the bedroom for the girls bringing them back to sit next to Ranger.

She knelt down in front of them, "Mia, Kayla, Trish needs to ask you some questions about your foster father."

They immediately stiffened beside Ranger.

"Please don't be afraid. No one can hurt you here," Ranger started to explain. "I have a really powerful security system and cameras all around. Only a few people have a key to get up to this floor. And Barney's here to let us know if someone is here."

Ranger looked around and didn't see Barney, "Babe, where is he?"

Stephanie started to laugh, "We've been gone for almost a week and took Lester's chick magnet, so he took him for a walk to catch up."

"Santos," shaking his head. "We're getting him a puppy for Christmas."

As if on cue, Lester knocked on the apartment door, he and Barney walked him.

"We're back," Lester said as he handed Stephanie the leash. "Hi, Girls. Boss," before going back out the door.

Mia and Kayla waved at Lester. Out of all the Merry Men, he was the least intimidating and always had the jokester look on his face.

As if knowing, Barney came over to sit beside the two little girls protecting them.

"Can you tell me some of the mean things Mr. Elias did?" Trish began quietly.

Stephanie nodded her head at them.

"If we made a mess, he yelled and took away our toys," Mia was looking at the carpet as she spoke.

"Did he and his family go out a lot and lock you in a room."

Kayla and Mia looked at each other, Kayla spoke this time, "He didn't have enough money to take us. If they were gone along time then we would be in the big bedroom so we could watch TV and go to the bathroom, he left us crackers and water, but we usually just went to sleep so we weren't scared."

Barney cuddled closer to the girls.

"When it was really cold outside, was your room cold?"

"If we slept together so we weren't so cold."

"Did he ever hit you?"

Stephanie saw Ranger stiffen beside them, waiting for their answer.

Mia said "No, he just yelled a lot. Even his wife was afraid of him. She ran to her sewing room."

"Sometimes he threw things like toys or books," Kayla added.

"I'm sorry that he was mean to you. I didn't know," Trish tried to keep her voice calm. "He will never be able to do that again to you, Ok."

They nodded at her, "Stephanie and Ranger take good care of us, not like before."

Stephanie held out her arms and the girls were in them instantly. Ranger saw the tears streaking her cheeks.

"I will call your attorney so he can pick up the papers." Trish said as Ranger walked her to the door. "I'll be checking in on the girls to see how they are doing. They seem happier than I've ever seen them."

"You have the numbers for here and our cell phones. We'll be leaving again on Friday for the beach. We're there on the weekends."

"Any questions or problems, please call me, Ranger."

"We will."

"Stephanie. Mia. Kayla. I'll see you," waving at them.

"Bye," the three of them waved.

Ella got off the elevator with lunch, handing Trish a bag as she got on. Ranger held the door open for her to come into the apartment.

"Welcome back. How are all the new renovations?"

"Perfect," Stephanie said as they walked into the kitchen.

"Where did you find the playhouse?" Mia asked her.

"Like Stephanie, I like to shop a lot," she touched her finger to each girl's nose. "How about lunch?"

"Yes, please."

"There is some soup and sandwiches. And salad."

Ella opened up a lid on a tray. She had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on little animal plates cut into fourths.

Kayla and Mia were looking at their plates, "You cut them small for us."

"You have little mouths."

"Stephanie, Luis said as soon as you pick out the color you want to paint the bedroom and playroom, he'll start the painting."

"Ok, maybe we'll go out later to the home store and look at colors."

"I'll wash all the clothes Trish brought for the girls. Where are your clothes from the Beach House and I'll wash those also?"

"I took care of those at the beach. You have enough to do not washing all those clothes, too."

"It's my job to take care of all of you. And it will be so nice having little ones here."

Mia and Kayla smiled at her as they ate their sandwiches.

The four of them were eating quietly at the breakfast bar.

"Babe, I'm going down to check in with Tank. After I'm done, we'll go to the home store and buy paint. If we need anything else for the girls, we can get while we're out."

"Ok, but I'm sure you have things to catch up on. I can do it with Mia and Kayla. I'll check later on the searches on my desk."

"I know, but we can do it together. Your desk is being covered. It's more important that we get them settled in. Why don't you check into the pre-schools around here and set something up for tomorrow so we can visit them. Maybe, they will be able to start on Monday, Ok."

Mia and Kayla nodded at him.

Ranger was in Tank's office on the fifth floor, reading a file.

"Ok, let's put Operation Bad Dad into effect tomorrow night."

"Sure thing. Hector has all the electronics ready to go. Hal, Hector, and Cal have been watching Mr. Elias."

"Any questions? You're Ok with this?"

"Ranger, he needs taught a lesson. We just do it Rangeman style."