Free At Last
Disclaimer: Janet Evanovich owns Stephanie Plum and all of her family and friends. I just like to play around in her world.
A/N: First of all, I want to acknowledge "barb117" for sending in the 500th review for this story! Thank you, Barb! As always, I am deeply grateful to all of you who take the time to let me know what you think of my writing. Now that Ranger and Stephanie have dealt with their parents, it's time for them to tie up some other loose ends before they head to Grandma Rosa's party. I'm glad that most of you really seem to like all of the different POVs. I've been having a lot of fun writing them. Enjoy! :D
"One of us should stop her," Ranger said to Morelli, his eyes fixed on me.
"Not going to be me," Morelli said. "Have you ever tried to stop her from doing something she wanted to do?"
"Haven't had much success at it," Ranger said.
Morelli rocked back on his heels. "One thing I've learned about Stephanie over the years, she's not good at taking orders."
"Has authority issues," Ranger said.
"And if you piss her off, she'll get even. She ran over me with her father's Buick once and broke my leg."
That got a small smile out of Ranger.
"Nice to see you boys bonding," I said.
Twelve Sharp
Chapter 28: The Other Man, Part 2
Ranger's POV
When the buzzer on my alarm clock went off, Stephanie didn't move a muscle. She continued to sleep peacefully, sprawled half-way on top of my bare chest, as though she didn't have a care in the world. The previous night, before we had climbed into bed together, we agreed that neither of us would attempt to initiate anything too intense until after we had spoken to Dr. O'Neill. I was mildly disappointed that my Babe wasn't interested in having sex during this time in her monthly cycle, but I was determined to respect her boundaries concerning this matter for the time being. In the future, I knew I would be able to convince her to come around to my way of thinking.
Gently sliding Stephanie off of me, I paused for a moment to gaze down at the wondrous sight of her lying next to me. A smile played at the corners of my mouth as I played with a curly strand of her hair and she still didn't even twitch in her sleep. I was so proud of my Babe for the way she had handled herself in the courtroom, as well as during our visits with both sets of our parents the previous day, but I knew that everything all together had taken its toll on her. When I yawned, I had to admit that the day had taken its toll on me, too.
The act of dragging my weary body out of the bed was one of the toughest things I had done in a while, but I really had no choice. Tank and I were going running this morning and I knew I had to get down to the gym ASAP. It was time for me to start working off all of the extra calories I had consumed between my mother's empanadas and Mrs. Plum's pineapple upside down cake.
It would have been nice if Steph was in any shape to join me for at least part of my morning workout, but I knew I had to take things slowly with her. She wasn't anywhere close to coming around to my way of thinking about the importance of a healthy diet and proper physical fitness. After I put on a T-shirt, running shorts and sweatsuit, I gently shook my Babe's shoulder until she opened her bleary eyes.
"Babe, I'm going to do my work-out now. If you get up before I return, just call Ella and she'll bring you whatever you want for breakfast."
Steph nodded and turned her face upward to kiss me. Dios! She looked so sexy laying there, wearing one of my T-shirts as her pajamas. It was all I could do to control myself and respect the fact that it was the wrong time of the month to indulge in morning nookie. Sighing inwardly, I gave my Babe a quick kiss and then I forced my legs to carry me out of the bedroom to lace up my running shoes. Then I quietly left our apartment and went down to the fifth-floor control room to see what was going on.
"Good morning, sir," said Ram as I came into the room and glanced at each one of the monitors. Everything was nice and quiet – just the way I liked it.
"Who's coming on at 0600?" I asked. The clock on the wall said 0515 hours, but the oncoming shift workers usually showed up a little early to eat some breakfast before they parked their behinds in the chairs.
Ram picked up the duty roster and replied, "Aguilar, Dorsey, Martinez and Santos."
"Santos?" I asked, quite surprised to hear that my cousin was returning to duty so soon.
"Yeah, Santos," I heard a familiar voice say from behind me. "It's not a problem. Watching the monitors is considered light duty, and the doctor said I'd be able to handle it just fine … sir." Lester was holding a large mug of steaming hot coffee and he had a big grin on his face. "Besides, I had already traded shifts with Binkie so that he could sleep in today. He had a hot date last night with that local girl he's been seeing and since I needed more time to get ready for Grandma Rosa's party tonight, the trade seemed reasonable."
I stifled a groan. Somehow, I had forgotten that Lester would be at tonight's party, too. After all, his mother was Grandma Rosa's youngest child. My Uncle Teddy was the oldest living son, then my Uncle Javier - named for Grandma Rosa's brother who was a priest - then my father, and then my Aunt Anita, Lester's mother. Although Lester was my closest cousin on the Mañoso side of the family, our relationship didn't have the same level of familial intimacy as my friendships with Val, Gonzo or Cat - my Súarez cousins down in Florida. We were, however, very close to each other within our "band of brothers" due to our days in the army together.
"You're going to take it easy here on the day shift, right?" I said. "No heroics if a trouble call comes in. Let someone else go out. I'm serious."
"Oh, don't you worry about me, Ranger" Lester said. "I have to be a good boy today, 'cause I'm gonna be a bad boy tonight."
I raised my eyebrow at Lester and he continued, "I'm bringing Sheila Montoya as my date to the party. You probably don't remember her from grade school, but she filled out nicely once we got to high school. She was in my homeroom class two years in a row. Man, Sheila was hot! She still is - and she's newly divorced, too. I gonna have to sleep in late tomorrow morning, if you know what I mean." The leer on his face was comical, but I wasn't laughing.
"What about your bruised ribs?" I asked dryly as I turned to leave the control room. "Won't you be in pain?"
"That's the beauty of the thrashing you gave me, coz," Lester said and then he paused to take a long sip of his coffee. "I'm gonna get all kinds of sympathy points from family and friends alike tonight. And the best part is that Sheila is a nurse! Dude, can you say T.L.C. all night long? I mean, you actually did me a favor by giving me some 'wounded warrior' credibility. I can hardly wait to experience some of Sheila's bedside manners. Damn! That's what I'm talkin' 'bout!" Then he grinned even wider at me.
I just shook my head in amazement. Only Lester could make something great come out of something so bad. Ever since we were kids, he'd always been able to talk himself both into and out of trouble and he obviously planned to use the injuries I had inflicted upon him to score big after our grandmother's party. At least I didn't need to feel guilty anymore about hurting him.
Now, though, I'd have to find a way to get to Grandma Rosa first and tell her my version of how I ended up hurting Lester or else there was going to be trouble. My cousin had a way of twisting the truth to his best advantage and I was not in the mood for every female relative at the party to scold me about causing him such physical pain. I already knew that they were going to give me grief about my elopement, as well as the fact that I had married a non-Latina who couldn't speak Spanish. My head started to ache as I realized that tonight had the potential to be as draining as yesterday had been.
I slipped into my office and checked my e-mail, as well as my phone messages. Not surprisingly, Joe Morelli had left messages for me on both my business phone and my company's web account. I winced at the fact that he said he'd like to speak with me and my wife at our earliest convenience. Of course, he didn't put it in such nice terms, but I suppose if I'd been in his shoes, I wouldn't care to be very polite about things, either. I replied to Morelli's e-mail and told him that Stephanie and I would meet him for lunch at Pino's this afternoon. Then I bypassed the elevator and took the stairs down to the basement.
Tank already was in the gym when I arrived. He took one look at my face and shook his head. There was nothing that either of us wanted to say while we were in the presence of cameras and mics, so we both stretched in silence and then headed for the street. We went outside through the garage and fell into a nice running pace along the deserted sidewalk. The sky was clear and the air felt crisp as we ran through the streets of Trenton. A few early-morning commuters drove past us until we turned onto a path around a nearby park. After about three miles, Tank cleared his throat and began to talk.
"About last night," he said, "Did you and Stephanie-"
I cut him off and said, "Nothing happened. We went to sleep together and nothing more. That's why I sent you back to your house."
"Just checking," he said, sounding a little hurt.
"Hey, man," I said, "I appreciate the fact that you were willing to stay in Bobby's apartment in case something had gone wrong, but we're okay."
"Do I need to stay in the building tonight?" he asked.
I shook my head. "I don't think so. Stephanie and I are going to my grandma's birthday party and we'll probably be out late. Both of us are still tired, so we agreed to hold off on any "therapies" until after we talk to the doctor on Monday."
"She's still on the rag, huh?" Tank said.
"That, too," I admitted with a grimace. We were getting way too personal with Steph's physical condition, as well as my own. "But thanks for offering your help, anyway. I'm still looking forward to trying your ideas."
"Yeah, well, I advise you to go slowly," he warned. "I'm not a professional, so my ideas might be a load of crap that'll mess you up more than you already are."
We ran in silence for another half-mile before Tank asked, "So … that dark look on your face this morning; what was that about?"
"I finally checked my work e-mail and phone messages," I replied. "Morelli wants to talk."
"That figures," Tank nodded. "You gonna meet with him alone?"
"Negative. If Stephanie and I plan to live in this town for any length of time, we've got to clear the air with her ex now, before there are any 'incidents' due to hard feelings."
"Need any back-up?"
I shook my head. "We'll be alright. We're all grown-ups."
Tank raised an eyebrow at me and I smiled back at him. "Morelli might be a little upset right now, but I doubt he'll try anything stupid in a public place." I said.
"Okay," Tank shrugged. We ran in companionable silence for another mile or so and then my long-time friend asked me, "When did you know – I mean really know for sure – that you actually wanted to marry Stephanie?"
It took me a moment to compose my thoughts and I said, "Right after I found out that she hadn't spent the night at Morelli's house. When Lester told me what had happened, I could hardly believe it, but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to take Steph with me on my Florida trip. I realized that I might never get another chance like it - it was the opportunity of a lifetime. That's when I asked Ella to pack a bag for Stephanie, too. You know the rest of the story."
"Yeah," he nodded. "The way you played up those choices to Stephanie when you stayed overnight at the safe house – now that was a nice piece of psychological warfare. You lucked out. I'm just glad I got to be your best man at your wedding after all that."
I smiled and quietly said, "Hooah!" (Translation: Me, too.)
After another mile, Tank told me something that I never thought I'd hear from him. "I'm thinking of getting married to Lula."
Grabbing a fistful of my sweatshirt, I held my chest and faked a heart attack for a few paces. "Dios mio!" I exclaimed playfully. "The world must be coming to an end!" Then I straightened up and continued to run next to Tank.
"Smartass," Tank said as he gave me a sideways glance. "This isn't a joke, Ranger. I'm trying to be serious here."
"Okay," I said and we ran for another fifty paces or so before I asked, "When did you figure out that you love Lula enough to marry her?"
"Yesterday," he replied without hesitation.
"What happened?"
He had a strange expression on his face, halfway between embarrassed and proud, when he said, "Well … after you called and told me that you didn't need for me to hang around, I went back to my house. Then Lula came over and we … talked."
Yeah, right. "Wait a minute," I said. "I thought she was allergic to your cats."
Tank shrugged and said, "Turns out, she's been taking allergy shots."
"Wonders never cease," I said as I shook my head.
"You got that right," Tank agreed and then continued, "Anyway, I was telling Lula about some of the things I had recommended for you to do with Stephanie and-"
Now I stopped in my tracks and glared at my old friend. "You told Lula about my problems?"
"No! I'd never do that and you know it!" he exclaimed and pulled on my arm to get me running again.
"Fine," I said and picked up the pace. "You just took me by surprise, that's all."
Tank shook his head. "We were talking about the, um … toys we had given to you as wedding presents. Lula was wondering if we should have given you guys something, you know, with more class. So I tried to make her feel better by explaining to her that you two probably would get more use out of the toys than you would from a set of silver candlesticks."
I grinned. "Hooah!" (Translation: Damn skippy!)
He grinned back at me and said, "When I proceeded to remind Lula about some of the things you and Stephanie could do with the toys, well … one thing led to another, and before I knew it, one of my wrists was handcuffed to the bedpost and the other was handcuffed to Lula. And the funny thing is that I didn't mind it one bit. In fact, I think that's when I decided that I'd like for things to stay that way for the rest of my life."
"You want to be cuffed to Lula and to your bed … forever?" I asked, now smiling widely.
"Metaphorically speaking, yes."
It was difficult to banish the mental image from my mind, but I finally accomplished this feat and asked, "Have you already asked Lula to marry you?"
He nodded.
"Did she say yes?"
He nodded again.
"Congratulations," I said - and I honestly meant it. In the years that I had known Tank, very few women had been bold or brave enough to go out with him. Although Lula certainly wasn't my type of woman, she could put a smile on the big guy's face like no one ever had done before.
"Thanks," he said. "And this time, I remember how everything happened."
"You were sober the whole time?"
"Yeah," Tank nodded again. "We had just finished doing the deed and I remember thinking to myself, 'Dude, this crazy woman is the best thing you've ever had, so don't let her slip away from you' and before I knew it, my mouth was popping the question."
"So, are you headed down to Florida next week?" I asked. "You know that you're welcome aboard the Batcave anytime. In fact, Papí would be happy to see you again so soon."
He shook his head and said, "Thanks, but no thanks. Both Lula and I are New Jersey residents so we'll just stay local. I actually was thinking of taking her to this little place up in the Poconos after we see the Justice of the Peace. It's one of those resort hotels. I found it online and it looks real nice."
I considered this for about an eighth of a mile and then said, "Sounds like you really are serious, old friend."
"Hooah," he replied matter-of-factly. (Translation: I am seriously serious.)
"Then I say you should go for it - ASAP," I said. "Don't wait around forever like I did. If you're sure about Lula this time, then you shouldn't waste a single moment trying to outwit her."
"What do you mean?"
"Everybody knows that you and Lula are crazy for each other, Tank," I explained. "Just like everybody –apparently - knew how much Stephanie and I cared for each other. So don't be like me. I nearly lost the woman I loved because I was too busy trying to be subtle and sneaky. Life's too short for that crap. And we're already living on borrowed time as it is."
Tank nodded one last time before we exited the park and headed back to the RangeMan building, both lost in our own thoughts. Our time serving together in the Special Forces had been a lot of fun, but it was a hard life, too. All of us former soldiers knew that we had survived terrible situations in which we really should have died. The fact that we still drew breath was a miracle on its own. Even as I said those encouraging words to my friend, I knew I was speaking to myself.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Stephanie's POV
Unbelievable! While I was sleeping in, my darling husband agreed to a supposedly casual meeting between us and the man who had recently broken up with me. I could hardly breathe when Ranger told me that we'd be having lunch with Joe that afternoon - at Pino's, no less!
"Are you out of your mind?" I exclaimed, my sudden hysteria threatening to overcome me. "I'm not ready to face Joe! It's too soon!"
"Babe, the sooner we get this over with, the sooner Morelli can move on," Ranger said calmly as he drank his coffee and chewed on the last morsel of his toasted, whole-grain bagel.
The wonderful Saint Ella had delivered a nutritious, but boring, breakfast to us at around nine o'clock and we were just finishing it when Ranger delivered this unwelcome news to me. I hadn't woken up until 'Mr. Studly Do-Right' returned from his workout, which had taken an extremely long time. He and Tank had gone for a ten-mile run at the crack of dawn and then they had sparred with some of the other men in the gym and then they had lifted weights. I got tired just thinking about the run.
"But Carlos, why Pino's?" I asked. "People are going to see us. People are going to recognize us."
His eyes locked onto mine and he said, "That's the idea, Babe. We're married now. People need to get used to seeing us together - especially all the people who know that you and Morelli used to be together."
"Is this about 'marking your territory'?" I asked as steam began to form in my ears. "Because, if it is, you can just forget-"
I never finished my sentence. Ranger sprang up out of his chair and swept me up into his arms before I had a chance to let my tirade get to full volume. His lips claimed my lips and within seconds, I lost my train of thought. Part of me wanted to stay angry at him for being able to distract me so easily. The other part of me wanted to stay lost in his kisses. Nevertheless, we both knew that we weren't going to end up back in bed, so I wasn't surprised to find that I still had on all of my clothes after Ranger stopped kissing me.
"What did you do that for?" I asked as he led me into the living room. Not surprisingly, my voice sounded husky to my own ears.
He sort-of smiled and said, "You're cute when you're about to have a temper tantrum, but not when you're in the middle of one. I just wanted to cut off your steam before it burned us both."
"Hmph!" I said and narrowed my eyes at him. "That's awfully sneaky of you."
He shrugged. "Whatever works, Babe."
Then he kissed me again and pulled me down onto the sofa with him. I don't exactly remember when I agreed that meeting Joe would turn out for the best, but I guess it must have happened after Ranger wore down my defenses. However, he did agree to make a slight detour to my apartment on our way to the pizza place.
"Why are we here, Babe?" Ranger asked after Dillon, the building manager, finished explaining about all of the repairs and then left us alone.
"I just need to pick up a few things," I explained. "And I need to decide what should stay and what should go before Grandma Mazur returns from Florida. Thanksgiving will be here before we know it and I want the place to be ready for her by then."
"I see," Ranger said. "Tell me again why you've got your cookie jar under one arm and holding a sack of soot-filled shoes and clothes in the other."
I glanced down at the trash bag full of smoke-damaged clothing and shrugged. "If I can't salvage these, then I'll have to replace them."
"Ella has fully stocked your side of the closet already," he reminded me.
"And I truly appreciate all those nice things," I said. "But some of the items in this bag are my favorites. I really hope I can save them."
Ranger processed this information and then he said, "Babe, you know I can't allow you to stash your gun in that jar. It's not secure. In fact, it's ridiculous!"
I gave him a Burg girl glare and said, "For your information, I wasn't going to stash my gun in the cookie jar."
"Then why are you taking it with you?"
"It'll make Rex feel more at home," I said. "And besides, I was hoping that if I placed it on the kitchen counter, the cookie fairy would fill it with wonderful, sugary treats."
Now I figured that it was Ranger's turn to glare back at me for being so addicted to junk food, but he didn't. Instead, he came over to me and wrapped his arms around me in a gentle hug. Then he kissed the top of my head and said, "And this is why I love you."
"Because I believe in the cookie fairy?" I asked.
"Because you're sentimental," he replied. "And you're tough and brave and lucky and irrational. But I love every part of you and I can hardly wait to-"
"Irrational?" I said, interrupting the flow of Ranger's words. "You think I'm irrational?"
He merely shook his head and said, "Babe."
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Ranger's POV
I've already marked my calendars to remind me of the particular days of the month when I might want to schedule some time to be in the wind and away from my Babe. I love her more than anything, but we almost had to abort this afternoon's mission before it even started. Stephanie's hormones were making things difficult and she wasn't very happy when she heard that I had agreed to meet with Joe Morelli over lunch at Pino's. I knew it was risky, but I had to take a chance. Luckily, I knew that the cop would understand the situation with her condition because he had suffered through it himself.
Lunch went mostly as expected. Morelli was already sitting there when we arrived at Pino's. Several of the restaurant's patrons stared at me and Stephanie when we sat down at the table with him, but I ignored their curious glances. We ate our pizza and had some small talk, but I kept wondering when the serious yelling would begin. Steph was a nervous wreck and when she finally excused herself to go to the restroom, I leaned over and talked to Morelli in a low voice.
"Alright, Morelli," I growled. "Is there something in particular you wanted to say either me or Stephanie, or are we going to just sit around and chit-chat about nothing important until we all turn to dust?"
Morelli considered my words and then quietly asked me, "Does she know? Stephanie know what you are? Have you told her who you work for?"
"She knows what she needs to know - for now," I replied.
He sat back in his chair and smiled crookedly. "So … you haven't told her everything yet. She doesn't know you're a Fed. This ought to be good."
"What do you want, Morelli?" I asked, feeling annoyed. Yes, I worked for certain federal agencies. No, I hadn't told Stephanie which ones, but I would - all in good time.
"You know what I've always wanted, Mañoso, and if it weren't for you, I might've actually been able to make it happen," he said, his voice was tight and hard. "But like the Rolling Stones once said, you can't always get what you want. And seeing you two all happy together – out in the open and not sneaking around behind my back – I've finally realized that Steph belongs with you now."
I was tempted to say something flippant, but Trenton isn't a huge town and we'd all need to keep on each other's good sides as much as possible. Also, the fact that both Morelli and I carry multiple loaded weapons at all times kept me from indulging my impulse to gloat. Thiswas the man who easily could have had everything I now possessed, but he'd screwed it up by not allowing the woman we both loved to be her true self. Since Morelli couldn't remake my Babe into a semi-compliant Burg housewife, he had wisely let her go. I decided to rephrase my question.
"Is there anything that either I or my wife can do for you?" I asked.
Morelli flinched when I said the word "wife." Then he took a sip of his beer and said, "I just want to know how you did it; how you finally were able to take Stephanie away from me. Obviously, you were waiting right there, as always, and she ran straight into your poaching arms."
"I was under the impression that you broke up with Stephanie," I calmly replied. "Didn't you tell her that you were tired of waiting for her to make up her mind?"
Morelli blinked. Then his shoulders slightly slumped and he said, "Yeah, well, that was after she wouldn't accept my final marriage proposal. But I have to know - how did you get the notoriously indecisive Stephanie Plum to marry you?"
Without any hesitation I said, "I put a ring on it."
"Oh."
"I love Stephanie," I continued, "And I trust her intuition. She'll never be as good a … bounty hunter as I am, but my Babe's definitely got guts, as well as a natural talent for finding people."
He leaned forward and narrowed his eyes at me. "I guess this means you're gonna try to turn Stephanie into a super-spook like you and the rest of your crew," he whispered bitterly.
"Not exactly," I replied carefully and quietly. This was neither the time nor the place to discuss my profession. "Stephanie is free to be whatever and whoever she wants to be, as far as I'm concerned. But she's got a lot of potential and she'll be working on certain cases with me."
"Well, good luck with that," he said. "You people must have access to phenomenal health and property insurance. And, believe me, you're gonna need it."
That comment got half of a smile out of me and I said, "We'll be alright."
Morelli sighed and nodded. "Just take good care of her, will ya? Don't let her get in too far over her head. I ... there will always be a special place in my heart for Stephanie Plum."
I felt myself tense up. I didn't like the sound of that statement, even though something very similar to it most likely would have come out of my mouth if our roles had been reversed. Morelli noticed my body posture and raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.
"Don't worry, Ranger," he said, smiling ruefully, "I'm not like you; I can't be a poacher; sharing's just not my thing - especially when it involves married women. From here on out, I'll respectfully keep my distance from your wife. It would be nice to think that we could all end up being good friends someday, but I'm not that naïve. I know where to draw the line and I don't plan on crossing it."
"I'll hold you to that, Morelli," I said.
He nodded again. "I wouldn't expect anything less from you, Mañoso."
"In that case," I said, "I've got someone I'd like for you to meet." Then I pulled a small, white business card out of my pocket and handed it to him.
"Linda Hansen," Morelli mumbled as he studied the card. Then he looked up at me and asked. "Is she related to you?"
"No."
"Does she … look like … Steph?"
"Not even close," I replied. "Blonde hair, pale blue eyes. She's an elementary school teacher over in Hamilton Township. Her cousin is one of my employees, but he gave me permission to give you Linda's card. She's very nice and I think you'll get along with her."
Morelli took out his wallet and carefully placed the card inside one of its folds. He was stuffing the wallet back into his pocket when Stephanie reappeared at the table and stood next to her chair. Her gaze swept from me to Morelli and then back to me. Before she could say anything, he began to speak.
"Ranger and I were just settling the bill," he told her. "It's real nice of you two to pay for the pizza this time, Cupcake." Then Morelli looked over at me as if he was daring me to contradict him. I just smiled and let him have his little victory. And I decided to ignore the "Cupcake" remark - after all, I got the girl and I know she'll always be my Babe!
"Well, I gotta get going," Morelli said to Stephanie as he rose from his chair. "I'll be seeing you two around town, I'm sure. Say hi to your folks for me, Steph, okay?"
My Babe only nodded at Morelli's request while he shrugged on his leather jacket. Now I was standing next to Steph, with my arm draped casually, but somewhat possessively, over her shoulder. It was time for us to part ways and I knew the entire place was watching the scene unfold between us out of the corners of their eyes.
Then Joe Morelli, Trenton cop and former lover of Stephanie Plum, thrust his right hand toward me. His steady gaze held mine as he waited for me to reach out to shake hands with him, which I did without any hesitation. His grasp was firm, but we didn't turn the handshake into a contest of strength. It was a final "gentlemen's agreement" to let bygones be bygones where my wife was concerned. And I sensed that Morelli would turn out to be a man of his word.
A/N: As I've said before, I don't hate Morelli – he's just not the right man for Stephanie. Still, I hope he gets his own HEA with someone else really soon. This story will only hint at such an occurrence, but let me know what you think. Of course, by the time I post my next update, Sizzlin' Sixteen will have been released and we'll all have a better idea of what JE, Inc. thinks. Many apologies for not responding to your wonderful reviews - I promise to answer all of them when I return from summer camp in two weeks. I look forward to hearing from you! Thanks! :D
