Author's Note: Good morning, y'all. Shout out to Margaret Fowler for her messages and the reminder that people are still interested in Unstoppable. Shout out to all of you for making this little ditty my first story to get 300 reviews! This…is…SPARTA! And it's totally awesome. My writer's block has finally been demolished by wedding cupcakes and wild dancing until midnight and I hope you guys enjoy what I've come up with. I do.

Disclaimer: "Honestly, it's not mine!"

Stephanie's POV

"I can see why Carlitos and Tater adore you so much." Alejandro Santos-Guzman declared serenely as we folded laundry.

Alejandro was Lester's older brother and looked like a taller, male version of Ella. The kind brown eyes common to the family line blazed behind thick black square frames and his black hair was tied back in a ponytail. While Lester, Raph and Carlos were more than a little roughneck, he had the demeanor of a yoga instructor, which was appropriate since that's what he does now. The army ink on his wrists spoke of an adventurous past, though…

"Tater?"

"Lester. When we were little kids, he loved tater tots and could always be bribed into mayhem with them and pop rocks."

I grinned at the image of little Lester running around with ketchup stains on his fingertips and sighed. Dad and Grandma were going to be here by noon and the last minute preparations for the wedding had gone surprisingly well. Maybe it's because Carlos and I are keeping it small. Maybe it's because Carlos has taken an active role in the prep and shit gets done right when he's around. Or maybe, it's God and Karma's gift.

After all, we are finally getting it right finally. The point is that I have my dress, the food (and most importantly, the cake) tastes like heaven, and Vinnie says that Helen and Morelli are still utterly clueless. …Yeah, I know. Vinnie, Stephanie? You're using Vinnie as your lookout? Well, yes. After all, he's counting on Morelli pulling a Morelli (try saying that 5 times fast) and leaving Joyce high and dry for the taking. The ick factor is high but whatever. Besides, the only other option was Mooner and he's already down here with Connie. Whether he's a safe wedding date or more remains to be seen but if they do hook up…well, stranger things have happened.

"You've been good for them. You've prompted my little brother to grow up and my little cousin to act like a human instead of a Terminator. Not to mention the effect you've had on RangeMan in general."

"What do you mean?"

"They realize now that even though violence and guns are fun, man cannot live well on them alone. You, Estefanía in all of your Burg girl glory forced a bunch of hardass military men back into the land of the living and they're happier. Happy soldiers are better soldiers." he replied sagely.

Before I could reply, a sniffling 3 year old Sonya came in, blood dripping from a cut on her finger.

"Tia Stephanie…I gots an owie." the little angel whimpered, making me pick her up and hug her tight.

"Okay, dulce. Let's make it better. What adventures were you getting into when this happened?" I asked as we headed for the kitchen, her daddy following us.

"I was tryin' to pick you a rose like daddy did for mommy today and it stuck me.", she explained an adorable moue, making my heart turn to goo.

True to Lester's words, the Miami branch of the family loved me on sight. Sonya was youngest of Alejandro's children. Yelina was Julie's age and Ricardo (Ricky) was 17. We had bonded over Bombshell stories and our shared hatred of math. Sonya had me from the first "Up, please!" and always found her way to my lap or my hip. I didn't mind it at all and neither did Carlos.

"This is gonna sting a little but it'll keep the cut and you from getting sick. You don't wanna get sick before me and your uncle get married, do you?"

"Nuh-uh. I wanna play with Lisa and M.A. and dance and eat lots of cake!" she declared as I sprayed the antiseptic with a grin. Thank God that Lester wasn't the only Santos that knew what real food was. Don't get me wrong, I love my new diet (and Ella's cooking) but cake? Cake rocks!

Reaching back into the fist aid kit, I held up two boxes of band-aids.

"Barbie or Ninja Turtles?"

"Ninja Turtles, please."

A girl after my own heart. I put the band-aid on and pressed a kiss to the digit before setting her own her feet.

"All better, now. Go find your cousins. I saw them with two 96 packs of crayons earlier…and sparkle stickers."

Sonya's eyes glazed over dreamily at the thought and she skipped out of the kitchen, promising to draw me a thank you dinosaur with lots and lots of stickers.

I have a feeling that I'm gonna have a collage worth by the end of the year.

/

Ranger's POV

"I smell something burning, Carlitos. I do hope you're not getting cold feet. I'd hate to see you get your ass kicked."

"Now, there's a lie if I ever heard one." I replied, making Catalina giggle and slug me in the arm. Catalina had been Alejandro's best friend since Pre-K and everyone knew that they were going to end up married. He had even sworn it at their elementary school graduation. Cat being Cat agreed but also made him work for her, becoming the family's source of amusement until I met my Babe…

"All right, you caught me. Seriously, what's on your mind?"

"Nothing bad. Just…I'm getting married to the right person at the right time and when I saw her tending to Sonya…"

"Which was tan adorable (so adorable)…"

"…I just…she…I want that with her. Babies and band-aids and all the shit I used to run from. Cat, she's changed me."

"And you're better for it. Now, you may have been a big bad ass CEO before you met her but you were damn miserable. You were lonely and you threw yourself into work and military mortal peril to try and fill the gap. And when that didn't work, you tried the whole 'condom not ring' nonsense and while that got you more ass than a toilet seat…"

Cat's been hanging around Babe more than I realized.

"…it didn't feed your heart. Steph does and I'm glad you realized it on your own because if that Mambo 1, 2, 3 bullshit you were doing with her continued past New Year's, Tater was going to use us in an emergency Intervention. Either that or go after her himself."

I snorted ruefully and conceded the point with a nod. If Lester or one the other RangeMen went after her, then my hands would've been tied. Unlike Morelli, each of my hermanos know how to treat and respect women. Not to mention that all of them have been (and probably still are) in love with Steph at any given time. If Lester or Brown or even Tank had stepped up to the plate, Steph would've certainly taken them up on it and I'm sure that I wouldn't have been able to get her away from any of them. After all, they know my poaching techniques better than anyone. And none of them had played a fraction of the mind games I did with her.

The fact that I'm the one marrying her in less than three days is a huge blessing, one that I'm not going to squander.

/

Helen's POV

"Please tell me that you've found her, Joseph."

"All I know is that she's still in the country. None of my contacts have seen her up in New England and she's not in Newark. She changed her credit cards and her number again and none of her friends are answering their phones, either."

I groaned deeply and continued pacing in the church courtyard, snow crunching underneath my boots. Young Father Matthews kept shooting me suspicious glances but I made sure to keep my voice down and a smile on my face. Keeping a calm surface was the key to being a proper woman, something that Stephanie never learned. She wore all of her emotions on her sleeve and never yielded to reason. If she could just do what's best for everyone instead of being so selfish, then we wouldn't be in this mess right now.

I can't even blame that Ranger person for this. No, it's all on Stephanie. Never listened, never yielded, always going off on some harebrained scheme and embarrassing the family name. A family name that I won't be having much longer. I am not stupid. I know exactly what Frank wants to "discuss" when he brings my mother back. He wants to divorce me. Me! The Mother of his Children, the Caretaker of his house and he wants to divorce me just because I refuse to let Stephanie be a spoiled brat, anymore. Well, fine! If he wants that, he can have it! I'd rather deal with the shame of being divorced than the shame of being associated with the Crazy Plums, anyway…

"Joseph, the wedding is on Friday. Today is Tuesday and there is no bride, no father to walk the bride down the aisle and no way to postpone it. If you don't find her and bring her home, I'll never be able to show my face around here again. Do you want that to happen?"

"Of course I don't, mom but…"

"Find her, Joseph. I don't care what you have to do. Find her and get her back here. Oh, and call that Barndhart woman and tell to keep away from the ceremony. Her presence will prompt too many questions. It's bad enough that she decided to air your little mistake in the middle of Pino's. We don't need any more gossip."

"I'll do my best, mom. See you soon."

I hung up my mobile phone and sighed heavily before making my way back to the young man who is supposed to help me repair the damage to my reputation.

Why do I have the feeling that everything is about to go terribly, terribly wrong?