Steph accomplishes something unbeknown to anyone...even ranger. Babe story. Babe HEA. Very Morelli UNFRIENDLY. Some angst but lots of fluff to counteract it.
Mi amor (my love)Querida (Dear)Mi cariña (My darling/sweetheart)Si (Yes) Dios (God)Amante (Lover)
WARNING: Language, Sex and Adult themes apply. Possible Violence. Mature Content. I do not own anything, all belongs to Janet Evanovich.
29
SPOV
After half an hour the house was starting to reach its holding capacity and people were beginning to spill out into the backyard. I had been introduced to so many people it was mind blowing. I had no hope in hell of remembering any of their names except for those I had met earlier on in the week. Alicia was yet to make a second appearance, but Ricardo had returned ten minutes prior so I was expecting her to storm in at any minute. Lester had been hovering about five yards from us since he got here; continuously shooting me miserable glances...it was starting to make me feel guilty.
"Babe? Babe?...what's wrong?" I quickly glanced up at Carlos.
"Huh? Nothing." Had I missed something?
"I asked, would you mind waiting here for a minute while I go speak to Alicia?" I glanced around the circle of people we were standing with and the only person who was familiar to me was Lester. Sigh.
"I...uh...ok" I mumbled. If he wanted to go speak with his sister I wasn't going to stop him just because I didn't want to be left alone.
"I'll be right back Babe" Carlos gave me a small smile and kissed me quickly before removing his arm and stalking away, parting the crowd with barely a glance.
I turned back to the circle and was engulfed in a conversation of rapid Spanish that I couldn't keep up with for the life of me. I glanced around the room, and just my luck, not even one of Carlos' sisters or brother in laws were around...not even Ricardo or Maria.
Facing the circle again I found them all quiet and staring at me. Gulp. Why me? I gave a nervous smile and slid away from the group with a wave goodbye. Maybe someone I knew would be outside. I paused, but Carlos would be back in a second and if he didn't find me where he left me...
"Beautiful?" I heard Lester wonder. Slowly, I turned and faced him. He isn't going to hurt you Steph, none of the Merry Men have ever raised a hand to you or threatened you. Deep breaths.
"Yeah Lester" I answered timidly. He stood in front of me, a foot away, his stance relaxed, not in the least bit intimidating.
"You called me Lester, you haven't called me anything other than Santos for weeks" He had a small smile on his lips, like this made him happy. I gave him a small smile in return.
"Carlos said Tank adjusted your attitude. He said I should try to trust you and be friends again" I paused gauging his reaction. The smile fell off his lips and his shoulders slumped slightly.
"I was an utter asshole, Beautiful. I should have stood up for you, protected you...I should have been there for you. I'm so sorry Steph. I didn't even realise how bad he was abusing you until the other day. I want you to trust me. I want to be friends. I miss you, being around you...all the men do. I'm sorry." His eyes indicated he was telling the truth.
First Tank, now Lester. Wow. He stood in front of me looking so dejected after I kept quiet for a few minutes. I took a step forward and wrapped my arms around his waist, giving him a gentle hug. His arms quickly wrapped around me, holding me to him.
"Does this mean we're ok?" He asked. I nodded. Carlos was back now anyway, he'd keep his men from treating me badly if they regressed.
"Hands off my woman, primo" Carlos ordered from behind me. (cousin)
Lester's glance flicked up over my shoulder and he smiled. His arms slowly dropped from around me, and he raised a hand. I made sure not to flinch, he's not gonna hit you Steph. What he did do actually shocked me even more. Lester ran his knuckles softly up and down my cheek as Carlos slid his arms around my waist.
"You are so happy now. It's so good to see you happy Beautiful. To see you smile." He leaned forward and kissed my forehead, ignoring Carlos' growl. There was a mischievous smirk playing on his lips. Uh oh, playful Lester's back in town. "If he stops satisfying you, you know who to turn to" He chuckled at Carlos, who I'm sure was giving him a death glare.
"It's never gonna happen Lester" I murmured, turning in the arms that encased me to smile at Carlos' face. His gaze dropped from Lester's to mine. I tilted my head up and placed a soft kiss on his lips.
"I will see you two lovebirds around" Lester laughed as he walked away. Carlos grunted a response before he pulled me tighter to him and kissed me soundly.
"Mine" He complained against my lips.
"Forever" I returned, my lips curving into a smile. He kissed me again, this time softly, with love and affection.
"Love you Babe" He smiled into my eyes. I almost melted into a puddle at his feet.
"Love you too Batman" I buried my face in his chest to hide my glistening eyes and felt him chuckle.
RPOV
God, she's so beautiful. I held her against my chest as she tried to hide her tears of happiness from me. I dropped a kiss in her hair and continued watching her, waiting for her to look up. She finally did after a few minutes and I felt my heart swell...and the tightness in my pants increase. The sexiest smile imaginable was prominent on her face.
"You make me so happy" She whispered. I had my lips on hers the instant she finished speaking.
"Right back at ya Babe" I answered.
Suddenly I noticed that the room had dropped dramatically in volume. I glanced around the room and met the shocked and smiling faces of my extended family. I felt like I had revealed too much...then I glanced back at my Babe and thought maybe I hadn't revealed enough. When it came to her...it was getting harder and harder to hide my emotions concerning her around my family and friends. Another song started on the stereo and the volume of voices rose once again. Babe had been completely unaware the whole time placing kisses along my jaw. I suppressed a shiver of pleasure and pulled away, keeping one arm around her waist, leading her outside.
The moment we exited the house I wished I had never brought her out here. My mama, sisters, Ella and Abuela were all sitting in a group on the veranda while my papa, brother in laws and a couple of my uncles lingered around a barbeque. They were gonna separate us.
"Carlos? ...Carlos?" Babe was looking at me. I had gotten distracted.
"Yes Babe" I wondered cupping her face in my hand.
"What did you say to Alicia?" I stared at Steph for a moment before sweeping my eyes around the backyard to find Alicia in a corner with a third cousin, flirting incessantly. She had her eyes trained on us though.
"I asked her how she located and entered my house without me having given her the address, key or code." My eyes dropped back to Babe's face.
I saw the question before she even opened her mouth.
"Ella has all the details in her apartment. It seems Alicia payed her a visit not long ago and found out all she needed. All the members of my immediate family have been loaded into the thumb scanner's data base, just in case of an emergency." I explained. She nodded her understanding.
"Do you..." Steph cleared her throat. I gave her hip a reassuring squeeze. What Babe? You can ask me. She flashed a nervous smile before looking down at her necklace that once again held her ring. "Do you think she's going to accept me or start to like me any time soon?" Babe whispered with a frown on her features. I crushed her to my chest. I hate it when she's sad and I can't fix it.
"I don't know Babe. But she's certainly not going to be speaking badly to you anymore. She's going to at the very least tolerate your presence otherwise, I told her I would not tolerate her anymore. I can't make her like you Babe, as much as I wish I could. I'm sorry Babe" She had been expecting that answer for the most part.
"You'd shun your own sister if she refused to tolerate me?" Babe wondered. I couldn't quite pick her emotion.
"Yeah Steph, I would. I care about you more than her" Not that I didn't love my sister...I was just in love with Babe. I never got her response though.
"Stephanie! Yoo hoo! Come over here" Nadia giggled. I sighed and Babe dropped her head onto my shoulder muttering something under her breath. Smiling I tipped her face towards mine before caressing her lips passionately.
"Stay strong Babe. If they ask when we're getting married, tell them I haven't proposed yet. If they ask about us having babies, tell them... when the time is right it will happen. Try to deflect as many questions as you can and don't let them gang up on you" I gave her a gentle kiss.
"But can't you come with me" Babe pleaded nervously looking over her shoulder at my giggling sisters.
"I would but..."
"Hijo!" My papa called. (Son)
"My father is in on it Babe" I watched Steph take a deep breath and kiss me again, like I gave her courage and then she pulled out my arms. I kept my eyes trained on her as she made her way over and was given a seat next to my mother, Elena's baby Nicandro immediately placed in her arms to keep her at bay. Poor Babe. I shook my head and strolled over to my papa's group.
SPOV
I was seated next to Maria with a cooing Nicandro in my arms and knew they were about to give me the inquisition of the century. I kept my eyes trained on the baby, so adorable in my arms and found myself brimming with excitement for one of my own. I glanced up and sought Carlos through the crowd. His smiling eyes were locked on me. I returned the smile just as the questioning started.
"So exactly how long have you known my baby brother?" It sounded funny, anyone referring to Carlos with the word baby. I stifled a giggle and thought about an answer. They all grew impatient.
"I'm not sure exactly" I gave Nicandro a small smile as I tickled his foot, earning me a happy gurgle.
"A rough estimate then" Celia pushed. Even though I was surrounded by all the women of Carlos' immediate family...they just weren't that good at interrogating...I wasn't even feeling nervous. Should have sent in Carlos' papa if they really wanted some juicy answers.
"Around four years I guess" I answered absentmindedly running a finger along the baby's soft cheek.
"And how long have you been dating?" I paused...dating. Not really the right word for our relationship.
"How long have I been in love with him?" I clarified. They exchanged glances. If they said no, I'd have to tell them we'd only been dating for a week and I knew that really wasn't a good enough representation of how much we actually felt for each other.
"Yeah" Elena declared, everyone holding their breaths in anticipation of my answer.
"A very long time...almost as long as I have known him" My gaze swept the backyard again till I found Carlos' eyes. He hadn't moved an inch.
"How long have you been living in sin with my nieto?" Carlos' grandmother asked. Gulp. Now she could be an interrogator. (grandson)
"I only moved in with him last Sunday" That didn't really answer the question...maybe she would let it slide. She clucked her tongue disapprovingly but said nothing more.
"And how long till my son makes an honest woman out of you?" Maria wondered, excitement shinning in her eyes.
"When he proposes I'm sure you'll be one of the first people he tells." She slumped down in her chair a bit. I'm sure Alicia had already told her of Carlos calling me his fiancé. She probably was waiting for us to set a date.
"What about babies? When will I get some grandchildren?" She continued, more hopefully after a glance at Ella.
"When the time is right it will happen" I shrugged nonchalantly and raised my eyes again as I felt a familiar tingle.
Carlos had entered the little circle. He motioned for me to stand and I complied readily, raising my eyebrows at him. His lips tilted up a fraction but he said nothing as he sat down and drew me, baby and all, to sit in his lap.
"Have you been interrogating my girlfriend?" Carlos asked; an amused tone to his voice.
"Unsuccessfully" Someone muttered under their breaths. Carlos chuckled.
"I taught you well Babe" He murmured in my ear, pressing a kiss to my neck.
"When are you going to propose to this beautiful woman of yours Carlitos?" Maria demanded. Carlos smiled at her and pressed another kiss to my skin, this time on my cheek.
"Soon" He answered, tightening his arms around me slightly. I snugged back into him as much as I could.
"And when will you do your duty to this family and give us a grandchild" Ricardo approached the circle and stared down his son.
"Soon" Carlos answered once again. I'm sure he'd already got these questions the second we walked in the door and probably while he was standing with the other men. Ricardo then turned to me. Gulp.
"And have you been trying?" His warm brown eyes, almost identical to Carlos' pierced through me. God, so hard to lie.
"Maybe" Oops. I hadn't even meant to open my mouth.
"Maybe. Is this true Hijo?" He turned back to Carlos. Damn, I was the weak link.
"When the time is right it will happen" I felt Carlos smile against my skin.
Everyone in the circle groaned. I had to stop myself from giggling.
"Well, if you'll excuse us. I wish to introduce Steph to a few more relatives" Carlos stood, effectively forcing me to my feet before he gently removed the baby from my arms and settled him in Elena's.
We spent the next few hours before dinner socializing with Carlos' much extended family before sitting down for the meal. After desert we left with a goodbye to his parents.
"See, that wasn't so bad Babe" Carlos murmured as he led me to the car, now surrounded by a sea of other cars.
"No, it was actually enjoyable. You have a lovely family" I returned, allowing him to slide me into the passenger seat. I felt him reach around, undoing the clasp on my necklace before he slipped the ring back on my finger. He brought my hand to his lips.
"Soon" He promised softly. I smiled, I really didn't need a ring to make me his...but it would be nice. Carlos brushed a heated kiss against my lips before closing the door and making his way around to the driver's side. He had the car started and us manoeuvred out of there within minutes.
