Chapter 36

It was a wild few months. The 'Burg buzzed for a while when I took over the bond's office, and then it went completely ape-shit when news broke weeks later over why Vinnie had 'retired'. Poor Lucille was going to have her hands full with twins and a cranky Vinnie who couldn't get his jollies anymore!

It was a tough holiday season for me. My mom was still furious with me, and couldn't understand why I was married to a 'thug' instead of Joe.

I decided to give her one final chance, and Les and I went to her and dad's house for Thanksgiving dinner. It had been, in a word, disastrous. A raging disaster of epic proportions that made the dinner where we told them we were married seem almost like a June Cleaver special.

Even the presence of St. Valerie, Albert the Dough Boy and my nieces hadn't been enough to dull mom's vitriol. Not even the fact that I was running the bond's office instead of being a bounty hunter made a bit of difference to her. I wasn't living the life she wanted, so I was a bad daughter who didn't love her family.

Les had been a Godsend to me that day.

"Shh, Beautiful, we can leave as soon as we eat the pumpkin pie," he soothed.

She'd been making little digs at him all damn day, and I was about two seconds away from pulling his gun and shooting her.

Even Val was shooting me sympathetic looks, and Albert looked frankly confused by the hostility emanating from my mother.

"This is it. I'm done. Once we leave here, I'm never coming back again," I promised Les. "I'm not making you deal with her bullshit."

"Baby, I'm okay. Don't worry about me, I'm worried about you," he said as he pulled me to his chest in a warm and comforting hug.

Mom came in and started yelling at us. "What kind of example are you setting for the children? For heaven's sake, stop acting like that!"

"For heaven's sake, Helen, maybe if you got some every once in a while, you wouldn't be in such a snit!" my grandma retorted. "They ain't doing anything freaky, more's the pity, so give it a rest."

Mom just snorted.

"Mother, I'm hugging my husband because my mom's being a bitch to him. I don't see a problem with that," I told her in an icy tone.

She gasped. "Stephanie Michelle Plum, how dare you speak to me like that?" she demanded.

I stood slowly, Les's hand clasped in my own. "It's Stephanie Santos now. And how dare you speak to him like that? You don't know anything about him, and you've made zero effort to learn! He's a good man, a wonderful man! He loves me and I love him. I've never been happier in my whole life, but do you care? No! You just care that he's not 'Burg so it doesn't matter that I'm happy! You'd rather I be miserable with Dickie or Joe than blissfully happy with someone who isn't 'Burg. Well, screw you, mom! I'm done!"

I was nearly incoherent in rage as I tugged on Les's hand. "Let's go."

"You can't do that! I'm your mother!"

I turned slowly and the look on my face caused her to take two steps back. "And for thirty years, I've been waiting for you to act like a mother, to show that you give a damn about me. And I'm tired of waiting. You don't act like a proper mother should, and frankly, I'm tired of waiting. So take a good look 'cause this will be the last time you see me."

"What do you mean, I'm not a proper mother?" she sounded absolutely aghast. Ah, there was her Achilles heel, her weak spot. Attack her maternal abilities to bring her down.

"A proper mother would have been happy for her daughter for finding a man she loved who loved her too as long as he was a good man, regardless of whether he was 'Burg or not. A proper mother would have supported her daughter in her job even if she didn't like it because she loved her daughter. She wouldn't have moaned and groaned constantly about how it made her look bad. She would have been proud that her daughter was willing to do whatever was necessary to support herself. She would have, at some point in thirty damn years, said she was proud of her daughter for something. And I'm pretty sure I've never heard those words from you. So I'm tired of waiting for you to be a good mother, and frankly, I'm pretty sure I'll be happier without you as my mother."

Mom's mouth fell open, but grandma just cheered. "Here, here! I'm proud of you, baby girl! I can't tell you how tired I am of your mother here, I didn't raise her to be a close-minded prude. You go live your life and call me to have lunch."

I kissed grandma on the cheek. "I will. I can pick you up for lunch one day next week, okay?"

Grandma nodded.

Dad shot an evil glare at mom. "I'll join you for lunch, too. Just not the same day as this old bat," he said.

I nodded. "Sounds good. You can call my cell or stop by the bond's office."

Mom's jaw was opening and closing, but nothing was coming out.

Valerie looked unsure, so I decided to make it easier on her. "See you around," I said in a noncommittal tone. She just nodded.

Les drove us home, shooting anxious glances at me very few seconds. I couldn't talk yet. If I did, I'd cry, and if I cried, he'd probably wreck the car trying to comfort me while driving.

Once we got home, he just held me while I cried myself to sleep, again, over my mom being a bitch to the man I loved.

When I woke up, I was wrapped up in Les's arms, and his green eyes were watching me with concern. "Morning, baby," he said softly.

I snuggled closer with an inarticulate mutter that could be possible interpreted as good morning. Or it could have been Wookie for something dirty. I don't know.

After a few minutes of snuggling, he ventured another few words. "How are you feeling this morning?"

I'd been thinking about it. Surprisingly light, actually. Not physically, especially not given how much food I'd packed away before the final denouncement with my mom, but I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

"Surprisingly okay," I responded after a few seconds of thought. "Like you said last time, no need to deal with toxic bullshit all the time."

I felt him nod. "Whatever you think is best, Beautiful. You know I'll support you."

"I know." And I did. I think that was what finally gave me the courage to say enough is enough.

I did see both my dad and my grandma for lunch the week after Thanksgiving, and I hoped it would become a regular thing for us. Grandma reported that mom had crawled into a bottle of Jim Beam and had not yet crawled back out, but I refused to take responsibility for that. She chose to be a bitch and she chose to drink. It wasn't my fault.

Grandma and dad both agreed completely that it wasn't my fault, despite what mom might wail. Both had started eating dinner out most nights, which had made mom even more nuts.

And given that grandma isn't exactly known for her discretion (understatement of the decade), she'd told everyone at the beauty shop, church, grocery store and every other place with more than two people about mom being a raging bitch and me standing up to her. But in her version, I was a brave David facing off against an evil Goliath, and winning despite insurmountable odds.

I knew better than most how quick the 'Burg could turn on someone, and they turned on mom now. She couldn't show her face in public without people whispering behind her back about what a terrible mother she was. I had never intended for that to happen, that was 100% grandma, but maybe now she knew how it felt and would be a little slower to trash someone just to have something to do while the roast was in the oven. But then again, probably not.

I stayed busy with work and Les and our friends, and tried not to think about it.

Even Val called the week before Christmas and invited Les and I over to her house for dinner the Saturday before Christmas. She said the girls really wanted to see me, and since she didn't think I'd be at the Plum household for the traditional Christmas eve dinner, could we please come over to their house instead? She swore on all that was holy that mom would not be there.

We went, and had a surprisingly nice time. I'd only been to Val's house once before, and that had been to help her move. Mary Alice was slightly less crazy in her own space, and Val was able to leave baby Lisa in her crib upstairs and just carry around the baby monitor instead of the actual baby.

We had a nice chat in the kitchen while Les tried desperately to find something to talk about with Albert.

"So you're really giving up on mom?" Val asked while she stirred a pot of something that smelled delicious.

"Yeah. I'm done."

"Wow. What if you guys ever have kids?"

"Then they'll get to know their grandpa and great-grandma Mazur, and their Santos grandparents. But that's not in the plans."

Val shot me a rueful grin. "Yeah, well, best laid plans and all that. I love Lisa to pieces, but she wasn't exactly a planned baby, Steph."

I smiled. "If it happens, we'll deal with it. But I'm on the best birth control currently available, and we'll just have to hope that it works."

Val shook her head. "I hope you never told mom that!"

I laughed. "Do you think I'm nuts? Of course not!" Mom was vehemently Catholic and adamantly opposed to all forms of birth control. You'd think a woman who came of age in the '60s would be more with it.

"So you really don't plan to ever see her again?" Val asked again a minute later.

I shrugged. "Trenton's not a huge city, so I can't say I won't run into her at some point. But I don't plan to ever seek her out. I'm done, Val. I just can't do it anymore."

Val nodded. "I can see that."

I looked up in shock. "You can?" I was prepared for her to lecture me on the importance of family and to beg me to come to my parents' house for Christmas.

"Yeah. If it weren't for the girls and the fact that I want them to know their grandma, I can't say I wouldn't do the same. But I see what she's doing to Angie and Mary Alice, and after thinking about what you said, how she's always been so critical of you, I'm not even sure that having her be around them is a benefit for them," Val mused as she tried a spoonful of the gravy.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Val stood and stared me straight in the eyes. "She's doing the same thing to Angie and Mary Alice that she did to you and me. Angie's always perfect, but Mary Alice can never do anything right in her eyes. Just like with us. And that's not right. Angie makes mistakes too, everyone does, and Mary Alice does some wonderful things. But not to listen to mom. And I don't want what happened with us to happen to them."

I was mute in shock. "Wha-what?" I finally stuttered.

She sighed. "We're not close, Steph, not like sisters can be, should be. We never were because mom always set it up as a competition, but it was one you could never win. But I wish we were closer sometimes."

I leaned against the island in shock. "Wow. I had no idea."

Val shrugged. "Well, we had friends growing up who were more like sisters than just friends, so I guess that helped. Then I was in California with the rat fink, but since I've been back, you've done a lot to help me. More than I could have ever expected, and I've never really thanked you for it. So… thanks."

I just blinked at her. "Thanks, Val. That means a lot."

"Yeah, well, you know," she replied. We don't do emotional shit well in my family.

We ended up having a nice dinner together. The girls opened their presents from me and Les, and they were excited. We'd gotten Angie a Kindle and a ton of gift cards so she could buy books, which our little budding bibliophile adored. We got Mary Alice a week at a riding camp, which sent her racing around the house in rapturous bliss. Lisa got a bunch of stuffed animals and teething rings. Hey, it was what Val said she needed.

We got Val and Albert a weekend away at a bed and breakfast at the coast. We figured one or the other set of grandparents could watch the kids, and they could use a little time alone. I just hope they don't come back with baby number four on the way.

Note to self: buy Val a box of condoms, too.

Les had to work the next day, Christmas Eve, so some of the guys could have the day off. The core team always worked the holidays so most of the rank and file guys could have time off. I was okay with that, and I actually had ordered a ton of food from a local caterer to feed the guys since Ella and Luis were off as well.

I showed up in a naughty elf costume to help serve the food. I got lots of naughty comments until Les started glaring at the guys. Then they shut up.

Les was off Christmas day, so we spent it with his family in Newark. I spoke with my dad, grandma and Val and her family on the phone to wish them all a Merry Christmas. It felt weird to not be at mom's house. Weird, but strangely nice to not go home with a twitching eye and a stomachache after Christmas dinner due to my mom's harping on me.

I'm met most of Les's immediately family earlier when we'd had dinner right after we'd decided to announce our marriage, but this was my first time meeting his extended family. And man, but it was BIG!

I even met most of Ranger's family, too. I should have been prepared for it since I knew Ranger and Les were cousins, but I don't generally see my cousins on the holidays, and we haven't since we were little kids at my great-grandparents house at the holidays. But his family still has a big blow out with everyone who's even remotely related gathering together at different times of the day at different houses.

I'd met Ranger's parents very briefly at the hospital when he'd been shot by Scrog, and they were gracious in welcoming me to the family. They didn't ask questions.

Ranger's sister, Celia, wasn't so restrained. "So how'd you end up married to my cousin instead of my brother?" she asked.

I blinked at her. "Ranger and I were only ever friends."

She actually snorted. "Yeah, right."

"I'm serious. We were flirty sometimes, but it never really went beyond friends. Les and I started hanging out a lot, we got to know each other and we fell in love. And then we ended up married."

"Carlos know?"

Who? Oh yeah, Ranger. "No. He's been gone."

She looked sad. "You haven't been able to talk to him either? I thought maybe working with him that you'd had a chance to hear from him at least."

I smiled sympathetically. "No. And I don't work there anymore, I run the bail bond's office. If anyone spoke to him, it would be Tank or Les or Bobby, but as far as I know, they haven't spoken to him since he left either. But I think in this type of situation, no news is good news."

She shook her head. "Yeah, that's what he said too."

We chatted a bit longer before one of Celia's sisters or cousins or somebody who apparently knew her yelled for her. "Excuse me," she said with a smile. "I'm sure we'll have time to talk more soon."

God, I hope not. "Sure."

Les swooped in to rescue me then. "How'd the interrogation go?"

"Fine, I think. Mostly she wanted to know if we'd heard anything from Ranger since he'd been gone. I told her that we hadn't, as far as I knew, but that I probably wouldn't know even if you had. And that no news was good news."

He nodded. "We sometimes get word that he made a check in, but we haven't heard from him directly, as far as I know either. And yeah, as long as we don't get word that there's something bad going on, that's good."

I nodded and he kissed my forehead before we were swept up in the maelstrom of introductions and festivities again.

I was exhausted by the time we got home, but Les convinced me that I had just enough energy left to open one last present. It was a beautiful sapphire necklace that he said reminded him of my eyes when I was really happy, which convinced me to make him really happy.

We invited the guys to our newly renovated house for a big New Year's Eve party, and those who didn't have dates lined up came. We had a raucous good time. The pool table got lots of use, we ate and drank a ton, and I got numerous kisses at midnight (on the cheek, except for Les).

On the whole, I'd have to say it was a good year. Some loses, like my relationship with my mom. But what I had gained with Les more than made up for what I'd lost, especially since mom was the one who chose to throw away our relationship.

I said a quick prayer that wherever he was, and whatever he was doing, that Ranger was okay and that he'd make it back safe and that we'd be able to salvage our friendship.

Author's note: Please let me know what you think!

So you have to imagine me as the Godfather (Jersey-Italian accent included) saying this: If I get enough reviews to make it worth my while, Ranger will come back tomorrow.

How's that for an incentive to leave a review? ;-)