Planning a surprise that involved picking up a teenager from an airport in a different city on Christmas Eve, and keeping it all hidden from a man who could find Jimmy Hoffa if he were bored enough proved to be the challenge of a lifetime.

I'd been nervous when I had called Rachel to ask about Julie's visit. I told her about the wedding plans, but asked that she not tell Julie, lest she would slip up and tell Katrina, then the word would spread through the family like wildfire. Rachel had loved the idea and had even been the one to suggest that Julie should come up for Christmas as well. Because Rachel was only six weeks away from her due date, she couldn't travel far so they were taking the kids to Disney World for their vacation. Julie hadn't been especially excited about going, feeling that she was too old for the place. The trip to Jersey was going to be a present for her as well as Ranger, so Rachel and Ron weren't telling her she was coming until the night before she was due to leave. I had to arrange the flight details so that she could fly up with Grandma Bella, which was easier than arranging an unaccompanied minor transport up to Newark. They would arrive on Christmas Eve, and I'd volunteered Ranger and myself to pick them up on our way to his parents' house. What Ranger didn't know was I was going to ditch him at his parents' and go to the airport alone to pick up Bella and Julie. Bella was the only person in on the surprise of Julie's visit, but I hadn't told her about the wedding. The fewer people told secrets, the less likely they were to get spread around.

The anniversary of Ranger's captivity and sexual assault in Somalia rolled around during the time that I was working on Julie's and Bella's travel arrangements. I'd noticed Ranger becoming more distant and quiet as the time came around and passed, but my attempts to get him to talk about how he was feeling were met with excuses, extra-long working hours and short replies. I even noticed our sex life taking a toll. Typically, we had sex about four nights a week, but the frequency had been slowly decreasing to the point where we had gone an entire week without sex.

"Are you ready to go?" I asked Ranger, anxious to get out the door. Normally the roles were reversed, with him rushing me out the door while I put in earrings or changed my shoes, but I was on the ball today. I was also worried he'd find out about Julie coming before I could surprise him.

"Yes, I am," he said, pulling on his coat. "You're in a hurry today."

"Well, there's been a change in plans," I told him, grabbing the keys to the Cayenne from the hook. "I'm driving as well because you are going to your parents' house and I am going to the airport to pick up Grandma Bella by myself."

Ranger gave me a quizzical look. "Why are you going alone?"

"Because your grandmother has my Christmas present for you with her, and I don't want you to see it at the airport. I'll have to give it to you at your parents' house because it's too big to hide and get home without you seeing tonight."

"Why is my grandmother bringing your gift to me with her?"

"Because I couldn't get it around here, and worried that it may not get here in time for Christmas if I had it shipped. Plus, it's fragile and it might get damaged in baggage claim, so she's bringing it on the plane."

Ranger shook his head and held the door for me as we walked out to our vehicles. I followed him to Newark, but he got off on the exit that would take him to his parents' house and I continued on to the exit that would take me to the airport. It took me forty extra minutes to get to there because of traffic, and the flight tracker app I'd installed on my phone told me that their plane had landed on time. I would just get into the airport when they would likely be getting their luggage. I took a drive through the drop-off/pick-up zone when I arrived at their terminal and saw them coming outside. I honked at them and pulled to the curb, getting out of the car to help them load their suitcases.

"Stephanie!" Julie said, hugging me tightly. "I cannot believe you and my mom arranged all of this! Does my dad have any idea?"

"Nope," I said, hugging Bella. "He has no clue. It's great. I've worked so hard to keep him in the dark on this."

It took us forty minutes to get back to the Manosos' house, during which time we outlined our plan of surprise. Bella would go in ahead of us and get the hugs and hellos out of the way before herding everyone into the family room so that no one would see Julie before Ranger. She was kind of a present for them as well. Then Ranger would call my phone to tell me that I could come in with his present.

I helped Bella get her suitcase up to the back door and went back to the car and sat with Julie, anxiously awaiting our phone call.

"Hurry up people!" Julie said after five minutes. "I can't stand the waiting."

"Me neither," I replied, bouncing my knees. I had never been so excited to surprise someone before. I wasn't sure if it was just because it was Ranger —who was rarely surprised—or if it was because the surprise was something so special.

After another five minutes, my cell phone rang out with Ranger's ringtone.

"Grandma said I'm supposed to call you to tell you that you can come inside now," he said, sounding a bit exasperated.

"Do you have any idea what your gift could possibly be?" I asked.

"Not a clue," he replied. "I'm not sure what you could buy me that would be so exciting."

"You'll find out in a minute," I said and disconnected. "Let's go, Julie."

The configuration of the Manosos' first floor was set up so that we had to go through the kitchen and the dining room to get to the family room, which was rectangular with the entrance towards the far end from the seating area. I peeked around the corner of the kitchen to make sure no one was standing in a position to see Julie walk in behind me. I gestured for her to stay against the wall near the entrance to the family room for a minute.

There were two large couches and a couple of easy chairs situated in a conversational style in the family room, where most of the adults were sitting. Lucy and Emilio were sitting on the floor with the twins and Ranger was leaning against the far wall near the fireplace. His eyes fell on me and there was a bemused on his face.

"Are you ready for your gift?" I asked, barely able to contain my excitement.

"I guess," Ranger said, nonchalantly. He clearly had no idea that his gift could be something so huge.

I grabbed Julie's hand and pulled her into the room, which made most of the women in the room shriek with joyful surprise. My attention was focused solely on Ranger, who was unable to hide the shocked expression that came across his face when he saw his daughter.

"Merry Christmas, Dad," Julie said, beaming at Ranger and walking over to him.

He pulled her into a hug, his eyes never leaving mine, but there something in his expression that made me feel uneasy. I'd been almost jittery with excitement all day at the thought of surprising Ranger with Julie's visit, but now I feeling something completely opposite, almost like dread. I felt myself getting emotional, so I quietly left the room and went down to the bathroom. I shut the door behind me and leaned up against it, working to pull myself together. Was Ranger upset with me for bringing Julie up to Jersey? I knew he'd been adamant about not asking Rachel himself, but I hadn't felt that it could hurt anything for me to ask if she could come up for a couple days for New Year's Eve. If she'd said no, I would have understood and moved on. I had made it clear to Rachel that he'd had no idea that I was calling her about it, so it wouldn't have come back on him.

You're probably overreacting, I told myself. It was probably just the shock of seeing Julie and you're reading into things.

I took a few deep breaths, washed my hands and checked my hair and make-up before opening the door. I had barely taken a step out when I registered Ranger's presence. He was leaning against wall on the opposite side of the hallway and there was no mistaking his mood. He was pissed off.

"When I said I wasn't going to call Rachel to ask about Julie coming up, I meant that for you too," he said, and his tone was deadly calm.

"All I did was call her to ask—," I began, but Ranger cut me off.

"You shouldn't have called her at all, Stephanie," he interrupted. "This is my daughter, and when it comes to our involvement in her life, my say is final."

I could feel my throat constricting and my blood pressure rising. I was disappointed, hurt and angry by his reaction, especially by his domineering attitude and not letting me explain myself. Who the hell did he think he was? I'd put a lot of work and money into arranging this surprise for him, and now it was blowing up in my face. I had hoped it would bring him out of the dark mood he'd been in since going through the first anniversary of being assaulted, but I had failed.

"If you would shut up and listen for a minute, I can explain the situation," I said, putting my hands on my hips and pulling on my best stubborn Hungarian expression. "I called Rachel, explained our plans for New Year's Eve and asked if she would consider letting Julie come up for a couple of days. I would pay for everything, and I even volunteered to fly down to get her and to fly back to Miami with her. Rachel was the one who brought up the idea of her coming for Christmas because Julie wasn't especially excited about their vacation plans, and Rachel thought it might be a nice present for Julie to be able to come up here for Christmas. So this isn't just a present for you, but one for her as well."

I felt the tears starting to well up at that point, but fought through them. "I put a lot of work into this. Do you know how hard it is to keep something secret from you? But don't worry, I won't make the mistake of going against your final word again."

With that, I left the hallway and headed back to the family room, where everyone else was happily talking to Julie and enjoying each other's company. I put up what I felt was a decent effort to act as happy as everyone else, even though I felt sick. I kept my distance from Ranger over the next few hours, helping Lola and Rosa in the kitchen, helping Celia set the tables and playing with Layla and Liam, who actually sat with me without crying. Julie was busy hanging out with Katrina, chatting animatedly about favorite actors and musicians. I could feel Ranger's eyes on me the entire day, but I refused to make eye contact. By dinner, I was exhausted from my charade and wasn't sure how much longer I could keep going. I felt sick to my stomach and my head was throbbing. I served myself small portions of everything, not feeling hungry but not wanting to make it apparent that something was wrong. I was contemplating whether I could leave early without drawing too much attention to myself when Aurelia stood up.

"I have an announcement to make," she said as dessert was being put on the table. "John and I are going to be having a baby in June."

There was a brief moment of stunned silence before everyone started congratulating the couple. John, amazingly enough, had put down his Blackberry during the announcement and looked pleased to be sharing the news of his growing family.

"I can't believe it!" Sofia cried happily. "We were going to announce today that we're having another baby in July."

"Oh my goodness," Lola said, embracing her daughters in turn. "All these grandchildren coming at once! It's so wonderful. Stephanie, Carlos, I expect a similar announcement from the two of you by next Christmas."

"Don't get your hopes up, Mom," Ranger replied, looking in my direction while I focused my attention on the cake sitting in the middle of the table.

"Can you at least announced that you've gotten married?" Celia asked, looking hopeful.

Ranger shook his head. "Nope. But we will announce the date we've settled on at the dinner next week."

The family pressed us to tell them the date, but we continued to say that they'd have to wait and hear it when everyone else did. While the men did the traditional post-dinner clean-up, I pulled Celia aside while I grabbed my coat and purse.

"I'm not feeling well," I explained. "I think I'm going to bail early and go home to rest, but I don't want Carlos and Julie to think they have to come with me. Will you tell them in a while that I left, but that I want them to stay and go to Mass with the family?"

"Sure," Celia said, looking concerned. "Do you need anything? You could always go lay down upstairs."

"I'm sure I'll be fine in the morning, but I'd rather not stay around in case it's something that I can pass on to the babies or all the pregnant ladies in the house."

Celia continued to look at me as though she didn't quite believe what I was saying. "Is everything okay between you and Carlos? I thought I saw you to talking in the hallway earlier and you looked upset."

"We're great," I lied. "Tell everyone I said Merry Christmas and sorry that I had to leave early."

We hugged and I slipped out the back door while the men's backs were to me. I climbed in the Cayenne and pulled out of the driveway, relieved to have some space. I knew it was passive-aggressive to leave without a word to Ranger, but I wasn't in a mood to care at that point. I just wanted to go home, get into my pajamas, and wash down some Advil with wine and Tastykakes while I watched Love Actually.

I was about halfway back to Trenton when my cell phone rang and the caller ID told me it was Ranger. I ignored the call and continued to drive. I heard the phone ding with a text message, which I didn't take the time to read until I'd stopped at a traffic light in Trenton fifteen minutes later. It read Call me.

I didn't reply to the message, nor did I call him back. I had tried to understand his point of view on the whole situation, but found I really couldn't. Had I harassed Rachel or challenged her if she'd said no, I could have understood his anger, but neither of those things had happened. She'd been as excited about the arrangement as I was, and had been the one to suggest the longer visit.

Ranger tried to call me again half an hour later, just as I was settling down on the couch with my wine and snacks. I ignored the phone call again, and hit the play button on the DVD player remote before pouring myself a large glass of wine. My cell phone buzzed with another text message from Ranger.

If I don't hear from you in the next ten minutes, I'm coming home.

Shit, that was not what I wanted. I waited eight and a half minutes to formulate a reply while I polished off my wine.

I'm perfectly fine at home. Stay with your family.

I knew my text would aggravate him, and within thirty seconds of sending the message, my phone was ringing.

"What do you want?"

"Why did you leave without telling me?" Ranger asked.

"Because I didn't want you and Julie to think you needed to come too. I asked Celia to tell you this."

"She did, but I don't appreciate having to find out that you've left from someone other than you."

"You don't appreciate a lot of things," I snapped. "Get off the phone and go enjoy your time with your family."

I hung up the phone before he could respond and turned up the television while I refilled my glass of wine. I was drowsy by the time I finished my second glass of wine and fell asleep on the couch by ten, just as Hugh Grant was preparing to go after the catering girl that he'd fallen in love with. I was awakened by the feeling of a hand on my shoulder. I opened my eyes to see Ranger sitting on the edge of the couch, his expression unreadable.

"What time is it?"

"It's just after midnight. Julie was tired, so we skipped Mass and came home," he replied. "We need to talk, Stephanie."

"You've made your point, Ranger. I don't need to hear it again," I replied, sitting up and moving to get up from the couch. I could hear Julie upstairs, leaving the office and walking over to the bathroom. I started to stand, but was pulled back down to my seat.

"I need to apologize, Stephanie," he said, which made my eyebrows shoot up into my hairline. Apologizing wasn't something Ranger did often.

"You worked hard to surprise me and instead of thanking you, I acted like an ungrateful jackass," he said, running his thumb across my cheekbone. "I don't have any excuse for acting the way I did."

"No shit."

I stood up and took the wine bottle and glass into the kitchen. I knew Ranger meant it when he said he was sorry, and I was aware that much of it was to do with the fact that he hadn't coped well with the memories of a year ago, but his words and attitude from earlier still hurt. It had ruined my day and the excitement I'd had over the surprise visit. I just wanted to go to bed and forget about all of it, hoping that I'd wake up in a better mood on Christmas morning. After I put the wine bottle in the refrigerator and the glass in the dishwasher, I turned to leave the kitchen and found Ranger leaning against the back of the couch while he watched me.

"You've been in a bad place this past month," I told him. "I've tried to get you to talk to me, but you wouldn't. I was hoping that spending time with Julie would help you."

Ranger reached out and grabbed my hand, pulling me along with him as he headed upstairs. We walked into our bedroom, where he shut and locked the door behind us.

"It has been harder than I thought it would be," he said as he started undressing. "But it hasn't just been what happened in Somalia. Everything we've been through this past year has become overwhelming this month, especially as we get closer to getting married."

I felt my stomach lurch. "Are you changing your mind about getting married?"

"No, I'm not, but I've been thinking about what I might have missed had I not made it out of there alive. I've also been thinking about what our life would be like if I hadn't gone through that. To be honest, I don't think I would have been ready to get married if I hadn't been through that experience, and the situation with Diana back in the spring probably would have been the end of our relationship."

I felt breathless at the thought of what might have otherwise been.

"I hadn't thought of things that way before," I told him. "But you're right. What you went through really changed us."

He nodded. "I've been having nightmares again, and I've been more worried about your safety since you got shot. And I still hate myself for letting them get me to that point."

My heart sank in my chest and I walked over to Ranger, putting my arms around his waist and resting my head on his chest.

"It wasn't your fault," I told him. "You did what you had to do to survive. Otherwise, they have just killed you, and then I wouldn't be getting to marry you next week."

"Logically, I know that, but it's still hard at times," he replied, stroking my hair. "Thank you for bringing Julie here. I've never spent Christmas with her, and I'm glad she'll be able to see us get married. And I'm sorry for hurting you today."

"You're welcome, and I forgive you," I told him. "But it stings a little still. Can you understand that?"

"Yes."

We climbed into bed and Ranger pulled me into him, holding me close as I drifted off to sleep. I woke up the next morning when sunlight started streaming through the windows and found him still in bed with me, fast asleep.

I looked over at the clock, which told me it was nearly nine o'clock in the morning.

"Ranger?"

"What?"

"Aren't you supposed to be at work? It's nine o'clock."

Ranger opened his eyes slowly. "Nope. I took the day off."

I studied him for a minute. "Is that a joke?"

"No."

"I didn't know that you knew how to take a day off."

"I arranged for someone to work in my place. I wanted to spend the day with my family. Is that a problem?"

"Of course not," I said, snuggling into him. "I love that you're going to be home. I'm just shocked."

"Merry Christmas."

"Is this my present?"

"Part of it," he said, tilting my chin up so that he could kiss me. "The other part is that you and I are going to be spending the seventh through the seventeenth of January in Costa Rica. No work, no family, no dog. Just us, sex, alcohol, and the beach."

I sat up in bed and looked down at Ranger. "No way! Are you serious?"

He nodded. "I've been planning it for a while. It worked out well that we planned to get married on New Year's Eve. We can consider it our honeymoon."

I was in total shock for a good thirty seconds. Ricardo Carlos Manoso, workaholic, had not only taken a day off, but planned a vacation for us. The man was full of surprises.

"This is amazing," I said, giving him a kiss. "Thank you."

Ranger pulled me back down to him and slid a hand up my shirt. I had just moved to straddle him and had pulled my shirt over my head when we heard a thump in the hallway.

"Ow," Julie groaned. "Calm down, Bob."

"Are you all right, Julie?" Ranger asked.

"Yeah, the dog tripped me," she mumbled. "I'm good."

I blew out a sigh and reached for my shirt. "Rain check."

"Why?"

"I can't have sex with you when I know Julie is awake and walking around," I replied, climbing out of bed.

"I don't think she's going to be listening at the door."

"It doesn't matter."

"Well, something needs to happen," Ranger said as he sat up on the side of the bed. "I can't leave the room like this."

"Can't you take care of it yourself?"

"It'd be more fun it you took care of it."

"Fine," I said, kneeling on the floor beside the bed. "But it needs to be quick."

"Trust me," Ranger said, gasping slightly as I put my mouth on him. "It will be."

We loaded into the Cayenne and drove to my parents' house later that afternoon. It was nice having Ranger home and relaxed all day. Julie had talked to her parents and siblings on Skype, telling us afterwards how happy she was to be in Trenton instead of the Magic Kingdom.

My parents' house was in full-on manic mode when we arrived. The younger three girls were running around like lunatics, but Angie was sitting in the living room reading a book while my dad watched television. Ranger and Julie stayed in there while I moved on to the kitchen to attempt to provide some assistance with dinner.

"You need to add a place," I informed my mother. "I surprised Ranger and brought Julie up for Christmas."

"What a wonderful surprise," Grandma Mazur said, peeking out the kitchen door and waving at Julie. "I'm sure Angie will like having another girl her age here."

After that, my input fell on deaf ears. I offered to help with the ham, but my mom said she had it covered. I volunteered to set the table, but Grandma was on it. I went to the living room and sat down next to Ranger for a minute and watched the football game that had just started. My mother subsequently yelled that I should be in the kitchen helping like my sister was. I gave Ranger a can-you-believe-this-shit look. He kissed me above the ear and squeezed my knee.

"Tradition, babe. Don't fight it."

"At least your family traditions make some sort of sense," I groaned, standing up and making my way back to the kitchen, where I stood around like third base for the next two hours.

We sat down to dinner, prayed and dove into the food. My father was anxious to get back to his television, undoubtedly glad that he'd joined the twenty-first century and purchased a DVR so he could pause the game. Valerie was working to making sure the little girls didn't wear most of their food and Albert was trying to drum up business.

"Do you need a new lawyer to represent Rangeman?" Albert asked Ranger. "I've mostly been doing family and criminal law, but I've been studying a lot of corporate law. I want to be able to build up more business."

"I already have a lawyer," Ranger replied politely.

"Who? Is he as good as me?" Albert asked eagerly. I bit my lip to keep from smiling.

"John Wolowski."

"Oh wow," Albert said, looking awe-struck. "He's the best. I bet he's expensive."

"He's worth the cost."

"Well, if you ever need another lawyer, like if John retires or something, you can call me. It would be so cool to be able to say that I represent my brother-in-law's big security company."

Ranger paused momentarily with his fork halfway to his mouth, and a pained look crossed his face. I hid behind my napkin so that no one else would see me laughing.

"You didn't stop to think about being Albert Kloughn's brother-in-law, did you?" I asked in a whisper. "You've been more focused on being related to my grandmother. Which is worse?"

"I'm not sure."

"You should have thought that through before you asked me to marry you."

"You proposed to me, Stephanie."

"You told me you were planning on it and had a ring. I just sped things up," I replied.

"You look ready to bolt," my father commented to Ranger. "Don't leave me here alone with these nuts."

"Hey, what about me?" I asked my dad. "I'm not a nut."

My father and Ranger exchanged a glance that told me the jury was out on whether I was part of the nutty group. I smacked Ranger on the arm and gave my father a dirty look, making them both grin.

"When are you two going to set a date for the wedding?" my mother asked. "You' been engaged for almost six months. People are going to start thinking you aren't getting married."

"Considering I got shot two weeks after we got engaged, I think we should be given a little slack," I told her. "Besides, we have a date set and will announce it to everyone at the party next week."

"Well, when is it?"

"We'll announce it to everyone at the party, including the family," I said. "We didn't tell the Manosos yesterday when they asked, so we aren't going to tell you."

"But we need to book a hall as soon as we can," my mother said, looking panicked. "They fill up so fast."

"We've taken care of that already too," I informed her. "Don't worry about it."

"Where is it going to be?"

I blew out a sigh and barely resisted the urge to bang my head on the table. "It's going to be in Newark. That's all I'll tell you for now. You'll find out the rest of the details next week."

My mother and grandmother both gasped. A Burg girl not getting married in the Burg was almost unheard of.

"Why in Newark?" Grandma Mazur asked. "We've got lots of places around here to get married."

"Because it's the decision we made," Ranger answered, which shut everyone up on the matter. He was able to speak with an authority that I lacked.

Having Julie around turned out to be a terrific excuse to leave my parents' early. The little girls were playing loudly with their new toys and Angie still had her nose stuck in a book. Julie had been trying to engage Angie in conversation all afternoon, but unless the conversation was about Jane Austen, Angie wasn't interested. Angie was twelve going on fifty.

Grandma Mazur, tipsy from too much wine, tried to grab Ranger's ass as she hugged us all and wished us a Merry Christmas. He managed to avoid it by grabbing her arms just in time.

"Edna, I'm marrying your granddaughter. Don't you think it's time to stop trying to grope me?"

"Well, you aren't married to her yet," Grandma said with a wink.

"Let's not make him want to change his mind about marrying me," I told Grandma as I ushered Ranger and Julie out the front door.

"What would you say to moving to Miami?" Ranger asked as we walked out to the Cayenne.

"Don't ask me that on a holiday," I told him. "I might be tempted to say yes. Does being around my family make you think twice about marrying me?"

"Don't ask me that on a holiday," Ranger asked with a smirk. "I might actually say no."

I grabbed a hardened chunk of snow from the top of Valerie's car and threw it at Ranger, hitting him on the back. He turned around slowly and looked at me, giving me a look that almost made me wet myself.

"Really, babe?" he asked, walking towards me. I had just registered his hand moving towards the car when a chunk of snow hit me on the chest.

"Ah!" I shrieked. I instinctually grabbed for another chunk of snow, but paused when Ranger was hit in the chest with a snowball. We looked over to see Julie smiling widely.

"What? We don't get snow in Miami," she said, shrugging.

"You exist because of me," Ranger said. "You shouldn't hit your maker with a snowball."

"Okay," Julie said, as though that were perfectly acceptable logic. "I'll hit Stephanie instead."

Julie was fast to pick up a snowball and toss it in my direction, hitting me in the shoulder.

"Hey!" I said, tossing the chunk of snow at her. "Not fair! I brought you up here."

"Don't hit my child with snow," Ranger said, throwing another snowball at me. I retaliated, and was hit with another snowball from Julie.

"Don't throw snow at my dad," she said, giggling.

"So, basically, the only person who can get hit is me?" I asked, trying to look wounded.

Ranger and Julie glanced at each other. "Yes," they said in unison as they both started pelting me with snowballs.

I shrieked and covered my head with my hands, laughing. It didn't take long for me to be wet and cold.

"Don't mess with the Manosos," Julie said, heading towards the Cayenne. "You'll never win."

Ranger came over and started brushing snow off my coat and out of my hair. "She has a point."

"Traitor," I said, pretending to pout. "Now I'm wet and freezing."

"I'll warm you up," he replied, tilting my chin up to kiss me.

"You guys are so gross," Julie groaned as she climbed in the car.