A few merry men were standing outside room 206 when the security guard "escorted" me in. Eyes widened, and I could've sworn there were a few muffled laughs, but I tried to ignore them. All that mattered was the man in the room.

Ranger was propped up against some pillows, and there weren't as many beeps and hisses echoing nearby. His eyes locked with mine, and suddenly I couldn't see a damn thing. The tears were just too thick.

I rushed over to him but forgot my hands were secured behind my back. I rattled my arms against the cuffs as I tried to bring them forward to wrap around Ranger. Finally, the security guard came over and unlocked them.

"I take it you won't be a problem anymore, Mrs. Manoso."

He only managed to get one bracelet off before my arms wrapped tightly around my husband. I was already sobbing and blubbering; a complete mess of a human being. I didn't care.

"She's pregnant," Ranger said softly as he stroked my hair.

"Right." The guard quickly removed the other bracelet and took a step back.

That must have been when he departed because I don't recall seeing him after that.

Ranger slid over in the bed, and I crawled in next to him. Gosh, did he feel good! All muscular and warm. Not to mention alive.

I buried my face in his neck and breathed him in. He kissed the top of my head, and we just sat there. For a long, long time.

Up until the moment I felt him start shaking beneath me. The laugh started out soft; that quiet, subtle laugh he often had. But it didn't take long for it to grow and spread throughout his entire body. I glanced up to find he had tears in his eyes. From laughing. And maybe from the pain of his healing bullet wound.

"Babe," he snickered.

I frowned.

"You do realize a security guard brought you into my room in cuffs."

"I kind of had a problem upstairs."

He gave a silent laugh. "What kind of problem?"

"The kind where I didn't know where you were."

"And?"

"And I may have thrown some papers and clipboards around trying to get some answers."

He gave another laugh, but it turned into a small wince. "You never disappoint."

"I thought…I'd lost you," I sniffed, fighting back a fresh round of tears.

He pulled me close and kissed my head again. "I know."

We sat in silence again.

Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. "What happened back on the boat?" I asked. It was the one question that had been eating me up the last few days. And no one was giving me answers.

Ranger ran his fingers through my hair. "I hadn't considered the possibility that Amber would follow us to Point Pleasant."

"But you knew she was the one behind everything?"

"Silvio sent me some encrypted emails the day before the whole boat incident providing some strong evidence as to her involvement."

I frowned. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"She was obviously dangerous. And a professional. I wanted you somewhere safe when I confronted her."

"So she took you by surprise on the boardwalk?"

"More or less. Although the case was already in play as a contingency plan. Thanks to Fox."

"And the silver key that wasn't the silver key in my shoe?"

"Slipped it in when I was tying you up."

Clever. But… "Why not just shoot her?" It's not like that man didn't always carry a gun.

"She got to you first, and I didn't want to take any chances. Give her any opportunity to hurt you." He glanced down. "Either of you."

His fingers brushed the lower part of my stomach. He smiled. "How far along?"

"The doctor said ten weeks. Or thereabouts." You know, because apparently I hadn't been keeping careful track of this stuff…

The smile grew. "Thirty to go."

Thirty? Jeez!

I sighed. "Why is it you know more about this stuff than I do? I always thought it was nine months."

"Babe."

"Then why do they always say that?"

His mouth twitched slightly at the corners. I was amusing him.

He reached over to a table and came back with the black and white ultrasound picture. "I think she kind of looks like you," he grinned.

She?

I raised my eyebrows. "Based on what? If anything, I'd say I'm growing some kind of alien in there." Or a blurry dot of mystery. Sounded about right for a Batbaby.

Ranger leaned down and kissed me, soft and sweet. "But it's our alien."

My eyes glazed over a little. Partly from the kiss. And partly from something else. "I'm not sure I'm ready for all of this," I confessed. I let the statement linger. "Are you?"

He shrugged. "No one's ever really ready, babe. It's a big change."

I leaned into him and listened to his heartbeat. "Is this something you wanted?" I asked quietly. A little unsure of the answer.

There was a long stretch of silence as he considered the question. "It's definitely something I hadn't been planning on."

I felt my face frown a little.

"But," he continued, "I haven't planned a lot of things lately." His fingers gently traced over my wedding bands. "And I have zero regrets with how everything's turned out. Some of the best things in life are unplanned. And I'm sure this baby won't be any different."

I sat up and stared into his eyes. "Wow."

Ranger smiled.

Then my expression turned serious. "You do realize you're going to have to deal with all the car seat stuff though, right? The whole installation practically requires a PHD these days."

Ranger shook his head and smiled. "Babe."