My New Life
Time Marches On
SapphireJ

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Eagle came walking in, dragging Bobby with him. "Misplace someone recently, One Shot?"

I jumped up and stood there, staring. "Bobby. What the hell happened to you?"

Bobby had a black eye, stitches in his left cheek, and above his right eye, and his lip was split and swollen.

Shrugging, he replied, "Got carried away." Bobby limped over to the couch and plopped down.

"Bobby, where have you been? I've been calling you since you left. Why didn't you return my calls?" I was pissed and he knew it. Ram took Quin up to his room so he wasn't around the yelling.

"Steph, I just needed some time away to clear my head."

"Yeah, looks like you accomplished that real well. What did you do, clear your brain out of your head? Damn it, Bobby. You can't go out getting into fights. I can't lose you too!"

Eagle sat down on the couch next to Bobby and shook his head. "She's right, you know. You can't be out there starting fights and shit. One of these days you're going to find someone who is bigger and stronger than you."

I looked over at Eagle; he looked exhausted. "Where have you been, Eagle? Where did you find Bobby?"

"He was in Newark. I was out at the local bar having a drink when a fight broke out. I got up to check it out and noticed Brown here getting his face bashed in. Got him out of there, took him to the hotel to get cleaned up, and brought him here."

Eagle stood up to leave and looked at Bobby one last time. "You need to keep it together man. I know you just lost your best friend, but you still have others counting on you." Eagle gave me a hug and left.

I looked at Bobby and sighed. "What am I going to do with you?"

Bobby stood up, came over to me, and wrapped his arms around me. "I'm sorry, Steph. I really needed to get away for a few days. I didn't plan on drinking and getting into a fight." He kissed my head and pulled back. "Am I still welcome here?"

"Yes, but I want to know what happened. And, no more taking off, okay?'

"Okay." Bobby took a breath and hung his head down. "I guess after the memorial, it kind of all set in. I realized that Les was really gone, and not coming back. I needed to get away. I ended up in Newark and spent some time in a hotel."

"Tonight, I wanted to get out, so I hit a bar. Some asshole kept hitting on the waitress, grabbing her ass, calling her names, shit like that. She'd told him multiple times to back off and leave her alone. He didn't and when he grabbed her ass again, I lost it."

"I jumped up, and pulled him off the chair and started beating the shit out of him. All of my anger and frustrations were coming out while I punched him. He got a few good shots in, too, as you can see. I was about to punch him again when I was pulled off him. I looked up, ready to swing on the person that took me away, and I saw Eagle."

"I'm so sorry, Steph. I know I should have been here for you and Quin, but I needed a few days away."

I looked at Bobby and smiled a small smile. "Hey, it's okay. We all need to deal with this in our own way, but no more running out, okay?" He nodded. "Hey, have you even checked in with Kennedy?"

Bobby ran his hand over his face. "I called her the other night, when I was drunk, she got pissed, told me not to call her again, and hung up on me. She's not taking any of my calls right now. I guess I fucked up good, huh?"

"I'll talk to her tomorrow. Why don't you go crash for the night, you look exhausted."

Bobby stood, pulled me up, hugged me tight, and kissed my head. "Night, Steph. Again, I'm sorry."

Bobby went to his room and turned in for the night. I went to Quin's room and saw Ram sitting in the rocking chair, Quin on his chest, and both were sleeping. I took Quin off Ram's chest and laid him in his crib. I thought about waking Ram up, but decided instead to cover him up and leave him be.

After taking a shower, I crawled in bed and told Les goodnight. I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

LSLSLSLSLSLS

The next month went by fast. Bobby and Ram were back to work full time while I was staying at home taking care of Quin. Everyone kept telling me I didn't need to go back to work, that Les' money would keep me and Quin comfortable for many, many years. However, I needed to get back to work soon.

Ella told me that she'd sit Quin while I worked and Ranger had stuff available in his apartment for us to use. He had hired some new guys, so I had to give up the apartment that I'd been using from time to time; Les' apartment. I knew the guys he hired were to replace Les and Vince, but I didn't let myself think about it.

I walked onto the fifth floor and everyone was instantly quiet. Tank came over and wrapped me in a bear hug. "Hey there, Steph. Welcome back."

"Thanks, Big Guy. My office still here or have I been moved due to lack of work?"

Tank laughed and walked me back towards my office. When I opened the door, I stood there in shock. My office had been re-done. I now had a playpen, baby toys, changing table, and a rocking chair. I also noticed pictures on my walls. Someone had been using photo-shop and I had tears in my eyes.

Above the new "baby area" on the wall, was a picture of Quin in my hands with me smiling at him. Someone photo-shopped Lester into the picture so that he was looking down on both of us with a smile. I'd have to find out who did that and thank them.

Tank looked down at me, and wiped a tear from my cheek. "Hey, are you going to be okay with the pictures, or should I have them taken down?"

"No, I'll be fine. It just shocked me seeing Lester in a picture with Quin and I. Who did it?"

"I could tell you, but he'd deny it." I knew then who had done it.

"Can you keep an eye on Quin for a minute?"

Tank nodded and took Quin from my arms. "Hey there Quinny. Come see your Uncle Tank."

I walked down the hall, and knocked on his door.

"Enter"

I walked in, shut the door behind me, and sat in one of his chairs just waiting.

"Something you need?" I nodded, but didn't speak. "What?"

I just stared at him. I knew if I stared long enough, he'd break, and start talking. He tried to stare me out, but he ended up looking away first.

"You know?" I nodded. "Are you upset? Should I take it down?"

"No. I like it, and I wanted to thank you, Ranger. But, I also wanted to know why?"

"I was messing around with some pictures for Julie the other day and decided to try something new. I did a similar picture for her and liked how it turned out. So I found the picture of you and Quin and looked for a decent picture of Lester smiling and stuck it in there. I liked how it turned out, so I had a larger one done for your office. "

I stood up, walked around his desk, and gave him a quick hug. "Thank you, Ranger. That is the best gift anyone has given me in a long time." I walked over to the door, and was about to open it when he stopped me.

"Steph?" I turned around, and looked at him. "Welcome back."

I smiled at him, and opened the door. "Thanks. It's good to be back."


A/N: This story is drawing to an end... only a handful more chapters before the end. Thank you to all the new readers and the previous readers who stuck with me for a second go at this story. Just to let you know, I"m writing my own original books that I hope to have up for sale (as e-books) in the next month or two. Once my website is up and running, I'll let you all know!