While I had my shower, Ranger made us Greek salads with a homemade dressing for lunch. He also made me a banana-blueberry smoothie. "You know", I said, "my stomach no longer is upset after about one in the afternoon. I hesitate to say that though, as I love the banana-blueberry smoothies so much and I don't want to stop eating them."

Ranger smiled. "They are a healthy thing to eat and there is no reason why you should have to stop eating them. You don't have to be nauseous for me to make them for you."

"True. They are loaded with calcium and…fruit stuff…aren't they?"

Ranger grinned. "Fruit stuff?"

"It just occurred to me that I don't know what is so good about fruit. I know that it is important for you to eat, but I don't understand why."

"Do you want to know why?"

"Honestly? I don't really care. I like fruit. It tastes good. That's all that really matters to me. You are attracted to foods for the nutritional quality and, since you are the person who primarily – and secondarily – makes our food, that's a good thing. However, I am attracted to foods for the taste quality and I don't really care about the nutritional quality. After all, foods that taste bad likely are bad for you, and foods that taste good are good for you."

"Uh-hunh. Chips?"

"Potatoes and seasonings. They are basically the same as a baked potato."

Ranger snorted. "Ice cream?"

"Dairy, and it often has nuts in it. I remember from you teaching me the food pyramid that nuts are a protein."

Ranger grinned. "Cookies?"

"Flour and eggs. My favorites are oatmeal raisin, and they have fruit in them. I know how much you like me to eat fruit."

Ranger laughed and shook his head. "Please don't teach our children your version of nutritional quality. They would be the most confused kids around."

I grinned. "But think of the meals we could come up with."

Ranger laughed again.

"I'm sure I could justify a banana split for dinner."

Ranger leaned over and kissed me. "Somehow, I don't doubt that in the slightest."

I grinned and took a small chunk of feta out of my salad and put it on Tia's tray. She immediately picked it up carefully and put it in her mouth. She made a face and spat it out. I smiled. "It's an acquired taste, peanut. You'll like it in a few years."

"Bye-bye", she said.

Ranger laughed. "We finally found something she doesn't like? She has the most amazing range of tastes. She loves everything."

"Except, apparently, feta", I said.

Ranger laughed again.

"After lunch, do you want to go shopping?" he said.

I smiled. "I think that would be fun."

"I just need to call Tank first, to tell him about the bequest."

"That works out well. I can clean up the kitchen and then change out of my nightie. By the time I'm done, you'll probably be done or close to it."

We each finished our salads and, while Tia finished her lunch, I put away the dishes in the dishwasher. When I was finished wiping the counters, I wiped Tia's tray, removed it, wiped her hands and face and bib, took her bib off, released her from her high chair and carried her into Ranger's and my room.

I brushed my teeth, stopped Tia from unpacking the items under the sink – she was extremely curious as to what was there, but since my tampons were there I wasn't too interested in having her investigate. I still remember my middle niece, Lisa, getting into my sister's tampons and bringing them out in front of company as her favorite toy. She thought they looked like planes. Personally, I didn't see it. I thought they looked like submarines.

I held Tia's hand as we walked into the dressing room, and I got her opinion on what I should wear for the day. Apparently she liked the color blue as much as I did, and everything she selected had the color blue in it. The items she picked even went well together, which I was pleased about. I hoped it would be a trend that continued throughout her lifetime. Of course, if she only picked the color blue it probably would. I remember Val going shopping with my oldest niece, Angie, when Angie was little. Val asked her opinion on the things that she was buying, and Angie gave her opinion. It wasn't until Val got home that she realized that green was Angie's favorite color, and everything that Angie had approved to buy had green in it. The worst part was? Her husband hated the color green.

She says that was one of the reasons they broke up. Personally I thought it was her husband boinking their nineteen-year old babysitter that was the final nail in the coffin. Val, at the time, thought so too. However, now that she'd had another husband and a few years to adapt her memories, she was blaming the color green. She had decided now that she could live with her husband having an affair, if he would only support her financially while doing it. It's strange how memories change over time. I don't think that, if I were in her shoes, my memories would have changed. Of course, I hadn't forgiven Dickie yet for his affair, and that happened ten years ago. I still think that he's as much of an asshole now as I did then. To me, marriage is for life, and commitment is to your one-and-only.

I walked with Tia out of the bedroom, and Tia left me walking forward as she deked to the left. I followed her into her room as she was trying to open her drawers. "What would you like?" I said.

"Mama bu."

"I'm wearing blue?"

"Yeah. Te bu."

"You want to look like me?"

"Yeah. Bu."

I smiled and opened her drawer. I pulled out a pair of jeans and a navy long-sleeved t-shirt with a graphic print of pink flowers on it. "How about this?" I said. "The shirt is dark blue and the pants are light blue."

Tia bounced up and down in excitement. "Yeah", she said.

I smiled and picked her up, kissed her on her nose, and carried her over to her change table. Since I was changing her anyway, I changed her diaper at the same time, put her new clothes on her, and put her down on the ground so that I could wash my hands. After we were both ready for the day, I held her hand and we walked down to Ranger's office.

He was just getting off the phone, and he looked up with a smile on his face. "The two of you look amazing", he said. "I am the luckiest person in the world as I am going shopping with the two prettiest females that I have ever seen."

I grinned as Tia said, "yeah."

"Tia wanted her clothes to match mine today", I said, "so we are both wearing blue. In fact, Tia picked out my clothes for me to wear."

Ranger smiled, crossed over the room and picked Tia up to throw in the air. As she squealed and he caught her, he kissed her on her nose. "You did a good job, peanut. Mommy looks beautiful."

"Te too."

"That's right. You do too."

I put a light coat on Tia, put my maternity hoody on me, grabbed my purse and we left the apartment, travelled in the elevator down to the parking level, and all got in the car. Ranger did up Tia's car seat and got behind the wheel, and he backed out of the parking spot and drove out of the underground.

Tia was quiet and looked out the window on our way to the baby supply store. "Is there anything you want to get for your sisters?" I said. "It will be a present, so that means that you won't be getting one too."

"No!" said Tia.

"That's how presents work, peanut. You buy things that you think the other person will like, and you don't buy them for yourself. For instance, I might buy Great-Grandma some purple lipstick, but I wouldn't buy any for myself. I might buy Great-Grandma some purple hair dye, but I wouldn't buy any for myself. I might buy Grandma a purple leather studded bustier as well, but I wouldn't buy one for myself."

"Thank God", said Ranger.

"Grandma likes the color purple. She says that it's appropriate funeral wear."

"A purple bustier?"

"She would be increasing business for the funeral home. After all those other visitors had their heart attacks when they saw her, the funeral home would be thanking her." Ranger laughed as I tried not to grin. "Besides, do you not like purple on me? Lula always told me that purple was my color."

Ranger snorted. "You are taking fashion advice from someone who has worn so many hair dyes on her hair over the years that I'm surprised her hair hasn't fallen out from the abuse?"

"Grandma tells me that purple is my color as well."

"Again, you are taking fashion advice from a woman that wears blue eyeshadow up to her eyebrows?"

"It's quirky."

"It certainly is. However, I'm grateful that you don't look quirky."

I laughed.

We got to the baby supply store, parked, and hopped out of the car. Ranger took Tia out of her car seat and held her in his arms, and we walked slowly towards the store. As we walked, I thought I was officially at the waddling stage. I didn't feel like I was carrying twins. I felt like I was carrying sextuplets. Or would they be called hextuplets? I wasn't sure. I was glad that we'd had the ultrasound to prove there were only two of them in there. Even so, I was seriously wondering if they had cloned themselves and multiplied overnight.

As we walked to the store, I said to Ranger, "you know, when I was a child I asked my mother about sex. She described it in a very clinical way, tab A into slot B, that sort of thing. And at the end of her explanation, I said that I wanted twins. My mother asked me why, and I just told her that I wanted two children, and if I had twins I would only have to have sex once." Ranger laughed. "Apparently my mother told my grandmother, and my grandmother told my mother that she obviously hadn't done a very good job explaining things to me. My grandmother offered to do some sex education, and my mother vetoed it in horror." Ranger laughed again. "Now that I've had sex, only having it once is not an attractive thought, and now that I'm carrying twins? The reality of a twin pregnancy isn't nearly as nice."

"Is your back sore, babe?"

"Oh, yeah. I can't believe that I have six more weeks to go. If I go the full forty weeks, my back will have a permanent S-shape from balancing myself. After the babies are born I will have to be ironed flat again. Although a steamroller might be more effective."

Ranger laughed again. "I won't be able to get a steamroller for you, but perhaps a massage will do."

"We could start practicing that tonight."

Ranger smiled. "I'll break out the hot pad when we get in as well. Perhaps it will loosen those muscles up."

I sighed. That sounded very enticing.

As we got to the entrance to the store, Devlin ran up and thrust a gun in Ranger's side. "Come with me, Stephanie, or I will shoot Ranger."

"Don't shoot him", I said. "I'll come with you. I'll even bring my oldest. I know that Bobo wanted children. Just don't shoot my husband." I took Tia from Ranger's arms and stood back so that he'd be able to do his thing unencumbered.

"Get away from him", said Willis. He was also holding a gun, but he was holding it on Devlin. Devlin pooped his pants out of fear, and I could see Ranger shake his head in disgust.

I decided that there were far too many guns around, especially in front of a store that catered to children. I backed up until I was beside Willis. "What's going on, Willis?" I said softly.

"I was married and my wife was expecting our first. This asshole stole her and sold her to an Arab billionaire. I finally found out where she went, just this morning." I looked at him in amazement. Willis had lost the lisp and hand gestures, and I suspected that he would soon lose the clothing choices. I was shocked. His cover had been absolute and seamless. "I vowed, when my wife disappeared, that I would seek my revenge. I vowed that I would kill the asshole that took her from me."

I looked at Ranger. He still had a gun pointed in his side, but I knew that he could get out of that easily. However, he was worried about Willis.

"That's not true", said Devlin. "You've been my lover for the last two months. You let me fuck you."

"I would do anything, even have sex with an asshole like you, to try to get my wife back."

"I understand that", I said. "Tell me about your wife, Willis. What was her name?"

"Fern. Fern Alistair. She is the best woman that I have ever met. She is beautiful, although I wasn't looking for that, but she is also the nicest and the smartest person I have met as well. I have never met someone that I admire as much as her."

"I understand. How far along was she when she was taken?"

"Four months. We were just about to go for our ultrasound that let us know what the baby's sex was."

"How long ago was that?"

"Three months ago."

"What do you do, Willis?"

"I'm a cop in New York City. I do a lot of undercover work, but I have taken a leave of absence so that I can work this case."

"Willis", I said softly, "you don't want to shoot Devlin. You want him to go through the system, and you want him to be incarcerated. You don't want to be jailed for seeking justice. This is not how it's supposed to go."

"I want to kill him, to make him pay for what he has done."

I moved so that I was behind Willis. I didn't want to be in the way of his gun if he started shooting. I did, however, want to be in a position that I would be able to disarm him. "You believe in the justice system. You don't believe that killing someone is the right thing to do", I said. "It would leave a stain on your soul that would never be removed. He's not worth it." I could see Willis's shoulders shake as he started to cry.

"Willis", said Ranger softly, "I will help you find your wife and get her back. However, killing Devlin isn't the way to do it."

Willis sniffled and put his gun down. I took it from him and put it in my purse. As I did, Ranger did a fancy move, disarmed Devlin, and secured his hands behind his back. "Babe, do you have cuffs in your purse?"

"My purse, Tia's diaper bag…" I said with a smile. I opened my purse and removed some cuffs, and took them to Ranger. He quickly cuffed him, pulled out his phone, and called the FBI.

I handed Tia to Ranger, went back to Willis and pulled him in for a hug as he soaked my shirt with his tears. "Willis, I have utter faith that everything is going to be okay. Ranger is the best finder in the world, and if he says that he will help you find your wife, he will help you find your wife. He never says anything that he doesn't mean."

Willis shuddered in a breath. "I'm just so scared, and I miss her so fucking much."

"I understand. But killing Devlin wasn't the way to stop him, just like killing Bobo wasn't the way to stop him either. They aren't worth being put in jail yourself. It would kill your career, kill your future. Is that what you want?"

"I probably have killed my career anyway. I left in the middle of a case."

"It was extenuating circumstances."

"The NYPD won't see it like that."

Ranger led Devlin to Willis. He took a card out of his wallet. "Willis, when you get through the legalities of this, give me a call. We are always looking for talented people. You will find that Rangeman is a team. Unlike the NYPD, if something goes wrong with your family, the whole team would work to help you. We have a lot more jurisdiction than just a local force. As for finding your wife, I will work with the authorities to make sure she is brought home."

"What can you do?"

"I will call in a military team to retrieve her, and I will work with the government there and the government here to ensure the man is brought to justice. There are legal avenues that you can follow that will get the job done."

Willis stared at Ranger. "Who are you?"

Ranger smiled. "I'm the president and CEO of Rangeman." A car drove up and stopped at the curb close to us. He looked up and smiled as a woman and a man got out of the car. "Hey, Anita. Hey, Len. How are you?"

"Good", said Anita. "This is what I like about you, Ranger. You bring a case to us that we didn't even know was a case, you give us all the background information we need to hang him, and then you catch him for us. You are, as always, an extreme help."

Ranger smiled. "I aim to please."

"Are you sure you don't want to work for the FBI?"

Ranger laughed. "No, I'm happy being a consultant to you. After all, I have far more latitude to do my thing working as a consultant than I do as an employee. Besides, I like working for all the main military and policing groups."

"I have suggested that the FBI hire you to train others in providing the kinds of services you do. What you can do in a few short hours takes my agents weeks to do."

Ranger smiled again. "I have a good team. As for training, while I appreciate the offer I don't have time, with the demands of my company and my growing family. I don't think that I have introduced my wife. Anita, this is Stephanie Plum, Research Director for Rangeman. Babe, this is Anita Janssen. She is the Head of the Trenton branch of the FBI."

"It's nice to meet you", I said as I shook her hand.

Anita smiled. "Are you the one that produces all that great research?" she said. "You have saved my bacon lots of times. I don't know how you do it or do it so quickly, but I am awfully glad you do. You and your team are amazing."

I smiled. "I work with very talented people. I'm glad you have found our research beneficial."

"What is going on here?"

Ranger explained the sequence of events, from start to finish. Anita handed Ranger a set of cuffs, took Devlin to her car, and put him in the backseat. When she returned, she had another set of cuffs. "I'm sorry, Willis. You know that I have to cuff you and take you in. However, I don't think that you will be there long. For starters, you were under emotional strain, and I think that should be taken into consideration. Second of all, you have gathered information over the last couple of months that would be helpful to our case. That, also, should be taken into consideration and I think that sharing that information will be able to give you an opportunity to get free. Even better, with the information you have Devlin should be denied bail."

"I understand about being cuffed. If I was the investigating detective, I would also cuff me. After all, I did aim a gun on Devlin. However, if you check the gun there are only rubber bullets in it. I was planning on shooting him and, when he was incapacitated, cuffing him and calling the police. I didn't know that he was planning on pulling a gun on Ranger. However, I was going to report him for kidnapping my wife. I don't want to let him get away with what he has done."

Anita took the gun from me and checked the barrel. "I'll be damned", she said. "That will also go a long way to ensuring your release."

Ranger grinned. "You are definitely Rangeman material. Give me a call when you are up to it, and I will give you a job."

Willis smiled tiredly. "Thank you", he said.

"Did you leave the death threats?" I said.

Willis grinned. "Of course. And I enjoyed seeing him panic." I laughed.

"Did you leave my phone on so that Ranger could track me?"

Willis smiled again. "I hoped it would work."

Ranger turned to Anita. "If you think Willis needs a lawyer, give me a call. I will send one of mine."

"Will do." She turned to Willis. "Should we go? If you don't mind, I will put you in the car with Devlin, and hopefully you'll be able to nudge some more information from him that we can use in our investigation."

"I would be happy to help. Also, just so you know, my name isn't really Willis. It's Will. William Alistair."

Anita put on cuffs. "It's nice to meet you, Will."

Ranger clapped him on the back. "Take it easy and please keep in touch. I am serious when I say that there is a job available for you when you are ready to work again."

Will looked a bit stunned. "Thank you, sir."

"Ranger. There is power in a name and no one on my team calls me sir."

Will smiled slowly. "Okay."

"See you in a bit."

Anita and Len led Will to the car and put him in the backseat with Devlin. As they drove away, Ranger turned to me. "Do you still want to shop?" he said.

I smiled. "What the hell. Why not?"

Ranger chuckled as we walked into the store. "So, you carry cuffs in Tia's diaper bag?"

I grinned. "They make effective teething rings."

Ranger laughed.