CHAPTER 29
The next few weeks I was put on bed rest. My ankles were swollen and it was difficult to move around. Each day during their day off, a different Merry Man kept me company in my apartment. Today was my best friend's turn. "You must have something better to do than babysit me Lester."
"Beautiful, you need help getting up from a seated position. Someone needed to ensure you ate, drank and had regular bathroom breaks," he sweetly stated. I thought, 'thank goodness they don't have to help me shower in the mornings too.'
Lester doubled over laughing. "As much as I would love to see you naked, Ranger will kill me if I even thought about helping you shower. Thankfully he helps you with your morning routine. After all, I do value my life." I shoved him over. The loud knocking on the door stopped Lester's laughter. He opened the door to find Tina and Bobby waiting to enter. "Ah, come on Bobby," he whined, "it's my turn to be with Beautiful today."
Bobby pasted a serious look on his face and said, "We're here to examine her. Ranger told me she's been experiencing back pains."
Tina added, "She'll be thirty-three weeks in two days. We are expecting the babies to come any day now. Women pregnant with twins rarely reach forty weeks. Since Ranger was concerned about her increasing back pains, we decided to check on her ahead of schedule. We want to rule out labour. I think she's just experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions."
Lester and Bobby helped me to the bedroom. "Can I trust you to stay quiet Lester?" I asked.
"Yes beautiful. You have my word. What do you need me to do?" He directed this question to Bobby and Tina.
Tina said, "She needs to be stripped from waist down, can you cover her with the blanket folded on that chair?" Lester grabbed the blanket, unfolded it, carefully covering my stomach and legs. Since it's difficult for me to remove my yoga pants and panties, Bobby lifts my hips to allow Tina to pull them off. I'm going to need to wear dresses from now on. That was slightly embarrassing. "Don't be embarrassed. It's not the first time we had to help a pregnant woman strip," she assured me.
Tina gently patted my leg in comfort. "Bobby, Lester, I need to examine Stephanie, but we don't have stirrups. I need you two to hold a leg so I can examine her. Lester, sit beside her on the right, can you prop her up on a slight incline with those pillows?" Once I was comfortably propped up, she added, "Okay. Bobby sit on her left, Lester stay on her right. Pull her bended leg slightly to the side and pull her feet up closer to her hip." She waited for them to position my legs. "Great. Now hold them steady." She readjusted the blanket, put on gloves and examined me. "You are not dilated. The back pains you're experiencing isn't from labour. Thank you for your help boys. You can let go of her legs and I'll help her dress."
Lester and Bobby grumbled before leaving the room. Tina helped me to a seated position and stripped off my oversized shirt. Routing through my pyjama drawer, she found one of the pregnancy nightgowns. "Ranger purchased those for me. Aren't they beautiful? They're so soft. I was surprised he purchased them himself. Usually, he just sends Ella shopping with a list of items."
She pulled it over my head and asked, "Would you like a clean pair of panties too?
I quickly nodded. "Yes. I'm not willing to sit next to Lester on the couch commando."
Laughing, she said, "I don't blame you."
After calling Bobby to assist me to the couch, Lester complained again, "It's my turn."
I rolled my eyes and mumbled, 'he's acting like a baby.' Tina asked Bobby and Lester for some private time with me. They reluctantly left the apartment, grumbling about losing precious time with me.
"Steph. I finally told Hal I'll move in with him." She smiled brightly before adding, "He gave me something." I knew he proposed last night. It was just a matter of time before she showed me the ring. She turned away from me, reached into her pocket then showed me her left ring finger. On her finger was a princess cut diamond set in a platinum band. Her ring was beautiful.
"I'm so happy for you Tina. Hal is a wonderful man."
She gave me a hug. "I haven't told Bobby yet."
My mouth popped open. "You better tell him before someone else does. He'll be angry if he doesn't hear it from you first. You may be his older sister, but he's very protective of you."
She nodded then quickly texted her brother, 'Can you come back to the apartment alone? There's something I need to tell you.' After a quick rap on the door, Bobby opened it and walked into the apartment. "Bobby, you know Hal and I have been dating for over a year now." He nodded his head and motioned for her to continue. "Well... last night he proposed and I said yes."
Bobby whooped then hugged his sister, swinging her around. "I told him you'd say yes."
"What? You knew he was going to propose?"
"Yes Tina, I knew. Since dad has been gone for many years, he asked me for your hand in marriage. I gave him my blessing." She started crying, which caused me to start crying. He groaned, "Oh crap. I can't handle all this crying." He opened the door and yelled, "Lester, get in here NOW."
Lester ran into the apartment wondering what happened. He saw Tina crying in Bobby's arms and me crying alone on the couch. Wrapping his arms around me, he embraced me, whispering words of comfort. After spending the day with Lester I was exhausted. He can be very exhausting. How can someone be so cheery all the time? Someday I hope he meets the woman who could tame him.
Thank goodness tomorrow is Cal's turn to babysit me. Even though we're not related, I lovingly call him my brother. He calls me his sister. We are siblings by choice, not biology. He's the only Merry Man who likes to chatter as much as I do. I'm closer to Cal than any of my female friends. We are best friends.
Ranger is diligently working to organize his client accounts and complete outstanding paperwork. He's hoping to spend a few work-stress free months with me and our babies. Every day, he returns by 5 pm to have dinner with me. If he needs to work extra hours, he works on his laptop after dinner, sitting on the couch or bed beside me. Field work and out of office client meetings are handled by Tank or another core team member.
I fell asleep shortly after dinner. Ranger carefully carried me to bed and pulled the blankets over me. He left briefly to retrieve his laptop from the living room. Watching me toss and turn, he set aside work, stripped down to his boxers and crawled into bed. I remember him pulling me into his chest before I finally gave in to sleep.
I woke up the next morning feeling restless. Ranger just returned from his run. Breakfast was already set on the table. Huh... Ella must have kept me company while he went for his daily run. I wonder how long he's been doing that? "Babe. Tina was indisposed this morning, so Ella volunteered to sit with you. Tina usually shows up at 5 am to stay with you while I go for my daily run. Last night, I sent her and Hal out for a congratulatory engagement dinner. Bobby was on call in case you went into labour."
"You really think of everything don't you?"
"Babe." I should have known better. "Shower or food first?" He always gave me this option even though my answer remains the same.
As predicted, I said, "Shower. I have to go in there anyways. May as well do everything involving the bathroom first." He helped me from the bed and into the bathroom. After giving me a few minutes to take care of immediate needs, he opened the door to join me in the shower. I love his showers... they are always magical.
As I walked towards the kitchen I said, "Tina says we have to reduce the number of our sexy times."
"Babe, we have. You fall asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow. The only sexy times we have is during our morning shower."
I blushed when I heard a knock on the door and opened it to Cal. He was blushing so I knew he heard Ranger's last comment. "Come in Cal. We were about to eat breakfast. Ella sent plenty, would you care to join us?"
He shook his head no and said, "I've already eaten, but thank you for the invitation." I sat beside Ranger at the table to eat the bagel, scrambled eggs and sausage Ella prepared for me. After we ate, Ranger kissed me, deposited me on the couch beside Cal and left for the fifth floor.
"What would you like to do today Cal? We can play poker, watch TV, watch DVDs..." I waited for him to answer.
"Can we talk? I need some advice." His face turned red and I could only guess why.
"Is there a girl you're interested in?"
He nodded. "She started working at Shorty's a few weeks ago. Her name's Natasha."
"Describe her to me Cal."
"She has blond hair, green eyes and around your height. I guess she's a bit heavier than your pre-pregnancy weight. She's a single mom with a five year old boy. Her husband died three years ago in Afghanistan. He was in the Army... special ops. Her family moved to Trenton from New York a few years ago. She tried living on her own with her son, but decided to move closer to family for emotional support." I was shocked. Cal rarely talks about his personal life and I don't ever recall him talking this much about a girl he's interested in. He registered the shock on my face. "You know I've dated before and I'm definitely not a virgin. I just haven't dated anyone since my girlfriend cheated on me during my first tour in the Army."
"Cal, I'm so sorry. I had no idea. You never talked about having a girlfriend while serving. Why didn't you tell anyone about her?"
"I was embarrassed. She's actually the reason I got my flaming skull tattoo. I figured if she didn't want me, then I'll put this tattoo on my head so I don't get my heart broken by another woman."
I put my arm around his shoulder and kissed his cheek. "That was really stupid."
"I know. But it's too late now. You never seemed to mind my tattoo. Before you were involved with Ranger, I was going to ask you out."
"Ah... I would have been honoured to be your girlfriend. But when I met you, I was already half in love with him."
He thought about that before answering, "He was already in love with you when I started at Rangeman. During my orientation with Tank, he told me that 'Stephanie Plum belongs to Ranger and is completely off limits. Anyone who ignores this will be terminated immediately.' I wanted to keep my job. It's difficult to find a job after completing two tours in the Army. Not to mention the tattoo on my forehead. I met Ranger during my last tour during a special black ops operation. Obviously I can't give you details, but he offered me a job at Rangeman when my tour ended."
"When did you find out about your girlfriend?"
"Between tours. I was planning to propose. We dated since we were in eighth grade. I thought she was the one, but she's now married to my old best friend."
I cringed. "That's got to hurt. I can imagine how much pain that caused." He nodded.
"I was surprised Ranger was willing to hire me despite the tattoo. When I came back from my last tour, I worked at Shorty's. Did you know he's my uncle?"
I looked at him in surprise. "I had no idea."
"He's my mom's brother. When my dad died, my mom started using drugs. My uncle Tim rescued me from her when I was ten and was granted guardianship. She overdosed during my first tour. Since he was listed as next of kin, he inherited the money my dad invested while serving in the Army. He was planning to transfer the money to me, but I suggested he should buy Shorty's from his boss, who wanted to retire. I worked at Shorty's when I returned from my second tour."
"Ranger offered you a job at Rangeman. Why didn't you accept his offer?"
"I thought he was just being polite and didn't really mean to offer me a job. My uncle was having some problems with residual gangs trying to overrun the shop, so he contacted his old Army buddy, who referred him to Rangeman. Ranger arrived at Shorty's for a consultation. When I served their pizza and beer, he demanded I pass along my resume. Little did I know, my uncle already had copies and passed him one from the folder on the table. I had my first interview with Ranger on the spot. When I passed the background check, I had a second interview with Tank and started working at Rangeman immediately. My uncle insisted I wasn't leaving him in a tight spot when I told him about my new job. He said he could manage with his current staff."
After a brief bathroom break we continued our conversation. "So what exactly do you need my advice on?"
"How do you know when someone likes you as a potential romantic partner?"
"Did Natasha give you any indication she liked you only as a friend?"
"I don't know. She kept talking about her son Toby and her late husband. I told her all about my sister Stephanie. She's excited to meet you."
