Everyone familiar belongs to Janet. Mistakes are solely mine.
"I would normally say just ignore Atlas. But in this case, Mom, you should listen to him. There's nothing for you here until you're willing to admit that you share some of the blame for everything we've gone through. Not everything's your fault, but it will be if you don't stop denying the hefty part you played in our family's issues."
"You don't know what you're talking about, Stephanie."
"Of course I don't. I've only gotten myself out of the Burg, married the guy that made my life worth living, have the best kids anyone can be given, am surrounded by people I love, and my days and career are spent helping my people and community. I clearly have no clue how to see what I've done wrong and change it. If you'll excuse us, Eddie wants to see Olive."
"Frank!" Helen ground out. "Are you going to let your daughter talk to me like that?"
Steph grinned. "Thanks. I'm sure you think you foisting my existence off on Dad is going to hurt me, but I'm pretty proud to be Frank Plum's daughter."
"The only reason I wouldn't let Stephanie talk to you, Helen, is because she's had to stand up for herself and everybody else for too long. It's my turn to protect my daughters. I agree with her and this Atlas character. You should go home. I've disrupted things here enough already."
"You have not, Dad. You're doing whatever you need to, and we're behind you every step of the way."
I hugged Steph tighter to me. She doesn't need me to protect her, but that knowledge will never stop me from doing it or comforting her against what I can't prevent.
Frank nodded his thanks before turning back to his wife. "I'll be in touch when I've decided what I'm going to do next."
"A lawyer is on hand if your plans require one," I reminded my father-in-law.
It was a subtle threat, but one Helen picked up on. Push this too far, and she could very well be single and living on a fixed income by the end of the year.
"I'll talk to you later, Frank. When things aren't so ... busy," Helen told him, already reworking this conversation into one she's able to cope with. "Have a lovely visit. You know where I'll be if you need someplace quiet to think."
Knowing to never turn your back on an enemy, I waited until she'd backed out of the visitor's lot and was heading back to her solitary confinement before I steered my wife and the group towards the lobby.
"What the hell was that?" One Shot asked. "I thought I knew what frigid meant until I met that thing."
"Consider yourself lucky," Eddie told him. "You only had to deal with Mrs. Plum for five minutes. Shirley, Steph, Frank, and I, have a-hundred-and-forty plus decades between us of putting up with that kinda crap. She seems to be getting a little meaner, though. Or maybe she's just not covering it up as well as she used to."
"They all get meaner and more obvious the longer you know 'em," Atlas said. "Her type also become vicious to people that figure out what they are." He cut his eyes to Stephanie. "You need to watch it around her."
"Thank you so much for your concern," she said so sweetly, my teeth ached, "but I've been protecting myself and my family from her for longer than you've been in town."
"And you're not doing any of it alone," I reminded her. "One word and she's gone."
"Same offer applies," Atlas chimed in.
I got a smile for having her back as I opened the lobby door for her. Atlas received a glare.
The idiot laughed. "Tough crowd," he loudly whispered to Eddie.
"You don't know the half of it," Steph's friend replied.
"Behave, Eddie," Shirley told him, "or Stephanie may decide to kick us out too."
He kissed her temple in reassurance. "She won't. We come in peace and with your snippy kind of sarcasm. You did good with Helen. You held your own."
Her eyebrows shot up. "Did you think I wouldn't?"
"Not for one second, honey."
"You'd better get the lovey-dovey stuff out of your system down here," Steph advised. "Trust me when I say the guys will never let any sappy moment go 'un-pointed out'. You now have a decision to make. We can head up to seven or hang out in one of the cushier conference rooms? Our apartment has Gunny and Mo who love company and aren't shy about getting attention any way they can."
"Steph, you've had plenty of run-ins with our rugrats," Eddie answered. "You think we're scared of two dogs?"
"Down here it is," my wife decided. "You two have suffered enough and deserve a few moments of relative peace and quiet." She looked up at me. "Can you convince our babysitter to bring Olive down?"
"I think I can manage it, Babe."
While I made the call, I could hear Steph directing everyone towards one of the conference rooms I had Ella and Louis fix up into a downstairs living room for visitors who like a more controlled setting than our apartment.
"Dad?" Steph asked. "Aren't you coming?"
"I think I've had enough talking for one day. I'll catch up with everyone next time around."
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
Steph caught my eye and the worry in hers is clear. "Dr. Paice will want to hear how you handled today," I reminded Frank. "If you don't call him, he'll be showing up at your door."
He nodded. "I'll give him a call now."
After a round of goodbyes, he headed to the elevator and the forth floor.
"Grandma, do you think you can 'accidentally' stop in and check on him in a few minutes? He shouldn't be alone right now and I promised the Gazarras lunch and dinner if they want to stick around."
"No problem. I'll wait so I can kiss my little Olive and then I'll go on up and get that deck of cards I've been wantin' to crack open. Hope 'ol Frank won't mind the half-naked stud muffins on them."
"That will get his mind off Helen," I said.
"Probably not in a good way, though," Eddie added. "I'm disturbed enough just hearing Grandma Mazur say the word 'naked'."
She jabbed an arthritic finger into his chest. "Guess who saw you naked right after you were born? I'm sure I got pictures somewhere and everything ... if Helen hasn't burned them all by now."
"She did have a lot of alone time on her hands," Steph said, a little of her usual humor coming back.
Her smile was back in full force when the doorway of the conference room was suddenly filled with Tank. He had to bend almost in half to get himself and Olive into the room. One of Olivia's loves is getting shoulder rides down the stairs of the building. The taller the Uncle, the better. Steph claims that given the average height of the men, it gives our baby a new perspective on everything around her.
One Shot looked shocked and also amused at Tank's arrival. "You need a mercenary to be your babysitter? What the hell kind of kid do you have?"
"A special one," Steph answered, taking a moment to narrow her eyes at him again before smiling up at Olivia. "Uncle Eddie and Aunt Shirley came to see you, Olive ..."
"I'm here too," Atlas interrupted to add.
"Not by choice."
"Still, I should get an introduction to the tiny tot so I know what I'm up against. I don't want her scared of me."
"There's very little Olive is afraid of thanks to her Daddy. Isn't that right?" She asked our daughter. "Daddy can make every situation tolerable, even ones we don't want any part of."
One Shot cut his eyes to me. "I think the Missus is warming up to me."
Eddie barely stifled a laugh. "Yeah, if Steph were any warmer, she'd shoot you." He looked at my wife with a question in his eyes before he even asked it. "There's only a handful of people you hate, so what's with this guy? He do something to you that I need to know about?"
"He wasn't Ranger's biggest fan back in the day," Tank answered, lifting Olivia off his shoulders and setting her loose on the crowd. "Steph's holding a grudge."
Eddie slapped Atlas on the back in sympathy. "Good luck, Man. Steph may not hate everyone who screws her over, but she can grudge the hell out of them."
"Mama!" Olivia yelled, and hit second gear on her sneakers before hitting the breaks to acknowledge me. "Dada!"
"Just look at that, Eddie," Shirley whispered. "Isn't she precious? She doesn't know who to run to first. Remember when our boys did things like that?"
He shook his head. "No. They only ran to whatever we told them to stay the hell away from."
Steph solved our daughter's dilemma by picking her up for a hug and then coming to stand by me. She wanted a kiss but was content to stay in her mother's arms afterwards while she surveyed our guests.
"You recognize Uncle Eddie, don't you?" Steph asked. "He may look different in normal clothes with no hat for you to steal."
"At," she repeated, tapping her head.
"Great job. That is where a hat goes ... on your head."
"How's my little deputy doing?" Eddie asked, leaning in closer but not enough to crowd her. "You keeping the peace around here? I got my badge on me if you need to arrest anyone while I'm here."
She kept her head tucked under Steph's chin, but she reached out to take the offered 'toy'. He earned himself a full display of baby teeth and two dimples as a thank you.
"I can think of a few people off the top of my head who should get to experience that pleasure," Steph said to Tank and I.
Tank tried not to grin and One Shot didn't bother hiding his. "Promises, promises, Mrs. Manoso."
His voice momentarily distracted Olivia from the T-Rex head that hid the face of Shirley's watch.
"Wore," she said as she touched the plastic Dinosaur.
"It's my Mother's Day gift from the boys," she explained. "It doesn't fit my usual taste in jewelry, but they were so proud to have picked it all by themselves for me. I hate not to wear it despite it being so clunky."
"It's actually kinda cool, Shirley," Steph told her cousin. "I bet you had Eddie make up for it with his gift to you, though."
She smiled with innocence and enough evil to have me not question her nickname any longer.
"He would never have heard the end of it if he hadn't. I have a lot to do, especially now that I've had to add 'be a teacher' to my list of things to be done everyday. I should get to feel appreciated for all that I do for our family."
"I can't thank you enough for it either," Eddie told her. "I'd lock myself in a jail cell just to avoid having to homeschool our monsters."
"Valerie has had the same kind of thoughts. Kloughn is more of a hindrance than help," Steph told them.
"There are those names again," Atlas said. "You ready to clue me in? Or you gonna have the mini-you just stare a hole through me and hope I bleed out before I get too comfortable here?"
Steph shrugged, causing Olivia to giggle as she went up and down along with her Mama's shoulders.
"Ranger's her Daddy so I'm expecting to discover her superpower any day now. Maybe it's making someone's head explode using only her big brown eyes."
Eddie laughed. "God ... I've missed you, Steph. I'd give you a hug to prove it, but I wouldn't want to make my wife jealous."
"Or piss the Boss off for touching his," Tank added helpfully.
Eddie nodded. "That too."
"Now that Aunt Helen's gone on home," Shirley said to Stephanie, as she tugged her and Olivia over to one of the sofas, "you owe me some updates. There have been weddings and babies happening right and left here, I want details. What's the latest?"
"The breaking news is Tank has a girlfriend that I haven't had a chance to grill him on yet."
"I have a list of searches that I can assign to you to do that'll keep you too busy to interrogate anyone," Tank warned.
My wife laughed at the empty threat. They both know I'll overrule his decision and make him do the shit work instead if he tries it. Olivia wiggled off of Steph's lap and ran to where Eddie, Tank, Atlas, and I, are still standing. I didn't hesitate to pick her up when she raised her arms up to me.
"Miss," she demanded, and I immediately complied by giving her the second kiss she requested.
Once she was satisfied that she's still the center of my world, she busied herself by trying to stick Eddie's badge onto my T-shirt. Since it didn't come with tape, and she couldn't figure out the typical way of getting it to stay where she wanted it, it kept sliding back down into her hands in the strangest game of catch I've ever seen.
Eddie groaned. "God, Olive, don't do that. Your Daddy already believes he runs the city, he doesn't need any more encouragement," he teased.
"You gonna tell Ranger he isn't running the show?" Tank asked him.
"Are you friggin' crazy?" Was his answer. "He can believe whatever he wants if it'll keep me alive."
Olivia got the outcome she wanted by just holding the badge in place with both hands, and then she started staring unblinkingly at One Shot again. She wasn't giving him an inch which he seems to find amusing. He gave her a small wave before glancing up at me. I saw that he understood what he'd witnessed today. He may have to earn his place here, but once he passes my ladies' tests, he'll have the type of family he's always craved for the rest of his life.
