All familiar characters belong to Janet. The mistakes are solely mine.
"What on earth did you get yourself into, Stephanie?" My mother said through my phone, and definitely through clenched teeth.
I cut my eyes to Ranger. "I told you it'd only take about two minutes from when I texted the picture to Grandma that I'd be getting a call."
"Who are you talking to?" She asked me.
"Ranger. Wanna say 'Hi' to him?"
"What I want to say is … what did you do now?"
"I thought the X-ray I sent Grandma would explain that … I broke my finger. I'm okay by the way. It was only my finger and it only hurts a little. Thanks for asking."
"You know very well that I'm glad you are alright, not that you called to tell me that you had been hurt …"
"Way to make this call about you, Mom. I don't mind if we end it here."
"Don't get smart with me, young lady. Are you or are you not engaged? We can clearly see a ring on your left ring finger in that X-ray."
"It might have been a ring of the onion-variety. The ER was busy and I was hungry, so Tank brought me some take-out to make me feel better."
"Now is not the time for jokes, Stephanie. Everyone will be talking about this …"
"So ... let them. Or just don't talk to them about me. What I do doesn't affect anyone except me and who I'm with, which is Ranger … so don't go spreading rumors that Joe proposed."
"So that is an engagement ring on your finger?" She asked.
I sighed but looked down at my splinted-finger buddy-taped to the one that caused such a reaction, and I smiled. The oval diamond should be too large to fit on such a thin platinum band, never mind the center stone being highlighted by a hexagon-shaped fine line of mini-diamonds. To me, my ring's setting resembles a delicate sort of shield, and I couldn't help but think Ranger was saying something by choosing it.
I lifted my happy grin up so he could see that he is the one who inspired it. I neeeeever wanted to get married again, but Batman had been so sneaky and friggin' subtle in making me see that I really do want everything he has to offer. To say it was a shock that marriage was part of it, would be a huge – and scary - understatement.
To keep with my tradition of fucking up a good thing, sixteen hours after Ranger slid my 'protection ring' onto my finger during a sexy but concise proposal - I was naked, and he was sure enough about me becoming Mrs. Manoso for the both of us - fucking Arvin Tunea unexpectedly pushed me while I was in the process of cuffing him. No surprise, I fell ... landing on - and clearly breaking - the digit beside my newly-ringed one. The doctored-finger took away from the milestone Ranger and I had just reached and the roadblock I've finally overcome, when I would've liked a second to absorb how my life will soon be changing yet not changing at all.
"It is," I told my mother, only after I felt Ranger's arms close reassuringly around me. "Ranger wants to make me a Manoso, and I can't find a single thing wrong with that plan."
"You want to marry a man who got your finger broken?"
"I was already a bounty hunter when I met Ranger, Mom. And he actually made sure my skip never hurts anyone again."
She doesn't need to know that Ranger broke more than Tunea's finger when he saw that mine was not pointing in the right direction.
"Even so …"
"This wasn't Ranger's fault period," I told her. "I'm a better bond enforcement agent because of him. I'm still alive thanks to him too."
"If you say so …"
"I do. And I'm planning to say those two words again as soon as I can convince him that a courthouse ceremony is all I need."
"Are you sure you don't want a wedding?" Ranger asked.
"Of course you'll want a wedding when you're ready to get married again," my mother told me.
"Ranger was talking to me, Mom. And I care about the man, not how I make him mine."
"Hang up and you can make me yours again right now," Ranger teased.
I know he was saying that to piss off my mother, but I couldn't think of a better way to spend the rest of the day than wrapped around Ranger. He's a way better pain-distracter than the prescription for pills I was given, which I'd already tossed when we got home anyway.
"I gotta go," I said to my mother. "You can wish us well or totally ignore the fact that this is happening, but Ranger and I are doing this anyway. Our way."
"Stephanie …"
"I know, you're happy for us. And don't worry, we don't need anything so you can skip the wedding gift."
Ranger's lips started skimming down my neck. "Hang up," he said again.
His mouth and his tone told me this time he was serious.
"I'll talk to you later, Mom," I said into my cell. "Tell Grandma Mazur that I have been sticking my broken finger up every chance I get, she'll get a kick out of that, and that I'll give her all the gory details tomorrow."
I disconnected and tossed my cell onto Ranger's counter, startling Rex. He shot me a dirty look and then scurried back into his soup can.
"Now it's official," I said into Ranger's chest, after turning in the circle his arms made around me. "My grandmother knows we're getting married, my mom is already thinking about 'damage control', and I don't regret a single second of loving you … or finally admitting to you how much I do."
"You could've put that conversation off for a few more days if you would have removed the ring like you were advised to."
I was already shaking my head like I'd done back in the ER. "I promised you that I wouldn't take it off, and I'm not going to start off our soon-to-be married life on a lie."
I could feel each of his fingers slide against my scalp as his hand burrowed into the curls I'd pulled into a ponytail this morning.
"You appear to have vows on the brain, Babe," he said against my lips.
I shrugged under his free hand. "What can I say? You make everything seem possible, even a relationship with a happily ever after ending."
"Those are for fairy tales. What we have is very real."
"Oh yeah? Prove it."
That was a stupid thing to say, since Ranger makes me combust, multiple times each time, even when he's purposely being extra careful with me. Dangling a challenge in front of him, equals that red flag provoking the bull-thing that Angie informed me is not true and the practice really cruel.
Ranger started walking me from his kitchen into his bedroom. "Better be careful, Babe," he said when I felt my knees hit the edge of the mattress. "Upholding my word and my reputation is what I do on a daily basis."
"You're talking about work. Even though I am a lot of work … it's different."
Maybe it isn't so different in Ranger's mind. His life on and off the job is his to dictate. And it's clear from his slight pause that he doesn't want me questioning how much I mean to him.
"And how 'different' do you see yourself?" He asked, continuing to move towards me until I was sitting on his bed with him stepping between my knees.
I tilted my head back until I caught his eyes. "You don't have to prove that you love me, you show me that over and over again in everything you do."
He put both hands on the mattress on either side of me and leaned forward until our chests were close to touching. His shoulders bumping mine is all it took to have me leaning back and taking him with me.
"Why are you doubting yourself now?" He asked, trying to keep the majority of his weight off me while I'm busy trying to pull him even closer.
"I'm not really doubting myself exactly. I guess the problem is ... I can't find one. You're literally the perfect man, friend, and mentor for me. I can't help pinching myself. I've never been lucky, so I can't explain you."
"You don't need luck when you have me. And you don't have to be able to explain me. All that's required for us to work is you waking up every day choosing to love me, talk to me, and not hide from me again. What I feel for you has never changed. I've just been biding my time, waiting for you to catch up."
I didn't doubt what he said, feeling how hard he is just from being close to me. "You know what? I actually believe you. What's still hard to understand is why someone like you would love me."
"You don't have to understand it, Babe. You can just lie back and enjoy every minute of it."