Chapter 27
I used the bathroom in Bobby's examination room to pee on the stick. This seems to be a very common theme for me. You know... someone suspecting I'm pregnant, giving me a test to pee all over while they wait for the results. We waited patiently for the results to return.
When I handed Bobby the test, I noticed it was negative. I was really hoping to be pregnant again. It just wasn't meant to be this time. I'm just late. "Huh... you're displaying some symptoms. Maybe your hormone levels aren't high enough to register," Bobby suggested. I was sitting on Hector's lap crying. All I could see is my little boy I desperately wanted. He was comforting me the only way he could... softly singing to me while stroking my back. "Can I draw some blood for a test? It would be more accurate."
"Whatever. Just get it over with." I held out my arm for him to take a sample. When he was finished, I excused myself. Carlos was waiting for me in our apartment. We've been living at Rangeman from Monday to Friday and living at the house on the weekends. It was easier for the men to accompany Julie to school. He pulled me into his arms and held me. I heard my satellite phone ringing in our bedroom. "I have to get that. It could be important," I said as he released me.
I opened my phone and pressed it to my ear. "Fannie, we need your skills on a mission. We've trained other snipers, but none of them have your skill." I took a minute to think about my contract. There was a clause indicating I had to accept missions requiring my incendiary sniper skills.
"When?" I asked. I could tell Carlos was very interested in my conversation.
"Tomorrow 0400. A chopper will meet you on the roof of Rangeman Trenton."
"Yes Sir," I answered. The call ended and I sank on the bed with my head in my hands.
"Babe, when do you leave?" he gently asked. I gave him the pick up details but not the nature of the mission. It was confidential and unless Carlos was deployed with me, I couldn't discuss it. When he was about to discuss options for Julie, his satellite phone rang. "Sir," he answered. He listened for a few minutes. His eyes kept focus on me. My husband was joining me on this mission. "Ram, Lester, Tank and Bobby," he replied. It sounds like he selected the rest of our team. "Yes Sir. See you tomorrow Sir," he said before ending the call.
"You're on my team," I stated. He nodded and pulled me into his arms. This would be my first mission away from Julie.
"We need to have a core team meeting. Julie needs to stay at Rangeman until we're back. Cal, Hector, Manny and Junior will be responsible for her," he started planning.
"Carlos, Jeanne Ellen needs to stay here with Julie. Mama is great with her, but she has other responsibilities for Rangeman. Julie will be more comfortable with Jeanne Ellen close by," I interrupted his plans.
"Call her," he ordered. I had to smile. He just wanted to be sure we had a plan before we met with the team.
While Carlos called his men, I used my phone to call Jeanne. "Hey Jeanne, I've been called away," I started.
"Sure, I'll take Julie. I assume I need to stay at Rangeman in Tia Ella's apartment?" she asked.
"If you don't mind. They have an extra bedroom for Julie. It used to be the office," I explained.
"So I'm available when she wakes up during the night missing her momma."
"Exactly. She's used to having you around. Thank you Jeanne. I owe you one," I said with relief.
"I think you owe me at least a dozen," she joked. "Seriously Steph, I'll take care of your little princess. See you tonight."
"See ya Jeanne." I hung up the phone. Carlos heard the last part of my conversation and understood we have Julie's care handled.
"Meeting in five," he said as he grabbed my hand. We took the elevator to the conference room on the fifth floor. It was the same one we use for our weekly core team meetings. I walked into the room and took my usual seat on Ranger's right. Hector entered the room to sit beside me. Ranger raised an eyebrow, but Hector didn't budge.
Tank, Lester, Bobby, Ram, Cal, Junior and Manny entered the room and took their assigned seats. They noticed Hector in the meeting but wisely said nothing. Most of the men were afraid of Hector. "Men, Steph and I were called away on a mission. Tank, Bobby, Lester and Ram, you men are accompanying us. We'll meet on seven to discuss details at 0100. Cal, Junior and Manny, are in charge of Rangeman in our absence. You three along with Hector are responsible for Julie. She is to have at least one of you with her at all times. At night, she'll be staying with Jeanne Ellen in Ella's apartment. Any questions?"
"When do we leave?" Bobby asked.
"0400," he replied without providing more details. "Rest up. Steph and I will be spending quality time with our daughter. Dismissed."
We went to the school to pick up Julie early. They didn't question our motives. My bright daughter already knew. "Batman, Wonder Woman have to save us?" she asked.
"Yes Baby. Momma and Papa have to go save the world," I confirmed.
"Me stay with Auntie Jee Jee?"
"Si. Abuela Ella and Abuelo Luis too," Carlos added.
"Yay... and Tio Hec?" she asked using her big puppy dog eyes.
"You get to spend time with your uncle Hector too." She started squirming in her seat. I know her uncle was teaching her how to throw knives. It wasn't a skill I wanted her to learn, but he was teaching her with or without our permission. We decided to give him permission so they would practice at Rangeman.
We played a few board games with Julie and watched her favourite movie. Once the credits started rolling, Julie's stomach grumbled. "Make supper now?" she asked.
"I think we should before your stomach eats us all," Carlos joked. He led her to the kitchen and allowed her to select what we're making for dinner. Her eating habits are more like her father than mine. I love my pasta and she'd rather not eat it.
Julie helped us cook dinner. She was having fun washing the vegetables. I should really say she was having more fun splashing us with water. We sat at the table to eat the grilled chicken and roasted vegetables. "Yummy," Julie moaned as she ate. I noticed she started moaning whenever she ate 'daddy approved' food. It was so adorable. I've learned to control my reaction over the years. It appears Julie certainly takes after her mother.
I helped her bathe while Carlos selected a book to read. She wanted to wear her Batman pyjama bottoms and her Wonder Woman top. They didn't match but neither Carlos nor I complained. "After your story, we need to go to Abuela's apartment. Auntie Jee Jee will be there okay Baby?"
"Okay momma." She grabbed her rolling suitcase to pack some clothes. It was completely unnecessary but she insisted. "Ready. Go now," she hollered. I guess we're reading her story later.
Carlos grabbed her luggage while she carried her book. Julie made me carry her teddy bear. She rang the doorbell and waited for Abuela to open the door. "Jee Jee," she squealed when Jeanne Ellen opened the door. "Me sleepover."
"We're having a sleepover," she agreed. "Are you ready for bed?" Jeanne smiled at Julie's choice of pyjamas.
"Yup. Papa read book," she shoved the book towards Jeanne.
"Do you know where your room is?" I asked. She nodded and led us to her room. "Wow, this is a very nice room." I took a few minutes to look around. A painting of Wonder Woman, Batman and Cat Woman was painted on one wall. Near her bed was a painting of a blue teddy bear with 'Stephan' on a name tag. I absolutely loved her room.
"Momma like?" Julie asked.
"I like it very much. Hop into bed so Papa can read to you." She quickly jumped in and patted the bed so we could lay beside her. I climbed in closest to the wall and Carlos lay on the open edge. Julie was pressed between us. I listened as Carlos read the story using different voices to represent each character. It was very amusing and exactly how I would read to her.
She drifted off near the end of the book. We stayed in her bed until we had to leave to prepare for our mission. Carlos and I needed some private time too. He held my hand as we walked up the stairs to our apartment. It was only 2100 so we had plenty of time. We made love several times before taking a shower. I was packing my comfortable cotton panties. "Do you have birth control?" he asked knowing my test came back negative.
"I'll give it another week before taking the injection. If my period doesn't start by then, I'll know for sure I'm pregnant. The only times I have ever been late was with Stephan and Julie," I answered.
"We have our check in two weeks from tomorrow. It's possible we'll learn then," he wisely said.
"Will our handler give us that information?" I wondered.
"Not likely," he admitted.
"Thank you for giving me hope." I stretched on my toes to give him a passionate kiss.
"Babe, if we keep kissing, you're going to lose some clothes." I was more than okay with that. He continued kissing me and my clothes somehow disappeared. Our apartment door opened as he pushed into me.
"Don't stop. Hard and fast," I moaned. He captured my lips with his as he pumped into me with long and deep strokes. My orgasm was building until I finally tipped over. He swallowed my screams before he groaned through his release. I was completely embarrassed when I heard clapping from the other room.
"We were louder than I thought," Carlos whispered.
"You're the man." I giggled. "I love you more every day."
"As I love you. You're my heart, my soul and my life." He pressed another kiss to my lips before pushing me from bed. We went to the washroom to quickly wash up. Carlos pulled on his nondescript black cargos and shirt. I quickly dressed in a similar fashion. Our bags were already packed and ready to go.
I pasted on my blank face and entered the living room. Lester had a huge grin on his face. Bobby, Ram and Tank looked slightly embarrassed. I noticed each man was sporting a huge erection.
"Men!" Ranger commanded. "Team Beta has been captured near Guantanamo Cuba. We will be airdropped near Caimanera where we'll need to hike northwest to a compound south of Guantanamo. It will take close to six hours to hike, but we'll take it slow and stretch it over a few days. An incendiary device will be used as a distraction. Lester will plant the device at the north end of the compound. Stephanie will be hidden nearly a mile away to ignite the bomb. Tank, Bobby and I will storm the compound to rescue our team. Ram, cover Stephanie. Lester, watch the north for people escaping through the breach. Do you understand your assignments?"
"Sir, yes Sir," we answered. Carlos grabbed the maps for us to memorize on our trip. Lester, Tank and Bobby disappeared to the Rangeman gun vault to grab the weapons we needed for our trip. Lester opened the explosives vault to grab the required items. Separately they weren't dangerous. Mixed together, they were explosive. We couldn't rely on a detonator so that was my job. The trick was mixing the items together in a container that would be passed off as trash.
Carlos had family living in Los Reynaldos. We had to rescue our Rangers and make our way to his family's property. They'll drive us several miles north where they'll leave us to hike another 15 miles to the Army base. A helicopter will take us to a secure airport where we'll catch a flight home. I've never been on mission where there are so many moving parts and so much could go wrong. Precision timing is required to successfully complete this mission.
We had a few more necessary tasks to complete before we could leave. Our lawyer arrived at 0300 for us to sign our typical papers. Guardianship of Julie was going to Jeanne Ellen, Ella and Luis. Rangeman was temporarily handed over to Cal, Manny, Junior and Hal. Continuing with my typical deployment routine, I wrote letters to Carlos, Jeanne Ellen, Ella, Manny, Ram, Cal and Hector. In each letter I told them how much I loved them. This time I asked Jeanne Ellen to legally adopt Julie if I don't make it back. I wanted to ensure she had a mother figure.
Since we were being picked up at Rangeman, Lester and I couldn't do our usual pre-mission visit to the Catholic Church. I held Carlos and Lester's hand as I said a prayer for a successful mission. We also prayed for our safe return. Cal, Hector and Manny met us on the roof. Hector kissed my cheek and promised to watch over Julie. Cal and Manny hugged me before I jumped onto the chopper. I blew them a kiss as we lifted into the air. Tank and I practiced my sign language in case I needed to send him a covert message.
"Why are you signing?" Ram asked.
"I'm not entirely sure, but I have a strong feeling I need to practice," I attempted to explain. My spidey sense wasn't humming yet. It was more like a gut instinct. Carlos went into full alert. He started making alternative plans while Tank and I continued to sign his instructions.