So… it's been a while. I used to write in college and then life got crazy. Turns out it's hard to be a functional adult. And then I decided to throw marriage and babies into the mix and learned about a whole new level of crazy. I'm trying to get back into it and have been picking away at my unfinished WIP. I'd gotten a bit stuck and decided to try this month's challenge from a FB group to get me going again. Hope you enjoy!

M rating is to be safe because Lester has a potty mouth.

Tia = Aunt, Abuela = Grandmother

Lester POV

I closed my eyes, letting my body practically melt into the seat of the Turbo. The buttery soft leather was doing more to ease my hangover than the painkillers and fluids Bobby had been pushing this morning. Our pre-holiday poker party with the guys had gotten a little out of control.

Unfortunately, my cousin's impersonation of a NASCAR driver was not helping.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" I asked. Our family didn't have many large gatherings, and the ones we did have weren't my idea of fun. I knew for a fact there were forms of torture that Ranger would rather endure.

"I'm not." Still, I felt the car slow down a bit. I slit one eye open to see the speedometer had dropped to 70 mph.

"Could have fooled me." I said. I felt the glare and heard the barely-audible release of breath that would be a dramatic sigh from a normal person.

"Are you ready for another year of awkward conversation and unmet familial expectations?"

"No, but I brought tequila, so I will be soon."

No response to that, so I snuck a look and saw his jaw muscle twitching. Someone didn't approve of my method of handling family functions. Better than the statue impersonation he'd be doing in about an hour.

"What has you in such a mood?" I asked. I knew what it was. I was just feeling brave enough to poke the bear since we were 20 minutes away from our destination. He wouldn't kill me when Abeula was expecting us.

I anticipated the growl that came out of my cousin, but he shocked me when he spoke.

"She's making a fucking pie."

"I can understand why you wouldn't want to share her pie," I said. I even opened my eyes to grin at him.

I barely saw the movement before his hand was back on the wheel. At least the pain in my side was a distraction from the pain in my head.

"Alright. Too far." I gasped.

That just earned me another glare.

"But seriously," I said when I could breathe again. "You're extra surly. Which I gotta say man, I didn't think was possible. I wouldn't want you to pull the move you just did on Marco or something. You might actually kill him and we'd never hear the end of it."

Another glare.

"Fine, fine. Be surly. Don't expect me to share my tequila."

I expected more glaring, but I actually got a response. "I don't want your tequila. And don't let Tia Anita see it. You know she just got Raf sober again."

"I'm a highly trained, special forces operative. Remember?"

"Yeah, and I know what you're like after a few shots of that stuff. And somehow I'm going to get blamed for it."

"At least then you'd have a reason for your mood. Instead of pining over pie. Even though I'm sure it's great… pie."

I knew it was coming, but damn he hits hard.

"She's taking it to Morelli's mother's house."

"And? It's a freaking pie. I'm sure half of your sisters are bringing dessert today."

"She's trying to be domestic. The cop gets off on that shit. He's going to propose again and she doesn't have any reason to turn him down."

"You sure about that?"

I got a glare and a growl as a response, so I figured I hit a bit of a nerve. We were two minutes from Tia Bianca's house where this year's family fiasco was being held, so I decided to lay off.

We'd just turned onto her street when I heard his cell phone ring.

"Yo… Be there in 40."

"What's up?" I asked. It sounded like we were heading back to Trenton and he wasn't planning to obey traffic laws.

"Call the family and let them know something's come up and we won't be able to make it. Then I'll fill you in."

I nodded and started dialing. We'd been working together long enough I could tell when I was dealing with my cousin and friend versus my boss and commander. Ranger was in commander mode and Carlos was nowhere to be seen.

I was just finishing up my explanation to my own mother after I'd already talked to Tia Bianca when Ranger's phone rang again. A minute later, he smashed a fist into the dash and shouted "fuck" loud enough Mama must have decided the situation was serious. She just told us to be careful and disconnected.

"What's up, man?" I asked again.

"Steph's on her way to St. Francis. Her apartment went up."

"Stalker?" I didn't think anyone was after her but the girl drew everyone to her. The good, bad and not quite sane alike.

"Tank said it was too soon to tell what happened. He got there at the same time as first responders. She was conscious but dazed. She couldn't tell them what happened, but it definitely originated in her apartment."

"Shit," I said as I watched Ranger slide into his zone after that briefing. I clutched my tequila bottle and watched the speedometer steadily rise.

Sooner than should have been possible, we were screeching to a stop outside the ER and Ranger was out his door, shouting an order to park the car. Not the best circumstances, but I do love driving this car.

It didn't take me long to park and jog my way back to the ER. I found Tank pretty easily. He was standing near the intake desk, calmly responding to an agitated nurse. My guess is he was dealing with whatever my cousin did while I was parking the car. As I settled into a plastic chair to wait, I saw her calling someone. Hopefully not the cops. I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw her hand the receiver to Tank. He had a short conversation with whoever was on the other end before passing the phone back and making his way over to me.

I lifted an eyebrow. Silently asking what that was about.

"Ranger stormed right back to where Bombshell was being treated. They were about to call security, but the desk nurse agreed to call an administrator. Luckily, he's familiar with us. Ranger's going to be making a donation to the hospital in the next couple days, but they won't make a fuss about him sticking with Bomber."

"How is she? Do we know what happened?"

"She should be okay. Sounds like her oven exploded. No cause yet. The blast knocked her back into the table which probably caused most of her injuries."

"Thank fuck. Ranger was already wound tight over the big family get together. And then something about Steph making the cop a pie. I don't feel like dealing with his moody ass if we'd had to wait for news."

Tank's lips twitched in a hint of a grin. Most people wouldn't notice. And the grin was because most people wouldn't dare call Ranger a moody ass, let alone notice that he was being one.

I'd just leaned my head back against the wall to relax when I heard the waiting room door slam open.

Morelli was here. Fucking hell. Dealing with him isn't high on my list of favorite activities on a good day. Let alone a day with a bitch of a hangover. I cut my eyes to Tank, but he just did the raised eyebrow thing at me. Of course he expects me to intercept the cop. For a guy that barely speaks in public, he somehow pisses Morelli off almost as much as Ranger.

I'm probably a close third on his shit list, but I chose to believe that had more to do with my resemblance to my cousin than a reflection on my sparkling personality.

"Where is she?"

"She's going to be fine," I said, pointedly answering the question he should have been asking. Tank glared at me and I fought the urge to roll my eyes. "She's back in an exam room getting patched up."

He muttered something in Italian and shoved past me towards the nurses station.

Judging by the flush on her face, the nurse he was talking to found him more charming than I did. He was leaning in and smiling as he lifted the hem of his shirt to show off his badge. Her color got even darker, making me guess he's also flashed more abs than necessary. But, he quickly had her nodding and leading him back the hallway.

"Shit," I said, pulling out my phone. I dialed Ranger, praying he'd pick up before the cop made it back there.

"Yo."

"Morelli, coming your way."

I heard Ranger's brief acknowledgement at the same time I heard "What the actual fuck, Cupcake?" in the background before the line went dead.

"The cop sounded pissed before Ranger disconnected. Think we should head back in case he needs backup?" I knew it was unlikely Ranger would actually need backup, but I was curious about how this would play out.

"Yeah, I don't feel like dealing with him getting arrested tonight."

I did a mental fist pump as we headed through the double doors before the nurse came back to guard them. It wasn't hard to figure out which room they were in, we just had to follow the shouting.

"Christ Cupcake, you were supposed to be at my mom's an hour ago. Everyone's asking where you are and then I get a call that you're in the fucking hospital."

"It's not my fault Joe!" we hear Steph shout. Judging by the volume she was managing, she really was going to be fine.

"Of course not. It's never your fault. Explosions just follow normal people around."

"My oven exploded. How is that my fault? All I was doing was checking the damn pie you told everyone I'd make without even asking! It wasn't getting done. Next thing I knew I was in a freaking ambulance!"

From the other side of the door, I could hear muttering and pacing. "You know what? This isn't working. My reflux can't handle someone who can't even manage baking a pie without a disaster."

"Fine," I heard Steph say. "But this time we're done. I'm over being yelled at, Joe. I really didn't do anything wrong this time. It was my oven. Something that could happen in any house in the Burg. And you still came in yelling."

There was more muttering I couldn't make out before the door to her room slammed open and he came storming out. He shot Tank and I a pissy look before stalking off.

"You really done with the cop, Babe?" I heard Ranger ask. To the casual observer, he sounded normal. To someone who had known him for 33 years and had been thoroughly trained by the military to read people, he sounded anxious. And excited. Interesting.

"Yeah. I mean it. I'm over it. He told his mom I would make a freaking pie to bring. Since when do I know how to make pie? And then he yells at me when I actually try instead of telling him to fuck off and get one from the Tasty Pastry."

"Babe." I could hear the smile in his voice and chanced a peek through the still open doorway. "You're covered in pie filling. Want me to take you back to the penthouse to get cleaned up?"

"That sounds great," she said, giving him a smile that would have had me whisking her out of the hospital bed and to the car.

"And then you can come to Thanksgiving with my family. My sister makes a killer pumpkin flan. No pie in sight. And Lester would probably even share his tequila with you."

That made her laugh, but it quickly turned into a moan as my cousin leaned in and licked her neck.

"Good pie, Babe."

The end.