Chapter 21
The day finally arrived. I was very anxious to get this large baby out of me. Mary Alice grabbed my hospital bag while Hal helped me to the car. "Are you sure it isn't false labour mom?" Mary Alice asked again.
"Positive. My contractions are five minutes apart," I answered while resetting the timer. We made it a block down the street when my water broke. Pain radiated through my back and stomach. William was very impatient.
Much to my dismay, we were pulled over by none other than Joseph Morelli. He wasn't a beat cop, but he still had the ability to pull us over for speeding. Joe knocked on Hal's window and asked for his license and registration.
"Joe," I groaned.
"Mom's having the baby. She's two minutes apart now. We need to get to the hospital," Mary Alice yelled from the back seat.
Joe started dating one of the teachers at Mary Alice's school a few weeks after our talk. Penny was a recent transfer to the school. At first she was covering a maternity leave, but she ended up with a permanent job. She didn't know much about Joe's history with women, but she really didn't care. Miss Denison wasn't a jealous woman. Once they met, he stopped all his inappropriate hookups. I heard Terry was furious. Morelli was no longer available to assist Terry with reduced or dropped charges. Good riddance. He never should have got involved with her.
"Shit!" Morelli exclaimed. He made a quick call before saying, "Hal, follow close. I'll get you to the hospital." Joe ran to his car and placed the red strobe light on his car and eased into traffic. As requested, Hal stayed on his tail.
Hal parked in front of the hospital doors so I didn't have far to walk. Mary Alice jumped from the car to grab a wheelchair. Hector and Cal arrived as Hal guided me into the building. Cal grabbed Hal's keys to move the car.
William Charlie Evans was born within an hour of arriving at the hospital. There was no time for an epidural. He weighed just over 10 lbs and was 22 inches long. "Do you know what day it is?" Mary Alice chimed.
"William's birthday?" Ranger asked.
"No. Today was daddy Charlie's birthday," she answered. I listened to her conversation with Ranger. She was correct, he shares a birthday with her father.
Cynthia and RJ arrived for a visit. She was wearing a very pretty off white dress. RJ looked handsome in his suit. "Why are you two dressed up?" I wondered.
"We're getting married today and we couldn't do it without our best friend," RJ answered. I almost forgot about their appointment.
"Since you couldn't come to us, we decided to come to you," Cynthia announced. She held William for a few minutes before placing him back into his bed. Binkie entered the room to perform the ceremony. He received his officiant license a few months earlier. Rangeman had its own resident wedding officiant.
Hector and I signed the marriage license as witnesses. I was so happy for my friends. They were planning to stay in our house for the night. Thank goodness we sound proofed their bedroom. Yes… we sound proofed our bedroom too.
The next few months revolved around feeding, burping and changing diapers. I returned to Rangeman after a few weeks of maternity leave. It was so boring staying at home. Willie was being bottle fed. I had problems with nursing. Not that I didn't want to nurse, it was more of a 'my milk did not come in' type of problem.
Mary Alice was happy to help feed and change her brother. William has my curly hair and eye colour, but that's all he had. It was easy to tell he is Mary Alice's little brother. His strawberry blond hair came out of nowhere. Neither Hal nor I have family members with red hair. I had a feeling it would darken slightly to a more reddish tint. My little man is absolutely gorgeous, just like his daddy.
Hector and Carlos are his godfathers. I appointed Cynthia and Sabrina as his godmothers.
Did I ever tell you Sabrina and Manny got married? I didn't? Oops… my bad. They got married last month. Sabrina just found out she's pregnant. I could hardly wait to see my niece or nephew.
A few weeks after Willie was born, I started back on my exercise regime. It didn't take me long to finish all Rangeman requirements. Sure it was hard work, but I was determined to get my pre-pregnancy body back. Valerie was back down to her sexy size four body. She passed all her Rangeman fitness test with me.
I went for my standard doctor appointment for Willie to be weighed and measured. When I bent over to place him in his car seat, I felt very dizzy. Hal wasn't able to attend the appointment, but I had our friend Cal with me today. He noticed my distress and finished buckling Willie into his seat. I tried to protest when he called over the doctor.
"Is something wrong Stephanie?" she asked.
"Just a little dizziness. Nothing too serious," I replied.
"Let's get you checked out," she guided me back into the examination room. "When did the symptoms start?"
"I just finished my physical assessment at Rangeman yesterday. I'm probably just recovering from the activities," I explained.
"You didn't answer my question. When did the symptoms start?" she asked again.
"Around ten weeks ago," I confessed.
"William is six months old. When was your last period?"
I tried to think of the date. Grabbing my phone, I opened the period calendar. "Umm… not since a month after having Willie," I groaned. It's no wonder I'm dizzy, I'm pregnant again. "Please tell me I'm not pregnant."
"I'm sorry Stephanie, but it's definitely a possibility," she said handing me a pregnancy test. "We'll wait for the results." I used the small patient washroom to pee in the sample cup.
"I can take that for you," her assistant said before taking my sample. She dropped some urine into the test collection area and set the small timer. While we waited for the results, she drew some blood to test.
"Congratulations Stephanie, you're pregnant," the doctor announced. It's just my luck. The day I'm cleared to work in the field is the same day I discover I'm pregnant. I hung my head as I left the examination room.
Cal raised an eyebrow when I booked an appointment with my OB. Her practice was in the same medical office. He waited until we were on our way back to Rangeman to ask, "Are we having another baby?"
"We are. I'll find out in a few weeks how far along I am. Knowing my luck, I'm already starting the second trimester," I answered before fear gripped me. When I was pregnant with William, the doctor said I could only do low impact exercises like yoga or walking on a treadmill. I did heavier exercises during the past few months. What if I unintentionally hurt my baby?
"Steph, take a few deep breaths. You didn't hurt your baby. If you did, you wouldn't still be pregnant," he wisely stated.
"There must be something wrong with the Rangeman water," I joked. He looked at me briefly with a raised eyebrow. "Are you wondering how I came to that conclusion?" I asked. He nodded, waiting patiently for me to answer.
"Sabrina, Bethanne, Courtney, Tabitha, Celine, Anna, Beca and your wife Tiffany are all pregnant. We'll be having our babies within months of each other," I explained.
"How did you know about Tiffany?" he asked.
"She told me herself. All the Rangeman wives are friends Cal. We talk and share our latest news," I answered. I didn't tell him we discuss our men's ability to make us scream. Men aren't the only ones to discuss sexual prowess with their friends. The other women shared more than I was willing to share about my husband.
Celine, Beca and Tiffany were planning to open a Rangeman nursery and daycare on the sixth floor. Ella and Luis only used half the floor for their apartment. The other half was used for storage. Ranger found some room in the lower level of the parking garage to build a storage area. I could tell he was excited to have children in the building. He has always been a generous man.
Ranger agreed to fund all the cribs and other equipment we needed to furnish the daycare. He really liked the idea of keeping the children safe in Rangeman. His men would be more relaxed knowing their children are safe. I was more relaxed knowing my son Willie was in the building. He was moved among the men in four hour shifts. They were using their free time to ensure my little man didn't have to spend a day in public daycare. Willie loves spending time with his uncles.
I was sitting in my office attempting to figure out what to eat for lunch. My phone rang and I noticed it was Morelli. Smiling, I answered the phone. "Hey Mr Morelli. How's the wife project working?" I joked.
"Well, umm… that's why I was calling. Would you and Hal watch Bob this weekend?" he asked. Joe seemed unusually nervous. A thought popped into my head.
"Are you denying your mother that huge event of a wedding and eloping?" I asked suspiciously.
It took several minutes before he answered, "Yes. It was freaking Penny. My mom and grandma Bella were going over the top."
"Is there a reason for a sudden wedding?" Bethanne mentioned an unwed coworker just discovered she was pregnant. I had a feeling it was Penny. Joe always wanted to have children. "Like a pregnancy?"
I heard him sigh before he confessed, "Yes. We're eloping because Penny is pregnant." He sounded very happy.
"I'll take Bob for the weekend if you bring me a Pino's meatball sub," I bartered. He started laughing, but readily agreed.
Morelli arrived at Rangeman nearly 30 minutes later. I met him in the main floor lobby. He had ordered several meatball subs and left them with me. "For you, Hal and your bodyguards," he explained. "I will drop Bob off on Friday night with his food."
"Mary Alice is going to love having a dog at the house. Thanks for the food, Joe," I said leading him back to the door. "We'll take care of Bob. Send us some pictures."
"Will do. See you Steph," he said with a wave. It took us awhile, but sometime during the last few months, we became friends. We didn't hang out together or anything of the sort, but Penny was my friend. I couldn't be happier for my friends.
When Joe worked late, she would visit with Bethanne and Sabrina. Most of the times they would be at my house. She was always a welcome guest. Penny is a very kind woman. Even knowing my history with Joe, she treated me with nothing but kindness. It's about time he found a woman who made him a better person.
So many changes are happening at Rangeman. Watching my Merry Men fall in love was amazing. I hope Ranger would find his someone special, but he maintains his mantra of 'my life doesn't lend to relationships'.
Ranger is scheduled to go on another mission soon. He's determined to complete as many as possible before he's too old to continue. When I asked him about the missions, he said he only has a few more prime years left. I just hope his time doesn't run out before he finds his true love.
"Babe, do you have a minute?" Ranger called through the intercom.
"On my way," I ate the last of my sub and tossed the trash. Ranger was waiting by his open door for me to arrive. As usual, he gave me a small hug and kissed my cheek.
He waited until I was sitting before announcing, "I'm leaving for a mission tonight. As usual, I would like you to be the interim CEO. I just need your signature." This was standard protocol when he leaves for his missions. All his affairs had to be in order prior to his deployment. "Other than Julie's inheritance, in the event of my death, you inherit my Rangeman shares and all my personal property."
"Ranger, you make it sound like you're not coming back," I whispered.
"Babe," he sighed. I took this to mean, 'I'm coming home. This is standard protocol'.
I wrapped my arms around him and whispered, "Don't get shot."
As usual, he replied, "Don't go crazy."