Chapter 23

SPOV

I couldn't tell you how many times Luke and I had sex during the last few weeks. Both Luke and I were getting tired of using condoms, but I need to start my next period before I can receive the injection. Bobby has a prescription at Rangeman for me. My period should start the day we return to Trenton. Perfect timing if I do say so myself.

Our final day arrived faster than we expected. We barely left our private resort where we had a private pool and beach. Luke and I made love on every surface in the resort. I've heard some men take at least an hour to recover depending on age. Mary Lou told me it takes Lenny between 2 and 4 hours to be ready again. My sexy husband has a refractory time of 20 minutes and can last for nearly an hour. We had sex a minimum of 3 times a day.

Lucas carried me to the resort shower for the last time. He was ready the second I wrapped my legs around his waist. I felt him push into me after slipping on a condom. Unlike the last few weeks, this time was hard and fast. I needed to feel him pound hard against my cervix. He pinned me to the wall and lifted my right leg to slightly change the angle. It felt amazing.

A tingling sensation moved from my head to the tip of my toes. My body felt like it was on fire. I could barely keep my shaky leg wrapped around him. It started sliding down his thighs as my body shook from the intensity of my orgasm. He screamed my name as he pumped into me, releasing into the condom. I felt an odd sensation as my muscles pulsed to milk him.

He waited until my inner muscles stopped squeezing him before pulling out. "Fuck!" Lucas exclaimed when he removed the condom. "It broke." I could see the panic on his face. We want to have children eventually, but this was too soon for both of us.

"Luke, it's okay. I'm not fertile right now. I should be starting soon," I tried to comfort him.

LPOV

I was panicking until Steph told me she would be starting her cycle soon. With a sigh of relief, I discarded the broken condom and helped her finish washing. We need to leave within the next few hours to catch our flight home. Steph and I made love many times during our honeymoon.

Our time wasn't spend just having sex, we also talked more about our childhood, friends and family. I couldn't believe her mother's attitude towards her. How can someone claiming to have their daughter's best interest in mind be so horrible and untrusting. She didn't believe a single word from her daughter. Instead she believed all the lies and rumours. Most, I suspect, were spread by Joseph Morelli himself.

We didn't turn our phones back on until we arrived at the baggage carousel. Stephanie's phone seemed to chime for a few minutes. I carried her crutches in one hand and her luggage in the other. Her ankle was healed so she didn't need them any more. She was pulling my lightweight bag behind her. As we were about to walk past the washroom, she paused. "I'll be right back," she said before slipping into the woman's washroom. Several minutes passed before she returned. "I was right. It started today. I'll need to drop by Rangeman to see Bobby."

Our trip to Rangeman was completely unnecessary since he was waiting outside the terminal doors. He arrived at the airport with Lester to pick us up. "Hey Bobby," she said with a smile. "It's time." I knew exactly what she was talking about but Lester was in the dark. It wasn't really his business to know.

"At Rangeman or home?" he asked.

"Preferably at home. Do you have it with you?" she asked.

"It's in my medic bag in the back. I brought it just in case," he answered. I gave Bobby directions to my house. He was impressed with the location.

While Bobby was with Stephanie, I gave Lester the grand tour. He was impressed with my basement gym. "What's with the mats leading across the room?" Lester asked.

With a smirk, I said, "Wait and see." I heard Stephanie coming down the stairs. Music started playing in the room and I pulled Lester aside. Stephanie ran into the room, flipping and tumbling along the mats.

"Wow. That was seriously impressive," Bobby announced.

"If you liked that, wait until you see what my husband can do," she said moving off the mats. I removed my shoes and repeated every flip and tumble my wife did.

"Did you guys join the same circus or something?" Lester asked.

SPOV

"Hardly," I answered. "Luke and I took gymnastics when we were younger. We both love tumbling."

My face turned bright red when Lester said, "I just bet you do." He wiggled his eyebrows. Lester wasn't exactly wrong. Lucas and I definitely enjoyed that kind of tumbling too.

Lester and Bobby didn't seem to be in a hurry to leave. Lucas excused himself to change into his shorts. I had something on my mind. "Les, what's wrong with Ranger? Did he get too close to a bomb? Did he lose the love of his life? Why is he acting so… self destructive?"

He grabbed my hand and led me to the couch. After taking a seat, he pulled me onto his lap. "During our first year in basic, he met a girl. You and her could pass as identical twins. They fell in love and she got pregnant. When she was five months pregnant, she lost her footing and fell down a flight of stairs. The doctors couldn't save her or the baby. A few months later, he met Rachel. She got pregnant and he married her. When Julie was a year old, he returned from a mission and found her having sex with his friend. You know the rest of the story."

"So that's why he placed a claim on me? Because I remind him of his first love? Lester, he needs serious psychological help before it's too late. If he continues on his current path, he's going to contract an incurable STD."

"Seeing a therapist is one of my requirements before he can return to the field," Bobby admitted. "He's been fairly lucky so far and hasn't caught anything."

"Why didn't someone warn me when they first met me?" I asked.

"We didn't see her picture until recently," Bobby confessed. I decided to let it go. Nothing good would come out of asking 'what if.' It's up to Ranger to get the help he needs. I just hope he would be honest and talk. Therapy only works if you talk about your thoughts and feelings. Lucas returned before I could ask more questions.

"We want to show you what we've been practicing. I know Luke and I can't be partners in the field, but if it ever becomes necessary, we want you to know how well we work together," I told them.

Arms wrapped around my body. "Let's show them," he whispered in my ear. We went to the far end of the gym containing mats. Luke and I sparred for a bit before I asked Lester and Bobby to join us. They removed their weapons and stripped down to their cargos. I allowed Luke to use me as a weapon. He threw me at Bobby. I twisted in the air and slammed into him feet first. He fell to the ground slightly out of breath. In the time it took for me to land on top of him, Lucas had Lester pinned.

"We need you to practice this at Rangeman," Lester stated.

"No. It's our secret for now. You never know when you'll require our skills," I told him. I had only told Lucas about these moves during our honeymoon. We practiced a few times in our resort. He used the bed as my landing mat. It was sheer luck we didn't break the bed.

"How often do you practice those moves?" Bobby asked.

"Whenever Hector and Roger exercise with me," I replied. "Only a few times with Lucas."

"How often is that?" Lester asked the logical follow up question.

"At least twice a week," I answered. They reluctantly agreed to let us keep these moves to ourselves. Bobby and Lester pulled on their clothes and shoes before following us back to the main floor.

"Thank you for the ride home," Lucas said. I gave Lester and Bobby hugs before they left. Luke locked the door before turning his attention onto me. "Is it settled?" he asked referring to the birth control injection.

"It is. Once my period stops, we can make love without using condoms," I replied. He was very happy with the news. I decided to tell him what I learned about our boss.

LPOV

Only a few more days before I can make love to my wife without condoms. I could hardly wait. She told me everything Lester and Bobby shared about Ranger. Losing the love of your life must have been hard. To lose out on another chance even harder. Although it's not fair to say he had another chance. Stephanie was never his. Even if she was the other woman's identical twin, it doesn't mean she would want to be with him.

I watched as she worked away on her laptop, curious about what she was doing. "Finishing the Rangeman evaluations," she said as she furiously typed away. When I looked over her shoulder, her screen was black with white letters. It looked like the screen Hector used to erase his trace from the government sites. "Plausible deniability," she announced and used a hand to turn my face away from the screen.

Everybody has a doppelgänger. At least that's what I heard. Usually there's something about the doppelgänger to help you realize they aren't the person you know. I noticed a change in her face as she took a small break from typing. Her computer made a ding noise before she turned to me. "Do you mind if Daddy and my uncles come over?"

"Not at all. Do I need to disappear?" I joked.

"Nope," she said popping the p. "You need to hear this too."

"Any chance you'll fill me in before they arrive?" I asked. She told me everything. I was quite surprised. "Does anyone else know?"

"I doubt she even knew," she replied.

"How did you find out?" I wondered.

"Deep web." She didn't elaborate. I could see her concentrating. A few dings and keystrokes later, I heard a knock on the door. Frank Plum, Joe Juniak, Uncle Andy and General Bernie were on the other side. I let them into the house. Just before I could shut the door, Hector and Roger arrived.

Hector made a beeline straight to my wife, passed Roger her laptop then pulled her into his arms. She nodded then shook her head 'no' a few times. I realized he was asking her quiet questions. He let her sit back on the couch, but he didn't return the laptop. After a small nod, he started typing away.

"Why did you call us Pumpkin?" Frank asked. I listened as she told everyone what she uncovered. The more she talked, the angrier Frank became. It was obvious he had no clue.

SPOV

"Did Mom ever tell you about Ellen?" I asked.

"No. She mentioned having a sister, but never mentioned she was her twin," he replied angrily.

"Dad, it's much worse than having an identical twin. Both times mom went into labour, you were deployed. Valerie was born almost 10 minutes before Mallory. Mom kept Valerie and handed Mallory to her sister. She did the same when Emily and I were born. I happed to be born 4 minutes before Emily. Ellen moved from Princeton to Georgia with her husband Victor Price. He legally adopted Mallory and Emily when Ellen discovered she was pregnant. Victor and Ellen had a son together, but she died during childbirth leaving Victor to raise the children himself," I told him.

Flipping my laptop screen for him to see, he recognized his signature on the bottom. He unknowingly relinquished his parental rights to Mallory and Emily. "I should have read the document closer," he said with embarrassment. "Helen said they were medical papers and I was too exhausted from my mission to care." I passed the laptop to Hector.

It was obvious mom kept a lot of secrets from dad. How do you live with yourself knowing you gave away 2 of your children? "Dad, Emily's been gone for 21 years. Mallory is still alive. I'm meeting her on the weekend while she's on leave. Do you want to come with me? I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

Hector passed me the laptop with Mallory and Emily's life history. He smiled when he realized Mallory and I have the same personality as did Emily and Valerie. Mallory joined the Army at 18, unknowingly following in her father's footsteps. Emily was more interested in getting married and having children. "Mom gave the wrong one away," I joked.

I emailed the files to dad after I created a few backups on USB data sticks. Dad took one, Lucas the other.