Chapter 48

SPOV

My stomach kept flip flopping. Telling Ranger has to be the scariest thing I ever had to face. He arrived within 15 minutes and gave our door a quick rap. I opened the door and took his hand. He entwined our fingers together and allowed me to lead him to the couch.

Lucas was giving us some privacy to talk. I am very lucky to have such a wonderful and understanding husband. We sat on the couch still holding hands. "Babe?" Ranger asked.

"I have something to tell you, but…" I couldn't get past the lump in my throat.

"You don't know how I would react to your pregnancy," he finished.

"How did… when?" I stammered.

"Emily glowed from the day of conception. You have the same glow," he answered.

"Is this going to… uh…" I stumbled over my words.

"Stephanie, I know you are not Emily. She was a beautiful, gentle and loving woman, a softer version of you. I loved her fiercely and I was angry at her for dying. Her carelessness caused her to fall down the stairs. When I first met you, you looked exactly like my Emily, but a sturdier, stronger and more durable version. I thought fate was giving me a second chance."

"I bet you didn't expect me to run in the opposite direction," I joked.

"No."

"Are you going to be okay?" I asked.

"Babe, I'm happy for you and Rodriguez. I appreciate you telling me about your baby," he said with a small smile.

"It won't set back your progress?" I wondered.

"Babe. If it sets me back, that's my problem not yours. You did nothing wrong," he reassured me. I gave him a hug, thankful he was so understanding. Lucas entered the room and raised an eyebrow. "She just asked me to be the godfather," Ranger joked.

Lucas and I had to laugh at his joke. "Actually, I think Ranger would be an amazing godfather. Don't you agree Luke?" I asked.

"I do agree. Ranger, would you like to be our baby's godfather?" Lucas formally asked him.

"It would be my honour," he replied.

"Please don't tell anyone I'm pregnant," I begged.

"Babe," he said on a sigh.

"Thank you for coming over," I whispered while giving him a hug.

"Take care of my godson," Ranger whispered before kissing my cheek.

Lucas wrapped his arms around me as we watched Ranger drive away. "He took it much easier than I expected," I told him.

"He took it much better than Binkie and Manny when you were comparing their spooning techniques to Mallory." He laughed when he heard the story the first time, but laughed even harder when we told the story in front of Manny and Binkie. I must admit their reactions made the story funnier.

"Hey, I wasn't joking when I said she was better. She wasn't afraid to get close. Then again, I really didn't like little Manny or little Binkie, in all their firm glory, pressed against my ass. By the way, you have certainly been blessed in that area. I don't mind your 'not so little' Lucas pressed against my ass," I said blushing bright red.

"Are you telling me I'm better endowed than Manny and Binkie?"

"Absolutely," I say grabbing his hand to lead him to bed. Wanting to take the lead, Lucas swept me off my feet and whispered into my ear.

He set me on my feet and pulled my shirt over my head. Lucas kissed my forehead, eyebrows, eyes cheeks and chin before kissing my lips. Instead of getting lost in the kiss, he moved his lips to my jaw. I was turning to mush as he gently sucked the skin near my ear. Lucas gently pushed me onto the bed.

His hands moved down my body to remove my pants, while his lips moved to the junction of my neck and shoulder. He gently sucked and licked the skin, causing my legs to turn into jelly. Every kiss, nibble and lick set my body on fire. Sex with Lucas has always been amazing. With our busy schedules, we didn't get time to just play. My amazing husband was doing absolutely everything he whispered into my ears. I tried to stop him from kissing down there because I needed to freshen up.

"Stephanie my love. Relax and let me love you," he whispered against my fevered skin. "I love everything about you." To prove his point, he ripped off my underwear and ate me as though I was the tastiest dessert. He pushed a few fingers inside to stroke my inner walls.

My hips involuntarily raised as my orgasm built inside of me. I could feel it move throughout my entire body. When he gave my clit a gentle bite, I exploded around his tongue and fingers. My orgasm was so powerful that all I could do was moan.

He kissed his way up my body until his lips were against the spot beneath my ear. I wrapped my wobbly lets around his hips as he pushed into me. "Thank God we don't have to use condoms," he whispered before pushing himself inside me to the hilt.

"Luke," I moaned. "Feels so good." Lucas was moving at a slow torturous pace. I was getting really close again, but I needed him to move faster. "More," was all I managed to say. He unwrapped my arms from around his neck.

His fingers entwined with mine as he moved them above my head. Leaning on his forearms, he was able to look into my eyes as he pumped faster, pushing me over the edge. His eyes were still locked with mine as he finally released inside me.

Resting his forehead against mine, he whispered, "I can't get enough of you." He rolled us over until I was straddling him. It didn't take long for round 2 to begin. I repeated his motions and kissed his entire face before moving down his neck and chest. Before I could reach his bellybutton, he pulled me up and pushed inside me. I rode him like a cowboy until we simultaneously orgasmed.

Lucas helped me to my feet and led us to the shower. We made love again before we washed the sticky sweat from our bodies. "I'm not complaining or anything of the sort, but I really need to know. What got into you today?"

"Watching you handle your nieces was very arousing. You are going to be a wonderful mother," he replied.

Well didn't that just make my heart melt. "If I wasn't already completely and irrevocably in love with you before, I would be now."

"Loving you is very easy," he said while wrapping a towel around my body.

"So is loving you. We need to get some sleep tonight. Mallory reserved our spot for 0800 tomorrow morning."

We changed the sheets before climbing back into bed. He pulled me into his arms until my face was placed on his chest. I hooked my leg over his body and fell asleep within minutes.

My dreams were filled with a beautiful little girl. Her hair was curly but a few shades lighter, she has my eyes and a more relaxed personality like her dad. A little boy, her younger brother, also has curly hair, but darker like mine. His eyes were amber and he had my personality. It was difficult to determine their ages in my dream. I only knew he was younger because the girl said he was younger.

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LPOV

Last night I dreamed about a little girl and boy. The little girl, Em, was practicing her braids on Stephanie. She has beautiful blue eyes just like her mother. Her hair colour was closer to mine than Steph. Our little boy Los, as Em called him, also has curly hair but it was closer to Steph's colour. His amber eyes were opened wide as he listened to his uncles tell stories. Em was several inches taller than her brother, giving me the impression he was a few years younger.

When I woke up, I was very disappointed. The dream seemed to be very real. I wondered if this was like our mutual fountain daydream. Our daydream felt real before it actually became a reality.

Stephanie was eating breakfast when Frank arrived with the girls. He gave the girls a kiss on their foreheads and made them promise to behave. Mallory and Manny knocked on our back door before letting themselves in.

"How did you get to the back door?" Angie asked.

Manny pointed to the fence separating our backyards. "Through the gate Zip, Zero and Junior installed yesterday," he replied. "Don't worry Rodriguez, they anchored the posts at the hinge and latch. It swings open both ways."

"Your property wasn't fenced in," Stephanie commented.

"It's fenced in now," Mallory stated. "Manny already had a crew installing the fence. They finished it yesterday."

Mallory grabbed a fork and helped herself to Stephanie's food. Stephanie shrugged before adding more eggs and pancakes to her plate. It didn't take long for them to finish eating. Manny was standing there with his jaw resting on the floor. "You just finished eating a large breakfast at home," he stated.

"I know, but the Spanish eggs smelled so good I had to eat some," she said with a shrug.

"Believe it or not, it was Steph's second helping," I added.

"Where do you fit all that food?" Manny asked.

Steph and Mallory looked at each other before replying, "Hollow leg."

Angie and Mary Alice laughed at their exchange. "Uncle Manny, it's rude to point out how much food a woman eats," Angie sternly stated.

"Noted. Is everyone ready to go?" he asked.

"We are," Stephanie replied while loading the dishwasher. "Luke and Manny, you're riding together. The girls need to discuss strategy if we hope to beat the boys."

Manny shrugged before giving Mallory a kiss. I couldn't help noticing she was wearing a beautiful engagement ring. No doubt Steph would have already noticed.

Giving Stephanie a kiss next to her ear, I whispered, "When did Mallory get engaged?"

"You just noticed? She was wearing the ring yesterday," she whispered back with a small giggle. She framed my face in her hands and gave me a chaste kiss to my lips. "See you there. I love you."

"I love you too," I said before giving her another kiss.

The girls started talking strategy the second the SUV doors closed. I got into my car with Manny and drove to the paintball course. It was a decent sized area, but you could tell it was built for the younger group. There areas areas for them to climb and hide. Unfortunately they weren't large enough to hide a grown man. After paying for the equipment for our group, Ram, Cal, Yvonne and Binkie arrived. Tank, Ranger, Lester and Bobby arrived as we were showing the girls how to shoot the paintballs.

"What are you guys doing here?" Stephanie asked.

"To play round 2 on the more advanced course," Lester announced. "We heard about the bet and I can't wait to try those empanadas."

"Aren't you glad I convinced you to make an extra batch of dough?" Stephanie asked. "Don't look so scared. You'll have Bink, Manny, Ram and Cal to help."

"I hope you don't mind if I crash your party. It didn't seem fair to have uneven teams," Yvonne said while approaching Stephanie.

"Not at all. The more the merrier. I'm not concerned with uneven teams. We girls are going to kick the boys asses," she stated. "Hey Les, why don't you and the others join the boys team."

"Don't worry Beautiful, we'll go easy on you," Lester said.

"I can guarantee we will not be going easy on you. No head or crotch shots. Only a shot to the torso, front or back, counts as a kill. Let's go," she shouted before running into the course with the other girls.

A loud horn sounded to indicate the start of our session. Within a few minutes, Tank, Bobby, Lester and Cal were hit square in the chest. From the paintball colour, I could tell it was Mary Alice. She selected the neon green.

The pain in my ass indicated someone shot me there. While I was distracted, I felt at least four paintballs hit me in the chest. Angie's bright pink and Mary Alice's neon green were splattered across my shirt. I moved to the sidelines to sit next to the others. It was down to all the girls against Ranger, Ram, Manny and Binkie.

I heard a loud scream of, "What the fuck?" before seeing Binkie leaving the course to sit with us. "None of the girls were shot?" he asked.

"Nada," Bobby replied. "Cal, I thought you said Ang and MA never played before."

"They haven't, but I think they're taking advantage of their age. Nobody wants to shoot a child," he admitted.

As soon as he said those words, Angie stomped out of the course covered in blue. "Ranger shot me. I can't believe he just smiled at me and pulled the trigger," she complained.

Less than a minute later, Ranger joined us. When Angie saw his back completely covered in neon green, she started laughing. "Mary Alice didn't like me shooting Angie," he explained.

Half an hour later, Yvonne, Ram and Mallory joined our group. "Just Steph, Mary Alice and Manny left," Mallory stated as she sat next to me.

We heard Manny scream, "Son of a bitch!" He was covered in purple and neon green. I looked at every man sitting around me. We were covered in either neon green or pink. Angie was wearing blue. Yvonne and Mallory were covered in yellow.

"Did Stephanie take a shot before hitting Manny?" I asked.

Angie laughed, "Yes. She hit you in the butt."

Mary Alice and Stephanie left the course laughing. "We were outnumbered and won," Mary Alice bragged.

"Only because you're a natural," Stephanie praised. "Are you ready for another round?"

We changed our coveralls and reloaded our paintball supplies. This time we evened out the teams. Mary Alice was on a team with me, Steph, Bobby, Ranger, Tank and Binkie. The others were on Angie's team.

Watching Stephanie and Mary Alice, I quickly learned how they were so successful. Mary Alice climbed the tree and shot Ram, Mallory and Lester in quick succession. As she quickly climbed down the tree, she lost her grip and fell towards the ground. Tank quickly sacrificed himself to catch her.

She scrambled away as she got hit in the leg by Cal. Stephanie shot Cal before he could take a second shot at Mary Alice. Binkie managed to hit Yvonne before getting hit by Manny. I watched as Mary Alice circled around the obstacles before climbing on top of the rock wall. She took aim and covered Manny's back.

"How on earth are you such an amazing shooter?" Lester asked Mary Alice.

I saw her glance towards Mallory before confessing, "Aunt Mal and Steph taught me and Angie how to shoot a gun."

"To be perfectly honest, we only had two lessons. Mary Alice and Angie are naturals. With a bit more training, we could have two amazing snipers," Mallory explained.

We surrendered the equipment and piled into the various cars. Everyone followed us home to help with our meal. Since the girls won the bet, the men helped me make empanadas, taquitos and Spanish rice. It took several hours to make the empanadas and taquitos, but they were worth all the hard work. Frank and Valerie arrived in time to join us for dinner.

"Your empanadas were amazing," Lester stated before popping the last one into his mouth.

"Thank you. I used my dough recipe and Stephanie's filling recipe," I confessed. "Ella gave me the recipe for taquitos."

The men visited until Cal and Ram announced they needed to get to Rangeman for their shift. Mary Alice and Angie approached Ram to give him a hug. "Is it okay if we call you daddy like Lisa?" I heard Angie ask.

"Of course it is. I'll see you before school tomorrow. I want to meet your principal. Is that okay with you?" Ram asked the girls. They nodded and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

After the last man left, Stephanie wrapped her arms around me. "I had a lot of fun today. Our family keeps growing," she observed. I couldn't agree more.