Chapter 50
SPOV
Mallory and I purposely moaned as we ate our subs. Woody had to fix himself more than once. Monica couldn't stop laughing at our antics. She has been dating Bobby for a few months. Their relationship is progressing quite well. When Bobby went on his mission, she wished him a safe return. Her face lit up when the man himself walked into Pino's. She ran towards him and flew into his arms.
Everyone around us were talking about Morelli's arrest. They couldn't believe he used his position in the police force to manipulate so many people. I heard someone mention my name, insinuating I was responsible for his behaviour. Eddie was quick to defend me and stated Morelli was responsible for his own actions.
It wasn't surprising to hear them defend their own. I would fight tooth and nail to champion my Merry Men. The men working at Rangeman Trenton are my chosen family. They love me as fiercely as I love them. My sense of loyalty to my friends grew as they continued to prove themselves worthy of my trust and love.
We left after Woody paid for our meal. Mallory and I walked through the door arm in arm. Once again, we climbed into the back seat. I was anxious to find out if Enrique was able to collect the samples. Hopefully he would contact someone.
Lester was waiting for us in the garage. He quickly informed us Enrique collected the samples and was on the plane returning to Trenton. "The lab is ready to process the samples," he added.
"Thanks Les. Is Hal going to run the samples?" I asked.
"With Cal's assistance. They're the only ones licensed to process the DNA samples. If the sample matches Steve's, the FBI will move in to arrest him and Elizabeth," he answered.
"Are they already in position?" I asked. I didn't want to risk them getting away.
"Affirmative. Junior and Zip have them under surveillance," he answered.
"Thanks. Has Valerie arrived? She had an appointment earlier and promised to meet me here," I asked.
Lester leaned closer to me and whispered, "She arrived a few minutes ago. Val should be in your office waiting."
Mallory followed me to our shared office space. Valerie was sitting on Ram's lap in one of my office visitor chairs. "Hey Val, how was your meeting?"
She fished a piece of paper from her pocket. "Albert signed over his rights to Lisa and my little boy. He also got married," she announced.
"Are you serious?" Mallory practically yelled.
Valerie smiled, "I am very serious, but it doesn't really matter. There was a reason we could never carry through with the plan. If we were meant to be together, we would be married by now. I returned his mother's engagement ring."
Ram rubbed Valerie's now naked ring finger. He caught her eye and raised a brow. She nodded and giggled. Mallory and I kept looking between the happy couple and each other. Stage whispering, I asked, "Are they engaged?"
Mallory whispered back, "Maybe?" Ram pulled a ring from his back pocket and placed it on her finger.
"It's definitely yes," Valerie answered. "Steph you watch Lisa for a bit?"
"Um… sure. Where are you going?" I asked.
"Marriage license application," Ram replied as he carried Valerie towards the door. I guess they aren't going to waste any time. They'll need to get married within six months.
"This time I'm going to plan the wedding I want," Valerie announced. I always assumed she had the wedding of her dreams. Her comment made me realize it wasn't what she really wanted.
"Mal, Steph would you be my maid of honour?" she called over her shoulder.
"Yes," we replied.
"I need another best man," Ram joked. "Hang on honey, we need to visit city hall." Valerie giggled and gave us a finger wave over Ram's head.
We found Lisa sitting on Tank's shoulders rubbing his bald head. She kept placing kisses and giggling. "I see you found a new accessory," I joked.
"She wanted to visit after Ella gave her a bath. Little one was wearing more mac and cheese than she ate," he said with a laugh. "Ram had to take a shower to get all the pasta out of his hair."
"I wish we could have seen that," Mallory laughed. Tank turned his monitor for us to see the picture displayed. We laughed at the picture of Ram covered in Lisa's lunch.
"Dada baf," Lisa said and pointed to the picture.
"Your daddy needed a bath?" I asked. Her little head nodded before she placed a very slobbery kiss on Tank's head. He pretended to be upset before giving her a smile.
"Val asked Steph to watch Lisa while she's away for the next hour," Mallory informed Tank.
"She's okay right where she is. I'll bring her to you when it's nap time."
"Thanks Tank," I said before leaving.
It's so nice to see Lisa coming out of her shell of shyness. Being around all these men is making her a very brave little girl. She wasn't the least bit intimidated by her new uncles. I think she just likes all the attention she's been getting.
When I returned to my office, I received notification both Morelli and Dixon's cases were being tried by the tribunal. During their own investigation, they uncovered more unlawful activities. The FBI conducted their investigation and recovered all the stolen funds from Rangeman, their employees and other government officials.
On Saturday, Lucas, dad, Val, Ram, the girls and I accompanied Mallory and Manny to Atlantic city. I was her maid of honour, Lucas was the best man. Mallory married Manny in the same chapel as Lucas and I. Uncles Bernie, Joe and Andy attended the ceremony and small reception.
"Welcome to the Plum family," I whispered to Manny.
"I guess I can't call you wifey anymore?" he joked.
"Baby," Mallory crooned, "You can still call her wifey. I don't mind."
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LPOV
Morelli and Dixon stand to spend many years in prison for their actions. The FBI promised the funds will be reimbursed to everyone at the conclusion of the trial. Unfortunately, many of Morelli's family members are spreading rumours about Stephanie. They're convinced she fabricated his involvement. Morelli was forbidden to call anyone except a lawyer. He could use the appointed JAG lawyer or hire a civilian one. After contacting a civilian lawyer and hearing how much he charges, Morelli opted for JAG lawyer assigned to him.
We heard he had the civilian lawyer contact his family to argue his innocence, saying the charges were trumped up by Stephanie. She was furious. It continued for several months until someone 'leaked' the video of him confessing to everything.
His JAG lawyer went through every piece of evidence and had it thoroughly picked apart until he realized the evidence was solid. Morelli was not innocent as he claimed. There was no indication any of the evidence was planted or altered in any way. I couldn't prove he was the man responsible for leaking the video, but I do know it wasn't anyone at any Rangeman branch. However, with Morelli's confession, the FBI didn't need to conduct another trial. His confession sealed his fate.
Stephanie and Mallory stuck closer together than normal. My wife was feeling very vulnerable and her hormonal mood changes was off the charts. I wasn't exactly tiptoeing around her, but I was definitely doing everything she wanted.
Mallory and Stephanie have their appointment with the OB today. They went together since it was just the standard weigh in and urine check. Around 10 minutes into their appointment, Stephanie called and asked for me and Manny to join them. I wasn't going to let the women down. Manny was watching the monitors when I found him. He was excited and contacted Junior to take the rest of his shift.
When we arrived at the medical building, we were led directly to the x-ray floor. Both women were drinking water and squirming in their seats. "What's going on love?" I asked my wife.
"Dr McNall had our ultrasound appointment moved up. She heard something strange and needs to confirm her suspicions. I think something's wrong with the baby," she whispered the last sentence.
"If something's wrong with Steph, then it's wrong with me too," Mallory added.
I couldn't stop myself from smiling. Moving one hand behind my back, I held up 2 fingers for Manny to see. He moved around me to take Mallory's hand in his. "Mal, if something was wrong with our baby, Dr McNall would have told you already. Take a deep breath," Manny directed. She looked into his eyes as she took deep breaths to calm down.
"Oh good, you finished your water and your husbands are here," the technician stated. "Mrs Rodriguez, since you're squirming more than your sister, I'll take you back first."
"Call me Steph or Stephanie. Can my sister and Manny come with us?" she asked.
"Sure, they just need to stay out of our way." We followed the technician, Tracy, into the room with Manny and Mal close behind. "Jump up onto the table and lay back. Pull up your shirt and roll your pants down below your baby bump," Tracy instructed.
Stephanie squeaked as the cold gel was applied to her abdomen. It's the first time I noticed the obvious, but small protrusion on her abdomen. After taking measurements, she turned the monitor for us to see.
"Here's baby A, and under here," she stated as she repositioned the wand, "Is baby B. Congratulations Mr and Mrs Rodriguez, you're having twins. Steph you're 13 weeks along. We'll need to schedule monthly appointments to monitor them. Maybe we'll see their genders at your next appointment." We're having twins. I couldn't believe it. Tracy printed several copies of the sonogram for us.
She gave Stephanie some paper towel to wipe of her abdomen. It took only a few seconds for her to realize Mallory will be receiving the same news.
Tracy changed the paper on the examination table and replaced her gloves. Mallory got into position and bared her abdomen. I noticed her protrusion was slightly larger than Steph's, but Mallory is also shorter.
Once again, Tracy went through all the measurements before showing her the screen. Tracy nearly repeated her words to Mallory. "See here?" Tracy pointed out. "They share the same placenta which means you're carrying identical twins."
"Did my babies share the same placenta too?" Stephanie asked.
"No, your babies have distinctly separate placentas. They could be identical or fraternal. We'll know more at your next ultrasound," Tracy answered.
I could see Stephanie thinking. "So if my next ultrasound shows a boy and a girl, you'll know for sure they're fraternal. If they have the same gender, we won't know until DNA testing after I give birth."
"Have you been doing your research?" Tracy asked.
"Not really, but Mal and I have an identical twin," Stephanie explained.
She printed off sonogram pictures for Mallory too. After scheduling their next appointment, we returned to our vehicles.
Manny was driving Mallory back to the office. Stephanie was riding with me. "We need to make an announcement," Stephanie stated. "Mal and Manny agree."
"Text Ranger, he'll gather the men," I suggested.
"Um… I was thinking announcing it to the core team first. We can tell the rest at our morning meeting," she countered. I raised an eyebrow. The men have already been asking if Stephanie was pregnant.
"We need to rip off the bandage my love. They already suspect you're pregnant," I stated.
"Let me guess… Lester and Bobby have been hounding you again," she said on a laugh.
"Got it in one," I joked.
When I parked the fleet vehicle in its assigned spot, I noticed a few labels on the wall near the elevator. The closest spot had S Rodriguez and the one beside it had M Ramos. Ranger's personal vehicles were moved to the right, using the spots previously assigned to Steph and Mal.
I shook my head and guided Stephanie towards the elevator. Mal and Manny quickly joined us. When the elevator doors opened, Ranger was standing inside wearing a huge smile. He pressed the button for the third floor. I guess we're telling everyone now.
Hector was waiting outside the largest conference room. He held out his hand to Stephanie and Mallory. They reached into their bags and dropped a copy of the sonogram into his hand. After taking a quick look at the pictures, he smiled and gave each woman a hug. Hector used his phone to take a photo and passed the sonograms back to the women.
Three large screens were hanging on the west wall of the room. Stephanie smiled and squeezed my hand. It was her idea to display the progress of the pregnancies. She read a book where the parents to be took a weekly picture next to the sonogram photo. They displayed the baby bump growth and age of the fetus. It was a way to keep all her friends informed throughout the pregnancy.
"Men!" Ranger barked once we took our seats. "We have an announcement." He nodded to Hector who turned on the displays on the west wall.
The left screen had a photo of Valerie and Ram, his arms wrapped around Val's very large belly. A sonogram photo with 'Ramsey boy' was in large letters across the top. In the middle was the sonogram of Stephanie's twins. 'Rodriguez twins' was across the top. Baby A and Baby B labels were next to their image. The right hand screen was nearly identical to the middle screen, with 'Ramos twins' written across the top.
Lester screamed, "We're having twins?" He looked between Stephanie and Mallory.
"We are," Mallory and Stephanie answered together. After all the men hugged both Stephanie and Mallory, Ranger called the men to order.
"Rodriguez, Ramos you're all benched," he pointedly looked at Stephanie and Mallory. Both women groaned. Ranger smiled before continuing to explain the changes to our schedules. He didn't want any of us in the field.
When the meeting was concluded, Hector had us stand next to our respective twins for a photo. The image on the screen will be updated weekly to show the progression of the baby bump growth. A brief description of the babies' development and size would be added to the bottom of the screen.
After Hector took several pictures, he dismissed us. Stephanie sat in the closest chair and placed her feet on the one beside her. "Are your feet sore?" I asked her.
"They are and it's only going to get worse," she groaned. I lifted her feet to sit in the chair. When I removed her boots, I massaged her feet. She moaned as I dug my thumbs into the spot near her heel.
I smiled when I heard a small snore pass through her lips. Leaving her boots on the floor, I lifted her into my arms and carried her to our apartment. She didn't wake up when I placed her in the centre of our bed. A soft knock on the door grabbed my attention. I opened the door to Ranger holding Stephanie's boots.
"Did you forget these?" he joked.
"I was about to grab them," I replied.
"How is she?"
"Very tired and nervous about having twins. We knew it was a possibility, but hoped she would only have single births like Valerie," I confessed.
"Am I godfather to both mini babes?"
"I'll talk to Stephanie, but you're definitely godfather to one of them," I answered.
"Multiples cause more strain on the mother. It would destroy my men if anything happens to her. Take the afternoon off," he said before leaving.