Chapter 55

SPOV

"How is he?" I heard Lucas ask someone.

"Much better after seeing her. He told me about Emily and his son. My heart was breaking for him. Carlos is an amazing man. The possibility of losing Stephanie devastated him," a slightly familiar feminine voice replied. "He went to see his therapist."

"Good," I said with a gravelly voice. I opened my eyes and saw Karissa sitting in the chair next to me. Lucas was still holding me in his arms. "Hi Kari. Is he going to be okay?"

"I think so. You can't scare us like that again sweetie. The men need you. Even though we don't know each other well, I already know I need you too," she said while placing her head on the bed next to my arm.

I ran my fingers through her surprisingly silky hair. "You're good for him. Stick around and we'll get to know each other more. Besides, I need you to make me waffles," I joked.

She laughed. "I can whip up a batch if you like," she said on a laugh. "Seriously, when we get you back home, I'll make some for you."

"Luke and I will be living at Rangeman until these munchkins are born. You're welcome to visit us," I offered.

"I'd like that. Anyways, I wanted to see you for myself. Alex had me bring this for you," she said reaching for the bag by her feet. She placed the bag next to me.

Lucas climbed from the bed and helped me sit up. Karissa placed the bag closer to my legs. When I opened the bag, I started crying. Inside were two little bears; one pink, the other blue. I reached further into the bag to pull out onesies matching the bears. It took me a few seconds to stop crying long enough to read them. 'My sister is the beary best' and 'my brother is beary best.' The bears were wearing T-shirts containing the same words.

"These are so adorable. Where did he get them?" I asked.

"My brother Andy made them. When he heard you were pregnant, he made the bears. He has more for Mallory and Valerie. I'll drop off Mallory's when we announces the genders. Manny took the one for Valerie to the house," Kari replied.

"Is he psychic or something? How did he know I was having one of each?" I wondered.

"I'm not exactly sure. Andy only said he saw them in a dream," she said with a shrug. "Who knows? Maybe he'll be right about Mallory's babies too."

"Oh… I want to know. What is my sister having?" Karissa leaned over to whisper what Andy told her. "It's exactly what I thought too."

"Do you have the sight?" she joked.

"Not that I'm aware of. However, I do have a very keen spidey sense. If someone is attempting to hide something, I can usually get them to spill their secrets," I stated.

"She can also detect imminent threats," Ranger said as he entered the room. "Babe has saved many of my men."

"Hey Batman," Karissa crooned.

"Riss," he replied. "Babe?" I interpreted this as 'how are you today'.

"Feeling better. I still have intermittent cramping, but nothing too bad," I replied.

Mallory arrived with the girls and Manny. Lisa wanted to sit on my bed. Manny picked her up and reminded her, "You need to be gentle with your auntie Steph."

"Sowey," Lisa said as she cuddled into my side.

"Lisa, look at me," I gently requested. "Did you get an owie?" She shook her head no. "So I caught you in time?" I asked.

"Yup. Auntie Steppie safe me," she answered.

"That's right Lisa. Your aunt Stephie saved you and my babies are okay," I told her.

Mary Alice sat on my other side, "I'm so sorry aunt Steph. I shouldn't have been running around upstairs. You could have lost the babies because of me." She was crying into my shoulder.

"Can someone take Lisa? I need to have a private conversation with Mary Alice," I ordered.

Manny plucked Lisa from my side and said they'll be in the cafeteria. Angie reluctantly left the room with Mallory. Lucas gave me a chaste kiss before following the others from the room.

When the door closed, I turned towards Mary Alice. "Sweetie, you were excited and you didn't know Lisa was awake from her nap. It could have happened to anyone. I'm glad I caught Lisa before she was seriously hurt."

"But I heard uncle Manny say your babies could have died," she cried.

"My babies are okay. Did you want to see a picture of them?" I asked.

She snuffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve. "I need a tissue," she mumbled.

"There's some on the table," I said pointing in the correct direction. Mary Alice carefully climbed off the bed to grab the box.

"Are you mad at me?" she asked while her bottom lip trembled.

"Sweetie, I'm not mad at you or Lisa. It was an accident. It could have been much worse, but my guardian angel protected me," I answered.

"Okay. Can I see my cousins?" she asked.

I pulled the picture from under my pillow. Holding the plastic card to the light, I pointed out the babies and told her the bottom one is Em, the top one is Los.

"Em and Los? Those are funny names," she said with a giggle.

"It's their nicknames. Emily and Carlos are their names," I told her.

"Oh, like aunt Emily and uncle Carlos," she said catching on.

"You are correct. How did you get so smart?" I asked.

She gave a small shrug before quietly saying, "I think aunt Emily is your guardian angel."

"I think so too," I agreed. "Can you do me a favour?"

"Sure," she answered sounding more cheerful.

"Stop being so mean to yourself," I answered.

"But if I wasn't acting all silly, you wouldn't be in the hospital," she stated.

"Mary Alice, please listen to me. Lisa falling down the stairs and everything else that happened was an accident. It is not your fault. I love you MA," I said while giving her a hug.

"I love you too aunt Stephie."

"Okay, you can tell the guys they can come back in," I stated.

She started running towards the door before slowing down to a walk. I stifled a laugh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

LPOV

Mary Alice bounded through the door to invite us back in to visit Stephanie. Dr Natalie McNall entered the room giving us a look to prevent us from following. Tank was on guard this morning he smiled when Dr McNall stopped us in our tracks with a single look.

I waited for her to finish examining my wife before she called me into the room. Nodding at Bobby, he quickly followed me into the room to hear the instructions. "You can go home today Stephanie. No sex or strenuous activity for the next two weeks. Avoid stairs whenever possible. I want you resting in bed or on your sofa during this time. Your appointment was rescheduled. It's in two weeks instead of three on Monday at 10 am."

Bobby was making notes on his phone to ensure he had the details correct. I knew he would be updating her file once we return to Rangeman. He smiled when Stephanie groaned from the restrictions.

"Can I still work? I will go crazy if I have nothing to do," Steph asked.

"Only if you can guarantee nothing rests on your abdomen," she answered. Stephanie visibly relaxed. Our Rangeman apartment had a tray we can fit over her lap to hold her laptop. "Any questions before I take another look at your babies?" she asked.

Bobby was quick to ask, "Pain management?"

"Tylenol only," she quickly replied. "If she starts spotting or has suddenly sharp cramps, bring her to the hospital immediately." Bobby closed his phone app and waited expectantly for the doctor to use the sonogram. "Are you ready to see your babies Stephanie?" she asked.

"Yes. I need to make sure they're okay," my wife replied. Stephanie quickly pulled up her gown after ensuring the blanket was secure under her baby bump.

As the image appeared on the screen, Ranger entered the room. I was holding Stephanie's hand as I looked for their heartbeats. "Your daughter's heart rate is strong," she announced as Em rolled over.

"I felt her move," Stephanie whispered. "It used to feel like a flutter, but it's more noticeable now." Ranger placed his hand on her foot, giving it a small squeeze.

"Okay little man, let's see if you cooperate today," McNall quietly stated. She moved the wand to the top of the baby bump. "His heart rate is strong."

Our son rolled over like our daughter, but he rolled towards the wand, not away from it. Stephanie had a tear roll down her face. Ranger noticed and asked, "Babe?"

"They didn't move very much during the night and I was worried," she confessed. "I'm happy because they're both perfectly fine. They're perfect." Ranger squeezed her foot again.

Dr McNall printed more sonogram images for us. "You can't have too many pictures of your children," she said as she passed me the plastic images.

"Can I go home now?" Stephanie asked hopefully.

"I just need to sign the discharge papers. Kara will be here soon to help you change," she answered before leaving the room.

I heard her pause after opening the door. "Thanks ma'am," Tank stated.

"Call me when you have a few hours free," Dr McNall told Tank. She's a very attractive woman with long dark hair, warm brown eyes and she's a few shades darker than me. Natalie McNall was tall for a woman. At 6'1", she must find it difficult to find a man taller than her.

"She's the perfect height for him," Stephanie whispered.

"Did you set them up?" I asked.

"Maybe just a little. I told her Tank was single," she confessed.

Kara entered the room looking a bit ruffled. Ranger and Bobby left the room so she could help Stephanie change. I grabbed the bag Bobby left earlier to grab clean clothes for her. Ella packed a loose shirt and pants. The panties were a bikini cut and would rest comfortably under Stephanie's belly.

She asked Stephanie to follow her into the washroom. I heard the shower run. Stephanie asked, "Did you hook up with a cute doctor in the on call room?"

"On call room hookup? Yes. With a cute doctor? No. I met sexy Les in the on call room. Boy that man has amazing moves," she confessed. I had to stifle a laugh. They must not realize the wall is very thin.

"You do realize he's the 'one and done' type of man, don't you?" Steph asked.

"So am I sweetie, so am I," Kara replied. "With my busy work schedule, I don't have time to date." After a short pause, she added, "We hooked up four times." Lester has finally met his match. The modern day Lothario has never hooked up with the same woman twice.

"It could change. One day you're going to wake up and wonder why you waited so long. Oh… and Les never hooks up with a woman after their first encounter. You must be pretty special for him to come back so many times," Stephanie pointed out.

"I'm only looking for fun. I don't want a relationship," Kara stated. I wonder if she ever heard the saying 'thou does protest too much'. Kara tried to convince Stephanie she didn't want a relationship. I could almost feel Stephanie smiling.

While they were finishing up in the washroom, I packed Stephanie's dirty clothes into the duffle. Bobby entered the room waving the discharge papers. "We can take her home," he announced.

Stephanie sat in the chair for me to help with her boots. She kept smiling at Kara while she changed the sheets. Her eyes were twinkling with amusement. My wife has been quite busy playing matchmaker.

After her shoes were on, Stephanie gave Kara a hug goodbye. With a quick 'see you soon', we left the room with Stephanie complaining about using the wheelchair.

When we arrived at Rangeman, the men were lined up in the garage. They gave Stephanie a hug, kiss and a baby bump pat as we maneuvered towards the elevator. Before we had the chance to enter the car, Hector swept her into his arms. He held onto her until we were standing outside our apartment.

The door opened revealing Karissa, Mallory, Yvonne and Monica. They decorated the room with pink and blue balloons and streamers. We entered our apartment followed by half the men from the garage.

Hector sat on the oversized chair, a new addition, with Stephanie still in his arms. She was smiling as he whispered into her ear. A tear ran slowly down her cheek. "You didn't have to do this guys. It's too much," she said quietly.

"Babe. We want you to be comfortable here," Ranger stated as he gently lifted Stephanie into his arms.

"Living in Rangeman until you give birth is the most compassionate gift you could give us," Mallory added. "We love you and want you to remain safe."

"Tia Ella will bring your meals," Lester told her.

Ella entered the apartment with food for Stephanie. She shook her head and ordered, "All of you leave. Hija needs her rest." I left with the men since I have a few errands to run. The women stayed behind to keep Stephanie company.

I returned to Rangeman after a few hours. All perishables from our house was donated to the local soup kitchen. Our suitcases were already filled with clothes. No doubt Ella packed them.

Stephanie's bag was packed with track or yoga pants, loose shirts, socks and lots of panties. I noticed there weren't any bras. A note was tucked into the mesh pocket. 'Picking up larger bras today. Ella.' I'll have to give her my credit card to use. I didn't mind her using Ranger's credit card to purchase work related items, but I do mind him buying her lingerie. Call me a caveman, but I think it's inappropriate for him to buy a married woman lingerie.

When I arrived back to our Rangeman apartment, I heard Stephanie say, "Stop making me laugh or I'm going to piss myself."

I carried the luggage to our bedroom and left them on the bed. We can unpack later. "You have everything except bras," I said as I took a seat next to her.

"Ya… not a surprise. This bra doesn't pinch like the others," she said fingering her bra strap.

"Ella's going bra shopping later," I told her.

"Ooo… I love bra shopping," Karissa excitedly stated before running from our apartment.

"Ella needs my credit card," I told Stephanie.

"No she doesn't. I gave her mine already," she announced. "At first she was going to use the Rangeman credit card, but I insisted she use mine. It's one thing for Rangeman to purchase my undergarments as part of my uniform. A total other thing if it isn't."

"So I'm not a caveman?" I asked.

"Not even a little bit," she replied. The remaining women gave us a small wave before leaving us alone. After confirming we were alone, Stephanie said, "Waiting two weeks without making love is going to drive me insane."

"Me too. It's only a few weeks. We've waited longer," I said, reminding her when she was away on her last mission.

"I know, but it still sucks," she said with a slight smirk.

"And blows," I added. Stephanie giggled before pulling me into a very passionate and arousing kiss. Talk about blowing….