Chapter 61
Five years later…
SPOV
I can't believe my babies are already five. We were having a joint birthday celebration for Em, Los, Randy, Mitch and MJ. My four year old nephew MJ, Manny Junior, was born on Em and Los' first birthday. Mallory and Manny decided he would be their last child. Tucker was climbing the tree a few doors down at uncle Hal's house. His son Max was watching. He was only two and couldn't follow his cousins.
Mia lifted Max into her arms and carried him over to visit us. By the way, I won the bet. They gave into their passion. Just like me and Lucas, they got married within the week. I have never seen such an adorable couple.
As planned, all the fences separating the yards were removed. The only fences were the tall metal ones installed to create our gated community. While I was watching the children run through each other's yards, Deandra climbed into my lap. She has Natalie's beautiful face with Tank's warm brown eyes. Dean turns three in a few months.
Karissa waddled towards us and took the seat beside me. "How are you feeling?" I asked.
"Like I'm ready to explode," she confessed. "Little Ricky has been very active today." Karissa and Kara got married on New Year's Eve a few years ago.
"They do that a few days before you go into labour," I said with a serious face. "I'm pulling your chain," I said when she paled. I'll have to get Kara to keep an eye on her.
Carlos walked towards us, a hug smile appeared on his face when he saw his wife sitting next to me. He was completely in love with Karissa. I couldn't be happier for them. Ranger deserves to live happily ever after.
Lester and Kara married on Valentine's Day. Their little girl Andie looks exactly like a mini Lester. I laugh whenever the men tease him about his playboy days.
Craig became a permanent fixture at Rangeman. He entered a domestic partnership with Zip. Zero was dating Kara's sister Veronica. All of our friends are finding their forever mates.
My beautiful little girl skipped her way across the yard holding hands with Randy and Mitch. She excitedly said, "Uncle Binkie's here with Felicity and Uncle Woody is here with Daniella."
Like Mia, Felicity works at Victoria's Secrets. Mia told her about Hal's sexy friend. They went on a blind date and the rest is history. Woody finally married his high school sweetheart, Daniella. How he managed to hide her from us for so many years was surprising. This southern belle was hiding in plain sight. She works as a bartender at Stenson's, the local cowboy bar.
Daniella always joins us for ladies night. She gets Tuesday and Wednesday nights off. Woody takes her out on Tuesday, so we changed our night to Wednesday. All girlfriends and Rangeman wives were invited, but they didn't always attend.
"It's all set up for you," I said while approaching Daniella. Felicity followed me since she hasn't met her yet. Binkie's wife worked many Wednesday evenings and couldn't attend our gatherings. Mallory and I always made arrangements to include her in our movie nights.
"Did you stock all the items?" Daniella asked.
"I did. Do you need any help?" I offered even though I'm heavy handed while mixing drinks. Woody was keeping eye on their baby Woodrow Jr.
"Na… Bink will help me," she replied, winking at her husband's best friend.
Felicity heard the little girls being called male names. She decided to ask, "I've been meaning to ask this for awhile. Why does everyone call Mal's girls Mitch and Randy?"
I laughed, "I used my middle name, Michelle, when I enlisted. My army nickname was Mitch. It made sense to call little Michelle and Miranda by the masculine nicknames of Mitch and Randy. If anyone hears us talking about them, they assume they're boys."
To prove my point, Binkie approached me and gave me a hug. "Hey Mitch, are you girls gossiping?" he asked.
"Not at all. I was telling your girlfriend…," I paused when I grabbed Binkie's left hand, finding a wedding band. "I mean wife, how Michelle and Miranda got their masculine nicknames."
"Ah… you told her that we called you Mitch in the Army," he caught on.
"Yes. Mallory was surprised to learn I was Mitch. She always assumed it was a man," I explained.
"And Mal wanted to carry on the name Mitch," Binkie added.
"Got it in one," Mallory snuck up behind us. "Congrats guys. When did you exchange vows?" she asked.
"A few hours ago," Felicity explained.
"Newly weds… awesome," Mallory said before shouting the announcement to the yard filled with our friends.
On cue, Ella arrived with a tray of champagne glasses. She had apple juice for the kids. Em clapped her hands excitedly and announced, "Mitch, Randy, Los, MJ we're sharing our party with uncle Bink and Felix."
"Felix?" Felicity asked.
"Go along with it… please?" Em gave her aunt large blue puppy eyes. The other girls added their big brown ones.
"Hey, they call me Dan," Daniella said with a shrug. "It's their way of welcoming you to the family."
"Sure… whatever makes you happy," she caved. I laughed when the girls started skipping around her chanting 'Felix'.
Dad arrived with his wife Gladys. They got married a few years ago. She's been an amazing grandmother to my children.
I felt his eyes watching me as I moved around the yard to welcome our guests. The men pulled several BBQs together to cook the burgers, hot dogs and sausages. Ella, Yvonne and Monica started setting the table while other women rounded up the kids. I maneuvered around the men, women and children to enter my house.
He pulled me into his arms and kissed me thoroughly. "I love you Steph."
"I love you too Lucas," I replied.
"Do you see what I see?" he motioned towards the backyard.
"A lot of people?" I joked.
"I see our family. Our daughter with your curly hair, but a few shades lighter. Her eyes are exactly your colour. She's almost a mini-Steph. Our son has your dark curly hair and my eyes," he answered.
"Emily is very laid back like you. Carlos gets into as much trouble as I did," I added.
"Climbing trees too?" he joked.
"Definitely. He's completely fearless," I replied. Lucas turned me so my back was pressed against his chest.
"I see all of our chosen family. Brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, mothers and fathers," he said as he kissed the spot below my ear.
"The only person I don't see is Grandma Mazur," I whispered. Unfortunately, Edna passed away just after MJ was born. She lived life to the fullest; never letting an opportunity pass her by. I smiled as I remembered how she die. "I heard she had a huge grin on her face when they found her dead in bed," I reminded Lucas.
"Didn't she die having sex?" he asked.
"Yes, but what a way to go," I said with a laugh.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LPOV
Stephanie grabbed the salads from the fridge. She passed a few bowls for me to carry outside. I exited the back door and lifted a bowl to our friends. Lester, Manny and Cal walked past me to enter the house. They returned a few minutes later carrying more salads, pasta and drinks.
My wife followed Cal from the house. "How's your little one doing?" she asked.
"Growing like a weed. We had to leave CJ with Von's parents. He's on antibiotics and no longer contagious, but he's miserable," Cal answered.
"When he's feeling better, you should bring him around," I said with a smirk.
"Steph, we life a few houses away," he replied.
She laughed, "Yes, but you guys don't come over all the time like the others."
"It's because they respect our privacy," I interrupted. Stephanie shrugged. She loved having our friends randomly showing up in our backyard.
As our men found their soulmates, our family grew. Hearing the laughter of children and seeing our friends relaxed was the greatest gift of all.
The children ate before running around and getting their clothes dirty. But they were having a lot of fun. Our friends took turns watching the children, giving everyone the chance to kick back and relax.
I watched how everyone gravitated towards my wife. Before she started working at Rangeman, we were all acquaintances. Stephanie made us all friends before making us a family. Not just any family, but her family.
My wife welcomes everyone with open arms. She's a very special woman. I'm proud of all her accomplishments. Her suggestions for Rangeman made it the number one security company in Trenton. Boston and Miami welcomed her ideas.
The birthday group were completely spoiled by their uncles. Stephanie laughed when our twins and Mal's twins opened their paintball guns. Emily squealed in delight. They weren't permitted to join our paintball games until they were old enough to hold and handle their own guns.
Hector showed them how to load the paintballs and air canister. Their next set of gifts included masks, harness, vests, pods matching their favourite colour and a paintball squeegee. They listened to their uncle explain safety rules.
Stephanie wrapped her arms around me and watched the children open more gifts she didn't exactly approve. Watching our family, I realized we would have many more years like this one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fifteen years later….
SPOV
Well… today is the day we dropped our children off for basic training. They wanted to follow in our footsteps. The kids finished high school early and went to college first. With an undergraduate degree, they felt their life needed more meaning. Emily grew into a very beautiful woman. She's a few inches taller than me. Her younger brother Carlos was very tall, even taller than Tank. At 6'8", he's the tallest of all our Rangeman children.
I was proud of my nieces and nephews too. Mitch, Randy and MJ joined the Army with my kids. Tucker joined the Army a few years earlier. Valerie was upset at first, but she eventually understood it was his decision to make. He was a very special little boy and spent a lot of time hanging around Los. They were best friends and I was his favourite aunt.
Mary Alice is a vet. She married Hal's younger brother Gil. They met at university and didn't realize their parents were like family.
Angie was starting her residency at Kindred Hospital San Diego in the Neurology department. Before she selected her specialty, she was the top surgeon. Her husband is a cardiologist.
His eyes watched me as I gave our children another hug. Lucas slipped his arm around my waist. "Our children are amazing," I whispered.
"Just like their momma," he said before pulling me into a passionate kiss.
Emily giggled, "That's what I want Carlos."
"Mushy kisses?" he asked.
"No, I want a love just like mom and dad," she corrected him.
"I'm not sure we'll ever find it," he admitted.
"If mom, dad and our uncles can find love, so can we," she insisted. They continued to bicker until they were out of our sight. I'm going to miss them fiercely.
I laced my fingers with my husband. When we first met, his eyes always watched me. Over the years, my eyes started watching him.
My life feels complete. We hired younger men to handle the rough parts of our job. Most of the men have already retired. Our backyards are still open to each other. We spent more time shifting between the homes than we did at our own respective houses.
It's time for me to retire and give the next generation the chance to shine. Life will continue to move forward. Lucas and I are as much in love now as we were when we first met.
"You're the love of my life," I said as I led him back to our car.
"And your soulmate," he added.
Our connection only grew stronger. I can't wait until the day our children get married and have children. That's if they decide to get married and have children. I will support whatever decision they make.
"Time to go home my love," Lucas said as he got into the driver's seat.
"Homeward bound lover."
Wherever I go, I know he will follow.
A/N: Thank you for reading my story and leaving me amazing reviews.