When Joe arrived at work a week later, he found the top of his desk covered in various sized diapers. It took days to get rid of the smell. He had to toss his favourite pants and boxers into the trash. The other detectives and officers laughed as they crowded the doorway. Joe was embarrassed. He thought taking a week off would prevent his coworkers from teasing and tormenting him, but he was mistaken. The men bided their time until Joe returned to work.

Joe tried to laugh it off, but it wasn't that easy. During his week off, he got another test to determine if he was clean. He contacted Terry and Charlene to check their medical situation. Both women claimed to be clean. Joe trusted Terry would be honest. Charlene was another story. He prayed he was clean. Catching a sexually transmitted disease would ruin his status as the Italian Stallion. Joe had a reputation to maintain.

He contacted the lab to check on the progress. They said it would take a few more days before the results were available. Joe's phone rang. It was Helen Plum. She kept inviting Joe for dinner, but he learned his lesson. He heard a rumour that Edna Mazur slipped ex-lax into his food. Joe thought Edna was crazy. Edna didn't want Joe to be around Stephanie. Frank threatened to dismember Joe if he went anywhere near Stephanie again. Joe wondered if Frank knew about his last sexual encounter with Stephanie. He didn't want to cross Frank Plum.

His desk phone rang as he booted his desktop computer. "Morelli," he answered.

"Joseph, it's Helen Plum calling. Are you available for dinner tonight?" Helen asked.

"I must apologize, Helen. Stephanie and I decided to go our separate ways. Our relationship was never destined to become more than it was," Joe replied.

Helen snorted. "Then why did you touch my daughter at six and take her virginity at sixteen? Can you answer that, Joseph? If you had no intention of making her your wife, you should have kept your fingers and dick to yourself," Helen screamed.

Joe moved the receiver away from his ear. He had never heard Helen get so angry before. "I thought I could make her see reason, Helen. Stephanie can't be broken. I don't want her as my wife," Joe said.

"I'm disappointed in you, Joseph. I expected you to rise above your father's legacy. Stay away from my daughter. You are not welcome inside my home. Goodbye, Joseph. I expect you to honour my wishes," Helen said, then hung up.

What the hell just happened? Helen went from being his biggest advocate and supporter to demanding he stay away from Stephanie. Joe was disappointed in himself. He didn't really want a relationship with Stephanie. His goal was to win the prize. Without Helen's support, he would never get another chance to be with Stephanie.

Why is he upset? Didn't he already go down that road before? It didn't get anywhere the first time. Why has he focused on it again? Joe knows he messed up by trying to force Stephanie to have a child. He wondered if Helen would change her mind if Stephanie became pregnant with his baby.

Joe's desk phone rang again. "Morelli," Joe answered.

"Hey, Joe. It's Brian Gaspick. Stephanie just brought in Eula Rutledge," Gaspick announced. Joe hung up the phone to talk to Stephanie. He ran down the stairs to the desk, where Stephanie returned the FTAs.

"Steph, do you have a minute?" Joe asked.

Stephanie took a step back from Joe. Lester and Cal moved close enough to warn Joe to keep his distance from Stephanie. "What do you want?" she snapped.

Joe leaned in close to whisper, "Is there a chance you could be pregnant?"

"No. None. Zero. To be one hundred percent positive, I took the morning-after pill. Is that what you want to know? Get lost, Joe. I don't want to have anything to do with you. I have enough shit to manage without you being a thorn in my ass," Stephanie replied. Joe's fingers grazed her arm. "Get your hands off me, or I'll charge you with assault."

"I didn't hurt you," Joe replied.

Stephanie moved close enough to whisper in his ear. "I have proof you didn't use a condom. What would your boss say?" Joe jumped back and shook his head. He prayed Stephanie wouldn't use it to claim he assaulted her. "Joe, you are misinformed. You did assault me. You did not have my permission to have sex with me without a condom. That is assault. Goodbye, Joe." Stephanie turned on her heel, letting Lester and Cal fall in step behind her.

Joe watched Stephanie hold her head high as she exited the TPD. She was not the same woman he used to know. When did Stephanie become the strong woman who just left?

~~~~~~~~~~

Joyce Barnhardt looked into the mirror. She couldn't understand why every eligible man in Trenton gravitated toward Stephanie. The woman was not pretty. Her chest to hip ratio wasn't the perfect match. Had Stephanie never heard of a chemical straightener? Stephanie's shape was more pear-shaped than hourglass. Joyce got breast implants to improve her figure. She was jealous of her mother, Marion, who had the perfect body without surgery. Twice a year, Joyce got liposuction to remove the excess fat that built up in her body. It was a painful procedure that incapacitated her for several weeks each time.

When she was younger, Joyce attempted to keep up with Stephanie's eating habits, hoping to emulate why the boys enjoyed Stephanie's company. All it did was make Joyce fat. She gained so much weight that her mother sent her to a fat camp for the summer. Joyce felt humiliated. How could Stephanie consume that much food without gaining an obscene amount of weight?

Joyce knew Shirley Gazarra was her half-sister. She was loosely related to Stephanie, but not a blood connection. Joyce's father was Arnold Schroder, Shirley's dad. Shirley's mother, whose name was also Shirley, was Helen Plum's sister. Stephanie refused to acknowledge they were cousins. In grade one, they had a project to show their family tree. Joyce had Stephanie on her Bristol board. Stephanie went to the front of the class and removed her picture from the paper. "You are not my cousin," Stephanie had claimed. "My mom said you could only be my cousin if your mom was my aunt Shirley. I am not your cousin." Stephanie embarrassed Joyce. She was so upset that she peed her pants in front of the class. Joyce made Stephanie pay.

After that day, it became Joyce's life mission to make Stephanie suffer. She poured apple juice on Stephanie's chair and then claimed she peed herself. The best revenge was when she planned for Stephanie to catch her screwing Dickie on their dining room table. It took a lot to convince Tabitha to tell Stephanie Dickie wasn't feeling well and needed her to come home. Stephanie rushed home in time to see them. That memory never got old.

~~~~~~~~~~

Stephanie returned to Vinnie's bond office to turn in the receipts. Connie greeted, "Morning, Stephanie." She looked around before quietly adding, "Charlene and Terry do not have any infections. I asked Tina, who works at the clinic Charlene regularly uses. Tina checked with her friends at the other clinics to check on Terry. You wouldn't have caught anything from Morelli. Here, I got this coffee for you."

"Thanks for watching my back, Connie. I received my labs back yesterday. I'm clean as a whistle," Stephanie replied. She was relieved. Stephanie and Ranger had sex a few times using protection, but there are infections you could still get by touching the other parts. Her OB examined her before administering the birth control shot. Stephanie was given a clean bill of health. The pregnancy tests came back negative as she expected. She didn't have any hCG hormones. Stephanie was thankful that Bobby had the morning after pill available. It could have been an entirely different result, which angered Stephanie more.

"Have you told Joe?" Connie wondered. Stephanie shook her head and laughed. She didn't care when Morelli got his results. Stephanie took a sip of coffee. Pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks. "Tina said the results are back, but the receptionist wants him to suffer for a few more days." Stephanie spewed coffee from her nose. Connie grinned as she passed Stephanie a napkin from her drawer.

"Tina's mean. She should tell him the results," Stephanie said, laughing.

"Nope. Not until tomorrow. He can sweat it out for another day." Stephanie loved her friends. "I heard your mother ripped into him," Connie said. Stephanie raised her eyebrows. She didn't believe that her mother, Helen Plum, would say anything to defend her. "She told Joe to leave you alone. He should not have touched you when you were six or sixteen."

Stephanie snorted. "Whatever. She's probably trying to save face. It won't be long before she's pushing another eligible Burg man at me." Stephanie didn't fall for her mother's attempt to redeem herself. History dictated it would be short-lived. "Do you know when Vinnie will be back? I heard he went on a cruise with Lucille."

"Yup. He should be back by Christmas," Connie replied. "What's going on?" Connie tried tapping into the Burg gossip network to find out what was bothering Stephanie. She only heard about the incident with Morelli but suspected there was more to the story. Nobody would talk, not even Stephanie's Merry Men.

"I'm sorry, Connie. It's not my story to tell," Stephanie said. She drank the rest of the coffee before dropping the cup into the trash can. Connie shrunk into her seat. She hoped Stephanie would dish out the dirt. "You know me better than that, Connie. I never repeat anything that could potentially harm someone."

"I know, but I hoped you could provide the information. I promise not to tell anyone," Connie begged. Stephanie shook her head. She was not about to spill the medical details regarding her grandmother. If her mother and grandmother didn't spread the news, they wanted it to remain a secret. Though, Stephanie wondered how long the information would remain silent.

"I've got to meet Valerie," Stephanie suddenly said. "Thanks for the coffee."

Lester and Cal waited in the Rangeman SUV for Stephanie to return. "Do you think Connie's hounding her for gossip?" Cal asked.

"Most definitely. We know Stephanie won't say anything unless Edna gives her the green light," Lester replied. Every man in Rangeman knew about Edna's diagnosis and prognosis. Like a steal trap, none of the men talked.

Stephanie left the bond's office, then climbed into the front passenger seat beside Lester. He drove her to the bank a few blocks away. Stephanie got the teller to give her cash instead of depositing the funds into her account. Lester raised an eyebrow as Stephanie shoved the envelope of money into her purse. She grimaced, then shook her head.

Lester kept watching Stephanie in his peripheral vision. She grabbed a few hundred dollars from the envelope to place inside a flat box. Stephanie pulled a roll of packaging tape to seal the box. Lester noticed she taped it to the point it got covered in tape. "I think you have enough tape, Beautiful."

She smiled at Lester. "You're probably right. Can you drop by Valerie's house? I want to hand deliver the gifts."

"Anything you want," Lester replied. What are you hiding, Beautiful? Stephanie blinked back the tears. She climbed from the SUV when Lester parked in the driveway. "We'll wait," Lester said when Stephanie suggested they return to Rangeman.

Valerie opened the door as Stephanie walked up the front steps. Stephanie glanced over her shoulder before entering her sister's home. "Do you have everything?" Valerie asked.

"No. I need a box to put this parcel inside," Stephanie replied. "I have to mail this today."

"Yup. I've got a spare," Valerie said. Stephanie could tell something was bothering Valerie. While her sister was occupied searching for a box, Stephanie placed the envelope on the kitchen counter. Money was tight for the Kloughns. Especially close to Christmas.

Valerie returned with the gift wrap and a box. Stephanie carefully wrapped the present before placing it inside the larger box. She wrote an address on paper, then taped it to the top. "These are for the girls," Stephanie said as she placed four gifts on the table.

"You didn't need to get them anything," Valerie replied. She wiped a tear from her eye. Stephanie glared at her sister. Of course, she had to purchase Christmas presents for the girls. They were her nieces. Valerie wrapped the gifts, then pushed them aside. "Grandma told me." Stephanie bought them gold lockets. Technically, Carlos bought them, but nobody needed to know. She inserted pictures of the girls with grandma inside.

"Do the girls know?"

Valerie shook her head. "I'm supposed to wait until after Christmas. It's going to break Mary Alice's heart. She loves Grandma Mazur." Stephanie could relate. Her heart got broken too.

Stephanie told Valerie about the bucket list. Valerie wasn't surprised since grandma had already told her the plans. Grandma and Stephanie weren't leaving on their trip until grandma received her passport. Stephanie promised to visit with the girls before leaving.

"Aren't you coming over for Christmas?" Valerie asked.

"No. I'm covering a few shifts at Rangeman for the men to visit their families," Stephanie lied. She was only working one four-hour shift. However, it was during the time her mother would serve Christmas dinner. Stephanie had plans with her grandmother between Christmas and New Year's Day. It was their tradition.

~~~~~~~~~~

Edna and Stephanie entered the Hamilton Township Catholic Church on December 28th. They each lit a candle and prayed. Stephanie wiped the tears from her face. "Thank you for doing this with me, grandma."

"Any time, baby granddaughter. It's been fifteen years," Edna said. Stephanie didn't need the reminder. She knows how much time had passed. Edna shakily stood on her feet. Stephanie didn't offer to help, knowing her grandmother would slap her hands away.

Carlos sat in the back pew, watching Stephanie and Edna light candles, then pray. He was curious why Stephanie returned to the church every year on December 28th. Carlos had a suspicion but patiently waited for Stephanie to share. There wasn't anything in Stephanie's background checks to indicate the significance of the day.

Stephanie felt the second Carlos entered the sanctuary. Her hand rubbed the back of her neck as she smiled. Is there anything Batman doesn't know? Stephanie pulled herself up, then approached Carlos.

Edna sat on the pew to reflect on her life. Was she doing the right thing? Could Stephanie afford to take time away from work to accompany her? Was she being selfish? Stephanie and Carlos flanked on either side of Edna. Carlos kneeled to say a short prayer, then pushed back onto the bench. "Edna, my men and I will pay for your trips. We will cover Stephanie's rent. Stephanie asked to travel with a Rangeman laptop to work a few hours each day," Carlos explained.

"Stephanie doesn't accept handouts," Edna added, making Stephanie laugh.

"It's the only way I'd let the guys pay for our trip," Stephanie replied. She was worried about Valerie's family. They could barely make ends meet. Stephanie chewed her bottom lip.

"Your father will help Valerie. You don't need to help them so much," Edna said, surprising Stephanie. "Otherwise, you wouldn't be struggling financially."

"Babe?" Stephanie shook her head. She didn't want to talk about it. Ranger should have known Stephanie was helping her sister. He wondered how to assist the family without Valerie realizing he was helping.

Ranger sent Tank a text to research Albert Kloughn's education. He was curious if Albert was adept at writing and reviewing contracts. Their lawyers were barely keeping up with the client contracts. Rangeman needed to hire more men.