Author: Esentrik0
Challenge: #65-Argument
Note: This is the third story of a set. To get the first two, and this one and many more to come, you can find them on It's titled "All You Can Find."

All You Can Find- Third Installment

I figured that now that our secret was out, it would spread like a wildfire. I sat on the couch, next to Ranger, in total silence. I was waiting for the phone to ring. I didn't know exactly what he was doing.

I didn't mention that I had made a choice. I was pretty sure Ranger assumed that was the case. He saw the tears that sat in my eyes, not quite ready to fall. He held me in a tight hug until I felt better.

Melanie was content sucking on her foot. Bob had settled down, and laid on the rug beside the baby stuff. I was still afraid she's get hair in her mouth and choke, but she seemed to notice his presence and was happy.

The phone rang, and with a sigh, I stood up and walked over to it. I answered on the second ring. "What is all this about you and that Cuban man and a b-a-b-y!"

I held the phone a few inches from my ear. "Mom, calm down."

"I will most certainly not calm down. If anything, I should have heard it from you. Not Mrs. Greenburg." How old Mrs. Greenburg found out was a mystery. She already had a casket on backorder, and a headstone picked out. I wasn't trying to be mean, but she was on the edge of death.

"I've been busy." I said and cut off a sphew of ranting comments that were shot my way.

"That's not an excuse to hide a baby from me. How are you even going to care for her? I don't doubt that your bounty hunter friend can care for a child, but you Stephanie?"

"Jeez, what a vote of confidence." I muttered, and she heard me.

"I love you kiddo, I really do. But you can't take care of a baby. You can hardly even care for yourself." She commented. "Not as a bounty hunter, atleast."

"What's wrong about being a bounty hunter?" I replied, my voice getting high and insulted.

"Nothing, if you're prepared for the job. But my baby girl has no right working in a mans world where she gets shot at."

"I don't get shot at!"

"Not everyday, but you have been shot before. And kidnapped. And beaten. And humiliated. Honestly, have you had a car for more than a couple of days?" She asked sympathetically.

"You don't understand mom. I don't know why you can't seem to get it. I like my job. It has bad points, and it's sometimes a pain and I don't want to wake up in the morning, but I still like it." I sighed. "I really don't want to box tampons for the rest of my life."

A sigh came over the other end of the line. "It's your life, and I have no right to tell you how to live it. If you wish to live in sin with that Cuban boy and his baby, then so be it."

"Mom." I said, my voice racking. I had disapointed her, and I knew it.

"No...It's ok baby. Just let me tell you this." There was a long pause, filled by soft breathing. "Take care of yourself. Don't let yourself be walked on."

I was about to say something, but I heard a soft click. Clearly, she was done.

I felt his breath on the back of my neck. I leaned back, hitting his chest. He wrapped his arms around my waist and I hung up the phone. It was...cozy... standing in the kitchen, my head on his chest listening to his heart pound.

Something triggered in my head. This wasn't normal for Ranger. Actually, since about two o'clock this morning, he hadn't been normal.

"Have I ever told you that these highlights are cute?" He whispered in my ear.

"No." I held back a chuckle.

"They're cute. Natural. Soft. Sexy." He whispered in a suductive tone.

"Don't you need to go to work." I did chuckle this time.

"Yeah, but I could be late."

"Go." I said and gave him a hard shove towards the door.

This is the third one in a set of god knows how many. I will probably keep playing off these until I hit a complete dead in. If this is hard for you, and you keep forgetting what happened last (which happens, especially if you read three more before it and two after it...) I have posted them all up in I'll post them at the same time I post them here, so you won't be missing much.

Hope you're having as much fun reading these as I am trying to fit the challenge. Esentrik