Chapter Forty

Oh, fuck, was all that Stephanie could think. She couldn't even come up with a verbal response.

Tia waited patiently, her cake plate in front of her and hands folded. Steph was mentally incoherent, unable to respond in any way that she felt would be acceptable to the woman who was, for all practical purposes, Ranger's mother.

"Uh-" was about all that Steph was able to get out. She repeated it about fifteen times in the five minutes that Tia sat silently waiting. Steph finally gave up, sure that Tia was going to hate her and never want Ranger to be with her. "I don't know how to respond to that, Tia."

Tia sighed. "Do you love my Ricardo?"

That was even worse than the first question. This was SO not a conversation Steph wanted to have with anybody other than Ranger. But Steph realized that she was trapped here with Tia, and it might be better to get this over with now rather than letting anticipation drive her crazy for days. "Y-y-y-yes," she stuttered, refusing to meet Tia's clear, strong gaze/

"Yes, you love my Ricardo, or yes, you are dating Lester AND Tank, or yes to all of it?" her voice was not angry, was not raised, but Steph heard something else in there she didn't like either.

"Um, yes-to-all-of-it, but it's not-exactly-what-it-sounds-like-" Steph tried to rush into an explanation, but Tia cut her off with an upraised hand.

"I do not need the details, or the justification." Tia took a deep breath. "I know that my Ricardo can be difficult, but I find it hard to believe that Lester would do this to his cousin. Ric does not deserve to be treated like this. You will make your choice, and stop this nonsense."

Steph took a deep breath. "Tia, really-"

Tia sat back a bit, her arms crossed expectantly. "You seem upset that I know this information. I thought I made it clear to you at lunch how much I value my boys and want them to be happy. Ella told me a few details that I didn't like, and I put two and two together. I don't understand why you would do this to Ric, but he loves you. For him, I will ignore this behavior, as long as it stops."

Steph felt the need to defend herself, at least a little, to this diminutive powerhouse of will. "Really, Tia, I'm not dating Les and Tank anymore. Ranger and I talked, and well," how to put this into a meaningful statement without having to explain their whole history?- "we do love each other, but we have a lot of things to work out before we can be together."

"And dating other men is helping this situation how?" Tia frowned, a glint in her eye.

"I was dating Tank and Les before this conversation with Ranger- I mean, Ric." Steph took a deep breath and blew the air out forcefully. "Ranger and I both have- issues- that make a relationship difficult. One of those issues, well, this sounds really bad, was that Ric just wouldn't admit that he had feelings for me."

"The cop had something to do with that, dear," Tia said, sarcasm tinging her voice as she began picking up dishes and carrying them to the sink.

Steph sighed. "At first, yes, Morelli was the problem. But Morelli has been gone for a good long while, and Ranger didn't say or do anything differently." Steph picked up her dish and carried it over to the sink, handing it to Tia and picking up a dish cloth to help dry. "I knew I loved him, but he seemed- indifferent. Ranger is had to read, hard to get to know. I had given up, when Lester and Tank came up with an idea."

Tia raised an eyebrow. "An idea? To make Ric jealous?"

"Yeah," Steph admitted weakly. "I'm not proud of this, but I agreed, because it seemed like a good option at the time. Neither Tank or Lester are really interested in me that way, and I feel safe around them."

Tia's recently harsh look softened. "And apparently this worked, since Ric took you to see Yavierlis and Esperanza. He was probably trying to warn you away from his difficult life, wasn't he?"

Steph gave an internal sigh of relief. Tia wasn't really that mad at her. "Yes, it did. And, yes, he did."

"I don't know what he told you, but she is not his daughter." Tia searched Steph's face very carefully then, looking for something, although Steph wasn't sure what. "I know this, even though he allows everyone to think she is and he takes care of everything the little broken angel needs."

Steph licked her lips, deciding some evasion would be necessary here. "Why does he do that, if she's not his?"

Tia dried her hands and turned to face Stephanie directly. "He feels responsible, and she is family, and he has the means to do so. My Ricardo is the most honorable man I know." It was Tia's turn to sigh. "It is one of his best and worst traits."

Steph's mouth dropped at Tia's statement. Tia knew Yavierlis was Alec's daughter. Tia knew, and never let Ranger know she knew. This woman was something else, Steph decided, way more than she seemed. "Worst?" Steph questioned, trying to keep Tia talking.

"Best in that it makes him do good things for people. Worst in that he tends to do these things for people who do not deserve it, like his ex-wife." Tia took Stephanie's arm and directed her toward the over-stuffed sofa in the living room, under the wall of pictures. "He should have taken the child away from her and given Ana to me to raise. He should never have married the harlot."

Whoa! thought Steph. What must Tia have been thinking about her a half-hour ago? "Now, dealing with her certainly helped him become what his is today, but I wish he had not needed to go through such a painful experience. And then the whole Esperanza mess, although that was not his fault. That really is the problem. He has an over-developed sense of guilt and responsibility." Settling in the chair next to Stephanie on the sofa, Tia sighed. "He feels badly for what happened to 'Ranza, so much so that he still has not told me the truth, although I have known for years."

"Known for years?" Steph questioned, desperate to get off this subject so that she wouldn't slip up.

"I know that Alec is Yavierlis' father, Stephanie." Tia sighed again, deep and heartfelt. "I don't' know what I did wrong with that boy, but he is not right. He had been lucky so far, within the system. I only hope that he gets caught before he truly hurts someone else again."

Steph sat with her jaw hanging open, unable to control her response. "What?"

"I also know," Tia commented dryly, "who Ranger thinks is stalking you. I am not stupid, nor old and senile. This stalking incident started right after you helped bring Alec back in. That is why I know that you will be safe here. Whatever else Alec has said or done in his life, he would never do anything in my house. For some reason, he has always wanted my approval and love, as if he didn't already have them."

Steph wryly commented, "I told Ranger you knew. He just didn't want to hurt you, so he told me not to say anything."

"Again with his over developed sense of guilt. Alec's behavior is Alec's own responsibility. If anyone else bears guilt over what he had become, it is me, not Ranger. Ranger just doesn't get that." Tia studied a picture to Steph's left, which showed five smiling boys grouped around Tia and an older man, presumably her husband. Ranger, Lester, and Alec were easy to pick out; Steph assumed the other two were Tia's two sons that she had not met yet. Alec was the farthest from his mother and father, as well as Ranger, who was directly next to Tia. A small tear formed at the corner of Tia's eye and she brushed it away.

Steph felt the need to try and comfort Tia, but she certainly sucked at this emotional crap. One of the reasons for the state of her relationship with Ranger, after all, was both of their inability to deal openly and honestly with emotion. "Children are their own creation. They always have the choice to learn from their life, or not. I'm sorry that Alec chose the way he is, but neither you nor Ranger are responsible."

A light, female voice intruded into the conversation from the doorway. "Oh, to the contrary. You and Ranger are very much responsible for my wonderful Alec, and I have to thank you for that."