Stephanie jumped and turned around quickly to find herself facing Lenny and the boys. All three of them stared at her with their mouths nearly on the floor. It was only then that Stephanie realized she had made her brave escape from the crab wearing nothing more than a few grains of sand.

Chapter 15

Frozen in horror, Stephanie stared open-mouthed into the eyes of her best friend's family. Naked as the day she was born, Stephanie's body was displayed for them all to see. Time had momentarily stopped but quickly returned to normal when Mary Lou screamed so loud the windows shook. A few seconds later, Ranger bounded through the front door with Steph's robe draped across his arm.

Mary Lou stopped screaming the moment Ranger strode through the door wearing nothing but silk boxers. In that instant, she forgot she was a mother, a wife and a friend and quickly took the same dumbfounded stance the rest of her family were posing.

Ranger quickly wrapped the robe around Stephanie. "You forgot this babe."

"Um, yeah. I figured that out." Stephanie blushed.

Mary Lou, Lenny and the boys remained frozen in place. Ranger shifted uncomfortably when he noticed Mary Lou's eyes were firmly placed on his crotch.

He leaned into Stephanie's ear. "Um, babe. Will you do something about this?"

Stephanie tied the sash to her robe in a triple knot and then clapped her hands to get everyone's attention.

Everyone jumped. The boys started to giggle while Lenny turned around and refused to make eye contact with anyone in the room. Mary Lou licked her lips, then pulled herself together.

"Stephanie Plum, would you like to explain yourself?" she said as she crossed her arms in mock anger.

Just as she was about to explain Mikey interrupted by jerking on his father's sleeve. "Daddy, daddy. Did you see that? I saw Aunt Steph's boobies!"

"Me too!," exclaimed Sean.

Ranger reared his head back with laughter and Mary Lou shooed the two small boys out of the room. When she returned, Stephanie explained what had happened and the foursome roared in laughter with Lenny's eyes still steadily focused on the nearby wall.

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The remainder of the week went by uneventful. The big group of friends hung out at the house, spent time playing in the sand and easily fell into the lazy flow of the beach life.

"I can't believe the week's already over." Mary Lou whined as she packed up her clothes.

"Tell me about it. I've had a blast. I'm so glad you and Lenny agreed to come." Stephanie said as she lounged on the bed watching Mary Lou fold and refold clothes.

"Are you kidding? We wouldn't have missed this for the world. I just wish we could stay a little longer."

"Me too. Especially since Ranger's daughter is coming tomorrow. Are you sure you have to leave?"

"Unfortunately we do. I can't believe they called Lenny to come back into work a week early but it was fun while it lasted. Maybe we can do it again sometime. But forget us, what's this about Ranger's daughter? You aren't still stressing over that are you? She's going to adore you."

"I hope so Lou, but what if she doesn't? I've agreed to spend the rest of my life with Ranger, but what happens if she hates me? He can't spend forever keeping his wife and daughter apart."

Giving up hope of being neat, Mary Lou balled up the remaining clothes and shoved them into the suitcase. "That's not going to happen Steph. Just be yourself and she's bound to like you."

"I hope you're right."

"Of course I'm right. I was right about Ranger and I'm right about this. Now stop being silly and help me carry these bags down stairs." Mary Lou laughed.

"No can do. I'm with child, remember. No heavy lifting." Steph smiled as she picked up a makeup case and walked through the door.

"Bum." Mary Lou mumbled as Steph walked passed.

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Stephanie and Ranger stood arm in arm as they waved Lenny, Mary Lou and the kids off. They stood in the driveway until the SUV was out of sight and then they made their way into the house.

As the door clicked close, Ranger reached around Steph's waist and pulled her back against him. He dropped his head to her shoulder then whispered, "Here we are in this big house all alone. What should we do?"

Stephanie stood still thinking of her options.

"Babe?" Ranger asked after a full minute of silence.

"Just weighing the options Ric."

Ranger released her then turned her until they were facing one another. "Exactly how many options are there?"

Stephanie smiled then placed her hands on his shoulders to pull him a step closer. "Well, the obvious one is to strip you naked and do you right here on the floor."

Ranger reached around and cupped Steph's butt firmly in his hands. "Something wrong with that plan?"

Stephanie thought again for a minute then explained. "Not really, but there are other things to consider."

"Like?"

"Like, it's been nearly four hours since I've eaten and I'm already on the verge of starvation. Like the fact that there's a nice soft bed upstairs that would be a lot more comfortable than the floor. Like the fact that I'm really pregnant and I feel fat and bloated and I'm not sure if I want you to see me naked right now."

"Are you finished?" Ranger questioned.

"Yes."

"Ok, then how about this. Let's make some dinner so you don't die of malnutrition. We'll take it upstairs and eat in the bed, that way it won't take so long to get to the dessert."

"That sounds great, but you forgot the fat and bloated part."

"No I didn't." Ranger stepped closer and began to grind his hips against hers. "I don't care if you are fat and bloated because I'm going to worship your body anyway. And for the record, you aren't fat. You're pregnant and that kind of goes with the territory."

"Well if you insist. But I must warn you, I'm not feeling very sexy." she whined.

"Well don't worry about not feeling sexy, just worry about feeling me. I'll show you sexy." And with his words, he let his mouth claim hers. The kiss was hot, wet and lasting. His body pushed against hers with a force and desire neither of them had felt in awhile. She nearly collapsed in his arms when his tongue touched hers. His strong arms snaked up her body and steadied her in place. When they pulled apart each were nearly gasping for air.

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An hour and a half later, Stephanie moaned with each bite.

"You didn't moan that loud for me? It's only a sandwich you know." Ranger said sounding defeated.

Stephanie laughed then nudged him with her foot. "Don't blame me for that, it's hard to moan with my mouth full."

Ranger's face darkened as he crawled up the bed towards her. Stopping to lick off the mustard on her cheek he smiled before speaking. "That's true, but you certainly do other things very well when your mouth's full."

Stephanie laughed then took another bite of her sandwich preventing Ranger from moving in for a kiss.

Once again acting defeated, Ranger laid beside her resting his head on her belly. He slowly rubbed small circles around her new roundness.

Stephanie watched him as a smile crept across his face.

"What are you thinking?" she asked.

Leaving his eyes focused on her belly he answered, "Just thinking about how cool it's going to be when the baby gets here."

Stephanie stiffened and Ranger noticed the tension. "What's wrong?"

Stephanie turned away from him and stared out the window. "I'm scared."

Ranger crawled towards her once again, settling beside her and pulling her body into his embrace. "Nothing wrong with being scared. It's perfectly normal."

Stephanie rolled over so she was facing him. "What if I turn out to be a terrible mother?"

Ranger shook his head, "Not possible. You have too big of a heart not to be a terrific mom."

"But I'm not sure if I can even change a diaper."

Ranger grabbed her hand and lifted it to his mouth, kissing it lightly. "Then I'll teach you how."

"What if it starts crying and I can't get it to stop?"

He placed another kiss to the palm of her hand. "Then I'll buy us some really great earmuffs."

"What if it gets sick and I don't know how to make it better."

"Babe, that's what doctors are for. Stop worrying about it. I promise that I will be right by your side the entire way and if something comes up we don't know how to handle then your mom and sister will be there to help out."

"You make it sound so easy."

"It won't be easy all the time, but it won't be terrible either. This is going to be a great journey for us both."

"How can you be so sure?" She asked as a tear rolled down her cheek.

Ranger wiped the moisture away with his thumb then placed his palm against her cheek. "Because I'm sure about us. I know that as long as we are together we can handle anything."

"God I love you." she said, sniffing away the tears.

"Good. Because I love you too and we're going to get married. And you're going to have this baby and I'm going to do everything I can to help you."

Stephanie smiled with his words. "I don't deserve you."

"Stop being stupid. You deserve a lot more than me and I'm going to spend the rest of my life trying to prove that to you."

Stephanie decided not to argue and instead curled up in Ranger's arms. He pulled her in tightly and gently stroked her back until she drifted off to sleep.

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When Stephanie woke up a couple of hours later she realized she was all alone. She set off in search of Ranger and found him on the patio by the pool reading a book. She took a seat at the foot of his lounge chair.

"Nice nap?" he asked.

"Very nice. I'm sorry about earlier."

"Sorry for what? I told you it was ok if you still didn't want to try the butt stuff."

Stephanie slapped him across the chest. "Not that! I was talking about me being a crybaby."

Ranger smiled then pulled her on top of him. "Never apologize for sharing your feelings with me. That's what husbands or soon-to-be-husbands are for."

Pushing up from his chest she met his gaze. "Speaking of being engaged, we have a few things to talk about."

"Sure babe, but I don't think people are going to buy it if you wear white."

She smacked him once again. "Can you be serious for a minute please?" she laughed.

"Anything for you. What's on your mind."

Stephanie stood and began to pace back and forth in front of him. "Well, for one, your daughter. Have you decided what you are going to tell her about me?"

Ranger smiled, "Nothing to tell. She pretty much knows everything already."

"You told her we were engaged?" she sounded startled.

"Of course I did. I told her the very next day."

"Oh. What did she say."

Ranger reached out and grabbed her hand pulling her back into his lap. "Stop worrying. She's happy for us and she's really excited to meet you."

"She is?"

"Of course she is. Between myself, Tank and the other guys she knows all about you."

"You told her about me and she's still ok with us getting married?"

Ranger laughed, "Of course she's ok with it. She knows I love you and have loved you for a very long time. She wants me to be happy and she knows that you are good for me. So stop worrying. You'll see for yourself when she gets here tomorrow. She's probably just as nervous about meeting you as you are about meeting her."

"Why on earth would she be nervous about meeting me?"

"Because you're going to be her stepmother silly. It wouldn't be a lot of fun for her if you turned out to be the evil step mother who refused to let her go to the ball."

Stephanie laughed, "You know Cinderella?"

"Of course I do. That was Kat's favorite story when she was a little girl. I probably read that to her a hundred times."

Stephanie stood and once again started pacing.

"Now what?" Ranger questioned.

"There's still a lot of stuff we need to deal with Ric."

"Like what?"

"Like Joe."

Ranger sat up, "What about Joe?"

"As much as I may not like it, he is this baby's father."

"I know that and I would never try to prevent him from being a part of his or her life."

Stephanie smiled and tried to relax. "I know you wouldn't, that's not what I'm worried about."

Ranger walked to her, "Then what are you worried about?"

"Doesn't it bother you that Joe is always going to be a part of my life? This baby will tie us together forever. I know that you two have never really liked each other. I would give anything to never have to see him again but unfortunately that can't happen."

"Don't worry about me and Joe. You're right I never liked him but that's just because I was so damned jealous."

Stephanie blinked, "You? Jealous of Joe?"

"Of course I was jealous. It use to make me nuts that you were with him and not me. Before you came along Joe and I got along fine but the moment he found out I was helping you, things changed. After that, whenever I ran into him he would make a point to mention you. Just his way of letting me know to keep my hands to myself."

Stephanie seemed stunned. "I can't believe you were jealous of him."

Ranger slide his arms around her waist, "Well I was, but you don't have to worry about that now. You're mine."

"That doesn't help the fact that he's still going to be a part of my life."

"Listen Steph, I know where you're coming from but it's not going to be a problem. We are all adults and we will all do what's best for this child. Trust me on that."

"You're right."

"Of course I'm right. Now is there anything else we need to discuss?"

Stephanie recognized his wolf grin and fell into his chest. "Nope, I think we got it all straightened out. Wanna go upstairs?"

"Thought you'd never ask."

To Be Continued….