"So what really happen to him?" Stephanie asked.

Anna paused then smiled, "I just sent him out with my husband to pick up dinner."

Chapter 18

By the time Ranger and Tank returned with an armload of food, Stephanie and Anna were lounging by the pool sipping large, frozen drinks.

"Babe is that alcoholic?" Ranger asked as he placed the bags of food on the glass top table.

Stephanie rolled her eyes and ignored the question. Anna, on the other hand, decided to have some fun.

"Ric does Stephanie look like an idiot to you?" she asked.

Ranger crossed his arms and sighed, shaking his head no.

"Then stop treating her like one." Anna replied before taking a huge sip of her drink.

Ranger took a few steps toward Stephanie and leaned down until his lips touched her ear. "Any chance I could talk you out of speaking to her?"

Stephanie tossed her head back and laughed. "No way! I think we are going to be the best of friends." she replied before giving Ranger a quick peck on the nose.

Tank placed his bags on the table then clapped Ranger on the back. "Come on big guy, let's get ourselves something to drink while these ladies talk about us."

When the two men disappeared back inside the house Anna nodded to Steph in their direction. "Tank's a smart man. Don't worry about Ric, you'll have him trained in no time."

Stephanie smiled then quickly frowned after the large gulp of the frozen Kool-Aid sent sharp pains across her forehead.

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"I'm thinking it wasn't a good idea to introduce those two." noted Ranger as he pulled two beers from the freezer.

"Do you think we actually could have prevented it?" replied Tank.

Ranger thought about it for a minute. "I could have sent you out of the country for a few years."

Tank laughed, grabbed the beer from Ranger and headed back towards the pool.

Ranger was right on his heels when he heard Kat and Sam bound down the stairs. He turned to greet the girls and was stunned at the sight before him. He had expected to see the two small girls from earlier, but what he now faced was something far worse.

Kat and Sam were both wearing two piece bathing suits and both were filling out each piece nearly perfectly. Ranger's mouth hit the floor, and just as he was about to ask Kat what had happened to his little girl, she spoke.

"Daddy where's the food. We're starving!"

"O…Out back on the patio." he stuttered.

The girls bounced passed him and through the large glass doors leading to the pool.

Ranger took a moment to gather himself before he joined the others.

Stephanie spoke first when Ranger took the seat next to her. "Are you ok Ric. You look like you've seen a ghost."

Ranger lifted his eyes to her and tried to smile. "I'm fine."

Not believing him, Stephanie placed her hand gently on his arm. "What's wrong?"

Snapping back to reality, Ranger shrugged then whispered, "Nothing babe, we'll talk later."

Stephanie shrugged then proceeded to change the subject. "Ok then, why don't you tell me about the time you and Anna dated?"

Ranger frowned then settled in for a very uncomfortable evening.

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That night, as they laid wrapped in each other's arms Stephanie laughed when Ranger finally told her what had happened.

"What did you expect Ranger? For her to stay your little girl forever?" she teased.

"Well of course not, but I just never imagined that it would happen so soon."

"What were you doing and thinking about at that age? I bet it wasn't too far from what you saw with Kat and Sam today."

When Ranger thought back to his early years, the color in his face once again faded. "Oh god." He said, sounding panicked.

Stephanie laughed again and didn't stop until Ranger claimed her mouth with his own. After that, all the laughing stopped for the night.

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The next three weeks went by in a blur of activity. The group of six played together, ate together and thoroughly enjoyed being with one another. They took on the roles of tourist and played the part to perfection. Stephanie, Anna, and the girls shopped until there was no more room in the car to store packages.

Ranger and Tank tried their hand at golf. Thirty minutes into the round, Tank cursed loudly then proceeded to toss his clubs into the nearby pond. And fifteen minutes after that, both men were shown the door and asked to never return to the country club.

The days were filled with fun by the pool and surf lessons in the ocean. The evenings were spent dining on a sound front pier or grilling burgers next to the pool.

Stephanie let out a sigh of contentment as she relaxed in a beach chair watching the waves roll closer and closer. She was so calm and at ease that she didn't even hear Ranger approach.

"Enjoying yourself babe?"

She smiled and let her eyes roam slowly up his body. "Oh yeah. I love it here."

"I do too. We'll make it a tradition to return here every summer."

Stephanie smiled, "I like the idea of us having traditions."

Ranger offered her a hand, which she gladly accepted as she rose to her feet. "Walk with me." He said as he slid an arm around her waist.

With his hand wrapped around her back and her hand dropping to the back pocket of his jean shorts they set out down the beach. The cool water lapped over their bare feet causing them to sink deeper into the sand. There pace was slow as the tide and neither of them seemed in a hurry to change it.

"Something's come up Steph." Ranger said softly.

Stephanie glanced down and then elbowed him in the stomach. "You can't be serious, we did it four times last night." she replied.

"Babe. I wasn't talking about that."

"Oh."

Ranger laughed, "I swear you're a bigger flirt than I am."

"Well, you're to blame. I wasn't this way before I met you. But anyway, what's come up?"

Ranger pulled her closer to him and once again lowered his voice.

"Have I ever told you about Kat's stepdad?"

"You mentioned that her mother remarried but that was about all."

"Well, they've been married about three years now. His name is Daniel and he's really a good guy. I was actually the person that introduced them. I met Daniel in the Army when we served in the Gulf together. Eva and I had been divorced for about two years when I was sent overseas."

Stephanie slowed down and took Ranger by the hand, guiding him to a spot in the sand. He followed her lead and took a seat next to her.

"Continue." she said once they were settled.

"The first year after our divorce was hell. We hardly spoke to one another. We shared custody of Kat and when I would go pick her up for a visit Eva and I almost always got into an argument. This went on for a solid year until one day I stopped by to pick up Kat and Eva answered the door in tears. I asked her what had happened, fearing that something was wrong with Kat. She told me that Kat asked her that morning why her and daddy were always yelling at one another.

We both knew at that moment something had to change. So we made a pact that no matter what, we would do whatever it took to be friends. And since that day we have been.

Jump ahead a year to when I was sent to the Gulf. When we arrived, we were stationed in a small area just outside of Baghdad. It was only my unit and one other. There was a total of 35 of us together in this tiny little space. We ate together, slept next to each other, and in general aggravated the hell out of one another. But because there was no one else around but the enemy we were forced to befriend one another. That's were I met Daniel. The moment I met him, I knew he was perfect for Eva. She wanted the cute little house including the picket fence along with 2.5 kids. Daniel wanted the same thing. Their senses of humor was nearly identical and they both seemed to enjoy the same things. So a month after meeting Daniel, I wrote to Eva and told her I had found the man she was going to marry."

"How did she take that?" Stephanie asked.

"Just like I had expected her too. She told me I was nuts."

"So what did you do?"

"Well, I decided to go another route. I showed Daniel her picture and spent the next 8 months of our tour telling him about how great she was."

"I never would have pegged you as a matchmaker." Stephanie said.

"I didn't see it that way. I just knew that those two people would get along so great that I had to do something. So when we returned to the States I planned a barbeque at my house and invited them both."

"How did that go? We're they surprised?" Steph asked.

"Yeah. They both wanted to kill me when they realized I had set them up, but that got over it pretty quick. They spent the entire afternoon talking to one another. They planned a date for the next day and then three months later they were engaged. The rest is history, as they say."

"What happened?" Stephanie asked, becoming concerned with the sudden change in Ranger's mood.

"Eva called me about thirty minutes ago. Daniel's unit has been called up. He's being sent to Iraq in a month."

"Oh God Ranger. She must be a mess. Why did he decide to stay in the Army?"

"She is. And the Army is what he knows. His dad and grandfather were both Rangers. He's just following in their footsteps but he told me a couple of months ago that he was going to retire when this tour was over."

"When is that?"

"January." Ranger answered.

"So there's no way he can get out of going?" Stephanie asked.

Ranger shook his head. "Even if there was, he wouldn't do it. Daniel would never turn his back on his responsibility. He takes his Army life very seriously. If it wasn't for Eva he would probably never retire. But they are wanting to have more kids so he was going to try his hand at being a civilian for the sake of his family."

"Have you told Kat yet?" Steph asked.

"No. I wanted to talk to you first." Ranger said.

"What do I have to do with it?"

"The reason Eva called was because she wanted Kat to come home early for the summer."

"I can understand that. I'm sure she'll want to spend time with Daniel before he leaves."

"Yeah, I know she will." Ranger said as his voice began to trail away.

Stephanie wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close. "But you don't want to give up any of your time with her either?" She asked, although it was a question that didn't need answering.

Ranger sighed. "Does that make me a horrible person?"

"Of course not, it just means you love your daughter."

"I don't get to see her very much as it is, so it really hurts when our time gets cut short, no matter what the reason is." Ranger explained.

Stephanie pulled away so she could meet his eyes. "What if she could spend time with both you and Daniel?"

"How?" Ranger asked.

Stephanie smiled, "I've always wanted to see Miami."

"Babe." Ranger said before he pulled her face to his for a kiss.

When he pulled away, they were both breathless. "I don't deserve you." Ranger said.

"That may be true. After all, I'm agreeing to visit your ex-wife when I'm about to get really, really fat."

"Not fat babe, you're pregnant there's a difference." Ranger said as he placed his hand on her slightly rounding belly. "And maybe we won't have to visit her. You gave me an idea." He said as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.

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"Don't worry sweetie, he's going to be fine. Daniel's the best soldier I know." Ranger said as he rocked Kat in his arms.

She sniffed against his chest and tried to stop crying. "I know."

Ranger brushed her hair behind her ear as he kept her cradled against him. "Are you ok?"

Kat shook her head slowly.

"Want to go tell the others about our change in plans?"

Kat sniffed once again and said, "Yeah, I'd like to leave as soon as we can."

Ranger smiled and pulled them both off the bed. He held her hand tight in his own as he lead her into the living room to join the others.

Everyone looked up as they entered. "Change in plans everyone." Ranger said. "Daniel is being sent to Iraq and Kat wants to spend time with him before we leave."

Anna gasped then jumped from the chair, rushing the girl. She wrapped her in her arms and said, "We need to get packing then. How long will it take us to get to Miami?"

Ranger smiled, "We aren't going to Miami. I figured Daniel might want to spend some time with his family in New York before he goes so I've offered him and Eva use of one of my apartments. They're going to stay in Trenton until he has to leave. That way he can spend time with both his family and Kat."

Stephanie smiled as she walked towards Ranger, sliding her arms around his waist. When he met her gaze she said, "Let's go home Ric."

To Be Continued…