Chapter Five
We arrived at my parent's house, and I was praying the ground swallowed me up, that flying monkeys would grab me and fly away, that I could find a wardrobe and sneak into Narnia. As Sally had called and cancelled the Church, caterer and the hall, my family already knew I wasn't marrying Joe, but telling them I was having Ranger's baby and might be marrying him in the maybe not-so-distant future instead was new level scandal.
My mother opened the front door and welcomed us in. She had a wide smile and her eyes were glassy and she hugged me tight. Then she welcomed in Ranger. "Carlos, isn't it? So nice to see you again."
I felt like I was in a Twilight Zone episode.
"Valerie and her family are running a little behind schedule, so dinner won't be until 6:30pm tonight. I hope you don't mind."
Neither my dad nor Grandma blinked at the announcement that dinner would be late. Definitely in the Twilight Zone.
"Mom, Dad, I, we… have … some news I… that is we need to share with you."
"Oh Stephanie, yes, but first I need to tell you about today." My mother interrupted me as we all sat in the living room. "Oh Stephanie, Marion Orr was in Trenton today. She wanted to see Dickie's final resting place; you know he was her favorite nephew."
As I had met his cousins, that did not surprise me in the least.
"Marion asked me to join her for lunch and told me how amazing you were, how you flew out as soon as the hospital notified you about his stroke. Such a young man to have such a catastrophic stoke… but she told me he just would not watch after his high blood pressure."
My mind flew back to the doctor's call. I was Dickie's Health Care Proxy and I was listed as his durable power of attorney so I flew out to California and directed his care in those last few weeks in his life and when the time came, I signed the papers to take him off life support.
"Marion said her nephews were just awful to you, none of them wanted to help you with his care, they only wanted you to give them "their share" of his estate." My mother was shaking her head.
"I tried to explain that his money was still tied up in the case involving his former partners and couldn't be given to anyone." I told her.
My mother continued, "She told me they said terrible things to you…" I could almost feel Ranger's fists curling- it was time to change the subject.
"I thought it was in poor taste that they wouldn't attend his funeral if they weren't getting the money."
"Oh Stephanie, the way Marion praised you. She knew Dickie hadn't treated you well during the marriage and yet when you were asked you did everything you could for him. I could not have been prouder of you."
And my mother hugged me. AGAIN!
At that point Val, Albert and the rest of the Kloughn tribe arrived and when we settled at the table, she asked Mom why we were having Prime Rib.
"Stephanie likes Prime Rib. And we have pineapple upside down cake for dessert." My mother then looked at me. "Oh, Stephanie, you mentioned you had news as well."
"I do…we do. Carlos and I are having a baby."
It was joyful pandemonium. Not what I expected at all.
Grandma Mazur and Valerie hugged. Albert and the children cheered. Dad gave Ranger a firm handshake. My mother held me at arm's length. "When are you due?"
"Middle of February- we just found out… I didn't realize I was pregnant…"
"Well with all that happened with Dickie and all those Orr cousins driving you crazy, how could you expect to know up from down." My mother shook her head a little. "Have you seen a doctor? Do you know if it is a girl or a boy…"
The questions continued through dinner and everyone was so excited for us. This was NOT how I imagined this dinner going.
Ranger waited till the cake came out to discuss the trip to Miami.
"Because I have a work project I have to work on, Steph and I have to head down there right away. But we would like all of you to join us, so you can all meet my family."
And my mother thought it was a wonderful idea. It would take a few days to ger organized but Ranger would send a plane for them.
As we were getting ready to get up from the table, I had a last request. "If it isn't too much trouble, I need someone to grab my stuff from Joe's house and return my key."
As we walked to the car, Ranger held my hand and asked, "Babe, what just happened?"
I smiled into those beautiful eyes, "I've seen Invasion of the Body Snatchers but I never thought I would experience it in real life."
Later that night, Eddie Gazarra and Carl Costanza and his partner, Big Dog were just coming off shift when Eddie got a call from Lester Santos at RangeMan.
"Eddie, I need a favor- it is a big one. Morelli is parked on the street outside our building. He has been out there a couple of hours. Eddie, one of our foot patrols passed him a couple of minutes ago and the guy saw not only a nearly empty bottle of Jack Daniels, but Morelli's weapon is out on the passenger seat."
"You need to keep Stephanie inside if it is as bad as that." Eddie started to say, catching the attention of both Carl and Big Dog.
"The boss took Beautiful with him when he flew to Miami earlier tonight. Can you help us out? I really don't want to make this official."
Eddie agreed. "I don't wanna jam him up with this either. Me and the guys will head over there now."
Lester and Bobby met the three cops and the group stayed a few feet away as Eddie approached the driver's side door. Morelli's window was down and Eddie rocked his shoulder.
"Hey Joe, you need to wake up." But Morelli's breathing was not right. "Guys, we might need an ambulance. He is out cold and his breathing is shallow."
Bobby came to Eddie's side. "If we want to keep this quiet, we should get him inside and I can treat him in the clinic."
"Hey Bobby, we can't treat the guy against his will." Lester was at the passenger door, securing Morelli's service weapon.
"He's unconscious, so consent is implied- when he wakes up, he can tell us what he wants but this is an emergency.
Once the five men got Joe Morelli to the clinic, Bobby got to work, stripping Morelli of his wet, soiled clothing. He had completely lost control of his bladder and bowel. Big Dog and Carl were sworn to silence about the night's events by Lester.
"Morelli is a good cop; this really doesn't need to make the rounds."
"What the hell is wrong with him?" Carl said as Les walked the two cops to the elevator to take them to the lobby. "He ain't sayin' nothing to nobody- it just ain't like him."
The elevator doors closed on Big Dog, Carl and Lester.
Booby spoke as he worked to start an IV line after getting Morelli on a cardiac monitor. "Eddie, we need to call his next of kin. If I can't get him stabilized, he will require hospital care."
"Christ, I really do not want to call Angie Morelli after midnight to tell her Joe may have alcohol poisoning."
"Somebody needs to call her. Really, somebody needs to bring her here."
Eddie dialed his phone.
Valerie Kloughn arrived at RangeMan with Angie Morelli forty minutes later. By that time, Morelli had a banana bag hanging. Valerie introduced Mama Morelli to Bobby.
"What are you giving my son? I have never seen a yellow IV."
Booby explained that the IV was a mix of thiamine, folate, magnesium sulfate and multivitamins in a saline solution. "It helps when someone has too much to drink."
Angie Morelli sat in the chair beside her younger son and wept. "My poor baby." Valerie sat with her and held her hand. Poor Joe. He must know Stephanie's news, Val thought as she sat in silence.
They sat with Joseph Morelli for hours and by daybreak Bobby was ready to release him. "He will still be hung over and will need to rest but I think the danger has passed. One of our cars will take you home Mrs. Morelli, and we will have Joe's truck dropped off in from of his house." Bobby handed her the box with Morelli's gun in it. "Until he sorts things out, I am not sure if he should have this."
Angie Morelli cried as she followed the two large men helping Joseph, now in RangeMan black, down to the car. Valerie watch as they got in the elevator and the doors slipped closed.
"I just can't believe he is so torn up." She looked at Bobby.
Bobby shook his head. "I don't like the idea that he is that messed up and armed. I am just glad Stephanie and Ranger aren't in Trenton."
Valerie nodded as Bobby took her down to her car.
"Thanks so much for helping us out tonight."
"How could I not?" Valerie smiled. "We are all one big happy family now.