Title: Those bloody questions!
Chapter 5: Chit chat

Author: Ann
Rating: (G to NC-17): G
Spoilers/Warnings: None
Summary: Aurelia continues her plan to bring Steph and Ranger together…

Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine except Aurelia, I just play with them

Another short one since I have to start cooking, but I'll try to continue tonight or tomorrow. Please review!

Chit chat

Phew! That was the first thing that went through my mind when Ricardo closed his eyes again. His breathing became slow and regular, he was really sleeping again. Mmm, would be interesting to see what he remembered when he woke up later tonight. According to my planning he should sleep until about 10 pm, and then Steph could take him to wherever he wanted to go. Although, it would be nice to have both of them here, so I could keep an eye on how things were developing between them. Mmm, maybe I could come up with an excuse to keep her here, just for the night. You see, the family house is big, but it isn't a hotel. And with Dad's birthday, we all had come home for the weekend. Most of us lived in the area, and all of us would be staying the night in our respective rooms. And dear oh dear, no room left! What a pity! More like perfect… This was excellent. If I convinced Steph to stay the night, I would later tell her that she had to sleep in Ricardo's room. The only problem would be to convince Ricardo to stay, but maybe the added incentive of having Steph sleeping next to him might make him accept. Yes, my plan was forming itself in my mind. I would tell Steph that, as a doctor of course (I am a professional), I thought it would be better to keep Ricardo here for the night, and have her watch him. I would eh… let's say inform her thoroughly of the risks of transporting Ricardo. That in my professional opinion it would really be better to keep him here, just for the night. Of course this would really be my professional opinion as a doctor… of love. But hell, who would know. Ricardo can thank me on his wedding day! Also, I might "forget" to inform Stephanie that I will leave really early tomorrow morning, and feel it is my duty to check upon them… eh him. Did anybody tell you that I am good?

After a few minutes in which Stephanie had kept stroking Ricardo's hair while he was sleeping again, she got up and looked down at him with a wonderful soft smile. Then she seemed to finally realise first of all what had been said, and second of all, that there was a witness to this event. She turned around and looked at me with huge eyes. I smiled reassuringly to her.

"No worries, your secret is safe with me."

"Eh, thanks." She looked a little bit relieved. I decided to stir things up a little again.

"Ricardo is never good at expressing his feelings, but I'd say the sleeping pills worked wonders." Steph immediately blushed again. Wow, this girl could change colour faster than a chameleon.

"I don't think he knew who he was talking to." Was it me, or did she sound a little bit disappointed?

"Oh, I think he knew perfectly well what he was saying. I think he meant every word of it." For a moment I saw a glimmer of hope in her eyes. Okay, enough teasing.

"Listen, he will be asleep for a couple of hours now. Why don't you stay the night and you can take him home tomorrow morning, when I am sure he will be okay?"

"Oh, I wouldn't want to intrude on his privacy." Wow, he had her well trained on that privacy problem of his.

"Oh no, it is no problem at all, you have seen that the whole family is here, another person really doesn't matter. Besides, you can keep an eye on Ricardo. I mean, it is just the flu, but he has been walking around with it a little longer than necessary. That can have nasty side effects." This wasn't a total lie, but someone as healthy as Ricardo really wasn't in the high risk category. I just guessed that Stephanie wouldn't know.

"You think that that is necessary?"

"Well, I think it is never a bad idea."

"Well, if it really isn't a problem… Oh, but I have nothing with me, no toothbrush or clothes or anything." Oh dear, you are way to practical girl! True love is staring you in the face and you start talking about things like clothing? Can't you feel the luv?

"No problem, you can borrow something of me and I'm sure we can find you a towel, toothbrush and some soap." For some reason she suddenly blushed again. Since when is soap a sexual item. Wait, let's not go there when it is my brother were talking about. I mean, one of my girlfriends once said he was 'sex on a stick, walking around on two incredibly fine legs and a body to die for'. Guess he pleased her well enough!

"Okay then, I guess." Yes, another success.

"Come on, let's go downstairs again." Immediately her eyes turned huge again. Okay, the family all together can be a bit frightening. I just hoped that they would keep the teasing down to a minimum, it could scare her off.

Downstairs all eyes rested upon Stephanie again. Curiosity filled the eyes from the women and lust those of the men. Yep guys, Ricardo has picked another stunning beauty. Take that! Steph seemed unaware of all the silent communications going on, and slowly walked towards a chair when the kitten of our parents came running towards her and jumped up and attached herself to her jeans.

"Oh, hello there." Stephanie removed the kitten from her leg and held it in her arms. The kitten was actually a present from Ricardo. Nobody knew how he had gotten the kitten, but one day he had dropped it off at our parents' house. My mother was delighted, they had lost their cat about a year ago, and she had been talking about getting a new one. It was a funny kitten, it's fur was wild with both long and short patches and it had all kinds of colours. The eyes were a deep blue, matching Stephanie's. The kitten looked up at Stephanie and she smiled at the kitten and gave it a little kiss. Aww, a new friendship formed! It also broke the ice a little, and soon the conversation flowed easily. When she told them that she occasionally worked for Ricardo on distraction jobs, you could see the guys forming a mental image of Steph in something sexy. The women were more interested in how Ricardo was as a boss, but we soon found out that her stories were not the same stories that we heard from his other employees. Tank, Lester and Bobby were regular guests here. Knowing looks were exchanged between the women. Yes girls, this is the one!