Disclaimer: See chapter 5. It'll tell you to see chapter 4, though, so I guess just skip five and go to four.
Ok folks, little explanation of my VOSP raving last chapter: VOSP is Visions of Sugar Plums, as I wrote in the first chapter, and I just randomly decided that it sounds like some sort of secret agency thing. (Ally: speaking of which, I was trying to say "forum" earlier, and it took like seven tries, cause I kept saying "Quorum" since I use that word way more often…I'm a loser) So, that's not a very good explanation, but whatev. Tiny insight into the mind that is me. Strange, no?
In this chapter, the POV will change. There's a bit of Ranger POV in it, but then I'm going back to Stephanie. So…yeah.
Chapter 6
Ranger's POV
I stood there, completely frozen, staring after Stephanie as the gurney was wheeled away. She hadn't looked at me since dropping the pregnancy bombshell on me. As she and the doctor's disappeared from sight, talking, I think, about said pregnancy, all I was hearing was Stephanie's voice repeating over and over. "I'm pregnant."
I shook myself out of it and turned, walking towards the door. I definitely needed to think. And tell Morelli to go be with his baby's mother. As soon as I thought it, I changed my mind. Stephanie wouldn't have slept with me if she'd been sleeping with Morelli. However, I supposed she could have gone back to him. It had been about two months since I'd slept with her. On the other hand, I'd probably know if they'd gotten back together. After all, they were like a soap opera: most of Trenton was watching their relationship with avid interest. I'd gone into a bar a few months ago and heard two people discussing the fact that they'd just broken up the same way people would discuss characters in a sitcom.
So, if Morelli wasn't the father who was? I knew right away. That blonde guy, Diesel, if Stephanie's accidental comment earlier was accurate (although, considering the bulk of the comment had to do with Diesel being an alien, I'm not so sure it was). It was the only explanation. It explained why they were living together, and why he was overly protective of her, and why he'd felt threatened by me talking to her. It didn't explain, however, why Lula, Connie, and Stephanie were mad at me. It was possible that that was totally unrelated.
I had no more time to think about it, though, because two of the three musketeers (Connie and Lula), along with Diesel, came through the doors just as I reached them. I gave Diesel a look of disgust, and then pushed past him, going out the doors.
I heard Lula. "What's with him?"
There was silence for a second, and then Diesel spoke. "Crap. I think I know. Or rather, I think he knows."
In seconds, he'd jogged up to my side. I gave him a sideways glance. "Shouldn't you be with the mother of your child? She just got shot, after all. I'm sure she'd like you to be with her."
Diesel looked confused for a second, then he stopped in his tracks. "Woah, Batman." Just so I could tell him to stop calling me that, I stopped and turned to him, glaring. Before I had a chance, though, he continued speaking. "Stop, go back, and try again. I'm not the father. Now, you two need to talk to each other. The first thing I suggest you do is go in there and tell her you love her. Then, you can totally shock her by getting all lovey dovey, which she won't expect at all."
I stared at him. "What are you talking about? What makes you think I love Stephanie?"
Diesel rolled his eyes. Not up to Stephanie standards, but close. "The fact that I have eyes." I opened my mouth to speak again and he cut me off. "No. I don't want to talk to you. I don't particularly like you, and I think the feeling is returned. Stephanie, however, would like to talk to you, I'm sure. So, go in and talk to her, instead of me." I glared at him. This guy was really annoying. However, because I knew Stephanie and I needed to talk, I did as I said.
Turning back the way I'd come, I walked to the hospital. It was true that I was in love with Stephanie. I had been since he'd called me when I was accused of murder and had just asked if I was ok, instead of suggesting I turn myself in. Well, that's when I realized it. I don't know when I actually fell in love with her. There were a lot of events leading up to it. And I'd done lots of stupid things since then. In fact, I didn't think I was ready to talk to her, yet. I needed to figure out what I was going to say.
I turned part way and saw Diesel standing beside me. I stopped, and so did he. He gave me a knowing grin. "I knew you'd chicken out. So I'm going to babysit you until you get to her room and I hand you over to her."
I glared at him. "I wasn't chickening out." I turned the way I'd been going and continued towards Stephanie's room, hearing Diesel chuckle behind me.
Stephanie's POV
I'd gotten stitches very quickly and was already sitting alone in the room, totally painless, thanks to the pain meds, and wondering where Ranger was. Of course, after saying that I was pregnant, I wasn't exactly surprised that he'd left. It wasn't the best way to tell him. But I hoped he'd come back. Was he angry? Scared off by the prospect of a relationship and commitment? I didn't know.
I was just about to call in a nurse and ask them if they knew where he was when someone knocked on my door. The possibility of it being Ranger made me instantly answer. "Come in."
It was Joe. I tried not to be disappointed. He walked over to me and looked down at me, completely serious. "Hi, Cupcake." He took a deep breath, then started speaking. "Look, I know we broke up, but we should try again. Maybe we won't be this incredible loving couple, but we need to try to work it out, for the baby's sake. I think we should get married."
Blame it on getting shot, the pain meds, or me just being slow on the uptake, but I was completely confused. "What? I don't understand. Why would you want to raise Ranger's baby?"
He froze and then looked shocked, angry, and hurt, all at once. "Ranger's baby? It isn't mine?" Ah…that explained a lot. "When did you two sleep together? Were you sleeping together while we were together? Is that why you broke up? So you could go be with him? All that 'I don't love you in the right way' crap was fake, wasn't it? You just wanted to go be bed mates with Ranger." He started pacing and muttering in Italian. I didn't understand the Italian, so I just sat there and watched him. He stopped the pacing and Italian and turned to me, glaring. He opened his mouth to say something, but then someone knocked on the door and he silenced and grew still.
Diesel came in. "Hi, Sunshine. I'm delivering Ranger to you. I talked to him, so now he knows what's actually going on. He thought it was my baby for a bit, but now he knows." At this point, Ranger walked in.
Morelli spun to him. "You!"
Diesel, who I don't think had noticed Morelli before now, took a nervous step towards the door. "Um…I think I should go. Wouldn't want to intrude on the…uh…family moment." Before I could figure out exactly what that was supposed to mean, he slipped out.
Morelli, who'd stopped when Diesel spoke, now turned his attention back to Ranger. He started his rant back up as though it hadn't been interrupted. "You just ruined my life. And Stephanies. And some young innocent's life. Well, I hope you're happy! She's yours! She'll never marry me, now, thanks to the fact that she's pregnant with your baby!" He gave us each one more glare, then made a disgusted sound and stormed out of the room.
I looked over at Ranger's face. Based on his expression, Diesel hadn't done quite as excellent of a job explaining the situation as he thought. Because, unless I was completely wrong, Ranger hadn't had a clue the baby was his.
He'd been staring at the door through which Morelli had just left. Now, he turned, narrowing his eyes and locking his gaze on my face. Oh boy.
A/N: Please review. Oh, and Ally, the u/a thing was from me saying that it was possible I'd gotten the u wrong and it hadn't been Jun 20, meaning June 20, but was, in fact Jan 20, which would be January 20. However, as I said, I was right originally.
