"How did it go with the principal?" said Tracy as we got ourselves comfortable on the plane. We were flying private again. It was the only way we could get the flight times that we wanted.
"Good. She said that normally it would be a problem, but because Tia is working at a grade two level, she could miss a little school and it would be okay. She might, depending upon how many hours she misses, have to do a test to determine what grade she should be in next year, but she said that Tia will ace the test without any problem so it was nothing to worry about. She told us to have a good time."
"Apparently Joe heard basically the same thing about Eli. When Joe told me that, I gave Eli a big hug. He has worked very hard. Two years ago he hadn't ever gone to school, he didn't know how to read or do math or anything. Now, he is getting some of the best marks in the class, and because he has tried so hard and worked so hard, he knows more than other people in his class. I am so proud of him. He has learned so much in the last two years."
I grinned with pride. "He has. He has done exceedingly well and is continuing to do well. I, too, am incredibly proud of him."
"He was so excited that you put the picture he drew for you up on the wall and, it wasn't just any wall, it was in a prime place in the family room. It meant something to him that you said that was the room you used the most, and you wanted to put it in a place that you'd be able to see it all the time." When I had been in the hospital with my hysterectomy, Eli had drawn me a picture of Julie sitting in the grass with the three little ones climbing all over her. It was absolutely perfect, and it was hard to remember that he was only seven. He was an excellent artist.
"He did an incredible job on that picture. Of course, we want to be able to admire it frequently."
"Did you tell Ranger your joke?"
"No. We didn't get to it."
"Hey, Ranger", said Tracy, "Steph has a joke for you."
Ranger looked up and smiled. I told him the joke, and when I got to the end, Ranger, Joe, Kai and Julie all laughed hard. Eli laughed as well, which ticked my girls off since they still didn't understand it.
When the plane was at cruising altitude, I retrieved some blankets and covered each of the children. They were looking very sleepy, and normally even-tempered, they were getting grumpy and were biting at each other. It was understandable. It was two hours past their regular bedtime. Ranger was sitting across the aisle from them and I sat down beside him.
"Books, Mommy", said Alix.
"I don't have any books here", I said. "However, I can make up a story."
"Alright!" said the girls and Eli.
"Okay, are you comfortable?"
"Yes, Mommy", said the girls.
"Yes, Auntie Steph", said Eli.
"Okay. Did you know that before I worked with Ranger, I was a zebra painter? I took regular horses and I painted on white and black stripes. One day, I got a promotion, and I was given a new animal. It was called a giraffe, and that created a problem. First of all, I couldn't use either the white or the black paint. It was in use by the zebra painters. I got cans of the only two colours left - yellow and brown paint. The second problem was that I was not able to reach to the top of his head. He was too tall and I would not be able to paint the stripes. I tried leaning a ladder against him, but he kept moving and the ladder kept falling down. So I thought and thought, and then I opened the cans of paint. I got a water gun and filled the water gun with paint, and then shot splotches of paint on the giraffe. And that is how the giraffe got his spots."
I looked at the kids, and they were all asleep. I smiled and cuddled down beside Ranger. He put his arm around me and pulled me into his shoulder and kissed me on the top of my head. "I always wondered how the giraffe got his spots", he said. "And knowing that you painted zebras? That's incredible. I don't remember reading that on your resume."
I laughed. "After I was a zebra painter, I moved up in jobs to painting the lines on the road. I lost my job though. The first day I did the job, I was fast and did a lot of painting and my supervisor was impressed. The second day, I wasn't as fast, but the third day, I was very slow and didn't do much painting at all. The supervisor was angry and asked me how come I was so fast and was able to paint so much on the first day but on the third day I hardly got anything done. So I just told him – on the first day, the lines to be painted were located close to the can. But on the third day, the area to paint the lines was far away from the paint can, and I had to go back and forth a much longer distance to put more paint on my brush."
Ranger groaned, but he was smiling at the same time.
"I tell you, it was a big change when I started selling old lady underwear. I needed to spice it up a bit though, and I had all that experience painting zebras and giraffes. So I started painting some of the underwear. I was, in fact, the person who started the cheetah print and zebra print trends in lingerie. It is a trend that Lula loves. If she can get her thong in a cheetah print, she's a happy woman."
"Babe, I don't want to think of Lula in a thong of any kind, cheetah or not."
"To tell you the truth, I don't blame you. She has tackled skips before and I got to see the thong reveal a few times. The most surprising was the sequin and fur concoction. I won't tell you where the fur was, but I thought it was ironic that she got that area waxed and then wore fur. The fur was pink, and it made it look like she dyed down there to match her hair color. Of course, if anyone would do that, it would be Lula. And then were the sequins. You'd think they would catch on her clothing. The sequins were gold with a red arrow in the center of the triangle, and I wondered if it was subliminal messaging, a hint of what she wanted the guy to do and where it was located. I was just glad that she didn't get confused and put her thong on backwards."
Ranger smiled. "Uh-hunh." He kissed me on my head again. "Go to sleep, babe. It will be a new day when we get there, and the kids are going to be grumpy because, instead of twelve hours of sleep, they will be getting between six and seven."
I snorted. "Ha! I will be grumpy because instead of nine or ten, I will be getting between six and seven as well."
Ranger smiled again. "That's my point, babe. You are still healing too. You need your sleep."
I smiled as I cuddled into Ranger. "How long do you think that it is fair for you to say that I'm still healing?"
"If it gets you to sleep, for the rest of your life."
I laughed quietly and arranged myself more comfortably, closed my eyes and fell asleep.
I woke up as we touched down. The kids were still sleeping, and I looked up at Ranger. "Did you get any sleep?" I said.
Ranger smiled. "A few hours. I'm in good shape for today."
"I'm going to have a nap when we get to the castle."
"That might not be the best idea to do with jet lag", said Ranger.
"That might be the best idea to do so that I don't throw up though. If I start throwing up, Kai is going to think that I'm pregnant again."
"Since you now don't have a uterus, that would be impossible."
"I'm pretty determined. I could probably figure out a way."
Ranger laughed and kissed my head. "If anyone could, it would be you."
I grinned. "I'll take that as a compliment."
Ranger smiled. "I was figuring that you and I would go to the hospital this evening. I'm glad that Colin had sent us the name of the housekeeper. I asked her to buy us some food for the cupboards, and to make sure the sheets were clean. She said that she will meet us there, introduce herself, and give us the keys to the vehicles and the buildings."
"What's her name?"
"Maggie."
I smiled. "That sounds like a good Scottish name."
Ranger grinned.
The plane stopped and the kids woke up. I folded their blankets, collected all our things, and helped the kids off the plane. The staff deplaned the luggage and, when we were finished collecting ourselves, three vehicles arrived on the runway. The drivers quickly bundled us into the cars and drove us to the castle. It took half an hour to get there, but as the cars drove up to the castle, the sun came out and shone on the building. It looked incredible, like something from a storybook, and I was looking forward to getting inside.
Getting inside and to a bed, that is. I was crashing, and I knew that I needed sleep if I was going to be any sort of company for Colin that evening.
Maggie met us at the door and clucked over us. "May I get you something to eat?" she said.
I smiled. "I don't know about everyone else, but the kids and I need more sleep. I know that I'm about to fall over." I grinned at Maggie. "I need a lot of sleep. My parents used to think that was great. I was a deep sleeper and slept for a long time. Now, however? My husband doesn't think that it's so great. I've decked him a few times when he's tried to wake me up." Maggie laughed.
"You did not", said Ranger. "I move faster than that."
"I decked you in my dreams", I said.
"You decked me", said Joe. "I learned to hold a pillow in front of certain body parts. I also learned that, when I wanted to wake you up, I should spread some peanut butter on your nose and then let the dog in to wake you up by licking it off. He didn't have any certain body parts left for you to hit."
I laughed.
"Bob licked the peanut butter off?" said Tia.
"That's what Uncle Joe said", I said. "However, I don't remember that. I think he is just making it up."
"Good. Bob has bad breath", said Alix.
"I bought doggy toothpaste and a doggy toothbrush and tried to brush his teeth once", I said. "His breath didn't get any better. Then I realized that the toothpaste was liver flavored, and that's why his breath wasn't becoming minty fresh."
"Euww", said the four children.
"What? Don't you like a good liver toothpaste?"
The girls looked at me, horrified. Eli went a little gray. I sighed. "Apparently you all love liver as much as I do. Bob liked the toothpaste though. In fact, I only brushed his teeth once because he ate the toothbrush and toothpaste afterwards." I looked at Maggie as she was struggling not to laugh, and I winked at her. "Would you mind directing us to our beds?"
Maggie grinned. "Gladly. Before we do that, Colin left you a note." She handed a letter to me, and I stood beside Ranger and opened it. "Dear Steph, I will be going into the hospital this afternoon, and it doesn't look like I am coming out again. To every era there is an end, and my only regret is that I only met you at the end of my life. You are the closest thing to a daughter that I have ever had, and I would have liked more time with you.
"In adopting you and Ranger, I also adopted your children as my grandchildren. Your kids are wonderful, and they too treated me like family. I tried to prepare the castle for them, and Maggie and I went on a shopping spree. I have surprises on their beds, created a playroom and stocked it with toys, and dedicated a shelf in the library to picture books. I want them to be happy here, and to tell you the truth, I had a ball preparing the castle for their arrival.
"I have put money in a trust for Maggie to pay her to be the housekeeper for you for the rest of her life and have told her that she can live in the cottage on the property. She will make it easy for you when you come. She will fill the fridge with food, arrange for transport from the airport, keep the castle clean, and fulfil any special requests. She is a good woman, the wife of a fallen agent. She has a disabled daughter and needs the job, so if you could keep her on staff and let her stay in the cottage, I would appreciate it.
"I would like to see what happens with the company. I am excited about it in a way that I haven't been excited in a long time. I know, with the Rangeman team at the helm, it is going to become something amazing. I can feel it in my bones, and my bones have never been wrong before.
"Before I go, I just want to thank you. You have brought such pleasure to an old man's heart. You make me laugh, you make me happy, you have shared in your life and allowed me to become family. You are exactly what I would have liked my daughter to have been. You even look like my Cami. You are a very special person, and I am grateful to have met you.
"Take care, love, Colin."
I sniffled, and Maggie smiled. "He was very excited about you coming, even though he knew that he wouldn't be here. It was important to him that you liked the castle, and that you liked Scotland. He was a proud Scot, and he had been looking forward to sharing it with you."
"He's a good man."
Maggie smiled again. "Yes, he is." She sniffled. "Do you want to grab your suitcases and I will show you your rooms?"
"I'll move up the suitcases in a little bit, babe", said Ranger. "I don't want you carrying something so heavy yet, and the kids will need help with theirs as well. I'll bring them in when you are sleeping."
"Is your suitcase heavy?" said Maggie.
"I had an operation two months ago, and I'm still being asked to be careful. Lifting heavy or awkward things is something on the no-no list."
"If there is anything you need me to do then, let me know."
"Thanks", I said. "I appreciate that."
Maggie led us up the stairs. She turned into one room. It was large, with a king bed and antique furniture. The bedding was a crisp white and charcoal gray toile, the walls were a pale silver gray, and the curtains were white with a charcoal gray edging. Throw pillows on the bed were in a charcoal and a light gray and were accented with white. There was a bay window that overlooked the forest and the drive up to the castle. The ensuite had white fixtures, white tiling, white marble floors and countertops, and a charcoal gray vanity and walls. Towels were thick and charcoal gray.
The children each had a room. Tia's was a hot pink, pale pink and white. Grace's had wallpaper with roses, and Alix's was purple and cream. Each bedroom had a window seat and bookshelves and a double bed. On each pillow was a stuffed dog, all different, all cute and soft, all with ribbon collars that matched the color of their room. The girls were incredibly excited to see them, and I pointed out to them that Colin and Maggie had bought them for the girls. The girls all hugged Maggie, and Maggie looked pleased.
Beside the girls' bedrooms was Eli's. His had pale taupe walls, a darker taupe carpet, a plaid duvet cover and matching curtains done in a taupe, black, off-white and gray plaid. He also had a stuffed dog on his pillow made of a soft black material and a matching plaid collar. Eli grinned when he saw it, then he picked it up for a cuddle and looked at the room. "Aunt Steph", he said. "This is a room to dream in."
"Yes, buddy, I think it is."
"I'll just show you the rest of the rooms, and then I'll let you nap for a while", said Maggie. She showed us Joe's and Tracy's room, and then the remainder of the rooms. "I wasn't sure, from what Colin said, whether the other two guests would require separate rooms or one room."
I smiled. "One room", I said. A month after they had been seeing each other, Julie asked me if I would mind if they shared a room. They said that Kai had come to her house in Pennsylvania a couple of times, and each time they had shared a bed. She said it felt so natural, so right, that it now seemed odd for them not to be sharing a room. She assured me that they hadn't had sex. She said that neither Kai nor her had ever had sex before, and they didn't want to just hop into bed. They wanted their first time to mean something.
I had smiled and told her that her having sex was none of my business, and that I trusted them not to force the other person if they weren't ready. I also said that sharing a bed was the most wonderful thing to happen and I totally understood if they wanted to share the sheets. With that, Julie moved into Kai's room and hadn't looked back since.
I turned to the girls and Eli. "Race you to your rooms", I said. The kids pounded down the hall and within minutes, everyone was tucked into bed.
I dragged myself into the Laird's bedroom and climbed into bed too. Seconds later, I was also asleep.
