Chapter 6

1 week later…

Omigod. Omigod. Omigod. I can't believe it. Dickie and his partners are dead. It's on the front page of the paper. His office got torched, and it burned to the ground with all 5 of them in it. Unbelievable. I don't know if I tell Jackson or not.

I'm not sorry they are gone. It was Dickie and 2 of his partners that hurt me, but honestly, all of his partners were jerks. I just feel bad about their families.

I ran out my front door with my keys in one hand and the newspaper in the other. I threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt with slip-on shoes. No time to be formal. I jumped in my Mercedes (thanks to Ranger) and I drove straight to Haywood. Jackson was with Lester, and it was Saturday. There were very few guys working, but I knew Ranger would be there.

I barely had the car parked, and I grabbed the newspaper and ran to the front door, bypassed the elevator, and ran up 5 flights of stairs. Good thing I was in relatively good shape. Thank God for the gym here.

I ran past the monitors, everyone that was there looking at me like I was insane. I knocked one time on Ranger's door and before he could even say "Enter" I opened it and ran inside.

He was sitting at his desk talking to Tank. Both men turned to me. I leaned over with my hands on my knees, trying to breathe and talk at the same time.

"Babe?"

"Give me a minute." Still trying to catch my breath. I gave up talking and threw the newspaper on the desk and dropped into the chair next to Tank. I was still trying to steady my breathing.

Shaking his head, Ranger looked down at the newspaper. That one eyebrow went up. Man, I need to learn how to do that. He looked back at me. "Babe, are you okay?"

Ranger gave the newspaper to Tank. He read the article, then glanced at me. "Little Girl, you, okay?"

Finally, my breath is steady. I looked between the two men. "Yeah, I'm okay. That just shocked me. Who would have thought that Dickie Orr, my ex-husband, would die in a fire, along with his partners? Almost like someone planned it, huh?"

I said the last sentence to see if I got a response from either of them. I figured Tank or Ranger or both had something to do with it. There was no way I was mad. I wanted nothing to get back to them and get into trouble.

They both exchanged looks. Since I was pretty sure that they had something to do with it, I leaned over to Tank, gave him a kiss on the cheek and a hug, and told him, "Thank you."

I walked over to Ranger, put my arms around his neck, kissed him on the cheek, and whispered in his ear, "Thank you for protecting me." Then I walked out.

After leaving the office, the rest of the day went by normally. I had to figure out how to tell Jackson about the death of Dickie. I didn't know how he was going to take it.

I decided I would make Jackson's favorite meal for dinner so I could break the news to him about his dad. He loves burgers. So, I made him a hamburger and some French fries. I even made a chocolate milkshake for him.

He took the news a lot better than I thought. The only thing that he said that shocked me was, "Mommy, now that I don't have a daddy, can Ranger be my dad?"

If only it worked like that. I'm glad he loved Ranger and the guys as much as he did, but I didn't think that Ranger wanted to be "dad" material or that he had time to be it, to begin with.

There was no way I was going to say anything to Ranger about what Jackson asked me. I didn't want to rock the boat per se. I mean Ranger is a fantastic guy, but he will not want to be a father to a child that isn't his. Yes, I know what you are thinking. He already spends time know with Jackson all the time, but that still doesn't mean he wants to have a "father" role in his life.

I decided since the next day was Sunday, that we would go out to the beach and have a picnic in the sand and build sandcastles or sand sculptures. Maybe that will get his mind off the situation. It will also give me time to think about everything.

So, I woke up a little after 8 and made breakfast for Jackson and myself. I made mickey mouse chocolate chip pancakes and fruit slices for Jackson, and I had toast, bacon, and coffee. I made sure that I packed a bag even though we were just basically going in our "backyard," so to speak. I didn't want to have to keep coming back to the house to get things. After I packed everything that I thought we would need, including lunch, we headed down to the beach.

I keep an umbrella down by the beach because Jackson and I both burn easily. After we had been playing a while in the sand, we both sat under the umbrella and had lunch. I packed a variety of items for us to eat. As we were sitting there, a shadow fell over us. We both slowly turned to see who it was and standing there in all his glory, wearing shorts and a smile, was Ranger.

"Ranger, you're here. Come and play with me, please." He jumped up and grabbed Ranger's hand and pulled him to the castle that he was making in the sand. Ranger laughed and fell on the sand and that's what they did for hours. Well, I say hours. I was reading a book, and they were building an enormous fortress, so, in reality, it was probably about 2 hours.

The next thing I remember I was waking up in the living room with a throw over me and Ranger and Jackson were in the kitchen cooking. I knew they were cooking because Jackson was asking to stir this and measure that. It was cute.

I walked into the kitchen. "Hey, my two favorite guys. What are you two cooking?" I went over to the island and sat on one barstool that was there.

"Mommy, Ranger, and I are making dinner. We are making a surprise." He leaned over and gave me a hug.

"Hey, babe, as Jackson said, we are making dinner, and it's a surprise." He turned around and leaned over and kissed me gently on the lips. "Did you sleep well?" He tucked a curl behind my ear.

"How long did I sleep?" I figured it was probably a couple of hours.

Yep, I was right. "You slept a couple of hours, babe."

My stomach growled, and everyone laughed. I got a good whiff of the food and then suddenly I felt sick. I ran to the bathroom before I got sick all over the floor. Great now, I guess I have a virus.

I felt him pull my hair back from my face. "Babe, are you okay?" Jackson was standing in the doorway, looking worried.

"Yeah, I probably just have a virus. I haven't been feeling all that good lately. With everything that's happened then with what happened to Dickie, it's probably just the stress. I'll be okay." I hoped that's all it was.

"Babe, will you let Bobby check you out?" He looked worried as he washed my face with a wet cloth.

"Oh, I don't want to be any trouble for him, Ranger. I'll be fine." He helped me up and walked me back over to the barstool.

"Babe, it's no trouble. I'll call him and he will be here in about 20 minutes."

I wanted him to stop worrying, so I just nodded my head. Best to go along with it. Otherwise, Ranger would treat me like a fragile doll all day.

Bobby showed up about 20 minutes later and we sat in the living room so he could check my blood pressure and check for fever things like that. He then said something that threw me for a loop. "Steph, with the symptoms that you are telling me, it sounds to me like you are pregnant."

Bobby's Point of View

Not the news I wanted to give to Steph. She is just sitting here, staring off into space. I think she is in shock. I wave my hand over her face. Nothing. I snap my fingers. Still Nothing. Uh Oh. This is not good.

I texted Ranger to come quick. Before I could even put my phone down, he comes running into the room. He kneels in front of Steph. "Babe?" Nothing.

Jackson was scared now. So, I try to talk to him to reassure him that his mother was okay. I texted Tank to see if he can come over and get Jackson. He texts me he'll be here in 20 minutes. I tell Jackson to get a bag packed. He is going to spend the night with his Uncle Tank and Aunt Lula.

He got excited about that. Now to deal with Steph.

"Stephanie, can you look at me?" She turned her head to look at me. Her eyes were void.

"Ranger, I think she is in shock."

"Dammit, Bobby, what did you tell her?" He grabbed Steph's hand and starts rubbing his thumb over the front of it, hoping that will break her out of this trance.

"I told her the truth, Ranger. The symptoms that she is showing sound like she is pregnant."

"Shit, I was afraid of that. Babe, say something please. Talk to me." He looked worried, and he was very upset.

She pivoted her head and looked directly at Ranger and started sobbing uncontrollably. You know the kind where the shoulders shake and hiccupping are involved? It was majorly bad.

Ranger took her in his arms and rocked her back and forth. He started whispering to her in Spanish and she just continued to cry. He had it bad for her. Lucky Bastard. I've never seen him act like this with any other woman.

Ranger's Point of View

Dammit! How is Babe supposed to deal with this now? She has just started getting to where she trusts all of us. I know she trusts me without a doubt. She has since day one, but this is a blow that she doesn't need.

Now, she has to worry about who the baby's father was out of the three bastards that raped her and then worry if she wants to keep the child or not. I will stand by her with whatever decision she makes. She is going to need all the support that she can get from everyone.

I don't know how Babe feels about having another child. She has said nothing, but I hope that in the future, regardless of what she decides with this baby, she would consider having my child. I love this woman. I have from day one.

I haven't told her or said anything about it to her, because I don't want to spook her. My goal is to get her to fall in love with me. Then I plan on marrying her and making her the happiest woman on the planet. I also want to adopt Jackson and give him my last name. I love the little boy like he was my own. He deserves to be happy too.

I just sat there and held her. After a while, Jackson came back with Tank and Lula. Steph had fallen asleep in my arms. I debriefed them about what was going on. Lula was concerned that it would put Babe in a severe depression. I was worried about the same thing too, but I didn't tell her that.

I carried Steph to her bedroom and had Bobby give her something to make her sleep. I sat by her bed after I tucked her in and just watched her sleep. Dios, she was my everything. I knew I would do everything in my power to make sure that she gets through this okay.

I stayed next to her bed until Jackson found me and crawled in my lap. "Ranger, is mommy going to be, okay?"

"Yeah, little man, she is. I'm just watching her sleep." I pulled him into a hug. He is such a good little boy. Someone that can do things with him is what he deserves. He deserves a father in his life.

"Ranger, mommy is so pretty. Like an Angel when she sleeps. I love her very much. Do you love her, Ranger?" He was looking at me with those big, beautiful blue eyes. The same eyes Babe has.

I wasn't sure how to answer him. How much did I want him to know? But in the end, I told him the truth. "Yes, Jackson. I love your mother very much and yes; she is exquisite. Let's not tell her I love her right now, though. She has a lot on her mind, okay?"

We left Babe in the room. Jackson went to play with Matthew, well since Matthew was a little baby, he couldn't really play that much with him. He mainly just sat down and held the toys for Matthew as he tried to grab them out of Jackson's hands. I went to talk to Tank and Lula.

"So, Ranger, what has Steph said about being pregnant?" Tank looked concerned when he asked me this.

"That's just it. She has said nothing. Nothing. She has been in shock ever since Bobby said something to her about it." I dropped my head in my hands. I honestly didn't know what to do.

Tank put his hand on my left shoulder, "Ranger, you just have to be there for her. Let her know that it's not the end of the world and whatever she decides, you will back her up. She needs you now more than ever."

Tank was right. I just wasn't sure how I was going to get Babe to go to a doctor. I was more than likely going to trick her, and I did not want to do that.

She slept the rest of the day. I had Tank bring me some of my things, like clothes and toiletries, because I was going to be staying there with her and Jackson. I knew Steph would more than likely want me to. She would just be too shy to ask me to stay.

I knew I was pushing my luck, but I wanted to see how she would react. I put on a pair of jogging pants and got ready for bed. Jackson stayed the night with Tank and Lula, so I didn't have to worry about getting him ready for bed. I eased myself into the bed next to Babe. I put my arms around her and pulled her to me with her back against my chest. I kissed her temple and then went to sleep, hoping that tomorrow everything would be better.

I drifted off to sleep with my woman in my arms and a smile on my face.