All familiar characters belong to Janet. The others in this chapter, Olive's puppies, and the mistakes, are mine alone.

"Freeze!" Stephanie ordered.

"Permission to ignore the order, Sir?" Raphael asked me.

"Permission denied. And you can stop trying to hide Aubrey," I told him. "We've already seen you and her on the camera feed."

Aubrey's head periscoped up over his shoulder. "Hey ... Steph, Ranger, Olive. I asked why he was hurrying, but he was too busy getting us out of the building."

Steph put Olivia on her feet and we watched her move even faster towards her Uncle, now that she's not being bogged down by a heavy winter coat or suit. Who knew a bunny-eared jacket could be considered streamlining? Inside the building, more than one Uncle has had to turn traffic cop, slowing activity in hallways and offices to help us whenever a burst of energy sends her running.

All plans of a quick escape escaped him as Raphael hunkered down to pick Olive up. Not caring about how well the underground garage echoes, my daughter loudly exclaimed ... "Rah, Rah, Rah!" her name for this particular Uncle. Ramon has since become "Ray-Ray-Ray". A good way to slow any one of them down is to sic Olive on them. A fact Stephanie knows all too well.

"I'm glad you mentioned that," Steph said, to who we have determined is now an established couple. "Why were you running out of here?"

Raphael sighed. "Because, Mom, you would've stopped us to either ask what my intentions towards Aubrey are, or what hers are towards me."

My wife smiled. "Sooo ... what are the answers to both questions?"

Aubrey laughed while Raphael cringed. I thought that was due to my wife taking her position as RangeMom too seriously, but his next words corrected me.

"Hey, Short Stuff. Go easy on the money-maker, will ya?"

"Olive has a vise grip on your face," I pointed out. "She's not bending your trigger finger back, which is what I pay you for sixty-percent of the time."

"At the right time and in the right place, my face has gotten me almost as many perks as my weapon has perps. I can't have sections of it torn off by baby fists."

"I think it's so cute that Olivia doesn't just call out your names, she seems to turn everything into a song," Aubrey noted.

"Don't let the cuteness fool you," he told her. "The name-games and little ponytail are her way of distracting and disarming her victims so she can rip his face, lips, or nose, off without a fight. She learned that one from her Mama."

"Thank you," Steph told him, stepping up and freeing Raphael from Olive's grasp, but kept him in hers.

"You guys want to come up for a cup or two of coffee?" Steph invited. "We'll make time if you have some."

"Thanks, Steph, but we were just leaving," Raphael said to her.

Aubrey nudged him. "Yeah, we were leaving to go get a cup of coffee. We can have one here just as well."

"Listen to the woman, Uncle Rah-Rah," Steph said. "You know Ella's coffee blend beats the caffeine out of what any coffee shop sells."

"That settles it for me," Aubrey stated and then explained. "Harper accuses me of having an unhealthy addiction to anything coffee-related."

"Since you drink three cups to my one," Raphael said, smiling down at her, "I have to agree with Mrs. Cole."

"Good. Guess what, Olive? We get more people to play with," my wife said to our daughter.

I blocked Raphael's exit route. "It's too late now. Steph's got you right where she wants you. All you can do is take a deep breath and keep your vitals protected."

"Yes, Sir," he said, with a definite resigned tone.

"Relax, Raphael," Steph told him through Olive's fingers, hearing my advice to him. "I'm just messing with you. You forget that Aubrey and I were friends, along with Harper and Kenzie, before you factored into her time. It's not fair that you've been hogging it. It's nice to have some more estrogen around here to offset all the testosterone. Olive, Ella, and I, need whatever boost we can get."

He sighed again, but did slip an arm around Aubrey, not commenting as the women exchanged a triumphant look. We got an eight-paw, two tail welcome as Mo and Gunny greeted us at the door, fully expecting our immediate return since Stephanie told them we'd be right back before we headed downstairs to head off the couple.

Olivia wanted to join her puppies, and we all ended up in the same place after our mutts, which Steph corrects me on now that the DNA results came in that both are purebreds ... Ammo fully a Beauceron and Gunner a Belgian Malinois as predicted in Miami, headed to the living room. Mo proved to be our dog, pedigree or not, by jumping onto the couch as soon as Steph sat her and Olive down on it.

Aubrey took the spot beside my women, but the second Raphael tried to take advantage of the limited cushion-space and sit so Aubrey would be reclining into him, Gunny sprinted and cut Raphael off mid ass-lower, taking the prime real estate for himself.

"Seriously, dude?" He asked our dog. "You couldn't pick a chair to curl up in like a normal dog?"

Gunny's response was to lay his head on Aubrey's leg and flick his brown eyes back to Raphael when she began to pet between his ears. Gunny's eyebrows clearly asked ... "Who's top dog now?"

"Stop complaining," I told my RangeMan. "You don't have time to drool on Aubrey, we have coffee to get. Let Gunny have the honor for a few minutes."

"Like I have a choice," he said under his breath, but we all heard him.

The look Aubrey shot him said something far different than what Gunner's had.

"Is it safe to leave them alone in there?" He asked me in the kitchen, as I poured the coffee Steph had put on, fully anticipating our coffee guests.

"Yes. Their rundowns on what kind of man you are would've happened well before your first date. Be prepared, however possessive we feel about our women, they feel even more so towards us. Steph would want to protect Aubrey after all she's been through, but she especially doesn't want you hurt, given how badly you recently were."

"I'm a fast healer."

"And I believe Aubrey may be too."

As we headed back to the living room, each holding a mug full of coffee for our ladies, we took our time being spotted so we could overhear the rest of what must have been an interesting conversation.

"Ranger got out of his first marriage with an incredible daughter, the only thing I left with from mine was a boatload of anger, low self-esteem, and a serious distrust of men," my wife was sharing.

"I understand completely," Aubrey said, pausing to smile at Olive who's using Steph's lap as if it were every ride in an amusement park ... balancing, bouncing, jumping, and flying, are all taking place. "I know my marriage to Leo was going down the tubes pretty quickly, but I never thought he'd cheat on me. I'm sorry that his life ended because of it, but some days I wake up so frickin' angry that I didn't get the apology I deserve and a resolution I can live with, but it IS getting better every day. Seeing how hard Harper fought to reach the life she has now, only to fear losing a piece of it when she and Kane thought Angel was in danger, put my crap into perspective. I shouldn't waste my life thinking about - or being angry at - someone who didn't appreciate his role in it."

"How much has Raphael had to do with that epiphany?" Steph asked her.

Aubrey paused long enough for Raphael to stop breathing beside me.

"I'm not sure I want to ever do the marriage-thing again," she finally said to Steph, "but if I did, he's who I'd consider it for."

I cut my eyes to Raphael, expecting anything from a smug grin to a full-blown look of panic, as the 'M' word was mentioned in connection to him, but all I saw was a stupid smile taking over half of the face Olivia was torturing earlier.

I understand exactly what he's feeling. After spending your entire life being judged on your outside packaging, you experience a euphoric high that can overtake your entire body when you meet that special someone who sees the person inside you while happily claiming the wrapper he comes in.