All familiar characters belong to Janet. Olive, Mo, Gunny, and the mistakes, are mine.
I kept a close eye on Stephanie as word spread and calls started coming in from Lula and Connie all the way down to people my wife went to middle school with. She turned her phone off and allowed me and the control room the honor of playing secretary for her and to restrict access to her.
Though she claimed to not be letting her past come back to haunt her, I still had concerns. But I should know better by now. The woman I married is not entirely the same woman I'd met in the diner that day. And the beautiful, brave, and babbly, daughter we have now helped out in keeping us focused on what's truly important in our life ... as we're about to show the men on five.
"Here we go, Olive," Steph said, as the elevator we took down two floors was about to open. "Make sure you give your Uncles a huuuuge smile when we see them."
Considering Olivia let go of our hands to try to steal one of the 'Top Dog' trophy toys Gunny had taken along with us for the day's play, I don't hold out much hope for our baby performing on demand. I'm going more with just waiting and seeing what she does. Her tiny heart-patterned white dress with the ruffled denim vest became just an adorable blur as soon as she was set free.
"Olive-Pit's in the building," Santos announced, slinging an arm carefully around her and lifting her off her feet before she could encounter any of the other men.
"That's not surprising considering she lives in this building," I pointed out.
"And she's not going anywhere," Steph told him. "If you'd let her walk ... she can have a chance to brag about what she's done."
"Oh yeah?" Brown said, quickly closing ranks around us ... followed by Cal, Vince, and Olivia's God-Tank.
"Yup," Steph said. "Olive, show your Uncles what you now have."
Lester put our daughter back on her matching denim bow-tied sneaker-shoes, and we all watched to see if she'd indulge her Mama or decide to just chase after our dogs instead.
Steph helped her out by pointing to her own mouth. "Remember what we were excited about this morning?" My wife asked, with another mouth-prompt.
Olivia's dark-head tipped to the side as she put both hands on her legs so she could study her Mama more intently.
"Don't look at me that way," she teased. "What did we find peeking out in your mouth this morning?"
Olive put her out of her misery and finally aimed a grin at everyone.
"What do you got there, Olive?" Bobby asked.
"The beginning of a new front tooth," Steph said proudly. "While we were all sleeping, one started to surface. I'm going to have a little snack-buddy in no time."
"Only if Ella is making your snacks," I added.
"We have time to discuss that one," Steph said. "If I'm always going to end up eating a portion of everything Olive does, because she and you find it really amusing, it has to taste somewhat like a snack I'd want to eat."
"You tell him, Steph," Santos encouraged.
I leveled a look at him and he shut up.
"Don't eye-threaten Lester," Steph told me. "And don't worry, Ella does know how to make ice cream and cake taste good while still being relatively good for you. If we do this parenting-thing right, when our baby grows into a big girl ... she'll take a middle of the road approach to food. Eating more than protein decorated with twigs and berries and less than a dozen doughnuts."
Bobby shook his head. "Motherhood has changed you, Steph."
"Yep. In the best ways possible."
"Let's get a good look at that tooth," Tank said, using the new addition to the two Olivia already has as an excuse to pick her up and monopolize her time.
Steph stood behind Tank and smiled wide, hoping to influence our daughter. It worked again, and Olive grinned at her Mama's exaggerated expression, trying to mimic it.
"That tooth alone gets you ten dollars," Tank told his Goddaughter, curling a hand along her cheek and pressing what Steph calls a 'Damn, you're cute!' kiss to the one not being engulfed by his hand.
"She's growing a tooth," I told him. "She hasn't lost it yet. Your payment is premature."
"You should've checked the fine print in that Godparent contract. It clearly states that I have the right and the authority to spoil her as frequently as I want to."
"I wouldn't have a problem with that if that sentiment wasn't times about a hundred," my wife said. "We're still getting daughter and dog gifts from our Miami guys, which doesn't even count what you all do for Olive, and Ranger and I, everyday."
"Speaking of," Vince asked. "How are you doing?"
"Not you, too," Steph said in frustration. "I'm fine. Really. Ranger, Olive, Julie, and all of you, are all okay ... that's what matters. You guys are good, aren't you?"
"We're okay, Steph. Don't you worry about us," Hal told her.
"Sorry, it's part of my role as Rangeman's 'Mama Manoso' ... as Bobby just pointed out. I don't wish death on anyone, except Joyce when she pisses me off ... but I'm not wasting my time mourning people whose sole purpose in life was to screw up mine."
I gently nudged Mo to the side so I could pull my wife close. "Well said, Babe." When Tank released his hold and put Olivia back on her feet, I called her over to us. "Olive, I think it's time we tell Mama what you and I have been planning and keeping secret."
Olivia and Gunner walked without too much distraction to where Steph and I are standing, and she sat down in front of me and then immediately lifted her arms so she could be picked up.
"What are you two up to now?" Steph asked.
Olive glanced at her Mama and then back at me, her brown eyes appearing even bigger as she tried to figure out what's being asked of her. "Alright. Your vocabulary is still limited so I'll do the talking ..."
"Ranger ..." my wife warned, "stop teasing and start spilling."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Olive ... where's Daddy's nose?"
As expected, our daughter's hands turned into two vises and she added a new torture-technique by twisting as she squeezed.
Steph kissed her and then relented. "And where's your nose?" She asked our baby.
Olivia let me go to point at her own nose so I could speak freely. After issuing a 'good job' praise to Olive, my wife's eyebrows went up as she waited for me to do just that.
"Watching you guys really is more fun than TV at times," Bobby joked. "This family never gets old."
"But it can get tired of waiting," Steph said to me. "You really don't want me and Olive to start practicing other ways of getting answers out of people."
I grinned, all the while knowing she isn't kidding at all. "At the end of the week, Olivia and I are taking you to Miami to see Julie."
Her body went still and her mouth went silent as her eyes zeroed in on mine. She immediately understood what I'm attempting to do for her ... help her create good memories instead of letting her be subjected to bad ones just by taking her out of Trenton while Morelli's getting planted into it.
"Thank you," was all she said, but her beautiful blue eyes conveyed so much more.
