All familiar characters are Janet's. Mistakes are mine.

"Uh ... Boss? I hate to be askin' you this ..."

"But?" I broke in to ask, prompting Cal to finish his request instead of wasting our time apologizing for it.

He paused, for some reason expecting more bush-beating before he got to the point.

"I don't want to do this to the guys, especially right now, but can I put in for a few-week vacation ... effective immediately?"

"Yes," I told him. "I'll figure something out to get your shifts covered. Is everything alright?"

My men show up everyday and give me and my company a hundred and ten percent on the clock and off, so I try to be as accommodating as I can be. Since Cal rarely asks for anything for himself, and volunteers for everything he can for others, I take his appeals seriously.

"Kenze hasn't been feeling well this and last week," he began. "We were scared shitless that she'd caught this thing despite us being careful ..."

I saw where this is going. I've been there myself, minus the added pandemic fear. "But a call to her doctor pointed you towards a pregnancy test … giving you life-changing but thankfully not life-threatening news."

He sighed. I heard so much emotion in that one exhalation ... fear, excitement, love, and more than a little wonder. The man who brandished himself unlovable, and therefore untouchable, succumbed like the rest of us to the woman meant for him.

"Yeah. I'm still in shock," he admitted. "I never thought my life would be like this."

"Join the club. I promise you, it's one you'll be grateful every day of your life to be a member of."

"I already am. But now Kenzie's worried twice as hard. She's taking this particular protection job more seriously than I ever had when working."

"And you're concerned that you could bring something home to them," I said, understanding completely.

That's why I stayed on seven with my family rather than be without them for weeks at a time for their protection. I've been in tighter spots, being restrained and not able to move even a millimeter, so a quarantine I can survive without even needing to think about it. I wouldn't last a day without my wife and baby. It's hard enough with Julie in Florida, it wouldn't be pretty if I also had to be without Stephanie and Olivia.

"Yeah," Cal was saying. "She's not the only one paranoid about that. I know there are precautions being taken ..."

"It's fine, Cal. We'll miss you, but we'll manage until it's safe for you to return to work. This will be paid leave, so you don't need to worry about losing anything while you're off. Just take care of your family."

He was quiet before he spoke again. "It's weird to know that I have a family now."

"You've always had one here, it's just grown by one-and-a-half. Speaking of family, would you like me to call Stephanie over so you can tell her?" I asked.

There was a nervous silence on Cal's end of the line. "Uh ... maybe you cou ..."

"Tell me what?" My wife said, appearing behind me with a wriggling Olivia almost wrapped in a towel.

Any project that involves making food, using non-toxic paint, or anything clay or dough-based, requires a makeshift 'beach day' that revolves around the bathtub to get our baby clean again. On occasion, even the dogs need a dip in the tub. Yesterday Steph thought Olivia would like to tackle a baby-friendly guacamole recipe and Gunny and Mo both ended up wearing the avocado shells.

"Moz an Bummy gotz hats," Olivia had informed us at the time, her hands splayed wide between their embarrassed faces as she showed her handiwork off to us.

Not proud of smashing up lunch, but with outfitting her dogs with new and all-natural headgear.

Instead of answering my wife, I addressed Cal again while Steph was distracted getting any residual tub water off our baby.

"Parenting is hard so you may as well ease yourself into it," I cautioned him. "Babe? Cal would like to talk to you for a minute."

I could hear his gulp, but also Kenzie's excited voice in the background. I relaxed even more. He's already learned that the key to being a good man is having an even better woman willing to stay by your side and have your back when you aren't busy guarding hers.

"What's wrong?" Steph asked me, as she took my cell.

"Nothing. Just give him a chance to say what he wants to."

She narrowed her eyes at me, but also nodded. "Are you alright?" Was the first thing she asked Cal.

I took over Olive-detail, scooping her up and then retrieving the pull-up style diaper Steph had left on a side table. I followed my wife into the living room, since I discovered long ago that she has to be moving when she's on the phone, and I put Olivia on her feet. I made sure her skin isn't still damp and then I held up the diaper for my daughter to step into.

I'm a little worried how quickly she takes to a new stage in her life, like she somehow figured out that being able to ditch diapers and use a potty seat will get her more independence even faster. Steph was right, Julie is a teenager and she still likes and needs me, so I just remained proud of all of my girls' accomplishments, rather than feel remorse because they have to grow up so quickly.

I didn't have much choice in not dwelling on my thoughts, Olivia had braced one little hand on the inside of my elbow for balance as she stuck one chubby leg into the pull-up and then the other, but she was repeatedly tapping my cheek with her right hand.

"Dabby, dabby," she chanted with each pat.

She squealed in delight when I'd twist my head quickly and kiss her palm on every other tap to my face.

"How am I supposed to grill Cal if you two keep doing that, making my face and chest hurt from loving to watch you two play so much?" My wife asked me.

I shot a grin her way. "Olivia and I can't help it if we're so distracting. You could just turn away and not watch," I added helpfully.

"Not a chance," I was told, but she valiantly tried to concentrate on her conversation with Cal.

I didn't want to miss Steph's reaction, so I called Mo and Gunny to the couch and then lifted Olivia up onto it with us.

I leaned close to my daughter's ear and whispered, "Watch Mama's face. It's going to be a funny one."

My daughter smiled at me while my wife went with glaring.

"If you want me not to kick the Boss," she told Cal, "you might wanna just rip the Band-Aid off and tell me what's going on."

She went quiet as he spoke, her blue eyes widened and got a little shiny, and she made a similar noise to Olive's excited one. Our daughter took that as a sign that she should shriek again, causing Steph to look back over at us. Apparently only looking wasn't enough, she wanted this to be a 'family moment', so she sat down on the lap Olivia just vacated to body surf over Mo.

"Really?" She was saying. "I can't believe this. I'm so happy for you and Kenzie. We're going to have our first Rangebaby."

I knew Cal would say what I'm thinking, that Olivia is the first baby born into this company's family. No surprise, her next response proved I was right.

"Yeah, but Olive is our baby. The Boss'. Yours will be the first one co-created by one of our guys." She paused for a minute and then spoke again. "No. Kane doesn't count unless he, Harper, and Angel, move to Trenton and one of them gets their name on the company's payroll."

She's still holding a slight grudge against Kane. My wife didn't find his joke at all amusing when he overnighted a box that had miscellaneous sleep aids, even a dart gun he claimed contained a mild sedative, the day after our stay-at-home order went into effect. Harper made him call and apologize as soon as she found out what he'd done, but Steph wasn't feeling very forgiving until Kane promised he'll have perfected the Pineapple-Upside-Down torte he created in my wife's honor by the time his family gets to visit our building again. It didn't hurt that she and I were equally concerned that she'd go stir crazy inside of a week.

"Is Kenzie far enough along to know the gender yet?" I heard my wife ask.

"Don't pry, Babe," I told her.

She looked at me. "I'm not. It's only prying if you're trying to get information to use for evil purposes. I'm only asking because I'm happy and excited for them ... and I also want to know if I should be looking in a specific section of the online baby stores. Wait, do you know if it's a boy or a girl?" She asked me.

"No."

"Did you hear that, Cal? If you have that information and then share it with me, I'll finally know something Ranger doesn't."

I reached around her body and took my cell back. "Just ignore that," I ordered him. "Stephanie can't help herself at times. Only share what you're comfortable with people knowing."

She pinched me in retaliation for that comment, but it was half-hearted and felt more like a caress of my wrist than something intended to cause pain.

"It's ok," he said back. "It's nice that she cares."

"She does. We all do," I assured him.

I could hear a muted conversation between Cal and Kenzie before I heard a distinct laugh coming from the Mom-to-be.

"Ranger?" Kenzie said, taking over for her husband. "Is Steph still nearby?"

I looked at the body getting real comfortable on my lap. "You could say that. And congratulations. If you or Cal need anything, you just have to call me."

"Thank you. I told Cal I thought you'd be okay with him staying with me until I'm less paranoid about something happening to the baby, but he didn't want to put you or any of the guys in tight spot with a exepected schedule change or any extra danger due to this virus."

"We take care of each other," I replied, "Cal knows that better than anybody. And that support carries over to you and the baby now."

"I don't know what's in the water over there at Rangeman," she told me, "but I've never come across a better group of people in all my life. First you protected Kane from himself for years and then kept him free to be with Harp. You and your team were the reason Aubrey got closure on that nightmare she was forced to live, and jumpstarted her healing by allowing us to visit and her to meet Raphael ... and me to fall in love with Cal at first sight. And now you're helping he and I during a really scary time with little more than a nod."

"It's what we do here, protect and serve."

"Yeah, yeah ... I know. Stephanie already warned me that saving people is all in a day's work for you guys, but I still want you to know just how appreciated you all are, and how the respect and kindness you show everyone has changed more than a few lives ... mine, Aubrey's, and Harper's to name just a few."

"You wanted to speak to Stephanie?" I reminded her, not wanting to be the center of attention when she and Cal are the ones who should be in the spotlight.

I could sense a smile. "Yes. As a matter of fact I did," she replied, letting me off the hook.

"Kenzie would like to speak to you," I told my wife, handing my phone back to her.

I then circled her body with my arms, as Olivia's toes made an appearance between us or gently poked into our bodies every time she wanted our attention. My wife tickled the baby foot before it disappeared under Gunny's body, and then she refocused on having another grown-up conversation.

Or so I thought.

"Hi, Kenzie. Congratulations! And thank you for giving us some good news ... we can all use it these days. If you, Cal, or the baby, need anything ... you'd better call us immediately."

I assume after hearing a crossed-heart promise that the couple will reach out if they need to, my wife's friendly smile suddenly turned mischievous.

"I knew I liked you for a reason," she told Kenzie after another beat of listening. "You are the best, and you definitely fit right into our family. You just made my day, and I'm going to get busy helping you guys get through yours even if it can't be done in-person yet. Hug Cal for me and make sure you two take good care of each other. I've found that a united and loving front is crucial to getting through pregnancy and parenthood afterwards."

She disconnected a second later after their usual 'we'll talk soon' goodbye and she just sat there, still on me, smiling in a way I'm not completely comfortable with.

"Okay, what is it?" I asked.

"Give me a minute ... I want a little time to savor this." She hugged Olivia close when our daughter scaled Gunner and climbed back over Mo in order to jump onto the pile her Mama's and my body made. "Olive," she mock-whispered, "I would say watch Daddy's face now, but it never changes ... just stays handsome and unreadable."

"Stephanie ..." I warned.

"Hey, cut me some slack here. I'm being mature and staying quiet instead of singing 'I know something you don't know,' like I'm really, reeeeally dying to."

For her, that is a pretty impressive feat.

"Kenzie told you the sex of their baby, didn't she?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

She nodded, causing her face to disappear and then reappear from the cloud Olivia's tousled hair had become. "Yup. Kenzie, being married to a Rangeguy, says she knows how it feels not to be able to get one over on someone who knows just about everything ... so she wanted me to represent her, Aubrey, and Harper, and give me intel you don't have yet."

I found myself smiling at how smug she sounded. "I give credit where it's due, Steph. You can gloat all you want. You deserve it."

That knocked a little wind out of her sails when I didn't say anything else. "Aren't you going to demand I tell you what she said?"

"No. I can wait until the baby's actual birth date if I need to. Can you?"

She sighed. Like Cal's ... it was full of emotion, but decidedly different ones.

"Figures you'd suck the fun right out of this," she said after a minute. "Olive, I think Daddy needs another tune-up."

'Tune-up' is a kinder name for the torture technique my daughter has mastered, grabbing hold of something and twisting the ever-loving-shit of it. My nose has been broken before, and the sensations Olivia can generate when she's worked up isn't that dissimilar. Though I admit it makes me worry about her a little less. If she can defend herself at this age, I have high hopes for her continuing her training as she gets older.

I let go of Stephanie to put my hands up in surrender. "You ladies win," I told them, before Olivia could get a good grip on my face. "What are Cal and Kenzie having?"

My wife's smile is back and she also wrangled our daughter back onto her lap, no doubt to preserve the 'handsome' features she loves so much.

"They're having a boy. We're getting ourselves a little RangeMan!"