Chapter Five: Forced Family
Ranger woke up the following morning covered in sweat. He shook his head, and even after being back home for a week, he still had nightmares about what happened to Stephanie, Morelli and himself.
Stephanie rolled over to bury her face in Ranger's neck. Before getting settled, her cell rang. Stephanie rolled back over. She grabbed her phone off the nightstand and sleepily answered, "Hello."
"Hi, I was just checking in to see how you were coping with Joe's death, sweetie," Helen asked her daughter.
"How do you think, mom?" Stephanie snapped. She was annoyed by the constant questions regarding Joseph Morelli's death.
"Well, when you are ready to talk, I am here. I will support you if you and Ranger get married," Helen said and then hung up.
"Wow," Stephanie said as she stared at her phone. She wondered what or who was possessing her mom.
"Babe?" Ranger asked. He wanted to know who called and what they said.
"My mom. She called to check on how I was doing with Joe's death. Then she said that if I needed to talk, she was there for me. She also said she would support me when and if I married you," Stephanie explained.
"That's weird," Ranger agreed with her. It was out of character for Helen to react that way. He got the impression that Helen didn't like him.
"Yeah, very weird." Stephanie looked at him, wondering what he thought.
"Hey, I am going to take a shower," Ranger said. He kissed her lightly on her lips.
"Yeah, I will go after you," Stephanie replied. Stephanie wouldn't mind sharing the shower with Ranger, but she sensed he needed time to sort his thoughts.
Ranger was thinking about Stevens and what he made him and Morelli do. "Come on, Ranger, you need to get over it. But Stevens almost raped her and would have if Morelli did not choose me," Ranger said as he let the stream of water beat down on him.
Ranger came out of the shower naked. He couldn't bother covering himself with a towel. "Wow," Stephanie said.
"Babe," Ranger replied.
He put on his Cargo pants, then sat down next to Stephanie on the bed.
"I love you, and I always will," he said without qualifiers before kissing her. Stephanie put her arms around his neck. "I was so scared, Babe. I thought to myself, if it were not me, it would have been Stevens. I could not allow that to happen," Ranger told her, explaining his thoughts.
"I know you and Morelli did the right thing; I don't blame you, Ranger. It was not your fault. I have a feeling that someone put Stevens up to it. It will take time, Ranger, but we will make it through. We will create a home for this little one. Please, Ranger, we cannot let him win. Let's take back our lives, so we can find him and get him to tell us who he helped," Stephanie said.
Ranger looked at her and stared deep into her blue eyes. Whatever he saw gave him the courage to kiss her deeply. He laid on top of her. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, Carlos, I am." He removed his clothes, and they made love like they were supposed to do. Ranger and Stephanie were trying to wipe away the past month and reclaim their connection.
At Helen Plum's House
"So, Stevens chose that Ranger guy to be the father of my grandchildren. That is fine because Stevens did what I asked of him. He was able to get Stephanie pregnant. Ranger would not have been my first choice. But I know that he will take care of Stephanie and my grandchild. Stephanie and Ranger can never find out that I had paid Stevens to force Stephanie to have a child," Helen told herself in her home. She walked into her kitchen to grab the bottle of whisky hiding in the pantry. Helen opened the bottle and took a long drink without using a glass.