Chapter 7 Forced Family

A couple of hours later, both of them woke up. "Ranger, I have to visit my mom. She has not seen me in god knows how long," Stephanie told him as she got wrapped in his strong arms.

"Okay, we will go to your mom's, but if she starts any trouble or stresses you out. We will be leaving," Ranger warned her.

"Thank you, and I love you, Ranger."

"I love you too, Babe," Ranger said. Ranger got up and helped Stephanie out of bed. They looked at each other and got dressed after taking a quick shower. Ranger grabbed his keys, and they walked out of the penthouse.

They walked into the command room. Everyone automatically paid attention to the boss, suspecting he had an announcement. "We will be out for a while," Ranger said loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Got It," Hector said, answering for the group. They were leaving when they saw Tank enter the garage.

"Hey, how are you two doing?" he asked as he gave Stephanie a quick hug.

"Better," she told him.

"Good, I heard that you both are coming back to work a couple of days a week. That is a good thing because we have missed you two around here," Tank told them. Stephanie suppressed a giggle. It was more like Tank wanted the boss back because he didn't like managing all the paperwork alone.

"Yeah, we will be happy when everything is back to normal or close to a new normal for us," Ranger said. "We will catch up later. We've gotta go to her parents," Ranger said as he rolled his eyes. Stephanie was surprised Ranger rolled in eyes in true Burg fashion. Tank watched them get in a standard Rangeman SUV and leave.

Twenty minutes later, they parked outside Helen Plum's house. Stephanie noticed Valerie's car in the driveway.

"Okay, it is Friday, and Valerie's car is here, which is strange," Stephanie said as she looked at Ranger. Stephanie wondered what her mother had done.

"Well, let's go." Ranger got out of the driver's seat. He walked to the passenger side door and opened it for Stephanie. Ranger helped her out of the dark SUV, and they walked into the house. Stephanie raised her eyebrows when neither her grandma nor mother waited by the door.

Valerie was the first to greet them. "Thank god, mom has been driving me nuts the past two Friday dinners," she complained.

"Now you know what I go through," Stephanie snapped.

"Yeah, and I am so sorry about that," Valerie said as she inspected her younger sister. It was a few seconds before she noticed the ring.

"Wow, how many carats is that?" Valerie asked as her mouth dropped open.

"Two," Stephanie told her with a grin a mile long.

Valerie glared at Albert. "What?" he asked, wondering what he had done wrong.

She looked right at her husband and asked, "You call this a ring?" Valerie pointed to her ring, which was not even a carat.

"It has been four years now, and you have not had a problem with it before," Albert told her. He was annoyed by her greediness.

"You are getting me a new ring, or we are getting divorced," Valerie snapped at Albert. He lowered his head and wondered how they could afford a more expensive ring.

"Hey, dad," Stephanie said as she walked up to her dad and gave him a quick hug.

"Okay, I will tell everyone now that I have your undivided attention. Ranger proposed to me, and I said yes, we are getting married," Stephanie said while smiling. She was happy to be engaged to the man of her dreams.

"Yes, finally," Helen said. "Congratulations, you two, this will be great you wait," Helen said.

"Mom, it will not be a church wedding, and I don't want the Burg invited. Ranger has no ties with the Burg, so no Burg. If you invite as much as one Burg neighbor, we will never come to another Friday night dinner again," Stephanie threatened her mother.

"Deal, no Burg, and no church," Helen told everyone. Her plan for Stephanie to be a stay-at-home housewife was at her fingertips.

"We want to do this soon. Neither of us wants to wait six months to get this done," Ranger told everyone.

"Okay, how about next weekend? You two can have a small wedding right here in the backyard. You can invite those you want to attend. At least this way, it won't be a repeat of when Stephanie married Dick Orr," Helen said out loud.

"I like the sound of that. Mom, one more thing, I am not going to wear a wedding dress," Stephanie said. "I can find a nice dress that I can wear for next weekend."

"Fine," Helen said. She knew which battle to fight.

It was then that Grandma asked, "Stephanie, I know this might be a tough subject, but is there a chance you can bring me to Joe's wake?"

Ranger put his hand on Stephanie's back. Helen noticed it but did not say anything.

"I don't know, Gram. Can't you have mom take you, or even Valerie? I am still having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that he is gone."

"Hey, don't worry, sis, I will bring the family to the wake. You don't worry about it," Valerie volunteered.

"Thanks, Val." After dinner, everyone said their goodbyes to Ranger and Stephanie. They were relieved the meal wasn't their typical disaster. However, it left a bad taste in Ranger and Stephanie's mouths.

Ranger drove back to Rangeman. "Babe, did any of that feel off to you?"

"Which part?" Stephanie was looking out through the window of the car. She felt the entire meal seemed too rehearsed.

Twenty minutes later, they parked in the Rangeman underground lot. They looked at each other when Stephanie started to laugh. "Valerie is really pissed at Albert."

"I noticed." Ranger looked at her. He got out of the SUV and helped Stephanie out. They walked into Rangeman and stopped in the command room. He saw the core team there waiting.

"Okay, Stephanie and I are getting married next weekend. It is a backyard wedding. The core Rangeman team is invited, while the Burg is not," Ranger told everyone.

"Sure, boss," Tank looked at Ranger and Stephanie.

"Come on, Babe," Ranger and Stephanie walked out of the command room and went into their penthouse.