Chapter 57

Two weeks later we were back in Trenton. Two weeks of being alone with my Babe, having nothing to think about but us. It felt strange to just relax with her but I was soon lost to the slow rhythm of our days. After everyone had left the day following our marriage we spent our days at the cabin, well mostly in the cabin. Stanley was still at the restaurant, so we spent time over dinner with him and enjoyed the experience of swimming at midnight. The rest of the time was spent on Cuba, somewhere where I took delight as Steph enjoyed the food, the music and dancing and hearing me talk of my heritage.

As promised we made a quick call to my Abuela on our stop over at Miami. I was right, she loved Steph as soon as she saw her and being the intuitive woman that she was had handed Steph a package as we'd left. Once on the plane Steph had carefully unwrapped that package to reveal a beautiful handmade lace blanket that had been a part of my family's tradition as a christening robe. I had no idea how my Abuela had known that Steph was pregnant, and Maria swore that she hadn't said anything.

Tonight, was the night that we were joining our parents for dinner. I knew that Steph was nervous, in fact she was almost beyond that. Her grandmother and Val and her husband were going to be there because as I explained to Maria, they were part of her immediate family as were my brothers and sisters.

"Do you think they'll come?"

I knew that was something that worried Steph the most but to be honest I had no idea.

"Your grandma and sister have both told them to be there, that it was a way of breaking the ice that seemed to have formed between you'

Though to be honest I was more worried as to how her mother would behave if she did turn up.

"I know. I'm not sure that I want her to be there. After what she said at that café, I don't want her to be rude and spoil the experience for your family"

As I pulled the car into the parking lot, I noticed the other cars and recognized them as belonging to my parents and Maria. I turned to look at Steph seeing so much sadness and worry in her eyes.

"Remember what I said. The people who love, trust and respect you are your real family"

"I know. I think I'm prepared for the worst and to be honest I know that I don't need them"

But it would still hurt was what I wanted to add, but didn't. The restaurant that Maria had booked was just outside of Trenton, convenient for everyone to get to and had an excellent menu. Walking in through the main door I saw Maria waiting for us so bypassed the reception desk to join her.

"We're through there in a private room. The receptionist knows to show people through who ask for Plum or Manoso"

While Steph had already completed the paperwork to change her name, we knew that should her mother turn up then she would be asking for the name Plum. Whilst Steph and I had arrived five minutes early in preparation to greet people it seemed my family had decided to get here even earlier. My mother was the first person to approach me and went to straight to hugging me before saying anything. I noticed that Marcus had managed to make it and watched as he greeted Steph in a similar method.

"Carlito, you look so relaxed, so happy"

That was followed by her hand hitting the back of my head.

"Why have you not spoken to me before now, you know I worry"

I stepped back, out of reach of her hand, and pulled Steph to me.

"Mama. This is Stephanie"

I wasn't too sure what my mother thought when I introduced Steph, but it definitely had Steph smiling when she was being pulled into my mother's arms.

"At last, it's been so long since we saw you or even heard about you"

I was curious when my mother might have seen Steph but the memory from being hospital after being shot by Scrogg came to me. I was aware that Steph had been there as were my family. The introductions to my family took time because each of them seemed to have the need to touch Steph and say something. I wasn't too sure what my father was thinking and as I looked at him all I got was a slight nod of his head. At last, we managed to sit down and as Edna, Val and Albert arriving another set of introductions took place. Every time the door opened, I was looking up to see if Steph's parents had arrived.

As we finished the main course it was obvious that they weren't going to be arriving. A look at Steph and the shrugging of her shoulders told me that maybe she was going to be okay with that.

"Your family, especially your parents, make up for that loss"

I had to admit that Mama had tried very hard to monopolize Steph and hearing them talking they did seem to be getting on well. As soon as our plates were cleared away, I knew it was time to make our announcement. Steph and I had talked about this and in the end decided to make it short and simple before waiting for the fallout. I stood up, holding Steph's hand firmly in mine not sure if it was me that needed that contact or whether she would be in need of it. Regardless, as we stood there with everyone suddenly going quiet, I knew this was going to go well.

"I wanted you here tonight as family to let you know that Steph and I got married two weeks ago. It "

I was going to explain that it was a quiet ceremony abroad but never had the chance. My mother was suddenly in my arms once again and my father was slapping my back. In fact, it was a chaos of people talking. From what I could hear the words were of congratulation with the odd phrase of, about time, coming from Marcus. I looked at Steph as she moved back to me, knowing that she was nervous of the next announcement. She was so worried that people would assume that we'd only got married because she was pregnant and I was worried that someone would say something derisive on the lines of what had happened between Rachel and me. It seemed that my mother was way ahead of me though.

"When is the babé due. I can't wait to hold it, a grandchild from my Carlito and his beautiful wife"

A look at Steph and she started to laugh which had everyone except my mother joining in with us. I had a feeling that they thought that Steph was laughing at the way that my mother had asked about a baby as though it was something that might happen in the future.

"April"

I heard from Steph. Of course, all eyes went wide but my mother turned to Papa as tears fell from her eyes. As she wiped them away, she was looking at me.

"You have just made me the happiest woman in the world. I saw the ring Carlos, I know what it means"

And just like that any worries that Steph and I had disappeared. My family accepted Steph, our marriage and the impending birth of our child. The rest of the evening was relaxed with Steph's grandma and Val chatting with my mother and sisters. The evening had in my mind been a success with or without Steph's parents being there. They'd soon understand the grave mistake that they had made and I knew that Steph wasn't going to forgive them. They'd pushed her too far away from them for her to trust them now.

The following morning, we were both going into Rangeman. Steph wanted to see some of the men who hadn't been at the wedding, and it was time for them all to know why I hadn't been living in the apartment, though I was pretty sure that they already knew. The second reason was for us to meet with Lizbeth and for her to present her business plan. I had broached the subject with Steph and I wasn't surprised that she was keen to find out more. Okay, she knew that her involvement would be limited to start with and that we both had other priorities with the birth of a child.

As we'd entered the elevator Steph was unusually quiet. I pulled her back to me and spread my hands over her stomach. To be honest it seemed to have grown overnight and the dress that Steph chose to wore did little to conceal it, in fact it seemed to accentuate it. Twenty weeks, so I knew that the baby was about the size of a banana and fully formed. Steph was mesmerized at what she could feel describing the kicks as feeling like flutters, a light tickle, a light flicking, or a gentle thud or tap. I couldn't wait to be able to feel the movement.

As we stepped out of the elevator we were surrounded by men in black and Steph was immediately swept away from me. Even as the men congratulated me or fist bumped me I was watching her. Why she had been worried surprised me, so I was pleased as she smiled and laughed as she was picked up and hugged. Anyone would have thought that they'd already known. I looked to Santos who was standing toward the back, as he watched her and then as he pushed his way through to her.

"Beautiful, do you know how hard it's been to keep this a secret?"

He bent down and held his hand over her bump as though he might actually be able to feel something.

"Yep, definitely a Rangeperson, so this is what they'll need"

A bag appeared from behind his back and I watched as Steph carefully opened it.

"I told you Les, no guns"

Everyone laughed as she pulled a black material from the bag seeing a black all in one that had batman across the front.

"Hey it's unisex. A boy or a girl will look great in that"

For the first time I was actually wanting to know what sex the baby was. Would it be a girl with Steph's curls and blue eyes or dark straight hair like mine and dark brown eyes? I knew their skin color would probably be darker than Steph's and lighter than mine, but what other features would it have? I was so lost in the imagery of what I was thinking that Steph stood in front of me surprised me. As she tilted her head it was as though she was trying to work out what I was thinking.

"You want to know, don't you?"

As I pulled her to my side and started to walk toward the conference room I had to admit, that yes, I did.

"I think maybe it's time to talk to Maria"

I agreed, so maybe that was something that we could do later in the day. Opening the door, I could see that everyone was here Stanley, Ethan, CJ and Lizbeth so after guiding Steph to a seat I sat next to her. I wanted Lizbeth to show me that she had the skills to talk us through her ideas so was pleased as she lifted her head and began.

"The proposal that I want to talk through with you will have four, possibly six equal partners. The name of the company will be Seraphim and will be based at a location yet to be decided on. As a group of four people we have the skills that are necessary to meet our company's objectives. Those objectives are as follows. To support through investigation"

"Lizbeth, cut through the bullshit will you. We can read those on a rainy day"

Everyone turned to look at Steph as she said that, and I was aware of the smile that Stanley gave her. I suppose that maybe I hadn't expected Lizbeth to be so formal with her presentation, but then again, I had asked for a business plan.

"Okay. Source jobs that we feel that we can do and that are morally right"

To me that could cover multiple areas, some extreme similar to what I'd done on special ops jobs or others that would be mundane and poorly paid.

"We're not looking at a PI job, looking for a woman's husband who is diddling the secretary. Steph mentioned something to me a while a go that I followed up on. There are parents out there desperate to find their children and some scumbags are cashing in by saying they'll return them for money"

I suppose that I hadn't really considered that and no doubt the job that the group had done to find Lilian Lawley would have raised that concern. I needed for Lizbeth to be more specific on how the group would work.

"Lizbeth how do you see the group working?"

"To agree on what jobs we take and then decide on what action needs to happen. My father told me that there are plenty of fugitives out there that the FBI just don't have the skills or manpower to find. We could take on contracts from some of the agencies, to find their man or woman and then pass that information over for them to bring them in. That separates us from anyone dangerous"

I watched as Steph sat forward in her chair, obviously interested in what Lizbeth had said. I have to admit that Steph would be amazing at looking for clues without becoming physically involved. Was what Lizbeth suggesting enough for me, enough for Ethan and CJ?

"Ranger it doesn't preclude us from being active. Not the type of situations that the government would put us into"

I sat back as Ethan voiced that thought, still watching Steph wondering what was going through her mind. I could tell that she was working things out and no doubt had a myriad of questions that she wanted to ask.

"Okay, let's back up. Funding, is there any?"

Steph had obviously thought this through more than I realized because her question would be an important part of setting the business up.

"Yes. there is the majority of the money from the two jobs that you did. I put that to one side"

I have to admit that I hadn't thought of that, and it seemed that Steph had forgotten.

"We have $1.8 million dollars plus change. We also have weapons, safety equipment and computer and electronic equipment"

It wouldn't take many jobs like that to payroll this new venture.

"Okay, location?"

Yeah, this could be an interesting answer because I wasn't sure where Steph classed as home now. I know that she mentioned that she felt like a nomad having been travelling for so long but the house, I was hoping that she'd see that as her home now.

"Wherever you want to be. The internet is a powerful resource for conference meetings and sharing information. That's where Ethan comes in, so we don't need a central place where everyone works or lives"

I almost felt like saying that that was a good answer but Steph was still working through her questions.

"Do you have some jobs in mind?"

Which meant that Steph was already hooked and the type of job that Lizbeth had would be the thing that would make her decide.

"Yes"

An hour later Steph and I were sat upstairs in the apartment reading through the file that Lizbeth had given to us. Steph was nibbling her way through a bowl of fruit having devoured the salad that Ella had provided.

"I like the idea that Lizbeth was suggesting. The jobs in these files are varied and certainly need someone to take them on. I wouldn't have to leave home to do my bit, but I worry that maybe you'll be away for long periods of time if you wanted to be involved"

I agreed with what Steph was saying, hell that was one of the reasons that I wanted to stop doing the jobs for the government. The problem as I saw it was that I couldn't have both, the thrill of the chase or the stability of being at home. That said both Steph and I had said that we weren't going to be ordinary parents.

I was about to suggest a way around it when there was a knock on the door, so I watched as Steph walked over to the door, in fact it was as though she was expecting a visitor. No one came into the apartment, but Steph was carrying what looked to be a newspaper, The Trenton Times if I was reading it right. She never said a word as she sat back down and started to read it, which of coursed piqued my curiosity as to what she was finding so interesting, so I looked over her shoulder.

"Our own home grown heroine"

I read, the headline wondering what that was about, so continued to read out loud to myself.

"Our own local woman has spent the last three months working with agents from the government and private contractors to bring down an international terrorist.

Our very own, Stephanie Plum, has shown us what she can really do despite the many obstacles that she had to overcome, including the betrayal of a detective on the TPD. He paid with his life after taking money and nearly causing the death of Miss Plum but true to her vivacious character and her need to discover the truth Miss Plum continued her search for the perpetrators"

I stopped and looked at Steph seeing her still reading.

"Babe, did you know about this?"

Because it wasn't something that Steph usually liked, though usually because the newspaper was more derogative about what they said about her.

"Yeah"

I didn't know what to say and watched as her eyes reached the bottom of the article before looking over to me. It was how her eyes were lit up that had me hesitant to ask if she was okay with what had been written because I had an awful feeling that she already knew what was going to be in the article.

"Why?"

"A friend suggested that it would help me to come to terms with something"

I was about to ask who the friend had been and what she hoped to achieve by this when Steph's phone stared to ring. It seemed that watching Steph and listening to her side of the conversation had become the center of my attention.

"Yeah, I just read it"

"Really? So what happened?"

"Oh, I can't wait"

"No not yet"

"I'll let you know"

I felt as though I knew nothing about what the hell was going on. The only thing that was keeping my patience in check was the look on Steph's face.

"What are you up to?"

The only thing that I could think of was to never cross this woman. The look on her face was a mixture of playfulness and real evil and she was walking up to me trying to outstare me.

"You haven't guessed?"

I watched as she stood on her tip toes and then felt as she kissed my cheek. Her arms around my neck were definitely causing my body to react to how close she was to me. I wasn't going to be distracted so tried to ignore her when I suddenly worked out what she was doing.

"Was that Lizbeth or Mary Lou?"

I felt her smile against my cheek so knew what they were up to.

"How did she react?"

Because I'd worked out that the newspaper article was for the benefit of her parents, specifically her mother.

"There's a group of women outside her house screaming and shouting at her asking her why she lied to everyone. That was Val, she's at Mary Lou's. Lizbeth came up with the idea, Lizbeth and Mary Lou wrote the article and Val and grandma spoke to the editor"

I felt like sighing but resisted. I suppose the plan had been dependent on whether her mother turned up the restaurant. Had she turned up and acknowledged her daughter then Steph would felt that there was a glimmer of hope for their relationship to be patched up. In a way I couldn't blame Steph. Her mother had just become a victim of her own narrow mindedness and probably deserved everything that was thrown her way.

"I spoke to Maria this morning"

That had Steph step away from me and look at me.

"What did she say?"

I was pleased that I'd managed to stop thinking about her mother because I knew her too well. Within a few hours the guilt of what she'd done would hit her, even though she had nothing to feel guilty about.

"She's sent me an email with an attachment so all we have to do is open the attachment"

I watched as she started to pull her lower lip into her mouth so used my thumb to pull it out.

"Let's do it"