Chapter 18
The men returned from their task of riot control at the prison. Thankfully, nobody got injured. Most of the convicts were cowards and returned to their cells when the men arrived. Other men, thinking they were stronger than my Merry Men, put up a fight and lost.
Diesel came home a few days later. I woke up lying on top of him. "Morning, Diesel," I said as I opened my eyes. "I missed you." It was still several hours before my alarm was set to chime.
"Good morning, Sunshine. I missed you too," he said before kissing me. He rolled me beneath him as my clothes disappeared. It's been too long since we've had sex. I needed my husband. "No more missions until after our son's born," Diesel stated before pushing into me.
"So good," I moaned. Diesel pressed his lips against mine and kissed me until I was writhing beneath him. I felt tingling throughout my body as I screamed into his mouth. He followed me over. "You're home for the next four months?" I asked, confirming I understood what he said.
"At least six months," he stated. Diesel carried me from our bed to our shower. He started the water to the perfect temperature.
"All of my doctor's appointments are at Rangeman," I told him.
"Valerie messed up, didn't she?" Diesel asked.
"She did. Valerie drew attention to being six months pregnant and not showing. Many women took pictures and sent messages. I'm afraid she put our son in danger," I replied.
"I'm home to keep you and our son safe," Diesel reassured me. "One day, Valerie's going to realize the gravity of her mistake. Until that day happens, we'll remain vigilant."
I knew Valerie acted out of jealousy. She's having another girl, and she's angry I'm giving dad his first grandson. Her weight gain is unhealthy. Valerie was diagnosed with gestational diabetes.
Diesel washed my hair after cleaning every inch of my body with his large hands. I was nearly a gelatinous mess from his hands moving across my skin. He knew how to make me relax.
"I love it when you wash my hair," I moaned.
"You like it better when I massage your feet," he whispered. A few minutes later, I was moaning as Diesel's fingers dug into my achy feet.
"That's the spot," I moaned loudly, not concerned if Vince, Hal or Manny could hear them.
I patiently waited as Diesel rubbed moisturizer into my skin. His warm hands moved down my arms as he finished his ministrations. Diesel kissed my shoulder before moving away from me. He grabbed my Rangeman uniform and helped me dress. "Do the bras fit?" Diesel asked, even though he could see they do.
"Yes. Perfectly," I replied. "The bras are comfortable and sexy."
"You may need larger ones in a few months," he said as he pulled my shirt over my head. I could feel his eyes burning through my chest. His fingers brushed across my breast as he pulled my shirt down. "Morning, little man." Diesel kissed my abdomen.
"I'm glad you're home for the remainder of this pregnancy," I confessed.
"Me too, Sunshine," he reciprocated. "Are you going to Rangeman today or working from home?"
"Ranger recommended I work from home. I got banned from working in the field. After Valerie's outburst a few days ago, he doesn't want me venturing from the house too much. Manny, Hal, Vince and Cal are taking turns working with me," I replied.
"Lester?" he wondered.
"We can't forget about my best friend. He's protective. I think he's working with me today," I answered. "Why did you ask about Les?"
"He just entered the house. It sounds like he's making breakfast," he replied. My mouth popped open because I didn't realize his hearing was that acute. "Not my hearing, Sunshine. He's related, so I can feel him when he's near."
"Lester's been doing that every day. As I said earlier, he's protective." I watched my sexy husband cover his muscular body so we could get breakfast. "Have you seen the nursery?" I asked as we walked past the door.
"I may have peeked in earlier," he replied. "The men did an excellent job."
"Welcome home, cuz," Lester said from the other end of the kitchen, his back to us.
"Thanks, man," Diesel said.
"What's for breakfast? I'm starving," I asked as my stomach grumbled.
"Sausages, eggs, toast and juice," Lester replied.
"No pancakes?" I asked.
"Sorry, Beautiful. I forgot to purchase the ingredients," Lester answered.
"Lester, you're not responsible for buying my groceries," I admonished.
"But we are," Vince said as he entered the kitchen. "Welcome home, brother."
Diesel and Vince did a complicated handshake. I rolled my eyes and sat at the table, waiting for someone to bring me food.
Manny, Hal, Ronnie and Raoul entered the kitchen for breakfast. Everyone except Raoul welcomed Diesel back home. "Do you mind us crashing here for a few months?" Raoul asked.
"Not at all. Does this mean you're moving to Trenton?" I asked.
"We are. Ranger offered me a job as an in-house psychologist. I'll be helping all the men. He's working on my clearance level with the military," Ronnie replied. "I'll be filling in the gaps on the monitors and the research department."
"So we'll be working together?" I wondered.
"A few shifts," Lester replied. "We like to move the pairings around every six months." I was familiar with their shifts in partners. It's to prevent familiarity.
Manny placed my food in front of me. He must have won the rock, paper, scissors competition they had a moment ago. I didn't care who brought me the food, as long as someone did. "Thanks, Les. You're going to make some lucky woman a wonderful husband," I mumbled.
Lester laughed. "The only woman I would ever consider marrying is you. Diesel beat me to the punch," Lester joked. At least I think he's joking.
"When we're old and Diesel leaves for the great beyond, you and I will get married if we're still alive," I stated.
"I'll be willing to settle down then," he agreed. "You've got yourself a future husband if Diesel kicks off before we do."
Manny and Hal complained. "I guess you have some competition, Lester," I joked.
These men are ridiculous. When I was single, they never expressed any interest. Lester was always interested but never made a move because of Ranger.
"You know we're all in love with you," Manny stated.
"I don't know why. I'm nobody special," I said before eating the last sausage on my plate.
Ronnie laughed before saying, "From what I've seen in the last few days, you are beyond special to the men. I have never met a woman like you before. You mean what you say and say what you mean. You're genuine, and there is never a hidden agenda. Everyone loves you for the woman you are." Ronnie didn't add it was despite how my mom treated me.
A few weeks later, Ronnie found a house a few blocks away. It closes in a few months, so they need to stay at my home a few weeks longer.
Diesel was helping Manny capture FTAs I've located. The men they returned to jail didn't have much any other option. There was no escaping Diesel. I laughed when I watched the body cam footage. Kevin Bowman tried to push Diesel out of his way to escape, but he bounced off and landed on his ass. He got rushed to the hospital after breaking his tailbone.
My grandma called a few times to update me on the latest rumours. Valerie planned to host a baby shower for me. It was a ruse for my mom to get to me. Unfortunately, grandma didn't know her plans. Helen was cautious about what she told grandma. I guess living with Angie affords her more privacy than she had while living with dad and grandma.
Vince was organizing a baby shower at Rangeman. He was inviting my mom, grandma and Valerie. My son and I would be protected from mom and Valerie by my Merry Men. "Where are we going to have the shower?" I asked Vince.
"Main floor conference room. We don't want anyone to have access to the other floors," Vince replied. I wouldn't doubt for a minute that my mom would complain about men being present.
"Sounds like you have everything all planned out. Do you want to place bets on who will create the biggest scene?" I asked.
"Depends on the players. Aunt Helen or Edna or Valerie?" Vince asked to clarify.
"I'm betting 100 on grandma," I stated.
"You're wrong. It's going to be Aunt Helen. I'll match your 100," Vince wagered.
"What are we betting on, Beautiful?" Lester asked.
"Who will create the biggest scene at my baby shower between my mom, grandma or sister," I replied.
He thought for a minute before saying, "100 on Edna."
"You're all wrong," Ronnie chimed in. "It's going to be Stephanie." Vince grabbed a small notebook and jotted down the names and wagers.
My jaw dropped open. How could she think I'd create the biggest scene? It didn't take me long to realize where her mind went. "Vince, when is the baby shower?" I asked.
"In roughly two months. You should be around 35 or 36 weeks," he replied.
I had to do the mental math. My birthday is tomorrow, so two months would be around December 11th. "On the Saturday or Sunday?" I asked, knowing they wouldn't schedule the baby shower during the weekday.
"Saturday, December 15th," Vince replied to confirm the date. "At 1500 hours."
Ronnie and Lester were whispering. I couldn't hear what they were planning. My spidey sense indicated it was for my birthday tomorrow. Okay, so it wasn't my spidey sense. I knew they were plotting for my birthday surprise.
On the morning of my birthday, Diesel woke me up with kisses. When he noticed I was awake, my clothes disappeared before we made love. He carried me into our bathroom, where we made love in the shower.
We met the gang in the dining room. Lester, Ronnie and Raoul were setting platters in the centre of the table. "Looks like you went all out today, Les," I observed.
"Anything for the birthday girl," he replied. Several men arrived to share breakfast with us. As we finished eating, Ranger entered my house.
"When did you get back?" I asked. He was away on a mission for a few weeks. I wasn't expecting to see him for at least another month.
"Late last night. My target got neutralized before I arrived," Ranger replied as he took a look at Diesel.
"Well, that explains why your mission was cut short. Why are you here?" I wondered.
Ranger held up a set of keys with a large blue bow. "Delivering your birthday gift, Babe," he said as he dropped the key into my hand.
"We all pitched in," Bobby added.
"You should just say thank you," Tank stated.
"Thank you," I said to the men as I stared at the house key. "You know how to make a woman feel special on her birthday." Refusing their generous gift crossed my mind, but I accepted it, knowing they wanted me to have a place to escape.
"Point Pleasant, two-story, blue clapboard house near the boardwalk, Beautiful," Lester said as he plucked the bow off the keys.
"I assume there are enough bedrooms for my guests?" I joked.
"Babe," Ranger sighed. I took his sigh to mean I have at least four bedrooms.
The next few months passed remarkably fast. I had my appointment with Dr. Brady a few hours ago. She started scheduling me for weekly checkups. I'm only 35 weeks, but she wanted to make sure my son and I were okay. "His head is down, and he's already dropped. I want to keep a close eye on you," she explained.
I knew she was concerned with the measly 5 lbs I gained throughout my pregnancy. "Should I be worried about premature labour?" I asked.
"Since he dropped, you could go into labour any day," she replied. "You have dilated one centimetre, but that isn't uncommon during this stage of pregnancy."
"Thank you." I wanted to ask if Diesel and I could still have sex, but I couldn't form the words to ask.
"You can still have sex with your husband, but if it feels uncomfortable or you experience pain, stop," she suggested. "I'll see you tomorrow at the baby shower."
The men decorated the first-floor conference in blue. They added various name suggestions and taped them to the wall. I swear every man used their names for suggestions. I'm partial to naming our son Mateo Lars.
All the baby gifts got opened before we attacked the food table. I received too many black onesies with various letters and numbers. Luckily the men thought to purchase different sizes. There are enough clothes for Mateo to wear until he turns two. I received multiple car seats and a crib for my Rangeman apartment. "What am I going to do with three playpens?" I asked.
"Leave one in your office at Rangeman, one in your home living room, and one in your car for emergencies," Lester rattled off.
"Too much," I mumbled. My mom constantly said the gifts were frivolous that nobody needed that many items for a single child.
Instead of purchasing a gift for my baby, Shirley and Eddie contributed to the Rangeman baby gift fund. Dr. Brady gave me a set of glass baby bottles before she got called away for an emergency c-section.
Shirley, Eddie and I were grabbing food when several things happened at once. Someone moved behind me, and I felt them push hard. She grounded into my back, shoving my stomach into the table. I felt a gush between my legs and the most horrific pain emanating from my abdomen.
Valerie screamed, "Mom! What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything," she lied. "Stephanie fell into the table." I couldn't talk through the pain to dispute her claim.
Mom kept saying she did nothing to me, but Valerie countered, saying, "I saw you shove her into the table. What the hell were you thinking?" My Merry Men surrounded Helen to cuff her for assaulting me.
I never heard Helen's response because Diesel lifted me into his arms and ran towards the garage. Ranger and Lester were hot on their heels. Lester opened the back door for Diesel to sit with me before taking the shotgun position. He called the hospital to announce our arrival.
Dr. Brady was waiting for us at the emergency doors. Diesel gently laid me on the gurney the doctor provided and ran along beside me as the orderly pushed it towards the elevators. "You're going to deliver in the operating room in case I need to do a c-section," she warned.
The next few hours are a complete blur. I couldn't recall what happened after Dr. Brady placed my tiny son into my arms. "He's handsome," I stated.
"Just like his papa," the nurse said. "I need to take him for tests."
I watched her lay my son into the incubator and leave the room with Ranger following close behind. He wasn't going to let my son out of his sight.