Chapter 24

I was awake before the others so I decided to make a simple breakfast. Ella and Carlos were teaching me how to cook simple meals. When I went to search for the flour, I noticed a container with 'pancake mix' written in Ella's neat handwriting. Instructions for mixing was detailed as though she knew I would be the one making them. I pulled the large mixing bowl from the cupboard and poured the entire pancake mix into it. Before I had the chance to measure the water, Manny entered the kitchen with the post it note stuck to his finger.

"Thank you," he said before tossing the note. "What are you cooking?"

"Pancakes, scrambled eggs and sausage. Ella left instructions," I quickly added when Manny's face paled.

"I'll make the pancakes," he offered. Well… not so much offered as taking over. Following Ella's instructions for the sausage, I placed them on a non stick pan and stuck them in the preheated oven. She usually cooks them in a pan, but she didn't want me to get burned by the spitting fats. I thought it was more likely she didn't want me to burn them as I've been known to do.

Now scrambled eggs was very easy for me to make. Ella gave me the recipe for salsa scrambled eggs. It was very simple to make. I used a dozen eggs and a carton of egg whites. After beating the eggs, I set them aside until Manny got quite a few pancakes cooked and the sausage was nearly cooked.

Using the largest skillet I could find, I coated the bottom with a very small amount of oil. Before the oil heated too much, I added the scrambled eggs. I stirred them until they were nearly firm and added the salsa and low fat cheese. It only took a few more minutes to cook until they were ready to be piled onto the serving plate. I quickly made a second batch to add to the first.

Bobbie, Annie, Lester, Tank, Hector, Valerie with her troop and dad entered the house. "Something smells good," dad stated as he walked into the kitchen. He froze when he saw me and Manny standing at the cooktops.

"Help yourself," Manny stated. Carlos entered the kitchen to carry the platters to the dining room. Vince helped the girls set the table. Valerie grabbed the juice front he fridge. Tank grabbed the urn of coffee I didn't notice earlier.

We sat around the table talking and eating. "This is really good," Lester said as he ate the eggs.

"Thank you," I replied. He paused as he lifted his fork.

"You made this?" he was shocked.

"She did. I watched her myself. Even followed the recipe without asking for help," Manny teased.

"Ha ha Manny. You can't exactly take credit for making the pancakes. All you had to do was add water," I teased back.

Everyone finished eating their breakfast and helped clear the table. I led Valerie and Ram to their room. Valerie squealed when she saw the decor, "It's perfect. Thank you Steph."

"Don't thank me. It was all Ella. Let's show the girls their bedrooms before I show you the nursery," I said as I grabbed her hand.

Mary Alice and Angie were very happy with their rooms. Everyone thought the nursery was perfect too. Valerie had tears streak down her face when she sat in the rocking chair. "Did you see the mobile?" she asked.

"I did. I'm sorry she didn't use a picture of you with her," I replied.

"Steph, it's perfect. You and grandma were very close. I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm glad Ella didn't include a picture of mom," she confessed.

"When I saw the pictures, I was worried you would be upset."

"I'm not upset. She did this to herself. If she had listened to her gut, she would be here when our children are born," Valerie stated. "I want to see the girls' rooms." She loved the way Ella decorated their bedrooms and was anxious to see mine on the main floor.

Valerie was equally impressed with our rooms. We toured the guest house with the men. Carlos explained we received a permit to add onto the guest house for additional bedrooms and washrooms. Construction was set to begin in September.

It was fun watching the men fight over the bedrooms. Tank shook his head and announced, "Let the boys have the rooms. I'll be staying at the Rangeman property."

I changed into a sundress when I noticed Manny stroll through the gate and head towards the beach. I called for him to wait. When I finally reached him, I linked my arm with his. We walked for several minutes before he asked, "Do you wish my mom was still alive?"

"Wow… just pull out the big gun. I'm not sure. If she was still alive, would I still be me?" I wondered.

"I would love to have met her, but I also wouldn't change a single thing. Does that make sense?" he asked.

"Honey, we all wish our circumstances were different at times. Things happen and I've wasted too much time wondering how it would be different. What if I didn't follow Morelli into his dad's garage. Would Joe have taken someone else to the garage? What if I didn't cover that extra shift at the Tasty Pastry? Would someone else have been raped instead of me? Better yet, what if I didn't marry Dickie Orr? Would I have made the same choices?" I could tell he didn't know any of this about me, but I was honestly trying to make a point.

"Manny, if none of those events happened, I'm not sure I would have made the same decisions leading me to find Carlos… to finding you," I explained while I removed my arm and grabbed his hand. I entwined my fingers with his. "What I'm trying to say is, if I wish none of those events happened, then it would be like I'm wishing you and my husband away. My life is so much better with you in it. I never dreamed I could love someone as much as I love my husband. Life sometimes gives you a bunch of useless seeds. Sometimes you need to plant them and grow into something beautiful." I reached into my pocket for the sunflower seeds.

He was giving me a raised eyebrow. "For the times you don't want the seeds to grow, they make a very tasty snack," I said before popping them into my mouth.

"So you're saying that if live gives you nothing but lemons, you add a little bit of sugar and make lemonade?" he asked.

"Sure, but I was hungry, not thirsty," I said with a laugh.

"You are certifiably crazy. Do you know that?" he joked.

"Whatever, but it certainly makes life more interesting," I replied. "I love you Manny. I couldn't have asked for a better big brother."

"Right back at you," Manny replied.

A woman giggled behind us. "You two are so cute together," she said to Manny.

His hand clench mine tighter. "She's my sister," he quickly replied. She gasped and touched her stomach.

"Hi, I'm Stephanie. This is my older brother Manny," I said as I held out my hand.

"Arianna, but my friends call me Ari. It's a pleasure to meet you," she said while shaking my hand. "I'm sorry, but I need to know, why are you holding his hand? I wouldn't be caught dead holding my brother's hand."

I had to laugh. "Manny and I just found each other within the last year," I briefly explained.

"Something tells me this is a very long story," she said with a raised brow. Man can everyone except me do that? She started laughing.

"Great, I meet your romantic soulmate Manny and I show her how crazy I am by speaking my thoughts," I complained.

"I don't think you are crazy. You're like a breath of fresh air," she said with a sigh.

"Would you like to walk with us? I wouldn't mind," I asked.

"Only if your big silent brother agrees," she joked.

Manny shook his head to clear his thoughts. When he looked around, he saw how far we walked. "Steph, we should get you back. Carlos will be worried," he stated.

"Who is Carlos?" Ari asked.

"Oh, my husband. I've seen you before. Have you come here before?" I asked as we made our way back home.

"All the time. My family's house is the pale green one." She pointed to the house a few doors down from mine.

"Wait a minute… did you go by Anna when you were younger? I used to play with a girl named Anna. The last time I saw her was when I was ten," I said as the memory came to the front of my mind.

She giggled, "Oh my goodness. You're Stephie and you have a sister named Valerie. I thought I recognized your name. I absolutely loved your grandma Edna. Is she here too?" I saw the excitement on her face as she looked around.

"Grandma passed away a few months ago. I own the beach house now," I said as we walked towards my house. I noticed Manny was walking closer to her. By the time we reached my home, she was holding his right hand while I had my arm linked through her left arm.

Ari told me about her last visit to the beach. She broke her leg the day after my family went home. It was a stupid accident. "I climbed the shed and jumped off. Instead of flying, I fell and broke my leg," she explained.

I started laughing and told her about breaking my arm the year earlier. Ari wasn't my platonic soulmate, but I knew we were going to be close friends. If memory served me correctly, she did not get along with Valerie. Hopefully these women can get along as adults.

"Anna?" Valerie asked as we entered the backyard.

"Hi Valerie. I haven't seen you in a very long time," Ari kindly said. She didn't really like Val when we were kids.

Valerie surprised me by saying, "I'm so sorry for getting you and Steph in so much trouble when we were younger."

"No hard feelings. We were being kind of stupid at times," she admitted.

"You could say that," Valerie said with a laugh. "I'm not so… rigid now."

"Can I ask you when you're due without sounding rude?" Arianna asked.

"November 9th," I answered. Valerie answered the eleventh.

"Oh. I thought you were farther along Stephanie," she said with surprise.

"I could appreciate that. I'm having twins," I said as an explanation. I'm not exactly sure when it happened, but my stomach expanded more than Valerie's in the past week.

"Wow… that's scary. I only want one child. Anyways, now that we're here, is there somewhere we could go for some privacy?" she asked Manny.

He raised an eyebrow until I unlinked my arm from Arianna. I rolled my eyes when he led her to his temporary room in the main house.

Valerie dragged me to the couch and pulled me down. "It's so strange she's Manny's romantic soulmate. You and Anna were practically joined at the hip until she stopped coming," Valerie announced. She wasn't telling me anything I didn't already know.

When Manny and Arianna entered the living room, Carlos asked, "Why did you stop coming here?"

She looked to her feet before lifting her head and replying, "I'm what they call an Army brat. My dad was stationed in California after his promotion."

I motioned for her and Manny to sit with me and Val. Ari sat beside me and Manny sat next to her. "We're Army brats too," I said while grabbing her hand. "We were fortunate daddy wasn't moved around."

"It's because I was in the special forces," dad added.

"The men you see here are all military or ex-military. We work for a company called Rangeman," I told her.

"Well isn't that interesting," she stated. "I'm opening a daycare next the building dad says is Rangeman headquarters. Speaking of dad, I need to tell him where to find me." She grabbed her cellphone and sent a text.

Close to an hour later, a knock sounded on the door. I opened it to General Eric Masterson. "Please come in Sir," I opened the door wide.

"Call me Eric. Manoso, Ramos," he greeted the men standing behind me.

"General Masterson, what brings you here today?" Carlos asked.

"My daughter Arianna," he replied.

"Nice to see you again Sir," Manny reached out, shaking hands with Ari's dad. "I'm going by Plum now." Manny was legally changing his last name since it rightfully should have been Plum.

I led him further into the house until we were in the living room. Dad nodded before taking a seat in one of the chairs. "Daddy, I finally met him," Arianna said while taking a seat next to him.

"Which man?" he asked.

"Manny," she replied.

He smiled before replying, "I thought I recognized the writing. So what did you say to get his response?"

"I commented on how cute they looked together," she said with a shrug and motioned between me and Manny. "Their back and forth banter as they held hands was adorable." I left them to catch up and visited the washroom. My son is jumping on my bladder.

When I returned to the living room, Carlos pulled me into his lap and wrapped his arms around my stomach. "When is she due Major?" Masterson asked.

"Early November," Carlos replied. "Twins," he quickly added.

"So we still have time to squeeze in a small mission." I felt Carlos tense. He didn't want to be deployed during my pregnancy. The two men left to have a private conversation.

"Oh I hope daddy doesn't send him away," Ari groaned.

"If he does, I hope it's very soon and short," I replied. "I need him here for the twins birth."

"Do you know what you're having or are you waiting to be surprised," she said before giggling. "Sorry Steph… of course you already know. You really hate surprises."

I giggled, "You're correct. I'm having a boy and a girl."

"Ah… get it done in one pregnancy. I like how your body works," she joked. "The only way I'll have more than one is if I have twins."

"Who knows? Maybe Carlos and I will have another one after these guys," I stated while patting my belly.

"I'm with Arianna. I only want one," Manny added his two cents worth.

Arianna and I shared stories of our Point Pleasant childhood summers. Manny couldn't stop laughing. Valerie never heard most of the stories. The only ones she remembered were from the few weeks she spent with us.

I always spent the entire summer with our Mazur grandparents. Valerie only visited whenever dad and mom were here. She always insisted on leaving with them. Arianna, like me, spent the summers with her grandparents. I met her dad a few times when he had his leave.

"I was practically raised by my grandparents," Arianna stated. "Mom passed away when I was five. I don't remember too much about her."

"Cancer?" Manny asked.

"Aneurysm ruptured," she replied. I sat next to her and gave her a hug. "I met Steph and her grandparents a few months later. Her grandma was amazing."

"She really was something else," Manny said smiling. "I wasn't her biological grandson, but she treated me like I was. She was very accepting like Steph."

"Ya, Steph was always inclusive," Arianna said as she looked around the room. "It seems like she's still the same."

"I haven't changed. Manny, Hector, Bobby, Les and Tank are my platonic soulmates. They're a little protective of me, but I'm equally protective of them," I stated. The men moved closer when I said their names. "When I need them, they always drop everything for me."

"Just like you always drop everything for us, Beautiful," Lester responded.

"Babe," Carlos called. I looked over my shoulder. He lifted his chin, indicating he wanted me to follow him. Carlos exchanged a silent conversation with Lester. When we were in the privacy of our bedroom, he pulled me into his arms to whisper in my ear. "I need to leave on a mission for a few weeks. I'll be back within the month."

"Do you have to go?" I asked.

"I do. Lester will need to come with me. Don't leave the building without Tank, Hector, Bobby or Manny," he replied.

"Okay. When do you leave?"

"Now," he sadly stated.

"It's alright Batman. We both knew this could happen. Don't get shot," I told him.

"Don't go crazy," he said before giving me a panty melting kiss. I wanted him to make love to me before he leaves. He growled before pushing up my dress, ripping off my panties. Carlos spun me around before entering me. I stuck my fist into my mouth to muffle my screams while he buried his face into my neck to muffle his. "Babe," he growled before pulling on his nondescript black clothes.

If the men noticed my 'just had sex' look, they didn't say anything or tease me. Lester must have given them the news. He gave me a hug before following Carlos from the house. I watched my husband and cousin leave with Arianna's father.