I know that my story isn't garnering the same attention-reviews, favorites, follows, etc-as all of the Babe stories, but I still feel so blessed to have people actually reading my story! So Thank You everyone!

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Chapter 12

"I'll just go straight to your house so we can leave your Jeep there." Ranger said to Amy as they took the elevator down to the garage.

"I should only be about ten minutes behind you. Can you let Flynn out?" Amy had her keys in her hand when the elevator finally stopped its descent and the doors opened to the Rangeman basement parking garage.

"I can do that." He walked with her to her Jeep. "What do you need to do to get ready?"

"I'm going to change my clothes, and I think Lexi wants to change into a dress. I know we're girls but it really shouldn't take us more than ten minutes."

"There's not really any rush. The earlier we get there, the more time my mom has to interrogate you."

Amy stepped back as Ranger opened her door for her. "No, the earlier we get there, the more time your mom has to tell me embarrassing stories and show me baby pictures."

Ranger lowered his head towards hers and gave her a quick peck on the lips. "I'd do more but there's cameras. I'll meet you at your house."

"See you in a bit." She got in her Jeep and Ranger closed the door for her and waited until she'd backed out of her parking spot and pulled out of the garage before getting in his Cayenne.

Twenty-five minutes later Ranger was sitting at the island in Amy's kitchen drinking a bottle of water and waiting for the girls. He could hear Amy's footsteps above him as she moved between her bathroom, bedroom, and closet. After ten minutes he heard footsteps on the stairs but they were too soft to be Amy. Lexi rounded the corner from the living room in a knee-length dress that was cream on top and dark pink on the bottom with a gold belt around her waist.

"You look really pretty Lexi," Ranger watched as her whole face turned pink and she looked down at her matching gold mary jane shoes.

"Thank You." She said bashfully. "I wanted to look nice for dinner and pink is my favorite color, mom told me I should wear something I like so I'd be more comfortable."

"Your mom is one smart lady." Ranger gave her one of his recently more frequent smiles. "Pink is a good color for you."

Lexi turned an even brighter shade of pink that closely matched her dress.

"Okay," Amy walked into the kitchen barefoot with her black wedges in one hand and a little black sweater in the other. "Let's motor." She said as she set down her shoes and stepped into them while putting her sweater on over her aqua scoop-neck t-shirt which was tucked into the black skirt she'd worn on her second date with Ranger.

Ranger stood and did nothing to hide the fact that he was checking her out as his eyes slowly roamed down her body to her shoes and back up until he was looking into her eyes. He closed the distance between them and put one hand on her waist and the other to cup the side of her face. After a much shorter kiss than either of them really wanted he pulled back and let her see the gleam in his eyes. "Later." He whispered.

Amy just smiled then turned around to Lexi, "You ready to go baby girl?"

"Yeah mom. How long is it going to take to get there?" Lexi was still blushing, she looked a little uncomfortable seeing her mom kissing him.

" A little over an hour," Ranger answered.

"Can I bring my iPad?"

"Sure sweetie, go grab it." Amy answered.

The drive to Newark was nice. Amy asked Lexi about her day, Ranger chimed in with some questions and comments of his own. Then Lexi spent about twenty-five minutes playing twenty questions, asking about Ranger's parents, their house, his sister, his daughter Julie, she was relentless as all six-year olds are. Amy shot Ranger an apologetic look after Lexi asked her fifth question about Julie and why she didn't live with Ranger. He just smiled and shrugged a shoulder as if to say it wasn't a problem.

By the time they pulled into the driveway at Carlos and Marie Manoso's house Lexi was fidgeting excitedly in her seat. Amy and Ranger were holding hands and giving each other gentle reassuring squeezes now and then. Ranger turned towards Amy and smiled, "Last chance to back out."

"Not a chance!" Amy pulled her hand from his and quickly exited the car.

Ranger took her hand in his as they walked up the sidewalk, Lexi skipped ahead of them.

"Can I ring the doorbell?" She asked as she waited for Ranger and Amy to catch up.

Ranger smiled, "Manoso's don't ring the door bell, just open the door. My mom would be offended if you rang the bell."

Lexi got the storm door opened but the other door opened before she could reach for the handle. Marie Manoso was standing just inside the door, and there was no doubt in Amy's mind that this woman was the mother of her fabulously handsome boyfriend. Carlos Manoso very clearly favored his mother if only in the face. They had the same nose, eyes, and mouth. Her dark almost black hair was faintly highlighted with grey streaks and fell to her shoulders in big waves. Her amazing brown eyes were just as captivating as her son's. She wore a simple but beautiful burgundy wrap-style dress with elbow-length sleeves.

"Ric, they're here!" She called out excitedly in her delightfully accented English.

By the time Amy and Ranger got to the door his dad Ric had joined his wife at the door, and Amy saw where Ranger got his build and stature. Ricardo Manoso stood about six foot tall and had black hair he kept in a clean short style. He was wearing a dark grey v-neck sweater with black slacks. Amy was very glad that she had decided to wear her full black skirt instead of the khaki pants she'd originally planned to wear.

"Come in, come in!" Marie stepped back and instantly pulled Ranger into a huge hug. "Carlos, I'm so happy to see you again." She was squeezing him as hard as she could which was obviously not hard enough to bother him at all. She finally released him and then grabbed both of Amy's hands, "You are a beautiful girl, how did my Carlos manage to find such a stunning woman?"

"Well, he hired me about four and a half years ago. And I'm pretty sure he hired me for my looks." Amy teased. "I think my computer programming skills were second or third on the list of positive attributes."

Marie laughed. "Oh Carlos, you've got your hands full with this one. She's a keeper!" She pulled Amy in for a hug, "We are so happy to have you for dinner my dear." She released Amy then bent down a little to address Lexi. "And you, sweet little one, are the spitting image of your mama. Do you like to play checkers?"

Lexi was clutching her mom's hand and leaning into Amy's leg but she smiled tentatively and nodded.

"Ric was just getting the board set up in the living room, he loves to play checkers. Would you like to play checkers?"

Lexi looked up at Amy, who gave her a little nod, then looked back to Marie. "Sure." She said quietly.

Ric held out a hand and Lexi tentatively reached out and put her hand in his. "I've been told that I should be a professional checkers player, but you look like you could be a really good opponent. You probably play a lot, don't you?"

"Sometimes, mom says I'm really good but I think she just lets me win."

Ric pretended to scoff and be shocked, "I doubt that she lets you win. But we'll find out soon won't we?" He winked at her then escorted her into the living room.

"Carlos, sit with your dad and make sure he doesn't cheat. Amy, do you like to cook?" Marie was already pulling Amy away before Ranger could say anything.

"I love to cook."

"Amy is an excellent cook mama," Ranger called out as his mom pulled Amy into the kitchen with her. He looked identical to his dad when he winked at her just before she turned to follow Marie.

Once they were in the kitchen, Marie handed Amy an apron before put on her own. "Have you ever cooked any kind of Cuban-style food before?"

"I haven't. But I love trying new recipes so I'm open to anything."

"Good. I'm making Arroz con Pollo, which is…"

"Chicken and rice with vegetables," Amy interrupted, noticing the surprised look on Marie's face. "I used to live in Florida, and I went to college in Miami, so I'm familiar with Cuban food I've just never made it before."

"That's great! Would you mind helping chop the vegetables?" Marie looked very pleased that Amy knew her way around a kitchen as she expertly chopped the peppers, onion, and tomato. "So what made you want to leave Miami, I'm assuming your family is still there?"

"My dad and step-mom live in Clearwater, I try to make it down there once or twice a year. I moved here after my divorce was final from Lexi's dad. I was already working at the Miami Rangeman office, but a position opened up in Trenton and I was ready for a change so I took it."

"So do you have to take Lexi to see her dad very often? I'd imagine that traveling that far for visitation would be a bit of a pain." Marie hadn't been able to get much in the way of personal information from her son, so she was going straight to the source.

"I actually have full custody of Lexi. The reason for my divorce was because my ex had a problem with alcohol. He ended up getting charged and convicted of vehicular manslaughter and is currently in the Florida State Prison. So moving wasn't really an issue."

"I see." Marie didn't sound surprised or upset by that bit of information. "Well good for you, that was really smart to get away from him-not just emotionally but physically. And it seems like you guys have been doing well here." She set aside the chicken and turned to Amy, "Do you want to move it back to Miami eventually?"

"No," Amy said without hesitation. "Moving back would be too stressful for me, to be honest. I like being here, far enough away from my ex that I won't be bothered by him whenever he's eventually released."

"Won't he be allowed visitation of some kind when he's out?"

"I hope not," Amy again was quick to reply. "I actually had his parental rights terminated as part of the plea agreement when he was sentenced. He technically can file to reinstate his rights, but not until he's out of prison and off parole."

"Forgive me if I sound negative or accusing, but do you really feel that it's in the best interests of your daughter to never know her father?"

"I suppose I would be upset if you knew the whole story. I gave you the cliff notes. But since you've asked, my ex-husband was abusive to me. After his second DUI I told him that I wouldn't stay if he started drinking again. But as soon as his probation was over he was back at it. He'd come home stumbling drunk one night, and I had avoided him by sleeping in Lexi's room. The next morning he left to go golfing with some friends, and while he was gone I packed up mine and Lexi's things and moved us out. I was on my way out the door when he got home that afternoon, and he was completely wasted. When he realized I was leaving, he grabbed me and ended up breaking my arm."

"Mama!" Ranger called out from the doorway. He walked straight to Amy as spoke in rapid-fire Spanish, she could tell that he wasn't being very nice. His arm tightened around her waist as the exchange continued, until Amy had finally had enough.

"Either speak in English or stop talking. Ranger, I don't mind your mom's questions. She wants to know about me and about Lexi, she knows we're important to you so she's just making sure your making a good decision with us. I told you before that I could hold my own, and I was doing just fine. My past with Troy is just that, it's the past. I'm not living that fear and uncertainty any more. So go back to the living room. Because after I answer all of your mom's questions, she's going to show me your baby pictures."

Marie was grinning knowingly at her son by the time Amy had finished her reprimand. She said one last thing to Ranger in Spanish that had him smiling. He leaned down and kissed Amy's cheek before getting a glass of water for Lexi and going back to the living room.

"Well my dear, I'm sorry if I was being too nosy. My son just reminded me that meeting you for the first time probably isn't when I should ask such things."

"I meant what I said, I don't mind. I'm a single mom, I understand being protective and concerned about your child. So if you want me to, I'll finish. I was just about done anyways."

"Please," Marie nodded but went back to the dinner prep.

"After he broke my arm, I kneed him in the balls and ran out of there with Lexi bawling in her car seat. He left when he realized I'd called the police on him. That's when he got into an accident, which resulted in his third DUI and the vehicular manslaughter charge. Lexi obviously doesn't remember any of that, nor would I want her to. She doesn't remember her dad, obviously, and because she was just a baby I was able to deny him visitation. Taking a baby to a prison isn't really the best way for her to get to know her dad. And I wouldn't have gone anyways because by the time he got sentenced I had seen Troy enough and said everything that needed to be said for closure. So in the end I filed for his parental rights to be taken. I won. It was about a month after the divorce was final and he'd been sentenced, that the Securities Technology Specialist job came open in Trenton. It was a promotion for me, but my degree and nearly three years working in the Miami office evidently made me a shoe-in because Ranger flew to Miami to interview me and I started at the Trenton office two weeks later."

"It takes a strong woman to stand up to a man like that, especially her husband. You should know, if you don't already, that you have set an amazing example for your daughter. Because of you she will know how to be strong and independent. Be proud of yourself for that." Marie closed the distance between her and Amy, "Can I give you a hug? We're huggers in this family and I really need to hug you right now."

Amy smiled, "I would love a hug."

After a few moments Marie released her and stepped back, "I like you, I think your good for my Carlos. He needs someone who can stand up for herself and not just go along with him, doing as he says."

That declaration caught Amy by surprise, she smiled at Marie and fought the tear that threatened to fall. "Thank You Marie, I really appreciate you saying that. It means a lot."

Amy and Marie chatted pleasantly while they cooked dinner. They had a few other sides along with the arroz con pollo. Amy was happy to cook with Ranger's mom and learn some new recipes that she could make for him again later. Once everything was cooking in the oven they had a break and Marie sat down with Amy in the living room and showed her Ranger's baby pictures.

"Come on mom, the baby pictures?"

"Carlos, you were as adorable then as you are handsome now."

He grumbled something to his dad then they stood and went out to the garage to check out his dad's classic Mustang.

"Oh this one is my favorite!" Marie put the album in Amy's lap, "This was on his third birthday, he loved wearing his howdy doody hat and carrying around his cap gun."

"In nothing but his underwear?!" Amy was laughing.

Marie smiled as she nodded, "We had a hard time keeping him in clothes in the summer, he wore his underwear and sometimes shorts but that was it. He saw all of the older neighborhood boys running around with no shirts and he wanted to be like the big boys."

"I am so glad that Lexi never went through a naked phase." Amy winked at Lexi who gave her a funny look at the mention of her name.

"So how long have you and Carlos been seeing each other?" Marie dug right in to the personal questions again now that Ranger had went out to the garage with his dad.

"Officially, about a week and a half. We've kind of been slowly moving towards dating for about three or four months now." Amy paused for a moment. "My last relationship was my ex-husband. I moved up here right after that and I just wasn't in any hurry to start dating. Once I finally got settled in Trenton I thought about dating but I never met anyone that I could see a future with or whom I thought would be a good father to my daughter."

Marie nodded, "That's understandable. Do you want more kids?"

Amy smiled, "I do, I always wanted at least two kids. I have a brother but I also have four step-siblings and a half-sister. I loved having other siblings. Lexi has been pretty vocal recently about wanting a baby sister. So I'm sure that she's hoping that'll happen soon." Amy laughed, Marie was obviously pleased to hear she wanted more kids. "I don't see that happening terribly soon but I hope in the next couple of years."

"I would have loved to have a large family, it just didn't work out that way." Marie admitted. "We had Carlos, and a few years later we had his sister Elisa. I had a miscarriage about five years after her, and that was it."

"I'm so sorry," Amy put her hand over Marie's. "I was lucky, Alexa was planned and we didn't have to try for long."

"Elisa hasn't had any troubles either. She and her husband Peter have two for now, though I expect that to change soon. Her oldest Noah is four and a half, and then Meredith will be two the day after Thanksgiving so we'll get to celebrate with them when they're home for the weekend."

Amy smiled, happy to know that Ranger's niece would be turning two the day before their wedding-even though Marie didn't yet know that. "That'll be so nice! Ranger, er Carlos, told me that Elisa and her family were coming home for Thanksgiving, I can't wait to meet them." Amy smiled and shook her head. "I'm sorry, I feel strange calling him Ranger in front of you. But since he is my boss and I've called him Ranger for years it seems strange to call him Carlos. I told him I'm going to have to come up with a nickname for him but I haven't found one yet."

"He will probably be mad that I told you this, but in high school they called him Manny because there was another Carlos in his class. He didn't always like it but it made things easier at school."

Amy smiled, "There's a nickname idea."

A timer went off in the kitchen so Marie and Amy went back to the kitchen to work on supper. The rest of the night couldn't have gone any better. Amy fell even more in love with Ranger, watching him with his parent's who he clearly adored. Ric and Marie made it pretty clear that they liked Amy and Lexi as well, since they insisted on the three of them going to Newark again for the next big family gathering for Day of the Dead-which Lexi was absolutely ecstatic about.

Once they were back in Ranger's car and headed back to Trenton, Lexi was quiet in the back seat.

"I thought that was a good evening." Amy said to Ranger.

"It was a total success, my parents love you and Lexi." Ranger took her hand firmly in his. "My dad was grilling me in the garage, asking when I was going to propose and reminding me that he and mom want more grandkids soon."

"Your mom made it seem like your sister would probably be making an announcement about that soon." Amy looked over at him and saw him smile.

"Probably. Growing up she always wanted more brothers and sisters. When she got older mom told us that it just never worked out for her and dad to have any more. I wouldn't be surprised if Elisa and Peter end up having half a dozen kids, or more."

"Having a lot of siblings is fun. When dad married Carrie I gained four step-siblings, and it really was nice to have more than just one sibling."

"So how many more kids to you think you'd want to have?"

"One or two more for sure. I guess we'd just have to see how it goes after that." Amy knew he was feeling her out. "I'll be thirty in a couple weeks so I don't exactly have a ton of time left."

"Well, we'll find out in about a week or so if we're adding to our family already, right?" Ranger winked at her as she gave him a slightly annoyed look.

Amy quickly looked over her shoulder to see that Lexi was playing her iPad and not paying any attention to them. "I thought we'd agreed to not talk about that yet."

"We don't have to talk about it. I was just asking."

"Yes, we should know in about a week. Now shush you!"

"So, can I stay over tonight?" Ranger brought Amy's hand that he had been holding in his to his mouth and kissed the back of it, moving further up her wrist and arm with each kiss.

Amy pursed her lips to one side in consideration, "I don't know,"

"Please," he said in as pathetic of a voice as he could manage.

Amy was quiet for a little bit and that's when he knew he'd won.

The entire following week was really busy. They'd been able to finalize all of the wedding plans, but tracking down all of the vendors they needed had been no easy task. Planning a Thanksgiving-themed wedding for the Saturday of Thanksgiving had proved to be a bit of a challenge but they'd pulled it off. After much deliberation Amy even let Ranger talk her into getting a dress from a bridal shop instead of just getting a dress off the rack at a department store. Everything had come together pretty perfectly.

Amy walked into Rangeman at ten after eight Friday, she hated being late. But she had overslept her alarm that morning, she couldn't remember the last time she had done that. Lexi had been in a weird mood that morning and had been slow to get dressed and ready. Then just as Amy was dropping Lexi off at school, getting there a minute before the first bell rang, she realized she'd forgotten her cell phone at home. The whole morning had been weird and she felt a little off kilter. She tried to brush it off as she walked off the elevator on the third floor to swing by the lounge for her habitual bottle of water and grabbed a banana for her morning snack later.

The door to her office was open, which wasn't really concerning since she was late. Marcy had obviously unlocked her door to leave some work for her. Sure enough there was already four files on her desk and probably half a dozen notes, probably customers who have a problem that the lower level programmers weren't able to solve. She sat down and after stowing her purse away in the credenza she started to work on returning calls as she checked her e-mail. The first customer only took five minutes. After ending the call Amy immediately returned the call of the next customer. She was in the middle of that call when her e-mail pinged indicating a new message, it was from Ranger.

From: Carlos Manoso

Subject: Is Your Watch Broken?

Date: September 23 2016 08:25

To: Amaya Kendrick

Hey Sweetheart,

I don't think you've ever been late before, everything okay this morning?

R

Amy had to smile. Of course he would've noticed that she was late, and naturally he was concerned. She quickly typed up a response as she spoke to the tech advisor for the law firm of Louis and Adams, their problem was that they hadn't correctly programmed in a code for a new employee so their system had locked down. She had to access it remotely from her computer to unlock their security, which wasn't hard it just took some time. She promised the tech advisor their system should be back up in less than thirty minutes and ended the call just as she was finishing the e-mail to Ranger.

From: Amaya Kendrick

Subject: No Watch Problems

Date: September 23 2016 08:27

To: Carlos Manoso

R

Just a bad morning. I overslept my alarm this morning, Lexi was acting like a teenager, and after I took Lex to school I realized I forgot my phone. That's why I was late.

Amy

Ranger's response was almost immediate.

From: Carlos Manoso

Subject: Can I Brighten Your Day?

Date: September 23 2016 08:28

To: Amaya Kendrick

Sweetie,

I'm sorry that you had a rough morning. Is there anything I can do to brighten your day? What if I told you that Bobby and his guys started on the house this morning? He said all of the wood in the formal living room should be stripped and ready to be stained in about two weeks.

R

She had to give him credit, he really did know how to make her smile. She sent him a quick response before going back to returning phone calls.

From: Amaya Kendrick

Subject: Consider It Brighter

Date: September 23 2016 08:30

To: Carlos Manoso

R

Any day that starts off with some playful emails from you make my day brighter. Thank You.

Are we doing our usual lunch in your apartment?

Amy

Amy waited a couple of minutes for a response, when none came she returned the next message. Since she had her back to her door she couldn't see Ranger walking slowly into her office but as always, she could sense him there.

"You keep trying that, but in four years it's never worked." She said softly after she covered the mouthpiece of her phone.

A low chuckle sounded behind her. He waited a few minutes for her to finish the phone call and turn around to her big desk before speaking. "We all have our bad days," he noticed the slight bags under her eyes and she had her hair pulled back in a kind of messy bun.

"Yeah, nothing was going right for me this morning. But I'm here. At least it's Friday."

"No offense, but you kind of look like you didn't get a very good night's sleep last night." Ranger sat down in one of the chairs in front of her desk.

Amy took a deep breath in and blew it out her nose as she gave him a one-sided grin. "Yeah, I have no idea what the problem was last night but I couldn't get comfortable."

"Your more than welcome to go up to my apartment and take a nap if you need to." Ranger reached across her desk and held her hand in his.

"I'll be alright. We don't have any big plans for the weekend, so I'll just hope that I get to sleep-in a little tomorrow morning." Amy squeezed his hand.

"We're still on for lunch today." He said in answer to her last e-mail. "Are we still on for dinner tonight?"

"Yes. Lexi would be very disappointed if you didn't watch Aladdin with us tonight." Amy couldn't help but smile. Lexi loved Ranger, and he really seemed to enjoy spending time with Lexi as well.

"My mom called me this morning and invited us up for lunch Sunday. I wasn't sure if you guys had any plans so I told her I would call her back."

"We don't have anything going on Sunday, and I would love to have lunch with your parents. Is anyone else going to be there?"

"Sunday lunch is kind of a weekly thing, anyone in the family who isn't busy after church goes to mom and dad's for lunch. So there will definitely be other people there, but I couldn't tell you who for sure."

Amy nodded, "Sounds like a plan then." She paused for a few seconds and when he didn't say anything else she squeezed his hand again. "I hate to kick you out but I've got a few more calls to return, I have to unlock the system for Louis and Adams because their tech advisor is a moronic twelve-year old who can't program in a simple new employee code, and then I have four new customer files to go through. So I'll see you at lunch?"

Ranger smirked at her as he stood, he knew that she loved her job so her to-do list was delivered in a nearly excited tone. "Yeah, lunch. Eleven-thirty. If I don't stop by your office before then, stop by mine. I have an eleven o-clock meeting and he tends to get a little chatty."

"Sounds good." She tilted her head back as Ranger leaned down over her desk to give her a kiss.

"See you in a little bit Sweetheart." He said just before he turned and walked out.

Amy didn't eat with her usual enthusiasm at lunch, Ranger noticed but didn't say anything. Over the course of the weekend he noticed that she really seemed to be off but figured it was probably just because of stress with the house officially under construction, the wedding planning, and getting ready to move. By Tuesday morning he was starting to worry after Amy had been late to work again that day, and even Tank was concerned.

"Hey boss, everything okay with you and Amy?" Tank asked as he walked into Ranger's office a little after ten.

"Yeah we're great, why?" Ranger tilted his head ever so slightly to one side as he looked at Tank.

"I just ran into her leaving the lounge and she was eating a pickle spear and she had a doughnut on a napkin. I don't think I've ever seen her eat a doughnut, she's usually kind of a habitually healthy eater like you. Then I asked her how her morning was going and she said something about it being crappy because she'd overslept her alarm again. I teased her that she needed to stop staying up late with you and she flipped me off. I'm used to getting the finger from the guys, but she's never done it before. I apologized to her and she quickly ran to her office but I swore she looked like she was about to start crying."

Ranger stood up and was walking out of his office before Tank could even ask him what was going on. He practically ran down the hall and across the floor through the programmers cubicles to Amy's office. When he walked in she was facing away from the door, which was normal for her, but she definitely sounded like she was crying.

"Sweetheart," Ranger crooned as he quickly rounded her desk then crouched down by her chair. "What's wrong?"

Amy let out a short laugh through her tears. "I don't know. I overslept again, which drives me crazy." She accepted the tissue Ranger offered and wiped at her still flowing tears. "Thanks. I hate being late and I missed my morning workout, so that kind of threw my day off. Lexi made it off to school just fine but I was about a block from here when I realized I still had my slippers on and I'd left my phone and my workout bag at home. So I had to turn back and get it." She paused to take a breath before continuing, "I probably owe Tank an apology because I was kind of mean to him a few minutes ago in the lounge." Her tears had finally stopped.

"Yeah he told me about that, that's why I came to check on you." He rubbed both of his hands on her thighs and looked down, and had to stop himself from chuckling so he didn't upset her even more but she caught the slight shake of his shoulders.

"What's so funny?"

"You're still in your yoga pants that you wore to bed last night and your socks don't match."

Amy looked down and realized that he was totally right, she thought she'd put on black slacks but she'd never changed her pants. And her left foot had a short black sock while her right had a crew grey sock. That realization made her break down and cry again.

"Sweetheart, what's going on? Are you stressed? It would be understandable, we have a lot going on right now. Troy's crap, planning the wedding, the house construction, moving…" He still kind of wanted to laugh at her because her reactions were so unreasonable but he knew that would be a really bad thing.

"I don't know!" She practically yelled at him.

A movement at the doorway caught his attention and he looked over to see Tank in the doorway.

"Amy, you alright girl? I was just teasing you earlier, I'm sorry that I offended you."

Amy shook her head at him and tried to smile, "You didn't offend me. I honestly have no idea what's going on with me lately." She noticed Ranger suddenly start smiling. "I'm so happy to know that you find this amusing!"

"Boss man, you might not want to laugh at her when she's crying." Tank was leaning in the doorway now.

"I'm not laughing at her," he said to Tank. "Go back to your office, I'll be back in mine in a little bit."

Tank tipped his head in acknowledgement, "I'll see ya' later Ames,"

She gave him a weak smile, "Bye, thanks for checking on me Tank."

"Sweetie," Ranger said after Tank had left. "Let's go up to my apartment."

"Why are you still smiling? This isn't funny! I feel like I'm losing it. Lexi lost another tooth Sunday and I cried over that. I don't cry over shit like that."

Ranger's smile had grown, "I'm going to call Bobby and have him meet us in the apartment." He pulled her up out of her chair. "C'mon." He pulled his phone out as they started walking through the programmers 'bull pen' and toward the elevator. "Bobby, meet me in my apartment and bring your bag. No, I'm fine, just need your help with something."

"Why do we need Bobby?" Amy asked as they stepped on the elevator, Ranger still had his arm around her waist holding her to him.

"Do you remember what we did about two and a half weeks ago?" Ranger asked.

She was quiet as she thought about it.

"The night I showed you the house for the first time." He gave her a hint.

"Oh. My. God." She froze and her jaw dropped.

"Sweetie, I'm pretty sure your pregnant." Ranger was still smiling. He was ecstatic.

Amy smiled. The elevator doors opened and Ranger pulled her out with him. "Bobby will be up in a couple minutes. He can get a blood sample and run it to the lab and we can have the answer in less than an hour."

Amy sat on a stool at the island while Ranger grabbed them each a bottle of water from the fridge. "I can't believe I didn't think of that."

"Well, how did you know you were pregnant with Lexi?" Ranger passed her a water across the island and stayed on the other side to let Bobby in when he got there.

"I wasn't really having symptoms yet, I tested because we had been trying so I knew when to test. This time, I knew there was a possibility but I honestly didn't think that one time would do it when I wasn't sure about the timing."

"Are you freaking out?"

Amy's eyes shot up to Ranger's. "No!" She smiled, "I'm surprised but I'm excited. Of course I'm a little nervous and anxious, but I'm not freaking out."

"Good." A short knock on the door meant Bobby had arrived. Ranger walked over and let him in. "Bobby."

"What's up boss? What do you need?" Bobby walked into the kitchen with his med bag over one shoulder.

Ranger pointed at Amy, "Can you get a blood sample from Amy and run an HCG test?"

Bobby was in the middle of pulling on a pair of Nitrile gloves and stopped with one glove half on when he heard Ranger say HCG. He looked at Ranger and cocked his head to the side. "You want a pregnancy test?"

Ranger smiled, "Yes. We already know but we'd like a blood test to confirm it."

"So you took a home test?" Bobby asked as he walked over to Amy while he finished putting on his gloves and set his bag on the counter next to her. He pulled out everything he needed to draw blood.

Amy shook her head, "No. But my hormones have been wonky, my moods have been all over the place. And we know there was a night about two and half weeks ago when there was no goalie."

"I have urine tests in my office downstairs." Bobby looked at Amy. "We can still do the blood test but the home test will give you an answer in less than two minutes."

"Let's just go with the blood test, like Amy said we already know." Ranger looked to Amy, "Unless you want to pee on a stick for us." Ranger teased.

"I don't have any desire to share my pee with you guys, sorry Bobby."

He smiled, "I'll just take a little of your blood." He tied the tourniquet above her elbow. "You're not squeamish with needles or blood are you?" Amy shook her head. In less than a minute Bobby had a vial of blood and was wrapping some Coban around her arm to cover her elbow where he drew the blood. "Alright, I'll run this to the lab and have them fax the results over. It should only take about half an hour for them to run it. So I'll have the results in less than an hour."

"That's great," Ranger walked Bobby to the door. "Call me as soon as you have the labs back."

After the door closed Amy stood up and walked over to the couch and dropped down. Ranger sat down next to her putting one arm around her shoulders and reached the other across to grab her hand in his. "Why don't you lay down either here on the couch or back on the bed and take a nap. I'll wake you up when Bobby has the results."

"I have work to get back to, I'll just go back to my office and you can call me when Bobby has the labs back."

"No." Ranger held Amy down when she tried to get up off the couch. "I'm your boss and your fiance and I say that you can't go back to work. Lay down and rest and I'll come back up in less than an hour with the results."

Amy rolled her eyes but let Ranger lift her legs as she turned sideways on the couch. "This is what the next 8 months is going to be like, isn't it?"

"Hey, that's my baby in there. If your tired and run down, you can't really just push through it right now. You need the rest." He walked to his office and was back a minute later with a blanket. "So your going to stay up here and rest, take a nap, and I'll see you in a little bit." He draped the blanket over her before leaning down and kissing her on the forehead. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Amy said as she closed her eyes and settled onto the couch. She heard the apartment door open and close a few seconds later. She kept her eyes closed as she took a deep breath, she would rest on the couch for a bit then go back to her office. She was falling asleep less than two minutes later.

"Sweetheart." Ranger whispered as he gently rubbed her shoulder. He leaned down and kissed her cheek, "Amaya, nap time is over."

Amy finally cracked open one eye at him and couldn't help but smile. Waking up to Ranger with his trademark grin on his impossibly handsome face, how could she not smile when that's the first thing she see's. She stretched then sat up.

He held up a folded piece of paper. "Results are back."

Amy's eyes got wide and she clasped her hands together, "Well?"

"I was waiting to look at it with you."

"Well, what are you waiting for?!" Amy clapped her hands together really quickly a few times.

Ranger unfolded the paper, roughly in the middle was a circled number and a hand-written note off to the side. "HCG is 1598, Bobby added a note that says your numbers are great. He wants us to check in with him later." He smiled at Amy, "But it's official. Look." He handed her the lab sheet. At the bottom of the paper Bobby had written in big capital letters 'YOU'RE PREGNANT! CONGRATULATIONS MOM AND DAD!'

Amy smiled and threw her arms around Ranger's neck. "Well, it looks like we're going to be a family of four around the middle of June."

"Yes we are." Ranger couldn't stop smiling. And neither could Amy.