I'm back on schedule, for now. Sorry for the delay over the holidays. Thanks for reading! I still am just utterly surprised when I see how many times my story gets read with each new update. I wish there was a way to tell you guys that I'm working on the next chapter without doing a chapter update! You guys are awesome! Keep the reviews coming, I love them all!
Chapter 15
Amy stayed at the office until three, she was at least going to pick Lexi up from school like she had planned to do. As soon as she got home she changed into her yoga pants and an oversized sweater and snuggled under a blanket on the couch.
"What's for supper mom?"
Amy wasn't sure she was even hungry. After spending all afternoon working on the Vanderfleet software and trying to find evidence of tampering while Brent and Tess looked for any problems with the software itself had mentally worn her out. "What do you want for supper?"
"Pizza?!" Lexi asked excitedly as she practically jumped up and down.
"Sure," Amy was not in any mood to cook anyways. "I'll call and order around 5. What kind do you want?"
"What is Ranger's favorite kind of pizza?"
Amy smiled, of course Lexi would want to order his favorite.
"Ranger doesn't really eat much pizza, so I'm not sure. We had kind of a big issue at work today so I'm not sure when he'll be home baby. I'll call him before I order and see if he even wants any. Okay?"
"Okay." Lexi's excitement had dropped noticeably. "I want veggie pizza."
When it was just the two of them they would order a supreme and ask for half with no meat since Lexi just liked the veggies on her pizza. If Ranger would eat anything Amy guessed it would be veggie pizza. She decided to send him a quick text instead of calling and bugging him while he was with a client.
A: Ordering pizza for dinner, any requests? Lex likes veggie.
Ranger's response came a minute later, which kind of surprised Amy.
R: Veggie works for me.
A: ETA on when you'll be home?
R: Not sure, Vincent still isn't convinced that it isn't our fault. We've found no
physical evidence of tampering.
A: When I left Brent and Tess we had made some good progress. I'll need to
make an on-site visit Monday if you guys or Brent and Tess don't find
anything.
R: We will get this cleared up today. I'm not leaving until this is done.
A: So we lost our afternoon and now our evening too?
R: I'm hoping we won't lose our evening. Order some pizza, I'll be home as
soon as I can. I love you sweetie.
A: Love you too.
Ranger finally got home a little after seven, looking a little tired, but still smiled when he walked over to where Amy was lounging on the couch. She had a fluffy blanket over her legs and Flynn was laying on her feet, while she did some knitting. He leaned down over her and gave her a kiss then walked over to Lexi who was watching Tangled and hadn't even noticed him walking in. He lightly grabbed her shoulder then released it, "Hey Lex."
She gave him an apprehensive smile, "Hi." She paused, "Mom left the pizza on the counter."
Ranger nodded, "Thanks." He winked then went back to Amy. He sat on the ottoman just a few feet from the couch. "It was their network security officer. He didn't realize that you had hidden a program to keep track of every time someone logs in to the system and alters the original programming." He got up and squatted in front of her, "I had no idea you'd hidden that program code in their software package. You literally saved us one of our biggest clients today. Thank you sweetheart." He leaned forward and kissed her, turning his head a little he probed the seam of her lips with his tongue and she opened to him.
After about a minute Amy pulled back. "For the record, that programming code is hidden in every software package we install. I'll admit the original purpose for it was actually an internal tracking system to know who had worked on the program and what they had done. I just never deleted it from the package because I realized it could be useful." She gave him an almost bashful smile, "Pizza is on the counter. I got a large half supreme half veggie. There's some breadsticks too."
"Do we still have lettuce for salad?"
Amy nodded, "Your not going to eat any pizza, are you?"
"Probably one piece." Ranger stood up.
"Fun-hater." Amy teased.
Ranger came back in a few minutes later with a large salad, one piece of pizza, and a bottle of water. Amy was knitting away. "What are you making?"
"I'm finishing up a scarf for Ella for Christmas. Then I'll probably start on a new winter headband for Lexi." She glanced up at him then back to her knitting. "Why, do you want a hat or something?"
Ranger shook his head. "Have you ever knit a baby blanket?"
Amy's eyes shot up to his, to Lexi who was still enthralled by her movie, and then back to Ranger. "Yes, why?"
"Do you think you can get two blankets done in about seven months?"
Amy shrugged. "I suppose I'll find out." She stood up and headed to the kitchen giving Ranger a head nod telling him to follow her. Once they were out of Lexi's range of hearing, "Do you want to find out what we're having, or leave it a surprise?"
"What do you think?" Ranger rinsed his plate in the sink then put it in the dishwasher. "Wouldn't it be easier to know, especially since we're having two, possibly three at once. Did you find out with Lexi?"
Amy nodded, "Troy wanted to know."
"But you didn't?"
She shook her head, "I like the idea of it being a surprise. With all of the other medical procedures and interventions with pregnancy and birth these days, not knowing the gender-or genders in our case-always sounded more fun to me."
Ranger nodded once and looked at her for a few seconds before giving her his signature smirk, "Then we won't find out."
"If you want to know I'm fine finding out."
"No," he answered quickly. "We haven't followed any other traditions or done anything else remotely normal so I think not knowing works perfectly for us."
Amy smiled. "So just how many people are coming to your parents tomorrow night for my birthday dinner?"
"Well with my parents just never know. I'm betting it'll be like most other Manoso gatherings. Why, are you worried?"
"No," Amy shook her head, "You just haven't really said much about it."
"What is there to say? My mom wanted to cook for you for your birthday, and since she can cook your favorite foods much better than I could I figured I'd let her."
Amy chuckled. "Cheater."
"You probably wouldn't want me to make your birthday dinner, unless you like twigs and berries." He teased, knowing that most everyone thought Ranger never ate anything the least bit unhealthy.
"I need more sustenance than that to grow healthy babies." Amy teased. She walked around the island and put her arms around his waist "Wanna snuggle on the couch with me?"
Ranger looped his arms loosely around her, "Can we make out too?"
"Later, after Lexi goes to bed."
"Now who's the fun-hater?" Ranger couldn't help but tease her back as he left one arm around her waist as they walked back out to the living room.
"I let you knock me up, I think we've had enough fun in that department." Amy deadpanned, which only made Ranger laugh. She was always quick with a witty comeback, which was something that he absolutely loved about her.
He leaned down so his mouth was right next to her ear as they walked into the living room, "You can never have enough fun in that department." He let his hand lower to her behind and gave one cheek a little pinch. Amy turned her head to scowl at him as she sat in the middle of the couch and Ranger took her previous spot and pulled her into him.
"Did you call your dad about Thanksgiving?" Ranger kicked his feet out onto the ottoman.
Amy nodded, "He and Carrie and the kids are definitely coming out. I told him we were sending out formal dinner invitations but I wanted to warn him so he had enough time to get flights booked."
"And your brother?"
"They're coming too. I think they're all just anxious to meet you. Carrie kept telling me to move on and start dating after I moved up here, I just never felt ready."
"You were just waiting for the perfect guy." Ranger said smugly.
"Yeah I was, but I found you and figured you were good enough." She knew that would rile him up, she knew she'd hit her mark when his hand quickly snaked to the back of her thigh and tickled her. "I'm kidding! Ranger!" She tried to get off of the couch and away from him but he had one arm wrapped firmly around her waist.
Ranger stopped after a few more moments and noticed that Lexi was watching them with a huge ear-to-ear grin on her face. He winked at her before nuzzling into Amy's neck, "Your lucky that you're pregnant and I don't want to shake the babies too much."
Amy had to laugh at that comment but she was really loving their new normal and having Ranger living with them. She could tell that Lexi was already used to it and enjoyed having Ranger with them pretty much all the time. "You can't shake the babies by tickling me," she whispered back. All in all she couldn't imagine a better way to spend a Friday night.
Saturday morning was a pretty lazy for them, after a light lunch Amy decided to shower and change out of her pajamas. Wearing blue jeans and a lavender v-neck long-sleeve shirt she slipped on some Uggs and took Lexi out to get their nails done upon Ranger's insistence that they do something fun and girly for Amy's birthday. They came back with freshly painted nails just in time to get changed to head to Newark.
Lexi wore a shimmery dark purple knee-length dress with black leggings. Amy had braided her hair in one French braid per her request. Amy opted to wear a knee-length navy blue wrap dress and left her elbow-length wavy hair to flow down her back. Ranger stepped out of the closet as Amy worked on her makeup. He was wearing black slacks, a grey button-down shirt with the top two buttons undone, and a black vest.
"You look nice," Amy said as she watched him in the mirror.
"Mom kind of makes a big deal out of birthdays, so we all dress up." Ranger shrugged as he spritzed himself with his signature Bulgari cologne. "How much longer will you be?"
"I just need to finish my makeup then get shoes."
"No heels."
Amy dropped her hand so she didn't mess up her eyeliner and turned towards him. "Why no heels?"
"Your pregnant, I don't want you to lose your balance because of those ankle-breaking heels you like to wear."
Amy scowled at him, "One, your not my dad so you don't get to dictate my wardrobe. Two, I wear heels all the time so it's not something abnormal for me. And three, if you ever try to tell me what I can or can't wear I will knee you in the balls. Got it?" She was only half serious but she liked watching Ranger's face change from his normal blank expression to a somewhat worried and slightly wide-eyed look.
"I'm just concerned."
"Your just being insanely overprotective. I'll wear whatever shoes I want, thank you very much." Amy smirked and went back to applying the rest of her eye liner. A minute later her light makeup was done and she was in the closet looking at her shoes while Ranger watched. She had a pair of Navy Blue sandals that would match but early October wasn't the best time to wear sandals. Another option was a pair of four-inch stiletto heels in Navy Blue. Her last option, and one that would keep her from following Ranger's insane no heel dictate but still keep him somewhat happy, was a pair of shimmery nude open-toed kitten heels. She really wanted to wear the nude stilettos but opted to go for option three just to kind of try to keep the peace with Ranger a little.
She walked out of the closet and Ranger looked straight down at her feet. She shrugged her shoulders, "A compromise. I like heels, I'm not going to quit wearing them just because I'm pregnant."
He nodded, "Fair enough. Shall we go then?"
"Definitely."
Ranger walked in the front door of his parents house and they were instantly greeted to a living room and dining room full of people. Marie rushed to them as soon as she spotted them.
"Oh Carlos, and Amy! You look beautiful!" she rushed over and gave Carlos a hug before turning to Amy and giving her a squeeze. She took a step back holding Amy at arms-length, "You look different, did you color your hair?"
Amy suddenly felt a little nervous, she didn't feel any different but she knew that some people could just tell something was different once you were pregnant. "No," she shook her head, "I think it's just this dress."
Marie nodded, "That's probably it." But she kept looking at Amy for a few more moments before she grabbed Lexi's hand, "Alexa, I need some help in the kitchen. Since it's your mama's special day, how would you like to help me?"
Lexi smiled and nodded furiously, "I would love to!" She looked at Amy, "Can I?"
"Absolutely baby girl, go ahead."
Amy tossed a cautious look at Ranger before they were surrounded by Manoso's. Everyone was generous with the hugs and kisses on the cheek. Ranger intercepted someone taking a margarita to Amy and gave it to someone else, giving her a bottle of water instead. Marie called for everyone to stand around the dining room table and say Grace together before an extra table was set up in the living room and everyone sat down to start eating.
Marie had knocked Amy's birthday dinner out of the park. The appetizers were insanely delicious, fried ravioli, Italian stuffed mushrooms, and bruschetta. There was stuffed shells, cheese-stuffed meatballs, and chicken alfredo along with a few different antipasto salads, lettuce salad, and breadsticks. Amy was pretty sure her pants wouldn't fit anymore after that carb-filled dinner. She could tell that Ranger was just happy to see her eating enthusiastically for the first time since they found out she was pregnant. For dessert Marie had made a special lemon cake with lemon frosting since that was Amy's favorite kind of cake, but she also made a more traditional Cuban dulce de leche flan.
Amy couldn't help herself, she took a small slice of the lemon cake and a small slice of the flan. Ranger gave her a slightly dirty look, considering he was not a fan of desserts at all. However Marie made him take a piece of flan, knowing that was one of the few desserts he would eat.
Ranger sat down next to Amy and leaned toward her, "You'll pay for those desserts later. Just because your eating for three doesn't mean you can eat that much."
Amy shot him a dirty look, "I will eat whatever I want to eat on my birthday. This is the one day of the year that I allow myself to eat anything and everything I want." She continued to scowl at him, "I don't stuff myself at Thanksgiving or Christmas, my Birthday is the one and only day I give myself. Because it's not just my birthday, it's also the day my divorce was finalized. This is my day." Amy made her point by finishing the last bite of her flan and taking a big bite of her lemon cake.
Ranger put a hand on her thigh, "I'm sorry. I was trying to tease you, but as most people would tell you I'm not known for my sense of humor." He squeezed her leg and smiled at her, "To be honest, I've been happy to see you eat so well tonight after the rough week or so you've had with nausea and food."
She wanted to stay mad at him, she really did. But he really wasn't that great with teasing or jokes. "One thing you should keep in mind, never talk about how much food a woman is eating, especially not a pregnant woman."
"My apologies sweetheart." He dropped a kiss on her cheek before letting her return to her cake. Ranger turned to Lexi who was sitting next to his mom, "Lex, I forgot your moms birthday present. Would you mind running out to the car for me?"
Lexi popped up and ran over to Ranger, "Sure!"
"It's a bright pink gift bag in the back."
"Okay!" Lexi practically sprinted out of the dining room and was out the front door in just a few seconds.
Amy eyed him suspiciously, "Birthday present?"
"Of course! Plus your officially thirty, so it needs to be celebrated and you deserve a fabulous present."
She was just about to bug him with more questions when Lexi ran in with the pink gift bag and gave it to Ranger.
"Thanks little lady." Ranger said, which made Lexi duck her head and blush all the way back to her seat. "For you." He handed the bag to Amy.
She felt her cheeks warm a little and leaned over to kiss him before she started digging into the layers of tissue paper in the bag. Amy pulled out a long envelope and eyed Ranger suspiciously. She set it aside and kept digging until she pulled out a long skinny box. Finding nothing more in the bag she smiled at Ranger.
"Does it matter which one I open first?" she asked.
Ranger shook his head, "No, go for it."
Amy was pretty sure the long skinny box was jewelry of some kind so she went for the envelope. Inside were two airline tickets and a brochure for a private villa in the Maldives. Amy's jaw dropped and she looked up at Ranger, "Shut the front door, are you serious?"
Ranger smiled and nodded at her, "They're open-dated, but I'm hoping we can go over the New Year holiday."
Amy squealed and threw herself at him, basically crawling into his lap and giving him a very enthusiastic kiss. After a few moments she finally got herself under control and sat in her own chair again. "This is amazing, I can't believe you remembered!"
"Well I looked at Tihiti and Bora Bora too, but the Maldives just seemed like a good choice. Plus neither one of us have been there."
Amy just nodded at him as her cheeks started to hurt from smiling so hard and she was trying so hard not to cry. "This is just amazing, seriously. I've always wanted to go. Carlos, thank you so much."
Ranger pointed to the box Amy hadn't yet opened. "You still have one more."
"You'd better be careful spoiling me like this, I could get used to it."
"You deserve it," he whispered, although his mom still heard it and she gave him a loving smile.
Amy unwrapped and opened the box and found a necklace with a ring pendant on it. "This is beautiful," she smiled at him and dropped her hands and the necklace box to her lap, "You did too much. Thank You, again, so much. This is definitely the best birthday I've had, literally ever."
Ranger took the necklace out of the box, "Can I put this on for you?"
"Oh yeah," Amy turned her back to him and pulled her hair over her shoulder.
Ranger opened the clasp on the necklace and lost his grip, dropping one end causing the ring to fall to the floor. "Whoops, hang on." He dropped to the ground to look for the ring. Just as Amy turned to see if he'd found it she saw Ric's brother Jorge taking pictures and noticed Marie had Ric's hand clasped firmly in both of hers and had them held to her chest. That was when she noticed movement from the corner of her eye, she turned and saw Carlos on one knee beside her. Amy's hand flew to her mouth as she gasped and the tears she had tried to hold back earlier started falling.
"Amaya Leigh Kendrick, I love you so much more than I ever thought it was possible or imaginable to love another person." Ranger paused as he took a breath and took Amy's hand in his, "I can't imagine spending the rest of my life without you and Lexi in it. Will you do me the immense honor of being my wife?"
Amy took a couple breaths to make sure that everyone would hear her answer as she nodded, "Yes! Carlos, yes!"
He slipped the ring on her finger just before he stood up and swept her into his arms. Cautiously he picked her up off the ground and spun a slow circle as their lips crashed together and everyone cheered. He felt someone tugging on his pants so he stopped to set Amy down and picked up Lexi. "What do you think girlie, is it okay if your mom and I get married?"
"Yeah!" Lexi smiled and nodded as Ranger put one arm around Amy. He couldn't believe that he was holding his entire life in his arms.
They were quickly surrounded with all of Ranger's family as everyone wanted to offer their congratulations. Marie was the first to get to them and she immediately pulled Amy into a hug.
"My dear girl, I had a feeling about you from the beginning. You've made my Carlos so much happier than I have seen him in so long." She released Amy then grabbed her left hand, "Let's see this ring though, Carlos wouldn't let me see it before."
Amy finally got her first real look at the ring, since she'd been too caught up in the moment to check it out. Ranger had definitely gone all out on the ring. It was a huge cushion cut diamond with a halo of small round diamonds around it and small round diamonds set all the way around the band.
"Carlos, you picked out a gorgeous ring. Did you have help?" Marie asked as she stepped back and let someone else have a chance to hug and talk to Amy.
Ranger shook his head, "I may have been using Amy's computer at home, and she might have left her Pinterest page open. There could have been some rings she had saved onto one of her boards."
Amy smirked at him, "You cheater!"
"Hey it's not cheating if it's right there! It's not like I went searching for ideas." He smiled at her then leaned down and kissed her cheek. "You like it though, don't you?"
"Of course. It's beautiful." Amy admitted.
"That's all that matters then." Ranger winked at her.
Ric walked into the room then with a couple bottles of champagne and was followed quickly by his brother Jorge with some flutes. "A celebratory drink for everyone!"
Amy looked to Ranger and he just kept smiling. He pulled her into his side and nuzzled into her neck, "Just take a couple sips, it won't hurt anything. But no one will be suspicious either." He whispered in her ear, lightly kissing her cheek before returning to his conversation with a cousin.
Ric brought them each a flute first. Once everyone had a glass Ric got everyone's attention. "I am so glad to be adding another daughter and granddaughter to our family. I am even happier that everyone was here to witness the proposal, mainly so that you all saw it for yourself and can't claim that it didn't happen! I wasn't sure if I'd ever see my son get married. Marie and I couldn't be happier to have Amy and her pretty daughter Lexi join the Manoso family. So raise your glass, cheers to my son and his beautiful fiancé and daughter."
Everyone cheered and took a drink. Amy barely took a sip then set her glass on the side table and hoped no one would notice. Twenty minutes later she ducked away and headed to the bathroom off the kitchen. When she walked out she was surprised to find Marie waiting for her.
"Oh, Hi." She said, caught off guard.
"I'm probably being nosy, so don't be afraid to tell me to mind my own business." She paused and Amy just kept the smile on her face, not faultering as she nodded. "Are you pregnant?"
One side of Amy's mouth dropped for just a second before she shook her head and corrected herself, "No, of course not."
Marie just kept watching her with a smile, "I noticed right off when you got here that you just looked a little different. And you didn't drink at all, no wine with dinner and no champagne."
"I drank the ch…"
"Barely a sip," Marie interrupted. "I'm sorry, I'm meddling and sticking my nose in like an annoying mother-in-law and you and Carlos aren't even married yet. But it's not a problem if you are, in fact Ric and I have been kind of annoyingly persistent with Carlos the last couple of years, telling him to settle down and start a family."
Ranger walked in and Amy had never been so happy to see him. "Here you are, Jorge wanted to take some posed portraits of us to go with the candids he took."
"Carlos honey," Marie smiled and kissed his cheek. "I was just talking to Amy about starting your own family. Actually I asked her if she's pregnant."
Ranger's smile didn't falter but he noticed Amy's slightly worried expression out of the corner of his eye. "What makes you think that mom?"
"Amy didn't drink all evening. And she just looks different."
"We definitely want to add to our family soon," Ranger looked to Amy who tipped her head slightly then just nodded. "Uh, actually…"
"I'm sorry I lied," Amy finally caved. "We just found out that I'm pregnant, about six weeks. We aren't telling anyone yet."
Marie's smile grew and she pulled Amy into another hug. "I have a sixth sense when it comes to these things. I knew you were pregnant as soon as you walked in the door tonight." She released Amy and put her hands on Carlos's shoulders, "A new big house, your getting married, and having a baby!" she pulled him down into a fierce hug. "It's about time." After a few moments she released him and stepped back, "Your secret is safe with me." She turned and went back to the living room.
"You didn't tell her it's twins?" Ranger asked as he followed Amy into the kitchen.
"We don't know for sure yet that it's not more than twins, so I figured we would just keep that to ourselves for now." Amy grabbed one of the last pieces of bruschetta off the plate on the counter and ate it.
Ranger nodded, "Sounds good." He went to the fridge and got two bottles of water. "I can't believe she knew."
Amy shrugged, "We were going to tell her anyways, although I did want more information first."
"You look tired," Ranger handed her one of the bottles of water. "Should we call it a night?"
Amy took a long drink of water before she put the cap back on and nodded. "I'm going to need to sleep in tomorrow."
"You need it." Ranger said as he walked over to her. He put an arm around her shoulders and walked back out to the living room with her. He tracked down his mom, "We're going to head out, but I wanted to make sure you knew that we won't be up for lunch tomorrow."
Marie frowned and furrowed her brows slightly, "That's too bad. Why not?"
"Amy needs to get some rest so we're going to have a lazy family day tomorrow."
Marie nodded in agreement, "You take care of her Carlos, I know you don't need to be told that but I'm your mother and it's my job to make sure you remember how you were raised. That woman has agreed to be your wife and she is now carrying your child, she needs a little extra patience and love."
"I've got it mom, I've started doing most of the cooking since the smell of just about anything cooking makes her nauseated."
Marie patted his arm, "You're a good man Carlos. You are going to be an amazing father to this baby."
Ranger nodded as he put his arm around his mom's shoulder and gave her a squeeze.
They said their good-byes, but it took forty-five minutes to finally make it out the door. Once they were finally in the car and headed home, Amy and Lexi both fell asleep just outside of Newark.
Sunday morning Ranger got up at six and made use of the free weights Amy had in her home gym in the basement. After lifting for about half an hour he went on an eight mile run. He was in the kitchen drinking a protein shake when Lexi came downstairs around eight. He smiled at her as she climbed onto one of the stools at the island. "Morning Lexi-girl, did you sleep well?"
Lexi nodded and rubbed her eyes. "Is mom up?"
"Not yet, she's a little tired so I figured we could let her sleep in a bit. Is that okay?"
Again Lexi nodded.
"Would you be okay with having some yogurt for now? I want to make your mom a big breakfast when she gets up. Maybe you could help me?"
Lexi was now smiling and she nodded, "Mom loves pancakes and bacon."
"What about eggs?" Ranger asked, even though he already knew that Amy liked those too.
"Yeah," Lexi was now bouncing in her seat. "Mom likes eggs, especially omelets."
"Good, we'll get started on that in about an hour, or until your mom gets up." Ranger finished his shake and went to the sink to rinse the cup out and put it in the dishwasher. "What kind of yogurt do you want?"
"Mom usually puts some strawberries and blueberries in my pink Elsa yogurt."
"You got it." Ranger went to the fridge and got out a container of Lexi's favorite yogurt along with the berries. He cut the strawberries then tossed them into a small bowl with some blueberries and spooned the yogurt on top. "Here you are," he slid it across the counter. "I'm sure your mom probably makes it look prettier than this, but go easy on me I'm new to making breakfast for such a pretty little girl."
Lexi's cheeks turned the same color pink as her Disney princess pajamas and she looked down into her bowl. "It's good." She said after she took her first bite.
"What if your mom and I took you up to see the new house today?" Ranger asked as Lexi ate her yogurt. "It's still under construction, but you haven't been up there yet. You can check out the room your mom picked out for you." Ranger stopped talking when he saw Lexi nodding so hard he thought she might get dizzy and fall off of her seat. "We'll head up after lunch."
At nine Ranger dumped all of the ingredients for pancakes into a big mixing bowl and put Lexi in charge of whisking it all together. He set some bacon and sausage on the counter then told Lexi he would be right back. He took the stairs two at a time and slowly opened up the bedroom door to check on Amy. The room was still somewhat dark since the blinds were down and the curtains were drawn. He slowly and carefully started walking toward the bed, so he wouldn't scare Amy awake, when he heard a noise in the bathroom. He quickly turned his head toward the bathroom and saw that the light was on and the door was closed so she must already be awake.
He knocked lightly on the door, "Hey Sweetheart, can I come in?"
After a few seconds of rustling she answered groggily, "Yeah."
Ranger opened the door and found Amy sitting on the cold tile floor leaning against the wall next to the toilet. He walked over and knelt in front of her. "Oh sweetie, are you okay?"
She nodded then dropped her head back against the wall. "Your kids have decided it's time for mama to suffer."
Ranger tilted his head and gave her his best sympathetic smile as he put a hand on her knee. "You might not like what Lexi and I have going on in the kitchen right now then."
"Don't even talk about the f-word right now." Amy groaned and closed her eyes, taking slow, deep breaths.
"How about this, I'll go down and bring you up some water and maybe some plain crackers." Amy didn't answer, she just sat there with her head resting on the wall and her eyes closed taking slow deep breaths. "I could scramble some eggs."
Amy shook her head and could feel her mouth start to water, she fought off the overwhelming urge to throw up, again. "No food."
"Maybe if you get something in your stomach you'll feel better. I won't make you eggs, but I'll be right back up with some water, toast, and crackers." He patted her knee and stood up. "I'll be right back."
Amy didn't move even an inch while Ranger was gone. She was still in the exact same spot and position as when he'd left her ten minutes earlier.
"Here sweetie, take small sips." Ranger said as he handed her a bottle of water.
Amy slowly sipped some water then handed it back. She still hadn't opened her eyes and she wasn't moving any more than she had to as she tried to avoid jostling and making the nausea worse.
"Do you want to try to eat something?"
Amy quietly considered for a few seconds, "Toast, please." She finally opened her eyes and watching him as he gave her half a piece of buttered toast. He was totally out of his element being unable to do anything to make her feel better. She took the toast and took a small bite. After a minute she took another small bite.
"I told Lexi we would go up to the new house this afternoon, if your feeling up to it." Ranger was sitting just a couple feet in front of her with the plate on his lap.
Amy nodded, "We haven't been up there in a couple weeks, it'll be nice to see the progress they've made."
"Bobby e-mailed me Friday and said that the rooms were all painted. They have the sitting room stained and ready for varnish this week. Then the hard wood flooring will start going down by the end of the week. We need to settle on the carpet for the bedrooms."
Amy took a few more small bites of the toast and nodded slowly. "I like the grey with the colored flecks, it'll show less dirt and stains."
"Why not just get black then?"
Amy sent Ranger a stern look and shook her head. "No."
"I think Bobby said the sample books were still in the kids' entertainment room, we'll have to look."
Amy nodded, "Where's Lex?"
"Downstairs eating her pancakes and omelet." He acted like making breakfast for a six-year old was something he did every day.
Amy smiled for the first time all morning, "You made her pancakes and an omelet?"
He nodded, "and fried some bacon." He watched her as her smile grew and her eyes got watery. "Why are you crying?"
"Because I'm pregnant and hormonal. Because you made Lexi her favorite breakfast and let me sleep in." One tear fell and Ranger reached out to brush it away with his thumb.
"Why wouldn't I make Lexi breakfast? We're getting married, I'll be Lexi's dad-hopefully legally-of course I made her breakfast and let you sleep in. Your growing at least two babies, you need the rest." He leaned toward her, "Can I kiss you?"
Amy nodded. Ranger lightly brushed his lips against hers then sat back.
"So," Ranger nodded toward the mostly eaten piece of toast Amy still had in her hand. "Is the toast helping?"
"Yes." Amy nodded. "I'm still not ready to get up yet. But the toast definitely is helping." She finished the first half and took the second half off the plate. "You can go down and eat your own breakfast."
Ranger shrugged, "I'd rather sit here with you to keep you company and take care of you." He finally started to feel better when Amy ate the other half of the piece of toast. "If you want to get cleaned up I can make some more pancakes for you."
"Sounds good to me." She went to stand but suddenly Ranger's hands pulling her up.
"Take you're time, I'll get started on the pancakes." He started toward the door.
"Can you make me a small omelet, please? And some bacon?" Amy smiled at him weakly, still looking pale and tired.
"Absolutely." Ranger smiled. At least she was feeling better and wanting to eat.
Amy ended up eating the omelet Ranger had made for her along with a few slices of bacon and a few pancakes as well. She would have to be careful or she would end up gaining a LOT of weight. They left for the house a little after eleven. Lexi loved the house instantly and was very excited about her new bedroom. They spent a couple of hours there looking at everything that had been done and talking about what was still left to be done.
All of the next week Amy woke up with her alarm at six am, ran to the bathroom to throw up, and after eating a protein bar she would do a light work out. Ranger had started making use of her small home gym so he could be home to help her when she was having morning sickness. He'd even had to take over making breakfast for Lexi since cooking anything, including oatmeal, made her feel sick.
Monday October seventeenth started the same as every morning the previous few weeks. After dropping Lexi off at school Ranger drove Amy to work. Amy was in the lounge getting her habitual bottle of water when Tank walked in.
"Hey lovebirds, keep it decent at work at least," he teased as he went to the fridge and got himself a water.
Ranger didn't even react to Tank's comment, he made little jabs like that all the time now that he and Amy were engaged. "Have you finished calling back the applicants to come in for their first interviews?"
Tank nodded then leaned against the counter next to Amy who was just standing there sipping her water slowly. "You look a little pale this morning Ames, are you feeling okay?"
Amy gave him a half smile and nodded. It was a lie, she wasn't. Someone had definitely used the microwave just before she'd gotten to work, the entire break room smelled like cooked meat of some kind. It was taking all of the personal strength she possessed not to run from the room as fast as she possibly could.
Ranger noticed that she looked like she was about to bolt from the room so he motioned towards the door. "Let's go check that software package before it needs to be sent out later today."
Amy looked relieved and tried not to sprint out the door, "Bye Tank!" she said just before she disappeared.
They walked down the hall and turned towards Amy's office. She unlocked her door and walked in with Ranger right behind her.
"I've got meetings most of the morning. I've kind of packed my schedule through Thursday so we can try to take Friday off after your appointment."
Amy nodded, "Pending any huge crazy complications" she teased. "I need to leave early tomorrow…"
"For Lexi's therapy appointment." Ranger nodded. "Do you want me to meet you there?"
"I'll be fine, we're not doing a family session this week. I know you have a lot going on. Adding on therapy appointments, the construction at the new house, legal crap because of me, and then appointments for me every two weeks. You take care of clients and business here."
"Amy, it's not a hassle at all to go to Lexi's therapy appointments. I know it sounds weird coming from me, but having all of this going on just makes me thankful to have a family."
Amy smiled and sighed, "You've always had a family, and I'm not just talking about the people your related to." Ranger's expression remained flat, "Here. These guys you work with every day, Ella, hell Tank is basically a brother to you."
"I suppose. But you and Lexi and the babies, this is the firs ttime I've really felt like I have my own family. I never had that with Rachel and Julie. After them I never wanted that. You and Lexi changed that for me."
She had been barely holding the tears at bay until that sentence, then the flood gates opened. "Carlos, it's the same for me. You know that. But saying things like that to me at work isn't exactly the best way to keep people from knowing that I'm pregnant. I never cry. But if they see me now they'll all start to wonder what's going on."
"I'm sorry sweetie," he rounded her desk and pulled her out of her chair against his hard chest. "I didn't mean to make you cry."
"It doesn't take much these days." Amy said as she sniffled and pulled back from him. "But as far as tomorrow is concerned. Take care of your meetings and make sure you're free Friday afternoon for the ultrasound."
"I wouldn't dream of missing that!" Ranger smiled.
Amy sat back down and started checking e-mails. "Speaking of therapy, I got an e-mail from the therapist."
"What did she have to say?"
"Well, let's just see." Amy started reading it then smiled and started reading it. "My preliminary assessment has been officially sent to Troy's lawyer. It basically says that Lexi has had a great childhood so far and that she isn't really lacking anything in her life without his presence. You have built a stable home environment for her and she is a very sweet little girl. That's all. See you guys tomorrow."
"That's great." Ranger rubbed Amy's shoulder. "One less thing to worry about."
Amy nodded. "Have you heard any more from your lawyer?"
"No," Ranger shook his head. "He told me that this could take some time since the incident was so many years ago. Other than Troy being served with the new charges I haven't heard anything new. I'm sure his lawyer is shitting his pants, they probably thought that since you didn't charge him then that you wouldn't bring it back up now."
Amy leaned back in her chair and rested one hand on her belly, "I wouldn't have if he hadn't decided to go for this stupid early release program. I can't say that he's a bad father, because he never really got a chance to be much of a father at all. But that's not my fault, and it certainly isn't Lexi's. So I refuse to let him figure this shit out now when she's older and is going to remember everything."
"Calm down sweetie, there's no use getting stressed or worked up about it. I've told you, and our whole team of lawyers has told you, you haven't done anything wrong. Everything you have done in the last five years has been for Lexi. No judge is going to overlook that. But the new domestic charge doesn't hurt." He winked at her. "I hate leaving you, but I have to go and get ready for my eight-thirty meeting. Lunch at noon upstairs?"
Amy groaned, "I still don't want to think about food."
Ranger smiled, he leaned down and dropped a kiss on her cheek. "You need to eat something. Try a banana or something in the next hour or so. You just need to keep eating, that seems to help with the nausea at home."
She sent him a nasty glare and dropped her voice, "I'm not even eight weeks pregnant yet and I can barely fit into my pants. At this rate, I'll be wearing a freaking tent by my ninth month! Stop shoving food at me."
He tipped his head to one side and grinned, "You have to eat, it's for the babies. AND you have to gain weight, your pregnant. It's unavoidable. As long as your eating healthy it won't be that bad."
Amy rolled her eyes and turned away from him. "Go to your meeting before I punch you."
"Later sweetie," he practically sang as he finally walked out.
Amy rolled her eyes again but couldn't stop the one sided smile from spreading, it was a really good thing she loved that man or he would've been flat on his back. The dang pregnancy hormones sure had her feeling all wonky.
The rest of the week was uneventful, with each day starting with Amy getting sick and ending with her falling into bed and passing out by eight-thirty. Friday morning was a little rough. Her usual morning sickness combined with some anxiety over her first official OB appointment and another ultrasound to see just how many babies they were having was making her a little more nauseous. She skipped her workout, since she was still sitting on the bathroom floor at a quarter to seven.
Ranger stepped out of the shower and dried off. Instead of heading to the closet he tied his towel around his waist and leaned back against the bathroom counter. "Why don't you just stay home? I'll come pick you up at ten forty and we can head across town for your eleven-fifteen appointment."
"I don't need to stay home. I can sit at my desk and feel sick for a few hours and at least try to be useful there."
"Nope," he reached for her hand and helped her up then walked her back to their bed. After he'd literally fluffed her pillows under her head and tucked her back in with the TV remote on her night stand, he stood back and smiled approvingly. "You stay there." Ranger kept talking as he went to the closet to get dressed. "We'll need to start getting someone trained to fill in for you while your on maternity leave anyways, so take today off. Do you want Brent or Tess to take over for you today?"
"I guess have Brent do it today. I'll have Tess fill in the next time I need to take a day." Amy rolled to her side so she could watch Ranger as he walked out of the closet.
"Sounds good." Ranger said as he walked out of the closet adjusting his belt. He smiled when he noticed her watching him. "Don't look at me like that or Lex will end up late to school and I'll end up staying home with you."
"You could take her to school then come back here."
"Then we'd never make it to your appointment." Ranger teased. "I'm going to go get Lex up, I'll send her in to you for her hair though because that's one thing I have no idea how to do." He walked around to her side of the bed and leaned down to kiss her forehead. "I'll bring up a bottle of water and some snacks in a little bit. Just rest."
Ten minutes later Lexi came in dressed in a pair of jeans and a pink long-sleeve shirt. She held her hair brush in one hand and a little elastic hair tie in the other. "Can you do one braid, please?"
"Sure thing baby girl." Amy sat up and patted the bed right in front of her.
"Carlos said you aren't feeling well." Lexi said as she sat perfectly still for Amy.
"Yeah baby, I've got a stomach bug. But I'll be fine." Amy felt bad now not telling Lexi about the pregnancy. She would have to talk to Ranger about including Lexi in the secret sooner rather than later. She finished up the braid and Lexi scooted off the bed.
"Thanks mom."
"Your welcome baby." Amy smiled.
"Carlos told me to tell you to lay down and relax. I think he's going to bring you some breakfast." Lexi headed to the door.
Amy chuckled and shook her head. That man sure was bossy.
Fifteen minutes later Ranger walked in with a large plate that had a small bowl of yogurt and fruit, a couple of pieces of toast, and some scrambled eggs.
"I wasn't sure what you would be in the mood for. Eat whatever you can, leave the plate on the bench at the foot of the bed. I'll take care of it when I come back later." He sat down on the edge of the bed at her hip and put a hand on her stomach. "I think there's going to be three."
"At this point, I just want them all to be healthy." She put her hand over his, "I think we should tell Lexi tonight. I'm starting to feel kind of guilty not telling her until after the wedding."
"You're the one who said she can't keep a secret. I wanted to tell her after our last appointment." Ranger leaned forward and lightly brushed his lips against hers. "We'll tell her tonight. I'm sure if we tell her that she can only talk about the babies with us she'll understand."
Amy nodded then looked at the clock on the nighstand, "You'd better start getting Lexi ready to go. Make sure she has…"
"Hats and gloves for recess. Everything is already in her backpack." Ranger leaned forward and gave her another kiss, "I'll call you when I leave Rangeman, just in case you go back to sleep."
"I would say that won't happen, but there's a pretty good chance it will."
Ranger stood up and walked to the door, "You need the rest. I'll see you in a little bit sweetheart. Love you."
"Love you too." Amy smiled. As soon as she heard Ranger going down the stairs she snuggled back under the covers and drifted off.
The ringing of her phone woke her up, Amy jumped to a sitting position and looked at the alarm clock before answering her phone, it was ten fifteen. "Hello," She answered without looking at the caller ID knowing it was Ranger.
"Hey sweetie, still sleeping?" Ranger's voice sounded warm and comforting.
"Yeah," Amy yawned and got out of bed. "I'm headed into the bathroom right now. I'll take a quick shower. Are you leaving Rangeman?"
"Just on my way to the garage. I'll be there in about fifteen minutes." The ding of the elevator sounded through the phone. "Did you eat?"
Amy cringed as she reached into the shower and turned it on to warm the water, "No. I just slept. I feel pretty good now. I'll eat a banana and a protein bar on the way to the doctor's office."
Ranger let out an audible sigh but didn't comment on the subject. "See you soon sweetie."
"I love you." Amy said so sweetly that her teeth almost hurt.
"I love you, too." Ranger replied.
Amy washed and conditioned her hair as quickly as she could. She took a couple minutes to shave her legs before washing her face and then she shut off the water and quickly wrapped herself in a towel and grabbed another to wrap around her hair. She walked into the closet and dropped her towel in front of her dresser and pulled out a pair of basic black cotton panties and a black bra. She was just stepping into a pair of black leggings when she heard Flynn announce Ranger's arrival. She snagged a charcoal grey tunic and tugged the towel off her head then quickly pulled the shirt on.
Back in the bathroom, Amy grabbed the hair dryer to at least get her hair mostly dry before they left. At least it wouldn't be dripping wet, she could braid it in the car. Ranger walked in as she started drying her hair. He smiled and leaned against the doorway just watching her.
"I'm not drying it completely," she practically yelled over the sound of the hair dryer. "I just don't want it to be soaking wet."
"It's fine," he replied. "We've got time yet."
Amy nodded and kept drying. After ten minutes she finally turned it off, her hair was still a little damp but not too bad. She combed it over one shoulder with a wide-toothed comb then flipped it back behind her shoulder to do her make-up.
"Two more minutes, I swear." She said as she quickly brushed some powder over her whole face then grabbed her eye liner.
"No rush, we still have about ten minutes."
"How were your meetings this morning?" Amy asked as she finished lining one eye and moved to the other.
"There was nothing important. No potential new clients today. Tank and I interviewed the first few people to fill the vacancies we have in general security right now. We also talked about hiring a few more programmers, but we want to discuss that more with you sometime next week."
"My team has been doing great, do you feel like we're not keeping up with the demand?" Amy knew that although they were engaged, Ranger had always trusted her to run her department and manage her people as she saw fit without stepping in until it was absolutely necessary. So it was usually her going to Ranger and Tank and asking for a bigger budget for new employees, not them going to her.
"No," he quickly answered. "It isn't that at all. I just felt that with you needing more time off next summer it wouldn't hurt to have a couple of extras to help fill in."
Amy finished her makeup and went back to the closet for shoes, she came back out a minute later when she realized her black flats were already downstairs.
"I'm ready," she motioned for him to go. After he moved out of her way she headed for the stairs with Ranger on her heels. "Your acting like I'll never go back to work." Amy said as she went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water and an apple. She turned to look at Ranger, "I love my job, I'm not planning on quitting."
"You won't have to quit if you don't want to. We'll hire a nanny. But with you having multiples there's a higher chance of you being put on bed rest." Ranger followed her into the mud room where she slipped on her black flats and went out to the garage where Ranger's Porche was parked. Ranger got in the driver's seat and once they were both in and had seatbelts on he backed out. "I just don't want you to feel like you have to rush back to work once the babies are six months. You can work part-time for a while if you want to. We'll make it work, however you want to do it. I just want to make sure that we have the staff to cover everything."
Amy nodded as she chewed a bite of apple. "Understandable. But what did you tell Tank about needing more programmers?"
"I lied," he shrugged a shoulder. "I told him that you said that you guys were starting to get a little overwhelmed and would need some help. Which technically isn't completely untrue since we usually pick up a few more new clients in December and January than in most other months."
"That is true." She admitted. "So your predicting three babies on the ultrasound today?"
Ranger nodded and reached over to grab her hand. "Three boys."
"Oh good Lord help us all, three little Carlos' running around." Amy teased.
Ranger pretended to look hurt and offended. "What would be so bad about having three boys?"
Amy laughed, "Oh I'm teasing you. I have a daughter, you have a daughter, I think a couple of boys would be fun. But like I said, I really don't care what we have. My concern is just that we have healthy babies."
"I completely agree." Ranger said. "We'll have to start talking names. We may as well start making lists now. With more than one baby to name, I get the feeling that naming is going to be a lot harder."
"Probably." Amy admitted as she chewed the last bite of her apple. She pushed the button to lower her window a little and tossed the core out, then put the window back up.
About ten minutes later they pulled into the doctor's office parking lot. They walked in and checked in then sat and waited to get called back. Thankfully they didn't have to wait long. Nurse Gina called them back, and unlike her previous appointments they asked for a urine sample, took her blood pressure, drew some blood, and then finally took her to the ultrasound room.
"We're here again." Amy said as she sat on the table.
Gina smiled, "And just like I promised last time, we're doing a regular ultrasound today. So just lay back, pull your shirt up a little and then if you can shimmy the waist of your pants down your hips a little bit."
Amy did as she asked, as soon as Gina squirted some gel on her lower belly Ranger took her hand in his as they both were glued to the screen.
"Alrighty, so here is baby A. He, again I say that generically since I have no idea what baby is yet. He is measuring right on at eight weeks, you can actually see the heart beating and let's have a listen," she pushed a button and that amazing comforting sound filled the room, Amy would never forget how amazing that sound was.
"Heart rate is about 153, perfect! Now let's see how baby B is doing." Gina moved the wand and found baby B with no problem. "Baby B is also measuring right on at eight weeks. But remember that multiples often don't always measure the same, and that's perfectly fine. Here's his little heart beating and let's listen to him too."
That thudding sound filled the room again, "Heart rate is 147, perfect! You have two perfect babies! Now Dr. Sayre thought there was a possible third last time, so let's have a look." Gina moved the wand around Amy's stomach and zoomed out a bit. They could see their two babies plain as day, and off to the left of baby B there was still that little fluid sac. Gina grabbed her phone and called in Dr. Sayre just as she zoomed in to get a closer look. "Well folks, there is definitely a sac and today it looks like there's a baby, but it's quite a bit smaller."
Dr. Sayre walked in then and after a quick glance at the ultrasound screen she skipped greeting Amy and Ranger and nudged Gina aside. "Okay mom and dad, so it looks like there is a baby C."
"I just said that, but it's measuring behind." Gina said quietly, even though Ranger and Amy could hear her.
"So, there is still every possibility that baby C could be fine. We can't really know that yet because it's so early. For now we're going to treat this as a triplet pregnancy. I want you to come in for weekly ultrasounds so we can monitor baby C and see if it's growing or not." Dr. Sayre zoomed in a little more so that all they could see was the sac and little blob that was now officially baby C. "I think," she whispered then she smiled just as Ranger and Amy saw the little flicker, "There is a heartbeat, about 135. A little on the low side but it's strong. Let's see if we can hear this little guy's heartbeat." Dr. Sayre pushed a button and for the third time the room filled with that amazing thudding sound.
Amy cried, she brought Ranger's hand up to her chest and smiled as the tears rolled down her cheeks. "There's really three?" She barely managed to choke out.
Dr. Sayre smiled and reached for and squeezed Amy's arm. "Yes, there's really three. Seeing and hearing the heartbeat is a really good sign. He's still measuring behind by about eight or nine days. Sometimes women ovulate more than one egg at different times, which could be the case here."
Ranger finally found his voice, "So what does this mean? What changes?"
"You'll see a lot more of me, for starters. I want to see you every week for the next few weeks until we can get a clearer picture of baby C and make sure everything is okay. After that I'll see you every two weeks with ultrasounds once a month unless we run into complications. Our first goal is to make it to twenty-four weeks, that's when the babies will officially be viable. With triplets, we want you to make it to thirty-four weeks."
"Wow," Amy whispered. "This just got intense. So if I make it to thirty-four weeks, then what?"
"Anything over that is great, it decreases the chances that the babies will have to be in the NICU."
Amy nodded.
"So does she need to take it easy from now on?" Of course Ranger was trying to keep Amy from working.
"No," Dr. Sayre gave Amy a look of total sympathy then smiled at Ranger. "For now everything is fine. We'll evaluate the need for any restrictions or possible bed rest later as the babies get bigger. Of course a triplet pregnancy is a lot different but Amy carried her first baby with no problems or complications. So our hope is that she can make it to thirty-four weeks with no major problems. Of course the odds are pretty good that you will end up on bed rest in the bit of your pregnancy." Dr. Sayre stood up and let Gina take her seat back. "But like I said, we'll address that possibility later. Anything else?"
"No," Amy answered quickly before Ranger could speak up.
"Just one more," Ranger said before Dr. Sayre could make it to the door. "If she were to go to working part-time now would that help her?"
Dr. Sayre seemed to finally realize just how insanely protective, irrational, and crazy Ranger was as she paused before answering. "No, it wouldn't. The early part of the pregnancy will be fine because there isn't as much stress on Amy's body now as there will be later. For now, she needs to continue on as she has been. Sticking with her normal activities will actually help her more later in the pregnancy. You guys will see enough of me that if any little thing pops up we'll be able to evaluate and address it and make changes if we need to. For now, just keep on as you have been. Now I'm going to go, but Gina will get you some new pictures. I'll see you again in a week."
Gina managed to capture a picture of all three babies in one frame. She gave Amy a new stack of pictures and rubbed her back as she walked them out of the room. Amy was going to be getting sympathy from everyone in this office by the time these babies were born. They made their appointment for the next week and walked out.
It wasn't until they were sitting in the car the Ranger finally turned to Amy and just smiled, it was a huge ear-to-ear cheek-splitting grin. He leaned over the center console and crushed Amy in a huge hug. "Three." He whispered in her ear, "We're having three babies!" Then he did something that Amy never thought she would ever hear him do, she pulled back to look at his face and watched as tears rolled down his cheeks.
"Why now?" she asked as she smiled and started crying, again. "We've known I was pregnant for four weeks, why tears now?"
"I don't know," he whispered. "Maybe because now we know for sure that there's three. I don't know. I really did mean it this morning though when I told you that I had a feeling it was three boys. We now know there are three babies. Maybe they are boys."
Amy shook her head, "They will be the three luckiest boys in the world with you as their dad."
Ranger hugged her again then wiped his tears with the sleeve of his shirt and started the car. "Let's go home. I want to just lay in bed and rest my head on your stomach so I can start talking to my boys. Don't they say they can hear you talking?"
Amy nodded, "It might be a little early, but yes, later in pregnancy they recommend talking to the baby so it knows your voice."
"Well they are definitely going to know my voice."
"That's good."
Ranger backed out of the parking spot and pulled out of the lot onto the road. "We should go get Lexi now and surprise her."
"No, let's surprise her when she gets home from school."
Ranger nodded, "I've got just the idea."
Amy tilted her head and looked at him, "What is going on in that head of yours now?"
He didn't answer, just kept smiling. Ten minutes later they pulled into the parking lot of a party store. He bought balloons, confetti, streamers, and candy-all in light pink and light blue. He also bought some poster board and stickers. Amy was pretty sure he'd lost it, but he assured her he had a plan.
They pulled into the garage twenty minutes later and Ranger immediately went to work. He put the candy in a bowl, then started taping streamers to the trim on the doorways going into the living room and attaching the other end to the light fixtures that were roughly right in the middle of the living room. The balloons were blown up and tied off and he threw them around. Then on the poster board he wrote out 'Guess Who Is Going To Be A Big Sister?'
"You amaze me." Amy said to him an hour later as they sat at the kitchen island eating the chopped salad with chicken Ranger had made for them.
"Why?"
Amy pointed toward the living room, "Lexi is going to freak over that when she gets home. I never would've thought of that. I probably would have gotten some cupcakes or something. But that is so much more fun."
Ranger shrugged, "I want this to be something fun for her. Plus she's probably going to really go nuts when she finds out there's three."
Amy nodded. She finished up her salad and took her plate to the sink to rinse then put it in the dishwasher. She turned around and leaned back against the sink, "This is going to sound dumb, but I think I'm going to go take a nap."
"Why is that dumb?"
"I slept until after ten this morning. Now a couple hours later I'm ready for a nap."
"Your growing three babies, I would think that would be pretty tiring." Ranger smiled as he rinsed his plate and put in the dishwasher next to hers. He grabbed her hands and pulled her into him. Dropping a kiss on the top of her head he hugged her to him. "Go nap, I'll hold down the fort."
"Wake me up at three so we can be ready for when Lex gets home."
"Don't we need to go get her?" He asked.
"No," Amy said as she started up the stairs. "Emma's mom is dropping her off because she's off early some Friday's. I'm guessing that she'll end up asking to go over for the night as soon as she gets home."
"Okay," was all Ranger could say before Amy was up the stairs and out of sight. He went straight to the office to call Tank. They were going to have to make some major adjustments with the programming department so that Amy could have a flexible schedule. She didn't know it yet, but he was going to have her working part-time by the wedding.
