Disclaimer: Anything familiar belongs to JE and the creators of Criminal Minds.

Warning: Adult Situations

Chapter 51: Monday, August 29th, 0700-0800

Ranger's Estate

Julie's POV

My alarm clock woke me up this morning at seven. I am super excited. Today, Tommy will be coming home to live with us. I'm so glad to have him as my new brother. He is a great kid, and we get along so well. I know that he is having a hard time losing his sister Emma, but he didn't really have a great bond with his parents. He told me that he spent more time with his au pair than he ever did with his parents. Tommy is also excited to be going to a regular school this year as opposed to boarding school, which he was supposed to attend this year.

Last night, after coming up here to sleep, I couldn't fall asleep. I was trying to think of ways to make sure that Tommy felt welcomed. I decided finally to make him a welcome home banner. I got a few sheets of oaktag and taped them together. I took my markers and wrote, "Welcome Home Tommy" in big, curly letters. I drew a Thomas the Train in the corner, riding from the hospital to our house. I placed a few holes in the top so that Papi can hang it from the balcony. That way, once Tommy enters the house, he'll see the banner. I glance at my clock and decide I have enough time to shower and dress before Papi and Stephanie are finished with their morning run. I hop into the shower and finish within twenty minutes. I pick out a pair of jean shorts, brown sandals, and a pink stretch tank top to wear. I grab a V-neck t-shirt because I have a feeling Papi won't like my tank top. I put the white t-shirt over the tank and look in the mirror. Perfect.

It is now seven-thirty, and I decide to go downstairs. I find Uncle Lester and Uncle Bobby already in the kitchen, making French toast with bacon.

"Good morning. Does Papi know you're making that?" I ask my uncles.

"Not yet, but he won't deny us. Denying us would mean denying Stephanie, he's not about to deny Beautiful of her French toast and bacon so we will get to indulge with her." Lester responds.

"He may make us run an extra mile or two, but it will be worth it," Bobby adds.

I go into the refrigerator and pull out the fresh strawberries and blueberries. I bring them over to the sink and begin to clean them with baking soda. Once they are cleaned, I slice the strawberries and place them in a bowl. I also put the clean blueberries in another bowl. Finally, I cut about five bananas and add them to a third bowl. Now, we can have fresh fruit on top of our French toast which will appease Papi a little. We're finishing the first batch of French toast when Stephanie and Papi come into the house from outside. It is clear that they took a swim in the ocean.

"Umm, that smells delicious." Stephanie states as her stomach growls.

"I guess we should feed the beast before we take a shower." Papi replies before adding, "good morning, Carina. How are you feeling today?"

"I'm good, Papi, not too sore anymore. I just wish I could get rid of this cast."

"In a couple of more weeks, Julie, then you'll be free. Your arm is healing really well." Bobby answers.

I roll my eyes as I help Stephanie finish setting the table. I'm glad that my left arm is broken because I am still fairly capable with my right hand only. Lester starts to serve the French toast, starting with Stephanie and me. We each get two slices while Lester starts to make more. I take three strips of bacon, strawberries, blueberries, banana, and lightly drizzle syrup on my plate. Stephanie takes some bananas, gets whipped cream from the fridge, and soaks hers in syrup. She also takes six slices of bacon.

"Babe, that stuff will kill you." My Papi tells her.

"Carlos, you are making me run every morning. I know we are running about eight miles a day. Then, you make me swim. With all that additional exercise, I can eat more food. Besides, most of the meals we eat are healthy. I've eaten more rabbit food in the last ten days than I have in the last year." She informs my father as he shakes his head.

"Beautiful, when do you want to start training?" Lester asks her.

"How about Thursday? That will give Tommy a chance to settle into our routine."

"And it will give him a chance to start his new school. You do know that school started here in Florida about three weeks ago." Carlos informs us.

"Three weeks? Julie, you've missed the beginning of the school year and don't care?" Steph exclaims.

"My mom was planning on taking us on vacation to St. Lucia and decided to hold us back on starting school. We were originally planning on leaving on August 1st, then it got pushed back to August 8th, then the 15th, and finally the 25th. It obviously never happened. I'm actually questioning whether or not the trip was real." I respond.

I see my father processing the new information before I see him do some sort of ESP communication with Uncle Lester. I wish he would just use his words sometimes. I hate that he can have a whole entire conversation without just looks and gestures. By gestures, I mean head nods.

"I made Tommy a banner. Can someone help me hang it? I want him to feel welcomed. I'm so excited for him to be joining our family." I say during a lull in the conversation.

"Julie, Carina, you know that this is a temporary arrangement. There is no guarantee that he will be here once the threat to his safety is gone." Papi asks.

"Si, Papi, I know, but I want him to feel like he belongs. I mean, he lost the only family he knew. I still have you and by extension my Uncles and my Manoso family. But Tommy has no one. Why can't you adopt him as Ron adopted me?" I ask.

"Julie, the situations are different. First of all, my main home is a one-bedroom penthouse apartment in an office building in Trenton, NJ. My company headquarters are in Trenton as well. I am a thirty-four-year-old man who is unmarried. Up until nine days ago, I didn't have a daughter. From a social worker's perspective, I'm a horrible candidate for a parent. Not to mention, I have a dangerous job."

"But we're living here now, in this house here in Miami. Stephanie is with us, we're a family. I'm sure if you and Stephanie were to petition them together, they would give Tommy to us."

"Jules, I'm not sure I want to be a mother. I never envisioned myself having children. Your father asked me to come down here with him to help you because of your injuries. We are not married, we are not engaged. I could be back home tonight if I chose to be. Nothing is holding me here, except that I want to help you, Julie and I want to find the jerks who killed your parents and siblings."

"But," I start as my father cuts me off.

"Julie, enough. I will decide what will happen with this family when the time comes. I am the adult here, not you. I respect that you have bonded with Tommy and that you would like him to be a part of your life, but I need to do what's best for him, as well as you. I will take your feelings and thoughts into consideration when I make my decision, but the choice is mine. I ask that you respect my authority in this manner."

"Yes, Papi. I understand." I respond. I don't understand what the problem is. I mean, Stephanie is here with us, and she doesn't look like she's leaving. She needs my father, and he needs her. Why can't they see what they mean to each other? I can't wrap my head around how stubborn they both are when it comes to making a commitment to each other. I know Dr. Karen told me to leave them alone, but I can't help it. I want my father to marry Stephanie.

"Julie, we are leaving to go to the hospital to get Tommy at 0900. Make sure you are ready to go. Maggie packed a bag for him with clothes for him to wear home. Make sure we take that bag with us. We'll probably be there a few hours, so if there's anything you need, have it as well. We're going with Uncle Lester and Uncle Bobby. Uncle Javier will meet us at the hospital." Papi informed me.

"Okay. I'm ready. I'll make sure we have everything for Tommy."

With both my father and Stephanie finished with their breakfast, they get up from the table and head upstairs to get ready. I help Uncle Lester and Uncle Bobby clean up from breakfast, then I make sure that Candy Land, Sorry, and Chutes and Ladders are on the bookcase in the media room. I also make sure that the movies we got for Tommy: Hotel Transylvania, Rio, Toy Story, Cars, Big Hero 6, Trolls, and The Lego Movie are clearly visible.

I know that we plan on making dinner together tonight, so I make sure that we have everything we need for making tacos tonight. We have steak, chicken, ground beef and turkey, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, hot sauce, and peppers. We have soft and hard taco shells. For drinks, we have water, of course, apple juice, pineapple juice, Iced Tea Lemonade from Traders Joe, and milk. The one thing we don't have is sour cream. RJ used to love having sour cream with tacos. I'll tell Papi we need to stop and get some.

At a quarter to nine, Papi and Stephanie come downstairs. Papi is wearing a pair of blue jeans, black sneakers, and a black tank top with a button-down green short sleeve dress shirt. I know the extra shirt is to hide his gun. Stephanie is wearing a lavender sundress with cap sleeves, a modest scoop neckline, and ending about two inches above her knees. She is wearing a pair of purple sandals to finish off her look. I can tell that she's been running with Papi. Her legs are more toned, and she looks slimmer. Stephanie was never heavy, but the muscle definition makes her look leaner. She looks really good. She has her hair in her signature ponytail. I need to help her figure out better ways of styling her hair in the Miami humidity. She doesn't have to resort to a ponytail every day.

Uncles Bobby and Lester join us a few minutes later, and we all head to the garage. I had Uncle Bobby, and Uncle Lester hang my sign at the entrance to the kitchen because they felt that would be the best location for Tommy to see the sign sooner rather than later. I had to agree with them. We climb into two different vehicles. Papi, Stephanie, and I in the Cayenne, with Uncle Bobby and Uncle Lester in a Chevy Tahoe.

The thirty-minute drive to the hospital is completed in silence. I told Papi about the sour cream, and he called Maggie, asking her to pick it up for us. We must stop at Rangeman Miami headquarters for a few minutes. Apparently, Papi needs to sign some paperwork. We'll pick up the sour cream when we're there. When we arrive at the hospital where Papi manages to get a prime parking spot, as always. I hear Stephanie mumble something about parking karma under her breathe. I guess she is like the rest of the humans and gets only horrible parking spots when she goes anywhere.

We enter together, taking the elevator to the pediatric floor. Once we exit, I head straight to Tommy's room and enter. Tommy's face lights up when he sees me.

"Julie, I go home with you today! Isn't that great?" He says enthusiastically.

"Yes, Tommy, it is. I brought some clothes for you to change into for your trip home. Do you want jean shorts or basketball shorts?"

"Jean shorts. My mommy never let me wear jeans."

I pull the shorts out of the bag with the Batman shirt Stephanie bought. I also take out a tank top undershirt in black and boxers. I have ankle-length white socks and a new pair of Nike sneakers. Tommy is overjoyed at having such wonderful clothes to wear.

While I'm helping him get dressed, I see Papi, Uncle Javi, and Stephanie talking to people who must be the social worker and maybe someone from Children's Services. I hope everything is okay. Uncle Lester joins us in the room, fist-pumping Tommy.

"Hey little man, are you ready to see where I work?"

"Yes! You said there was a gym there. Can I play there?"

"Maybe. I'm not sure if there is stuff for you to do there. It is set up for adults."

"But I a big boy. I can do lots!"

"I know you can, Tommy. I'll show you the room, and maybe we can find something for you to do."

"Okey-dokey. When we go?"

"Soon, little man, soon." Uncle Lester responds.