Recap: RangeMom comes to visit Ranger. Tank gets Stephanie and Lester out of the room so she can clean up. Stephanie knocks on the door to his hotel room, and is told to come in.

Ranger was lying on the bed, looking happy and relaxed. His mother sat in the chair I had recently vacated, and his sister was leaning against the wall in a very familiar fashion. I tried to buck myself up, but my nerves were clenching my stomach. Ranger had met my family a few times, but we hadn't really discussed me meeting his. Everything was all too new. Ranger turned to look at me, and his 200-watt grin made an appearance.

"Mamá, this is Stephanie, my girlfriend. Stephanie, this is my Mother."

He had never called me his Girlfriend before. Not to my face at least. It was weird to think about Batman having a girlfriend. Did that make me Catwoman? I could live with that.

RangeMom stood up and embraced me warmly. "Stephanie! It is so wonderful to finally meet you. I have heard so much about you."

I returned the hug while raising my eyebrows at Ranger. He'd spoken about me with his family?

"It's nice to meet you to. Though I worry about what Ranger has told you."

She laughed warmly. I could see where he got his smile from. "Don't worry, it is all good things."

She spoke with the formality of someone who is using a second language, but her English was quite understandable.

Celia stood up as well. "Yeah, a couple years ago Ranger started coming home more often, looking happier and telling us amusing tales of a Bounty Hunter he'd taken under his wing. Is it true you lost a Porche to a garbage truck?"

I glared at Ranger. "You told them THAT story? Really?"

He shrugged. "It's a good story. And I had to explain why Celia couldn't borrow it for the weekend."

I looked at RangeMom. "That was a one time thing. I almost never lose cars to garbage trucks."

"Yeah, usually they blow up or catch fire or get stolen."

I looked behind me. Lester was there. "You are NOT helping Lester."

He strode in and pecked me on the head. "Look, you make Ranger happy. That's all Tia cares about, right?"

She whacked him upside the head again. "I still haven't forgiven you for not telling me the moment he got hurt." She turned to me. "But he's right. You make Carlos happy, and that's all that matters. He smiles again since he met you. He was too solemn for so long."

I didn't quite know what to say to that. "He's taken great care of me, and taught me so much over the years. I wouldn't be here without him."

RangeMom shook her head. "You've taken care of him too. I was worried about him for a long time after he came home from the army. He never smiled. And then he met you, and it was like I had my little boy back."

I was stunned, and a little taken aback. I suppose I didn't know what Ranger was like without me around, as I tended to be around every time I saw him. Funny how that works.

We were interrupted by another knock on the door. It was Agent Mankiller. "Can I come in?"

She looked tired but healthy, and she was carrying a folder. I gave her a hug. "I'm glad to see you're alright."

"Me?" she said. "I'm fine, you two are the ones I've been worried about. Would you like to hear what we've discovered?"

Honestly, with all the stress of what had happened, I had barely given it a thought. But with information at hand, my curiosity was getting the better of me. "Sure, we'd love to know."

So I missed Halloween. Maybe I'll finish by Thanksgiving weekend? Bug me to write more, now that I'm done with a couple wacky weeks at work. And is there either a canon or common fandom name for Ranger's mom? I can't keep calling her RangeMom forever.