I was released from the hospital the next day and Ranger would be moved to a private room. He would be there for a little while longer. He was still being watched pretty closely just in case anything was leaking in there. Who knows what's been lost already, I mean other than his ability to maintain a blank face and his obvious loss of the eyebrow lift.

I showered and dressed and started packing my bag quietly. He watched me from his hospital bed. And there was only one way I could describe the look on his face. He was scared. Wow! That was big. I didn't even know he could feel fear. I mean, I assumed he could. All human beings have fear. If nothing else living with him for those several weeks, I learned he is entirely human. But even with Scrog, he hadn't shown fear. He'd just walked in with his blank face on and took the bullet. God, I was terrified. He showed no fear.

I watched him out of the corner of my eye as I packed. He was having a hard time and he was clearly frustrated. I could tell he wanted to say something, but he was struggling.

"Where are you going to go," he finally said hoarsely.

My hands stilled and I swallowed.

"I mean," he said in a voice barely above a whisper, "where are you going to sleep tonight?"

I felt my body sag. "I was planning on going back to…"

"But we have the baby to think of now," he whispered.

"I know," I said softly, "but what have we really done to change the way things were the last time we talked? I still love you and you still don't love me."

"I've told you that I love you before," he whispered.

"Yes, you've said that you love me in your own way and…"

"Just…we can't fix it if we're not together."

"I'm not even sure we can be together."

"Don't," he pleaded softly.

"We haven't really resolved anything between us Ranger."

"I know," he swallowed.

"But the bean does change things."

"Do you mean… I mean are you going to go ahead with the annulment?"

"I…I…"

"I just want… I think we…," he groaned and rubbed his face with both hands in frustration. "We need to be careful what we do."

"I know that," I said quietly. "Like my father said, it's not just about us anymore."

"Right and I don't feel like you're safe at that house. I mean I can't protect you or the bean as well there," he said softly.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Move home," he whispered.

My breath caught, "we haven't fixed anything. We can't ignore what happened between us Ranger."

"I know and I don't want to ignore it," he said and his expression bordered on anxious. "God Stephanie, I know I don't deserve another chance with you. I know that. But failing you is the worst thing I've ever done in my mind and… I can't just let you walk away from me without trying to fix it."

"If the bean wasn't involved, would you still feel that way," I said softly.

"Oh God…the bean has nothing to do with wanting to fix things between us. Why do you think I wanted to talk to you in the first place when we were at Unit? I wanted to try to fix it. I wanted to make things better. I hate that we're like this…well, like we are…like we were. But to answer your question, yes the bean is making me push harder. I don't want our child to grow up being shuttled from one household to another and… I can't…" He groaned and let out a growl of frustration. "I need to fix this."

"Why," I whispered.

"For you and me," he groaned. "I need to fix it for us and then for the bean. I have to think about us first right now. I can't even tell that you're pregnant right now when I look at you. All I see is the girl I married."

"The girl you tricked into marriage."

"Yes, I did," he nodded tiredly.

"We should talk about this some time when you're not in the hospital."

"We have to talk about it now before I miss the only chance I have to get you home with me."

"Ranger," I sighed.

"Stephanie, I'll do what I need to do to fix us. I think maybe I should see Dr. Addison and maybe we can do some marriage counseling."

I whirled around wide-eyed and stared at him in shock.

"I don't want to lose you Stephanie," he said softly.

I swallowed and tears filled my eyes, "because I'm your friend or…"

"Because you're more than that," he groaned. "You were right…I can't say the words…to you. I can't… I can say them to my parents. I can say them to my daughter. I can't say them to a woman. I haven't said them to a woman in twelve or thirteen years. If I don't fix this, I'll be telling the bean I love her and I won't have ever said it to her mother without a qualifier. There's something…there are some things I need to fix."

I nodded. "Do you mean this?"

"I mean it. As soon as I get out of here, I'll make an appointment. I give you my word."

"You better mean it. Your lies hurt me more than I've ever been hurt before."

"Why," he whispered.

"Because I love you," I groaned. "And because…I believed in you. I trusted you."

"I'm sorry," he whispered and he paled. "I never wanted to hurt you. I'll see the shrink. I'll get the help. We'll go to counseling and learn to do whatever we have to do to make it work. Just don't walk away from me."

"You're an ass," I said and walked over to his bed with tears rolling down my face. I leaned down and took his face in my hands, "don't deceive me again Ricardo Manoso."

"I won't. I promise you that I won't," he rushed to promise me and turned his face into my hand to kiss my palm.

"Okay," I sighed and put my hand up and pushed my fingers through his hair.

"Will you come home? Please come home Stephanie. It's not home without you in it."

I swallowed. "I won't sleep with you till this is fixed. I mean it Ranger. Don't even try."

"I won't. I promise I won't," he swore.

"Then…I'll go home," I sighed.

Relief seemed to flow right out of his pores.

"Come on, you knew I would if you asked me," I sighed.

"No…I didn't," he said honestly. "I know I hurt you. I know I did. I wasn't sure that you'd ever… I mean, I thought I'd killed us pretty damn good."

"I thought you did too," I said tiredly.

"I'll do what it takes. I promise."

I nodded, "I'll trust you with this. Don't disappoint me." The words left my mouth and Mitch came into the room with a wheel chair.

"Come on little Mommy, let's get you home."

"Our home," Ranger said softly.

Mitch cocked a brow at me in question.

"Our home, but I have to go to the other place and get my stuff first."

"Someone else will do that. You're supposed to be home resting."

I shook my head, "who says?"

"Celia," he grinned. "She threatened me. I'm your baby-sitter until your husband gets out of here. So…let's go."

"Wait a minute," I frowned. "Why do I have to rest?"

"Oh I don't know," he rolled his eyes. "It could be because a blast rolled a truck you were buckled into over a couple of times and you're in the first trimester of this pregnancy."

"Uh," I frowned.

"To make sure the baby is okay," he shook his head. "Now let's move it. Scoot…"

"Bossy," I shook my head with a smile and leaned down to kiss Ranger's worried brow before following Mitch's orders. "You're lucky you're one of my favorite men in the world or we'd be fighting right now."

He grinned, "Just remember that when I wake you up from naps to make you eat."

"That's so wrong," I sighed.

"Come on you," he smiled and started to turn the chair around.

"Hey," Ranger called from the bed a little hoarsely.

"Yep," Mitch turned to meet his boss and friend's eyes.

"Just remember," Ranger said meeting Mitch's eyes. "She's mine."

Mitch grinned, "Well, that remains to be seen."

Ranger glared at him.

Mitch laughed, "We'll see if you improve your skills as a husband. I'm a patient man. I can wait." Then he whisked me out of the room leaving Ranger sputtering and me fighting a big case of the giggles.

"Well, that was interesting," I shook my head as the laughter died in me.

"I already told you that if he wasn't around I'd be after you," he said with a smile. "I wasn't kidding."

"Good to know," I nodded.

The thing is…Mitch is like Ranger. He's pretty honorable. Now, Ranger has screwed up some and I'm pretty sure that Mitch has too, but they're both good men deep down inside. Mitch is also disturbingly attractive. He has black hair, like Ranger. He is tall and built like a concrete and steel building. He has these amazing silvery eyes. I mean I think he can see in the dark with those suckers. They are really sort of molten silver. He's hot. I can't imagine why Carrie felt no chemistry. If my husband dumps me or fails to find a way to reassure me that he loves me unconditionally, he may be on my dance card some day.

Mitch started driving toward the house and he disappeared into the Rangeman zone. A few of the guys really had it down pat. Tank, Ranger and Mitch were the best at it, but any one of the other guys could just close off and drive. I knew that somewhere in their heads they were thinking about things, but you sure couldn't tell it by their driving.

"We should stop at the grocery store," I suggested.

"Nope," he shook his head. "There's food in the house. The mothers and Ella have loaded us down. We're good to go."

"You're babysitting me the entire time?"

"Yep," he nodded. "My bag's in the back of the truck."

"And how do you plan to entertain yourself while you're babysitting me?"

"You're pretty much entertainment in your own right Stephanie," he said with a slight smile. "I think we'll find something to do."

I swallowed. I knew he wouldn't poach on his friend's wife. He was just screwing with me because he could. "You're going to be using double entendres during the entire time you're there?"

"Oh yea," he nodded with a satisfied smile.

"Great," I sighed and sank down in my seat.

"What…will it bother those infamous Hungarian hormones of yours?"

"Infamous," I straightened and blinked at him.

"Well, it's no wonder that you're pregnant. Apparently Ranger was late for work every day for weeks because you two were busy playing doctor or whatever you want to call it."

My mouth dropped open and I blinked.

"Is it a false statement?"

"I don't have to answer that," I glared at him and crossed my arms in defiance.

"Well, that's okay. You don't have to answer me anyway. The look on his face every day said it all. He was getting laid all the time. Now the way I figure it, the last time you could have gotten laid was about thirteen days ago and if what I've heard and what I've surmised is true, you're going to be getting an itch. Now…I'm not going to scratch it, nor am I going to offer to scratch it. But I will be aware that the itch is there and as long as morning sickness doesn't interrupt your hormonal rampage, then I'm gonna tease you unmercifully with innuendo and that sort of thing. So…when Ranger comes home…"

"Jeez," I shook my head, "that's wrong. That's just very, very wrong."

"Hey, I'm not poaching. I'm setting my friend up for a night of great pleasure. Just promise me that you'll try not to kill him."

"You're funny," I shook my head. "You're real funny. It won't work."

"Oh it's gonna work," he grinned. "And Rangeman has no idea how much he's gonna owe me after this."

"You're insane," I sighed as he pulled into my garage.

"Maybe," he grinned. "And maybe I'm just screwing with you now. You'll have to wait and see."

"I'm praying for morning sickness," I told him.

He laughed. "I suspect you are."

That night I curled up in the bed I'd bought to share with my husband for the first time in about two weeks. The only thing missing from that blissful feeling was him. Mitch had actually been very well behaved that night. He'd warmed up dinner for me and made sure that I had plenty of movies to watch. When my things were delivered from the other house, he took them upstairs and stowed them on the chaise so I could put them away later. He ran to answer the phone and brought it to me if it was a call I should take. He coddled me. It's true. I was spoiled. He also made sure that I called the lawyer and stopped the annulment, which…I did.

Whether he brought it on by suggestion or what, I don't know, but morning sickness started the next morning. I'll be real with you here. I don't know why they call it morning sickness. There's no specific time of day that you have to bend over the toilet and lose the contents of your stomach. It is pretty much a sure thing that it will be in the morning though.

I tried crackers and soda water before even setting foot out of bed. I tried cheese. I tried ravioli. The ravioli was my mother's suggestion and I don't recommend you try it. Mama suggested a bean and rice burrito. I don't suggest that either. It tastes good both ways, but the beans come out my nose. Besides, I am really having a hard time eating beans considering the kidney bean in my womb.

I was lying face down on the bed with my head hanging off over a plastic trash can when they brought Ranger home. I was definitely not 'in the mood'. And to be truthful, Mitch hadn't really done any of the things he had threatened to do. Of course, it could be that I was too sick to care. It could go either way.

Ranger stopped in the doorway and then came into the room slowly. "Are you okay?"

"Uhhh," I groaned.

"What's wrong," he frowned and squatted by the bed.

"Sick," I muttered.

"Why," he frowned.

"You," I groaned and reached for the trash can.

He straightened and reached for my hair to keep it back. "Me," he blinked as I heaved. "What did I do?"

"You got her pregnant asshole," Mitch grinned and went into the bathroom and got a cool wet washcloth and returned with it. "When she finishes, wash her face with that."

"How long as she been like this," he asked.

"Since the morning after we got here."

"How long is she going to be like this?"

"There's no telling. It could end today. It could end after the first trimester, or she could be one of the lucky few that are sick through the entire pregnancy. Each woman handles it differently and according to all the books and your sister, all the pregnancies are different as well."

"Is she going to be all right like this? I mean this can't be good for either her or the bean."

"The female body is equipped for this," he clapped him on the back. "You have some books to read," he pointed to the side of the bed. "According to the books, the bean is making room in your wife for growth. She's moving things around."

"She," he said hoarsely. "You don't know that it's a she."

He grinned, "Stephanie has a great theory about the sex of your bean. You should ask her about it when she's through."

"I've heard it," he said grimly and rolled me to my back to wash my face.

"Well, you're probably going to hear it again. She's got it stuck in her head. Also, you're now in charge of reading to her. She gets sick when she reads, so I've been reading all the manuals to her," he gestured toward the bed to her. "I had to look at illustrations man. You didn't warn me about this when I signed on to this job."

Ranger raised his head to look at his friend, "I'll be honest with you, I didn't have a clue this would ever happen. I think I sort of thought the babies just came out and life went on. You know…they grew in the bubble and then…"

I pinched his arm.

"Ouch…what was that for," he frowned at me.

"Planned bean," I glared at him.

He winced sheepishly. "I didn't plan it. I just, well…I thought maybe we might have some kids some day."

"Ass," I grunted and rolled out of the bed and headed for the bathroom.

"Has she been this grouchy the whole time," he asked Mitch.

"No, that's new," he said cheerfully heading for the door. "I think it's just for you."

"Great," he sighed and flopped back on the bed. "That's just great."