Ranger's arrival home wasn't much of a distraction from my current state of being. I think the Pope or Brad Pitt could have come through the bedroom and I'd have only acknowledged them with a grunt. I wasn't interested in seeing or talking to anyone unless they could ease the disgruntled feeling in my stomach. Ranger was the head of the list of the people I didn't want to see considering he was the reason why I was in that predicament.

When I finished using the bathroom and brushing my teeth, I went back to bed and didn't even acknowledge that he was in the room. I had no energy. I don't know how Val did this three times. Of course, I didn't get to see her pregnant with either Angie or Mary Alice, but with Lisa I don't remember her being this bad. Mary Lou didn't go through this. I would have remembered that for sure.

When I next opened my eyes it was dark in the room and my stomach had settled a good deal. As a matter of fact, I was hungry. I didn't know how long that feeling would last, but I thought it was a good idea to fill up on some fuel before the vomit monster returned.

I took a quick shower and when I exited the bathroom Ranger was there with a tray of food for both of us.

"You just got out of the hospital after dying and you're serving me dinner?"

"Well, actually Mitch fixed the dinner. He also carried it up here. All I am supposed to do is eat dinner with you and read to you."

I grinned, "Really…you're going to read to me?"

"Er…yea," he nodded. "Is that okay? Mitch said I had to. He said you got nauseous when you read."

"That's true, I do," I nodded. I studied him thoughtfully, "well, it's your lucky day today anyway. Celia sent me a movie. We're going to watch it instead." I reached for my nightstand and handed him the DVD.

"Okay," he started to get up.

"Uh…Ranger," I smiled.

"Yea," he turned back to me.

"You might want to wait until after you've eaten," I suggested.

He looked down at the DVD in his hand, "what's on this?"

"Childbirth," I said with a slight smile.

"Oh," he said and almost dropped it before putting it on top of the entertainment cabinet.

"Looks good," I sighed. "I'm starving. Where's Mitch?"

"He left. Lester's downstairs. He'll be back tomorrow afternoon."

"Okay," I nodded.

"Do you need something else that he does?"

"No, I'm fine," I smiled.

"Then why did you ask?"

"I guess I've gotten used to having dinner with him. And he rubs my feet."

Ranger scowled, "I'll rub your feet."

"Well, not now," I said and picked up my fork. "This is from your mother's kitchen. She's sent me a bunch of things that aren't as spicy. You may not like it."

"It will be fine. With the way my insides have been juggled around I think it's a good idea for me to go light with seasonings anyway."

"That's probably a good idea," I agreed and took a bite of the casserole. "Oh my God, that woman is a magnificent cook. We could use a couple of Spanish dishes at Unit. I think I'll…" A look of horror came over my face, "oh my God. I completely forgot about Mike. What is he going to do?"

He shook his head, "he said when you were at the hospital that you kept asking him if he was okay. He's fine. He also said to tell you that he'd already started working on a second site that was going to be ready for opening day in a couple of weeks. He just needed to firm up the menu. I told him we'd give him a call."

I sighed in relief. "Did he say if he was going to rebuild at the other location?"

"I think he's planning on it. The new location is fairly close to our offices. It will be a lot easier to eat there for us now."

"Cool," I nodded. "I've always hated going into downtown Trenton proper."

"Most people do."

"Anyway, once I'm mobile again or you can go twenty minutes without throwing up we'll head down there…or he can come here."

"That would be good," I nodded.

Lester tapped on the bedroom door, "Steph…your Mom just called to make sure that you were eating and that Ranger was okay. Do you want me to tell her anything else?"

"Are you still on the phone with her," I blinked.

"Yep," he grinned. "She's really very nice."

"Uh-huh," I nodded. "No, that's good."

"I told her you were still throwing up everything in sight. She said to tell you not to drink milk or orange juice."

"Too little too late," I sighed as he exited the room.

"Why," Ranger frowned.

"Milk curdles, orange juice burns," I shrugged.

He got a weird look on his face and put his fork down. "We can watch that whenever you're ready."

"Okay, go ahead," I nodded and took a sip of my water. "I can handle it."

"You haven't been able to handle air for a few days now according to Mitch. How are you supposed to be able to handle childbirth after a casserole?"

"Well, there's only one way to find out," I said with a nod. "Put it on."

"All right," he said and shook his head and got up and slid the DVD into the player, "but make sure your trash can is ready."

"It's ready," I said in amusement.

A few moments later the video began to play. The calm impersonal voice started explaining about labor. 'Many new mothers to be have a lot of energy on the day of delivery. The new mother-to-be would be mostly likely to experience pressure in her belly. This could be false contractions commonly known as Braxton-Hicks contractions. If this is true labor the rate of occurrence of these contractions will increase as will the pressure to the belly.'

I shrugged, "that doesn't sound too bad."

Ranger just shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest.

'In the beginning the contractions will be mildly uncomfortable and the discomfort will increase dramatically as labor progresses. This is generally referred to as the first level of labor. When the contractions are approximately five minutes apart, most new mothers to be will need to contact their physician or midwife and alert them that they are ready to give birth and are going to the birthing center or to the hospital.'

"We're going to a hospital," Ranger said adamantly and his jaw contracted.

"You're preaching to the choir," I nodded.

"It is at about two to three minutes apart that most contractions increase to an uncomfortable rate. If the mother-to-be's water has not yet broken, at this time it is common for the water to be broken by your physician or midwife. When the water is broken, the rate of the contractions will increase as will the discomfort.'

"I don't know that I want to have my water broken," I whispered as the fluid came gushing out of the girl on the video.

"That's going to be inside of you," he blanched.

"It's the fluid the bean is growing in," I said blankly. "The bigger the bean gets, the more fluid will be necessary…to sort of cushion her space."

'Shortly after the water is broken, transitional labor begins. This is the point of labor when the baby begins to move down the birth canal. In most births this takes approximately twenty to thirty minutes and is the most intensely painful part of the birthing process.'

I blinked as the girl on the screen began to pant. Her eyes were wide and she was clearly in pain. She panted and relaxed after a few moments, but it was clear that she was in pain, "oh, my God."

"It…uh…she…it…," Ranger stuttered.

'When the baby's head presents itself at the end of the vagina for delivery, it is referred to as crowning. It is only a short time now before the baby is born. While many people assume that the head is the largest part of the baby to come from the body, it is in actual fact the shoulders. The baby leaves the vagina at an angle.'

I gasped and fell back as the baby emerged from the womb of the woman. She was red-faced and straining as the child came gushing forth after the shoulders cleared and immediately began to scream.

'After the birth of the baby, the baby is put at his mother's breast and encouraged to feed when breast feeding is going to be done. This will assist in the expulsion of the afterbirth or placenta.'

Ranger gagged as the squiggly mass resembling an organ of some type came out of the woman's body. "I can't do that," he whispered. "I can't be there when…"

"Listen here Ricardo Carlos Manoso," I rolled toward him with a growl, "you put this bean into my body and you will be there when she makes her big appearance." I poked his chest with my finger, "do you hear me?"

He nodded.

Okay, he was a little green. He could deal with it. I'm pretty sure I'd thrown up my spleen sometime in the last five days. I was in no mood for him to wuss out on me.

Lester tapped on the door as the mother on the screen and her new son bonded. "Hey…oh crap, I missed the movie," he sighed. "Was it as cool as they make it sound?"

I nodded toward Ranger.

"Dude, you're looking a little green."

"Shut the fuck up Santos. You'll be in my shoes soon enough."

"If only, if only," he grinned loading the tray with our dishes. "You didn't eat much Ranger."

"I'm not hungry."

"You did good Steph. Mitch will be pleased."

I grinned, "Did you weigh it?"

"You know I did," he grinned. "Hey, when you're done with the DVD, can I watch it?"

"Sure," I nodded. "We're done for now…have at it."

"You're the best," he grinned and ejected the DVD from the machine and hurried away whistling.

"He's demented," Ranger said sliding carefully out of the bed and heading for the bathroom.

"Yep," I nodded and watched him leave the room. I hoped he was better with diapers than he was with afterbirth or we were going to be in trouble.

Lester tapped on the door again, "you feeling like company?"

"Who's here?"

"Your brother-in-law," he smiled.

"Rafe," I raised a brow, "or Albert?"

"Right…it's Rafe," he nodded. "Can he come up? He was in London when you guys did the amusement park ride at Unit and he hasn't seen Ranger since your reception. He just wants to assure himself that you're both okay."

"Give us a few, and then send him up," I nodded.

"Okay," he agreed.

I tapped on the bathroom door, "Ranger…Rafe is here."

"Fuck," he said as he flung the door open.

I grinned, "Well, I'm sure he'll be at least that happy to see you. Mind if I pretty up before he comes up?"

"Sure," he stepped aside and let me into the bathroom.

I brushed my hair and teeth and went back into the bedroom. I glanced at Ranger and winced, "you need to have clean bandages and a clean tee shirt might be a good idea too."

"I can't do it."

"I can," I said and shook my head. "Okay, can you lift your arms?"

"Not much," he sighed.

"Well, do we cut this shirt off of you or what?"

"That's fine with me," he nodded.

I reached for my scissors and cut the shirt off of him. Really, it was sort of a fantasy of mine, but in my fantasies this always led to amazing sex and incredible catastrophic orgasms and I had a feeling that today…that just wasn't going to happen. I peeled the bandages off of him and sighed.

"What," he frowned.

"You're not supposed to look that good with stitches," I said sadly. "You look better with stitches than I look in perfect health." I bent over him to clean the wounds and put medicine on them.

"That's a matter of opinion," he whispered.

I looked up at him and smiled before reaching for clean bandages and taping them onto his chest. I strolled into the closet just as Lester tapped on the door and in walked Rafe looking almost as sexy as my husband and a little healthier.

"Oh crap bro, what kind of damage was done this time?"

"The usual glass, metal and internal injuries," he nodded.

"Hi Rafe," I said as I emerged from the closet with a soft loose tee shirt. I said and presented my cheek for his kiss before walking to the bed and carefully putting that shirt onto my husband.

"You're dressing him now," his mouth quirked in amusement.

"He's in a lot of pain," I reminded him as I smoothed the shirt down and ran my fingers through his hair to straighten what I had messed up. "Lester, where are Ranger's pain pills."

"Downstairs, I wasn't sure where he'd be sl… I'll get them," he blinked and hurried out of the room.

Ranger shifted up on the bed. "Well Rafe, how was London?"

"English," he said with a smile. "I'd ask how it's been here, but well…you're pretty banged up and I already talked to Pop."

Ranger groaned, "I'm betting he had a lot to say."

"Oh yea," he grinned. "When I report back to him, I'll be happy to tell him that you're at home with your wife."

"Hmm," Ranger sat back with a sigh of pain.

I frowned and pulled the covers up over him.

Lester hurried in with the bag of medicine. "He's supposed to take this one and this one," he put two pills into my hand and gave me a bottle of water.

"Thank you Lester," I said, "open up."

"I can do this," Ranger said quietly.

I just smiled.

He opened his mouth and I put the pills in and gave him the bottle of water.

"Good," I nodded. "Do you boys need to be alone to talk? I can go downstairs. I'm feeling pretty good right now. I can watch the DVD again with Lester."

Ranger groaned and shook his head.

"I think you need to stay up here with him," Lester said backing out of the room. "He may need your trash can."

"He had problems with the afterbirth," I said sadly and patted Ranger's chest reassuringly.

"I did not…," he stopped when he saw the challenge on my face. He sighed, "Fine…it was disgusting and I thought I was going to puke."

I patted his thigh with a smile. "In any case, I'll be back in a few minutes. I'm still hungry." I smiled and exited the room. As I closed the door I heard Rafe's voice.

"According to Pop you're supposed to be here working on fixing the marriage you fucked up," he said.

I paused in the hall and frowned.

"Is this really any of your business Rafe?"

"Family is my business. We've had two divorces in this family and…"

"Mine was annulled," Ranger bit out.

"And," Rafe continued apparently impatiently, "that's two too many according to Pop. Besides…we all really love Stephanie."

"I know. She's amazing," he sighed.

I smiled and continued down the stairs.

Lester was lounging on the sofa with a Corona and some pizza.

"Oh I see, you get the good stuff while I'm up there with bland Spanish food and I didn't even know that was possible," I flopped down on the sofa beside him.

He held his pizza out to me and I took a bite. "Are you going to torture him for a long time?"

"How long is a long time," I asked after swallowing my bite of pizza.

He raised a brow at me, "you're killing him."

"I don't want to kill him," I shrugged. "I just want to maim him a little bit. When he gets his shit together and learns how to treat me, he can go back to being terrifying bad ass Ranger, but for now…"

"It can't be safe for him to be out in public like this. If people know he's lost his edge…," he shook his head and took a bite of the pizza.

"He's not supposed to be putting himself in danger any more anyway. He's corporate Ranger now," I raised my brow back at him.

"Old habits die hard," he said quietly.

"That's why Robert and George were at the office a couple of weeks ago," I frowned thoughtfully. "They're hoping that he'll have a hard time breaking habits." I put my hand on my flat belly, "I won't try to change him for me. But I'm telling you right now Lester, he has to change for the bean. He will be in this baby's life more than he was in Julie's. He will be if I have to beat him into submission."

Lester grinned, "Good to know where you stand beautiful."

"Right," I shook my head.

"You know you're even more gorgeous pregnant, don't you? You've got a glow."

I got to my feet and headed for the kitchen, "you're a sick man Lester Santos."

He just laughed as I walked away.

Rafe came downstairs twenty minutes later and I was sitting at the bar in the kitchen eating some ice cream. Yea…I know, milk does curdle, but I had to take the risk. I was craving.

"Pickles and ice cream," he said settling his hand on the back of my neck and kissing my head.

"No pickles yet," I frowned. "But I might add some olives to it."

"That's disgusting," he laughed. "Well, I'll let you get on with that. Do me a favor Steph?"

"Sure," I nodded. "What do you need?"

"Go easy on my little brother," he said seriously.

It was all I could do not to laugh out loud when he called him his little brother. "Er…right. Tell me why I should go easy on him."

"Because when it comes to you, he's never been able to think straight," he said gently and kissed me on the head again before heading for the door. I frowned at his retreating back and got another bowl of ice cream and went back up stairs. Ranger was lying back on the bed staring off into space.

"Are you all right? Did you and Rafe have a good talk?"

"You didn't have to leave Steph," he said tiredly.

"I know. I just thought you may need some privacy."

"Thank you."

"Want some ice cream," I smiled.

"Won't that curdle," he frowned.

"If it comes back up," I nodded.

"What flavor," he raised a brow.

I grinned, "See…here's where I get you. Its half Vanilla bean and half chocolate peanut butter," I said waving a spoonful of vanilla at him.

"Are you eating the vanilla bean," he asked before letting me put the spoon in his mouth.

I blinked, "yea. I guess the bean likes vanilla bean."

He smiled, "it's a boy."

"It's a girl. Girls can like vanilla too."

"That's my baby," he said and ran his hand gently over my belly.

"It couldn't be anyone else's," I said seriously.

"I know," he met my eyes.

"Come on, eat this and we'll go to bed."

"I'm not hungry," he sighed.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in," I called.

"Do you guys need anything? I expect he's about to go to sleep."

"Yea," I smiled and handed him my bowl. "Thank you Lester."

"You're welcome. I'll see you in the morning. If you need me before that, you know what to do."

I nodded.

"Sweet dreams," he smiled and exited the room.

"Where do I sleep," Ranger said tightly.

I smiled, "do you promise to behave?"

"Babe," he shook his head and gestured toward his wounded stomach.

"Then you can sleep here," I said and climbed up into the bed and settled in. I turned the light off and closed my eyes with a deep satisfying breath. I was home. He was home. The bean was safe. It was a good day.

His hand snaked over and took mine in his gently.

I swallowed back the tears and my fingers tightened on his for just a millisecond before loosening. I had hope. There was hope.