Chapter 17 Steph's Decision
They were back home in twenty-five minutes.
"So what do we do now?" Julie asked the two of them.
"I want to go into the spa" Stephanie told them.
"I will second that, and Julie it is to cold for you to go into the pool, but if you want you can go into your spa that you have in your bathroom." Ranger told him.
"Okay dad" Julie moaned. They pulled up to the house, and Ranger unlocked the door to the kitchen. Tux came scampering up to Julie. Julie picked Tux up and held him for a little bit. The kitten who was now four months old started to lick Julie's face. Stephanie came into the kitchen and picked up a glass and had a drink of water from the tap.
She went upstairs, to change into her swim suit and went to the bathroom and started the spa. She had just gotten in, when the phone rang.
"Yeah" "Carlos it is Ron, I hate to tell you this, but Rachel is gone, she died very early this morning"
"Thanks Ron" Carlos hung up the phone. Took a deep breath and went to go see his daughter and Stephanie. Carlos knocked on Julie's door,
"It is open" Carlos entered her room and noticed that is was a pick colored walls, with a brown carpet. "When did you get this done?" he asked her.
"You helped me that last time I was here remember." She told him "Oh yeah that was last year right." He leaned against the wall. "Yeah, dad can we start searching for schools later today." Julie told him, and then added "Only three weeks to Christmas"
"Yeah, I know, but I do have to talk to you. I got a call from Ron, it is about your mom sweet heart." Carlos walked over to her and sat down on the bed next to her. Ron called and said "She died this morning" Julie fell into Carlos's arms crying.
"Hey Baby, I am right here and not going anywhere." Carlos told her as he held her. He was rubbing her back trying to calm her down.
"Dad, I don't want to be without a mom, do you think Stephanie will adopt me and become my new mom?" Julie asked him through tears.
"Darling, I think you should ask her that, but for right now you need to rest and calm down and try and remember the good times." Carlos told her.
"Okay" Julie told him quietly. Tux came up to Julie and laid down in her lap. "I am going to tell Stephanie, so you stay here with Tux for a while and try to relax." Carlos told her. He exited her room and the tears started to fall.
He was leaning against the door, when his cell phone rang, "Boss it is Bobby your blood work came out all clear, you can go back to work."
"Great, what about Stephanie's blood work." Ranger asked him.
"I am going to call her next" Bobby said then he hung up. Ranger went into his bedroom. He heard Stephanie get out of the spa. "Babe," Ranger called.
"Yes, Carlos I am right here." Stephanie came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. "Carlos, what happened? Was it Rachel?" Stephanie asked him. "Yeah, Rachel is gone." Ranger walked up to Stephanie and hugged her, they held each other for a little bit crying and trying to calm each other .
Stephanie then heard her cell phone ring, "Babe you might want to get that it could be Bobby." Ranger told him. She answered the phone, but noticed Carlos had laid down on the bed.
"Hey there Love, good news, you are pregnant." Bobby told her through the phone. "Are you sure Bobby?" She answered him. "Yup" Bobby hung up.
Stephanie walked over to the bed and laid down next to Ranger. "Hey, guess what, I am pregnant Carlos, we did it we are going to be parents, Julie is going to be a big sister." Stephanie told him.
Just then there was a knock at the door, "Dad can I come in."
"I will get dressed, and then I think we should all go out for dinner." Stephanie told him.
"Come on in Julie" Carlos told her. "Hey dad, are you okay?" Julie crawled up on to the bed. Carlos sat up, "I want you to know I did love your mother even though it didn't work Julie," he told her. "I know dad, and I have a good life thanks to you." Julie told him and then wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Hey how would you like to be a big sister?" Carlos asked her.
"Yeah, I would love to why" Julie asked as Stephanie walked back into the bedroom.
"Because you are" Stephanie told her glowing. "Yeah, if it is a girl can we name her Rachel in honor of my mom?" She asked as she smiled and jumped of the bed.
She ran up to Stephanie and hugged her tightly. "We will think about" Carlos told her, "Now how about we all go out to eat." Carlos told them. "Yeah, I would like that" Julie said as she smiled brightly.