The next year went by quickly. Julie and Ram texted almost daily, sometimes four or five times if she needed more encouragement. Julie's mom was holding her own, having been placed in a clinical trial and so far, it seemed to be helping. Stephanie had confided in Ram that Julie was also doing better and she was thankful to Ram for his friendship with Julie. Sometimes Steph thought that there was something more there, but then talked herself out of asking either Ram or Julie.
In June, Julie had graduated from high school and was finally able to attend the summer camp at Julliard. She was able to stop in the Trenton office a couple times over the summer and always made sure to stop by and see him. Each time she stopped by the building, she found him in the gun range. He spent most of his time there, but that's where he felt most comfortable. He got along with all of the guys, but he still considered himself socially awkward.
He heard from Julie once she got back in Miami after camp that she was going to hold off going to college. She wanted to stay close to her mom and Ranger and her parents seemed to be okay with her decision. She put in about 10 hours a week at the Miami RangeMan helping where she could in all areas of the company. She talked to him about college and he convinced her to start taking classes as a part-time student. There was a community college not far from the Miami RangeMan building and Silvio was willing to work around a class schedule, just as long as she came to work each day. The fall passed by quietly and before he knew it, it was almost Christmas. He volunteered to work over the holidays so the guys with families could spend time together. Steph and Ranger stepped in and picked up some open shifts so even more guys could go home.
He was working on the monitors on Christmas Eve when he saw Ranger pull into the garage. The passenger door opened and Julie came bounding out. He smiled to himself, but kept watching the monitors. The elevator door opened and Julie and Ranger came out. She practically bounced over to where Ram and Manny sat at the monitors. She threw her arms around each of them from behind and kissed their cheeks. Ram laughed while Manny blushed. "Hey guys, Merry Christmas! I'm so excited to be here this year." Ranger came over and said, "Julie, leave the guys be so they can do their jobs. Once their shift is over, you'll be able to talk to them." She reluctantly agreed and headed back towards the elevator. Ranger said, "When you're shift is over, feel free to stop by the penthouse. Ella left a spread out in our kitchen for everyone. I'm sure Steph and Rosie will be happy to see you." They both agreed and he left. Manny looked over to Ram and smiled. "So, you've got it bad for the boss's daughter?" Ram looked at him shocked, "Of course not, she's just a kid. Good god man, I have to be about 10 years older than her. She's like a little sister." Manny just smiled and shook his head at Ram, but did drop the subject.
After shift they both headed upstairs, having stopped at their apartments to each pick up the gifts they had for Rosie. Ram also had picked up something small for Julie and had planned to send it to her next time he was able to get out of the building. They got off the elevator and found that the penthouse door was propped open and Christmas music could be heard from inside. They walked inside and found Rosie running around with Julie crawling after her in a slow moving chase. Steph saw them and motioned them to come into the apartment more and Julie jumped up and came over to hug each of them properly this time, and gave them each another kiss on the cheek. Ranger looked at her and shook his head. "Julie, would you stop kissing my men? They're going to expect me to take over when you go back to Miami. I don't kiss men."
They all laughed and Rosie came running over. She was two years old now and once she had started talking, she never seemed to stop. Steph joked that some nights she talked while sleeping. She seemed to go from crawling to running in a short amount of time. She stopped in front of Manny first, who picked her up and she kissed him on the cheek, leaving a trail of toddler slobber dripping off his face. Manny gave her a kiss on the cheek and handed her a present and sat her down. She ripped the paper off the box and saw that it was a toddler radio. It had a dial to turn that played nursery rhymes. It had a handle so it would be easy for her to carry around the apartment. Manny showed her how to turn it on and her eyes got big. She started singing with it and swinging it around by the handle, all the while dancing. "Juwe, look. Manny gots me a music machine." Julie showed interest in it and taking it from her said, "Rosie, why don't you go see Ram? I think he has a present for you too."
Rosie ran towards Ram and he picked her up swinging her around, making her giggle. He stopped swinging her and she reached both hands up and grabbed onto his face, giving him a sloppy kiss on the mouth. She patted his cheeks and said, "Wam Wam, gots me toy?" He shook his head and walked over to where he had set down the gifts he brought. He set Rosie down on the floor and handed her the two small presents. She looked at Steph and said, "Mama Mama Mama, Wam Wam gots me toys." They all laughed and watched her rip open the gifts. The first was a book about bunnies and the other was a GI Joe doll. She held the GI Joe up to Ranger and said, "Papa Papa, Wam Wam gots me a army Barbie." They all laughed and Julie sat down with her and helped her get the doll out of the box.
Once Rosie was occupied with her new toys, they headed towards the kitchen where Ella had left a spread of food. Steph thanked both of the guys for the gifts for Rosie and told them to grab some food. Ranger had gone into the fridge and brought them both a bottle of beer to drink. Some of the other guys had wandered in after shift and were getting food, drinks and giving Rosie presents. Steph had mentioned in one of their last all staff meetings that she knew the guys liked to give Rosie presents but she wanted to limit the amount for Christmas. She would be getting presents from her family, the Manoso family and Santa.
Julie walked over to Ram and said, "Wam Wam? Got a minute? I have something for you." She handed him a small box. He opened it up and found a pen, in the shape of a bullet. He laughed out loud and smiled at her. "Thank you. I've never seen anything like it before." Julie said, "I'm glad you like it. I saw it and thought of you immediately." He hugged her and dropped a kiss on top of her head. He pulled a small box out of his pocket and handed it to her. "Just a little something for you." She smiled and opened it. It was a small jewelry box and she opened it and grinned. It was a necklace that had a gold microphone charm. She pulled it out of the box and held it out to him. She pulled up her hair and he put it on and clasped it for her. She looked down and held the microphone in her hand, looking it over. "It's beautiful. Thank you." She kissed him on the cheek and then sat down to play with Rosie. Ram headed back over towards Manny and got more to eat. Neither of them noticed that Stephanie had watched the gift exchange.
