~18~

Hector looked over at her and said, "You want a tattoo?" She looked at him and said, "I think I do. Most of the guys working here have one so I wouldn't look out of place. Plus, Ram and I were talking about them the other day when I asked about the few he already has, and I was think that I would like to get one and surprise him when he gets home. What do you think?" He looked over at her and said, "Have you talked to Steph or Ranger about getting one?" She laughed, "Yeah, like that would go over with daddy. I don't know how he got through so many years of military work without getting any. Even after working with so many of the guys that have them, he still doesn't have one." Hector let out a bark of laughter. "What?" she asked. Hector shook his head, "Not my story to tell, but I wouldn't worry about what 'daddy' thinks." She looked at him and then it clicked. "You mean, Daddy has a tattoo?"

The rest of the drive home, Hector refused to give away the information about Ranger's tattoo. Julie finally gave up the fight and asked Hector to help her with hers. She had an idea on what she wanted to get, but didn't know where to go to get it done. He followed her into her house when they got there and had her get out paper for him. She also gave him a box of colored pencils because she wanted it in color. He looked at her with a blank look on his face once she explained what she wanted, but before he threw down the blank look, he had a surprised look on his face, just for a quick moment. He worked for a few minutes and showed her the outline of the design. She made a few suggestions and then after he made the update, she looked again and said, "Perfect! Oh Uncle Hector, it looks perfect!"

The next day after both of their shifts were over, Hector took Julie to the place where he gets most of his tattoos. He introduced her as "Manoso's kid" and that seemed to get her the star treatment. Hector handed over the design he had come up with and the guy looked it over. "Seems like it shouldn't be too hard." He looked at Julie and asked, "Where do you want it at kid?" Julie glanced at Hector and blushed. Hector seemed to get the idea and said, "I'll step out for a minute." Julie gestured to the general area of her body and the guy handed over a sheet and told her to take off whatever would be in the way and cover up. He then stepped out and both he and Hector came back in once she said she was ready. Hector looked at where she had covered with the sheet and said, "Are you sure?" She nodded and said she was ready to start. Hector sat next to her and held her hand, telling her to squeeze if it started to hurt. The work started and while she only squeezed Hector's hand a few times, he did reach up and wipe away tears from her face. The guy looked at her and said, "Do you want me to stop?" She shook her head and looked at Hector and said, "Just missing Ram." Hector nodded and had a short conversation with the guy in Spanish, which Julie understood about every other word. It seemed that Hector was telling the story about Ram being on a mission.

Once it was done, Hector drove her back to Rangeman to pick up her car and she headed for home. He gave her a kiss on top of the head and told her he was proud of how she handled it. She looked at him and said, "Well, I know that I'll be going back one more time to get the date added and that might be the end of my tattoos. I know Ram has a few of them, but one seems to be enough for me." Hector laughed and she got in her car and headed home. When she got home, she found a note on her door from the next door neighbor, asking her to stop over when she got home. She dropped her bag off inside and headed next door. The woman answered Julie's knock with a smile and said, "A delivery came for you about an hour ago, but it was left with me since you weren't home. Come in for a minute and I'll go get it." The woman came back carrying a large bouquet of red roses in a beautiful vase. She handed it over and said, "You are a lucky girl to get such a beautiful arrangement. Julie thanked her and headed back to her house.

Julie set the vase down on the coffee table and pulled out the envelope that was with it. She leaned over and took a deep breathe, inhaling the wonderful scent of the flowers. She opened the envelope and pulled out the card. It wasn't Ram's handwriting, but it was from him. "My Sweet Julie, I've loved you for so long and wish I didn't have to leave you now. Please be strong and stay safe so I don't worry about you too much. I have to run to catch the plane, but wanted to say I Love You one more time. Yours, Ram". She burst into tears and got up, heading into her home office. She dug through the desk and found a spiral notebook and sat down in the chair. Reaching for a pen, she started to write. 'My Journal', - Julie Manoso Martine. She wrote for over an hour, pouring out her soul in words. Once she was out of words for the night, she put the notebook back in the drawer and headed to bed.

The next few weeks went about the same. She would work her shifts at RangeMan, spend her lunch hour in Ram's apartment, and then heading home for the night. Occasionally she would spend some time upstairs with the kids and a few times she spent the weekend with them at the beach house whenever she had the entire weekend off. Ranger let her know that Ram had made his first two check-ins and everything was going according to the plan. He mentioned if it continued this way, Ram would be back stateside in a few weeks. She knew that once that happened, it could still be weeks before he was allowed out of DC and could head back to Trenton. Steph had mentioned that the debriefings were the worst time for her. She would hear that Ranger was back in the states, but couldn't get to him or even talk to him until he was released.

About twelve weeks after Ram left, he finally came home. Julie was working at her desk, with her headphones on when she felt a chill go up her back. She about jumped out of her chair when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She jumped up and turned around to see Ram standing there, with a big grin on his face. Her head jerked back towards her desk, as she still had her headphones on. He laughed at her while she pulled the headphones off and threw them on her desk. She launched herself into his arms and started to cry. He held onto her tight, closed his eyes and just breathed in deeply, instantly relaxing.