Great reviews! pretty spot on mostly... except for anything about Helen. She will still be a Berg mom but she won't be as crazy.

So here it is, Mama Manoso POV! Carlos Sr. will be referred to as Carlos and Ranger as Carlitos for clarity.

For the purpose of this story... Celia is younger than Ranger and Steph... Should I bring in his other siblings?

read. rate. review. be jolly and eat avocados!

was in the kitchen when I heard Celia yell. A girl? FINALLY! My boy brought a girl home. I wasn't exactly pleased they were in his room. Alone. But at least the door was open; how else would Celia know? I went to the living room and poked my husband in the head.

"Carlos! Did you hear? Carlitos has a girl in his room!" I said excitedly.

"I heard." He said still looking at his news paper. What a man.

Celia ran down the stairs in a skimpy little outfit; Her blue shirt was tight and you could see her belly button and her shorts weren't covering much. She had her hair pulled to the side and had big gold hoops in and her makeup was much too dark. I sighed. I had tried talking to her about it, and so had Carlos and Carlitos and almost everyone else but she refused to change it.

"Carlos is being a grump."

"What did you do?" Carlos asked in a bored tone. Celia paused for a moment.

"Nothing too bad." She said and walked into the kitchen. I followed her anger beginning to boil in my chest.

"Celia. What did you do?" I asked while putting a hand on my hip.

"I may have called her something... unsavory." She said with a smile.

"What did you call her!"

" Puta..." She mumbled.

"Celia! How could you? You are supposed to make the people in our home feel welcome!"

"It's not like she knows what it means and I doubt he is going to tell her!" She rolled her eyes and I had to stop myself from smacking the back of her head.

I just turned and went upstairs to talk to this girl. When I got to his bedroom my heart stopped a little. There, curled up by my sons side, was a tiny little thing with wild hair and rosy cheeks. And for the first time since he was a baby I saw my Carlitos smiling in his sleep. He looked so at peace with this girl by his side. I smiled a bit and walked over to them and was about to wake up my son with a tap to his shoulder but as I got closer I saw something that made my heart leap. Carlitos' little friend was looking at him with clear blue eyes that held a certain warmth. Gingerly, she reached a hand up and ran it over his brow and across his cheekbone done his nose and rested on his lips. A gentle smile graced her face when he leaned into her touch. I backed out of the room and to the stairs. I then stepped loudly so that she would know I was coming up. When I came to the room she was pulling a thin blanket over Carlos and kissing him on the forehead.

"Hola." I greeted with a smile. She turned around a little startled.

"Hello." She looked from me to Carlos and then back at me. "I'm Stephanie. I'm a friend of Carlos." She stuck a small hand out to me which I shook with great respect. Most girls would have been embarrassed by meeting a boy's mother, but she took it in stride and was nothing but polite.

"I'm Maria. You can call me Mama. Come down stairs until Carlitos wakes up, yes?" I edged her toward the door. She smiled and looked at my sleeping son once more and then nodded her head.

"Alright. But I should really head home soon."

We made our way down stairs and Carlos was sitting in his chair still reading the newspaper. I cleared my throat.

"Stephanie, this is my husband, Carlos." I said with a hand gesture towards him. She immediately stuck her hand out again and smiled brightly.

"Hello. It's very nice to meet you." Carlos looked a bit shocked but pleased. He shook her hand and a big grin spread across his handsome face.

"Hola. Aren't you a pretty one." He said before folding up his newspaper. Stephanie blushed and looked down while tucking a stray curl behind her ear.

"Thank you." She mumbled.

"Sit. I will go put on a pot of tea." I pushed her towards the couch and then looked at Carlos. "Tú, ser amable!" (You, be nice!)

I walked into the kitchen humming. I liked her already. She was pleasant and was dressed modestly. I flitted about the kitchen in a hurry in attempt to get back soon. When the water was done boiling I put it in the tea pot and put everything on a serving tray. When I walked in Stephanie and Carlos were laughing and seemed to be having a great time.

"What did I miss?" I asked setting down the tea. Carlos was beaming.

"Stephanie, here, likes sports. In fact..." I cut him off.

"That's lovely! But now it is time for the girls to talk." I kissed his forehead and gave him a cookie. "Cookie with your tea, Dear?"

"Yes, please!" She looked absolutely delighted. She took a bite of the cookie and moaned slightly. "Shortbread, freshly baked?"

"Yes." I answered.

"I think I love you." She said with a smile. She took another sip of tea.

"So how did you meet Carlitos?" She laughed.

"I was hiding behind the bleachers and he was about to throw away some tasty cakes so I stopped him. Then he saved me from a rather persistent guy I'm avoiding. Then he saved me again the other night when I had car trouble." She was blushing.

"My boy has always had an aversion to sweets. I will never understand it."

She chuckled. "If you ever need someone to eat them I am more than willing to come over and help you out."

"You like food, yes?"

"Love it. If only it loved me back. I'm Hungarian and Italian. Food is in my blood... and hips." She grimaced.

"I happen to like your hips." We heard from the stairs. Carlitos stood there with rumpled clothing and messy hair and Stephanie's eyes took in every detail of him and I swear I heard her whimper. Carlitos had a heated look in his eye that I wish I hadn't seen. He had heard the whimper too. "Babe."

"Carlitos, use your words." I huffed. Damn boy never formed a proper sentence.

"You should have woken me up." He said as he crossed the room and sat next to Stephanie.

"But you looked so peaceful." She whispered. He lifted her hand and kissed her palm. She wiggled a bit. He hummed.

"Have you guys been nice to her?" He said, eyes never straying from her face.

"They were very nice. Your mother fed me the most wonderful cookies."

"Oh, you are so flattering." I knew I was blushing.

"No, really! They were fabulous! And your father and I discussed sports." She was grinning and holding his hand.

"I'm glad you had a decent time." He smirked.

"A lovely time." She corrected.

"But, you have to go home." Her blue eyes went wide.

"Oh no." She became frantic. "What time is it?"

Carlos looked at his watch. "It's 6:46."

"OH NO!" She ran upstairs to get her shoes on and ran back. "Thank you so much for having me over but I'm late and my mother is going to kill me!" She smiled and ran over to Carlitos. "I'll see you tomorrow." She kissed his forehead and ran out the door. Carlos laughed and reached into his pocket and pulled out keys. Stephanie ran back in, glared at Carlos, snatched the keys and left.

"I like her." I said with a smile.

"So do I." Carlitos whispered.

SO THERE IT IS!

What team does Steph like? I can't remember. I'm not one for sports.

I HOPE YOU LIKED IT!