Previously:
Ranger gathered his wife onto his lap and brushed a gentle kiss over her lips. "Yes, it will," he said and kissed her again. The happy couple spent the next hour enjoying adult time, before their son woke from his nap.
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"Hola, little Alex. Gracias for calling me; your Daddy even let you use his phone, something he never lets anyone touch," Hector said to his godson.
Fresh from his nap, Alex was still a little groggy and was rubbing his eyes as he nodded his head at what his Tio said. He had a lot of 'Tios' but Hector was his favorite. "Daddy said to press number three whenever I wanted to talk to you. Mommy's number one in the phone, Grandma Edna is two and you're number three!" Alex let out a shriek of laughter as Hector lifted him onto his shoulders. "My birthday's coming up, did you know that?" He asked as Hector shifted him so he was sitting steadier on the high perch.
"I did hear something the other day from your Mom about a little boy about to turn three. Is that you? I thought you were only two," Hector teased as he carried Alex down the hall.
"Silly Tio, I was two last year. Now I'm three and not a baby anymore. Daddy says I'm becoming a man."
Hector laughed. "Well then little man, let's go see what we can find to eat. I can hear that stomach of yours rumbling already, just like your Mom's. So, what do you think a man has for a snack?"
"Pizza!" Alex exclaimed and Hector laughed again.
"Yes, mijo, a man would certainly have pizza, but how about a peanut butter sandwich and some carrots? That's my favorite." And it's what Stephanie instructed he eat after his nap so Hector would do his best to adhere to her rules.
"That's good too," Alex admitted. "But pizza's better."
Spending time with Alex filled a void in Hector's life that had been missing for years. Growing up on the streets alone, he was always in self-preservation mode, doing what he had to do to survive on his own. His family dying simply by being in the wrong place at the wrong time left Hector adrift in the world and he never thought he'd be a part of a family again. But then one fateful night as he wandered the streets looking for fight, he came across a blue-eyed, curly-haired stranger being accosted in a parking lot by a couple of aggressive drunks who thought they were gonna get some from the beautiful woman who'd unfortunately crossed their path. He didn't know why, but something compelled him to step in and rescue her. And by saving her, Stephanie in turn saved Hector by bringing him home to Rangeman.
All it took was one look from his new bride and Ranger hired him on the spot. The fact he had self-taught computer skills that rivaled any tech person around, and his expertise in self-defense and any and all weaponry didn't hurt either. From that day forward, he remained Stephanie's protector, even inside the building, and before he knew it, he was part of a family again. Where they went, he went, and now he couldn't imagine life being any other way.
He sat down at the breakfast bar with his godson and they ate their sandwiches while Alex chattered about what he wanted for his birthday. Hector smiled at the boy while he pondered how he got so lucky to have so many people who cared about him now.
Later, after Stephanie and Ranger had come back from their trip to the grocery store, the doorbell rang and Mrs. Manoso opened it the Molnar clan. Mary Lou, Lenny and the boys trooped in for what they called, playtime at the Batcave.
The families rotated visits to each other's house each week. Last week they'd had a night of movies and board games at Mary Lou's and this week they would all spend the day at Rangeman for something special Ranger, Lenny and Hector had concocted for the boys, or as they liked to call them, Future Rangeman Employees.
Hector had made up special badges for the boys, identical to the ones all employees of Rangeman were required to wear and seeing them draped around their necks with official lanyards brought a smile to both Ranger and Steph's face.
"Everyone into formation!'' Ranger's voice rang out. The Molnar boys and Alex scrambled at the barked command and lined up according to height for inspection.
Alex had on his black sweats, shoes and a mini-Rangeman t-shirt, made especially for him by Ella. Lenny and his boys were all in the standard Rangeman uniform requirements as well, except for their own black sweats instead of cargo pants.
"Today, Men, is the day we've all been waiting for. Nothing and no one will stand in our way, understood?" Ranger left no room for argument when he spoke.
"Sir! Yes Sir!" Replying in earnest, the boys had a look of fierce concentration on their faces. Even Lenny and Hector responded in kind. They knew the rules: one for all and all for one when visiting the Manoso family.
Steph and Mary Lou retreated to the kitchen so no one could hear their laughter over the sight of the Mini-employees.
Hector brought up the rear of the line when Ranger said "Move out, men. Double time to the gym, then onto our Mission. Lead the way soldier!"He called to his son, who being the shortest, was at the front of the pack.
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Going over the list of their fulfilled requirements, Ranger told the boys, "Men, I'm proud of you. All this hard work is paying off. Your track time is improving as are your pushups, just like my employees, all of you have succeeded. Take a break and then it's onto our mission." The boys had sprawled out on the mats after their 45 minutes of following Ranger's commands, giving the men time to talk amongst themselves.
"Lenny," Ranger started while the boys rested, "will your crew be able to take on all the renovations we discussed? Steph faxed over the new plans to your office last week."
Sometimes it was hard to think of Lenny as a businessman, he always seemed like somewhat of an oaf all through high school, nearly creating the term "dumb jock" himself, but he'd turned out to be pretty business savvy and had scraped and saved all his money to start his own electrical company and after merging recently with a failing plumbing business he was doing quite well. Harry and Edna had done what they could, lending some of the down-payment money and then spreading the word with all their friends about where to go if they needed those services.
But first and foremost Lenny was a damn good Dad to his boys and he loved Mary Lou to pieces, the same way Ranger felt about his own family. Business was good and they were doing well, but to Lenny, as it was to Ranger, family came before everything else. That was just one of the many qualities that the men had bonded over.
"Absolutely," he said. "I've only taken a cursory glance but it shouldn't be an issue. The foundation and supports are solid in this building so it's just a matter of adding all the necessary plumbing and electrical needed."
"Great," Ranger replied. "Harry and Edna will be here soon and you can talk to them about what they want or need as well. Harry is looking forward to discussing the particulars. They'll be staying the night and I know Steph had Mary Lou pack an overnight bag for you and the boys so you can stay too, if you want. You know the weekly poker game tends to run long." Ranger flashed him a grin. The poker games they had were legendary. "Harry also owes me a checkers rematch."
"Sure," Lenny said with a grin. "I've got a few questions for Harry myself, and don't forget I'm in line after he beats you again, to take on the winner." Lenny slapped Ranger on the back with a laugh.
Hector nearly rolled his eyes at both of them, saying in his heavily-accented voice, "Don't forget, I've beaten Harry only a few times, and neither one of you has EVER beaten me."
"There's a first time for everything, Hector," Ranger said with a serious expression, but there was a glint of humor in his eyes.
"Bring it on, hermano," Hector said with a laugh before they got back to the boys and their "mission".
"Attention, Men!" Ranger barked and the boys scrambled up off the mats, forming a straight line and sticking their chests out. "It's time for our mission so come in close and let's huddle up. I have a job for each of you. We have a short amount of time to get it done, but we'll do our best..."
Stephanie and Mary Lou had been watching and listening from upstairs in the penthouse while they enjoyed a home-made facial mask Ella had created. With their jobs and families it was hard for the women to get any spa time worked into their schedules. Hearing the "mission," they gathered up what would be needed and took the coats, boots, gloves and hats down to the gym. The boys were intently listening to 'Commander Manoso' and didn't even hear them come in.
Leaving everything in a pile and the men undisturbed, the ladies went back upstairs to get ready for Junior and Manny who were bringing over Steph's Grandparent's for the day.
"You know Mare, I'm still using that recipe your Mom gave me for stew," Stephanie said as they entered the apartment. "Alex loves it. Thank God for her and Grandma, otherwise we'd be eating take-out every night. Because of them, you and I turned out all right."
"True," Mary Lou agreed, "but they weren't perfect at everything. Remember when they gave us the 'talk'? It was when we had that sleepover at Shirley's."
"Oh man," Steph replied with a laugh. "I'll never forget it. I knew something was up when your Mom and Grandma showed up with that look on their faces."
"Oh God," Mary Lou replied to her best friend with a laugh. "I know they were just trying to scare us into not having sex, well ever, but do you think they really thought we'd believe all those "ways" they told us we could get pregnant were true?"
Both women burst into giggles and soon had tears rolling down their faces from laughing so hard.
"Too bad Shirley didn't listen to that talk," Steph said after the laughing subsided. "I still think it was wrong of her parents to take her away, but at least they let her come back and graduate with us…and she and Eddie are still together, even if they started their family a little early. I knew they'd make it. One look at him and Shirley was a goner. Just like you and Lenny. The two of you are still sickeningly sweet and Shirley and Eddie and their brood are doing great."
"Like you can talk," Mary Lou scoffed. "You and Ranger are enough to give the rest of us diabetes. God, just the way he looks at you…"
Stephanie couldn't argue that fact so she just smiled and they went back to watching the boys on the monitors.
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What started out as the construction of an elaborate snow fort had somehow morphed into a full-blown snowball fight with Hector and the boys doing their best to take down Ranger and Lenny.
Harry and Edna were cheering them on from the sidelines. Edna yelled out, "Get em' boys! You can defeat those two! I know you can!"
Ranger and Lenny both turned their bodies to face their new audience, giving Hector and the children ample time to pelt both the men numerous times.
"No you can't! Better run boys, it's payback time!" Lenny yelled as he tossed a snow ball at their retreating backs.
There was chaos and laughter and shrieks of joy as they tortured each other with balls of freezing snow and Steph and Mary Lou watched it all from the warm comfort of Ranger's office monitors.
They were grinning from ear to ear and enjoying the show when Steph noticed Manny had an arm around Edna as if to steady her on the snow.
Turning around with a sigh Steph said, "I'm so glad Lenny's here to talk to Grandma and Grandpa, it's time for this move to happen. I'll feel a lot better when they are here, with everyone looking out for them. I hate that their getting older but that's life I guess. I'll worry less when they're close. And Alex will love it. He's always asking questions and wanting to learn everything he can from Grandpa. He started teaching Alex checkers already, can you believe that?"
"Lenny's crew with get the renovations done before you know it, Steph, and then Grandma will have free reign to spoil all of you with her cooking, not to mention her famous cookies. Between her and Ella's, the men might start getting fat!"
"Right," Steph said with a snort. "Like Ranger would allow that. He's got Ella trained to only serve the men all that healthy junk…but I'm sure she'll Let Grandma sneak them cookies." Stephanie always got a little misty when she thought about Ella. The woman had become just like a Mother to her the second she and Ranger got married and her Grandma instantly began treating her like her own a daughter. Ella was the only family Ranger had left and she always thought it was the reason they connected so quickly. He'd also lost his parents at an early age and it was probably why they worked so hard to maintain the family they created with all their friends and the men of Rangeman.
Knowing exactly what her friend was thinking, Mary Lou softly rubbed best friend's shoulder. "I know it's been hard, Steph, but you've made a family of everyone here. You have the biggest heart of anyone I know and the depths of love all these men have for your will never change. And of course, you have me and Lenny and all our crazy boys who adore each other. But you're right; your Grandparents need this move just as much as you do. Though, you know it's going to be even crazier around here with everyone under the same roof!"
That was true, but Stephanie couldn't help looking forward to it. She hugged her best friend and then the two of them donned their coats and hats and gloves and jumped into the middle of the snowball fight.
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A/N. All characters are the property of Janet, except for Alex.
Since this is AU, I expanded on Lenny quite a bit so you just sit back and enjoy his role in this story. Hector also is a major figure from here on out.
Many thanks to my silent beta...without her...smh. A few more chapter is all.