Sorry it's been forever since an update, but my oh-so inconsiderate professors have been monopolizing my time… But it's almost break!!
CHAPTER 10
'This feels nice,' I thought, rolling to face the heat at my back. Mid-roll, my foggy consciousness started trying to tell me something important, but it wasn't until I was face to chest with that something that I realized what it was.
"Morning Babe," I heard, as my pillow (a mocha latte arm) pulled me closer.
Ranger. During the night he had come home and relatively unharmed. Flinging my arms once again around his neck, I proceeded to pepper kisses all over his face. I knew I wasn't ready to blurt out the things I'd realized about our relationship, but a month of what-if's had convinced me to stop denying and hiding my feelings. Ranger still had a dangerous lifestyle, but that only meant I had to make sure he knew I cared…
I had just kissed the tip of his nose and was resting my forehead against his, about to say…I don't know what, when the bedroom door swung open.
Both Ranger and I tensed, until we saw Tank and Bobby wander into the room.
"Morning Bombshell, morning Boss," they said, taking in the sight of me tangle in Ranger's arms, lying on his chest. Apparently, we looked pretty comfortable, as they both crossed the room to the bed and flopped on either side of us.
Pulling me off of Ranger, Tank tucked me in his own massive arms. Ignoring the scowl coming from Ranger, he rocked us back and forth.
"I missed you, Bomber," he said, squeezing me a little tighter.
"I missed you too, Big Guy," I replied, with a squeeze of my own.
We stayed like that for a few moments until Tank finally acknowledged the dark look Ranger was still sending him.
"Now Boss, you know your hip's in no shape to have the Bombshell sitting on it," he said in a very matter of fact tone.
"Oops," I gasped, suddenly remembering the gash on Ranger's hip. "I forgot about your hip. Is it alright?"
"He's fine, Bomber. Tank just wants to keep you to himself," Bobby said, leaning across Ranger to wrap his own arms around me.
"Get off of me," Ranger said, easily pushing Bobby away from him with a bench press motion. "Steph is okay, not you." With that, he pulled me back to himself, cocooning me once again in his arms.
"Should you guys really be hauling me around like this, being injured and all?" I asked, slightly concerned. I hoped it was okay, as my current seat was quite comfy.
"We're fine, Bomber," Bobby told me. "Just a few flesh wounds and bruises."
"So I've heard," I replied dryly, not really convinced.
"Don't worry about us Babe," Ranger said into my hair. "We missed you, but if it was hurting us to haul you around we wouldn't do it."
Looking to Tank and Bobby, I got confirming nods, so decided to believe them. So, these three were on the road to recovery, but I was still missing a Merry Man.
"Alright, I believe you. Now you two, out," I said leaning left then right to shove Tank and Bobby. Not that it did any good. "I gotta get dressed. I've seen you three are alright, but I still have to go visit Lester."
"If you want my opinion," offered Bobby, "you should punish Lester and not visit 'til later since he's not listening to his doctor."
"Out!" was my only response as I pointed to the door.
"Alright, alright," they both muttered, heading for the door.
"We'll see you down on four. Ella's delivering breakfast in twenty," Tank said, before disappearing out of the bedroom.
When we heard the apartment door open and close, Ranger and I both let grateful sighs escape.
"So that's what it's going to be like to have a toddler," I said, resting my head back against Ranger's shoulder
"I never really thought about it like that," Ranger said, laughing, "but the guys do have a tendency to barge in here in the morning. Almost makes me not feel bad about missing it with my daughter."
"What was that," I asked mildly shocked. He'd spoken in such an easy manner, you'd never know this was only the second time he'd ever mentioned his daughter.
"Oh, the guys all have keys to the 7th floor and tend to let themselves in. We'll have to talk about that now that you're living here too."
"No, not about the guys, you know I adore them. About your daughter, you just offered personal information."
"Yeah, I did," he said, smiling slightly and pressing a kiss to my frizz-ball of hair. "We better get moving, Babe, or the boys will be back. You want first shift in the bathroom?"
"Nah, you're quicker. I'm gonna go back to sleep. Wake me when you're done?"
"Sure, Babe," he said before untangling himself and strolling to the bathroom.
Once alone, I tried to fall back asleep, but couldn't. My mind was still reeling with the emotional overload of Ranger being home. I wanted to be a part of his life, but he was right that his life didn't lend itself to relationships…in the normal sense of the word. Lucky for him I had never been normal. I tried normal, it didn't work for me either. Maybe what I had been looking for all along was Ranger.
I'd had time, while Ranger and the guys were gone, to think long and hard on these feelings and I'd taken advantage of it.
The only point of uncertainty I had ever hit was my pregnancy. There was always the possibility Ranger would say his lifestyle couldn't handle a baby or that he could be willing to support me now, but would reject my baby. I thought it was unlikely, but had to be prepared, just in case. And I was…I wanted a life with Ranger, but I knew I would pick my baby.
"Babe, you gotta wake up and get ready," I heard from somewhere above me as a hand gently rubbed my stomach.
"Hmmm?" I asked, confused. I must have fallen asleep…
"You need to get up. And hurry, or the guys will have eaten everything but the healthy stuff by the time we get downstairs."
"'Sokay," I mumbled. Probably I should let Ranger know that the baby and I were still eating healthy. My stomach letting out a persistent rumble, however, did finally motivate me to move.
"Babe?" Ranger asked, clearly confused by my lack of desire to secure something sugary from the guys.
"Still can't do junk food," I said, feeling my stomach roll, as I thought about it while trying to stand. Not a good combination. I was really glad this whole nausea thing was going to be over soon…
"I just hope it lasts," Ranger replied, pulling me into a hug, kissing my neck then abdomen. "I'm a little jealous, though kid, you managed what I never did."
"Poor Batman, outdone by an embryo," I teased, shaking my head as I sauntered into the bathroom.
"Babe," was Ranger's only reply.
A record breaking ten minutes later, I was pulling on a pair of sweats and rubbing a glob of gel through my hair. That would do, I thought pulling on a stretchy tee to complete the outfit. These guys had seen me looking much worse and weren't scared off. That was one of the benefits of hanging around big, tough ex-military guys, they were hard to frighten.
Exiting the bedroom, I found Ranger wandering around the sitting room. I had wondered how he would react to the slight changes made to his domain while he'd been gone, but the small smile playing around his lips looked like a good sign.
"Like what you've done with the place, Babe," he said, not turning around.
"You'll have to thank Ella, she did it to cheer me up."
"Did it work?"
"It helped," I said, walking across the room to where he was standing.
"That's good, Babe," he replied, wrapping his arms around my waist. "So, you've been alright and the baby's okay?"
"Yeah, we're both fine. Ella and the guys have been great."
"That's good to hear. You ready to head down to breakfast?"
"Yeah, just give me a sec," I said, letting go of his waist and dashing to the kitchen. I grabbed the ultrasound printout from the fridge and rejoined Ranger. So what if I couldn't tell the differences in the blobs and swirls in the picture? I still wanted to show it off.
"That your ultrasound, Babe?" Ranger asked when I met him by the door.
"Yeah," I replied while he locked up the apartment. "You wanna see?"
"Babe," was the only reply I got.
Taking that for a 'yes,' I held out the picture, but instead of grabbing it, Ranger grabbed me around the waist and pulled me to himself.
And that's when it happened. My hormones which had been suspiciously silent since last night, came awake with a roar. I felt the familiar bolt of electricity I only associate with Ranger shoot through my body and tried to suppress a shiver. I didn't quite manage it, because Ranger just pulled me closer, as he examined the picture, and ran his hand up and down my arm.
'What the Hell,' I thought, I might as well try giving into these feelings. That was the plan wasn't it, to stop suppressing the emotion Ranger causes. With that decided, I wrapped my own arms around his waist and snuggled in to watch him look at the picture.
"I gotta admit, Babe, I have no idea what I'm looking at," he finally said.
"Neither do I," I admitted, "I just know it's the baby and I wanted the guys to see it."
"Babe," was all he said, with a soft laugh, resting his head on top of mine. We rode the rest of the way to the fourth floor in silence.
I focused on squashing any nervous thoughts that entered my brain. Something was changing between Ranger and I, and I was determined not to over analyze it. Probably we would have to address it sooner or later, but for now, I was content to just enjoy it.
My musings were interrupted when the elevator stopped. With Ranger's arm still around my waist, we walked to the communal kitchen and found Tank, Bobby, Lester and a few other Rangemen enjoying a loud, playful breakfast.
In the center of the activity I spotted Lester getting ribbed on by the other guys for getting shot at the very end of the mission. Something about needing to get in the worst war-wound and not leave the other guys time to out do him. Men…
Running my eyes over him, I assured myself that all of my guys had returned and none of them were too worse for wear. That done, I joined in on the teasing.
"You see? This is why you shouldn't play with guns," I said, walking up beside him and giving him a quick hug.
"Now, Bombshell. I thought you'd know by now this is part of the fun," he returned.
"Nuts…you're all nuts," I muttered in fake astonishment.
Still shaking my head, I decided it was long past time for me to get some food, so I grabbed a plate and piled it with healthy things (which were still pretty abundant) and turned to find a chair. Not seeing one, I did the next best thing, plopping myself on the nearest lap. It happened that I sat on Bobby and he immediately wrapped his arms around me.
"So I finally get my hug?" he joked, aiming a glare at Ranger.
"Yeah," I agreed, twisting and squeezing him tightly.
"So, where's my report?" he asked, when I was finally released.
"Report?"
"Yeah, I told you I'd want one on you and the baby when I got back."
"Oh," I said, excited. "We're great. I have morning sickness, but Dr. Copper says it shouldn't last too much longer. I was just to see her yesterday and everything's fine, and I'm perfectly healthy. She did an ultrasound! Wanna see it?"
"Sure, Sweetheart," Bobby replied, seeming amused by my enthusiasm.
"You're in luck, I brought it down to show you guys," that's when I realized I didn't have my picture. Panicing slightly, I felt a familiar hand on my shoulder.
"I have it, Babe. So, can you interpret this thing for me," Ranger asked Bobby. "Our mother-to-be has no idea what any of it is."
"Yes I do!" I objected. "There's a head and a spinal cord there somewhere." Both Ella the Dr. Cooper had said something about that…
"You're right Bomber," said Bobby, taking the picture from Ranger. He gave me a little one-armed squeeze before going in to the explanation I had heard and not retained a few times already so I didn't bother paying attention.
Looking up, I saw that Ranger was paying close attention. He was carefully watching Bobby point out the vital parts already developed and appeared to be committing the information to memory.
"Hey! What are you guys looking at?" I heard from Lester, who was sitting at the other end of the table.
"Ultrasound," said Mr. One-Word-Answers.
"You can see the baby already?" asked Lester in an awestruck voice. "Bring that thing over here!"
"Why don't you get up and come see it yourself," teased Bobby.
"'Cause I hate crutches and you'll go all 'doctor-y' if I start hopping."
"True," Bobby agreed.
Standing up, I tugged Bobby out of his chair (with some help from him, of course) and started towards Lester.
"Oh, come on! I don't care if he is being a bad patient, I want to show off my baby."
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Hope you liked it, sorry about the wait. Please review!!