Disclaimer: I do not own the characters created by Janet Evanovich. I just really really wish I did!! I am just using them in this story.

I felt my mouth drop in shock. Did she seriously mean that Ranger was her dad? She was Ranger's daughter?! But two years ago, Ranger told me she was nine.

"Excuse me, but just how many daughters do you have?" I asked. Ranger turned to me with a bemused expression. Carmella grinned.

"There's just me, to my knowledge" She smiled. Ranger nodded.

"Yeah, just Carmella." He smiled and embraced his daughter again. Now I was seriously confused!

"Ok, not wanting to put a damper on this, but a couple of years ago, you told me your daughter was nine, so she could only be…eleven or twelve. Carmella looks to old!" I smiled, hoping I made sense. Carmella struggled out of Ranger's grip and glared at him.

"Nine? You told her I was nine? I am fifteen!" She punched him in the shoulder. He winced and looked apologetic.

"Sweetheart, I'm sorry. I was on the spot and I just remembered that…that the last time I saw you, you were…nine." He coughed, almost embarrassed.

"I know, six years. Impressive, huh?" Carmella crossed her arms indignantly.

"I phoned every week and I sent you money each month." He protested. Carmela sighed

"It's ok; I know things weren't easy between you and Madre. Anyway, I was scared if you came to see me, you'd bring your dominatrix girlfriend. I hated her. I take it you've ditched her." She said, more of a question then a statement. Ranger smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, she's history. And I am really sorry about that, it was my fault."

"No, it wasn't. You couldn't have known she was an evil bitch." Ranger laughed slightly and Carmella beamed at him. He glanced at his watch, then up at Carmella. She sighed.

"Go. Go do whatever it is you have to do, I'll wait here. That is, if no one minds." She looked around nervously. Vinnie shook his head.

"No, feel free to stay."

"Ok, I'll see you later." He forked some money out of his pocket and handed it to her. "Get yourself something to eat and don't be a pain." He instructed

"Am I ever?" She smiled sweetly. He planted a light kiss on her cheek and walked out the office. She flopped back down on the sofa next to me and smiled politely. This was very unexpected.

Carmella was really making an impression. She was smart, funny and quick-witted. She helped Lula with the filing (and by helped I mean she did the filing for Lula) and was chatting with Connie and I about her past.

"I've always lived with my Madre and I've never questioned it. She's always told me that my father is married to his work and will never have time for me. That's that. When he came to see me when I was nine I was so happy, but he'd brought this skanky girlfriend with him. I didn't like her at all. Then, when dad was babysitting, he got a call and had to go out so he left his girlfriend in charge. She was horrible. She tried to make me go to bed but I explained it wasn't my bedtime and that dad had given me permission to stay up and watch some program on TV. Then she got really mad at me and started yelling. I was crying and she was yelling at me to stop, then she grabbed my teddy and threw out the window. I was screaming at her and she just lost it and hit me across the face. Unfortunately for her, dad walked in at that moment. He was so mad and he told her to go back home and said they'd talk when he got back. He just apologized and left. And I haven't seen him since, until now of course." I was shocked and at the same time, I was trying to work out who this girlfriend could have been. Connie patted her on the shoulder and handed her a doughnut.

"So how come you came up here now? Shouldn't you be in school?" Connie asked, as Carmella flicked powdered sugar off her top. She stopped flicking and looked up, obviously searching for an appropriate answer. After a while she sighed and looked down at the floor.

"I had an argument with my mom. She's got this new boyfriend who sort of used to be my boyfriend. He's 20. I know that seems old but I'm mature for my age and…well he's immature for his. I think she's been using my child support money from dad to pay for new stuff for him, because I haven't seen a single cent of it. I confronted her about it and she went mad, started calling me all manners of obscenities. So I just left. I've been living in Cuba for the past two months and no one's tried to find me. I've been staying with family over there. Then I just decided to come and see dad. You can't tell dad any of that, he'd go mental." We all nodded and considered everything we'd just learned about Ranger's child. She wasn't the princess I'd imagined her to be, or as spoilt as she'd first come across as being. I almost felt sorry for her, but I knew she didn't want pity. She just wanted to see her father. The door swung open, waking us all up from our thoughts. I looked up and smiled when I saw Morelli.

"Hey Cupcake." He smiled.

"Hi sugar lips!" Carmella chimed back. Connie and Lula suppressed giggles. Joe looked at her in surprise and amusement. She grinned back. I rolled my eyes and stood up to greet him. He dropped a kiss on my lips and grinned.

"So, who's this then?" he asked, looking over at Carmella. She stood up and shook his hand politely.

"Hi, I'm Carmella Mañoso. Nice to meet you." She fluttered her eyelids. Joe raised an eyebrow.

"Nice to meet you Carmella. I'm Joe Morelli."

"Hi Joe Morelli." She beamed. Joe turned to me.

"I want to take you out to lunch." He stated. I glanced at the wall clock.

"It's three o clock." I pointed out. Joe shrugged.

"So?" I shrugged, picked up my handbag and followed him out the door.

We walked down the street and into Pino's. After settling in a table and ordering our drinks, Joe slouched back and examined me.

"So, Carmella Mañoso. When did she appear?" He asked.

"Earlier today, she arrived at the office." I replied and graciously took my pizza from the waitress. Joe did the same, then went back looking at me.

"I don't suppose that it's just coincidence she's got the same surname as Ranger." He said, statement not a question. I shook me head and took a bite of my pizza.

"She's Ranger's daughter." I told him. Joe stopped eating and stared at me.

"No way! She looks about 18!" He exclaimed. I raised an eyebrow.

"She's 15. Do you really think she looks that much older?" Joe shrugged.

"Sure. You can tell the kid's Ranger's. She's very…cocky. In a nice way." He explained. I nodded, it almost made sense.

"She seems nice enough. I just wonder if Ranger will know how to cope with a teenage daughter all of a sudden." Joe shrugged again.

"It's his problem, let him deal with it. Don't get involved."

I walked back into the office an hour or so later. Carmella was sat on the couch reading a book and Lula and Connie were pretending to work. They all looked up and smiled when I walked in. I snatched a doughnut off the desk and settled on the couch next to Carmella. She smiled and shuffled up to give me more room. The door swung open and we all gawped in amazement at the person who walked in. She smiled icily at us. Jeanne Ellen Burrows. I glanced over at Carmella, who was glaring angrily and Jeanne Ellen.

"Um…what can we do for you?" Connie asked, in a less then official manner. Jeanne Ellen blinked, then smiled.

"I need to speak to Ranger. Is he about?" she asked, sounding more demanding then polite. Carmella stood up and walked up to Jeanne Ellen. She gave her a slight shove, causing us all to gasp.

"You've got no business with Ranger. You're no longer a part of his life so why don't you just piss off forever." Carmella hissed. Jeanne Ellen glared.

"And who are you? His new bitch?" She sneered. Carmella glared.

"I'm surprised you don't remember me Jeanne, I certainly remember you. It must have been...six years now." Jeanne stared blankly at her.
"Still don't remember? Well let me refresh your memory." Then Carmella hit her around the face. We all gasped and jumped to our feet, Lula had her stun gun and Connie had her pepper spray, in case it looked like Jeanne was about to attack Carmella.

"Carmella!" A voice shouted from the doorway. We all spun and saw Ranger stood in the doorway. Jeanne Ellen's mouth dropped open.

"Carmella?" She whispered. Carmella smiled coldly.

"Surprised to see me? I'm not shocked. You've probably forgotten all about what you did to me." She said vindictively. Jeanne glared at her as Ranger tried to suppress smile. Jeanne looked over at Ranger, obviously looking for some support. He simply shrugged and motioned towards the door.

"I think you should go Jeanne, whatever you want you can sort out on you own." He stepped out of her way as she stormed past him and out of the office. He shut the door behind her and sighed. Carmella smiled at him.

"Thanks for sticking up for me there dad." Ranger looked surprised

"Of course I'd stick up for you, you're my daughter." He stated. Carmella grinned and nodded. Ranger draped an arm over her shoulder and beamed down at her. It was a strange sight. The office door opened again and we all turned to see it. Surprisingly, it was Tank.

"This is unbelievable" Connie muttered "That door has opened countless times today, and yet we've had no business!" I smiled and looked over at Tank. He nodded politely and then turned his attention to Carmella.

"Hey sweetie, long time no see!" He grinned and embraced Carmella, who was grinning like a Cheshire cat. Ranger was smiling happily at his daughter.

"Hi Tank, it's been ages! About…three or four years!" She exclaimed. Tank nodded happily. I looked at Ranger quizzically. He looked back, face expressionless.

"Tank has family in Miami, he checks on Carmella for me when he goes down." He explained, avoiding eye contact with me. I nodded and stepped closer to Ranger, willing him to look at me. Still nothing. I gave an inward groan of exasperation. Just when I thought I'd actually patched things up with him, he was blanking me again. Carmella was chattering fast in Spanish. Tank was nodding and laughing along with her. Ranger turned his attention back to them and said something to her in Spanish. I was feeling extremely left out. Carmella laughed, then turned to us.

"Thank you for letting me stay here, I had a great time. Well, as great a time as you can have sat in an office. I hope to see you all again soon. Goodbye Vinnie!" She called. There was a strangled groan that sounded slightly like 'Goodbye' from Vinnie's office. Carmella grinned "Adios amigos!" She giggled and walked out of the office, with Ranger and Tank following her. We all stood in silence for a few minutes.

"Well…she was nice." Lula finally said. We all nodded.

"Yeah, we should employ her. She does a better job of the filing then you." Connie muttered

"Humph, are you saying I can't file as well as a 15 year old?" Lula asked.

"Yeah, that is what I'm saying." Connie didn't even look up from filing her nails. I decided to take the opportunity to slip unnoticed from the office.

I sat in my car and wondered where to go. My parents would be serving dinner in about an hour. Morelli would be home in about half an hour. I couldn't really go to my parents for tea without Joe after our little announcement. So I'd go home, get Joe and then go to my parents. I was starting to feel sorry for myself. I was in my thirties and still going for dinner at my parents. I parked the car in the drive and walked into the house. Bob came rushing out and almost ran me down. I quickly side stepped him and walked into the house. I'd just got changed when I heard the front door open and Morelli walked in. I glanced at my watch, ten to six. Time to leave. I ran downstairs in my floaty skirt and stretchy white top. Joe had time to look up and smile before I grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back out the door. After briefly closing to shut the door, we climbed into Jo's truck.

"Why are we in such a rush?" Joe asked as we rolled down the street.

"Dinner starts at six, you know that. If we are late it will be my entire fault and my mother will get stressed and start ironing. And the pot roast will have gone dry." I explained in an exasperated tone. Some people just never learn.

We parked outside the house and climbed onto the pavement. My mother and grandmother were waiting for us at the door as usual. Everything was always the same, you could count on it. Until now of course.

Dinner was as expected; everyone spoke of nothing but pregnancies and babies. Valerie kept making me hold Lisa so I could get used to it. After two hours, I finally made a bid for freedom with Joe in tow. He was more then happy to leave as everyone was asking him just when he was thinking of proposing and Albert Kloughn was desperately trying to pass on his 'knowledge' of parenthood and preparing for marriage to Joe. I'd managed to scave a bag of leftovers for future meals (i.e. breakfast tomorrow).

It wasn't until we were lying in bed later that Joe said anything about what had happened at dinner.

"It didn't freak you out did it?" He suddenly asked. I turned on my side to look at him.

"What do you mean?" I asked, guessing what was coming.

"All that talk about marriage at dinner tonight, did it scare you?" Yep, I knew it.

"It didn't scare me because…well, we're not getting married are we. I'm pregnant but that's all. We'll work things out on the way." I explained and rolled back at closed my eyes. I'm pregnant, I thought, but that's all. That is all. We'll work things out on the way. Together. I was never going to be alone again.

Thank you very much to everyone who's reviewed, I love reading them all!!! I'm glad you like it so far. Please keep all the reviews coming, I really appreciate them. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, I am more then happy to hear them! Hope you like this chapter and I will try to update soon. Arigato!