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 only own Carmella, but you can have her if you want her!

Tank and I had started a new game of rummy when the control room door was thrown open again and Carmella walked in.

"Hello loyal fans!" She smiled. Tank grinned at her.

"Hello oh wonderful one, we've been awaiting your return with baited breath." He replied. Carmella nodded and sat on the desk.

"That's what I like to hear." She grinned and looked at me. "Good day?" She asked. I nodded.

"Yep, I beat Tank at rummy four times." I replied.

"Yeah but in fairness, Tank sucks at rummy. He actually does, I have never met anyone as crap at rummy as Tank is, his rummy skills are of a poor quality." She said, smiling sweetly at Tank. He glared and shoved her. She flailed and flopped off the table, letting out a little 'eep' as she went. I burst out laughing, as Carmella's disgruntled face appeared over the edge of the table. She glared ferociously at Tank. He laughed and offered her his hand. She glared some more and gave him the finger.

"Where's Dad?" She asked, clambering to her feet. I shrugged.

"He's gone after a skip, he shouldn't be too long. How was school?" I asked. She shrugged. Typical teenager response.

"It was ok. There were these girls who refer to themselves as the 'beautiful people' and are total bitches. They wear matching clothes and everything." She replied and pulled a bag of potato chips out of her school bag.

"Did they give you a hard time?" I asked, feeling slightly concerned.

"Huh? No, they kind of adopted me as a member of their group. I'm just staying friendly with everyone for the time being. There's this kid, Anthony Morelli, he is so totally arrogant and he thinks that he owns me or something. Like today I was just chatting to Harry in the canteen and he came over and was all like-"

"Wait, wait. Anthony Morelli? Morelli?" I almost shouted.

"What's he done now?" A voice growled from the doorway. We all turned and saw Ranger stood in the doorway.

"Hola Papa!" Carmella chimed. He walked in the room and slung an arm around her shoulder, giving her a half-hug. He was such a great father, Carmella had said so herself and I had the evidence here right in front of me.
"Steph?" Tank tapped me lightly on the shoulder. I looked around.

"Huh?" I looked around, dazed.

"Ranger just asked what Morelli had done."

"What? Oh, not Joe Morelli, Carmella was just telling us about the new generation of Morellis." I replied. Ranger nodded and looked at Carmella.

"I might become a Goth…" she mused thoughtfully. Ranger stared at her.

"You're moving schools." He replied flatly. Carmella blinked in shock, then grinned.

"Like hell!" she replied. Ranger smiled and nudged her.

"Had you going for a second. Anyway, tell me about your day." He replied.

"Anthony Morelli seems to think he owns every girl in the school and has power over all the guys. Harry is totally nice though, he's really cool and funny, it doesn't matter that he's a Goth. Cassandra's nice as well and I think that Nikki was talking rubbish when she said Caz was a lesbian because Caz has a boyfriend. Sophie is obviously a bitch and I'm trying out for the cheerleading squad." Carmella said. She didn't seem to breathe during the whole speech. Ranger stared at her, then looked at me.

"Goths? Is she serious?"

"Hey 'she' is right here and yes I am serious. They're actually nicer then half the other kids in the school. Well, I've only spoken to Harry and Caz but they're nice. Estella is kinda scary. Anyway, at the moment I've been accepted into the dumb bimbo friendship group and they hate the goths so at the moment I'm not really officially friends with Harry and Caz, I'm scared I may have to get a facial piercing of some variety if I become an official goth. Oh and everyone thinks that you're my boyfriend." Carmella smiled at her father. There was a moment of shocked silence, before Tank burst out laughing. Ranger was looking totally stunned.

"What? Why?" He asked.

"When you dropped me off today and gave me a hug, they just assumed and no one will listen to me when I tell them you're not. And the 'beautiful people', especially Sophie, think that you're hot." Ranger shrugged.

"Well, that is the general consensus."

"Arrogant sod." I muttered. Ranger gave me a 200 watt grin and I almost melted.

Later on in the evening, I wondered into the gym and found Tank, Lester, Bobby, Cal, Hal and Junior stood in a circle, cheering and shouting. Tank and Bobby were counting something. I walked over to them and muscled in between Lester and Bobby. Carmella and Ranger were on the floor doing sit ups at a ridiculous pace.

"What's going on?" I asked Lester. He grinned.

"Ranger got in another discussion with Carmella about her eating habits and she said that even with the doughnuts, she was still fitter then him. So they're having a sit up competition to see who is fitter. First to 100 wins. Tank's counting for Carmella and Bobby's counting Ranger's." He explained. I smiled and looked down at them. Carmella was going slightly pink around the edges, but still with a determined look on her face. Ranger looked as cool and collected as he always did. Surprisingly it seemed as though Carmella was in the lead.

"…96, 97, 98, 99, 100!" Tank shouted. Carmella let out a breath and flopped on the floor. Ranger sighed and stood up.

"She was 8 ahead of you boss, you're losing it!" Bobby grinned as Tank hauled Carmella to her feet and held her arm in the air.

"Lady and Gentlemen, I give you your winner!" He announced. Junior put an arm around her waist to support her as she grinned and panted.

"In fairness, Carmella is more out of breath then Ranger." I pointed out. He threw an arm over my shoulder.

"Thanks Babe, but trust me, they all wanted Carmella to beat me."

Later that night, after we'd bid Carmella good night, Ranger and I got the elevator up to the 7th floor. I was so tired and I didn't know why. I hadn't done anything energetic in the slightest. I sat on the bed and sighed. Ranger looked over at me.

"You ok babe?" he asked. I looked over at him and nodded. Oh god, he had his shirt off. Then I noticed the large cut across his chest.

"Holy hell Batman, when did that happen? Who did it?" I asked, stroking his bare chest and tracing the cut with my finger. He winced slightly and stopped my hand with his.

"Just a rough skip babe, nothing to worry about." He said softly. I gazed up into his eyes, they were so deep. I smiled slightly.

"You're such a great father." I said softly. He looked at me.

"I've gotta say babe, I'm having some pretty un-fatherly thoughts right now." He said, wolf grin in place. I smiled.

"I'm just thinking, you're so great with Carmella."

"Babe, she's my daughter. It kinda comes naturally." He grinned again. I smiled and brushed a hand down his cheek.

"You're amazing. You have so many sides to you and you are just amazing. And you are extremely good looking." I grinned. He smiled and kissed me lightly on the lips.

"You're amazing too babe." He kissed me again and went into the bathroom. I took the opportunity to get into my pyjamas. He emerged in his delicious boxer shorts and climbed into bed next to me. He wrapped his arm around my stomach and kissed my shoulder.

"I'll always be here for you babe, you and the baby. I will care for you, I swear. I love you." He whispered. I didn't know what to say.

"I…I, well…"

"You don't have to say anything babe, goodnight." And with that he fell asleep. But I couldn't sleep so easily. I was awake and worrying. I knew Ranger was a great father, but only to his own daughter. Even when her paternity was doubted, he had still been with her as her father until then. I did love him very much. But I also loved Joe, granted not so much at the moment but still. If Ranger knew from the start that the child wasn't his, would he be so fatherly? He said he would, but it's easy to say something when you're not actually in the situation. Maybe he just wanted to believe he'd care for the baby no matter what. I didn't know. There was only one way to find out and that could result in me losing Joe AND Ranger forever.

I rolled out of bed the next morning and pulled on a skirt and a long sleeve top. It was cold outside and winter was really making an impression on everyone's wardrobe. Except, of course, Carmella's. Not even another ice age could get that girl out of mini skirts. I laughed slightly at the thought and walked out to find Ranger going through a pile of laundry, grinning slightly.

"Problem?" I asked. He straightened and looked at me, holding up a padded black lace bra in one hand and black lace French knickers in the other.

"I like these, very sexy. Are they new?" He purred. I looked at them.

"Ranger by no stretch of the imagination would those knickers fit me. And depressingly the bra looks slightly too big by a cup size." The front door banged open and Carmella stormed in looking angry.

"Hey Stephie, hi loser." She greeted us, then looked at the items of lingerie in Ranger's hands and smiled.

"I've been looking for those everywhere! Woah, I'd have been bummed if I hadn't found them, I wonder why Ella put them in your pile, they're obviously not yours and they're not Stephie's size." She shrugged and pulled the underwear out of Ranger's grasp. He looked mortified.

"Those are yours?" He asked in shock. She nodded.

"Yep, my lucky underwear. I need it today for cheerleading tryouts."

"Why, are you going to cheer in your underwear?" He muttered. Carmella stared at him.

"The concept of lucky underwear is completely lost on you, isn't it?" She said and flounced out the door.

She came back in about twenty minutes later, just after breakfast had arrived, wearing a knee length black gypsy skirt, a long sleeve black top and a black blazer jacket with regular black suede boots. I looked at her.

"Ok, is there a dress code for this building, because everyone, bar me, wears strictly black." I sighed, resigned. Carmella grinned and grabbed the bagel I'd just finished smothering in cream cheese.

"I wear other colours. And when dad is feeling really wild, he wears grey or khaki green." She said smiling. Ranger swatted her round the head.

"Wise ass." He muttered. She stuck her tongue out and danced out of his reach.

"Hey can I drive myself to school?" She asked suddenly. Ranger stared at her.

"No." He replied flatly.

"Why the hell not? I've had my beginners permit for ages and I can drive. I'm can get my conditional license now! I learnt in Florida."

"No." The answer was the same. Carmella glared.

"Madre let me drive." She grumbled.

"Sweetheart your mother is mentally unstable. Using her is not a good argument." He smiled and kissed her lightly on the head. "Maybe in a couple of weeks, we'll go and get you a conditional license sorted if you're good." Carmella smiled.

"Thank you daddy! But, um, what are your views on motorbikes and such, because I can drive them as well!" Ranger glared.

"Don't push it."

I had another check up that day, so after dropping Carmella off at school, Ranger drove me straight to the hospital. We sat in the waiting room, watching the clock slowly ticking until it was my appointment.

"You don't have to stay if you don't want to, I know you have other things to do and I won't mind if you leave." I said to him, feeling uncomfortable with the silence. He smiled at me.

"I want to be here babe, but if you want to do this alone, then just say and I'll go. I don't want to intrude." He said quietly. I smiled and grasped his hand.

"I want you to be here."

Carmella walked up the front path towards the school, smoothing her skirt as she went. She could she Harry and Caz stood with the other goths by the side of the school. She started to walk over to them, when someone grabbed her arm. She turned and saw Anthony leering at her.

"What do you want Morelli?" She asked, severely irritated by the sheer arrogance of this guy. He grinned.

"Good morning to you too sweetie pie." He released her arm and looked her up and down "I gotta say Carmella, I preferred the shorter skirt." He leered again. Carmella rolled her eyes and started to walk away, when he grabbed her arm again.

"Don't touch me Morelli, I don't like it." She said in a calm but deadly voice. He grinned and let go off her arm.

"I'll see you around sweetie pie." He grinned and walked off, disappearing into the crowd of students. Carmella shuddered involuntarily. That guy was uber-creepy.

I lay on the bed and tried to take deep, calming breaths. Ranger was stood beside me, holding my hand. The doctor walked in and smiled.

"Hello Ms Plum, how are you today?" She continued before waiting for an answer "That's great; now then, you're 12 weeks pregnant, correct?" I nodded. She smiled and wrote something down on her clipboard.

"Ok, I'm just going to do a scan now and check everything is ok." She got out the little monitor screen and wheeled it in front off me. After a few minutes a picture came up on screen with what looked like a kidney bean in the middle. Ranger smiled, but the doctor frowned. I looked at her.

"What? What's wrong?" I asked, suddenly very panicked. She shook her head.

"Nothing is wrong exactly, it's just…irregular. You see Ms Plum; I'm picking up three heartbeats." I stared at her in utter shock. Triplets? I was having triplets! I wasn't even aware real people had triplets; I'd thought it was just something that happened on TV. Then Ranger voiced exactly how I was feeling.

"Holy shit."

Carmella stood in the sports hall feeling extremely nervous. She had her routine all prepared and she knew she was good, but there were all these people watching her…Half the male population of the school had turned up to watch as well. Sophie and Nikki were doing each others hair and babbling incessantly. There were a few girls Carmella didn't know, she probably had some classes with them but couldn't put faces to names. Then she noticed Caz, Harry and Estella stood by the changing room entrance. Caz had her PE kit on and was arguing with the other two, interesting…Carmella mosied over and smiled.

"Hi Caz, hi Harry. And Estella, right?" She smiled at Estella who, surprisingly, smiled back and held out a hand.

"Yeah, and you are Carmella. Harry and Caz have told us about you. You trying out?" She asked, observing the kit. Carmella nodded.

"Yeah, I did it at my old school so I thought I may as well try." Estella nodded encouragingly.

"Caz wants to do it as well, but she's scared what the other girls will say when she tries. She's very good, Mandy and I coach her. Haz, Alex and Dan perv."

"Hey she's my girlfriend, I'm allowed to perv." A voice said from behind them. Carmella turned and saw Dan, Amanda, Meredith and Alex. Dan walked over to Cassandra and planted a kiss on her lips. She smiled then looked at Amanda.

"Mandy, I can't do it. They'll all laugh at me." Mandy raised an eyebrow.

"Since when have you cared what they think? You are good, better then those airheads and way better then Sophie and Nikki, I've seen them practising and they suck." She replied. Caz shrugged and mumbled something inaudible.

"Come on Caz, just think; if you and me get on the team we'll have so much fun! It doesn't matter what other people think of you. If they insult you it's just a reflection on how pointless they are as human beings." Carmella smiled encouragingly. Caz sighed.

"Ok, but if it goes totally wrong then I want you guys to be ready with a fake ID and a plane ticket to Europe." She said. Meredith grinned and slung an arm around her shoulders.

"That's the spirit!" They all walked to the stands to watch, while Caz joined the other contenders. Harry stayed behind.

"Hey Princess, thanks for that, she really needed to hear that. You're a good person, but your taste in friends" he said, looking at Sophie and Nikki "is appalling." He grinned and ran to join his friends on the stand. Carmella walked over to Caz and smiled. Sophie and Nikki cast her dirty looks. She ignored them. Morelli Jnr was sat on the front row of the stands, leering as usual. A few girls did their auditions; they were ok but nothing spectacular. The time really seemed to be dragging by. Then it was Nikki's turn. After Nikki was Sophie. The guys on the stands were going nuts though. Except Harry, Alex and Dan who were reading magazines. Then Caz's name was called, and they all dropped their magazines and looked up. Caz was shaking like a leaf and had gone paler then usual. Carmella gave her a quick hug.

"You'll be great. Just do your best." She whispered comfortingly. Caz nodded and stepped out onto the floor. A Destiny's Child song filled the arena. Caz looked slightly appalled. She looked up at her friends in the stand and mouthed 'didn't they have any Green Day?' Amanda burst out laughing and shrugged. Caz grinned and assumed her starting position. She was good. Correction, she was amazing. She flipped, danced, turned…everything. Carmella grinned, the girl could really move. The song finished and Caz scuttled back to her seat. The people watching were all calling and applauding.

"You were so amazing!" Carmella squealed. Caz grinned, panting slightly.

"It's you now, you'll be great!" She gave her a quick hug and Carmella walked onto the main floor and stood in front of the judges. There were cat-calls and wolf-whistles coming from the stands, accompanied by shouts of 'yeah, shake that ass!' and 'get your kit off!' The judges smiled slightly. The same song Caz had danced to filled the air. Carmella took a deep breath and then started. It was the same routine that had got her into the last squad, so she hoped it was good enough for this one. When the music finally finished, she smiled at the judges.

"Ok, you were the last one; the results will be on the sports notice board at the end of lunch." The chief judge said politely. Carmella nodded and walked back to Caz and the others.

"Carmella you were amazing!" Caz squealed and threw her arms around Carmella's neck. She laughed and hugged Caz back. Sophie and Nikki walked past, glaring nastily.

"I wouldn't encourage her Mella; you'll be her new crush." Sophie sneered. Carmella looked at her.

"Sophie, I'm not about to make enemies here but why don't you just try to be nice to people. You may find that people actually start to like you." She replied. Sophie looked like she was about to launch an attack on Carmella.

"Hey, people here do like me Carmella." She hissed. Caz laughed.

"Yeah right. Everyone hates you Caz. Seriously, no one likes you. And why would they? You're a bitch and a slut and an utterly pointless human being." She said. Sophie and Nikki both glared again. Sophie turned to Carmella.

"You just made the biggest mistake of your life." She snarled.
"Oh I very much doubt that, believe me I have made some way bigger mistake. I am talking mammoth size mistakes. You have no idea, but that was a good try at threatening, but you might wanna spit less next time. People may take you more seriously if you don't drench them in saliva." Carmella replied, wiping her face to prove her point. Caz was grinning. Sophie took a step towards her.

"You dumb bitch, I'm gonna kick your ass-" She said.

"No, you're not." Mandy said as she stepped between them. Carmella looked around. The other goths were all stood around her, looking menacing.

"You are not going to lay one scuzzy finger on her, or you'll have us to answer to." Estella hissed darkly. Sophie cast a dark look at her.

"Whatever, we're going. But I'm warning you, I'm going to make your life here hell." She snarled at Carmella.

"Oh look at me Sophie, I'm shaking in my little gym shoes." Carmella retorted. The two girls both glared and stormed off. Carmella smiled at Estella and Mandy.

"Thanks for that." She said appreciatively.
"She'll want to make up with you soon, she fancies your boyfriend and she's planning on stealing him. She was talking about it in biology earlier." Mandy said warningly. Harry looked at them.

"You have a boyfriend?" He asked, his voice a bit strained. Carmella sighed.

"No, he's not my boyfriend. He's my dad. I've been trying to tell them that but they just won't listen. It's ridiculous." She explained. They all nodded. After a few more minutes of idle chat, Caz and Carmella went to get changed back into their normal clothes while the others went outside to wait for them. On the changing room notice board, there was a large poster advertising the winter formal. Caz looked at it.

"Are you going?" She asked. Carmella shrugged.

"I don't know what it is." She replied.

"It's just a winter ball. I'm going with Dan, Estella's going with her super-cool college boyfriend Michael and I think Alex and Mandy are going together but I don't know. It's difficult to tell with those two, one minute they're together, next minute they're yelling at each other. But anyway, you don't have to have a date, it doesn't really matter." Caz explained. Carmella nodded and studied the poster. Just then, the cheerleaders swept in to the room. They smiled at them politely. The head cheerleader walked over to them.

"Hi, we've decided on who should make the squad. I'm not going to lie to you; you two were by fair the best dancers but it's just that Nikki and Sophie fit in with the whole image of the squad better. We can't have a couple of goths on the team; we'd be a laughing squad."

"Hey, Carmella's not a goth!" Caz protested.

"Well, no but-" It was then that Carmella noticed that the whole of the squad were white.

"Oh, I get it. Don't worry Caz; they're totally not worth it. If they can't see talent when they see it, then that is their loss." Carmella said softly. Caz nodded.

"You're totally right, come on, the others will be waiting." She said and they walked out of the changing room onto the field. The others were sat on a blanket under a tree on the edge of the field. As they walked over to the tree, Carmella stopped suddenly.

"Look Caz, I'd understand if you felt weird about me just leeching onto you and your friends. I mean, I've barely talked to any of you." Caz sighed and smiled.

"It's fine Carmella, honestly. Harry could barely stop talking about you yesterday afternoon. It'll be cool. You saw the way they stuck up for you back there, they wouldn't do that for just anyone. Now come on, they're going to wonder what we're talking about." She smiled. Carmella took a few deep breaths, then walked up to the others. Harry smiled and scooted up so she could sit down.

"Hey there Princess Caramel. You were great out there." He smiled. Carmella sighed.

"Yeah? Well, I wasn't good enough." She replied sadly. Harry and the others stared at her.

"You found out all ready? You didn't get in? That's ridiculous, you were the best! Oh, you and Caz." Harry quickly corrected himself. Caz smiled.

"I didn't get in either. Sophie and Nikki got in." She told them.

"What!" Estella shouted "You two were way better!" She sat, fuming.

"Oh yeah, they said that we were the best, but that Sophie and Nikki fit the whole cheer image better then us, they said that they'd be a laughing stock if they let a couple of Goths on the squad."

"But Carmella's not a Goth." Harry pointed out. Carmella nodded.

"That's true, but did you notice any ethnic minorities on the team?" she asked. Estella shook her head.

"The whole system is unjust. Its crap, total and utter crap." She muttered. They spent the rest of lunch chatting about everything and nothing. Suddenly, Caz brought up the subject of the Winter Formal. She looked at Mandy.

"So are you two going together?" She asked Alex and Mandy. They both nodded.

"Yeah, well it's not like anyone else would have him." Mandy grinned. Alex stuck his tongue out at her. Estella flipped her hair and said something about Michael. Meredith and Harry stayed quiet. Mandy looked at Carmella.

"I like your skirt." She announced. Carmella smiled.

"Thanks, it's one of my favourites." As she said it, her mobile rang. She fished it out of her bag and looked at the read out; Dad. She stood and flipped it open.

"Hola Papa! What's up?" She asked.

"Hey Sweetheart, listen could you make your own way home, it's just that we're all kinda busy. Oh, Steph has some news for you when you get back." He said, sounding like an excited child.

"What is it? Is it about the baby?" She asked.

"Yeah, it's about the baby."

"Ok, put Steph on. Now you have to tell me!" She commanded. Her dad sighed.

"Ok, fine. Steph, Carmella wants to talk to you. Steph, where are you?" He called. There was a clunk as the handset was put on a surface, and the sound of footsteps. Then there was a bang and a scream. Carmella stiffened as the receiver was picked up.

"Hello Carmella." A raspy, unfamiliar voice said "You probably don't remember who I am, it's been a long time. But I remember you. I have here your father and Stephanie. If you want to see them again I suggest you get back here, now." The line went dead. Carmella stood there, trembling. Before she realised, tears were rolling down her face. A hand rested on her shoulder, causing her to jump. She turned and saw Harry.

"Princess, what's wrong?" He asked softly. She looked and saw the whole group staring at her with matching looks of concern.

"Um…I was t..t..talking to my dad, then there was a scream and someone picked up the phone and said that they had my dad and Steph and that I better get home quick if I wanted to see them again." She sobbed. Harry wrapped his arms around her. The others were on their feet.

"I have my car today, you, Harry, Mandy, Alex and I will go to your house. We're not about to let you go in alone." Estella said, pulling her keys out of her bag. "Dan, Caz and Meredith, make up some excuse to tell the teachers." Mandy instructed and the five of them took off running across the field, Carmella praying she wasn't too late.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Many thanks to everyone who read this chapter. Please Please PLEASE review! As always, any suggestions and/or comments are welcome. Thanks to everyone who reviewed to the last chapter! I'll try to update ASAP. Arigato!