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!

I had been in hospital for three days now and I was so unbelievably bored. Ranger had visited me a couple of times, but Carmella hadn't been in since the whole shooting incident. The two babies were doing fine and were totally healthy. My parents had been in to see how I was. I hadn't told them about the third baby. They didn't need to know, all they had to know was that they were going to have two more grandchildren in a few months. Of course I got the whole "being a bounty hunter is not a suitable line of work" speech from my mother, even when I tried to explain that this time it had nothing to do with me. So I was still here, bored out of my head and praying to go home. Then the ward door swung open and Morelli walked in. I stared at him in shock. He looked good but I had no idea what he was doing here. He walked right up to me and sat next to my bed.

"Joe what are you doing here?" I asked. He sighed and grasped my hand.

"Steph please come home with me. I'm sorry I said what I did. I truly am sorry. But the baby will need a stable home, and-"

"Babies" I corrected him

"Excuse me?"

"Babies, plural. It's…twins." I said. I don't know why, but it didn't seem right to tell him about the third child. I felt bad about hiding it, as though it was some kind of dirty secret, but at the same time it didn't seem right to tell him or anyone else. I know I should as he is the father but I like having something that's just between me and Ranger.

"Woah, twins. Well, that's even more of a reason for you to move back in. Just…think about it."

"No"

"What do you mean no?"

"I mean no, I don't need to think about it." I told him. He smiled.

"Oh Steph I knew you'd see sense, we'll do the guest room up as a nursery and-"

"No Joe, I think you misunderstood. I mean no, I'm not going to move back in. I'm sorry but I just don't think it would be the right thing to do. Sorry." I said. It was the truth, something didn't feel right. Joe didn't say anything but his eyes told me he was furious. He just got up and walked out, slamming the door behind him. I sighed and waited for the tears to come. But they didn't.

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Tank picked up the ringing phone in the newly renovated office.

"Hello, RangeMan Security LTD." He said professionally.

"Hello I'm calling from the magistrates' court about the Mañoso custody trial." An annoying nasal voice told him.

"Of course, Mr Mañoso isn't here right now but I can take a message."

"Ok, could you tell him that the next hearing will be tomorrow at 11 am?"
"Tomorrow? Isn't that a bit short notice?"

"We have been trying to reach you for the past three days without any luck." The voice said in an annoyed tone.

"Ah yes, the phone lines have been down for the past few days. I will tell Mr Mañoso when he gets in. Goodbye." Tank hung up quickly before that voice drove him insane. He sighed and walked out the office and into the control room. Bobby, Lester and Junior were sat in silence. This was normal if Ranger was present, but usually the three guys were being rowdy, playing cards and using the monitor from the outside surveillance camera to admire the legs of passing women.

"Alright, what's up? You guys have been sending each other death glares for the past few days." He asked, settling next to Lester. There was a silence before Lester shrugged.

"Nothing."

"Yeah that's right, nothing." Junior agreed.

"No one asked you to talk paedo." Bobby snarled.

"What the hell is going on here?" Tank demanded. Lester sighed.

"Junior kissed Carmella, as in seriously kissed her. Bobby and I walked in on them. Oh and Carmella was only wearing a towel." Now Tank was angry. He saw Carmella as family. Maybe not a daughter, no daughter of his would ever cuss or answer back as much as Carmella did, but definitely a niece or a favourite cousin and he was sure that Bobby and Lester felt similar about her. She was a great girl and they all saw Ranger as a brother. That made Carmella their niece. Tank turned to Junior.

"You did what? You stupid shit! Ranger is going to kill you. She's three years younger then you! You're a dead man!" He shouted. Junior cowered.

"Guys please don't tell Ranger, I don't know why I did it, it was an accident!"

"Yeah, I guess you just fell on her lips." Bobby hissed.

"That's not what I meant, please don't tell Ranger."

"And just why the hell shouldn't we?" Tank shouted.

"Hey!" shouted and extremely angry voice from the doorway. They all turned to see Carmella stood in the doorway; arms crossed looking extremely pissed off. Her hair looked darker and fell in curls down her back. She was wearing a black corset top with a black mini skirt and Doc Marten boots. There was a boy with black and red hair and a girl with short black hair stood behind her.

"Harry, Mandy and I are trying to work on an assignment here and we can hear you guys yelling from my apartment. Now I know damn well what you are yelling about and quite frankly it is none of your business. Dad and Steph will be home in an hour and they do not need to come home to this. Now it is Friday, the weekend starts now so just chill out or I will shoot all four of you." She hissed.

"Sorry Princess, I didn't know you were back from school already." Tank apologized. Carmella glared at them again the whirled around on her heel and flounced off to the elevator with the two goths following her. Then Tank remembered the court date and jumped up.

"Carmella, you have your second hearing tomorrow at 11. Is that ok?" He asked. It had better be, she really didn't have a choice about it. She nodded.

"Yeah cool. You just make sure that you keep that red headed psycho away from me." She said as the elevator doors closed.

Harry and Mandy looked at her.

"Red headed psycho?" Mandy asked.

"My ex, James. He is a complete loony. I mean like, multiple screws loose. A whole set of sandwiches, a rug and a hamper short of a picnic kind of crazy." Carmella explained. They nodded wisely. The elevator stopped and they walked out and down the corridor to Carmella's apartment. As they walked, they noticed new surveillance cameras were in place.

"New security equipment." Mandy noted. "What did they say about all the cameras we destroyed?"

"The electrician said it was a professional thing to do. Then he charged a small fortune to replace everything and add more cameras." Carmella smiled. She opened the apartment door and they went back to doing their homework.

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The black SUV rolled into the garage and stopped. Hal jumped out the front and opened the door for me, while Ranger climbed out, trying to balance without the use of his left arm. He wrapped his working arm around my shoulders and led me to the lift. Hal climbed in as well, but got out at the first floor. We stayed on right up to the seventh floor in silence.

Ranger's apartment hadn't changed at all, but then I hadn't expected it to. He walked straight in and hit the intercom. Tank's voice answered.

"Look Carmella, we don't have any damn ice cream!" He sounded slightly irritated.

"Tank it's me."

"Oh. Hey Ranger, how are you feeling?"

"I'm ok, are there any messages?"

"None that can't wait, only the next custody hearing is tomorrow. You're going to need to do a good job of covering up that bullet wound." Tank said warningly.

"Shit yeah, this is not going to go down well." Ranger muttered.

"Thank you captain obvious." Tank mumbled. Ranger let his finger off the button, and then hit the intercom for the fourth floor.

"Tank, have you got my damn ice cream yet?" Carmella's voice answered.

"Sweetheart it's me. How are you?" He asked.

"Oh, hey papa. I'm ok, just doing homework. You know about the hearing tomorrow?" She asked.

"Yeah I do, coming for tea with Steph and me in an hour? I thought we'd go to Shorty's."

"Sounds good, can Harry and Mandy come along."

"Sure thing sweetie, see you in the lobby in an hour then." Ranger turned to me and grinned.

"One hour, what can we do in one hour?" I asked flirtingly.

"Oh I can think of a few things." He answered and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Ewwwwwwwwwwww! You guys are gross! If you're going to do that kind of thing, can you at least keep it private; we don't want to hear that kind of talk!" Carmella's voice shrieked from the intercom.

"Oops" Ranger muttered.

"Yeah, oops indeed. Now turn off the damn intercom. And tell Tank to get me some ice cream." Carmella commanded. Ranger rolled his eyes and switched off the intercom. He turned back to me.

"Now, where were we?"

One hour and five minutes later, we rushed into the lobby. Carmella and two of her Goth friends were stood by the reception desk waiting. She raised an eyebrow at us when we ran in.

"No need to ask why you two are late. Come on, let's go." She said commandingly. We grinned and followed the three teenagers into the garage.

"Carmella, Shorty's is within walking distance from here. Why are we in the garage?" Ranger asked. Carmella grinned and unlocked one of the SUV's.

"Because I'm going to drive. I need the practice." She said and climbed into the driver's seat. The two goths grinned and clambered into the back. Ranger sat in the front by Carmella, leaving me in the back with the two teenagers. The girl smiled at me.

"How are you feeling?" She asked kindly. I smiled back.

"I'm ok, a bit bruised but generally ok" I replied. She nodded and glanced at my stomach.

"Um, how are…" She trailed off.

"They're ok, totally healthy." I told her. She nodded and we sank back into silence.

Shorty's was quite full when we got there, but we had no problem getting a table. Everyone gave the waitress their orders and then sat in silence. As we were sat, I couldn't help but notice Harry and Carmella kept winking and pouting at each other. Mandy rolled her eyes and drank some coke, trying to ignore their obvious flirting. Miraculously Ranger didn't seem to have noticed. The door opened and a bunch of the merry men walked in. To be more specific Lester, Bobby, Tank and Junior walked in. Ranger gave them a nod of acknowledgement, which they each returned.

"Hey guys!" I beamed "Why don't you come join us?" I smiled. Junior glanced at Carmella, who looked down at the table, turning red. Tank and Bobby glared at Junior. Lester looked highly amused.

"No it's ok Steph; we're just here for a quick drink." Lester grinned. The guys all nodded and mooched off to the bar. After our starters arrived, we were eating quite happily when there was a shout of…

"My goodness, is that little Carmella? Sweet crap darling I haven't seen you since…well since you mom became a whore and took you to Miami!" A voice called out. We all turned and saw a tall heavily built man with a buzz cut wearing an apron stood at the door of the kitchen. Carmella grinned widely.

"Shorty! How have you been dude? It's been too long!" She stood and walked over to the man. He pulled her into a bear hug. Ranger grinned up at them. Shorty let go of Carmella and walked her back to the table. Him and Ranger did one of those crazy handshakes that I would never get the hang of.

"Hey Ric, long time no see."

"Yeah, you know how it is."

"Damn right I do, that's why I got out of that business."

"Yeah, well you know if you ever want to come back there's always a place for you at RangeMan." Ranger grinned. Shorty laughed.

"Yeah I know, but this is my calling. Pizza is my life." He grinned "I better get back to the kitchen or I'll be missed. It's great to see you again 'Mella, you need to call in more often."

"You bet Shorty, I'll see you soon." She grinned and the man walked back into the kitchen. After that, we went back to small talk and Carmella went back to flirting with Harry. When the pizzas came, Ranger turned to me.

"Are you going to come to court tomorrow?" He asked. I nodded.

"Of course I will. I take it Tank's coming."

"Yeah and Bobby. I don't want to take any chances this time."

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Carmella yawned and stretched in her bed. She glanced at her bedside clock. 10.15. Shit. She jumped out of bed and quickly whipped off her pyjamas. She grabbed her underwear and put it on, pausing only to on some deodorant. She leaned over to grab her clothes, when her bedroom door opened and Junior walked in. She shrieked and jumped up, spinning to face him. Then she remembered she was only wearing her black bra and knickers.

"Um…hi, Ranger…you're dad wanted me to check you were awake, so…" He stuttered, obviously trying not to look at her chest.

"Yeah I'm awake. Well I guess you can see that." Carmella smiled nervously. They stood, wrapped in an awkward silence. Then they practically ran at each other and locked their mouths together. Carmella wrapped her arms around his neck. He nuzzled his face into her neck gently.

"Are you coming to court today?" Carmella gasped. She felt Junior shake his head before they brought their lips together again. Junior pulled her legs around his waist and ran his hand up and down her bare back. Then the bedroom door opened and Ranger and Steph walked in.

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I froze in shock and felt Ranger do the same. Carmella quickly unwrapped her arms from around Junior's waist and pulled her arms from his neck. Then she grabbed her dressing gown and pulled it on.

"Don't you know how to knock?" She muttered and raked a hand through her hair. I looked up at Ranger's face. He looked furious. Junior was taking cautious steps backwards.

"Ranger I'm sorry, I really am. I know how this must look but-" At that point, the door opened and Bobby and Tank walked in. They took one look at the situation, then Bobby shouted.

"You fucking kissed her again? What the hell is wrong with you?" Ranger's face darkened with anger.

"Again? What the fuck do you mean 'again'? Has this happened before? Why did no one tell me?" He shouted. Junior and Carmella were now both taking steps backwards. Ranger stormed into the room and grabbed Junior by the front of the shirt. He hauled him out of the bedroom and threw him across the lounge. Carmella ran out after them and tried to pull Ranger back.

"Dad leave him alone, it wasn't him." She shouted. Junior was on his back and scrambling to regain his footing. Ranger was advancing again, not even noticing that Carmella was hanging off his arm. She finally let go and ran in front of him, putting herself between him and Junior.

"Get out the way Carmella." Ranger snarled. She shook her head.

"No way. This is as much my fault as it is Junior's. Actually it's more my fault. I'm the one that started all this. I kissed him first, so if you're going to have a pop at anyone then make it me. I'm so sorry Dad. It was a mistake, I swear. I mean yeah, Junior is a great guy and he's very hot but I'm not really attracted to him. Not really. No offence Junior." She added.

"None taken."

"I was just acting on pent up teenage hormones I guess. It wasn't anything personal and I wasn't trying to rebel against you. I'm sorry." She said sincerely. Ranger stared at her then sighed.

"Go and get dressed. And you" He said to Junior "You better get out of my sight and stay out of my way for the next few days." Junior nodded and ran out of the room. Carmella sighed and stomped into her room to get dressed, slamming the door behind her.

When she emerged she was wearing her gypsy skirt, a black shirt and her black blazer. She grabbed a pair of black leather boots from beside the door and pulled them on. Ranger examined her outfit.

"What happened to your suit?" He asked. She stared at him.

"It got torn up by a crazed rapist, remember?" She said. Ranger sighed and nodded. Then he opened the front door and ushered us all out. We walked into the elevator and went down to the garage. Tank led us to a parked SUV and unlocked it. Ranger got in the passenger seat, while me, Carmella and Bobby climbed in the back. We rolled out of the garage and drove to the court in silence. Carmella was sending death glares to everyone in the car except me, which I was thankful for; I didn't want to be on the receiving end of one of Carmella's death glares. We pulled up outside the court and all climbed out of the car. Carmella was still silent and sending death glares to everyone in sight. We walked into the huge entrance hall. Eddie was waiting for us. His smile faltered when he saw then look on Carmella's face.

"Oh no, what's happened now?" He asked. She sighed and smiled.

"Nothing, are we ready to go?" She asked. He nodded.

"The trial will start in about five minutes. You guys are quite late." He said. We walked up to the room we'd been in last time. Eddie opened the door for us and ushered us all into the room. We sat in the same order we'd been in last time, with Bobby on the end next to Tank. Mrs Phillips was already in the room. She looked at us as we walked in, her eyes fixing on Bobby.

"You have another person with you? I must say Miss Mañoso; you travel with quite an entourage." She smiled. Carmella grinned and took her seat next to Ranger. The door banged open and Eva walked in, followed by James and Enrique. They assumed the same seats they'd sat in at the last hearing. James glared at Carmella, who simply raised an eyebrow at him, looking uncaring. Mrs Phillips sat down and cleared her throat.

"Ok, if we could continue with the hearing. Miss Mañoso has not changed her opinion as regards who she wishes to stay with and Mrs Bernards is still wishing to keep custody. Now, before we start would anyone like to change their minds and make this a lot easier?" She asked. Everyone shook their heads. Mrs Phillips nodded and continued.

"I am assuming that everyone hear is fine with everyone else being here?" She asked. There was a mutter that ran through the room, then everyone nodded. Mrs Phillips nodded and shuffled her papers.

"Right, I have been looking in detail at Miss Mañoso's hospital records from Miami and I must say they are rather baffling. The explanations for the injuries don't add up with the injuries themselves. I wonder if someone could explain this." She said, glancing from Eva, to Carmella. Carmella cleared her throat.

"I did explain this at the last hearing. The injuries I obtained were not caused by falling downstairs or anything like that. They were inflicted by Mr Bernards. However, I feared for my safety as if I explained the real cause of the injuries then there would have been inquiries which could have led to myself or my mother being harmed." She explained. Mrs Phillips nodded. Eva looked down at the table with tears in her eyes. Then she looked up at Carmella.

"You're a liar. James would never lay a finger on either of us and you know it. You're not right in the head. But we can help you if you come back to us. Your father will just keep encouraging these sick fantasies. We can be a family. I'm pregnant Carmella. You're going to have a little brother or sister. We can be a normal family." She whispered. I felt sorry for her for a second, then I remembered what she had put Carmella and Ranger through.

"Not with him we can't." Carmella spat, glaring at James.

"Listen to me you fucking whore, you are coming back with you mother and me, one way or another. She's the one that raised you, you ungrateful little bitch and…" James trailed off and looked around at everyone else in the room, then laughed nervously.

"Um…just kidding." He muttered. Mrs Phillips looked appalled.

"Custody goes to Mr Mañoso without a doubt. Mr Bernards you need serious psychiatric assistance. Miss Mañoso, you should consider pressing charges." She said sternly. Ranger grinned and Carmella burst out laughing. Then she turned to James and smiled.

"You really buggered it up there, didn't you?" She grinned. He snarled and launched himself across the table, his hands closing around Carmella's neck. She stumbled backwards and chocked. Ranger leapt forwards and pulled him off her. He punched him in the nose and the sound of his nose breaking filled the room. I winced involuntarily. Tank turned to Eva.

"Did you see that? You see what you're living with, the danger you're putting yourself in. For God's sake Eva he's insane! He just attacked a 15 year old girl. He tried to rape her again last week after the court hearing. Steph had to drag him off her. She's your daughter. Doesn't that mean anything to you?" He asked, looking her in the eyes. She looked away.

"She's not my daughter." Eva muttered coldly and stormed out the room, pulling her cell phone out of her bag as she went. James sent us a last glare, then followed her. Ranger wrapped his arms around Carmella and kissed her on the forehead.

"Are you ok sweetheart?" He asked softly. She nodded.

"She wasn't really my mother. She changed so much…I don't know her anymore. But that's fine, because I have a new family now." She whispered. I felt tears in my eyes and before I could stop myself I was sobbing uncontrollably. Everyone in the room turned to look at me. Carmella had an eyebrow raised.

"What's wrong with you?" She asked. I sniffed and sobbed some more.

"I…I don't know. It's just…" I managed to choke out before a whole new wave of tears took me over. Carmella rolled her eyes and looked at the three nervous men who obviously didn't know how to react around a crying woman.

"It's just her hormones guys, don't panic. Not that you were, but still." She instructed. Mrs Phillips handed me a tissue. I smiled in appreciation and wiped my tears away, then blew my nose. Ranger wrapped one arm around my waist and threw the other around Carmella's shoulders. Then Carmella grasped Tank's hand and Bobby linked his arm with mine.

"How sad does this look?" Carmella giggled.

"Yeah, and how exactly are we going to fit through the door?" Bobby laughed. We managed to get through the door sideways and made it down the staircase.

"So Bomber, how are you feeling?" Bobby asked. I smiled.

"I'm ok, just a bit…emotional." I replied. We were walking across the entrance hall when there was a squeal from behind us.

"Oh my God, there she is!" A girl's voice proclaimed. Carmella broke contact with Ranger and Tank and turned around. At that point, we all turned to see who it was. I smiled to myself, knowing damn well how the people were. There was a teenage boy with messy brown hair and a very thin teenage girl, who was black with long curly hair. Carmella shrieked and ran towards them. They grinned and the boy caught her and whirled her around before setting her down and watching the two girls embrace. Then Carmella pulled him into the hug.

"What are you guys doing here? I have missed you so much!" Carmella said, finally pulling away from them. The boy grinned.

"Well, after we spoke to you last weekend, we got a phone call from a lady called Stephanie asking us to come up this weekend. She told us where you lived and said we could stay for the weekend. Then we turned up at your flat you weren't there but this guy called Lester said he'd bring us here and so here we are." Carmella turned and smiled at me.

"You organized this? Oh thank you so much Stephie!" She ran and hugged me. Her two friends walked up to us and stood by Carmella. She turned back to them.

"Ok you two, this is my dad!" She grinned. The two teenagers grinned.

"Hello Mr Mañoso! My name's Freya and this is Oli." The girl smiled. Ranger shook their hands and nodded.

"So, are these your bodyguards then?" Oli grinned. Carmella laughed and nodded.

"Yeah, this is Tank and this is Bobby. They're friends and employees of my dad. And me. Only they're more just man servants to me." She grinned. Bobby swatted at her. She laughed. Ranger shook his head and looked resigned.

"Why don't we go out for tea tonight? You could invite your goth-your friends." He finished. Carmella looked at her friends.

"Do you want to? If you don't want me to invite the others then that's cool, it can just be-"

"Mel, chill! I'd love to meet your new friends. It's cool." Freya answered. Carmella nodded and looked to Ranger.

"How many can I invite? Because there's Mandy and Harry, you met them yesterday, Estella, Cassandra-"

"Sweetheart you can invite them all. I'll book a table for fifteen." Ranger said. Carmella grinned and turned back to her two friends.

"Ok, shall we go? You said Les brought you guys here, right? Well, we'll go back with him and we'll seem you guys back at the ranch." She smiled at us and the three teenagers ran out the hall.

"Well, when will you be back?" Ranger called after them.

"I don't know. Before six. Book a table for seven." Carmella called back before she disappeared. He sighed and looked at me.

"She's grown up so fast." He said, faking a sob. I laughed. Tank and Bobby grinned.

"Dude, that's because you missed six years of her life." Tank pointed out. Ranger nodded sadly. I smiled and hugged him.

"You're more than making up for it now. " I pointed out. He smiled and tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. Then he lowered his mouth to mine and kissed me passionately. I almost collapsed in his arms.

"Hey dad, can I have some cash- woah! You guys want to get a room? Tank and Bobby are looking like they were about to get a video camera and make an amateur porno movie of you two!" Carmella's voice cut in. Ranger sighed and pulled back slowly, with his arms still around me. We both looked at Carmella. She had an eyebrow raised and her arms crossed. She looked at me and mouthed the word 'pregnant'. I glared back at her. She grinned and looked up at Ranger.

"Dude, I need money. Freya wants to go shopping. Oli wants to look for girls. So we need money."

"To look for girls?"

"To go shopping, fool." She replied impatiently. Ranger sighed and let go of me. He pulled his wallet out of his pocket and took a load of dollar bills out. He handed them to her.

"Be back by six at the latest. I'll see you later."

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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!