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 stumbled down into the kitchen at almost ten in the morning. Carmella hadn't surfaced yet and Ranger had already gone out to work. Celia was also still asleep, presumably dreaming of Lester. Ella shuffled over to me and smiled. She handed me a mug of the herbal crap that Tank had made me drink last night. I raised an eyebrow sceptically. She smiled apologetically.

"Ranger's orders." She explained and hustled back over to the sink, humming to herself and loading dirty dishes into the dishwasher. I drank the awful liquid, trying not to taste as it slipped down my throat. I shuddered involuntarily and set the mug on the side. There were footsteps in the hall and Celia shuffled in, looking like death warmed up. I smiled at her. She mumbled a 'morning' and poured herself a large mug of coffee. She sat at the counter opposite me and flicked through the paper.

"You look tired Celia." Ella said sympathetically and put a box of doughnuts on the counter between us. I grabbed a Boston cream and took a bite. Celia grinned as I let out a quiet moan.

"Apparently my brother isn't doing his job properly" Celia said quietly. I blushed slightly but continued to eat my doughnut. Celia laughed quietly and took a doughnut. I had no plans for the day as I was no longer able to chase skips. I could go do some paperwork for Ranger but in all honesty I couldn't be bothered. Luckily, I was saved from having to make any decisions be Celia looking up at me and asking

"Do you want to go shopping?" I nodded and half an hour later we were heading to the mall. It was strange how well I got on with Celia. She seemed to know everything about me from stories in the paper and from what Carmella and Ranger had told her. We headed straight to Victoria's Secret, giggling like schoolgirls. Celia told me about her marriage to Masimo. Apparently it had been falling apart for a while but neither of them had wanted to admit it. Lester had always been there for her and things just developed.

"So you and Lester are a couple now?" I asked. She nodded as she examined a black lacy bra.

"Looks that way." Just then, Celia's cell phone started ringing. She picked it up and after a brief conversation, she hung up and looked at me apologetically.

"I have to go, I'm so sorry! One of my girlfriends has locked herself out of her house and needs help getting back in. I'll see you back at the house." She said and dashed out the shop. I sighed, finished my shopping and walked out to the food court. I was about to order my food when some one jostled into me. I stumbled back and saw that it was Joe, looking down at me in surprise.

"Steph? Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going. How are you?" he asked with genuine concern. I smiled and nodded.

"I'm good. How are you?" I asked noticing that he looked tired and stressed.

"I'm ok. There's a lot going on at work at the moment so I've been doing overtime. Do you want to join me for lunch?" He asked. I hesitated before nodding. It was just lunch, I told myself, no bad can come from it.

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Carmella finally woke up round midday. She shuffled into the games room and found Harry and Alex playing cards. Estella, Michael, Mandy and Dan were all still asleep. Ella had brought up a platter of food for lunch which turned out to be quite the little feast. When the others finally emerged, they decided to settle down and watch a film with the reasoning that anything else would be way to strenuous. Settling on 'Batman Begins' (Carmella's choice) they all flopped on the couch with a large bowl of popcorn. Carmella looked around at her friends and smiled, knowing that this was how teenage years should be. She didn't care about her mother and James. She didn't care about Meredith hating her. She didn't know about the threatening letters that were still arriving at the RangeMan office, each more horrible then the last, promising pain and violence. As Ranger had said to Tank on the arrival of the last letter, 'what she doesn't know can't hurt her'.

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I looked at Joe as he spoke animatedly about his job. Finally he broke off to have a drink of coke.
"I miss you cupcake." He said suddenly. I blinked and looked at him. He moved his hand and closed it around mine. I was too surprised to say anything.

"Please, come back home. If for no one else then do it for the babies, it's not fair to bring them up without a father when I'm here and I want to look after them more than anything else." He pleaded, staring into my eyes. But they would have a father without Joe. Ranger would look after us, he'd said he would and Carmella said he would. Joe sighed.

"Do you really think that Ranger will want to look after a family that isn't his? The babies aren't his responsibility, it's not fair to just dump them on him; he'd only end up resenting you for it." He said, as if reading my mind. I froze at his words. What if he was right? What if Ranger ended up hating me for expecting him to look after children that weren't him? Carmella had said that he stood by her when people said he wasn't her father, but he already knew her then. They'd already formed a bond. From the very beginning, he'll know that the children aren't his. Before I knew what I was doing, I'd agreed. I didn't feel any regrets, but then I wasn't exactly happy. In fact I didn't really feel anything because deep down I knew that I wasn't doing this for mw; I was doing it for the babies.

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Carmella smiled and led her friends down the staircase towards the front door. She gave them all a hug as they walked out the front door. Harry stayed by her side with her arm around her waist.

"See you soon, have a good holiday for what's left of it!" She beamed as her friends walked out the door and down the drive. She shut the door and dropped a kiss on Harry's lips. He smiled and they started back across the hall, when the door opened and Stephie walked in, followed by Joe Morelli. Carmella stared at them in surprise.

"Stephie? What's going on?"

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"Stephie? What's going on?" Carmella asked me. How could I explain this to her? She looked slightly confused, just stood there staring at me while her boyfriend cuddled her close to him. I looked down at the floor and felt Joe rest a hand on my shoulder. I sighed and pulled my gaze back up to meet Carmella's eyes.

"I'm moving back in with Joe." I said shortly "It's for the best. Tell Ra-tell your dad that I'm grateful for him letting me stay and I'll pay him for rent when I get some cash together." Her mouth dropped in shock. Harry tightened his grip around her waist. She didn't try to stop me as I walked up the staircase to pack my things. Joe came up with me, I guess because he was scared to be left with Carmella. I didn't hear a word from her, she didn't shout or scream or say anything to me. She wasn't in the hall when we went back down, but I could hear sobbing coming from her bedroom. I couldn't bring myself to go and say goodbye to her. It wasn't fair to drag it out. So I left. That was it, I'd moved out.

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Carmella froze as Stephie swept past her with Joe hot on her trail. Harry pulled her close to him and kissed her lightly on the cheek. She wanted to scream. Stephie had ruined the perfect teenage life she'd had, even if it had only been for a few hours. But what good would screaming do? Screaming never worked. She just glided back up the stairs, still grasping Harry's hand. She managed to hold the tears back until she was safe in the realms of her bedroom. Then she just collapsed onto the bed and burst into tears. Harry lay down next to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. After a while, she heard the front door slam closed. Eventually she stopped crying and just lay there in Harry's arms. She turned to face him, kissing him on the lips.

"Do you have protection?" she whispered. He blinked and stared at her.

"You mean-?" He asked. Carmella nodded adamantly. He nodded and started digging around in his pocket. Finally he pulled out a single condom. Nice to know he was prepared and also that he wasn't feeling arrogant. But then he put it back in his pocket and looked at her, brushing a stray hair out of her face.

"Carmella, I don't think this is the right time. You're upset and-"

"And I need you to take my mind off things. Please Harry, this is what I want." She assured him. He nodded and shifted his weight, so that Carmella was lying on her back and looking up at him.

"Don't worry Caramel" He smiled and kissed her "I'll look after you."

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Many thanks to everyone who read this chapter, I hope you all approve! Love it? Hate it? Please Please PLEASE review! As always, any suggestions and/or comments are welcome. I hope this was ok! Apologies if anyone is confused by this change but all will be resolved/revealed! Do you want me to keep writing about Carmella and Ranger as well? Let me know! BTW I know this may all seem a bit full on, but it's actually quite accurate to the summer me and my friends had (Ever been called late at night by some one to say your boyfriend has been beaten up? Not nice!) Thanks to everyone who reviewed to the last chapter! I'll try to update ASAP. Arigato!