The characters below are all the creation of JE which I am shamelessly using for my own amusement.

Jenny (JenRar) you are simply amazing as the beta on this story. Thank you for working tirelessly to clean up my writing and for not complaining about the steady stream of chapters I send your way.

Chapter 8 – Moving On

I loved waking Stephanie up in the morning. I'd already done my work out and showered, but before I got dressed, it was always tempting to climb back in bed to feel her bare skin against mine one more time before she got up.

I'd given her the necklace from Rodriguez's Jewelers yesterday afternoon, and she'd cried the moment she saw what it was. I'd put it on her when she'd asked, and then held her until she'd pulled back, attempting to tell me how much it meant to her. It came out as more a strung together series of phrases that didn't make much sense verbally, but I'd understood the message she was trying to get across, and once she'd given up telling me and had begun showing me, there were definitely no miscommunications.

Something about me not only telling her I loved her, but giving her a necklace that proclaimed it for anyone to see, had hooked a passion in her I'd never seen. I'd always thought of myself as having a higher than normal sex drive, but yesterday afternoon, last evening, during the night, and once just before the sun began to rise, she not only met my drive, but may have exceeded it.

She did warn me not to think that showering her with gifts was always going to mean I'd be having sex, but that this one was special and needed to be celebrated as such. I wasn't going to disagree with her, even though my legs felt like jello on the treadmill this morning and I had struggled to keep my arms up on the bag. I eventually gave up and cut my gym time short by ten minutes, figuring I'd gotten enough of a cardio workout during the night to more than make up for it.

As soon as my arms went around her waist, Stephanie leaned back into my body. I knew she wasn't awake, so to think of how she sought me out, even in her sleep, was a compliment that went to my head.

I was tempted to stay in bed with her longer, but I needed to catch up on a few things in the office, so as much as I hated it, I placed a few kisses on her shoulder and forced myself to let her go.

I dressed as quietly as possible, not wanting to disturb her, and then it hit me. I could turn up music on the stereo and shadowbox to it, and it wouldn't disturb her. One of the reasons I used to say I didn't want anyone living in my space regularly was that it got in the way of my routines. I didn't want to have to worry about my alarm waking them, or my strange schedule causing them to complain, but that was definitely not an issue with Stephanie.

I was lost in that strange silver lining when I heard Stephanie's voice, still rough from sleep and sexy as hell. "What has you smiling so early in the morning?"

There were some days when I missed the time in my life when I just shot from the hip without caring how the answer was perceived. But at the moment, I wished I could come up with a better answer than the truth, because I didn't want to hurt Stephanie by sounding as though I were making fun of her injury.

The longer I went without answering, the more awake she became. When she pulled the sheet up to cover her nakedness, I knew I'd waited too long. Knowing how much she hated being lied to, I just decided to lay it out there and hope I didn't hurt her too much.

"I was smiling because I realized I didn't need to keep trying to be quiet, because any noise I made wasn't going to wake you up. I used to hate having to sneak around in my own space. I know it sounds cruel, but I was seeing it as making the best of a bad situation and it made me smile." I watched her carefully and knew she hadn't caught every word, but waited for her to either ask me to say it again or guess at what I'd said.

Finally, she ventured to say, "You were amused that you don't have to be quiet up here because I won't be able to hear you anyway?"

"I wasn't laughing at you; it was more of trying to find something good to say about a difficult situation," I stated, hoping the strength of my feelings on this point came through.

She blinked a few times, and then smiled. "I guess it's in line with me laughing about the fact that I don't have to listen to you tell me to stop eating my favorite foods."

"Something like that," I agreed, thankful that it seemed she was taking it the way I intended her to.

Her take on my explanation must have satisfied her, as she relaxed back down on the pillows, not bothering to keep her hands on the sheet to hold it in place as she moved. I couldn't look away as she lay there, oblivious to how beautiful she was. I had no idea how I'd managed to keep her out of my life as long as I did. Seeing her heavily lidded eyes and pale skin against my dark sheets, I was struck by how sexy she was my bed and how perfectly she fit into my life.

She turned her face to better see me and asked, "Do you have much on your plate today?"

"I've got a few meetings with clients, but I also need to spend a little time on Stark," I told her, no longer surprised by how easy it was to share myself with her.

"Stark?" she asked, sounding a little worried.

I moved to sit on the edge of the bed to explain, trying to keep my speed slow enough that she could figure out what I was saying. "I haven't been there since my mission, and in order to keep my contacts and my reputation, I have to put in an appearance so they don't forget what I'm capable of."

There was a long enough pause that I was about to grab a tablet to write it out to be sure she understood.

Before I got up, she asked, "How do you show them what you're capable of?"

I couldn't stop myself from grinning. "I've got a skip that should be there this afternoon, and I'm going to pick him up. Loudly."

She absorbed that for a few seconds, before pushing for more. "And by loudly, you mean, what?"

I loved her mind, even when it was turned against me. "I mean, it should be an easy in and out, but I'm going to kick down his door when I know he's sleeping during the day, and I'm going to haul him out where his neighbors and fellow gang members will see it, so they don't forget that I am capable of doing the exact same thing to any of them if necessary."

I wondered what point she was going to question next, but she surprised me by sitting up and saying, "So you'll be in full SWAT Ranger mode today?"

I laughed at her names for the different personas I played in order to get the job done. "Something like that." I pushed a curl behind her ear, more to touch her, than because it needed to be controlled. "How about you?"

"I thought I might swing by Vinnie's near lunch time and see if Lula wants to grab something to eat. I haven't been over there since my accident, and I miss them."

And just like that, I went from relaxed in the intimacy of casually discussing our days as only two people who accept and love each other can do, to slightly panicked that she was going out on her own and I had no valid reason to assign a guard to her. She wasn't in any danger that we knew of. I had been encouraging her to get out, so she was only doing what I'd suggested, and she was perfectly capable of driving herself to Vinnie's and lunch. But the idea of her being away from these walls with no one watching out for her was tightening my gut in a way that could lead to an ulcer if I couldn't get a handle on it now.

I had to let her do this, for both our sakes. I had to get used to giving her the space she wanted, and she needed the independence to reclaim her life and prove to herself she was capable of doing this. I decided to split the difference and said, "Why don't you take the Cayenne? That way if you two decide to turn lunch into shopping, you'll have room for whatever you buy?"

She got a dreamy look on her face, as though she hadn't even considered shopping, which only made me want to kick my own ass. If I thought I'd been panicked about her sitting in a crowded restaurant and eating, it was nothing compared to how I felt now that I'd basically sent her into an even more unpredictable situation by suggesting the mall.

At least she would take the vehicle I'd suggested. I knew Lula wouldn't agree to ride in Stephanie's, and I didn't have any tracker's on Lula's Firebird – an oversight I was going to have Hector correct before lunch was over.

I was busy planning out how to have Hector plant a tracker on Lula's car and missed Stephanie's movement to close the distance between us and kiss me. I knew if I didn't pull back, I would end up missing my first appointment, but trying to make myself end a kiss with Stephanie was like asking a heroin addict to remove the loaded needle from their vein. Sure, it was physically possible, but when did you ever hear of that happening?

Eventually, Stephanie proved her own strength by pulling back and smiling at me. "Thank you," she whispered, completely confusing me.

"For the kiss?" I dumbly mumbled. "No need to thank me; you took it."

She grinned at my lame joke and said, "For trusting me and not fighting me for wanting to go out on my own. I feel like it's time, and the longer I wait, the harder it will be to do it. I feel like with Lula there to watch my back, I'll be okay. Plus, despite all her strange ways, I miss her and think it would be great to see her again and get out for a while."

I kissed her forehead, intentionally avoiding her lips to insure I didn't take it any further. I pulled back and waited for her eyes to open and focus, before saying, "Have a good time, Babe, and if you buy anything sexy, I'm going to expect a private viewing."

Then I used every amount of strength I had to get off the bed and walk out to the kitchen for a bottle of water.

I endured several hours of meetings and office work, only checking Stephanie's trackers three times during the morning. The first two times, they were still in the building, but half an hour ago, she was on the move, heading to the bonds office. I picked up my cell phone and typed in a text to her, asking if she would mind checking to see if Connie had any files for RangeMan. It was a contrived excuse to check in with her, but I figured it was valid enough, she wouldn't question it, since we had asked her to play the role of delivery person from time to time.

It took a while, but when her trackers stopped moving, I got a reply.

Noproblem. I'll bring them to you when I get back.

I smiled at the fact that she texted like she talked. When Julie sent the occasional text, it tended to be so abbreviated and short that I practically needed Lester's help as the code breaker in residence. But with Stephanie, this was her way of talking now, and she didn't like to speak in shortened ways, so it shouldn't surprise me that she didn't text in condensed form, either.

By 1530 hours, I knew I had to get the hell out of the building. I was in danger of turning into a stalker if I kept checking up on her, and it was late enough that the punk on the docket for a rude awakening by RangeMan should be asleep and waiting.

I stood up, stretched my neck, and then suited up for the part I needed to play. I had twice my usual firepower, but since this was the first look a lot of people on that side of town had gotten of me in a couple of months, I needed to be sure I came back looking larger than life and capable of bringing their worst nightmares to reality.

As soon as I walked into Tank's office, he looked up and grinned. "Hell, yeah. I was getting tired of doing all this damn paperwork you keep pawning off on me. I could use a little diversion."

He followed my lead and armed himself in a similar manner, with neither of us grabbing a jacket to cover the bulk of the visible weapons. There was a time to imply the possibility of violence, but this wasn't it. Right now, I wanted to exude enough hostility that people would part as Tank and I walked down the street.

We intentionally parked six blocks from the building where our skip was asleep. It was all part of an act to be seen by as many people as possible, looking tougher than they remembered, so they didn't forget why they feared RangeMan – and me in particular.

I put on my mirrored glasses to hide the amusement I felt when punks whose pants were in danger of falling down started moving quickly to get out of our way. We never had to slow our pace or move to let anyone pass. It was like watching frightened animals leap as we moved along in a predatory way.

Tank's face was wearing his usual mask, but I could tell the big guy was having a good time, too. We didn't put on a show like this every time we picked up skips on Stark, but every so often, it was helpful to send a message, and Tank loved being able to puff up and be as big as possible, without having to worry about putting people on edge because of his size. I didn't really need his backup, but I was glad to include him, simply because I knew he got such a kick out of this kind of thing. And who says guys don't know how to support each other. We weren't wearing friendship bracelets, but he got the point just the same.

We moved up the stairs, and I did a quick countdown from three, before Tank kicked in the door, literally splintering it from the hinges and making more noise than any cheap wooden door I'd ever heard before. Then I realized this kid had tried Stephanie's old security system and had set up pots and pans against the door to warn him if someone tried to get in. I knew he was probably set up to run out a window and hoped we could get to him before that happened. My leg was much better, but I wasn't sure about taking three flights of stairs on a rusted fire escape without it forcing the limp I was currently covering up.

Just as I suspected, the skip was trying to raise the window, but before he could get completely out, I reached him and yanked him back in by the oversized hoodie he was wearing. I'd never understood why the kids today felt like it was impressive to wear clothes big enough to fit Tank, when they were roughly Stephanie's size. It was as if they thought they could cover up their laziness and lack of work out ethic by wearing bulky clothes to hide their humorously lacking muscles.

The look on the kid's face was one of pure panic. I had my Glock in his face and lowered my voice to a growl to tell him, "You missed your court date, and I had to come all the way down here to remind you. I never forget a face, so if I hear of you getting in more trouble, I won't be so gentle the next time we meet."

Then I flipped him with one hand, and Tank put the cuffs on his wrists behind his back before I pulled him to his feet and informed him he was going to walk out of there nicely, or I was going to make sure he never walked anywhere ever again.

We took our time parading the kid back to the waiting SUV and had him dropped off at the cop shop ten minutes later. With our receipt in hand, we were on our way back to the truck, when a familiar voice called out, "Manoso! Wait up!"

Tank and I both spun around to see Morelli running over to us, looking a little less trim than I remembered from when I'd left. The buttons of his shirt were pulled tighter across his stomach, making me wonder what was going on. He'd eaten the same diet as Stephanie for years and always managed to keep his waistline in tact. I forced my eyes back up to his and raised an eyebrow in question.

"How's Stephanie?" he asked, not obtrusively, merely showing his concern for an old friend.

As much as I wanted to hate the man, I simply couldn't. I had the one thing he'd always said he wanted, and despite that fact, he was proving himself to be a real man and stepping up to show his concern for the girl he couldn't hold onto.

"Good. She's adjusting," I replied, not sure what else to tell him.

"I, ah…I wanted to call and talk to her, but I know she can't…well, hear me, so I haven't, but I wanted to…to let her know I was thinking about her," he said, stumbling over his words, but I got the gist of what he was saying anyway.

"I'll let her know," I assured him, putting my glasses on again to keep him from seeing the annoyance in my eyes. Something about him thinking about my woman wasn't sending me warm, fuzzy feelings.

"How's your wife?" I asked, trying to direct his attention where it belonged.

He rubbed the back of his neck and looked down, before settling his hand over his rounder stomach. "She's good. She's an amazing cook and always has something new for me to taste. My family really likes her, and she'll make a great mom, too." It was almost like he was listing the features of a new car, instead of describing the woman he loved.

I raised an eyebrow and interrupted him, "Great mom... Are congratulations in order?"

He looked up quickly. "No, not yet, but we're trying, so I assume sometime soon."

"Good luck," I replied, hoping it sounded more sincere to his ears than it did to mine.

"Yeah." He looked down again and kicked his boot against some loose rocks in the parking lot. "Somehow, I thought trying to have kids would mean having more sex, but apparently, it means living by a calendar and waiting for the perfect moment." Then, as though he realized what he was admitting to, he quickly covered it up with, "But it will be all worth it to have a baby."

"Of course," I said to let him off the hook. I nodded at him, not really comfortable with any more of this conversation.

As I turned to walk away, he called out, "Let Stephanie know I was thinking about her."

"I'll tell her everything you said," I told him, before walking off quickly and leaving him to wonder if that included his complaint that he basically felt that marriage had demoted him to a stud horse in waiting.

When we got to the truck, Tank was the first to speak up. "Was it just me, or did it look like now that he's married, Morelli is really letting himself go?"

I couldn't hold the laugh back, since we were safely away from the parking lot. "At this rate, he's going to pack on more than the traditional ten pounds for the honeymoon, and he'll be at twenty before the holidays. Hell, if she gets pregnant soon, he may pack on the pounds right along with his wife."

"You don't think he's wishing he'd tried to stay with Stephanie, do you?" Tank asked, basically verbalizing the thought I was trying to ignore.

"I think it doesn't matter what he wishes. He's married now, and I'm not letting her go," I explained, feeling better as soon as I said the words out loud.

"You going to tell Stephanie about what he said?" Tank wondered.

I laughed again, still not used to the feeling of being so laid back since Stephanie and I had gotten together. "Yeah, I'm going to tell her every single word."

The thought that Morelli had gotten what he'd tried to push onto Steph for so long and was apparently finding it wasn't all he'd thought it would be cracked both of us up.

"So, I couldn't help but notice Stephanie went to Vinnie's today," Tank commented, trying to sound casual, but it was hard for a voice that deep to really pull it off.

"Yeah, she wanted to see the girls and take Lula to lunch and maybe to the mall afterwards," I replied, hoping it would save us both some time of the usual back and forth of him pushing me until my short answers eventually gave him what he was after.

"Does that mean she's ready to spend more time in the office?" he followed up, sounding hopeful.

"I'm not pushing it. Whatever she wants is fine with me, but I hope so," I told him.

"The guys loved having her in the break room the other day," he admitted. "I saw a bunch of them looking around for a glimpse of her this morning, too."

I laughed at that. For the observant, detail-oriented men they all claimed to be, if any of them were really foolish enough to look for her in the morning, they needed some additional training in picking up on clues.

I realized he was looking in my direction, waiting on some kind of response. "She was keeping herself upstairs until she figured out how to function without her hearing. Once she realized she can pick up on a great deal reading lips, she relaxed. I'm guessing she'll start coming downstairs more often."

"That's good," he answered a little too eagerly, before trying to play it off and adding, "I mean, the guys will like that, and it will keep them from asking me."

"Don't worry, I'll let her know you were asking about her, too," I assured him, before getting out at Haywood.

He tried to hit my shoulder, but the big guy didn't have my speed, and I easily evaded him. Seeing that he wasn't going to get me, he gave up and pleaded, "When you tell her, just try not to make me come off as pitiful as the cop, all right?"

I bumped fists with him and replied, "No worries there, man."

Honestly, why my family was under the impression that I didn't have a soft side was beyond me.

I went back to my office and took off the excess firepower to secure them in my safe and wondered how Stephanie would feel about meeting my family. I knew she'd met some of them at the hospital after the Scrog incident. And she'd run into my sister at least once since then, because my family was full of questions after their brief conversation. I'd been getting pressure from every possible side to bring her by and let the family officially thank her for the role she'd played in rescuing Julie. I'd always refused, saying we were only friends and there was no reason for her to be exposed to my family based on just that.

But now that we were more to each other, I began to wish she knew my family, too. It's not that I wanted her exposed to their interrogation and questioning, but I wanted her to feel like she was a part of every facet of my life. And since I knew how important her family was to her, I figured she might wonder about mine, as well.

With that thought, I instinctively picked up the phone and dialed a number I'd had memorized for years.

"Papi," I said when my father answered.

"Carlos, my son, how are you?" he replied, obviously glad to hear from me.

"I'm good," I answered, turning the question on him in return.

"I'm well enough to know you didn't call to chat about my health. So what can I do for you?" I always appreciated my father's straight to the facts approach.

"You've heard me speak of Stephanie Plum?" I began wondering if this were a mistake.

"Si, your Estephania is a mystery to us all, especially since you keep her so well hidden from us," he replied.

Now that I'd begun the conversation, I was at a bit of a loss about how to continue it. I decided to just be a man and jump in, so I said, "Since I returned from my last mission, she and I have, well, become more to each other than just the friends we had been."

"This is wonderful news," he quickly assured me. "Your mother and sisters will be thrilled."

That's what I was worried about. This conversation was why I didn't like to leap without considering all the possible things that could go wrong first. "I was wondering if I could bring her by, maybe this weekend, to meet you and Mama."

"Si, si, bring her anytime. I'll call your sisters, and they can work with your mother to plan a big feast in honor of you finally bringing her to meet us." He took my question and ran in the exactly opposite direction than I wanted him to.

"Papi," I interrupted. "Stephanie had an accident. Her ears were injured, and she's lost her hearing."

"Oh, Carlos." His entire tone shifted, and I suddenly understood what Stephanie meant about not wanting people's pity because of this.

"No, she can't hear, but in every other way, she's fine, and we're learning to work around it," I assured him, before adding, "But because she is still adjusting to not being able to hear, it is easier if she's not thrown into crowds, where lots of people are trying to talk to her. I was hoping at least this first time, it could be just you and Mama."

"Of course," he conceded. "I'll explain everything to your mother, and we will have a nice dinner, just the five of us."

"Five?" I questioned, trying to figure out who besides them would be there.

"You don't really expect me to keep this from Abuela Rosa do you?" he questioned me, proving himself to be a very wise man.

I hadn't thought about my grandmother, but now that he mentioned it, if I intentionally excluded her, she would have shown up anyway and been furious.

"No, of course not," I lied, glad that he'd kept me from making such a mistake.

We talked for a little while longer about the specifics of Stephanie's injuries and how much progress she'd made so far in being able to communicate. By the end, I knew they would be as accommodating as possible to make it a pleasant introduction to my family.

Just as we began to run out of conversation, I felt the need to admit something to him. "Papi, do you remember how I used to ask you why you did so much with Mama after working all day?"

"Si," he answered, laughing at my question. "You used to ask why I washed dishes or worked in the garden, doing what you considered to be the chores of a woman."

I was embarrassed at my stupidity now. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for questioning you like that."

"Ah," he softly replied. "An apology spoken from experience, I presume?"

"You could say that," I agreed. "It's just that I understand now in a way I never could before."

"We will see you on Saturday, Carlos," he told me, before hanging up.

I stared at my phone for a moment, realizing I now had a valid reason for why I never said goodbye on the phone. It figures as soon as I had a justification that Stephanie might accept for hanging up at the end of a conversation, I longer needed to explain myself on that front to her.

I pulled up her trackers once more and smiled when they showed her in the building. I glanced at my watch and saw it was nearly 1800 hours, which was plenty late enough to call it a day and join her upstairs.

As I rode the elevator up to seven with another grin on my face, I couldn't help to think back over my father's words that my apology was born out of experience. My parents had been married for over forty years. I found myself mirroring Abuela Rosa's gesture of crossing herself as I hoped that I would be lucky enough to share that same experience.