JE deserves the credit for the wonderful characters below.
Jenny (JenRar) thank you for sticking with me as the beta on another story. I can't believe the work you put into shining the rough work I send to you, but I can attempt to tell you how very grateful I am.
Chapter 20 – Happily Ever After and Beyond
We showered, which took a while, as he seemed to think I needed a good scrubbing, too. Only getting out once the water began to cool, I got us both dried off and then led us to the colorful room we'd stayed in earlier.
He took one look at the full-size bed and asked, "How big is the master bed?"
"It's a queen," I replied, turning and moving us in that direction.
Grandma Mazur had done a good job of cleaning out most of their things while still leaving enough there to make it seem like the room I remembered from my childhood.
Manny took one look around and wondered, "Would it be too weird to stay in here?"
I walked over to the closet and pushed the clothes to one side, making it look nearly empty, and then closed the shuttered doors. I glanced around at a few of the knickknacks, moved their watches and personal effects to the top of the chest of drawers on one side, and then smiled. "I think I can handle it." Then I decided to tease him. "Why? Are you afraid I'd be too close to you if we got in the smaller bed?"
"No," he quickly answered, removing my ability to pretend that was the reason. "It just seemed wrong to make you crawl in and out the bottom of the bed, especially since I know you're going to be sore soon."
We settled with me on his good side and then promptly fell asleep.
I awoke a few hours later and watched him sleep, surprised at how content that made me feel. There was no antsy feeling to get up and do something; it was just a peaceful thing to watch the gentle rise and fall of his chest.
My hand got away from me without me even considering it and began to trace the shape of his face, trying to memorize the look and feel of him through my fingertips. I knew the moment he woke up fully because he smiled without opening his eyes.
"That almost tickles," he said with a voice rough with sleep.
I started to jerk my hand away, not wanting to tickle him while he was waking up, but he grabbed my wrist and made a sound that told me he didn't want me to pull away. "I said it almost tickled, not that you needed to stop."
So I put my fingers back on his face and picked up where I left off.
"I forgot to tell you that Nagypapa said for you to put some rubber on the bottom of your cane." I spoke softly as my fingers traced over his nose and up and his cheeks. "There's some in the basement. You're welcome to any of the supplies down there you want."
"Is that your invitation or his?" Manny asked, his voice low and relaxed.
"I'm just the messenger here," I replied, letting my fingers veer off his face and into his hair.
"I'll do it," he responded. "Later."
"Good. I'd be insulted if you got up right now to start," I warned him, envious of the soft silky feel of his hair.
We began to talk, sharing stories of our childhoods and our more recent history, as well. It seemed there was no subject off limits.
"I like talking to you," he blurted out in a lull in the conversation.
"You sound surprised."
"I am," he admitted. "I knew it was easy to talk to you in my dreams, but then I told myself it was because it wasn't real. Now that I'm pretty sure I'm awake, it's still easy to do."
Understanding exactly what he meant, I decided to push the limits of his full disclosure and said, "You called me your wife in front of the guys."
"You are," he answered. "The electronic file is there, and it can't be touched at least until the firestorm from the DEA has died down. And I'm going to use every minute from now until then to try to convince you to just let it stay."
"But it's not real," I pointed out.
"Why?" He grew serious, and I began to wonder how much he'd thought about this. "Because we didn't have a big ceremony that cost ridiculous amounts of money?"
"No, that isn't what makes a marriage real," I said, defending my question.
"Then what does it take?" He backed off, waiting for me to answer.
"Well…" This proved to be harder than I thought. "I guess it takes love, commitment, and a desire to want to be with a person for the rest of your life."
He pushed the hair away from my face and got my attention on him before speaking in return. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you – only you – and if you'll let me, I'll love you with everything that's in me, stopping at nothing to see that you're happy and supported in everything you want to do."
My eyes were threatening to tear up, so I tried blinking quickly and looking up at the ceiling to keep the moisture from running down my checks. "And it takes witnesses to make it official."
Manny looked around, obviously wanting to put this whole notion to rest right now.
Before he could say anything, we heard Nagypapa speak. "You've got two witnesses right here."
I shook my head, seeing that all my roadblocks were being knocked down.
"Do you want to know what I think?" Manny turned the tables on me.
I nodded and waited for him to speak.
"I think it takes two people who see in each other a person they respect and admire to the point that they think of their partner's wholeness and happiness ahead of their own. I think it takes two people who realize what they have is precious and will do all they can to protect it. And I think those things will take the love they have for each other and grow it. When you have all of that, being married or not is really just a legality – not a necessity," he explained.
"I agree," Nagymama put in her vote. "Give him a chance."
I couldn't help but laugh at my great-grandparents' interference. "Didn't you mention giving us privacy when we needed it?"
"Sure," Nagypapa admitted, before correcting me, "But you're not taking advantage of it, so we figured you needed a little push in the right direction."
I touched Manny's face once more and said, "If we asked Ranger, do you think he'd leave our marriage alone and let us claim the status without having to go through a dog and pony show?"
"If it's what you wanted, I can guarantee he'd do it," Manny responded with no hesitation. "Is that what you want?"
I took a deep breath, figuring it seemed too good to be true but willing to take a chance on it anyway. "Yes, it's what I want."
"Then in that case, is there any way I can convince you to keep your name as Stephanie Ramos?" He stretched his face up to kiss me.
"I do like the sound of it," I admitted, grinning as he attempted to capture my lips with his.
"Do you think they'll keep popping up like that?" Manny asked once I stopped giggling and finally kissed him.
"My family isn't really known for respecting boundaries, so my guess is yes, we shouldn't be surprised by it." I wish I knew the answer. "Does it bother you?"
He seemed to think through the question before answering. "No. I mean, it should, because we have no way of knowing how much they're spying on us and I have a thing about my privacy, but it always feels like they are trying to help more than interfere, so I don't mind it the way I would if it were the guys from work constantly popping up to interject in our conversations."
The idea of Cal or Lester suddenly appearing in the middle of a private chat like this was amusing, and I couldn't stop myself from laughing again. "I'm happy around you," I announced out of the blue.
"I'm glad," he replied, much more serious than I was. "I can't believe a few weeks ago, I was counting down the days until the end of my life. And now, I feel like my life has started over completely new for me to do a better job of living it."
"Because you aren't focused on avenging your sister anymore?" I asked, hoping the missing weight of his revenge had made him feel lighter.
"Partly," he admitted. "But mostly it's because of you. I've got something to live for, new dreams to make, new joys to remember. I've got a life ahead of me to anticipate, instead of a past to regret. That's a feeling I didn't think I'd ever have again, so sacrificing my life was easy. Now that I have something to hang onto, the idea of just tossing away my life doesn't sit the same way."
"It damn well better not," I jumped in, hoping he understood how strongly I felt about this.
"How did I end up with such a bossy wife?" he teased.
"What did you expect?" I decided to toy with him in return. "You marry me without even asking and then start demanding I take your name and give you a purpose for living."
He cut off anything else I might have come up with by kissing me, passionately. By the time he pulled back, he was breathing heavy and I couldn't remember what I'd been saying in the first place.
I heard soft laughter coming from near the door and then Nagymama's voice taunting, "See, I told you we'd get more children in this house."
I pulled back from Manny's lips enough to see he had heard them, too.
"You said it didn't bother you," I reminded him, hoping he wasn't about to change his mind.
"I've lived without a family long enough that it seems wrong to be irritated by suddenly having one. Besides, my mom used to tell me when Laney was getting on my nerves to just ignore her and she would go away." He winked at me so quickly, I nearly missed the gesture. "Maybe that trick will work on them, too."
"Come, my love. I think they are on the right track enough for us claim a little privacy of our own," Nagypapa replied.
Three days later, I was amazed at how much better I felt. Manny had been right about me being sore from the night we were attacked, and it took a couple of days to get all the kinks out. Now I just had a pretty impressive set of fading bruises, but they didn't bother me for the most part. In fact, I'd woken up feeling so much better that I'd suggested we invite some of the guys over for cards and food to thank them for all they did to protect us. Manny had quickly agreed, saying he was sure the guys would like it, and if I wanted to open up the house, he was more than willing to put up with the guys trying to steal my attention away from him.
Having him all to myself these last days, talking and laughing without interruption, had made it hard to remember the rocky start we'd gotten when we first arrived in the house. Manny was a loving man, who made me feel absolutely adored. Because of my soreness and his injuries, we still hadn't moved our relationship to a fully physical place, but for the first time in my life, I didn't mind being restricted to just necking and petting. With Manny, it was erotic and exciting, instead of feeling like I was settling for something less than the main attraction. There was no doubt I wanted more, but this time was precious, and I knew that getting to know him so well first would only make it that much better when we finally did move forward.
Of course, standing in the kitchen looking at the pantry, I wondered what I had gotten myself into. We'd been supplied with more food from Ella, which had kept us well fed the last few days, but it wasn't exactly what I had in mind for game night snacks. When I'd called Cal and invited him over, he'd volunteered to pick up pizza from Pino's. I'd talked him into bringing beer, as well, which meant we technically had the meal covered, but I still felt the need to contribute. It seemed like a nice idea in theory...until I was faced with the kitchen and no idea what to do.
"A little help would be nice," I mumbled.
As soon as the words left my mouth, I felt a cool touch on my hand, and I relaxed. Nagymama knew her way around a kitchen well enough to help me come up with something. She led me to the box of recipes on the counter where I'd first discovered how easy it was to make French toast based on her notes. I ran my fingers over the top of the paper and followed her guidance to pull out a card that was titled, "Happy Honey Bars."
The ingredients began with peanut butter, which was a favorite of mine. The rest were nuts and seeds, which made them almost sound healthy, like some kind of power bar. But they were basically a mix in one big bowl and bake for a short period of time kind of food, which was right up my alley. At the bottom of the card, she'd added the words, "Guaranteed to make him happy."
That was all the commercial necessary for me to start pulling out the necessary ingredients. It wasn't until they were in the oven that I realized there was no sugar or honey in the bars, making me wonder where the name came from. By that time, they were beginning to fill the kitchen with a nutty smell, and I realized they smelled good enough to eat, so I quit worrying about whether or not they were sweet.
We set up some card tables in the middle of the den, and I was suddenly grateful that Bobby had gotten rid of the hospital bed. With that gone, the room was as big as I remembered, and I figured the group we had coming would be comfortable.
I cleaned the house and was surprised to realize how happy it had made me to get the place ready for company. I'd never thought of myself as domestic, but it was fun to plan for a party, especially for the guys that I cared so much for.
Just as I finished putting away the vacuum cleaner, Manny came in from the back patio.
He's spent the last two days making a new cane so that he could stain and treat the first one while having something to use for mobility while that one was drying. He'd insisted on going outside to sand this one down so that he didn't make a mess. But I could see from the fact he'd taken off his shirt while he was working that he really just liked the feel of being outdoors again. I completely understood the feeling. After being cooped up for so long, I found myself making excuses to open the windows and let in fresh air.
"What's got you so happy?" Manny asked, probably wondering if all the cleaning had caused me to finally snap.
"I like being here," I replied, feeling the truth as I spoke the words.
He moved closer to me so that he could circle an arm around my waist. "I like being here, too." Then he got that expression that told me a new thought had just struck him. "Do you think they mind us taking over their space?"
"No!" my great-grandparents practically shouted.
"I guess that clears up that little mystery," I replied, chuckling.
"When Edna comes again, we'll settle it with her. The house should be yours. It suits you, and because of your love for each other, we know you can be happy here," they explained.
I glanced at Manny, who seemed to be waiting on me to respond. "We do have jobs that we have to get back to soon," I warned them. "I have an apartment of my own, and Manny has one in the building where he works." I wanted them to realize that even though we wanted the house, we had two other places that were technically ours as well.
"But you do not work all the time," Nagypapa replied. "There is still time to get away and escape from the bustle of the big city."
I laughed at the idea of Trenton being the big city but didn't argue the point, either. "No, we don't work all the time." Plus, now that we were giving this whole married thing a try, it did seem silly to keep separate apartments and a house. Maybe it was finally time to get rid of my death trap of an apartment.
"We could definitely split our time between here and Haywood," I offered, not ready to delve into how we would make that work.
When Manny tightened his hold around me, I figured that was his way of letting me know he liked that idea.
"I had no idea you were such a fast mover, Mr. Ramos," I teased Manny.
"What?" He seemed confused, no doubt wondering why I was calling him fast, since we'd put the breaks on having sex so far.
"Married quick and now settling down with a house of your own. You're quite the family man, aren't you?"
My assumption had been he would either laugh or somehow try to blame me for the speed at which our lives had moved, but he did neither. Instead, his eyes filled with some sort of emotion, and he rested his forehead on mine.
"I think when you live without family, you don't realize how important it is. I was young when I lost my parents, so Laney and I were all we had. Then when I lost her, too, I felt completely alone. I knew I had the guys at the office, but that isn't the same thing as a real family. So, yeah, I think I'm a family man because I know what it's like to live without one and I know how precious this is between us."
Didn't that just melt a girl's heart? Manny had an unnerving way of saying exactly what he was thinking without trying to filter it. Now that I understood it was his way of being completely honest, I appreciated it. And when I heard him say things like that, I fell in love with him all over again.
"Come on." He began to push me backward down the hall. "I've gotten dirty outside, and I need a little help getting cleaned up before the guys get here in an hour."
Somehow, I managed to keep my head about me long enough to remember I had food in the oven, so I sent him down the hall to get started without me and pulled the bars out, setting them on the counter to cool.
We took it to the wire, losing track of time in the shower, so I was tying my hair back with another colorful scarf just as the doorbell rang. Manny beat me to the door, and I heard Cal announce his presence before the voices of Ranger, Lester, Bobby, and Tank all filled the house. I came down the hall, with a grin on my face, amazed at how much I loved the sound of a house full of people.
We jumped on the pizza immediately and then brought out cards to play a little poker. After an hour of talking smack and passing around chips like high rollers, I went into the kitchen and brought out the food I'd made, offering up a little prayer that I wouldn't poison anyone with my domestic efforts.
"What's that?" Cal asked as soon as I sat the platter down.
"They're just nut bars." I tried to blow it off and hoped no one picked up on my anxiety. "There's no sugar, so they're safe for you guys to eat."
Those were the magic words, as everyone moved to pick up one and immediately started snacking and dealing the next round. I was encouraged when they grabbed a second serving and had one myself, realizing that despite the lack of a sweetener, they were really good. Before I knew it, I'd had three as well.
Two hours later, the guys were clearly relaxed, though I don't know if it was the game or the amount of beer they'd been through. I was having trouble concentrating on my cards and had begun to play terribly as a result. I folded my current hand, not bothering to ask for any new cards, because I couldn't pay attention to what was in front of me, preferring to look at the guys instead.
I was one lucky woman to work with such good looking men. I took the time to really watch them as they taunted each other and threw out insults faster than I'd thought possible. When my eyes fell on Manny, they didn't move any farther. Suddenly, the lack of sex caught up with me, and I could feel my cheeks getting warm at the idea of getting my husband alone in the bedroom. Manny caught me staring at him and winked at me before folding his cards and putting his good hand under the table high on my thigh.
My eyes shut and I sucked in a deep breath, trying to control my reaction to the contact, but it was as though my hormones had a mind of their own and they'd been denied as long as they were willing. Regardless of how creative we needed to be tonight, I was going to have Manny one way or another.
When Manny's hand squeezed, I opened my eyes and looked at him. He studied my face first, and then he grinned at me and motioned for me to come closer. Despite the fear that I might not be able to control myself, I moved anyway and allowed him to whisper in my ear, "Why are you looking at me like you wish the guys weren't here and we were both naked?"
Then it hit me that it had been at least three days since I'd had a doughnut or any real sugar-laced food. "Do you know what I'm like when I don't have sugar?" I asked him a little louder than I'd intended.
The guys stopped playing, and I heard a single poker chip hit the top of the pile with a loud clink. Ranger was the first to speak.
"Babe, you haven't had sugar?"
Despite knowing my face was completely red, I still answered his question. "No. Since the whole Hernandez threat has been cleared, we haven't left the house, and it wasn't stocked with sweets."
Ranger's eyes cut to Manny quickly, and then he shook his head and smiled. "Gentlemen, I believe it's time to call it a night."
Lester complained, "Man, I was only a couple of good hands away from catching up with Cal."
"You'll have to try again another night," Ranger replied, still seeming to be more than a little amused by this new development.
Manny looked at me and asked, "Why are they leaving so quickly? Why does Ranger know about you and sugar, and what does it do to you when you don't have any?"
Those were all good questions and none that I wanted to explain at the moment. Fortunately, Bobby and Lester were complaining loudly enough about having their fun interrupted that I didn't have to respond right away.
Tank came over and kissed the top of my head, pulling the end of my scarf and smiling at it. "You're happy here," he pointed out, much more observant than people gave him credit for. "It suits you."
My arms reached around as much of him as I could manage, and I thanked him for coming.
"Anytime," he replied, seeming to be a little taken aback by my show of affection, but he took it in stride anyway. "It's comfortable here. A place you can just be yourself. It's been a long time since I felt that way about a place."
"Don't hog her, man," Lester demanded from behind the big guy in front of me. He hugged me tightly, lifting my feet off the ground. "You did good with Manny, Beautiful," he told me with his lips near my ear. "Thanks for letting us take over your home. This place is…great."
Despite his hesitation, his compliment sounded sincere, so I framed his cheeks with my palms and squeezed his face playfully to tell him, "You're welcome here anytime."
Bobby and Cal each took a turn thanking me for the night of fun and commented on how comfortable they were here. It was strange that the guys didn't seem to want to go, and then I remembered it was always like that when people came here. Something about this place drew people in and made them relax. I understood their hesitance to leave.
Ranger came by last and hugged me tightly. I returned his affection and sighed that his arms felt as good as they always had. Despite the chemistry between us definitely decreasing lately, there was no denying the appeal of Ranger, and my body knew intimately how good he could make me feel. Realizing this line of thinking was a bad idea, I pulled back and noticed him trying to keep from laughing.
"Stop that," I commanded, trying to look stern and failing.
"Have a good night," he said with a raised eyebrow that told me he knew exactly what kind of night I was going to have. Then he bumped fists with Manny and said, "Stay hydrated, man, and hang on for the night of your life."
The guys left right after that strange message.
As soon as I'd shut the door and reset the alarm, I went in search of Manny and asked, "What in the hell did Ranger mean by those comments?"
Manny laughed and said, "While the guys were telling you goodnight, he was explaining to me what sugar did to your hormones and the effect going off of it had on you. Then he pointed out that our bodies use protein to digest sugar and the bars you made are basically high protein bars, so you were already low on sugar and then you ate something that burned off whatever you might have stored away so that now you are running on pure hormones."
Damn, when he put it like that, the way I was feeling did make more sense. "I guess I know now why Nagymama called those Happy Honey Bars. The honey that they made happy must have been Nagypapa."
By the time I finished talking, I could tell that Manny's eyes looked darker, and he was so focused on me that I stepped backwards out of instinct to escape the intensity.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
It took two swallows to make my voice work. "Umm, to the bedroom."
He nodded, as though agreeing with that answer. Then he kept his eyes on mine but spoke to someone else. "You know that privacy you promised us?"
"Yes," rang the voices we had grown used to hearing.
"Now would be a good time to give it to us," Manny finished, basically telling my great-grandparents that we were going to have sex. "And you should keep giving it to us until at least sunrise tomorrow."
Fading laughter was the only response he got.
"Anything else you need to do before we reach the bedroom?" Manny asked, taking a step toward me.
"No," I managed to reply, wondering why I was practically shaking. I wasn't nervous, but the combination of desire and excitement was quickly building to a level I wasn't sure how to control. I'd never felt this wanton before and wondered if I should throw away the recipe for the bars so that I didn't do this to myself again.
"Don't you dare get rid of it," Manny commanded. "I've been waiting until I was sure you wanted me as much as I wanted you, and I think we are finally to that point."
"Trust me, I'm well past that point," I warned him, quickening the pace of our movement to the bedroom.
"Are you sure about this?" he asked, giving me a chance to back out once we were standing face to face at the edge of the bed.
I nodded, but that wasn't good enough.
"I need to hear you say it. I don't want to wonder later if I took away your choice or pressured you into consummating our marriage when you really didn't want to."
Considering the amount of time he'd spent pouting when we first got here because his choices had been ripped away from him, I knew how sticky this point was. He needed to hear me say that I wanted him, and I needed to say it in a way that removed all doubt.
"I want you, Manny Ramos," I began, placing my palms flat against his chest. "I want you beside me forever. In this moment, I want you connected to me in a way that goes beyond having sex. I need this, and I need you."
"Steph," he managed to get out, before giving up on saying anything else and just leaning down to kiss me instead.
I assumed my words were exactly what he needed to hear, because from that point on, he seemed to anticipate every need I had, touching, kissing, licking, caressing exactly where I needed him to.
By the time I finally felt sated, Manny looked pale, and I briefly wondered if I'd broken him.
Laughter from behind me alerted me to the fact I'd wondered that aloud.
"I'm not broken, but I am seeing the wisdom in Ranger's warning to stay hydrated."
I attempted to dig an elbow in his ribs, but he anticipated my movement and grabbed my arm to keep me from inflicting any pain for his comment.
He chucked at my attempt at violence and said, "I knew you weren't an angel."
I would have complained about that comment, but I was too exhausted to build up a head of steam, and after some of the things I'd just done and basically begged him to do to me, I figured he was actually right. "I never disagreed with you," I conceded.
He backed up enough to roll me onto my back so that I could see his face. "But the guys can go on believing it, because I'm the only one that gets to see the real you. The one that is everything they know plus the passion—" he leaned down to kiss me to accentuate his point "—and the heat—" another kiss, this time with his tongue tracing my lips "—and the devoted love. That's all mine."
"Possessive, aren't you?" I nearly sighed into his mouth.
He made a noise that might have been agreement, but it wasn't coherent enough for me to interpret it. Finally, he explained himself. "I didn't think I would be, but holy hell, was I wrong. I want you to soar and have everything in life that you want, but at night, I want to have all those parts of you that no one else gets to see. When I say it out loud, I guess I am a little on the possessive side."
I decided to use his exhaustion against him, easily overpowering him to push him onto his back and climb back over his waist to straddle him.
"Good," I admitted, putting my hands on his chest to steady myself. Despite picking on him, I wasn't exactly stable here, either. "Because I want you to go be the world's biggest badass during the day and do all the things you want to, but at night, when it's just us, I want to be the one you talk to and share your space with. I want to be the one that you let in more than anyone else."
Manny touched my face tenderly. "I want this forever, not just for a while or until we get tired. I want to fight with you, to yell and scream and hear you call me a dick when I get too full of myself. I want to hold you when something happens that hurts you, and I want to feel the pain of every one of your tears when you share them with me. I want it all. Not just the easy parts, but all of it."
I nodded, understanding what he was after. "We didn't exactly start off with an easy part, so I think we'll be able to handle whatever comes," I pointed out. Then my mouth opened, and I blurted out, "Wow, those sounded a lot more like wedding vows than what I said when I was dressed in a big, poufy dress."
"Good," Manny responded, moving his hand to my hip, "because I meant them the same as if we'd said them in front of a priest in a church."
"Can it really be this easy?"
That thought made Manny chuckle. "Sweetheart, think back over our first two weeks together and tell me what part you are referring to as easy."
"When you put it like that, you owe me, mister," I huffed, pretending offense. "You put me through the ringer with how you treated me in the beginning."
I got the smile from Manny that I knew was mine alone. "That is a debt I'll gladly spend my life working off."
I collapsed on top of him and then slid off to the side to take my weight off his torso, loving the sound of him working off the debt but not really having the energy to exact the first payment from him now.
As I drifted off to sleep, I felt his arms tighten around me and felt him kiss my face.
"A lifetime and beyond, Steph. I can promise you that."
I felt a cool sensation on my hair that I now associated with my great-grandparents touching me, as well as the warmth of Manny's love inside me, and I finally allowed myself to believe in happily ever after – and beyond.
A/N: Once again, we've come to the end of another journey. I can't thank you enough for all your reviews, your kinds words, and comments. Throwing in voices from beyond made this story a little unusual for me, but it was a lot of fun to think about what the loved ones of her past might say to guide her now. Thank you again for reading along, and for taking the time to hit that little button at the bottom of each chapter to let me know what you thought of the story. I'll be taking a few weeks off to get these characters out of my head and then I'll be back - with a Babe story.