Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own anything. The Plum characters belong to Janet Evanovich. However, I do own Sofia.

Note: Thanks to JessicaRenae for helping me edit this chapter. I'm truly sorry it has taken me so long to post. I completed this story last October, but conflicting schedules with my beta delayed the posting process. That said, I hope this chapter was worth the wait. Let me know if you liked it.

Chap. 28 HOME

Steph's POV

In my dreams, Ranger wore a white button up shirt with black slacks. He offered me his hand, inviting me to dance. I took it, closing the distance between us. He rewarded me with a kiss below my ear. He was alive! In the dream, he was alive and well.

"You look gorgeous," he whispered. I followed his eyes and found a beautiful white dress, a beach dress.

Ricky, I searched for Ricky in the vicinity. We were under a palm tree on an empty beach. The place was gorgeous, the sand the whitest I'd ever seen. Ricky appeared right next to us. He was also dressed up, much like this father. He smiled up at me, his eyes shining with happiness.

"Hi, mommy," he said, his voice soft.

Then, he started fading. I felt to my knees and opened my arms to pull him against my chest, but it was in vain. My arms went right through him as if he was an apparition. I ended up hugging the air. I looked up at Ranger, but he was fading too, blending into the landscape and away from me.

They both faded away.

Blood now replaced the beautiful dress. I looked down at my hands and found them drenched. When I looked around me, the setting had changed. I was at a graveyard. There was nothing around me, but the dead.

-RS-

Beep…beep…beep…beep…

My eyes fluttered open, the light hurting my eyes. Was I dead? I should be dead. A hand touched my forehead, touching me softly, but I couldn't make out a face.

"Mommy," a child's voice in my ear. I tried to move, still unable to see anything around me. I shut my eyes for a moment and slid right back to sleep. The next time I opened them, the room started to make sense to me. It was sterile. The smell of antiseptic reached my nose. I recognized that smell. I was at the hospital.

"Babe," Ranger's voice. I followed the direction of the sound and found him sitting on a chair next to my bed. I tried to sit up, but the sharp pain in my head halted my movements.

"Easy now," he soothed, standing next to me. "You have a pretty severe concussion."

The images came to me one after the other, a montage of horrific moments. The computer. Alonde. Blood. The bastard used my head as a basketball.

"Ricky?" I asked, the machine beeping faster now.

"Breath, Babe," he responded instead. "I'll call the doctor."

"Don't tell me to calm down," I snapped. "Where's my son?"

"He's fine," he answered. "I sent him home with my parents, Lester, and Sofia."

"Sofia?"

"She has a broken arm," he said, "but she's fine."

The relief was overwhelming. My family was alive. Ricky, Sofia, my parents, and Ranger. They were all alive.

"Thank God," I chuckled, tears pooling in my eyes. I turned back to Ranger and noticed the bandages for the first time.

"Ranger," I whispered, unable to hide the pain I felt inside.

"Carlos," he corrected. "I'm okay, minor injuries. Babe, I need to know. Did he touch you?

"No." A solemn answer. I caressed his jaw and felt him relax under my fingertips.

"We saved Leticia," he said.

"How is she doing?"

"She's happy to be back with her family. Samuel and her mom haven't left her room. She's threatening not to accept any type of treatment if they don't go home to rest. She's strong, like someone else I know."

"Thanks," I blushed, a long pause. "I thought you died." He kissed my forehead and held me. I gulped, drawing in some air. "I thought the explosion cut the feed. I thought all of you died."

"I know Babe," he sat on the bed next to me, holding me. "I know exactly how you felt."

"What happened?" I asked, after gaining some composure. Ranger took a deep breath and gently rubbed my back.

"Sofia discovered the explosives," he said. "I have some training with explosives, and dealt with some in the field, but these were thought through very carefully. They had wired it in ways I'd never experienced."

"I didn't want to lose you," I confided, sounding needy. "Alonde called to warn me. He was going to blow the compound if I didn't follow orders. Then, I saw Haywood on his computer, and I thought…"

"Babe, he was going to blow it up anyway." Ranger pressed a kiss to my temple.

"How did you get Leticia? Haywood?"

"The experts came in shortly after the discovery of the bombs. Half the team joined Sofia and I in rescuing the girls. They were all locked inside a dark moldy basement. They were all naked and dehydrated. As for Haywood, Cal discovered the explosives inside a car parked outside the building. They managed to get things under control."

God, my head hurts. Ranger seemed to notice and pressed the call button on the side of my bed. Soon, a doctor and a nurse came into the room. The nurse was my mother, and she immediately rushed to my bed.

"Stephanie, dear," she said, glancing disapprovingly towards Ranger. "You need to rest."

"Mother," I grunted.

The doctor smiled at us and glanced at Ranger with a dark expression. Clearly, he dealt with RangeMan employees long enough not to fear the man in black.

"Mr. Manoso, you are under specific instructions not to leave your room.

"I told you to give us a joined room," Ranger replied, his voice dangerously calm. He stood up and reclaimed the chair.

The doctor shook his head and turned to me. "I'm Dr. Allen, how are you feeling Ms. Plum?"

"My head hurts." I touched it, wincing at the bolt of pain. "My ribs."

"Yes, you have a concussion, it's not a minor TBI either, so we need to monitor you. You were unconscious when you were brought here and remained unconscious for some time." The doctor moved around the bed, checking my vitals. "You have a few other nasty bruises, but I'm positive you'll make a quick recovery."

"How long have I been asleep?"

"You slept for about ten hours," Ranger answered. My eyebrows furrowed, my brain trying to tell me something.

"What?" I asked, a little incredulous. "What date is it?"

"August tenth," he answered. I scrambled up to a sitting position, knocking the IV pole to the floor. I tried to disengage it from my arm, but realized there was another, more embarrassing, medical tube to take care.

"Ms. Plum, I can't release you yet," the doctor argued, "not without a proper examination."

"What time is it?" I asked.

"It's six in the morning, Babe," Ranger replied. "What's wrong?"

"Ricky's Birthday," I reminded him. "He was so excited. Do we have time?

"We have the time," he assured me.

"Mom?"

"We'll talk about it letter, honey."

"Please, Ms. Plum, you should lay down. You need to rest."

"I need to pee," I said. The doctor sighed, murmuring something about RangeMan, will power, and hospitals.

"I'm sure Nurse Helen can help you with that." The doctor turned to leave, "I'll be back to evaluate you, Ms. Plum. Afterwards, we will run some test and determine how long you will stay here."

"Mom, what about Ricky's birthday? Do we have time?" She put a hand on my shoulder and with gentle hands urged me to lie down.

"Tank will bring him later during the day to see you," she said. "We have time."

"I don't want him to see me like this," I rasped, pushing myself up on my elbows.

"I'll help with the catheter," she sighed.

"Why do I have a catheter anyway?"

"We didn't know if you were going to wake up," she said, her voice low. My mother glanced at Ranger, silently asking him to leave.

"I'm not going anywhere," he answered. My mother grunted and pulled the curtains around my bed.

"Mom, wait," I called out before he disappeared behind the fabric.

He stood and limped to my bed. I took his head between my hands and pulled him to me. I kissed him. It was a long deep kiss, full of passion and lust. It was the kind of kiss that takes your breath away. It was us.

"It's Carlos," he said, almost a whisper on my lips.

"Ahem," my mom cleared her throat. My mother's voice was both, pleading and amused. "I'm still standing here. Please, don't take off your clothes."

We pulled away with smiles on our faces. A tear rolled down Ranger's cheek. He could see the surprise in my eyes, but didn't hide his feelings me. I wiped it away with my thumb, looking into his eyes and sharing a silent moment of understanding. He won't always be open about everything in his life, his past, but he loved… loves me. I had no doubts, not this time.

"I love you," he said, and I rewarded him with another kiss.

-RS-

I spent the following days being examined. There was a lot of probing, tests, and x-rays done. There was a CAT scan and an MRI to make sure my head was okay, and that my brain was not swelling inside my skull. A few x-rays were done to make sure my ribs were going to heal properly, a blood test, and one psychiatric evaluation for reassurance.

The doctor released Ranger on the first day, but he never left my bedside. On the third day, I was getting nervous. It was my son's birthday, and I didn't plan to spend it at the hospital. Bobby walked into my room around ten, and I was glad to see the RangeMan medic.

Please give me good news, I chanted silently. Please, bring me good news.

"I have good news," he said, giving me a hug. "The doctor is releasing you to my care."

"Are you sure?" I smiled.

"Of course, I think Ranger had a lot to do with it," he said. "There's a catch though."

"What?"

Bobby walked out of the room and came back with a wheelchair. I shook my head.

"You had a bad concussion, and more than one badly bruised rib," he argued. "This will prevent any more falls or injuries if you faint or fall, and knowing you, there's a high percentage that might happen. You can't be too careful. This is the only option."

I pouted at his reminder of my historically uncoordinated self, but I agreed, figuring out there was no point in arguing. Ranger walked in a moment later to help me dress. He leaned down and pecked my lips. We were off on a good start.

-RS-

We arrived at Haywood early in the afternoon. Ranger opened the door to the penthouse, and my son rushed to my side.

"Mommy!" I pulled him into my embrace and onto my lap and showered him with kisses. He was so happy to see me. He seemed to have grown overnight, his hair a mess and his eyes mischievous as always.

Ranger wheeled us inside, where Mrs. Manoso greeted me with a smile, her eyes moving between her son and I.

"I can't believe you two," she said. "Stephanie, I thought the doctor said you still need time to recover."

Ranger said something to her in Spanish. She shook her head in resignation and kissed his cheek, whispering something in his ear. "Of course," she said. "I'll call Celia."

"Thank you," Ranger answered.

"I'll see all of you later," she said, kissing Ricky's cheek and mine before leaving.

"Happy birthday, son," I said, kissing the top Ricky's head, his nose, his forehead, and cheeks…anywhere I could find. "You are officially four years old."

"Yes, I'm a big boy," he said proudly, throwing his hands in the air.

I agreed, doing my best to cuddle him without causing more pain to my ribs. "I think it's time to give you some responsibilities."

"Responsa… Responsabisis," he slurred the words.

"Yes, you have to start picking up after yourself now," I told him, "put all your toys in order. He slid down to the floor and ran to his room to do this newly assigned chores.

"Obedient," Ranger said, amused.

"How long do you think that will last?" I asked.

"He might surprise you, Babe."

"Yeah, wait until he's a teenager."

I forced myself to stand up and put my arms around him. It was a relief to know that everyone I love came out alive at the end. We had a second chance at being us, together. We had come a long way.

-RS-

Ranger: Happy Valentines, Babe.

Steph: Happy Valentines, Ranger. Thanks for my necklace. I also bought you a present.

Ranger: Really, where is it?"

Steph: Me, what else do you want?

Ranger: Good point.

RS-

Next Chapter on Friday