I do not own JE's characters. I just like to play with them.
A/N: This a new story. Brace yourself, Babes, this is a TART. I welcome your reviews and input. The rating is for some scenes and language. This is where my muse took me today.
Thank you for reading and reviewing.
Stephanie POV
It had been a hectic week, but a productive one and I was really looking forward to spending some quality time with Mateo. He was off tonight. I was thinking about his and hers massages when there was a buzz at the door. I used our cameras to see who it was and I was shocked to see my father there. What could he want? He has barely said a word to me since I got engaged to Dickie two years ago. I let him inside and met him in the foyer. He followed me back to my office and we sat down to talk. Well, I am assuming that he came to talk. I just sat and stared at him.
He cleared his throat. "You have a nice place here. I have heard about it from some of the guys and they heard about it from their wives. You know how it is. Listen, I came here to talk to you. I know your mother was all gung ho for you to marry that Richard Orr guy, but I was against it. I know I never stuck up for you back then, or ever really, but I wish now that I had. Your mother put too much value in other people's opinions and I just let her take control of things at home. It was easier that way." He stood and paced to the window.
"I have come to realize that it was wrong and I do not have the relationship with you that I should. So many times I should have been there for you and I was not, Pumpkin. I mostly came here to apologize. I can see that you have made something of yourself and you should be proud of yourself. Even if you had to leave the state to do it, I am proud of you. Also, we had your mother admitted into a program for alcoholism. I don't know how she will do, but at least she won't be bothering you." He turned around to face me and he looked older suddenly.
"Before I go, I wanted to ask if I could meet your new husband. I hear he is a real stand up guy." I open my mouth to answer him and Mateo speaks up. He must have used his key.
"Hello, sir. I am Lester Santos and I adore your daughter." He held out his hand and shook hands with daddy.
"It is good to meet you, Lester. You can call me Frank. I was just talking to Stephanie here, but I am going to go." Lester looked at me and I sighed inwardly.
"Dad, would you like to come over for dinner this week?" He smiled and agreed to come over tomorrow. I am sure he will love the guys. He hugged me and left. I am not sure how I feel about it. I mean he only approached me because he heard the gossip? Am I being too hard on him? Who knows. Mateo came back from walking daddy to the door and pulled me into his arms.
"Baby, I am glad that you invited him. He is reaching out to you. It will be fine, now let's get going. I was out there ringing the buzzer for ten minutes. You almost got left here, Mitch." I know he is messing with me, but it still makes me laugh. I love my husband, especially when he is silly like this.
We picked up takeout and decided to have a picnic on the floor of our bedroom. After we ate I took a shower while Mateo took Romeo for a walk and I stretched out on the bed to wait for him. I was not sleepy at all.
Lester POV
My wife is so beautiful. I know that she has been working hard this week and shuttling to all of her appointments with Lula and I want to help her to relax. I missed having lunch with her, but I know that it will not always be possible to eat together. This property is great and I am so pleased that we live here. I stop in the kitchen and make a sundae for Mitch. I plan to feed it to her and maybe eat some of it off her. I absolutely adore when she is dressed in simple clothes. She is beautiful when she is in her business attire, but I fell in love with that sweet girl from the beach. Of course I am waylaid by Ranger. How long has he been standing there?
"Yes, Cuz? What is the deal? This ice cream will melt." He seems worried.
"How did you know you were in love with Stephanie?" Oh man! I turn around and make him follow me back to the kitchen where I make him a sundae to match the one I will surely be eating. This man can plan sneak attacks and military missions, but throw a 130 pound woman at him and he acts like a Keystone cop. I must be patient with him. I will be supportive. Madison is a cool girl and she is not afraid of Ric. We sit down at the breakfast bar.
"Why do you think that you are in love, Ric?" He gets a silly grin on his face that I know he will deny.
"She is so lively and fun. I love that she wears yellow all of the time like she is a cartoon character. She also went with me to Mariposa and she was not intimidated. You know that she is not afraid of me and I love to kiss her. My guns do not turn her off and she is not pressuring me for sex. I think that she likes me for me and not just my looks or my money. She has not complained about my long hours. She gave me a massage earlier. She wants to meet the family." He finally runs out of steam and I smile at him.
"She sounds even more wonderful every time you talk about her, Ric. I think that you really are in love with Madison. Do you think that she feels the same way about you? I mean are you confident in the return I love you?" He looks shocked. I try hard to hold in my laughter.
"Do you think that I will say it and she won't say it back?" I let the laughter out and he now looks offended.
"Ric, I have seen her with you. She rode on your back for a piggy back ride the other day. She always touches you when you are near her. She play fights with you and she brought you lunch to work yesterday. She probably feels the same way about you. Why are you not with her right now?" He sighs.
"She said she wanted to watch a movie and could I leave because it was a chick flick and she did not want me to cry." My poor, poor delusional cousin.
"Ric, she was fucking with you. Go back over there and tell her I said to stop bullying you. Then kiss her and tell her how you feel. Man up, Ric. You cannot offend this girl. She grew up with a lot of guys in her life. Stop walking around on egg shells with her. You won't mess up as long as you tell her the truth and if you do fuck up, remember to apologize." He finishes his sundae and hugs me and leaves. The poor lovesick fool.
"That was very sweet, Mateo. I gotta say that I am feeling unappreciated around here if Maddie can get piggy back rides and Ric can get sundaes while you leave me all alone in our bed." I smile and kiss my baby with all of the passion I feel.
"Did she call you?" She smiles and makes herself a sundae.
"Yup. She asked me what she did to make him leave and I told her that he was sort of literal and that he was new to relationships, so go easy on him. She was freaking out because she thought that he got her weird sense of humor. I told her that she had to spell things out for him a little and that she should tell the guy how she feels. Then I had to convince her that he probably feels the same way. I did not know you were down here being Dr. Phil and serving up delicious treats. I am taking my sundae and leaving. Good day, sir." She walked away and I knew my line.
"But, Mitch!"
She turned to me and said, "I said good day, sir!" She was adorable and she was all mine. I followed her to our room.
"Mitch, baby, I am so happy with you and I love you. I cannot believe that you waited for me all of that time. When I think about it, I am so grateful and I know that our love is real. Promise me that when I piss you off, you will let me know and that you will let me fix it. I need you to always stay with me." She set her sundae on the table and jumped into my arms. She kissed all over my face.
"You silly man! Of course I was going to wait for you! I love you, too. I promise to try to work out our problems together, Mateo. You are my favorite person, you know that. Now leave me alone so I can eat my ice cream." I sit against the headboard and she sits between my legs and leans against me. I kiss her neck and she giggles.
"You really are my whole world, Mitch." She sighs.
"Right back at you, Mateo. As long as I have you, I can face anything. Thank you for your support earlier." I rub her arms.
"I would do most anything for you, girl. Now eat that ice cream so I can give you a rub down and then you can thank me by returning the favor." She giggled and I kept kissing her until she was done. I love my life right now.
Ranger POV
I knocked on the door and she opened it wearing tiny shorts, a yellow tee shirt that was dangerously low cut and bared her stomach and yellow fuzzy slippers. Her hair was in a sloppy ponytail. She was tapping her foot on the floor.
"Did you really think that I wanted you to leave, Ricardo?" Well, yes.
"Yes, Madison. I do not say what I do not mean, so I thought you meant it. I do have a sense of humor." She just sighed and pulled me inside by the hand. I sat on her couch and she plopped herself on my lap.
"Ric, I care about you and when you left, I called Stephanie to see what I did wrong. She said I said the opposite of what I wanted and you believed me. So, sorry about that." She was so cute. I pulled her hair loose, and played with it. It was now or never.
"Madison, I have never said this to anyone before, but I want you to know that I love you." There, I did it. And now I wait. She gasped and hugged me. I could feel her kissing my neck, and then she pulled back.
"Wow! I love you, too! I thought I scared you away because I can be so brash sometimes! It usually does not seem to bother you, though and you are so sweet to me. I think about you all the time and you do not even rush me to have sex. You are even good looking and you do not live with your mother and you have guns! That is so great!" She hugs me again. Wow. I feel so much better now that she said it back. I lean forward and kiss her. She responds, but then she pulls back and glares at me.
"Did you eat ice cream? Not Mr. My Body is a Temple! You did not bring me any!" I smile and lift her from my lap. Ha! I grab the bag that I brought with me.
"Here you are, Sunny." She giggles. Well, she does wear yellow a lot.
"Thank you! I am so glad that you came back, Ric. You are a good boyfriend. Nice touch with the ice cream. Do not think that it will get you some ass, though." She says that, but she French kisses me.
"Hey, Ric. Let's eat this in my room. It was not the ice cream that did the trick, but the I love you. Come on, man. I have wanted you for weeks!" She turns off the television and runs to her room. I follow like her willing slave. She is fun and so carefree. I need that in my life after some of the shit I have been through. She was in for it, though. I am about to let go of all of my pent up aggressions. I am especially glad that she does yoga.
"Are you ready for me, my love?" She was taking off her shorts. She threw them at me and turned around so that I could see her tiny yellow thongs. It was at that moment that my control snapped. I think I roared a little, but she just growled right back and gave as good as she got. It's good to be me today.