Disclaimer: Anything recognizable is owned by JE. I'm just borrowing them for a little while, but do I have to give Ranger back?
A/N: Thank you for all of the kind words (PMs and reviews that you guys have left me. I appreciate all of them more than you could ever know.
Chapter 5
The next morning, just before noon, I picked up a very sullen and withdrawn Mikey from his morning football practice.
"How was football practice?" I asked as he put his seat belt on and proceeded to slouch down in the front seat of my 2001 sort of red Ford Escort. The only answer I got was crossing his arms in front of his chest and shrugging.
"Okay….are you excited about hanging out with the some of the guys in the Rangemand gym?" I asked, in a second attempt to get Mikey to talk to me. Instead of answering he slouched down further in the seat and shrugged again.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm starving. How about you? Why don't you pick out a place for us to eat lunch? What do you think? Pizza? Burger? Chicken? You know me, I'll eat anything." I offered, hoping that the third time would be the charm.
"Can't we just go straight to Rangeman? Mr. Ranger said that Mrs. Ella fixes lunch every day for his employees. Can we just eat there?" Mikey asked quietly.
"Sure, if that's what you want to do. It's fine with me. I need to warn you though that Ranger doesn't allow dessert in his break room, but if you get desperate, I have a hidden stash of TastyKakes and candy bars in the back drawer of the desk in my cubicle." I told him.
Mikey was quiet the entire way to Rangeman. When I pulled into the parking lot I was relieved to see Lester waiting for us. None of the Merry Men, with the exception of Lester, are known for being big talkers. Hopefully, he would have better luck getting Mikey to talk than I did.
"Dude! How was practice?" Lester asked, are you ready for us to 'pump you up' Rangeman Style." Lester said using his best Arnold Schwarzenegger impression.
Then it happened…..Mikey grinned. It was the closest thing to I smile that Mikey has done since his father died.
"Practice was good." Mikey told him. "I'm ready to see the Rangeman gym though. I bet it's cool."
Its official Lester Santos is a miracle worker.
"First you eat, then you and Lester can check out the Rangeman gym. Your mom would never forgive me if you passed out from hunger." I told Mikey.
"C'mon, Aunt Steph. I'm not that hungry anyway." Mikey said with a hint of whining in his voice.
"Beautiful right, big guy. If you want to be able to play football, you need to eat healthy." Lester told him as he wrapped his arm around Mikey's neck and pretended to give him a nuggie.
"Yes, sir." Mikey said with an almost grin.
Once I made sure that Mikey had everything he needed for lunch, I grabbed a sandwich, apple and bottle of water for myself to take back to my desk for lunch. I decided that Mikey might be more talkative if I wasn't hanging around. Before I headed back to my desk, I gave Lester one finally warning not to give Mikey any advice about girls and dating. I didn't want Mary Lou to end of hating me for the rest of her life.
About an hour and a half later, I decided to walk over to the monitors to check on Lester and Mikey in the gym. Cal and Manny were on monitor duty.
"Does it look like Mikey is behaving himself?" I asked.
"It looks like there all having fun in there." Manny told me.
I looked at the monitor and saw that Ranger and Hal had joined Mikey and Lester in the gym. They were all tossing footballs back and forth across the large mat that was usually used for sparring.
"I didn't know we had footballs here?" I asked.
"Ranger had Ella pick up some sports equipment yesterday. She also bought soccer balls, basketballs, baseballs and baseball mitts, in case Mikey got bored with the football." Cal explained.
"I thought that they were going to help Mikey with football drills?" I didn't want to complain, but it looked like they're just tossing the ball around. Mikey could have done that in his backyard with his friends.
"Hal has been helping Mikey with his throwing techniques. Hal played college football in the SEC before he joined the army." Manny told me.
"Wow! I didn't know Hal used to play college football." I exclaimed.
"Almost half the guys at Rangeman played football, at least in high school. Hal was good enough to get a scholarship." Cal said.
I was about to ask where Hal went to college when my cell phone rang with Mary Lou's ringtone.
"Yo!" I answered.
"Uh…Steph, your mom would throw a fit if she heard you answer the phone like that?" Mary Lou said.
"Sorry, I tend to answer the phone like that after I spend the day working with these guys. They have the worst phone manners." I explained.
"How's Mikey doing? He isn't getting in the way of work is he?" She questioned.
"He's doing fine. I had a hard time getting him to talk to me on the way over here, but he seems to have loosened up since he got around the guys. He's in the gym with Ranger, Lester, and Hal working on throwing techniques." I told her. "How's the job hunt going?"
"Not well. Everywhere I go the position has either already been filled or they say that they will put my application on file. I applied for the file clerk position at a law office and the receptionist said that she would put my file with the others. Steph, I swear I saw her throw my resume in the trash. I stopped my Pino's for lunch and he offered me a position as a waitress. It's only fifteen hours a week, in the evening, and pays minimum wage, but it's the only option I have so far. I may have to take it while I search for something with more hours and better pay." Mary Lou explained. "I'll need to find someone to watch the boys until I get home from work at night."
"I can watch the boys, since I do most of my bounty hunting during the day. I'm sure my mom and Grandma would be willing to fill in if I couldn't one night." I offered.
"If you're sure, but should you speak to your mom to make sure it's okay first?" She asked.
"I'll run it passed her, but I'm sure it will be fine. Besides it's just until you find something with better hours." I told her.
"Thanks Steph. I'll come by Rangeman in about a half hour to pick up Mikey. Could you make sure that he's ready? St. Francis has a group meeting for kids who have lost a parent every other week. I thought it might be good for the boys. While they kids have their session, the adults meet in the room next door for a group grief counseling session. I'll probably stay close to the boys this week, but if they adjust well to the group , I'll go to the adult session next time." Mary Lou told me.
"That sounds like a great idea, but how will Mikey feel about being group with a bunch of little kids?" I asked.
"They have another group for teenagers. The counselor at St. Francis said that Mikey was old enough to go with that group. She said that there were four or five kids his age from his school. Hopefully, it will make him more comfortable." She explained. "I want to run by your parents to pick up Tommy and Danny before I pick up Mikey. I'm afraid that Tommy and Danny may scare your mom out of babysitting for me, if I leave them with her for too long. They can be a handful if you're not used to them."
"Alright. I'll make sure that Mikey is ready when you get here." I promised. Once we said our good-byes, I went down to the gym to tell Mikey that his mom would be here soon. Lester offered to wait with Mikey in the Rangeman lobby.
Once Hal, Lester, and Mikey left the gym, Ranger asked, "Did Mary Lou have any luck finding a job today?"
"Yeah… sort of, she got a part time job waitressing at Pino's. It's in the evening so I offered to watch the boys while she was at work. Than won't cause a problem for you with the distraction jobs that I normally do, will it?" I asked.
"We can probably schedule most of the distraction jobs around her work schedule. IF we get in a bind, I'm sure Ella wouldn't mind watching the boys. She loves to be around kids." Ranger said.
"How was Mikey this afternoon?" I asked.
"He got better as the afternoon progressed. He's hurting pretty bad, which is understandable. I'm not sure but I think that he's somehow blaming himself for his dad's death." Ranger told me.
"Why would he possibly blame himself for Lenny dying?" I asked in shock.
"He probably thinks that if he went with his father, that he could have prevented it." Ranger explained.
"If he had been with Lenny, he could have gotten hurt or killed." I reasoned.
"You know that and I know that, and one of these days Mikey will realize that too. In the meantime, we just need to be there for him." Ranger said.
"Thanks for all your help Ranger. It was really great letting Mikey come to hang out today. You're the best." I smiled.
"Glad to know that you think so, Babe." He said before giving me a small, chaste kiss on the lips. "Let me know if Mary Lou can't find a job with better pay or hours. Maybe I can make some calls."
Before I realized it, I was alone in the gym. Even a small, chaste kiss from that man can make me forget my surroundings.