Here's the final installment. I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did writing it. I was once again blown away by all the positive responses I got. Y'all are the BEST! I'm just glad I managed to get this out before the end of the day. (barely)

Same disclaimer as always goes here…

All Ranger wanted to do was get a drink and think about everything he'd seen today. Ella had told him there would be three visitors, though, so he was just going to have to man up and go with Tank. "That still doesn't tell me why my apartment is cold as hell, fucker."

Tank laughed. "I guess you're just going to have to think about that for a while." The two men walked down to five. "Let me just grab something from my office, and we can leave."

Ranger figured that while Tank was in his office, he could at least check for messages in his office. Just like his apartment, his office was cold as crap. He closed the door and waited for Tank in the hallway.

They got in Tank's SUV and drove to Mary Lou's house. Tank knocked on the door, and it was answered by a child less than half Tank's height. The boy stood slack-jawed as he brought his gaze further and further up until he got to Tank's face. Tank leaned down and asked, "Is your mom here?"

The boy turned and ran, yelling, "MOM! There's a giant at the door for you!" in his haste, he left the door open.

Ranger looked at the open door. He smirked and said, "It's a good thing we're not here to steal anything."

Tank folded his arms across his chest. "Judging by all the yelling, she probably hopes we're here to take one of the kids."

The boy that answered the door came back out followed by a slightly bigger child. The newcomer stared at Tank and said, "Holy Crap!"

The first boy pushed the second. "I'm telling mom you said Crap."

The second boy pushed back. "You said it too."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Nuh-huh."

"Uh-huh."

Mary Lou came out from what Ranger assumed was the kitchen. She held a drooling toddler on her hip with one hand and pointed further into the house with the other. "Go watch TV, mommy needs to talk to these men."

The boys turned to leave when the smaller one said, "Tommy said Crap."

"Billy said it too."

"Did not."

"Did too." The boys started shoving each other again.

Mary Lou yelled, "Enough! TV, now!" Both boys ran from the room. Mary Lou invited the men inside. "Would you like something to drink?"

Tank said, "No thank you, I'm here for that thing if you have it."

Mary Lou looked blank for a second, then said, "Oh, that thing. It's in the kitchen somewhere, I just need to find it." She handed the toddler to Ranger. "Can you hold Jimmy for a minute?" She and tank walked from the room. As soon as she left the room, the toddler started to cry.

What Ranger didn't know was that Mary Lou and Tank were in the kitchen laughing silently. In a soft voice, Tank said, "Thank you for this, Mary Lou. Did you tell the boys to act like this?"

ML shook her head. "No. They're like this all the time. I love my boys, but they could drive you to drink. It's no wonder Steph never wanted kids of her own."

Another small boy ran into the kitchen and yelled, "Mom, Tommy's trying to make Billy eat one of the fish."

ML shouted, "There better be four fish in the fish tank when I get in there or so help me, you are both going to be grounded until you qualify for Social Security!"

ML and Tank walked out of the kitchen. Tank said, "Thank you, Mary Lou. I'll be in touch. By the way, is there anything you can think of that Stephanie would like for Christmas?"

Mary Lou took the screaming toddler from Ranger. "Yeah. She'd probably like to go to Tahiti for a week. You know, someplace warm where she can bring her best friend. Preferably someplace adults only."

Tank laughed and opened the door. "Thanks again, Mary Lou." Both men said their goodbyes and left. They climbed into the SUV and Tank said, "Do you think she hires a babysitter or a Lion Tamer when she wants to go out?"

Ranger shook his head. "What she really needs is an exorcist."

It was 6:30 when Tank parked the SUV about a block away from the Plum house. By the time they made their way to a window where they could see without being seen, dinner was mostly finished. The tableau was a familiar one. Helen was setting out dessert, Frank was shoveling in the last of his dinner as quickly as possible, and it looked like Valerie was wiping a half a bottle of red wine off of her husband's shirt. They could hear Valerie's voice. "It's okay, Sugar Woogums, it could have happened to anybody." There was an empty chair at the table and Morelli was noticeably absent.

Tank shivered. "That's the one that Helen wants Stephanie to be more like? You gotta be kidding me."

Helen sat back down and started in on Stephanie. "How could you break up with Joseph on Christmas Eve? What could have possibly happened? Emily Beeber never broke up with her boyfriend on Christmas. Why me?"

Ranger could imagine her doing a mental head slap. "Mom, he bought me Cooking for Dummies for Christmas."

Helen threw her hands in the air. "Is that so bad? If you learned how to cook, maybe Joe would want to marry you. Then you could settle down and start raising a family."

Stephanie buried her face in her hands. "Mom, I don't want to learn how to cook, I don't want to have kids, and I don't want to get married. Furthermore, Hell will freeze over before I marry someone who can't accept me the way I am, which means I will never marry Morelli."

Helen made the sign of the cross and knocked back the rest of her tea. Mary Alice finished her cake and said, "I need to prance." Valerie nodded. Mary Alice got up from the table and proceeded to run around the living room.

Tank looked at Ranger. "What the hell's wrong with that one?"

Ranger grinned. "She thinks she's a horse."

Helen yelled from the table, "Mary Alice, you're not a horse. Horses don't get Christmas presents."

Mary Alice stopped prancing. "Of course I'm not a horse. It's Christmastime, so I'm a reindeer. Reindeer get extra presents because they have to help Santa with the sleigh."

Tank chuckled. "I like her. She's going to grow up to be just like her aunt." Everyone was finishing their dinner and drifting towards the living room. "I don't know about you, but I do not want to be here when she opens her mother's present." Ranger agreed, so the men went back to the SUV.

Once they were in the car, Ranger said, "I thought you were the ghost of Christmas yet to come. What did that have to do with the future?"

"Man, right now that is her future. She's going to spend every Christmas here in the pit of insanity, getting harassed by her mother because she let that loser go."

Ranger looked at him. "And my future?"

Tank shook his head. "Cold and dark, man, cold and dark." Tank put the SUV in gear and drove back to Rangeman. When they were in the garage, Tank gave him a man hug, said, "Merry Christmas, my brother," and went home to his cats.

Ranger went back upstairs to his cold, dark apartment. He got a glass and poured himself the drink he'd been thinking about for hours. As the whiskey slid down his throat, he looked around his apartment. For the first time, he realized that it was cold and impersonal. He set his drink on the dining room table. He could remember dinners spent with her. It was nice to share a meal with her, talking about cases they were working on. He could see her sitting on his couch, watching TV and hiding from gangbangers. He walked into the bedroom. He could remember how it felt to slide into bed and pull her soft curves up against him. He thought about what it was like to spoon up against her, so he could keep her safe while she kept him warm. Life with Stephanie was fun and interesting and crazy and frustrating and exciting. Life without her was unthinkable. He was so hung up on wanting her to have the husband and the kids and the dog, that he never stopped to think that maybe that wasn't what she wanted at all. "Fuck," he said as he grabbed his keys. It was time to admit what he'd known for a long time. They belonged together.

o0()0o

Stephanie took her time waking up on Christmas morning. She had nowhere she had to be, so she stretched out and debated whether or not to go back to sleep when she felt the familiar tingling sensation on the back of her neck. She rolled over slowly to see Ranger sitting in his chair, watching her. "Merry Christmas, Babe."

She smiled. "Merry Christmas, Ranger." She lifted the covers in invitation, and he slid in next to her, kissing her like he meant it.

When they broke apart, her heart was racing. He held her close, savoring the contact. Ranger pulled back and looked into her eyes. "We need to get up, I have something to show you." She frowned, but got out of bed to take care of business.

When he led her into the living room, she got her first surprise. Standing in her living room was the cutest little Christmas tree she'd ever seen. It was plastic, undecorated, and it was only about four feet tall, but he had gotten her a tree. He nodded to a bag sitting next to it. "I thought we could decorate it together. It was the only one they had left."

Stephanie stifled a sob. "It's perfect, Ranger."

They decorated the tiny tree with plastic ornaments. While they were working, they talked about what they each wanted in life. Well, Stephanie talked, but Ranger really listened to what she had to say. Stephanie could feel herself falling more in love with him. When they were done, Ranger went into the kitchen and brought out a bag of presents. Stephanie raced to the bedroom and brought out her gift for him. They put the presents under the tree and stood back to admire their handiwork.

Ranger handed her the first present. She held up the key fob in confusion. "I already have one of these, Ranger."

The corner of Ranger's mouth lifted in an almost smile. "Not like this one, Babe. In addition to the parking garage and the apartment, this one will get you into the Batcave."

Stephanie went still. "You said…"

Ranger took her hand. "The Batcave is forever. I'm ready to start working on it if you are."

This time, Stephanie didn't bother to stop the tears as she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. This was turning out to be the best Christmas ever.

After they opened the rest of their presents, they sat together on the couch and watched the tree as Ranger held her. Stephanie looked at him over her shoulder and asked, "What would you like to do for the rest of the day?"

Ranger gave her a squeeze. "I'd like to take you home, then if you're up to it, we could go to my parents' house for dinner. Everyone will be there, and they've wanted to meet you for a long time."

Stephanie looked nervous. "Your whole family?"

Ranger turned her so that they were looking at each other. "Everyone, including Lester and Ella. We won't go if you're not ready, but I know they're going to love you. I do."

When they left the apartment to begin their someday, Stephanie moved to unplug the lights. She noticed an ornament she hadn't seen before. She took it off the tree and showed it to Ranger. "A Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato sandwich? What an odd ornament."

Ranger looked at it and put it back on the tree. He said, "Think of it as the ghost of Christmas lunches," and walked Stephanie out the door while the BLT ornament twinkled under the watchful eyes of the angel atop the tree.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night! Love, Sheila.