Disclaimer: Still not mine. I'm just playing with them for a little bit.

Thank you all for the excellent reviews! I'm really bad about responding to them, but know that I read each and every one of them. They are what keeps me posting this story.

Still no beta so please excuse my mistakes!

Lifetime of Love

Chapter 13

The next few days, after my triumphant return, passed slowly. I was able to get everything unpacked and put away in my apartment. I spent a day at the mall buying AJ and I some new clothes since it had been entirely too long since I shopped. There wasn't a lot of options in Greenville, and I missed my mall while I was away.

Joe and Karen came over one night and we ate dinner together. Karen was so scared to even touch AJ when she first got there, but by the end of the night she was holding him like a pro. I told her my fears about being a mother and my reaction when I first found out. I hope it helped her calm down a little bit. I knew her and Joe were going to be great parents.

She was beyond impressed with Joe's decoration skills and truth be told, so was I. His house is so thrown together that I was worried when he first offered to buy the furniture and decorate my apartment; but he did an amazing job. Everything was perfect for my taste and fit well into the space. The nursery is still my favorite room to hang out it.

Ranger had been busy at the office, so he didn't have much time to spend with me. I got bored one day and decided that it was time to go to RangeMan and introduce AJ to the guys. I felt bad because they would get to see him before Zero, but I couldn't put off going over there any longer. Ranger warned me one night that he had to order the guys to stand down from a full-scale invasion into my home. Ranger didn't tell them about AJ, so he was going to be a surprise.

I dressed AJ in some black baby cargos that I found at the mall and a black T-shirt. He looked just like a miniature Merry Man. He was so damn cute and the guys were going to love him. I gathered everything that I would need and loaded it all up into my car.

I drove quietly to the RangeMan office and pulled my car into the underground garage. Of course my spot was empty so I pulled in and parked. I got out and stood beside the back door just waiting for what I knew was coming. 5, 4, 3, 2...the door burst open and I was engulfed in a sea of Merry Men. I laughed and cried as I was passed around to each of the guys. Les was the last one to hug me.

"God it's so good to see you Beautiful. We all missed the shit out of you." I laughed as he twirled me around.

"I've missed you guys too, but I've been a little busy." I started to walk back to my car, but Ranger had somehow snuck around me and beat me to it. He unbuckled AJ from his seat and stood up with him in his massive arms.

"Men. Let me introduce you to the next generation of RangeMen. This is Steph's and Zero's son, Allen Jacob." He was looking at AJ instead of the guys. I took a chance and looked around at each of the men in the garage. If I had a camera, I would have had blackmail material for years. Their faces were priceless. None of them made a move toward Ranger or AJ.

"Oh, come on guys. You act like you've never seen a baby before. AJ isn't going to break. You can touch him." That snapped the guys from their stupor and I watched as each big burly man held my small son. He was dwarfed by their giant arms, but it was so sweet to see these men act so gentle with him.

When Les passed him off to the next guy he took me in his arms again and hugged me tight.

"Thank you Beautiful. You don't know how much this means to us." I looked into his eyes and saw the glimmer of tears.

"I know you all are great guys and I love each and every one of you. You deserve so much more than you're given." He hugged me again. Sadly, AJ will be the only kid that most of the guys will ever get a chance to know. Many of them are so scared of relationships that I doubt they'll ever have their own children. If having my son close to them made them happy, then I would be there everyday.

"Good news, Babe." Ranger wrapped his arms around me from behind and hugged me. "Two days from now, you can expect to have a visitor around 1500." I turned in his arms quickly. I hoped he was talking about Zero.

"He's coming back in two days? Really? Wait, what time is 1500?" He smiled and kissed my nose.

"Two days. I'll drop Zero off at your apartment around 3 PM. I'll tell him that one of the guys wants to see him before we go to Haywood. He'll be suspicious, but won't think much about it. Are you ready for him?" Oh God, that was a loaded question. Was I ready for him? Yes and no.

"I think so. I'm so worried that he's going to be pissed about AJ and turn us away. I don't want to be alone." Ranger laughed. Every guy in the garage turned to look at their boss who rarely showed emotion and never laughed.

"Guys. If, by chance, Zero is an idiot and doesn't want Steph and AJ in his life, is there any chance in hell that they'll be alone?" Every guy in the garage smiled and shook their heads followed by a whole lot of 'hell nos'.

"You'll never be alone, Babe. But I think you're worried for no reason. Trust in love. It will all work out." Ranger kissed my head and led everyone to the elevator. Most of the guys took the stairs back up to the fifth floor, but Ranger, Tank, Les, Bobby- who was holding AJ - and I took the elevator.

The guys on duty went back to work and the rest of them joined us in the conference room. We all spent the rest of the day laughing and reconnecting. When AJ got hungry, I felt comfortable enough to breast feed him in the conference room with the guys sitting there. I was well covered of course, but it still impressed them that I felt safe enough to do it around them. Les tried to sneak a peak at my feeding son under the guise of scientific study, but I refused to let him.

Ella served us lunch and dinner so we were all able to relax and visit. It was a really fun day. Ranger even stayed with us and put off working until later. When it was time for me to go, Ranger rescued AJ from hearing a rather crude joke from Cal and carried him down to the garage with me. He got him buckled in his seat and then pulled me into a hug.

"Thank you, Babe. Just you being here brought this office together like I've never seen. We've all been out of sorts for months, but with you here again, we feel like a family." He pulled away and looked into my eyes. "Please think about working here. You can have a desk job until you're ready to go into the field. You can bring AJ with you. There will always be someone around to watch him."

"I'll think about it. I need to see where Noah and I go first. I'm not going to make him feel uncomfortable in his job if we don't work out." The old insecurities were still there.

"We would rather have you here." Ranger laughed, but I knew he was telling the truth.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that. I don't want to cause problems like that." Ranger smiled and kissed my forehead. He helped me into the car and closed my door.

"Talk to you later, Babe." I watched him walk back to the elevator and disappear back upstairs.

I drove home excited about Zero's return. More excited than worried. Or is it more worried than excited? Bah...I just wanted it over with so I could know what was going to happen one way or the other. I hated the period of uncertainty.

I believed the guys and Ranger when they told me that I would never be alone. I knew that they would always be there for me and AJ, but that's not the same. I loved Zero. Spending forever with the man you love was every girl's fantasy. It was what I wanted for AJ and I.

If it didn't work out, I would have to learn to move on and hopefully find someone else to love. I always seemed to make plans around the worse case scenarios, so I started to think about who else I could learn to love if Zero didn't want us. Sadly, I couldn't think of anyone. I would always love Joe and Ranger, but not in the same way that I loved Zero. I don't see myself ever loving anyone like I did him.

That thought just made me even more depressed. What I basically told myself is that it was all or nothing. Either Zero gave us a chance and we live happily ever after, or I live alone. Warming thoughts right?

The next day was spent with me locked in my apartment freaking out. I cleaned everything that I could and did laundry in my own personal laundry room. That was one of the things I demanded when I asked Ranger to look for me a place. I didn't want to have to cart a baby and baskets down stairs to wash my clothes.

The night before Zero's return, I invited Joe and Karen over for Pizza and a game. Joe brought beer, but he was the only one to drink it. I was nursing and Karen was pregnant. Half-way through the game, Ranger came over and finished watching it with us. It felt really strange seeing how friendly Joe and Ranger were acting. I guess once I was out of the picture, they had no reason to compete with each other. Joe and Karen left right after the game was over and Ranger stayed to help me clean up.

"How you holding up?" He asked once the trash was thrown away and the cans put in the recycling bin.

"Okay I think. I'm still freaking out, but I'm trusting in my feelings. I'm going to fight for what I want." I plopped down on the couch with AJ to feed him before he went to bed.

Ranger watched me as I pulled my breast out and attached my son to it. It should have weirded me out that he was watching, but he had seen it all before. In fact he had been in the same position of AJ so I just shrugged it off.

"I'm glad you're going to fight. Don't let him be an ass to you like you let me." He sat beside me and ran a finger down AJ's face.

"I didn't really have a choice with you. If I pushed you too much, I thought I would lose you for good. I couldn't handle that." Ranger nodded because he knew it was true. We sat silently both watching AJ eat, each lost in our own thoughts.

"Do you ever wish this was our life?" Damn, didn't Joe ask me that question a few days ago?

"There was a time when I prayed for this to be our life. I wanted this with you for so long, but deep down I knew it would never happen. You know I love you, Ranger. You know I would do anything for you. Anything except settle for less than I deserve." He understood what I was saying. It's the same thing he's been telling me for years. He was just not able to give me everything that I needed in a relationship.

"If it helps, I'm sorry that I can't be that for you." He brushed a curl away from my eyes.

"Don't be sorry for being you. I left Joe because he kept trying to change me into what he wanted. I realized that I was praying for you to change so I could be with you, and that's not right either. We are who we are and shouldn't have to change to make other people comfortable or happy." He smiled and kissed me gently on the lips.

"I can't believe I'm going to say this, but Zero is a damn lucky man. You are probably the only woman alive that I would change for and you didn't even ask me to. You're an amazing woman, Stephanie Plum." I kissed him gently and popped my breast out of AJ's sleeping mouth.

"Will you burp him while I get changed for bed?" Ranger took the baby out of my arms and rested him up on his shoulder. I walked to my bedroom and changed quickly into my lounge pants and tank top. I brushed my teeth and did my other night-time rituals while Ranger took care of the baby.

When I walked back into the living room, Ranger wasn't sitting on the couch anymore. I found him in the nursery putting AJ in his crib and covering him up with the warm blanket. He whispered something to him in Spanish and kissed his cheek. When he turned around and saw me standing in the doorway he paused and smiled.

"What did you say to him?" My curiosity got the better of me.

"I said, 'Goodnight little one. Don't fret about tomorrow because your daddy will love you. Even if he doesn't, you'll always have me.'" He pulled me into his arms and wiped the tears away that I didn't realize were even there. "That goes for you too. Don't fret. You'll always have me." I nodded and snuggled into his embrace.

"Thank you, Ranger." I was surprised that he heard the whisper from my lips.

"Anytime, Babe."

We stood, embraced in the doorway of the nursery for a long time. Neither one of us wanted to let go of the other. The next day would forever change our relationship and we both knew it. I didn't see us being this close with Zero standing in the same room.

"Goodnight, Babe." Ranger kissed me gently on the lips and then quietly walked out of the apartment. When I heard the clicks of the locks, I let the tears fall. I turned off the lights in the apartment and checked the locks before falling into bed.

The next day was big and I needed to calm down and sleep. Everything would be fine. I was worried about nothing, right? Didn't true love always win in the end? That was a question for another day. I fell asleep that night with tears streaming down my face. I hope and prayed I was doing the right thing and that love won in the end.

Having a newborn was exhausting. I think I was awake with AJ more than I actually got to sleep that night. When I heard him fussing for his morning feeding, I decided that it was time to just get up for the day. I was tired, but maybe I could take a nap later. Oh, who was I kidding. There would be no nap. I was still freaking out about seeing Zero later.

I did the morning routine with AJ. Feeding, bath, dressed in a cute outfit - I wanted him to make a good first impression with his daddy - and then we spent some time cuddling on the couch. That was my favorite time of the day. He was usually wide awake after his bath and not hungry, so that was the time that I got to talk to him and watch his adorable baby face. He smiled at me when I talked to him and his big blue eyes watched everything that I did.

That morning, I told him all about Zero. From my first meeting with him, to our first quasi-date on Valentine's Day, to the argument that caused me to run away. It helped talking through my feelings with AJ because it helped me remember that the feelings that started to grow for Zero were real and they were still there and just as strong. Just remembering his smile made my heart beat faster.

AJ finally fell back asleep and I was able to get myself ready for the day. I took a fast shower and fixed my hair. I decided to wear a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. It wasn't my most attractive outfit, but I was a mom now and dressing up just took too much energy.

I spent the rest of the morning cleaning up the apartment as best I could. I didn't want to wake AJ, so I had to be quiet; but I was able to get most everything tidy. I glanced at the clock and saw that it was past lunch time. AJ was still sleeping so I fixed myself a peanut butter and olive sandwich and enjoyed it standing at the sink. Not the most nutritious meal, but it sure was good.

AJ woke up right as I finished my lunch and I was able to feed and change him again. I kept him awake for a little while after his feeding. I wanted him to be asleep when Zero got there so we could talk. I didn't want AJ to be the first thing he saw.

Ranger sent me a text at 1430 saying that they were on the way. ETA was 1520. AJ was still awake so I gave him a little more to eat and let him fall asleep. I was sitting on the couch holding my son with my heart beating out of my chest. I thought for sure that it was going to explode. I heard a hard knock on the door at exactly three-eighteen. I quickly put AJ in his crib and closed the nursery door.

Another knock sounded as I approached the front door and put my hand on the door knob. Before turning it, I let out a deep sigh and chanted in my head 'I could do this...I could do this...I could do this'. I slowly opened the door to reveal the man standing there with a hard look on his handsome face. Shit...could I do this?

A/N - Don't throw stones at me for ending it here. The next chapter will be up on Wednesday or if enough people cuss me out...maybe tomorrow! : )