Thanks to Susan who proofed this chapter, all remaining mistakes are mine. :)

Chapter 10

When Carlos left and Rick was off to bed, Stephanie went in search of Carla and found her in her apartment. Carla came into her life after Rick was born as an au pair and they had formed a strong friendship as she had had with Mary Lou Molnar before she moved to Newark. When the time came Carla had to leave because her work permit ended, Hawk and Luca had done everything to keep her in the country, and Stephanie found out that government connections could be very handy indeed.

Besides taking care of Rick when necessary, Carla had studied criminology and criminal law in the years she lived with them, and now she had finished her studies, Steph had asked her to stay on for one more year at least so Rick and Stephanie could get accustomed to her eventual leaving their household. Carla had happily agreed and was taking an online course forensic science in the mean time. She says that after all the studies she had done; she still did not know what she would want to be when she grew up, for her being almost twenty-eight Steph had to laugh at that. Carla was a good-looking, bubbly, 5'9" tall; short light blonde-haired woman, she had striking blue-green eyes, with an athletic body and a very intelligent but outlandish mind.

When they had lived in Newark and the others where home, they would occasionally go on a girls night out, have a lot of fun and let Stephanie feel young and free for a few hours. The girl herself had dated so many men in the years she knew her; Stephanie had lost count of them. Yet, she had not found the man that could hold her interest for more than a date or two. Currently Stephanie was glad she was still there, because they confided about almost everything and helped each other to get a grip on life when it was hard for them, and shared joy when they were happy.

"Ah here you are. Why didn't you come and eat with us?" Stephanie asked.

Carla laughed, "Because Ana told me that you all where emotional and upset so I thought that you would like your privacy tonight. But I am dying to know what happened?"

"You will never guess." Stephanie said with a happy grin.

Carla observed her for a moment, "You look happy, ridiculously so. It has to be a man."

Steph scowled, looking at her friend. "Why does it have to be a man? Is that the only reason you can think of?"

Carla giggled, not at all intimidated by Stephanie's scowl. "Yes."

"If it has to be a man, who is it?" Steph asked grinning again.

"Uh, do I know him?"

"No."

"Did you know him before today?" She asked with suspicion in her voice.

Stephanie only hesitated for a moment. "Yes." And she then grinned mischievously.

Her friends eyes got big in disbelieve, "Your mystery man? Mister, super sperm? Babe man? You found him?" She gushed bouncing on her feet.

"The one and only." Steph said merrily, them having had many conversations about the man in question; she knew her friend would be happy for her.

"Oh, it was him dinning with you two?" Carla said with awe in her voice.

"Yes." Steph replied with great satisfaction.

"How did Rick take it, meeting him?" Carla inquired, knowing that it must have gone well; otherwise, Steph would not be so excited.

Hence, Stephanie told her all that had happened to her in the last two days, including Morelli and Mrs. Plum.

"I am so happy for you Steph; I look forward to meet your Carlos. Maybe he has a brother for me. But only if he is as handsome as you claim him to be that is."

"He told me he has two, and a sister but I don't know if his brothers are available or handsome. I've seen some of the men who work for him though..." Wanting to indicate their attractiveness, she looked at her with a telling look and tried to raise one eyebrow and failed miserably, making them giggle again.

"Maybe they have a gym with mats in that building of his and we can have a good look at all that beefcake while sparring together, or with them. Promise you ask. All that testosterone in that building could use some estrogen, I tell you. Think of all the fun we can have." Carla voiced eagerly.

Now Stephanie laughed aloud. "Yes we could have a lot of fun, but those men are not used to women in their midst. We could cause a riot. Don't think Carlos would be happy with that. But I will ask, otherwise we will have to find a dojo, we are slacking it for a week already, well I am." She said with an impish smile.

/

Ranger had done some paperwork with as much enthusiasm as he would have had cleaning a toilet with a tooth brush, his thoughts with Rick, Stephanie and Hawk; when Junior called to tell him Mr. Hawk Taylor was already there to see him.

After he talked to his Babe and Rick to say good morning, she had told him Hawk probably would call, and here he was in his building, his stomach turned uncomfortably and he forcefully let out a breath to calm himself. If he had been in Hawk's shoes, he definitely would want to know what the intruding fucker wanted with his wife and child. A knock and he walked to the door to open it for the man that had taken care of his child and the woman he had unwittingly loved for a long time. The blank face that met his was not encouraging, but he decided to take it just as it came, as if there was another choice, he silently snickered at himself behind his own blank face.

"Mr. Mañoso," Hawk said observing him coolly, deliberately shaking his hand in an intimidating manner. "So we finally meet."

"Mr. Taylor." Ranger replied with a small smile. "It certainly looks like it. I'm honored to meet the man that Stephanie and Rick love and esteem so much."

Hawk cracked a smile, "if you would not have been so hell bent to work only for the government we could have met years earlier. I would have recognized you immediately as related to Rick. The likeness is uncanny." He sobered once more and asked brusquely. "Tell me what your plans are concerning my family."

When he heard Taylor would come to talk to him, he thought it best to be open and truthful, he had no need to hide anything, if somebody was capable to understand him it would be Hawk, and he deserved that much anyway.

"Do you have time?" Ranger asked.

"For this conversation I will take the time, it is too important to be rushed. So tell me what you have to say." Hawk replied a bit more invitingly.

"Firstly I want you to know what my intentions are towards Stephanie and Rick. I love them and want them in my life as my wife and son, as it should have been from the beginning but it didn't happen and I am grateful you stepped in and took such good care of them. I know I can never repay you enough for that. I hope to become a family member to you as I see you as an important member of mine now."

Hawk gave a small nod in acknowledgement and Ranger resumed showing his feelings freely.

"When I met with Stephanie again yesterday, I became overwhelmed with feelings and emotions I did not think I had anymore. In the army, you know how it is to be a soldier, how we are broken down and build up again, how we learn to hide or even destroy our feelings and emotions to be able to do the work we do. I thought that had made me a cold bastard like my own father, I never thought about a relationship until now because I felt undeserving, but yesterday proved to me that I still feel empathy and am capable of love and be loved in return if I let it. I must say that that was a revelation. I've been thinking about this all night, and have concluded I have felt somewhat lost my whole life, never had the feeling of belonging somewhere, until I went in the army and met my brothers in arms. But they are not a loving wife or family. I didn't even know I missed it."

Hawk nodded his understanding again, and Ranger resumed.

"I didn't grow up in a loving home as you, your partner and Steph's grandmother, gave her and Rick. It was more as Stephanie had to endure in her parents' house before she joined yours. The only exceptions in that pattern of not belonging were when I met Stephanie that evening long ago, and with my grandmother Rosa my mother's mother, she has always been my lifeline, she kept us sane. Don't ask me why I have that feeling with Stephanie, because I couldn't answer you, she just felt like home. I had difficulty leaving her, that was a first and only for me, and it should have been a clue, I made a major mistake not to stay in touch with her. Even if I didn't see it then, I see it now. The way I felt meeting Rick and Stephanie yesterday I can't even express. That was a life changing experience for me, I at all times feel protective of my grandmother, siblings, and my men, but the way I feel for Rick and Stephanie is all consuming, frightening even.

In my parents' house, it did not matter what my siblings or I did, it was never good enough, my father made us compete with each other, punish us physically, and abuse us emotionally for not being, as he wanted us to be, he is an arrogant, dominant, and loveless man. My mother is a weak woman who let him do as he wanted, seemingly not particularly alarmed by his abuse. Later I have learned she had nothing to say because if she did he would beat the life out of her. My father is a heart surgeon; one of the best in the USA, my mother is a nurse again now we all left home. I have two brothers, both married; the oldest Alex is an accountant, and my youngest brother Ben is a cop, they both have no children yet. My sister Mariel is the youngest of us all, is divorced, and has a boy Rick's age, named Manuel. We are close and none of us is in touch with our parents anymore, we do have a close relationship with our maternal grandmother Rosa. So now, you know who I am and what I want. What about you, it must be difficult having to share Rick and Stephanie."

Hawk looked at him intensely for a few beats before giving him a genuine smile. "I have given Tank a few lessons in how to treat his future wife or be a very unhappy man. Now I will give you one. Loving somebody is about wanting them to be happy and fulfilled. I only need for her and Rick to be happy, Stephanie has been a great wife and Rick a fantastic son. Now do I know Stephanie has put her life on hold for Rick and in a way even for me, but she is young and needs to live her life. I love them so much that I want give her, what she needs and that is you, and that goes for Rick too. By giving them freedom to explore what they need, I will hold them close and that is all I want from them and for myself.

We, Luca and I, have trained Stephanie to take over LHR when we retire; she knows everything that goes on in our company. She knows all our contacts and our men. When she decided she needed to be on her own, we cut her free, because that is what you do when you love a person, as you should. So no I will have no problem with sharing them with you, however, I will not tolerate you to toy with either of them. This is not a treat, but a promise, understood son?" He asked pleasantly.

"Yes sir." Was all he could say, totally in awe of this great man. Could he have been his father, he would have taken his example for his own. Then he realized he still could, and he would.

Thank you so much for reading, follow, favorite, and reviewing this, you people are amazing. :D I wonder though why none of you has discovered a new family connection; it is quite plain to see, I think.

Please review it is my only feedback. :)