Chapter 8, enjoy!

yeah, I know, not mine, whatever...feh...

Family

Stephanie would never cease to be amazed with Heidi and what she could do. The next morning Stephanie woke up to small hands shaking her awake. Stephanie turned and opened her eyes to see that Heidi was sitting on top of her, on her stomach, looking at her with big bright amber eyes. Gone was the two year old and in her place was a three year old who looked slimmer. She smiled at Stephanie, showing that she had all of her teeth and said, "Mew!" rubbing her stomach.

Stephanie turned in the bed, but found Ranger was gone, possibly off to work while the two were sleeping. Stephanie let out a yawn and sat up in the bed, hearing a squeal as Heidi rolled off of her to land beside her, her eyes dazed.

"Sorry Heidi, you really shouldn't be on me when I sit up," Stephanie said lifting the child up, "now, you must be hungry, right?"

Heidi nodded her head and then bounced on the bed with a smile, and then slid off of it, to run out the room. Stephanie slid the covers off her, and then went into the bathroom to use the toilet and brush her teeth. Stephanie grimaced as she took a look at her wild curls in the mirror. She finished brushing her teeth and tried to tame the curls. She heard some commotion outside in the living room of Ranger's penthouse. There were the sounds of a cat meowing and then tiny squeals and a small voice yelp, "Tia Ella!"

Stephanie walked out of the bathroom and bedroom, to see Heidi at the breakfast bar, eating pancakes while Ella brushed her hair and put it in two braids. The kitten was close to the stove eating his meal. Ella smiled and looked up at Stephanie as she walked into the kitchen, "Hello Stephanie, I know you love pancakes, there's plenty of them."

Stephanie sat down beside Heidi who smiled at her and went back to eating pancakes, humming as she ate, dancing to the tune she hummed. Ella chuckled and said, "They're so cute when they're this young, and this little one is extra cute, aren't you, my cute little Heidi."

Stephanie tickled Heidi in her side earning peals of little girl laughter. Heidi sure was cute at this age. She couldn't recall Mary Alice or Angie at this age, she was glad to experience it with Heidi.

Stephanie ate her pancakes watching Heidi and Ella interact. Stephanie had only heard Heidi say two words, Daddy and Mew, now she heard two more, Tia Ella. Ella seemed pleased with those two words, even if that's all Heidi said to her.

"Tia Ella," Heidi said looking up at the woman, "Daddy?"

"Oh, Daddy is downstairs on the fifth floor," Ella said with a smile, putting a ribbon in Heidi's hair, "After Stephanie eats, you and her can go downstairs and see him, he didn't want to wake you two up, so he let you two sleep in."

Stephanie definitely liked Heidi around Ranger, she made him soft around the edges, and made him much more enjoyable to around, even though he's enjoyable enough to be around, well Stephanie thought that, most other people didn't, except for women, who would throw themselves on him shameslessly. But after what Ranger told Stephanie last night, she wasn't too worry, Ranger was hers he belonged to Stephanie. Stephanie smiled into her pancakes and blushed, Ranger was hers!

Stephanie looked up, hearing Ella speak Spanish to Heidi who smiled and kicked her small sandal covered feet. Ella asked her a question in Spanish and Heidi nodded her head going, "Mew, Mew, Tia Ella!"

"Does she understand what you're saying to her?" Stephanie asked Ella, who smiled and ran her hands down Heidi's head.

"I'd like to imagine so," Ella said with a smile, "Ranger speaks Spanish to her all the time, while she's awake and while she's sleeping, I have little doubt she doesn't know what I'm saying."

"What did you ask her?" Stephanie asked, as she put her dirty plate in the dish washer.

"I asked her if she's be a good little girl for Stephanie today, while you two enjoy the day together." Ella said with a smile, "I know she understands me now."

Ella kissed Heidi's head and said, "Enjoy your day, you two," and then she left the penthouse, not before she picked up the scraggly kitten and took him with her.

Stephanie looked over to Heidi who looked back at her smiling. Fuck, this child was so cute! Ella had dressed her today, she was wearing a cute white haler top sun dress with pink flowers littered across it, and white sandals. Maybe they should wear the same clothing; Stephanie had spotted a halter top dress in Ranger's closet. Stephanie could hardly believe it, there were clothes that fit her in Ranger's closet! Rex had been moved into his kitchen (much to Heidi's delight, she loved the little hamster,) everything seemed so right now.

Stephanie picked Heidi up and said, hugging the girl to him, "Let me go get dressed and we can go see Daddy, okay?"

Heidi nodded her head and squealed, "Daddy! Daddy!"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Ranger sighed shifting through reports of sales and client files. This was mind numbing work, but someone had to do it, right? Ranger looked up from his paperwork and looked up at the ceiling. He thought about the two women up there that had stolen his heart. His babe, she ahd stolen his heart the moment she walked into Shorty's and asked him to mentor her in bounty hunting. She had intrigued him with her no nonsense attitude and her determination to learn how to catch a skip. Or course those cute brown curls and those blue eyes sucked him in as well. He had meant what he told her last night, that he wanted her in his life, he wanted all of her, everything she had to give him, he wanted. Plus he wanted her in Heidi's life as well.

Heidi, the tiny person who stole his heart as well. Even though she had only been born about five days ago, she had been growing so fast it stole his breath. He had developed a deep bond with this child. He could tell that Heidi had bonded with him as well. This mysterious child had cracked the perfect shell he used to mask his emotions, and frankly, he didn't mind that it was broken, well at least around Heidi, he did have to put a front up around thugs and his men. He still had to act tough somewhere, you know.

Ranger smiled softly, thinking about Heidi and Stephanie, he wished he could have stayed upstairs with them, lounging in the bed watching them sleep, but he had a company to run, and it wouldn't run with him sleeping in. Ranger had left early in the morning to work out and get into the office early. He might swing up there around lunch to see his babe and daughter.

Ranger paused, did he just think of Heidi as his child? Yes, he did, and it wasn't such a scary concept. Heidi was his child, no matter the circumstances she was born. He loved her and he would be damned that he would do what he did to Julie, he would make sure that she was taken care of and protect, just like a father should do. The best schools, ballet, the works, he wanted to enrich her life and be a part of the enrichment.

"Daddy!" Speaking of enrichment, Ranger looked up from his paperwork to see Heidi run into his office a smile plastered to her face. It made his heart leap to see that smile directed at him. As if he was the center of the world for this child. He opened his arms and let Heidi run into them. Heidi nuzzled his face and kissed his cheek saying, "Daddy!"

Ranger lifted Heidi into his arms and watched as Stephanie walked into the office, it seems the two were about to head out somewhere, "Babe, what are you and Heidi doing today?"

"Oh, well, I was thinking we swing by the bond's office, say hi to the girls, and then I don't know, go to park." Stephanie said with a shrug a smile on her face, "Where ever the princess wants to go, right?"

Heidi smiled and hugged Ranger before she turned to Stephanie and said, "Park!" kicking her small feet.

"Well, the park it is," Ranger said, "I don't want you two going alone, take someone with you."

"Oh I called Diesel, he said he'd love to join us at the park," Stephanie said grabbing Heidi and holding her close to her, "Then we're going out to lunch, isn't that right Heidi?"

"Mew!" Heidi said with a smile, hugging Stephanie, "Park!"

Ranger walked over to Stephanie and kissed her softly, "Be safe out there, you two."

He then leaned down and kissed Heidi who hugged him and said, "Bye Daddy!"

Ranger smiled as Stephanie and Heidi waved goodbye to him and left his office. For some odd reason, it felt as though they were truly a family. Something he thought he'd never have.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

The moment Stephanie walked into the Bonds office, Lula and Connie were all over Heidi, who blinked and watched the two women surround her.

"Oh my god! Is this Ranger's baby?" Connie asked, looking at Heidi, who hid her face in Stephanie's dress, suddenly bashful, "Aw she's so adorable! she looks like that type of child Ranger would have!"

Heidi blinked, looking up at the women, "Daddy?"

"Aw!" Lula cooed, watching Heidi bury her face in Stephanie's dress again, "She's so fucking cute! Better than those other kids that scream and yell and poop and pee!"

Stephanie smiled down at Heidi, who motioned to be picked up, wanting to be close to Stephanie. Stephanie pick her up and said with a smile, "Aw, she's acting so shy now, we're going to the park, does anyone want to join us?"

Lula shook her head and said, "No way, this heat is a killer on my new hair style," Patting her curls, "I'll stay inside with air conditioning!"

"I would Steph, but I have to watch over the place," Connie said with a sigh looking at Heidi's small form, "You two enjoy the park for us."

"You two ain't going alone now? I know Ranger wouldn't want you or his daughter without anyone to watch over you both."

"Oh no, Diesel's meeting us at the park," Stephanie said placing a hand on Heidi's bottom to support her, "AS if Ranger would let us out of his sight without anyone to watch us."

"So…." Lula said leaning forward, a gleam in her eyes, "Has Batman claimed you yet?"

Stephanie blushed and then said in a small voice, "Yes….." earning two loud squeals from Connie and Lula, and then Heidi, who liked to squeal anyways, "It must be because of Heidi too, he's been opening up to me and everything."

"Maybe…he wants you to be Heidi's mother," Connie said, settling back at her desk, "it makes sense, since Ranger is her father, and she doesn't have a mother."

"Me?! A mother?!" Stephanie yelped looking down at Heidi who looked up at her, "I don't know, children require a lot of attention and love and they poop and pee and cry."

"Yeah, but this one is cute," Lula said smiling to Heidi, who bashfully hid her face, "Very cute, besides, any spawn of batman isn't like any other baby, this here is a batbay! She's just like her father, superhuman!"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Stephanie sat on the bench of the park, watching Heidi and Diesel run around on he jungle gym. She was thinking hard about what Lula told her. Lula had said what she had been thinking all this time, Heidi was super human. She was growing at least one year a day, and she had a vast understanding of what was going on around her. She also could charm her way out of a paper bag if she needed to. There was something off about Heidi though..something she couldn't place. Stephanie also thought about what Lula said about Ranger wanting her to be Heidi's mother, could she be this child's mother? could she and Ranger really make it work out and raise Heidi as if she was their own?

"Oh, look at those two, Diesel is such a child," A woman said close to Stephanie, making her jump out of her thoughts and look over to see Scarlet standing close by, dressed in a pair of shorts and a strapless top. She had an oversized star hat on and oversized sun glasses. She was eating a snow cone and fanning herself with a copy of Dante's Inferno.

"Scarlet! I thought you were in Chicago, why are you here?" Stephanie asked watching thr woman eat her frozen treat.

"Such a lovely day to go to the park, so I decided to join you in your group outing," Scarlet said sitting beside Stephanie on the bench, "Jeanne should be showing her sexy ass soon, you know how much she loves Heidi."

Stephanie made a face and said, "please, don't tell me this stuff! It's bad enough that Jeanne flaunts it, but you too, Scarlet?"

"I just love watching you squirm," Scarlet laughed, opening the book to read it, "You're so easily spooked, Stephanie."

Stephanie made a sound and turned to watch Diesel help Heidi across the money bars, "It's weird, you know, watching Heidi grow up so fast, it's so surreal, I mean nobody should be growing up this quickly, right?"

Scarlet looked up from her book, and turned to Stephanie. She turned to Heidi and then said in a soft voice, "Given the circumstances of her birth, Heidi is hardly classified as a normal human, am I right?"

"Yeah, you are right, she was born in a box, odd, who knew technology existed like that." Stephanie said with a smile, "it's like a work of science fiction."

"Hmm," Scarlet said as Heidi and Diesel came over to the two sitting at the bench, "Indeed."

""Hello ladies," Diesel said swinging Heidi around, "Scarlet, Stephanie, you two hungry, we have someone here that's starving."

"Heidi rubbed her stomach and said, "Mew!" holding onto Diesel's neck.

"Well, that's a problem, can't have you hungry can we," Jeanne said walking up to the group with a picnic basket, "Look what I packed, food.!"

They ate their meal under an oak tree that stood on top of a small hill that over looked the park. Diesel leaned back against the tree, watching Scarlet and Jeanne play with Heidi, while Stephanie slept peacefully beside them. Diesel sat up watching Heidi go still in Scarlet's arms, her head turned up to the sky. Her amber eyes wide with wonder. Diesel turned to where Heidi was looking but saw nothing. He commented out loud that children were weird little things. Scarlet responded with, "They sure are, Diesel, they sure are."
Scarlet smiled softly watching as the white leaves fell down around them, knowing that only her and Heidi could see the white leaves. It would seem that Heidi grew, so did the tree that loomed in the horizon. That meant several things, all good, and that mean that Heidi would be hunted down to the ends of the earth, which was a bad thing.

Scarlet looked down, seeing Heidi grab the book she held in her hands and sit down beside Diesel and open it. the woman watched as Heidi became engrossed in the book, her eyes roaming the pages. Jeanne looked over to Heidi and asked, "Are you reading that book, Heidi?"

"Mew," Heidi said nodding her head, engrossed in the book.

Diesel looked down and made a face, "Meh,you should be reading picture books, not dark comedies!"

"Do you think she can actually read it, Scarlet?" Diesel asked the woman ,who smiled watching white leaves fall through her hands, "We all know Heidi isn't normal."

"I think she understands everything around her," Scarlet replied, her eyes closed as the leaves fell, "She may look like a three year old child, but inside there is something complex, something novel to everyone."

Jeanne snorted and said, pushing Scarlet, "You're so silly…."

Diesel nodded his head, leaning back and watching Heidi read. He wish this could be the tone every day. Lately, there has been so much unrest in the demonic world, ever since that tree appeared in the horizon for some of his kind. He had been getting talks of groups forming and talks of upheaval. Diesel shuddered to think of that, they had just found peace, and now, peace was being threatened. What was so important about this tree? Why does it have people acting so crazy?

Diesel closed his eyes and ran a hand over his chin, only time will give him the answers he supposed. For now, he'd wait and watch over his friends, it was all he could do at the moment, to be on the lookout for whatever danger that looms close by.

"Come on Heidi, let's not get our nose stuck in and book, there's a jungle gym that needs to be played on!" Diesel said picking up Heidi, who squealed with delight as he did.

Scarlet rolled her eyes and picked her book up, "Brutes, all the muscles work except for the one in their heads…."

Jeanne smiled and said, "Diesel would make such a good father, if he could find a woman."

Scarlet looked up at Jeanne and then over to Diesel and Heidi. Hmm….why did she just have a strange sense of Déjà vu?

(~~~~~~~~~~~~)

A pink tongue swept out and ran over full red lips, as dark blue eyes watched as the demon lord played with their target, the little child that ran away from him squealing with glee. It had been so long, over 2000 years, 2000 long years. They had been stunned to know that she lived again. They shouldn't have been stunned, death couldn't keep the one who controlled the tree away from it. oh the power, right close by, and all they had to do was snatch that precious child up! Today the stars were in their favor, and with it, the key to take over the world. They wouldn't let this opportunity slip from their fingertips, like once before.

"Not again," The figure said with a smile, watching the child closely, "Not again, you're mine, little one, and no one can stop me."

TBC….

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