Better than myself Part 30

(Sequel to As a Man)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, I'm not making any money, and all the wonderful characters belong to the lovely JE. I would borrow Ranger and maybe Tank, at least Tank as I write him.

Stephanie's POV

Camille comes into the office bearing boxes of food, I look down at the clock and it is lunch time. I have been reading over these resumes for hours. I have piles of yes, no and maybes. I smile at Camille, "So how are your piles going? Anyone amazing?"

She chuckles, "Pretty good candidates, but no one that is going to be able to run this entire place alone. I have been thinking that we should have different managers, one for the counseling side of things, who has a great social work or psychology background and one for the activities part someone who has a back ground in physical education and technology."

We are in tune with each other when it comes to how Arielle's house is going to be set up. She is the best partner I could ever ask for. That idea just made my piles so much easier to go through. Looking for that one perfect person felt like I was looking for the chupacabra.

I feel so much freer in Atlanta, much more capable. It is nice not to have the "Bombshell Bounty Hunter" thing over my head in everything I do. I see now how much that would have held me back if we would have remained in Trenton. There everyone expected me to fail and it made me not expect any more from myself. Here, I am just a competent businesswoman. It feels wonderful.

I think the move was wonderful for everyone; my father seems so happy working maintenance for the building. I am not sure if it is the work or just being free from my mother. I was not the only one that was stifled by her. He seems to enjoy all of the daily chores that he has to do. And enjoys it that much more when he has JJ tagging along.

JJ has become the honorary Rangeman. The building is just so much more fun when he is around. The guys always have a new task for him to try to accomplish and he is just blossoming under this attention. I think his parents are doing a great job, but they are going through their own thing right now, too. I bet is it great that JJ has other people to lean on while they sort out their issues.

Watching Carlos with JJ, that is a dream for me. I was just watching them play basketball one day and it just came to me, how much I want to marry that man. I know we are committed and I have no doubt in my mind that he loves me. I just know that I want to be his wife. That would mean that I don't care who he was with in his past, what kind of relationship they had or how little he thinks about it. That would mean that our present is all that matters. I am not sure if I should tell him or just see how easily things progress.

Sometimes I can even see children in our future. Not a baby, I don't think that I want to start from there, but a child JJs age or older. I know that isn't something I am ready to mention to Carlos. I am not sure how he feels about having more kids. He I working on repairing his relationship with Julie and to his relationship with JJ is amazing. But I think he would still be a little wary of taking on kids of our own. He still sees himself as so broken with so much work ahead. When I see him with JJ that just proves to me that he has less work than he thinks.

He has no reservations with JJ, I have overhead a few of their conversations and he holds nothing back. If JJ asks a question, Carlos always finds a way to answer, even when I can tell the answer hurts him. The day that JJ asks about any scars that Thomas left. I never noticed or paid attention that the scar on his lower back is a "T" that bastard took a branding iron to him when he was 8 years old. Just to show him that he could never really be free. I saw JJ nod, but couldn't bear to hear JJs reaction.

I can see Camille struggling with how much she wants to know about what happened and how much she just wishes she could bury her head in the sand. I complete agree with both of these reactions. I do not need to know any details of what Thomas did, but sometimes it feels like Carlos is dying to tell someone. She has confided in me a lot of things that Jason is struggling with, he feels like he let Carlos down in every way and has a need to find out what happened while he was upstairs sleeping. I don't think that will help Jason at all. But I stay out of it, Carlos agreed to let him come to a therapy session, I hope that they can work it out during therapy.

Carlos is trying so hard not to close himself off, is such a great thing. I can see that it is a struggle some days because he feels he needs to be everything to everyone. Those are the nights that the four of us (Ella, Tank, Carlos and I) make sure we have our family dinner. He just can be himself and if he wants to be quiet then, no one will push. I sometimes worry that he is trying too hard to be well, but he is assuring me that this is what he always wanted. He always wanted to know what family would feel like and he thinks that Rangeman Atlanta finally feels like family to him.

I have to agree, family isn't always what you were born into, it is sometimes what you find for yourself. I feel lucky to have the family I found and some of my birth family here with me. Grandma likes this weather here; she says her bones have never felt better. She has been spending a lot of time at the local senior center. So much that I think she is considering a move. I don't know if she is willing to move away from all of these "hotties" but it is nice that she has found her own circle of friends.

In the meantime, I have managers to find and paint colors to pick out. Camille and I need to get back to work; I would love to have the grand unveiling in a month. I am thinking of throwing a formal party to properly introduce Arielle's Haven and Rangeman Atlanta. It is always about getting your foot in the door in a new city, to get the right people interested and the world will open at your feet. At least that is what wise Carlos Manoso CEO says. I hope so; I have a great feeling about it.

A/N: I hope this chapter showed that Steph is in such a good place and Ranger is working on it. I haven't' decided how far into living in Atlanta I want to go, I think that there are still a lot of loose ends for me to tie up.

Two chapters in one week. That has been a dream for me to have time for both. Summer is going to be busy, but I always need to make sure I carve out time to this.

Thanks everyone for all of the review – keep them coming.