RL is kickin my butt big time! My mom's been in & out of the hospital for the last 2 months and other things have been just piling up on me but I am bound and determined to finish this story! I have so many ideas it's just getting them written down! Thanks for hanging with me! Lauri
Chapter 26
Our drive back to Rangeman Miami was completed in a compatible silence. Carlos was in his driving zone, as usual, and I was lost in thoughts of our wedding and our baby deal. Carlos reached for my hand and pulled it up to his lips for a soft kiss.
"I smell smoke Babe what's got you so lost in thought" he asked me as he laid our clasped hands on his thigh.
"I'm just making some mental lists for the rest of this week and thinking about how our life will be after our big day" I told him with a smile.
"Me too Babe, me too" he said with a beautiful smile. I can just picture a little boy with his daddy's beautiful smile and a little girl with her daddy's long silky hair. Yep I can't wait.
"Me either Babe" he told me with a wink.
We pulled into the garage and before we could get out of the car Lester and Tank were standing there with huge grins on their faces.
"Is it true that Randolph has himself a spare family in the great state of Georgia" Lester asked us with a smirk.
"It looks like it" Carlos confirmed.
"Well I for one can't wait to take the smug bastard down" Les said with a sadistic smirk.
"Yeah Lord knows he's made our lives miserable the last 10 years" Tank said.
"Well I sure wouldn't want to be ol Howie Baby when his wife's dad and uncle get through with him tonight" I said with a smirk. "I'd love to be there to kick his ass myself for messing with my man and my wedding plans, however I think we'll have just as much fun dealing with the Spooks tonight" I laughed as the guys got shocked looks on their faces.
"What's going on tonight" Lester asked.
"We are going out on the town tonight boys so you better be ready" I told them as I pulled Carlos towards the elevator.
"You guys better head upstairs. You have work to do and I have wedding plans to make" I smirked as the elevator doors closed. Carlos pulled me into his arms in our usual elevator position. I squeezed his arms around my middle and turned to softly kiss his lips. He turned me around and deepened the kiss so we were locked in a passionate lip lock when we reached the 5th floor and were greeted by someone clearing their throat loudly. We slowly pulled apart and turned to see a smirking Gabe standing there with his arms crossed.
"Dang I thought I was gonna have to get the garden hose out for you 2" he told us while trying to contain his laughter.
Carlos growled at him as he reluctantly pulled back from me. Les and Talk walked up just shaking their heads as they walked by. I blushed hotly as Carlos arranged his cargos to a more comfortable position and gave me another bone melting kiss before turning me back into the elevator.
"Babe go upstairs and starting making your plans for Saturday. Don't worry about getting people here I'll take care of that, you just take care of the dresses, flowers and cake. Michelle and Ella will take care of the food and I have a friend whose son is a DJ so I'll see if he's available for Saturday. Just let me know when you're ready to head out and I'll get your GPS set up for you" Carlos told me as I gave him a quick kiss and a finger wave to the guys and headed upstairs.
My first stop was to the computer in Carlos' office to see what Ella had sent in the way of wedding cakes. I was so excited to see what she had to show me. The first thing I saw in her email made me laugh out loud. It was a cake topper with Batman and Wonder Woman wound up in her golden lasso. It was perfect! Then there was a sketch of a groom's cake that looked like the Batmobile. The final sketch was of a beautiful 3 tier wedding cake that had square layers that were off-set with white icing, real icing not the fondant kind, and the top layer had C & S intertwined with green ivy. The second layer had "Babe and Ranger" and the bottom layer had "Someday" all in the same dark plum calligraphy lettering and green ivy adorned the rest of the cake. It was so simple yet so perfect.
I was crying by the time Ella answered my call "It's perfect" I managed to get out between sniffs.
"Oh sweetheart I'm glad you like it but please don't cry or you'll make me cry" she laughed between her own sniffles.
"When can you come Ella I really need you here with me. I can't do this on my own" I pleaded with her over the phone.
"I just spoke to Carlos and I will be heading your way first thing in the morning. I'm going to go ahead and start planning the food with Michelle today so we can hit the ground running tomorrow. We need to decide what type of filling you want in each layer of the cake. I was thinking white chocolate for the bottom layer, raspberry cheesecake for the middle and boston cream for the top layer since that is your favorite and you and Carlos will be eating it on your first anniversary" she suggested as I started to drool.
"Oh Ella those sound heavenly! I can't wait for you to get here tomorrow. There is no one I'd rather have help me plan my special day than you. You have always been so kind to me and have taken such good care of me I'll never be able to repay your kindness" I told her trying to hold back more tears.
"Well Steph since I have no daughters of my own, it will be my pleasure to help you plan your dream wedding to Carlos. I have waited so long for the two of you to get together and I'm thrilled you've asked me to help. As for taking care of you, that has been my pleasure as well. You are a warm, beautiful and special woman so it hasn't been a hardship I assure you. It helps that Carlos adores you and wants to spoil you so it's made my job easy" she said with a laugh.
"Thank you Ella. I absolutely adore him too. I can't wait to be Mrs. Ricardo Carlos Manoso on Saturday" I told her in a dreamy voice.
"I also spoke to Stella and she is expecting you and Rachael and Julie at 3:30 today. I gave her some ideas about what type of dress would compliment you but please feel free to look around before making a decision. I want you to have your dream dress but I also don't want you to feel obligated to pick a dress that I suggested" she told me.
"Well you have exquisite taste so I will definitely look close at the dresses you suggested. Also I have a couple of more people coming with I hope that won't be a problem" I said chewing on my thumb nail. Thumb Nail OMG I have to find a salon to get my nails and hair done. Ugg one more thing to.
I must have zoned out because I heard Ella calling my name. "I'm sorry Ella I guess I zoned out there for a minute. I just realized I need to find a salon to get my nails and hair done on Saturday. I don't suppose you have a relative that does that do you" I asked her partly in jest, partly praying she did!
"As a matter of fact Luis' niece and sister own a salon near your house. I'm sure Maria and Ava would be honored to do your hair and nails as well as your make up if you would want them to. I'd be happy to give them a call and have them contact you. Also I just texted Stella and she said 2 more would be no problem. Will the need dresses as well" she asked me as I received a text from Rachael asking what time I was picking her up.
"Only 1 dress will be needed and it's for a 4 year old little princess that is going to be my flower girl. I envision her in a lavender princess dress and a tiara" I told Ella as I texted Rachael back telling her I'd be to her house by 2:00pm.
"Ahh you must have met the Rabbs" Ella exclaimed in delight. "McKenzie will make a beautiful flower girl" she said with a smile in her voice.
"Yes I did and yes she will" I chuckled thinking back to this morning's meeting. "She was almost beside herself when I asked her to be our flower girl but after seeing her interact with her Uncle Carlos there was no way I could pass up the opportunity to ask her".
"Do you think your nieces will be upset you didn't ask them" she asked me thoughtfully.
"Actually we aren't telling the family that we're getting married so there is no way I could ask them to do it ahead of time. We are just bringing them down here for an engagement party and then we'll spring the wedding on them" I told her with a smile on my face. Boy would my mother be surprised.
"Oh that will be perfect. That way both families can share in your special night but you won't have the hassle of all the different opinions" she said trying to be diplomatic.
I snorted in laughter at her words. "Oh Ella why don't you just call a spade a spade here. It's all so my mother won't ruin things like she did the first time and like she's tried to do my entire life" I explained with a loud sigh.
"Well she won't hear it from me that's for sure. I want you and Carlos to have a perfect day and I will do everything in my power to make sure NO ONE ruins your day" Ella told him in a very forceful voice.
It warmed my heart to know someone like Ella was on my side. A mother figure who actually cared about ME and not how things looked to other people.
I started to cry again as I thanked her for caring about me. "Oh Steph honey you don't have to thank me for loving you. You make it very easy for people to love you and don't you ever forget that. You are worthy of that love my dear and the quicker you get that thru your head, the better off you will be in life" she explained.
By now I was full on sobbing as I let her words soak in to my brain. She was reinforcing what Carlos and the guys had been telling me for years, that I wasn't a screw up and that I was worthy of their praise. It's taken me a while but I think I'm starting to understand and accept what they have been saying.
"Thank you Ella your words mean more to me than you will ever know. Carlos and the guys have been telling me this for years but I thought they were just humoring me. I'm finally beginning to realize that it's my mother that's been wrong all these years, not me" I told her in a soft, emotion filled voice.
"Yes Steph she is wrong and by being wrong she has missed out on seeing what a wonderful, intelligent and beautiful woman you became but her loss has most definitely been my gain" Ella explained between sniffs.
"Now enough tears my dear, we have wedding plans to finalize and you have a dress to pick out that is going to wow your man. I've asked Stella to send me a picture of you in your dress once you decide, I hope you don't mind" she asked in a somewhat hesitant voice.
"Mind? OMG Ella I don't mind. As a matter of fact I wish you were going to be here to help me pick it out. I'm tempted to wait til tomorrow so you can be here but then we have Julie's therapist appointment and if the dress needs any alterations that would make it harder on Stella" I moaned and bit my lip trying to decide if I should wait til Ella could be here.
"Oh no Steph don't change your plans on my account. I tell you what Stella has a web cam set up for situations just like this. I'll make sure I'm near my computer when you are trying on the dresses and it will seem like I'm there" Ella told me with a grin in her voice.
"Oh Ella that's wonderful! I'd much rather have you here in person, but I'll take web cam Ella as my next option" I laughed.
"All right we have a plan and I will be here at 3:30 to help you Say Yes to the Dress" she exclaimed. "Now we need to hang up because we both have lots of things to do and it's almost lunch time. You need to each something so you'll have the strength to dress shop".
"Ok just one more quick question Steph. What kind of food do you want to serve and what kind of theme do you have in mind" Ella asked me. Hmmmm I hadn't thought that far ahead.
"Well as far as food goes I want a mix of Cuban and American foods, served buffet style and will you please make me your pineapple upside down cake along with a variety of other desserts? I want fun, comfort type of food. Nothing fancy and calories be damned. Can you just make sure there are things that Carlos and his family will eat? I don't want to feel uncomfortable or unwelcome at their own son's wedding" I began to panic at the thought.
"Steph calm down Michelle and I will take care of it. No need to worry about the Manoso clan. They will take one look at the two of you together and be thrilled that Carlos has found such a warm and caring woman to be his wife. They are going to love you I promise" Ella soothed my frazzled nerves.
"Thanks for talking me down off the ledge there" I laughingly told her.
"Anytime my dear. Now don't worry about the food and I think I have a theme in mind that will be fun as well as make Carlos' family feel very much at ease. I'm thinking Cuban Night Club. Round tables with stools around the patio. Glass candle holders on each table, low lights strung all around and Cuban music playing low in the background. Cocktails and finger foods for later on after dinner and lots of dancing and fun" Ella explained her idea to me.
"I love it! I think I have the perfect dress to wear afterwards so I can dance with my husband and be comfortable" I exclaimed.
"Oh Ella you're the best! Thank you so much for all your help. I guess I need to get off here and get some things done before I go pick up Rachael and Julie and I will see you at 3:30 for dress shopping. Ohhh I'm so excited Ella I can't wait for Saturday" I gushed as we said goodbye and hung up.
I am so excited after talking to Ella. I can't wait to be Mrs. Ricardo Carlos Manoso on Saturday!
A/N: I'm really sorry for taking so long to update and I will try to do better. I've been wanting to get to the wedding so I am pushing myself to keep going. Thanks for sticking with me on this! I hope all of you have a Happy Thanksgiving. Lauri