I felt pretty good when I woke up at six am. I mean it. I had slept okay. I slept better once I was cocooned against Ranger's warm body. The man was a friggin heater. I woke up rested and ready to start the day. I went for a run on deck and found that we were parked…or docked in Key West already. The shore excursions started at 0800 hours, but we could leave the boat any time as long as we were back by 1800 hours. Are you impressed? I'm working on my military speak. I finished my run and headed back to our room.
I found Cindy Sue in the hall outside with coffee pots.
"Good morning," I said cheerfully.
"Good morning," she smiled. "You're up early. I think you may the first passenger up on the whole ship."
"If you only knew just how ironic that was," I grinned. "So…what are the odds we could get a delicious pot…large pot of coffee, some croissants and fruit in our room?"
"Not a problem at all," she grinned.
"Great," I nodded.
"Give me about fifteen minutes. Do you want flavor for your coffee?"
"Sure, what do you have?"
"French Vanilla, Caramel, Hazelnut, Dark Roast, Chocolate and a bunch more flavors. I can get you a menu," she offered.
"No…that's fine. I have a feeling Mr. Manoso will need the Dark Roast this morning. So let's go with that."
"Of course," she grinned and hurried off.
I went back into the room and Ranger was still sleeping face down on the bed with his head under the pillow. No doubt he was trying to keep the light out. The sheet was down to his knees and his gorgeous…and I do mean gorgeous ass was just begging me to take a big ole bite out of it. I sighed and headed for the shower.
When Cindy Sue arrived with the food, I was wearing shorts and a tee shirt. I made Ranger a cup and went into the bedroom and sat on the side of the bed and waved the cup near his face. Hey…it would work for me.
He groaned and reached up blindly till his hand came in contact with the cup. He lifted his head slightly and I think…I'm not sure because I couldn't actually see him, I think he started lapping at it. He finally rolled to his back with his morning wood lying on his belly and winced. "What time is it?"
"0640 hours," I said heading back into the other room to get some coffee. And maybe I went into the other room to keep from doing something I was seriously going to regret.
A few seconds later he was cursing. I figured he either spilled his coffee or realized he was buck ass naked.
"If you hurry up we'll have time to do the dolphin encounter this morning," I called into the bedroom.
"Anything…as long as you stop yelling," he groaned.
I grinned. I was going to get my way all day or until his hangover went away one or the other.
He got dressed and glanced at the fruit and croissant and made a small gagging noise before tilting back the coffee again. "Babe…I'm never going drinking with your father again. He's got a hollow leg. I mean, he out drank me and Tank."
I grinned, "And the cigars."
"Don't even say that," he paled. "I know I'm Cuban and all, but damn I can't do this shit."
I nodded, "its okay Ranger. I'm sure Daddy will understand."
"No he won't," he said morosely. "You know…Frank Plum is a really cool guy. I'm glad I'm getting to know him here. He's completely different than I expected."
"He is a pretty cool guy," I nodded. "Come on…let's go do the dolphin encounter."
Four hours later his hangover was gone. We'd gone swimming with the dolphins and even touched them. We had ridden in a glass bottom boat and seen all kinds of sea creatures. It had been amazing. And joining us on the boat were Gabe and Padma and Cal and Natalie. It was fun.
"Where to now," Ranger asked as we walked hand in hand up the dock.
"I did some research and I found a place to have lunch if you think you're up to it."
"That sounds great. I'm starving," he admitted. "You guys coming with us?"
"Where are you going," Cal asked.
"Turtle Kraals," I smiled. "It's a combination Mexican, Seafood Cajun place with a little Key West thrown in for good measure."
"Do they have beer," Cal asked.
"Oh yea," I laughed.
"I'm in," he nodded.
"Sure," Gabe agreed. "Let's check this place out."
They showed us to a table in the Tower overlooking the water within minutes of our arrival. We all ordered Coronas, but Padma who ordered a bottle of water and then we pored over the menus.
"What looks good," Ranger asked.
"The Peel and Eat Shrimp," I nodded. "And I think the Carolina Piggy sandwich after that."
"You've got a little sun," he said and kissed my nose.
"It's the perils of being half Hungarian," I said digging into my beach bag for my sun block.
"The shrimp sounds fantastic," Natalie sighed.
"Why don't we get a couple of pounds and share it," Ranger suggested.
"That sounds good," Padma nodded.
Fifteen minutes later there was a pile of shrimp on the table in front of us and sauce all around. It was a feast.
"So…Ranger," Cal said and I could see he was choosing his words carefully. "Did you happen to see who is on the boat from our old Unit?"
"No," he said dipping a shrimp. "Stephanie got me a copy of the guest list last night, but I haven't had time to look at it yet."
"I wouldn't think so," Natalie grinned. "You were practically under the table in the bar. You and Tank both were laying in the booth while Mr. Plum was tossing back Tequila and smoking cigars. It was wild."
"Please," he groaned. "I'm not sure, but I think I threw up my kidneys last night. That man can fucking drink. I thought, if I can't keep up with him, I need to stop drinking. I may have to stop drinking."
I tapped his Corona and raised a brow.
"After the trip of course," he said seriously.
"Of course," I nodded.
"So who's onboard," Ranger sighed.
"Score, Points, Hunter, Stone, Cable and Jolt," he said quietly.
Ranger just sat staring at him for a few moments.
"Is that bad," Padma asked.
"It's bad," Cal nodded.
"How bad," Natalie asked.
"Four of them almost got the rest of us killed," Cal sighed, "twice."
"Shit," Natalie sighed.
"What about the other two," I looked up at Ranger.
"I'd trust them to have my back in a knife fight," he said calmly. He said the words calmly, but if you know Ranger you know that there was nothing calm at all about anything he was thinking or feeling. His blank face didn't go all the way down. I assumed the alcohol must have inhibited his ability to hide completely. His gut feeling that something was wrong had to be because of them.
"Why would Tank invite them then," Gabe frowned in confusion.
"He wouldn't," Ranger said adamantly.
"Not on his life," Cal agreed.
"Lula did it," I sighed. "She probably invited everyone in your platoon or whatever it was."
"She probably did," Natalie winced. "Is Tank going to be mad? She did it for him."
"He'll realize that," Ranger sighed. "This won't mean the cancellation of the wedding."
"Thank God," Natalie grinned, "because I look smoking in the bridesmaid's dress."
"Yea you do," Cal grinned.
Ranger leaned over to whisper in my ear, "How do you look?"
"You've seen me in it," I said softly.
"When," he asked in confusion.
"At the Bridal Shop…you know when you stopped by while I was changing."
"I remember your slip, your panties and you're barely there bra," he said and nibbled at my ear.
"I was wearing my dress before that," I said sardonically. "You must have erased the Stephanie fully dressed thing."
"Yep," he nodded. "I don't even know what you put on after that…" His voice trailed off.
I realized then that he probably did remember something else. He probably remembered that I was wearing his bracelet. The bracelet I'd worn on the way down to Miami. The bracelet I had hidden in my makeup case so he wouldn't see it.
"What are you guys doing next," Padma asked.
"Snorkeling," I grinned. "You know you want to do that!"
"Oh…yea," she said eagerly. "What will we see?"
"They say fish, turtles, corals and all kinds of things including some sharks that won't eat us."
"Oh Wow," she grinned. "Gabe…can we go? Please," she begged.
"Is it a good idea," he said anxiously.
"A good idea," I raised a brow.
Padma shook her head, "its fine. She turned to me. We were going to tell you all anyway after the wedding. I'm pregnant."
"Oh my God," I laughed and got up and went around the table to hug her. "I'm so happy for you." I hugged Gabe next, "you guys…don't worry…my lips are sealed."
"You guys too," Padma pointed at the other three of them. They all promised to keep the secret too and everyone took turns hugging Padma and the men clapped Gabe on the back.
"How are you handling it," Cal grinned to Gabe.
"I'm actually a little queasier than Padma," he said sheepishly. "She's handling it like a trooper. But I'm not doing quite as well."
"He worries about my pain," she grinned and looped her arm through his and kissed his cheek. "But I told him, you took a bullet for me and almost died…I can pop out a few babies. It's no big deal."
"That's a new perspective," Ranger nodded. "But you're happy about it, right Gabe?"
"I'm over the moon," he admitted. "We've been shopping for furniture and we've been picking out names. I mean we still have over six months to go and we're just…you know we're digging the experience. I'm," he blushed and nuzzled Padma's cheek, "I'm just in awe that we've made a life…you know. It's a part of us…of Padma and of me."
Ranger nodded.
"Natalie and I will probably catch and pass you if she has her way," Cal grinned. "We're waiting till after we get married on St Patty's day, but we're going to be just like you guys. We're going to be pregnant as soon as we can. I'm not getting any younger. I want to be able to toss a ball with my sons or sit on the floor and play with dolls with my daughters…you know what I mean?"
"I know," Gabe nodded.
"Are you going to find out if it's a boy or a girl before its born?"
"We're still trying to decide that," Padma blushed. "I want to know because then I'll know what color to paint the nursery, but I really want to wait because…well, it's God's surprise to us…you know?"
"I know," I sighed. "You could paint it yellow."
"I could," she sighed. "Or we could go non-traditional and do other colors."
"Or," Ranger said after clearing his throat gently, "you could pick out linens that have both colors in them and while you're in the hospital but before you come home, some good friends of yours could paint the room."
Padma blinked and tears filled her eyes, "you'd do that for us?"
"In a heartbeat," Ranger said and reached over to pat her hand gently. "That's what friends…family is for."
"I like that solution," she blinked at Gabe.
"Me too," He nodded and kissed her. "Thanks Ranger."
"Hey…I'm happy to do it."
"Oh I'll help for sure," Cal grinned.
"Count me in too," Natalie laughed.
"Me too," I nodded. "And I'll make sure that you have food in the house that you only have to heat up when you come home. Okay?"
"You guys are the best," Padma sighed.
"Don't let the word get out," Ranger grinned and sat back when the waiter put his fish sandwich in front of him.
"I'll try not to destroy your rep too much," Gabe grinned.
"You do that," he smiled and reached to pull a piece of pork from my sandwich. "Oh my God, that's so good. Trade me."
"No," I laughed. "If you wanted the pulled pork, you should have ordered the pulled pork.
"Stephanie, Babe," he murmured kissing my neck, "please."
I groaned, "Fine…you can have half."
"We'll swap half of each," he grinned.
"Sure," I nodded. In the end, I was glad I did.
The snorkeling experience was phenomenal. We saw fish, coral, sponges, anemones, jelly fish, snails, crabs, lobsters, sting rays, sea turtles, more dolphins and some sharks. We were in awe and when we went ashore afterwards you almost couldn't make out an intelligible word because we were all talking on top of each other.
We stopped for snow cones on our way back to the ship. We walked along the dock to the port with our various flavors. I had cherry. It was my favorite flavor these days. Ranger had pina colada. I would have thought he'd want to avoid any alcohol looking or tasting anything under the circumstances, but he was good with it.
"How was your day ashore," Molly asked happily as we returned to the ship.
"It was great," I grinned. "It was a perfect day."
"That's fantastic. Hmmm, Mr. Thibodaux asked if you'd mind moving to the early dinner seating just for tonight. They've had a few surprises today."
"All of us," Ranger raised a brow.
"No…just you and Ms. Plum," she said with a beaming smile at me.
"Stephanie," he raised a brow.
I nodded.
"Okay," she nodded. "Dinner is in thirty minutes. Do you have time to change? You can be a few minutes late. It's not a formal night, but we do require shirts and shoes, no jeans or shorts."
"We'll be fine," Ranger assured her.
"Good," she nodded. "You'll need to see Carol when you go into the dining room."
"Thank you," I smiled. "We better hurry."
"Shower together," Natalie called at us as we hurried away. "It saves time and water."
"Babe," Ranger raised a brow hopefully.
"No," I shook my head and kept walking.
"I had a feeling you would say that," he said and hurried to catch up with me.