Disclaimer: still not mine.
AN: Once again thank you for the reviews and I truly appreciate them all. I'm going to move the story along. I hope you all enjoy. Oh, major angst warning.
Chapter 8
Stephanie's POV
It's been three months since Ric and I left my parent's home after that fateful dinner. Vinnie had been happier than a pig in slop that Morelli was brought in. The court refused to let him bond out again due to the flight risk. Grandma Bella threatened to put the eye on me but I told her to go to hell. I thought she'd have a heart attack in the courtroom but she just muttered under her breath. Frankly, I think she was afraid of Ric.
In order to preserve his relationship with TPD, Ric investigated the Morelli shooting and was able to find the evidence to clear him. Morelli wasn't happy it was Ric who cleared his name but he shouldn't complain; he was out of jail. Since his release, Morelli had started to investigate Ric's finances but I heard some men in suits showed up at TPD and called him into the chief's office. All his notes and computer files were confiscated. The rumor was these government agents told Morelli it was hazardous to his health to look into Ric's finances. He was seriously pissed and looking to nail Ric for anything he could. What a jerk.
I had a long talk with my uncle and father because they knew Ric was in Trenton and never told me. They wanted Ric to come to me on his own and well, they were right he should have. The fact we ran into each other and cleared the air sort of took the wind out of my sails so to speak. Daddy had given Ric the gate code because I had another security company and if something happened Ric would have come to assist me. I have since switched to Rangeman for my security system. Who better to protect my body?
Ric and I spent all the time together we could. He worked a lot of hours and he had the apartment on site. I began working as an office manager for him and Tank. I had created an integrated system to simplify payroll for them. The guys used netbooks and IPad's to go on calls and chase skips. They would clock in on an account and clock out, the time would transfer to payroll to track how much time they worked but also the time spent on each account to assist in determining appropriate pricing for new clients as well new pricing when an account came up for renewal. I set up a supply ordering system as well so we could order in bulk and save money. I didn't need to do any decorating as Ric had a professional decorator handle the lobby, conference rooms and apartments.
We had spent the holidays together, his family was very happy to see we had gotten back together. Well, everyone except Aunt Emelda and Grandma Socorro. They were upset that Ric and I were together when poor Emilio never had a chance to get married or have children because he died taking Ric's wife to the hospital to deliver his child. Ric was angry with his grandmother and aunt but didn't want to tell them the truth because he felt it wouldn't do any good. They never believed Emilio did anything wrong when he was alive; now he was a saint.
It was getting harder to keep the loss of our child a secret. Celia had always had a hard time with it but she pulled me aside at Christmas dinner. I'd live to regret not listening to her prophetic words, "Stephanie, Carlos will find out about Hope. He won't understand why you didn't tell him when you came back into his life. He'll never forgive you. I'm begging you to tell him before it's too late."
It was coming up on Hope's birthday and I was becoming moody, like I did every year. My little girl would be seven years old. Every morning for a week leading up to her birthday I would wait until Ric left for the gym before work then I would take out the framed ultrasound picture. I longed to hold my little girl. I knew I should tell Ric, we could comfort each other but I was afraid he'd hate me. What a mistake that was.
February 14 turned out to be a sunny day, unseasonably warm for New Jersey at 50 degrees. Celia and I always met at noon at the cemetery in Newark. I arrived at the office at 8:30 and I was miserable. Lester decided to dress up as cupid and normally I would find this funny watching him walk through the control room in a giant diaper with a NERF bow and arrow set, spreading his joy. He would shoot the guys when they turned their back on him. He tried to joke with me but I wasn't in the mood. "What's wrong Beautiful? What did my shithead cousin do?"
"Nothing Les. Can't I be in a bad mood?" I sniped.
"Beautiful you've been moody for over a week. Is it that time of the month? Or is Ranger falling down on the job?" he teased.
"Screw you Lester. I'm in a bad mood; it has nothing to do with Ric," I yelled and stormed down the hall to my office.
Ranger's POV
I watched the exchange between Lester and Stephanie. I knew something was wrong but I had no idea what it could be. The exchange at least lay to rest my thoughts that I had done something. I planned to ask Stephanie to marry me tonight; I had a nice quiet evening planned. She was withdrawn lately but she wasn't hanging around the Plum household. She'd have lunch with Connie and Lula or her grandmother. Frank would come to the office to get away from Helen and Edna. I walked over to Lester and said, "Keep an eye on her today, something's wrong but she won't talk about it."
Lester thoughtfully replied, "No problem cuz. I know she's been staying away from her mother and Morelli. I thought she's been happier but lately…"
I shook my head and went to my office. I had a bad feeling about what was going on with Stephanie.
Stephanie's POV
I left a note for Ric, he'd had a meeting, to let him know I was going out to Newark to meet Celia for lunch and I would be late coming back. I made my way to the garage, got into my car and began the drive to the cemetery. It took an hour to get there and I went through all the emotions I had the day Hope died. I'd never forget the hurt, the devastation after learning he married someone else and she was carrying his child; well Emilio's child. I remembered the pain of labor and the heartbreak when she died. Any wonder why I was moody? Lester didn't know the story and neither did Ric.
I pulled into the cemetery, never noticing the shiny black Tahoe following me. I met Celia at her car and we walked to the headstone. It was in the shape of an angel. We knelt down and said prayers for her and cried. Celia walked back to her car and left me alone so I could talk to Hope, like she did every year. "Hope, your daddy has come back into my life and I've been happier than I can remember. I haven't told him about you yet, I don't want to hurt him. I know he'll blame himself for what happened but he'll also be angry with me for not telling him sooner. I was angry for so long with him but now… I love him so much Hope. I don't know if I could handle losing him again."
I slowly stood and saw him as I turned around. His eyes were blazing with anger; he knew about Hope now. I faltered as I took a step toward him "Ric…" I saw his jaw clench and he jerked his head toward the cars. I saw his Porsche parked behind me and a Tahoe behind him. Celia was standing by her car, she was crying. I walked over and hugged her.
Ric only had one thing to say and if you couldn't tell by looking at him that he was angry, his tone would have told you he was furious. He bit out, "Why?"
I swallowed hard and said, "Don't be angry with Celia, she has wanted me to tell you for seven years Ric. I thought I was doing the right thing by not telling you, but I know now that I was wrong."
He moved quickly and said to Celia, "Go home to your family." I heard her sob as she climbed into her car.
He pulled me over to my car and said, "Get in your car and drive to your house. I don't know if I can stand to look at you right now."
I felt awful that he found out this way but I was angry at the way he was treating me. "Don't you dare tell me what to do Ric. I did what I thought was right by not telling you I was pregnant and I didn't see how telling you after the fact was going to change anything. I know you don't want to talk about this right now but you better not walk away from again. I won't forgive you this time."
He looked at me with those deep brown eyes blazing with anger, "You won't forgive me? You kept our child a secret. I don't know if I can forgive you for this."
I was irrationally angry now, I know he had a right to feel the way he did but it didn't matter because I had eight years of anger that I was letting loose. "You have some nerve Ric. You walked away from us. You returned every letter I wrote. I knew if I told you I was pregnant you would come back and marry me but I also knew that would be the only reason. I'd always know that and it would have torn us apart. Then I get a call from Celia telling me that you were married with a baby on the way. How do you think that made me feel? It had only been a few months since we broke up. I was devastated, I went into pre-mature labor and our daughter died four hours after she was born. I didn't see how it would help to tell you after she died. I knew it would hurt you but I couldn't do that." I could feel the tears running down my face, he wouldn't look at me. He had turned his back on me but he was listening, so I continued. "The day you told me about Emilio tricking you and Rachel, I thought about telling you. But, I thought you had enough pain and hurt, how could I tell you about Hope? I knew you would feel guilty, like you were to blame for what happened. I stopped blaming you years ago Ric. I love you more than I can possibly say, if you can't forgive me, I understand." I quietly climbed into my car as I watched him walk toward Hope's headstone.