Everything familiar belongs to Janet. The mistakes are mine.

Chapter 19

I'm glad I listened to Mary Lou and Ranger and waited until we left the party to open a few of the gifts. Grandma's was as expected, edible underwear ... for both of us. I don't really see Ranger wearing them, he preferred nothing between my mouth and his body, but his gaze turned speculative when his eyes moved from the gift in my hands to the areas of my body this particular 'fabric' would cover. Apparently Ranger has nooo problem picturing me in them. But I saw a flaw in what Ranger was planning. I'm pretty sure anything edible I put on will just melt if Ranger kept looking at me like that.

"Open the next one, Babe," Ranger said, leaning back against the kitchen island, arms crossed, his voice sounding a little rough and a whole lot sexy.

I resisted fanning my face with my hand and cautiously opened up Mary Lou's present. I rolled my eyes when I did. Leave it to Mary Lou to put an 'adult' spin on what would normally be something for kids.

"I can work with this, too," Ranger said, taking the gift away from me when I took too long to take the items out.

"Wait, you hate chocolate," I accused.

"Not when it's in this form," he said, lifting up one of the jars of chocolate finger paint.

Ranger left the fruit-flavored markers inside the box. For now. And judging from the helpful - and very descriptive - suggestions on all the labels, none of them are marketed for children.

Ranger opened the dark chocolate container, scooped up a little and grabbed my arm, dragging his finger slowly from the inside of my wrist all the way up to my little dress' sleeve.

"Ranger ..." I sighed at the first touch of his tongue on me. "I still have Lester and Woody's gifts to open."

"No you don't. I already know what's in them," Ranger said, lifting his mouth from where he'd been licking the inside of my elbow."I guarantee they'll be at least one pair of handcuffs, if not two. And probably a few other disciplinary objects since they enjoy getting their own asses beat, which I'll be doing in the gym first thing tomorrow morning because I told them not to give 'gag' gifts of any kind. They're lucky I'm waiting that long. The only thing I'm willing to mark you with is my mouth. And the only things I'm going to use on you are my lips, tongue, and definitely my ..."

"I get the picture, Ranger."

Talk about being sweet and friggin' hot at the same time. Ranger's lips went back to my arm, and when the chocolate was completely gone from my skin, his attention turned to the exposed area of my chest.

"No, Ranger. I'm not ruining my dress."

"Take it off then."

I opened my mouth to say something, but Ranger was already reaching for me.

"Too late, Babe. I'll take it off you myself."

Who was I to argue? Ranger scooped me up and dropped Mary Lou's art supplies, and my undies from Grandma, onto my stomach as he carried me into the bedroom. And when I was naked with Ranger in a playful mood, I didn't even mind that he was the only one who got chocolate for dessert, because I got something much more delicious.

It seems sugar has the opposite effect on Ranger than it does on me. Being sugar-free sends my hormones into meltdown mode, while ingesting sugar apparently makes Ranger completely and totally insatiable. When my breasts, stomach, thighs, and many parts in between, had been covered at least three times with finger swipes of chocolate paint, Ranger switched to the fruit pens. Eventually, even Grandma's gift got devoured ... along with me.

Ranger and I had made plans to scope out the wedding venue today, but after my relatively easy workout this morning with Bobby and Ram, I did want to check in with my mom before we headed to Atlantic City. I doubt Ella made a dent in my mother's armor, but I know this morning will be a hard one for her. Knowing my grandmother, I wasn't sure if I should feel sorry for my mom, or laugh my ass off since no one forced her to drink what the guys put in front of her. She did that all on her own. Quite happily, too.

My mother is always complaining about my choices, so I thought it was only fair to enjoy her discomfort at being on the receiving end of a 'why me?' for once. Since Ranger already had gym plans this morning, I told him I'd be back in an hour and took my still pristine Cayenne - a record for me - to the Burg.

My dad's Buick wasn't in the driveway when I pulled up to the house. He probably ran for cover when he saw my mother's bloodshot eyes, I thought to myself. If I was smart, I'd do the same. But I was a little curious as to how the night affected her. If at all.

My mom was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee in front her and her head in her hands. That's exactly how I used to sit when I was being lectured on ditching the bonds office and getting hired at the button factory. My mother doesn't know about The Cure so her head is probably one door slam away from cracking open. I'm going to leave without telling her about it, too. Helen Plum is very familiar with the idea of penance, and this will be hers for almost messing up a night I'd been looking forward to for days. I inwardly smiled even as I pasted a concerned look on my face.

"Hi, Mom," I said, apparently scaring the crap out of her.

Her head snapped up at the sound of my voice. Immediately followed by her clutching at it again. Guess her Burg radar isn't functioning today either.

"Stephanie!" Grandma said from the staircase, not having any of the issues my mom had this morning."I thought I heard you drive up. Did you get a load of your mother? She's been sitting there ever since the breakfast dishes were put away. Your father told me she even tossed her cookies on the way home last night. Frank had to take the Buick today to get detailed. I would have given half my social security check to have gotten that on camera. I really gotta get me one of those phones like you have."

"Mother," my mom groaned out.

"Don't you go 'mothering' me," Grandma said to her."The state you were, and are, in was caused by you sucking up liquid last night like a fish who'd been out of water. You got no one to blame but yourself."

"I can blame you for turning something private into a public spectacle," my mom said.

"Mom, you seem to be forgetting that we were in a public place last night," I told her.

"Yes, but I got a call from Mrs. Bielson this morning and her daughter was checking that YouTube place. You know, the one all the young kids use these days. And you'll never guess what she found."

"I don't have to guess," I told her."I bet it included you and a few good men."

She narrowed her eyes at me."This isn't funny, Stephanie."

"Come on, Mom. It is a little funny. If you watch the video, you'll see that you were enjoying yourself. You just refused to admit it."

"I did see it. And there isn't one thing to enjoy," my mom said to me."You're moving. That housekeeper is apparently a better mother than I am. And I made a fool out of myself by drinking too much."

"Her name is Ella. She's a person, not just a housekeeper. And that's what happens when people drink too much, Mom, they make stupid decisions. But dancing with a couple of Ranger's men definitely isn't foolhardy behavior. Most women would have killed to be in your shoes last night."

"I know I would have until I snagged Tank," Grandma Mazur said."For a man that size, he can sure move."

"I'll pass along the compliment," I told her.

"You can tell Tank to save me a dance at your wedding. If that Lester can keep his hands off of me that is."

"Don't worry, Grandma," I told her,"I'll tell Lester to behave."

"Don't you dare!"

I smiled at Grandma Mazur even though I don't think she's in danger of being mauled by any of the guys, but I wouldn't spoil her day by saying so. I thought back on my night with Ranger. Grandma really doesn't know what she's missing, because getting mauled by someone like Ranger really is an unforgettable experience.

"Are you gonna be here for a while?" Grandma Mazur asked me.

"I've got plans with Ranger," I said to her."I just came over to talk to Mom for a minute."

"It won't do you any good. She didn't lose her attitude along with her lunch last night."

"That's enough, Mother," my mom told her.

Grandma gave me a - see, what did I tell you - look."I'll be down at the beauty parlor. Betty Szajak is on her way over to pick me up."

"I'd better not hear anymore about last night from people who weren't there," my mother said to Grandma.

"Okay. I'll make sure you don't hear anything," she promised, right before a horn sounded outside."There's my ride. Tell Ranger I said hi, and that I checked out the competition last night and he's still got the best package in my opinion. Probably in yours, too." She winked at me before picking up a bag that would rival Lula's in size and color, and left the house, closing the door loudly behind her.

My mother flinched before shutting her eyes.

"Grandma seems not to be suffering at all from being out late," I said to my mom, sitting down at the table across from her.

She sighed and then opened her eyes again."Your grandmother came in at two o'clock in the morning," my mother told me."She doesn't think I know, but I heard her. Other people's elderly mothers are in bed at eight o'clock. Mine is out until all hours of the night acting like a sex-crazed teenager."

"Well, my mother was out drinking last night with a bunch of hot guys. All I can say is 'why me'?"

"That is not at all amusing, Stephanie."

"Oh, I disagree."

"Didn't you all have enough fun at my expense at that place last night?"

I blew out a breath."Mom, Shorty and the guys weren't trying to humiliate you. You still don't get that last night wasn't about you at all. The guys were actually doing their best to make sure I was going to enjoy my own bridal shower."

"If you are friends with those men like you claim to be, why wouldn't you have enjoyed yourself?"

"Mom, they weren't the ones I was concerned about."

"You can't possibly mean me."

"Yes I can, Mom. And I do. Everyone knows how difficult our relationship is, and they took it upon themselves to try to make it better. Had I known what they had up their sleeves beforehand, I would've waited to show our house pictures. And I'm still annoyed at you for how you spoke to Ella. She's the kindest woman on the planet, and you should be ashamed of yourself for not treating her better."

"I was polite to her. I'm sorry to hear about her son, but she doesn't know my family."

"Yes, she does. Ella knows me. And she - like Bobby and Lester - wanted to make my situation better."

"That's the second time you've referred to our relationship negatively," she said to me."I understand that you want to handle the wedding your way, and I've done what you've asked and left you alone about it, haven't I? I didn't say a single thing about your wedding preparations."

"Mom, it's not just about the wedding," I told her."What was the first thing that came out of your mouth when you saw our house? Not what a pretty place, or I'm happy for you, but you questioned our finances, which was a direct insult to Ranger in my mind. Why did you have to ruin the moment? The night could have actually been fun. But once again, one comment from you and I felt forced to defend myself and Ranger, Ella had to relive something incredibly painful to her, and my guys felt they had to step in to salvage the night. All of that could have been avoided if you would have just plastered a smile on your face and said the house is beautiful. The same insincere crap I've done for years when you've gone on and on about so-and-so's daughter who I don't know and don't care at all about."

"I thought you were kidding about purchasing a house down there," my mom said to me.

"I was at the time, but Ranger heard about this particular one, and it was love at first sight."

"But why Florida?" She asked."Why couldn't you find something here?"

Again ... everything is about her. I was hoping last night would have changed things a little, but I see how stupid that was. You can't change someone who doesn't want to be changed. Even worse is that my mother doesn't see anything wrong with her way of thinking to begin with.

"Just like you want Val and I living nearby," I told her,"Julie and I want Ranger closer to her when he can be. We're going to be a sort of family, Mom, and that includes actually seeing Julie in Miami."

"But you can visit, you didn't need to buy a house down there."

"Yes we did, Mom, but I don't expect you to see that. Maybe I was wrong in coming over here today," I told her."It's obvious that nothing is ever going to be different between us. At least I know now that it's not because of me."

I stood up to leave. I have things to do.

"I was scared," my mother said, stopping me.

"Of what?" I asked her, just curious enough to stay a minute.

"You. Your new life. That you're going to move away and we'll never see you again."

"Valerie moved all the way across the country to California, and you still saw her."

"Twice a year. I like having both of my children close by."

"And I get that, but you do understand that Valerie and I have grown up, and have our own lives now, so we're not going to be here every day."

"Yes, but I don't like it."

"You don't have to like it, Mom. But we all have to deal with things we don't like. Not everyone has the luxury of brow-beating people into submission like you've gotten away with."

"I most certainly don't do that," she said to me.

"Yes, you do. And that just answered my question."

"What question is that?" She asked.

"Whether Ella had any effect on you, and if a relationship with me is worth keeping your opinions to yourself. That's really all I've been asking for. Not for your approval, or to rewrite our past, I just want you to let me live my life without constantly looking for signs that I've screwed up just so you can say 'I told you so'. I'm the first one to admit that I've got tons of issues, but I'm also not the mess everyone thinks I am anymore. I guess it was too much to hope that my own mother would see that."

"I know you've made a few changes ..."

"Yes. And you haven't forgiven me for any of them," I told her."I've made a conscious choice not to dwell on all the crap you've put me through over the years, the least you can do is stop complaining about what you think I've done to you in the last couple of them."

"What 'crap' are you talking about?"

"There's too many things to list, and as I just said, I'm done letting you decide who I should be, but since you're suddenly interested, I'll hit the highlights for you. Or should I say lows for you? When I was seventeen you grounded me for having sex with Joe."

"I told you to stay away from him."

"Yeah, but did anyone bother to tell Joe to stay the hell away from me? No. And when I got felt up in his garage when I was a kid you did nothing. You never confronted Joe or spoke to Mrs. Morelli. You wouldn't even tell Dad about it."

"Your father would kill him," my mom told me,"if he knew about that."

"At least I would've known someone gave a shit about what happened to me. You were annoyed at Joe for a while, but it wasn't long before you were inviting him to dinner and picking out our wedding china."

"You were the one who hit him with a car and then started dating him a few years later."

"Because I thought Joe was what I deserved, Mom. I mean, Grandma set an extra place for Joyce when she barged in on the dinner Ranger had joined us for during Dickie's supposed murder. And you didn't protest at all to her helping herself to your roast chicken. You just wanted to refill your wine glass and block out what was going on. That was the skank who slept with my husband and was the catalyst for my divorce. Granted, I don't think Dickie and I would have stayed married, but still, the woman who had her legs wrapped around my husband on my dining room table sat her ass down at my parents' table and chatted with Grandma about slipcovers and olive dishes. Why on earth would I feel like I should be treated like crap when my own family has been doing it for years?"

"Stephanie ..."

"No, Mom, you asked, and now you have to hear me out. I really want to get my life in order before I get married, and since Ranger and I are checking out a place I like today, I probably don't have much time left, so I'm not going to keep repeating myself here. I meant what I said last night. I'm not hurting myself anymore, or putting myself down, to keep you, Joe, and every other Burg resident happy. I've given you thirty years of my life, Mom, and I'm not willing to give you any more of it."

"What are you saying?"

"That I'm done listening to you constantly snipe at me, and I'm not about to ignore your holier-than-thou attitude towards Ranger. I've got a new life ahead of me and I'm not dragging the crappy parts of my old one with me into it."

"I only want what's best for you," my mom said.

"You really don't. That's just what you say when anyone points out something rude that you've done."

"That's not true."

"Yes, it is. But I'm not sitting here any longer to argue with you about it. Ranger is waiting for me." I stood."Think about what I said."

I left her to her cold coffee and went back to my car, already pushing the conversation out of my mind. I have a day with Ranger ahead of me, and my mother's voice isn't joining us for it.

I drove back to Rangeman and didn't even feel like I had to stop off at Tasty Pastry on the way. Seeing Ranger trumped doughnuts, birthday cake, and even an embarrassing video of my mother, though just the thought of that put a smile back on my face.

It was still there when I walked into the building and took the elevator up to Ranger's office. He was on the phone when I knocked on his open door. Ranger looked up, gave me a once over - checking for war wounds probably - and then waved me in. I remember all the times I've stood right here after driving over from my apartment to see about a job Ranger had for me. Now I get to come into Ranger's office just to talk to him, make out with him, or tell him that I'm ready to go on a trip to the coast to see the place I hope to marry him in.

I walked over to Ranger and kissed him while he was listening to whoever was on the line. I moved to the chair in front of his desk and watched Business Ranger in action.

"I have an opening at five next Tuesday, that's the earliest I can have someone there," he said to the caller."If that will work for you." He paused. "Good. I'll be in touch"

He hung up and his dark eyes were back on me.

"Another satisfied customer?" I asked him.

"He will be," Ranger told me, confident in the company he'd built."How is your mother faring this morning?"

"She's got one hell of a hangover, but even that isn't enough to alter her personality."

"Not surprising, Babe. It will take more than a couple of cocktails and a pissed off Ella to get your mother to be less outspoken."

"That's for sure. I told my mother what I expect of her and left it up to her to decide if she can do it. Are you ready to leave?"

"Yes. Tank is in and will be fielding any issues."

"We really can wait if you're busy here," I told him."I'm sure we'll be able to reschedule."

"No. The faster we get this done, the faster we can focus on our life together."

"Ranger, I've done nothing but focus on our life together. The wedding is just a little distraction from it. And it will be a little distraction. I don't want to lose us in the party."

"Somehow, Babe, I don't think that's going to be a problem," Ranger said, standing up and walking around his desk to pull me up from my chair.

"I hope not. I just want someplace nice where everyone will have a good time without too much fuss."

"Let's go see if this is the place then."

Ranger closed up his office and draped an arm across my shoulders. We were passing by the control room and I steered us over to the monitors. If I looked, I bet Ranger's eyebrow would be lifted in question. I did. And it was.

"Hey, Ramon," I said."You may want to give Hector and Cal the heads up when they get here. My grandmother decided to play filmmaker and post a video of them with my mom."

"Shit," Zero said."I gotta see that."

"You'd better be planning on waiting until you're on break or off duty," Ranger warned him.

"Yes, Sir."

"At ease, Zero," I told him."We're heading out so you can relax."

"No he can't," Ranger added.

"Ranger, don't scare him."

"It's my job to scare everyone, Babe. And all the men know it."

I blew out a sigh. As I'd just proved with my mother, I knew when to walk away from an argument. Well, this isn't anything like an argument, but I knew I wouldn't be changing any of Ranger's training techniques. Which I hated to admit, worked damn good. I trust the guys almost as much as I do Ranger.

"So when you get a chance," I told Ramon and Zero,"the working title for Grandma's video is 'Helen Plum Gets Some'. I didn't ask Grandma Mazur if she changed it, since my mom really didn't want to discuss it."

"Why not?" Ramon asked."Cal cleans up pretty good. Your mother could have done worse."

"I agree, but Burg women don't dance with dangerously sexy men in seedy neighborhoods."

"I'd prefer it if you don't refer to anyone else as sexy, Steph," Ranger told me.

Oops.

"And Shorty prefers the word diverse instead of seedy," Ranger continued after giving me a pointed look,"since they have more than one type of major crime in his neighborhood."

"Shorty does have a different way of seeing things," I said.

"That he does, Babe. Let's hit the road."

"Yes, Sir," I told him.

I would have saluted him, too, but my arms were wrapped around Ranger's waist and my fingers were busy enjoying the feel of the hard ridges of muscle underneath them.

I waved bye to the guys, and since we'd be in the car for a while, I actually suggested taking the stairs. I never thought I'd say this, even to myself, but it's starting to feel odd when I'm not doing some type of exercise every day. I think Ranger has been a worse influence on me than I've been on him.

Ranger beeped the Turbo unlocked and followed me to my side even though I keep telling him he doesn't have to. Secretly, though, I really like that he never listens when I say it.

Ranger pulled out onto Haywood and he didn't seem at all put out at having to be driving an hour and a half out of his way in the middle of a workday. Ranger was relaxed, and wasn't acting like a man stuck having to do stupid wedding crap. Ranger was ... Ranger, taking everything as it came at him. A homicidal FTA, gun-obsessed home-invader, drug-dealing informant, or wedding consultant, Ranger can handle them all with no change in his superhero persona. I used to want to grow up to be Grandma Mazur, but I've since changed my mind. I'd love to be a lot more like Ranger. Right now, though, I'm happy to just be the woman he's in love with.

"What are the odds that we'll be able to book this place right away if we like it?" I asked Ranger.

"If this is the place you choose, and there's a possibility of securing it, then consider it done."

"You're sure it'll be that easy?" I asked him.

"Yes. I only care about making you my wife, Stephanie, not where we do it. That being said, I want you to have the wedding day you've been picturing."

"I will," I told him."If this place sucks, I'm all for a simple ceremony in Miami when we go back to check on the progress of the house."

"You mean that, don't you?"

"Yep. I'm already with you. All I want is to seal the deal, and have fun doing it."

"Seal the deal?" Ranger asked me.

"You know what I mean."

"It's scary, but I do."

"Gee, thanks," I told him.

"You're welcome, Babe."

"I wasn't really thanking you," I said to Ranger.

"I know that, too."

"Maybe there is something to this silent driving zone of yours."

"You don't mean that," Ranger said, cutting his eyes to me.

"You're right, I don't." And I spent the rest of the ride looking between the scenery and Ranger.

Ranger is by far more interesting. And I think he'd agree with me, too.

Ranger turned off the Atlantic City Expressway, and without consulting the GPS for directions, Ranger found the place only I've seen online. We parked, and I knew right then and there that if the inside is anything like the outside, this will be the place we tie the knot. I squeezed Ranger's hand excitedly. This is the first time our wedding actually felt real. Ranger's proposal was so unexpected, I couldn't process what was really going on at the time. This is different. Right now, to steal Ranger's words, I'm completely aware of my surroundings. I know what I want. And I know without a shadow of a doubt that Ranger is going to be with me through every major decision I make from now on. And that's a comforting thought, not a scary one any more.

The lobby was beautiful. Clean lines, modern furniture, and windows everywhere. I wouldn't say it's masculine exactly, but I knew Ranger and the guys would be comfortable hanging out here. For a few hours anyway. I added another point to the quickly growing pro-side of the column.

"You want the wedding here, don't you, Babe?"

"Is it that obvious?" I asked him.

"Not as obvious as when I pulled up to the house in Miami," Ranger told me,"but close."

"I'm with Mary Lou. I can't believe we own a house together."

"Do you believe that we're getting married?"

"I'm starting to. I bet once we see where the ceremony would take place, I'll be even more convinced of it."

"Lead the way, Babe."

We met with the vender and was shown the second floor of the building where the ceremony and reception would take place. I'm all for one stop shopping in this case. The whole four room floor was impeccably designed, from the welcoming bar area complete with a few scattered couches, through to the huge room that could hold a reception that included all my Range-guys plus both our families, but still felt surprisingly intimate. The next space - which I already dubbed 'The Ocean Room' due to the three-dimensional view of the Atlantic beyond it - is exactly where I want to say my vows. It opened up to the terrace where, if the weather was nice, we'd have most of the pictures taken. There was three things that stood out to me while I wandered from room to room. The abundance of floor-to-ceiling windows, immaculate white walls, and the large expanse of pale hardwood throughout the building. Okay, maybe there was four obvious things. The fourth being I wanted this place for one day in our lives. The most important one in mine.

I remember saying little as we walked around. Once again, like in Miami, I left Ranger to discuss the details while I was busy checking out the view with my mouth hanging open like an idiot. Way to be mature, Stephanie, I said to myself. But I couldn't really blame me. This place is everything I wanted it to be ... and more.

When Ranger managed to drag me away from the terrace's railing - apparently I really am an ocean slut - we got down to business.

"This is probably a stupid question," I said to the guy who was dressed almost as nicely as Ranger is when he's in schmoozing mode,"but how likely is it for us to get married here sometime in the next month or two?"

"Normally," he said to us,"we're booked solid for a year and a half, but there has been a cancellation for the end of June. That's why I suggested you come today. Will that fit your time frame?"

Instead of saying 'hell, yeah' like I wanted to, I dialed back my eagerness and tried for a more dignified answer while standing in the middle of a place this freakin' fancy. St. Mary's and the Polish National Hall my ass. This is more our kind of place. The fact that my mother would hate it confirmed that.

"It would definitely fit our time frame," I said, then looked at Ranger.

"It's fine with me, Babe."

"All right," the guy said to us,"I'll pencil you in."

"No," I said to him."No pencil. Use pen."

He smiled."I guess we can get started then."

When it was established that I wanted this wedding not to be a complicated event, we were introduced to one of their on-site wedding planners. When Ranger joked about just hiring someone to take care of the wedding, I really didn't think I wanted that. I now realize that an event planner might just come in handy. If all I had to do was give a one word answer and have someone else do all the crap work that's required to get it done - and still get the wedding I want for us - then I wasn't going to turn one away.

Ranger and I left with menu plans, a contract, and the start of a few real decisions to make. I was still riding a wedding high so I didn't even cringe at the amount of money we had to put down for the deposit. I'm sure it will hit me later, though. I started reading a couple of our choices to Ranger as he drove us back to Trenton.

"Fireworks, Babe?" Ranger asked.

"Too much?"

"Possibly."

"But I bet the guys would love a fireworks display," I told Ranger.

"Then they can get married themselves and have their own."

"Just picture it, Ranger. Us standing as husband and wife on that terrace, the sun setting behind us. You bend your head to kiss me - because you can't help yourself - and just as your lips touch mine, fireworks burst out over the water."

"Have you been reading Connie's romance novels again?" Ranger asked me.

"Nope. I thought this one up all on my own."

"Then consider it a reality, Babe, because I really won't be able to help myself. But I can't say that I'll even notice the fireworks. I'll be too preoccupied with the internal ones."

"Damn," I said in disgust."You can even out romantic me. For a total badass, you have one hell of a silver tongue."

"And I do what I can to keep it nimble," Ranger said, flashing me a sexy grin.

It is definitely nimble. He proved it over and over again last night. And to think, I get to look forward to all his attentions, sexual and otherwise, for the rest of my life. Now that Ella brought it up, I'm going to be extra careful crossing the street just so I don't miss out on any of them.

"Ranger, you really haven't said much about your preferences for the day, ceremony, or place, aside from thinking fireworks are overkill."

"Babe, the only part of this I give a shit about is you. As long as I know where you'll be - which all your trackers will take care of - that's where I'm going. If that means Atlantic City, Miami, or Vegas. I'm there."

"Well, I did just check, and you are definitely on the guest list," I said to him, trying not to laugh."So you will be with me that day."

"This won't happen without me, Babe," Ranger said, looking back over at me.

I noticed his lips were kicked up on one side."No, it won't," I told him.

We stopped for a bite to eat before we reached Trenton, and I picked up where I'd left off with the reception ideas. Did we want it to be cocktail-style, or a sit down dinner? Hell if I know. There was no driving zone in sight on the way home, either, but Ranger didn't seem to care. I'm no longer shocked at how well he treats me.

We got back to Rangeman just before five. Tank was on his way to the stairs when Ranger pulled into the garage. He waited until Ranger parked and then met us near the elevator.

"I hope your day was better than mine," Tank said.

"What happened?" I asked him, feeling a bit guilty for hogging Ranger."I told Ranger we could have waited to drive all the way out there."

"Tank can handle whatever goes on here, Babe. He's just trying to get a little sympathy from you."

"Is that true?" I asked Tank.

"Could be. It was a long fucking day."

"That's it?" Ranger asked Tank.

"Yeah. Three break-ins. Two men stuck with the TPD for what felt like the entire afternoon after they'd captured one of the fuckers who tried to run away. And Ella caught Bobby showing everyone your grandmother's video on his phone in the control room kitchen."

"Uh-oh. Is Bobby okay?" I asked.

"Yes, but he got his ass reamed out good."

Ella may not approve of my mother, but she wouldn't like seeing anyone as the butt of a joke. I was on the fence with that one. I feel I should be upset about someone poking a little bit of fun at my mom, but my mother's done this type of thing to me for as long as I can remember, so my sense of right and wrong is a little murkier than Ella's. Maybe that's why Ranger and I get along so well. I have a few grey areas myself.

"Yeah," I said to Tank,"and I'm sure once Ella cleared the kitchen and went back to the sixth floor, Bobby was causing trouble again."

"Yes, because Hector showed up for work not long after," Tank told us.

"Damn. I'm sorry I missed that," I said to Tank, sounding a lot like Grandma Mazur had earlier."Was Hector mad?"

"No. He thought your grandmother really captured his good side."

I looked over at Ranger."Tank's kidding, right?"

"You never know with Hector, Steph," Ranger told me."He'll either slit your throat or buy you a cup of coffee and a muffin. It all depends on his mood at the time."

"You two are impossible to talk to sometimes," I said to them."You know that, don't you?"

"And yet you still do it," Tank said to me.

"Yep, I do." I told him. I don't plan on stopping, either."And our day was a lot better than yours. Ranger and I have ourselves a location. It looks like this wedding is a go."

A/N: The place where Ranger and Stephanie are getting married is based on the One Atlantic building in Atlantic City.