Standard FF disclaimers.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I Need You. Family.

XXX

With her fingertip Stephanie lovingly traced the lines of his lips on the photograph that she kept with her constantly. Her love for Carlos seemed to grow with every moment, and she could not get enough of the mysterious smile he gave her in that picture. She also touched her finger to the tiny hand of the baby. "Mat" she whispered softly. He was so small, especially compared to her husband.

'Husband'! Her face glowed with an inner peace and an indescribable joy as she repeated the word in head. She loved the sound of that, and she could not wait until he got home to her. It was nearly torture knowing that it was going to be several more days until he would here and she could feel his arms wrapped around her again. They were finally going to start their someday together. As a couple, as a family.

All she wanted was to have him with her. So, this morning she raided his closet, throwing on one of his gray button-down shirts over her regular uniform of jeans and a t-shirt. Yeah, it almost drowned her, coming down to the middle of her thighs. But she just rolled up the sleeves and tucked the photo in the breast pocket.

Pulling up in front of the Stankovik residence, she maneuvered around a small bike and a well-used little red wagon to find a place to park. As she walked around the car, the front door opened and her friend came running toward her. It was so great to see her, she really needed her today.

By the laughter she saw in her eyes, Stephanie could tell that Mary Lou knew exactly what her fashion statement was all about today. She often wore Lenny's shirts when he was away for a while. Somehow it made her feel like she was close to him in some significant way. If only in thought, it did make her feel better. The friends understood each other, Mary Lou nodded at her and then opened her arms to welcome her into a big hug. Stephanie stepped forward, it felt good to be able to lean on someone until Carlos got home.

"Congratulations!" Mary Lou whispered. News of the wedding was not widely known yet, but Stephanie had told her best friend. In fact, she had told her the whole story. Starting with her promise to Ranger to keep herself safe, and about quitting Vinnie's. Then the proposal and exchanging vows over the phone.

She ushered her into the house and led them back into the kitchen. After they settled in with a cup of coffee and some of Mary Lou's famous chocolate chip cookies, Stephanie pulled the photo from her pocket. She told her about the baby that Ranger had found. Mary Lou's eyes misted up, she had never seen anything as precious as Ranger holding the small bundle in his arms and that tiny little hand trying to hold on to him.

"His name is Mat," Stephanie said with wonder in her voice. They both stared at the photo for a long time. The magnitude of what was happening was hitting Stephanie in degrees. First she was relieved that Ranger and the whole team were safe. Then ecstatic that Ranger asked her to marry him. Then thrilled and overwhelmed when she was introduced to Matthias. Now, it was hitting her with full force that she was going to be a mom.

"Mar, remember when I told you about Nicky?" Stephanie said softly. Mary Lou smiled and nodded, and she continued. "Yesterday we played in the park again with Nicky and Tony." She looked up at her friend, a soft look in her eyes. Mary Lou made a motion with her hand, encouraging her to tell her about it. Stephanie had talked to her before about the adventures of Mary Alice and Tony, and about the family picnics with the boys. Now, she updated the stories with the nap time experiences. "It always felt so nice when Nicky would want to cuddle up next to me," Stephanie said with a wistful sound to her voice.

"But what do I know about taking care of a baby?" Mary Lou understood exactly what Stephanie was going through. Any new mother would be nervous about caring for a newborn baby, and they usually had nine months to get used to the idea, to prepare. Stephanie would have just a few days to wrap her head around all that being a mother would mean. But she had already seen the wonder and the love in her face when she talked about Mat. She was going to be just fine.

Mary Lou squeezed her hand and started to give her a pep talk, which was exactly what Stephanie needed. After a while she grabbed her hand and pulled Stephanie around the house giving her a crash course on being a parent. There was an explanation about every item that she would need to know about to take care of a child. Sprinkled with tips and tricks that she had learned with her brood.

Knowing that she would never remember everything, Stephanie was actually taking notes! Which just made Mary Lou laugh, and she teased her about writing the next sought after child care manual. When they made it back to the front room, they sat on the couch and Stephanie stared at the notebook, her eyes misting over. Could she really do this? she suddenly wondered. Overcome with the extent of the responsibility she would have with a baby, suddenly she was scared.

Mary Lou read the look on her face. "Just love him," she said. "And that will be enough!" Stephanie looked up into her eyes, she could see the wisdom, from experience, in them.

Then they twinkled with mischief, Mary Lou nudged her playfully with her elbow and said, "Besides you have Ella on your side." Stephanie nodded. Enough said.

XXXXXXX

Noisy shops lined the main road of el pueblo Tiputini. Maria stoked the neck of her horse to keep him calm. "!Chiton, Rayo!" she hushed him before moving down the side of the road. She stared at the excitement and general chaos of the markets. She had been here before. Her father had been a trader for the village, and from the time she was a little girl, he had sometimes let her make the trips to the surrounding villages and towns with him. She was used to the hustle and bustle, but Rayo was Matthias's horse and he was more accustomed to pulling a plow than hauling things to a crowded market street. She was good with him and he calmed down to her soothing voice, and slowly he walked along where she led him.

As she passed the shops that her father had introduced her to so long ago, she remembered the times she spent with him. He taught her how to read, how to speak several of the local dialects as well as some English, and how to barter. Maria had watched him carefully. She was fascinated by the way he was so friendly with everyone, immediately putting them at ease.

Paco (Francisco Lorenzo Ibarra) could charm anyone. He was taller than most of the men in the village, and just a little bit stocky. His powerful, well-built physique had always made her feel safe, it reassured the men he worked with and sometimes even attracted the attention of women. As any good salesman would, he used everything that he had to his best advantage. Many times she had seen him in action. He always brought the best price for the goods he sold, and he did so by being exactly what each buyer needed him to be. He was also honest and offered the best quality items available, it turned out to be a powerful combination. To the benefit of his family and the people in the village.

Most of the men in Cabo Estrellita passed their businesses onto their eldest sons. It was a long standing tradition that served the community well. All the necessary services continued to be provided, and people were eager to work with the families that they had known for generations. The fact that Paco Ibarra had two daughters did not keep him from participating in this tradition. He determined that any child of his could succeed. So he started teaching his oldest daughter everything he knew about trading. Maria was a quick study. She was smart and tenacious. He was as proud of her as any man was of their sons. The bond between father and daughter was forged early and became very strong. Maria learned all the lessons she needed to be a great salesman herself. He always intended to pass on his business to her, she had been well accepted as his assistant, and he knew she would do well.

Maria now made her way to the Casa Alfombra. The Pantoja family had owned the carpet store for as long as she could remember. Since her father's death, she had been the one to sell Audelia's rugs to them and she trusted Bolivar Pantoja as much as she had trusted her own father. They had mourned with her when her family was taken, and she was sure that they would help her now that she was alone in the world. Tears moistened her eyes as she approached the shop and heard the deep teasing laughter of her friend Boli.

News travels fast among the villages, and the moment Bolivar saw Maria his eyes widened in surprise. He ran to her and pulled her to him in a warm hug. His heart was full of joy to see her. He had thought that she was dead. The fires had attracted so much attention and word was that there had been no survivors. He closed his eyes in gratitude to God that she had been spared. The tears began to fall, and Maria let her grief flow from her broken soul as he enfolded her in his arms, in his love. He led her inside and took her back to sit with Yoana. His wife would be able to see to her while he took care of her horse.

In her efforts to reach Tiputini, Maria had kept herself from thinking. She had put herself on automatic pilot, so that she could function enough to find a safe place for herself and her baby. Now that she was in the embrace of Yoana, her feelings could not be contained. She cried for the family she lost over a year ago, for the family she found and had lost in the attack, for her village and the injustice of it all, and most of all she wept for her husband. There would never be a time when her heart did not ache for Matthias. She had always loved him, and she always would. After a time, Yoanna took her back into the family quarters and helped her lay down to rest. She fell asleep immediately, weary from the journey, destroyed by the ruthless attack and broken without her love, Matthias.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Hours after Dr Tom Dutton was taken to an anonymous government facility, he awoke with a start. Sterile white walls and bright, flat lights on the ceiling let Tom know that he was no longer in the dirty hut in the middle of the Amazon jungle somewhere. Relief flooded his mind, it was over. He had spent the past several months being afraid during every single waking moment. Afraid of the threats, afraid of the physical abuse, afraid of the food that had made him sick more times than not. Afraid that he would not wake up the next time he fell asleep. His mind had been as tortured as his body.

As he came to his senses, he thought that he must have been asleep for quite some time. The aches and pains that had been so intense when he was last conscious felt like they were practically healed. He raised his hand, it had an IV taped into place, but to his surprise, bruises still covered his arm and the cuts were still on his palm. What may have seemed like an eternity to him, had probably only been a couple of days. How did he get here? He had no memory of being rescued. In fact his last memory had been of the beating that he had taken from the tall, ugly guard who seemed to really hate him.

Most of the beatings he'd had were by that man. All because he had been constantly trying to protect Maria and trying to keep that monster from assaulting her.

Maria.

Maria! Where was she? Was she okay? Tom became increasingly agitated. The monitors responded by beeping and flashing, calling the nurses that rushed into the room, followed by a stern looking doctor. Tom tried to ask about Maria. But they all seemed to be ignoring him. Finally he grabbed the hand of the closest nurse and made her look into his eyes. "Where is Maria?" he asked forcefully. But he knew by the look on her face that she did not know what he was talking about.

That upset him, more than he would have thought possible. He wanted to know, demanded to know what had happened to him, how he got here. Hoping that the answers to those questions would tell him what happened to the young woman who had been unfortunate enough to be kidnapped from the lab with them. The doctor ordered a sedative and within a few minutes, Tom was no longer awake.

The next time he opened his eyes there was a large man with dark skin, dressed in black clothes standing by his bed. Tom was sure he had never seen him before, but somehow he knew that this man had answers for him. So he asked the one question that had haunted his drug induced dreams.

"Where is Maria?" his voice sounded scratchy and weak, but his tone let the man know he was serious about getting an answer. The man looked at him and responded immediately.

"The woman we found in the camp was dead," he lowered his eyes, as if he was very sad. "She may have died shortly before we got there," he said, his voice deep and low. Tom watched as he took a deep breath and straightened up again. He raised his head, and once again their eyes met.

"I need to know everything you can tell me about her," Tank said, and then he waited.

Tom swallowed hard and began to speak. The information he had to tell was not complete by any means, but he tried to include every detail that he knew about Maria. The man nodded and sat down. He listened intently to each word. Tom related his story to the man who had introduced himself as Tank, a member of the team that had come to rescue him.

He had met Maria only about four months ago, when he had visited the construction site. They had nearly completed the lab and he had been there to help with the delivery and installation of some equipment. Big boxes had been unloaded and stacked up in front of the door. He had left them where they were, since the lab needed to be cleaned before they could open them.

He was inside, starting the clean-up job himself, when a young woman peeked around the tower of boxes. Tom remembered her big brown eyes that seemed so sad, he told Tank that she had asked if there were any jobs available. Her English was broken, and the thick accent told him that she was not from the nearby village. He had been about to tell her that all the positions had been filled when she walked around the boxes. She was such a small thing, and it was obvious that she was pregnant, even though she was only about four months or so along at that point.

There was something about her that touched his heart. Almost like finding a lost puppy. He could not turn her away, so he gave her a job cleaning up after the construction, and then later as an interpreter for the men who came down from Humelik. All told, she had only been working with them for a couple of months before the altercation with the drug cartel and their subsequent kidnapping.

Tank watched Tom closely, he looked distraught. His free hand was grabbing the crisp, white sheet in a tight fist. Then Tom stopped talking to take a deep breath. "I tried to hide her," he finally said. "This was not her fight, she should not have been involved at all."

He shook his head. "It was all too awful, and it happened so quickly." Tom closed his eyes and leaned his head back into the pillows piled behind his head. "She was so sad," he said with his eyes still shut. "Her husband had been killed, her whole village had been destroyed by these drug lords. I would have done anything to protect her from what happened."

He looked up, not really seeing the ceiling, seemingly lost in the memory. And then raised his head to look at Tank. "I didn't want this to hurt her, she had suffered enough," he said. Then he fell silent as if there was nothing more to say.

After a few minutes, Tank started asking some pointed questions. Among other things, he found out that Maria had been living with a family in the village, just a short walk from the lab. He decided that he would visit this family as soon as possible.

XXXXXXXXXX

He did not have any answers. Dr Brain Taylor, world renowned ornithologist, one of the most brilliant minds in ecological sciences was unable to tell them what they wanted to hear. From the moment he woke up in the government building, Brian had been under fire. His 'visitors' wanted answers from him. Even before he was strong enough to sit up without getting dizzy, they had hounded him with questions about the research. They were after something specific, but Brian could not figure out what it was. He did not know why the Humelik people were here, how they convinced the government agencies to let them talk to him so soon. He was as annoyed as he was wary about the situation.

Finally after hours of what he considered an interrogation, they left him to rest. In the dark, he could see the glowing lights of the monitors that were hooked up to him, reading his vital signs. They were the only source of light and he had never felt so lonely in his entire life.

He tried to laugh at that thought. He had never cared about being alone before. He had his work, and that had always been enough. Why was he suddenly feeling this way and actually questioning his attitudes that had served him well for a lifetime? Trying to ignore these uncomfortable feelings, he instead concentrated on the questions that he had been asked. One by one he examined them in his mind, recalling the responses he had seen to his answers, or lack thereof. What had they been hoping to learn from him? He spent a good part of the night working that question from every angle that he could. Suddenly, a thought came to him. He knew exactly what they were after and it made him angry. Maybe Dutton's mistrust of the pharmaceutical company had not been as unfounded as he had once believed.

He wished that he had his notes. Not so that he could refer to them, he could remember everything that he had written, but to keep it out of the wrong hands. He now he felt the sudden need to keep these men from Humelik from seeing his work. He had discovered what they wanted, and he needed to be sure that they did not find it.

But just as suddenly as he knew what they sought, another thought popped up. He had to have been gone from the lab for several months, at least. They had had every opportunity to find his notes and the answers to their questions. A moment of panic seized at his heart, had the lab been destroyed during the battle between the cartel and the police? He did not even want to think of his beautiful lab and all that work being destroyed. But if it had not been, where were his notes? As Brian finally let sleep take him, he determined that he would get back to Tiputini as soon as he could, to seek the answers to his questions.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

This had never happened before, as far as she knew. And it was certainly not something that she ever thought she would see. With a well-practiced maneuver, Private Susan Adams pulled the canvased covered truck into the underground parking structure. She slowed down to let her eyes adjust from the bright glare of the sun outside to the shadowy darkness below. As she unloaded the most unexpected assortment of items, she wondered why there was a baby here at the field office. Shaking her head, she piled the boxes and bags on the cart and entered the building. Her mind mulled over the mystery. They had very few visitors out here, and certainly none with families. This was a very unusual situation.

In a short time she had set up the nursery, taking care to make everything as perfect as she could. Her shopping trip had been a little surreal, and she had had a challenge with a few of the requested items. But now she was proud of the job she was able to do. Before she could leave, the door opened and she looked at the man who walked in. She kind of sucked her breath in and tried not to stare. He was the most beautiful man that she had ever seen. The phrase 'tall, dark and handsome' sprung to mind, and she had to agree. His black hair was long and tied back, and his dark skin reminded her of her favorite mocha caffe. She was only slightly embarrassed by her instant interest in this man, she was a happily married woman!

Susan's mind tried to think of who he might be. She was absolutely sure that she had never seen him before, no way she could forget that handsome face. Suddenly she realized that this must be Captain Manoso, from the team that showed up here late last night. She stood straight and started to bring her hand up to salute him properly. It was then that the small bundle in his arms made a soft crying sound. Her heart melted, her hand paused halfway in the salute. Manoso smiled, an endearing combination of shy friendliness and helplessness. "Adams?" he said, acknowledging that he knew that she was the one assigned to outfit the room for him. She just nodded, unable to speak quite yet.

"This little man here seems to be uncomfortable," he said, as he proceeded to the table that she had outfitted with a padded quilt and a plastic liner for changing the baby. He carefully laid the tiny boy down and placed his hand protectively on his chest. Again, his smile spoke to Susan who immediately stepped forward and opened the box of baby wipes, pulling a couple out and setting them on top of the box while she opened the package of diapers, pulling one out to have ready. She stood to the side, not wanting to take over unless she was asked to do so. After all, he did out rank her.

After a moment, she saw that he seemed to be doing just fine on his own. "The baby might be hungry too," she said, still watching. "Would you like me to get some formula ready?" He smiled once more and nodded slightly.

"Yes, thank you," he said turning his attention back to his task at hand. Susan gathered what she would need and left the room. When she returned she found him seated in a large wicker chair. The baby was in the crook on his arm and he was looking at him with wonder. At the same time that she wondered how often he had ever held a baby before, she thought that he looked perfectly natural and seeing him with the baby felt so right.

The baby fussed just then so she stepped forward and handed him the bottle along with a burp cloth. He accepted both, and positioning the cloth below the baby's chin he got right down to business. When he looked up again, Susan suddenly felt like she was intruding. She started backing up toward the door, and just as she was turning to leave, she heard him softly say "Thank you." His voice was low, in an effort to not disturb the child in his arms. A million questions ran through her mind. Not the least of which was what was a man like Manoso doing in the middle of nowhere with a baby? But as she closed the door, the last glimpse of him gazing down so tenderly at the small infant made her heart melt all over again. There was no doubt that they belonged together.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX