A/N: Wow, this has been a long exhausting week for me! So excited that it's Friday! I hope everyone has some fun plans in store for them this weekend. :) Hope you enjoy this chapter. This chapter made my heart yo yo.

Previous Chapter: "Are you going to be our new mommy?"

My heart skipped a beat. "I'm afraid not, sweetheart. You're going to go home with your Aunt Christine and Uncle Brad tomorrow."

"Oh," she paused. "I like them. They have a pretty house and always give cool presents."

I smiled and kissed her head.

"But I like you too," she yawned and I felt her head grow heavy and droop.

"I like you too, ladybug," I closed my eyes and the tears began falling.

Chapter 7

My mind was flooded with the thoughts of "what ifs." What if I I was smarter and kept myself prepared for something bad to happen with Deuce since I felt it in my gut. What if I had been smarter about letting someone know that I was going off duty to catch a FTA with Deuce would they have found me instead of me being held captive for weeks? What if I didn't lose the Ranger and my child. My heart swelled up at the thought of our unborn child.

Would it have been a little girl, so sweet and innocent like Mia? I couldn't help but think of the sweet little girl that could've been. Would she have been a daddy's little girl? Or would she have been a little hellion making all of the boys quiver at her feet. I smiled to myself thinking of her having all of the Merry Men eating out of the palm of her hands. Or would we have had a little boy who admired his daddy so much he tried to do whatever it took to make him proud? A mini Ranger who caused his mother multiple heart attacks on a regular basis?

I never gave much thought to having kids of my own until I was faced with the loss of my own. And now the possibility of even having one could be complicated from the damage done.

I squeezed the tears from my eyes and turned away from Mia and let the sobs roll out silently. I cried for the loss of my child. I cried for the possibility of no children in my future. I cried for the kid's loss of their mother and essentially the loss of both their parents since their father will most likely not be a part of their lives again.

"Babe," a voice came from the shadows and wiped the tears from my stained cheek.

"Ranger," I grabbed the hand and held it to my trembling face unsure if it was a dream or not.

He reached over and lifted me into his arms bridal style and quietly left the room, shutting the door behind him. He then settled me down onto the couch and took a seat next to me.

I swiped at my face and tried to regain my composure as best as I could. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were coming back. I know this is the last thing you expected to come home to see. Tank told me it was ok and that you weren't expected to be home any time soon."

He didn't respond. We were still sitting in the dark but I could make out the outline of his large frame and rise and fall of his immaculate chest. I wanted to throw my arms around him and not let go.

"It's ok," he finally spoke up.

"It's only for tonight anyways. Their guardians will be arriving in the morning."

Silence.

"Where have you been?" I worked up the courage to ask.

"Classified."

"Oh," I replied knowingly. "I can wake the kids and we can go down to Manny's. I'm pretty sure he's bunking at his girlfriend's place tonight," I started to get up.

He reached out and placed his hand on my arm and guided me back down to the couch. "Let them sleep."

"Thank you."

Ranger's inability to hold a conversation usually infuriates me. And this was no different except my irritation was mostly replaced with discomfort. I haven't seen the man in half a year and now I don't know how to act towards him.

"What's on your mind," he cut through the silence.

"Nothing. I'm just concerned for the kids."

"Liar."

I clamped my mouth shut and thought better than to start arguing back. My lips began to quiver unable to respond to him. Truthfully, what would I say to him? I'm sorry, I was sad because I lost a child I didn't know we had? He pulled me into his arms and stroked my hair.

"You would've made an incredible mother," he whispered to me sadly.

With that I lost control and cried uncontrollably in his arms. Ranger was back. But was he here to fix things or will he be moving on again?

^o^ * ^o^

I felt something cold and wet swat my face that startled me awake. I opened my eyes and turned my head to see a beautiful baby boy sitting next to me happily eating his tiny fingers and every now and them waving them around happily inadvertently smacking me in the face.

"Who's he? Is he your husband?" Mia asked sitting on top of a mountain we sometimes refer to as Ranger.

My heart swelled at the thought of Ranger being my husband. "No, he's a friend. His name is Ranger. This is his home and his company," I answered sitting up and cradling Michael in my arms.

"Oh. How come we haven't seen him before?"

"Because he was away on business and just came home last night," I smiled watching Rangers just softy rise up and down as he slept peacefully on the couch. I was now able to see just how much wear and tear he accumulated during his time in the wind under the morning light. He looked rough like he'd seen better days with exhaustion set around his eyes.

"Oh. How come you're sleeping with him when he's not your husband? Mommy says a girl should never sleep with a boy unless it's your brother, daddy or your husband," she spoke as if her words were straight facts.

"Uh…" Great…this kid thinks I'm living in sin. I apparently fell asleep on the couch last night after a good cry and this was my first time having a good look at Ranger since he came back.

"He's big but not as big as Uncle Tank. Uncle Tank is a GIANT!" she stretched her arms out in case I wasn't sure how big Tank was. Thank god for kids and their short attention spans. "He has stuff on his face too," she said poking her little finger at Ranger's newly grown beard.

"You probably shouldn't do that, ladybug. He's known to be quite grumpy."

"He reminds me of a not very fun Uncle Lester," she pondered looking closer at his face.

I busted out laughing. I've always thought that Les and Ranger had some strong resembling features. They had the same jawline and they both get the same crinkle in their eyes when they laugh. Although Ranger's crinkle was rarely present as the man tends to display no emotions.

They were cousins after all. But they were definitely night and day where Ranger was all dark and mysterious. Les had dirty blond hair and brilliant green eyes that danced when he smiled and had no problems displaying his emotions. "Ranger is Uncle Les' cousin."

"Oh." She leaned over and placed a hand on each side of his face and stretched his lips out to a smile. "This looks better."

I giggled, "I agree!"

Ranger's eyes flew open and Mia retracted her hands back screaming. Ranger grabbed her tiny body and lifted it in the air as he sat up.

"You think I look better smiling huh?" Ranger asked Mia in a gravely serious voice.

She sat quietly blinking back at him and gave him a slow nod.

"I think you look better when you're smiling too," he grinned and began tickling her.

She shrieked with joy.

He turned and looked at me with a spark in his eye, "Grumpy?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "98.5 percent of the time."

He stuck his left hand out and began tickling my side making me fall over in unresolved laughter. He attacked all of us with unwavering tickles when a voice broke through the laughter.

"Oh my. It seems like we're all starting off the day with a nice start this morning," Ella beamed at the scene before her.

"Ella!" Mia jumped up and bounded towards her throwing her arms around her waist.

"Would you like to help me make chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast?" she asked patting her head.

"Yes, please!" she jumped up and down. "I'm going to make Auntie Alyssa and Uncle Rango breakfast too!" she grabbed her hand and pulled her out the room.

I chuckled at her mispronunciation of Ranger's name. He gave me a pointed look that was hard to take seriously when he was bouncing Michael on his knee.

Is this the domestic bliss I would've looked forward to if I had not lost Ranger's baby?

^o^ * ^o^

"Thank you so much for watching out for Mia and Michael," Christine Powell replied grasping my hand.

"It was my pleasure, Mrs. Powell. They are really great kids."

"We can't thank you enough," her husband spoke up. "You saved their lives. It's a tragedy what they had to witness. I knew Kit was bad news but I wasn't present enough to keep my sister and the kids safe," he said sadly.

"It's not your fault, Mr. Powell," I tried reassuring him, and then looked through the glass window where the two kids were thoroughly enjoying some sort of card trick Carl was showing them.

"Please call us Christine and Brad," Christine spoke up.

"Where will you be going?"

"Boston," Christine answered. "We have a direct flight taking off in about four hours. We're anxious to get the kids settled in so they can start resuming some sort of normalcy."

I nodded in agreement.

"I hope they catch that bastard soon," Brad grit out. "I'd like to get my hands on him first if I had the opportunity."

"I assure you, the TPD is made up the best and they'll track him down," I responded.

We all walked into the room with Carl. Christine and Brad greeted the kids with a warm embrace.

"You ready to go, kiddos?" Brad asked.

Mia nodded her head excitedly in Brad's arms; Mikey seemed more preoccupied with the candy bar in his hands.

"Auntie Alyssa, are you coming with us?" Mia asked.

"I'm afraid not, ladybug. I live here but you'll have so much fun. I hear you even get to have your own room," I pinched her cheek.

Her lower lip quivered, "But I want you to go with us."

I bit back the tears threatening to retreat from my eyes and gave her a big encouraging smile, "I'll come visit you. I promise."

"Ok," she sniffed back. "And Uncle Rango, Lester, Bobby, Cal and Tank too."

I smiled at her warmly, "I'm sure they would love to see you munchkins. But you can call me any time and we can talk, ok?"

"Ok," her eyes lit up a little.

I gave the kids one last hug goodbye and Mikey gave me a nice chocolate handprint on my blue t-shirt. I waved the off and watched them drive away.

"You did a really incredible thing, Bomber," Binkie said coming to my side and laying a hand on my shoulder.

"It was the right thing to do."

^o^ * ^o^

As I was pulling out of the Rangeman garage shortly after the Powells left, a blue Corolla zipped past me. I caught a glimpse of the driver and familiarity sank in on me. The driver looked just like Kit Johnson!

I accelerated after him trying to see where he was headed off to and it dawned on me. He was heading in the direction of the airport. He was on a mission to get to his kids.

I picked up the speed and spotted The Powell's white SUV rental a couple of blocks up and the blue Corolla hot catching up. Kit hung out his window and aimed and fired off a few rounds and took out their back windshield cause them to swerve right and crash into line of newspaper boxes.

I sped up and rear-ended the Corolla pinning Kit in between me and a telephone pole. He jilted forward and lost the grip on his gun and dropped it out the side of his window. The airbags deployed sending me into a confused daze for a few seconds.

Beep. Beep.

"This is the Control Room, we have been notified that your vehicle has been in a front-end collision," Vince's voice came over the speakers.

"Vince, Kit Johnson is going after the kids. Call the police and send back up." I shook the cobwebs from my head when I heard the sound of a car door opening and slamming shut. Pushing the airbags out of my way, I quickly exited the vehicle and saw Kit retrieving his gun.

The driver side door of the SUV opened.

I shouted urgently at the Powells, "STAY IN THE CAR!"

Kit pulled the trigger and hit the side of the door as the door slammed shut and Brad retreated back inside.

"The police are on their way, Kit. You should make this easier on yourself by putting the gun down and turning yourself in."

"Do you think I'm stupid? I killed my dumb slut of a wife. The kids have to go too!" he pointed the gun at me and emptied his clip somehow all of they all managed to miss me. He was a really sucky shot which made me feel better at my lack of gun skills.

He then threw the gun on the ground and charged at me. I had my baton out and ready and took a swing at his side but missed. He grabbed my wrist and yanked me forward, ramming his elbow into my face. I flew backwards and landed hard on the pavement as the wind got knocked out of me.

I attempted to sit up but was knocked back down by a swift kick in the side where it was still slightly tender from my previous wound. He stalked off and headed towards the white SUV. He yanked the door open and pulled Christine out, throwing her to the ground. Brad got out of the car and tried to stop Kit from pulling the kids out but was greeted with a fist to the face.

Pulling myself up off the ground, I ignored the searing pain my lower back and went into full rhino mode when I saw him pull Mia out kicking and screaming. I swiped the baton off the pavement and sprinted towards Kit.

"LET HER GO!" I shouted.

He had her by the tiny neck with an animalistic gleam in his eyes that made him seem inhuman. I leapt into the air and swung the baton down hard onto this forearm causing him to release his grip on Mia. Her little body crumpled to the ground.

He backhanded me across the face. I teetered left but regained my balance and gave him a hard jab into his side and then a hard push knocking him off of his feet. I straddled him and punched him square in the nose.

I felt the fleet of black SUVs approaching me before I even saw them as I wrapped my hands around Kit's throat and began to squeeze. Blood was gushing out of his nose as he tried to pry my death grip from his throat.

"Release him!" Tank barked.

I ignored him and continued to watch Kit's face turn a hideous shade of red.

"That's an order!" Tank commanded once again before Ranger walked up and tore me from Kit, lifting me to my feet.

I tried shrugging him off and went for Kit's tried to get in another punch but was held back by Ranger's weight.

"Babe!" he growled.

I continued to struggle against him only seeing saw red as I kept trying to swat at Kit.

"The bitch is fucking crazy! She tried to kill me," Kit grunted as Les and Bobby pulled him to his feet.

"He tried to kill his own kids!" I screamed like a banshee as Tank yanked Kit to his feet. "He shouldn't be allowed to breath!"

"Detain him," Tank ordered Vince and turned to Bobby. "Make sure everyone else is ok."

Bobby nodded and made a move for the kids as Ranger walked me away towards the sidewalk.

"Calm down," he ordered placing me back down on the ground.

I glared at him but snapped out of it when he gave me a hard shake.

"Babe, I understand the situation makes you angry. Acting irrational and reckless doesn't solve anything."

My heart rate slowed down a few beats and I lowered my gaze. "I know. I'm sorry."

"Control your temper," he said loosening his grip. "You could've killed him in front of a lot of witnesses. In broad daylight."

"I wanted to kill him," I said shamefully, realizing how in the heat of the moment, how much I didn't care if I had taken a life in my own hands.

"You know how this could look for Rangeman? You're wearing a Rangeman uniform," he pointed out my uniform.

The heat rose back up in my face. "I'm so sorry that I've made you look bad. What are you going to do to me?" I spat out at him.

"I'll figure it out later, but for now, you need to go wait in one of the vehicles."

I stood my ground and glared back at him. The man that I once called my friend. The man that I used to make my heart beam with pride whenever he'd encourage me. But now I just looked back at a man who didn't seem to hold any regard for me.

"NOW!" he barked at me causing me to stumble backwards.

I grumbled some unintelligent words before stomping off toward the fleet of black SUVs. One pulled up next to me, so I opened the door and slid in. Slamming the door shut, I heard the locks click as I sat back and closed my eyes.

"He can be such a fucking prick sometimes," I muttered and then opened my eyes to turn and see which Merry man was sitting next to me as the car began to pull away from the scene.

But before I could catch who it was, I felt a sharp prick in my neck and before I knew the red faded into black.