Saving All My Women

by Rangerbabe21

What can Ranger do when Stephanie is taken and the threat that comes in is for all his women: Julie, his mother and sister's too. Where and how can he protect them, when the bad guys can find them where ever they go? Babe HEA

25. Chapter 25 Planning a Wedding

Chapter 25 Planning a Wedding Ugh!

While I was talking, Mama and Leyla moved to the same row as Stephanie and pulled out their phones and computers. When I got done talking Mama moved into my seat engaging Stephanie in conversation.

"You haven't been on the Pinterest page for your wedding or made any comments all week so we just wanted to ask you a few questions." My mama started and Stephanie groaned and rolled her eyes.

Friday May 21 21:30

"Oh I don't care about the decorations-" Stephanie tried to be polite.

"Dear I guess your mother doesn't have your number because she has been posting questions on Pinterest."

"I called her from Carlos' phone. I guess she doesn't have that number." She said the defeat obvious on her face.

"Well let's start there."

"Mama" I interrupted. "Can we switch chairs? Babe let me sit by the window."

"Sure Carlos" she said as she got up. Isabella slid over to the window seat and let Mama sit next to her in the aisle. Stephanie stood and let me move into the window seat and then she sat down a little defeated next to me and leaned over to my mama.

"Well it seems there were several dates available for the church. The first dates she has listed are Friday August 29 at 6 pm and Saturday September 26 at 10 am. Three dates in October, the 16th at 2pm but she notes that this is close to your birthday or the 23rd at 6 pm or the 30th again at 2pm. She notes here that there are more dates in November but that is risking snow."

"Oh I don't know. I was expecting an afternoon wedding. A six pm wedding means we need to have dinner and that's just so late everyone will be starving and anxious for it to be over. 10 am is early. The 16th is only 4 days after my birthday. And the 30th is too close to Halloween."

"September 26 at 10 am." I tell them.

"Are you sure?" Stephanie asks me.

"Babe if we get married early, then we can have a lunch time reception, that will be over by early afternoon meaning we can get to the airport and take a decent flight to where ever we are going for our honeymoon." Besides the sooner we get this over with the fewer months our mothers can drive her crazy. "That gives four months to plan the wedding. I also don't have a problem with a 6 pm wedding on August 29th. We can have a lovely dinner buffet with all your favorite foods and some of my families favorite Cuban dishes. We can have a nice evening reception, with dancing and cake. I will take you some place local for our first night and we can fly out the next day for our final honeymoon destination."

She turned to me. "So where are we going for the honeymoon?" She was very curious.

"Honestly Babe the honeymoon is not yet planned. It will probably be somewhere tropical where you can run around in a bathing suit and sarong. Somewhere warm. But know this it is going to be a surprise. You don't get to know till we get there, or get to the plane to fly there."

"But that won't work. How do I pack if I don't know where we are going?"

"I'll have Ella pack a bag for you. In fact I'll have her buy all new clothes for you to wear so you can't go in your closet, see what is missing and figure out where we are going from there."

"But you promise some place tropical?"

"I promise some place warm you can run around in a bikini." I said out loud and I leaned over to her ear and whispered, "or in nothing at all." I gave her my wolfish 'I'm going to eat you alive' grin.

"Well Friday at 6 pm is not so good for us because we would all have to take the day off work. So I'll tell her Saturday September 26th at 10 am. She posts here that then she will work on the reception once we have the church booked."

"Okay." Stephanie said.

"Next. We need to figure out your wedding style. There is a quiz to help you figure it out. 1. Are you getting married in a Church?"

"Yes" Stephanie said on a sigh.

"2. Where is your dream reception? On a beach, Under some trees, In a garden, In a restaurant, In a ballroom, In a theater?"

"Indoors, wherever there is enough room."

"It's a quiz Stephanie," my sister said. "You have to choose one place."

Stephanie rolled her eyes, "Fine, a restaurant."

"3. Which word best describes your wedding day? Fairytale, Elegant, Romantic, Classic, Fun, Glamorous?"

"Well I would say Elegant and Romantic."

"You only get to choose one." My mother pushed.

"Romantic." Stephanie answered.

"4. Which type of bouquet do you envision? A tropical display, bold dramatic flowers in deep hues, a loose bouquet with wildflowers and succulents, heirloom roses and peonies, a sleek bouquet of roses, lilies, and mums, or a mixed bouquet?

"White, blue, and black flowers and feathers, and ribbons with some blue or black hearts in it."

"Bold and dramatic it is."

"5. What kind of food do you want at your reception? Traditional cuisine; 5-course meal; snack foods: popcorn, donuts, cake; your favorite finger foods: sliders, mini-sandwiches, chocolate fountain; homemade pies, pastries, and desserts; a charcuterie board." My mother continued.

"Well I liked what Carlos said. A buffet lunch of our favorite foods and Cuban cuisine. Have some snack type finger foods for when everyone is assembling but then once we start a full buffet." Stephanie answered. I am realizing that Stephanie may have more ideas about what she wants and this interrogation is actually a good thing, as I take Stephanie's hand and give it a supportive squeeze.

Just then Sabine and Emile came through with their cart offering drinks, snacks, ear phones, pillows and masks. Stephanie got a Coke and a Snickers bar.

"6. How many guests are you expecting? 50 to 100; 100 to 150, 150 to 200, 200 to 250, 250 or more?"

"Oh, I don't know. I want to say just family and friends. I don't see them much but the Plum side of the family is really big, say fifty to sixty people for my family. I haven't kept up with all my cousins and how many kids they have. I don't know how big your family is. Then we'll have to see, I don't really have a lot of close friends but I have a lot of acquaintances. There are all the Merry Men and the police department. I have a couple of skips that are friends and would just feel left out if not invited and my mother has a lot of friends that she would want to invite."

"Well let's start with how big do you want the wedding to be?"

"Honestly I would be happy with a beach wedding with just my close family and a few friends. I would be happy with a justice of the peace. I would be happy going to Las Vegas and sending my family and friends pictures. But that is because I hate the fuss and bother of a large wedding. My mother would never be happy with me running off to get married or not getting married in the Church. She and my grandmother still go to Mass every Sunday. My sister ran off and my mother nagged her till she did a little ceremony with Father Charles. So, if I don't have a church wedding I'll never hear the end of it and that's not worth a lifetime of nagging."

"Yes, we go to Mass too. I know you want God's blessings on your marriage and if you ever want your kids baptized you need to get married in the Church."

"I know, I accept that this needs to be a church wedding."

"Well the Escalante family is large, over 70 people but only about half of them still live in Newark. Javier's family is about thirty, many of them live in Miami but saw Carlos growing up in his teen years so some of them may come. Carlos, you're paying for it. How many guests? How big do you want this wedding?"

"I'm like Stephanie. I would be happy running off to Las Vegas. It is the end result that matters to me. But since we are doing the Church thing, we have to invite all of the family and a lot of my men would want to be there. That's roughly 200 people. Let's go with the two-hundred fifty or more. I don't care who comes to the wedding. But I only want people that are happy for us and wishing us well at the reception. Side note: we can have some alcohol at the reception but it gets cut off before the cake is cut. Give everyone an hour or two to sober up."

"Two-hundred fifty. Everyone is invited. We will start two running totals. First the number of invitations and second the number of local people actually coming."

"7. How big is your bridal party? How many bridesmaids are you going to have?"

"Oh I don't know. Mary Lou was my maid of honor before and I had a bunch of friends from high school and college that were my bridesmaids the first time. Julie is definitely going to be in the bridal party. I'm thinking of asking Lula to be my maid of honor this time and Mary Lou and Valerie if she wants to be."

Leyla sat forward, "have you thought about us at all? I know Oshanna would love to be in the wedding. And I know you don't know us as well but we all love the chance to walk down the aisle."

"I hadn't thought about that. It's just a pain getting everyone ready when there is a lot of women and then what are we going to do with all the kids? Like Angelia would be welcome but what about Shanna and Ricky?" Stephanie answered.

"They can be your ring bearer and flower girl and when they get to the front they can go sit with Mama and Papa so they aren't standing through the whole ceremony." Leyla said.

"What do you think Carlos?"

"Babe I want you to have a wedding you will love and look back on with happy memories. I can have as many men as you do bridesmaids and there is no shortage of children. If more women are going to make it too hectic then only have a few. But Mama I'm saying now NO Mass. Ceremony only."

"Fine, Carlito no Mass." Mama said with a little pout. I know she would have the ceremony last as long as she can drag it out.

"So let's say four or more attendants. We'll figure it out as we get closer."

"Okay, next question. 8. What is the most important aspect of your wedding? The clothing or dresses, The ceremony, The centerpieces, decorations and flowers, The special details, or The photographer?"

"The ceremony." Stephanie definitively answered. I thought that was a good answer.

"9. What is your must have? Heirloom jewelry, Special shoes, Diamond earrings, Head piece or a Flower crown?"

"We don't have heirloom jewelry in my family. I want special shoes that match my dress. I don't wear a lot of jewelry. I would like a special head piece but I'm not sure if I want a veil in front of my face but no flowers in my hair." Stephanie rattled off.

"We'll answer special shoes for this then."

"10. What kind of dress do you want? Show-stopping back, Ethereal and flowing, Ball-room, or Fairytale, Light weight fabric, or Romantic lace?"

"Oh god, my dress!" I think she was starting to hyperventilate. "If it was just me I would get married in jeans and a t-shirt. Well maybe a nice dress. I already did the puffy-sleeve ball gown. I want something nice, comfortable that I look good in. Satin or silk-ish. I don't know I will have to look at pictures."

"Here are some pictures but honestly I don't think they are very good at representing different styles." She handed over her phone and there were six pictures on it.

"Pick the soft light weight fabric. I don't like any of those and I'm going to be wearing it for hours and last time I could barely move or breathe and it was a pain to sit in. I just want to look nice and be comfortable."

"Eleven is a question about what kind of band you want. But we are going to have a live band that is versatile and can play popular music as well as Cuban music. Twelve is your color palette." Mama continued. "We already know what your colors are." Mama pushed a few buttons on her phone.

"13. It's time for your grand exit: What kind of car do you leave in? A limousine, A glamorous car, A vintage car, A classic black car, A pick-up truck, A motorcycle?"

"We'll probably leave in the Turbo." Stephanie quickly answered.

We waited as Mama finished pressing the last buttons and the program thought about the answers and announced the results.

"You are a 'Classic Bride.'" My mama read. "'Your timeless style has an understated elegance and a sense of tradition, but with a Classic feel. You envision a church wedding surrounded by friends and loved ones to witness you marry your best friend. Your love of clean lines and unassuming details will guide you in your wedding planning choices for a wedding that is beautiful, classy, and meaningful.'"

"I don't put a lot of stock in those types of quizzes but that actually sounds about right. Marrying my best friend in a church, with friends and family. So, if it tells you how to decorate you can follow that as well."

"Here are the invitations it recommends." Mama handed her phone back to Stephanie. She sat there scrolling for a moment.

"Oh no. Too many choices. I'll tell you what I want. Elegant or Classic script not block letters. Black text on white or light blue. Regular rectangular, not any of these fold out ones. Something easy to stick to a fridge or calendar. I like scroll, or pretty flowers for decoration or border. I like this white and black one here but the plain black square around it sucks. If it was a pretty scroll or flower pattern it would be fine." She showed mama what she was looking at and passed her back the phone.

"Ok we will work on invitation options and get back to you."

"I would like to go through some of the pins and write down your comments and have you tell me what you think. Why don't you pull up the page on your phone and I will make the notes on my computer?"

"Okay" Stephanie dutifully said and got her phone out of the pocket of the seat in front of me and turned it back on. A few minutes later and she was logged in. "Oh my god! There are hundreds of pins!"

"Well of course dear. There are dresses, cakes, decorations, bridesmaid dresses, mother of the bride dresses. There is a lot. All you need to do is go along and tell me what you think of each thing and then we will mark your comments and make notes on things."

Stephanie just started going through them looking at each for several seconds before answering and moving on. "No… no… nope… interesting… no… I don't want an all blue dress… I like these dresses with sparkles but most of them are evening and prom dresses, not wedding dresses… Too puffy… sticks out too far… no… this black and white one is pretty… interesting… no… no… yuck… no… bridesmaid dresses… no… no… nope… no…"

"I think you've gotten ahead of me. You can label them yourself. Just click on the little pencil and put your comments in all caps first before anything else." Mama explained.

"I can do that." The next thing I know she is hunkered over her phone typing away. I thought she hated all this wedding crap but she seemed to really be getting into this.

"These black and striped decorations are a no way. They look like they're going to make someone dizzy or hallucinate." Stephanie said.

"That's fine. A lot of the pins are just to get ideas from. Knowing what you don't want is just as important as knowing what you want." Leyla said.

"Just so you know I don't like the mermaid style dresses. I don't need to be showing off my butt like that." Stephanie commented.

"Definitely tell us what you like so we can be looking for it." Leyla encouraged.

"I really like some of the dresses picked just not for me. I gotta look good enough to stand next to Carlos in a tux and that's a tall order."

"You're beautiful dear, and you're going to look stunning in whatever you pick." Mama said.

After fifteen minutes Stephanie sat up and stretched. "I've stopped labeling them for now. That's tedious. But a couple of things I noticed. I want a regular wedding cake with butter cream frosting and big frosting roses in black and blue all over it. None of this fondant crap with real flowers that have to be picked off. Don't get me wrong they are beautiful. But I want a cake that's meant to be eaten not just looked at."

"Well I guess we can do that. It's not what is in fashion right now. But if it's important to you."

"For me it is the most important food at the reception. I love good wedding cake. If I could only pick one food or one activity for the reception, and everything else had to be done away with, it would be the cutting and eating of the wedding cake." Stephanie explained.

"Well if it's that important we can certainly do it. Once you pick out a bakery we'll do some taste tests of different flavors and you can tell them what you want." Mama said.

"Flavors? I thought wedding cake was white."

"The cake can be any flavor you want and if you get a good bakery; each layer can be a different flavor. The different layers can have different fillings like strawberry or raspberry."

"Or Boston cream." Stephanie licked her lips. "I knew that. It's just been so long since I ordered a wedding cake I forgot."

"What do you think of the balloons?" Leyla asked.

"I generally like all the balloon displays. I like the balloon arches. I like the balloon decorations. I would like helium balloons all over the place. Where ever they make sense." Stephanie said.

"Sure, we just have to see how many we can get and how many we need. We can tie them onto centerpieces and they can float above the tables." Leyla said. "How do you like the flowers?"

"I guess at some point I'm going to have to make a decision on flowers but I just haven't seen a bouquet that speaks to me."

"Now that we have a date we can look to see what flowers are fresh that time of year and pick out some that will work." Mama said.

"I haven't said it but I'm officially adding white to the color scheme. Everything I've seen with blue and black only, looks a little dark. Most of it is dressed up with white or silver or lighter colors of blue. Many of the bouquets are too white needing more black and blue or too dark needing more white. I want black feathers in the flowers. I don't see it here but when I first looked at color palettes there was a bouquet with blue flowers and black feathers and I really liked it. It's where I got the idea for feathers." Stephanie expounded.

"We can look for that. I think Isabella was showing you pictures off Google." Leyla said. Isabella was sitting two rows up in the center aisle. "Isabella come back here. Bring your electronics." She turned around and looked and Leyla held her phone up and lightly waved it around. Isabella got up and came to sit in the empty row behind Mama.

"What are we doing?"

"Discussing the wedding and going over pins. Stephanie said there was a picture on Google when you were first showing her the color palettes of blue flowers with black feathers but she can't find it in the pins."

"Yeah, we didn't have the board up yet. I'll have to look at it. We have so many pins it's time to organize this board. I'm going to start making categories and everyone help put the pins in them. One for decorations, one for the dresses you like, one for the dresses you don't like. Stephanie you are the only one that can put pins in those and since most of the pins are dresses why don't you focus on that." Isabella said.

Stephanie got her phone and was bent over it once more.

"I'm making ones for cakes, balloons, mother of the bride, and the wedding party. That should separate most of them out." Leyla added.

"I really like some of the flower girl dresses." Stephanie said. "They're really cute."

"Yeah the kid's clothes are adorable. The little ring bearer's outfits are cute too. We just haven't decided if the tux should be white or black and blue like the men."

"I don't like a lot of these dresses but some are close I would like them if they were just a little different. Like this one is pretty but it's got a big blue bow on it. I'm telling you right now, no big bows on my ass or chest." Stephanie stated and all the women laughed.

"So if you have a picture that's close that you like click on it and then scroll down and Pinterest will show you more like it." Leyla explained how Pinterest worked. "Then just pin those. That way we can all see what you like and then you can see all the dresses that catch your eye in one place. This is not about decision time this is just about getting some good ideas. Then we whittle them down and you'll find which ones you want to try on. Finally we get to go shopping!"

"And for this we will go to New York City and shop for real! No little dinky store in Trenton where they have twenty of the same old puffy dresses. We'll go to the big stores where you'll have endless choices and can sip champagne while you shop." Mama said.

All the women were glued to their electronic devices and after I watched for a few minutes over Stephanie's shoulder I excused myself to get my computer. She could see a lot more on a big screen. I sat back down with it and logged it in. I quickly found the Pinterest page and was shocked at the hundreds of pins already picked for this wedding.

"Babe, here this might be a bit easier." I dropped her tray table and set the computer there for her to see. She immediately set her phone down and took up manipulating the pictures on the bigger screen.

"I found it!" Isabella declared and held her phone forward for Stephanie to see. Stephanie took the phone from her hand and glanced at it.

"Yes, see how the black feathers stick out and add so much dimension to the bouquet." Stephanie answered.

"I'll pin it and look for more like it." Isabella said.

"I think the pretties flower displays have pearls or feathers or sprigs sticking out of them." Stephanie continued. "Not just straight plain flowers."

All the women were working on their equipment quietly when Stephanie gasped.

"Oh God I'm getting married!" She shrieked and she started to hyperventilate and all the color drained out of her face. I quickly took the computer from her, lifted her tray table and pushed her head down between her knees.

"Breathe Babe." I rubbed the back of her neck in soft soothing circles. After several minutes she was a little calmer.

"It's not you." She turned her head towards me. "I love you. I want you. But the whole process becomes painful. So many choices, so many decisions. The less I'm involved the better."

My mama was looking over at Stephanie worried and Leyla looked unimpressed. They love weddings and all the trimmings and can look at stuff and discuss it for hours. Stephanie however was reminded of her first three-ringed circus that ended in disaster.

"Babe, this wedding isn't going to end like your first one. In fact we don't even have to get married. You can just move into seven and we can live together for a while. I just want you in my life. I want a life with you."

"Okay" She weakly responded.

"Ricardo you can't possibly be thinking about permanently living in sin. Think about your family. Think about her reputation, think about your children." My mama said.

"Mama, when we get back we are moving in together. We will be living in sin and you'll just have to deal with it."

"But that will be different because you are engaged with a date to be married."

"Then we'll stay engaged and set a date for next year. Then next year we'll set a date for a year after that. I want a life with Stephanie however it happens and if weddings freak her out we'll wait to get married."

"Stephanie," my mama, knowing she wouldn't win this battle with me, turned to her. "Whatever your problem with getting married is we'll help you through it. Just talk to us and we'll hold your hand and help you every step of the way."

Stephanie was sitting up now but still looking a little too white. "It's not marriage in general. It's just that my first wedding was crazy. My mom drove me crazy for months and the whole thing just got out of hand. There were so many decisions to make and she knew what she wanted and just kept talking me into everything and I had this big puffy gown with big sleeves that I couldn't sit in or breathe in and the whole wedding happened and it was finally over and I got settled into married life and the next thing I know I find him doing my childhood enemy on top of the new dining room table that I had never even had a chance to have a dinner party at and then the divorce lasted forever and was the meanest nastiest thing I have ever been through and when it was all done I was practically desolate." She finally stopped and heaved a sigh as a tear trickled down her cheek. "I had nothing except my car and my clothes and I had to move back home with my parents who hadn't even finished paying for the wedding. The whole thing was a nightmare that I never want to relive."

"Don't worry dear. Carlos will never cheat on you, because he knows what we do to men who cheat in this family." She gave him a stern look. "But he loves you like no other." She leaned over and put her hand on Stephanie's arm. "You should see the way he looks at you when he thinks no one is looking. He looks at you like you hung the moon and his world revolves around and depends upon you. He would never leave you desolate. He will always take care of you and when you find a love like that you grab it and hang on because it never goes away. He looks at you like Javier looks at me and we have been married 36 years this spring and never looked back. When these Cuban men love they love with all their hearts and it is forever. So put all your fears aside and make room in your heart and in your life for this new relationship. Just take your time, the wedding is four months away. Take it day by day and let him prove himself to you and we will hold your hand every step of the way."

When my mother was done with her speech Stephanie was sitting up and her face had color back to it.

"Thank you," she said to my mama. "I'm better now. I want this, I really do. I can remember walking down the aisle at Kinsey's and Amanda's rehearsal and I want that. I want to walk down the aisle to you. To see you at the end waiting for me." She announced looking at me. "But finding a dress." She looked away from me then turned back and got my computer out again.

"Babe I'm going to leave you my laptop when I go. You can use it as much as you want, but never leave it unlocked or unattended. Even if you're just getting up to get something, lock the computer." I looked at her letting her know this was serious.

"Sure Carlos. Always." She nodded back to me. I logged it in for her, going slowly and whispering the password in her ear. I had printed out all the intel I needed, and transferred most of it to my phone as a backup. She opened the page.

"There are hundreds of dresses in here. I really like some of them, but don't know how good or easy they will be to wear. I can tell you what I want and I'm not finding it. I want a mostly white dress with lots of silver or sparkly things and blue applique's and maybe black appliques. I want it to be white with some blue and black and there just isn't anything like that."

"What about that one?" I asked her.

"It's pretty but it's too poufy. I don't want a big ballroom gown sized dress."

"This one is pretty." I pointed.

"Yeah but it's a little too lacey. Oh I don't know. I would have been happy with a totally white dress, but they put all these pins in here of black and white and blue and white dresses and now the all-white ones kinda look a little plain. Here let me show you." She pulled up the area marked 'Bridal gowns to consider'.

"See this one it is the right style and about the right size with the right train." She showed me a plain white A-style dress. "It's just right except it is totally plain, there is not lace, or color or shiny or anything. It is just a boring plain white dress but it is the right style. So I am looking for a dress like that but with color or appliques or something to make it be special."

"Babe, you will be wearing it. That will make it all the special it needs to be."

I swear she almost looked like she was going to tear up.

"You know I always thought you were sweet and thoughtful when you wanted to be. Opening doors, helping me in and out of the car. Saying that was really sweet and generous. But if we are going to do this I want to be wearing a gown that says WOW! Look at how pretty she is."

"You are already beautiful. You don't need a gown to look that way."

"Carlos, you are… I don't know what you are." She turned to look seriously at me. "Full of it, is part of what you are. Do you know how devastatingly handsome you are in a tux? You are GQ magazine cover, every woman not related to you will be swooning at your feet, handsome. I don't want everyone in that church seeing me and wondering why we are together."

"Babe, do you remember what I told you in the living room of my parent's house? You are so beautiful don't ever let anyone tell you any different. But you are beyond beautiful to me. You mean so much to me that is so much more than what you are on the outside. You make me smile, you make me laugh. You could wear a black garbage bag down the aisle with no make-up on and your hair sticking out in all directions and I would still think you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. What you mean to me is so much more than outside looks and since I am the man at the end of the aisle waiting for you my opinion should matter more than anyone else's in that room."

"Wow, that's deep. It might also mean you are a little blind because my hair sticking up all over like it does in the morning scared Tank. I don't think we want me walking the aisle looking like that."

"I love your hair, it has as much energy and is as quirky and uncontrollable as you are." He rolled a curl around his finger and pulled on it. After a long day in the heat and humidity it was a little frizzy but he honestly didn't seem to mind. "I never know what you are going to do next and like your hair you have a mind of your own. It is one of the many things I love about you."

"Thanks, and I consider it a really good thing that my hair doesn't frighten you because you have to look at it every morning pre-shower and frizz control gel."

"Babe" I leaned over and kissed her. Slowly, deeply, telling her without words what she means to me.

She goes back to the computer and I close my eyes, planning immediately happening behind my lids. If Sergio is in Venezuela it will mean a separate trip. If we take the Concorde I can move faster from country to country even if the Concorde can't get up to full speed over solid land. I can take it to Colombia and leave it with those teams then charter another plane to Venezuela. If he is tracking the Concorde he would track me to Colombia but not directly to Venezuela.

I still need to decide what I'm going to do with him. There is no question all the cocaine fields and production plants need to be destroyed and with them the coffee plantations and canning facilities. We can burn down the trucking stations, but without destroying the actual trucks and trailers it's not going to slow them down very much. We can blow up the mining equipment and collapse some of the tunnels but we can't actually destroy the mines they would still be valuable to whoever owns them.

The planes are easy to locate and destroy and very expensive to replace. The cargo of the ships could be worth some money but as long as he still has the ships it wouldn't slow him down very much. As long as his companies were functioning the millions would keep flowing in. I kept contemplating the situation as Stephanie focused in front of the computer debating her options and pinning away.

"Babe, if that's the style of dress you want but you want it shiny then do a Google search on it." A few minutes later she was furiously flipping through pictures.

"I didn't know there were so many dresses with silvery beads. Oh look at this one it is beautiful." She just kept going. "I like this one but I want to see it from the back."

"May I?" My mama offered, holding out her hands for the computer.

"First of all I am going to set up the Google Pinterest app, it will let you pin from any website." She spent a few minutes clicking some things. "Now let me show you how to search on a picture. Most of the time you can just right click and see here where it says 'Search Google for image'. Click on that and then when you go to that page click on All Sizes. That will open up all occurrences of that picture it can find. Now you have to go through them one at a time but you will find where it was originally posted on the web and usually there will be other pictures of it. If you're lucky you will find multiple places where the front and back are on the web together."

"Thanks." Stephanie told her and took the computer back.

I was impressed with how well my mother was able to use the computer and navigate all of these sites. I had no idea that she had become so well versed with computers and the internet. She was practically a Pinterest guru. A while later Steph stood up and walked around the plane for a moment then went to use the facilities and came back to sit down pulling out her snicker's and the rest of her coke.

"I've found a really pretty dress that I kinda like, but it doesn't have any kind of train and while that will make it easy at the reception, it doesn't hardly look like a wedding gown without some kinda train."

"No worries dear." My mama told her leaning over the aisle to look at what she was seeing. "All you need to do is add a church or cathedral length veil. Then you can have whatever length you want trailing behind you down the aisle. They have some very pretty ones and many two length ones separate so that the long part comes off and you can wear the short part for the reception. Here let me show you." She reached her hands out for my computer. Taking it she typed in a few things and handed it back.

"See these ones are different lengths and some of them are lacy or have sparkling crystals and you can have whatever length you want following you down the aisle."

"Okay," Stephanie said as she looked at what my mama was showing her. I looked a little too, fully aware that until Stephanie had made her final selection she would let me see the choices she was debating, but once the decision had been made she would guard it as fiercely as a starving pole cat in the winter protecting its dinner. "Babe for future reference no one is allowed to touch or use my computer. Even if it is just to show you something. Make them get their own or have you type it in."

"Sure" She whispered back to me and gave me her mysterious half-smile.

An hour later we were landing in Honolulu and I couldn't believe that my family and Stephanie had spent the entire time working on the wedding. Well, pinning the Wedding or as they called it getting great inspirational ideas. Women love Pinterest and men will never know what to make of it. As we landed it was just after midnight and I took notice that most of the kids under age ten were asleep. Some of them would have to be woken up but I offered some of my men to help carry sleeping kids if the parents wanted.

Richard was carrying Mikie, but I had my men carry Shanna, Ricky, and Parker. Most of my family collected up at least one bag each as they left the plane. I ordered half of my men to carry their bags and guard the family. The rest of my men were to collect the remainder of the luggage and take two trips to get it all to the rooms, leaving the three crates, tents, sleeping bags and unneeded beach stuff behind.

Airport Honolulu Hotel was actually outside the airport and twenty-four hour shuttles came and took the family in two groups to our waiting rooms. There was disorder in the lobby as they had all our room keys for us but we were spread out all over the hotel and I insisted on all our rooms being together. I got a manager to straighten this all out and asked to see the original reservations. As expected Skylar had insisted all our rooms be together in two halls and some clerk who wasn't paid enough money for me to worry about just pulled up the first rooms available and booked everyone all over the hotel.

It only took the manager minutes to correct the problem and except that there were already people booked on the halls we were booked on and we were now spread out on three different hallways it was settled. I got key cards passed out, rooms assigned and told dayshift they were still on duty till all the luggage was delivered and nightshift was available. Before I left the front desk I reverified that the hotel was going to let us use their shuttles to transport everyone to the cruise ship the next day.

"Yes, it is settled, we will have three shuttles waiting for you. That should hold all your sixty people and luggage."

I had Marc and Tiger take Stephanie up to our room to get settled and I walked all the halls and checked all the rooms making sure my family had everything they needed and security for the night was getting set up.

When everyone was settled and the night crew was spread out, three men to each hall for protection, I gave my dayshift their orders for the next day and sent them to bed with the adjustment to sleep in another hour and come on shift at 09:00. I made my way back to our hotel room. I didn't know if Stephanie would even still be awake. It was just after 01:30 and I hadn't asked her to wait for me.

I found her sitting on the bed in the little red lacey number, showered, shampooed and waiting for me. She had my laptop in her hands, pinning away, and I smiled to myself. This Pinterest wedding planning was a world away from how her previous wedding was planned and obviously she was handling it better now.

"Babe." I addressed her and she looked up at me and smiled.

"If I don't try to decide. If I just pin everything that looks good I can look at lots of things and not get overwhelmed. Then when I go back to the pins and look at them it is easier to see what I like and don't like."

"That's great." I told her shedding my clothes and preparing to take my own shower. Ten minutes later, I was crawling into bed, hair still damp, removing the computer from off of her lap.

"Hey!" She yelled as I removed the offending object.

"Bedtime Babe." I said as I closed it and rolled back to her.

"Carlos are you sure that what I pick is OK? I mean how can you afford an elaborate wedding after paying for this trip. It's got to be so expensive." She looked very concerned at me.

"Babe I've got a lot of money. So it is nothing if you spend it all, I'll just make more." I told her and she visibly paled.

"I don't want to spend all your money. Carlos. Not on one day. Not for a wedding, it's not worth it."

"Babe your worth it to me and besides you could fly both our families out here to Hawaii and get married in the most elaborate wedding you can imagine and still not spend all my money."

"So you're rich."

"Well let's just say I'm many more steps past just getting by. I'm a bunch of steps past living comfortably."

"So you're worth millions?"

"Several."

"But I don't want you spending all your money on me." She was trying not to look desolate.

"Babe," I took her in my arms. "When I watched that video and thought those bastards had you… In that moment, in that second I would have given everything I own, even my cars and my shares in the RangeMan Corporation. I would have given everything to save you. To stop them from hurting you. You mean so much more than money to me. You are my sun, my salvation. You make me feel whole in a way I've not felt since leaving the Army. I don't exactly know how to put it into words. Something like, you complete me. Money I can make. But you are priceless to me."

"And your family."

"Babe I love my family but all put together they don't mean a tenth of what you and Julie mean to me."

"So you love me."

"More than my life. You mean everything to me and I have been a stupid stubborn fool to not recognize it sooner. But that video changed everything for me. It made me realize what I would give to keep you safe and what I would do to protect you and I realized that losing you, having you hurt like they hurt that woman was devastating to me. Seriously it makes me want to just take you away and keep you in my arms forever."

"Carlos, seriously that is ridiculous."

"I know that neither one of us would be happy running away from our lives or from danger. But I want to protect you and I will spend every dime I have to protect you and make you happy."

"So how much should I spend on the wedding because I don't do well with open checks."

"Babe spend as much as you want. After this weekend I am going to be an even wealthier man."

"You're going to take his money?"

"I'm going to take his money. A lot of his money. Maybe all of his money. I don't know how much of it I will get to keep. I will have to pay off his business partners with a lot of it but I'm sure I'll have some left."

"So how much money do you think?"

"I want to end up with at least a hundred million. I think that is fair for what he has put me, and you, and my family through."

"A hundred million dollars? What will you do with it all?"

"Invest it. I've hired a lot of men to help me and this whole operation is going to cost me about ten million. Then I will invest some, put some back in RangeMan. Maybe buy out my partners. Give some nice Christmas bonuses. I will set up college funds for all the kids. Put a bunch aside for Julie. Give you as much as you will let me." I smiled at her. "Maybe you will let me buy you a nicer car." I smirked at her look of surprise.

"Maybe I'll let you pitch in a little. I still have my check from Emanuel Caudillink."

"Babe I would buy you three cars. A work SUV, a sports car for you to ride around town in and a back-up for when one of the first two get destroyed."

"Three cars? Isn't that tempting fate? Won't the universe and my bad car karma just take that as a personal challenge to see how fast it can destroy them?"

"Babe, right now I make enough to keep you in cars. With what I take from Sergio I could keep them coming forever."

"So I shouldn't worry about how much I am spending on this wedding?" She asked me again.

"I'll set aside a million dollars for you and you let me know if you need more. But there are conditions for that, you don't just get a million to throw around."

'What are the conditions?"

"First this wedding is about you and me. Condition 1: I want the whole day to be what you want. I want you to say no to anything you don't want no matter how much my mother, or your mother, or my sisters want it. If you only want one bridesmaid only have one bridesmaid. Keep it the size you feel comfortable with. This is all for you. Your special day. Our special day. Think about a day you'll look back on with fond memories for years to come. Condition 2: The whole day should be automated and stress free as possible. Delegate, delegate, delegate. I don't want you to have to worry about anything. Hire an outside wedding planner to be there to make sure everything goes smoothly and you don't have to do anything but show up. Condition 3: Put in for time off for the honeymoon. I'm thinking three to four weeks. I just want to get away and be in the wind and not be worried about anything."

"Three to four weeks? How am I going to make money? How will I be able to pay my bills?"

"Babe what bills are you going to have?"

"Well my apartment and my Macy's card."

"Babe I know you might not be ready to move in together this minute. But I expect when we get married you'll move in and let your apartment go."

"Well of course that's how it's supposed to be…" She started and then she was hyperventilating again. She was sitting up in bed and I was wondering why we were still talking and not having sex. She scooted towards the edge of the bed, dropped her legs over the side and bent forward putting her head between her knees. I moved over beside her and put my hand on her neck rubbing soothing circles, realizing that the aftermath of her divorce scarred her and that is what she is most afraid of.

"Babe, you can keep your apartment as long as you need to feel secure but I want to do something else for you, actually when we get back we are going to do several things. First, we will add you to my bank account. Second, we are going to open a joint bank account for the wedding and put one million dollars in it so you can plan this wedding with out worry. Third, I will transfer as much money to your personal bank account so you'll feel secure. So you don't have to hold on to your apartment because you'll have so much money you can go get an apartment or buy yourself a house at any time. You think about how much money you need to feel secure. Finally, I'll have my lawyer draw up a prenup."

She bolted upright gasping at me and I smiled at her. "It will be a prenup that says you get half my money, half my shares in RangeMan, half of everything and if you catch me cheating you get it all. Everything."

She was staring at me wide eyed mouth agape. "Ranger I can't take everything from you. I couldn't do that to you even if you did cheat on me."

"Babe I don't mind doing it because I know I'll never cheat on you. No matter what it will never happen. So I can write that in with confidence."

She threw her arms around me and crawled into my lap. A minute later I heard her sob and felt tears on my neck and I wondered what I did to upset her. I gently leaned back away from her and put my hand under her chin and lifted her face up to meet mine.

"Babe what's wrong?" Now? I wondered.

"Carlos these are happy tears. I just can't believe that you would do all that for me. You make me feel bad because I'm not really bringing anything of value to this relationship and you're willing to do all this for me and I don't know what to say."

I just leaned down and took her lips and kissed her. Slowly she responded to me till she was finally kissing me back as passionately, tongues dueling, tangling, stroking. Lips moving in sync as only ours do. Dios, I loved kissing this woman and I would always do whatever I could to keep her happy.

When I pulled back I looked down into her happy and confused face and said "Say that you love me and that you'll always stay with me." I told her and she smiled wider.

"Carlos I love you. More than I knew I did, more than I knew I could, I love you."

"That's all I need to hear." I told her and went back to kissing her.

It was already after 02:00 in the morning when I took her into my arms. I decided I would sleep on the flight back to the mainland and kept her up most of the night. I shut off the alarm on my phone knowing early boarding wasn't till eleven. I woke up several times as my body was so accustomed to getting up early, but I just forced myself to go back to sleep. At 07:20 when I woke, I made love to a sleeping Stephanie, until she was fully awake, begging me to take her and then went back to sleep again.

Finally at 09:06 I got up and prepared all our stuff for the day. I picked out a pretty yellow sundress for Steph to wear with white sandals. Unpacked her toiletries and laid them all out. I had been following the hourly check-ins from my men and knew all the families were up and had made an appearance except my abuelas, Oshanna, and Julio. Everyone was being kept in their rooms and were ordering room service.

I opened my laptop and reviewed all the business associates of Sergio. I downloaded the file to my phone and erased it from my laptop. There were five main men who did millions of dollars of business with him but what had me concerned were the three cartels that he was supplying drugs to each year.

I sent a text to my men to knock on any bedroom doors that hadn't shown signs of life at 10:00. For half of them to collect all the luggage and start taking it to the lobby and for Zip and Zero to guard the luggage in the lobby. Then I texted the family to put their luggage outside their rooms by 10:15 and meet in the lobby, ready to go at 10:30.

I ordered room service for us at 9:30 with a carafe of coffee, extra cream and sugar on the side. When it arrived, I made a cup for Stephanie, rolled the whole cart in front of her side of the bed and went about waking her up. As expected she rolled away from me and tried to burrow back into the covers.

"Time to go on the cruise." I told her. "I have coffee and your breakfast right here." I tempted. I took the lid off her breakfast and brought it over to her lap. "I have an omelet with cheese and bacon with more bacon on the side and pancakes, but you only have thirty minutes to get ready to go Babe, so you have to hurry up and eat." At the mention of food, she took the pillow off her head and sat up, Wild Man of Borneo hair sticking up everywhere. I set the plate of food on her lap and returned with the cup of coffee.

I made a mental note not to schedule any morning activities for our honeymoon so I could keep her up as much as I wanted at night and she could sleep in. Ten minutes later her plates were completely clean and she was on her third cup of coffee. A quick stop in the shower and she was dressing without complaint in the pretty dress I had laid out. Then she was back in the bathroom for hair and makeup. For the first time on this trip she hadn't felt the need to coat herself in concealer to cover up the bruises, as they were a very faded yellow now and barely showed even if you knew where to look, under the deep tan she was getting.

Before we left the room, I took her in my arms. "I love you so much. Be safe. Do whatever Marc and Tiger tell you. Stay with the family and have fun. I expect to be back by Wednesday but definitely back by next Saturday at the latest. I will be here before you are leaving the cruise." I told her.

"Happy hunting Ranger." She said back to me on a smile. "I know where you are going and what you are doing."

"I'm going to make it safe for you again and send a message to my enemies that if they mess with me or mine, nothing and nowhere is safe from me."

"Do what you've got to do. I will be here when you are done and Ranger, don't get shot."

"Don't let my family make you crazy and if the wedding planning gets overwhelming, find Julie and go have some fun. There is a lot to do here in Hawaii. Go snorkeling, take a helicopter ride, shop. That credit card is still unlimited and I'm going to tell you a little secret that you can't tell anyone directly."

"What is it?" she asked.

"Everyone has a higher limit on their credit cards now so encourage everyone to do whatever they want, it should all be covered. Don't tell them they have a higher limit, just tell them to keep using their cards and if it is rejected that you will cover it. I want everyone to have a good time while I am gone and not worry about what I am doing."

"Sure I can do that. You know Carlos, I really like your family. Your mom is nice and really helpful and supportive about the whole wedding planning, willing to help with anything. Last time my mom was too pushy and demanding. She had a picture of what she wanted my wedding to be and since she and my dad were paying for most of it I let her push me around. Your mom and your sisters in comparison have lots of ideas, but are giving me a lot of choices. Your sisters seem really nice. They all want my input, they want me to be happy with what they are doing and it's taken the pressure off and made it easier for me to be involved."

"Yes well Oshanna and Angelia are the hardest two women in my family to win over and you did that right away."

"Yes we bonded around the pool talking about shoes and shopping. Rachel has been very accommodating and not the least bit jealous. Spending time with Julie and the girls has been awesome. Yesterday Becky and Maggie started calling me Aunt Stephie. It scares me but makes me feel really accepted. Julio is well, Julio. I think he just likes to aggravate you on purpose. I was so worried about meeting them but they are all so nice to me and fun. It makes me wonder if you weren't adopted." She gave me a bright smile and I couldn't help smiling back.

"Babe I'm just a little harder and closed off. You have to be that way for special forces. To be what I've been and do what I've had to do."

"And I love you all the ways that you are. But this communication thing. Being open and honest about your feelings is great and so new. I keep worrying it's going to stop and you'll go back to hiding behind that blank mask."

"Well I may go back to doing that more when we get back to real life in Trenton. I still have my badass reputation to maintain. I promise to try to keep being open and honest with you and share my real feelings. But it's hard. Babe I've never let anyone in the way I have opened up and let you in. Never in my life have I been this honest about myself and my emotions with anyone."

"I know, it's still shocking to me that you are talking to me so much and so easily."

"It's still not easy for me. But I realized I had to change for this to work. For me to have you I had to become more the kind of man you needed. I'll never be perfect. I have so many faults." I shook my head and then looked back into her clear blue eyes. "But Babe I'm willing to try, to work hard to make this work."

"So far you're doing a good job."

"I want you forever Babe. I may go back sometimes to being that closed up man. To hiding everything. It's my go to, my standard reaction to the world. So when it happens, work with me. Help me to be the man you need, don't give up on me. Just stay with me and we can work through anything."

"Okay, I can promise to do that." I kissed her deeply, for long minutes, melding her body to mine.

"Alright Babe, time to get everyone to the ship." I took her hand and led her to the lobby where most of my family and men were assembled. I surveyed the situation. Oshanna was dragging in behind everyone but surprisingly Julio was there tropical straw hat with dark sunglasses on looking ready to go. Angelia was still missing and I sent Marc to get her and her crew. I walked the three shuttles outside and was pleased to find Zip, Zero and Ram each guarding one, all the luggage already loaded.

I stopped in front of Ram. "Report."

"All the shuttles were checked for explosives and any mechanical failures. All the luggage is loaded and we have been guarding them. Nothing has ever been left unguarded."

"Excellent" I told him. "As always good job men. Let's get this circus on the road." I quickly wrangled my family making assignments of men and family to each shuttle and Angelia showed up before we were all loaded. When we got to the ship we got all unloaded and I sent everyone in groups up the gangplank. This time all the rooms were already assigned and my men and family, carrying most of their luggage, were sent forward onto the ship, no scanning needed. My men investigated the hallway and each room as everyone showed up with their keys and started getting everyone settled to each room.

I left Stephanie with a kiss, my mama, the abuelas and Julie with hugs and kisses, and my father with a clap on his back. With a wave and good luck my sisters sent me off. Me dragging my suitcase and carrying my two special Sergio bags, I climbed onto the one shuttle that had stayed to take me to the airport.

I stared out the window and watched as we passed every mile marker, each representing another step away from my family and away from the open book I had been to Stephanie these past few days. As we went I left Carlos behind and morphed fully into Ranger. The ruthless unforgiving killer that was going to take down this threat to Stephanie, Julie and my family.

To be continued….

A/N: Thank you all for your reviews! So a little more wedding planning with the family. I only wanted to add a little bit and it turned into a whole chapter and by the end Stephanie said she didn't mind it so much. The wedding quiz was taken from two different sites but the "answer" was quoted directly from the quiz and it was so on the money I just had to use it in the story. In the process of writing the chapter I did create a Pinterest page for it. Check it out at www dot /rangerbabe21/black-and-blue-wedding/ You can even vote for your favorite dress. Please read and review.

I've had some really productive writing so for a couple of weeks there will be two chapters a week, and that's good cause were getting into some Ranger action. Hope you enjoy it.

As always big THANK YOU to my beta Sassysaint for all you do!

Second Big THANK YOU to my sister, Jonelle. Thank you for fixing all my many little mistakes.