All familiar characters still belong to Janet. The mistakes, Mama M., and Olive, are mine.

Stephanie had just come back into the room with a cup of tea for my mother when my cell went off again. My wife rolled her eyes and let them land on her mother-in-law.

"Any chance your hubby is in the lobby and on his way up?" She asked. "You coming here to visit us was great news, so odds are this call is an emergency if Ranger's Dad isn't in Trenton."

"He's not here unless his plans changed at the last minute. After his class he was supposed to drop off the mail we've been collecting for Celia. You know she had that business trip in Chicago. She's due home in the morning and we know from experience that she'll want to go through everything. She's almost as bad as Carlos when it comes to being on top of everything at all times."

Instead of speculating on who's contacting me, I offered Olivia my arm to hold onto as she tried out horseback riding with Ammo being a suitable pony-replacement, and I answered the call.

"He told me not to bother you," Gene began, "but I knew you'd want to know that Raphael was looking for you. He asked if you were around after realizing you weren't in your office. I told him you were on seven and that your Mom's visiting, ad he said no problem and then took the stairs down to four."

"You were right to call me. I'll go check on him."

I disconnected and turned to face five sets of eyes, four pairs that are dark brown and one unforgettable blue pair, were staring expectantly at me.

"It was Gene again," I told everyone. "Raphael was looking for me for something. He didn't tell Gene what he needed."

"So you're going to go talk to him now, right?" Steph asked, already knowing the answer.

Had my answer been no, she wouldn't have relented until she had changed it.

"Yes," I assured her. "If the three can stay out of trouble."

Steph snorted while my mother made a tsk-ing sound. Olive was just happy to add a few sound effects to our discussion.

"We'll be just fine, Dear," my mother promised. "But because you said what you did, maybe we should call Julie and she and I can tell Stephanie and Olivia all about how you surprised your Grandma Rosa with a yard planted with flowers in full-bloom when she had been scared to have surgery to remove her cataracts because she feared something would go wrong and she wouldn't be able to see her beloved garden bloom again."

Steph rescued Mo by scooping up Olive and then she smiled at me. "That's the sweetest thing I've ever heard."

"All lies, Babe. Everyone knows I'm NOT sweet."

Mama Manoso is fully enjoying herself now. "It gets even better, Stephanie. He and a then six-year-old Julie had done some of the planting themselves when the landscaping company had been stuck in traffic and were going to arrive late for the job. Carlos wanted all the planting finished before Rosa was released from the hospital and thought it would be a nice gesture for both her grandson and great-granddaughter to have a hand in creating the botanical miracle. I should mention that this happened in Fall, not the appropriate season for summer flowers to be showing off their petals, but Olivia, your Daddy found a way to make it happen."

"Stop it," I ordered my mother.

"Stop what?"

I shook my head. "You just proved that you can't be trusted. I'll be quick. Raphael may need something, but clearly the reputation I fought like hell to establish will be on life support if I leave you alone for too long."

"Raphael needs you," Steph said to me. "Don't skimp on time with him because of us. Olive and I know what a hardcore hardass you really are. Whatever Mom may share with us just adds another layer to your onion ... it doesn't cancel out what we already know and love about you."

"Something tells me you and my mother would have found each other even if I hadn't met and married you," I told my wife as I kissed her and then Olive.

"It's possible," Steph said, catching Olivia's hand and pressing a kiss to her palm as our baby chanted 'Rah-Rah' on a loop. "Very good, Olive. You're right. Daddy's going to go see Uncle Rah-Rah." Steph caught my eye before I turned to leave. "If something's up with him, use that legendary 'persuasiveness' of yours to get him to come up here for awhile. We specialize in overhauling moods."

"That was my plan," I assured her.

As I walked through the kitchen to get to the front door, I heard Steph ask my mother ... "What other stories do you have for us? No, wait ... let me see if Julie's free first. Olive, did you see where Mama left her cell?"

I should be concerned, but nothing anyone ... my mother, her mother, or those counting on us to fail, says to her ... it doesn't change how Stephanie sees me. She won't let it. Helen accuses me of murder every other day, and Steph's go-to response now is 'Better be careful then. You could be next.' No one in the Burg has figured out how to respond to that, so Steph just hangs up and then smiles wide at me. She knows who she married and hasn't regretted a thing in her life since.

I stepped out of the stairwell on four and knocked on Raphael's door. He appeared to be unaffected by the hate-attack he survived, beyond joking that he can now predict the weather with his ribs, but I know how tricky the subconscious can be. It could have just taken time for it to sink in how close to dying he came, or how the hate that had prompted his assailants to turn violent is steadily increasing ... not being beat back into the past where it belongs, so the fear of being subjected to another assault continues to loom.

Raphael opened his door and seemed dismayed to see me standing there. "I told Gene not to bother you."

I walked into his apartment and waited for him to close his door before I spoke. "Yeah and I tell everyone who works for me to contact me immediately if they see that something is going on with anyone. I win."

His 'touché' grin had me relaxing slightly. I've dealt with many triggered-men and smiling can be a terrifying predictor of a decision they've come to, but with Raphael ... I don't sense emergency with his grin.

He invited me to sit down in the small living room, which I did after a sweep of the room with my eyes. The apartments on four are as neutral and sterile as my own apartment had been before Steph, Olive, and the mutts, happened to it. But Raphael had made this one his own. A few books ranging from engine-repair, Veterans' recounts of their time in Vietnam, and road trip routes, littered his coffee table. A blanket with his favorite football team's logo was thrown over the arm of the couch, and a small picture Bobby had taken of Olivia squishing Raphael's cheeks together to form a 'Range-fish' face with her two tiny hands, was on a middle shelf in the cabinet housing his entertainment system.

But what is the most telling ... is the jacket I spotted that was too small and too bright to be his, draped over the back of a kitchen chair. It seems Aubrey has been making some inroads here.

"You needed to talk, so start," I ordered him, once he sat down on the couch opposite of the chair I'd taken over.

"I'm not sure how to start ..."

"Do exactly that. Just say what's running through your mind."

"Alright. Excuse me for asking, Sir ... but how did you know Stephanie was 'Your Babe'?"

"She made me see color again."

His expression showed his confusion. "I don't understand."

"I don't either, but it's the closest I've come to describing Stephanie. You know that moment when you take off your sunglasses and your eyes are once again able to see the vibrancy of every color without a grey lens muting it?"

He thought about it, and then nodded a beat later. "Yeah. It takes a few seconds for your eyes and brain to adjust to the change in everything you see."

"In my case, she did that with my emotions, not just my eyes. I was adamant in not allowing myself to care about anyone beyond my family and the men I've served with. Stephanie stormed into my life and my resolve to remain a loner was completely shot to shit."

His body seemed to deflate with relief before my eyes. He understands exactly what I mean. "So you just ... knew ... Steph was yours?" He asked.

"On my end ... yes. She required a little convincing."

"We all see how she looks at you. Steph likely just needed reassurance that she wasn't the only one seeing that the 'I'm staying single' days were numbered."

"That's a polite way of saying it. So I'm guessing you're ready to propose to Aubrey?"

"I think so. I can't picture living without her, but it hasn't been very long since her asshole husband got himself killed. I'm terrified that if I do ask her, it'll freak her out and she'll cut me out of her life because I got too committed too fast."

"Have you two discussed marriage?" I asked him.

"Not specifically. You overheard what she said to Steph ... that I'm the only man she could see getting that serious about again."

"I remember. You seemed excited to hear her say it even then."

"I was. Harper joked last week at Aubrey's place that my girl and I have to wait until after she's had Angelique before we get married so she won't look like she'd dressed up a beach ball in our wedding photos ... and Aubrey just laughed. She didn't appear rattled at all at Harp's implication that we'll get married someday."

"That's a good sign."

Since I now know somedays become one day.

"I thought so too, but after I found what I know is 'her ring' ... panic set in that I could lose her completely by rushing to try to have her forever."

"Do you seriously think she'd dump you just out of fear?" I asked.

"No, not really. At worst, I think she'd say we're moving too fast or that we don't need to get married to prove we love each other."

"I don't like making my personal life public, but Stephanie and I got married after Olivia was born ..."

"I didn't mean ..." he started to say.

"Don't interrupt me. I'm getting to the point. In a perfect world, I would have married Steph five minutes after meeting her. That outcome took a little longer to achieve, but where are we now?"

"Happily married, completely obsessed with each other, and have a daughter we're all in love with. You're saying to go with my gut and just do what I feel?"

"I can't tell you what you should or shouldn't do. This is entirely your life and your decision. My advice would be to not give up if Aubrey is your reason for wanting to get out of bed every morning. If she decides now isn't the right time for you two to get married ... don't be a dick and let your pride make you bail because she could be ready in a month, a year, or even five. I can tell you from experience that the wait, if there is one, is totally fucking worth it."

"Thank you, Sir. For taking time to talk to me about something like this."

"I don't want or need a thank you. I just want an immediate update on the situation when there is one. If you're still in the thinking/planning mode, Steph told me to coerce you into coming back to seven with me. Olive was talking enthusiastically about her 'Uncle Rah-Rah' as I was leaving."

I couldn't be sure, but I got the sense that my last words got to him more than all my others, as he likely pictured his own 'Olive' he could have with Aubrey one day.

"I'd take Steph up on the invite, but tell her and Olive that I promise I'll see them tomorrow. I think I'm going to swing by Aubrey's place. She should be home from work by now."

"Whatever happens ... good luck," I told him.

"Thanks. Hopefully I won't need it."

If I could get 'Stephanie Plum' to agree to be 'Stephanie Manoso' for the rest of her life, I knew miracles can in fact happen beyond Grandma Rosa's garden blooming at a time when her flowers should be long dead.