Anything familiar, and everyone except Olive, belongs to Janet. The mistakes are solely mine.

A Key West must for my wife was a picture of our family standing beside the buoy/monument signaling the southernmost point of the continental United States. Not-so-coincidentally, she specifically wanted us beside the words '90 Miles To Cuba'. My, Olivia's, and Julie's, heritage Stephanie celebrates right along with the entire Manoso clan.

Steph's birthday turned into a day-long affair that seamlessly flowed from breakfast into lunch, straight through dinner ... and lasted all the way to bedtime. Only the size of the crowd and the food served changed. The laughs, smiles, and happy sighs, remained the same up until my wife released an extremely satisfied one into my ear late into the night long after our girls were asleep.

Sensing an impending storm once Edna and Valerie shared with Helen and Frank how Stephanie spent her birthday, I wasted no time flying my family South where the sky and moods would be brighter. The minute we landed, my ladies were ready to explore. Knowing my wife and her expressions so well, I knew one 'exploration' was of a different nature the minute she spoke.

"Hey, Jules ... do you think your Dad would treat us to some ice cream?"

Not an unusual question coming from Stephanie, but what I saw in her eyes and felt in her undercurrent had my interest piqued.

"What do you want with Julie?" I asked her.

"You know, we're on a sorta vacation right now. Your super-senses should relax a little and take the day off."

"No they shouldn't. Back to my question."

She blew out a breath powerful enough to disrupt the long strands of ribbon dangling from the barrette holding back a section of Olivia's dark hair. That sudden movement naturally drew our baby's attention, but it wasn't enough of a distraction to throw me off the hunt so I kept up with my stare.

"I wanted to ask Julie's opinion on something, and I don't want any part of our discussion to hurt you," my wife tried to explain. "You could take pity on me and cooperate."

"Babe, the only thing that can hurt me is you purposely trying to keep something from me. I'm more worried about my daughter or my wife getting hurt, so you might as well ask what you feel you need to."

"What do you want to know, Steph? I'm trying to think of what you'd need my input on," Julie said to my wife.

"We'd better find a beach or at least a seat," Steph said, looking around for either option. "This will be a longer conversation if it's turned into a family meeting."

"We can get some ice cream and find a spot on the beach," I suggested. "I'm just as curious as Julie is now."

"Great. Both of you will now either feel bad for me or laugh at me."

"No we won't," my daughter assured her. "It's just usually I'm asking you guys for the advice, not the other way around."

"You're an incredibly smart girl, Jules. I value your opinion, especially when you've had to deal with a similar, yet very different experience yourself."

"Are we talking kidnappings or something else?" My daughter asked.

"Something else."

Julie shrugged. "Okay." She turned to me. "Can I get a Key Lime Pie Sundae?"

"You can have anything you want," I told her.

"Really? Can I have a pony? My own credit card? Maybe another little sister or brother?"

"Don't push it."

I'd never let it show, but the smile that included every beautiful feature of her face would have had me promising to give her anything she wanted if I possessed a little less willpower than I do.

I bought Julie her sundae and chose a cup of plain vanilla ice cream for Stephanie because I know she'll let Olive have a bite or two and I don't want any part of our little girl upset in any capacity. We then moved our party to an appropriately named Rest Beach. The plan was for all four of us to sit at one of the umbrella-covered picnic tables, but being my mini-Babe, as soon as we touched sand ... Olivia wanted a more hands-on experience for her time at the beach.

Her padded bottom landed with a purpose seconds after she wiggled her way out of Julie's hold. As expected, Olivia began tugging ineffectually at her white flower-bowed sandals that we made sure were securely buckled just so she couldn't pull them off whenever the urge hit her.

"Sure, Olive," Steph said, "I'll choose a sand-seat next to yours. Our jean shorts should probably match."

"I'd join you guys," Julie told Steph and Olive around an impressive bite of crumbled-up pie, "but Dad would get lonely sitting way up here all by himself."

My wife rolled her eyes in an exaggerated fashion as she was freeing Olivia's toes so all ten can bury themselves in the sand.

"So ... what did you want to ask me, Steph?"

My wife glanced at me as Olivia predictably hijacked her Mama's spoon.

"Go ahead. Don't turn chicken now, Stephanie."

Her nervous look was replaced with two narrowed blue eyes. "Alright. It's a completely different situation because your Dad was barely in the country when you were growing up, and he only kept his distance later to protect you, but I wanted to know how and why you decided to let your Dad be the one he is now to you?"

Both Julie and I took a breath. Clearly neither of us were expecting that question, but my daughter being fearless and far too wise for her age, she smiled at me and then spoke up.

"Wow ... you went right to the heavy stuff, didn't you, Steph?"

"Sorry. I'm regretting that I did now. I probably shouldn't have asked you that. Olive's still really little, I don't have a complete handle on what's appropriate to ask a kid and what's 'don't go there' territory."

"It's okay. I'm glad you want to know what I think enough to ask something even though you thought it may upset Dad. But this is something he and I have already talked about. I admit, I didn't know Dad real well until a few years ago, but if you wanna know what changed things ... on a grand scale, him literally trading his life for mine I took as a major sign that I matter to him more than he values even his own life ..."

"You still do," I added.

"I know, Dad. I actually wished you thought about yourself more. Then Steph happened and I no longer worried about you … well, I didn't after you two finally realized you needed to be together. That you did the same, Steph ... let Scrog kidnap you to help get me free, wasn't lost on me. That showed me that you're worthy of the kind of love Dad gives. He doesn't show it the same way most guys do, but he cares all the way down to his bones."

"That he does, Jules," Steph said, pulling our baby close likely because I'm currently out of her reach. "You said that was a 'grand scale' gesture. Does that mean you have small scale 'Dad loves me' signs?"

"Yup. Those flowers Grandma Mazur brought with her yesterday are what got you thinking about this, aren't they?"

"Yeah. I'm almost three times your age, and I'm still researching Daddy/Daughter behavior. I know what I would do for you and Olive, and I'm finding it harder and harder to understand parents who don't feel the same way Ranger and I, your parents, and grandparents, do."

"You've always said that you're not 'a typical woman', Babe," I reminded my wife. "I don't think it's fair to measure your parents against the person you are. They're not even in the same ballpark as you, never mind anywhere close to your league."

"If it helps, Steph," Julie said, "even when Dad was just giving me a card or a birthday/Christmas/Valentine's Day gift, he brought them to me himself when he wasn't deployed. Or like he did for your birthday, if he couldn't get me - or something to me - he asked Uncles Tank/Bobby/or Lester to step in."

"You and Olive hit the Uncle jackpot," Steph said to her.

"We definitely did. I didn't just get a second Dad ... I gained three buildings full of family. Dad and I weren't close in the typical sense when I was a kid, but I always knew if I was scared about a storm that was coming, were to get bullied at school, or I just needed something explained that Mom and Dad were at a loss how to, I knew I could always call my Rangedad and he'd be there on the phone or in person to talk me through whatever was upsetting me. He wasn't around a lot, but all his attention was on me every time he did visit. He never missed any of the chances Mom gave him to see me. I figured out early-on from watching my friends deal with their separating parents, if Dad didn't want me in his life ... he would've just lied and said he was overseas when he wasn't, found an excuse to always be too busy to see me whenever Mom gave him an opportunity to, or he would've immediately distanced himself from me once you two had Olive because he has a 'new family' to love."

"Ranger never would've ditched you, Jules, let alone for me. He was ready to die to make sure you didn't, which would've kept him and I apart up until our next life where I would track him down to."

My daughter laughed and my youngest took advantage of Steph's distraction to grab a literal handful of ice cream.

"Don't be greedy, Olive," Steph teased. "Daddy only got us a kiddie cup to share and I don't necessarily want my cut of it to be strained through all of your fingers before I get it."

"Did I answer your question, Steph?" Julie asked her, only now getting back to her half-melted sundae.

"Yes."

But whether Julie helped Stephanie come to a decision regarding Frank's role in her life has yet to be seen.