Everybody and anything familiar belong to Janet. Mistakes are mine. Sorry for the unintended pause on Olive's life. I had to swear to Stephanie that she'll have a baby Ranger soon before I could start posting again. :)

As I rule, I don't respond to calls or texts when I'm on the job or doing an apprehension. That rule ceases to exist if my wife or daughter is trying to reach me.

"I know you're probably in the middle of a takedown, but can you pick Olive up for me? I think Principal Rajos is fighting her attraction to Hal by refusing to let him and Junior take our daughter home despite us saying that it's alright for her to leave with her security detail. I spoke to her, but Principal By-The-Book is still insisting on an actual parent being there."

I hit a pressure point on Coupton's body so he'd be unresponsive and I could respond the way I needed to. "Where are you? And why aren't you able to get Olivia?"

"Ummm, can I answer that in a little bit?"

"No. Tell me now or I'll bring up your location from your trackers. I'd prefer it if you tell me yourself and don't make me involve any security devices."

"It's not that I'm trying to keep this a secret, I didn't want to worry you …"

"Too late," I interrupted. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, but I wanted the doctor to agree with me before I told you that I'm at her office."

"The baby?"

That was all I could get out. My mind wouldn't let me vocalize any of the concerns now running rampant in my head.

"He's okay. See ... I worried us both for no reason. I thought this pregnancy would be exactly like Olive's, so I panicked when I felt ... I don't know ... a little off. I was terrified that my blood pressure went up or down. I know both can be bad when it's sudden. The doc didn't seem too concerned, but she wanted to run all the tests anyway. I'm just waiting for her to say I can go. On the upside, I've got a bonus picture of mini-Ranger now."

I tried to prioritize my fears and ask the questions accordingly. "His heartbeat?"

"Still the strongest part of my body."

I let out a relieved breath I hope she didn't hear. "Alright. I'll pick up Olivia and we'll both come get you."

"Ranger, I …"

"Don't argue with me." To ensure that she doesn't, I added the word that always gets to her. "Please."

Her sigh I did hear. "Okay. I'll be in my car."

"You'll stay in the building," I corrected. "You'll be closer to help if something more serious happens by remaining in her office."

"You know, I used to think I was the paranoid one."

"We've been over this, Babe. This is being proactive, not paranoid."

I felt better feeling her smile through the connection. "I love you, but I really want to jump your bones when you say stuff like that."

"I can say the same about the times I believe you're in trouble," I countered, "and I find out that you're not."

"You win, since trouble always seems to find me in some capacity. I can't even be pregnant right."

"You make me proud every day, Steph. You've been handling all aspects of being a mother better than I am as a father of almost three. I've been systematically conquering my own doubts and fears ever since I learned Julie was on her way."

"You hide your fears well."

"My old neighborhood and my Drill Sergeants will appreciate you noticing that. Olivia and I will be there soon."

"That's my kind of date."

"Then clearly it's been too long since I've taken you on a proper one."

"I appreciate the comment, but I don't need a special occasion when my life feels like one. Kiss Olive for me and DO NOT leave that classroom without seeing what she did today and taking a picture of everything for me."

"I know the drill, Babe. Kiss daughter, celebrate daughter's achievements, bring said daughter straight to you."

"And you thought you weren't marriage or daddy material. I'd give you a gold star if I had one."

"Behave until we get there."

"Sure. It's not like there's anything else to do here besides sit still and wait."

I wanted to smile at the irritation I detected in her tone, but I didn't want to give my FTA the impression that I'm a good guy as he was trying to ass-crawl to the back door while I was wrapping up my call. It's a mistake that'll cost him. I pocketed my cell and closed the distance between us. I'm not waiting for backup to arrive before I leave to get my ladies, so I went with what I wanted to do since I'd first arrived at this asshole's dilapidated man cave ... I knocked him out. I couldn't take credit for the hit since he was on the ground long before my fist connected with his jaw.

I dug my phone out again and called Gene. "Send someone out to Coupton's garage. I left my trackers on this time so get the address from that feed. He'll be secured to the building. I'm not hanging around for someone to show up and take him in."

"Is something going on?"

Gene has always been one of the more empathetic of the Rangemen. Falling for a woman with a child has his emotions often straying into extrasensory territory now.

"Thankfully, no. Everything appears good, but Stephanie is at her doctor's office, and I need to pick Olivia up at school."

I told him this as I cuffed my skip to the leg of a steel work bench - the only thing here that isn't suffering from serious neglect - and headed out of a place that needs a 'Condemned' tag ASAP.

"Zero and Slick are on the way. I'll be happy when Cal and Raphael are back permanently from paternity leave and Santos is at one hundred percent again. If anyone else has kids or gets shot, we'll need to go out and actively recruit new guys."

"Tank and I have already discussed a plan for new hires. Experiencing a pandemic with a toddler drove home how necessary it is to have both parents at home, if possible. In the first few weeks of a child's life especially. Kenzie and Aubrey are tough, but they don't need to be when their husbands can take paid leaves of absence. That arrangement extends to you if Simone or Jax needs something."

"Thanks, but we're figuring things out. Jaxton helping with Hades and Josie has given Simone some long overdue peace of mind. She's been able to focus on herself for the first time since that asshole bailed on her and his kid."

"Glad to hear it," I told him, switching lanes as I got closer to Olivia's school. "I'm here so Junior and Hal will be back shortly if you need them for other jobs."

"Unless Hal makes some inroads with Ms. Rajos," Gene said before signing off.

Emotions are interesting things. It's hard to believe that Hal, who is the epitome of an overgrown Boy Scout, is having to work overtime to prove himself to a woman whereas Atlas had one moving halfway across the country just to be with him despite an unpleasant split on his part.

In the crowd of kids, I immediately spotted the dark brown 'Ballerina Bun', Olivia's description, that Stephanie had smoothed our daughter's hair into this morning and secured with a rhinestone butterfly clip. Though Olive's appearance doesn't really factor into this. I always know where my children are.

"Daddy!" was the shriek that greeted me three seconds after I'd entered the classroom.

I'd like to believe it's because my daughter inherited Stephanie's 'tingle' and physically felt that I'm here. But I am a half-head taller than the handful of fathers who do pickups, the only person dressed in all black, and the sole person projecting protection along with danger in the way my body moves. I put my knee to the industrial carpet to catch the tornado wearing a turquoise dress today as she hurled her little body at me. I stood up with her in my arms and kissed her head.

"How's my favorite girl?" I asked, knowing a summary of her day is forthcoming.

She leaned back in the safety of my hold and pointed to the table she'd abandoned when she saw me. "I pained the alvbet!"

"I want to see it," I said, putting her down so she could run ahead and hold up her latest schoolwork. "Great job, Olivia." Each letter of the alphabet is a different color thanks to a pile of discarded Q-tips covered in paint that are now being picked up and discarded by her teacher. "Mama wants me to take a picture of what you did today so she can see it."

I was in the process of pulling out my cell when Ms. Dervis stopped me. "I'm happy whenever my kids want to display their work, but it is their work to take home if they'd like."

I nodded but was already turning to my baby. "Do you want your letters to hang on the board with all of your classmates? Or would you like Mama to see your alphabet in person instead of a picture?"

"I want Mama to sees my alvbet."

Once that was decided, I got her coat and backpack and escorted the whole bundle back to my car, raising a hand to signal that my men can now leave. It took me longer to get Olivia buckled in and the right toy and snack in her hands than it did to drive us to Stephanie.

"Mama! Daddy gots me!" Olivia announced from her seat on my forearm.

"I see that. I don't know which one is luckier ... Daddy for having you or you for having Daddy pick you up."

"Dada luvs me."

"He does," my wife said, sliding her arms around both of us. "We both do ... a whole bunch." She kissed each of us and then held up the latest sonogram picture of our son. "Can you see your little brother?" She asked our daughter when I put her down. "He's right here."

Pointing out the shape of the baby clearly didn't explain pregnancy. "He's a fish!" Olive decided.

Steph looked up at me. "You wanna take this one, since she's kinda right? He is living and breathing in fluid until he's ready to break free and join the world of us air-breathers."

"Would you like me to refer to him as 'Baby shark' instead?"

"You do that and no court in the country will convict me for what I do in return."

She's likely right ... and every cell in my body finally relaxed. Until that moment, I'd still held onto some fear that she or our baby is in some type of danger I can't protect them from. Her turning a warning glare on me was the most reassuring thing she could have done.

"Alright, let's not test that theory," I told my wife. "Olivia has something in the car she wants to show you."

"Ooooh, do I get an Olive Original?"

"You do. Her class has tackled the alphabet and the color combination would be Jersey Girl approved."

"I'm loving it already." She held out her hand for Olivia to take. "Show Mama what you did at school." She cut her eyes my way. "Looks like this is the only way I'll be interested in what happens inside a classroom."

"The education you received outside the classroom has kept you alive, Babe. Survival instincts are more important than SAT scores in our lives and in our line of work."

"When it comes to me maybe. Our girls are brilliant," she decided when Olivia produced her alphabet project. "I'm really liking the purple 'O'. It may need some glitter when we get home just to show off how perfect a letter it is."

Getting back to our apartment also took a detour. Once word spread that I had to cut my apprehension short and that Stephanie was at her OB/GYN's office, everyone's guard was up, which meant there would be at least three men in the lobby to find out if there's reason to relax or to worry further.

"I'm okay," Steph told the guys loitering near the front desk. "I got paranoid ... I mean I was proactive ... when I felt a little weird. But I and our RangeDude are both doing great. The doc thinks I was dehydrated and warned of the dangers of me sacrificing hydration for an extra five minutes of time. Oh and Olive tackled twenty-six letters today and made them all super colorful."

"Mama got a fishy," Olivia added, pointing at Stephanie's stomach. "He's in dere."

"She means I got a new sonogram pic that in her eyes makes her little brother look like a fish," Steph explained. "A healthy fish, thank God. I feel for you guys ... this being solely responsible for someone else's safety and overall survival isn't easy."

"I'd take ten jobs over the one you've been nailing," Bobby informed her.

"It feels like ten jobs in one," my wife said to him but was looking straight at me, "but truth is ... I've never felt better or happier with the choices I've made in my life."