Chapter 14 - Meet the Family

RPOV - The Plum House

I was sitting in the driver's seat of my Cayenne looking over at Steph mumbling about dreading getting out of the car. We were on our way to the Plum house and it was the first time that Me, Steph, and Julie would be visiting since we became a sorta family. I was holding her hand to keep her calm. "You got this Babe. Everything is gonna be okay and if you wanna leave just say the word and we will.

"Yeah, It's going to be okay Steph. I have faith." Julie spoke up from the back seat.

"Thanks Carlos and Thanks Jules. I hope your right"

We pulled up to the house and I parked the car behind Val's mini van. Within seconds her Grandma, Val, and my Mom were standing at the doorway. I have no idea how they always managed to know when we were here but it was pretty amusing. I slipped out of the car and ran around to open both Julie and Steph's doors. Julie hopped down on her own and I helped Steph out of the car placing my hand on the small of her back.

"Stephie! It's been too long! I see you brought the man with the yummy package. But who's this?" Stephanie Grandma asked.

"Hey Grandma. This is Julie Ranger's daughter. Let's go inside. I have a lot to tell you guys." Stepahnie hugged the three women in the doorway and then proceeded into the home. We took the seat across from the three women at the dining room table. Frank came in from the living room and sat at the head of the table.

"Well I asked you to meet you guys here today because I have some updates to my life I think you might be interested in. First, I'm officially no longer a bounty hunter." I saw relief spread across all of their faces. "I'm now working full time for Rangeman and while I am going through training so I can qualify for field work I am not on the active duty roster to do so. I realized at the beginning of the year how much danger I was putting myself and you guys in and I wanted to improve."

"Do you still get to go after the skips?" Grandma Mazur asked.

"Not unless I'm absolutely needed but if I do I'll be taking a Rangeman partner."

"Darn. Well I'm sure we'll find other ways to have some fun."

"Of Course, Grandma. Just give me a call." Steph smiled and squeezed her Grandma's hand from across the table. "Second, I'm sure you've probably seen the video of Joe Morelli's confession."

"We all watched it on livestream." Val said.

"We'll then you'll know that my relationship and friendship are completely over and never to be rekindled with Joseph Morelli. I'm also sure you picked up from the video that me and Ranger have entered a serious relationship. In fact we just moved in with each other. Mom, I know you want me to marry a nice boy from the burg and stay at home and be a housewife but this is my life and I'm happier than ever so if you can't accept us I will leave and this will be the last time you see me. Stephanie paused and looked expectantly at her mother.

"Stephanie, I know that the last time we spoke It didn't end well. I've been doing a lot of thinking since then and then when I saw the livestream. Well, I know that I pushed you towards Joe and constantly berated you over your life for that I am truly sorry. I just wanted you to be happy and I thought that if you had what I had you would be. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me." Her mom looked down and used a handkerchief to wipe her eyes. "But can I ask one question?"

Stephanie reached out for her mom's hands. "Mom, I can't say that some of the things you've said to me over the years didn't hurt but I will always love you. So of course I'll forgive you and I look forward to rebuilding our relationship. Now what was your question?"

"Well, I guess it's more for Ranger." She looked up at me "Is that your real name?"

My lips twitched upward. "No, you may call me Carlos." She nodded and a small smile broke out on her face.

Stephanie had relaxed now so she continued to share her news. "Well then I guess you are wondering who this is." Stephanie put her arm around Julie. "This is Julie, she is Carlos's daughter and she is now living with us permanently."

"Hello Julie. I look forward to getting to know you." Helen said.

"It's nice to meet you Julie. My daughter Angie is your age. Will Julie be going to school with Ang next year, Steph?" Val asked.

"We haven't decided yet but Julie will probably go to private school in the fall." Steph replied. I noticed both Val and Julie's faces drop a little. I will have to look into that, I know the Kloughn's send their girls to public school.

"But, we can still arrange for you two to have sleepovers." Steph added. Julie and Val perked up a little. "Well I think that is all my news except, Grandma, now that I am living with Ranger I would like to offer you my old apartment and I will cover your rent. I know that you will need rides, so you are always welcome to call me and I'll arrange for a ride. Do you think you'd be interested?"

"She's interested!" Frank stated, joining the conversation for the first time. The entire group broke out into a fit of laughter. We stayed for about an hour catching up. About 20 minutes before we had to leave Frank asked me to join him in the Garage. I followed him outside.

"Let me just start by saying that I'm glad you finally got out of your head and made things official with my daughter. I know I don't speak up much but it's truly just an agreement that I've always had with my wife. She handles the kids and I handle the house and finances. But I would've never let my daughter marry that cop. He wasn't right and he didn't love her. Do you love her?"

"Yes, with my entire heart."

"Do you intend to marry my daughter?"

"Yes sir, I would love to call Stephanie my wife someday." I responded.

He nodded and then asked his next question. "Do you plan on having kids"

"I will do whatever Stephanie wants."

"Well I hope you can convince her to say yes. Promise me that if you do have kids you'll give me a grandson?"

I smiled, "Absolutely."

"Do you have the means to take care of my daughter and potential grandchildren?"

"Yes sir, beyond my Trenton branch I have branches in Boston, Atlanta, and Miami. I also have money invested in stocks and real estate from all of my government missions."

"Good. Well that's all I have but just know If you hurt my daughter I will take you down." Then he walked out of the garage. I rubbed my hand over my face and chuckled to myself. I had no intentions of ever hurting Stephanie but I knew that if I did Frank would follow through on his threat.

I returned to the house and said goodbye along with Stephanie and Julie. We would be going to visit my family for Easter tomorrow so Stephanie promised her mother that we would come celebrate with them in the evening.

LPOV - Back at Rangeman

I walked into the control room and immediately went up to Bobby and hugged him from behind. It was just me and him in the office today. I gave him a small kiss behind the ear and then sat down on the chair next to him.

It was Easter and the rest of the men had either worked earlier in the day or took the day off to be with their families. Tank was supposed to be here too but he called in a week ago telling us he was offline and hasn't been heard from since. We were worried at first but before we could send out the calvary to check if he was in danger Stephanie informed all of us about his plans to propose to Lula.

"How are the accounts looking?" I asked.

"Good. No disturbances on any of the feeds. We have three patrols out right now; Vince, Fish, and Case are all partnered with three contract workers."

I nodded in acknowledgement before we both fell into a comfortable silence. After about an hour I was taken by surprise when Bobby turned to me.

"I think we should tell everyone about our relationship." He blurted out.

"I… What…Why?" I stumbled over my response.

He pushed his chair over towards me and turned mine to look at him. "If you're not ready, that's okay we can wait but It's just with everyone around us finding their happiness, I think it's time we share ours with everyone else. I love you Lester."

I concentrated on his words and thought about my response. I was hesitant because I didn't know if our friends and families would accept us but I wanted to make Bobby happy. "Okay. I love you too Bobby" Then I leaned over and kissed him.

After a few minutes. We heard a loud crash. We immediately broke apart and looked over at Ella who had dropped a tray of coffee mugs that were now broken and spilled at her feet. I got up and immediately helped her into a chair as Bobby moved to clean up the spill. She started tearing up before she said "I'm just so happy for you two" through her tears. I gave her a hug and looked at Bobby and smiled, I was no longer worried.

Ella left the room after calming down and giving us both big hugs. We returned to the control desk both glad no emergencies had come in when we were distracted from the feeds. Before falling into the silence I added one more thing. "I'm not gonna lie I was nervous about coming out but Ella's reaction made me confident. But I want to come out with a splash."

"I think we can make that happen." Bobby replied before we turned back to the monitors both with smiles plastered across our faces.

SPOV - Celia's Beach House

Today Ranger was taking me and Julie to officially meet his family for the first time. To say I was nervous was an understatement. We were going to his older sister Celia's beach house in Sea Girt, New Jersey. Normally his parents would host but he said their kitchen was being remodeled so the festivities were moved to his sisters this year.

We pulled up to a gorgeous beach house. It was two stories and was a classic coastal style home.

"Wow this is Aunt Celia's House?" Julie asked as we pulled into the driveway.

"Yes, Her and her husband Marcus are both doctors. They have 3 kids, two older than you and one younger." Ranger responded. He parked and we got out of the car making our way to the front. Ranger rang the doorbell and his sister Isabella opened the door.

"Stephanie, Good to see you again!" She gave me a big bear hug pulling me away from Carlos. "Julie, my how you've grown up!" She moved away from me to give Julie a quick hug as well. She gave Carlos a quick hug before leading us further into the house. We entered the living room and there were people everywhere. The Manoso's really were quite a large family. Isabella used her fingers to whistle and the room stopped what they were doing to look at us. I gulped from all the eyes suddenly staring us down.

Isabella waited a moment before formally announcing us to the room. "Everyone! I present Stephanie and Julie!" It laughed a little at how regal it sounded. The entire room suddenly broke out into excited cheers. Suddenly we were surrounded by Ranger's mother Maria and his other sister's. After a round of welcome hugs to all of us. They along with Isabella whisked me away to the kitchen. Julie was quickly integrated into the cousins group and Carlos was separated into a group of men who had to be his father, brother, and brother in laws.

"Stephanie, we are so very excited to finally meet you. We have heard so much about you from Carlos and his friends. Please call me Mama or Maria. Mrs. Manoso is my mother in law." I chuckled at her statement as it is what I tell people when I introduce myself. "It's so nice to meet you Maria. I hope I can live up to the expectations."

An older woman introduced herself next. "Estephania, It is so nice to meet you. I am Aubela Rosa. It is so nice to meet the woman who brought our Carlos back to us." I took her extended hand in mine.

"You're very welcome and It's so nice to meet you. I've heard so much about you. But I'm not sure I understand what you mean."

"Carlos was lost to us for many years since he joined the Army. His friends always told us it was due to his desire to protect us. His dissociation worried us for many years but then he met you. Slowly he returned to us and you my darling are that reason. I can see the love you have for eachother. You can't see him now but he has looked over here every thirty seconds." I blushed at her statement and walked over to offer her a hug which she gladly welcomed.

I sat down next to her and his sister's and sister in law introduced themselves. Carlos was a middle child Celia, Sophia, and Delila were all older. Isabella and Robert were twins and younger than him. They were all married and had a range of kids between. Sylvia was married to Robert. I learned a lot about Ranger in a short time and they in turn asked me about a hundred questions about me as well. I was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed but I was enjoying my time.

I'm not sure why I was so nervous to meet Carlos's family. They were all so welcoming and I was excited to finally meet them. An hour or so later Carlos came up to me and hugged me against him from behind. Suddenly there was a shift in the room and it seemed like everyone got up and moved without anyone actually saying anything. Julie came running up and stood next to us.

A man who looked a lot like Carlos but with silver hair and less muscular stood up next to Mama Manoso. "Family. It's time for the hunt! Please gather your family and meet out in the backyard!"

"A hunt? This isn't some weird horror movie like tradition where we have to try and escape your family from killing us is it?" I asked knowing it was rather unlikely.

Carlos started full on laughing before responding. "No Babe, nothing like that. The hunt is an easter egg hunt. It's a big tradition in my family and the bragging rights if you win are very coveted within this family. I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys about it before I kind of forgot about it as this is the first Easter I have spent with my family in a while." He started leading me and Julie to the backyard. "When we were younger we always competed in teams with each group of siblings competing against the other. As we got older and my siblings started getting married and having kids the tradition became family vs. family. It's really really competitive." I could tell he was nervous that his family was gonna ruin my love for him.

"Well then I guess we'll have to win." I said, grabbing Julie's hand to take our place where the other families were lined up. The grandparents made their way out to sit out on the patio and watch.

Mr. Manoso came and stood in front of all of us. "Okay everyone I have hidden 500 eggs around the yard. Some have prizes and others are empty. The family with the most eggs wins the bragging rights for the year. These rights will also get you first dibs on weekends at the family vacation homes this summer. As you all know the golden egg was also hidden. This egg is worth an extra 50. You have an hour and a half to find as many eggs as you can. If you get into a fight that's your own problem but the more time you waste fighting the less time you'll have to find eggs. This year we have added an element you each are going to be given a 15 foot rope. All members of your family will have to hold onto the rope the entire time."

As the ropes and baskets were being handed out we huddled up together to discuss strategy. Me and Julie would hold on at the ends and Ranger would hold the basket and rope in the middle of us. We would then circle around him gathering eggs. When one of us spotted the golden egg we would pump our arm in the air three times. We breaked from the huddle excited to show the rest of the family what we were made of.

Mama Manoso finished handing out the ropes and then took her place at the front of the yard next to her husband with a green flag in one hand, she took the bull horn in the other "Okay everyone on your marks, get set, GO!" She brought the flag down from the raised position above her head.

We took off running looking for eggs. I saw some by the bushes by the side of the house and ran over and grabbed five of them. Then I placed them in the basket Ranger was holding. Julie ran over putting three in that she handpicked up from the flower bed. We continued running around the massive yard grabbing every egg we could find. After an hour or so the eggs were dwindling down but the golden egg had yet to be found. A couple fights had broken out between Delila and Sophia's families and Isabella and Robert's families during the hunt. From the looks of it we were pretty much even with Sophia's family. We were looking around the beach when I noticed that something shiny at the top of the flagpole back up by the house. I quickly tugged on the rope to get their attention before pumping my arm. I quickly pointed to the flag pole waiting for them to notice. We took off running.

We were about halfway to the pole when Robert's family came running from the side of the house and Celia's came from the greenhouse. We picked up our pace and made it to the pole first. Carlos utilizing his Army skills quickly brought the flag down and I grabbed the golden egg. We all celebrated before Carlos raised the flag again. A few minutes later we heard the blast of a loud horn and then Ranger's father asked everyone to return to the house for counting.

Mr. Manoso took each of our baskets into an office to count them. It seemed that everything went back to normal as the cousins started playing again, the men bantered in the living room, and the women gathered in the kitchen to prepare for dinner. The food was plentiful and look absolutely delicious. I was still learning how to cook from Ella so I wasn't able to help very much but I did what I could and made a mental note to learn how to cook some of the dishes his sisters told me were Carlos's favorites.

We carried everything out to the tables that had been set up by the men and prepared for the feast. I took my seat with Carlos on my right and Mama Manoso on my Left. Julie was to Carlos's right. Before we began eating Mr. Manoso stood up.

"Family I can't tell how proud it makes me to see my family here before me today. For many years we were missing a piece of our hearts and it is my great pleasure to welcome Stephanie and Julie. Now for the results of our little competition." The air in the room grew silent.

"In sixth place was Delila's family with 55!" This made sense as all three of her kids were younger than 5. "Next was Isabella's with 67. Then there was a tie between Sophia and Robert's family with 84!" I looked over at Carlos and Julie and saw that they were keeping count in their heads too. This was gonna be close but the golden egg might just put us in first. "Drum roll please." Everyone drummed their hands against the table until Mr. Manoso made a silence gesture. "The winner is Carlos, Stephanie, and Julie with 135! Celia, your family found 125 eggs but the golden egg put Carlos over the top! Congratulations everyone you will be able to pick up your winnings on your way out. I have added a few extras to your bags to make them more even. Now let's eat!"

We spent the rest of the day with the Manoso clan eating, celebrating our win, and enjoying getting to know our new family before heading out to see my family. I was so nervous at the beginning of this week that my family wouldn't accept my choices and Carlos's family wasn't going to accept me, I was never happier to be wrong in my life.