Chapter 24 - An Affair to Remember
Lula POV - Tank and Lula's House
"Surprise!" Steph, Connie, Mary Lou, Valerie, Edna and Tank's Sister Juliette said as they knocked on the door to my Tankie's house on Saturday morning. I was getting married in a week and I couldn't be more excited.
"What are you guys doing here?" I asked.
"It's time for your bachelorette party!" Connie exclaimed.
"Yeah! We know you were excited for Vegas but couldn't cause you had to go to court to finalize the adoption of Sammy and Sarah but we thought that shouldn't stop us from throwing you a party!" Val added.
"Wowza thank's guys! I wish I could but Tankie's working today and I have to watch the twins." I sadly told them.
"We've got that covered!" Stephanie whistled and Ella and Luis started getting out of the car. "Ella and Luis have agreed to be the babysitters for the day!"
"You've thought of everything white girl! Who's watching Jamie and Julie though if I have your primary babysitters?"
"My parents. My Dad is beyond excited to finally have a grandson and even more excited to have two once Val births hers. My Mom wanted to make Jam today so she was excited to have the help of all the girls although I expect only Ang and Jules will help her."
"Well then let's get this show on the road. What's the first stop?"
"A spa day!" Mary Lou shouted from the back. I didn't know her very well at the beginning of this year but spending time with Stephanie introduced me to her and Val and we all quickly became fast friends. It was nice to finally have a group of people to hang out with that were all from clean backgrounds but I really did need some more color in my life so it was good to have Juliette around and I could always go to the beauty parlor.
"Sweet! Like massages, facials, and getting our nails done?"
"Yep Carlos told me there was no price so we could do the full treatment and get waxes and mud baths if we really wanted to." Steph informed everyone. She led the way out of the house after I gathered my bag and said goodbye to my children.
On the curb was a big black stretch limousine with an older gentleman in one of those fancy chauffeur hats waiting to open the door. We all piled in and I got to pop the bottle of champagne for the first round of mimosas. About an hour later we pulled up to a fancy spa next to the ocean and we were all 2 or 3 drinks in. When we entered the building a hostess showed us to the dressing rooms so we could lock up our things and change into fancy ass robes that were plusher than any towel I've ever used. Steph whispered into my ear that we got to keep them.
Once we were all changed a small asian lady came out and gave us all cards that listed all the services. She told us to pick up to two from the top, three from the middle, and four from the bottom sections. I selected a relaxation massage and glow treatment facial from the top. From the middle I selected a pedicure, manicure, and a facial. Finally I selected some waxing treatments including my face, bikini area, and legs. I looked over at some of the other's choices. Edna didn't want any waxing so she was able to get a seaweed wrap instead. Val, Stephanie, and Connie were signed up for full brazilian waxes and a few massages. Mary Lou got a bunch of massages and we all were gonna get our nails done.
"What?! It's stressful having so many boys. You guys are lucky you only have one!" Mary Lou defended her choices.
"I'm not judging Lou although if it's a competition of who has the most boys the winner will always be Stephanie because of all those Rangemen" I teased both of them.
We all picked out our nail colors choosing to stick with pinks, neutrals, and whites since those would match their bridesmaids dresses and the colors of the wedding the best. I originally thought bright orange would be a good color for the wedding but Sally Sweet, my wedding planner extraordinaire, advised me to go with pink since I didn't want my wedding to be too Halloween.
The lady collected our cards and then went back to the desk to work out our schedules. She returned with a few of the workers, mimosas, and our schedules about 10 minutes later. We were all led into different directions with some of us starting in the waxing center and others in the massage area. We had brunch at the spa like room service in between mimosas and our spa services. Six hours later we all met up in the nail studio. The workers had moved the chairs around in the room so the workers were in the middle and we were all in a circle around them so we could talk while we got our nails done.
Edna accidentally splashed Val with water from her foot bath which caused Val to splash Stephanie and eventually were all partially wet and laughing. The workers were a little upset they'd have to start our nails over and clean up the mess but Steph pulled out a few hundreds and slipped them to the ladies so they happily got back to work.
"Damn do you just carry that around with you now Steph?" Val exclaimed.
Stephanie chucked. "No Carlos gave it to me this morning stating something about always being prepared when going to a place where everyone works for tips" We all nodded understanding.
"So what's next?" I asked since most of us were just waiting for our nails to finish drying.
"A bridal shower of course!" Juliette said.
After our nails were done and Steph settled the bill we headed out back to the limo. We ended up back at Stephanie's house. Sally Sweet opened the door to reveal her living room and kitchen decked out in pink, white, and gold. On the kitchen island bar they had the fancy catering trays and they had ordered in from my favorite Mexican restaurant in Newark.
Steph invited Sally and Hector the Rangeman assigned to watch the house while Sally was setting up to join us for the party. We had a leisurely meal catching up on everyone's lives, talking about our children, and hearing about Edna's latest antics. Turns out Edna has found herself a man to keep her company at a seniors trip to Atlantic City last month. She plans on moving down to Florida with him during the winter months.
We all got settled around the giant couch in the living area and they started passing out gifts. They included a deep fryer from Steph so I can try and make donuts, A pass for free karaoke from Sally at his new lounge he opened, and a pass for three more massages at the spa we just went to from Mary Lou. Juliette got me a cookbook for some of Tank's favorite Louisiana foods.
"Here this one is from me!" Val said as she handed me the pink bag. There was a knock on the door and Edna got up to answer it. Just as I was done reading Val's card someone started playing "Drop it Like it's Hot" by Snoop Dog.
Stephanie's Granny rejoined the group smiling like the Cheshire cat taking her place. "We're in for a show today girls!" she stated excitedly.
Then just as the song hit the main beat Mooner and Dougie jumped out from behind the wall into the archway to the living room. Mooner was dressed like a sexy policeman and Dougie was dressed like a sexy fireman. They performed a full act including twerking and stripping to Anaconda by Nikki Minaj, Hot in Here by Nelly, and Ride by SoMo. Thankfully the routine stayed far away from my lap. I looked around and everyone except Edna was catching flies in their mouths, they were hung so low. Edna and Sally's clapping brought us all out of our stupor.
"I swear I didn't know." Connie started to say. "I didn't think…. The ad didn't say… The guy… I should have called… Last time I email about this kinda thing" She got flustered.
"Ummm that was. Uh good job… I'm sorry but since when were you two strippers?" Steph asked timidly.
"Thanks Dudette! Only a few months now we mostly get calls from old lady groups from the senior home on their birthdays."This isn't our full time gig though we got jobs working IT after we quit getting high all the time." Mooner explained.
"Yeah and it pays really well so we're saving the funds to fund our road trip to this year's hobbit con in California this year!" Dougie added.
"Uh Huh so you're saying that you've been stripping at bachelorette parties and old lady birthday parties to earn money to go to hobbit con?" Stephanie tried to reason. They nodded. After a few minutes of pondering she got up to get her checkbook. I looked over and saw she wrote a check for ten thousand dollars. She tore off the check after signing it and handed it to Mooner. "Here use this for your trip and consider it a small thanks for warning me about Blade but please I beg of you STOP stripping."
The two started nodding excitedly and thanking Steph like chihuahuas so I asked if anyone wanted cake to get the party back on track. Everyone cheered so Sally went to get the cake and bring it out. It was a two layer round cake covered in colorful neon buttercream with black piping. It looked nothing like a bridal cake and I loved it. The flavor inside was chocolate raspberry. Steph invited Mooner and Dougie to stay but they asked for their cake to go cause they wanted to get to the bank to deposit the checck..
The rest of us ate ours while we finished up the presents. Val gave me a basket of bath and home decor items. Connie gave me a basket of items for the twins including kids size via spigas and matching coach sweatshirts. The last gift was from Edna and was totally inappropriate as the bag included candy underwear, toys for the bedroom, and a gift card to victoria secret.
"One of us had to get you the fun basket!" Edna said with a beaming smile. I heard Steph groan a little so I quickly put the items back in the bag and moved on to thanking everyone for the wonderful day and all the gifts.
"It's not over yet!" Connie said
"Yeah we still have one more thing to do today!" Juliette added.
"We're going clubbing!" Val spilled the beans.
As they were explaining the plan Sally rolled out a clothing rack filled with different outfits we could wear. Stephanie said we should start getting ready cause we needed to leave by 8. Hector had called another Rangeman to come pick up Edna since she wasn't going to join us and instead had a bingo card waiting for worked with Ella to have everything we all needed for showering, make up, and hair. So I picked out a white sequin dress that had a form fitting skirt that came down to mid thigh. The top of the dress was flowy and had thin spaghetti style straps. I choose a pair of white sparkly FMPs before heading to one of Steph's many guest rooms to shower and start to get ready.
Tank POV - Rangeman
Today had been nothing like I expected it to be. After saying goodbye to my beautiful children and Honeybear I headed into work expecting a day of mind numbing paperwork and surveillance shifts since most of the guys had taken the day off. When I got to my office though I found Ranger sitting at my desk. The lights were all off except the one in the corner so it was almost like I had done something wrong and he was going to confront me about it. I walked over and sat across from him sweating for a minute before he started to speak.
"You no longer have to work today…" He started.
"What do you mean I didn't do anything!" I cut him off but he held up his hands getting me to stop.
"You're not in trouble. Now if you'd let me finish."
"Go on" I replied.
"You no longer have to work today or the rest of the week. We have it all worked out because you shouldn't have to work on the day of your bachelor party or the week of your wedding." I nodded along understanding now. I already had most of the week off since the wedding was in Louisiana and I'd be traveling down there with my family on Monday. Although the bachelor party part was new.
"Garage 15 minutes" With that he got up and slipped out of the office.
I quickly gathered my things and then took the duffle bag he left on the desk and headed down to the gym. Inside I found athletic shorts, a muscle tank, and a pair of my older sneakers. I put everything on and dropped off the bag of the clothes in my office and headed to the garage. When I got there there were about 15 of the men all who I had thought would be off today standing around in similar clothing. Ranger made a few gestures and we all loaded up in the SUV's. I got into the same one that Ranger was driving with Bobby and Lester in the back.
As we made our way out of the garage I decided to break my normal vows of silence and ask questions. I blame the amount of time I've been spending with Lula and the children who are always asking questions.
"So. Where are we going and who's running Rangeman?"
"I flew in Ronaldo and Silvio is running Miami for the week" Ranger said ignoring my first question I raised my eyebrow at him willing him to talk.
"He's not gonna tell you" Bobby said from the back.
"So why don't you tell me."
"Can't we've been sworn to secrecy" Lester added. I stared them all down for a minute before returning facing forward.
Thirty minutes later we pulled into a makeshift marking lot in the middle of a field that had lots of obstacle course looking items all around. I looked around to the entrance of the area and saw a sign for a tough mudder and got a big smile on my face.
"Steph found it she thought we'd all enjoy it."
"Hell yeah! I'm totally gonna kick your ass." I chuckled as I got out of the car. We met up at the start with all the other men. Steph had signed us up for the 15K race that had 30 obstacles. We took our place at the start and waited for the shotgun start.
We took off running towards the first obstacle which was a forty foot net wall that we had to scale up and over. Then we had to crawl through an obstacle course as tear gas misted us. Another obstacle involved pulling ourselves through a pit of muddy water underneath a cage before getting out and jumping into a ice pit. Some of the obstacles were more team based like having to climb a slippery wall or when we had to rotate giant blocks in a water pit to get over. The blocks would probably take a normal person more time to get over but since we trained everyday it only took two or three of us. My favorite obstacles were the mud crawl and the swinging through the monkey bar like obstacle that made me feel young again.
Ranger finished first, Lester second, and I third. Ram surprised everyone and beat out Bobby and Cal finished after Bobby. The other men trickled in over the next twenty minutes. Once we all finished we collected our shirts and medals and took a picture since Steph said she wanted one.
"We should add that to the training program!" Lester exclaimed as he threw a ball of mud at Bobby as they joked around.
"I don't see any reason we can't" Ranger said. "But we may want to get a private run." He added while moving away from the ogling women who were moving towards him. I nudged some of the younger single guys towards them and they changed course to talk to them.
"We gotta get a ring on you man." I said as we walked over to the showers to wash some of the mud off before heading to Shorty's.
"Have you picked one out yet?" Lester asked, surprising me since this was the first I'd heard about his plans.
"Yes Mr. Locke from Locke and Sons is working on a custom ring set I designed. It should be ready in a few weeks. Although I still don't have a proposal plan I'm hoping something will inspire me soon." Ranger explained.
We pulled up to Shorty's for a late lunch and had the whole place to ourselves since Steph had arranged for it to be a private party so we could all relax more and have fun. After a few hours of celebration Lester and Bobby announced that we would be heading back to Rangeman and getting ready to go out on the town once Hector and some of the contract workers came to drive us home.
We all got ready and ate some of the leftover food Ella had left and took three stretch hummer style limos to Club 99 an older club that Rangeman sometimes helped provide security. The club was quite busy being a Saturday evening so we made our way to the bar and ordered drinks. We were chatting and enjoying the evening when Joyce Barnhardt walked in wearing a way too tight short black dress with her breasts on the verge of popping out, every single man there shivered from the sight.
She took one look around the club before making a beeline for the side of the bar where we were at. About halfway to us a fist came out of nowhere and decked her causing her to crumble to the ground and Stephanie and Lula stepped over her. Hector then appeared next to them scooping Joyce up from the ground carrying her off to who knows where but he winked at me and Ranger so there's a good chance it was better left unsaid.
Lula and Steph and the rest of their group made their way over to us.
"Babe" Ranger said taking Steph into his arms.
"That was a great hit Beautiful" Lester told her.
"Well what can I say I learn from the best and no one gets in between me and my man or any of the rest of you either."
"Hey Honey Bear" I whispered into Lula's ear taking her into my arms. "Care for a dance?"
Lula readily agreed and we were shortly followed by Ranger and Steph and the rest of the group. We spent all night celebrating our pending nuptials.
Bobby POV - Louisiana (Tank's Family Home)
"Well?" Lester asked me as I returned to the dressing room Tank's mom had set us up in.
"We got the House! They accepted our offer and we can move in next weekend." I told him as he made his way over to kiss me.
"Hey not all of us wanna see that!" Cal joked.
"Yeah what are you two all happy about?" Hal asked.
Lester looked at me warmly before sharing the news "Well we just bought a house!"
"Where?" Ranger growled coming out from behind the dressing partition. Neither one of us answered so he asked again. "Where?"
"You already know primo." Lester said.
Ranger actually growled this time. "You get to be the one to tell Stephanie. Now get dressed, we have to be ready in less than an hour."
We got ready and Ella came in and fixed the boutonniere's to our jackets. About 50 percent of Rangeman Trenton was here for the wedding including the core team. Most of us flew down on Friday for the affair but Tank and Lula had come down earlier. Last night was the rehearsal dinner and consisted of a wonderful cookout of all of Tank's favorite foods. We had met his mom and siblings before but we were surprised when his family members just kept showing us there must have been 70 plus people there. Lula lost her parents at a young age and had no siblings so Steph, Ella, and Luis were taking the role of her family and enjoying every second of it. Lula even asked Luis to walk her down the aisle.
Sally came to get us 5 minutes to the start of the hour to make our way to the backyard for the ceremony. The guest had already been corralled into their seats so we watched Tank walk up the aisle with his mom and take his place. First was Tank's brother and sister. Tank's brother, originally he wasn't going to be in the wedding but Ranger called in a favor and got his commanding officer to let him have the day off for the wedding. I walked down with Connie and Lester walked with Mary Lou. Next was Steph and Ranger. Finally Sarah and Sammy walked in as flower girl and ring bearer before Lula took the aisle looking absolutely perfect not only was she wearing a princess ball gown fit to her personality she also had a tiara and smile fit for a princess.
I could see Ranger hand Tank a handkerchief and knew he was blubbering as she made her way down with Luis. I reached around and squeezed Lester's hand during the vow portion. It was a beautiful and emotional ceremony but it was still a hot Louisiana summer so we were all more than excited to head back to the air conditioned hotel for the reception.
"Hey man this has been great but we're gonna get going now. Enjoy your honeymoon, we'll see you back in Trenton in a few weeks." I said to Tank and Lula while holding my husband's hand. It was almost midnight and we planned on heading back to our room to get some time in bed together.
"Thanks for coming down guys. We loved having you here." Lula said, giving us both hugs. We fist bumped with Tank and then headed upstairs. As we were making our way to the elevators we saw Ranger and Stephanie stumble out of a closet so we decided to bust their chops.
"You know there's perfectly good rooms upstairs right?"
"Shit." Steph said slowly, turning around to face us. "Hi guys what are you up too?"
"Can't change the subject now Beautiful, we already saw you."
"Well not that it's any of your business our room is in very close proximity to two innocent children."
"Relax Steph. We get it. But maybe pick a closet in a less discreet location next time" I winked at her.
"Noted." Ranger said moving Stephanie away from us towards the now open elevator. She turned back and threw us a finger wave before the doors closed.
"They could have shared the elevator" Lester grumbled.
"Sure but then I couldn't do this." I said as I kissed him, pushing him back into the next elevator. We remained that way all the way up to our floor. We were just about to enter the room when we heard a crash at the other end of the hall. We looked over just in time to see a room service tray on the ground and Hector playfully pushing Manny into his room between kisses.
"Good for them" Lester said before slamming his lips back on mine and pushing me into our own room.