A/N: I am blown away by the response to this story in general, and the last two chapters specifically. If you only knew how many times I edited both chapters before finally undertaking a complete rewrite (and twice changing the evil thing The Dick did before settling on a second life). All of the reviewers - from the regular to the new, the signed in and the guest – inspire me to keep writing, and I'm having a lot of fun doing so. So, thank you all. And thank you again to Rangersbabe76 for the excellent idea that inspired this story.

Chapter Ten

Stephanie POV

When I got home, I gave Zoë a tight hug and held on until she started to protest. After I let go, she went back to the Legos she was playing with on the living room floor.

I think Tank must've given Gigi a heads up that I might be upset, because she had some of my favourite tea all prepared when I got home. We sat in the kitchen and I told her what I had read and discovered. She was shocked and angry, and I was grateful that Tank had evidently not shared his findings with her before me. We talked for a while and planned my next steps, which included meeting with the lawyer.

"Do you think you want to stay in New York?" Jeanne Ellen asked.

"It's my home. Where else would I be?" I wondered.

"You could move back here. Be near your family who loves you."

The expression on my face must've said it all.

"Me, you dope. And Dad. Speaking of, I've invited him for dinner tonight. Helen won't be here. I didn't ask Grandma because as much as I love her, she has a big mouth and would tell Helen you're here, and I know you're not ready for that yet."

"Dad's coming? Did you tell him I'm here? Does he know about Richard and me?"

"He knows you're here, for two weeks on a vacation. He doesn't know about The Dick."

I sighed. "I guess I should tell him. At least I know he can keep a secret."

"That's the spirit. Let's make dinner. We've got about forty-five minutes before everyone gets home."

She pulled things out of the fridge and set them on the counter. I watched the process and tried to figure out what we were making, and by the time she pulled out the final ingredient, I thought I had it. "Stir fry and rice?" I asked.

"Bingo. And we have a rice cooker. I think we'll need three cups of rice, so that's six cups of water."

"Three cups of rice? That sounds like a lot," I said doubtfully.

"There's five of us, and Tank loves brown rice. He can easily eat enough for two or three."

I shrugged and added the rice to the cooker, followed by the water. Jeanne Ellen cut up the chicken into smaller chunks, then started on the veggies. Forty minutes later, we were nearly done, and Dad and Tank were coming in the door from the garage.

"Hey Baby," Tank greeted Jeanne Ellen. "Your dad was just pulling up outside when I got home."

"Daddy," I said, rushing over to him and giving him a big hug. "I've missed you. Zo-zo! Come into the kitchen and see Grandpa Plum!"

Zoë came into the kitchen and squealed when she saw everyone. She gave her grandpa and Tank hugs in turn and then tugged on my dad's hand to pull him into the living room, to introduce him to the cats. He's probably met them before, but he good-naturedly went along with her.

Tank turned to me and said, "Can you meet with the lawyer tomorrow at four o'clock? He'll come to Rangeman."

"Uh sure, if that's okay with you, Jeanne Ellen."

"I'll be here with Squirt until you get back, no worries," she said. "I have no outstanding files for capture. They'll call me if they have something for me."

Tank started setting the table. "Baby, dinner smells wonderful. Thank you for making it." He caught up Jeanne Ellen in a hug as he set down the last plate and twirled her around before dropping a kiss on her. She smiled and patted his cheek, then he finished laying out the cutlery and glasses.

Zoe and my dad came back into the kitchen. "Can we help with anything," my dad asked.

"You can grab some drinks out of the fridge, whatever anyone wants," Jeanne Ellen said. "I'll have some water, please."

"Water for me too, Dad," I added.

"Same for me too, please," said Tank.

"Four waters then. Zoë girl, what would you like?" he asked the little girl.

"Milk, please, Grandpa," she said.

Dad prepared four glasses of ice water and one smaller glass of milk. Jeanne Ellen laid down the hot dishes containing the rice and stir-fry and we all sat down to eat. We chatted about inconsequential things throughout the meal, relaxed and happy to be in each other's company. My dad was curious about what had brought me for a vacation in Trenton, but he didn't press when I shot him a look that said I'd explain later.

After dinner, I turned on The Blue Planet on Discovery Plus for Zoë and plopped down her colouring book and crayons on the coffee table. I couldn't ask her to stay in the living room, because that was a sure-fire way to pique her curiosity and ensure she'd do nothing but hang out in the kitchen, but I hoped the two distractions would suffice to keep her entertained while I talked to my dad and sister.

Once I returned to the kitchen from getting Zoë situated, my dad raised his brow to me and said, "so?"

My dad, the original Ranger, was a man of action, but few words. He wasn't around a lot during my childhood, but when he was, I never felt safer or more loved. I don't know why I never told him how I was treated by my mother and sister while he was absent, but I regretted it. If he knew, maybe he would have done something about it. As far as I was aware, Gigi kept it to herself too, but in her case I think she was scared of being sent away as an interloper. After I went to college, I finally got up the courage to tell him about everything he missed and why I was reluctant to come home for holidays from school. He was as livid as I'd ever seen anyone, and my mom and him had split for a while. They went to therapy and eventually got back together, but the damage was done with my mom and neither Gigi nor I had much of a relationship with her now. Since she was my blood, I talked to her more, but it was never without an underlying tension.

"I'm getting divorced," I blurted out.

"Oh Pumpkin, I'm so sorry. Why?" my dad asked concernedly, scooting over and laying his arm around my shoulder.

I let out a short, harsh laugh. "I don't even know where to start in answering that question, Dad. I walked in on my husband cheating on me in my bed with our nanny. When I told him I was bringing Zoë here for a time-out, he made it clear in no uncertain terms that when my two-week break was over, he expected me back in his apartment and back in his bed, and I'd just learn to deal with his needing to step out of our marriage. If that wasn't enough, Tank ran a deep background check into him, and discovered he's not only cheated non-stop throughout our entire marriage, but he's a bigamist with a second family in Connecticut!" I took a deep breath before I continued. "He's got twin boys with this woman in a big house that Gigi and I googled, and it's gorgeous and huge, and I have a meeting with a lawyer tomorrow at four o'clock."

My dad looked stunned. It took a lot to surprise the man – he was, after all, a decorated elite soldier – but it appeared that the sudden soap opera-like turn my life had taken in the past few days had done what twenty-seven years of my life before that had not.

I had brought home the Richard folder from Rangeman, so I retrieved it from my bag. Rather than go through all the details, again, I'd just let my dad and Gigi read it. I left it with them in the kitchen and went into the living room to hang out with Zoë. She was snuggled with a blanket on the couch and enthralled with the animal program on the TV. I sat down next to her and pulled her onto my lap, snuggling her into my chest. I watched the show with her but my mind started drifting into unpleasant territory. Zoë decided she had enough snuggling and got down from my lap to sit in front of the coffee table. She started colouring with her crayons and soon I wasn't paying any attention at all, so I went back to the kitchen. It looked like Gigi and Dad were near the end of the file and when Gigi looked up at me re-entering the kitchen, her eyes were filled with rage.

"Steph, every time I think it's as bad as it gets, it gets worse. I tell you what, we are going to nail this bastard to the wall. I won't stop until we have his license to practice law," she vowed.

I gave her a watery smile. "Thanks, Gigi."

The rest of the evening passed by uneventfully. I suppose after the high drama of my life, everything else would seem uneventful. I missed the before when my life was small and quiet.

Jeanne Ellen POV

This motherfucking asshole is going down.

A/N: I don't cook, I'm very much like Stephanie in that way, unfortunately without the Hungarian metabolism. So if I get any cooking things wrong, even simple things like rice cookers, it's because I did a bit of googling and went with whatever I found.