SURPRISE! I'm baaaaaccckkkkk! I know it has been FOREVER since I've been here. I'm sorry for that. I had a lot going on and just lost interest in writing, but I've been feeling the desire to write again, so here I am. Yes, I know I need to finish In Walked Loved, and I WILL, but I want to work on this story to get back into the groove of writing before I tackle IWL. So, I hope you haven't given up on me for good, but I understand if you have.
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For the last year, things had been going well. Stephanie and Joe had called it quits 487 days ago. They saw each other around town and at the police station, but they usually avoided each other. Actually, he avoided her. He was still embarrassed she had caught him with Joyce bent over the hood of the police car with her skirt up and his zipper undone. He tried telling her he was arresting Joyce and just doing a pat-down.
Once she ended things with Joe, it seemed Stephanie and Ranger had finally gotten their heads synched. While she wasn't living at Rangeman, she had spent most of the nights there for the last 375 nights. They went on dates occasionally, but mostly stayed at Rangeman. The guys loved having her around the office and were more than willing to help her out when she needed it at Vinnie's.
Things had been going so well, she wondered when the world was going to end. Things couldn't be great forever. She was expecting a car to blow up – which hadn't happened in six months; a stalker to announce his presence – again something that hadn't happened in close to six months; or Ranger to run off to the wind – that had happened a few times in the last year, but usually only for a month. She tried not to think about those very often, but they did creep up on her. Today though, she had other things to think about. She had something to discuss with Ranger and she knew she couldn't put it off.
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She pulled into the garage, parked in the space closest to the elevator, and cut the engine. As she stepped out of her vehicle, she noticed Cal walking to his SUV.
"Hey there, Angel," he said with a smile as he pulled her into a hug.
Stretching up, she kissed his tattoo, "Where are you off to?"
"Woody and I have a stakeout. We'll be back in about four hours. Will you be here?"
"Okay, you two be careful. I'm not sure where I'll be in two hours. Where's Ranger?" she asked as she waved at Woody in the driver seat.
"In his office," was the reply as Cal angled into the SUV.
Stephanie walked to the elevator and hit five, threw a finger wave to the camera, and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. As she stepped on to the floor, she could see Ranger in his office through his open door. He was working on something, but she knew she needed to talk to him before she changed her mind. Walking up, she knocked and waited for him to look up.
"Babe," he said as he motioned for her to step into his office. He watched as she shut his door and sat down across the desk from him. "What can I do for you, Babe?"
"Can I have a few minutes of your time? I know you are busy." She saw him nod as he looked at the papers in front of him. "I have something to tell you," she said as she took a deep breath. "Ranger, I... we... I...," crap she thought, what was I thinking?
"Babe, I need more than I or we," he smirked as he signed the contract in front of him not really paying attention to how nervous Stephanie was acting.
Looking at Ranger, she decided to bite the bullet. "Ranger, I'm pregnant." She heard his pen drop and saw him clench his fist. Stephanie saw all sorts of emotions fly across his eyes but saw him settle on anger.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" he demanded quietly, but she could see the anger in his eyes and feel it radiating off him.
"I said I'm pregnant," she whispered.
"Whose is it?" he demanded.
"WHAT? Are you serious right now?" she yelled. Stephanie couldn't believe he just asked her that. They had been together for a year; she hadn't slept with anyone else. She knew he was aware that he was the only person she was sleeping with. She knew he'd be surprised and shocked, but never expected him to respond like that.
"Who. Is. The. Father. Stephanie?"
"You know what, I'm not even going to acknowledge you asked me that." She stood up and walked to the door. She couldn't believe he was asking her who the father was. Like he expected her to be sleeping with someone other than him. He knew how she felt about monogamous relationships. He knew she'd never cheat on him or anyone. "When you are ready to discuss this, I'll be at my apartment."
This was not how she imagined her talk going. Sure, they hadn't talked about children, and she was on the shot, but Ranger was there when her gynecologist said the ONLY form of birth control that was one-hundred percent effective was abstinence. As she opened the door, she heard him say, "Take care of this."
Walking down the hall towards the elevator, all she could think was don't let the tears fall yet. Making it to the elevator, she prayed that it was there, and she wouldn't have to wait for it... most of the guys took the stairs, so it should be there. Hitting the button, she was glad when the doors opened. She stepped in, hit the button for the garage and kept her head down; she didn't want the guys on monitors to see her or her tears.
Picking up the closet thing he could grab, Ranger hurled something at the wall just before Tank opened the door. "What pissed you off?" Tank asked as he reached down to pick up the stapler.
Ranger looked at Tank with a blank face. "Nothing," he said as he walked out the door. Tank placed the stapler back on the desk and then stopped in the control room to look at the monitors. He saw Ranger had headed to the gym and was currently beating the hell out of the bag. What did you do this time, Carlos? He asked himself.
Tank looked at Hal and told him, "Let me know if he's down there for more than thirty minutes beating the bag." Hal nodded that he heard Tank and Tank went back to his office to try and get some work done.