Yes, I have an updated! Sorry it has been so long. Nights really messed up my schedule; but I think I'm on track now. Anyway, I hope you are still enjoying the story ... even those of you that leave negative and rude reviews (at least I know you are still reading :) ). So, without further delay, here is chapter 19! If you recognize them, they aren't mine!
Sophia laughed at Derrick while he made faces at her, and Jeffrey was in the kitchen heating up some dinner for the three of them. The two guys watched Sophia once a week so Stephanie and Justin could get out of the house for a date; something they had been trying to do since they came back from South Carolina in March. It was now June, and the weather was warmer, so the guys were going to take Sophia outside and eat on the porch.
Grabbing the highchair, Derrick took it to the porch and sat it along side the outdoor couch. Whie it was warmer out, there was still a slight breeze, so he lit the firepit before heading back inside. Jeffrey handed him the dishes that were ready and grabbed the glasses of water before making sure all burners were off. After the outside was set up; Jeffrey grabbed Sophia out of her playpen and tickled her, "Are you ready for some dinner? I believe tonight's menu consists of sweet potatoes and bananas with a side bottle of breast milk."
Derrick watched Jeffrey interact with the baby and wished it was their baby he was holding and feeding. They had begun the process of adopting but also looking in to a surrogate so that one of them would be biologically related to the child.
Stephanie and Justin were walking around Mercerville enjoying the evening. There was a light breeze, and the smell of possible rain was in the air. The two had just finished eating at a little mom-n-pop diner that had just opened. The food was good, and the price was right; Steph knew they'd visit the place again.
Sitting down on a bench in the park, Justin wrapped an arm around Stephanie, "I've really enjoyed these weekly date nights."
Smiling, Stephanie looked up at him, "Me too. I love that we have time alone, just the two of us, and I don't have to worry about Sophia. I trust Derrick and Jeffrey with her. I enjoy our time alone; whether it is going to the movies or just sitting here like this."
Justin was about to say something else when his phone rang. He usually ignored his phone when they were on a date night, but he looked at the number and sighed, "I have to take this; I'm sorry." Stephanie leaned her head back on his shoulder and closed her eyes while he took the call. "Ziprowski," she heard him say. She knew it wasn't Rangeman or his family and she tried to stay still. "Sir. When? I understand. Yes Sir."
When he disconnected the call, he put his head back and took a deep breath in and slowly let it out. "Do I even want to know who that was?" Steph asked as Zip stood up.
Zip grabbed Steph's hand and pulled her up to him. They started walking and he began talking. "I was so close. So fucking close. I only have forty-one more days and this … this shit happens. How the hell did I get mixed up in this shit? This isn't the life I wanted. I never wanted to be trapped into this shit."
Stepanie stopped walking and stood there; what was he talking about? Did she somehow trap him? She thought back over the past year and couldn't see how she'd trapped him, but maybe he saw something different.
Zip realized Steph was no longer next to him and he turned around. Seeing her standing there, looking like her world had just crashed, he walked back to her. "Sweetheart, what's the matter?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't think I was trapping you. I thought you wanted to be here."
"Trapped? What are you talking about? Of course I'm where I want to be. You haven't trapped me."
"But you just said. You said you never wanted to be trapped in this. That this isn't want you wanted."
Thinking over what he had been thinking, he realized he must have been talking aloud. "Steph, please listen to me." He placed a finger under her chin and tilted it up so she could see his face. "I'm sorry. I wasn't talking about you and me. Sweetheart, I love you and I love Sophia." Taking a second for what he said to sink in, he continued. "I don't want to leave you two. I don't want to miss waking up and dancing with Sophia. I don't want to miss my nights of bathing her, reading to her, and holding her until she falls asleep. And most of all, I don't want to miss the nights of falling asleep with you in my arms. I want to be there for her first words, her first steps."
"I'll record everything and you can watch it when you get back."
"That's not all I want. I want to be there to kiss her boo-boos, I want to be there when she has her heart broken, I want … I want to walk her down the aisle." Zip took a deep breath and decided to lay it all on the line. "I know I'm not her father, but dammit, she is my daughter. I've been there since before she was born. She may not be my flesh and blood, but I love her like she was. I don't want to leave her. I don't want to leave you."
Putting her arms around him, she hugged him tight. "You listen to me, that little girl loves you with all she has. She lights up when you walk in the room. You are the only father she has ever known. Yes, Ranger is her father biologically, but you … You are her daddy. When I was pregnant with her, I didn't think she'd have a daddy. I thought I'd be doing this all on my own; but you never left. We will be here when you get home; and I pray you will come home. Sophia and I need you in our lives."
His phone beeped and he looked at it, "Looks like I'm not the only one called in. Ram is going with."
"When do you have to leave?"
"Wheels up in Trenton at 0400. Ram said he'll drive out to pick me up, then Les and Bob will me us at the airport to take the SUV back to Rangeman." Zip texted Ram back and acknowledged him, then looked at Steph, "Can we cut our date short? I want to spend the rest of the evening with both of my girls."
Smiling, Steph nodded, "Your girls. I like the sound of that. And for the record … I love you, too. I have for a while, I just wasn't sure how to say it."
When their lips met, Zip wasn't sure who moaned; it could have bee Stephanie, but he was betting it was him. He'd wanted this for so long, while he had kissed her before, this was the first time she kissed him back. When they needed air, he looked down at her and whispered, "Wow."
"Yeah," she replied back. "What the hell took us so long to do that?" After kissing him one more time, she smiled up at him, "Let's go home and see our baby."