The next couple of weeks passed by without incident. Stephanie's recovery was a slow process, but she grew a little stronger each day. It helped that Ranger was home. He was the one person she'd listen to when it came to her health and taking it easy. He was also the only one of us who could get away with hovering over her without getting snapped at.
The week before Christmas Ella moved from a hard cast to a walking boot, which made it easier for her to help Casey. What none of us expected was how well Stella seemed to be adjusting to staying at Rangeman, or how well the guys were adjusting to having a baby in the building.
It was right around lunchtime when I walked into the breakroom to find Binkie sitting at a table in the corner of the room giving Rosalyn a bottle. The look on his face was one of pure contentment. "Two questions," I said as I proceeded to grab my sandwich." "Why is there a baby on the control room floor and why are you feeding her?"
"Stella wanted to go help Casey and Ella with some of the chores in the building. Manny said she told him it was the least she could do since they were doing so much to help her and munchkin here." He motioned to Rosalyn.
"Okay." I snagged a bottle of water and then took a seat across from him. "I understand that, but how did you get suckered into watching the kid?"
Binkie wrinkled his nose at me. I'm guessing that look is for me saying he was 'suckered'. "Manny did have her, but his break was up, and he needed to get back to the monitors."
"So, you volunteered?" I asked.
Binkie nodded. "I said I'd finish feeding her."
"And what happens when your lunch break is over?" I asked before biting into my sandwich.
"Bobby is going to come get her and take her down to the infirmary with him. He said he didn't mind watching her while he worked on the reports for the yearly physicals. Plus, he said he needed the practice anyway."
His sentence had me grinning. As stunned as Bobby might have been a few weeks ago about becoming a father, he now seemed to be growing more excited with each passing day. "Well, just don't let Ranger see you with a baby in the control room."
Binkie grinned. "Too late."
That had my brows lifting in surprise. "What do you mean too late?"
"Before Manny brought munchkin down, he got permission from Ranger."
What in the hell was happening around here? Ranger and Beautiful get married and now she wants a baby. Awkward and shy Ha falls in love and is getting married. Bobby's going to be a father. I'm about to be engaged and it looks like Manny might be enamored with our newest charge. Maybe Ram was right. Maybe he should be worried about all the changes happening around here.
After lunch, Ranger called an impromptu meeting for the core team. I walked into his office and stopped short as my attention snagged on Tank who was sitting on the couch with Rosalyn in his arms. "I'm beginning to think maybe I'm the one in the alternate universe," I said under my breath.
From where he sat behind his desk, Ranger arched a brow. "Problem, Santos?"
I motioned to Tank. "Since when do we allow babies on the control room floor or anywhere near our work?"
"It's not that it wasn't allowed," Ranger corrected. "We just didn't have a baby around, until now."
"Besides," Tank added. "Since Bobby has a rug rat on the way, it would be good for all of us to get used to handling an infant."
I shook my head as I dropped into the only empty guest chair. "I'm beginning to think Ram is right. We're falling like dominos around here."
"Says the man who rode a carousel giraffe because his girlfriend asked him," Tank said.
I froze, then slowly turned in the chair to face him. "How do you know about that?" I asked even as I began plotting out various painful ways for Hal to die.
Ranger's smile was wide and just a tad evil as he leaned back in his chair. "You asked Hector to help you go through security footage for Penn's Landing when you were looking for Casey's stalker."
I nodded. "I did."
"Then, after you found the stalker, you didn't let Hector have any fun."
Oh shit. "I thought Hector was playing at being upset."
"Well, he wasn't," Ranger said.
I know I've said it before, but I'm going to say it again. There is good reason why the rest of us are just a little scared of Hector.
Bobby's smile went from ear to ear. "Still thinking about plotting your revenge?"
I wasn't that stupid. While I might not like that they found out, living with the humiliation was a better option than risking pissing Hector off again. "No."
"Good. So, let's get down to business," Ranger said. "Jenson's lawyer sent over the sales contract for the apartment building and I need everyone's signatures."
When Ranger first started talking about buying the apartment building next door, I kinda thought maybe it was overkill. However, the number of changes that have taken place in the last two months has made me rethink that position.
We each took turns signing on the dotted line. Once the contracts were official, he set them aside and pulled out the current blueprints for the building. "I'm going to be meeting with our construction company manager tomorrow," he said. "I know we just finished the core team apartments earlier this year, but if any of you want to move to the new building now is the time to say so."
"With the baby coming, I think it would be wise for me to have more room," Bobby said.
Even though my apartment had two bedrooms it already felt a bit small now that Casey was there. Knowing she would eventually want children, it only made sense for me to consider moving too. "Casey and I would be interested in a unit too."
Tank laughed. "You're not even married yet and you're already including her in your decisions."
"That's what you do when you love someone," I shot back. "Are you gonna move too? I'm sure your cats would love the extra room."
"Actually," Tank began. "I already told Ranger I was interested."
"Steph and I are taking the top floor for ourselves," Ranger said. "I'll have the architect work up floor plans for two, three, and four bedrooms. Then you guys can decide from there what you want to change or rearrange."
"Have any of the other guys shown interest in buying in on an apartment?" I asked.
Ranger nodded. "Most of them have expressed interest. So, I think we'll have to go by seniority and see how things shake out. If there's not enough room with what we want to do, then maybe we'll leave the core team apartments on six and offer them up to the men."
"What about Seven?" Tank asked.
"We have the room to expand it," Ranger replied. "I'm thinking maybe adding a few more bedrooms and we can use it for when we have men here from other offices. Then we can gut the fourth floor and turn it into offices and workspace for the apprehension teams."
"Are we still going to put the sales department on the first floor?" Tank asked.
"I think that makes the most sense," Ranger replied. "We'll leave two of the conference rooms alone and turn the other one into a couple of offices. We'll also make it so potential clients won't be able to see or reach the rest of the building without an access code."
I held up a hand. "So, let me get this straight. Seven and six will remain as apartments and be used as such. Five remains the same, except sales and apprehension will move to other floors."
"Correct," Ranger said. "That will open up five for more monitors and installation work."
"What about the bail bonds angle," Bobby asked.
"I've been thinking about that," Ranger replied. "The more I think about it, the more I don't like the idea of having potential criminals in or around either of our buildings."
"So, what do you want to do?" I asked.
"We have a perfectly good building in Plum Bail Bonds," Ranger said. "I say we remodel that building, change the name, and leave it right where it is for now."
"I assume that means gutting and disinfecting Vinney's office," I replied. There weren't any of us who were willing to head up that department and have to work in the weasel's office as it was right now.
"Absolutely," Ranger replied.
"I'm on board with all of that," Bobby said as he pushed up. "If there's nothing else, I want to go check on Bomber and then head down to finish the paperwork for the yearly physicals."
"That's it," Ranger said. "Babe should be in our apartment."
"Good." Bobby turned to face Tank and reached for Rosalyn. "I'll take her with me."
"It's okay," Tank said, pulling the infant a little closer to him. "You can leave her with me for a bit longer."
"You gonna change her diaper if she needs it?" Bobby challenged.
Tank frowned, then slowly handed over the baby. "It's not that I wouldn't, but I don't have a whole lot of practice changing diapers. I wouldn't want to pinch her or anything."
I grinned. He could use whatever excuse he wanted, but the three of us knew the truth. Tank might be fine changing litterboxes, but changing a baby was an entirely different level he wasn't prepared for.
Later that afternoon, I returned to the apartment to find Casey busy in the kitchen. A sweet and fruity smell filled the air. "What smells so good?" I asked as I stepped into the kitchen.
She stopped what she was doing, turned her head, and smiled over her shoulder at me. Man, I love that smile. "I'm making orange marmalade and strawberry jam."
"It smells amazing, but why?"
She pointed to several baskets arranged on the breakfast bar. The inside of each was draped with a Christmas-themed fabric and already held several items. I moved closer to get a better look. "What's all this?"
"My Christmas gifts for your family," she replied. "I made each of them an ornament for their trees, a homemade bookmark in case they like to read, various chocolate-flavored spoons for their coffee or hot chocolates, and now I'm working on the jam and marmalade for the jars."
I couldn't help the grin that tipped my lips. "Precious, you know you could have done just one of these things, and they would have been thrilled."
"I know," she said and turned to tend to her jam. "I just wanted to do something a little more. I made baskets for your sisters, your mother, Carlos' mom, your grandmother, Ella, and Stephanie." She paused and looked over her shoulder at me. Her brow was knit. "Do you think it's enough?"
I slid my arms around her waist and pressed a kiss to her hair. "I think it's perfect and I know they're all going to love it."
"I hope so," she sighed as she leaned back against me. "I want them to know how much I appreciate and value them taking me in and accepting me without judgment."
"I'm sure they'll feel that and much more," I said as I considered our upcoming Christmas plans. There was one hiccup that might be a problem for her. "I do think it's worth mentioning that our family usually does Christmas Eve together and then everyone goes to their spouse's family on Christmas Day."
"Okay," she replied. "But we won't have anywhere to go Christmas Day."
"That's okay," I replied. "The core team usually works monitors and patrols on Christmas, so some of the guys can spend the day with their families."
"Can I make them a nice Christmas lunch and dinner," she asked, her voice hopeful.
"Absolutely," I replied. "Ella usually does that anyway on Christmas. So, I'm sure she'll be thankful for the help." I took the spoon she was stirring with, set it down, and turned her to face me. "Precious, what I want to talk to you about is Christmas Eve."
"What about it?"
"After dinner and presents, we all go to church for midnight mass."
Her face blanked. "Oh," she murmured. While I caught her numerous times reading her bible, she'd yet to ask to go with me to church service on Sunday mornings. To be fair, I hadn't pressed the topic again since our first conversation. I'd hoped that maybe she'd come around on her own. Much to my disappointment that hadn't happened yet.
"We don't have to go," I said. The last thing I wanted to do was to make her uncomfortable. "I can make some excuse about needing to come back here."
Her eyes widened in horror. "Lester Santos. You will not lie to your family on Christmas Eve just to make me feel better." She shook her head. "I won't have that guilt on my shoulders."
"I just don't want you to feel uncomfortable," I argued. "Trust me when I say they'd understand."
"No, Lester," she said. "We're not doing that. It won't hurt me to sit through one service."
There she went again, letting that tenacious spirit shine.
"If you're sure."
"I'm positive."
"Okay." I cupped her face in my palms, and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. "Then I will let you get back to your jam-making. I'm going to go change into something more comfortable.
"Okay." She replied and returned her attention to the stove. "Dinner is in the oven. It will be ready in about a half hour."
"Sounds perfect," I replied as I turned to go.
"Oh," she said, stopping me in my tracks. "I almost forgot."
"What?"
"I was talking with Manuel today. He wanted to take Stella out to dinner tomorrow night. So, I volunteered to watch the baby for them. I hope you don't mind."
