Starting Over After 31

Disclaimer: I own nothing and make no money because if I owned the series there would be more Ranger. All errors are my own because I always miss some typos.

AN: The timeline may be a bit odd because the first book was in 1993 and she was 30. I'm thinking by book 31 she's like 32ish. So instead of her being born in 1963, I'm thinking more like 1991. Things may not be accurate, like prices or details. I tried to find things online but was unable to find some of them so I took creative license. Oh, and there isn't a real Grey's Sports Almanac, it was the one in Back to the Future so I've borrowed it.

This idea came to me when I saw a post on my Gen-X group. Someone posted: "Is it bad that I still want to believe in a fat little elf with a long white beard?" Someone responded: "I think we just want the innocence and magic from when we believed. Being an adult is harder than we thought it would be."

I thought, wouldn't it be cool to go back and change something to make life easier today. Like what if I bought Apple stock when it was six cents a share? What if I went into the military instead of taking out loans to go to school. What if I had a different major?' Here's what my idea is for Stephanie, because I was very unhappy with the entire book 31. So, here's your spoiler warning.

Prologue:

A few months ago, I married Joe Morelli - the hot guy in high school who stole my virginity on the floor of Tasty Pastry Bakery when I was 16. That one incident changed my life forever. Would I have gone after him as a bounty hunter? Would I have started dating him again? Would I have married him instead of Ranger? I don't know but right now I feel like I made a big mistake. I thought I was in love with them both, but now I realize I loved them differently.

Joe has been making a lot of noise about me having a baby and quitting my job. He's already said that he can't help take care of the baby due to his job. He can't possibly get up at night to feed the baby, he will have to work. He has no intention of retiring or moving to a desk job. He reminded me that in the Burg women stay home and take care of the kids. I reminded him it's 2024 women work; a woman is the Vice President and women are CEOs of companies.

He said he wants five kids, because he doesn't have to carry and birth five kids. We don't have room for five kids in this house. He added a half bath on the first floor but there was only one full bathroom. On top of that financially supporting five kids is expensive and the only way to expand the house is to add a third floor. The bedrooms are too small to have more than two kids in a room. They'd have bunk beds and a dresser. The closets are almost non-existent. He'd have to give up his office and put that in the basement. The idea of buying a new house on his income alone to be big enough for that many kids is a pipe dream. We'd have to move out of the Burg, neither of our mothers would go for that.

Joe never rebuilt the garage after Stiva blew it up. We could have a second floor in there for his office, but we'd need heat and a half bath in there as well. It would only be a single stall because there isn't enough room for a two-stall garage. The basement is not an option for a bedroom or office. It wouldn't pass with code enforcement even with him being a cop and his brother working for the office.

I feel an increasing sense of depression and a deep unhappiness. I can't talk to my mother or grandmother about it. All either of them wants to talk about is when I'm going to have a baby and quit my job. I'm not sure when my grandmother changed her views but since I got married, she feels that I need to conform to the Burg rules. My father is silent as usual; I'm not sure he thinks about anything. It feels like I have lost all the support in my life.

Connie and Lula are still in shock that I chose Joe over Ranger. They are the only ones who know Ranger proposed, even Joe doesn't know. I never told Mary Lou either. Ranger has been around but all the touching and kisses have stopped, which I know is the right thing to do since I'm married. I wonder if I'd feel this way if I married Ranger. Sure, he is mysterious and I don't know all about his life, but he loves me. I mean he did ask me to marry him. It may not have been romantic but neither was Joe's proposal.

I wonder how different my life would be if I could go back in time and change things. Now, I don't mean everything. I'd like to go back to 16, right before the Tasty Pastry. I wouldn't swap shifts with Vanessa Demarco so she could go out with Ivan Costanza, Carl's older brother. She was 19 when their little family was hit by a drunk driver killing them all. It's the reason why Carl became a cop and got his degree in criminal justice.

I wouldn't marry Dickie Orr. I wouldn't get a degree in liberal arts. Maybe I'd go in the military and get the GI Bill so I wouldn't have student loans to pay off. Maybe I'd buy that stock I thought about buying – Apple and Intel. Well before Intel crashed. Maybe I'd meet Carlos before he became Ranger. Then again, maybe he was a total asshole and all his experiences are why he's the man he is today. Maybe I'd grow up, because lately I see that I've never really acted like an adult and living in denial isn't a good choice.

I was standing in the backyard of Joe's house waiting on Bob, we had returned from dinner with his family on Christmas night. My mother was angry we wouldn't be with them for dinner but I told her I had to make Joe happy and we couldn't slight Angie Morelli, which she understood but wasn't happy. We spent Christmas Eve at my parents', what more does she want. Of course, Joe got called to a crime scene before we even left his mother's driveway.

I received an anonymous text message, at least it wasn't anyone in my contact list. I opened the text and saw photos of Joe, in the same clothes he wore tonight. I knew the pictures weren't old, my sister's family had given him the sweater he was wearing last night for his Christmas gift. He had his arms wrapped around none other than Sandra DiMaggio, she was in the year between us. Sandra's husband passed away a couple of years ago from colon cancer. He was a couple years ahead of Joe in school. I didn't know him; he was the youngest of four. Sandra had three boys under 10. I heard her in-laws were none too happy with the rumors of her bed hopping, in order to calm things down she let them take the kids to Florida for the two weeks off from school. I had heard rumors of Joe fooling around when we were together but I let everyone tell me they weren't true. Maybe I just wanted to believe they weren't. Now it was in my face, I had no clue who sent the messages.

I looked up and saw a shooting star, or maybe it was one of those drones' people are complaining about. I decided to be frivolous and said, "star light star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight. I wish I could go back before the Tasty Pastry and change my life. I said as tears began to fall.

Another message came in and it said, "Looks like another husband finds you lacking. Just so ya know, he was with me last week. He took me to that new seafood place in Princeton. Poor little Stephanie Plum, all she gets is takeout and asked to clean up dog shit." A second message came through with a picture of Joyce Barnhardt with Joe in front of the restaurant.

I saw Bob had completed his business and I used the doggie waste bag to pick up the mess and put it in the garbage can as the tears came harder. We went inside, washed my hands and I filled Bob's food and water dish before going upstairs. I took a quick shower before pulling on the new knit sleep shirt my mother gave me from Macy's. I cried through the shower and knew I'd cry myself to sleep. I threw the Grey's Sports Almanac 2000-2020, that Anthony bought Joe, in the trash. Maybe I'll feel better in the morning. I hoped I could go to denial land.

Diesel's POV:

I heard Stephanie's sad wish and could tell she was crying. I had been trying to not get involved in her life but the girl made one bad decision after another. I mean she chose to work with Lula. She chose Joe. She chose to make her mother happy instead of herself. And she chose not to exercise or learn self-defense. She chose not to carry a gun or learn to use one.

I received a page from the Supreme Leader, yeah, he's really called that. I popped over to headquarters to see what he needed. I was hoping it was a job in Tahiti.

"We need to help the Plum girl, she's not an Unmentionable but she is special. Right now, she's miserable," the Supreme Leader said.

"What can we do? She made a choice and she's stubborn enough to stay married to prevent gossip and keep her mother off her case," I replied.

"We grant her wish to go back in time and change things. We make sure she remembers this life so she doesn't make the same mistakes. We also need to ensure that Manoso's life remains the same. His life and mistakes need to remain the same, otherwise he's not the man for her. She will change, hopefully for the better. They should still have the connection – that tingle so they know they are the one for each other," the Supreme Leader mused.

"Oh, and Diesel, the Grey's Almanac goes with her. She could use a bit of a helping hand financially. We all know that Helen Plum wouldn't help her daughter with an education or living expenses."

"Yes Sir," I said and left to do my thing. I hope this time around Stephanie can be happy and make better choices for her life.