I do not own any of these characters. Janet Evanovich owns them all, but every once in a while Ranger sneaks way to come visit me. This is my second fanfic. I hope you enjoy. This will be several chapters, not sure how many yet though. Thanks for reading feel free to review. Good or bad I enjoy find out how I did.

What Do I Do Now?

Chapter One "The Phone Calls"

Who would have guessed that a year ago, Stephanie Plum, aka The Bombshell Bounty Hunter, Beautiful, Cupcake, Babe, and Eliza Doolittle, would be the mother of two young children and getting married to the man of her dreams? And who would the man of her dreams be, you may ask? For years, she thought it was Joe Morelli, he's from the 'burg, Italian, voted best ass in Trenton (a fact he knew). That was until the day she walked into the diner and laid eyes on Ricardo Carlos Manoso, aka Ranger, The Wizard, Batman and Professor Higgins. She knew that day that her life would never be the same; she just didn't know how true that would be. Let's start at the beginning, and take you back to a year and a half ago. Hang on and enjoy the ride.

Flashback:

Stephanie knew when the phone rang at three in the morning; it wasn't Publisher's Clearing House telling her, she'd won a million dollars. Whoever was calling was 99% guaranteed to be bring baring very bad news, and she wasn't sure she could handle it at this point in her life.

"Yeah," Stephanie said droopily into the phone. She had her eyes clenched and her jaw set in preparation for the bad news that was undoubtedly forthcoming.

"Stephanie, its Carl Costanza. I'm afraid I have some bad news to tell you. I think you better sit down before I tell you."

"Oh God, Carl, you're scaring me what happened?" Stephanie asked with trepidation, she sat straight up in bed, her heart pounded away at maximum speed.

"Sweetie, Valerie, Albert and the kids were involved in a head on collision tonight. Steph, I hate to have to tell you this, but Valerie and Albert were killed instantly. Both girls are in critical condition in the hospital and Steph; they weren't able to save the baby Valerie was carrying. I'm so sorry."

"Oh. No! This can't be happening! Which hospital? Has anyone called my parents? How did it happen?" Steph was rattling off questions and struggling to catch her breath.

"Steph, calm down and take a deep breath. I already called your parents; they're on their way to the hospital. They were taken to St. Francis and apparently the man that hit them had been drinking and driving. He was also killed upon impact. The stupid bastard."

"Alright, I'm going to get ready and head to the hospital. Thanks, for calling me Carl." Stephanie stood next to the bed, her mind already racing over what she needed to do, before she could get down to the hospital. She was mentally forming her list when Carl's voice interrupted her.

"No problem, Sweetie. Do you need a ride? I know you lost another car yesterday."

Damn. She'd forgotten that little piece of information when she was doing her checklist. Stephanie responded distractedly to Carl, "Um…no…I'll get a ride, but thanks." Stephanie quickly hung up the phone, then picked it back up again and automatically pressed speed dial number one.

"Babe, what's the matter? You ok?" Ranger answered after the second ring, sounding alert and more than a touch concerned.

"Ranger, I…I….um…I need a ride to the hospital. Oh, God, this is such a nightmare. My sister was killed in a car accident tonight and her kids were taken to St. Francis. Ranger, could you come get me and take me to the hospital?"

"Oh, Babe, I'm so sorry. I'll be right there. Less than twenty," Ranger said and disconnected.

When Ranger entered the apartment seventeen minutes later, he found Stephanie curled up in a ball on the floor sobbing. He silently walked over to her and picked her up. He carried her over to her couch and sat down, cradling her to his massive chest. He held her, stroked her back and hair, and whispered soothing words to her in both English and Spanish. After about fifteen minutes, she finally calmed down, but still wouldn't raise her head from his shoulder.

"Babe, look at me." Ranger gently tipped her chin up so he could look into her eyes. "I'm so sorry about your sister, Babe. What happened?"

"Carl called and said they were hit head-on by a drunk driver. Valerie, Albert and the driver of the other car were killed instantly. Val was pregnant and they weren't able to save the baby." Stephanie began crying again, her voice was muffled behind her hands as she tried valiantly to wipe the endless tears that were falling. "Both girls are alive, but critical. I need to get there to find out what's going on. My parents are on their way to the hospital. I'm sure my mother is hysterical to say the least."

"Ok, Babe, go wash your face and get dressed, I'll wait out here for you." Stephanie started to get up, but Ranger held her tight and leaned in to place a gentle kiss on her lips before releasing her. "Whatever you need, I'll be here to help you, Steph."

"I know, Ranger that means a lot to me." She kissed him on the cheek and got off his lap and headed for her bathroom.