Everyone Belongs to Janet Evanovich (sigh)

Chapter 14

"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best," and then he had to stop and think, because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was calledA.

It was my nine month anniversary and I was internally vibrating with excitement at the thought of what I had planned for the evening. I hoped I could get through the day without giving away my surprise. The last month had been one of the most chaotic periods in my life. I'd planned an eight month anniversary celebration for my husband primarily as a clever way to get us naked. The day had started a chain of events that was now, thankfully, history.

My grandma was happily and successfully living in my old apartment, dating my old neighbors, Mr. Wolesky and Mr. Landowski. Grandma, Walter, and Myron had a new spring to their steps. While I thought that was good I didn't want any detail of what was causing it. Grandma and her man du jour visited my parent's house for dinner once a week and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

My mom and dad were reconciled and were enjoying a second honeymoon of sorts. They seemed to have extra spring to their steps as well. Both my parents had changed and I thought it was for the better. They had reconnected in a way which was very good. Mom was still working at Rangeman, but just on a part time basis. The ease with which she had become part of the organization astounded me.

Ranger told me she would be good at the job and he was right. She had implemented a new policy with modicum of success. There was now a jar on her desk, full of dollars contributed by merry men who had violated her "No bad language in the office" rule. It was rumored that the money would be spent to purchase donuts for the office. I started the rumor. Rangeman was actively seeking an office manager. My mom would then become that person's assistant. Working part time still gave her plenty of time to reprise her previous occupation of Burg housewife, extraordinaire.

I had been meeting with Tank every morning for almost a month and I was making good progress toward my goal of becoming Wonder Woman. I was doing a full thirty minutes of cardio every morning followed by various other training regimes. I would never enjoy carrying a loaded gun, but I was a competent marksman now. When I went after a skip I looked and acted like I meant business and I had been fairly successful in avoiding garbage, except of course for the night my Porsche blew up. I was now happily driving my Rangeman Buick, and occasionally Ranger turned loose of the keys to his Porsche. Life was good.

I knew he was clueless that I was planning a nine month anniversary celebration. The only person who knew was Ella. She was absolutely indispensible to me. I had conceived the plan and with her help it was coming to fruition. The sound of the shower shutting off and the emergence of a naked Bulgari scented Ranger from the bathroom snapped my thoughts back to the present. I loved to watch him move. He was catlike, sleek and graceful and he didn't have a self conscious bone in his body.

"Better get up, Babe," he said coming over to the bed. "Tank said you've been late to work out twice this week."

"Did Tank also tell you that he's been late the other days?" I asked. "I think Lula's hold is getting stronger on him every day. She's going to have to see an allergist because I think they will be living together, cats and all, very soon."

"I think that seeing us so happily married has planted some ideas in their minds," I continued. Ranger didn't answer. His head was stuck in his closet as if he was trying to make a wardrobe decision. I rolled my eyes. How hard is it to pick out the black shirt that matches the black cargos. "Don't you think so?" I asked again. Still no answer. Did he not think we were happily married? I hopped out of bed and grabbed his arm.

"Hey, are you happily married?" He turned to stare at me raising an eyebrow.

"Cut that out, Ranger. We are happily married." I said. "Right?" My voiced cracked a little. He picked me up swung me around and before I knew it I was back in bed with him on top of me. He was grinning. I think we had just entered a new phase of our relationship. Ranger was being playful.

"We are very happily married, Babe," he said punctuating his words with kisses. "I lived my life alone for so many years that I didn't know if I could have someone in my life. You've changed everything for me, Steph. You might say you've ruined me for all other women. "By the way, happy anniversary," and he kissed me senseless. So much for cardio with Tank.

As we were getting ready to leave the apartment I asked, "Do you have plans for tonight?"

"No, but I thought you might be up to something," he said. You've been acting secretive lately."

"That's absolutely not true, I never keep anything from you!" I lied. "I was wondering if we could go out to dinner, just the two of us, alone. We could go someplace fancy and I'll wear my little black dress and the purple pumps you like."

"Okay, Babe. I'll make reservations."

"Oh, no," I said. "Let me take care of it. Just be ready by six and I'll do the rest, and I'm going to be busy, ah, at the bonds office all day, so I probably won't see you 'til this evening." I waited until Ranger was ensconced in his office before I pulled the Buick out of the garage and headed for the bonds office. I parked in the lot and waited. Before long a nondescript brown Chevy pulled up. I slipped out of the Explorer and swung my ass over to the Chevy pulling open the door and folding myself inside. I buckled up as Ella pulled out of the lot.

"Are you sure this car has no Rangeman trackers?" I asked.

"I'm sure, she responded. "I drove my car to my sister's and borrowed my niece's car. We're safe, and I can't remember when I've been more excited about a day off." I gave her instructions to Point Pleasant.

"We are going to the Batcave, Ella" I said, "the place where Ranger and I will make our home."

"I didn't even know Ranger owned a house at Point Pleasant until you told me," Ella said, "and that's unusual because Louis and I take care of several Rangeman properties. I'm not sure why he kept this one hidden but I'm sure his reason was significant."

She sent a sideways look toward me seeing if I would answer. I knew why he'd kept the house secret but I didn't feel like sharing his reasons. The house had been his hope for the future. When he sent me back to Morelli and he was alone he came to this house. The peace of the house washed over him and he left with the hope that there would be a future for us.

Today I was taking the first step toward making his hope become his haven. Since we were married I had been putting my FTA recovery money in the bank. I no longer needed to run from the bonds office to the bank to keep my rent check from bouncing. I had a nice nest egg accumulated. Five days ago I had gone to the bank and closed my Stephanie Plum account. Then I went shopping. I bought furnishings, linens, rugs and draperies and cajoled, begged and threatened. Everything had been delivered in record time and was waiting for Ella and me to come build a bedroom in the Batcave.

Ranger and I had only been to the Victorian house at Point Pleasant one time, but I had made several clandestine trips earlier in the week to pick the best room to make ours. I measured, drew rough sketches and picked a large upstairs bedroom with an ensuite bathroom. I hired a cleaning service and the room and bathroom had been scrubbed to sparkling. The bedroom had patterned wallpaper in pale green with soft white gardenias. I didn't know if Ranger was a wallpaper kind of guy but there were only so many miracles I could pull off in such a short space of time.

Ella and I arrived and immediately went to work. We bypassed the small room Ranger had furnished for his solitary hours spent there and went to the top of the stairs. The house was for the most part still dusty, neglected and in need of repair, but the faint scent of disinfectant led us to the room I had chosen.

Four hours later we took a break and surveyed our handiwork. The bathroom had been outfitted with thick bath carpets and fluffy Turkish towels. There were two terry bathrobes hanging on hooks on the back of the bathroom door. The old fashioned claw footed tub sparkled from its recent scrubbing. The shower was stocked with a full bottle of Bulgari shower gel.

The floor of the bedroom was covered with an aubusson carpet in soft green and grays. The massive bed was made up with Egyptian cotton sheets and a silk coverlet. Candles were placed on the dresser and chests in the room waiting to be lit. A caterer would be bringing a cold picnic meal of chilled roasted tomato soup, poached salmon, and a delectable blueberry-almond tart which I would hand feed Ranger. I would eat healthy salmon with him and he would learn the joy of dessert from me. It was a scene set for seduction and I couldn't wait.

The caterer was running late and by the time the food was delivered we were running late. Ella dropped me off at the bonds office and I got in the Buick and hurried back to Haywood. I entered the apartment at a full run only to be stopped cold by the appearance of Ranger dressed in an Armani summer linen suit. A single diamond stud sparkled from his left ear. His hair which had been cut short in deference to the summer heat was beginning to grow. It was brushed back off his face making him look cosmopolitan and sophisticated. His wedding band glowed softly on his left hand. This was definitely urban Ranger and I felt a slam of emotion so strong my breath caught. This man was beautiful, and he was mine.

"Sorry," I said, "I'll get ready in a hurry. I won't keep you waiting too long I promise."

"It's okay, Babe. I didn't know what time you made reservations and I didn't want to keep you waiting."

"W-well, actually," I stammered, "I didn't make reservations. We won't need them where we're going."

I left him to think about that while I hurried to get ready. Thirty minutes later I walked into the room. I was wearing nothing new but everything I knew Ranger liked. My black scoop necked dress showed off my cleavage very nicely and the short hem combined with my five inch purple heels did wonderful things for my legs.

"Ready to go?" Ranger asked. I nodded my head yes suddenly overcome with nervous shyness. What if Ranger didn't like my surprise. "Do you have everything you need for the evening?" he asked.

"I'm prepared." I said. "I've got everything I need right in here." I tapped my purse. "Including my handcuffs," I said teasingly.

"Don't make promises you don't intend to keep, Babe." Yeesh!

"Where to?" Ranger asked as we prepared to leave the garage.

"Point Pleasant," I said, "The Batcave." He raised an eyebrow and gave me a quick stare before he pulled into traffic. He went into his zone and I didn't try to rouse him out of it. We made the entire trip in a comfortable silence, his right hand occasionally leaving the wheel to rest on my thigh.

We arrived at the house and Ranger turned to me, "You're in charge of the evening," he said. "What next?"

"Let's go inside," I said. We entered the house and I led Ranger to the room he had furnished. It had been almost a month since we'd spent the night making love on the small bed.

"I've been working hard on a surprise for you," I said. "Stay here for a moment and let me get everything ready. I won't be gone long." I turned and ran up the stairs. The caterer had set up a small table in front of the large bay window. I found the cold picnic supper in the cooler and set food on the table. I lit candles around the room and raced back downstairs. Ranger was standing quietly waiting his back to the door.

"Come upstairs with me, Ranger," I held out my hand.

"Carlos," he said, taking my hand and walking up the stairs with me. "Tonight while we are here alone, just the two of us, call me Carlos."

I felt suddenly shy and I could feel the color rushing to my cheeks as I said, "Carlos." We reached the top of the stairs and stood before a closed door.

"Here is your surprise," I said and swung the door inward. He stepped inside and stood still his eyes taking everything in. We held hands fingers entwined. He turned to me and kissed me softly.

"Babe, I don't like surprises." A knot formed in my throat. My eyes started to burn. Then he continued, "But this is an exception. This is a wonderful thing you've done. You're nesting, Babe. You are turning this dream of mine into our home."

"If I'm nesting, Carlos," I said, "then let me nurture you. Let's eat. I swung my hand toward the table. We ate our picnic supper. I told Ranger how I had planned the entire surprise and how helpful Ella had been. I explained that in order to keep the project a secret from him I had spent my FTA bond money to purchase the furniture. As I fed him the last bite of blueberry-almond tart I pointed out the bath rug that was compliments of Tom Gates.

"The carpet in this room" I said, "we owe all to Thomas Johns." We laughed together. Ranger stood from the chair and held out his hand to me. He pulled me up from the chair and my body melded to his. We stood quietly in a tight embrace.

Ranger whispered in my ear, "This is the best gift I've ever received, Stephanie. Now let me give you something…" His eyes strayed to the bed and he began exerting subtle pressure to pull me in that direction. I resisted.

"I'm glad you liked my surprise," I said. "But the surprise isn't your gift." I went to my purse and pulled out a small package wrapped in silver foiled paper with a black bow. I handed it to him. "This is your gift." He untied the bow and slowly unwrapped the small package holding it in the palm of his hand.

"Babe?"

"The pharmacist said it was the most accurate test," I said. "It takes three minutes." I took the box from him and went into the bathroom. I came out and we set the alarm on his watch. We stood holding hands facing one another. His gaze was steady on mine as we waited for the minutes to tick by.

"What are you thinking?" I asked, in an attempt to lessen the intensity of his gaze.

He turned me around to face the bed and pulled me back against him. His lips ruffled the hair over my ear as he spoke. "I'm thinking of all the nights I spent in agony with needing you because I couldn't commit to a relationship. I'm thinking of the night I first saw you naked, hand cuffed to a shower rod. I'm thinking of the night we first made love as man and wife and how I hurt you when I left. And I'm thinking that in a few seconds I'm going to carry you to that bed and make love to the mother of my child."

"We don't know for sure," I said as his watch beeped. "I may not be pregnant."

He turned and walked into the bathroom returning with the small white stick. He held it in front of me. "I hope she has your eyes," he said. My eyes filled with tears.

"She?" I asked. "I hope he doesn't have my hair!" And then, arms around one another, we walked toward the bed. We made love with our eyes open. Slowly, passionately and wordlessly we gave ourselves to one another.

I always knew I didn't want to be a stereotypical Burg wife and mother. There was nothing stereotypical about having a bounty hunter for a mom and Batman for a dad. The last nine months of my life had been full of change and I knew the next nine months would bring even greater change. Ranger and I would face those changes together. The honeymoon was over and what we were embarking on now was the biggest adventure of our lives. I couldn't wait until the pregnancy began to change my body.

I turned to Ranger who was lying completely sated next to me. I let my fingers caress his face and leaned over to whisper in his ear. "I'm already experiencing pregnancy symptoms," I said. Ranger's brow wrinkled in concern.

"I'm craving a donut," I said. He rolled his eyes.

"Babe."

The End

A/N: The reviews of this story have been of great help to me. Thanks to everyone who took the time to read and comment about the direction the story was taking. One of the fun things for me was to find an appropriate quote for each chapter. In the case of this last chapter the quote came before the chapter and in fact inspired the whole story. 'Eating honey' is a good thing, and that moment when Ranger looks at Stephanie and she knows she's about to get her honey has to as good as the dessert itself. Don't ya think?