Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers, and I am only borrowing them. There are several original characters that are mine, and I claim them as mine.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who review as guest as well as those of you who don't allow PMs. I love the reviews and want to tell you that I read and appreciate them all. Thank you all.

Spoilers: Anything from the books 1-12 might be used for the most part, but I won't rule out anything from all 19 of the books. Please note that the time-line for the books has been altered to fit the story, and people and incidents might have been added.

I would like to give a special thanks to Jenn from BCRU. She has been doing quotes from book 9, and the quote in the first chapter here is what gave me the idea for this story. Hope you enjoy. Thank you also to Dreemseeker for all your input as Beta. Thank you to the ladies at BCRU for answering my questions as well.

Chapter 20: A New Life Was Created In Vegas. Epilog

Rene's POV:

I heard the tiny sound that let me know my daughter was waking up and needed to be attended to. I entered the nursery, hoping to catch her before her cries alerted her mother as well. I knew Connie was in the middle of getting ready for our guests that should be arriving any moment, since the birthday party was set to start at three and it was now two-thirty. The nursery was done in pale tones with the predominant color being green, with blue, pink, and yellow interspersed throughout. One wall was done in Winnie the Pooh characters, and another wall was done in zoo animals. The wall connecting the two together in this corner of the house was a wall of glass.

This was the selling point for the house. When we were considering houses, we'd looked at several that were passable. None of the houses had a room we felt we could transform into a nursery though. I'd created seven restaurant bars over the course of the last decade and so I sat down and mapped out the nursery we both wanted. Armed with the drawing, we'd called a relator that Ranger knew and the man said he had a house that would be perfect. The house wasn't selling because of the corner room. We agreed to look at the house and it was a done deal.

I called my team to come in and make the renovations we needed done and within three months we were moving in. The first time Connie had seen the nursery, she'd cried. We'd picked out furniture for the baby as well as an oversized rocking chair. Connie was able to sit in the chair and look out the window at the beautiful scenery outside as she nursed our baby. It was the perfect room. We moved in less than a month before the baby had been born.

It had been a relief to spread out a bit after being crammed into Connie's little two bedroom house. Although it'd been a tight squeeze, we'd made it work. Being pregnant, Connie had wanted to stay close to her own mother and I wanted to give her everything she wanted.

The house itself was set on three acres of land in a semi wooded area just outside Short Hills. The house had the benefit of being halfway between my childhood home and Trenton, so it was an easy drive for everyone. There were five bedrooms, including the master bedroom and the nursery. The bedrooms were all located on the main floor on one side of the house, and on the other side there was the great room, dining room, kitchen, laundry room, and play room. There was a finished basement with a game room, bar, exercise room, and half bath. The top floor was set up as my office. There were two desks up there so that when Connie was working, she had her own space in which to work. I'd asked Ranger to set up security for us, and I must say I'd been so impressed with the job he'd done, I asked him to set up security for each of the businesses I owned as well.

I stopped at the crib and looked down at my precious daughter. She was stretching her tiny arms and legs and making what I could only describe as soft mewing sounds. I smiled as I reached in and lifted her into my arms. My heart melted again as I stood looking down at my beautiful little girl. She was just two weeks old and I'd never been happier than I was the minute she was placed in my hands for the first time.

I walked with her over to the rocking chair and sat down to rock her. As I held her in one arm, I used the forefinger of my other hand to gently caress her tiny face and hands. My heart was truly full. As I set the rocking chair in motion I whispered, "You're Nonna would have loved to see you born, Lucy. It wasn't to be, though."

I felt a hand on my shoulder and tilted my head up to see Connie standing there. She leaned down and laid her lips against my forehead. "She was impatient to get here."

I nodded. Although everything had turned out fine, two weeks ago when Connie had gone into labor a month early, I was in a panic. I'd rushed her to the hospital and less than two minutes later, Luciana Rosetta Bianchi was born. Such a tiny little thing, she'd weighed in at barely five pounds and was eighteen inches long. She had a head of black hair and her tiny little features were perfect. The moment she'd been placed in my arms, my heart felt like someone had latched on and squeezed. Lucy put me in mind of my own mamma.

The moment was broken by the rowdy entrance of our two little boys. Dante Leonardo—who was celebrating his fifth birthday this afternoon when our guests arrived—and four year old Nico Raul, came running into the room. I raised an eyebrow and both boys skidded to a stop.

Dante put his hands behind his back and looked down at the floor and Nico followed suit. Dante was the one that mumbled, "Sorry, papa."

I let the smile slip through. "What are you two in such a hurry for?"

Their eyes lit up, and this time it was Nico who announced, "Nonna is here! Nonno is with her. Dom and Gina too."

This time it was Connie who raised an eyebrow, "Who answered the door?"

The boys looked at each other and then back down at the floor. Nico elbowed Dante and then Dante elbowed him back. It was all I could do not to laugh outright at their antics. Finally, Dante glared at Nico, and Nico folded his arms across his chest, glaring right back.

Dante rolled his eyes and turned to his mother. "Well, see, it was like this... We could see Nonna through the door and the rule is that we aren't allowed to open the doors to strangers. We both know Nonna, so we opened the door."

Connie frowned and crossed her own arms across her chest. She pursed her lips and pretended to debate over what she'd been told. After several seconds she grinned and said, "All right then. I guess you're good to go."

The boys' eyes got big and they both grinned before tearing out of the room as quickly as they'd come in.

Connie looked down at me and asked, "Do you want me to take her and get her ready for her big debut?"

I looked down at my beautiful little girl and reluctantly handed her over to my lovely wife. I stood and kissed Connie's cheek before telling her, "I'll go entertain my parents and cousins. I'm sure the others will be arriving shortly as well."

Connie looked down at our little girl and grinned, "I'll be out in a couple minutes."

I kissed her lips before trailing a finger once more over Lucy's little face and then bending to kiss her tiny cheek. I headed for the great room where I knew my parents would be waiting. I stopped before entering the room and looked at the people seated there.

My mind went back in time five and a half years and I saw once again my mother's frail body as she lay in that hospital bed fighting for her very life.

For three weeks, while my mother slowly won the battle to recover from the tumor and gunshot, my father never once left her side. He held her hand and begged her to come back to him. The sight of him kneeling beside the bed, sobbing, as he prayed for God to let him have her back brought a lump to my throat every time I thought about it. My father was a strong man, but the thought of losing my mother had brought him to his knees.

When my mother finally started coming around, and he'd been able to ask her why she hadn't told him about the tumor, she'd said she tried but she could see that there were other things playing on his mind. He'd begged her forgiveness and tried to tell her how much he loved her. My mother smiled sadly and said she would always be his friend.

When it was time for her to go home, my mother requested to speak to me alone. She'd asked me if she could stay with me and Connie until she found a place of her own. She'd claimed it was time to let my father have his own life.

I was lost for words but told her she would have a home with me whenever and for however long she wanted.

When my father learned of her plans he asked why. She told him she couldn't compete with the dead. Now that he knew his Concetta had never jilted him, she knew he would want to honor her. My father tried to convince my mother that he loved her, but she'd just smiled and said she knew he did. He loved her as a friend. After all, that's what they'd agreed to. That was all she ever expected from him, no matter how much it had hurt her to know she would never have his love. She went so far as to admit to him that she'd always loved him. When her father suggested arranging a marriage between her and my father, she'd jumped at the chance. She said she thought she had enough love for both of them.

She'd told him that when he pulled away from her, it had been the breaking point for her. She'd lived for thirty-nine years with only the love from her son to get her through, and so when she learned Rene was now married and would be having a family of his own, she decided to let the end come naturally.

I was an unwilling witness to the confrontation between them. My hands were clenched and I wanted to scream at my father for the way he'd treated my mother over the years. That wasn't the way to treat a friend.

When my father fell to his knees and broke down in front of my mother, telling her he hadn't realized how much he really loved her until he'd almost lost her, she was reluctant to believe him. I could see that he was a changed man though.

When mother refused to believe his confession, he'd told her to move in with me if that's what she needed. But he planned to win her back. Over the course of the next several months, he'd courted her. They went on dates and day trips. He'd turned the business completely over to Dom and he'd made winning back my mother's love his prime goal in life. Three weeks after Dante was born, he'd asked her to renew their wedding vows. My mother was finally convinced he truly did love her and agreed.

The ceremony had taken place here in our home, with all of our family and friends looking on. They were like newlyweds. Watching the two of them together was like looking at two halves of a whole. It was the way I felt about my own wife.

I caught a movement out of the corner of my eyes and smiled as Dante cried out, "Ranger!" and he ran to open the door.

Stephanie stepped through the door with Ranger right behind her. Both my boys ran to him and he wrapped an arm around each of their waists and lifted them up over his shoulder. They squealed with delight and then he set them back down and rubbed the top of their heads.

Stephanie was laughing and when the boys were once again on the ground, she winked at Dante and asked, "So, where do you think I should put this birthday present?"

Dante's eyes widened with an excited gleam. He looked up at his godmother with adoration before pointing to the area we'd set up for the gifts. Then he grabbed her hand and led her to the table, telling her all about his latest adventures.

I shook my head as I once again felt a hand on my shoulder and looked around to see Connie had come to stand behind me with my little Lucy in her arms. I took my daughter from her and settled her in the crook of one arm while I wrapped the other arm around Connie's waist. She laid her head against my shoulder and smiled.

Dom's POV:

I let my gaze fall on Rene as Connie joined him. I watched him take his tiny daughter in his arms and the look on his face was one that I knew well. It was how I felt every time I looked at my own beautiful wife, Gina. Although she'd led me on quite a dance for over a year, I'd finally convinced her to marry me. My eyes lowered to Gina's belly where our twins now rested. She wasn't showing yet, but it was only a matter of time.

I was furious when I learned Serena had been stalking her, looking for an opportunity to kill her, just because that bitch wanted to get back at me. I was grateful she'd never had the opening to make an attempt.

My gaze went to Ranger as I remembered our ride to the circle on Comstock to retrieve Stephanie. I'd lived around dangerous men all my life, but in that moment, Ranger was more dangerous than anyone I'd ever come in contact with. I knew those who were standing with Tibet wouldn't live through the day.

When we pulled up to the circle, I was surprised by the extreme poverty of the area. There were several burned out apartment buildings and a huge crane with a big cement block being held in the air. It looked like the crew working at cleaning up the area had just shut everything down at quitting time with no regards to the children that might play in this area and get hurt.

We climbed out of the Cayenne and Ranger motioned with his hand. How the hell he knew Stephanie would act as she did, taking Tibet off balance, I had no idea. Before I knew what was going on, Tibet was down on the ground and the cop, Morelli said he was dead. When Stephanie had left with the other three cops to go to the hospital, I was surprised to see Morelli head to his car, and Tibet's groans let me know he wasn't so dead after all.

It didn't take me long to figure out, for whatever reason, the cop was letting us handle this in any way we wanted. The guys spread a tarp out and we went to work on the group. Ranger and I were able to get the story out of Tibet, and I was thrilled he didn't make it easy for us. Once he was laying there in a bloody mess, Ranger had called out for one of his men and a single shot was fired.

I'd noticed at one point Hector was up on the cement block being held in the air. He was working at the hook that was holding the block up. When he climbed down, another guy had gotten in the seat and moved the block so it was swinging over Tibet's body. I glanced at Ranger and the icy look in his eyes told me all I needed to know. I was thankful in that moment that I was on his side.

I watched as Stephanie returned to his side from taking Dante's present to the table designated to the gifts. It was obvious these two loved one another. I was brought back to the conversation going on to hear Stephanie relating something about a recent stalker.

Stephanie's POV:

I walked with Dante to the table where the gifts were being placed. After setting down the package that I knew would bring shouts of delight, I hugged my godson and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Happy birthday, Dante."

His eyes gleamed when he looked up at me and I felt the strings on my heart being pulled once again. As I walked back to the chair where Ranger had settled, I let my thoughts go over the past five years. There'd been a lot of changes in all of our lives.

To say Vinnie hadn't been happy when Connie told him she wasn't returning to the bonds office was an understatement. He'd been ranting and raving at the top of his lungs and hadn't noticed Rene walking into the office. I'd been sitting with Lula on the sofa and we'd both lost it at the look on Vinnie's face when he'd turned to Connie and Rene was standing there with a glare that I'd thought for sure was going to give Vinnie a heart attack. Vinnie had done a fish impersonation and made a beeline for his office. When Rene had grabbed hold of the back of his neck and wheeled him around, Vinnie's eyes had nearly bugged out of his head.

Rene's tone was deadly as he said, "I warned you about giving Connie a hard time."

"So whose giving her a hard time. She doesn't want to work here no more, fine. She's fired."

Rene lifted an eyebrow.

Vinnie gulped. He smiled weakly, "I mean, I accept her resignation."

Rene had wrapped his arm around Connie and turned to leave. When he opened the door, Ranger and Tank were standing there with their blank faces on. I had the impression their shoulders were shaking slightly though. They nodded to Rene and I caught a slight smile on Rene's face as he led Connie out of the office.

Lula and I had made it a point to have lunch with Connie once a week. When I'd gotten ready to leave to pick up Lula that first time, I was surprised when Ranger insisted on driving us. After the third week, I'd confronted Ranger and asked him what was going on. When he'd told me about Connie showing Rene all the old newspaper articles about me, I rolled my eyes.

About two weeks before the baby was due, Lula and I pulled into the RangeMan garage to meet Ranger for our routine trip. I parked in my usual space beside the elevator at the same moment that the stairwell door was opening. I was a little surprised to see Tank following close behind Ranger. Lula and I climbed out of the Cayenne, and I looked from Ranger, to Tank, and then back to Ranger.

He gave me a slight shrug, "Rene asked for more security. With Connie being so close to her due date, he doesn't want to take any chances."

I sent them my best 'Burg girl glare and decided I was going to have a word with Rene that very day. We were meeting at a new restaurant in Newark. It had the benefit of being close to where Rene and Connie would be living once their house was done being remodeled.

We made it to the restaurant in plenty of time, but Rene and Connie were already at the table. I glared at him as we neared the table and was getting ready to give him a piece of my mind when there was an explosion in the parking lot.

Before any of us could move, Ranger's phone rang. He connected the call and spoke into the phone. "Yo." He paused for several seconds while his gaze zeroed in on me. His jaw tensed as he said, "Keep me informed." With that he ended the call. He turned his focus in our direction and said, "That was Cal. It seems that a non-descript black Cadillac pulled up and the passenger lobbed a Molotov cocktail at the unmarked police car next to the Cayenne. The cop car, the Cayenne, and the surrounding cars are on fire."

I looked around me and noticed everyone trying to stifle their merriment. I put my hands on my hips and glared at them all. "This isn't my fault!"

At that moment there was a flash. I turned to find the photographer from the Trenton Times was standing there. He had a big grin on his face. "Imagine my luck to be eating at the same restaurant as the Bombshell Bounty Hunter. Do you have a quote for us regarding this latest fire?"

My hands clenched and I took a step closer to him before Ranger wrapped an arm around my waist. I vaguely heard Tank telling the man if he valued his life to run. By the time Ranger had set me on my feet again, the little creep was gone. Of course, that didn't help me in convincing Rene that Connie was safe around me.

I stopped beside Ranger and leaned my head against his shoulder. I heard Lula telling Gina about my latest stalker, and how I'd been poisoned because I ate Ranger's food at a party.

Gina was dually horrified and turned to ask me, "And this guy's still after you?"

I smiled and replied, "Not anymore. He sort of blew himself up with his own grenade. Everything's been settled. The bride and groom eloped to Las Vegas, and I was saved from wearing the most hideous bridesmaids dress. It was a floor-length Pepto-Bismol pink taffeta dress with big puffy cap sleeves, a huge bow at the waist in the back, and a bell skirt."

Lula piped up with, "I told Stephanie, Now that I'm seeing the dress I'm thinking you want to come down with some bad contagious disease. Something that gives you a rash and makes your brain melt. It was hideous. No two ways around it."

I rolled my eyes and replied, "And she didn't even see it after the alterations were done. What had originally been a dress from the Little House on the Prairie collection was now straightout of the Little Whorehouse on the Prairie collection. It was so tight and cut so low in the bodice that it left nothing to the imagination."

Lula snorted, "That dress was the stuff nightmares are made of."

I lifted my hand to my recently shortened hair and said, "I'd take that nightmare over the other kind any day."

Gina gasped, "What happened to your neck, Stephanie?"

I grimaced, "My latest stalker. He lit my hair on fire before he blew himself up."

There were murmurs as everyone asked if I was okay.

I grinned and told them, "I'm great. Lester's wife Kari works for a plastic surgeon and he's assured me that I won't even have a scar. As for the hair, it'll grow back."

Connie's POV:

As I watched Rene leave the nursery behind the boys, I looked down at my perfect little girl and grinned. "You have your daddy wrapped around that tiny little finger of yours don't you, little one. Now let's get you fed and all dressed up so you can meet your Nonna and Nonno in style."

I sat down in the rocking chair and nursed Lucy before cleaning us both up a bit. I placed Lucy's tiny little body on the pad situated on top of the dresser and changed her diaper before dressing her in the most adorable short-sleeved pink dress.

With its little puffed sleeves trimmed with bows, the dress was a frothy confection of silk and organza fabrics adorned with ribbons and lace and an abundance of tiny roses dancing along the scalloped hem. The silk bonnet framed her tiny face with sweet pink ruffles. She was a dream from the top of her head to the tips of her toes, with her tiny little feet wrapped in perfect pink satin booties.

I headed to the great room, where I knew my family was gathering. As I entered the room, I noticed Rene was standing, watching his mother and father. I had a feeling he was remembering what happened after his mother had been shot.

I was amazed with what we'd learned about the incident. Stephanie had joined me while Allegra was still in surgery. She'd been too quiet and I had a feeling something bad was going down. It was nearly an hour later when Ranger and Dom walked in. Although no one mentioned anything, they were both dressed differently than they had been when they left the party and went after Stephanie. The guys joined us and Stephanie nestled against Ranger as Dom sat with his forearms resting on his knees.

It turned out that Serena had been working with Tibet all along. Apparently, she'd been in love with Tibet for years and they'd been planning their wedding when Rene and Dom took out the Giovincinis. When Tibet lost in his run against Alexander Ramos, and the Scillato family was forced to pull their support, Serena had been enraged. She swore vengeance and started plotting on how to pay back the Bianchis.

She started with making a play at Dom, but after her disgraceful performance and yelling at the wait staff, he left her in the middle of their first date. Then when she found out Dom had feelings for the new waitress his family had hired, she thought she would pay him back by taking out the girl. Of course, when her father came to her with his plans to unite his family to the Bianchis by marrying her to Rene, she couldn't believe her luck and lost no time in telling Tibet all about it. They planned to destroy the whole family.

Tibet had told the guys everything before he died. He'd convinced Serena to wear the bomb into the VFW hall by telling her it was the only way to get everyone to do as they wanted. He assured her he'd get her out of it before they blew it up along with Ramos, Stephanie Plum, and the whole Bianchi family. Tibet had also gotten the Scillato family to throw back in with him. There was the promise of a big pay off and he knew Serena's father was a greedy bastard. Of course, he didn't tell Serena that he'd been using her all along. What Serena had taken as love, was just Tibet acting out of his own greed. He wanted what Alexander had and would stop at nothing to acquire it.

It took Dom and Ranger working together on beating Tibet to a bloody mess to get the entire story. Once they had all the information they needed, both men had stepped back and Ranger had simply said one word.

Ram!

That was all it took for the RangeMan sniper to take the shot that put the bullet into the same spot that he'd put the tranquilizer dart. When Morelli showed up, he was the only one that saw the condition of the body. Once the coroner arrived, Morelli had waved him over. When my godfather walked over to Morelli's car, a huge cement block suddenly fell from the crane holding it up and landed on Tibet, crushing what was left of his body beyond recognition.

The last five and a half years had flown by. First with Dante's birth and then thirteen months later Nico was born. I was thrilled with being a mother but enjoyed working part time as secretary for Rene's new restaurant bar that he'd built in Trenton. I didn't miss the bonds business at all. Plus, Lula and Steph stopped by for lunch once a week. That had started after our reception party.

I smiled as I remembered Rene's introduction to Lula. When Stephanie and Lula had asked to throw me a shower, Rene had agreed as long as Ranger provided security and he was allowed at the party with me. Dante was four weeks old when they'd had the shower, and from the time of our reception party till when the girls asked about the shower, Stephanie had gone through four cars, and had another stalker. When we acted as if this was no big deal, he'd finally asked me why we treated it as if this was common place. I pulled up all the old newspaper articles and when he'd finished reading, he asked me to promise him that I would include him in anything where I would be going with Stephanie or Lula, but especially Stephanie.

As I listened to her tell everyone about her latest stalker, I knew the next time I got together with the girls, Rene would insist on additional bodyguards.

I looked around at my family as I placed my hand on my husband's shoulder and I smiled. As if he read my mind, his hand came up and covered mine as he turned around and took Lucy from me, settling her in the crook of his arm. He wrapped his other arm around my waist and I laid my head against his shoulder. I was happier than I'd ever been. Who would have thought that a once in a lifetime trip to Vegas could have turned out so wonderfully?

And they lived happily ever after

THE END

A/N: Words in italics about the dress in Stephanie's POV are from Notorious Nineteen.