Three weeks post surgery….

Steph was cleared to return to regular duty last week after her stitches came out. She had begun to get a little crazy. That happens when her activities are restricted. The entire building heaved a collective sigh of relief when she returned to active duty. I think the bricks have finally settled back into place, and the RangeMan staff has stopped quaking in its boots.

Georgia went to court the day after Steph had the surgery. Georgia had a long record, primarily for petty theft and solicitation. He managed to argue that she had no history of drug abuse or dealing. He had her plead guilty to the two lesser charges, showing that she was willing to admit her mistakes. The miracle was him getting the intent to distribute charge dismissed. She was sentenced to one year in a minimum security prison. She will have five years of carefully supervised probation after her release. He also bargained for time served, good behavior, and time off for completion of drug rehab. In doing this, he managed to get her one year sentence down to seven months. The family court judge kept his promise to send over his recommendations regarding probation and drug testing. The Dick agreed to all of it. Val was there for the sentencing, and she promised that she would bring the children to see her every weekend. My attorney was also there, making sure that the judge was aware that Georgia had a good job waiting for her.

I ended up hiring Heather as a private nurse for the Trenton office. Stephanie found out that the agency has a hard time placing Heather due to her hearing issues. As a result, the woman has to struggle to make ends meet. Steph can't stand to see anyone good held down. As a result, I have a new employee. In the end, it was a good move. Dr. Clark agreed to 'hire' her so that she can arrange for meds and the like when necessary. She can also suture wounds. This is a good thing; it will save us trips to the ER for things like that. I know that Steph and Heather will be seeing a lot of each other.

For that matter, Hal and Heather are seeing a lot of each other. Heather moved to the fourth floor the day I hired her. She's across the hall from Lester and her apartment is between Bobby's and Ram's. Hal is next to Lester. According to Les, Hal hasn't been in his apartment for more than ten minutes since Heather moved in. They go out to dinner frequently. Hal has also managed to get her to the gun range. She seems to like that a whole lot. At Hal's request, Hector set her up with the same type of armament as Steph. She shot Zero with a net when he didn't want stitches two days ago. I think she learned that move from Steph.

Heather fit into the RangeMan building with a minimum of fuss. It took her all of a day to realize that no one here would look down on her, pick on her or give her static because she's deaf. If anything, the guys have gone out of their way to make her feel comfortable and accepted. It's almost comical, really. Big, tough guys trying to make a tiny, fragile woman feel safe around them. Especially Hal. He's a completely different man around her, particularly compared to his behavior around other woman. He's happy and relaxed. He's even becoming less intimidated by Steph.

I can't deny the fact that Steph managed to change us all. When she came here after the Scrog incident, she was fractured. Not broken, but at risk. So were the rest of us. In healing herself, she healed us all. She accepted the guys. They accepted her. She pulled every last one of us closer and closer to her, until, one day, I realized that my company and my friends revolve around her. Not me. Her.

She is my life, my world.

She is mine.

I am hers.

She is ours.

She has the support system I have wanted for her since day one. She is an integral part of the support system for me, for my men, and for my company.

This is how things should be.

The end… For now.