A/N not mine, I own nothing.

WARNING! Smut ahead, and tissues will be needed as well.

The Price to be Paid, Chapter 25

When Stephanie woke up the following morning, she wandered out to the dining room. The sight that greeted her made her do an internal happy dance. Well, she thought it was internal until she heard Ranger chuckle.

"Morning, Babe."

"Morning... What's all this?"

"A special breakfast, for the start of something good."

They sat down at the beautifully set table. There were bouquets of large white Calla Lillies everywhere. The vases were cut crystal, with light blue edging around them.

"What's so special about today?"

"You didn't let anything break you yesterday. You stood tall. I just wanted to show you how proud I am of you."

"Thank you." She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him gently.

He pulled her tight to his chest, increasing the intensity of the kiss. It was enough to leave her breathless and wanting more. Her stomach chose that moment to let loose with a loud growl. Ranger chuckled against her lips and pulled back.

"Let's feed the beast, Babe."

He held out her seat as she sat down at the table. They enjoyed their meal meal in an almost companionable silence. Steph's little sounds of pleasure made Ranger slightly uncomfortable, but in a good way.

"Babe."

"Ranger."

He cleared his throat to start again. "Steph, I ..."

She looked up at him in surprise; she had never seen him like this before. It was almost like he was terrified of something.

"What's wrong, Carlos? I've never seen you act this way."

"I...well, I want to discuss something with you and I'm not sure how to approach it."

Now she was nervous. She began to wring her napkin in her hands. She was worried that he was going to tell her that he didn't want to be with her. All of the baggage she had in her life, and she knew it was a lot, must have made him change his mind. When she finally looked up from her hands, he was kneeling in front of her.

He placed one hand on top of hers to still them and cupped her cheek with the other.

"Stephanie, do you know how much I love you? Do you know that every time you and I are apart, that I count every heartbeat until I see you again? I have never wanted someone to be part of my life the way that I do you."

He paused and removed a small, velvet covered box from his pocket.

"Steph, you became my world the moment you stared me down in the diner. I know that I screwed up so many times in the past. I know better now. Will you please become my wife?"

She couldn't believe that he was doing this. This was the one thing that she always said she would never do again, but this time it felt right.

"Yes," she whispered. The tears that were in her eyes finally rolled down her face.

Ranger picked her up after placing the ring on her finger and carried her back to their bedroom.

He began to kiss her and slowly remove her clothes. He found the spot on her neck, that he knew would have her moaning over something that wasn't food, and ran his soft lips over it, sucking lightly as he kissed his way around it. He made his way to her breast and began to knead one while sucking on the other. Stephanie pulled at his shirt until he sat up and removed it completely, then she sucked in her breath at the sight of him shirtless. She sat up and ran her hands down his chest and abs; working her way down to the button on his pants.

After she helped him work his pants down his hips, she took him into her hands and began to stroke him gently. When he could take no more, he started to growl at the sensation, then shoved her back onto the bed and began to kiss his way up her legs. As he made his way to that spot that he had been craving for so long, he gently nuzzled her there and began to lap at it with his tongue. She tasted like heaven to him. He brought her to her peak, and as she came back down from that high, he slowly made his way back up her body.

He reached over to his nightstand to grab a condom and she stopped him. She shook her head.

"I don't want anything between us. I'm on depo shots, so we're covered."

"Babe," he growled.

He quickly thrust into her, and took a moment to savor the feeling of being inside her completely, skin to skin. It was so powerful, he had to take a moment to regain his control. She started to slowly move her hips under him, and he began to move with her. Their pace began to build. Soon, far too soon for both of them, they were both flying over the edge.

"I love you," he whispered into her curls as he pulled her to his chest.

"I love you, too."

They fell asleep in each others arms. They were relaxed in a way that neither of them had been before.

All too soon they needed to get ready to meet her Dad. They were going to his house for lunch to let him know what had happened yesterday, and give him the news of their engagement.

The ride to her Dad's house was filled with small talk, something she didn't know Ranger was truly capable of. He told her stories of his childhood, but the one that brought her to tears was when he told her about giving up his rights to Julie. She could hear the hurt in his voice as he spoke about it. She saw the pained look on his face as he relived that day in his head.

He had just returned from a mission and Rachel was there at the door holding Julie on her hip with papers in her other hand. Ron had come up behind Rachel and Julie and put a possessive arm around them. The only thing she said to him was that Ron was a better father than he would ever be. He looked at Julie and knew in his heart that it would be the right thing to do, even if it killed him on the inside.

When he was done telling Stephanie about that day, she noticed that they were parked in front of her childhood home.

They made their way up the walk, and her Dad opened the door as they came up.

"Pumpkin." He pulled her in for a hug.

"Daddy."

They let go and he shook Ranger's hand. They went inside the house and noticed that all the neighborhood busybodies were standing outside watching everything that was going on.

They sat at the small table in the kitchen, where her Dad had sandwiches and a few sides prepared for them. The three of them ate before they began to discuss the events that had brought so much pain and terror to their family, and the healing that they were all determined to work toward.

"Stephanie, I am so sorry for not protecting you. I'm sorry for not being there when you needed me while you were growing up. I can only hope that you'll forgive me."

"Daddy, there's nothing to forgive. You did what you could and helped to protect MA from it going any further. That's the best thing you could've done. Mom hid it from you for so long; we all did. All I ask is that you forgive yourself."

Frank sat back in his seat at her words, and noticed a glint of light from her ring as Ranger picked up her hand to kiss it.

"Mr. Manoso, is there something you would like to tell me?"

Ranger turned about four shades pale when he realized that they hadn't told Frank about the engagement yet.

"Sir, I asked Stephanie to marry me and she said yes."

Frank had a small smirk on his face, but in an instant, his face turned to stone as he looked directly into Ranger's eyes.

"Hurt her, and that time in Colombia will feel like child's play."

Ranger looked at him in shock. How did Frank know about Colombia? The only person he had ever even hinted at it with was Steph. He tensed up.

"At ease. I still consult for your former handler. I was on the debriefing team for that mission, so I saw the file. Ask Santos and Tiger about their debriefing after that one; they didn't like me much."

"I will, sir."

"It's Frank, son."

Ranger nodded.

"So what are your plans now, Pumpkin?"

"We are going back to Commerce; I want to finish school and continue with therapy. Once I graduate, then we'll decide when to get married. Maybe I'm being selfish, but I want to graduate first."

"Not selfish, you're finally doing things for yourself, not for everyone around you. I'm proud of you, Pumpkin."

Two hours later, Stephanie and Ranger were driving back to Haywood and moving towards their someday and forever.

A/N: I am ending this part of the story here. There will be a sequel in a few months. I would like to plan it out a little better. This one was a "fly by the seat of my pants" story, and I have the next part of what looks like a trilogy already plotted out. Please join me with my newest story though. The story is called Someone for Her, I will warn you that it is a Tart...this Merry Man was begging to play, so I let him out and he went nuts! Lol!

Thank you Maggie! You are so awesome! Love you girl!