Standard FF disclaimers

April 2012

Epilogue: Accepting Destiny

The Burg was watching. The spectacular accident in the Delaware river got the attention of the entire community. It was all over the news and being talked about in the gossip channels of the Burg. Of course, when word of the breakup between Stephanie Plum and Joe Morelli hit the air waves, the river incident was all but forgotten. There was a new show to watch. Joe had been seen with a different woman every night since the breakup. Seemed like he was trying to audition a replacement for Stephanie, but it didn't look like he was having much success. Everyone knew that the Bombshell would be a hard act to follow. There were all kids of theories about why they broke up, and how long it would be till they got back together. Bets were made, big wagers on the love life of Plum and Morelli. But just when everyone thought things were really going to get good…

Stephanie disappeared.

For weeks she had been keeping to herself. She couldn't work, with her arm in the cast. So she was not seen at the Bonds Office, or at the police station. She didn't stop by for donuts at the Tasty Pastry. She did not eat at Pinos. Her family barely heard from her. Just a few phone calls, to let them know she was fine. And then, that she had moved. Her mother had nearly had a fit when Stephanie broke off with Joe. They had been close to getting married. She was so close to having her daughter settled down and taken care of. Now what would she do? Helen didn't think she could last much longer. Waiting for her daughter decide what she was going to do with her life was almost killing her. Joe would have cared for her and would have made her quit the awful bounty hunting job. Now what was going to happen? The silence from Stephanie did nothing to settle her mind. Frank repeatedly told her to give their daughter some space, some time. She didn't want to listen to him, what did he know about the pressure that she was under to get Stephanie taken care of? Helen would have marched right over to Stephanie's place and given her a good talking to, but it was impossible to get to her at the apartment at RangeMan. And since Stephanie had stopped answering her phone, she just had to wait, like everyone else to see what would happen next.

Gossip had turned to wild speculation, and then even that died down. The Burg grapevines were suspended, apprehensive, waiting. Any news about Joe and his latest date was not enough to keep interest if Stephanie wasn't involved and there weren't sparks flying from their confrontations. A two month long dry spell dragged painfully along. Suddenly the news hit and spread like a wild fire. There was a new couple in town. Ranger and Stephanie were seen at Shorty's, at Pinos, at her parents house, and the Bonds office. No one knew what had happened. They would not ever know. The few that did know were not talking. But the great news carried the Burg into the next big blab fest event.

Stephanie had been blissfully unaware of the whole Burg dilemma. She had her mind on other things. Mainly Ranger. Once she had said goodbye to Joe, she concentrated on getting her life ready to share with Ranger. She went through the entire spectrum of emotions. She missed him so badly it actually hurt. She would try to drown out the pain in her heart by punishing her body. Her "workouts" were wearing her down and scaring the guys. So they sat down with her and talked out her frustrations. She was again amazed at how many heroes she had in her life. Bobby set up a fitness plan that would allow her to work out her pent up energies. And he recruited Ella, giving her the diet information that would allow Stephanie's body to keep up with her aggressive schedule. Tank and Lester arranged to work out with her and help her learn new skills. Their introduction of Tai Bo techniques reminded her of the mindset she had been experienced at the yoga class. Harmony and balance. Uniting of mind and body. It worked, she was able to deal with missing Ranger in a whole new way. Looking forward now, to building a relationship with him.

Being prepared in this way helped her through the hardest weeks of her life. After bringing Ranger home. She agonized over how she could reach him. Stephanie knew that she held the key, if only she could find it and use it to open his hidden world. She should have known. It was love, her love that saved him. All she had to do was tell him that she loved him. Pure and simple. That was the only key needed.

Nothing would ever compare to the moment that Ranger came 'home'. Declaring his love for her was only the beginning. They had a life time stretching out before them. Without hesitation, they started to live their new life together.

Ranger was determined to court Stephanie, properly. Well, as properly as you could when you were living together. He was so pleased to find out that she had had enough faith in him, in them, to give up her apartment and move in with him. It gave him strength to know that she understood him so well.

Their first 'date' was a trip to Point Pleasant. Picking up food at Pinos on their way out of town, was one of the first places that they were seen together. They were actually gone by the time word hit the grapevine and announced the obvious indications of a relationship between them. Helen was floored. What was Stephanie doing to her this time? And still she had to wait until they got back to talk to her. Stephanie did not take her phone with her!

The burg had been holding its collective breath. With Stephanie now connected with Ranger, they were sure a showdown was coming. Bets were on to see who it would be with first, Helen or Joe. But the showdown didn't come, instead they got a show.

Bomber meets Boomer!

Waterfront stadium was packed. It was the last home game of the season. Thunder fans are great, and support their team year round. But tonight a larger crowd was present, all hoping to see the Bombshell Bounty Hunter.

Mona Schiller was a sharp woman. She was always looking to make life a little better for someone, anyone. She was, and always had been single so she championed causes for the kids she never had. Working for the Thunder was fulfilling for her because she had been able to participate in their charity programs for children.

In section 12, right behind home plate, there was a solid wall of navy Thunder jerseys. RangeMan had been invited to attend the game. And instead of the usual black, everyone was wearing the jerseys to show support for the team.

This had been Mona's brainstorm. She had hatched the idea the day she met Stephanie. Several days later, after Stephanie had been released from the hospital, Mona had approached her about her plan. It was still over 2 month away, so they both thought there was plenty of time to work out the details. Originally Stephanie had just planned on showing up at the game by herself. She was more than willing to use the notoriety she usually got in the newspapers for a good cause for once. But after she 'found' Ranger, they decided to make it a big function for the entire company.

Mona reserved the section, as well as a luxury booth for RangeMan. Ranger brought in his contract workers to watch business at RangeMan while all of the Merry Men and their families joined them at the stadium. It was planned to be a great outing for the guys, and an excellent opportunity to help children from New Jersey to Haiti. The local chapter of the Knights of Columbus teamed with RangeMan to make this night a spectacular success. The entire stadium, and several news crews, were all waiting for the 7th inning stretch for the show.

Stephanie had agreed to come out on the field with the mascots; Boomer the thunderbird and Strike the thunderbolt. And while she usually never liked to draw attention to herself, on purpose. This was a purpose she could stand behind.

The whole family joined them. Grandma Mazur dragged Frank and Helen along, they had been acting like party poopers and she would have none of that. The tension at the Plum home was nearly unbearable. Something had to give soon. But Edna refused to let Helen any where near Stephanie. Helen still hadn't talked to Stephanie since their trip to Point Pleasant. It would have to happen soon, just not here at the stadium, she didn't want her to create a scene. Val and Albert were having a ball with the girls, spending as much time in the luxury suite with Frank and Helen (and the great spread of food) as they did in the seats with Stephanie and Ranger. Grandma Mazur was all over the stadium. She was enjoying the crowds, the food, and the view. Who wouldn't love to be surrounded by a sea of big, good looking men and their packages. It didn't take long for Mona and Edna to meet. Stephanie was right, they got along famously from the very first moment they started talking.

When it was finally time. Stephanie and Ranger walked onto the field. Both Boomer and Strike were wheeling around them on their little off road bikes. The crowds were going wild when they nearly ran over Stephanie, and Ranger nearly punched out the thunderbird.

Mary Alice was getting a great view from the dugout on top of Hanks shoulders. Mary Alice called Hank her hero, and Hank called M.A. his good luck charm. They had met a few weeks after the accident. Stephanie found out that M.A. was having nightmares about her being trapped in the river. She became terrified of water. Val had a hard time even getting her to let the water run over her head when she washed her hair. So Stephanie called in Hank and Bobby to help her. She told M.A. that Hank saved her and he knew all about water, and his easy manner won her confidence immediately. And Bobby helped her talk about what scared her, she opened up to him immediately, she could tell that he understood how she felt. Hank ended up giving M.A. swimming lessons at the local Rec Center. That is where he met Amy. She was working as a life guard and couldn't help but notice the great guy with lots of muscles and a warm smile, teaching a little girl to swim.

Amy went out of her way to meet and talk to Hank. They talked every day for weeks, until she finally asked him out. After realizing that he was shy, Amy decided to make the first move. And they are both glad she did. M.A. reached down and playfully tapped Amy on her head, she liked Amy as much as she liked Hank. She considered them to be her super hero aunt and uncle. Stephanie was so pleased that her niece had some great role models and she truly adored Amy. Which was a good thing, as she wasn't willing to share her angel with just any one!

Meanwhile the show on the field was almost over. They only had a few minutes, and in that time they thrilled the crowds by the almost collision and Rangers threat, which no one knew if it was for real, or part of the show. And then Stephanie brought out a huge clown size pair of hand cuffs. She chased Boomer for a bit then grabbed him, cuffed him and dragged him off of the field. The crowds roared, they were loving every second of the performance.

Moments after Boomer left the field, an ad for Vincent Plum Bail Bonding came up on the huge screen. Vinnie, Connie and Lula were shown in front of the office with big smiles on their faces, and a couple of other enhanced features. The screech that erupted from section 12 indicated that this had been an unexpected moment, and Connie was going to kill Vinnie. Lula was just smiling away, she had loved the outfit she was wearing in the ad. Oh yeah, she looked good! Yep, this was a big win, win night for everyone.

As luck would have it, the Trenton Thunder won their game. It was great for the team, great for the fans, and great for the news copy that would show up in the paper tomorrow morning, accompanied by the picture of the Bombshell cuffing Boomer.

Mona was there to thank all of the Rangemen as they were leaving. She had had such a great time tonight. A huge sigh of satisfaction and relief escaped audibly from her lips. The event had been more successful than she had even dared to hope. Turning, Mona stuffed her hands in her pockets. Her eyes widened as she felt the small object still in one pocket. She almost forgot that she had something for Stephanie. She swung around, chasing them down to the parking lot, Mona caught up with Stephanie and Ranger. They looked surprised and a little bit alarmed that she was running after them, yelling. But she quickly explained. Something Stanley had dumped out of her purse in the office, never made it back to her. It had rolled away, and the cops had never seen it.

Mona had caught the sparkle of something shiny that day, so many weeks ago, but she had had a hard time getting to it afterwards. It had rolled under the bookshelf next to the door. Once she retrieved it, she was more curious than ever, but by that time Stephanie had disappeared.

A group of large men were standing around Stephanie as Mona caught up with her. They were all as curious as she was to find out what was in Mona was waving around in her hand. At Mona's request, Stephanie held out her hand and Mona placed the small item in the center of her palm. She pulled her hand back and slowly opened her fingers. In the yellow glow from the parking lot lights, a smooth shiny orb shimmered, casting off the reflected light.

Stephanie gasped, "It's my grandfathers marble," she breathed out the words with the breath that she had been holding. Looking up at Mona, she had tears in her eyes. "Thank you so much."

Ranger was curious, he looked at Stephanie with a question in his eyes.

"It's Grandpa Mazur's shooter marble. He taught me how to play marbles when I was a kid," she explained. "It was the prized marble in the game that we played for keeps. It was his favorite peltier nova shooter. And I when I won it, he was so proud of me." The tears, that she had kept under control up until then, started silently rolling down her cheeks. "I've kept it ever since, it's one of the last things that I have that remind me of him," she said quietly. Ranger wrapped her in his arms and nodded to Mona.

"Thank you Mona," he said. She wordlessly nodded and smiled at him. She'd had a feeling that it was important and was glad she had been able to return it to Stephanie. Mona waved and watched the group move to their cars. She had heard part of the story, but she was sure that there was a lot more to it. She hoped that one day she Stephanie would share the rest with her. She had no idea just how soon her wish would come true.

Thanks to all of you for your comments as you have followed this story! I truly appreciate your participation, and kind words. I am working on a sequel, planning to have the first chapter ready by Friday. Hope you'll come along for the ride… Dreamer