Author's Note

My lovely readers thank you very much for your support in this story. Your comments made my day. I hope you had as much fun reading this story as I had writing it.

This is the last chapter of Postcards. I hope I answer all your questions in this one.

Enjoy!

Steph's POV

"Please fasten your seatbelts, we will touch down shortly" The captain's voice rings through the intercom and I do as I am told.

The last week in London was amazing. We were lucky and it only rained once. We even caught a glimpse of the Queen.

I briefly wonder if Ranger got my last Postcard. He should have, since I send it on our first day in London. It was a simple questions and I am nervous about what he will say.

"I can't wait to get home and sleep for hours." Lula says.

"I hear you. I am looking forward to a fully functioning shower and good mattress" I reply.

"Told you guys, we should have stayed at another hotel, instead of that cheap hostel" Grandma pipes in and I roll my eyes. "I have to go and get my back re-adjusted, thanks to that shitty mattress…maybe Hugh will be willing to exercise it a little. He is very good with his hands."

"Grandma…there are kids around" I hiss and Lula laughs. Grandma has tried to cause trouble all last week. We lost her twice in the city, because she simply wondered off. Thankfully, both times didn't end in a disaster.

When we went out, I always watched my alcohol intake, so we wouldn't have a repeat of Amsterdam.

"Again…how did you get so prude? You are taking after your mother Stephanie" She huffs and that even gets a laugh out of me.

"Does it make me a bad person, if I am glad that I can hand her over to my mother in just a few minutes?" I whisper to Lula.

"Nah white girl, she is a handful." She smirks and adds "Good practice for when you have bat babies."

"Pfft…as if that is going to happen in the near future!" I snort.

"HA" Lula points her finger at me and grins.

"What?" I question.

"You changed your mind" She says with a smug expression.

"Lula, you don't make any sense" I tell her and roll my eyes.

"You always said, you didn't need a certificate and kids scare you, so you won't have any. But just now you said and I quote 'As if that is going to happen in the near future'….telling me that you changed your mind about kids." I didn't think her grin could get any wider, but I was just proven wrong.

"So?"

"Sooo….you wanna have little Cuban babies with batman…" She sing songs. "And I don't blame you. I would change my mind too, if I had that fine specimen in my bed."

"Lula…you have Tank!" I exclaim.

"I do…and if one day, my man decides he wants to have kids, I might change my mind too…he can be very persuasive." Lula shoots me a suggestive grin.

"Please spare me with further details" I tell Lula with a grin of my own. I am happy that my best friend and Tank have worked it out. Just looking at the two I get sick. And if Ranger and I are bad, they are worse.

Half an hour later, we touch down in Newark. I am giddy like a kid before Christmas and I jump out of my seat as we finally get the all clear to take of the seatbelts. Lula just shoots me another knowing grin, which I only answer with a first class jersey eye roll.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are sorry to inform you that we have a bit of trouble opening the doors. Please sit back down, we are trying to fix the problem as quickly as we can" The pilot's voice says through the intercom and a collective groan goes through the mass.

"And here I thought we left our bad luck in Europe" I mutter.

It takes them another half an hour to get the doors to open and I am ready to push my way through the masses, just to get out of the plane and into Ranger's arms.

"You will get to see him early enough" Lula says and stops my bouncing leg with her hand.

"I know…" I say and still, just to start bouncing a second later again.

Another five minutes later we are finally able to get out of our seats, grab our hand luggage and leave the plane.

"That man is taking my bag" I point at an overweight, dark-skinned man, with a blond maw hawk, grabbing my backpack.

"Maybe he made a mistake" Lula says as we make our way over to where he is trying to put my bag onto the trolley.

"Excuse me?" I say and tap the guy on his shoulder.

"Yes?" He questions as he turns around.

"That is my bag" I tell him and move around the trolley to take my bag off it.

"No, this is my bag" The man replies and puts his hand on the bag.

"So you telling me you bought yourself a pink backpack with my granddaughters name on it?" My grandmother pipes in.

"Yes" He says without even blinking an eye.

"There is my name on it….see Stephanie Plum…that is me" I say and point at the tag on the bag.

"That must be wrong" the man says and I am slowly getting angry.

"Mr…listen to me. This is not your bag, it is mine. And I really like to take it now" I say in a raised voice and out of my preverbal vison I can see airport security making their way towards us.

The man sees security approaching too and out of nowhere produces a gun, grabs me by the arm and wraps his beefy arm around my neck. Just great…I find myself in another hostage situation.

"DROP THE WEAPON!" The officers shout, pointing their own guns at us.

"No chance in hell. I want to get out of here" Beefy replies and pulls me closer in front of him. He smells like he hasn't showered in three days and it is nearly making me gag.

Beefy walks backwards to the opposite wall, dragging me with him. I note that from here he can see everything that is going on around us.

Three security officers are pointing their guns at us and the others are ushering everybody to the exit. One of them is arguing with my grandmother and Lula, but I cannot understand what is being said. My grandma keeps pointing at me as she argues with the man, with wild gestures.

In the end she seems to lose that argument and both of them are being pushed out of the door.

"What is your name?" One of the security guys questions.

"I don't want to talk. I want that backpack…" Beefy guy points at my bag, making me wonder what is in it "And a car waiting for me outside of this airport. I am going to take this pretty lady with me as insurance!"

"You know we can't give that to you, unless you give us something in return" The security guard replies as he steps forward, after he holstered his weapon.

"How about you call someone who can make this happen….I don't want to negotiate with a rookie!" Beefy answers and presses the gun harder to my head. I am really getting tiered of this. This is the second time within the last two weeks that I am being held hostage. It isn't fun anymore!

Ranger's POV

"What the hell?" I question and point at the people hurrying out of the arrivals terminal. Something is wrong! I motion for Tank to follow me to check it out.

"LULA" Tank shouts over the masses and I instantly look around if I can see my Babe's curls. But I can only spot Lula and Babe's grandma come running towards us.

"Where is Steph?" I question immediately.

"In…there" Lula pants and points towards the arrivals terminal.

"What is going on?" Tank asks and draws Lula closer to him.

"You gotta go in there…a man has her at gun point!" Grandma Mazur replies and my heart stops. Not again!

"Dios" I mutter and immediately start pushing my way through the masses towards the terminal.

"Ranger!" Tank warns and pulls me back by my shoulders. "You can't just storm in there!"

"I sure can" I reply and try to pull away from his hold. Unfortunately for me Tank is the only one I have a hard time taking down. He knows me too well.

"No you can't. You know as well as I do it will do the situation more harm than good, if you show up in there ready to shoot the SOB" Tank tells me and gives me a pointed look. He is right, I rarely lose my focus, and those rare times are when Steph is in danger. Thankfully Tank is always there to screw my head on right.

"I will call Hedge. He will get me in there!" I tell him and fish my phone out of my pockets. Hedge is DEA Agent Rolf Hedge, who is stationed here at the airport. We worked together plenty of times before and I know he will get me in there.

Five minutes later I am being let into the Terminal. My heart is once again working overtime and I am sure I will have a few more grey hairs after this. She is the most important thing to me and I will never stop worrying, even if she were to take a desk job at god knows what company, I would still worry. My Babe has this incredible talent to find trouble where there isn't any.

"I know she is your woman, but you have to stay back Manoso, or I will arrest your ass!" Hedge warns me. I nod and stand against the wall, with my arms crossed, keeping an eye on the scene. Thankfully, they didn't strip me of my weapons; in any case I can still shoot the guy.

I can see my babe's eyes darting around and finally settling onto my face. I can see relief washing over her face and she shots me a small smile, which vanishes as the Fat guy tightens his hold on her. I have to take a few deep breaths, so I don't do something stupid, like run over there and kill the guy with my bare hands.

I love her new look. Much to her dismay, her curls are a little crazier, but I love it.

Flashback

"I love you new look" I tell her and bury ma hands deep in her curls and pull her closer.

"My hair is going to be a nightmare to tame!" She answers. "You saw how I looked like yesterday morning. That is how I am going to wake up every morning for the foreseeable future. You sure you would like to wake up to this every day?" Babe ads and points at her head.

"Definitely, babe." I say and pull her in for a short, sweet kiss. She was released from the hospital yesterday and even though her face is still pretty badly bruised, she looks a lot better than the first day I got here "Besides those crazy curls suit your crazy personality."

She slaps me playfully on the chest and I pretend to be hurt, which gets a laugh out of her. "You love it."

"I do" I assure her with a grin and pull her even closer.

End of flashback

I watch on as security tries to negotiate with the guy, but the kidnapper just keeps on repeating that he wants the bag, a car and a free ride out of here. As if I or anyone else in this room will let that happen.

"Why don't you just shoot the guy?" I growl and Hedge turns around with a raised an eyebrow.

"If negotiations at unsuccessful, we will" He replies and turns his head back towards the scene.

Steph's POV

I slowly have enough of this. Security isn't doing anything and Beefy is just demanding the same thing over and over. I am just glad that Ranger is here. I felt him the moment he entered the terminal.

"Just give me the fucking bag and get me a car" Beefy shouts and tightens his hold on me again. I am sure I have new bruises to show off tomorrow. I am getting more agitated and Rhino mode is just around the corner.

"For Pete's sakes…just give up. They won't give you what you are asking for" I growl.

"Shut up Cunt" Beefy replies and presses the gun harder to my temple. "Or I will shoot you right here."

"Do it and sign your death warrant" I inform him. And the negotiator throws me a dirty look. He obviously wants me to shut up, but since he isn't getting anywhere with my new friend, I will have to do the work. "You see the man in black over there?"

"What about him?" I hear Beefy question and he turns us slightly, so that he is able to see Ranger.

"That guy is Ranger Manoso" I tell him and I can feel the gun moving away from my head a little. This is my chance!

I raise my foot and ram it down has hard as I can onto his. Unfortunately I didn't wear my FMP's on the plane, but this has an effect nevertheless. For a second he is too shocked to move and loosens his grip on me, which is my chance to elbow him in the ribs and turn around to perform my signature move to his family jewels.

He goes down, with a loud thud, like a back of potatoes. I quickly back away and find myself pulled into Ranger's hard body seconds later. "Babe"

"Marry me?" I question and look up at him. I already ask him that in my postcard, but I figured it is better to ask in person. This way he will know I am serious. This right now may not be the right setting for it, but I don't want to wait another minutes, of not knowing.

"What?" He stammers out. I think I broke Batman, again.

"I love you and I want to marry you. You always help me to spread my wings, so that I can fly and you pick me up when I fall. You always have my back, loan cars and men to me, all on the expense of your business. You are the most honourable, sweetest and caring man I have ever met, so I am asking you again. Marry me?" I take a deep breath as I wait for his answer.

Ranger brings his right hand up to cradle my face and even though he has a blank face on, I can see the love he has for me in his eyes. "Aren't you supposed to get down on one knee and give me a big diamond ring?" He whispers softly and grins at me.

"Is that a yes?" I ask, trying to get my heart to return to its normal beating pattern.

"You are ruining my plans babe" He smirks and adds "Yes". He crashes his lips onto mine and makes me forget everything around me, until someone close by clears their throat.

"Excuse me…Ranger, we need Miss Plum to give her statement and get looked over by the medics" A small bald man with a DEA jacket says.

"Sure. Babe meet DEA Agent Rolf Hedge, Hedge this is Stephanie Plum" Ranger introduces us.

"Nice to meet you. But no medics. Can Bobby check me out instead?" I ask turning back to Ranger.

"Sure Babe" Ranger tells me and draws me back into his arms. I give my statement with him by my side and not even an hour later we are finally on our way back to Trenton.

"What do you meant when you said I ruined your plans?" I suddenly blurt out before I can stop myself. I have been wondering that, ever since he said it, but have yet to figure out why he meant.

"Well…I had plans, for your homecoming…" Ranger informs me and takes my hand.

"What kinda plans?" I probe further.

"Well you only ruined part of it, so I won't elaborate any further, babe" he tells me with a grin.

"Oh…that is not fair" I pout. "You can't go and say stuff like that and then not tell me what you have planned."

"It is a surprise, babe" He smirks and pulls me over the console, as we stop at a traffic light. "It wouldn't be a surprise, if I'd tell you now, wouldn't it?" He says softly and his eyes sparkle in amusement. The bastard is enjoying this. Ranger pulls me in for a kiss, before letting me go and going back into his driving zone.

Ranger's POV

Steph has asked what the surprise is for the last few days, since she has been home, but I stayed tight-lipped. Much to my amusement. Her guesses went from a truck full of tasty cakes to a trip to Disney land, but she never actually guesses my surprise.

"Where are we going?" She questions as we drive out of the Burg, away from her parent's house. "Is this my surprise?"

"Just wait" I tell her with a grin.

20 minutes and many, many questions later, I pull up in front of a two-story house and my Babe's eyes widen. "Is this the bat cave?"

I get out of the car, move around to her side and help her out of the Cayenne. "Maybe…maybe not" I lace our hands together and lead her up to the door.

"This house is for sale, babe. If you like it I will place an offer" I inform her.

"But…why?" She questions and moves from one empty room to the next. "You have the seventh floor."

"I want something just for us, something we can start together. We will keep the seventh floor apartment, but I want us to have a house. It is away from the Burg and far enough from Rangemen, but yet close enough in case of an emergency. This is a good neighbourhood, which has good schools…" I trail off, trying to gauge her reaction. "You can think about it Babe. But if you don't want to move, we don't have to."

"A smaller house would suffice" She mutters as she walks out of the floor to ceiling glass windows in the kitchen. I expected her to say something about the size of the house. I need my space. A small two bedroom house simply won't suffice. "Sorry…that was rude. It is perfect Carlos, but are you sure you want this?" She bites her lower lip and casts her eyes down.

"I wouldn't have agreed to marry you, if I didn't Babe" I tell her and pull her towards me. "Look at me" I add softly. She looks up at me and insecurity shows on her face.

"You have me and you won't get easily rid of me" I tell her and pull her in for a kiss. "I love you….now what do you think of this house? Ella helped me pick. I had something bigger in mind, but she told me you wouldn't let me spend money on a six bedroom house!" I turn us around so that we are facing the house.

Steph's POV

I am dumbfounded. He wants to buy a house and he spoke of good schools in this neighbourhood. He is really in this and I have a hard time believing that I finally get my someday with my batman.

"This house is still too big" I mutter and he chuckles, as I turn in his arms to face the house.

"Then we have to fill it with little human beings or have all our annoying friends around all the time" He says and tightens his hold on my waist. I lean my head back onto his chest and glance up at the house.

"Little humans huh?" I question.

"Yeah" He only replies and we fall into a comfortable silence, staring up at our future.

"Come with me" He says and pulls me up the stairs to the top floor and into the master bedroom. A blanket is laid on the ground and a picnic basket is resting on top of it.

"Ella?" I question in amusement as we sit down.

"If I tell you I prepared it myself, would you believe me?" He asks as he pulls out the contents of the basket.

"I would, but there is mud cake in there and I know you wouldn't pack that" I answer with a smile.

"Smartass" he only replies and pulls me in for another kiss. "I have something else for you."

Ranger pulls out a small box out of his Cargo pants and opens it. "Technically, you would need to give me a ring, since you asked me to marry you, but I think this will suit you way better than me."

He pulls the ring out of the box and pushes it onto my ring finger. "I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you" He assures me and places another sweet kiss onto my lips. I don't know what to say, the ring is perfect. It is thin, silver and gold intertwined ring, with two small diamonds and one slightly bigger one in the middle of them.

"I love you too" I tell him and smile.

"There is more" He says and pulls an envelope out of the basket as well.

"More? Carlos this is more than enough" I say and I am just able to take the envelope out of his hands, before his lips come crashing down on mine. The kiss turns heated and our tongues are duelling for the upper hand.

I unbutton his shirt and run my nails over his abs. "Ughh…" He shudders, making me grin and we pull of the rest of our clothes in frenzy.

I push him over so that he is lying on his back and I come straddle him. His manhood is hard and ready for me and I slowly glide down, making both of us sigh as I completely surround him.

I rock my hips back and forth, bringing myself close to the edge way to soon. "I won't last long if you keep torturing me like this" Ranger mutters through clenched teeth and flips us over. A small squeak leaves my mouth and I am silenced by yet another kiss.

He starts pounding into me hitting the right spot every time, until we both fall over the edge together.

"What was that?" I grin at him, after I am finally able to catch my breath.

Ranger rolls over, grabs another blanket out of the basket and pulls me into his side. "You calling me Carlos does things to me Babe" He smirks and covers us with the blanket.

"So whenever I want to have crazily hot sex on a hardwood floor all I need to say is your middle name?" I question and snuggle closer to him.

"Yes" He grins and kisses my temple.

A few hours later we pull away from the curb of the house that will be ours soon. Someday has finally arrived and I couldn't be happier about it. Not only am I engaged to the man I love, but he is also taking me to Miami next week, to meet the rest of his family. I can hardly wait.

Epilogue

Ranger's POV

Nine months later

"She is beautiful, Babe" I tell her and cradle my daughter closer to my chest. Another female to add to the family and she has me already wrapped around her tiny finger. She has my Babe's blue eyes, her skin tone lighter than mine, but has the same black hair as me.

"Of course she is…she has your genes" Steph says tiredly, as I place Eva Rose Manoso back into her arms.

The last nine months have been the best of my life.

Initially we planned to get married a year later, but little Eva Rose made those plans void. We found out two month after we bought the house that Steph was pregnant. After that everything needed to happen quickly. It was either get married before the baby was born or after, but my mother and Helen Plum insisted we'd get married beforehand. So we gave in.

We were married surround by our closest friends and family as Steph was five month pregnant. She complaint that she looked like a whale, but to me she couldn't have looked more beautiful. Just like she does now, with our daughter resting on her chest.

Babe got her PI licences shortly after she got back from Europe and is now chasing cheating husbands and wives, instead of murderers and thieves.

Of course in true Steph fashion nothing went according to plan with this birth. First Eva Rose was two weeks late and we had already an appointment for a C-section a week from now. But Steph thought it was a great idea to go on another stakeout this morning, from where she called me and told me her water just broke.

As much as I hated it, I asked Morelli to give us a police escort to the hospital, with sirens and blue lights. Bobby and I were in the back with Steph of and Rangemen SUV with Hector driving.

We barely made it into the ER, before our little girl was born.

"At least now we have only one empty room to fill" Steph sighs, looking down at our daughter. "Just one more to go."

"I like the way you think" I murmur and kiss her sweaty head. I will make it my mission to fill that room within the next two years.

Someday is working pretty well for us and it all started with a few Postcards from Europe!

Author's Note

In the end I couldn't help myself to not write it a little cheesy. I hope you enjoyed this Story.

Thank you for sticking around to read it.´

Till next time!