Steph's POV

I sighed and laid my head down on my desk, desperately exhausted and missing Ric more than I even knew it was possible to miss someone. He'd been in the wind for three weeks now, and I was burning the candle at both ends. There was a never-ending supply of paperwork, business decisions to be made, hiring, employee issues, and then when I called it a night, it was homework and quality time with Julie, mine and Ric's daughter. I sat back up and looked at the picture on the desk as I thought back to everything that had happened in the last year and a half.

When Ric and Tank went in the wind the last time, Joe and I broke up for good. I was a mess a first, but Bobby made it his personal mission to see to it that that I was well taken care of and not sulking alone in my apartment. Bobby helped me to work through my hang-ups over Joe's less-than-stellar influence on my life, and in the process had become one of my best friends. Ric and I finally got on the same page and started seeing each other when he and Tank returned home.

Ric and I had been seeing each other for several months after the inevitable end of my relationship with Joe Morelli. His ex-wife, Rachel, and her husband had passed away in a horrible car accident within a few months of Rick and I getting together, and Julie had immediately been uprooted to come live with her dad in Trenton. It had been a tough transition for the young teenaged girl, but the experience that she and I had shared with the Scrog incident had given us an odd kind of foundation for our relationship. I had immediately become a stable mother figure for Julie, and had helped her as she mourned the loss of her parents and dealt with all of the changes in her life.

When Julie moved to Trenton I began spending more and more time in the penthouse, and soon Julie convinced me to move in with her and Ric, claiming that she needed me around in order to balance out the excess of testosterone in the building. Unable to argue with that logic, I agreed. Within two days the Merry Men had packed up all of my worldly belongings possessions and moved me into the penthouse on seven.

Julie had stolen my heart when she bravely shot Scrog and saved her dad's life, and while I'd never felt any maternal instincts, I quickly came to love filling the roll of Julie's mom-by-choice. She was a remarkable young lady, and she and I had far more similarities than either of us had realized.

Life settled for all of the Manoso-Plum clan, and a few short months later Ric and Julie both proposed to me – one marriage, and one adoption. It was the sweetest moment I had ever been part of, and I was instantly reduced to tears when the man I loved more than life itself got down on one knee and uttered the words, "Marry me, Babe?" No sooner had I managed to croak out my enthusiastic yes amidst my sobs, Julie appeared next to my with a little blue box from Tiffany's. I looked at her questioningly and Julie smiled with watery eyes. I would never forget the speech that she made.

"Steph, when my mom and Ron died I didn't think I would ever have anyone who filled that role in my life again. I still miss my mom every day, but you've become my second chance at a mom, and I love you so much. Will you adopt me?" Julie asked as she opened up the jewelry box. Inside was a beautiful silver necklace with a simple heart charm engraved with the word Mom. My sobs immediately turned into a flood of ugly tears, and I shook my head enthusiastically and enveloped Julie in my arms.

Ric and I had gotten married a month later on the beach at the house in Point Pleasant, and he'd called in favors to have Julie's adoption finalized at the same time. Tank and Les were his groomsmen, and Bobby and Lula were my bridesmaids. Ric, Julie and I walked back down the aisle amid cheers and celebration for the new Manoso family. Rather than jetting off to somewhere just the two of us for our honeymoon, we opted to take Julie to the Florida Keys for a week and then take a family trip to Disney World. It was the happiest I could ever remember being.

Ric was within a month of his contract to run black ops being completed when he got the phone call that both of us had been hoping wouldn't come – he was being called out one more time. I had wanted to fall apart, but he lovingly, but firmly, told me that he needed to be able to trust me to be strong and keep things going here at home so he could go do his job and come back safely. Bolstered by having something I could do, I threw myself even more into the training that I'd started months earlier and continued learning the business. We'd spent one week taking advantage of every quiet moment that we could sneak in together, and finally he had made love to me for the last time before tucking me into bed and slipping out to meet the helicopter that was being sent to take him off to parts unknown. Julie had shown up at my bedside shortly after, and we had held each other and cried until Bobby finally came up to check on us a bit later after he'd seen Ric off. He took one look at us, took his phone off of his belt, made a quick call, and then gathered us both into his arms and held us until we'd fallen asleep. During the three weeks that Ric had been gone, Bobby had been a godsend. He ensured that we were well taken care of and tried to keep us from overthinking things too much. Ric was my best friend, but Bobby was certainly a close second.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by the man himself standing in my doorway. He looked pointedly at the clock hanging on the wall of my office, which was actually Ric's office that I was using while he was away, and then smirked at me.

"Come on, workaholic. Ella just called to let me know that she sent dinner up to your apartment because Julie wanted some time with Uncle Bobby. It's time to call it a night," he commanded gently, brokering no room for argument from me. I shut down my computer, grabbed my phone and then walked to the door to head up to seven with him. "You look exhausted, Bomber. You need to get some rest."

"I try, Bobby, but...I just miss him so much," I whispered. "I'm not sleeping well, and even when I do sleep it doesn't feel like enough - I'm still exhausted. I don't know how I would get through this without you guys."

Bobby pressed the button for the elevator and then reached out and tugged on a curl that had fallen out of my ponytail. "You're doing a pretty damn good job yourself, Steph. The office is running smoothly, business is good, and Julie is doing well. You need to give yourself more credit," he corrected me. "We're just here to help lighten the load where we can and keep you guys safe. We must be doing our job well because you haven't blown up a car since you moved in," he teased.

I laughed for the first time in a couple of days and hit him. It probably hurt my hand worse than it hurt him. "It's amazing how many fewer people try to blow me up now that I'm not in the field anymore," I agreed as we stepped off of the elevator and turned toward the penthouse. "Of course, it doesn't hurt that no one wants to face the wrath of my husband either." We both laughed at that.

We walked into the penthouse and found Julie sitting at the kitchen bar finishing up her homework. "Hey, sweetie. How was your day?" I asked. Lester had picked her up from school today and brought her back to the building. They'd spent time in the gym working on Julie's self defense training. All of the Merry Men were like uncles to her, but Lester, Bobby, and Tank were the three she was closest to. She'd been extra clingy toward all three of them since Ranger had left on his mission.

"It was good, Mom. There's this dance coming up at school on Friday, and that guy I told you about asked me to go. Do you think I could?" she asked sweetly as she looked up at me with hopeful eyes.

My jaw dropped and I looked up at Bobby questioningly. "Uhh...why don't you let Uncle Bobby and I talk about that after you go to bed? I'm sure your dad has some rules and protocols for that situation, but I'm not sure what they are. I'll see what I can do that would make you both happy," I offered. She instantly flew into my arms and hugged me as she danced around.

"Thank you so much, Mom! I'll follow whatever rules I need to for everyone to feel comfortable, I promise!" she exclaimed excitedly. "I'll need a dress, and shoes, and can I wear a little bit of makeup, please?"

Bobby chuckled and pulled her into a hug. "Sit down and eat, Jules. I'll take you and Steph shopping tomorrow after school," he instructed with a laugh. That was one of Ric's requests before he left on his mission - he asked that Julie and I took one of the Merry Men with us when we went out so he would know that we were safe. I'd found that I didn't mind it so much now that I was friends with so many of the men. They'd even begun dressing in street clothes instead of their Rangeman fatigues unless they needed to be in intimidating body guard mode. The shift from feeling like I had a babysitter to feeling like I was out with friends had made all the difference for me.

Julie squealed again, excited for shopping with Uncle Bobby and going to the dance, and the three of us moved to the table to have dinner. Ella had spoiled me since Ric had been gone, and tonight was no exception. I hadn't been over to my parents' house for dinner in months because of my mom's very vocal disagreement over my relationship with Ric, and Ella had unofficially adopted me as a daughter and seen to it that I didn't feel like I had to sit through listening to my mother in order to get my favorite foods. Tonight, she had gone all out and made lasagna - that was even better than my mom's, I might add - along with steamed veggies and garlic bread. There was also a pineapple upside down cake sitting on the kitchen counter.

God, I love that woman. If I wasn't already married to Ric, I would lure her away from Louis and marry her myself.

Bobby started laughing, a full-out belly laugh, and shot me an amused look. "Didn't realize that you swung that way, Bomber," he teased.

"Out loud again?" I groaned. I really had to quit that.

"Yeah, out loud. Now, let's eat."

We dished out Ella's delicious food and listened to Julie talk about her day, the upcoming dance, and the guy who had asked her to go to the dance with him throughout dinner. I kept shifting uncomfortably in my chair while we were eating, doing more shifting my food around my plate than actually putting it in my mouth, and Bobby noticed.

"You okay there, Steph?" he asked when we'd finished eating.

"Yeah, just stiff and sore. I think I spent too much time sitting at my computer today and the lack of sleep is catching up with me, too. That and my stomach just feels...off," I answered while trying to massage the spot in my shoulder that was really bothering me.

"You go relax in the shower or bath and I'll look over Julie's homework and take care of the dishes. No arguments," he said sternly.

I nodded and thanked him with a hug before walking to mine and Ric's bedroom. I shut the door behind me and stripped on the way to the bathroom. I turned the water up as hot as I could stand it and let it beat down on my exhausted body. I'd been training hard and working long hours in order to help keep myself from thinking about what Ric was doing and where he was. Of course, I didn't have any details on either of those things, but that didn't stop my imagination from working overtime.

I washed, scrubbed, buffed, and exfoliated and then growled in frustration. I hadn't had an orgasm since Ric left, and I was more than on-edge. I took the trusty shower massager down and adjusted the spray to hit just the right spot, but several minutes later I was no closer to release than I was when I'd started. I collapsed to the floor and began sobbing uncontrollably. I wish I had a calendar or something that would tell me how much longer until he was home.

I heard Julie knock on the door and ask if I would tuck her in, and I quickly agreed and got out of the shower to pull myself together. My eyes were red and swollen and my nose was running, but I did the best I could and then walked past where Bobby was sitting on the couch into Julie's room. She clung to me tightly when I hugged her.

"He'll be back soon, Mom. He has to be," she assured me, and I began to cry again. Her dad was on a dangerous mission, and she was comforting me.

"I know, Jules. I just miss him," I whispered.

We said our nightly prayer to bring him back safe and sound and then I tucked her in and slipped out of her room. I had never considered myself to be religious but Julie had been raised Catholic, and when she moved to Trenton Ric and I continued taking her to mass. When Ric had left for his mission, I had gone to light a candle for his safe return and finally felt at peace.

I walked into the living room and Bobby instantly opened his arms to me. I sat down on his lap and snuggled into his warm chest.

"Come here, sweetheart. What's going on in that head of yours?" he asked.

"I just miss him so much, Bobby. I can't sleep without him, and I just wish I knew when he would be back." And that he hadn't ruined me for my damn shower massager, too. A woman has needs, and I might lose my mind from lack of sleep and sexual satisfaction.

Bobby busted out laughing again, and my cheeks instantly turned red and I buried my head in his shoulder in embarrassment.

"I can't believe I did that!" I whined.

"I can, and it's one of the things that we all love about you, Steph. Don't ever stop," he chuckled.

"It's always the embarrassing thoughts that I accidentally say out loud!" I pouted.

"Well, I can't help you with that last problem, but maybe I can help you with the sleep." He scooted me out of his lap and then grabbed the throw pillow and blanket from the side of the couch and placed the pillow on his lap. He pulled me down so that my head rested on the pillow and then covered me with the blanket. "You sleep. I'll be right here," he promised. We'd spent countless nights like this while Ric was in the wind after Joe and I had broken up, and I'd even fallen asleep like this several times when Ric was home and the core team was over at our place. I was immensely grateful that Ric was so comfortable with my friendship with Bobby and knew that it was purely platonic. He picked up the remote and turned on the television and then began running his fingers through my hair soothingly. I was out like a light in minutes.