All familiar characters belong to Janet. The rest and the likely mistakes are mine.

Mission 7 - Planting Memories

Steph's POV

"I wanna try," Matty informed us as he wedged his little body between his Daddy and the flat bed cart Ranger just got for us.

"Okay, but remember … I need your help to pick the best plants for Granny Molnar."

I kept an arm around Ty while I dug around in the diaper bag for the piece of paper I'd scribbled on while talking to Mary Lou this morning.

"Now we can get busy," I continued, shaking out my list.

That was the wrong thing to do. Tyler saw it as a new toy and automatically got his chubby little fist around it.

"What did I tell you about being aware of your surroundings?" Ranger teased.

I didn't need to look up from our baby's smiling face to know he's sporting a playful grin on his.

"I knew Ty would want to be part of this mission, that's why I let him hold our supply list," I explained.

No one bought my explanation, though. Except for maybe Matty. He's always willing to give me the benefit of the doubt.

"Whatever you say, Babe."

"Why is it that every time you say that your tone takes on a sarcastic edge?"

He kept a hand on the cart so Matty wouldn't take off with it, and without us, and bent his head to press a brief kiss to my mouth. "Because I'm saying it sarcastically?"

I rolled my eyes. "We don't have time for Ranger-humor, we've got a project to finish."

"We'd have to start it first," he pointed out.

"You heard Daddy, Matty, point us towards the …" I caught Ty's hand to get a look at least one of the flowers we're supposed to get ... "gladiolas," I finished. "Whatever they are."

"Can I help you?" An annoyingly young guy asked us.

Well … asked me since this was my idea and I just admitted I have no clue how to carry it out.

"We need flowers …" I started to say, but Ranger broke in.

"We'll be fine. One of us knows what we're looking for." At my raised eyebrows, he reminded me of where and who he came from. "You know my parents. And I have four sisters. I can navigate a plant nursery. But keep in mind, we might not be in the right season to plant some of Mrs. Molnar's favorites."

I waved away his warning. "You can just work your magic and tell the plants to bloom when they're supposed to. Everything listens to you, I'm not worried."

But the place's employee definitely appeared concerned. "Ummm, you really should stick to whichever planting time or month is recommended."

I shook my head. "No can do. I have a specific goal in mind, and we can't let anything get in the way of that … even Jersey's neurotic seasons. Just tell us where the flowers are, and we'll handle the rest."

I sorta steamrolled over his horticultural advice so he just aimed his index finger towards the left side of the indoor jungle.

"First things first," I announced, "Julie called in the big shrubs."

"I remember."

"A butterfly bush, preferably pink. And lilacs … purple and more purple," I added after a quick glance at my cheat sheet. "Plus, lots of tulips."

"Would you like me to take Tyler so you can have two hands free?"

I shook my head. "Nope. He gets a say in what we buy too."

"He can't communicate with us beyond saying Ma Ma and Da Da, but he's able to commune with nature?"

"No … but he is beginning to recognize colors. He might see something that makes his little eyes light up, which is why I wanted to do this. Hey, maybe we'll be able to find something that eats mosquitoes so we can enjoy this garden even more."

"If you want a spider, we'll have to make a pit stop at a pet shop on the way home."

I shuddered. "Pass. I already agreed to a plant with an insect in the name. That's where I draw the line on bugs. I was thinking along the lines of the plant in the Rocky Horror Picture Show, but you know … it'd eat mosquitoes instead of people."

"Only you, Babe."

"Lucky for you, that's true." I scanned the place, feeling a little of the weight I've been carrying around lift from my chest. "Oooh, look, Matty. A sneezeweed!"

"You say the 'S' word."

I nodded. "I did. You know what that means …"

Ranger knew what that meant and took Tyler as a precaution. Matthew and I did our best impressions of a super obnoxious sneeze which immediately sent Ty into a physical fit of baby giggles.

"I'm relieved this reaction is strictly reserved for that bodily function. I'd hate to be holding our son if you suddenly spotted peonies," my hubby deadpanned.

I smiled wider than our boys. "Wait … was that Ranger-humor again or a dad joke?" I teased.

"Neither. It was an honest admission."

"Got it. No peonies for us … today anyway. We'll need a few days to work on a proper reaction to that one that I - or we - won't have to wear or clean up."

"Are you planning to take up gardening?"

"Nope. Not at all. This is a special occasion for a special lady. Which reminds me," I said to Matty now, "we need at least one wind chime. Oh … and some kind of lights so Mama Molnar can find us even when it's dark out."

"Before you get carried away, Steph. Remember, we still have to get everything we buy here, plus two kids and three dogs, to Ocean City."

"This is the time - and the best reason - to get carried away. Our beach house is for family, and the point of all of this," I said, gesturing to the cart father and son were manning, "is to make our family feel a little better."

I'm not stupid, I know what's important to Batman. He may think my way of helping people is excessive, but he never seriously tries to talk me out of doing something I feel strongly about.

"Where to next?" He asked, proving my thoughts to be true.

"We get Julie's picks and then I guess we could go alphabetically through the list Mary Lou helped me with."

"I'm not singing the alphabet song while we shop," I was told. "Give me the list."

I shrugged and handed it over. I'm okay letting Ranger do the heavy lifting … and heavy thinking in this case. I'd already stumped myself on whether yellow roses fell under 'Y' or 'R'. Now that's his problem.

"Okay, Captain," I said to him, "where are we heading?"

"Shrubs and trees are towards the back. Gladiola and tulip bulbs are to the right of those."

I'm not shocked that he knows where everything is. He likely did a full investigation of the place, its employees, and its layout as soon as I'd told him what I wanted to do.

"You'll have to help me pick the colors for the lilies," I said to Matty as I helped him navigate the aisles without knocking anybody or anything over. "Those are Auntie Woo's favorite. She'll love that we planted them for her."

"We need BLUE ones!"

"Hmmm, we'll see if they have any."

That's how the next hour went. Ranger's voice and Ty using the paper as a flag to wave kept our group moving in the right direction, while Matty and I concentrated on finding what felt like plant representations of every color in the rainbow.

"Get the boys buckled in and I'll load up the bed of the truck," Ranger said when we came to a stop next to his F-150.

He's always chivalrous … when he isn't ordering me not to do something stupid, but I know he had an ulterior motive. The number of Matty/Ty yawns rivaled the volume of our purchase, and if Ranger took his time, both boys would be lights out by the time we hit the road.

"If you insist," I told him. "And if you pass me the book Matty picked for Ty, I'll see if I can jump-start a nap."

He handed the cardboard-paged kid book to Matty and got the door for us. Matthew climbed into his car seat while I got Tyler settled in his.

"While Daddy's busy, how about we take turns learning how to keep what we just bought alive?" I said to my mini-man.

"Oh no!" He exclaimed, jerking his head up from what he saw on the first page.

"That's the wrong energy for a car ride," I told him. "What's wrong?"

"We don't got these!"

He held up his book and I looked to where he had pressed his finger.

"A shovel?" I asked him.

He nodded. "It makes all da holes for them," he answered, gesturing towards the truck where Ranger was loading up our haul.

"It does. Good thing Daddy asked Grampy Louie to put together a garden kit that Uncle Cal dropped off at our house yesterday. All we needed was the flowers - which we got - our dogs, and two well rested little boys that'll be ready to make a dent in our yard."

"I'm not sleepy."

"Of course not. There's no sleeping on the job for you. That's why I said you can help me read so maybe Ty will fall asleep."

That puffed him up with importance. He takes his role as big brother very seriously.

He reached over as far as he could within the boundary of his car seat straps and petted his brother's hand. "I read you a story, Tyze."

I met Ranger's eyes over our boys' heads and gave him a thumbs up. He slowed his pace and closed the tailgate when Matty decided it was my turn to read to both of them. A nap attacked both boys not ten minutes later.

"It's like we know what we're doing," Ranger noted after he slid behind the wheel.

"Yup. All it took was three kids to get the hang of this parenting thing."

The corners of his eyes crinkled in amusement. He reached over and squeezed my thigh before starting the truck and directing us into phase two of our gardening adventure.

Because the boys were asleep, when we reached the Rangeman building Ranger parked next to the fleet vehicle we use when more than one dog is traveling with us. I hopped out and wasted no time getting to the elevator.

"Come on boys and girl," I told Pup-Pup, Migo, and Buttercup when I got to the penthouse and the front door open. "We're on a timer and gotta get downstairs before our kiddos sense a disturbance in the force and wake up."

I grabbed their leashes even though we won't need them until we reached the coast. Pup-Pup led the way to the elevator, but I called him back to the stairwell.

"We've got an hour's drive ahead of us, the least we can do is let you haul tail down a few flights of stairs before you're cooped up again."

Pup-Pup understood, but Migo was still looking at me, waiting for me to make some kind of sense.

"Potty?" I asked him, opening the door to the stairs.

Our middle mutt took off with the mature ones following close behind. Like Ranger, I may omit not lie … unless it comes to tricking a skip, so I let them into the backyard for a potty break before herding them back in and then out through the lobby door.

I loaded them into the SUV and waited for Ranger to back out before following his truck. Having a house on the beach is pretty cool on its own, but requiring a lengthy drive to get there means the boys usually get in a good nap during the car ride which makes the visit even more enjoyable for the parents.

I knew my hubby would keep my vehicle in his rearview mirror, so I wasn't shocked when his directional came on right after I flicked mine. But instead of heading to the drive-thru like I did, he parked in the bakery's lot and waited for me to get my coffee and then pull up beside him.

"Babe."

"We have a busy afternoon ahead of us," I said into his open window. "I needed sugar and caffeine. I also got the hounds some ice to chomp on. I know you don't need any energy enhancers, but I ordered you an icy green tea with extra anti-bad-for-yous added."

I passed him the cup through our windows. "Thank you," he said back. "Any more stops you plan to make?"

I shook my head. "Nope. I'm totally in the zone now. As soon as we get there and the boys are awake, I'll be rearing to go."

"Louis did say to call him if we need backup."

"That's so nice of him, but we already brought help. If I can get Pup-Pup to learn to dig on command, I'm sure Migo will be right behind him doing the same. Between them, me and Matty, I think we can have this done before suppertime."

"I'm not being put to work?"

"Don't feel left out, you have the hardest job … keeping Ty entertained while we're elbows deep in dirt."

"He's a baby, Babe. He's the easy one in our family."

I shrugged. "He won't be now that you said that."

I powered up the window and smiled as he did the same. I gave our dogs their treat divided in three snack bowls before gesturing to my hubby that I was ready to re-hit the road.

I was ready to get off the road and into our driveway when I saw an unmistakable little hand waving his new book around the back seat when we were about eight minutes out. By the time we parked, Ty was beginning to stir. I swapped with Ranger and gave him the dogs with their leashes clipped to them this time, and I got Tyler and the diaper bag.

I gave Matty a gentle noogie and then tried to get his ball cap back on his head. Ty's matching one will have to wait until after he's had a bottle or it'll just get knocked off again. I dug around in the cooler section of the diaper bag and grabbed one of the bottles chilling in there while Ranger handled our other boys and girl.

"I'm gonna go see the water," Our eldest announced.

"Good idea," Ranger told him. "We can let the dogs loose to explore the beach while Tyler wakes up."

He slowed his pace to match mine while still keeping Matty and our dogs within grabbing reach. Making sure Matty and Ty took swimming lessons was something we both agreed was necessary, having two homes near an ocean. But we're still not about to let them anywhere near the water without us beside them.

Ranger kept his voice low so it wouldn't reach Matty's ears, not that anything could be heard over the racket Migo's making running to the water's edge and then barking and running away from the small waves so his paws wouldn't get wet. He'd pause in his play only long enough to send a pleading look Buttercup and Pup-Pup's way in hopes they'd join his weird game of chase.

"Are you okay?" My hubby asked me.

I rested my forehead against Ty's head as I debated my answer. "No," I said, once again locking eyes with his. "This has been way harder than saying goodbye to my own mom."

"Is that the real reason for this garden?"

"Yup. I need to do something. I can't change anything, but I can give our kids and my best friend a special place where they can feel whatever they need to."

He studied my face in the unrelenting rays of the coastal sun and nodded a beat later. He pressed a kiss to my temple before taking Ty.

"Let's get started then. Matthew, Pup-Pup," he said in his normal voice, "let's get to work. See if you can get Migo and Buttercup pointed in the right direction."

"It's time to get dirty," I encouraged.

I wasn't saying that just for the sake of it. There's a ninety percent chance one or both boys, and at least one dog, will be covered in dirt from their eyebrows to the soles of their sneakers. Knowing that, both boys are having a twinning moment in overalls, chucks, and shirts with sleeves as long as I could find them.

I'd love for the dogs and the boys to be wearing gloves too, but Ranger was right in saying they'd last as long as the walk from the truck to the house. No doubt Migo would've stolen one or Ty would've chucked one into the ocean.

Ranger put Ty's now empty bottle in the cup holder of his truck before opening the back so we could all grab something to carry to the designated garden sight. I kept Tyler with me, so Matty and I had to fight over the small or light items while Ranger handled anything over three feet tall or had a root ball already attached to it.

"Do you want to get your sister's pretty face up on the screen?" I asked Matty after we'd made what felt like a hundred trips from the driveway to the side yard. "Jules will be home from school and able to tell us where she wants us to put her bug bushes."

Few things make him happier than being put in charge of an important task. Ranger unsecured his cell and brought up Julie's encoded contact link. Our little guy tapped the face of the Batphone and smiled with all of his teeth and cheeks when Julie appeared.

"Hey, Matty. How is one of my favorite little brothers doing?"

"We're building a jungle!" He said with more enthusiasm than the rest of us have ever possessed.

I leaned over his shoulder so I could see her likely puzzled expression. "He's riding a shopping - and now ocean air - high. What Matty-man's trying to say, Jules, is you're up. Where do you want the butterfly bushes? And the lilacs are being planted where? Those are the biggest of what we bought, so you go first. We'll arrange everything else around them."

"The bench is there already?" She asked.

"Yes," Ranger told her. "It was delivered yesterday."

"Which is why we went shopping today," I added. "I couldn't wait any longer to get started."

"I figured," she teased. "Being patient isn't really your thing."

"No kidding," my hubby and I said in unison.

"So … I won't leave you in suspense. I was hoping the lilacs could be near the bench, so we'll be able to smell them when we're all sitting out there."

"You can smell them from a mile away when they're in bloom," Ranger pointed out.

"Hey, humor me. I'm a Miami kid and we can't grow those down here. And Granny Molnar always told us stories about bringing lilacs to school with them when they were kids."

I got a little misty because I could literally hear Mama Molnar's voice in my head repeating that story for me and Mary Lou … and later to our kids.

"Alright. And the bug bushes? Far from the bench and the house, right?"

"Only if you don't want a visitation via butterflies."

"I don't," I told her. "I really, really don't."

"We can plant those near the porch," my hubby suggested. "That way you can see them but have a screen or a yard separating you."

"That's why I married your dad, Jules. Make sure you hold out for a problem solver like him."

He pointed a finger at Julie to get her attention. "My daughter will 'hold out' for someone much better than I am."

I snorted. "Good luck with that one. Do you want to stay on the line and amuse Ty while Matty and I start digging? Or do you need to be somewhere or doing something else right now?"

"I've got a half hour."

"Good. I can get Ty settled in his 'portable chair' and you and your Dad can watch him while giving us pointers."

Julie laughed because she knew what I was talking about. I lifted my baby above my head, lowered him again so I could kiss his cheek, and then I sat him on the blanket in between Buttercup's front and back legs. We've discovered that her belly is the perfect height and incline for Ty to rest against. Plus, her paws, mangled ear, and tail are built-in toys.

For a supposed 'dangerous' breed, she's got the patience of ten saints when it comes to our baby and Migo's puppy play even though he's catching up to her size.

Matty handed his brother a plastic shovel that was in our 'kit' so he wouldn't feel left out, and then he and I took the real tools and began making holes. Pup-Pup, always being our hero, planted his nails in the dent Matthew made in the ground and helped him out.

To his credit, Migo did try to copy Pup-Pup, but he has an attention span shorter than mine and provided periodic breaks for Matty and I when he grabbed a flower bulb to play fetch with or decided a small shrub is the same thing as a chewstick.

"He's a really silly doggie," Matty declared, pausing to watch his Daddy separate Migo's mouth from the handle of a trowel I'd mistakenly put down to get drinks for us from the house.

"I think we passed 'silly' an hour ago."

I stuck a straw in a juice box and handed it to Matty before picking up a baby boy who began trying to crawl off his and Buttercup's picnic blanket at the twenty-two-minute mark.

I sat down on the sculpted granite seat and took a sip from a bottle of water, already mourning my now-empty coffee cup. "I wanted this to be a family activity," I said to Ranger, "but maybe I didn't think through how a couple members of it would try to create their own fun."

Ranger helped Matty up to sit beside me. Our eldest kicked his feet in the air as he enjoyed the view of the ocean in the short distance beyond our lawn and little beach.

"They've lasted longer than I predicted they would," my hubby admitted. "And look how still Tyler is now."

I glanced down at the little boy in my lap and couldn't help but see the band of silver stamped with the specific time 11:11. Mary Lou had given me the bracelet at the cemetery and showed me that it matched the gold one she'd bought for herself. Julie swears it's an angel number, while Angie says you're supposed to make a wish if you catch 11:11 on a clock.

I'm happy with either explanation since I never really noticed it before Mama Molnar. Now it feels like twice a day, almost every day I find myself staring at the four ones ... knowing she's still with me.

I would have smiled, but Ty had wrapped his chubby little fingers around my wrist, trying to separate the shiny object from it. It hit me in that moment … Tyler will never remember or grow up to know the woman who was a surrogate mom to me for just about my entire life.

"No cry," Matty said to me.

I wiped a few tears from my eyes but could still see a teachable moment through them.

"Crying is okay," I told my mini-man. "It means someone, or something, really matters to you. And Auntie Woo's Mom has been a huge part of our lives. But we can't see her everyday like we used to, so we can miss her any way that feels right. My way is crying. And I hope this garden will help you feel close to her now that she's become an angel up there." I pointed at the obscenely blue sky. "We're gonna keep her real busy watching over us."

I ran the tip of my finger over the granite arm of the outdoor bench Ranger had commissioned for this memorial garden. Whoever he hired was amazing. The image of Mama Molnar in the center of a three-Manoso kid triangle is as realistic as the photo Ranger had given the engravers to replicate in stone.

"Any time you have something to share or something new to show her, let Mama or Daddy know and we'll all come out here so you can tell Granny Molnar all about it."