The crunch of static before something that’s almost always a call for help, unless it’s just Ben checking in.
But he’s got a two kid and daddy bath going down the hall, and this call is on my own frequency.
Here we go again.
I prepare myself for whatever lies ahead, glad I pulled an extra lasagna out of the freezer for Ben and made up some more bottles for baby Mikey earlier on.
Some days I just sense it.
Maybe it’s the weather, but like Ben, himself tells me all the time. “You’ve just got a Ranger’s heart. It’s in your bones.”
“Sorry to call you so late, Stacey,” My off-sider Barb calls in. “But we’ve got a tricky one.”
“Go ahead, B,” I chime in, eager to hear which critters need our help today.
“Not pretty. A pair of beavers found in a trap. I’ve got vet rescue on the way, but we’ll need somewhere to house these babies once they’re freed,” Barb says, some emotion showing in her voice.
I never picked up on it, all those years ago, but Deputy Barbie was actually longing to be a ranger herself. And with my own encouragement, she hung up her deputy hat for a ranger’s one.
Traded in the bleached bangs and nails for scratched up arms and long nights, rescuing furry friends and sometimes not-so-friendly animals too.
I sigh heavily though, always making a face when I hear about wildlife getting caught in places they shouldn’t so needlessly.
Some of these traps are decades old, and most of our rescues come from old traps, reckless hunters, or plain old car trauma.
Cars meet wildlife 101.
It’s a program Ben himself petitioned through his contacts in Congress, using his old family contacts as well as his own experience and influence in the department.
The ranch is now an animal shelter for native wildlife, with our own vet and rescue team on call, around the clock all over the Park.
The ranch is the final resting place for many, but a place of healing and recovery for so many more.
We have eagles, bears. Barn owls and otters. Everything else from jackrabbits to stray or abandoned or neglected livestock.
Goats, pigs, and sheep.
Groundhogs and snakes, even an escaped lion from a wildlife park that was shut down years ago.
It’s a lot of work, but I don’t do it alone.
Ben is here, and the foundation he set up, as well as the grants and private donations, makes it a model for what some are calling the new wildlife reserve.
Human hands helping to get sick or injured animals well and then back to where they belong.
I get the details and then check in on dad.
Not a ranger himself, but our most valued volunteer who I let stalk my channel through his scanner.
“Get all that, dad?” I ask, knowing he’s already on it.
“All over it, Stacey. Meet you out there,” he says, and I make a face silently, remembering this is probably not the best night to be heading out alone for work.
Not just because there’s a storm rolling in, but because it’s Ben and I’s anniversary.
I figure he’s probably forgotten, and once he hears me clicking and clipping all my gear together, I can’t help but notice his sigh echoing from the bathroom.
“Tonight?” he calls out, and I decide to face the music, besides, the kids need their kiss goodnight from mommy.
Standing in the doorway of our bathroom, I crease a smile.
Ben in his robe, bent over the bath, making sure our two little ones get some solid fun as well as a wash after their dinner.
But it’s Ben who looks up at me with real pride in his eyes.
“You gotta go, huh?” he asks, and I relay the basics to him. The local Beaver population is something he has real concerns for.
“Dad’s meeting me there, so is B,” I tell him, hoping he won’t mention it. Our anniversary, which he doesn’t.
But I do.
“I’m sorry, hun,” is all I can manage, but he knows what I’m talking about.
I lean in and kiss both our babies, too busy with bath toys and bubbles to notice boring old mom right now.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll give them their milk and then a story,” Ben says, but he doesn’t look disappointed or sad.
He doesn’t look like a man who feels like he’s missing out on anything.
We both have it all, right here.
Our home.
Our family.
Our life’s work.
“I love you, Ben,” I tell him tenderly, stroking his lips with mine, but really needing to get going.
“I don’t think you know how much I love you right now, Stacey,” he tells me, a little shine of moisture in his eyes.