Hello, all! Now, we know that it's been a minute since we updated this. Sorry about that. Real life has been a real...well, let's just say that it's been intruding way too much lately. Again, we want to thank everyone for their comments on the previous chapter and on the other stories we've written. We really do appreciate your input. :D We'll try a little harder to keep this updated for ya. Now that we've rambled on a bit, here is chapter two. As always...

We are yours,

butterflyswest and Erin Allen

2

Ray waited, feigning sleep, until Neela's breathing grew deep and even. He carefully slid out of bed, pausing only long enough to make sure she was really asleep before he pulled on some clothes and left the room. He closed the door behind him, cringing when the latch clicked overly loud in the quiet apartment.

He padded on bare feet down the hall to the kitchen and smiled at the sight of his sister, her head pillowed on her arms over an open book at the kitchen table. She had exceeded every expectation he could ever have had for her. Her grades were more than excellent. In fact, she was pulling a four point average. She had several good friends already that Ray had met. He'd liked them immediately. They were down to earth with just the right amount of teenage potential for trouble. He could live with that. He just hoped that Emily would hold off on the big problems for a few more years. He wasn't sure that he could handle another crisis at the moment.

He crossed the room and gently shook her shoulder.

"Hey, squirt."

Her head jerked up from her books as if a shot had gone off. She glanced around, blinking against even the soft light over the stove.

"I wasn't sleeping," she said when her gaze came to rest on him.

Ray chuckled.

"It's late, Em. You should go to bed."

"What time is it?" she asked with a yawn.

"Almost three."

She groaned and ran her fingers through her blonde hair. She'd cut it shorter since she had come to live with them. Whether consciously or unconsciously, she'd taken to styling it like Neela's. Now, however, it was sticking up on one side, and he hid his grin by turning his head. It made him feel good that his sister could look up to Neela as a role model. God knew that she'd had few of those in her life.

"What are you doing up?" she asked him as she began to gather up her things, batting his hand away when he reached in to help. "Let me get it. I have everything where I want it, and you'll mess it up." She shot him a look. "Don't you have to work in the morning?"

He nodded.

"I have something to do," he said vaguely. He hoped that she would just let it go at that, but his sister was nothing if not persistent. She paused, glancing at him with one eyebrow raised.

"Why am I suddenly afraid?" she asked dryly.

He gave her a look over his shoulder as he went to the fridge. As usual, the thing contained only a half-gallon of milk, one beer, and something he didn't want to identify. He snagged the beer and twisted off the cap, tossing it at the garbage.

"I have to make a phone call, smart-ass," he said before taking a long drink. "And it has nothing to do with you."

She set her books back down and crossed her arms over her chest, giving him a look that she'd somehow picked up from Neela. He really needed to watch what those two did together. He had enough trouble dealing with Neela's temper. He didn't need two women in his life giving him crap.

"Interesting," she said slowly when he didn't elaborate. "Care to tell me what it is about then?"

He sighed, pulling at the label on the bottle before taking the seat opposite her.

"Neela hasn't told her parents about us getting married."

Her eyes widened.

"What about the baby? Do they know about the baby?"

Ray shook his head, and she whistled low in amazement.

"Why not?" she asked, confused. "What, are her parents a nightmare or something?"

"Not like we're used to," he assured her. "They're just very…" He trailed off, searching for the right word. "Traditional," he said finally, still feeling as if he hadn't gotten it right.

"Traditional," she echoed. "Traditional as in…"

He sighed heavily.

"They're controlling, okay? They like to manipulate everything she does."

Her mouth formed a small "0", and she nodded.

"She was afraid to tell them?"

"I think so," he said. "That's the impression I got."

She frowned, digesting what he'd said.

"I don't understand. If they aren't like…him why would she be afraid to tell them?"

Ray managed to keep from wincing. Even after several months away from their father, she still would not acknowledge that he had ever existed. She never said the word "dad", and would only refer to him in the most contemptuous terms. Not that he blamed her, but it still stabbed home the fact that he'd been unable to prevent what their father had done to her.

"I'm not sure, squirt. I think that she's afraid that they would find a way to stop it."

Emily's face colored with anger.

"Then they don't have to come. If you aren't good enough for them then screw them."

Ray smiled, deciding not to correct her on her language. She was nothing if not protective of him.

"I think you're missing the point, Em. I just don't feel right about it." He shook his head, staring down at the bottle in his hand. "I'm marrying their daughter. She's carrying my baby, and they don't have a clue."

Emily stared at him for a long moment in silence before resting her elbows on the table and her chin in one hand.

"So…what are you going to do? Call them? Fill them in?"

He stiffened at her amused tone. "Yeah. Why?"

"Does Neela know what you're doing?"

"I…no."

She rolled her eyes before rising abruptly to her feet. He eyed her suspiciously as she gathered her books and papers into her arms. Pausing to look down at him, her mouth curved into a smile.

"You do whatever you want, big brother, but its your funeral."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he asked as she turned away.

She only laughed softly and made her way down the hall to her room. He considered following her but changed his mind when her door closed with a quiet click. After all, it was late, and she had school in the morning.

Her amusement had raised some doubts in his mind. He wasn't sure if he should do what he was thinking of, but he didn't have any better ideas. There was one thing he did know; Neela's parents stressed her out as nothing else could. A difficult surgery or a hectic trauma she could handle, but mention her family, and she was as nervous as a student caught without homework. Anything he could do to eliminate that stress, then he would do. Between the baby, planning for the wedding and work, she had enough to worry about.

He blew out a breath and shoved to his feet. The sooner he got this done, the sooner he could get some sleep. He padded to the desk in the corner of the living room, and dug through the drawers until he found Neela's address book. He snatched the phone off the base and took it to the couch where he collapsed. Opening the book, he thumbed through the entries until he found the phone number he was looking for. Staring at the number for a long moment, again wondering if he should even do this, he began punching numbers, dialing before he could talk himself out of it.

The phone began to ring over thousands of miles and a satellite link, and Ray felt his heart begin to beat a little faster. He'd only met her parents once, but the impression had been memorable. He'd gotten the distinct feeling that they hadn't thought much of him, but it hadn't bothered him at the time. Things were much different now. He was about to marry their daughter and was the father of their future grandchild. He didn't want to be the cause of strife between Neela and her family, but he wasn't about to let her go. Not after she had come to mean more to him than life.

"Rasgotra residence."

Ray momentarily was at a loss for words. It was one thing to have a plan, quite another to put that plan into action. At the sound of her father's voice, he suddenly didn't have a clue as to what to say.

"Hello?"

Ray cleared his throat.

"Mr. Rasgotra? This is Dr. Ray Barnett. Neela's…roommate," he said. He'd come close to saying "fiancée" but had checked himself just in time. One thing at a time, Barnett, he thought. There was a tense silence on the line, and Ray could almost imagine what the man was thinking.

"Has something happened to Neela?" her father asked suddenly.

"No! No, Neela's fine. There are just some things that I wanted to discuss with you."

"Such as?"

Ray blew out a breath. The man wasn't going to make this easy on him.

"Well, sir, as you know, Neela and I have been living together for two years. I wanted to let you know that she and I are getting married this summer."

Ray's head echoed with the deafening silence on the line. He had been thinking of how he would break the news to her father, but it had never quite sounded like that in his head. He hadn't meant to just drop the information like a bombshell into a nitro glycerin factory.

"What did you just say?" her father asked. "Did you say that Neela is marrying you?"

Ray bristled at the tone of his voice. He'd said "you" as if Ray was a rat he'd just found in his living room. He swallowed back his rancor and fought for control of his temper. He blew out a breath.

"Yes, sir. I know that this is coming as a shock to you…"

"Shock? A shock? Do you have any idea what you are saying? Have you the slightest inkling…"

There was a sound of a scuffle on the other end of the line and a female voice came on the line. Ray could still hear Neela's father in the background, speaking quickly in Punjabi, and he winced. This was not looking good for relations with his future father-in-law. He almost laughed. If the man was going this insane over having him as a son-in-law, Ray wondered what he would say when he found out that Neela was pregnant.

"You are Dr. Barnett, correct?"

"Uh…yes," he answered the cool voice that spoke. She sounded much like Neela with her cultured accent, but the cold tone was nothing like the woman he loved. Neela was passionate, full of fire. This woman was her opposite; restrained, icy even. Ray shivered involuntarily.

"My husband tells me that you want to marry our daughter."

"Yes."

There was silence on the line for a long moment.

"Why?"

Ray felt his mouth drop open as shock coursed through him. What the hell kind of question was that?

"Because I love her," he answered bluntly, his shock stealing away any other words he might have spoken.

There was another eternity of silence, as if the woman was waiting on Ray to say something further and hang himself. He clamped his lips shut, determined to say nothing that would only add fuel to the fire he'd started. He was already wondering why the hell he'd ever thought that this was a good idea. I should have just listened to Neela and left it alone, he thought ruefully.

"So, you love her," the woman said scornfully. "And she returns your love?"

"Yes."

There was another pause.

"Is there something else you want to tell me, Dr. Barnett?" she asked, as if she already had an idea of what he was going to tell her. Ray stiffened at her tone. He hesitated, wondering now if he even wanted to say anything about the baby. If this was the way they were going to act…

"Neela and I are going to have a baby," he blurted and mentally kicked himself.

There was an audible gasp on the line.

"We will be in Chicago in two days," her mother said, her voice betraying nothing of her emotions. Ray opened his mouth to tell her that it wasn't necessary, but never got the chance. The line went dead, leaving him feeling as if he'd just started a war.

He hit the button turning off the phone and sank back on the sofa. Neela was going to kill him. He groaned and scrubbed at his face with his hands. No, that was wrong. He'd be lucky if Neela killed him. As it was, he would be lucky if she didn't throw him out of the apartment. He opened his eyes and stared down at the couch. He was going to have to get used to this thing, because he had a feeling that he was going to be living on this sofa for a very long time.

Suddenly, he was exhausted. He sighed heavily and shoved to his feet, leaving her address book and the phone where it was. She was going to find out sooner or later what he had done. He might as well leave the evidence in plain sight.

He trudged to the bedroom and closed the door behind him, not caring if he was loud anymore. He was almost relieved when he heard Neela stir on the bed.

"Ray?" her sleepy voice drifted to him through the darkness. "What are you doing up?"

He settled on the bed and sighed. He was going to have to tell her sooner or later. It wasn't like he could just wait until her parents just showed up on their doorstep. What could he say then? "Oh, by the way, I called your parents and told them everything. Surprise!" Yeah, that would go over really well. A sick feeling settled in his gut at the thought.

"I…I have to tell you something," he said quietly.

He felt her stiffen for a moment before she sat up.

"I know that tone," she said dryly. "It always means trouble."

He would have laughed had he not been so worried about her reaction. Oh, yeah. He was a dead man.

"What did you do?" she asked tensely.

He glanced over his shoulder at her. Her eyes were shining in the dim light from the window, and her expression was set in lines of worry. He looked away.

"I know you told me to just let it go, but I couldn't."

"Let what go?" she asked, sudden confusion in her voice. He cringed.

"I called your parents."

"You did what?" she shouted. The bed rocked as she jumped to her feet to pace the floor. "Would you repeat that?"

"I called your parents," he said again, resigning himself to a long night. "I wanted to…"

"How could you do that, Ray? How could you go behind my back and tell them…"

"I just didn't want you to get upset," he said defensively.

"Oh, like I'm not upset now?" she asked sarcastically. "What did you tell them?"

"That we're getting married," he said.

She paused, seeming to relax. "Is that all?" she asked warily.

Ray closed his eyes.

"And that we're having a baby," he admitted sullenly.

She sucked in a breath and clenched her fists at her sides.

"I take it that you didn't hear what you were hoping to hear," she said sardonically.

He shook his head, wondering if this was going to be all, or if he was going to have to go through some serious apologies before this was all said and done. Like buying out an entire flower shop.

"I told you. Didn't I tell you?"

"Yes, you did," he said, hating like hell to admit that.

His admission seemed to calm her somewhat and she stopped pacing around like a madwoman.

"What did they say?" she asked finally.

Ray suddenly wished that he'd just listened to his sister. Or better yet, he wished that a hole would just open up and swallow him.

"Your mother…" he began, and she groaned.

"They're coming here, aren't they?"

He nodded miserably as she sank to the edge of the bed looking as if the world was about to crash down on her. He started to scoot closer, but the look she gave him made him freeze in place.

"I cannot believe that you called them," she hissed.

He clamped his lips over the biting remark that rose in his throat. If you had told them in the first place… But he couldn't say it. He wasn't about to start laying blame. He knew all too well now why she hadn't said anything. He'd gotten the same feeling while speaking to them. The feeling that he was a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. It didn't sit well with him. He wasn't a kid anymore and neither was she. They had the right to do whatever they damn well pleased. There wasn't a soul on earth that could say otherwise…least of all her parents.

"I wanted…"

"Now they'll come here and try to ruin everything," she interrupted miserably.

"Neela, they can't unless you let them," he said firmly, sliding closer to her. "If they come here and tell you that you have to leave me, will you do it?"

She gave him a panicked look and his heart clenched.

"Of course not!" she said, her eyes narrowing. "I just don't want to deal with them right now. I have too much already…"

"Then don't worry about it, babe," he told her, finally slipping his arm around her shoulders. "If they start in, then we'll take care of it. You're not alone in this you know."

She made a face and glanced at him from the corner of her eye.

"I seem to remember someone telling me that not too long ago," he added, leaning in to nuzzle her neck. She shuddered, her breath catching before she shoved him away with a scowl.

"Don't try to butter me up," she said sternly. "The fact still remains that you called them without so much as discussing it with me."

"Neela…"

She rose, grabbing a pillow from the bed and a blanket from the closet shelf and tossing them at him. He caught them and could only stare at her incredulously.

"Are you kidding me?" he asked.

She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" she asked sarcastically.

"Neela, we can deal with your parents…" he began, rising to his feet, his arms filled with the things she'd thrown at him.

"That's not the point, Ray, and you bloody well know it! We can deal with them, but we shouldn't have to. You should have left well enough alone and not gone behind my back. We should have called them together. But no, you had to do things your way!"

Ray clenched his fists in the blanket. When exactly had he become the designated ass hole around here? He'd only been trying to help for Christ's sake!

"Listen," he said when he thought he had some sort of control over his temper. "I'm sorry I called them without telling you first. I was just trying to save you the aggravation…"

She raised an eyebrow, her look sharpening even more if that was possible.

"Oh, I'm not even close to 'aggravated' right now," she snapped. "I'm furious, Ray."

He could only stare at her as she went to the door, yanking it open as if she were trying to pull it from the frame. Ray opened his mouth to argue with her, to try to explain what he'd meant to do, but he clamped his jaw shut. She was in no mood to listen to reason. Reason and Neela were not even nodding acquaintances lately. Instead, he headed for the door, the pillow and blanket in his arms. He paused in the doorway to look down at her.

"I do love you," he said. "I was only trying to help."

Her expression softened a degree as she returned his look.

"And I love you," she said softly. "But right now, I'm absolutely livid, and if you don't go, I just may kill you."

Ray nodded, his gaze lingering on hers until she looked away. He tried not to flinch as she shut the door in his face.

"Jesus," he muttered, turning toward the living room. He trudged down the hall, his feet weighed down with exhaustion and his heart heavy with remorse. He hadn't meant to hurt her. That had never been his intention.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions…

Yeah. No shit. And hell was a damned uncomfortable couch at three-thirty in the morning. He could just imagine what Brett would have to say about this. Kicked out of his own bedroom by a pregnant woman half his size. Not to mention the I-told-you-so's from his sister. She was going to have a ball with this one.

He sighed as he set about making up the couch and lying down on it. He knew that by the time he woke up, he'd have an impossible cramp in his neck and feel as if he'd been kicked in the back by a horse. He closed his eyes, knowing that sleep was not going to come easily. He only hoped that Neela could forgive him before he had to spend too many more nights like this.

Then again, he wasn't going to hold his breath.