Disclaimer: As before

Author's Note: Sorry if I go on a bit here folks. I'll tell you now, this chapter is pure, gratuitous fluff for everyone who believes in happy endings (and to warn you, the M rating crops up again). It is also enormously long but it didn't split into even halves very well, so I've left it whole. I can't tell you how much fun I have had writing this story and how much it means to me. I know it's not the first story I've completed on here, but it's so much longer than the last, and it's been a lot more challenging to write, so I feel a lot more of myself has gone into it. And your response to it has been absolutely amazing – I'd like to thank all of you who have read it, and especially those of you who have taken the time to review it. Oh, and thank you also for all the good luck wishes for my exams – I think I'll need all the luck I can get! I'm so sorry to see this finish, but this time it really is the last chapter. I only hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have writing it. And come on, one last time (on this story anyway), reviews please!

When Neela returned inside, Ray had finished in x-ray and was waiting at the admit desk for her. There was a huge smile on his face, although the shadow of concern passed across it as he saw her come in, wet and sad.

'Are you all right?' He took her hands in his, realising that he could no longer feel the cold metal of a wedding ring on her finger.

She nodded, and said quietly, 'Yes, it's over. He's gone.'

He pulled her into his arms, knowing how upset she must be. He felt her shiver with the cold; she was wet through. 'Neela, my love, you're soaking, do you want me to go and find you some scrubs to put on or something?'

She smiled up at him gratefully. 'No, it's okay. I feel warm on the inside.' And she did; being in his arms made her feel like her heart was burning in her chest. As their eyes met, each saw the desire and love in the other's, but Weaver had them well scared into behaving themselves at work, so they had to content themselves with a tighter hug and an unspoken promise of later. Unless they could find an empty supply cupboard again, Ray thought with a smile. God, they'd come so far since then.

'What are you smiling at?' she asked coyly, knowing exactly what was on his mind.

'You,' he whispered in her ear, his breath tickling the side of her neck. He was close enough to her to feel her heart begin to race and her own breathing quicken. 'Time to go home?' he raised an eyebrow suggestively.

She was about to agree, already aching to feel his touch, when Neela suddenly remembered something. 'No, we can't go anywhere yet. Abby's upstairs in maternity, I want to know how she's getting on. I said I'd go and see her when the baby was born.'

Jerry, who had obviously been listening in on their conversation, spoke up. 'Frank's on the phone to Kovac now; look.' He indicated over at Frank, who had a rare smile on his face. 'Looks like good news.'

They listened to him carefully. 'It's been like a soap opera down here,' he grumbled. 'Yes, yes, she's here. I'll send her up. Congratulations Doctor Kovac, give Abby my best.'

He hung up, and turned to Neela. 'Go on up. They're in room three of the main maternity ward.'

'Thanks Frank.' She made her way towards the lift, and when Ray didn't immediately follow, she went back and grabbed his hand, dragging him after her.

'Me as well?' he asked, sounding unsure.

'Of course you as well.' She gave him a reassuring look. 'It's okay now Ray, we're allowed.' The smile returned to his face at that.

'I'm still meant to be on shift.' Weaver hadn't agreed to give him her shift earlier, probably not trusting Morris, Pratt and himself to be left alone on the floor, but she had let him carry on working. Luckily, she was hovering around at that moment.

'Go on. Go. We're staffed well enough as it is.'

'Thank you Doctor Weaver.'

When they got upstairs, Neela knocked on the door tentatively, waiting for Luka's quiet, 'Come in,' before opening the door. She dragged Ray in after her, sensing his nerves.

Immediately, she rushed over to the bed, where Abby was holding a sleeping baby wrapped in a soft blue blanket in her arms. 'Oh Abby, he's beautiful. I can't believe you have a baby.'

Abby gave her a tired smile. 'I know, neither can I. Do you want to hold him?'

Neela nodded eagerly, and Abby passed her the tiny child carefully so as to not wake him. 'We've called him Joseph.'

'Hello Joe,' Neela said quietly to the baby in her arms.

While the women were primarily concerned with the child, Luka drew Ray over to the window. 'Frank said it was like a soap opera downstairs, by the look of you now, you were playing a leading role.'

'Hmm,' Ray agreed dryly. 'Things got a bit… public.'

'So who did that then? Pratt or Gallant?'

'Gallant. And I don't mind, she's worth it.' The two men looked at each other, and seeing the contentment and happiness written all over Ray's swollen features, Luka's face cracked into a smile.

'I'm happy for you, for both of you. But you make sure you look after her; she's given up her marriage for you, don't make her regret it,' he said warningly.

'Never, man. Never.' Luka clapped him on the shoulder at his reply.

Abby was looking at Neela, keen for information. 'So?'

'Abby, you've just had a baby; you cannot honestly be interested in my love life right now. Look at this little guy, how can you think of anything else?' Neela didn't take her eyes off the baby, and Abby smiled at her.

'I've got the next eighteen years to enjoy him. Come on, your ring is gone and Ray looks like someone used him in an anger management demo. Does this mean…?'

Neela stole a quick glance at her friend, letting some of the happiness she was feeling show in her eyes. Abby knew what she meant by that and let out a little squeal of excitement. 'Really?'

'Really.'

'And Michael?'

'It was hard, and horrible, and I hated doing it, and I hate myself for doing it, but I feel… I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. The lies and the pretending are over now. I can just… I can just be with Ray, and enjoy it.'

The baby began to cry, and Neela started to gently rock him in her arms, and he soon quietened down. 'You really have a way with him. You've just earned yourself the position of chief babysitter, you know.'

'I have an abundance of younger brothers and sisters and cousins; I'm better with babies than people always seem to think I am going to be.'

'Neela,' Abby said, going back to the original subject, 'I'm so happy for you and Ray. I've been able to see for a long time how you two feel about each other; I'm so glad you're doing this properly now.'

'I know it didn't sit well with you, what we were doing, but I'm so grateful for your support, and I know you've been there for Ray too. We both owe you a lot.' Her voice was serious.

Abby felt it was time to lighten the mood. 'That's a yes to the baby sitting service then?'

'Absolutely,' Neela replied emphatically.

Abby looked briefly over at Luka where he was standing with Ray, and nodded at him slightly. He stepped back towards the bed, and Ray moved back to Neela's side, standing behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist, looking over her shoulder at the baby. 'He's a cutie Abby. Just as well he doesn't take after his Mum, hey?'

'Watch it,' she warned.

'Look, guys, now you're both here, together, there's something Abby and I want to ask you. I know things have been tough for you so we'll understand if you don't want to say yes to this, but we were wondering if you would like to be Joe's godparents?' As Luka looked at the young couple, the perfect picture of happiness with a baby in their arms, he knew that Abby had been right with the suggestion. He couldn't think, if God forbid anything should happen to him and Abby, of two people he would like to bring up his child more.

Ray and Neela stared at him for a minute, then looked at each other, stunned, before turning back to Luka. 'Us?' Neela asked incredulously.

'Me?' Ray couldn't believe what he was hearing. Doctor Kovac, ER Chief, wanted him to be godfather to his child? He looked at Abby, who smiled at him encouragingly, and he could see in their eyes that they meant it. 'You know I'd turn him into a rock star if I got my hands on him, don't you?'

'We're sort of hoping it won't come to that,' Abby laughed.

Ray looked back to Neela. She looked even more beautiful with a baby in her arms, and it gave him ideas that he never thought he'd have. Not for another ten or twenty years, anyway.

'We'd be honoured to be godparents to Joe.' He spoke for them both, earning a kiss on his uninjured cheek from Neela.

They stayed and chatted after that for a short while, then Joe began to wake up and grizzle, so they made their excuses and left the new parents to it. As soon as the door was shut behind them, he reached for her, grabbing her hips and holding her close to him. 'Now can we go home?'

'Yes, now we can.'

The car journey home seemed interminable to both of them. He drove, but kept his hand on the gearstick, where she rested hers over his, caressing his skin with her thumb. Every time he felt he could spare a second to take his eyes off the road, he looked across at her.

'Keep your eyes on the road, Ray,' she chastised.

'But you're so much more beautiful.'

'Seriously, Ray. We're three minutes from home. Even you can wait that long.'

'They're going to be the longest three minutes of my life.' She saw the flash of desire in his eyes and all of a sudden, three minutes seemed like an eternity to her. The ache in her body was so bad it was almost a physical pain.

'Drive faster,' she said, letting him know that she felt the same.

When they got to the door, she looked to him to unlock it, but he shook his head. 'Sorry, I don't have my keys.'

'What, why, where are they?'

'I… I gave them to Pratt to give to Gallant. His things were still here and he wanted to collect them before we got home.' He hated having to mention Michael. He knew that at some point, they probably had more talking to do, and Michael was a subject that would definitely come up, but he wanted tonight to be about them.

'Oh.' Wordlessly, she took her keys out of her bag and unlocked the door.

He was worried that mention of her husband, ex-husband, had upset her, but as soon as the door was closed, she insinuated herself into his arms. She was shivering with cold from her wet dress, even though she was now wearing both her own coat and his over the top.

'I think we need to get you out of those wet clothes,' he said, putting his hands on her waist under the coats. 'Purely for health reasons, of course.'

She laughed at him. 'Don't be such a cliché Ray.'

'I'll be as much of a cliché as I want Neela. I love you. I don't think you understand just how much you mean to me.' He took her hand, and held in on his chest, over his heart. It was beating frantically. 'There, that's how much I love you.'

She looked up into his eyes, meeting his gaze steadily. 'I love you too Ray.' She raised herself up onto her tiptoes to kiss him, and he lowered his head to meet her. 'Let me show you how much I love you,' she said quietly.

Their kiss was slow and sensual, and as Ray felt her open up beneath him, he moaned in need, hardly able to breathe with desire. He slid his hands from where they were resting on her waist up her ribcage, over her breasts and to her shoulders. He pushed the coats down her arms, revealing dark, goose pimpled skin. He touched each shoulder reverently with his lips, feeling her shudder.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and he took the hint, picking her up. 'Your place or mine?' he asked with a grin.

'Yours,' she replied without hesitation, ignoring his corniness. It was his bed that they had first made love in, even though they hadn't quite realised, or at least been willing to admit, that it was love, and it was his bed she wanted to be in now, and forever.

He carried her into the room and set her gently down. 'Not my room anymore Neela, ours.'

She felt a tingle run down her spine at his intensity. His voice was husky with desire and love. She reached up to kiss him again, and he kissed her back, tipping her head back by tangling his hands in her hair and watching her as she closed her eyes in sheer bliss. He felt one of her hands, freezing cold, start to pull his top up his chest. As his skin was revealed, he felt the cold, wet material of her dress against him, and sucked his stomach in involuntarily, but pushing his body towards hers at the same time, eager to be closer to her. He broke away from their kiss just long enough to raise his arms and allow her to pull his clothes over his head. She tossed it carelessly into a corner.

It was his turn next. As he brought his arms back down, one hand found the zipper at the back of her dress and very slowly pulled it down tooth by tooth. As he did so, she felt his hot breath on her neck, and it was all she could do to keep control of herself. Finally, when the dress was undone, it was sticking to her skin so he peeled it down and away from her. It fell heavily to the floor, and she stepped out of it, leaving it where it lay.

He stepped away from her for a moment, carefully turning her, at arms length, all the way around, drinking in the sight of her. She was so breathtakingly beautiful it nearly brought tears to his eyes. She was still wearing her pearls, creamy white and in fabulous contrast to her dark skin and the only other things she was now wearing as she stood before him, some insignificant scraps of black lace and a pair of black shoes with vertiginous heels that made her legs look like they carried on forever.

They were standing so Ray had his back to the bed, and Neela slowly started to step forwards, pushing him back towards it. When his legs hit the frame of the bed, and he couldn't move back any further, Neela's hands went to the buckle of his belt. Smiling at her masterfulness, he allowed her to undo his trousers and pull them down. He kicked them off along with his shoes. Now they were almost entirely skin on skin, Ray pulled her to him, needed to feel her body alongside his. He didn't feel complete unless he could feel her as a part of himself.

Their lips met in another fiery kiss, tongues entangled. 'Neela…' he managed to groan, her mouth muffling his words.

'Sh, Ray,' she whispered, breaking away from him to rest a finger gently on his lips. She suddenly took on a deeply erotic air of control, which utterly mesmerised him. She pulled his boxers down and pushed him back onto the bed. He tried to take him with her as he fell, but she stepped smartly out of his grasp with a seductive smile.

Seeing him lying there, Neela took a moment to appreciate the sight before her, moonlight angling in from the window onto his pale body. Even with a swollen and bruised cheek, he was handsome, and she loved the way he never took those amazing eyes of his off her for as much as a second. And she had to admit it; the tattoos did it for her. She didn't know when she, Neela Rasgotra, had turned into the sort of girl that fell for inked, guitar playing charmers, but she had a feeling that it was some time around two years ago when a new intern had poked his head around the door while she was trying to talk to Abby. And besides, Ray was so much more than that. Since she had lived with him, she had got to know the real him. The him who watched Ghost and pretended not to, and taped her favourite tv shows, and had grown into a kind, caring, talented doctor and man. She felt honoured to know him, let alone to love him.

Realising he was lying there waiting for her, she met his adoring gaze and reached behind her back, undoing the clasp of her bra. She heard him groan as she slipped it off her shoulders and she smiled playfully, throwing it at him. He moved quickly to catch it. 'Come here Neela,' he growled. He started to get off the bed to grab her.

'No, she said, stepping back again, enjoying torturing him. 'Watch. Don't be so impatient.'

'Neela, I swear…' He felt like he was going to die if he couldn't touch her, taste her, soon. He considered standing up and pulling him to the bed, but his whole body was weak with desire and he wasn't sure he was even capable of getting to his feet. Then that final piece of lace was gone, taking his breath away with it. And finally, at long last, she moved towards the bed.

Immediately, she was on her back and he was towering over her. He kissed her as if he needed to in order to survive. In fact, it was true, he thought, he did need her to survive. He slipped his lips past hers, moving to her neck, tongue playing with the sensitive spot below her ear, then reaching up to nip her earlobe. Now it was her who was moaning. He continued to kiss her, moving to her collarbone, playing with the skin with his teeth, biting her gently, this time secure in the knowledge that he could leave any mark he wanted; only he would see it.

'Ray,' she managed to get out. 'Ray, please…' She wanted him to both end the torture and make it carry on forever.

He gave her a sly smile. 'Oh no, Neela, this is payback.' He slid down her body, trailing kisses down her throat, over her breast. He briefly flicked one hard nipple with his tongue as he travelled down, but didn't pause, eliciting another desperate groan. She cried his name again, but was rewarded only by feeling his lips curve into a satisfied smile against her stomach.

And then he reached the triangle of dark hair and she thought… no, she couldn't think. Her hands, gently resting in his hair tightened into fists, and she pulled him closer towards her. Nothing in the world existed for her except him, the actions of his tongue, the way he was stroking her thigh with one hand, letting his fingers run over her silky skin.

'Ray, oh God, Ray, I love you,' she panted, her breath coming in short gasps, making her words ragged. She exploded beneath him, riding waves of indescribable pleasure. He moved back up her body, and held her until she stopped trembling.

He kissed her forehead gently. 'I love you too, Neela.'

Their lips met again, and as she tasted herself on his mouth, she wanted him all over again. She felt him hard against her and kissed him deeply, her hands running across his back, nails scraping gently, driving him crazy.

He groaned. 'I need you, now.'

He raised himself up on his forearms, looking down at her. His hazel eyes had gone black with desire, and the intensity of emotion on his face overwhelmed her. In answer, she wrapped her legs around him, and pulled him back down to her.

He slid into her, their souls as well as their bodies becoming deeply entwined. He tried to make himself last as long as he could, but with her, there was no self-control. The sound of her screaming his name spurred him on as they moved together. Then she arched her back towards him, and he couldn't sustain himself any longer; they came together in cries and moans of ecstasy. The feel of her moving beneath him left him stunned, and knowing that this was forever sparked emotions that he couldn't begin to describe.

For Neela, it was simpler than that. At last, in his arms, she felt she had found the place she belonged; she was happy in a way she had never been before; never even known had existed.

Much later, they were lying amongst tangled bedcovers, sated, enjoying the feeling of just being together. He was stretched out on his back, and she lay curled on his chest. He was playing with her hair absently and she traced the lines of his tattoo on his arm.

'Didn't Luka and Abby look so happy?' she said. 'As if their lives were complete.'

'I know how they feel,' he smiled down at her.

'And Joe was just adorable.'

Ever since he'd seen Neela holding the baby, Ray had had a thought in his mind that simply wouldn't go away. He wasn't sure if he dared to voice it, but there were no secrets between them now. 'I want one,' he said suddenly.

Neela wasn't sure if she'd just heard him right. She could have sworn he said… She sat up abruptly. 'Did you just say what I think you said?' She was looking at him like he was crazy.

He didn't reply, but looked at her steadily, and his eyes told her he was perfectly serious.

'Ray, babies are fantastic – when you can give them back.' She didn't even think as she opposed him, she was in too much shock to even consider the matter.

'If it was ours, we wouldn't want to give it back.'

'You can't be serious. So much has happened. We're only twenty eight. We're not married.' She cast around for reasons against it.

'That can easily be rectified,' he countered in a flash.

Wh-what? Now she was sure she was dreaming.

'Ray, I'm still married. Not for much longer, I know, but…'

He sighed, disappointed that she hadn't taken him seriously. She was probably right, it was far too soon, they were far too young. 'Don't worry about it,' he said dismissively. 'It was only an idea.'

They were silent for a little while, and although he gladly welcomed her back into his arms as she resumed her previous position on his chest, she could tell he was upset. She hadn't meant to hurt him, or reject the idea out of hand. She had simply been too surprised to take him seriously.

Now the initial shock was wearing off, she began to think about it. She thought of the little packet of pills in the bathroom cabinet that she took so religiously. It would be so easy to just stop taking them. That wouldn't be making a choice really, it would be just letting nature take its course. Just like nature had taken its course with their relationship. Perhaps some things were inevitable.

'Were you serious?' she asked, knowing his answer before he said it.

Sleep had been on the verge of claiming him, but at her words, he was wide awake instantly. 'You know I was.'

'If I was to stop taking my pill…' she began, not quite believing they were even having this conversation.

'Then we'd be leaving it to chance?' he said hopefully.

The look of happiness and hope on his face took her breath away. 'You do know that something like ninety per cent of sexually active women who don't use contraception end up pregnant within twelve months, don't you?' He frowned at her, not sure what she was getting at. 'I'm just saying, the odds are pretty heavily weighted, so you had better be sure.'

Ray couldn't believe she was agreeing with him. His idea scared him, but in such a good way. All he wanted, all he had ever and could ever want, was her, and seeing Luka and Abby, seeing Neela with the baby, he knew exactly what he wanted his life to be.

He looked down at her with love, and saw it reciprocated wholeheartedly. 'I'm sure,' he replied emphatically, aware that tears were actually in his eyes. He was almost scared to let her see the level of his emotion, but he could see that she too was crying. He lowered his face to hers and kissed away her tears.

They stayed still for a moment, letting the enormity of their decision sink in, until Ray decided that if he didn't say something soon, he might never be able to speak again over the lump in his throat.

'And you do know that quoting medical statistics in bed is a real turn-off for a guy, don't you?' he said, trying to sound light but not being able to keep a raw, hoarse note from his voice.

She rolled onto her stomach, on top of him, and eyed him archly. 'I'm sure I can think of something to take your mind off it,' she grinned at him, capturing his lips in a kiss that he was quick to return.