Naivety and childhood left behind
deprived of the goodness of mankind,
past encounters have made her strong,
strong enough to carry on and on
- "Naked"

-Overcoming the loneliness – Epilogue-

Rachel woke up feeling kind of dizzy, which she reckoned, was normal for a woman in her condition. She didn't recognize the room she was in, maybe a new one, it was hard to tell, they all looked the same.
It seemed so long ago since the first time she was in one of this rooms, probably cause it had been more than 15 years, maybe cause back then she was a different woman, or maybe not. Somehow she felt she still was that scared girl, the one that had gone from a fairy tale life to a self-created hell, a living nightmare she had chosen to live.

She now knew, it was easier to suffer than to feel happy, it was easier to be alone and felt rejected than feel loved, it was easier to be lonely, and now that she thought about it, her life was much easier back then. Self-pity was always a good excuse for not archiving goals and letting people down, it was also a very good reason to shut somebody's heart and life, living bitter and frustrated. She knew that now, and most of the time she wished she had known it back then too, she may had lived differently.

Somebody walked into the room while she was still absorbed in the thoughts of who she had once been, a past that seemed so estrange, so far away, but so hers, that past that had made her who she was now, and that had given her all the strength she needed in tough and not so tough times.

She noticed him standing by the door, and smiled.

"Come on in sweety, I'm awake" she said softly. Her voice sometimes didn't feel like her own, but somebody's older and wiser, although she didn't look one day older than 35.

He walked into the room, approached a chair next to her bed, and sat by her side. By her side, just like he'd been the last 10 years. She never thought, when she went back to New York, she'd find someone she could love like this. Of all the people in her life, he'd been the one who had helped her to find herself, to heal her wounds and simply smile again.

He'd given her answers to questions she'd been too afraid to ask. He'd been her light, her guidance and her lead back to happiness.

"How are you feeling?" he asked with a soothing voice.

"Tired, but fine, great actually" she replied

He smiled, he knew she was lying, he knew her way too much to be able to see in her eyes she didn't like that place, somehow he didn't like it too; hospitals had always given him the chills.

"Where's everybody?" she asked, looking at him in the eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes that shone with every breath he took. She loved his eyes; she'd always had, ever since the first time she saw herself in them.

Now that she was there, looking into his still very naïve soul, she wondered how could she ever thought of leaving him.

He took her hand and smiled, she smiled back. It had always been like this with them, words weren't necessary, they could communicate in a higher level, something neither of them shared with anybody else.

After all, she'd seen it the first time she saw him, and then 5 years after that. Ben had always been a special child.

"My dad and Phoebe were getting some coffee, aunt Monica and Chandler took the kids home, they told us to call whenever you were up, they are coming back later. I'm gonna tell dad you're awake".

"No sweety, wait. Your dad will come later, I wanna talk to you"

Ben looked at her weirdly, concerned actually.

"Is there something wrong mom?"

Ben knew Rachel wasn't his real mother, but that had never been an issue for him, he had never cared actually. It was funny, most of the time people commented how much he looked like his mother, talking about Rachel, so nobody had ever known the truth, except for the family, of course. He was lucky, and he felt lucky, nobody got the chance to pick their parents, but he had chosen his mother when he was 5 and never once regretted it. He had very few memories of his life before Rachel, and his biological mother was nothing but a face on some faded pictures in old family albums. He thought had seen her once he was shopping with Rachel, but never bothered asking. He truly didn't care.
Rachel had treated him like a son, and that was all that mattered to him. She was his mother, whether she'd given birth to him or not. That other woman hadn't been by his side when he got the chicken pox or joined him in every school activity he had, nor had she fought, yelled and almost hit that soccer couch who didn't let him play for being shorter than the rest of the team when he was 10. No. That other woman had never been his mother.

"It's nothing to be worried about sweety" she replied with a little chuckle. "Don't worry" she winked. "I'm fine".

"Ok" he replied. "It's just that the doctor said it could be dangerous… giving… you know…"

"That was the other time Ben, everything's safe now" she reassure him

He nodded. Still, he couldn't help feeling worried.

She knew it.

"So… did you see him?" she asked excited

"Yup" he replied with a nod. "He was sleeping though"

"Yeah, they do that a lot" she laugh

"Yeah, I know… although I remember Emma didn't sleep much"

Rachel sighed.

"Your sister was a nightmare" she smiled. "But a good one"

"She still is mom… she still is"

"Sweety, you're awake!" said Ross through the door step, seeing her wife and their son talking. "Why didn't you tell me Ben?"

"Oh no, I asked him not to…" she replied sticking her tongue out while Ross made a funny hurt face. "I just wanted a little time alone with my baby" she added, rubbing Ben's hand.

"Where's Phoebe?" Ben asked

"She's on the phone with Joey; he wanted to know the sex of the baby and knowing if you were ok. He said this was his last week of shooting, so he'll come to meet the baby as soon he can". Ross smiled.

Rachel smiled back, but her smile slowly started to fade.

"What?"

"Aren't you going to kiss me, I just had your baby!" she asked, trying to sound mad.

"Of course" he said, hurrying himself to her side and giving her a passionate kiss on the lips.

"You guys get a room!" shout Ben, rolling his eyes at his parents' show of affection.

Ross broke the kiss and looked at Rachel grinning.

"Better?"

"Well… pity kisses are better than no kiss at all" she teased.

Rachel made room for Ross to sit next to her in the bed. He hugged her and kissed the top of her head.

"You know what" said Ben, standing up. "I'm gonna go find Phoebe, I wanna talk to Joey" he added before leaving the room. The kid knew how to take hints, Ross thought.

"Emma went with the twins and Chandler and Monica" he said once they were alone.

"Yeah, Ben told me. Remind me to thank Monica later"

"Come on sweety, Monica loves Emma, and she loves her cousins"

Their little talk was interrupted by the presence of the nurse in the room, with her, the newest member of the Geller family.

Rachel smiled; she'd been dying to see her baby boy.

"We are going to start trying breast feeding" said the nurse, in a sweet caring tone, while handing the baby to the new parents.

"Watch his head" said Ross

"Honey, I've done this before".

Sometimes Ross forgot she wasn't a young girl anymore, he was always trying to help her like she was defenseless, it was cute at times, and annoying at others. But it was what made him different than anybody else, and she loved him none the less.

"I need to ask you if you have a name for him yet"

"Not yet" replied Rachel

"Actually" Ross said. "I was thinking about that while you were sleeping"

They gave the nurse an uncomfortable look, and just like Ben, she took the hint quickly.

"I'll be back in a couple of minutes" she excused herself out of the room.

Once they were left alone again, the room went silent, they were mesmerized by that little piece of heaven they'd created together, looking at him breathe in and out was just addictive. Rachel had felt the same the first time she held Emma in her arms, and felt a bit down knowing she'd been denied such honor with Ben. After all, he had always been her baby.

"So?"

"Yeah… well…" Ross trailed.

"What?" she asked intrigued. "Is not Phoebo, is it?"

Ross smiled.

"Of course not"

"Then what?"

"Ok… what if… what if we call him Leonard, like your father"

Rachel was speechless, that suggestion had caught her off guard.

"You just have to say yes or no" said Ross after a couple of minutes. "Please say something…"

"But… you never liked my father"

"I believe it was the other way around"

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I never had a problem with him"

"No, I mean, about naming the baby Leonard…"

"Of course hon. I thought…"

He stood up from the bed and walked around the room.

"I thought it would be a way of finally putting everything behind"

He stopped by the feet of the bed, giving her one sweet look.

"It is behind honey" she said

"Rach… I've seen you cry, when you think nobody can hear or see you, late at night…•

"It's… it's not…"

"It's okay, I don't want you to forget about him, or that day for that matter. I know it's already impossible. I just want that when you think of him, you think the nice you did together, the good memories, not the fights, and certainly not that day"

Rachel smiled.

Oh boy, how much he knew her… it was amazing, he knew more about her than herself, and that had always been a nice feeling. She could rely on him; she could run to him whenever she needed. And now, he was asking her to take one last step into a complete healing.

He'd never pushed her into anything, for the last 10 years, every single step forward she'd taken, in her life or in their relationship, had been very careful, at its right time and with his complete support. That's why he didn't propose until they'd been together for 3 years, or why he never insisted on having children until it was her idea, even though she always knew he wanted a big family.

He always knew healing a broken heart was a long process, and he'd been there in every step of the way.

She looked up at him and nodded.

"Leonard Geller Green, it fits!"

She smiled widely and so did he, hugging her tight and kissing her forehead after kissing sweetly her lips

They looked at their baby, resting in Rachel's arms and deeply asleep

"Hey Leo" said Rachel softly, smelling the little baby's hair. "That'd be our nickname for you"

Ross brushed a lock of hair that was falling in Rachel's face and tossed it behind her hear before kissing his son's little head, caressing Rachel's hands.

This was it. This was her family. This was her place. This was her home.

She smiled to herself.

Home.

The one thing she'd been looking for her entire life. And she had been right all along; it had always been in New York, in the place it all started. A plane.

A plane she took filled with dreams of fairy tales and epic love stories, being just a naive teenage girl. The same plane she left as a grown up woman, who almost gave up on that girl's dreams, but who now had reached them all. Even that epic love story.

And it had been better

It had been real.

It had been hears.

THE END

That was the story…. Once again THANK YOU VERY MUCH to those who've been reading this since the start…. It took me a while, but I finished it, and I'm happy with it. For the moment, please LEAVE ME A REVIEW, to know if you liked the ending and other stuff, you know… I'd be happy with anything you guys want to tell me.
Take care and I'll see you all in a next fic