Two gruff grunts and a loud thump echoed off the walls as a heavy item dropped in front of the silver metal doors; Ray impatiently pushed the "up" button while Brett stretched to relieve the tension caused by helping Ray carrying the weighty box all the way from the van to the apartment.

"Ray, you sure Neela's agreed to this? Because I don't recall her liking this kinda stuff much," Brett asked uncertainly and looked down at the package again; it was a fairly large box and wrapped up in baby blue paper with drawings of maroon puppies running all over the place; a big bright pink bow tied securely on the top.

"Man, relax will you?" Ray rolled his eyes, "She knows I've got a surprise for Bela, and that's translated to brace herself for the worst possible to happen." Brett raised an eyebrow at him, still not convinced, "And may I add that I don't think this is anywhere near the worst."

"Not yet."

"Hey! Gimme some credit."

"What can I say? You haven't earned it," Brett shrugged at him.

Several minutes passed by, the elevator still hadn't opened. Ray sighed slightly; he frankly wanted to know what the heck the landlord was doing with all their monthly rent. Would it kill her to get the elevator fixed? He would have taken the stairs if not for the box; plus, he wasn't terribly eager to break his back for something to which he wasn't sure how Neela would react. Honestly, the best response that he could imagine getting out of her was nonchalance; the worst, well, let's say breaking his back wouldn't sound too bad in comparison.

When he decided to get it as a present for Bela, he thought his argument was pretty valid-- she carried his last name hence she couldn't grow up without one. Yep, that was a perfect reason, he rationalized with himself; if Neela didn't see it that way, he'd try his charms on her; after all, she did go from disliking to loving him, so his charming spells must have worked sometime! Okay, so his reason, checked, charms, checked; even if she wouldn't buy either one, having two plans made him feel damned good and prepared at the moment.

He then wondered what would Bela's reaction be, he knew that she was merely ten months old, but one was never too young to start something new right? Bela, Ray beamed contently at the thought of her. Other than looking as cuddly and chubby as any baby would, she had shown little features from both parents; her mother's deep warm chocolate pools that each seemed to be a mysterious galaxy all of its own, her father's slim dimples near the tips of her mouth that were only visible when smiling widely, and a mixture of their soft brunette hair. He adored her dearly from the moment the newborn was placed in his arms. A few days ago, she said her first word-- dada; he felt a swell of pride every time she said it, and it was rather often since she called everything and everyone "Dada". He might not be less arrogant, but having her made him more attentive towards child patients.

When he and Neela were dating, raising kids wasn't something he had even thought of. He could still remember their first date. Neither of them knew what to do or how to act. What would one do on a date with someone whom they were literally, though not figuratively, living with? It wasn't possible for them to pretend because they knew each other quite well already. They ended up staying behind at the bar where he had a gig that night. After his band was done, he went back to the table where Neela was sitting; they kept smiling nervously at each other for minutes before finding it ridiculous that they would be shy at talking to each other. That night was also extra special to him because it was the first time she came to listen to his band playing. The idea of being parents was still something that they needed to get used to. Ray thought back to the day when he first heard she was pregnant, oh boy did that go well...

Yawning lazily to himself, Ray rubbed his eyes tiredly and stuffed his duffle bag into his locker with one hand. He really shouldn't have gone out that late with the gang last night. It was days since the infamous kissing incident, and they hadn't talked to or seen each other. Mainly because he wasn't ready to see her; he had been crashing at Brett's place. As he was leisurely adjusting his white coat, Neela came busting through the staff lounge door and slammed it shut behind her.

"Ray, we need to talk," she stated seriously seeing him suddenly jerk around.

"No, we don't," Ray turned his back to his girlfriend once he recognized her familiar figure, "there's nothing to talk about."

"Yes there is," she took two strides towards him and impulsively grabbed his arm to make him face her.

"Is that so?" he quirked an eyebrow at her and sneered icily, "Mind enlightening me, Rasgotra?"

"Don't take that tone with me Barnett," Neela shot back exasperated.

"Funny, you should know why I'd use that tone. You're supposed to be the smart one."

"He surprised me. And--"

"And did you like it?" Ray asked sarcastically, "Did you savor the sweet taste on his lips, huh? Did you just want to fu--"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" the petite doctor glared at him angrily, "I didn't kiss back."

"Well, Hallelujah! The world can start moving again because you didn't kiss back, can't it?"

"Look, you showed up the second he leaned forward to kiss me, how the heck could I have the chance to push away?"

"Oh, so you're blaming me for the bad timing?"

"I'm NOT blaming you. Jeez, why does everyone think I'm doing them wrong?" feeling frustrated, Neela complained.

"Come find me when you've figured that out," the green-eyed doctor said apathetically and turned sideways to close his locker door.

"What, you're gonna just ignore me from now on?" Neela questioned incredulously, watching her indifferent boyfriend begin to walk towards the door.

"That's the plan."

"Grow up Ray! It was just a stupid kiss that didn't mean anything."

"To whom?" he inquired quietly before stopping to look at her with a solemn face.

"What?"

"To whom the kiss was just 'a stupid kiss'?"

"To me of course," she answered as-matter-of-factly.

"Are you sure about that? Because you sure hell didn't sound like it when you told me to get lost. In fact, you sounded as if I were some crazy jealous ex that was ruining your date," he spat bitterly.

"You were getting physical with him!"

"He was with you so why shouldn't I?"

"You know, being my boyfriend does not give you the right to be over-protective whenever a guy gets close to me."

"First of all, he wasn't just 'getting close' to you, as you called it, he was frigging sucking your face. Second, it's my Goddamn right to protect my woman."

"Your woman?" she was dangerously close to losing patience with him, "You know what, I'm done trying to talk sense into your damned thick seventeenth century old head. When you decide to think like a twenty-first century adult, I'll talk. God forbid you'll still think of us as properties when the baby comes."

"What did you say?" he frowned alarmingly.

"I said," realizing she had a slip of tongue and couldn't put off her pregnant news any longer, she cursed herself silently, "I'm done talkin--"

"No, no, you said, 'us' and 'the baby'. Are...You're pregnant?" his eyes widened perplexedly.

"Why else would I mention the word baby, genius?"

"Whose is it?"

"Excuse me?" asked Neela cautiously; she was completely taken surprise by his inquiry.

"Whose baby are you carrying?" Ray repeated firmly.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means is that baby even mine or does it belong t--"

"You think I'd cheat on you!" she snarled disbelievingly.

"What am I supposed to think?" he yelled back defensively, "You were parading around like a floozy, kissi--"

SLAP! A loud, sharp sound echoed the lounge as the dark-haired doctor's hand smacked fast and hard across Ray's face. Clenching her jaw, she said each word through her teeth with force and slight tremble, "I don't. Ever. Want to see you. Again."

Any thoughts of empathizing with him or trying to put herself in his shoes had gone out of the window in the blink of an eye. She flew furiously to the door; brushed pass Pratt, who had just entered, without saying hi.

'Shit, that hurts!' Recovering from shock, Ray briefly touched the now reddened skin on the side of his face and slumped onto the bench. How did he make everything worse? He guessed he had achieved his goal; his comments had hurt her as much as he'd been stung when seeing Michael kissing her. Hell, if he was being true with himself, it wasn't really about the kissing because he knew Neela didn't initiate it and he didn't give her enough time to react before jumping on Michael. It was the fact that she hurt his pride; he felt, as a guy, he did an honorable thing by protecting and defending the woman he loved, and yet, she dismissed him like some disobedient boy and humiliated him in front of her ex-boyfriend of all people. Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, he glanced up at Pratt and gave a don't-ask look. Pratt tilted his head at him half concerned, half amused, sat right next to him, and sympathetically patted his shoulder...

A sharp pain startled Ray back to the apartment. Rubbing his arm gently, he looked at Brett in bewilderment. "Door's open," Brett said innocently while holding a hand out to prevent the door from closing. Ray slid the box into the elevator with all his power, and Brett followed him inside; after the floor number button was pressed, the two men fixed their gazes intensely on the LED display, watching the upward motion of the elevator causing the number to rise steadily.

Breaking the silence, Brett asked unexpectedly, "When are you gonna make an honest woman out of her?"

"Oh God, not you too!" the young ER doctor groaned, "Do you have any idea how many times my mom brings it up whenever she calls?"

"Hey, that's a very appropriate question for the woman who gave birth to you. So when?" the blond friend pressed.

"I dunno. We talked briefly about it once when Neela was pregnant, but we got so overwhelmed at the hospital among other things that it got put on the back burner."

The metal doors opened; they both quickly pushed the box out, bent down to pick it up, and started to carry it down the hall.

"Do you want to?"

"Yeah, I'd like that eventually," Ray said thoughtfully.

When they breathlessly arrived at the apartment door, they put the package down carefully on the floor; Ray then promptly took the keys out of his pants pocket.

"Then what's the problem?"

"It's not that simple."

"You get a ring, bend down on one knee, and pop the question. What's so hard about that? Oooh, prepare some fancy speech beforehand and show her the ring first. I've heard chicks dig that!" he added as an after thought.

"I swear Brett," warned Ray, starting to get annoyed, "no more--"

"I'm giving you pointers man. You should be--"

"Aah, one more word out of your mouth about marriage or proposing," he pointed his apartment key at his friend threateningly, "I'll tell Neela that you swore in front of Bela last week."

"It was an accident! I--" he exclaimed immediately.

"Well, I can promise you she won't care for the difference, not that I'll stop you from trying," Ray smirked evilly at a somewhat worried Brett. Placing his key into the key hole, he unlocked the door with a gently click, and finally home sweet home.

To Be Continued...