More than Just Friends

Chapter 23

It was a typical afternoon and Ross was returning home from work. Whistling as he unlocked his apartment door, as soon as he pushed it open his eyes immediately set on Rachel, who was quietly reading on the couch in a comfortable pair of sweatpants and sweatshirt, her pregnant glow radiating all around her.

Hearing the door open, Rachel immediately turned her head towards the entrance, smiling when she saw him enter. They made eye-contact and he smiled back, setting his briefcase on the nearby table.

"Hey you," she greeted sweetly.

"Hey you," he returned. With a few large strides he came over and kissed her gently on the lips.

"How was your day?" she asked, putting aside her book as she turned her attention to him.

Ross shrugged. "Same old, same old. What about you?"

"Oh, you know... went over to Monica's for a bit and just kind of sat here... waiting for you."

"Waiting for me? I didn't know I was so special," he joked, sitting down next to her.

"Well you're special to me," she smiled, blushing slightly. "Plus, I missed you this morning."

"I know, I had to go to work early," he said, playfully nuzzling her neck with his nose. "And how has my little baby been treating you?"

Rachel sighed, holding her belly. "It's a hassle. I swear, this baby thinks my bladder is a squeeze toy."

Ross chuckled lightly. "Only a few more weeks left sweetie, and after that we're going to have something that'll change our lives forever," he said, making her smile.

"Hey, you know, speaking of the baby..." Rachel began, gently playing with his hand. "I was thinking that maybe we should start thinking of some names for when it comes."

"You know, I was just thinking about that," he said, making her smile again. "Have you thought of any names?"

Rachel smiled and turned to him. "Hmmm... ok well these are just ideas but I was thinking James is a nice name for if it's a boy, and if it's a girl maybe Isabella can be an option...?"

"I think those are great names," he said, gently stroking her arm. "For me though, I was thinking maybe Thomas if it's a boy, and Emily for if it's a girl."

Rachel inadvertently frowned after hearing the last part. "Um... Emily?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, it's the name I had picked out ever since we dated, remember?" he pointed out, raising an eyebrow at her reaction. "Do you not like it?"

"No, no, I think it's a great name. It's just..." she began to trail off, scratching her head. "...it's kind of the name of your ex-wife."

"Oh, that's right! I totally forgot!" he exclaimed, slapping his forehead and making her giggle slightly. "Alright, well I guess Emily's off the table."

"How about we say no names of our ex's?" Rachel suggested.

"I'm ok with that," Ross answered, nodding. "Alright, so how do you want to do this? I'm guessing we should have one definitive name for each gender."

"Yeah, that makes sense," she nodded. "Oh, what if we both choose three names each for both genders and we'll decide from there?"

Ross was a little hesitant on the idea. "I don't know sweetie, I feel like that might be a bit too much. I had to fight with Susan over a name for Ben and I don't want to us to end up doing that too."

She understood completely. Knowing the past versions of themselves, they used to fight over even the smallest things and they both would like to avoid unnecessary arguments that could push them apart again.