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"Yeah, I have feelings for you," Joey forced himself to admit. He developed a sudden interest in his lap. There was no way he was going to look Rachel in the eyes when he made this confession. Not when she was his roommate, his friend, and pregnant with their mutual friend's baby. "I'm sorry, Rach. I've tried to make them go away."
"Why are you apologising?" Rachel asked. "I don't think that you need to make them go away, Joe, certainly not on my account."
"But, you're pregnant!" He protested. "With Ross's baby!"
"So what? Ross isn't interested in being in a relationship with me, and I'm certainly not interested in dating him. He's lucky that I'm willing to allow him in my child's life, given what little attention he gives his existent son. Does it bother you? That I'm pregnant?"
He met her gaze. "No, Rach, it doesn't bother me that you're having a baby," he insisted earnestly, eyes drifting to the barely evident proof of Ross's inability to properly use a condom. "If you want to know the truth, I think that it's amazing. That you're amazing. I can't believe that you're gonna be a mom in a few months."
Rachel sat down beside him, tucking herself neatly into the square inch of space that was left on his recliner. "I don't feel amazing," she said after a moment. "I feel achy and nauseated and uncomfortable and bloated. None of my clothes fit right all of a sudden, and this morning I had to lay flat on my bed to button my jeans. I almost asked if I could borrow a pair of yours."
"Hey, Rach, if you really want to, my closet is your closet," he offered. "Or, I can take you out shopping for maternity clothes." Joey knew that that was something that Rachel and Ross should be doing together, but since Ross had found out about the baby, his behavior had been the opposite of what Joey felt was appropriate. If Ross had impregnated his sister, he'd have kicked his ass by then. "I don't mind."
"You wouldn't?"
He looped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. "Nah," he murmured, pressing a kiss to her temple before he lost his nerve. "I don't mind at all. I'm all in, with whatever you need. If Ross isn't gonna care for you, or your baby, I want to do things right." He licked his lips. "I mean, regardless of how I feel about you, the way he's acting is a shitty way to treat a friend."
"I told him that I didn't want him around if he wasn't doing it for the right reason. Which, so we're clear, isn't so that he can look like a decent human being in the aftermath of your proposal to me. Either he wants to be her father, or he's out."
"Her?"
She nodded. "Yeah. The baby's a girl. I found out at my last appointment. Is that...do you think it's weird?"
"What's weird about it?" Joey asked. "It's not a secret that you're pregnant, Rach, finding out that your baby's a girl isn't gonna change my feelings for you." It made the baby a bit more real, sure, but that didn't change the fact that he fell more in love with Rachel every day. "I think it's amazing, that you're having a daughter."
"Ross told me that he wanted another son."
"Just because he's being a jerk about it doesn't mean that I have to be. You want me to talk to him?"
"Why? So he can be an ass about our relationship?" Rachel crinkled her nose. "No, honey, I don't want you to speak to him. Just the fact that you might be willing to love her is good enough."
He tightened his arms around her. "Of course, I'm gonna love your daughter, Rachel. No matter what happens between us, or how this goes, she's always gonna have me. You're always gonna have me." That was a promise that Joey could keep. "I can cross my heart, or spit on the floor, get you to believe me."
"You don't have to do any of that," she whispered. "I'd like it if you could kiss me."
"Yeah?"
Another nod. "Yeah."
He leaned into her touch, brushing his lips against hers for the briefest of moments. "I wanna do this right," he whispered. "Let me woo you how you deserve."