A/N: Here we go. I'm posting a story that I'm still working on, so I don't know how fast these updates are going to show up. I hope you enjoy it! No flames, please.

Oh, basically, Emily and Patrick had a love-child before their divorce was finalized. Yep. Don't like it, don't read it.

Disclaimer: I only own Rachel and any other characters you don't recognize.

A woman in her late 30s sat at the desk before her, scribbling some notes down on the paper of a notebook. The wind knocked the branches of the trees against the window. It was about midday, and the woman paused for a moment to take a small bite of the sandwich on the plate beside the notebook. Almost as soon as she swallowed, she felt a sharp pain in her abdomen. She winced and sucked in a breath of air, dropping the sandwich onto the floor. Her hands flew to her pregnant stomach, which she rubbed to try to subside the pain. But at the second sharp pulse of pain, she knew this would not go away. Her eyes widened and she called out to her son.

"Ben! Ben!" A boy about eleven years old suddenly appeared in the doorway, out of breath.

His mother took another sharp intake of breath and looked up at her son. "Benjamin, call your father. He needs to take me to the hospital."

After many long hours of labor, the woman welcomed her newborn child into the world, a girl she named Rachel Martina. The girl would keep her father's last name because the divorce papers had not been finalized just yet. (A/N: give me a break, I don't know a whole lot about divorce)

At this moment, the woman was half-asleep in the hospital bed, spent from the long hours of labor. Her daughter had been cleaned up in the nursery and was now lying in a small hospital crib beside her bed.

She heard a light knock at the door and a tentative voice say her name. "Em?" She turned her head and saw her husband slowly shuffling into the room.

"Patrick," she whispered, greeting her soon to be ex-husband. Despite the mixed feelings towards him, she smiled and sat up a bit more in the bed.

Patrick stopped at the sight of his daughter, her tiny form wriggling around in the pink onesey the hospital had dressed her in. He put one hand on the edge of the crib and smiled at Emily. "She's beautiful," he said quietly. Emily gave a small smile in return and gestured to the baby. Patrick reached out both of his hands and gently lifted his daughter into his arms. Her eyes slowly opened in wonder of whose arms she was now in. Emily's eyes welled with tears at the sight before her. She knew that this beautiful moment would be short-lived and there would not be many more in Rachel's life. Emily would have the most custody of Ben and knew she would have the same over Rachel.

As if reading her mind, Patrick spoke. "I know I'm…not going to be around that much, and I…I understand, Em." He placed a small wrapped package on the table next to her bed between she and Rachel.

As Emily was about to say something, Ben suddenly came into the room, escorted by a nurse. "Mom!" he said excitedly, running to the other side of the bed and embracing her. Emily laughed a little and gently hugged her son. "Hi, big brother Ben," she said.

Ben let go of his mother and looked up at his father who was still holding his new baby sister. He looked back at his mother and asked quietly, "Can…can I hold her?" The edges of Patrick's mouth twitched in a small smile and he handed Rachel to his son.

"Watch her head, son. Support it on your arm-" Patrick said, but was interrupted by Emily.

"Oh, Patrick, Ben knows how to hold a baby. He's not stupid," she said, waving her hand at Patrick as she watched Ben with Rachel. Patrick would've retorted, but Ben sent him a quick glare before turning his attention to his new sister.

"Hi, Rachel," he said quietly. She squirmed a little in his arms and then cooed in response. Ben grinned and looked up his mother, who was also smiling. Then he looked back down at Rachel, gently rocking her as he stepped toward the window on the other side of the room. He spoke quietly so neither of his parents would hear him. "I'm Ben -- I'm your big brother. Mom says it's my job to look after you and make sure nothing bad happens to you since I'm gonna be the 'man of the house'. I promise, cross my heart, that nothing bad will ever happen to you – not with me around. I'll keep you safe."

A/N: Awwww!! how cute is Ben? Okay, so I fumbled around with the ages a little bit. Ben's eleven, but it's not taking place in 1974 like it says at the beginning of the first movie. it'll all work out, I promise.