Consequences
by Tina Chaves

—

Rachel ran the coffee machine and got herself a mug from the kitchen cabinet, all the while focused on her left hand. She couldn't stop staring at her engagement ring; she was so happy, so in love and… Well, a tad nauseous too, to be honest.

The previous night, Ross had left them a bottle of champagne chilling, and they opened it as soon as they got back to their apartment. On top of all wine they had already consumed at the restaurant, it was not sitting right with Rachel that morning. She didn't regret any of it, but she wondered if she would change her mind during her department meeting, later that day. Champagne gave her the worst hangovers - and being sleep deprived and well into her 30s now didn't help either.

Emma ran in from her room, a smile wide on her face. Whatever resentment she might have felt towards her parents for leaving her the previous night was now seemingly forgotten. Ross came in right behind her.

"Morning, mommy!"

Rachel smiled and picked her up. She was pleased to see she was not wearing her princess outfit, but a blue romper with a matching hairband. God, Ross was so good at dealing with her. Specially in mornings when Rachel needed some time for herself.

"Good morning, sweetheart." She said and kissed her daughter's cheeks repeatedly, making the toddler giggle.

"Hey, you." Ross greeted her, goofy smile on his face. She widened hers back.

"Hey, you."

They kissed and found it hard to break away, but did so out of consideration for their child, who got squished in between them.

"Daddy!" The little girl complained, and they laughed.

"Sorry, sweetie." He kissed her honey colored hair and turned his attention back to Rachel. "I thought you were going to sleep in a bit longer today."

"I wish. I gotta prepare for a meeting."

"How are you feeling?" He asked with sympathy, well knowing she'd had a glass too many for her standards.

"Like I might throw up on the conference table."

He laughed.

"I knew we shouldn't have gone for that last glass."

"Well, we had a lot to celebrate." She said in a tender voice, fighting the urge to kiss him again.

They smiled longingly at each other, until Ross broke the moment to start working on breakfast and Rachel set Emma down on her highchair.

"Do you wanna eat anything?"

"I think I'll just stick with coffee for now." She answered with a sigh. "Maybe a dry toast. Oh, do we still have some diet coke?"

Ross chuckled.

"I think so."

"Daddy, make pancake! Pweeeease!"

Ross considered Emma's request.

"Today's not Saturday, honey." Rachel said, referring to their habitual Saturday pancakes, which were Emma's favorite.

"But it is a special day." Ross reasoned, making Rachel smile again.

"Well, you're the one making them…"

"OK, so I say: wish granted, Princess Emma!"

The little girl clapped her hands excitedly and giggled.

"We can spoil her for a day, right?" He asked Rachel.

"Fine by me."

"I help, daddy!" Emma said with her little arms raised towards her father.

"Great, 'cause that's not gonna slow me down at all." He quipped before he picked her up, drawing a chuckle from Rachel.

Ross started pulling the ingredients out of the cabinets, Emma on his hip, while Rachel sat one of the bar stools and watched them lovingly. Her daughter and her fiancé. She could not stop smiling.

"Did you tell anyone about your plans yesterday?"

Ross looked back at her.

"Honestly, just Terry."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean… I guess I just wanted this to be between us, you know? Just us."

She smiled at him knowingly.

"I know."

A few years ago, they would have done just as Monica and Chandler: invite everyone for celebratory drinks, maybe have a drama or two come up in the evening. But things were different now and getting everyone together wasn't as easy as it used to be.

"How should we tell the others though?" She asked.

"Do you wanna have them over tonight for some more champagne?" He joked and she made a face.

"Urgh, I can't even think about drinking that again right now."

Ross laughed.

Once Emma's pancakes were done, Ross set her back down on her highchair with a short stack in front of her. He and Rachel smiled adoringly as she attacked them, armed with her little Hello Kitty fork.

"And uh… How should we tell her?" Rachel asked him, in a lower voice.

Ross turned to look at her and smiled.

"Do you think she'll understand?"

Rachel shrugged.

"I don't know. Maybe not. Maybe it's only going to be a fun party for her." She said and he chuckled. "I mean, nothing's really going to change for her, I guess. We already live together."

Ross looked at her.

"And will anything really change for us?"

"Well, sort of. And not really."

He smiled and she didn't have to explain, he knew what she was talking about.

"Well, I get to call you my fiancée now." He said as he wrapped his arms around her, both smiling shamelessly at each other now. "And pretty soon I'll get to call you my wife." He kissed her softly. "I mean, that's something, right?"

"That's something alright."

They kissed again.

"What do you say we invite the guys for happy hour after work so we can tell them?" He suggested. "You don't have to drink anything if you don't want to."

"Oh great, they're just gonna think I'm pregnant."

He laughed.

"I can call Phoebe, you call Monica. And I can see if Eloise can stay with Emma a bit longer than usual."

"OK. But we shouldn't be home too late, I did promise Emma I would play with her today."

Ross smiled at her.

On her way to work, Rachel called Monica to invite her and Chandler for quick drinks at a trendy rooftop bar near her restaurant. She could tell her friend was suspicious something was up but decided not to jump the gun and to wait until later to get the news in person.

After drinking about 2 liters of water, Rachel was feeling a bit better by her lunch break, so she stepped outside the office to get something to eat from a place across the street. On her way back, she stopped by the newsstand where she usually bought her Vogues and whatnots to see if they had anything new.

A white dress on a glossy cover grabbed her attention. Of course, the wedding magazines. She approached the section reserved for them and let her eyes roam across the headlines: "Time to get inspired!", "Aisle Perfection!", "897 hot ideas for 2005!". Rachel chuckled to herself, feeling already a little overwhelmed. That's an awful lot of ideas.

She had planned a wedding before. But she had to admit, back then she had pretty much just accepted most of the plans presented to her by her and Barry's parents. This time, however, everything would be much different. They didn't even have that kind of budget, especially with the rent they were now paying and raising a 2-year-old with a full-time nanny.

She picked up two of the magazines that looked the most tasteful and headed for the cashier to pay for them.

"Oh, sorry." She apologized when she bumped into someone.

"Rachel?"

She realized that someone was Mark.

"Oh my God, Mark!"

"Hey."

"Hi!" Rachel said with enthusiasm, but immediately turned awkward when she remembered the last time they'd talked. It was the morning after she'd gotten off the plane, and she promised him then she would call so they could have dinner and talk. It had been over four months now and she'd never gotten around to doing that.

"How are you?" He asked, breaking the silence.

"I'm great. Oh, I'm at Dior now, Gale had the headhunter for the group call me. So, in a way, I guess I still have you to thank for this, huh?"

Mark nodded politely.

"That's great, Rachel."

But he looked slightly upset, Rachel noticed.

"Listen, I'm sorry I never called, I've just been so busy." The least she could do was apologize for not keeping her promise, right?

Except… Now that she thought about it, that was fine. What was she going to do during this dinner anyway? Thank him for the opportunity? She'd done that already. What else would she do? Convince him that she'd made the right decision? Back when she'd decided to stay, she felt like she had let him down. But this was her life. Why should it matter what Mark thought about it?

They weren't friends anymore. The dinner they'd had together all those months ago was nice enough, sure. But, really, they weren't friends. She didn't miss him, to be honest. After her talk with Ross, she remembered they had drifted apart for a reason, which wasn't 100% about Ross, and that was OK.

And, now, she didn't feel like she needed to give him any further explanation about her decision. She had thanked him for the opportunity then and she had moved on. If he couldn't accept it, well, too bad.

There was no need for her to rub her happiness into his face either. No need to let him know she and Ross were doing great, still together and challenging everyone's best bet. Rachel realized didn't need to prove anything to anybody, and that thought was liberating.

She noticed, however, as Marks eyes scanned the magazines in her hands and then found the ring on her finger.

"Congratulations are in order, I see."

She smiled.

"Thank you."

Her first congratulatory wish, sort of, and she didn't even know how genuine it was.

"How's the little one?" His quick change of subject let her know just how "happy" he was for them.

"Emma's great. Learning how to play me like a fiddle."

Mark finally smiled more warmly.

"How about your twins?" She engaged in the pleasantries.

Mark smiled more. Yeah, focus on the kids, a much safer topic.

"Still keeping us up at night, but uh… They're amazing."

"You know, Monica and Chandler also just had twins. They're a handful too, but they're so happy."

"Yeah, it's worth it."

They smiled politely at each other for a couple of seconds and Rachel realized she shouldn't tell him she'd call so they could catch up again. What was the point? She knew she wouldn't.

"It was great seeing you, Rachel."

"Yeah, you too."

"I guess I'll see you around."

"Yeah. Take care, Mark."

"Bye."

Mark left and Rachel sighed in satisfaction. Things were good. She paid the cashier and got back to her office, now even more excited to tell her friends about the engagement, for all the right reasons.

Ross was waiting for her outside the hotel where they were meeting their friends. She hopped off her taxi and saw him smile widely when his eyes landed on her.

"Hey."

She threw her arms around him and they kissed.

"You're late." He told her and she smiled.

"As every bride should be."

Ross laughed.

"So what was your excuse before?"

She shot him a playful look.

"Is everyone here yet?"

"Yeah, they're waiting upstairs. I didn't want to go in by myself because I couldn't trust myself to keep the news from them."

They walked in and took the elevator to the rooftop hand in hand. Rachel looked at him and smiled.

"Are you ready for the marriage jokes to start?"

Ross groaned.

"Oh God. I hadn't even thought of that."

Rachel laughed.

"Come on, honey, it's been a while. You know Chandler will need to get it out of his system."

The elevator reached its destination and they stepped out towards the open area, where they found their friends sitting together. Monica was still going to go to work, so she was drinking an iced tea, as was Phoebe because of her pregnancy. Chandler was driving home after this, so he too was holding a non-alcoholic beverage.

Wow, what a celebration, Rachel mused to herself.

"Hey, you guys."

While they greeted one another, Rachel tried her best to conceal her left hand, as to not ruin the surprise. When they took their seats, a waiter came by to get their orders.

"Hm." Ross looked at Rachel inquisitively. "Are you, uh, are you feeling OK?"

Rachel smiled and realized their friends were paying close attention to their words, trying to fish for clues.

"Yeah, I'm feeling better. I'll have a gin tonic."

She noticed the others exchanging looks, silently ruling out another pregnancy as the motive of their impromptu reunion.

"OK, then I'll have a white wine spritzer myself. Thanks."

"I'll be right back with your drinks." The waiter said and excused himself.

"So, Phoebe, where's Mike?"

"He had a gig." She said boastfully. Saying that never got old.

"So, what's the big news, guys?" Monica asked, cutting to the chase.

Ross and Rachel smiled at each other and Rachel slowly held out her left hand, displaying her ring for her friends.

"Oh my God, you guys!" Phoebe exclaimed.

In a loss of words, Monica simply stood up and hugged her brother and her best friend, who hugged her back. The moment lasted a few seconds and, when they broke, Monica and Rachel had tears in their eyes.

"Well, it took you long enough!" Monica finally said, punctuating the thought with a punch on her brother's arm, trying to sound tough after this emotional display.

Ross and Rachel laughed, and Rachel brushed her tears away carefully.

Chandler and Phoebe also congratulated and hugged them.

"Thanks, you guys."

"Now, remember to say the right name this time, Ross." Chandler joked and Ross and Rachel exchanged knowing looks. "Raaa-chel." He said it slowly, for effect.

"Well, I did say the right name before." Ross defended himself. "I was just off by a few years."

Rachel smiled at him and he kissed her hand.

"So, tell us everything! When did this happen?" Phoebe asked.

"Last night."

"Yeah, did you guys know yesterday was the 10-year anniversary of my move to the city?"

"Really? Wow, that was smooth, brother."

"I took her to Central Perk after dinner, she had no idea."

"No idea!" Rachel emphasized. "We even had this argument before we left the apartment. I almost didn't go."

"Well, that's a bit dramatic. It's not like we had a big fight."

"I'm just making the story more interesting, honey."

Ross laughed.

"OK, then you tell it."

"So, we get to Central Perk and it's closed, right? But then Ross pulls a key out of his pocket and opens the door…" She looked at him and smiled, reliving it dreamily. "He'd filled the place with lilies and candles…"

"Aw." The girls reacted.

"We danced to 'The way you look tonight' and he said all these beautiful things to me…" She trailed off and knew there was nothing she could say that could explain to her friends just how perfect it had been. Only they would ever know. "Then he got down on one knee and he proposed."

"Now, did you say yes right away, or did you hesitate?" Phoebe asked, making Rachel chuckle and Ross furrow his brows. "It's a big decision!" She defended her question.

"I think I was nodding before he'd even finished asking."

"Aww, Rachel." Monica started. "You're gonna be an official Geller now."

"Yeah." She laughed emotionally. "Don't make me cry again!"

"Man, I wish Joey were here." Chandler said.

Ross and Rachel smiled a little sadly.

"Yeah. We'll call him later to tell him the news. I spoke to him earlier and he said he'd be busy around this time. I mean, with the time difference and all…" Ross explained.

"Uh, I get to be maid of honor now!" Phoebe remembered. "Finally!"

"Well, at least I made it worth your wait, Phoebs. It's two of your best friends getting married again."

"And it's you guys!"

Ross and Rachel smiled at each other, just as the waiter came with their drinks.

"OK, I would like to propose a toast." Monica started. "To my brother and my best friend." Her voice was getting emotional again, so she kept it short.

They interlaced their fingers, holding each other's hands very tight.

"Rachel." Chandler complemented his wife's toast and laughed to himself, insisting on his previous joke.

Ross and Rachel looked at each other.

"Please, let's elope." He pleaded.

Rachel smiled at him and shook her head.

A couple of hours later, Rachel was in Emma's bedroom, delivering the promise of playtime to her daughter. They were inside her castle tent, which was set up in one of the corners of the room. Rachel was leaning against a pillow on the wall with Emma on her lap, her back relaxed against her mother, and they were reading a book together.

As Rachel read the story, Emma's little fingers traced the images and the letters, and she quietly let the words sink in. Rachel loved little moments like this.

"What are you guys up to?" Ross asked from the doorway.

Rachel looked up at him and smiled.

"Just catching up on our reading."

"Is daddy allowed in?"

"What do you think, Emma?"

She giggled.

"OK, daddy."

Ross approached the tent and carefully got in; the three of them just barely fit together inside. He kissed Emma's hair and wrapped an arm around Rachel, who resumed reading.

A few minutes later, they finished the story and Rachel closed the book.

"The end."

She put the book away and rested both of her hands on Emma's little belly, giving it a nice rub.

"Do you wanna read another one, honey?"

"No."

"Are you tired? Do you wanna go to sleep?"

"No."

"So, what do you wanna do now?"

"No." She answered and then giggled.

"Ohhh, you just wanna say no to mommy, huh?" Rachel asked while she tickled Emma.

"Noooo." She answered through fits of laughter, making her parents laugh with her.

Emma then placed her little hands on top of her mother's to make her stop and quickly her fingers found the engagement ring, which she inspected curiously. Ross and Rachel noticed it and smiled at each other.

"Do you know what that is, Emma?" Ross asked.

"A wing?"

"A ring, yes. But it's a special ring."

Emma gasped softly and turned around to look at them.

"Like magic, daddy?" She asked in awe, making them laugh again.

"No, not magic. But, you see, I gave mommy this ring. And do you know why?"

"No."

"Because I love her so, so much."

Rachel smiled and picked up his hand.

"So I get a wing too?"

Rachel laughed; he really should have seen it coming.

"Sweetie, you grow out of everything we buy you in just a couple of weeks. And this is a ring you wear forever, you know?"

Emma furrowed her brows.

"This is a ring that daddies give mommies, sweetheart." Rachel tried to explain.

"Or, well, in Carol and Susan's case, that mommies give mommies." Ross added, just to make things more confusing for her.

"OK." Emma said, as if she was understanding everything. Rachel chuckled again.

"Bottom line is mommy and I are getting married, sweetie. We're going to have a party and we'll buy you a pretty dress and you can be our flower girl."

Emma looked at them for a few seconds, deep into thought.

"OK." She finally said, nonchalant. "Let's play Nemo!"

Ross and Rachel laughed.

"OK, honey, sure." Rachel replied and Emma hopped off her lap, getting her toys ready. "Maybe in the upcoming months she'll grow to understand it." She then told Ross.

"Here I was picturing this whole scene in my head with us telling her…" He trailed off and shook his head. "But uh… Upcoming months? Do we have any idea on the date then?"

Rachel smiled at him.

"I don't know. We haven't really talked at all about plans yet, have we?"

He kissed her shoulder.

"No. Still enjoying the blissful part before the stress kicks in."

Rachel laughed.

"Well, let's make that last a little longer then." She kissed him softly. "Now, come on. There's a child here who was promised some serious playtime tonight."

Ross chuckled and they turned their attention back to Emma.

Hey, guys. Sorry this chapter has taken a while. Like I've said before, with restrictions easing up where I live it's been harder to find the time to write. (We're doing it safely and responsibly over here, don't worry!) Also, it's been challenging deciding what to write about from now on. This chapter, for example, wasn't even planned in the first place. In fact, the next one might be something originally unplanned too. So the current idea is now to have four more chapters. But, hey, that might change, who knows? Just be patient, I will finish this. This story has been bringing me a lot of joy lately, so I'm not gonna drop it, I swear.

Anyway. I just wanted to have a chapter where I threw in Mark. I really don't see him being a part of their lives, but I wanted to give Rachel some closure on this. I don't know if I conveyed what I was trying to say that well, but I do like the idea behind it. I felt like Rachel was pretty defensive when they talked on the phone in the first chapter, but by now she is more sure of her relationship with Ross.

It's not nearly as interesting as the previous chapter, but, hey, they can't all be like that. Let me know what you guys think of this story so far!