Hi! This is an entry for Everlasting Love over at Friends-Boards. It's depicting Ross and Rachel's first Valentine's Day together since they became a couple. In my fic, it starts Feb. 10th, and we take it from there. It's a four-part series and I have it all written. It will be up in very close updates. :)

Please leave me a review and go review the other entries, too!

Title: When we get there

Chapter One:

Ross Geller smiled as he woke up to the soft sunshine streaming down his face. Next to her, Rachel Green, his rekindled love of nine months, was still in a deep slumber.

He sighed deeply, marveling at her beauty. Though she was still asleep, Ross never failed to amaze himself at how much he loved her. He loved her smile, her eyelashes, the pout of her lower lip, the way her hair fanned away from her on their lace pillows.

He loved her so much he had given in and bought the lace pillows.

As Rachel's eyes fluttered slightly, like a butterfly learning of its grace, Ross knew she must be having a dream. Slowly, he lay his head next to hers and enveloped her in his arms, taking as much Rachel as space would allow.

He wondered to himself if it was shameful to hope her dreams were about him.

After laying contentedly by her for a long while, Ross forced himself to glance at the clock ticking by their bedside.

8:15. Ross groaned. Their flight left at one-thirty, and they had to arrive at the airport by at least eleven. He knew Rachel would kill him if he didn't wake her up in time for her to have at least three hours to prepare.

As soft as he could manage, Ross chuckled. Her quirks were one of the many things he loved about her.

"Ughhhhh..." Without meaning to, he had woken her up.

"Hey, sweetie." Ross planted a garden of kisses from the slope of her nose down to her soft lips. "Good morning."

She smiled, loving the fact that each morning she got to wake up to a man that loved her like Ross did. "Morning," she yawned sleepily, sitting upright in bed to wake herself up.

"Sorry for waking you up," he blushed.

Rachel grinned and moved her body onto his lap, stroking his soft, gel-absent hair as she cooed. "It's fine...I love waking up to laughter." It was so much better than the alternative.

"Well, I'm glad you're up. It's eight-thirty, and we have to leave here in like two and a half hours."

"Oh my God! I'm so excited!" She patted his knees and shrieked in a mock-whisper so she wouldn't wake Emma.

Ross nodded. "Me too. Do you know how many ancient rocks and artifacts you can find in various locations in the Caribbean? I mean-"

Chidingly, Rachel put a manicured finger to his lips. "But that's not why we're going there, honey."

He blushed. "I know. We're going there," he grinned as he quoted the phrase from the cruise line commercial that they had seen, "to rekindle love on the most romantic journey lovers could ever take. To bask in the glorious sunlight and watch the ocean melt harmoniously into the sky. To feast upon an array of exquisite foods, all the while enjoying family filled fun!" His voice dropped to a surreptitious tone as his words became hurried. "Prices may vary, airfare not included."

"That's for sure," Rachel laughed.

Ross got out of bed and Rachel followed him. "Okay, so do you want to get ready and I'll wake Emma?"

"Sure. I only have a few more things to pack, too."

Ross's jaw dropped. "You still have to pack?"

"Yeah. But it's just a couple pairs of shoes, not really anything to worry about."

Ross sighed and pretended to be annoyed. "How many pairs of shoes are you bringing?"

She blushed.

"Rach..."

Rachel hurried over towards him and passionately kissed him for a minute. When she pulled away, Ross slid down the wall, watching her saucily sashay into the bathroom, lassoing her towel around her body.

He shook his head and wiped a pearl-sized bead of sweat from his brow. "That works every time"
----

"Daddy...wanna go!" Almost two year old Emma Geller Green shrieked from the confines of her plane seat.

"Emma, shh!" Rachel hurriedly looked around, wondering if anyone else on the plane had witnessed her daughter's tantrum.

"Em, you need to be good. Daddy will take you to the pool when we get there," Ross promised his small daughter.

Emma smiled, her blue eyes crinkling in contrast with her silken brunette hair. "POOL!"

"Yes, sweetie, pool. And if Daddy gets you to behave the entire flight, then Mommy will do whatever Daddy wants her to do." Rachel winked at Ross.

Ross scooted closer to his daughter. "So, Emma, what do else do you want Daddy to do? We have books!" Ross threw open the dinosaur tote bag that he was forced to carry. "How about 'Dinosaurs and me?' 'I'm a little T-Rex?' Ooh, what about 'The adventures of Stanley Stegosaur?'" As Emma clapped her sticky hands together, Ross tilted his head towards Rachel, making his signature seduction face.

Rachel turned her head and laughed. God, he was such a dork...but that only made her love him more.

Looking out the vast stretch of runway, Rachel thought of her future. Only nine months ago, she was planning to move to Paris and leave all of this behind. It made her heart sink to even consider what her life might be like without her friends...New York...Ross.

She couldn't wait to get on the ship. Their flight would land in Ft. Lauderdale, and from there they would take a shuttle bus to the bay where they would board their ship, The Explorer of the Seas. A month ago, when Ross had received a considerable pay-raise, he decided to surprise Rachel with a cruse, just in time for Valentine's Day. Today was the tenth, and the big day would take place four days later. Their journeys would take them to Cozumel, The Cayman Islands, Jamaica, and the Bahamas. For once, though, Rachel hardly cared where they went. She only was worried about who she was with: her family.

Family. The word sounded so strange, thinking about it. All of her life, she had never even thought she had a family. Back when she was young, she had a mother, father, and two sisters.

But not a family.

Now, however, things were different. As time went on, Rachel began to realize more and more that her, Ross, and Emma weren't just a group of people who ate together and lived under the same roof. They were becoming a family.

Biting her lip as the plane began to rise in the sky, Rachel realized that part of that scared her. With family came security, but also risks. When they were just people living together, there were no dangers, somehow, of that falling apart.

She and Ross weren't married yet- Heck, they hadn't even talked about it in the months that they had been back together!- but a part of her wondered if she what she wanted was a marriage.

From what seemed like a great distance, she heard Emma laugh as Ross did voices for the characters.

Everything was so perfect now, Rachel thought. Why spoil it with marriage?

'Because he's the man you love...he's taking you on a cruise for Valentine's Day...he's the father of your daughter, and you've known him for twenty years. Marriage is the next logical step.

Well, not logical. Nothing is really logical for us. It never has been, but that's part of what I like...the excitement, the wondering. If everything turned out the way it should have, then what would I be waiting for today?

Maybe I'm just immature. Everyone else I know is already married.'

Her mind wandered to Monica, Chandler, and their new twins. Well, hardly new now: they were nine months old, crawling, and savaging the perfection of Monica's new home. Strangely enough, Monica learned to deal with the imperfections, and was now embracing them.

Phoebe was married, and even Joey was seriously dating. The girl's name was Alex, if Rachel remembered correctly, and it looked like everyone had finally settled down.

It wasn't as if Rachel hadn't settled down. She, Ross, and Emma had their messy routine life. Every day, Ross would go off to work, Rachel would drop Emma off at daycare and then head to her own job at Ralph Lauren. Mr. Zelner hadn't been happy when she asked for her job back, but they were short-staffed and needed her desperately.

White clouds coated the surrounding barriers of the plane as Rachel glanced over at a sleeping Ross and Emma. Everything was so secure now, so right, so real. It seemed like the right thing to do, but why did everything have to change?
----

"Oh. My. God. Is that our ship?" Rachel shrieked as the blaring sunlight burned into her fair skin.

"Wow, yeah...It must be. Unless they dropped us off at the wrong harbor," Ross laughed.

"Well, honey, I hope you're wrong because that is the most gorgeous...hunk of metal I've ever seen!"

"I know. This is going to be so much fun."

Rachel shifted her sleeping daughter from one arm to the other. She was getting bigger, and soon they wouldn't be able to lug her around like this. "So can we get on yet?"

Busloads of other people were boarding the ramp to the Explorer.

"I guess so." Ross grabbed four of their suitcases. "God, Rach, I'm going to pack for you from now on."

She snorted as she swung Emma's bag onto her other arm. "That will be a sad day. You'd probably pack only my lingerie."

"You know me too well."

They climbed through a tunnel ramp to get on the ship. "Well, at least I use up my whole suitcase, Ross."

"I have to leave room for souvenirs!"

"You leave room for the hotel shampoos."

He grinned as they finally made it inside the magnificent ship. "Eh, same difference"
----

"I don't think it's going...to...FIT!" Rachel sighed and slumped to the floor as she stuffed the last of her clothes into a dresser drawer.

Ross peeked his head into the small room from the balcony. "Did it finally shut?"

"Yeah," she huffed. "But I need to take a long nap now."

"Um, Rach? Is there any room left in there for my stuff?"

She glanced around at the surrounding suitcases. "Uh..."

"Don't worry about it. Em and I will live in the corridor."

"Honey! You're making me feel bad. It's not my fault."

"It's fine," laughed Ross. "But I'll bet you that you don't wear every outfit in there."

"Oooh, a bet, huh? Ross Geller, you have got yourself a deal."

Ross sat down on the bed next to Emma who was still sleeping. "I'll bet you that I'll win."

Within a few short steps, Rachel was sitting next to him. "I'm confused now. Are there two bets going on?"

"I'd be willing to bet on it."

She playfully patted him on his chest. "Do you remember when I was pregnant with Emma and Mon and Pheebs bet on when I was going to have her?"

"How could I forget? That was the easiest twenty bucks I ever made."

In her dreamland, Emma stirred, pushing her stuffed animal away from her. The animal's name was Nina, though Emma couldn't pronounce her 'N's properly, and therefore called her 'Wina'. Wina was a dinosaur that wore a lacy dress and high heels, and Emma was never without her.

"Wow," Ross softly admired. "She's getting so big."

"I know. I still can't believe we have her and she's just...growing up before our eyes." Rachel wiped a tear from her eye, a tear that she wasn't even aware of until she saw her own reflection in Ross's eyes.

"Why are you crying?"

"I don't...I don't know..." She threw her arms around him as he nuzzled his face into her neck, trying to comfort her from whatever it was.

"Here, let's go stand on the balcony. The ship is taking off and trust me: you don't want to miss this."

He pulled her off the bed and led her to their balcony. The sun was just beginning its descent into the horizon, and soft waves swept sand off the shores. The Florida skyline stared back at them, and the vastness of the ocean lay ahead.

"Wow," Rachel breathed. "It's gorgeous."

Ross drank in her beauty with his eyes, staring at Rachel and not at the sunset. "Yeah. It really is"
----

Thank you for reading! Chapter Two should be up very soon...this weekend. :) This is the first time I'm posting and it's all done already. lol. So please let me know what you think.

Mel