Disclaimer: How I wish Friends was mine... but it isn't.

A/N: Seriously, I need some sort of mental help, because I'm beginning another chaptered fic whilst still working on PMAD (which I'm working on, but I haven't had much time lately!). In Rachel's POV, no less! I can't help it, I just feel compelled to write from her perspective for some reason. I've been writing this one while I've had writer's block for my other fic, so it's nearly done already, so updates will be very frequent.

This one is sort of similar to Rachel Reflects, except it isn't in first-person and it's Rachel observing the 'firsts' in her daughter's life and sometimes giving 'life lesson'-y advice, because I love the mother/daughter-ness. Basically, it's Emma growing up, post-finale.

Growing Up Geller

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"Mommy! The room is right here! Look!" Emma Geller shouted as she yanked on her mother's hand, pulling her towards the classroom where she would be attending preschool for the next nine months. The outspoken three- (almost four-) year-old skipped happily, not a care in the world.

Her mother, on the other hand, was a wreck.

Rachel had woken up that morning, something bothering her deep down in the pit of her stomach. It wasn't morning sickness; no, at seven months pregnant, Rachel was passed that phase (for the most part). She hadn't realized what it was until her daughter had run into she and Ross' bedroom, jumped up to join her parents on the bed, and exclaimed, "I'm going to school today!"

It was her little girl's first day of school. And that fact terrified Rachel.

After quitting her job at Ralph Lauren, marrying Ross (for real, this time), and moving to Westchester, only a few streets away from Monica and Chandler, Rachel had really come into the role of 'stay-at-home-mom', which was definitely a full-time job in itself. But she loved it; she loved having breakfast and dinner with her husband and daughter, and taking walks with Emma, and visiting Monica, Chandler and the twins, and driving into the city to shop or meet up with Phoebe and Mike, and going to see Jack and Judy or Sandra or Leonard.

And now, she'd have to do all of those things alone. Well, sure, only for two months, until the baby was born, but that still didn't change the fact that her little girl was growing up fast, and was now about to begin her first day of school.

Ross was a few steps behind mother and daughter, finishing up a phone call with the head of the paleontology department at NYU. He'd recently been given an additional class, and was now hoping to work hard enough to get head of the department sometime in the future.

"All right, Em, Mommy can't go that fast right now," Rachel said as Emma pulled harder on her hand, leading her through a doorway and into a classroom that was decorated brightly. The baby kicked a nice, hard kidney shot in her stomach, and she winced slightly, wondering if this kid was going to be a soccer player.

A board set up right near the door displayed the date (September 3rd, 2006), and had the names of each child in the class posted below the two teachers' names.

Ross came up on the other side of Emma so she was situated between her parents, his cell phone put away. "Aw, look at the cute dancing apples," he said, pointing towards the board.

Rachel rolled her eyes, secretly fighting back the urge to cry. "Yeah, yeah."

Bending down to her level, Ross asked Emma, "What do you think?"

"There's alotta kids," Emma decided, rocking back and forth in her new black shoes, bought especially for this occasion, along with her blue dress and matching headband.

A young-looking woman approached them at that moment, wearing a nametag that read, "Miss Bradley". She grinned at the family. "Hi, I'm Lauren Bradley, one of the teachers."

Rachel accepted her proffered hand and smiled at the woman. "Hi. Nice to meet you. I'm Rachel Geller." Rachel had to admit that she still got a little thrill when she introduced herself with her married name.

"Ross Geller," Ross informed her, also shaking the teacher's hand. "And this is Emma." He put his hands on his daughter's shoulders.

Miss Bradley bent down and smiled. "Hi, Emma. That's a pretty dress."

"Thank you," Emma replied politely, having learned her manners very early on from Aunt Monica.

"When's your birthday?"

"October twenty-third," she said proudly.

Miss Bradley nodded. "Well, you're one of the oldest kids in the class!" She stood straight again, a broad smile still on her face. "So, I'm sure you two read the letter we sent out. Morning class begins at eight and ends at one." She turned to Rachel with bright eyes. "Oh, when are you due?"

Rachel placed a hand on her bulging stomach. "Oh, November."

"Well, it's always great for kids to have siblings. You know, it helps them learn sharing and responsibility," Miss Bradley informed them.

Ross nodded. "And how to fend for yourself." Both women blinked, and he shook his head. "Well, you know, if one sibling takes, say, all the food… long story," he said quickly as Rachel glared at him.

Emma was watching longingly as a few kids built some structures with wooden blocks. Rachel sighed as she also observed some parents that were slowly leaving the classroom, obviously having a difficult time letting go of their child. She felt their pain.

"All right, well, if that's it, then Emma can come with me and get to know the other kids, and you guys can get going," Miss Bradley said gently, extending her hand to Emma. The little girl accepted, eager to play.

"Oh-okay," Rachel managed to say as Ross bent over, kissed his daughter's head, and ruffled her light hair.

"Be good," he instructed.

"Have fun, sweetie," Rachel said, the waterworks on the brink of starting. She smoothed Emma's soft hair.

Miss Bradley led the small girl away slowly, and she only waved once before joining the fun with the other kids.

Ross directed Rachel out of the classroom, his hand pressed against the small of her back. Once in the hallway, she let her tears fall.

"Hey, hey, come on," Ross said gently, turning his wife so she was facing him. He leaned forward. "We're gonna pick her up in a few hours. It'll go by like that." He snapped his fingers on the last word.

"I-I know," Rachel blubbered. "She's just growing up so fast. Why can't she stay a baby forever?"

"Because that's not how it works," Ross replied as they walked down the hallway and towards the doors near the parking lot.

"This is her first day of school," Rachel pointed out as they entered into the sunlight of the morning.

"I know. It's really big," Ross agreed. "But she's going to have a lot of other firsts we can look forward to."

"Did you feel sad when Ben first went to school?"

"Yes. And now he's eleven and I'm more worried about some of his teenage 'firsts'," Ross confided. "I'm dreading the day he comes home from school with a black eye, or tells me he likes a girl."

Rachel gasped a little. "Oh! I can't even imagine Emma telling me she likes a boy."

As they got into the car, Ross placed a hand on Rachel's stomach and smiled. "Well, just think, we've got another whole person coming who's going to go through a series of 'firsts', too."

His words did little to help soothe Rachel's mood. She and Ross spent the morning at home, lounging around and doing mostly nothing. Rachel was too nervous to do anything, anyway.

When 12:45 crept up on them and it was time to pick Emma up, Rachel just didn't have the heart- or energy- to go, so Ross departed by himself. He returned thirty minutes later with an extremely chatty girl.

"I played with blocks, an' I got to sit on a beanbag when Miss Bradley read a story, an' I painted a picture for you." She handed her mother a piece of paper, with four people on it. "See, that's you and Daddy," she pointed out, "and that's me an' the baby."

Rachel started crying again and held her daughter close. "I really like school," Emma said, muffled since her face pressed against her mother's shirt.

"I'm glad, sweetie."

And so by the next day, school was no longer a 'first' for Emma Geller.

And yet, her very first day of school. How had it crept up so fast?

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