TOW Rachel and Ben Talk
Summary: "Y'know what Ben? One day when you are a lot older I am going to tell you that entire story over a pitcher of real margaritas, okay?" Rachel keeps her promise.
A/N: Remember, in TOW the Truth About London, Rachel has to baby sit Ben, and he says they were on a break? With me and my overactive imagination, I decided to write this.:
"Ben, I'm so sorry I'm late!" Rachel wailed, nearly crashing into her stepson as she screeched to a halt in front of him.
21-year-old Ben laughed, gripping her shoulder to prevent her from falling over. "It's okay, I'm used to it."
"No, it wasn't me this time! You know how your father is – 'does this tie match this shirt,' blah blah blah," Rachel ranted, straightening her jacket. "I swear, the man is hopeless."
"Rachel, you've been saying that for all of the ten years that you've been married to him," Ben replied, handing her the pocketbook she dropped on the sidewalk.
Tossing her hair over her shoulder, Rachel finally calmed down. "I know, but I'm still really sorry. I know we had reservations for 7, and it's now…"
"8:00," Ben informed her, glancing down at his watch. At his stepmother's crestfallen look, he comforted, "No, it's okay, really. I spent the time browsing in that bookstore down the block."
Rachel shook her head. "You're more like your father every day. Come on; I hope they didn't give away our table."
Ben sighed, putting his arm around her shoulders as they entered the restaurant. He had been a little annoyed that she was so late, but he reminded himself that he had vowed not to be so obsessive. Besides, he did understand. His father had only recently taken on some night classes at NYU. Ben approached the front desk. "Hi, we're the 7:00 reservation, under the name Ben? Sorry we're late."
"Oh, yes, the party for two," the waiter replied, a little annoyed. "Well, we gave your table away a half hour ago, but you're in luck. Another couple has just finished. We will have it ready in a few minutes. Would you like me to set up a bottle of champagne?"
Ben quickly took his arm off Rachel's shoulder. "W-what…"
"What do you think, Ben? Champagne sounds good," Rachel teased, enjoying the look on his face.
"N-no! No champagne! My stepmother and I will order our drinks when we get to the table," Ben sputtered. When the amused waiter left, he whispered, "What was that for?"
"Relax, I was just having some fun," Rachel laughed, taking a seat on the bench in the waiting area.
Ben glared at her. "Well, I'm sorry, Mrs. Robinson, but I'd rather not have people thinking I was dating someone twice my age!"
"Hey! What did I tell you about associating me with the 'a word'?" Rachel retorted, the paused. "Wow…"
Ben wrinkled his brow at her far-off expression. "What?"
"Nothing," Rachel assured him, shaking her head. "I remembered someone I haven't thought about in a while. You see, when Ross started teaching at NYU, he dated one of his students."
Ben stared at her. "Wasn't he, like, thirty back then?"
"Yeah. We all teased him mercilessly about it. Things got even more complicated when I started dating the student's father," Rachel recalled, smiling at the memory.
Ben sat next to her on the bench. "I've never heard that story."
"There are a lot of stories you've never heard," Rachel told him, patting his knee. Soon, the waiter came back, and within minutes they were at their table going over the menu. "So, Ben, this is your birthday dinner. What do you want to get?"
Ben studied the menu, once again glad he was in an actual restaurant. Though he went to school at NYU (after much prodding from his father), he recently moved into his first apartment Amazingly enough, it was the one his unofficial Uncle Joey had rented so many years earlier. And, much like back then, the fridge was rarely stocked. He was grateful that Rachel (even though she was now his stepmother, everyone had decided that calling her by her first name would be better than adding another "mommy" to the list) had decided to take him out to dinner at a bar as his 21st birthday present.
"I don't know," he answered after a minute. "Everything looks so good when you've been living off take-out and microwaveable dinners."
"Understandable, though I was a little spoiled when I had my first apartment. Even then, your aunt was a great cook," Rachel admitted.
"That was your first place? Weren't you, like, twenty-six by then?" Ben inquired.
Rachel made a face, as if thinking of something unpleasant. "Yeah…but you know the story of how I became roommates with Monica, right?"
"Right, that Barry guy," Ben recalled. "Didn't you start dating my dad soon afterwards?"
Rachel stared at him, surprised. "Ben, didn't anyone tell you the history between me and Ross?"
"A little bit here and there, but not really a complete history," Ben shrugged.
Rachel was about to respond, then got an idea. "Excuse me!" When a waiter came over, she asked, "Hi, um, can we get a two margaritas please? Thank you."
"What was that?" Ben questioned, wrinkling his brow in confusion.
Rachel grinned at him. "You might not remember this, but when you were about six your father asked me to baby sit you while he went to a work meeting. It was really awkward at first, since we didn't spend a lot of time together back then. I even offered you a virgin margarita."
"I used to confuse you with Aunt Phoebe," Ben put in.
Rachel laughed. "Right, forgot about that. Anyway, I said how we used to spend a lot of time together when I was Ross' girlfriend, and you said that I wasn't his girlfriend anymore because we were on a break –"
"And you said that one day when I was older, you would tell me everything over a pitcher of real margaritas," Ben added, suddenly remembering the day Rachel was talking about.
Rachel nodded, happy that he remembered. "So, you want to hear it?"
"Oh yeah, I've been waiting for this," Ben grinned, putting his menu to the side.
Raising an eyebrow, Rachel suggested, "You might want to order first. This could take a while."
A/N: I thought this was a good ending, since we all know the story of Ross and Rachel. Of course, I'll add a chapter if you really want to see how Ben reacts.
