All I Have to Do is Dream

Chapter Two: Sleepwalk

At first, Ross returned her kiss eagerly. His lips had been longing to kiss Rachel's for so long that he couldn't control himself. Then he broke away, knowing in his heart that this was a mistake of some kind. Rachel surely didn't mean to be in his bed, kissing him.

"Rachel, what's going on here?" he asked, staring into her eyes.

She looked back at him in a bewildered fashion, her eyes widening in confusion. "What do you mean?" she asked.

He laughed humorlessly. "Since when do we sleep in the same bed?"

Rachel laughed, too, but she sounded genuinely amused. "Oh, I don't know, Ross," she said, smiling at him. "Just for the last six years…ever since we got married." She sat up in bed and kissed the tip of his nose. "Are you feeling okay?"

Ross stared at her, his confusion mounting. Rachel was obviously either ill or extremely confused. "Married," he echoed. "We're married. You and I. Married for six years. Of course…how could I forget something like that?"

Rachel laughed again. "Quit joking around," she said. "The kids will be awake soon, and you know we promised to take them to the amusement park today."

Rachel got out of bed, and Ross noticed that she was wearing a lacy pink nightie. But that wasn't what caught his attention--it was her stomach. Because Rachel appeared to be at least six months pregnant.

It's a dream, he told himself. It's only a dream. He carefully pinched his right arm with his left hand. "Ouch!" he screamed. Rachel, who was dressing in a maternity dress, turned to stare at him.

"Uh, muscle cramp," he said by way of explanation, gazing at her very pregnant tummy in wonder. He glanced down at his left hand, wondering whether he should try pinching himself again. A gold wedding band glinted on his ring finger. Ross Geller immediately passed out.

*******

"Ross! Ross!" Ross's eyelids fluttered open, and he saw Rachel leaning over the bed, concern etched in her features. "Thank goodness!" she said, relief evident in her tone. "Are you okay? Do we need to go to the emergency room?"

Ross smiled weakly. He was fully awake, and Rachel was six months pregnant with his child. And she was his wife. "I'm fine," he said reassuringly. "I'm just feeling a little strange today...maybe I didn't get enough sleep." If this is a dream, I don't want to wake up, he thought.

Rachel kissed him gently. "I think we'll skip the amusement park today. The kids will understand…and we can go next weekend." She sat on the bed next to Ross and held his hand. "Do you need something to eat or drink? A cold compress? Anything?"

Ross squeezed her hand and shook his head. "No, I'm fine…really. Wait--wait a minute…did you say kids? As in, more than one kid?"

Rachel looked worried again. "Um, yes. Kids. Our kids…Emma and Christopher. Remember?"

Ross could see that Rachel was beginning to seriously wonder about his sanity. Truth be told, he was beginning to wonder about his sanity, too…but he didn't want to worry her. "Of course I remember," he replied. "Just kidding."

Just then the bedroom door burst open and two children raced into the room. The older child was a girl of about five. She had brownish-blonde hair and brown eyes, and bore a striking resemblance to Rachel. The boy appeared to be around three. He had Ross's dark hair and brown eyes. "Daddy!" they squealed in unison, and both jumped onto the bed beside their mother.

"Daddy's not feeling very well today," said Rachel gently. "Emma, take Chris into the living room, and the two of you can watch cartoons for a little while."

"Okay, Mommy," the little girl retorted. She quickly kissed Ross on the cheek. "I hope you feel better, Daddy," she said sweetly. She took her brother's hand and led him out of the room.

"Bye, Daddy!" called the little boy--his son--loudly.

"Bye," said Ross, his heart swelling. He couldn't believe that the two beautiful children were his--his and Rachel's.

Rachel was still clutching his hand. With her other hand she was absentmindedly stroking her protruding belly. "Do you want me to go so you can rest?" she asked, starting to rise from the bed.

"No!" said Ross desperately. "Stay and talk to me." He didn't want Rachel to leave…afraid that if she did, his beautiful new reality would fade away.

She sat back down and smiled at him gently. "I won't leave, then," she said. "I'll stay and talk to you until you fall asleep, okay? Then I'll take the kids over to visit their cousins."

"Okay," he agreed in a small voice. Rachel crawled into bed beside him and lay her head on his chest.

"What do you want to talk about?" she asked.

Ross draped his arm around her shoulders and she snuggled closer to him. "Let's talk about the last seven years," he said. "I know…let's play a game. Pretend that I have amnesia, and tell me all about the last seven years. Everything."

"Well…okay. If that's really what you want to hear. You just try to rest, sweetie."

Ross nodded and tightened his arm around Rachel as she began to tell him the story of the past seven years of their lives.

*******

"Well, you and I started dating about eight years ago," began Rachel. "After about a year of dating, you became insanely jealous of Mark, a man I worked with. On our one-year anniversary, we had a huge fight and I suggested that we take a break."

"I don't know what I was thinking. Luckily, you insisted that we could never take a break from something as important as our love. We worked everything out, and later that night, you proposed to me. I said yes--of course." She kissed him lightly on the cheek. "You're the only man I've ever loved."

"We got married a year later. It was such a beautiful ceremony. And Monica and Chandler fell in love at our wedding…that's how romantic it was. Not long after the wedding, we moved here, to our own house, to raise our family away from the city."

"We had Em a year after we got married, and two years later, along came Chris." She patted her tummy, and Ross gently placed his hand beside hers. He felt a tiny flutter--the baby was kicking.

"Now we're waiting for Baby Geller number three," she continued. "You want to name her Ruth--no chance, by the way. I want to name her Megan. You're working at the museum and teaching part-time at the university. I work at Ralph Lauren as a vice-president. And…well, I guess that's about it. I've been amazingly happy for the last seven years, Ross. And it's because I've got you."

Ross kissed Rachel with every bit of longing that he had been holding back for the past several months. She kissed him back with equal passion, then snuggled back down beside him. Ross kissed the top of her head. "I love you, Rachel," he whispered.

"I love you, too," she replied.

"What about the others?" he asked.

"Oh, you want to hear about Monica, Chandler, Joey, and Phoebe?" she asked.

"Yes…I think it might help me drift off to sleep."

"Okay…"

*******

"Well, like I said, Monica and Chandler got together at our wedding. Two years later, they got married. They have two little boys. Nicholas is three, and Michael is eighteen months. They live a few blocks away."

"Joey finally got his big break about three years ago. He's been in Hollywood ever since, making movies. It's weird that Joey is such a big star now, isn't it? He's been dating Kate, the actress he met when they were in that horrible play together…remember, the one about the space ship. I think Joey might actually marry Kate someday."

"Phoebe still lives in the city. She's still writing songs, still singing at Central Perk, and now she owns her own massage parlor. She's engaged to David, the scientist guy. When he came back from Minsk last year, they realized that they belong together. Their wedding is in December, and I really hope Megan can wait until after the wedding to make an appearance." She patted her tummy again. "She's due at the beginning of January, you know."

"Is that all you wanted to hear?" she inquired. But there was no answer. She looked into her husband's face, and saw that he was fast asleep, a look of pure contentment on his face. Rachel kissed him on the forehead and crept silently out of the room. She decided that she would take the kids to Monica and Chandler's for the afternoon…Ross apparently needed some rest.

*******