The alarm clock buzzed loudly as the time turned to 6:00 AM. Ross moaned as he leaned over to hit the snooze button. He rubbed his eyes as he sat up and rested his head against the headboard. The sound of the alarm caused Rachel to stir in her sleep, and she rolled over, reaching her arm out for Ross.

"Hey," she groaned, hardly able to open her eyes.

"Hey," he said in the same tone, still trying to get the sleep out of his eyes.

"Is it already six?" she asked as she reached for his hand.

"Mm-hmm," Ross mumbled, sliding back under the covers and resting his head on his pillow.

Rachel pulled her body closer to his, wrapping her arm over his chest.

"Don't go today," she begged.

It was Monday morning and they had arrived back in the city only about twelve hours before. The rest of their weekend had been spent making love all over the cabin. They tried the shower, the hot tub, the couch, and of course the bed. In between sessions they took time to eat and watch a movie, and even played a couple of board games they found in a closet. The whole weekend felt like they were young lovers again, and allowed them to become reacquainted mentally and physically. They couldn't wait until they could do it again.

"Oh, I have to," Ross groaned, wishing just as badly that he could stay in bed.

"Just cancel your class," Rachel suggested, clutching his body tighter.

Ross kissed her forehead. "You know I would if I could. I was out all last week so I've gotta go back.

She grabbed at him as he tried to get up. "Nooooooo."

He struggled out of her grasp, stretching as he stood up. "Sweetie, I'll be home before you know it. Get some more sleep, ok?"

She sat up and reached out for him, wrapping her arms around his torso. Ross leaned down and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. "Love you," he whispered.

"Love you too," she said, falling back into the bed, and proceeded to go back to sleep.

By mid-Monday morning, Rachel had gotten Emma up and ready so she could go to Ralph Lauren and see about getting her job back. She knew the chances that they'd take her back were probably slim, but she figured her chances were better if she showed up in person rather than calling. Joey agreed to watch Emma while Rachel went to talk to Zelner.

Rachel tried to calm her nerves as she approached Zelner's door. She wasn't sure how she was going to explain that she wanted her job back. But she had to try.

"Mr. Zelner?" she asked, peeking into his door after knocking.

"Rachel? Aren't you supposed to be in Paris?" he asked.

"Well I wanted to talk to you about that," she said approaching his desk. "Do you have a minute?"

"Sure," he replied as he motioned for her to sit down.

"I wanted to see if your offer for me to come back was still open," she asked timidly.

"Why didn't you take the other job?" he asked sternly.

"Well, because my family is here, sir. And when it came down to it my family comes first," she confessed.

"Listen, Rachel. You were great at your job, but I really don't have time for you to keep changing your mind about working for this company. And frankly, I don't appreciate you sending your friends down here to try and get your job back for you."

"Wha….what are you talking about?" Rachel asked, shocked at his allegations.

"Your friend Ron came down here twice and asked me to give you your job back."

"I, I, I don't even know a Ron," she stuttered.

"Yes, you do. You brought him to the Christmas party one year. He gave me dinosaur artifacts to give to my son so he could try and convince me to take you back."

"Dinosaur? Was he, ah, does he have brown hair and eyes?" Rachel asked, suddenly becoming livid with this situation.

"Yeah, he's a paleontologist," Zelner answered.

Rachel pulled her wallet out of her purse and found a picture of Ross in her wallet.

"Is this Ron?" she asked holding up the picture for him to see.

"Yes, that's him."

"Mr. Zelner, this isn't Ron. This is Ross, Emma's father. And I assure you, I did not send him down here to get my job back for me," Rachel explained.

"Well why would he care so much about helping you get your job back?" he asked.

"I'm sure it has something to do with me moving to Paris, and I promise you I will talk to him about it. I'm sorry I bothered you about this. Clearly, the only reason I could get my job back was because he bribed you," Rachel said, standing up from the chair.

"Wait, Rachel, sit down. I'd like for you to come back. Not because of him, but because you're good and we need you here. "

"Really?" she asked, sitting back down.

"Yes, but I'd like to make you Regional Director of Juniors Fashion. I think we could use some new eyes there."

"Are you serious? This isn't because of Ross?"

"No, Andrea actually resigned last week and I had been wishing you were still around to fill the position. Can you start next Monday?" Zelner asked.

"Of course. And I promise I won't let you down," Rachel said cheerfully.

"Rachel, are you and this Ross together? I've never heard you talk about Emma's father before," Zelner inquired.

"Well, we, he's kind of the reason I decided to stay in New York," she explained.

"It'll be good to have you back. I'll see you next week," he said.

Rachel got up and started to walk out the door.

"Oh, and Rachel," Zelner said.

Rachel turned around to look at him.

"If it counts for anything it seemed to me like Ross would have done anything to keep you in his life." He smiled at her as she nodded and left.

While this was great news, Rachel suddenly found herself unsure of what to think about Ross. Yes, he obviously cared about her enough to keep her from moving to Paris. But he let her tell him that Ralph Lauren wanted to give her more money, when he knew all along that it was because he had tried to bribe Zelner. She couldn't believe he was capable of lying about something like that. If they were going to rebuild a relationship, how could he not tell her something like this? Now, out of nowhere, Rachel wondered if she had made the right decision. Yes she loved him, but could she be with someone who lied to her?

Ross came strolling in around 4:30 that afternoon, eager to see his two girls. They were going to be meeting Joey in a couple of hours for dinner, and he wanted to spend some time with them beforehand.

"Hey!" Ross said excitedly, throwing his briefcase on the floor.

Emma was on the couch watching cartoons and Rachel was filling out some paperwork.

"Hi," she said softly, not looking up at him as she said it.

"Whatca doing?" he asked, walking over to the couch and sitting down next to her.

"I got a new job with Ralph Lauren. I'm filling out paperwork for HR," she said.

"Rach, that's great!" he exclaimed as he tried to lean in and kiss her.

"Hmm-hm," Rachel hummed, turning her head away from him.

"What's wrong?" he asked, concerned when she wouldn't let him kiss her.

She put the pen down and gazed at him with a look of exasperation sprawled across her face.

"Did you try and bribe Ralph Lauren into giving me my job back?" she asked harshly.

"I, I, uh," Ross hesitated. "I went to talk to your boss before you were going to leave."

"And bribed him with your dinosaur toys to give me my job back?" Rachel exclaimed.

"Rach, I was just trying to…" Ross tried to explain.

"Did you really think I wouldn't find out?!" Rachel interrupted.

"I don't know," Ross said, staring at the ground.

"How could you not tell me this? I mean what were you thinking?" Rachel demanded to know.

"Look, I didn't want you to leave, ok. I thought that if you got your old job back you might wanna stay," Ross confessed.

"You let me think they wanted me back. The whole time you knew why they really wanted me and you didn't tell me!"

"I'm sorry. I panicked when you said you were leaving and I wasn't thinking."

"Ross, how could you…." Rachel started to say, but slowly trailed off her words.

"I just didn't know what I would do if you weren't in my life and I was just trying to keep you here without having to beg you myself," Ross explained with hurt in his voice.

"Do you know how this makes me feel? I thought I was good enough for the job because of me, and then I find out it's because you gave Zelner toys for his kid."

"I know, Rachel. And when I saw how much you wanted to go to Paris I told you to take the job. I didn't tell you about this because you were leaving," Ross cried.

Silence.

"But they gave your job back today?" Ross asked after a few moments.

"A new job. And it's because they want me," Rachel said, looking away from him.

"Sweetie, that's great," he said, reaching for her hand.

She moved her hand away from him. "I just need to think about some stuff right now," she said, standing up.

"Come on, you know I did this because I'm so in love with you and I couldn't imagine you not being here. I know I was wrong. I'm so sorry," Ross said, trying to justify his actions.

Rachel grabbed her purse from the chair.

"You and Emma go have dinner with Joey. I need some space right now," she said walking towards the door.

"Rach, please," Ross begged, standing up and trying to hug her.

"Just give me some time, ok?" she asked, opening the door.

"Ok," Ross conceded, watching her walk out the door.

Ross took Emma to have dinner with Joey, but the whole time he remained worried that Rachel would not be able to get over this. He knew that he should have told her about this when she decided not to go to Paris, but he assumed it wouldn't be relevant. When he returned home at 8:30, Rachel was still not back. He took the time to put Emma to bed, and then tried calling Rachel on her cell. She didn't answer, so he got in bed and started grading some papers. If she wasn't back by 9:30 he would start calling Joey and Phoebe to see if they had seen her.

Ross lost track of time while grading his papers and fell asleep. Around 10:00, Rachel came home and found him asleep with papers scattered across the bed. She knew he had called her about an hour before, but she didn't answer because she needed some more time to cool off. He looked so adorable as he slept. How could she stay mad at him for too long?

She took her shoes off and crawled onto the bed, moving some papers so she could curl up next to him. She smiled and ran her hand through his hair. He did it because he loves me, she thought.

Awakened by her touch, Ross opened his eyes to find Rachel looking down at him.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Hey," he replied, sitting up so that his face was now level with hers. "Where you been?"

"I went and walked around for a while, then went over to Phoebe's," she replied.

"I wish you would have called," Ross admitted. "I was getting worried."

Rachel took his hand and laced her fingers through his.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten so mad at you," she whispered.

"I'm sorry I put you in that situation with your boss," Ross said. "I was just trying to help you have a reason to stay in New York. I should've been honest with you from the beginning." He stroked the top of her hand that was holding his other hand.

"Yeah, you should have. But I thought about it and I know you did it because you love me."

Ross nodded. "Mm-hm, that's why," he said, smiling at her.

Rachel smiled back. "Come here, baby." She pulled him into her arms, and he rested his head on her shoulder."

"Tell me about your new job. What is it?"

"He made me Regional Director of Junior's Fashion. I'll pretty much be the to-go person for the northeast region. And of course I get the final say in what clothes are put in the stores," she answered ecstatically.

"That sounds amazing," Ross said. He kissed her hand, released himself from her arms, and pulled her into an embrace so that he was now holding her.

The first fight had been inevitable. No matter how much you love someone, a healthy relationship is going to have its ups and downs. They had gotten through the fight, and undoubtedly there would eventually be more. But tonight they were able to fall asleep together, with the relief that they had worked things out. And now with both of them working, maybe they could start saving for that cabin.