Eight months. Emma was to turn two soon. She walked most of the time now, and her hair was slowly growing longer and getting more layers. She outgrew her crib and slept with him in his bed, still clinging to Hugsy. He still had to carry her when her legs grew tired, but he didn't mind a bit.
She laughed all the time. To her, everything was funny. Most of the time, anyway. It was..strange. How fast time flew. He remembered like just the other day Rachel had been asleep in her bed and he got up at the crack of dawn to cradle a crying Emma in his arms, and his worry for Rachel had increased. Now, soon, she'd be going to school in another year or two. He feared that.
He didn't want her to grow up, he realized.
He taught her new words each day, and she explored the house a lot. Sometimes she still asked about her mom, even now. Today was different though. Erica had given birth to the twins today so he took Emma down to the hospital as fast as he could. They'd taken their time though, and he'd pointed out various things in the city and they exchanged smiles.
Now, in the waiting room, Chandler burst out, beaming. "It's a boy and a girl." he said, smiling widely. Joey gave him a thumbs up. "That's great, man. I'm proud of you." Joey replied, Emma sitting in his lap. He leaned in toward Emma.
"Guess what, Emma? You're going to have two cousins." he said. "Wanna go see them?"
Emma's face lit up. She gave a wide smile, four teeth in now. "Yeah, let's go, let's go!" she said, words still a bit jumbled, sounding excited. Joey grinned in return, hoisting Emma up onto his shoulders. "Spaceship's taking off. We're going into space, whoosh!" he said, racing off down the halls toward the nursery, being careful of other patients, not noticing Chandler watching after him proudly.
He'd certainly come a long way in just half a year. Everything still hurt, didn't want to talk about Rachel much, but wore his wedding ring proudly. Girls would approach him, but he no longer felt the temptation to flirt with them. Instead, if they tried to flirt with him, he showed them the ring and turned away, walking off with Emma. "Look, we're here." he said, lifting Emma over his head and holding her up so she could look into the window, crouching down.
"See those two tiny ones in the faaaar corner? Those are your cousins, Emma."
Emma laughed, clapping, pressing her face to the glass. She looked back at him, moving her hands in an attempt to try to express what she wanted to say, forgetting the words. "Yeah, they're tiny. They're not as old as you. You're big and strong!" he said, grinning, and kissing her cheek, tickling her. She burst into a fit of laughter.
He froze when he heard footsteps behind him. "Hey, Joe."
That voice..
He picked up Emma, turning around slowly. "Ross..?" Yes, it was him. He noticed Emily beside him, and an engagement ring on her finger. He mentally rolled his eyes. Getting married, again. Of course. He tossed Emma into the air once, catching her as she squealed happily, holding her tighter as a way of saying "I'm her father now". Ross didn't seem to notice.
"I take it that's Emma?"
"Yes."
They didn't say much after that, not much to talk about, he supposed. Things were different between them now, strained.
At the end of the visit, Joey had never been more relieved to get away from Ross. He'd certainly changed. The guy who used to be so intense on fathering children didn't even care about his own flesh and blood. It made him boil with anger.
That night after Emma was asleep, he paced in front of Rachel's door, cursing and talking to her, telling her how angry it made him. He could see Rachel's eyes brimming with tears at how much he cared.
When hadn't he cared, though?
