Chapter 14

"Dreamer"

As they planned a week before, the family of four would spend their weekend in Southampton, courtesy of Ross' parents. The beach house was a three bedroom and two bath house, located in a walking distance to the beach. It wasn't that big, but it was enough for the little family and more importantly, the view was breathtaking.

From the balcony on the second floor master bedroom, they could see straight through the ocean. Now Rachel understood why Ross' parents used Monica's wedding fund for this house. It was so beautiful, she didn't mind if they lived in a place like this one day. Waking up to the ocean instead of the busy streets of New York certainly had its own appeals. The kids could have the huge backyards for them to play around, the air here was much clearer than it ever would in Manhattan, and had she mentioned the view? She had to admit, she loved living in the city, but lately - after she became a mother - the idea of living in suburbs appealed to her even more.

They arrived that noon using an SUV Ross had rented beforehand. It was spring at the time, so it wasn't exactly a bikini-kind-of-weather. So instead, Rachel settled with a warm sweater, jeans, and a pair of slippers. She also dressed Emma in warmer clothes, knowing they wouldn't go near the water anyway. After changing their clothes, the four of them headed to the beach.

It had been more than a year since any of them went on a vacation and it also marked their first ever family vacation, and though it was quite chilly that noon, they didn't really mind. The view of the vast ocean marveled them. It was so much calmer and serene compared to the city. The time somehow felt like it ran slower here, the people were very laidback – the exact opposite of the city. Rachel really loved it here, it was almost like they were different people.

"Woah! Look at all those sands!" Ben exclaimed ecstatically as soon as they arrived at the beach. "Let's build a sand castle, daddy!"

Ross shook his head and let out a soft chuckle at his son's eagerness. Ben had been talking about his plan to build the biggest sand castle ever for days now since they told the boy that they would go to the beach. Seeing his son beamed in so much happiness, brought a huge smile on Ross' face. It really was a great idea to get away from the city and bond with their family.

"Why don't you go ahead and start, I'll catch up with you soon." Ross said to Ben.

"Okay." Ben gathered his bucket and a few plastic shovels and quickly ran near the shore.

"Don't go too far!" Rachel, who had Emma on her hip, shouted.

"Okay!" Ben hollered back whilst still running toward his destination.

Ross had to smile seeing how concerned she was for his son. It was a simple gesture, or perhaps other people might think he was overreacting, but for Ross, how Rachel treated Ben and vice versa were everything. He really wanted them to get along. Not that they hadn't been getting along before today, but one of the purposes of this trip was to bring their family closer and that was all he wanted them to do this weekend. Just enjoying their time around each other. Just the four of them as a family.

Ross placed a few beach towels for Rachel and Emma to sit down and put their belongings next to it.

"So." He clasped his hands together. "Now I'm gonna help Ben build his castle. Do you need anything else before I go?"

"Uh-hmm. One more thing." Rachel replied as she put Emma down on one of the towels and let her baby girl play with the toys Ross had set up for them.

"What?"

"Come." Rachel motioned him to come closer and he did what he was told.

She cupped his face and gave him a soft lingering kiss on his lips. "This." She smiled after the kiss.

After telling Ben about their relationship, nowadays the couple could show their affections toward each other freely without the fear of getting caught. It was as if a huge weight had been lifted off from their shoulders knowing Ben was happy with their relationship. They were so happy lately, it almost felt surreal.

Ross reciprocated her smile. "Can't get enough of me, huh?"

"Shut up." She said with a smile. "Now, go. Ben is waiting for you."

"Yes, dear." Ross grinned mischievously and then stole another kiss from Rachel before he made his way to Ben who was now apparently already started building the base of the castle.

Meanwhile the boys were busy building their sand castle, Rachel played with Emma with some toys she had brought with earlier. This was Emma's first time going to the beach and it turned out the baby didn't really like the feeling of sand against her skin. She immediately shrieked and wailed as soon as her tiny feet touched the sands.

As Rachel watched her daughter play with some blocks or more like putting all of it in her tiny mouth, she let out a huge smile. If anyone told the twenty five years old version of herself who just came to the city that in another six years, she would become a mother to Ross' daughter, she would laugh in their faces.

Though she always found Ross somewhat cute, she never would've thought she would end up with him, let alone having his baby. It was kinda funny how the universe worked. Back then, she knew Ross had a thing for her in high school, but never in her wildest dream would she end up reciprocating her feelings for him. But now, here she was, so madly in love with him, she sometimes forgot what it was like living without seeing him every day. What was life like prior to Ross Geller. What it feels like not having him as her man. Not loving him like the way she did and being loved by him like no other men ever did. Not being able to kiss his lips and feel his touch all over her body.

What life would be if she never ran away from that wedding, she also wondered. She would be miserable, she was sure of that. But that wasn't the worst thing. The worst thing was that she might never meet him again. Therefore she might never have had Emma. And Emma was her everything, she forgot a life without her daughter in it and she never would want to find out. Having Emma was one of the things that she had done right in her life besides running away from her wedding and of course, loving him.

Half an hour later, Ross came back and took something out from their bag.

Without her knowing, he took out a video recorder he just bought a while ago and captured the mother and daughter moment on it. Rachel was teaching their baby daughter to stack up the blocks, but Emma didn't seem to be interested at all. All the little girl wanted to do was to put literally everything in her mouth these days.

Ross had to let out a small chuckle seeing his girlfriend's upset pout. His chuckle was what eventually caught her attention. She gave him a warm smile. She loved how he even considered bringing a video recorder to capture their first family vacation. She really loved that side of him. Ross Geller was a family man – a man who treated his family like they were his world.

Rachel took Emma and sat her up on her lap. She took Emma's tiny hand and waved it to the camera. "Emma, look." She began in a high pitched voice she only reserved for the kids. "It's daddy. Say hi to daddy." She said, slowly gaining Emma's attention. "Hi, daddy."

Emma looked at Ross' direction and giggled. "Da-da." The nine months old baby babbled and pointed toward Ross, making both Rachel and Ross' eyes widened with excitement.

Ross shared a look with Rachel and within seconds he scooped his daughter into his arms and swung her in the air a couple times, making the baby giggled even more loudly.

"Did you hear that?" He asked with the biggest smile on his face. "She said da-da! My daughter is a genius!" He exclaimed ecstatically.

Though Rachel was a little bit upset that Emma's first word wasn't 'mommy' as she wished, seeing how happy Ross was made her happy too. He was indeed a fool when it came to their daughter.

"Yeah, I heard that." She had a smile plastered all over her face. "Well, I guess I owe Phoebe twenty bucks then."

He gave her a look.

"What?"

"You bet on our daughter's first word?"

"And lose." She pointed it out before standing up and came closer to Ross and Emma. She brushed Emma's hair gently and sighed. "She's daddy's little girl, indeed." She admitted. "And no one will be on my side." She feigned hurt.

"I will be on your side." A voice joined their conversation.

Rachel turned her body around and found Ben smiling at her. She smiled in return.

"Of course you are." She said as she walked toward the boy before pulling him into a hug and giving him a kiss on his hair. "You're my little boy." She said in a baby voice she usually used with Emma.

Ben broke their hug off and frowned. "I'm not a little boy." The boy protested as he crossed his arms against his chest. "I'm a man, like daddy."

Ross and Rachel shared a look and they had to stifle their laughter.

"My mistake." She said, playing along. "You're my little man." She said as she ruffled the boy's hair playfully. Ben seemed content with that as his lips twitched into a small smile.

"Come on." Ben said as he grabbed Rachel's arm and dragged her somewhere. "I'll show you my sand castle."

Ross watched their little interaction and he almost had tears in his eyes. He couldn't believe he was so lucky to be able to call this family his. To have Rachel as his girlfriend. To have Ben as his first born son. And to have this cute little girl he dearly held in his arms as his daughter. And maybe one day, they'd officially become a real family. That thought brought a huge smile down to his face.

"Dad, you coming?" Ben shouted a few feet away, Rachel standing next to him with a beautiful smile on her face.

His world stopped. He was one lucky man indeed.

Carrying his baby daughter in his arms, Ross smiled. "We're coming!"

That night, Ross prepared dinner for his entire family. Tonight's menu was spaghetti with meatballs, Ben's favorite and they also bought chocolate cakes from a local bakery for desserts.

"Dad, I'm starving." Ben impatiently played with his fork whilst he waited for his dinner to be served.

"Just wait a few more minutes, I'm almost done." Ross replied.

Rachel sat Emma down at a high chair and went to help Ross whilst Ben began to entertain his little sister with some of her toys she brought along.

She wrapped her arms around his torso and rained small kisses on his back. "Need help?"

Ross turned his head slightly to give her a kiss on her forehead. "Actually, yes." He began. "Can you grab me some Parmesan cheese?"

Wanting to spend every second they got only with his family, Ross insisted on cooking them dinner instead of going out as Rachel proposed. She thought it was not practical since they were only going to stay here for the weekend and she really wanted to explore more of the local restaurants, but when Ross gave her those puppy dog eyes of his, she knew she was a goner.

Rachel let go of her grip around his body and walked toward the grocery bag they had brought along with them earlier today.

"Here you go." She handed him the cheese.

"Thank you." He said as he gave her another short kiss on her lips. "Go take a seat. I'm almost done."

Not long after, the family of four enjoyed the dinner Ross had made for them.

"Wow." She moaned as soon as she took her first bite. "This is so delicious."

"This is very yummy, dad." Ben also approved.

Ross beamed in pride as he smiled. He was an underrated cook among the group since Monica who was the one who always prepared them food. The Gellers were indeed a great cook, Rachel had to admit.

"Wow, easy Ben." Ross said as he stroked Ben's back gently as the boy inhaled the food in hurry. "There's more in the kitchen if you want and don't forget we still have desserts too."

Rachel ate as she helped Emma with her food. Opposite to Ben, Emma almost fell asleep in her chair, barely opening her eyes.

"I guess we tired her out today." Ross commented as Rachel wiped Emma's mouth that was covered in tomato sauce.

"Yeah. I think I will go upstairs, clean her up, and put her to bed." Rachel said as she wiped the last remnants of Emma's dinner from her cheeks and took the baby into her arms.

"Do you want me to do it?" Ross offered.

Emma leaned her head against her mom's chest, already giving up on her sleepiness.

"Nah. She needs me to put her to sleep lately anyway." She said as she brushed Emma's hair gently.

Emma was at a phase where she would cry in the middle of the night, wanting her mother to hold her. During the day, the little girl would be fine to be left with Ross or any other people including their nanny, but during the night she only wanted her mommy. And since Emma was always scared to sleep in a new environment, they decided to set Emma's crib on their room tonight, meanwhile Ben would sleep alone in the room next to them. As they agreed before, this trip was about their family, so it was okay for them not to have their alone time this weekend as appealing as it might sound. They could always come back here without their kids next time.

As expected, as soon as Rachel put Emma in her crib, the baby fell asleep instantly.

Rachel gave her baby daughter a kiss and tucked her blanket in. "Good night, baby girl. Sleep tight."

Ross opened the door to their room slowly after he tucked Ben in. Rachel was applying her night cream in the dark with only one bedside lamp illuminating her, not wanting to disturb her daughter's sleep.

Ross smiled knowing how selfless she was being when it came to their children.

"Need help?"

She smiled as soon as she saw him. "Oh, no. I'm not going to let you do anything after what happened that one time."

She was referring to the day when he applied her make up years ago when she broke her arms. He managed to somehow turn her into a clown and she wasn't going to let history repeat itself.

"Oh, come on." Ross said as he took a seat in front of her. "I won't mess this up this time. It's not that hard. I only need to apply it evenly, right?" He tried to convince her.

"Fine." She gave up and handed her the night cream. "Just apply it evenly and thinly."

He tapped his thigh, motioning her to lay down. She gave him an uneasy look.

"Just trust me."

She finally complied and laid her head on his thigh.

He slowly applied the night cream into her face. Though it was dark and she didn't have any makeup on, she was so beautiful.

"You're so beautiful." He couldn't help but whisper.

She blushed in spite of herself. "Shut up." She began. "You're just saying that so that I won't get mad at you if you mess this up."

"Well, it never hurts to try." He shrugged his shoulders playfully, earning a slap to his chest from her. "I'm kidding." He let out a soft chuckle. "Now, close your eyes, try to relax and stay still while I finish this."

He slowly and carefully applied the cream into her face whilst massaging her temples once in a while. His touch was so calming, she slowly drifted into sleep.

"Done." He proudly said. "See! I told you I won't mess this up." Not hearing any reaction or any movement from her, he called her name softly. "Rach?"

Only when he heard nothing from her did he realize she was already asleep. He brushed her hair gently and gave her a soft kiss on her lips. He then carefully moved her on her side of the bed and pulled a blanket over her before turning the lamp off and climbing his way up next to her.

"Good night, Rachel." He said as he stared into her sleeping form. "I love you." He said before he slowly closed his eyes and drifted into his own slumber.

Ross was woken up by a rather strong kick on his stomach. Startled by the pain, he opened his eyes and found their daughter sleeping with one of his tiny legs draped across his stomach. Their daughter might be tiny, but she surely had a really strong kick. Well, that explained the pain, he thought as he yawned and wiped the sleep out of his eyes softly.

He gave Emma a kiss on her forehead before averting his attention to the woman sleeping next to them. Rachel was sleeping facing them, looking so peaceful and beautiful as ever. It was only a couple days since they started sharing a room together again, but it somehow felt like they never separated before. It felt too familiar and comfortable. It wasn't as awkward as they both expected.

Having her by his side throughout the night was simply right and he just knew this was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.

Another movement coming from the bottom side of the bed almost startled him. He lifted his head up slightly and found Ben sleeping in between their feet with his favorite dinosaur plush clutched tightly against his chest.

Seeing Rachel, Emma, and Ben sleeping on their bed brought up a familiar dream he once had back into his mind. It was a dream about a morning he shared with his wife and their two kids on one lazy Sunday.

Ross Geller was a dreamer.

Growing up in a loving family, he loved the idea of the stability and security a family and a marriage could offer. Having a loving family was always his dream. So, when he was a teenager, instead of dreaming about which car he wanted to have when he grew up like any other boys around his age, he'd dreamed about what family he would have one day.

And today, he realized it. He was one step closer toward his dream. That morning, the face of the woman he dreamed about - the wife, was clearer than the water. It was definitely her. It was Rachel.

It was true, Rachel wasn't exactly his wife yet. But unbeknownst to other people - especially her, he had already started to make plans so that one day he could finally make her his wife. And if everything went well, who knew, maybe he would have himself a fiancée sooner than later.

But for now though, this was enough. Seeing all his children and Rachel with him this morning managed to make him feel like he was the happiest man on this earth. This was the dream. A dream he hoped he never had to wake up from.

A/N

This was a filler chapter, so it's short. It wasn't the chapter I originally planned, but I decided to add it since I mentioned the trip in the previous chapter. Anyway, as usual thank you for reading it and reviews are very much appreciated! :)