22 Years Later
Ashleigh Sarah Gellar bounded down the steps of her old home. She had some fantastic news for her parents, and she couldn't wait to see the look on their faces when she told them. She was on summer break from Harvard and was home from Boston. She was back in New York, and she was thrilled to be there. Sadly, she realized that this could be her last full summer in New York, but then after a quick glance at her hand, she remembered that that in itself could be an excellent thing. She had called her best friend and ex-boyfriend, Joseph Tribbiani III (Joe), and had told him all about her recent engagement. He had laughed because their parents and their parents' friends all thought that the two would wind up together eventually. In fact, none of them even knew that Ashleigh and himself had broken up. She looked in the driveway and saw that Joey and Phoebe were there. In fact, so were Chandler and Monica. 'How convenient,' she thought to herself. She walked in the door and was almost immediately enveloped in a hug by her mother and her two younger sisters, Meghan Alexia and Claire Elizabeth, and her 5 year old brother, Elijah James. The whole gang was in the kitchen, expectantly waiting to hear what they thought she was going to say, but first Joe had to arrive. Rachel and Phoebe were secretly planning on a huge engagement party for their children, who were obviously secretly betrothed, that weekend.
Phoebe and Joey had married about 3 years after Ross and Rachel, because Phoebe was pregnant. In fact, Phoebe got pregnant almost at the exact same time Rachel did. Phoebe's pregnancy was fantastic, and she was surprised when her son came out, followed very closely by a sister, named Lily Rose. But she and Joey decided that Joe and Lil were enough, so she had her tubes tied. Chandler and Monica were the last to wed, but she became pregnant not even 3 months after Phoebe's twins and Rachel's daughter were born. She had 5 kids, so she won in that area. Her oldest was Monique Rachelle, then there was Christopher Adam, then Michelle Elyse, then Luke Daniel, and finally, their miracle, Nickolas Brhett. The baby was born about 3 years ago, and way past most women's menopausal years, he was their own little miracle. When Joe arrived, Ashleigh was starting to get anxious about her news. They sat down together, like it was expected, and after dinner was about halfway over, Ashleigh stood up and said, "I have an announcement to make. The most important thing in my life has happened." Rachel looked at her daughter curiously and wondered how rude she could be. She said, "Ash, honey, don't you mean that the two of you have news?" Ashleigh looked at her mom's expression and giggled. How surprised Rachel was going to be about this. "No, Mom, Joe and I don't have any news together at all anymore... in fact, we broke up almost a month ago." Phoebe jumped in furiously, "Joseph Tribbiani, what did you do to break this girl's heart?" Joe looked scared, and replied, "Nothing, she dumped me, and now I'm glad she did."
Ashleigh broke in with laughter and said, "Okay, everyone, give me five minutes to explain. Joe did absolutely nothing. He was a perfect boyfriend. I thought I loved him. But one day I was walking down my usual path, when this guy bowled me over and sprained my elbow. He offered to take me to dinner to make up for it, and he and I hit it off. Since Joe and I were allowed to see other people, I figured it was okay to start kinda dating him. So I did. And after about six months, he proposed. I've been engaged to him for almost a month now, but I thought it would be better to tell you in person than over the phone so I could see your faces. Plus, Joe and Monique have secretly been dating and are planning on getting married." Rachel jumped up and hugged her daughter fiercely, she said, "Oh, honey, I'm so happy you're in love! What's his name?" "Bradley Eric Malone... you ever hear of Sam Malone the pitcher? It's his son!" Rachel paled, and looked to Ross nervously ... just before she fainted.
***
Meanwhile, Brad was driving home in his father's old corvette that Sam had given him when he turned 18, so he'd had it for about 3 1/2 years. They had only met Ashleigh once, because Brad thought it better to play it safe rather than get his parents' hopes up for marriage. He thought about his beautiful dark-haired, green-eyed fiancee and grinned. He realized that he was extremely lucky to be marrying someone so close in personality to his mother. He was a bit more like his father than his mother, but he definitely had Diane's eyes--a clear blue. He hoped that she was having luck with telling her parents that she and Joe, her best friend, wouldn't be getting married at all.
He stepped into his house only to find it empty. There was a note from his dad saying that he was at cheers with Jacob Thomas, Brad's baby brother. He was really confused as to why his mother wasn't inside cooking like usual. But she was ouside with Carla and Brad's little sister, Lucy Cherish (Diane chose that name much to Sam's protests), and Carla was trying to teach Lucy how to hit a baseball better, while Diane was running everytime the ball came near her. Gosh, how he wished that Ash was there with him right then. He remembered that he was supposed to call Ashleigh when the phone rang. It was Ashleigh. He tried to contain his grin while talking to her, because he looked like an idiot. He had the same expression on his face that he sometimes caught his father giving his mother during "private times." But that grin was to quickly fade when Ashleigh explained to him rather hurriedly where she was. She was at the hospital, her mother, Rachel had just had a heart attack.
***
Ross, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler, Ashleigh, Meghan, Claire, and Elijah all waited impatiently outside of the O.R. where Rachel was receiving open-heart surgery. During this, Ross was trying to explain to Ashleigh just exactly whom Sam Malone was to her family. And how Sam and her mother had even slept together. But Ashleigh didn't care, to her, it was almost as if she and Brad were meant to be, because their parents already knew and liked each other.
Ross's head was in a tailspin from the moment his oldest daughter, his pride and joy, had announced that she was to wed one of his wife's ex-lover's sons! He couldn't believe that Sam and Diane had actually got married and stayed that way--they seemed even rockier than he and Rachel had been. But he didn't feel like he was being fair about the whole ordeal, after all, they had never come straight out and told their children that they were engaged at some complete stranger's house. So, maybe, it would work out between his daughter and this man who's parents were ghosts of his and Rachel's love lives. His thoughts were interrupted when a tired-looking doctor came out to explain about Rachel.
***
Brad sat at the phone waiting frantically for some sort of news about his beloved's family. He was concerned that something was amiss, but he wasn't quite sure what exactly it was yet. Sam had just walked in the door with Jacob in tow. Jacob was due to graduate this year from high school. Diane was upstairs taking a shower, and Lucy was trying to teach Carla how to play tea-party, Lucy was just 9 years old, and had been a complete shock to Sam and Diane.
He realized that he was going to have to explain to his parents that he was, in fact, in love with a girl that they had only met once and that the two were planning to wed within 5 months. Barely enough to time to plan a big wedding. Ashleigh already had reserved a quiet little chapel near Central Park and she already had just about the whole wedding party figured out. Brad was getting more and more excited about marrying this woman as the days went on. The phone call finally came around dinner-time, and everyone was sitting down waiting to be served. Brad jumped up to answer it, and he was thoroughly relieved that Rachel was okay, and would be back to normal in a couple weeks. But she told him something of the most disturbing nature, something that he would have to take up with his parents immediately.
Sam and Diane anxiously watched their oldest son as he talked on the phone. They could both tell that he had fallen head-over-heels in love with a girl, and they were thrilled beyond words for him. They just hoped to meet the lady soon. Brad returned to the table with a tired look in his eyes. Diane said, "What's wrong honey?" Exasperated, Brad just said, "Mom, out of curiosity, before you and Dad got married, did the two of you ever meet a Ross Gellar or Rachel Green?"
Sam's eyes widened immediately, how could he ever forget Rachel? She was the woman who showed him that Diane was indeed his true love. Ross Gellar was the man that had asked Rachel to marry him at Diane's apartment right before Diane told Sam that she was pregnant. Diane remembered the two very well also. Sam gulped, and slowly said, "Yes, I do recall that we knew the two of them at one time." Brad looked as if he was going to cry, and said, "Oh, gosh! Dad why in hell did you have to be such a damn womanizer? Why didn't you back off of Rachel? You slept with her didn't you?" Diane couldn't believe that her son had just spoken to the man that he had always respected most in such a tone. She jumped in, "Who are you to judge your father? He and I had broken up, and Rachel and Ross had broken up! It was a one-night thing! She got engaged the next day! And why does it matter anyways?" Sam chimed in with, "Yeah, why exactly does it matter?" Brad looked from one to the other and with a bit of anger in his eyes, he stated, "Because I am engaged to be wed to Ashleigh Sarah Gellar, Ross and Rachel's oldest daughter! But now, her parents aren't too sure about approving the marriage, because of a stupid mistake you made over 20 years ago!!" Sam and Diane looked at each other in shock, right before Diane fainted in the same manner Rachel had, but she didn't have a heart attack.
After Diane had come to, Brad sat down with his parents to discuss what was about to take place. After recieving the initial blows, Diane and Sam decided to support whatever it was that Brad wanted, but only after seeing Ross and Rachel again. And they decided to hold off on their plans that they had intended on explaining that very evening - they had had enough of each other, they had filed for divorce. It wasn't that they didn't love each other, they loved each other dearly. It was more for Diane the fact that Sam's eyes always wondered each time a blond-headed big-chested beauty walked into the bar, and also how he was so stubborn. She had decided to be stubborn back when he told her to tell him how she felt or he'd leave, so she blamed herself. For Sam, it was more of how Diane still treated him like an inferior intelligence form and how she went on jealousy rages all the time. He hated how damn stubborn she could be, and specifically recalled the night he had held her in his arms last. He had asked her if she still loved him, and when she wanted to know if he did, he knew that she didn't love him at all, and that the couple was a thing of the past. But now, here they were making plans for their eldest son's happiest day of his life, and they were having to come face-to-face with the couple that made them see the light of their love the first time around. Sam couldn't help but kinda wonder if perhaps, it was a bit too ironic, that they same couple that got them together, would be the couple to see them fall apart at the seams.
Diane had declared to Brad that she and her "husband" would accompany him to New York City within the next week to pay a visit to Ross, Rachel, and her future daughter-in-law, Ashleigh. Sam dreaded the whole encounter, as did Diane. But they both knew that this would be necessary, after all, they would have to share wedding arrangements and future grandkids with these people. Sam was dreading it for completely different reasons, however. He felt that it would kill him to see the couple that they had reaffirmed love by still together and going strong. He would have to see them so very much in love, and that would hurt. But for his eldest son's sake, he would go with it.
***
Ashleigh was waiting impatiently at LaGuardia for her fiancee and her future in-laws. When she finally caught a glimpse of Brad, she ran as fast as she could to meet him. He was ready for her, and he caught her and swung her around and kissed her lips passionately. Diane and Sam caught each other's eye for a moment, almost in longing, but Diane quickly looked away. She was more than ready to spend some time with Ross and Rachel, although she didn't have a clue why.
After the happy couple had finished kissing, Ashleigh informed Diane that she and her mother really would enjoy it if she came wedding-dress hunting the next day along with her Aunt Phoebe, Aunt Monica, her sisters, her female cousins, and her best-friend, Joe--who insisted that he had to be there. Diane's face lit up, and she grinned. She accepted the invitation, because it would be nice to get away from Sam. Ashleigh looked from Sam and Diane curiously, they hadn't said more than two words to each other since they had arrived, and she said, "Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you. Mom and Dad really, really want you two to go to dinner with them on Friday evening. They want to get reacquainted and catch up on what you've missed out on these past years, oh yeah, Brad, where are your little brother and sister?" Brad grinned and said, "Actually, they're staying with Woody and Kelly, and their two kids, this week while we're gone."
When the caravan finally arrived at Ross and Rachel's little house, Brad was jumped on by his future in-laws. Rachel kept kissing his cheek, and Ross kept grinning and patting his back. At one point Rachel had leaned over to Ross and casually said, "He's the spitting image of Sam, but he's definitely got Diane's eyes! I can't believe it, it's like I've stepped into a time machine back to hell week!" Ross had grinned and kissed his wife. When Diane and Sam had gotten out of the taxi next, they were jumped as well. Rachel went up to Sam, and gave him a full-blown kiss on the lips, as Ross did to Diane. Rachel squealed, and ran over and gave Diane a huge hug. Ross just shook Sam's hand, he was still a tad wary of this man. Sam looked around at the little house before him and had to admit that Ross and Rachel had done very well for themselves.
Ross had just looked on in jealousy when his wife had ran over to Sam and grabbed his hand, and insisted that he let her show him around. Diane had refused the earlier offer from Rachel, because she wanted to just sit down for awhile. So Rachel was showing Sam around her quaint, but comfy little house, when Sam burst out into tears when a picture on the wall of her bedroom caught his eyes. It was a picture of Ross and Rachel, the night after they had gotten engaged, taken at Cheers. Sam and Diane were in the background, kissing. Rachel forced Sam down on the chair, shut and locked the door, and demanded to know what was going on. She said, "Sam Malone! You were there for me when I needed comfort, and now I'm going to be here for you. What in hell's going on? Ashleigh said that you and Diane barely even spoke to each other on the way here. Now I know that's not at all like Diane. Now you're acting all sappy and sad, and that's definitely weird. What's happened?"
Sam shook his head sadly, looked Rachel straight in the eye and said, "Rachel, I can't tell you, it would ruin everything. Just know that I'm trying so hard to get her back."
Rachel looked at him in utter shock, her instincts had been right! Sam and Diane Malone were getting divorced! She spoke a little softer this time, and said, "Sam, it's okay. I won't breathe a word to anyone. You know you can trust me." Silence from Sam, so she tried again, "Look, I can see that you two are heading to Divorce-City. And I know how much you two love each other, so I'm not going to let it be that simple. Fight for her, Sam! Like you did the last time! Get your woman back! And I'm going to help."
Sam looked at Rachel curiously, she hadn't changed much at all in the past 22 years. He just shook his head in amazement and said, "Rachel, thank you."
Rachel replied, "Don't mention it."
Ashleigh Sarah Gellar bounded down the steps of her old home. She had some fantastic news for her parents, and she couldn't wait to see the look on their faces when she told them. She was on summer break from Harvard and was home from Boston. She was back in New York, and she was thrilled to be there. Sadly, she realized that this could be her last full summer in New York, but then after a quick glance at her hand, she remembered that that in itself could be an excellent thing. She had called her best friend and ex-boyfriend, Joseph Tribbiani III (Joe), and had told him all about her recent engagement. He had laughed because their parents and their parents' friends all thought that the two would wind up together eventually. In fact, none of them even knew that Ashleigh and himself had broken up. She looked in the driveway and saw that Joey and Phoebe were there. In fact, so were Chandler and Monica. 'How convenient,' she thought to herself. She walked in the door and was almost immediately enveloped in a hug by her mother and her two younger sisters, Meghan Alexia and Claire Elizabeth, and her 5 year old brother, Elijah James. The whole gang was in the kitchen, expectantly waiting to hear what they thought she was going to say, but first Joe had to arrive. Rachel and Phoebe were secretly planning on a huge engagement party for their children, who were obviously secretly betrothed, that weekend.
Phoebe and Joey had married about 3 years after Ross and Rachel, because Phoebe was pregnant. In fact, Phoebe got pregnant almost at the exact same time Rachel did. Phoebe's pregnancy was fantastic, and she was surprised when her son came out, followed very closely by a sister, named Lily Rose. But she and Joey decided that Joe and Lil were enough, so she had her tubes tied. Chandler and Monica were the last to wed, but she became pregnant not even 3 months after Phoebe's twins and Rachel's daughter were born. She had 5 kids, so she won in that area. Her oldest was Monique Rachelle, then there was Christopher Adam, then Michelle Elyse, then Luke Daniel, and finally, their miracle, Nickolas Brhett. The baby was born about 3 years ago, and way past most women's menopausal years, he was their own little miracle. When Joe arrived, Ashleigh was starting to get anxious about her news. They sat down together, like it was expected, and after dinner was about halfway over, Ashleigh stood up and said, "I have an announcement to make. The most important thing in my life has happened." Rachel looked at her daughter curiously and wondered how rude she could be. She said, "Ash, honey, don't you mean that the two of you have news?" Ashleigh looked at her mom's expression and giggled. How surprised Rachel was going to be about this. "No, Mom, Joe and I don't have any news together at all anymore... in fact, we broke up almost a month ago." Phoebe jumped in furiously, "Joseph Tribbiani, what did you do to break this girl's heart?" Joe looked scared, and replied, "Nothing, she dumped me, and now I'm glad she did."
Ashleigh broke in with laughter and said, "Okay, everyone, give me five minutes to explain. Joe did absolutely nothing. He was a perfect boyfriend. I thought I loved him. But one day I was walking down my usual path, when this guy bowled me over and sprained my elbow. He offered to take me to dinner to make up for it, and he and I hit it off. Since Joe and I were allowed to see other people, I figured it was okay to start kinda dating him. So I did. And after about six months, he proposed. I've been engaged to him for almost a month now, but I thought it would be better to tell you in person than over the phone so I could see your faces. Plus, Joe and Monique have secretly been dating and are planning on getting married." Rachel jumped up and hugged her daughter fiercely, she said, "Oh, honey, I'm so happy you're in love! What's his name?" "Bradley Eric Malone... you ever hear of Sam Malone the pitcher? It's his son!" Rachel paled, and looked to Ross nervously ... just before she fainted.
***
Meanwhile, Brad was driving home in his father's old corvette that Sam had given him when he turned 18, so he'd had it for about 3 1/2 years. They had only met Ashleigh once, because Brad thought it better to play it safe rather than get his parents' hopes up for marriage. He thought about his beautiful dark-haired, green-eyed fiancee and grinned. He realized that he was extremely lucky to be marrying someone so close in personality to his mother. He was a bit more like his father than his mother, but he definitely had Diane's eyes--a clear blue. He hoped that she was having luck with telling her parents that she and Joe, her best friend, wouldn't be getting married at all.
He stepped into his house only to find it empty. There was a note from his dad saying that he was at cheers with Jacob Thomas, Brad's baby brother. He was really confused as to why his mother wasn't inside cooking like usual. But she was ouside with Carla and Brad's little sister, Lucy Cherish (Diane chose that name much to Sam's protests), and Carla was trying to teach Lucy how to hit a baseball better, while Diane was running everytime the ball came near her. Gosh, how he wished that Ash was there with him right then. He remembered that he was supposed to call Ashleigh when the phone rang. It was Ashleigh. He tried to contain his grin while talking to her, because he looked like an idiot. He had the same expression on his face that he sometimes caught his father giving his mother during "private times." But that grin was to quickly fade when Ashleigh explained to him rather hurriedly where she was. She was at the hospital, her mother, Rachel had just had a heart attack.
***
Ross, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler, Ashleigh, Meghan, Claire, and Elijah all waited impatiently outside of the O.R. where Rachel was receiving open-heart surgery. During this, Ross was trying to explain to Ashleigh just exactly whom Sam Malone was to her family. And how Sam and her mother had even slept together. But Ashleigh didn't care, to her, it was almost as if she and Brad were meant to be, because their parents already knew and liked each other.
Ross's head was in a tailspin from the moment his oldest daughter, his pride and joy, had announced that she was to wed one of his wife's ex-lover's sons! He couldn't believe that Sam and Diane had actually got married and stayed that way--they seemed even rockier than he and Rachel had been. But he didn't feel like he was being fair about the whole ordeal, after all, they had never come straight out and told their children that they were engaged at some complete stranger's house. So, maybe, it would work out between his daughter and this man who's parents were ghosts of his and Rachel's love lives. His thoughts were interrupted when a tired-looking doctor came out to explain about Rachel.
***
Brad sat at the phone waiting frantically for some sort of news about his beloved's family. He was concerned that something was amiss, but he wasn't quite sure what exactly it was yet. Sam had just walked in the door with Jacob in tow. Jacob was due to graduate this year from high school. Diane was upstairs taking a shower, and Lucy was trying to teach Carla how to play tea-party, Lucy was just 9 years old, and had been a complete shock to Sam and Diane.
He realized that he was going to have to explain to his parents that he was, in fact, in love with a girl that they had only met once and that the two were planning to wed within 5 months. Barely enough to time to plan a big wedding. Ashleigh already had reserved a quiet little chapel near Central Park and she already had just about the whole wedding party figured out. Brad was getting more and more excited about marrying this woman as the days went on. The phone call finally came around dinner-time, and everyone was sitting down waiting to be served. Brad jumped up to answer it, and he was thoroughly relieved that Rachel was okay, and would be back to normal in a couple weeks. But she told him something of the most disturbing nature, something that he would have to take up with his parents immediately.
Sam and Diane anxiously watched their oldest son as he talked on the phone. They could both tell that he had fallen head-over-heels in love with a girl, and they were thrilled beyond words for him. They just hoped to meet the lady soon. Brad returned to the table with a tired look in his eyes. Diane said, "What's wrong honey?" Exasperated, Brad just said, "Mom, out of curiosity, before you and Dad got married, did the two of you ever meet a Ross Gellar or Rachel Green?"
Sam's eyes widened immediately, how could he ever forget Rachel? She was the woman who showed him that Diane was indeed his true love. Ross Gellar was the man that had asked Rachel to marry him at Diane's apartment right before Diane told Sam that she was pregnant. Diane remembered the two very well also. Sam gulped, and slowly said, "Yes, I do recall that we knew the two of them at one time." Brad looked as if he was going to cry, and said, "Oh, gosh! Dad why in hell did you have to be such a damn womanizer? Why didn't you back off of Rachel? You slept with her didn't you?" Diane couldn't believe that her son had just spoken to the man that he had always respected most in such a tone. She jumped in, "Who are you to judge your father? He and I had broken up, and Rachel and Ross had broken up! It was a one-night thing! She got engaged the next day! And why does it matter anyways?" Sam chimed in with, "Yeah, why exactly does it matter?" Brad looked from one to the other and with a bit of anger in his eyes, he stated, "Because I am engaged to be wed to Ashleigh Sarah Gellar, Ross and Rachel's oldest daughter! But now, her parents aren't too sure about approving the marriage, because of a stupid mistake you made over 20 years ago!!" Sam and Diane looked at each other in shock, right before Diane fainted in the same manner Rachel had, but she didn't have a heart attack.
After Diane had come to, Brad sat down with his parents to discuss what was about to take place. After recieving the initial blows, Diane and Sam decided to support whatever it was that Brad wanted, but only after seeing Ross and Rachel again. And they decided to hold off on their plans that they had intended on explaining that very evening - they had had enough of each other, they had filed for divorce. It wasn't that they didn't love each other, they loved each other dearly. It was more for Diane the fact that Sam's eyes always wondered each time a blond-headed big-chested beauty walked into the bar, and also how he was so stubborn. She had decided to be stubborn back when he told her to tell him how she felt or he'd leave, so she blamed herself. For Sam, it was more of how Diane still treated him like an inferior intelligence form and how she went on jealousy rages all the time. He hated how damn stubborn she could be, and specifically recalled the night he had held her in his arms last. He had asked her if she still loved him, and when she wanted to know if he did, he knew that she didn't love him at all, and that the couple was a thing of the past. But now, here they were making plans for their eldest son's happiest day of his life, and they were having to come face-to-face with the couple that made them see the light of their love the first time around. Sam couldn't help but kinda wonder if perhaps, it was a bit too ironic, that they same couple that got them together, would be the couple to see them fall apart at the seams.
Diane had declared to Brad that she and her "husband" would accompany him to New York City within the next week to pay a visit to Ross, Rachel, and her future daughter-in-law, Ashleigh. Sam dreaded the whole encounter, as did Diane. But they both knew that this would be necessary, after all, they would have to share wedding arrangements and future grandkids with these people. Sam was dreading it for completely different reasons, however. He felt that it would kill him to see the couple that they had reaffirmed love by still together and going strong. He would have to see them so very much in love, and that would hurt. But for his eldest son's sake, he would go with it.
***
Ashleigh was waiting impatiently at LaGuardia for her fiancee and her future in-laws. When she finally caught a glimpse of Brad, she ran as fast as she could to meet him. He was ready for her, and he caught her and swung her around and kissed her lips passionately. Diane and Sam caught each other's eye for a moment, almost in longing, but Diane quickly looked away. She was more than ready to spend some time with Ross and Rachel, although she didn't have a clue why.
After the happy couple had finished kissing, Ashleigh informed Diane that she and her mother really would enjoy it if she came wedding-dress hunting the next day along with her Aunt Phoebe, Aunt Monica, her sisters, her female cousins, and her best-friend, Joe--who insisted that he had to be there. Diane's face lit up, and she grinned. She accepted the invitation, because it would be nice to get away from Sam. Ashleigh looked from Sam and Diane curiously, they hadn't said more than two words to each other since they had arrived, and she said, "Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you. Mom and Dad really, really want you two to go to dinner with them on Friday evening. They want to get reacquainted and catch up on what you've missed out on these past years, oh yeah, Brad, where are your little brother and sister?" Brad grinned and said, "Actually, they're staying with Woody and Kelly, and their two kids, this week while we're gone."
When the caravan finally arrived at Ross and Rachel's little house, Brad was jumped on by his future in-laws. Rachel kept kissing his cheek, and Ross kept grinning and patting his back. At one point Rachel had leaned over to Ross and casually said, "He's the spitting image of Sam, but he's definitely got Diane's eyes! I can't believe it, it's like I've stepped into a time machine back to hell week!" Ross had grinned and kissed his wife. When Diane and Sam had gotten out of the taxi next, they were jumped as well. Rachel went up to Sam, and gave him a full-blown kiss on the lips, as Ross did to Diane. Rachel squealed, and ran over and gave Diane a huge hug. Ross just shook Sam's hand, he was still a tad wary of this man. Sam looked around at the little house before him and had to admit that Ross and Rachel had done very well for themselves.
Ross had just looked on in jealousy when his wife had ran over to Sam and grabbed his hand, and insisted that he let her show him around. Diane had refused the earlier offer from Rachel, because she wanted to just sit down for awhile. So Rachel was showing Sam around her quaint, but comfy little house, when Sam burst out into tears when a picture on the wall of her bedroom caught his eyes. It was a picture of Ross and Rachel, the night after they had gotten engaged, taken at Cheers. Sam and Diane were in the background, kissing. Rachel forced Sam down on the chair, shut and locked the door, and demanded to know what was going on. She said, "Sam Malone! You were there for me when I needed comfort, and now I'm going to be here for you. What in hell's going on? Ashleigh said that you and Diane barely even spoke to each other on the way here. Now I know that's not at all like Diane. Now you're acting all sappy and sad, and that's definitely weird. What's happened?"
Sam shook his head sadly, looked Rachel straight in the eye and said, "Rachel, I can't tell you, it would ruin everything. Just know that I'm trying so hard to get her back."
Rachel looked at him in utter shock, her instincts had been right! Sam and Diane Malone were getting divorced! She spoke a little softer this time, and said, "Sam, it's okay. I won't breathe a word to anyone. You know you can trust me." Silence from Sam, so she tried again, "Look, I can see that you two are heading to Divorce-City. And I know how much you two love each other, so I'm not going to let it be that simple. Fight for her, Sam! Like you did the last time! Get your woman back! And I'm going to help."
Sam looked at Rachel curiously, she hadn't changed much at all in the past 22 years. He just shook his head in amazement and said, "Rachel, thank you."
Rachel replied, "Don't mention it."