Dream Come True, Chapter 3
Arguments and Updates
Author's Note: Hello again. This, I believe, will be one of the fic's longer chapters. By the way, please forgive any mistakes, Lauren, my friend and usual editor, is away for the week, and so another Lauren is taking over, but she's pretty busy, so I can't really expect her to catch typos and stuff, she just tells me if she thinks it's okay overall. Anyway, this chapter was a tough one to write, but I hope it's okay. Here goes!
~*~
"The past nine years..." F. Ross thought out loud. "Well, I'll give you a quick update on everybody, couple by couple. It'll have to be a quick one, because you've got to go home soon and take Emma, Julian, and Andrew to school."
"One thing, before you start," interrupted Ross. "Rachel told me you guys had a fight last night," he continued. "What was with that?"
"I really don't know, Rachel seems to be mad at me, but I'm not really sure why. I slipped out late last night, after she fell asleep, because I thought a little time apart would do us some good. I spent the night at a nearby motel, which is where I was when you called me. Rach doesn't know I left, though, because you replaced me. Moving on, then," F. Ross answered.
"Okay, go ahead," agreed Ross.
"Right. Couple by couple. Okay, first: Ross and Rachel. Well, we got married when Emma was one, because we realized our feelings for each other. We agreed on a big family, and a few months later, Julian was born. He's now eight. Following him were Andrew, who's five, Lucy, who's three, and Brian, who's just one."
"Right. So you-I-we-I have five kids?" asked Ross.
"Yeah. Moving on. Monica and Chandler. Well, if you come from 2003, then you know they're married, and you know that they have Jennie, and you know Monica is-well was in 2003- pregnant again, right?"
"MONICA'S PREGNANT AGAIN?" Ross was astounded.
"Yup," he replied. "They now have four children-Jennie, who's now ten, Ruby, who's nine, and Jordan and Evan who are six and three respectively. Monica's now about to have twin girls, whom they're planning on naming Allison and Adriana."
"Wow," replied Ross. "Six kids."
"And last, but not least, Phoebe and Joey. They were married in 2004-"
"PHEEBS AND JOEY ARE MARRIED?" Ross was even more surprised. "I'm sorry to yell so much, it's just that I don't know anything about any of these updates and they're really surprising to me. Do Phoebe and Joey have kids?"
"Sure do," replied F. Ross. "Peter's eight, Arielle's six, Charlotte's three, and Kevin is almost one. As far as I know, they're not planning on having anymore."
"Wow," said Ross. "A lot's happened these past nine years, a lot that I would have never predicted. This is so cool, it's like a glimpse of the future."
"It's not a glimpse of the future, man, it IS the future. But you better get back, you've got to take the kids to school and Emma hates being late."
"Okay, you're right," agreed Ross. "Thanks for the update. I'll see you soon." Ross and F. Ross parted, and Ross made his way back to the house.
As he entered, Emma rushed up to him, very flustered. "DAD!" she cried. "We should have left by now! I'm going to be late for school!"
"Em, calm down, you won't be late, I promise, I'll have you there on time." He was unsure of what to say next, but then he saw three backpacks and three lunchboxes, all in a row on the counter. Emma's were purple, Julian's were green, and Andrew's were blue. "Grab your bags and coats, kids, and pile into the car."
He walked over to the coat hooks by the door, and took down his coat. Just as he was about to worry about where he'd find the car keys, he found them tucked safely into his coat pocket.
He, Emma, Julian, and Andrew piled into the car, and he realized he had no idea where their school was or how to get there. "Emma, I'm sorry, but I can't remember how to get to school. What's the way again?"
"Oh, Dad," she said, "you forget every day. Here, just start driving. I'll tell you where to turn."
~*~
Ross had just dropped the kids off at school. On an ordinary morning, he would go to work, but this was an unusual morning. He didn't know what his job was, or where he worked. So he decided to head home. When he got home, he was greeted by a somewhat angry Rachel.
"Why aren't you at work? You always are!" she cried angrily.
"Rach, calm down, what is this?" he said.
"Oh, come on, you should know. After all, it's all your fault!" she shouted.
"Rachel, please, just sit down with me, and talk calmly, tell me everything, and we'll try to resolve whatever's going on here."
They sat down on the sofa, undisturbed because Brian was napping and Lucy was in Ross and Rachel's room watching Barney. Rachel was almost in tears by this time.
"You're always at work, and I end up doing a lot of childcare, cooking, house cleaning, I mean ever since we moved out of the city with the gang to have bigger places to live, we have a pretty big house. And that means I have to clean it all, and cook for the whole family, and care for five children, and you're never here, and with the sixth child on the way, I just don't know if I can do it on my own," she said, all in one breath.
"Hold on a sec, Rach, you're pregnant?" Ross asked.
Rachel nodded. "And I was afraid to tell you, because, I don't know, I just thought, well, you haven't been in the greatest mood lately with all the work you've been doing, and I thought you'd be unhappy."
"Rach, unhappy? I'm thrilled. Six kids is a lot of kids, but it's still great, I mean, I'll love this baby like I love you, and Emma, Julian, Andrew, Lucy, and Brian. Don't worry."
"Really?" Rachel brightened.
"In fact," Ross continued, "I think you need a rest. I'm going to take the day off and take the kids to the park. Brian should be up fairly soon, I'll go check on him."
Ross walked into Brian's room, and found that he was up, but lying peacefully in his crib, and, surprisingly enough, not crying. Ross picked him up, and took him into his and Rachel's bedroom, where Lucy's show was just ending.
"Hey, Luce," he said to her. "Want to come with Daddy and Brian to the park?" he asked.
"Yeah!" cried the little girl. She jumped off the bed where she had been sitting and rushed to her father's side. She took hold of the hand he wasn't using to hold Brian. "Let's go, Daddy!"
~*~ That's it. I'm really worried about the in-character-ness of this chapter (or rather lack thereof) but I really do hope you'll bear with me. If it helps, just consider this an AU. I do hope you'll review, though, thanks to everyone who already has!
Author's Note: Hello again. This, I believe, will be one of the fic's longer chapters. By the way, please forgive any mistakes, Lauren, my friend and usual editor, is away for the week, and so another Lauren is taking over, but she's pretty busy, so I can't really expect her to catch typos and stuff, she just tells me if she thinks it's okay overall. Anyway, this chapter was a tough one to write, but I hope it's okay. Here goes!
~*~
"The past nine years..." F. Ross thought out loud. "Well, I'll give you a quick update on everybody, couple by couple. It'll have to be a quick one, because you've got to go home soon and take Emma, Julian, and Andrew to school."
"One thing, before you start," interrupted Ross. "Rachel told me you guys had a fight last night," he continued. "What was with that?"
"I really don't know, Rachel seems to be mad at me, but I'm not really sure why. I slipped out late last night, after she fell asleep, because I thought a little time apart would do us some good. I spent the night at a nearby motel, which is where I was when you called me. Rach doesn't know I left, though, because you replaced me. Moving on, then," F. Ross answered.
"Okay, go ahead," agreed Ross.
"Right. Couple by couple. Okay, first: Ross and Rachel. Well, we got married when Emma was one, because we realized our feelings for each other. We agreed on a big family, and a few months later, Julian was born. He's now eight. Following him were Andrew, who's five, Lucy, who's three, and Brian, who's just one."
"Right. So you-I-we-I have five kids?" asked Ross.
"Yeah. Moving on. Monica and Chandler. Well, if you come from 2003, then you know they're married, and you know that they have Jennie, and you know Monica is-well was in 2003- pregnant again, right?"
"MONICA'S PREGNANT AGAIN?" Ross was astounded.
"Yup," he replied. "They now have four children-Jennie, who's now ten, Ruby, who's nine, and Jordan and Evan who are six and three respectively. Monica's now about to have twin girls, whom they're planning on naming Allison and Adriana."
"Wow," replied Ross. "Six kids."
"And last, but not least, Phoebe and Joey. They were married in 2004-"
"PHEEBS AND JOEY ARE MARRIED?" Ross was even more surprised. "I'm sorry to yell so much, it's just that I don't know anything about any of these updates and they're really surprising to me. Do Phoebe and Joey have kids?"
"Sure do," replied F. Ross. "Peter's eight, Arielle's six, Charlotte's three, and Kevin is almost one. As far as I know, they're not planning on having anymore."
"Wow," said Ross. "A lot's happened these past nine years, a lot that I would have never predicted. This is so cool, it's like a glimpse of the future."
"It's not a glimpse of the future, man, it IS the future. But you better get back, you've got to take the kids to school and Emma hates being late."
"Okay, you're right," agreed Ross. "Thanks for the update. I'll see you soon." Ross and F. Ross parted, and Ross made his way back to the house.
As he entered, Emma rushed up to him, very flustered. "DAD!" she cried. "We should have left by now! I'm going to be late for school!"
"Em, calm down, you won't be late, I promise, I'll have you there on time." He was unsure of what to say next, but then he saw three backpacks and three lunchboxes, all in a row on the counter. Emma's were purple, Julian's were green, and Andrew's were blue. "Grab your bags and coats, kids, and pile into the car."
He walked over to the coat hooks by the door, and took down his coat. Just as he was about to worry about where he'd find the car keys, he found them tucked safely into his coat pocket.
He, Emma, Julian, and Andrew piled into the car, and he realized he had no idea where their school was or how to get there. "Emma, I'm sorry, but I can't remember how to get to school. What's the way again?"
"Oh, Dad," she said, "you forget every day. Here, just start driving. I'll tell you where to turn."
~*~
Ross had just dropped the kids off at school. On an ordinary morning, he would go to work, but this was an unusual morning. He didn't know what his job was, or where he worked. So he decided to head home. When he got home, he was greeted by a somewhat angry Rachel.
"Why aren't you at work? You always are!" she cried angrily.
"Rach, calm down, what is this?" he said.
"Oh, come on, you should know. After all, it's all your fault!" she shouted.
"Rachel, please, just sit down with me, and talk calmly, tell me everything, and we'll try to resolve whatever's going on here."
They sat down on the sofa, undisturbed because Brian was napping and Lucy was in Ross and Rachel's room watching Barney. Rachel was almost in tears by this time.
"You're always at work, and I end up doing a lot of childcare, cooking, house cleaning, I mean ever since we moved out of the city with the gang to have bigger places to live, we have a pretty big house. And that means I have to clean it all, and cook for the whole family, and care for five children, and you're never here, and with the sixth child on the way, I just don't know if I can do it on my own," she said, all in one breath.
"Hold on a sec, Rach, you're pregnant?" Ross asked.
Rachel nodded. "And I was afraid to tell you, because, I don't know, I just thought, well, you haven't been in the greatest mood lately with all the work you've been doing, and I thought you'd be unhappy."
"Rach, unhappy? I'm thrilled. Six kids is a lot of kids, but it's still great, I mean, I'll love this baby like I love you, and Emma, Julian, Andrew, Lucy, and Brian. Don't worry."
"Really?" Rachel brightened.
"In fact," Ross continued, "I think you need a rest. I'm going to take the day off and take the kids to the park. Brian should be up fairly soon, I'll go check on him."
Ross walked into Brian's room, and found that he was up, but lying peacefully in his crib, and, surprisingly enough, not crying. Ross picked him up, and took him into his and Rachel's bedroom, where Lucy's show was just ending.
"Hey, Luce," he said to her. "Want to come with Daddy and Brian to the park?" he asked.
"Yeah!" cried the little girl. She jumped off the bed where she had been sitting and rushed to her father's side. She took hold of the hand he wasn't using to hold Brian. "Let's go, Daddy!"
~*~ That's it. I'm really worried about the in-character-ness of this chapter (or rather lack thereof) but I really do hope you'll bear with me. If it helps, just consider this an AU. I do hope you'll review, though, thanks to everyone who already has!