AN: Sorry it's been ages since the last chapter, I haven't had much time lately so...But here's the next chapter finally...Carina Carvanon, Thankyou for being so patient LOL Your reviews telling me to hurry up made me decide to write this chapter and post it up so you would be happy :-) Enjoy

Chapter 9 - Same night as previous chapter

By the time Rachel returned home from work that night, Ross had booked and picked up the tickets, made Emma and Joshua dinner, bathed them and put them to bed and prepared a romantic meal for himself and Rachel.

Rachel walked in the front door and her mouth started watering immediately because of the beautiful smells coming from her kitchen

"Mmm" she said loudly, putting her bag down on the couch "What's this I smell?"

Ross walked out from the kitchen, wearing a bright purple apron

"Well hello" he said, kissing her

"Hi" replied Rachel "Has Jamie Oliver taken over our kitchen?"

"Nope" said Ross proudly "I cooked"

"You did?" said Rachel "Wow"

"I sure did," said Ross, gesturing at the table which was set beautifully with flowers, candles and a bottle of wine "So take a seat"

Rachel sat down "Where's Em and Josh?"

"In bed" replied Ross from the kitchen

"In bed, already?" said Rachel, looking at her watch "God, it's 8pm. I didn't realize I was this late. I'm sorry"

"It's fine," said Ross, coming out from the kitchen with 2 loaded up plates "Gave me more time to prepare dinner"

"And what are we having?" said Rachel, nodding at the plates in Ross' hands

"Only something I know you love" said Ross, setting the plates down "Sweet and Sour Chicken with vegetables on a bed of white rice. Voila"

"Wow, This looks amazing," said Rachel

"I hope it tastes as good as it looks," said Ross "Wine?"

"Thankyou" said Rachel, holding out her glass, which Ross filled

"You're very welcome," said Ross

"Try some," he said, scooping up some of the food onto her fork and lifting it to her mouth

Rachel swallowed and her eyes rolled to the heavens "Ross, that is deluxe"

"Really?" he said.

He took a mouthful himself "Wow, that is good"

"So why am I getting this fabulous meal tonight?" asked Rachel "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I just wanted to do something special for you" said Ross "It was about time I treated you how you deserve to be treated"

Rachel smiled "How do I deserve to be treated?"

"Like a princess," said Ross "That's how you deserve to be treated and from now on, it's going to be how I treat you"

"Aren't I lucky then?" said Rachel between mouthfuls

"I've been feeling pretty lucky myself lately" said Ross "That I have someone as beautiful, understanding and forgiving as you as my wife"

"I don't know about beautiful" said Rachel "But I am pretty understanding and forgiving"

"Come on" said Ross "You're only the most beautiful woman I've ever met, you were the girl in 9th grade typing who completely blew me away"

Rachel laughed, "I blew you away did I?"

"You sure did," said Ross "From that first moment, I knew you were the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. After everything I've done and put you through, I find myself pinching my arm just to see if this is all really happening, if I really am here with you, to make sure this isn't all some dream that I'm going to wake up from"

Rachel reached over and took hold of his hand "It's all happening. I'm here with you and I love you"

Ross kissed her "I love you too"

He then reached into his pocket and pulled out along, white envelope, handing it to Rachel.

"What's this?" she asked, turning it over

"Open it and see," said Ross

Rachel slit open the top with her knife and pulled out another blue envelope

"American Airlines?" she read out, looking up at Ross

"Go on" said Ross

She opened the blue envelope and pulled out 4 tickets

"Return flights to Hawaii...." she read to herself, not quite believing it "No way,"

"Yes" said Ross "I'm taking you to Hawaii"

"Are you serious?" said Rachel, stunned "HAWAII?"

"Hawaii" said Ross "Where you've always wanted to go"

Rachel jumped out of her chair, screaming in delight "I'm really going to Hawaii?"

"Yes, you're really going to Hawaii," said Ross "All of us, including Monica, Chandler, Pheeb's and Joey"

"Oh my god" she said "I can't believe this"

"Believe it," said Ross "Us in Hawaii, 3 weeks from now"

She threw her arms around him "This is so great, Thankyou so much. Why are we going?"

"I'm glad I made you happy" said Ross "I just thought you could do with some relaxation, a family vacation sort of thing. Think about it, a relaxing week in Hawaii, drinking cocktails on the beach while getting a gorgeous tan on that body of yours, Can you picture it?"

"Yes. I can picture us lying on the sand, while Em and Josh play on the waters edge.Beautiful Sunsets and beaches" she said happily "Oh I've always wanted to go to Hawaii, and you knew that. You are such a Sweetie"

"I know," said Ross.

He pulled her down into his lap on the chair and they sat in silence for a few minutes, enjoying each other's company. Rachel couldn't wipe the smile of her face.

Ross was about to kiss her when they heard a knock on the front door...

"Who is that at this time of night?" said Ross, moving Rachel of his lap and walking towards the door.

He pulled it open and came face to face with Amanda.

"Ross" she said "Hi"

Ross' heart nearly jumped out of his chest and he turned around to face Rachel, whose smile had dropped right off her face, which now looked like thunder.

He looked back and forth, wondering what to do, eventually pushing Amanda out of the doorway and into the hallway, shutting the door behind him.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he asked angrily "And how did you know where I live?"

"You kinda told me once" said Amanda "And thankyou for the warm welcome"

"Warm welcome?" spluttered Ross "Why would I welcome you warmly into my home?"

"Maybe because I'm pregnant with your child" said Amanda

"You're what?" said Ross slowly, struggling to get the words out "Pregnant?"

"No" said Amanda "I'm just kidding with you Ross, Relax"

Ross shook his head "You are a deceiving lying bitch Amanda, Did you know that?"

"I've been told a few times" said Amanda

"Why are you here?" said Ross

"I just came to tell you that there will be no investigation into what happened between us," said Amanda "And I got fired yesterday"

Ross nearly laughed, "You got fired? What a shame. Why?"

"Because Professor Williams caught me and Professor Nichol's in my office," said Amanda "Mucking around"

Ross couldn't believe it "You are really something, first you try and ruin my marriage which I'll let you know, did not happen and now you're doing the same to Professor Nichol's...You deserve everything you get"

"Maybe" said Amanda "I just have a thing for married men"

"That's nice" said Ross "But I don't really care and I don't even believe you came down here to tell me that"

"Excuse me, I also came down to tell you there will be no investigation" said Amanda "So you should be relieved"

"Relieved?" said Ross "Like they were going to believe you anyway Amanda, Everyone knows what you're like and it would have been your word against mine, I'm guessing people would have believe me more then you"

"Whatever" said Amanda "I just came to tell you that there will be no investigation on account of my so called 'Bad behaviour' at work, so you don't have to worry"

"Well you've told me," said Ross "Now I'd appreciate it if you'd leave. I was in the middle of something before"

"Sucking up to the wife were we?" said Amanda "Nice"

"Goodbye Amanda" said Ross "Have a nice life"

"Bye" said Amanda cheerfully "Oh and Ross, Tell Rachel I said Hi"

Ross turned around and went inside, slamming the door on her evil face.

Rachel was sitting on the couch, staring at the TV with an angry look on her face.

"Rach, I'm sorry," said Ross, sitting down next to her "I'm so sorry you had to see her"

"Why was she here?" asked Rachel "Came back for seconds did she?"

"No" said Ross "She came to tell me they weren't going to investigate what happened, and that she got fired"

"Investigate?" said Rachel confused "Investigate what?"

Ross realised his mistake, he hadn't told Rachel the entire truth about the situation, and how he might have been fired because of Amanda's claims. He'd just told her he'd quit. That was another mistake

"Umm..Well what happened was that Amanda put in a complaint about me, saying I forced myself on to her and took advantage which I didn't" said Ross "And there was a chance I was going to be investigated about it, and possibly loose my job even though she was blatantly lying"

"You lied to me?" said Rachel

"No, No I didn't lie," said Ross "I just didn't tell you the whole truth because things were going well, I didn't want to upset you anymore...I'm sorry"

"Sorry.." said Rachel "How many times have I heard that lately"

"Come on Rach," said Ross "Do you think I wanted her to show up here? You have to understand why I didn't tell you"

Rachel thought about it for a moment "I do understand why you didn't tell me I guess, but Ross, you need to be honest with me about everything that is going on that is going to affect me if this marriage is going to get back on track, if I don't feel that you're being honest and trustworthy then all my insecurities about you being unfaithful are going to come back up and I seriously can't deal with it"

"I will be honest about everything," said Ross "She is out of my life forever, I swear. Out of OUR life forever"

"Good" said Rachel

"Can I see a smile?" asked Ross, lifting her head up by her chin "Please?"

"I don't know if I have the energy," said Rachel

"You were so happy before," said Ross "Wipe Amanda out of your mind and show me that beautiful smile"

Rachel shrugged "Do you think you're worthy of my beautiful smile?"

"I'd like to think so," said Ross.

He stood up, pulling her to her feet and into the living room

"What are you doing?" asked Rachel

"I know what might make you smile," he said, as he fumbled in the TV cabinet "Here we go"

He put a tape in the VCR and pressed PLAY, sitting down on the couch and pulling Rachel next to him

Ross put his arm around Rachel and she relaxed comfortably next to him.

"Well look who it is" said Ross as Rachel's face came up on the screen, smiling widely. It was a tape of their wedding day; Rachel was smiling brightly as she relaxed in a chair while her hair was being done.

We see various shots of Rachel as she's getting ready, sipping Champagne, Bridesmaid's Monica and Phoebe getting their hair and makeup done, 2 year old Emma in her little flower girl dress, Sandra Green standing on the sidelines, crying as she watched her daughter prepare for the happiest day of her life, Emma throwing a tantrum just before the ceremony was due to start, causing Rachel to be 10 minutes late because she had to calm her down.

The camera then moves to Ross standing at the top of the aisle, waiting for the first glimpse of Rachel, an overjoyed expression on his face as he saw her for the first time, walking down the aisle towards him.

The ceremony..Rachel getting misty eyed as she says her vows, Monica bawling her eyes out as they are pronounced husband and wife, Ross kissing Rachel before whispering in her ear, Rachel crying tears of happiness as she stared into her new husband's eyes.

Ross pressed stop on the remote and looked at Rachel. He was right, now she had a smile on her face.

She sighed. It was half a happy sigh, half a sad sigh "We were so happy that day"

"We sure were" said Ross "And I'd like to think that we are still as happy today, but a little part of me thinks that we're not"

Rachel looked at him "We are happy Ross..I'm happy, Are you not?"

"You don't know how happy I am Rachel, I'm absolutely overjoyed that you have given me another chance" said Ross "And it just goes to show that if we love each other, as much as we do, we can get through anything"

Rachel nodded slowly "Yeah...So what makes you think that we're not?"

"I don't know, I just know that things have changed," said Ross "It can't ever go back to the way it was a year ago, before I turned into such a jerk"

"It's in the past Ross" said Rachel "I think you need to start forgiving yourself, if I can forgive you then you should be able to as well ...I've realised that people make mistakes, sometimes we don't think before we act but I want to put everything that has happened behind us, and look towards the future"

"Really?" said Ross

"YES," said Rachel "Do you think I'd be sitting here with you right now, if I didn't want us to be happy, have a future together? These past few months have taught me a lot, like how much I love you, how much we shouldn't hold grudges, dwell on the past. What's happened has happened, and now I want to move on. We can do that can't we?"

"We can" said Ross "Honestly, I feel like the luckiest guy in the world...You could have kicked me to the curb Rachel but you didn't...You amaze me"

"I amaze myself sometimes" said Rachel before kissing him.

Ross pulled away "Do you realize what just happened?"

"No, What?" said Rachel

"We just had a deep and meaningful conversation" he said "I've missed this, cuddling up on the sofa, talking about our future, sharing our feelings with each other. It's great"

"It is" said Rachel, cuddling up closer to him, resting her head on his chest "Let's make a deal, we'll do this every night from now on ok...Make some time to sit here and have a meaningful conversation with each other.How does that sound?"

"Sounds great," said Ross.

He brushed her hair away from her face and kissed her nose "I love your nose"

"What?" said Rachel with a laugh "You love my nose?"

"Yeah" said Ross "It's like a little tulip"

Rachel smiled "Do you love every other part of me as much as my nose?"

"Yeah" said Ross "I love your heart the best though....And your sexy body"

Rachel laughed.Typical comment from a man

"And you love my sexy body don't you?" said Ross "It's so athletic and fit"

"For sure" said Rachel, grabbing at his stomach under his shirt "I don't know what to think about these little rolls under here though..Where did these come from? You've got a whole little bakery cooking under here"

She pinched his stomach.

"Owww" said Ross loudly, going to stand up "Right, that's it...You pick on my stomach rolls, there's no lovin for you tonight"

"Wait, Wait, Wait" said Rachel, pulling him back down "I'm sorry, I was only joking. I love your rolls, they're very sexy"

"You are such a bad liar," said Ross

"No I'm serious," said Rachel "In fact, playing with them makes me kinda hot for you"

"Oh really?" said Ross cheekily. He stood up and headed towards their bedroom "Well I don't know that I'm in the mood now. I might just head to bed to sleep"

"What?" said Rachel standing up "Where are you going?"

She followed him into the bedroom "I swear I was just kidding Ross, I love your rolls..Ross please"

The door closes and there are no sounds of life until you hear a shriek of laughter from Rachel and the sound of two bodies hitting the bed. "Ssshhh, You're going to wake the kids up"

AN: Now that chapter wasn't really worth the wait I know. I just wanted to sort of tide it over till the next chapter...Next Chapter, The gang hits Hawaii (