Part 7

Emily had another contraction. Phoebe fussed around her while Susan and Mike wondered just how close she was to delivery and whether they'd need any hot water or towels.

'I'm booked in at St Hughes, I can't possibly have the baby here,' Emily said on the other side of it.

'Do you think it's that close?' Susan asked anxiously.

'I'm not sure, Julia took four hours.'

'Four!' Phoebe said, appalled, 'But the first labour takes ages, eighteen or twenty-four hours.'

'So they told me,' Emily said. 'When my first labour started, they said I was making a fuss like all first time mothers and not to come in until the contractions were ten minutes apart. They were ten minutes apart when I left home. Julia was born in the hospital car park forty minutes later. Then they asked why I didn't come in sooner.' She put a hand to her forehead.

'How far apart are they now?' Susan asked.

'I don't know, in all the excitement I haven't been timing them,' Emily said, adding sourly, 'I'm not sure it really matters.'

'And second babies are quicker!' Phoebe said, panicked.

'So I've been told,' Emily said. 'That one I believe.'

'Well ex wives first then,' Susan said.

'Do you mind?' Emily said, annoyed.

'Sorry, but you really need to get back. I hope you make it inside the hospital this time. It was nice to see you again,' Susan said.

'Nice to see you,' Emily said, as Susan kissed her. Phoebe gave her a hug.

'I'm glad everything turned out well for you. Good luck. Let me know how you go.'

'I will,' Emily said.

'Nice to meet you Emily,' Mike said politely. Emily had been making him have some definite thoughts about Phoebe and pregnancy generally.

'Nice to meet you too,' she answered.

'Well are you ready?' Phoebe asked. Emily nodded. Phoebe stared at the rock for a moment and then turned it carefully so that the line passing through New York passed through Cape Verde and then London.

They saw Emily vanish. Carol flickered into view for a second and then Rachel came through.

'I'm here? Thank God, Phoebe, you did it,' she said. She gave Phoebe a hug.

'You were in Cape Verde, right?' Phoebe asked anxiously. She was not sure if she could handle any complications.

'Yeah. Ben had the shock of his life,' Rachel said.

'Oh. Well at least Carol's back now,' Phoebe said, feeling another rush of guilt. Ben would be all right now - thank goodness Emma had not had to deal with any of this, and with any luck, Emily's little girl wouldn't have had to deal with it either. 'That's half of you where you belong,' Phoebe said. She looked at Susan, 'Are you ready?'

'Yes,' Susan said. 'Here we go again.' This time when Susan disappeared, a strange man took her place followed by Ross.

Before Ross had had time to get used to being in New York, Rachel flung herself into his arms.

Epilogue

No-one knew what to do with the rock. Ross had never said anything at the time he found it but it had briefly heated up in his hand when he had first held it. In retrospect, not that he ever admitted this to anyone, he wondered if it had been bonding with him in some way. At the time he had just put it down as one of those things you can't explain. He hadn't even meant to bring it back from the dig because it had no palaeontological value whatsoever but it had somehow found its way into his bag. He thought that it might have been a Native American Artefact and he showed to some experts. Every single one had said,

'It's just a rock.'

Someone had even added that,

'It's just a dumb rock.'

Leaving it lying around was dangerous, and smashing it to pieces was not something he thought he could risk, so in the end he buried it in a secret place. So far, nothing else has happened.

Rachel proposed to Ross. Although she had been previously happy to leave things as they were, given that marriage had not been a 'once in a lifetime event' for either of them, she had changed her mind. She did not, as she told Ross, want to be in a group with his 'ex wives' any more.

Phoebe had a huge phone bill. She had also felt very guilty about the whole thing for a while, especially since, when Susan reappeared, she reappeared in a Cape Verde jail. Explanations had been difficult. In the end though, Susan decided that like Emily, she would blame Ross, and Ross had to put up with some sly digs about his personal life, much to Carol's amusement. Phoebe got a post card from Emily so, as Phoebe said, the experience wasn't all negative.

Emily had a baby boy, apparently none the worse for wear after his prenatal trip around the North Atlantic Ocean. This time she got as far as the Hospital reception area. Geoff took three days to get over the shock.

Monica was told what had happened but she didn't believe a word of it.