Disclaimer: I don't own Friends.

A/N: Let me tell you, already having the dialogue makes writing this wicked easier.

The reviews are appreciated.

XXX

Rachel nervously adjusted her suit-jacket as she sat in her former boss's office. It had been two weeks since she had told Ross he could propose, and she still couldn't get that off her mind. But right now, she had to try her best.

"So Rachel," Mr. Zelner began as he sat down behind his desk, looking at her. "You're here because..."

"I'd, uh, like my job back, if you'd be willing to give it back to me," Rachel said, as confident as she could be.

Mr. Zelner seemed to be caught between laughter and shock. "You, uh, want you're job back? But we fired you...and then you quit when we offered to have you back."

"Ah, yeah, I knew that was gonna come up," Rachel mumbled. "Well, I know it looks really bad, but I swear if you let me come back, I'll be better than ever. I'll be loyal to Ralph Lauren, and I'll take whatever you give me without complaining." Secretly proud of herself, Rachel waited for his response.

Taking his time, Mr. Zelner glanced from the papers in front of him to Rachel, then back again. "This is the deal," he said as he placed his hands on the desk. "We hadn't hired anyone to your old position yet, because we didn't really see the need to. Now I really don't know why I'm doing this," he sighed, "but I'll hire you back. I must admit, you were good at your job, there aren't many who love it as much as you. Two weeks of a trail run, no pay, and if you've proven yourself after that, then you're welcomed back to your old spot."

Rachel almost let out a shriek. "Oh, thank you Mr. Zelner, you won't regret hiring me back...again! Oh, thank you!" She was so excited she had jumped up from her chair.

"Alright," Her boss stood and walked past her to the door, opening it. "We'll see you tomorrow."

"Yes, yes, of course. Unless I get a better offer," Rachel joked, but stopped chuckling at Mr. Zelner's stern look. "I can't thank you enough. You're just...so great, and the best boss in the world. I mean, I would never hire myself back."

"Yes, I really am wondering why I'm doing this," he said. "But I am, so get out before I change my mind."

"Will do!" Rachel nodded and walked out the door. "See you tomorrow!" She called.

When she got outside the office, she grinned at Ross, who was examining a picture hanging on a wall. Ross glanced at her, and at her nod, he laughed and hugged her.

"You got your job back!" He said happily.

"Yes!" She confirmed, then kissed him. "Oh, thanks for pushing me to get it back, sweetie. I'm just lucky Zelner doesn't scare easy. I'm surprised he re-hired me after all the wacky things that have happened over the years."

Grinning even wider as Ross took her hand and led her out of the lobby, Rachel felt as if she couldn't be happier.

"Let's go celebrate," Ross said as they entered the elevator.

XXX

Making a face at the baby she was holding, Rachel couldn't get over how cute Monica and Chandler's adopted children were.

"So, which one am I holding now?" she asked, as they were still too young to tell which was which.

"Check the socks," was Monica's reply.

Rachel did so. "They're yellow."

"Then you're holding Erica," Monica said matter-of-factly. "See, I color-coded all of their clothes, so that way we can tell them apart in the early stages-"

Suddenly the long explanation came back to her. "Yeah, Mon, you already told me twice," she said as nicely as possible.

"Oh." Monica bounced Jack in her arms. "So uh, I talked to Phoebe yesterday," she began.

"Really? How is she?" Rachel hadn't spoken to their other female friend since she had gotten her job back at Ralph Lauren.

"She said morning sickness is a bitch."

"That's true, it is," Rachel nodded. "But in the end it's worth it." She glanced down at little Erica, and then thought of her own daughter, who was with her grandparents today. "So how's the advertising thing going for Chandler?"

Monica shrugged. "Good. He's been trying to come up with something for this new power drink that's supposed to make you play like the pro's. He drank some, then tried to play wall ball at the park."

"Did it make him better?" Rachel asked.

"No, I could still kick his ass without trying."

"You can do that to a lot of people," Rachel said quietly, once again jiggling Erica. "Chandler never really has been a sports guy. I mean-"

The phone interrupted her sentence, and Rachel sighed as placed Erica back with her mother and began the search for the telephone, which she knew was somewhere under the tons of papers that were everywhere.

"You know, if you cleaned up a little bit..." Monica trailed off at Rachel's glare.

"Ah!" she shouted triumphantly as she found the phone and picked it up. "Hello?" she asked.

"Yes, this is Dr. Frank George from the paleontology department at the museum, is Dr. Ross Gellar there?"

Rachel held back a snicker. She couldn't believe people called Ross 'doctor'. "Uh, I'm sorry, he's not in right now. Can I take a message?"

"Yes, that'd be great," the paleontologist replied, and Rachel wanted to groan. Now she had to find some paper and a pen.

"Hold on a sec," she said as she put the phone down and started going through the drawers in Ross's desk. Monica was alternating between watching her best friend and rocking both twins.

Rachel reached the bottom drawer and grabbed the blank piece of paper that was laying on top. She was about to close it when she spotted a black box, that looked suspiciously like...

Her eyes now wide, Rachel took down the number for the man on the phone, then hung up and sat back down slowly, in a daze.

"Who was that?" Monica glanced at her friend.

"Uh, somebody with uh, the name, message, thing..." Rachel waved around the piece of paper.

"You okay, Rach?" Monica poked her friend when she didn't get an answer. "Rachel?"

"Okay, Mon, now don't freak out," Rachel started, turning to her friend. "But remember how I said I'd tell you if anything big was happening between me and Ross?"

"Yeah." Monica's eyes widened. "What happened?"

"Well," Rachel said as she stood again, pacing, then let it all out quickly, "We were thinking of looking for a house and then we decided not to and then I sort of told him he could ask me to marry him and now I just found a ring in the bottom drawer of his desk and I'm sorry I didn't tell you but-"

"Rachel, whoa, hey, slow down. Just stay calm." Monica sat, staring at Rachel. She then suddenly let out a shriek. "I can't believe this! This is incredible! And so fast, you two just got back together!"

"Three and a half months ago, for your information," Rachel corrected. "But, I mean, this is marriage!" She could hardly believe this. The ring box looked familiar, but she couldn't place it.

"But you just said you told him he could ask you."

"I know I did, but this is Ross!" Realizing what she was talking about, Rachel hit herself on the forehead. "Crap! This is Ross! He loves marriage!" She sat back down again. "Is it possible to have cold feet before even being engaged?"

As Rachel slung an arm over her eyes, Monica eyed the desk, then stood and put the twins back in their bassinet. She walked to the desk and opened the bottom drawer, taking the ring out. Rachel glanced at her.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Just looking," Monica said as she popped open the case. "Yup, just as I suspected. This is Nana's ring."

"And...?" Rachel didn't understand how that was relevant, but at least now she knew why it looked familiar.

"It's the one my mother gave Ross before Emma was born. He's probably had it since then."

Hearing this, Rachel wondered if Ross had just kept the ring there for two years. The thought made her almost feel disappointed.

"Yeah, well, it's pretty coincidental I find it in his desk right now," she tried to defend.

Monica sat back down beside Rachel. "Rach, I have just one question. Would you say yes to this ring right now?"

"Well, it depends," Rachel said. "Are you proposing?"

"No, but if Ross were, would you say yes?"

Rachel knew the answer. She'd known the answer ever since she and Ross had first exchanged "I love you"s almost nine years ago.

"Yeah, I would," was her verdict.

Monica's smile was infectious. She and Rachel hugged.

"Oh, now you're really gonna be my sister-in-law!"

Rachel didn't think that sounded so bad.

XXX