Disclaimer: I don't own Friends.

A/N: Wow, I'm definitely the crappiest person in the world for not updating in like, three weeks. Things have been sort of strained in my life lately, but I've got this wicked bad cold that's been going around lately, so I decided to update while I was hanging around my house and 'resting'.

You all can throw things at me now.

By the way, Emma's birthday is in October in this story, because the whole timeline on the show made no sense. I mean, she was born in May, but then in the 10th season they celebrated in October, so that's what I'm using.

I'm gonna have to label this fic kind of AU, because Joey is making a few things different. Just go with it.

XXX

Ross stared ahead to the man standing in the doorway, along with the rest of the group that had been milling around the apartment.

"So, is anyone gonna let me in...?" Joey asked, seeing as no one had yet to invite him in.

"Oh! Yeah!" Rachel said, snapping out of the daze the fastest out of everyone. She met him between her spot in front of the couch and the doorway, and hugged Joey tightly. "Joey, what are you doing here?"

Ross took his turn to greet his friend. "Not that we're not happy to see you, it's just sudden." No one had expected the sixth of their group to come.

"I just talked to you yesterday, and you didn't mention coming today!" Monica said accusingly.

Joey shrugged and set down the large bag he had brought that was slung over his shoulder. "Well, I wanted it to be a surprise." He waited a moment, then went on, "Surprise!"

"Wow, we didn't think we'd see you till the wedding," Phoebe commented from her spot in one of the chairs.

"Yeah, well, I missed you guys a lot," Joey admitted. "And I got fired," he added.

"Aw," Monica said.

"That's too bad," Ross agreed, surprised Joey had actually kept the job for this long.

"Eh, news anchor wasn't right for you anyway," Chandler said, obviously trying to make his best friend feel better.

"So I figured," Joey started, sitting on the couch so everyone could see him, including the Gellar's and Sandra Green, who hadn't said a word yet, "I'd come here and spend some time with you guys, then fly back and try to get another job, then come back for your wedding." He glanced around the room, just noticing Sandra, Jack and Judy. "Hey, why is everyone here?"

Ross shook his head in disbelief as Rachel answered, "Uh, Joey, it's Emma's second birthday." Sometimes the guy just didn't get stuff.

"Oh," was all he said. Then it all dawned on him, "Oh, right! I've got her gift," he began rifling through his bag, "right..." he kept searching for another minute, until his head had disappeared inside the duffel bag. "Crap."

"You got her crap?" Phoebe asked, then turned to Mike and whispered, "Our present was definitely better."

"Well, I got her this cute little stuffed sheep, but my nephew was working on blasting off his mini-rocket, and I think he wanted the sheep to be the first stuffed animal in space." The group looked confused. "He's a genius," Joey told them proudly.

"He's a Tribbiani?" Monica asked.

"Yup, smartest one yet," Joey answered, and Ross shook his head.

After spending another hour catching up with their friend, the group began to take their leave. Phoebe and Mike had begged out earlier, needing to attend a doctor's appointment. Ross now said goodbye to his parents and Sandra.

"Great to see you guys," he said as he kissed his mother's cheek.

Judy nodded as she and Jack exited. "You too, dear."

Ross observed as Rachel hugged her mother. "Thanks for coming, mom," she said.

"Of course, sweetie." Sandra smiled at the couple. "Now, the minute you two set a date for the wedding, I want you to call me. And call me if you need help with the menu, or if you want me to watch Emma while you and Ross are doing wedding planning things. Also, call when you go dress shopping. Unless you're using your old one-"

"I'm getting a new one," Rachel said quickly, cutting her mother short. "Thanks, mom. I'll, uh, call you, I guess."

Sandra nodded and said goodbye to Ross, then left. Ross turned to gaze at his remaining friends: Monica, Chandler, and Joey.

The three approached Rachel and Ross. "So, you have somewhere to stay, Joe?" Ross asked.

"Yeah, I think I'll just head over to the apartment," Joey replied, and everyone looked at him quizzically.

"Uh, we sold that, Joey," Chandler said kindly, and Ross knew his friend was trying not to laugh.

"What?! When?!" Joey yelled, shocked.

Ross shook his head as Monica answered him, "Right after you left, someone bought it. Remember?"

Joey's face fell, and he sighed. "Oh, right. Well, uh... heh. I'll just get a hotel room."

"No, no, no," Chandler insisted. "Our 'Joey' room is still available. You know, if you want to come."

Ross wondered how Monica felt about this sudden invitation, but smiled as Joey said, "Aw, you two are the best!" He hugged Chandler and Monica, then grabbed his bag. "It'll be like when you two were sneaking around, and always did it in our apartment."

Chandler shrugged as he pushed the twins' stroller out the door and into the hallway, Joey following behind. "Except now we're married and have two children. And, may I say, there's less 'doing it'."

"Right, so, we'll see you soon," Monica cut in, changing topics and hugging her best friend and brother. "Call me."

"I will," Rachel agreed. "And Joey," she said, turning to him. "Thanks for coming."

"Of course, Rach," Joey replied, and then the three were off.

Ross closed the door behind them, then leaned against it, smiling at his fiancée. "Hey, this went really well. Emma was awake up until the end, the cake wasn't a penis, Joey got to come, and our parents are excited about us getting married." He was finally starting to feel like this was really going to work out.

Rachel quickly latched on to him, and Ross carefully put his arms around her, unsure.

"Thank you," she said into his shoulder.

"For what?" Ross asked, half-smiling, and not understanding her sudden actions.

Rachel tilted her head up so she was looking into his eyes. "For being such a great guy. You've given me and Emma everything we've wanted and needed. I just can't believe I'm so lucky."

Ross felt himself blush slightly at the compliment. Somehow, Rachel got to him, no matter what she said. "Well, I try my best," he said, then kissed the top of her head, wondering all the same how lucky he was.

XXX

"Mon, it's really great of you to agree to help me," Rachel said as she and her best friend sat in her office at Ralph Lauren, flipping through wedding magazines. It had been over a month since Emma's birthday, and with each passing day, Rachel couldn't help but feel more excited and nervous with she and Ross's upcoming wedding.

"Are you kidding?" Monica said. "I love planning weddings! And it's so much easier now that you two have set a date."

Rachel smiled. "Yup, April 9th. So we've got almost five months from now to plan." Not that she had been counting, or anything.

Monica sighed and sat back in the chair she was sitting in on the other side of her friend's desk. "I still can't believe you're marrying my brother. Isn't it weird? I mean, you're gonna be related to Chandler!"

"By marriage." Rachel corrected quickly. She knew Chandler was going to make up some sort of 'cutesy' nickname for her that involved the words 'sister-in-law' after she was married to Ross. "But," she continued on, "this is one of the best things that's happened to me."

"Good, good, you're not showing signs of second thoughts," Monica said absently, preoccupied with the notes she was taking. "So, did you call your mom?"

"Oh, I didn't have to," Rachel replied. "She calls at least twice a day. She's asked if we wanted her to take Emma for a weekend so often that I think she's gonna come steal her soon." She knew her mother meant well, but she was starting to become obsessive. Sandra always seemed to find a reason to call, or visit, or e-mail, these days. "Hey, where are the guys?"

"Oh, Joey was going to meet Chandler at his office, and they were gonna have lunch," Monica said.

Rachel nodded. "It's too bad Joey's leaving right before Thanksgiving. It's been so great having him back around here."

"Yeah. So, are you and Ross coming over for the big dinner Thursday?"

"Of course," Rachel agreed. She had flashbacks to the last ten Thanksgivings she had had with her friends in the old apartment. "Wow, this is gonna be our first Thanksgiving without the whole group."

Monica nodded. "Well, Joey wanted to spend it with his sister back in California, and Phoebe and Mike are going to his parent's house. It's just gonna be you, Ross, Chandler, me, my parents and the kids. Think of it as your first official family party as a Gellar, since you're joining the fold soon." Rachel gave a sheepish smile, and Monica grinned. "Of course, you've been family since high school."

"When you say it like that, it makes me kind of nervous."

"Don't worry about it, my mother will only shower you with affection and leave the biting comments for me." Monica rolled her eyes as she mentioned her mother. "She's really happy you and Ross are getting married," she added kindly.

"Well, good. I'm glad." Secretly, Rachel was thrilled Judy Gellar had accepted her so quickly, even after all she and Ross had been through. The Gellar's opinion meant a lot to her.

Monica stood with her purse. "Well, I gotta do some errands before my mom brings the kids back to the house." She picked up the magazines she had been going through. "I'll call you later," she promised.

"Bye, Mon."

Rachel smiled as her friend closed her office door. She was beyond ecstatic at this point; there wasn't a word for how she felt. Everything seemed good.

The door opened again and Rachel looked up to find her assistant, Samantha. "Ms. Green-"

"I've told you," Rachel cut off with a mock-sigh. "I sound old when you call me that. Please, just use 'Rachel'." She had never really liked when people her own age used formalities with her like that.

Samantha smiled a bit. "Alright, Rachel, Ross is on the line. He sounded urgent."

A thousand possibilities raced through her mind at those words, but Rachel calmly nodded. "Uh, thanks."

Samantha exited, and Rachel nervously picked up the phone. "Hello?"

She listened to the other end. "How long has she had it?" Beat. "And it's not going down?" Beat. "I'm coming home." Beat. "No, I'm leaving. Bye."

She grabbed her purse and rushed out of her office. "Samantha, I've gotta get home," she yelled after her and she caught an elevator.

XXX

The door opened and shut loudly, and Ross hurried out of Emma's room, carrying his daughter, who was crying at the top of her lungs. "Rach, I told you not to come home," he sighed when he saw it was his fiancée.

"Well, I wanted to make sure," Rachel said as she took Emma from Ross. "Oh, sweetie, I know you must be uncomfortable. Did you call the doctor?" she asked Ross.

Ross nodded. "Yeah, he said to call him back if the fever doesn't go down in an hour. It was at 100.8 when I just checked." Rachel sat down on the couch, still bouncing Emma. Ross shook his head. "Rach, you didn't have to rush home. She'll be fine."

"Well, I..." Rachel obviously didn't have anything to say to that. "I'm her mother, I should be here."

"And I'm her father, and we were okay. It's a fever, kids get them all the time," he replied. Ross knew Rachel had always felt a bit overprotective of their daughter. "I'm sure it's just a cold or flu or something. The same thing has happened to Ben, and he's fine."

"She's never gotten a temperature this high," Rachel pointed out as Emma's cries slowly subsided.

"I know," Ross agreed, sitting beside her and rubbing her arm. "Look how she's calming down," he said quietly. "You know, you're a great mother." He didn't know why he said it, but Ross knew it was the right thing after Rachel smiled slightly.

"I have had two years of practice."

"I know, but I don't think I tell you that enough. Think of all the practice you'll have by our next kid." Ross hadn't thought through the words that were coming out of his mouth, and the second he had said that, he knew he had screwed up. Rachel was too quick for him to fix it.

"Another, uh, kid?" she said slowly as she whipped her head around at him.

Think faster, he commanded his brain. "Oh, I mean, uh... if we had another kid."

"You-you think we should have another kid?" Rachel glanced back down at Emma, who had fallen asleep.

Ross wanted to beat his head against the table for being so stupid as to let those words slip. "Uh, maybe someday. If you wanted to." Somebody stop me! he pleaded.

Rachel blinked. "Wow. Uh..."

"I'm sorry, that was probably one of the stupidest things I could say right now."

"No, no it's good, now I know how you feel about the subject."

The uneasy silence that had been threatening since the words had come out of Ross's mouth finally settled in between them. He didn't know why he said these idiotic things whenever it was great between he and Rachel. 'We were on a break!' came screaming back at him at that moment.

"She doesn't feel as warm," Rachel finally said, feeling Emma's head as the little girl slept peacefully, though her breathing sounded nasal, which indicated to Ross that she did in fact have a cold.

"Good. That's a relief." Ross wasn't paying much attention, he was too busy berating himself.

"Yeah." Rachel didn't sound so close, either.

XXX