Disclaimer: I don't own Friends.

A/N: So, this chapter is kinda long, I guess. Hope everyone is having a good October. It's beautiful here in Massachussetts right now; the colors are amazing.

Getting all this positive feedback is great. Thanks so much, dudes. And thanks diehardRRfan for being faithful in your reviewing :). I love hearing from all you guys, since I'm just like you: obsessed with this show.

Or maybe I'm just making a fool of myself. Heh.

XXX

Ross shook his head as he, Rachel and Emma entered Monica and Chandler's home to have a Thanksgiving meal. He could hear his sister and brother-in-law bantering from the living room, and stood in the kitchen doorway to watch as Rachel set Emma down on the floor.

"Oh, come on you big baby, stir the gravy," his sister said teasingly.

Chandler looked suspicious. "Only if you don't beat me with the spatula again."

"I didn't 'beat you with the spatula', I merely brought you back to the task at hand," Monica mocked, and Ross bit back the laughter threatening to burst inside him.

As Chandler was about to retort, Rachel cut in, entering the kitchen. "Hey guys!"

The couple turned and smiled at the sight of their friends. "Happy Thanksgiving!" Monica said, hugging her brother and best friend.

"Wow, we didn't even hear you guys come in," Chandler commented.

Ross shrugged. "You guys were pretty wrapped up in gravy."

He saw Rachel stifle back a chuckle, and the four stood in the kitchen, reveling in the comfortable silence. There was something about how familiar the sound of Monica frantically rushing around the kitchen to make sure everything was perfect, and the company that currently occupied the room at that moment, that let Ross know that this first intimate meal between the Gellar's and the newest additions wouldn't be weird or nervously-charged. Ross figured the only things missing were Phoebe and Joey, but they could learn to not expect their friends to bound in the door at any moment.

Once again the front door opened and closed, and Ross heard his mother call, "Is anyone here?"

"In here mom!" he called back.

Jack and Judy entered and smiled at the group. "We knocked four times," Jack said, and Monica shrugged.

"We couldn't hear it from in here," she replied.

"Well, dear," Judy started in, glancing at her daughter, "maybe you should've had someone waiting for us, since you knew we were coming at this time."

Monica sighed out a "Yeah, mom,"and turned back to put the gravy in a gravy boat. Ross shook his head; he'd never understand why his younger sister got the brunt of their mother's criticism.

"Rachel!" Judy said loudly after getting over her daughter's obvious brush-off. She hugged her future daughter-in-law. "So good to see you!"

Ross could tell Rachel didn't know what to do. Sure, she had interacted with the elder Gellar's as Monica's best friend, then Ross's girlfriend, then his ex-girlfriend, then the mother of his child, but never as a future family member. He hoped things wouldn't be awkward, considering all that was behind them.

"Nice to see you too, Judy," Rachel replied as she patted Judy's back lightly before letting go. "Happy Thanksgiving," she said to both of her fiancée's parents.

After everyone was settled into the dining room and Monica had spread out the food, the wedding talk began.

Jack grinned at his son as he helped himself to some cranberry sauce. "So, we haven't seen you two since the big announcement."

"Yes," Judy agreed after taking a bite of the turkey, "How are the wedding plans coming?"

Ross grinned. He couldn't help it, whenever they were talking about his upcoming wedding to Rachel, he felt giddy. "They're great. Rachel's dad actually pulled some strings, and it's going to be at The Plaza."

"Hey, hasn't your dad gotten you The Plaza before?"Chandler asked casually, but everyone ignored him. Rachel had told Ross how her father had booked it before, when she had first told him she was pregnant. Ross knew that even if he didn't like him much, Dr. Green still wanted the best for his oldest daughter.

"That will be beautiful," Judy said, and the others agreed. "And, uh, is Joey officiating?" she questioned carefully.

"Yes, he is," Rachel piped up.

Ross saw his mother's face fall slightly, but she kept up appearances. "How... wonderful."

"Hopefully this time he won't forget anything," Chandler cracked, and Monica sighed at the memory.

Ross nodded. "Yeah, that'd be good," he said, though he knew something wacky was bound to come up.

Jack smiled across the table at Rachel. "I still can't believe you two are getting married," he said. "It feels like just yesterday Ross was trying to impress you with his 'music', and you showed no interest at all."

"Hey! We had some good songs!" Ross defended as Rachel ducked her head, embarrassed.

Chandler shook his head. "No, we really didn't, man."

Monica was chuckling. "I still can't believe what losers you two were in college."

Ross was feeling even more defensive. "We weren't complete losers. Remember Edwin Pepper?"

"Oh yeah, Peppy," Chandler said slowly, reminiscing with a far-off look. "Didn't he try to be our groupie?"

"Man, that was so long ago. Remember the first Thanksgiving we all had together?" Rachel asked, smiling around at the room.

"Funny how we all ended up back here together," Monica commented with a small smile at her husband.

"I, for one, never thought it would happen," Jack stated.

Judy nodded, "Yes, we've gotten many...," she searched for the correct word, "surprises since then."

Ross looked back on the time since that first Thanksgiving, and smiled at some of the things that had transpired. "A lot of them have been good, though."

At those words, the dining room went silent as everyone fell into a reflective silence. Ross hadn't realized just how easy this evening had been until now. He glanced around to each person sitting at the table: Monica and Chandler at either end, smiling at each other, Jack and Judy on one side, and he and Rachel situated on the other side. It was like destiny had led them all back to these spots, proving that this was what family was. He had been worrying that Rachel and everyone else would feel uncomfortable in this new and most-likely permanent situation.

Chandler seemed to be getting ansty, and Ross knew what was coming. "Y'know," his friend began, "I think it's time for my annual Thanksgiving story-"

"No!" the other five shouted in unison, and at that moment, Ross knew everything was going to be okay.

XXX

Rachel smiled as she fingered through the new pictures she had just gotten developed. They weren't really centered around a specific event; Rachel had found that she was starting to like just snapping photos of random moments that she might want to look back on later. She came to the last few pictures of just three days ago at Monica and Chandler's for Thanksgiving. There was a nice one of Jack and Judy sitting on the couch, and a cute one of Emma with her twin cousins.

She stopped to examine the final picture from the roll. Someone had obviously taken the camera at some point, because it was a candid one of she and Ross, just smiling at each other on the couch, with his arm draped over the back of her side of the furniture. Rachel brought it closer to her face, scrutinizing she and her fiancée. She had to admit that out of all the boyfriends she'd had, she and Ross definitely looked the best together.

"Hey, Rach, I'm heading to the store, anything else we need?" Rachel heard Ross ask from the living room.

Rachel stood and stuffed the pictures back into the packet they came in, except for the one of she and Ross. "I dunno, read the list off to me," she called back as she placed the photos on the counter.

She heard shuffling and knew Ross was moving around Emma and Ben, who was here for the Thanksgiving weekend while Susan and Carol went on a mini-vacation.

"Let's see... milk, orange juice, diapers, soda, condoms..."

Rachel poked her eyed out of the swinging door that was between the living room and kitchen, her eyes growing wide before she glared at Ross.

"I'm just gonna go," he said wisely, and Rachel checked to make sure Ben and Emma hadn't noticed. Neither of them would know what a condom was, right?

Right, she assured herself as she entered the living room and walked over to the desk to grab an empty picture frame for the photo of she and Ross. Rachel sat down on the couch to put it in, and Ben sat beside her, leaving Emma to finish coloring in a picture by herself.

"Aunt Rachel?" he asked slowly, glancing at her almost shyly.

Rachel set down the frame and turned to the boy. "Yeah, Ben?"

She could hardly believe he was turning ten in May; it seemed like just yesterday she had been changing his diaper. While he used a short silence to consider what he was going to say, Rachel noticed that though he had Carol's blonde hair, his nose and smile looked just like his father's.

He cocked his head to one side. "You and my dad are getting married, right?"

Not knowing where this was going, Rachel nodded. "Right."

"But that one time you taught me all the pranks, you said you and my dad used to date, but you broke up and you weren't in love anymore. How come you're getting married now?"

Rachel slumped her shoulders a bit, trying to figure out how to explain the situation. Sometimes it was even too complicated for her to bother. "Well, Ben, your dad and I broke up a long time ago, and we stayed apart for awhile-"

"But you had Emma and you two didn't love each other," he cut in, and Rachel wanted to groan.

"Uh, yeah, that's a whole other story," she said.

"If you're talking about where babies come from, I already know about that, my mom told me."

Rachel wondered how he could say that and still sound naïve and innocent, but didn't bother pondering the subject much more. She still had a few years until Emma was asking that question. "Alright, but the whole thing about your dad and I not loving each other isn't totally true. Your dad and I have always loved each other." There, that sounds good. Rachel nodded in accomplishment.

Ben still looked confused. "Then how come you didn't get married before? Was it because of the 'break' thing?"

Ah, if only I could explain the whole thing, Rachel thought. "Because... we weren't ready to be married then. But we are now."

Accepting this, Ben shrugged. "Okay."

The two sat there for another minute, and Rachel knew he wanted to ask something else. She was just glad he hadn't brought up Emily, or the fact that she and Ross had gotten married in Vegas. Did he even know about that?

"Is there something else, Ben?" she prompted.

"Since you and my dad are getting married," he started, "what should I call you? 'Cause you won't be my Aunt Rachel anymore, you'll be my step-mom."

Rachel considered. "I guess you can just call me Rachel, since you have your moms and your dad."

Satisfied, Ben smiled. "Okay. Thanks, Rachel." He hugged her quickly and then rejoined Emma on the floor.

Watching them, Rachel couldn't help but smile herself.

XXX

"Aw, it's so great that you're having a baby," Rachel said as she patted Phoebe's stomach. The two were seated in Phoebe and Mike's living room.

"I know," Phoebe agreed. "Who knew we'd all have kids at the same time?"

"Yeah, who thought I'd be the first one to have one, too?" Rachel asked with a chuckle. She sure hadn't.

Phoebe took a sip of her tea. "Actually, technically, I was the first one. I had the triplets, remember?"

"Uh... yeah," Rachel nodded, not wanting to get Phoebe upset. Lately, she'd become even more temperamental. "So," she said as she grabbed the bag she had brought over to the apartment, "this is all the maternity stuff you gave me, which I'm giving back to you."

Phoebe pulled out the Santa pants, which Rachel hadn't even worn. "Oh my God! I loved these pants!"

Rachel eyed them. "Yeah, have fun with those." As Phoebe set them down, Rachel cleared her throat. "Uh, Pheebs?"

"Yeah?"

"I know you're probably not sure right now, since you're pregnant and all, but I was wondering if, uh, you still wanted to be my maid of honor," Rachel said, feeling almost stupid for some reason.

Phoebe smiled and pulled her friend into an awkward hug. "Of course I do, Rach! It's only fair."

Rachel nodded to herself, glad that was all straightened out. Phoebe let go, and then jumped slightly. "Oh! Guess what I found out?!" she asked excitedly.

Rachel, always eager for gossip, moved in closer. "What? Tell me!"

"Well, I was talking to Joey yesterday, and he was telling me how in L.A. it's so smoggy that sometimes you can't even see your own hand- which I personally think he was exaggerating about because-"

"What's the news, Pheebs?" Rachel said with a loud sigh. No one ever said she was patient.

"Right, so, Joey likes a girl!"

"Joey likes a lot of girls, you gotta be more specific."

"Okay, well, this girl is married." Phoebe stressed the last word scandalously.

"It's not... you or Monica, is it?" Rachel asked slowly.

"No! It's his neighbor! But I guess she's getting a divorce." Phoebe shook her head as she took another sip of her tea. "Man, he's acting like how he did when he was in love with you!"

"Wait, that was so long-"Rachel did a double-take. No one had really mentioned anything that had happened between she and Joey in awhile. It had been a bit of a touchy subject where Ross was concerned. "Wait. He's in love?"

"He sure acts like it," Phoebe said knowingly. "Y'know, he really has this tendency to go for the woman he can't have."

Rachel was still trying to absorb this. She wasn't jealous or anything; no, she had Ross, and she loved him. She was just shocked, since Joey had always said she had been the only person he'd ever really been in love with. "Wow. We're all really moving along in the world, huh?" Rachel hoped this girl was good enough for her friend.

"Yeah, speaking of moving," Phoebe said as she stood with only a hint of trouble, "I'm gonna go move to the bathroom."

"Alright, I gotta get to the office anyways," Rachel nodded as she stood also. "Pheebs?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for still being my maid of honor," Rachel replied.

"Hey, a deal's a deal," Phoebe responded, and Rachel grinned as she shut the apartment door behind her.

XXX