As Rachel rolled over, her eyes fluttered open. The sunlight from the window worked as an alarm clock on her. She sat up and looked at the sleeping form beside her. His dark hair mussed up on the pillow and his long arms thrown over onto her side of the bed. His profile mushed into a down pillow only to emit loud noises from his sinuses.
In the background the hum of the air purifier, something that Rachel had learned to ignore. All his whining, all his boring stories, and all his other idiosyncrasies, there he was, the man she loved.
Rachel looked down at the ring on her finger. It sparkled with the light of the sun on it. She just kept looking at it. She had only wore one other engagement ring in her life, the one Barry gave her. It may have been bigger, but this meant so much more. She held her arm out and posed with her new favorite accessory.
The sleeping form was now stirring. Rachel could see from the pillow , one brown eye gently opening on the pillow. She immediately leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
"Merry Christmas, darling." she whispered. Not quite awake yet, Ross rolled over to reveal the stubble on his face. He slowly sat up and then stretched his arms.
"Merry Christmas to you, sweetie. We had better get moving if we want to see Emma open her presents." he said as he sweetly kissed her on the mouth. He wrapped a robe around himself, forgetting there would be no reason to cover up after last night.
Out in the kitchen, Ross yawned as Rachel poured him a cup of coffee from the coffeemaker. He stretched again, dropping his arms around her waist. It was such a sweet picture of what their life had become.
A Christmas song was heard as one of their phones was ringing. Rachel grabbed her purse.
"Hello , Mon?" asked Rachel seeing the caller id
"Am I speaking to the future Mrs. Geller?" Chandler coyly said.
"I might have guessed, Merry Christmas Chandler." she smiled.
"Hey what time are you guys planning on heading out here? I got a little niece who wants to know when Mommy and Daddy are coming." he said.
"Why don't I get ready, and then you men can talk." she reached up and kissed Ross.
"Dude yeah, merry Christmas, we should be leaving as soon as Rachel is ready. Which should be with in the next five hours." Ross snickered.
A voice from the bedroom "I heard that Geller."
"Hey I would watch it , that's going to be your new name."Ross yelled back.
"You did it? That's great!" yelled Chandler. "We really have a lot to celebrate this Christmas. As a matter of fact, I am on my way to the airport now."
Ross was excited, "You mean?"
Chandler explained as he put on a shirt,"Yeah, he didn't know if the show was going to kill off his character or not. They have been so happy with him they gave him a paid vacation. So I get a call to be at JFK in an hour."
Rachel popped out of the bathroom and grabbed a sweater."Ready in about ten minutes, dear."
"Hey Rach, Joey's here." Ross exclaimed.
"He is? We can tell him our news." Rachel said happily.
"Well if you two lovebirds will excuse me, I gotta go to the airport. See you in a little while and congratulations." Chandler said as he pulled the Porsche from the Bing driveway.
Through the years we all will be together..if the fates allow
The radio played as the car pulled into the Bing driveway. Ross pulled in back of the SUV. Grabbing the shopping bags, Rachel handed them to Ross and they went to the door.
"Merry Christmas, Mon," Rachel said as she hugged Monica. The kitchen had all of those holiday smells like ham,turkey, and potatoes.Monica had to show everyone.
"I got creative this year so we have potatoes with lumps, potatoes with peas and onions, and I just threw them in the oven ,tater tots." Monica looked over at Joey with a smile.
"Well I am sure that the kids are dying and I know Joey is so let's get to the presents."
They walked into the living room which was breathtaking. A six foot blue spruce was covered with decorations of red and green. A crystal star topped the tree. At the foot of the tree were a mountain of gaily wrapped packages. On the table was a plate of cookies and a dish of Monica's special candy that she gave to the neighbors.
A fire was lit in the fireplace and on the mantel stockings were hung. The tiniest belonged to Jack and Erica Bing. Every person had their own stocking. They even noticed that Joey had one, even though no one sure till a little while ago that he was coming.
Emma ran when she saw her mommy and daddy were there. She had a wide smile on her face. "Santa was here. Santa was here. Me want presents." Ross picked up his daughter."Well Emma, Santa brought mommy a present as well. He heard you were such a good girl that he gave Daddy a pretty ring to give to Mommy and then Daddy said will you be my wife. And Mommy said yes. So Emma is going to get to wear a pretty dress and throw flowers when Mommy and Daddy get married." he slowly explained.
"Daddy won't go away. No more like at Uncle Joey's?" Emma asked curiously.
Ross let a tear come to his eye, "No baby girl, Emma , Daddy, and Mommy are going to be together now. From now on you are going to be Emma Green Geller," Ross hugged his daughter tightly.
Monica came over and hugged her brother, "You guys don't know how long we have waited to hear that. I am so happy for you both." Rachel came over with tears in her eyes and hugged Monica as well.
Everyone gathered around with warm congratulations and hugs. Now the most important people in their life knew. Now they had only the future ahead of them.and the mistakes of the past behind them.