Challenge Being Miles Away: Chapter 8

Too tired to come up with another disclaimer, so I'm just gonna say that the same apply.

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Note about this chapter: I understand that it was revealed that Ross had two birthdays. One mentioned in that episode when Gunther acted like he was compiling a list of birthdays when in fact he just wanted to know about Rachel's and the second time when Ross was at the hospital after breaking his hand when tried to punch Joey in season nine. For this story, I've decided to go for the second mentioned birthday and so, it is now October. Enjoy!

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The morning was clearly present and Ross clearly didn't want to get out of bed. His head was fiercely pounding and he started to regret going out with his colleagues for drinks. How they found out about his birthday, he didn't know but now he felt like he should've done better trying to get out of it.

The night was pretty much a blur and the only thing he could remember was laughing uncontrollably and for practically no reason at all. He doesn't even really remember how he got into his own bed at all because he was certain that he stumbled into his apartment and tripped face first onto his couch. He found that laughable and passed out seconds later on the spot.

Drawing the covers over his head, he then realized that he's not wearing his work clothes from the day before. He noticed that he was in his flannel plaid pants and a NYU T-shirt. Rubbing his eyes, he looked to his right and he noticed that there's a glass of water with aspirin right beside him. Someone obviously took care of him and Ross was baffled on who it could be. It couldn't be any one of his colleagues because they all parted ways in different directions after they left the bar and entered separate cabs for the ride home.

Ross groggily got out of bed and headed towards the bathroom. He was about to turn the knob when it turned itself and the door swung open.

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"Please throw in the towel and go home. You've already got employee of the month and now you're just making us look bad with all the hours you put in." Claudia ordered.

Claudia started to walk towards Rachel to pick her out of her seat but Rachel typed one key and shut down her computer.

Rachel smirked. "Done."

Claudia nodded and smiled. "Come on you, let's go get some drinks."

Rachel shook her head. "Nah, I should get home. Relieve my mother from babysitting duties."

"Your mother is in town?" Claudia incredulously asked.

Rachel nodded. "Yeah and out of the blue."

"That's it, you're definitely coming with me." Claudia took her wrist and started to pull her out of the office before Rachel could solidly protest.

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Actually enjoying herself was something that Rachel surely didn't expect. Drinking rounds of drinks, they traded off stories of their own or other's mishaps and adventures before Paris.

"And then Ross didn't know which knob to face because there was one on both sides, so he got sprayed on his front again."

They were both laughing uncontrollably at this point and got a couple of looks from the workers and customers.

Claudia tried to suck up her breath but found it quite challenging to do so. "I wish I could've seen that."

"Don't worry, I've got a picture here."

Rachel took out the picture from her purse that Chandler had to show to others and Claudia continued to hysterically laugh. The laughter started to simmer down and Rachel took a sip out of her glass.

"Speaking about Ross, what's he up to lately?" Claudia curiously asked.

"Well actually, his birthday is coming up in a few days."

This definitely sparked some interest. "So what are you getting him?"

Rachel shrugged. "I don't know. What do you usually get your boyfriend for their birthday?"

"There's always clothes because you know that you can make them look hot for a formal party in a suit. Cologne because you know that they'll smell good whenever you would go out for a date. Or in your case, since he's a crazed for anything anthropology related, you could get him some type of replica of an ancient specie that has been long gone."

Although Claudia's suggestion was something that Rachel would usually lean towards to, she wanted to make this year's present special. They sat, brainstorming for ideas and a thought suddenly occurred to Claudia that she thought Rachel would surely be interested in.

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It was already late and Rachel wanted nothing but to sleep. She looked down at her daughter and stroke her hair as the toddler remained in her sleeping state.

"We're here Ms. Green." The driver announced.

Rachel smiled graciously and picked up the sleeping toddler. The driver opened the door for Rachel and grabbed her duffel bag out of the trunk.

"Do you need help in carrying?"

"No, but thank you Jeff for driving me at this hour."

Jeff shook his head. "That's okay miss, it's my job."

Rachel generously tipped the driver and Jeff graciously smiled.

"Have a good night."

Rachel politely waved and Jeff pulled out.

Rachel really took Claudia's suggestion into consideration and decided that it was a great idea. That's why she was there at this moment. Claudia made a good point and Rachel decided to act on it.

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Rachel rinsed her mouth and wiped it dry. She checked her teeth one last time and walked towards the door. Turning the knob and opening the door, she was startled at first when Ross was standing directly in front of the door, but still put a smile on her face.

"Good morning birthday boy."

Ross closed his eyes and rubbed them. I must really be having a mean hangover if I'm seeing Rachel in front of me, Ross thought to himselfHe turned around and started to walk back to his bed, thinking that he should get back to sleep. Now his mind was playing games on him and he couldn't let that happen for the sake of his sanity.

As Ross started to walk away, that threw Rachel totally off. She stood there, completely confused and scratched her head. She started to chuckle, deciding to let him sleep and sober up.

When she got their last night, it was actually quite a funny scene. She found him bent over, with his abdomen on the arm of the couch and his face facing downward on the cushion. How he found that comfortable enough to sleep, she doesn't know but it took her a while to get him to stumble into his bed without waking up Emma or breaking anything in the process.

Rachel's stomach grumbled and she agreed that she should get something to eat.

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Ross opened his eyes and look to the side at his alarm clock. It was now past noon and he decided that he had to get out of bed. Getting out some clothes, he walked towards the bathroom and shook his head in the disbelief as he walked through the door. A vision suddenly flashed into his mind and Ross was sure that he really didn't see Rachel in front of him. To him it was just his mind making that illusion because he was obviously missing her.

Ross exited the bathroom after a quick shower and entered the kitchen, getting something quick to eat. After heating up some left overs, Ross felt like watching the television, so she grabbed his plate and drink into the living room. As Ross was walking towards the couch, he stepped on something solid and cursed.

Ross put his food on the coffee table and looked down to see what he stepped on. He picked up the object and tried to remember when he last saw it. Ross was definitely confused because he remembered that he got that for Emma before he left Paris about two months ago. Besides Hugsie, this was another toy that Emma couldn't leave home without. It was a blue pony that Emma would find comfort in whenever she needed someone to talk to when she was missing her daddy or whenever something that was bothering her. It was a pony that she chose to name Blutty. Ross raised his brow when she told him that and he curiously asked why she chose that name. Emma claimed the reason for the name was because the pony was pretty and since it was blue, she decided the name should be Blutty. When Ross and Rachel laid in bed and was talking about what Emma chose to name the pony, Ross couldn't help but point out the fact that it sounded like booty. Rachel agreed and blamed Ross for it because it was because of him that Emma chose a name close to booty. It was because of Ross rapping to "baby got back" that sparked it.

Sighing, Ross sadly smiled at the object and place it on the coffee table. For his birthday wish, he was definitely wishing that Rachel and Emma was there right now.

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As Rachel stood on the outside of the front door, she had everything planned for the night's activities. Phoebe graciously offered to watch Emma because she saw it as a great opportunity to practice how to handle kids and Monica set up a dinner reservation and VIP table for Ross and Rachel at Javu.

Rachel jiggled the keys into the doorknob and opened the door. She had to use the bathroom, so she told Emma to sit on the couch and play with her pony while she took a quick bathroom break. Emma understandably nodded and Rachel entered the bathroom.

Ross exited the kitchen after washing his dishes. After eating his left overs, he noticed that he's running low on some essential items such as bread, milk, juice, and eggs. He quickly compiled a shopping list and grabbed his keys so he could get the groceries.

Emma was quietly playing with her toy when she saw her father walked by and about to step out of the apartment.

"Happy B-day Daddy!" Emma happily squealed.

Ross turned around, not knowing what to see as he still believed that his mind was still playing games with him. He smiled widely as he watched his daughter slide down the couch and charged down towards him. Ross lowered himself down and Emma threw her arms around his neck, kissing his cheek.

"So you hug and kiss her when she wishes you a happy birthday and I get the big shaft." Rachel teasingly asked.

Ross happily walked towards Rachel after putting Emma down and gave her a deservingly kiss, wrapping his arms around her.

"So I wasn't dreaming after all?"

Rachel shook her head. "No, you wasn't. I actually found it to be quite hilarious when you walked back to bed."

Ross chuckled. "I really thought that I was seeing things and that I was seeing an illusion of you."

Rachel leaned in and kissed him sweetly on the lips, reassuring his disbelief. "Definitely not an illusion."

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Hey guys, so here's chapter eight. I just realized that I have like three weeks of school left, so I know that my professors would like to throw all these things as I approach the end of the school year. After all of the chaos from school is over, I can happily focus my creative drive on this fic and we'll see how it progress during the summer. So what do you think about this chapter? Liked it, loved it, or simply hate it, drop a review anyway. Thanks again :)