Carol leafed through the magazine as she waited for Ben's flight to arrive. Ben had been with his Grandmother Willick and had no idea of the turmoil at home. He came through the gate with the typical look of a ten year old boy.
"Mom." he cried as she held her arms out. She clung onto him as she stroked his blonde hair. Tears had begun to pour again.
"I missed you Mom, I missed you and Dad and Mom Susan." he said innocently.
Carol took a deep breath and walked him to a couch. He might as well know the truth before there was any more confusion.
"Ben , I have something to tell you and it is not going to be easy." she started. "Sweetheart, Susan 's gone." she said as she put her head down and looked at the ground.
"Is gone mean dead?" said Ben as his eyes filled up with tears.
"God no Ben. Susan left me and now she is living with another woman. It is just like when Daddy and I split up." Carol said painfully.
"This is great ," smiled Ben. "Eddie's mother and her boyfriend split up and her and Eddie's father got back together. You and Dad can get together again." Ben said as he jumped up and down.
"Ben, we can't do that. Your father and I haven't lived together in years . I like women and I thought we went all through this. Besides , your father is in love with Rachel and they are getting married." Carol tried to explain.
"I like Rachel, but I love you mommy. You and Daddy should be married." Ben said sadly. "Don't you love Daddy?" he asked with a pout.
"Ben I will always love your father. He is a very special man, but I am not in love with him." Carol heard herself say the words. They were echoing through her mind. "He is in love with Rachel."
"Will I get to see Mom Susan again?" asked Ben. "And will I get another mom or will I get a dad?"
"Ben , I can't answer any of those questions. Right now , we are going to be staying with your father and living in the city. Now grab your stuff and we'll go." Carol said as she pulled the suitcase from baggage claim. Ross waited outside the terminal in the car. His face lit up when he saw his son.
"Dad." Ben said as he ran into his arms.
"So how was Grandma's ?"
"Cool, I got some new things. Are you and Mom getting back together since she isn't with Susan anymore?" Ben asked with a hopeful face.
Ross could see that this little boy was filled with hope of a reconciliation. He was just too young to understand that Carol and him were not in love. It was his hope that this transition would be smooth, and Rachel would go from being fun Aunt Rachel to his new stepmother.
"Ben, just because Mom and Susan broke up, doesn' t mean we are going to be this perfect little family . I have someone that I love very much and we are finally going to be married. I just hope that whether it is another woman or another man, your mother will find the happiness I have found." Ross said as he put his arm around his son. "Now you are coming to my place and I happen to know that Aunt Monica sent some cookies home with us ." he smiled.
"Yay, " screamed Ben as he jumped into the back seat.
"Thank you." said Carol as she looked at Ross.
"For what?"
"For just being someone to cry to, someone to lean on, someone to help me." she said as she put her hand on his.
"Carol , you are the mother of my only son. What we had once was very special. You know, I am so glad that we are still friends. My other ex wife I am not so lucky with." Ross said as he looked at the ground.
"You mean Emily?"
"Yeah if I ever set foot in London, she would probably sick the hounds on me or something." he laughed.
"You deserve this Ross, you really do. I knew that you were in love with her when we were married."
"You did?" he said surprised. "Please don't let it be something like I said her name while we were making love." he complained.
"Only you Ross, " she laughed. "Actually it was Monica. She said that you had been friends for years and you really liked her. Then when she came back after leaving Barry, I could just tell the way you talked about her, your eyes sparkled, you had this lilt in your voice. Part of me still wanted to be that woman."
"But you had Susan, and you said you loved women." he said confused.
"You were the first man I ever really loved. I knew you were special because how you told me I was the first. You were so nervous ,but yet you made love to me with the skill of a guy who had done it hundreds of times." Carol looked into his brown eyes. Her grasp around his hand got tighter. She leaned in toward him.
"Carol, what is this? Ten years ago, you left me for another woman. You shatter my life , and then tell me I have to share my first child with another woman. Now you are acting funny, Carol ? What in the hell is going on?" Ross said angrily.
"I may have loved Susan, I may be bi, who knows, but I do know this. I never stopped caring about you and you never stopped caring about me. It is very obvious to me." Carol leaned over again.
"Well please let me know, because it isn't to me." Ross almost screamed in an octave higher than his normal voice.
"Ross, I think I am still in love with you." she said as she pressed her lips to his. He had a million thoughts running through his head. He wanted to push away , he wanted to fight for the love he had lost time after time. But his lips gave way to hers as he put his hands on her shoulders and began to kiss back.
Ben stared through the back window and smiled. He knew it would happen his mom and dad still loved each other. But as the happy scene was going on, someone hailed a cab and then witnessed the scene.
Joey couldn't believe that he would see this on his trip to New York. He blinked his eyes and then he opened his mouth in surprise. It was Ross kissing his ex wife passionately. What was he going to do?