Rachel silently got into the car as she just looked over at her boyfriend. Boyfriend , hah what an understatement . When she had thought of everything this man was to her, friend, lover, father of her child, she just became overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of her decision, should she stay with at Joey's or Ross'. Was she ready yet?

As the rented car pulled away from the curb, silence was the only thing between Ross and Rachel. Ross uneasy with the silence turned on the radio. A familiar song started to play.

See the stone set in your eyes

Feel the thorn twist in your side

I wait for you

Sleight of hand and twist of fate

On a bed of nails she makes me wait

And I wait for you… with or without you.

"You can try to ignore me all you want , but we have a long drive ahead , and it isn't going to go away." Ross said matter of factly.

"It's just I don't know where to start." said Rachel. "I mean , it's us . Last night was incredible and I knew I was making a mistake by leaving , but I don't know where we should go from here."

"I'm sorry ." Ross simply said.

"What?"

"I'm sorry for everything. You know Emily and Charlie and for that one thing ." he said earnestly. "I shouldn't have used that lousy excuse and I have thrown it in your face for years. I have even tried to make my own children believe that I was right.'

"Oh so now you are admitting that we weren't on a break and you were just being a typical man." she said smugly.

"When I heard Mark's voice that night, my heart broke all over again. I didn't know , honest, I did not know whether he was there as a friend or to pick up the pieces of our relationship."

"You meant too much to me. I would have never done that. " Rachel said as she tenderly brushed her hand against his on the steering wheel.

"So now where do we go?" he said

"Actually I think it is the next turn off."

"That isn't what I meant Rachel. Where do we go?" he asked earnestly.

"I guess we start from square one. I guess we forget everything and concentrate on working on this relationship. We keep coming back together for a reason and this must be the reason."

"I said a long time that I could picture us ending up together." he sighed. "Let's be doing this for the right reasons. I don't want to see Emma hurt the way you were when your parents split up."

"I guess I can move back in, but you have got to understand it's going to take time. I can't just jump back into your bed right away. I promise you it's not going to be long , but I can't do it right now. If you can accept that then , I would be willing to live in your apartment because I want Emma to know she has a family. I want Emma to know that she has a Mommy and Daddy who love her very much and they are trying to give her that family she deserves." Rachel 's voice shook as she tearfully admitted this.

"And that's what I want too. I don't want another child I only get to see on the weekends. I want Emma to have a mommy and daddy ." he looked over at her and smiled.

"So we're doing this?"

"I guess we are." he said as they pulled into the driveway. Sandra was looking out the window . She couldn't believe her eyes . Here she thought that Rachel was on her way to Paris , and now her daughter was standing in the driveway. She smiled because she knew that Rachel had made the right choice. She had given her dream away for love.

Emma ran to her father. "Daddy." she happily said. He had tears in his eyes when he realized how close he came to her flying off to Paris . "That's right Emma, Daddy's here. And he is always going to be here." Ross said as he stroked her blonde hair.

"Rachel ? I thought you would be in Paris this morning."Sandra said. Rachel ran into her arms and said , "I couldn't do it Mom. I couldn't leave someone that meant so much to me. I got on the plane and started to think and then I realized I love him Mom. I have never loved a man as much as I love this one . Not Barry, Not Joey, not any man I have ever been with." Rachel put her arms around Ross and put her head on his chest .

"I told you it would happen Rachel." Sandra smiled. "And I couldn't have be happier. Now your father." she said offhandedly.

"Mrs. Green , I know that her father and I haven't been on the best of terms, but he has to realize that I will never do anything to hurt his daughter again or his granddaughter."

"I know that. I knew when you offered to take full responsibility for my granddaughter that you wouldn't. You are a good man ." Sandra sighed.

Rachel took her daughter from Ross and smiled. "We're going home Emma, Emma clapped her hands and laughed. Looking at each other, she couldn't help it and she didn't care if it was in front of her own mother. She leaned up and gave Ross a kiss.

It was a new day. A new beginning . No more "We were on a break." That night they had went to a store to buy Emma's first big girl bed after all she was almost two. After an evening of swearing and pain, the white bed was finally put together. It was covered in lavender sheets with white flowers and ponies. Emma's blonde hair was smashed onto the pillows as she securely held a stuffed orange dinosaur. She looked up at her parents with her big brown eyes and sighed contently.

"Good night Princess, " Ross said as he pulled the blanket over her and watched her chest rise and fall. Here was the only thing he had ever really wanted. All of his papers and dissertations and degrees didn't matter ,he would give it all up just for this moment. She was truly his.

"Mommy loves you." Rachel said kissing her cheek. She recalled back in her mind . "Maybe I don't want to be a shoe." Well maybe she did want to be a shoe after all. She just hadn't found the right pair yet. She had to go through a lot of bargain racks to find the right one. She had went to the bottom of her closet and found a pair that was there all along. The perfect one.

With his arm around her, they looked down one more time and then closed the door. Looking at each other, they walked to the window and looked up at the stars. Sadly their eyes went across the street to the empty apartment across the way. The drapes were wide open. He brushed a tear from her blue eyes. His thoughts were exactly the same as he brought her head to his chest.

"It's going to be alright." he softly said. "I'm here and I am never going to leave you again."

Rachel had found her dream as she gazed upon the stars in the New York night. It wasn't Paris or Louis Vuitton. It was a little girl sleeping in the next room and the man who held her in his arms.

It was worth the wait , and she didn't just mean tonight.