Summary: Will a secret Rachel has hidden for 15 years finally come out? If so, will her marriage to Ross be able to survive?

This story takes place in the present time. Ross and Rachel have been married almost a year, and Rachel is 7 ½ months pregnant with their second child. Emma is 3 ½ years old. Monica and Chandler still live in Westchester with their almost two year-old twins. Phoebe and Mike have a one-year old daughter named Sky. Joey is in L.A.

"Ross," began Rachel, "this is my daughter, Mandy."

"Your…….. Um…..Your what? I mean, your daughter is upstairs asleep in her bed. This is not your daughter," exclaimed Ross as he began to panic.

"Ross, I have another daughter. I gave her up for adoption when I was twenty," explained Rachel. Ross stood in silence with a shocked look on his face. Rachel turned to Mandy, "Let's take you upstairs and get you settled into the guest room. It's not completely finished yet, but it has a bed."

"What about your husband? Are you just going to leave him like that?" asked Mandy.

"Yeah, he does that when he's in shock. He'll come around in a few minutes, then I'll explain everything. It's useless to try to talk to him right now," replied Rachel. Rachel took Mandy upstairs and then came back down to see Ross sitting on the sofa in the living room looking quite devastated.

"You had a child that I never knew about? How could you keep something like this from me?" asked Ross.

"Well," began Rachel, "I guess I was afraid you would hate me."

"Why would I hate you?" Ross inquired.

"Well, I guess I should just start at the beginning," started Rachel. "It was the end of sophomore year in college………"

May 1990

Rachel sighed with relief! She had just finished her last final of the year and was headed home in the morning for a summer of fun and relaxation. No studying, not that she actually studied that much anyways, just laying out and working on her tan. There was just one last party to go to tonight. The last party of the school year, as everyone was headed home for the summer to work or relax. Rachel decided she should look hot for the party tonight. She had been single for a few months and was about tired of it. She knew she wouldn't find a boyfriend tonight, but it couldn't hurt to have a few new prospects to check out in the fall.

Rachel walked into the party with a couple of sorority sisters. They quickly went off and started making out with their prospective boyfriends. Rachel headed to the keg. She needed to loosen up some if she was really going to have some fun tonight. About four or five beers later she was ready to party! She walked over to the first really cute guy she saw and started dancing. After they had danced for a while he leaned in and kissed her. Rachel didn't stop him. Their kisses slowly deepened until they were making out. After a few minutes he asked Rachel, "So, do you want to move this into one of the bedrooms?" What the heck, thought Rachel. He's cute and every girl deserves a little fun!

The next morning Rachel woke up in a strange room. Where was she? She looked over at the guy asleep next to her, oh yeah! She got out of the bed, gathered up her clothes, and headed back to her apartment. She thought about how amazing her last night at college had been. Then another thought entered her mind, she had never even gotten his name.

"So," finished Rachel, "That's how I got pregnant. One stupid, drunken night with some guy I didn't even know. I'm sure you want to divorce your slut of a wife now."

Seeing that Rachel was on the verge of crying, Ross leaned in to embrace her. "Oh sweetie, no, I would never divorce you because of something like that. You were in college. We all do a lot of crazy things while in college that we regret as adults. I don't blame you. I just want to know why you gave her up for adoption? Why didn't you keep her?"

July 1990

Rachel woke up feeling a little sick. This was about the fifth morning in a row that had happened. She must be getting a virus or something she thought. After lying in bed a while longer, she began to feel a little better, so she put on her tennis shoes and went for her daily run. After returning from her run, she put on her bikini to lay out by the pool for the afternoon. As she was lying in the lounge chair by the pool, she noticed her stomach was a little pudgy. How did this happen? She had ran every day since she had been home for vacation and had only been eating salads in an attempt to keep her figure in tip-top shape. She got up and ran every morning and lay by the pool every afternoon. She would then swim some laps before going inside to get ready to hang out with her friends at night. A thought then suddenly entered her mind, she had been swimming EVERY day for the past two months without ANY interruption from a certain monthly friend. Was she? NO, that couldn't be it. She hadn't had a boyfriend in months. Monica had even teased her the night before about her unusually long dry spell. Then suddenly her last night on campus came screaming back at her. Oh no, was she pregnant?

She quickly ran into her house, put some clothes on, and hopped in her car. She went to the nearest drug store, made sure no one she knew was around, and quickly purchased five pregnancy tests. She wanted to be sure!

Positive, positive, positive, positive, and positive. She couldn't believe it! She was really pregnant, and by a man whose name she didn't even know. What was she going to do? She could just not tell anyone and get it taken care of herself. No, she could never kill her child. She would have to tell her parents. Surely they would help her out, right?

After dinner, Rachel sat down with her parents. She made sure she waited until Jill and Amy were gone for the night. Okay, she thought, I'm just going to get this over with. "Mom, dad," she began, "I'm pregnant."

"What!" exploded Leonard Green, "Who did this to you? Well, it doesn't matter because you are not going to have this baby!"

"What," said Rachel as she burst into tears, "You can't make me kill my baby."

"Well, what do you think you're going to do, Rachel? Raise a child on your own? Because you will certainly not be getting any help from me!" exclaimed Leonard.

"Hold on," interrupted Sandra, "There is a simple solution for all of this. Rachel will just give the baby up for adoption. We'll send her to Florida to live with my mom until the baby is born, and then she will come back like nothing ever happened."

"Mom, don't you think all of my friends will notice that I'll be gone for nine months?" asked Rachel.

"Well, just tell them you are studying abroad for the school year. They'll never have to know," stated Sandra.

"What if I want to keep the baby?" wondered Rachel.

"Well then, you will be on your own," stated Sandra. "Your father and I will not support you and a bastard grandchild. Do you really want to give up college and get a job flipping burgers to support your child?"

"No, mom. I'll go pack," Rachel answered dejectedly.

The next couple of days went by really quickly. Rachel called all of her friends and told them she was leaving for Europe. She even told her sisters this. She called everyone except for Monica. Monica could always tell when she was lying, so Rachel never called to tell her where she was going. The night before she found out she was pregnant would be the last time she would speak to Monica Geller for four years.

"So, I went to Florida, had the baby, stayed a couple of extra months to get my figure back, came home, and never told a soul. My parents even acted like nothing ever happened. They never even asked me who the father was." finished Rachel.

"Didn't you want to keep her?" asked Ross.

"Yes, of course I did! I just didn't know how I would support her, and I really didn't want to give up all of daddy's money or the prospect of a rich husband. I didn't think anyone would want to marry me if I had a child. I think even then I knew I was being selfish. Giving her up was the biggest mistake of my life, but I don't think I fully realized it until Emma was born," explained Rachel.

"I mean, I guess you were a little selfish," began Ross, "but I think most twenty year olds would do the same thing in your shoes. I just don't understand why you never told me. I could never hate you for this. You honestly did what you thought was best. If it is possible, I think I may love you even more."

"Really?" Rachel tearfully asked.

"Yes, really, "replied Ross. "Now why don't you go upstairs and talk to Mandy. You two have a lot of catching up to do."

"Oh Ross, is it okay if Mandy stays here for a few days? I told her it was okay, but I hope you don't mind?" Rachel asked as she slowly got up from the couch.

"Of course it's okay honey! You two need to get to know each other," Ross said as he kissed his wife.

"Thank you so much sweetie. Love you!" said Rachel.

"Love you too," replied Ross.

Rachel then turned to go up the stairs, only to see Mandy sitting on the landing.

"So, I guess you heard it all," asked Rachel.

"Yeah," stared Mandy, "I'm so sorry for listening, but it was just too tempting. I really understand why you gave me up. I probably would have done the same thing in your situation. I'm just sorry that I'll never know who my father is."

"I hope you don't think too much less of me because of that," said Rachel.

"I really don't," replied Mandy. "Everyone makes mistakes."

"Thank you for not hating me," said Rachel. "I think it is time we all went to bed. I'll see you in the morning. Good night." Rachel gave Mandy a hug and they both went into their prospective rooms.

I hope this answered most of your questions! There is still more of the story to come!