Hi, here's another chapter.

Thank you for the very kind reviews, I didn't really expect such a warm welcome to this fan fiction. This is pushing me to go on with the story.

I wanted to write something angst, but I'm not really into it. I think Ross and Rachel are over their major problems. But this doesn't mean there can't be some misunderstanding and some funny scene in store for them ;) I hope you enjoy this one!

A huge thank to Babatomyfriends, who's become my betaangel. She's helping me to improve this fiction, with the result that if you read it for the second time, you'll find much less mistakes because of her =)

The months had passed, Christmas had almost arrived and Rachel hadn't even noticed.

Life with Ross and Emma had started to go by with a daily comfortable routine and they couldn't be happier. The little girl was growing so fast, learning new words every day and developing her motor skills. Ross was such a proud father that he often took Emma to work with him, only to show her to his colleagues.

Two weeks before Christmas, though, Ross had come home with a shocking news that had startled Rachel and made her worry for the first time about their relationship since the night she'd decided to get off that plane.

"Guess who's coming to NYU as a speaker for a paleontology convention?" Ross told her, oblivious about the issues that this subject would raise during the following days.

"Who?" Rachel asked, while she was feeding Emma sitting at her chair.

"Julie."

Rachel stared at Ross in disbelief, "Ju-Julie? Julie as in…your ex-girlfriend Julie?!"

"Yeah." He replied, smiling.

"Julie. I mean, the Julie you-almost-bought-a-cat-with, Julie."

Ross sensed that Rachel was getting nervous and behaving weirdly, "That's the one, I guess?" he said, trying to sound ironic.

"I didn't know she still lived in New York." Rachel tried to hide her disappointment.

"She isn't, actually, she's coming as a guest for two seminars and she's staying a couple of days. She doesn't know anyone at NYU, so I offered to show her around."

"So nice of you." Rachel told him, feigning a smile of approbation.

"Is…is it ok for you? I mean, I haven't seen her in almost ten years, but at least she'll have a friend in town to be in touch with."

"Of course, honey! I mean, if she really doesn't have anyone else to rely on! Did you tell her about us?"

Ross shook his head, "Well, we didn't have time to talk about our personal life, we only wrote each other a couple of e-mails."

Rachel felt a stab in her back. Why hadn't Ross told Julie about them? They were getting married in a few months and he hadn't even mentioned this to his former girlfriend, one of the women that had caused them to be apart for months when he had come back from China.

Maybe she was seeing too much in this, she was just exaggerating, but she couldn't help but feel betrayed by Ross's behavior.

"Anyway, I really hoped you could come to the event night that the University is organizing for the Christmas Eve. I wish you could meet Julie in person, I'd love if you two could meet again!"

As soon as those thoughts had come to her mind, Rachel felt stupid and immature. She adverted Ross's gaze and flushed, feeling uncomfortable and unworthy of Ross's trust for the first time in her life.

Ross noticed this and immediately worried about her, "Rach? Is everything ok?"

"Yes. It's just…nothing. What were you saying?" she urged him to continue, giving Emma another spoon of her food.

"Well, I already asked Monica and she told me that we could leave Emma with her and Chandler and we can spend the night there after the party too, so we'll be ready to celebrate Christmas with the whole family."

Rachel smiled and stared at him, "Ok, it's a lovely idea, honey. I'll come to the party, then."

"Wow, it's great! Any possibility that you might want to come to my seminar, too?"

"Don't push it, sweetie. A party full of dinosaurs geeks is enough. There's gonna be wine, isn't there?"

Ross chuckled, "Totally."

Ross walked towards their bedroom to get change and Rachel finished giving Emma her meal. And yet, she wasn't convinced that meeting Julie would be the greatest idea.

The following days were really hard for Rachel, who kept thinking about Ross and Julie.

She had to admit it. She was jealous.

She wasn't afraid of what Ross could do, she was sure that he would never hurt her on purpose, and she trusted him with all her heart.

But she was jealous and she didn't want to tell Ross the truth. And the fact that he was spending time with Julie was becoming an obsession.

The day before Ross's seminar, he was in their bedroom, skimming through his notes at the computer and reviewing his speech. Emma was already sleeping and Rachel was watching TV in the living room.

When she heard Ross's mobile ring, she ran silently towards the bedroom to overhear his conversation even though she knew that she was doing something wrong.

"Hi, Julie!" he exclaimed, joyfully.

"Yes, I was just doing that." He chuckled, "No, no…don't worry, I won't mention him."

Rachel imagined that they might be referring to some paleontology guy she wouldn't even know about in a million years. Maybe it was time that she paid more attention to Ross's stories when he told them.

"Yes, you were just great today! You are such a good speaker, everybody was so intrigued by what you were saying, what's your secret?"

Rachel was regretting her choice to listen to that conversation, but she couldn't move away from the door. After a few seconds, Ross continued to talk.

"No, no, she's not coming. Well, she's not really into the whole paleontology thing, you know."

Rachel felt tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Ross wasn't telling this in a resentful tone, he didn't sound upset, but she was hurt anyway.

"I'd love to, we'll have so much fun! Yeah, you too, see ya tomorrow. Bye."

Rachel sighed and squeezed her eyes.

If Ross thought she wasn't coming to his seminar after this, he was very wrong.

The auditorium was full of people when Rachel arrived.

She had called Judy and asked her to keep Emma that morning because she really wanted to surprise Ross and go to listen to his speech.

She was wearing one of her best outfits, with the result that many of the professors and students in the room were now looking at her as she was walking down the stairs in a short black skirt and a white sexy blouse.

Her eyes were looking frantically for Ross and she smiled when she saw him. He was standing by the teacher's desk, talking to a couple of colleagues. Rachel's smile faded as soon as she noticed that Julie was standing right next to him.

It was almost surreal to see her after so many years. She hadn't changed, even if her hair was longer than she remembered (she'd probably decided to let it grow again, after the fatal haircut made by Phoebe under Rachel's advice).

Ross was smiling and chatting with the people around him, ready to begin his lecture, when his eyes fell on Rachel, who was jumping from the last step of the stair to the floor in front of him.

But his reaction wasn't what Rachel had imagined. She was expecting him to be incredibly happy to see her, but when Ross saw the unnatural smile on Rachel's face as she greeted him with their usual, "Hey, you!", he didn't respond back.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her, shocked by her presence.

"I wanted to surprise you! You wanted me to come, so here I am!" she explained, trying to sound as believable as possible.

But Ross knew her better. He didn't want to show how much upset he was in front of the others, so he gave her a quick peck on the lips and introduced Rachel to his colleagues.

"This is Rachel Green, my fiancée. This is Dr. Stevenson and this is Dr. Williams, you met him last month when we had lunch together after the exhibition."

"Of course…" she smiled at him, as the man took Rachel's hand and kissed it.

"It's always a pleasure, Miss Green."

"Please, call me Rachel." She replied, as charming as she could be.

"And…you remember Julie." Ross said, sighing.

"Of course, I do…" Rachel stressed out the last word. "How are you?"

"Fine!" Julie tried to smile at her, "I thought I would…see you tonight at the party…"

"Well, here I am! Supporting my future husband and everything…" Rachel said, grabbing Ross's arm and caressing his chest.

Ross gazed at her and kept his thoughts for himself. He was really hating this.

"Dr. Geller, I think it's time to start." Dr. Williams interrupted them.

"Ok. See you later." He said to Rachel without even looking at her.

"Remember that joke about the T-rex and you'll get them!" Julie reminded him.

Ross chuckled nervously and walked towards the stage and behind the desk.

Rachel glared at Julie without being noticed and then choose a chair to sit in the second row.

During Ross's speech, Rachel listened carefully to him. It was the first time that she really paid attention to one of his lectures. She had to admit to herself that all the stuff he was saying wasn't bad at all. And the joke he made about the t-rex, probably the one suggested by Julie, actually made people laugh and caught the attention of the audience.

At the end of the speech, a great applause filled the auditorium and Ross smiled to the audience and thanked everyone before getting down from the stage.

Rachel was so proud of him. And she was really glad that she had come to see him, even if she'd done it for the wrong reasons.

She decided to wait for everyone to congratulate Ross before approaching him. She knew that he might be mad at her for what she had done and they would need to talk about it later. Maybe they would also have an argument. But at that moment, all she wanted was to make him understand that what he'd just done was really impressive.

After fifteen minutes, only Julie and a few other people were still around Ross. He was talking to them with a huge smile on his face, probably commenting his speech and making further considerations about it.

Finally, he saw Rachel leaning against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest. As soon as she saw Ross watching her, she smiled at him and she raised her eyebrows as if she wanted to invite him to run towards her.

Dimissing what had happened before, he did.

He jumped on the steps of the lateral stairway and reached Rachel. He hugged her enthusiastically, like the night she'd come home after getting off the plane. He kissed her and then he leaned his forehead on hers.

"I don't care now. I'm just so glad that you came."

If only you knew, Rachel thought.

"I'm so proud of you."

"Did you actually listen to me?" he asked her, happy as a baby.

"Yes, doctor Geller. And I must admit it was almost interesting." She joked.

"So you are coming to all my seminars from now on?" Ross demanded, hopeful.

"I said almost." Rachel quipped, making him laugh.

Ross took her hand and they both walked down the stairs to meet the others, "So, why did you come Rach?"

Rachel's eyes caught Julie's staring at them. It was only for a second, but she could tell that there was something in that look.

"I'll tell you later. Let's go home and get ready for tonight."

Ross was trying not to think about the little misunderstanding that had happened before his speech, he really wanted to have fun that night. It was almost Christmas and, even if he usually didn't like to celebrate that holiday, that year was different.

He had finally Rachel back in his life and they lived together with Emma. The following day, they would have a great day at Monica and Chandler's with Emma, their parents, Jack, Erica, Phoebe and Mike. Except for Joey's absence, everything would be just perfect.

But tonight, it was just for them.

And Ross was proud to say that together they looked just swell. They were probably the best looking couple in the room.

Of course, mostly because of Rachel. She was unbelievably beautiful in her long black gown.

And yet, when he'd come out of the bedroom dressed up in his tuxedo, Rachel had been positively stunned. She had hugged him and told him that she was really upset they couldn't sleep back at their own apartment.

Ross and Rachel were drinking a glass of champagne and enjoying each other's company, waiting for Julie to arrive.

"So, are you going to tell me what was bothering you before or do you want me to guess?" Ross asked her, taking a canapé from the buffet.

"It's just some thoughts I had, lately. I think I felt a bit…neglected, because of this big speech of yours. I just wanted to blend in, that's all."

Ross shook his head, "You expect me to believe that? Rach, you've never tried to blend in once before. Never. Since you came to New York, you and the guys always made fun of my job."

"I know." She said, knowing that her lie wasn't good enough.

"So what's the matter? I want you to tell me, come on…" he pleaded.

"Hi guys!" Julie's voice interrupted them.

"Hi, Julie!" Ross gave her a kiss on the cheek and Rachel tried not to show her inner turmoil.

"Ehy, Julie."

"So, are you alone or…?" Ross asked her.

"No, I convinced him to come, he took a plane this afternoon. He's parking the rented car." Julie answered, a beaming smile on her face.

Rachel's angry expression converted instantly into a relieved one, "Julie's…Julie's boyfriend…he's parking the car!" she smiled.

Ross grinned and shook his head, noticing his fiancée's change of attitude. He knew her so well.

"Yes! Well he didn't want to come because he thought this could be a little weird, seeing our…history…but it's been almost ten years!" Julie exclaimed.

"You're absolutely right!" Rachel laughed and gave her a light shove on the shoulder. "So, uhm…excuse-me a second, but I...uhm...need to go to the bathroom." Rachel informed Ross. He nodded and watched her leave.

Rachel entered the bathroom and took the mobile from her purse, fast dialing Monica's number. She entered one of the cubicles and closed the door behind her.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Mon? Hi! How's Emma?" she asked.

"She's already sleeping. She's been lovely as usual."

"Good. Listen, you were right about the whole Julie thing."

"What do you mean?"

"She has a boyfriend!"

"See? I told you that she couldn't be still interested in Ross!"

"I know, I know…I was wrong and you were right."

"Yes! Another point for my scorebook!"

Rachel was going out of the cubicle when she heard someone coming inside the bathroom.

"Oh, I missed doing this with you!" Julie's voice said. She was clearly kissing someone, probably her boyfriend.

"I missed you so much, all this time we weren't together…" a sugared reply came with a well-known voice.

Rachel was shocked. The man answering to Julie's advance seemed to be Ross.

"Oh my god!" Rachel exhaled a muffled scream.

"What's up?" Monica asked her.

"Julie's just entered the bathroom and it looks like she's making out with Ross!" she murmured.

"What?!" Monica screamed.

"Oh honey, we can't do this now…it's not right." Julie said between the kisses.

"Who cares about them?" came the reply.

As Rachel heard Ross saying this, Rachel's eyes opened wide. She couldn't believe this.

"Rach, what's going on? Rachel?" Monica asked her.

"Russ, we got to stop this…" Julie said.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Rachel cried, coming out of the cubicle, slamming the door.

Julie and the man stopped kissing each other and turned around to face Rachel.

As soon as they did this, she realized that the man kissing Julie wasn't Ross, he was no other than Russ, the man she had dated for a few days before realizing how much he looked like Ross.

And how could it be her fiancée, seeing that Ross was entering the bathroom at that very moment, worried by Rachel's shout.

"What's going on here?" he demanded, noticing the tension in the room.

Julie noticed Rachel's worried expression and she realized that Rachel was mortified and on the verge of crying.

In the last few days, Ross had told her everything about their on and off relationship and now Julie was realizing that her presence in town might have been a difficult test for Rachel.

Her eyes were begging for help. And the fact that they could hear Monica's shouts coming from the mobile meant that Rachel had been in the bathroom talking with her best friend about something that was bothering her.

So Julie decided to help her.

"Nothing, Ross. We were just catching up. Rachel, I think you already know my boyfriend, Russ Hamilton." Julie introduced him.

Astonished by Julie's kindness, Rachel held out her hand towards the man, "Of course! Well, long time no see, uh?" Rachel said, grabbing Russ's hand.

"Rachel? Rachel?" Monica was still screaming from the phone.

"Mon!" Rachel put the mobile next to her ear, "Everything is fine" she walked towards Ross, who was now looking at her suspiciously. "Remember the scorebook? You can put a hundred points for you after this one!"

Rachel closed the call and put the mobile back in her purse, then she attempted to look at Ross, who was still trying to figure out what had just happened.

"I guess we all need a glass of champagne." Julie interrupted that embarrassing moment, "Rachel, will you join us?"

Rachel smiled at her and silently thanked Julie for always being such a kind woman. She hadn't changed a bit. "Of course, I will. Thank you."

"So, let's go."

The two women exited the bathroom and walked past Ross.

"It could have happened to anyone." Julie murmured to Rachel.

"Oh, believe me. This could only have happened to ME."

Julie chuckled and they walked towards the buffet.

Later that night, Rachel was chatting with Russ and they were laughing about the whole situation. Ross was still waiting to talk with Rachel about everything that had happened that day, but he knew it was too soon and he didn't want to spoil the party. Everything was fine, now, and he was glad that she and Julie had worked things out in the end.

Julie walked towards Ross with a glass of champagne in her hand and they clinked them. They both looked at their partners, who were laughing together not too far from them.

"It's so nice that you two got together in the end, Ross." Julie said to him.

"I know…it was a long and difficult journey, but I'm so glad that we're finally together for good." Ross explained.

"When's the wedding?"

"July 16th. And you two must be there. Rachel agrees with me." Ross nodded.

Julie smiled, amazed, "Well, thank you. We'll be honored to come. It's going to be nice to see all the guys again."

"I'm sure Monica will be very happy too."

Julie took a sip of her champagne and sighed, remembering the past. "You know, when you broke up with me, I felt really heartbroken." Julie confessed to him.

Ross stared at her, "I'm so sorry. It wasn't your fault. And believe me, you are not the only person who got involved and hurt because of our twisted relationship." Ross told her, pointing at Rachel.

"Such a relief!" Julie laughed, and so did Ross, "But, you know, from the way you were talking about Rachel the day that you came to end things with us…I realized that you really loved her. You had…I don't know, these sparkles in your eyes whenever you mentioned her."

"Really?" Ross asked her.

"Yeah…just like now." Julie assured him.

Ross smiled, looking at Rachel and grinning to himself.

"Tell me...Is Russ a nice guy?" Ross asked her.

"He's the best. Really. We've been together since then, I guess in some way he reminded me of you. And yet, in other ways he's so much different."

"I'm glad you found someone to complete you. And I'm sorry for Rachel's behavior. I know something's bothering her, she's being so childish. I thought we were over this kind of silly mistrust."

"She was just jealous, Ross. We are friends, but I'll always be an ex-girlfriend to her eyes. Promise me you won't be too hard with her." Julie advised him.

"I'll try. You're still amazing, you know?" Ross complimented her.

"Thanks."

At that moment, Rachel and Russ joined them with big smiles on their faces.

"Honey, shall we go? It's a long way to Westchester." Rachel reminded Ross.

"Yeah, you're right. Julie, I hope we meet again soon." Ross held her.

"I hope so too."

"It was a pleasure. See you at the wedding!" Rachel said, meaning it. She hugged the woman. "And thank you, again." She murmured, so that only Julie could hear her. Julie blinked at her.

Ross and Russ shook their hands and Rachel gave him a kiss on the cheek.

As she and Ross walked past the other guests, he looked at her, "I still don't see it."

"What?" she asked him.

"How could you all possibly think he looks like me?" he shouted.

Rachel giggled and took Ross's arm, as he grinned and kissed her head.

"Hi!" Monica greeted Rachel and her brother.

"Wow, we thought you'd arrive later. Guess the party was great, uh?" Chandler asked them.

"No, we just wanted to come home, we were afraid there might be frost on the streets. Emma's doing good?"

"Yes, all the kids are asleep. I can't believe that the twins have finally started to sleep through the night. It's like I'm discovering my hearing again." Monica said, closing the door behind them.

Rachel and Ross took off their coats and scarfs and Chandler went to put them away.

"Did Judy bring the children's presents for tomorrow?" Rachel asked.

"Yes, everything's ready under the tree. It's the first time Emma's actually going to understand that she's getting presents from Santa, I'm so excited!" Monica clapped her hands.

"I know!" Rachel smiled.

"So, are we going to stay up to chat or do you want to go to sleep?" Monica asked them.

Ross put his hand over Rachel's shoulder and stopped her from talking, "Actually we are very tired, Mon, would you mind if we go to sleep right away?"

Rachel knew that Ross wanted to sort things out, she couldn't delay an explanation anymore.

"Oh no, it's ok, we have tomorrow to stay together. By the way, you two looked really gorgeous tonight!"

Chandler came back from the living room, "Sex is not allowed in the guest bedroom on Christmas Eve!"

"Chandler!" Monica shoved him. "Don't listen to him, I changed the sheets this morning. Oh, I'd be so glad if you conceived a new cousin for Jack and Erica in this house!" Monica smiled.

"Guys, we can control ourselves!" Rachel scoffed.

"Since when?" Chandler asked them.

Ross shook his head and walked silently towards the guest room. Rachel knew that he was trying to hide his disappointment to his sister and brother-in-law, but they knew him better.

"Is everything fine?" Monica asked her. "What happened before with Julie?"

"I'll tell you tomorrow. But you can forget to expect me to get pregnant tonight."

When Rachel entered the bedroom, Ross had taken off his jacket. He had unbuttoned his white shirt and he was taking off his tie. Rachel thought that he was so sexy that she wanted to try and avoid an argument by playing the charm card, so she held him from behind and she kissed his nape.

"Rach…"

"Come on, we have Monica's blessing!" she replied, caressing his chest.

He got rid of her arms and sat on the bed. He stared at her, "How long are you going to avoid answering me?"

"I am not avoiding; I am just…procrastinating."

Ross giggled at her, "Ok, so I will try and guess. You have been acting weird since I told you that Julie was coming to New York. Am I getting warm if I think that you were jealous?"

"Nooo." She stressed the answer by beating her foot on the floor and crossing her arms on her chest.

"So you came to my seminar because you REALLY wanted to be there for me?"

"Of course! I'm almost your wife, I wanted to be supportive!"

"And you expressed your joy when you found out that Julie had a boyfriend because…"

"Because it's been ten years and I still feel a little bit guilty for your breakup!"

Ross chuckled. He really wanted to see how many excuses Rachel was able to conceive. He nodded in disbelief, "Ok. So what happened in the bathroom before?"

"I…I was talking to Monica and I got scared because I thought that Julie was…"

"That she was what? What?" he prodded her.

"Ok, fine, fine! I heard Russ's voice and I thought it was you. Gosh, it was only for a couple of seconds, his voice sounds so much like yours, Ross!"

Now Ross looked angry and deceived, "It so does not!" he replied.

"Shhh, don't wake up everyone!" Rachel tried to soothe him.

"Rach, I can't believe this. I thought you trust me. Don't you see how ridiculous this is? We were past this, we talked this through the night we got engaged. You promised we would never fight about this anymore…How could you be jealous of Julie after all this time?"

"Honey, believe me, I trust you! I trust you, it's just that…Come on, it's Russ! Even Julie told me that it could happen to anyone!"

"But it happened to YOU. Did you really believe that I could kiss another woman? I've got to know, Rach. I've got to know if you really trust me or not. Why did you think I would do that?"

"Because I WAS jealous!" she finally admitted.

Rachel turned around not to look at him and Ross gloated triumphantly. He had managed to make her confess her feelings. He had exaggerated voluntarily his reactions, but oh it had been worth it.

He stood up and made Rachel turn to look right at him. He had a huge grin on his face.

"You were jealous." He murmured, caressing her cheek.

Rachel had tears in her eyes, she nodded. "I heard you speaking with Julie at the phone. You told her that I don't like all your paleontology stuff and you said something about having fun with her…"

"She asked me if the four of us could go together to the event tonight! That's why I thought it could be fun. I like Julie, she's a friend and we like working together. But that's just it, Rachel."

"I thought you might be starting to like her again."

"I have you by my side. I should be crazy to look for any other woman."

"But she's smart, and she knows all the stuff about the dinosaurs and all."

Ross chuckled, "And you choose my dresses and decorate our apartment. And you pick all our baby's cute outfits. You have a taste for fashion. You have yours, I have mine. You taught me this years ago, that's a lesson I won't forget. It's not just a job."

Rachel recalled the awful night of their breakup and the terrible fight about her job. Tonight she had realized that Ross had really understood the importance of having two separate lives when it came to their working careers. Which didn't mean that they couldn't be happy for each other's success.

"I felt so left out…Like you did when I was working with Mark."

Ross nodded, and kissed her nose, "I know. But my job is something I love and it's a huge part of my life. I put a lot of passion into it. But not as much as I do with our relationship. Our family is what I cherish the most. The best part of my day is always coming back home to you and Emma."

"Really? Not teaching?" Rachel asked.

"Nope. Half of my students don't listen to me, anyway. But I think that Julie gave me some good advice how to catch their attention." Ross replied.

"Julie is great, you know? I see now why you liked her so much." Rachel admitted.

"She really was. She might be very good for me. She had everything I was looking for in a woman when I met her. But she had this huge con on her list, remember?"

Rachel put her arms around his neck, "She wasn't rachem."

Ross chuckled again and gave her a soft peck on the lips, "Definitely not."

Rachel gazed at him with desire and kissed him, this time passionately. She was so glad that this misunderstanding was over.

When they stopped the kiss, they hugged tenderly and Rachel felt Ross's mouth next to her ear, "It's always been you, Rach."

"I love you. And believe me, Ross, I trust you. Totally. Forgive me, I was just silly."

"I know you trust me, Rach. I just…overreacted to make you say that you were jealous."

"Joey Tribbiani taught you good! You are ready for a Soap Opera Digest Award."

Ross smiled, "But I need to tell you, again. When something bothers you, please tell me. I don't want us to make the same mistakes again, ok?"

Rachel was so proud of him; she couldn't believe how different he was than the Ross she'd dated years before. "Ok. Can I make it up to you now?"

"How?" he grinned, foreseeing an amazing night of makeup sex.

"We have to start working on that cousin for Jack and Erica, don't we?"