This chapter touches a delicate topic, but I promise that it's suitable to read until the end.

Emma and Rachel were watching Cinderella when the door opened and Ross entered the apartment with his travel suitcase on his back.

"Daddy!" the little girl screamed, jumping off the couch and running towards her father.

"Hi sweetheart! Wow, that's such a warm welcome after a seven hours' flight! Oh I missed you!" he exclaimed, holding and repeatedly kissing his daughter.

"Have a present for me, daddy?"

"Of course honey, just let me unpack." He answered, letting go of Emma, who ran back to the couch.

While Ross was putting his bag on the floor, Rachel smiled tenderly and approached him for a well-deserved hug, "Any of those left for me?" she wondered.

Ross grinned and kissed her passionately. He'd been away only for a week, but he'd missed her terribly. "I swear I'm never going away without you girls ever again!"

"Why, didn't you guys have fun at Joey's?"

"Immensely, but I kept thinking about you and Emma, it's not the same without you. Chandler and I were talking about this during the flight. It was good spending some time alone, we have surely missed fooling around with Joey, but…it's not like we are twenty-five anymore. We are a family; we should always be together."

Rachel smiled, "I know what you mean…we girls missed you, too." She gave him a peck on the mouth, "So, how was the bachelor party? Did you keep your promise or should I blame Joey about something?"

Ross laughed, "Actually…it was a bit lame…we stayed home all night, playing Truth or Dare."

Rachel's eyes grew grotesquely wide, "No way!"

"I swear."

"So did we!"

"What?!"

"Carol asked me to keep an eye on Ben because Susan was sick and we decided to stay home with the kids, so Phoebe proposed to play Truth or Dare, and we went on all night long!"

Ross chuckled, "This is unbelievable. Did you find out any juicy secret about Mon or Pheebs?"

Rachel thought about their conversation and her mind immediately fell on an item.

Pool table.

"Well, something interesting DID come out..."

Ross took her hands and started to move them in the air, "Ooooh, I have one about Joey too!"

Rachel tried to put on a straight face and stared at him, "Phoebe told me, Ross."

"Told you what?" he asked, totally oblivious.

"About you two…"

Ross's expression was priceless. "She…she…she…told you."

"Yes." Rachel kept her steady tone.

"And…and…and you…you know…that…that we…we almost…"

"I do."

Ross let go of her hands and started pacing in the room, Rachel stifled a laugh.

"Rachel, please, don't be mad at me, it was a million years ago, you weren't even there…"

"Ross, what about telling each other all the secrets? What about the trust?" Rachel acted as saddened as she could, like she had done when she wanted to prevent Monica to get ready the day of her wedding.

"I know, Rach, I should have told you, but Phoebe and I felt so weird about it, we thought it was better not to tell you guys, and nobody knew until now…oh, we should have never played that stupid game!"

"What do you mean, do Chandler and Joey know?" Rachel asked, feigning rage.

"Well…they kind of found out while we were playing…"

"Oh, this is unbelievable! So the people who knew this before me were Phoebe, Chandler and Joey!"

"And…Carol…"

Rachel was surprised by the turn of the conversation.

"I told her, actually, because I was trying to make her feel jealous to convince her to get back with me…I think that's actually what brought us together for a little while and that's how she ended up pregnant with Ben during our last night together."

"Wow…you never told me that…"

"Yeah, I don't like talking about that period of my life, you know how bad that was for me."

Rachel remembered that she had to pretend to be angry at him, "Anyway that's not the point, Ross! The point is, you made me feel so terrible a few weeks ago, so what am I supposed to do now?"

"I know, I'm so sorry Rach, I swear, I didn't even remember about this, I thought it wasn't so important, it was just a stupid thing Phoebe and I did and…nothing happened, we just kissed and then those stupid balls on the table kept staying in the way and…"

Rachel tried to imagine the scene and she couldn't hold it anymore, she started to laugh.

"Wh…Why are you laughing?"

She kept laughing at him, bent over on her knees.

Ross started to realize that she was probably making fun of him. "Oh, come on!"

"Oh, Ross, you are so silly at times!" she said, approaching him and putting her arms around his neck.

"Ems, do you know that your mom is a horrible person?" he asked his daughter, who was still too involved with the movie to pay attention.

"Come here, you."

Rachel kissed him lovingly.

"I hate you." he whispered on her mouth.

"No, you don't. You are sooooo in love with me."

"If being in love means that my whole life changed completely the day I saw you entering Central Perk running from your wedding…Yes, I think I may be just a little in love with you."

Rachel squeezed her eyes and smiled, "Looks like someone has been working on his vows."

"Mmm…Maybe. With Carol and Emily, I didn't have vows, you know? And I don't remember anything about that ceremony in Vegas, do you?"

She chuckled, "I think there might have been vows, but they probably involved promises about eating a lot of grapes and sleeping together after the feast…"

"Which we didn't…" Ross reminded her. "So, you still owe me one, Mrs. Ross."

Rachel giggled, "Whenever you want, Mr. Rachel! And Ross, just so you know…I'm not mad about that whole Phoebe stuff…you are right, it's way in the past. I wasn't even there! You were free to do whatever you wanted!"

"You sure?"

"Of course, honey! But I'm glad you actually didn't sleep together…it would be so weird to share you with one of my closest friend…"

"Yeah…now you know why I'm so glad you never actually slept with Joey."

Rachel nodded.

Ross gave her a last kiss and walked towards the entrance to get his bag, "Oh, Rach…you didn't tell me. What about…" he nodded to indicate her belly.

Ross didn't mention out loud what he wanted to say because they never spoke about the sibling subject in front of Emma, but they both knew when they were touching that particular topic.

"My period started yesterday."

"Uh…"

Ross could tell that Rachel was a bit disappointed, again. They had started to try and conceive a baby for a few months now, and yet it seemed like they weren't lucky.

He approached her again and he hugged her from behind, "Hey, I'm sorry too. But don't get nervous about it. It's not like we can't have babies; in fact, we happen to make wonderful children together."

"Yeah…" she murmured, looking at her daughter.

"Just be patient, Rach, I know that it was easy with Emma, but that was an incredible coincidence of factors."

"You meant a wonderful accident?" she laughed.

"You'll never listen that word from my mouth talking about Emma, and you know that." He chuckled.

"It's just…I want to give her a little brother or sister so much, you know?"

"I know, me too. Just wait. It's not like we don't try enough! And by the way, our wedding is in one month…we've got so much stuff to think about already."

"Ok…You are right, Maybe I'm just too stressed."

"Don't doubt about it…with the wedding, the new house, Emma, your job and me to take care of…Hey, here's an idea."

"What?" she asked, looking at him full of love in her eyes.

"Maybe we should go away for a couple of days, just you and me. We could go to the sea, enjoy some time together on our own, some relax before the final rush until Hawaii…what do you think?"

Rachel thought about it. Everything at work was calm and maybe they really deserved some quality time together.

"All right."

"Yeah?" Ross kissed her. "Wow, can't believe I convinced you."

"But we should probably schedule the trip in a weekend during my ovulation period…"

"What do a man need more than an excuse to stay in bed for two days in a row?"

Rachel chuckled, "Shh, don't let Emma hear you!"

"She's too much into it, whenever the Fairy Godmother is singing Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo you can expect her to tell you about the pumpkin by the second…"

Emma was smiling, she pointed at the screen and she called her father, "Daddy, the pumpkin is a carriage!"

Rachel and Ross exchanged a knowing look and walked towards the couch to sit with their daughter, who was almost squeaking in excitement.

Even if they were on either side of Emma, Ross and Rachel held hands above her head for the whole time Cinderella and the Prince danced.

Ten days later, Rachel was feeling terrible.

She was visiting Monica at Javu during her lunch break and not only she didn't feel like eating at all, but she was also very moody.

Monica was trying to help her setting up the tables for the wedding dinner, but Rachel wasn't very cooperative.

"Remember, my cousin Cassie is almost a supermodel, after what happened when she came to New York, we want her as far as possible from Ross and Chandler. Uhm…maybe even Phoebe."

Rachel was playing with her fork, not listening to a word that Monica was saying.

"Talking about Joey's parents, don't expect anything but weird presents from them, but they are so sweet. Oh my God, you remembered to invite them, didn't you? Joey is going to get mad if you didn't!"

Monica noticed Rachel's absence for the umpteenth time that morning, so she started to say ridiculous things.

"Ok, after your wedding I've decided to get a divorce from Chandler and to sell one of my babies because I can't afford twins anymore. I'm probably getting married with Joey after that."

Rachel kept looking at her plate.

"Rachel, did you hear a word of what I just said?" Monica asked her, irritated.

"Yeah! Of course! You were…you were saying that Joey's father is getting a divorce and that he wants to get married with your cousin Cassie?"

Monica chuckled. "What is wrong with you today?"

"I'm sorry honey, I just think I'm getting sick…I feel bad, blue and the worst part is that Ross and I were supposed to leave for the weekend, but I have an unusually long period and I feel just…blash!"

Monica looked intently at her friend. She had lived with Rachel for years and she had known her very well. Rachel had never had long periods in her life.

"Rach, did you speak with your gynecologist?"

"No, I think it's just stress…"

"How long is it since you've had menses?"

"Eleven days."

"Rachel!"

"I know, it's long, but…"

"Oh my God…I've just remembered something…" Monica murmured.

"What?"

"There was this waitress that worked with me at Alessandro's a few years ago…something similar happened to her. She made a pregnancy test and it turned out that she was pregnant, so she thought that she was having a baby."

"Really?" Rachel asked, encouraged by Monica's speech.

Monica shook her head. "No honey, she had an abortion. Her doctor told her that pregnancy tests are usually positive because hormones levels are very high, even if an abortion is already happening."

"Oh my God…" Rachel whispered.

Monica took her hand.

"Rachel, maybe it's not that. But just for precaution, please go home right now and have a pregnancy test, ok? Then call your doctor at once."

"Ok…"

Rachel was flabbergasted. She'd never thought about this possibility and now she was very scared.

"Rachel?" Monica called her back from the table before she could actually leave.

"What?"

"You have to tell Ross."

Rachel nodded slowly.

The SMS she had sent to Ross couldn't be more cryptic.

Hon, I need you more than ever. If you can, get home soon, Emma is with my mother. Luv ya.

Rachel was watching the pregnancy test that had been lying on the sink for ten minutes, by now.

She just couldn't watch it alone.

She didn't have enough courage; she couldn't handle this on her own.

She needed Ross.

She had read something on her old pregnancy books and now she was hoping desperately that the test would turn out negative. Because having a positive result could mean that she may be having a natural abortion, and she couldn't stand this idea.

When she heard the door opening, she didn't move.

"Rach?" he called her from the living room.

Rachel didn't answer, she stood there, nibbling her right thumb nervously and watching the plastic test.

"Rachel?" Ross peeked out from behind the door, it took him a few seconds to realize what was going on.

At the beginning he was excited. Then he counted mentally and realized that he shouldn't be, because Rachel couldn't be pregnant.

"Honey, what's going on here?"

"I still have menses…deep menses."

"It's been ten days!" Ross said.

"Eleven, actually…and I've been also feeling awful and I noticed that I am tired…so today I spoke with Monica and she told me about a woman she knew…she had an abortion after something like this, Ross…"

Ross's eyes grew wide, "Ok…Rach…don't…don't jump to the wrong conclusion, sweetheart, ok?" he tried to soothe her, hugging her. "So, why are you making a pregnancy test?"

"Because…if it's positive…It means that my hormones level is very high and this could mean that I might be…"

"Rach…honey…it could also mean that you are pregnant…I've heard of women who had difficult pregnancies, starting with bleeding and then resulting in wonderful healthy babies, ok?"

"I am scared, Ross…"

"Rach" he looked straight into her eyes, "Whatever happens, I am going to be there, ok?"

Rachel nodded.

"I am right here with you. How long does it take for the test to be ready?"

"It's been there for ten minutes…"

Ross chuckled, trying to ease the tension and caressing her cheeks. "Ok, do you want me to look at it?"

"Yes, please…I was alone when I found out that I was pregnant with Emma…I don't want to do this on my own again…"

"Of course…come here, then."

Rachel literally grasped Ross's back and hid her face into his stomach while he took the test from the sink. She heard him inspiring deeply. Ross closed his eyes and then turned the little plastic object with trembling hands.

Rachel didn't hear nothing, but Ross's heart bit speed increased. That was her sign.

"I think we need to get to Dr. Long right now, Rach."

Ross felt Rachel's tears starting to wet his shirt. He still had his tie on, even if during summer months he dressed more casual for the last lectures of the semester, he loved wearing ties. Rachel grabbed it and pulled it with disappointment.

"Rachel…please look at me."

She shook her head and almost fell to the ground, so Ross took her by the arms, while she kept crying.

"Rachel, you are the strongest woman I know. You are incredible and you are going to get through this, if…if there's something wrong. But please, let's go check in with Dr. Long and understand what's going on, ok?"

Rachel's eyes were filled with tears, but she found the strength to look at him and hold him, sniffing, without saying anything else.

"Do you want me to call Monica or Phoebe? Maybe you want your mother to be there with you and I can go and check on Emma?"

"No, no…this is about us…" she managed to say. She took his hand and brought it to her lips, kissing it, "All I need is you."

If during the years Ross ever had doubts about Rachel's feelings for him, after hearing this, he promised to himself that he would never ever distrust her anymore in his entire life. He couldn't love her more than at that moment.

"Rachel, don't worry, but we need to make a transvaginal sonography this time."

"Why?" she asked, grabbing Ross's hand.

"I need to understand if…there's still a baby in there. According to your last period and to what you've said, I can't really say what's going on until I see it, ok?"

Rachel nodded, tears in her eyes. Ross kissed her forehead.

After watching accurately inside Rachel's uterus, Dr. Long and Ross were visibly saddened.

"Rachel…I can't see a gestational sac in here. No yolk sac, no embryo echoes."

Ross sighed.

"So it means that…there is no baby?"

"I don't know…You are at 7 weeks, which is a perfect timing for an abortion. But I can't be sure until we make some more analysis. I want you to take some blood samples. We need to monitor your hCG levels. We'll make one test today, then you have to take the same exam after four days."

"Ok, but…why?" Ross asked.

"Because abortion is not the only thing we need to exclude; I must be sure that Rachel is not having an ectopic pregnancy either."

"Oh my God!" Ross exclaimed.

Dr. Long glared at him.

"What, what is that?"

"Rachel, please don't worry about it now. It's just a rare possibility and seeing that you're not suffering from any abdominal pain, I would say this is not our scenario."

Rachel sighed, "Ok…"

Dr. Long walked behind Rachel to talk with Ross in private, "But I want someone to keep a constant eye on her, she doesn't have to work for the next few days until we have the second result of the exam, because if she starts feeling any kind of hurt, you must hurry to the hospital, are we clear?"

Ross nodded, "I'll be there at all time."

"Ok, Rachel you can go. I'll call you later to tell you the results, ok?"

"Thank you for everything, Dr. Long." Ross shook her hand.

"Just doing my job. I was just hoping to give you a better news before the wedding…"

Four days later, Rachel and Ross were sitting on the couch with all the gang around them.

Phoebe was huge and she was feeling uncomfortable because she knew that her friend was having a hard time. Rachel already had a daughter, but she wanted so much to have another one. As for Monica, she was feeling bad because she had been the one to warn Rachel in the first place.

"…And the peacock bit me!" Chandler concluded.

"Wow…that's…that's a fascinating story!" Mike said.

"Yeah, I can't believe we heard it for the forty-ninth time." Monica replied.

Ross chuckled and patted Chandler's back, "Anybody wants another beer?" he asked.

"Erica! Please don't disturb Aunt Rachel!" Monica warned her daughter, who was trying to climb on the couch to get in Rachel's arms, as she usually did every time she was with her Aunt.

"It's ok, Mon. Don't worry, I'm feeling a whole lot better now that you guys are here."

Ross sighed and smiled at her, disappearing into the kitchen with Chandler in tow with Jack in his lap.

"So, how are you two dealing with all of this?" he asked him.

Ross was taking some bottles from the fridge, "I know it's weird but…this thing is helping us to get even stronger as a couple. I think we've never been so close and in harmony with each other."

"I know what you mean. It happened to me and Monica too, when we found out that we couldn't have kids. Those things can both destroy you or help you grow."

"Yeah…I mean…Rachel was so scared when she made the test, and I was too. But we decided to deal with this together as a family and be strong, for Emma. And by the way, thanks for watching her this morning."

"So what happened today?"

"Well, Dr. Long told us that Rachel's first level of hCG was at 20071, which unfortunately didn't exclude an ectopic pregnancy yet. Today they took another blood sample to verify her level, she said she's going to tell us when we are going there for a new sonography by the end of next week."

"When are you going?"

"Saturday."

"Wow, ten days?"

Ross nodded, "She said it takes some time to see if there's still a baby, if we went there sooner it could be useless."

Chandler nodded in comprehension, "And then you'll know."

Ross sighed, "And then we'll know."

Chandler patted Ross's back and the two friends walked back to the living room, where Phoebe was entertaining the kids by playing her guitar.

Emma was laughing and Rachel smiled when she noticed the expression on her daughter's face. She exchanged a look with Ross that was worth a thousand words.

"I'm pretty sure that it was an abortion Ross."

"Would you stop saying that?" he pleaded Rachel, without losing the hold on her hand.

They were waiting for Dr. Long to call them in her office and they were getting nervous.

"I'm sorry, but it just makes sense. My menses stopped three days ago and I'm feeling a whole lot better."

"We don't know the result of the test yet, honey."

Rachel scoffed, "Why are you keeping your hopes up?"

"Because I love you and I think it's time that fate make amends with us."

Rachel smiled, "You mean for all those years we were apart? I thought we both agreed that it was our fault, not destiny's fault. You know for the break and the cheating, and my stubbornness, and all my nonsenses, the fact we didn't take the chance after Emma's birth…"

Ross chuckled, "That was us. But this…"

Rachel sighed and understood his point of view. Ross wasn't always the most pious man, but there were times that his faith became very important to him.

She was almost saying something to encourage him, when the door opened and Dr. Long called them, "Rachel, Ross?"

"First of all, Rachel, how have you been?"

Rachel tried to smile, with Ross's hand still clutched into hers. "Well, apparently better, Dr. Long. The menses are gone; I'm not bleeding anymore…"

The doctor nodded, along, "Well, this could be a good sign. Ok, I know that you must be very nervous and I don't want to waste too much time. I've got the result of the hCG test you made last week."

Ross looked at Rachel trying to instill her with all his love.

"The hormones level moved from 20071 to 43545."

Rachel released a breath and Ross smiled. She heard him asking hopefully, "It grew?"

"Yes, it did. And this is a very good sign. And now we need to see what's going on…in there…"

Rachel nodded and stood up from the chair. She undressed herself behind a curtain and she put on a white gown, then she sat on the comfortable reclining chair.

"Are you ready?" the Doctor asked.

Rachel took Ross's hand in her, then she replied, "Now we are."

When Dr. Long began her sonography, Rachel closed her eyes and leaned her head on the chair cushion. Ross instead kept looking at the screen, his heart beating faster than ever.

He had seen many sonograms in his life, but no other had been as much important as this one.

The Doctor scanned Rachel's uterus and tilted her head in front of the screen. After a couple of minutes, she smiled.

Ross felt his heart almost exploding when he saw the little bag appearing on the screen.

"Rachel…" He murmured, trying to hold on the tears but with his voice broken for the emotion.

"What…it's gone, is it?" she asked, opening her eyes.

"No, Rachel, it looks like Emma is going to have a little brother or sister very soon." Dr. Long explained.

"Really?" Rachel asked, her voice a soft moan. She immediately started to cry, getting conscious of the fact that she was in fact pregnant.

"Yes…here it is…the gestational sac, the yolk sac, and most important…the embryo. Everything is there."

Ross hadn't been crying for happiness in a very long time, not since that faithful night in which Rachel had decided to get off that plane. Now everything was so overwhelming that he couldn't stop the tears from coming.

"Ok…length…17.5mm. I would say it's 8 weeks long, Rachel. Your ovaries are perfect and there is no free liquid in the Douglas' pouch. Very well."

"Doctor…do you have a due date?" Ross asked.

"Well according to this timetable, it's January 26th."

"Wow…Rach, don't blame me but I hope you are late one day again because…"

"…That would be your mother's birthday." Rachel smiled adoringly at him.

Ross nodded and kissed her tenderly on the forehead.

Sensing that they needed some privacy, Dr. Long stood up. "I've recorded this for you, you can watch it again, if you want. I'll give you a few seconds."

"Thank you…" Ross replied.

Rachel silently thanked the doctor for her kindness.

"I can't believe how lucky we are…we are having another baby, Ross…"

"I know. It's unbelievable. It seems like yesterday that we were here for Emma's first sonogram."

"But this time I don't need your help, because I can totally see him."

Ross grinned at her, "You think it's going to be a boy?"

"Well, that was your plan, Ross. Remember?"

Ross tilted his head, trying to understand.

"A boy and a girl, hopefully the girl coming first so that Ben wouldn't feel too competitive." Rachel quoted him.

"I can't believe you remember that…" he kissed her hand.

"Well, I do. Oh, and Ben asked for a brother, by the way."

"He did? When?" Ross wondered.

"When we were in Washington and we had that long chat."

Ross nodded, "What would you want?"

"Honestly? I don't care. After what we've been through, all I want is for the baby to be healthy. Oh, I can't believe I'm pregnant…"

"Well, I tell you what. After living with you and Emma I've changed my mind. I already have Ben as a son, so the idea of having another girl just makes me ecstatic. And I wish she was as gorgeous as Emma."

Rachel's eyes were still wet for the tears, so they were of a lovely light blue.

"As beautiful as you. I love you, Rach."

"I love you, too. And I can't thank you enough for the strength that you've given me in the last few days. I could have never made it without you."

"Let's turn this embryo into a girl and call it even."

Rachel laughed, "You are a scientist, Ross. You should know that it all depends on how well you worked before."

He chuckled and kissed her passionately for the first time that day.

"Ok, let's get out of here. I can't wait to tell Monica and Phoebe. Oh, and we need to call Joey!"

"I think I'm going to call my mother and Ben while you call our friends. But ask Monica not to tell Emma, I want to tell her tonight, maybe we could go out together."

Ross was walking towards the door to call the Doctor.

"Ok…for our first dinner all the four of us. You, me, Emma…and Isabella."

Ross turned around, "What? I thought you didn't like that name..."

"Emma didn't feel like an Isabella. But Ben is the one who proposed this name for his sister. I don't think we could disappoint him if the baby was a girl, could we?"

Ross grinned and walked back to Rachel, hugging her tenderly.

"Only God knows how much I love you." He whispered to her ear while he held her.

"You are wrong." She got rid of the hug to stare at him. "I know that too, Ross."

Author's Note:

I'm probably going to update with longer delays from now on, but I'm not abandoning this next chapters will be all about the wedding, and I promise that they will be a nice ride :)

Talking about this chapter, it is once again very autobiographical, but I liked the idea to counterpose a very easy pregnancy (like Emma's) to a difficult 's not always so easy to have babies in real life.

A Happy New Year Everybody!