Chapter 7

It was a normal afternoon and the guys sat around Central Perk, drinking some coffee and catching up after work. Chandler and Joey were seated on the couch discussing last night's Nicks' game as Ross sat on one of the chairs, listening in while reading an interesting headline from today's paper.

Recently he's had a lot on his mind, stuff that he still wasn't quite sure of just yet. It's been almost 7 weeks since he's woken up from his coma and only in the past few days has he been experiencing strange flashbacks as if his memories were attempting to return but were still having trouble crossing that line. He hadn't spoken to anyone yet since he didn't want to freak them out but there had been something he'd been wanting to know about and decided now might be a good time to bring it up.

"See, if they had just passed it back to the point, it would have been an easy 3-pointer and they would have won the game," Chandler reasoned.

"Exactly!" Joey agreed, shoving a muffin into his mouth.

A silence passed as they each turned to their food or beverages. It was at this point where Ross decided to pop his question and see what kind of answer he'd get in response.

He cleared his throat to get their attention. "Chandler, could I ask you something?"

"Sure," he said as he took a sip of his latte.

"What kind of relationship do you and my sister have?"

As soon as he asked that question, Chandler's eyes widened and he spat out the coffee in his mouth. He began to couch uncontrollably, his face turning red as he did and Joey reached over to pat his friend on the back, also wearing a similar look of shock.

"Wh-what?" he finally managed between coughs.

"Are you ok man?"

"Y-yeah I'm fine." Chandler finally regained his composure and sat up straight. "What were you asking about?"

"The relationship between you and my sister," he repeated.

"What about it?" he delayed in a nervous tone, shooting Joey a quick glance. They both shared the same uncertain look, unsure of what exactly to say.

"I mean… ok, well you live together and you're very affectionate around each other so I assume you're close with each other."

"Yeah you could say that." He awkwardly pulled the collar of his shirt. He did not expect this to happen when he had been invited for some coffee with the guys and he was being extremely cautious with what he said, knowing very well what the consequences might be. He looked at Joey who just shook his head and backed away, obviously wanting nothing to do with this situation.

"So you're together." Ross inquired.

"Um, yeah."

"Like, together together."

"What are we, teenagers?" Chandler joked and began laughing extremely uncomfortably. He nudged Joey and he too began laughing nervously.

Ross raised an amused eyebrow, unsure of why they found his joke so funny. "Ok but seriously," he persisted, stopping their laughter, "so you two are dating."

Chandler cleared his throat. "Um… we're a little more than dating…"

"Right, so that explains the ring."

Both their eyes widened as large as saucer plates and they just stared at him with shocked expressions. He could tell that Chandler tried to say something but nothing came out so he nudged Joey on the side.

"W-what ring?" Joey played dumb after snapping out of his shock.

"The ring on Monica's finger. You know; the little diamond one on the fourth finger of her left hand?"

Chandler snapped back to reality and began gesturing with his hand like he does when he's in nervous situations. "Right, the ring! The ring… the ring! It's just a normal ring, nothing special about it, just a normal ring. Just an average, run-of-the-mill ring. Right Joe?"

"Right!" Joey added after being bumped by Chandler's arm. They both gave him an awkward smile and he chuckled at their strange antics.

"Come on guys, I'm not stupid. I've got a PhD for God's sake," he stated, still chuckling slightly. "I know it's a special ring, it even has a name. What's it called? An erratic ring...? An… ensheathed… enduring… en…"

"Engagement ring!" Joey suddenly burst and earned a dark glare from Chandler. "What? I always lose at that game!"

"Engagement ring!" Ross snapped his fingers. "That's the one! Thanks Joe."

"Yeah thanks Joe…" Chandler growled under his breath and he sheepishly looked at the ground.

"Right, so it's an engagement ring; something associated with marriages."

Suddenly both their heads jerked back towards him with facial expressions even more shocked than the previous ones, if that was possible.

"Wh-what? H-how do you know that?" Chandler questioned in a shaky tone, practically sweating in his seat.

"I don't know, I think I just remembered it," he answered truthfully. "But listen, I've been having these-"

"Y-you remembered it?" Chandler cut him off, not letting him finish. "Like by yourself? You remembered it by yourself?"

"Yeah I guess so but there's this-"

Chandler stood up, interrupting him once again. He began motioning at him with his hand as he spoke rapidly.

"You remembered this on your own. You remembered stuff about marriages without any influence from us. None from us at all. Everything was from you, Ross Geller; you remembered this without any help from us whatsoever."

"Yes, do you need to repeat it again to make sure or are we clear?" he joked, very much confused as to why he was acting so strange. "Look, I need to tell you guys about this thing-"

"Oh! Look at the time!" Chandler suddenly announced, motioning at his watch. "Joey, we better get going! We have that… thing we need to get to!"

"Right that thing!" Joey hastily stood up as well. "Sorry Ross, this is a really important thing."

"Um… ok?" was all he could say, scratching the back of his head. "But I really need to tell you guys something."

"Sorry pal, we've really got to go otherwise we'll be late!" Chandler spoke in the same nervous tone as before. "Talk to Rachel about it, oh and remember, you found out about all this on your own."

"Uh yeah, ok, sure. I'll see you later then."

"Bye!" they both said at the same time and he watched as they both practically sprinted out of the coffee house.

He just sat there staring at the door, a very confused expression plastered on his face. He wondered why his friends had acted so strangely, especially after he mentioned stuff about Monica's engagement ring. He didn't even get to tell them about what was really on his mind since Chandler started acting all weird before he could find out about anything.

He still needed someone to talk to and decided that he'd talk to Rachel about it once she came home from work. Ross took a sip of his coffee and grabbed the paper again, still wondering why his friends had become so nervous around him.

…

As Ross sat in the living room, going over some notes for tomorrow's class, he heard the door open and he turned his head to greet his roommate. In came a joyful Rachel who gave him a warm smile before hanging up her jacket.

"Hey you," she greeted, sauntering over to him.

"Hey you, how was work?"

"Ugh, don't even get me started…" she groaned, plopping down on the couch next to him. "I had this presentation today and I swear Mr. Zelner was giving me the dirtiest look the entire time."

"Maybe he was angry about something else," he suggested as she lazily leaned against his shoulder. He turned his body around and gently began massaging her shoulders, seeing how she could use the relaxation.

"Maybe…" she whispered and closed her eyes, enjoying the massage.

After a couple minutes of silence, aside from the occasional soft moan emitted from her parted lips, he finally decided to pop the question that's been on his mind for a while.

"Ok so listen," he started, removing his hands off her shoulders, earning a disappointing sigh. She reluctantly turned to look at him with a pouty face, obviously wanting that massage to last longer.

"What's up?"

"Alright, um, well there's been something on my mind lately and I've been meaning to talk with someone about it. I kind of brought it up with Chandler and Joey today but they started acting all strange and told me to talk to you."

Immediately, her body shot up and she gave him her full attention. Could it be? Could this be what she thought it was? Have his feelings for her returned or better yet, has he remembered some memories of them? Why else would Chandler and Joey direct him to her? She felt her heart pumping as she wondered if her waiting had finally come to an end.

"S-sure, you can talk to me about anything, you know that," she said, trying to contain the excitement in her voice.

"Ok… ok, I'm just going to say it because when I tried to lead up to it, Chandler and Joey freaked out."

He took a deep breath and she held hers, a large smile coming to her face. This is it, she thought and waited for him to speak.

"Have I ever been married before?"

Her eyes widened and her smile disappeared. That was not what she was expecting at all and she was both shocked and disappointed that they weren't thinking of the same thing. However one thing was clear, she was beyond dumbfounded and the look on her face clearly displayed this emotion.

"Rachel? You have the same look Chandler and Joey had."

Chandler and Joey. Of course those two would avoid this conversation and leave it up to her. She was the last person who should be dealing with this. Ooh, as soon as she gets her hands on those two, they'll be begging from their knees.

"Wh-wh… h-how did you get to that?" she finally managed to ask.

"I've been having these… visions lately," Ross explained. "I keep seeing myself at the altar in front of all my family and friends, and then there's this bride in front of me but her face is all blurred out. I'm assuming these are memories returning to me."

"Uh… well… um…" She had no idea how to approach this topic. She and the others had discussed this about a week ago but neither of them had come up with an idea of introducing those touchy subjects. The warnings of the doctor echoed in her mind and that just made her even more nervous.

Without letting her finish, he spoke up again. "So have I been married before?"

What was she supposed to do? Lie to him? If he was having these visions, it must mean his memories were coming back, but at the same time, how much has returned or how much does he know?

Rachel took a deep breath, realising that if he really wanted to know, he could easily look into his profile and pull out the documents of his marriages to a, b, and c.

"Y-yes," she finally managed to say, glancing at him nervously. She hoped with all her heart that she wasn't crossing the line here.

"Yes," he repeated as if he was still sinking into reality. "Wow, I-I can't believe I've been married. H-how many times?"

Now her heart was beating twice as fast and her palms were sweating as well. 'How many times?' was the question she had been hoping to avoid. She could lie here and say only 1, or she could tell him the truth and reveal he's had multiple marriages. But then if she told the truth, should she say 2 or 3 marriages? After all, she was the third one. Would he understand that their marriage was a mistake or would that open doors that have yet to be opened on their own? There were too many decisions for her to make in too little time.

With the conflict of decisions exploding in her head, she made the fatal mistake of glancing up into his eyes. God, those eyes were adorable. Sometimes they could be the darkest shade of chocolate brown, so deep that she found herself lost inside of them many, many times. Other times, such as this one, they were the most adorable and precious hazel coloured eyes she'd ever seen. How on earth was anyone supposed to lie to those eyes? How she managed to keep her feelings away from his wandering eyes were beyond her.

"Rach? Rachel? You still there?" he asked, waving his hand in front of her face. She snapped out of her thoughts and shyly glanced at him again.

"Y-you've been married…" Did she have the heart to lie to him? "…3 times." No, she didn't.

"Wow… 3 times… I've been married 3 times… I've been divorced 3 times…" It did sound a bit ridiculous. "Who were they?"

"Well…" she cleared her throat and sat forward a bit, grabbing his hands to not only get his attention but to ease her nerves. "The first one was to Carol who ended up turning into a lesbian and left you for another woman."

"A lesbian?" he asked out of shock. "You're telling me I married a lesbian?"

"Yes, uh, you did." Not wishing to stick to the subject, she continued. "Your second wife was this bitchy English woman, Emily, who was extremely demanding and unreasonable. She made you move out of your old apartment and even wanted you to cut out… your friends… from your life." After she said that, she realised just how much she hated that British snob.

"And what about the third?"

Immediately the butterflies returned to her stomach and she glanced at the ground for a moment. "The third wife…" she started in a soft voice, looking back up into his large brown eyes. "…the third wife… is sitting right in front of you."

Ross' eyes widened and he stared at her as if seeing her in a whole new light. "Y-you were once my wife?"

She bit her lower lip and just nodded. What was this thing that she was feeling? Almost a feeling of guilt… or was it regret?

"D-did we… were we…"

"Oh no, no no," she quickly stopped him, not wanting his mind to wander any further. "Our marriage wasn't exactly a marriage. You see, we were down in Vegas and we got really drunk one night. The next day, we found out we got married while drunk so when we got back, we got a divorce."

"Wow… this… this is a lot to take in," he said, exhaling deeply. "I-I've been married! 3 times!... I've been divorced 3 times and… and my best friend is my ex-wife…"

An awkward silence passed and she could see he was deep in thought. She reached over and touched his arm, looking him directly in the eyes. "And my best friend is also my ex-husband."

He looked up and they locked eyes. She forced a smile onto her face and slowly, one found its way onto his as well.

He smiled softly. "Then I guess everything's alright then."

She stared into his eyes, feeling her heart beat faster and now, she knew what this feeling was. It was a mix of both love and regret; regret for divorcing someone who she loved with all her heart. It was at this moment when she realised exactly why they had been forced to get a divorce rather than the annulment. He had been in love with her and knowing that made her smile even more.

"So, are any of my other wives as close as I am with you?" he asked some time later.

"Maybe not as close as me but Carol is still a close friend of ours."

He raised an interested eyebrow. "Really? How come I haven't met her yet."

"Well, we wanted you to remember her yourself before we re-introduced you to her."

He nodded, seeming to understand their reasoning. "So does that mean I can meet her now?"

She had to laugh at how he asked that question. He sounded like a little boy asking for permission to talk to a stranger. "Of course you can, I'll just give her a call and since tomorrow is Saturday, I'm sure she can drop by."

"Ok, thanks Rachel. God, what a day," he sighed and leaned back against the couch, making her giggle in amusement.

She got up to use the phone but as soon as she picked it up, a thought crossed her mind.

Ross had a son.

And that son would surely be with Carol if she came to visit. She remembered hearing the doctor specifically mention approaching the topic of his son cautiously and knowing that, she worried that introducing Ben may be a bad idea. However, he did remember his marriages by himself and usually children come after marriages, at least that's how it usually goes. Would it be wrong to tell him about Ben?

She looked at him lying on the couch and felt the beating of her heart go up. She wanted him back so badly, the real Ross. As much fun this one has been, she had been missing her Ross for quite some time now and thinking back to the past only made her miss him more. If she told him about his son, perhaps his memories may return quicker. After all, wouldn't the next thing after marriages be his child?

At that moment, she made her decision. She had made a promise to him and herself that she'd help him recover his lost memories. This was her way of helping him. She had to do this, she loved him.

"Ross, I-I need to tell you something before you meet Carol."

His eyes opened up and locked onto hers as she took a deep breath, preparing herself for what she was about to say.

"…You have a son…"

…

A knock on the door brought their attention to that direction as Rachel stood up from the couch to answer it. It was Saturday afternoon and she had practically spent the last 24 hours recalling everything she knew about his first two marriages, their drunken marriage and his son. She had even asked Carol for some details on her relationship with Ross which she casually explained as something that just wasn't meant to be.

And she couldn't have agreed more.

Now, as Joey may say, it was 'show time'. She glanced over at Ross who also stood up to answer the door with her. She could tell he was nervous by the way his hands moved from his pocket to behind his back, then back to his pockets. She touched his arm and gave him a soft smile, reminding him she was going to be there with him the entire time.

He looked rather ravishing, wearing a nice pair of khakis along with a collared blue shirt. And though she had reminded him that his son was only 7 and wouldn't have cared even if he wore shorts, she couldn't help but blush at how handsome he looked. He cleaned up well, always had.

"Hey Carol!" she greeted after opening the door.

"Rachel, how are you?" Carol asked and the two women joined in a friendly hug.

"I'm good, I'm good," she looked over at Ross who was standing off to the side with his hands in his pocket.

"Ross!" Carol exclaimed, noticing him. She quickly engulfed him in a quick hug as well. "I'm so glad you're ok."

"Thanks, I get that a lot," he joked, feeling comfortable around the woman. Truthfully, he wasn't quite sure how to act around Carol especially knowing she was his lesbian ex-wife but now that she was here, he could see why they had managed to stay as close friends.

"Well I'm glad you still have your sense of humour."

"So where's Ben?" Rachel asked a moment later, not seeing him in the hallway.

"Oh, he's with Susan parking the car."

"And I assume Susan is the lesbian wife?" Ross asked, remembering Rachel telling him a little about that.

"Yes, that's the one," Carol answered, just as Susan and Ben entered through the door frame, giving a little knock on the door to get their attention. "And here she is!"

"Hi Susan," Rachel said, giving her a quick hug.

"Hey Rachel," she replied, turning to Ross. "Ross…"

"Um, hello Susan." He could feel the tension between them already, even though he has just met her. They awkwardly exchanged a handshake which brought giggles to the other women in the room.

After all introductions, he finally noticed the little blonde boy standing next to Susan's leg. He looked at him and the boy looked up, locking eyes with him. His heart jumped a bit, seeing his own dark hazel eyes in his as if looking into a mirror. This was his son.

"Is-is this him?" he asked to no one in particular.

"It sure is. Ben, say hello to your father," Carol instructed.

"Hi dad!" the little boy exclaimed cheerfully. He too had been 'debriefed' before coming and knew about his father's amnesia. He hadn't been totally affected however, mostly due to his young age but he was still excited to see him after almost a month away from his father.

"H-hey Ben," Ross managed and bent down on his knees. He gently opened his arms for a hug and Ben didn't disappoint, running into them almost immediately. They hugged and Ross felt the connection right away. He smiled and sunk into the hug with his son and at the same time, in the corner of the room, an emotional Rachel stood smiling as a single tear rolled down her cheek at the beautiful scene.

"Alright, well Susan and I have some errands to do while we're here," Carol spoke afterwards. It had already been planned to leave Ben here with Ross for them to reconnect. "We'll come by in an hour to pick up Ben. Be good."

"Ok mommy," Ben replied, earning a quick kiss on the cheek from Carol. Susan also gave him a quick hug before the two women left, leaving him with Ross and Rachel.

As soon as his mothers left, he climbed up onto the couch, pulling out some toy dinosaurs from the bag Carol had left. Ross just looked at him, disbelief all over his face as if he couldn't believe this was his son. The blonde hair was Carol's, as were pretty much the rest of his appearances, but the one thing that was unmistakeably his were those dark hazel eyes he had seen.

After moments of just staring at the young boy, he felt a hand touch his arm. Rachel looked at him with a soft smile; her eyes slightly teared up from the earlier scene.

"Talk to him," she whispered quietly and gave him another reassuring smile.

He nodded and slowly made his way over to the couch, taking a seat next Ben as he played with his toy dinosaurs.

"Wh-what are those?" he asked, pointing towards the toys.

"My toy dinosaurs. Rawr!" Ben answered, picking up the tyrannosaurus and growling at him. He smiled at this.

"So do you like dinosaurs?"

"Yup."

"Which one's your favourite?"

"This one! The T-Rex!" Ben said, raising the toy up to show his father.

"Mine too…" Ross said quietly and looked up to share a smile with Rachel. He was like a spitting image of himself, with the same interests and favourites. He was smart too, for a boy his age.

"Do you like doing anything else other than playing with your toys?"

"I play pranks," Ben replied proudly.

"Pranks?" He raised a surprised eyebrow and saw Rachel blush in the corner of his eye.

"Yeah! Aunt Rachel taught me!" The little boy said, pointing towards her.

"Oh really?" he said, turning to her with an amused smile. "What else did Aunt Rachel teach you?"

"That you were not on a break!" and instantly, Rachel's eyes widened in panic.

"What?"

Before Ben could answer, Rachel reached over placed a hand over his mouth. "He's talking about this funny story I told him a while ago. I… uh… I got into this argument with me boss about my break that I thought I missed but actually didn't. It's… complicated you had to be there."

"Um… ok."

She discretely let out a sigh of relief and took a seat on a nearby chair, letting them have their space but also keeping her promise to him for being with him the entire time.

A couple minutes passed as the three of them played with his toys, joining in his little dinosaur game until he eventually became tired and placed his tyrannosaurus on the table and sifted through the bag for anything else that might interest him.

"So what grade are you in Ben?" Ross asked as he pulled out a little ball and playfully tossed it at Rachel.

"Grade 2."

"Wow, already grade 2? Do you like school?"

"Yup, both my mommies tell me learning is good," he replied, catching the ball tossed over by Rachel and throwing it over to him.

"Well learning is good and it can be fun too. Do you know what you want to be when you grow up?"

"Yeah, I want to be a paleontologist just like you and learn about dinosaurs!"

His little words touched his heart. His son wanted to be just like him when he grew up and at this moment, he was extremely proud to be this little boy's father. Not to mention he even knew what a paleontologist was, something that took a lot of difficulty even from some adults he's come by.

"Wow, you… you want to be just like me?" As he handed him the ball, he locked eyes with Rachel who was beginning to tear up again.

"Hmm-hmm. You're my hero," he revealed and looked at him with his own brown eyes, making him feel truly connected with his little boy.

And just like that, the strange feeling he had felt a couple weeks ago returned.

…

"Thanks for watching him Ross."

"No, thank you for bringing him. I'd love to spend more time with him in the future."

Carol nodded and threw the bag of Ben's toys over her shoulder. She looked down at her little boy who was giving his goodbyes to Rachel.

"Ben, do you want to say goodbye to your dad?"

Instantly, Ben left Rachel's arms and ran over to him. He bent down and gave his son a large hug, much like the one from before but far more passionate. This was his son after all; his pride and joy.

"Bye dad."

"Bye buddy, I'll see you next time." He gave a light kiss to the top of his head before standing back up.

He watched as Ben grabbed Carol's hand and they both made their way to the door.

"Bye!" they both chorused, waving at them as he and Rachel waved back. A moment later, the door closed behind them and it felt like a piece of him had left with them.

He turned around, meeting the large smile on Rachel's face. He smiled back, he had too. He felt so happy at the moment.

"So, what'd you think?"

"I think… I think I can't believe he's my son. He-he's so smart and cute… and-and…"

"And just like his father," she finished for him and gently rubbed his shoulders. He smiled again. What would he do without her? She was the one who set this all up and if it weren't for her, he would have never been able to meet his son. She was truly a magnificent woman and one he was proud to say was his closest friend.

He quickly engulfed her in a tight hug; catching her off guard but feeling her relax a moment later. They both sunk into the hug, enjoying the feeling of both of their bodies pressed together as he buried his face into her hair.

"Thank you," he whispered gently into her ear.

"For what?"

"For everything."

…

Author's Note: Tough chapter this one was which is also why it was shorter than most of the other ones. I hope I did a good job.

I'm really excited starting from this point onwards. After this is when the real stuff starts happening and what most people refer to as the "climax" of the story. Be sure to leave a review and I'll be updating as soon as possible. Thanks. :D