This is it ... the end of the story. I don't know if you've noticed but the number of writers and good stories is way down recently. "Friends" has been off-the-air now for over two years and we still find people writing about it. Before March of this year I had never even considered watching an episode of the show, I thought it was stupid and that the six actors were way overpaid for the quality of their work (I still feel that $1.25 mil/20 minutes is too much). After watching the show I found myself to be disappointed and saddened by the way the Ross/Rachel relationship had been handled. I found it much too unrealistic and just stupid. People just do not act that way, even at their worst.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the epilogue. Once I got started it took me only a few hours to write. I have posted another story (Where Have You Gone?) but I may end up removing it as I am quickly running out of ideas.
We all go through tough times in our lives, some more than others. I write to feel ...
I dedicate this final chapter to my grandmother Emma, gone but not forgotten ...
There is an old saying that curiosity killed the cat. In her case it just startled her and then changed everything. Her world would never be the same again …
"Dad, who is this woman?"
"What woman?"
"The woman in this photo that I found in the basement."
He turned to face his daughter. Walking to her side he took the photograph from her hand.
Shock …
Surprise …
It was evident on his face. He tried to hide it but she saw through him. She was intelligent beyond her years …
"Uh, uh … that, that …" He was at a loss for words …
"Dad, are you alright? You look like you're getting sick!"
The initial shock having worn off, he shifted into defensive mode …
"I'm fine … really, I'm fine."
"Dad, I can tell that you are not fine."
Pausing, she continued …
"My school project is due on Thursday. Remember the family project that I have to do?"
He never neglected or forgot his daughter's schoolwork and projects. The shock of seeing the photograph had caused his memory to lapse, momentarily. He strained to remember. Emma would help him out …
"Dad, please tell me that you have not forgotten! You and mom are supposed to come to my class on Thursday when I present my project to my class. You're supposed to talk about your careers!"
He remembered …
"Oh! Sure, sure, I remember now. We'll be there, I promise."
"Good. Thanks Dad, I love you."
"I love you too sweetheart."
She hugged him hard. He soaked up every moment of it. She was sixteen and a young woman. She would soon have little time for him. Soon there would be college and soon she would find another man to take his place of prominence in her life. She would soon find a boyfriend. He would enjoy the hugs and kisses on his cheek as long as he could get them …
She had him right where she wanted him …
"Dad, you never answered my question. Who is that woman in the picture?"
He had never lied to her, ever, unless he felt it was important to do so. She was older and wiser and mature for her age. He wondered how she would handle the truth. He released her from his grasp and held her at arms length. He looked into her eyes and began to open his mouth …
The door opened …
"Thank God!" He thought.
"Oh hi honey, how was your day?"
"It was great, thanks for asking. Let me put my things away and take these heels off. I'll be right back. What's for dinner?"
"We're having lobster …"
"Lobster?" She said, concerned about his allergies.
"You and Emma are each having a big, juicy lobster while I'm having fish."
"Oh goody, I can't wait! I'll be right back."
As Rachel dropped her things on their bed she turned to find her daughter standing in the doorway. She was concerned …
"Emma, what's wrong? Is everything Alright?"
"Yeah, I guess so. I'm just curious about something …"
"What, tell me what it is and I'll tell you what I know."
"Mom, do you promise."
"Sure, I promise."
"Alright, I was down in the basement looking for some pictures for my school project when I found this …"
Emma handed the picture to her mother … taking the picture she looked at it, surprised.
"Oh." Is all she could say.
"Mom, who is that woman with dad? I asked him and he was about to tell me but then you came home. He never got the chance to tell me."
Ross picked an opportune time to interrupt on his wife's behalf …
"Dinner's ready!"
Rachel gazed at the picture. She stared at it as the memories of the past came back to haunt her. She needed to talk to her husband …
"Emma, let's eat dinner. Afterwards I'll talk to your father about this, OK?"
Disappointed, Emma replied …
"OK mom but if you and dad don't tell me I'll find out some other way. I'd just assume it would be best coming from you two."
Over the years Ross had become quite the cook. He put his heart and soul into his cooking to please the girls in his life. They were not disappointed.
"That was good! Thanks for the dinner dad."
"You're welcome Emma. I'm glad you liked it."
Ross turned towards his wife. She too had enjoyed her dinner but there was something bothering her. She looked up, implored him into the kitchen to talk."
Getting the message, Ross began to gather the dishes and head for the kitchen with Rachel right behind him. Unaware of their exit from the room Emma turned on the television to watch one of her favorite shows before doing her homework.
For almost a half-hour Ross and Rachel debated the issue of the photograph. It was, after all, just a picture, but the answers to her questions might very well open up the "Pandora's Box" to their past. They considered all the facts and decided that it was time for answers …
Entering the living room Ross walked to the television and turned it off, surprising Emma.
"Dad, why did you turn the TV off?"
Ross looked into his daughter's eyes and sighed …
"Your mother and I need to talk to you Emma. Have you finished your homework?"
"Not yet, I've got just a few assignments to finish."
Ross considered the situation. He looked at his wife …
"Emma, your mother and I love you very much. You asked me about the woman in the picture … well, we think that you're old enough to know the truth. Please go finish your homework and get ready for bed. We will talk to you when you are finished. This is going to take a while …"
Excited, Emma rushed up to her bedroom. Ross on the other hand went down to the basement unenthusiastically. Their past was about to be relived, he wondered if his relationship with his daughter would ever be the same again.
The couple sat in quiet solitude, waiting for the return of their daughter, contemplating how she would take their past, with all of the mistakes that they had made. Ross and Rachel quietly sorted through the box of memories, carefully trying to pick out the pictures that would best help them explain their youth. They didn't have long to wait …
"Mom, dad, I finished my homework and I'm ready for bed. You wanted to talk to me?"
Ross began …
"Emma, your mother and I are very proud of you. You have grown from a child into an intelligent, beautiful young woman. Today you brought me that picture; I didn't know what to say. I talked to your mother and we feel that you are old enough to know …"
Emma interjected, jumping to conclusions …
"Oh my God, I'm adopted!"
Rachel moved to quell Emma's fears …
"Emma, no, you are not adopted. I am you birth mother and your father is your biological father. We are your parents, you are not adopted."
Emma was curious …
"Then why all the drama with the picture, mom?"
Ross interjected, holding Rachel's hand for strength …
"Emma, the woman in the picture … she was my wife."
"Your wife? But, but you're married to mom!"
"Calm down Em, your mother and I are going to tell you some things that may seem a bit strange to you. As strange as they sound, they did happen."
"But dad, you've only ever told me about Aunt Carol. You told me that you were married but got divorced. Then Ben came."
Ross and Rachel looked at their daughter and then at one another. Ross continued …
"Em, I was married to Aunt Carol for a few years, until she discovered she was a lesbian …"
"A lesbian?"
"Yes, a lesbian. After that I was with her one last time … that was when Ben was conceived. About the time that Carol and I separated, your mother came to live with your Aunt Monica."
"So mom moved in with Aunt Monica and you two fell in love, dated and got married, right?"
Ross squeezed his wife's hand a little harder …
"Not exactly. I had been in love with your mother since I was in the 9th grade but she was the popular cheerleader and I was the science geek. We were a big mismatch. When your mother came to live with Monica the feelings that I had suppressed for so long came back to the surface. I fell in love with her again but I didn't act on my feelings for a year."
"A year? Way to go dad!"
Ross, looking a little uncomfortable, continued …"
"Anyway, your uncle Chandler let it slip to your mother that I was in love with her while I was on a trip to China. Your mother was excited and interested in dating me but I didn't know it. When I returned from my trip I came back with another woman."
"Another woman?"
Ross picked up a picture out of the box and gave it to Emma …
"Yes, her name was Julie. She too was a paleontologist like your dad. After dating for a few months your mother let it slip that she had feelings for me. After hearing that I broke up with Julie …"
"You dated and got married! Right?"
Ross, feeling even more uncomfortable responded …
"Not exactly. We didn't start dating right away, we had problems, but we did start dating a few months later."
Emma was curious …
"Mom, how long did you date before you got engaged?"
Rachel, just as uncomfortable as Ross, started to answer but was swiftly cut off by her husband …
"Em, this is going to be difficult for you to hear … but our relationship was a very difficult one. We made many mistakes. I made the biggest of all when I slept with another woman …"
"What, you cheated on mom?"
"Em, about a year after we started dating I became very jealous of your mother, I felt that a guy from work was trying to take her from me. In the end it was my jealousy that destroyed our relationship. One night your mother mentioned taking a break. Heartbroken, I got drunk and slept with a girl I met in a bar."
Emma sat there, stunned. They were her parents. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Ross continued …
"Em, at that point we broke up. I was despondent and your mother was so angry at me. For the next few months we spent most of our time at each other's throats. After a while time had a healing effect on our relationship so we stayed friends."
Emma was confused and shook up. She was curious …
"So dad, who is the woman in the picture?"
Ross looked at his wife. He continued …
"One night, about a year after our breakup your mother found herself in a predicament. She had a date with a guy AND she had promised her boss that she would take his niece to the opera. Your mother begged me to take her boss's niece to the opera so that she could go out on her date …"
Emma couldn't accept what she was hearing. She turned to her mother with anger in her eyes and asked …
"So you set dad up with that woman so you could go out with another guy?"
Rachel stared at her daughter's eyes, then down to the floor before responding …
"Yes, your father and I were just friends at the time. I wanted to go out with this guy, Joshua I think his name was. I begged your father to take her to the opera. I had no idea what I had done …"
"Why, what happened?" She asked, now very concerned.
Ross interjected …
"The woman in the picture is my second wife … Emily."
"Emily? You've been married three times?"
Ross didn't know how to answer the question except to respond with the truth …
"Not exactly. Em, I've been married four times while your mother has been married twice."
This was too much for her to accept, let alone consider. She exploded …
"WHAT? You've both been married that many times!"
Ross could see the confusion and sadness in his daughter's eyes. He tried to explain and comfort her …
"Em, let your mother and I finish the story before you get any more upset, OK?"
She was hurt and angry. She was fifteen and she felt like she had been lied to. She was furious that this information had been withheld from her. She wanted more …
"Alright, I'll listen."
"Uh, well I dated Emily for about six weeks and then, and then …"
"What?" asked Emma.
"We got engaged."
"So now you're in love with mom and your engaged to another woman."
"Ems, no I wasn't in love with your mother at the time. I proposed to Emily after knowing her less than two months. The whole gang, except for your mother and Aunt Phoebe, flew to London for the wedding."
Ross turned to his wife. It was her turn to confess to her daughter …
"After your father left for his wedding I discovered that I was still in love with him. I grabbed a plane and flew to London to tell him that I still loved him. When I got there I found him and Emily kissing. I loved your father so much that I decided that I would let him go so that he could be happy with Emily …"
"So mom, you flew all the way to England and didn't tell him how you felt? You let him marry this woman?"
Ross interjected …
"Not exactly. You see, I thought that I no longer loved your mother, but when I saw her at the church something happened to me."
"What happened dad, please tell me!"
"I said your mother's name at the wedding …"
Emma started laughing …
"You said mom's name instead of Emily's?"
"Yes but I don't find it very funny …"
"So how did you marry her if you said mom's name at the alter?"
"Emily was furious at me for saying "I take thee Rachel" but she went through with the ceremony anyway. After the wedding Emily disappeared, I couldn't find her …"
"So what did you do, dad?"
"I decided to go on the honeymoon anyway. I told Emily's parents to tell her to meet me at the airport but she didn't show up … until"
"Until what, dad?"
"I ran into your mother at the airport and invited her to go …"
"Mom went on your honeymoon instead of Emily?"
Ross was again uncomfortable and a little embarrassed. Rachel just rolled her eyes …
"Not exactly. Emily showed up at the last minute and saw me with your mother, she ran off and I left your mother on the plane to go on our honeymoon, alone."
Emma responded to this weird turn of events in the story …
"You're kidding me, right? This has got to be a joke."
Rachel chose to respond for the couple …
"Everything that your father and I have told you is the truth, we swear."
Emma didn't know what to say …
"So dad, why did you marry Emily?"
He knew the answer but did not want to expose himself. He fidgeted in his seat before answering …
"I married Emily because I was still in love with your mother. I was looking for a substitute for her …"
He looked over at his wife who by now was looking into his eyes …
"But she has no substitute. I still loved her very much. A few weeks after your mother got back from our honeymoon she got me alone and told me that she was still in love with me. I cared for her so much but I was still married to Emily. I tried to save my marriage because I did not want to get divorced again. The marriage ended when Emily made me promise not to see your mother any more."
"What! She made you promise to never see mom again?"
"Yes, and initially I agreed to it but I couldn't live not seeing her every day like I had for the last five years. Emily told me that she couldn't trust me. That was it."
Emma thought the story was over …
"So then you and mom fell in love and got married, no?"
Ross again looked at her, appearing somewhat guilty …
"Not exactly. Your mother and I were just friends again. About a year later we flew to Las Vegas to visit Uncle Joey who was working there at the time. While we were there we got really drunk and got married …"
Emma thought she had heard it all. She again laughed …
"So you guys had a drunken wedding in Vegas? I guess then you had me and you lived happily ever after, right?"
This time it was Rachel who responded …
"Not exactly. We were married for a few months and then got divorced."
"Why mom, why did you get divorced?"
"Em, I divorced your father because he scared me. While we were married he was a very good husband. I guess I just wasn't ready yet."
Emma was getting tired and wanted to get to the end of the story …
"So you divorced dad! How did you ever get together after all the hell you put each other through?"
Rachel replied "I knew that I loved your father the whole time. About a year later your grandparents became very ill. Before she died your grandmother asked me to take care of your dad and watch over him. I wanted this so badly that I proposed to him a week before Aunt Monica's and Uncle Chandler's wedding …"
"So that's why you had a double wedding?"
"Yes. Your daddy said yes and we had a double wedding the next week. Monica was kind enough to let us get married with them. It was a good thing too, your grandparents were so happy. Unfortunately, your grandma Judy died just a few months later from cancer. After she was gone your dad and Aunt Monica tried their best to take care of your Grandpa Jack, but he died about a year after that."
"Is that why we live in grandma and grandpa's old house?"
"Yes, your dad and Aunt Monica inherited it from them. We paid Monica and Chandler for their half and now we own it ourselves."
Emma took a deep breath and sighed. She looked at her parents and wondered …
"How did you two ever end up together? You amaze me. If I didn't love you both and trust you so much I'd believe that you made the whole story up, but you didn't, did you?"
Ross looked at Rachel and again took her hand. Smiling, he turned to Emma …
"No, it's all true. I guess that no matter how many mistakes we made and how many times we screwed up our relationship the bottom line is that we loved each other."
Ross looked down then up at his wife before returning his gaze to Emma …
"Emma, something happened to us that year that we dated. It's hard to put your finger on it but it was very special. It's like your mother's name had been engrained on my heart and vice-versa. As hard as we tried to stay apart, we couldn't. I wish so many things had never happened like all the times we tried to hurt each other, but my guess is that all of this happened for a reason and in the end, love found a way."
"Dr. Gellar?"
"Yes, you have a question? What's your name?"
"My name is Stephanie."
"Alright Stephanie, what's your question?"
"Well, you've been very successful at what you do, you know, paleontology. You have a beautiful wife and children. You might have everything that you've ever dreamed of. My question is if you could go back in time to when you were our age, what would you do differently?"
Ross considered the question carefully. He marveled at how more advanced and mature the young people of this generation were then of his. He thought a while, to the point where the class and their teacher became concerned. He was looking down, with sadness on his face and a tear in his eye. Rachel too was becoming concerned. She walked over and gently touched his arm, bringing his attention back to the present. He raised his head and scanned the class through wet eyes.
"That is a very good question, probably the second best I've ever been asked." He said as he glanced over to his wife. "Stephanie, I have my fair share of regrets but if I had the opportunity to go back in time to the tenth grade I would have to say that I would not be sitting here in this classroom right now."
Ross was slowly becoming emotional; it was taking all he had to keep it together. He paused, trying to recompose himself.
"If I were like you, seated at one of those desks I would jump out of my seat and run through that door." He said as he swung his arm wildly, pointing to the classroom door. I would run, run as fast as I could to the ones I loved. I would run down the hall to my sister's home economics class. I would run through the door, I would run up to her and grab her. I would tell her I loved her and that I always would. I would tell her I was sorry for all the times that I had pestered and tortured her.
He paused again …
I would then run to my parents, now long gone, and grab them, no, crush them in my arms and tell them how much I loved them and how much they meant to me. I would want to spend every waking moment with them, knowing that our time together was short."
Ross then turned his head to the left, looking at her …
"Then I would run, run as hard as I could down the street to her house. The house of the girl I loved. I would run through the door, up the stairs and into her room. I would grab her and tell her how life meant nothing without her."
Remarkably, Ross kept his composure through his speech. The same could not be said for Rachel. A single tear fell from her right cheek. He continued …
"Class, we think that we will live forever. We do not. When I have a family reunion I drive down to the cemetery. My parents are dead. They lived and they died. When they were alive I took them for granted. They were always there … until they weren't."
There was a short pause …
"Science, business, fashion, the arts, they are all important but they should be viewed with the proper perspective. Don't, I repeat don't take your friends, your families and anyone you hold dear for granted. Life is a series of hello's and goodbyes. You never know when you are saying "Goodbye" for the last time.
He looked down again and then up. Scanning the class and his daughter he asked …
"Class, you've studied history … I should know, I've helped my daughter with her projects and to study for her exams."
The class giggled a bit …
He looked at his daughter …
"I tell you now … every age is the same, its only love that makes any of them bearable."
Ross rose from the desk that he had been sitting on and did a remarkable thing; he walked slowly to his wife and gently took her hands. He opened his lips …
"Please, tell me you love me."
She hadn't been expecting this, especially in front of their daughter's class. They had been married for almost twenty years and still he amazed her with his romantic tendencies and lack of inhibition in public places. She looked out at the class, each pair of eyes staring intently at the drama unfolding before them.
Rachel returned her eyes to his. The room was thick with emotion. Her eyes were like pools of water and her nose began to run. Releasing his hand she reached for a tissue and dried her nose. Raising her head she made eye-contact once again. She opened her mouth to utter the words that he longed to hear …
"Ross, I love you. It isn't life without you."
The girls in the class sighed with an "Awwwww".
Ross turned his head and smiled at his daughter.
At that moment it hit her, Emma had just realized that her parents had taught her the most important lesson in life.
... it is finshed. If you got any entertainment value at all from this story, please let me know.
Thank you ...
Over and out ...