Meant To Be

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. Hope you like this chapter.

By the end of the night mostly everything was unpacked. They were all sitting in the living room talking and enjoying each other's company. Since there wasn't much furniture Phoebe and Monica were on the couch, Joey and Chandler were sitting by the counter in the kitchen and Ross was on the floor leaning his back against the couch with Rachel in between his legs holding a sleeping Emma. They finished up the two pizza pies they ordered or which Rachel soon learned from Joey 'the Joey special'. It was getting late and everyone was getting tired, it was a long day. Monica said, "Rach, as soon as your feeling up to it me, you, and Phoebe can go shopping for you know, more furniture and other stuff to make this place more you."

"That sounds great, Mon. I don't know what I would do without you girls. If I went with Ross he would probably make me buy dinosaurs stuff."

"I know my brother can be such a geek."

"I know." Ross looked down at Rachel. "You think I'm a geek?" She looked up at him and said, "oh, of course I do honey, but your my geek." She then kissed him on the lips. Phoebe then said, "You guys are so perfect for eachother. You make such a cute family."

"Thanks Pheebs." Rachel looked back at Ross and he was already smiling down at her. They were both thinking the same thing. They are perfect for one another. "Ross, when is my little nephew coming back. I really miss him."

"He'll be back next weekend. I promise you will be the first person we visit. I can't believe he has been gone for a month. I miss him so much."

"He's with your ex-wife right?" Rachel asked

"Yep, he's been in England because Susan had to do some work there so they all went on a little vacation."

"well, I ca't wait to meet him."

"He's gonna love you." He kissed the back of her head and wrapped his arms around her as she leaned back into his chest. She loved how she felt when she was with him. In his arms she felt so safe and protected. Joey finally got up and said, "okay. I need to get going. I have a date tonight." The only one shocked by this was Rachel.

"What? How do you have a date? You just came back to NY today and you were with us the whole time." Ross whispered into her ear. "You don't know Joey yet. Believe me, he has a date every night. You'll see."

"I met her on the plane and we are going out to dinner."

"But you just ate 6 slices of pizza. How can you still be hungry?" Everyone started to laugh. Ross then said, "Joey never gets full and would never turn down a meal." Joey said goodbye to everyone and then left. Phoebe was the next to get up. "I have to leave too. I'm going to the movies with Mike." Monica then asked, "Wait, who's Mike? And what happened to Parker?"

"I broke up with him. He was just way too happy. I think I told him he was like Santa Claus on Prozac, at Disneyland, getting laid." Rachel burst out into laughter. "I just couldn't take it. I met Mike a few days ago at Central Perk. He plays the keyboard so we have a lot in common." Rachel still didn't know a lot about her new friends so she still had questions. "So you play the keyboard also?"

"Oh no, I play the guitar but we both like music."

"Maybe one day you can play something for me."

"That would be great." Ross whispered into Rachel's ear, "you are going to wish you never said that." Rachel just looked at him confused. "You'll see"

"I'm actually working on a new song."

"What's the new song called?"

"Pevert Parade. Bye everyone"

When Phoebe left Rachel just stared at everyone and then broke out into laughter. "Did she just say her new song was called Pervert Parade?" Ross answered, "Yep, that's Phoebe. She is a little out there but we love her." Monica and Chandler got up and walked towards the door. Ross and Rachel followed and Ross took Emma out of her arms. "I guess we should get going." Monica kissed Ross on the cheek and kissed baby Emma. She then hugged Rachel and said, "I'm so happy that you're here, Rach."

"Me too."

"I'll talk to you tomorrow. Bye you guys."

"Bye Mon, Bye Chandler." Once Monica and Chandler left, Rachel walked over to Ross, who was still holding Emma. "It looks like it is just the three of us. I'll be right back. I'm just going to change."

"okay."

She walked into her bedroom to get into her pajamas. Ross walked into the nursery with a sleeping Emma. He sat on the rocking chair and started kissing her head and rubbing her arm. Rachel walked out of her room expecting to see Ross but to her surprise he was no where to be seen. She walked into the nursery and was mesmerized by what she saw. Ross was kissing and cuddling with her daughter. Ross didn't notice her presence, he was so wrapped up with the angel in his arms. She didn't want to ruin the moment so she just stood there watching Ross and Emma. After a few minutes, she finally walked up to him and placed her hand on his shoulder to show her presence and then she knelt down to kiss Emma. She then looked up at Ross and placed a soft kiss on his lips. When they broke they smiled at each other and Ross said, "I think it's time for this one to go into her bassient." He got up and placed Emma in her bed. They both kissed her goodnight and went into the living room and sat on the couch. Rachel laid her head on his shoulder and she laced her fingers with his on his lap. They just sat there in a comfortable silence, content with just being next to each other. It's not like they didn't have anything to say, they just wanted to stay in the moment thinking about what has happened over the last few days. Rachel was the first to break the silence.

"I really had a fun day today."

"Yeah?"

"This is going to sound really pathetic but I never really had a group of friends before that I just hungout with all day just talking about everything."

"That's not pathetic. I guess you just needed to find the right people."

"I think I found them." He smiled at her and then they shared a kiss. She brought her head back on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Ross kissed her head and said, "It was a long day today. You should get some rest and go to bed." She looked at him and said, "Yeah, your probably right."

"I'll come over tomorrow."

"You know, if you want you can spend the night over here with me." Ross smiled, "Well I'm not going to say no to that."

They got up off the couch and went into her bedroom. Rachel went to one side of the bed and Ross went to the other. Rachel looked at him and said, "You're not going to sleep in those clothes are you. I mean your wearing jeans. That's not comfortable."

"Well, I was thinking about it."

She had a smile on her face and walked over to him. She rubbed her hands up and down his chest and said, "Well, I think you need to get a little more comfortable." She kissed him and pulled his shirt up over his head. When she looked at his chest she became very turned on. He was so tan and had very defined muscles. She kissed his chest and stroked his arms up and down. Ross lifted her chin and kissed her passionately both opening their mouths, allowing their tongues to battle fiercely. He moved his hands to her waist and looped his fingers around the waistline of her underwear. She grabbed his belt buckle and undid it and got his pants off, all while never breaking the kiss. He then broke the kiss and started giving her butterfly kisses on her nose, then her lips again, and then down her cheek to her neck. She moved her head so he could have better access. He started nibbling and sucking her there and she let out a soft moan. She wrapped her arms around his neck and said, "I don't know how I am going to last not being with you for 6 weeks. It's going to be torture."

He stopped kissing her neck to look up at her and placed his forehead against hers and rubbed his nose against hers. "I know. But your worth the wait." Rachel smiled and kissed him again. "Okay, I think its time to go to sleep now before I get too carried away." She agreed so they got into bed and Ross wrapped the covers around them. He pulled her closely to him and she laid her head on his chest and wrapped her arms around him. He started rubbing circles with his thumb against the exposed skin on her lower back and kissed the top of her head.

"Not that I'm complaining or anything but do you think I'm ever going to sleep at my apartment." She started to laugh and looked up at him. "I don't know. I just like the idea of waking up next to you."

"Me too." She kissed him once more before she put her head back on his chest. They remained silent as Ross kept stroking her hair. However, there was something that has been bugging him since he met her on the train and was too afraid to bring it until now. "Rach?"

She had her eyes closed and almost surrendering to sleep when she heard him call her name. "Yeah"

"There's something that's been bothering me since I met you." This got her attention and she opened her eyes and looked up at him. "What is it sweetie?"

"When you went into labor and I asked you if I should call the father you said something that I still cannot understand." She just looked straight into his eyes. She knew what he was going to ask but she let him finish what he was saying. "How could he not want to be with you and Emma? If you don't mind me asking what happened between the two of you?" She sat up and he followed. She grabbed his hand and kissed it before resting it in her lap, entwining her fingers in his. She took a deep breath and began.

"His name is Barry and we pretty much got together because of our parents. He is an orthodontist and just fit in perfectly with my family's circle. We were together for a year but there was never really true love there, you know. I only stayed with him to make my parents happy. We kept fighting more and more and when I told him I was pregnant he just freaked out. He said he wanted nothing to do with us and just left. He stopped speaking to me and then started seeing my friend Mindy, who I assume is only with him for his bank account. He never wanted to have any children and now that I think about it I can't believe I even stayed with him for so long. I was never happy and we always fought. But in the end I got my beautiful baby girl and that's all that matters."

The whole time Rachel was telling him her story he didn't take his eyes off of her. He couldn't believe this man just left this beautiful woman and his unborn child. How could someone do something like that? When she was finished he brought his hand up to her face and stroked her cheek. She just looked at him and smiled. He pulled her closely to him and she buried her face in his chest. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. I want you to know I will never hurt you and I will always be here for you and for Emma." He felt her smile against his chest. She looked up at him and said, "I know you will." He gave a soft kiss on the lips and laid down, bringing her with him. Again they remained silent but this time it was Rachel who broke the silence. "Thank you."

Ross was a little confused with what she just said. "For what?"

"Thank you for being you. Thank you for letting me into your life with all of your friends. But most of all thank you for choosing to be with me and taking care of me and Emma. I am finally happy and it's all because of you."

"Well then you are very welcome. But I should be the one thanking you. I still can't believe all of this is happening. I am with the most beautiful woman I have ever seen who is letting me be with her and her gorgeous baby girl. I am the luckiest guy in the world and thank YOU for letting me be a part of your life." Rachel started to get tears in her eyes. She could not believe the man that was next to her. "Ross, you are just so…..you are so… you are.."

"I hope the end of those sentences are good."

"Thank you." He kissed her once more and she again laid her head on his chest. He held her close and she hugged him tight around his middle, entwining her legs with his. He kissed her head and said, "Goodnight Rachel."

"Goodnight Ross" and she kissed his chest. They finally fell asleep with smiles on both their faces.