5 Years earlier:
They were living happily and it had been only 1 year since Rachel had gotten off the plane and they were living out in the suburbs after realizing that New York City was not a place that they wanted to raise a family. They had decided to move out to Long Island where they could get a yard and breathing room.
They had been looking at houses now for a few months now and it was hard to pick one, they had pulled up to a beautiful 1970s white house at the end of a cul-de-sac with a picket fence along the back. There were a couple of trees that rose along the back that gave privacy. The house was in relatively good shape with 3 bedrooms and 2 washrooms.
"Ross isn't this just beautiful? The yard that our kids can play in and kick the soccer ball around or play tag? She beamed looking at her husband who shared her enthusiasm.
"Yeah Rachel it looks great, I can definitely see us raising a family here and growing as a family. Plus, the commute time for us both will only be an hour each way." he replied back giving his wife a gentle hug to show his support.
They ended up purchasing it for $950,000 which was $100,000 over budget but times were good and the banks were more then willing to offer the loan money at higher interest rates then normal. Ross and Rachel thought that they could more then handle it with their salaries as Ross was a tenured professor and Rachel was a rising star at Ralph Lauren. They moved in and invited the whole friend group over for dinner to celebrate in their new house.
"So, this is it then? No one is in New York anymore" Joey remarked with a sigh as he reminisced about the times they had. "Although I have to admit that it is going to be nice when Uncle Joey comes for visits to play with the little one in the back, we can play tag, hide and seek and even soccer" he smiled at the thought
"Yeah living in New York was nice but it was just too crowded to raise a family" Chandler told his side of the story. "Me and Monica have been enjoying it with Jack and Erica are really enjoying school. The systems are so much better out here. It could not be any better"
"Well I think that it is great that you moved out here, the house is very clean" Monica admired "See Rachel you have learned something by living with me all those years, looks like my cleaning obsession rub off on you" she teased "My house is probably still cleaner though" always the competitive one she was.
"Well I think it is just great that you moved out here, even if the environmental footprint is worse. The air is cleaner" Phoebe said, she had joined a new cause of environmentalism. It seemed like some new cause with her every week
"Pheebs maybe not here, lets just enjoy the night and not overthink things." Mike shot her a look trying to tell her to be polite. He got embarrassed easily though and was happy Phoebe was speaking her mind.
"Rachel honey this is amazing food, the chicken parm is superb. The sauce has a great tang but is not overpowering and the chicken is so juicy. I don't know what I would do without you" Ross smiled lovingly at his wife and blew her a kiss. He wanted her to feel appreciated
"Thanks Ross" Rachel blushed back at him, she did not like the spotlight but had a surprise up her sleeve. Tapping her glass, she stood up.
"I am glad that we can all meet up tonight it is so nice to see you guys especially as we all grow up into our 30s it is harder to hang out like we used too. Me and Ross not only invited you tonight to celebrate the new house but we also have some important news." She cleared her throat and put her glass down. "I am pregnant!" she smiled and everyone smiled back at her with genuine happiness and chiming in their congratulations.
"I KNEW it!" Chandler pointed at Monica "Give me $20 you owe me, that's why she wasn't drinking" he got up in excitement doing a happy dance while Monica rolled her eyes and got out her wallet.
"Do you know the gender?" Mike asked
"Yeah it is a boy" Ross and Rachel said in unison struggling to contain their excitement
"So I guess Princess Consuela BananaHammock is off the table then" Phoebe giggled at the thought remembering that time she wanted to change her name.
After dinner they all headed home heading their separate ways, their next meeting was going to be thanksgiving. The year flew by and Rachel gave birth to a boy they decided to name Connor, after Connor was born they finished remodeling the house and were settling to their new house. Then the economy crashed sending house prices crashing leaving Ross and Rachel barely above water, it was a stressful time their payments on the house went up reflecting the risker asset since they had done it through a third-party (non-bank) lender.
Rachel had taken a second night job and Ross was teaching more classes at the university and with a baby and young daughter it was lots of running around town and little down time, they were looking forward to the thanksgiving break to spend time with family and catch a breather. They were going to Monica and Chandler's house.
"Hey guys come on in" Monica greeted them as they entered the house, the aromas of turkey filling the house. She was wearing a New York Jets apron that Chandler had bought for her birthday.
"Thanks Monica, although I have to disagree with the apron choice, Giants all the way" Ross teased when giving her a hug.
"This must be Connor, hi buddy" Chandler said waving his hand. "This is your uncle chandler, the one that is funny" The baby started crying in Rachel's arms causing Monica to quip "Not so funny are you?"
"Where is everyone?" Rachel asked noticing that the house was quiet. She took off her sunglasses and put her coat on the rack. Trying to keep the baby quiet by rocking it back and forth
"They are on there way they are just caught in traffic, you know how it is these days" Chandler said
Everyone soon arrived and they started to chow down on the delicious feast that Monica had made
"I have to admit Monica that you are probably one of the better chefs in New York area, everything is so tasty!" Joey remarked
"Thanks Joey glad you liked it, you are probably not going to share it though with your girlfriend?" Monica teased knowing the history of Joey and sharing food.
They decided to have the Geller Cup again that year, it had become a tradition in the Geller household to have a football game on thanksgiving and the tradition continued with the new generation. The teams were Team Monica Versus Team Ross. Rachel. Ross, Phoebe and Mike versus Chandler, Monica and Joey. The game started and was intensely competitive with the score in the 4th quarter being 24-17 for team Monica.
The final play had team Ross just needing to get a touchdown, they decided to do a throwing play. Ross was quarterback.
"Hut" Ross roared as he got the football
"Open!" Rachel shouted as there was no coverage since she was the weakest player.
Ross ended throwing the ball in Rachel's direction but Rachel ended up dropping the ball and costing her team the game.
"No! How could you drop that Rachel, you cost us the game, nice going" Ross said in anger clutching his hand in shock and disgust. He could just not believe that Rachel had dropped the ball. But he soon got over it
"Sorry for the freak out Rachel, I just get emotionally invested in these games a bit too much" he looked embarrassed.
"Its okay Ross I forgive you" but the truth was that she was worried that this was becoming a trend with Ross having more emotional outbursts more frequently these days. It was emotionally taxing on her but she knew that she needed to keep a strong front at the moment.
It was only the beginning of their troubles that they would experience