Hi guys!

The lockdown in Italy is officially over and so is my pregnancy. I'm due on the 27th of May, so my second child should be with us within the next couple of weeks.

I hope you're all doing good in your countries and that your families are all safe and healthy. Stay home, stay safe – we'll get through this.

Today I wanted to give you a piece of Roschel that is very actual.

I hope you like it!

Episode: The One With The Cake (10x04)

Ross and Rachel were still looking astonishingly at their friends who were all sitting on the floor and screaming at their little toys – apparently, they were competing in a weird wind-up animal race.

"Go, go, go Alan! Run, you hairy bastard!" Phoebe yelled.

Monica and Chandler eventually realized that their friends were standing in front of the door, waiting for them to calm down and give an explanation.

"Oh, uhm…hi. Is Emma asleep again?" Chandler asked, noticing that both Ross and Rachel were outside the apartment.

Former boyfriend and girlfriend exchanged a knowing look; Ross shook his head.

"Weren't you leaving for Vermont?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, we thought it was too late, I didn't want to drive all night, so we decided to leave tomorrow morning." Monica told her.

"Oh, ok. Again, thank you for staying, guys." Rachel smiled unconsciously.

"You're welcome." Monica smiled back.

"And now, can you go inside if you want to play and yell like that, please? We want to record our message for Emma without swearing coming from the hallway." Rachel requested.

The four friends took their toys from the floor and move towards apartment 20. Joey picked up his little puppet, showing it to Ross and Rachel with a huge childish smile on his face. Rachel stifled a laugh, while Ross shook his head again, like he often did when Joey behaved like a silly child.

Joey got serious again and walked inside the apartment, closing the door behind himself.

Ross and Rachel did the same, resuming their previous places behind the kitchen counter.

Ross noticed that the camera was still recording.

"Well, this is going to be a very unique video message for future-Emma!" he commented.

Rachel giggled, "Did it record all of this?"

"Yeah. Well, I could always edit the video later."

"Oh no, don't. It's going to be more realistic like that."

"Ok." Ross smiled in agreement.

They sat comfortably on the stools, both looking at the camera in front of them.

"So, where were we?" Rachel wondered.

"Hi, Emma!" Ross greeted.

"Well, your first birthday is over, you are sleeping in your bedroom – as you did for most of the day, actually."

"Your Aunt and Uncle were delighted about that." Ross interrupted her.

"Daddy and I were very happy because you learned something new today, now you know how to tell people that you're one year old!" Rachel said, getting emotional again.

Ross looked at her and smiled.

"Exactly, Emma. You're our little genius. Even if your mother doesn't want me to send you to the Science Camp!" he complained.

Rachel just glared at him and shook her head, "Anyway, if I think about one year ago, we were at the hospital. When you finally decided to come out of me, Dr. Long put you in my arms and that was the most emotional moment of my life."

Ross thought about it, "Yeah, mine too, I guess. Your mother and I were so happy to finally see you, to meet you after nine months. We were both looking forward to find out how you would look like, if you would resemble her or me. Hopefully, you are all Rachel."

Rachel felt her cheeks burning up a bit and realizing that she was blushing, she tried to hide it with a pleased smile. "And fortunately, you took a beautiful Geller nose. Now that you are 18, you probably know how important it is to have a nice nose, because I still had my real one when I was 18, and that was a real problem."

"Problem?" Ross claimed, incredulous. "You were the most popular girl in our school, what was wrong with your nose?"

"Ross, you were insanely in love with me, you probably didn't even notice, but my nose did have an extremely deviated septum, that's why I got to reduce it!"

"I thought it was pretty." He commented, quietly.

"That's sweet, thank you." Rachel smiled at him. "Well, Emma…it's a long time until 2020 and many things will change. You'll be a grownup; will you still live with us?!" Rachel thought for a second about their current accommodations and corrected herself, "I meant, with me."

Ross's head lowered imperceptibly. He suddenly got more serious.

"Well, by then you will be certainly getting ready to leave for college, and if you are anything like your mother, you'll be beautiful, funny, friendly and everyone will love you. You'll be nice and you'll always see past appearances when choosing your friends. Your mother may have been the most popular girl, but her best friend was Aunt Monica and that's how she became a part of the Geller family."

Rachel was touched by Ross's words. She felt she needed to reciprocate somehow.

"If you are anything like your father, instead…I'm sorry but you will love dinosaurs, so you'll be a geek, and everybody will avoid you and your classmates will bully you at all time."

Ross turned his head, looking at Rachel and yelled, "Hey!" he also gave her a soft pinch.

Rachel chuckled, "I'm kidding, Emma. If you are like your father, you'll be smart, and I really hope you are. Ross is the most intelligent man I know, he's dedicated, very passionate in his commitments and he loves his family and friends more than anything. He is one of the persons I love the most in this world, and I'm sure that if you come out as an eighteen-years-old with your head on your shoulder, it'll be because of your father's guidance."

This was Ross's moment to silently melt inside for Rachel's kind words. He was astonished, he never thought he would hear her talking like that about him, not again.

He couldn't help himself, he grabbed Rachel's hand in his and then looked back at the camera, "Well, Emma. It's time to say goodbye. I just want to tell you one last thing. I don't know where your mother and I will be when you are 18. But I'm sure that we'll be there to celebrate with you, together. We'll always love you like we do today, and we'll always care about each other. Rachel is a wonderful woman and a great mother; I hope you become like her. See you in 2020, goodbye sweetie."

Rachel kept holding Ross's hand with tears forming at the corner of her eyes, she simply waved her other hand at the camera, mouthing a soft 'bye'. Ross stared at her for a couple of seconds and gave her a kiss on the cheek, then he stood up to stop the camera.

Sure that he'd just pressed the button, he didn't notice that he hadn't put enough pressure and the camera was still recording.

"Thank you for doing this." He told Rachel.

"This was a great idea. Well, even if the other messages are a bit peculiar."

They both chuckled, thinking about Chandler's words.

§

"Hi Emma! It's the year 2020. Are you still enjoying your nap?"

§

"If Emma grow surrounded by us, her Uncles and Aunts…I think she will be aware of the fact that this is no normal gang. These videos will be a mirror of her daily life."

Rachel giggled, "I guess you're right. Messages by people that love her very much."

They both went silent for a few seconds, thinking about all and nothing.

Rachel was the one who broke the silence.

"Hey, Ross…all those things you said about us, about not knowing where we're going to be twenty years from now…You really think we'll be there, celebrating together?"

"Oh, absolutely. You know, Rach, if all the things that happened in the last ten years never separated us…then I do believe that Emma can only make us closer."

Rachel smiled, grateful. "It's nice that's how you feel, even if time is passing by."

"Well, it's a fact, Rach. We're still friends, in spite of everything that happened. We have an amazing daughter, we still care, I know we're going to be there for each other whenever we need help. Most of all, we'll be there for Emma."

Rachel shook her head slowly, "I can't believe that you still care so much and you're not angry at all…I mean, in spite of what happened, you know…with Joey."

"I could never resent you for something like that. You're the mother of my daughter and…you're still my Rachel."

She was almost beaming because of the huge smile that those words had brought on her face, "Then, you're still my Ross."

That was the moment when Ross's thoughts concentrated for a second on his current girlfriend, Charlie. He was smiling like an idiot, and yet he knew that he couldn't fall in the trap. He couldn't let himself hope that something would happen between him and Rachel.

He really needed to give a chance to his relationship with Charlie, even if he knew that his feelings for Rachel would somehow always get in the way of his happiness.

His resolution had already suffered a tough blow when he had found out that Rachel and Joey had decided to break up.

Now, he had to be even stronger than before.

'Yeah, go and tell yourself that when she looks at you like that!' he thought, noticing Rachel's intent stare.

"I…I have to go now, Charlie's waiting for me, we're going to the cinema."

"What are you watching?"

"It's a documentary about Charles Bukowski's life." He explained.

"Wow, sounds like a fun night!" Rachel mocked him.

"Actually, yeah, it sounds very interesting. But I must admit I like watching more light-hearted movies too, at times."

"That's why you dragged me watching a subtitled documentary at our first date?"

Ross was suddenly brought back to that amazing night.

"No, I kind of hoped that you would ignore the movie to make out." He confessed, chuckling. "But that amazingly didn't happen."

"Of course, it didn't, I wanted to impress you, I watched it carefully to make you understand that I could appreciate a serious thing like that!" she admitted, too.

"Oh. That's why you never touched me that night!" he realized.

"Yeah…well, we tried when we got back home…" she reminded him.

"You kept laughing whenever I touched your butt!" he retorted.

"Ok, that's fair." She giggled. "Things got better during our second date, though."

"Indeed." He nodded slowly, soon imitated by Rachel.

Why, why did they need to talk about that, why did they want to hurt each other by remembering the best moments of their past relationship?

And most of all, why couldn't he let her go?

As soon as he remembered that night at the planetarium, Charlie was completely out of his mind.

Rachel sensed his uncertainty and decided to let him go, "Ross? Charlie?"

"Yeah!" he almost yelled.

He walked towards the door, followed by Rachel.

"Remember that tomorrow we need to be at my mother's to celebrate Emma's birthday. She waits us at 11."

"Sure." He replied.

"It's going to be great for Emma, she will have so much fun with her favorite aunts. 50 bucks that Jill and Amy won't even have a present for her."

"Come on, give them a break, maybe they will surprise us."

"I'll consider a small victory them being there, especially seeing that neither of them ever came to the hospital to see Emma when she was born. I can't believe Jill still has to see her in person."

Ross felt very sad for her, "I'm sorry that you have such a difficult relationship with your sisters. I really hope it gets better, one day."

Rachel shook her head and waved her hand, then she stroked her own hair nervously, "Its's all right, you know…I practically stole your sister as mine." She laughed.

"Yeah, and I've got to thank Monica for that. If it wasn't for her, you would have never gotten into my life."

Rachel's eyes roamed over his face, cautiously. She couldn't believe her ears.

Ross felt the urge to correct himself, "I mean, into...our lives."

"Ok, now I really have to go. See you tomorrow morning."

"Ok, have a good night."

"You too."

Ross took the camera and its tripod, then he disappeared from Rachel's view, closing the door behind himself.

Rachel watched the door for another minute, thinking about Emma.

She was so incredibly glad that she was Ross's daughter. She suddenly remembered talking with Phoebe about something like that, once.

§

"I always figured the first time I had a baby was with somebody I love, and that baby would be a…keeper."

§

Of course, that was a very different situation; Phoebe wanted to be a surrogate for Frank Jr and Alice's child, and she wanted to convince her how a weird idea that was.

But she did believe what she had said, and if she was honest with herself, the only man she had ever wanted to have children with, was Ross.

Apparently, nothing had really changed, since then.

She smiled to herself and walked towards her bedroom.

April 4, 2020

"Yeah, and I've got to thank Monica for that. If it wasn't for her, you would have never gotten into my life."

"I mean, into...our lives."

"Ok, now I really have to go. See you tomorrow morning."

"Ok, have a good night."

"You too."

§

Emma Geller-Green felt tears forming to the corner of her eyes.

Her half-brother Ben was sitting next to her on the couch and her younger sister Isabella was sitting on the armchair.

"Oh my God!" Ben shouted. "Can you believe this?" he asked his sisters.

"No!" Isabella chuckled.

Emma was still emotional. When she had found a DVD labeled 'Emma's 18th birthday' on her desk that morning, she couldn't imagine that she would see something like that.

"I thought they got back together months after your first birthday." Ben elaborated.

"They did." Emma nodded. "But it's undeniable…I mean…look at them!" she yelled.

Emma took the remote and rewound the video until she found the moment she was looking for.

§

"You're still my Rachel."

"Then, you're still my Ross."

§

Emma stopped the video, "Come on!" she screamed.

"They look very much in love." Isabella agreed. "They sooo wanted to be together, you can tell from the way they look at each other!"

Ben shook his head in confusion, "Dad and Rachel's whole history is so crazy. I remember how weird it was seeing them together when I was a child, you know? They were meant for each other; nobody could understand why they weren't together. They were like…a couple without the benefits of being a real couple, if you know what I mean." He smiled shrewdly.

"It's difficult to think about a time when they weren't together. They look like a perfect couple, so in tune with each other…It's impossible to try and imagine them on their own…" Emma said.

"Well, they had their ups and downs towards the end of the 90s, but they got through their issues and got back together. And that's where they belong." Ben voiced his inner feelings about it.

"Oh, they are still so needy and smoochy…daddy still showers her with gifts, not even Aunt Monica and Uncle Chandler are so sappy!" Isabella claimed.

"Yeah, Rachel and Dad were always that nauseating." Ben chuckled.

The three siblings heard a noise coming from the main entrance of the huge house. Ross and Rachel had moved in the suburbs and now lived in Monica and Chandler's neighborhood.

Ben didn't live with them, but he was often there, especially when there was something to celebrate, like Emma's 18th birthday.

Ross and Rachel were getting inside, giggling and cuddling. Ross was holding Rachel from the back, kissing her tenderly on the cheek.

Ben, Emma and Isabella shared a knowing look.

"What was I saying?" Ben smiled, waving his hand in their direction.

"Hi guys!" Ross greeted his children. "What are you doing?"

Emma hesitated for a second, "We…just finished watching the video that mom left me for my birthday."

Ross thought deeply, then he realized what she was talking about, "Oh, yeah! Did you like it, Ems?"

"Yes…it looks like you and mom really got into it when you recorded it. It's filled with a long conversation about your relationship…" Emma explained.

"What are you talking about?" Rachel asked. "That was a collection of video messages for you, honey!"

"Actually…you spoke a lot about yourselves…oh, you also mentioned a woman named Charlie…" Isabella continued.

"What…We certainly didn't mention Charlie in our message for you." Ross retorted.

"Yes, you did!" Emma repeated.

She took the remote and rewound the video again.

§

"I…I have to go now, Charlie's waiting for me, we're going to the cinema."

"What are you watching?"

"It's a documentary about Charles Bukowski's life."

"Wow, sounds like a fun night!"

§

Rachel and Ross kept watching the screen and realized what had happened.

"The camera probably went on recording a conversation that was supposed to be secret…" Ross said.

"Oh my God…"

§

"Oh. That's why you never touched me that night!"

"Yeah…well, we tried when we got back home…"

"You kept laughing whenever I touched your butt!"

§

Rachel put a hand on her forehead, desperate and ashamed, "Oh my god! You all watched this part?" she screamed.

The three siblings laughed, "Yeah."

"Come on, Rachel, we are all grown-ups!" Ben tried and calm her down.

"Isabella is just 15, Ben!" Ross scolded him.

"Well, I'm not a girl anymore, dad. I've been past the bees and flowers phase for quite a while…"

Ross shook his head and closed his eyes, "I'd rather not be aware of the fact that you know these things, thank you!"

"Look at you, mom! You two were so in love, what were you waiting to get back together?"

Rachel stared at Ross, amused by that weird situation. "I was waiting for your dad to break up with Charlie and make my move to take him back. A look was enough." She joked.

"What are you talking about?" Ross replied. "You were leaving for Paris, and I had to run to the airport to convince you and stay!"

"That's so not true! I made the first move when I came to your house the night before, looking for you to tell you how sorry I was!"

"But I was the first to kiss you, otherwise you would have left, and we wouldn't have solved anything!"

The three kids were looking from Ross to Rachel, with their eyes moving as if they were watching a ping-pong ball jumping from one side to the other of the table.

Fortunately, they were accustomed to this kind of verbal banter between their parents.

"Well, the morning after I was the first one to say how wonderful that night had been!" Rachel yelled.

"But you believed that was, I quote literally, the perfect way to say goodbye!"

"How could I know that you still loved me?" she claimed.

"It looked pretty obvious that night, we slept together!" Ross replied.

"You should have told me immediately that you still loved me, not wait for the last chance, at Newark!"

"I'm sorry I dragged my sorry ass around two different New York airports, traveling on Phoebe's death cab to come and tell you that I loved you and beg you to stay!"

"And I'm sorry that I got scared and didn't know what my life was gonna be! Five minutes, that's how long I hesitated before getting off the plane! They had shut the door; I couldn't get off that damned plane!"

"Yeah, and you left that message on my answering machine! Excuse-me if I still keep it today as my…"

"Mobile ringtone…" The three siblings ended the conversation for Ross.

Both Ross and Rachel turned their heads, remembering that their children were right there with them. They both burst out laughing.

Ross took Rachel in his arms, holding her tight. "I'm sorry sweetie, it's not a match to decide who loves the other more."

"Not at all, because we all know you love me more." She told him.

"You are the one who can't live without me." Ross murmured.

"No, it's you." She whispered.

"Ok, it's me." Ross concluded, making Rachel giggle.

They kissed each other lovingly.

Ben, Isabella and Emma shared another annoyed look.

"How about going out and have some drinks to celebrate your birthday?" Ben asked his sister.

"I'm with you. I cant's stand these two any longer." Emma shook her head, almost grossed out.

Rachel looked at her out of the corner of her eye. "Watch out, Emma. It'll come a day when you find a man that will be what your father and I always were for each other."

"What?" Emma wondered.

Ross and Rachel looked at her and they were backed up by Ben when they all answered, "Your lobster."

Emma and Isabella exchanged a questioning look, not understanding the reference.

Ross winked at Ben, who knew exactly what they meant.

"I'll tell you on our way." Ben promised his sisters.

"Let me guess, that has something to do with Aunt Phoebe?" Isabella asked.

Ben chuckled, "It couldn't be no one but her, could it?"