Chapter 1

Emma smiled as she walked through the front door of her family's brownstone, she hung her backpack in the entryway and headed upstairs to her bedroom. Emma glanced at her reflection as she passed the hallway mirror, although she was only 13 with makeup, she looked 16 much to her father's disapproval. She entered her bedroom and changed out of her prep school uniform into leggings and an oversize t-shirt. Since she didn't have any homework, she headed toward the den to watch some T.V. and scroll on her phone.

" Em...Is that you?"

The voice from her mom's office startled Emma, but she calmed herself as she recognized as her mother's soft tone. She turned back from the entryway of the den toward the back of the second story where her mom's office resided. Emma usually had a couple of hours to herself after school before her parents got home. Her Dad usually got home first after his last class at New York University where he is a professor. Mom wasn't home until after 6:00 most days from Ralph Lauren where she was a Creative Director for the women's division.

" Hi Mom. What are you doing home so early?" Emma questioned as she stood in the doorway of her mom's office.

"I came home early from work because I'm feeling like garbage." Rachel said,

" You never get sick." Emma exclaimed.

" I know." Rachel said as she darted her eyes away from Emma's glance.

Emma narrowed her eyes, and she looked over her mother. Rachel was sitting at her desk, flipping through the latest issue of Vogue while listening in to conference call. She had changed into leggings and a basic t-shirt.

"You look like you're feeling better."

"I guess. I'm still feeling tired though." Rachel deliberately withheld specific details from Emma, as she harbored her own concerns about her health, which she chose to keep concealed from the rest of the family for the time being.

"I'm glad." Emma said as she walked over and gave her mom a side hug. "I don't have any homework, so I'm going to catch up on some shows."

When Ross got home a while later, Emma greeted him as he walked through the door. "Hi Daddy. How was your day? Guess what? I got an A on my biology test. " Emma said without taking a breath.

" Really that's great Em," Ross said, "All that studying paid off." Ross hugged his daughter as he set a stack of papers and books on the foyer table, while hanging up his backpack.

"Thanks. I couldn't have done it without your help. Emma continued, "Are all the hopes and dreams of your students are contained in those papers? The question is will they survive another semester?"

Ross laughed, "Yes. These are my undergrad students so they're going to be a mixed bag."

By the way Mom's home already and she actually made dinner." Emma said with an eye roll. It was a little inside rift between her and Ross about Rachel's cooking skills or lack thereof.

"So, we're having Trader Joe's mushroom pizza and a kale Caesar salad?"

Emma smiled and nodded, "I mean she's predictable but it's delicious."

Ross nodded and headed into the kitchen. He snuck up behind Rachel and enveloped her in a hug. "Rach! Your home and you cooked!"

"Haha" Rachel laughed ironically, "I know you and Emma were making fun of me, but you guys always enjoy my cooking." She played into the gag and used air quotes when she said the word cooking.

"Why'd you come home so early? I mean it's great but are you sick?"

"I just felt really tired, so I thought if I came home and worked, I would feel better. I mean these leggings alone. Plus, the commute at 2:00 was amazing."

"I'm glad it helped and don't get me wrong it's great to see you this early. Did you get to go running? I noticed you didn't make it this morning" Ross question with warmth and concern in his brown eyes. Rachel shook her head and quietly said, "Nope", while avoiding his eye contract. He choose to not push the question further, although it left him worried.

The three sat down to dinner. Emma helped with the dishes, and then excused herself to use the phone. Her cell phone had died while she was watching TV and she was too lazy to get up and plug it in, so she resigned herself to using the landline in the upstairs den. She only had a couple of numbers memorized and one of them was Hannah's cell.

" Hello. Hannah's phone" Chandler said in a sing song voice.

" Hi Uncle Chandler. It's Emma. Is Hannah free to talk?"

" Hi Emma. She left her phone in the kitchen, and she told me to pick it up while she was coming downstairs."

" Hey Emma" A familiar voice said on the other line. "Why are you calling from the landline? This number in my phone as Uncle and Auntie"

" Hi Hannah" Emma replied, "Sorry. My phone died again."

"Died again or you were too lazy to plug it in." Hannah said with an edge of irony, "Classic Emma. What's up?"

"Nothing much." Emma said as she wandered around the den, "I wanted to ask if you could come over tomorrow and help plan my birthday party."

Emma's 14th birthday was coming up on the 27th of May. Since she was in 8th grade this year, she wanted to have the party of the year.

"Of course. I'm so excited and then I can get a break from MJ." Hannah said making a face of disgust. "He is literally blasting his music right now and being a little jerk. Emma, you're so blessed to be an only child."

Milo Jack or MJ was Hannah's younger brother. He was two years younger and had a knack for driving his older sister into a tailspin. If it wasn't a practical joke, it was his loud music and video games.

"I have a brother. Emma rebutted, "Remember Ben. Tall. Plays basketball. Goes to Boston College." Emma was quick to correct her cousin, but she did feel like an only child at times. She and Ben hadn't grown up together in the same way Hannah and MJ did, but she was thankful for him. He would always take the time to catch up with her and her favorite memory was when he played Candyland with her.

" I totally didn't just forget my first cousin." Hannah said with a hint of remorse in her voice, "I just meant that he doesn't live with you 24/7."

"Nice save, Han." Emma said, "I mean I'm sure Ben found me annoying. I used to make him play Candyland for hours. I just never got to be the older sibling."

"You're my older sibling." Hannah concluded, "I drive you crazy, don't I?"

"Oh, all the time." Emma said rolling her eyes.

"I've gotta go." Hannah said, "Kylie is rapid fire texting, so I'm sure it's something about Seth. Go charge your phone, so I can text you later."

"Okay, love you."

"Bye."

The bell had rung signaling the end of the school day and Emma stood up and headed toward the classroom door. She hurried to the front of the school to meet her cousin. Always punctual, Hannah was already standing there. Her dark brown curled hair hung loose around her face. She had on the standard school uniform but stood with her backpack hanging off one shoulder and a book in her hand.

" Hey Hannah" Emma said as she hugged her cousin, "Your hair looks so good."

" Hi Emma" Hannah said, " Thank you! It's been a struggle, but I think I've really mastered curling it. Your hair looks cute. Are you ready to go?"

The girls began to walk away from the front of their Brooklyn Prep school when a voice carried across the quad.

"Hey Emma."

Emma and Hannah turned to see a guy waving at them. He had dark wavy hair and brown eyes. He was dressed very stylish. Emma began to wave back and returned the, "Hi."

" Emma, that guy is so cute." Hannah whispered as Emma turned back toward her. Emma sighed and began to explain,

" Oh, I know. That's Chase Brooks. He just moved here from San Diego. I think I finally got his attention. We have algebra together and I helped him with an equation today."

"I just added him to your birthday guestlist."

"Hannah. My Dad is going to flip."

"Can't your mom help?"

"I'm going to try anything. I just know he's going to freak out. "

Hannah and Emma took the subway a couple of stops to their Brooklyn Heights Neighborhood. They loved that they lived just a couple brownstones apart. It made sleepovers, after school visits and late-night chats so convenient. They felt so lucky to have each other. Hannah only had a little brother and Emma and Ben had such a big gap in age, so their cousin bond was special. They had spent a lot of time together when they were babies and really felt like sisters.

"So, Emma" Hannah began as soon as they had put their backpacks down in the den, "Do you wanna have a theme party? I mean my mom always takes theme a little far, but my spa day party turned out pretty great." Hannah's birthday was back in February and was a girl's only spa day that included make your own bath bombs and a gel polish manicure and pedicure. Emma was always amazed about how easy her Aunt Monica made events come together perfectly.

" I loved that party. But since I'm manifesting Chase being there, I want it to be different and unique. Well not that unique but am I even making sense."

"You're looking for that mix of cool but different."

"Exactly."

"I know!" Hannah exclaimed, "What about an escape room? I bet Uncle Ross would totally be down to put it together for us. Then everyone could work together, and we'd all be chatting. You could team up with Chase."

" That's a really great idea, Hannah." Emma exclaimed. "I love the way you think. This will totally butter my dad up and then he will let me invite boys. "

"Yes. You'll have to invite Chase plus our guy friends: Ryan, Artruo, Sam, Bradley and Seth."

"Yes, Plus Taylor, Kylie, Aubrey and Alexis will be on the list as well. I'll have to figure out Chase's friends. He's pretty new to our school." Taylor and Kylie were Emma and Hannah's respective best friends. Aubrey and Alexis rounded out their friend group. They had all known each other since forever. Hannah had a big crush on Sam which Emma knew so she was stoked to be able to invite him. The girls continued to discuss Emma's party plus caught up on all the big school gossip and finally ended up in Emma's closet looking at clothes while discussing fashion trends. From the closet, the sound of footsteps on the stairs brought Emma and Hannah out into the hallway.

" Hi Em, Hi Hannah." Rachel said as she walked gingerly up the stairs to where the two girls peeked out of the door to Emma's room. Emma was about a head taller than Hannah, so her head hovered above as the girls look around Emma's door frame, her above her blonde hair flowing into Hannah's darker hair. Both girl's blue eyes were widened with a look of surprise.

" What's up?" Rachel asked with a smile. She was always amazed at how much Emma and Hannah looked like her and Monica. Their widened eyes with the different shades blue made her smile even more.

"Hey Mom. You're home early again. It's only 4:00." Emma said. "Sorry, I didn't mean that the way it sounded. We're just chatting about my birthday and working on the guest list. Hannah has the best idea for an escape room that I think Dad will be stoked about. Oh, Hannah, maybe we can even add dinosaurs somehow?"

Hannah quietly waved and smiled. Hannah was reserved, quiet and thoughtful. But around Emma, she really came into her own. She was more often than not the voice of reason and had a calming presence on those around her. From her father, she had inherited a nice sense of comedic timing.

" Yes, I'm home early again I'm just not feeling great, so I'm just going to finish working from home. That sounds great. Dad will love it. Adding dinosaurs? So, what do you want from him" Rachel replied. It was a running joke between Rachel and Emma to use dinosaurs as a way to soften Ross to their ideas.

" Well, it may help my cause of getting to invite boys. Do you think?" Emma questioned.

" Smart." Rachel told her. "Be sure to attribute Jurassic Park to him. He loves that. Do you guys want to go shopping this weekend? Talk to Dad when he gets home and get a list going. I'm going to go get on a conference call."

Once Ross got home around 5, he was immediately swarmed by Emma and Hannah who presented him with their escape room idea. In the time between talking to Rachel and Ross's arrival home, they had formed it into a Jurassic Park meets Indiana Jones meets Hunger Games escape room. Ross loved the idea and told the girls he would have something put together by the next morning. Ross knew he would have the time since it was finals week so no lectures with a holding period until finals were done and ready to grade. He had planned this summer to travel to Cairo for a dig to continue his research into the Late Cretaceous period within the Mesozoic Era.for a book he was writing. Emma and Rachel were excited to tag along on the summer trip.

"Mom is working from home. She's on a conference call though so you may want to stay clear of her office."

"Thanks, Em. I don't know if I could take another heated discussion on pencil skirts." Emma and Ross had little inside gag about the seriousness that went on in the fashion world. Emma was becoming a true blend of Ross and Rachel. She was practical and academic minded, but also was extroverted and empathetic. For all the grief she gave her mother, she loved to visit her at work and keep up with the latest styles. She also loved that her mother was career driven. And even though the dinosaur bit was fun, she loved that she could talk to her dad about science and history.

Ross had prepared dinner and was sitting down with Emma and Hannah to eat when Rachel made her way down the stairs.

"Hey Rach" Ross said, "How was your conference call? Dinner is served. Grab a plate and sit down." Ross had become quite proficient in cooking over the years as both adults in the house worked, they decided to split certain tasks including cooking. Tonight, he had prepared roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and a melody of vegetables. Rachel grabbed a plate, but as she grabbed the tongs to serve the chicken, once the smell wafted toward her, she immediately set it down and moved onto the potatoes and vegetables. She brought her chicken less plate to the table and sat down between Ross and Emma.

"Conference call was long. That whole meeting could have been an email but thank you for cooking dinner. Did the girls tell you about the escape room?"

"They did and I'm full of ideas." Ross replied looking wistfully, "I feel like this is a better culmination of all my academic skills and really should count as a second thesis. Young Ross would have loved to have been invited to an Escape Room party. "

"Young Ross would have loved to be invited to any party. Let's be real." Rachel said. Ross nodded in agreement.

"Dad, Mom" Emma interjected, "Is it okay if Hannah spends the night? It'd Friday and Dad, if you get that list ready then me, Hannah and Mom can go shopping tomorrow. The long awaited TGIF had arrived, and everyone was looking forward to the weekend. Ross was excited to get one last break before grading all the finals from the classes, Emma was looking forward to planning for her birthday.

"Of course. Just have her check in with her parents to make sure it's okay with them." Ross said. The girls who had finished eating, went back upstairs to get Hannah's phone. Once the sounds of their steps faded, Ross turned toward Rachel and pulled her plate away from her.

"Rach, For the past couple days you've been coming home early, not running in the morning, and the biggest red flag is the lack of chicken on this plate. Rachel was pretty religious about her morning runs and it had been about a week of snoozing the 5:00 alarm to bypass the early morning cardio.

Rachel sheepishly shrugged her shoulders and said, "It's so many things. Stress. We've had so many deadlines at work. The time change."

"Rachel Karen. The time change was in March. Furthermore, you never leave work early or take sick days. You're like a capitalist's wet dream of an employee. And I can't remember a day when you missed a run."

She was startled at the line of questioning and also the use of her middle name. She had her own suspicions about her health and thought that she was doing a good job of keeping up appearances with her routine. She was trying to live in the state of denial for just a little bit longer. "That's not true. I had a fever a while back and there was the day it snowed really bad."

"Rach, look I'm only inquiring out of love. I would never try to be overbearing. I've paid Dr. Lowenstein a lot of money and done a ton of work on myself to not be the person that I was years ago. But the last time you had a strong aversion to poultry was when…"

"No," Rachel interrupted him, "That window has passed. The doctor told us that the chances of this happening were…." Ross watched as his put-together wife fell apart, her chin trembling and eyes welling with tears. He was also taken aback because she had changed into joggers and one of his old NYU t-shirts, which was not her usual dinner attire since she typically came in from work. He wrapped his arms around her and let her cry on his shoulder. Monica had joked years ago about Rachel always crying, but after knowing her for over half his life, he knew it was true. She cried a lot, but he learned to read her body language and other cues to gauge the intensity of her tears. A voice from up the stairs broke the quiet moment.

"Uncle Ross" Hannah's sweet voice rang out, "My dad wants to talk to you. He'll call you on your cell."

"Thanks sweetie" Ross said as he gave Rachel a reassuring squeeze and pat on the back. They stayed linked together until Ross's pocket began to vibrate.

" Hi Chandler" Ross said as accepted the call, he had left the embrace with Rachel but held her hand as he talked to his best friend.

"Hey man" Chandler answered, " How's it going? Thanks for letting Hannah spend the night. Her and Emma are how I imagine Mon and Rach were at their age. I'll be honest, I'm glad they talk to me. This will be quick. I wanted to ask what you were doing next Thursday?"

" I think I'm free" Ross answered, "I hope to be done grading finals by then."

" Great!" Chandler responded, "Joey got three court side tickets to the Knicks vs. Kings game and wants to take us. "

" Are you serious? That's awesome. Count me in. I'll figure out the logistics."

" Great. I'll tell Joey were getting the band back together. Well, I'll let you go but Monica wants to talk to Rachel."

" Sounds good, man. Can you tell Mon that Rachel is...?"

"Right here." Rachel said as she grabbed the phone from Ross. Her eyes were still a little red from crying but she had composed herself.

"Hi Mon." Rachel said.

"Hey Rach" Monica said, "I just wanted to say hi and ask how you're doing? I miss you!"

"Aww. I miss you too" Rachel answered, "You should come shopping with us tomorrow. The girls are so excited."

"Are you actually not working this weekend?"

"Hahaha. I'm actually not working. I just can't believe Emma is turning 14. Time has just flown by." Rachel said as tears sprung to her eyes again and her voice cracked.

"Rach don't cry. "Monica said, "Well, at least wait until we can cry together. She was our first baby. I feel like all of us watched her grow up. How about I meet you guys tomorrow around 9:00?"

Rachel composed herself enough to respond, "Sounds good." The girls said their goodbyes and Rachel returned the phone to Ross. Ross had begun to finish clearing the table so Emma could do the dishes. Rachel appeared at his side and leaned in for a hug. He sensed that she just wanted to be comforted and didn't press the topic of the previous conversation. He once again reached his arms around her, and she once again started to cry. Emma entered the room to start washing dishes and was startled by what she saw, "Heyyyy." She said awkwardly to try and break the silence. Ross and Rachel looked toward Emma, Rachel wiping her tears and Ross said, "I've got it started for you, Ems." Now that Emma was older, she had been given more responsibilities that helped out. She did the dishes most nights and was responsible for keeping her room and the den clean. She also did her own laundry.

"Are you okay, Mom? What did the pencil skirts do this time? Or was it those apartment pants?" Emma once again provided some comic relief. She rounded out their threesome well. Ross was sometimes too academic and Rachel a little emotional but then Emma was hit with a one liner that led everyone to a chuckle.

Smiling through tears Rachel said, "You're just growing up too fast." Ross looked Rachel's way with a what the what but then went along with it to protect Emma from the previous conversation and there was truth to Rachel's comment. He looked over at Emma. She was tall and slender, with Rachel's bright blue eyes and Amy and Jill's white, blonde hair. But often she made expression that looked so much like Monica that he would have to take a second glance. Soon she would be dating and driving, he was feeling a little weepy.

"I can't believe you'll be 14. Ross said, "How about a family hug? Then I've gotta go work on the escape room."

Emma smiled as she was hugged by both parents. When she was younger, they began calling it an Emma Sandwich. She breathed it in to savor the moment. He mother smelled sweet like Channel No. 5 and rosewater and her dad was piney like the way upstate New York smelled when they had gone camping a couple summers ago. While her parents retreated upstairs, Emma got to work on the dishes so she could return to chat with her cousin.