Consequences
by Tina Chaves

In some ways, it felt like cheating. Rachel checked herself in the mirror one last time that evening and couldn't shake that feeling away. It was like they were cheating on their friends - Monica and Chandler in special.

They met Faye and Eli just the week before, on an evening Rachel had forgotten the keys to the apartment and Ross wouldn't be back home for another hour. Their new next-door neighbors found her and Emma waiting on the hallway and offered to let them wait inside until he returned. They seemed like nice people and Emma was begging to use the bathroom, so Rachel accepted it.

While they waited, the conversation flowed naturally. Ross arrived just as they were finishing preparing dinner, so they all ended up all staying over for that. The foursome hit it off really well, which came as a surprise for Rachel, who had recently started complaining about how much harder it was to make new friends now that they were in their 30s. Well, not that she made any real effort in her 20s. She had always been more than satisfied with the few close friends she had, there had never been any need to invite more people into her life beyond this tight-knit circle. That sentiment, however, had changed in the last few months.

Faye and Eli were from Portland and had just moved to the city. Though they didn't have kids yet, they had been really good with Emma too. She was an interior designer and he a lawyer – as well as an excellent Sponge Bob impersonator.

Tonight, Ross and Rachel were returning the favor and preparing them a meal – well, Ross was. Rachel would be in charge of the drinks and the charm, as her fiancé put it.

She finally walked out of their bedroom and found him checking something in the oven, while Emma was coloring a sheet of paper on a small desk they'd set up for her on one corner. The little girl loved sitting there pretending to be marking papers just like her father, even though she didn't understand the concept very well yet. She would simply doodle on the papers in front of her and shout out a random letter, like E, M or the occasional A - some of the few she knew, of course, for being the 3 letters in her first name.

"Does this feel like cheating or is it just me?" Rachel asked Ross with a pout.

He looked at her and smiled.

"I think now would be a good time to tell you that Monica and Chandler have been having Friday night game nights with their next-door neighbors for the past month."

Rachel furrowed her brows.

"You knew about this while I've been feeling guilty all week?"

Ross wrapped his arms around her and tenderly kissed her hair.

"Sweetie, we're not doing anything wrong. There was no reason to feel any guilt in the first place." He reassured her; his hands protectively placed on her lower back.

"I know." She said with a sigh. It was hard being around new people like this after ten years of pretty much complete exclusivity to their friends. "It's just… weird, I guess. What if things are awkward tonight?"

"Then you make those margaritas extra strong."

Rachel chuckled.

"OK." She patted his chest playfully. "That's a plan."

They kissed softly.

"Mommy?"

Rachel looked down to find Emma tugging on her dress.

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Can we go to Aunt Monica's? I made a new art for the babies!"

Rachel and Ross smiled at their daughter.

"We're going there on Sunday, OK? That's the day after tomorrow."

"OK."

"Can I see it?"

"Mm-hmm!"

Emma skipped all the way back to her little desk and Rachel followed, smiling at how adorable and loving she was.

"Oh, sweetheart, that's gorgeous!" Rachel said proudly as she inspected the drawing. "What is it?" She asked and heard Ross chuckle.

"It's a tywanosaur!" Emma answered, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

It was Rachel's turn to chuckle.

"Of course it is."

She looked over at Ross, who was beaming with pride, and shook her head playfully. He shrugged innocently in return.

"Well, it's beautiful, honey." Rachel said as she bent down to hug her daughter and kiss the top of her head. "I'm sure your cousins will love it."

Emma smiled widely and her mother joined her father around the kitchen area again. Ross inspected the drawing and nodded.

"A masterpiece. What else can I say? The kid's a genius."

Rachel chuckled, especially because the drawing consisted mostly of different irregular shapes and a lot of random colors.

"Hey, have you seen my phone? I can't seem to find it anywhere." She asked.

"No. I actually don't know where mine is either."

They heard Emma giggle on the background and turned to look at her, who then tried to act aloof.

"What?"

There was a knock at the door.

"We'll deal with you later, Missy." Ross said.

"OK, here we go." Rachel said, hanging Emma's drawing on the fridge before joining Ross.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Sure. Don't feel like a creep at all opening the door like this."

Ross laughed and opened the door. Eli and Faye stood on the other side, smiling and holding a dish. They greeted one another and the couple walked in.

"I know you told us not to bring anything, but since little Emma seemed so interested when we mentioned my grandma's banana cream pie, I had to call her and get the recipe."

"Oh, you shouldn't have." Rachel said politely. "Thank you. Look at this Emma. Faye and Eli brought you some pie."

Emma approached them and looked around.

"Where's Biscuit?" She asked, referring to their dog.

"That's not how you greet people, Emma." Ross shook his head. "What do you say first?"

"Hi!" Emma said.

"Hi, Emma!" They said back.

"Where's Biscuit?" She circled right back.

The adults exchanged looks and smiled, holding in their laughter.

"He's home. He's had a really long day, he just came back from his walk and he was tired." Faye explained.

"Oh…" Emma said, looking disappointed.

"Maybe one day we can take him on a walk?" Faye suggested, looking at Emma and Rachel.

Rachel smiled and Emma perked up.

"Can we, mommy?"

"Sure, sweetie."

Emma jumped up and down in delight.

Faye and Eli finally walked in properly. Ross took the dish from Faye's hand to put it away, while Rachel led them further into the living room.

"Wow, what a beautiful apartment." Faye said.

Rachel smiled.

"That means a lot coming from an interior designer."

Faye smiled back.

"Well, you guys seem like you would never need my services, you have a great sense of style. Not that I would ever expect anything less from you, Rachel."

Ross joined them and threw an arm around Rachel, squeezing her to his side lightly.

"I'd claim my share of the credit, but Rachel really did most of the work. Specially editing out most of my things."

"Are you still whining, Geller?" She joked and he chuckled. "OK. Can I start us off with some margaritas?"

"Oh, yes, please!" Faye replied with enthusiasm. Rachel had bragged a lot about her margaritas the other night.

"Sounds great." Eli said.

A few minutes later, Ross was outside in the balcony with Eli admiring the view and talking about sports or some other guy stuff, Rachel assumed, while she was working on a second batch of drinks on the kitchen island. Faye was inspecting some pictures on a nearby console table.

"Is this Ross' sister who works at Alessandro's?"

Rachel looked up and noticed Faye was looking at a picture of Ross, Rachel, Emma, Ben, Carol and Susan, taken on Ben's latest birthday party.

"Oh, no, that's Ross' ex-wife Carol and her wife Susan. And that's Ben, Ross' son."

Faye smiled at Rachel.

"Wow, how very modern. And you guys all get along?"

"Yeah. I mean, Ross and Susan aren't exactly best friends, but, yeah, we all get along well, which is really good for the kids."

"Of course. That's great."

"Ross' sister is the one on the frame right to the left. That's her and Chandler's wedding, a few years ago."

Faye turned her attention to it.

"Oh, OK, that makes more sense, they do look more alike. She's beautiful." There was a small pause as she analyzed it more closely. "Is this Joey Tribbiani?" She asked, squinting at the picture.

"Yeah." Rachel smiled. "He's a very close friend."

"What the hell was he wearing?"

Rachel laughed. She was so used to seeing this picture she didn't even focus on Joey's outfit anymore.

"He had to go to the wedding straight from the set of this war time movie he was shooting back then."

"Oh, wow. You know, Eli teases me endlessly, but I love cheesy soap operas. Specially Days of Our Lives."

Rachel smiled widely.

"Me too!"

"Really?"

"Oh my God, yes! And you know, Joey and I were actually roommates for a while, so I got to meet a lot of his co-stars too. Admittedly, some against his will… But he did take me to the set a few times."

"Wow. That's so cool." Faye mused. "So what's he doing now? I was so bummed when he left the show again."

"Well, he's moved to L.A. a few months ago, which makes sense for him." Rachel said and took a deep breath. Things had changed and that's exactly why they were currently in the hunt for some new friends. "We miss him terribly though."

Faye looked at her and nodded.

"Yeah, I know how it is."

Rachel smiled in understanding. Of course she knew, being a newcomer to a city like New York herself. Faye and Eli had left people behind and were looking for the same things as Ross and Rachel.

Faye turned her attention back to the frames.

"Oh, what a nice picture of the two of you."

Rachel noticed she was now looking at a photo they had taken in Paris. Her assistant Erin snapped it in a moment they weren't even noticing it, so it looked very natural. It pleased Rachel to realize this is what people saw when they looked at them, their love was so evident in their gazes.

"Thanks. That was just this January, Ross surprised me when I was in Paris on a business trip."

"Uh, romantic. First time there?"

"Yeah, for both of us. Have you two ever been?"

"Yes, we honeymooned there, it was a dream. How did you two like it?"

Rachel smiled, recollecting those brief but incredible days.

"It was amazing. Paris sort of has a special meaning to us."

Faye smiled at Rachel.

"Long story?"

Rachel chuckled.

"I guess soon enough you'll realize that everything about me and Ross is a long story."

"Got it."

"How about you and Eli?"

"Oh, we're definitely a "short story"." Faye answered, doing the air quoted. "We met in high school, been together ever since."

"Wow. That's a really long time."

"Yep."

"And no drama there? No breaks or breaks ups or…?"

"Oh no. I guess we've always just known, you know?"

"Wow. You guys are definitely our opposite. We met when we were young too, but our history has definitely not been that simple."

Faye chuckled.

"Well, it seems like you have it figured out now."

Rachel sneaked a glance at Ross, who noticed she was looking at him and smiled at her.

"Yeah." She smiled back and sighed contentedly. "We really have."


The evening went well, there was no need to exaggerate on the tequila. Still they ate early, mostly because of Emma but also because they now found themselves getting tired and sleepy very early on Friday nights. It was like the whole week of getting up early for work was catching up to them, and the margaritas didn't help either, no matter how light on the alcohol.

After dinner, they sat around the coffee table finishing their dessert and sipping some liqueur when they heard Emma crying on the background. They all turned to watch her run to her mother, holding up her right index finger, tears streaming down her face.

"Oh, sweetheart, what happened?" Rachel asked.

"My finger… The drawer…" She explained in between sobs, before throwing herself into her arms.

"OK, let me see."

Rachel pulled her up to her lap and inspected her little finger, which looked intact. Now that Emma was about two and a half and constantly stubbing toes and scraping knees and elbows, Rachel had learned not to freak out over every little incident. Besides, Emma's bedtime was approaching, and she guessed that that probably accounted for most of the little girl's mood. Still, she gave her finger a gentle kiss.

"There, does it feel better now?"

Emma nodded, despite the tears that were still falling. Then she looked at her father and held up her finger towards him too. He kissed it repeatedly and a little more dramatically than normal to amuse her. Rachel noticed a little smile curl up on the corner of her lips – and her eyelids fall a little slower.

"Uh-oh, I think it's someone's bedtime soon." Ross said, noticing it too.

"Nooo." Emma protested and resumed crying, her small smile quickly gone.

Rachel chuckled and checked her watch.

"Ten minutes, honey."

"OK."

Rachel kissed Emma's cheek.

"Watch your fingers when you close drawers, OK?"

"Ohhhhkaaaay." She answered dramatically, wiping her tears away.

"Do you want some more pie?"

"No."

And she rested her face against her mother's chest, enjoying the attention. Rachel wrapped her arms around her, kissed her hair and noticed the others were watching them. She smiled at them and stroked Emma's back soothingly.

"Do you guys ever think about having kids?" She asked them. "If you don't mind me asking, of course."

Eli and Faye looked at each other and smiled.

"No, it's OK. We keep going back and forth, but moments like this tilt the scale a little bit." Faye confessed.

"Well, we can invite you over one day when she's having a temper tantrum to balance that out, if you want." Rachel offered, only half-jokingly.

Eli and Faye laughed, and Rachel noticed as they picked up each other's hand.

"No, no. That's OK."

Rachel smiled and then looked at Ross, who was admiring her and their beautiful daughter. They also picked up each other's hand and he gave hers a light loving squeeze.

She looked down at Emma and noticed her eyes were taking their time opening up again after every blink. She would be out very soon.

"OK, Ems, you're practically sleeping already. Let's brush those teeth before you're out, come on."

"Nooooo." She started to protest again, but this time without as much energy.

"It's OK, we're only going to brush your teeth and put on your pajamas." Rachel explained, well knowing she wouldn't last that long anyway.

"Do you need any help?" Ross offered.

"No, it's OK. You tucked her in almost every day this week, it's my turn." She answered with a smile.

"OK, then." Ross kissed Emma's hair. "Good night, sweetie."

Emma mumbled a protest, something about being back soon, and the adults chuckled.

"Sure, we'll be right back." Rachel played along.

They brushed Emma's teeth and, just as expected, the little girl was out before her mother could even finish changing her clothes. Rachel was always amused at how Emma could fall asleep in the middle of something. She finished buttoning up her little pink jammies, covered her with a fluffy blanket and placed this week's favorite teddy bear right beside her.

"Good night, sweetheart." She said softly and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Sweet dreams."

As she was turning around to leave, something caught her attention. Inside Emma's little castle tent were her and Ross' cellphones, right next to the Barbie and Ken dolls she liked to say were her mom and dad. Rachel shook her head, chuckled and went inside to retrieve them.

When she looked at their screens, however, she froze. There were six unanswered calls in her phone and five on Ross'.

"Oh my God." Rachel whispered. Something had happened.

She knelt down inside the tent and went through her phone frantically. Most of the calls came from Monica, and a couple from Phoebe. She then checked her texts, which were flooded with messages from Monica.

"Rachel, where are you?"

"Rachel, pick up."

"Phoebe is in labor."

"Are you guys OK?"

"Shit." Rachel whispered and stood up, quickly calling Monica and exiting the room.

Out in the living room, Ross noticed Rachel's tense posture the minute she came back, phone glued to her ear.

"Hey, what's up?"

Rachel motioned for him to approach her, and he quickly did.

"Monica, hi!" Rachel started, her voice high and nervous. "Oh my God, we're so sorry, we just now saw the messages and the calls, Emma hid our phones and our landline is… Oh, it's not important. How's Phoebe?"

It was Ross' turn to tense up and he looked at Rachel with alarm in his eyes.

"Well, it's a healthy little girl." Monica announced on the other side. "Seven pounds and three ounces."

"What?" Rachel reacted. "And we missed it?"

"Honey, it was really fast. Apparently, she was timing her contractions at home throughout the day and only told us about it when she was on her way to the hospital. We almost missed it ourselves."

"I can't believe we missed it." She turned to Ross. "Phoebe had a little girl."

Ross chuckled in relief and disbelief.

"Already?"

"OK, honey, we'll be right there." Rachel told Monica. "What hospital are you guys in?"

Monica gave her all the information and Rachel quickly called her mother to ask her to come and stay with Emma for a little while. When she hung up the phone, she turned to face Eli and Faye, who were looking at them with smiles on their faces.

"Wow, that's exciting. Is that your friend who's going to be your maid of honor that you were talking about before?"

"Yeah. That's her."

Eli patted Faye on her knee.

"We should get going. Let's give these two the space to go and see their friend."

"Yes." They stood up. "It's been lovely, guys."

"It really has." Ross agreed. "We should do this again."

"Maybe next time we could try that restaurant Rachel was talking about." Faye suggested.

"Oh sure, sure." Rachel replied, but it was clear her mind was elsewhere.

After they left, Rachel hurried to change into something more fitting to wear at a hospital and Ross noticed her check her watch impatiently.

"Hey, why don't you go ahead and head to the hospital and I'll wait for your mom?" He suggested.

"You sure?"

"Of course. There's no point in both of us waiting here. Go. I'll stay with Emma. We know how your mom operates under her own little schedule, God knows what time she'll be here." He said with a smile in an attempt to humor her, without much success.

But she did appreciate the gesture. Even though Phoebe was also a very close friend of his, he knew she was beating herself up harder for missing this important event. So she kissed him and nodded a silent thank you before leaving their apartment in a rush.


Rachel opened the door to Phoebe's hospital room to find her sitting up on the bed with a huge smiled on her face as she watched Monica holding the baby. Mike was sitting next to Phoebe holding her hand, while Chandler stood beside Monica. Phoebe's birth mom was also just outside, on the phone. Rachel knew they had been growing close again ever since Phoebe found out she was pregnant.

"Oh my God, Phoebe." Rachel said, already beginning to tear up.

"Hi!" Phoebe beamed, her happiness so strong Rachel could feel it eradiating from her friend.

She approached the bed and gave her a gentle hug, her eyes focused on the baby in Monica's arms.

"Oh, honey, congratulations."

"Thanks! Look at me, I'm a mom!"

Rachel chuckled and broke their hug to look into her friend's eyes.

"I'm so, so sorry we missed this."

"Oh, don't worry about it, Rach."

"Congrats to you too, daddy." She told Mike.

"Thanks, Rachel."

Rachel sighed, looked over at Monica again and they beamed at each other. Then Rachel walked over to her and Monica handed her the baby, words not even being necessary at the moment. Rachel almost teared up again, she was so beautiful.

"Wow, Phoebs… She's gorgeous."

"Isn't she?"

"Does she have a name yet?"

"Yes. Summer Lily."

"Aw, honey." Rachel reacted with a light-hearted chuckle. That was so Phoebe. "I love it."

Then she turned her attention back to the bundle in her arms, admiring her little face, getting to know the new member of their group.

"Where's Ross?" Monica asked.

"Oh, he's home waiting for my mom to arrive so she can stay with Emma." Rachel explained and quickly looked up when she noticed the fact that Chandler was there too. "You're both here."

"Rachel, always the observer." Chandler quipped and she ignored him.

"Where are the twins?"

"Our neighbors are watching them." Monica explained.

"Oh." Rachel reacted simply. So they were that close already?

"They have a six year old, they know what to do." Monica elaborated.

"Right."

A few minutes later, Rachel handed Summer to Phoebe, who smiled proudly at her.

"So how did it go?" Rachel asked about the labor.

"You know. Definitely a lot easier than the last time."

Rachel smiled knowingly, remembering how hard it had been for her friend to give birth to the triplets only to hand them away. But this time she would get to take her baby girl home and raise her with Mike. Rachel wiped a tear from her face watching their little family have a little moment and felt Monica hug her from behind and rest her chin on Rachel's shoulder.

"Pretty amazing, huh?"

"Pretty amazing." Rachel echoed, resting her head against her friend's.


A little while later, Ross had joined them and was having his turn holding little Summer, surrounded by the others. Rachel tore her eyes away from them to glace over at Phoebe and noticed she was looking pretty tired. They really should be heading out soon to let her rest.

Then she remembered back to when she had Emma and how the whole gang had stayed in the hospital with her and Ross during the whole thing: all those endless hours before Emma finally decided to come out – and several hours after that too.

And yet, this time, not only had they missed the big moment, but they would also barely stay around for the after. Rachel sighed and took a seat on the chair next to Phoebe.

"How are you feeling?"

"Well, you know."

Rachel smiled weakly. She guessed she did know, a little, having been in this position herself.

"Right. You don't seem to be crying half as much as I did post-labor though."

"I guess I might if I wear my robe inside out or something."

Rachel chuckled.

"We'll see."

A little silence followed, as they both watched the others fussing over the baby.

"Honey…" Rachel started. "Why didn't you call us earlier?"

She didn't sound accusative. The guilt she was feeling weighed heavy in her tone instead.

"Rachel…" Phoebe trailed off, visibly at a loss of words on how to start.

"It's just that you guys were all there for me when I had Emma and I didn't even pick up the phone to be here on time for this, I mean… But if we'd known earlier, then maybe…" She trailed off.

"Rachel, it's OK. I told you now to worry. When Emma was born, that was ages ago. We're not those people anymore. We don't have the time to hang around the hospital for hours, picking up guys with broken legs and sleeping in waiting rooms anymore."

Rachel looked at her confusedly, but she went on.

"And that's OK. I know you guys can't just drop everything and hang out here for hours on end. Not anymore, anyway. I didn't know how long this was going to be and, well, things have changed. I mean, none of us was even there with Monica and Chandler when Jack and Erica were born."

"But…" Rachel wanted to protest and say that was different, but how was it different really? Even though Monica wasn't giving birth herself, she and Chandler became parents that night and they weren't there. They had other things going on. Maybe Phoebe was right.

"Rachel, everything is OK." Phoebe repeated. "Mike was here the whole time. My mom was here. Frank and Alice have stopped by too." She held Rachel's hand reassuringly. "Things have changed after you guys all had kids. And they have changed for me tonight too." She smiled brightly again at that thought. "I love you guys. And I know you love me too. I would move mountains for you if I had to, and I know you would do the same for me. But we're not one another's top priorities anymore. I get that."

Rachel took a deep breath in and nodded, tearing up.

"I do love you, honey. So much." She kept it brief, knowing she would cry if she said much more than that.

"I know."

Rachel hugged her friend again and closed her eyes.


Later that night, Ross and Rachel left Phoebe's room together, only a few minutes after Monica and Chandler had gone home themselves. Rachel moved close to him and put one arm around his waist. He didn't need any further indication that she needed comforting and readily wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her hair. He knew her well enough to sense her mood the past few hours.

"You OK?" He asked gently and she nodded, tilting her head to rest on his shoulder.

"It's the end of an era." She said simply.


Is it just me or picturing something like this in the middle of a pandemic feels pretty surreal? Wow. Anyway. I'm really sorry this story has been neglected for the past few months, but a lot has been going on in my life. Mostly good, so I can't complain. But now that we are going through another wave of this horrible pandemic and the weather has been mostly miserable where I live, I guess I might turn to this for comfort again. Anyway. Hope you liked this chapter, it was another mostly unplanned one.