Winter Wonderland

Dr. Green (part 1)

Note: The conversations written in italic are conversations in the past.

Chapter 12

It was a late Saturday night and Ross and Rachel had just finished prepping the dinner table for three people.

"Rachel, everything is going to be fine," Ross said reassuringly, trying to calm his girlfriend.

"He's here any minute now...I don't know if I'm ready yet. This is a bad idea..." Rachel panicked and ran her hands through her hair.

For the past few weeks, Ross has been trying to convince Rachel to contact her father and talk things through with him. As Ross and Rachel's relationship grew stronger, Ross realized the amount of impact Rachel's family has on her and he knew that she wouldn't be able to move on from her past without speaking to her father first. However, considering the woman Rachel was, speaking to her father about what has been bothering her whilst growing up, was going to be tough for her. Her father could be scary at times, he was a strict man, but she knew that his heart was soft and that he wanted only the best for her. Therefore, she knew that telling him about her feelings was going to crush him. Rachel didn't know how he was going to react, and she was not ready to find out.

"Rachel, calm down," Ross said with a calm voice and grabbed both of Rachel's hands.

"Calm down? Ross, you didn't grow up with him, did you? When I talked to him on the phone, he was mad, really mad... and disappointed. I know he won't be easy on me and especially not you! oh god Ross, we definitely didn't think this through." She released her hands from Ross's grips and started to bite on her fingernail. It was a bad habit of her that she couldn't stop herself from doing whenever her stress levels were to much for her to handle.

For the past week, Rachel's phone conversation with her father was on constant replay in her mind, and it drove her crazy. She hated the fact that her father still held such an overwhelming control of her mentally. She was sick and tired of it.  She wanted to liberate herself from him completely, but she wanted to do it with the love and support of her father.

......

"Dad, it's Rachel" her palms were sweating and her heart was pounding. Nothing could prepare her for this moment. But she had promised Ross that she would call her father and ask him to visit her in New York so that they could talk. And as much as it scared her, she wanted nothing more but to hear her father's voice again. She missed him, even though their relationship never has been easy. He was still her father at the end of the day.

"Princess, hi! it's nice to hear your voice." Dr Green was surprisingly happy. "So, when are you coming home? I'm sure that is why you are calling, right? Life in New York wasn't as fun as you thought it would be, huh?" his confidence made her nauseous.

Rachel was scared to answer, it scared her to death. But she just needed to suck it up and do it.

"Dad... I'm not. This is my home now, I love it here" Rachel was biting her fingernail.

Silence.

She knew her father wasn't happy about what he was hearing. She took a deep breath.

"Dad, I'm calling because I want you to come and visit. I need to speak with you, in-person" her voice was shaking. The number of nerves that she was feeling at this moment, was something she has never felt before. "And I want you to meet someone" She added.

Silence.

"Dad?" Rachel wanted nothing more but to end their conversation here and now. The silence was too much for her to handle. But she couldn't, she needed to do this for herself.