Celestial

Chapter Five

December 24th, 1997

It was officially two whole months after Ross and Rachel had fully moved into their new apartment. Lucky for them, it wasn't that hard for the couple to find a new apartment. In the same week they were looking, they accidentally found out that the ugly naked guy was moving out.

The competition was fierce to say the least, it turned out that they were a bunch of other people who were also interested in the apartment. Rachel didn't know what or how Ross did it, but in the end, he successfully convinced the guy. It was kind of suspicious if she wanted to be perfectly honest, but whenever she tried to pester him about it, he'd quickly changed the subject – his cheeks blushing, saying what matters now was they got the apartment they always wanted.

And he was right.

They finally got an apartment alright and not just an ordinary apartment too. They didn't know how they never noticed it before, but the ugly naked guy's apartment was huge in comparison with the other places they've seen. It had two bedrooms, one decent size bathroom, a functional kitchen, and a large living area. And let's not forget that this apartment was just right across the street from Monica's and a few blocks away from Carol and Susan's place. There were a few things they needed to do before the apartment was ready to live in - like painting the walls to a lighter color per Rachel's request, but over all, it was everything they could've asked for. The perfect apartment for their needs.

And more importantly, this was officially their home.

Their first home of hopefully another many.

Rachel still remembered the excitement she felt as she signed her name next to Ross'. A part of her almost couldn't believe that they were really doing this. Moving in together, getting a place with both their names on the lease. This was a huge milestone both in her relationship and personal life.

Finally... with both their names officially on the lease, within a week, they're officially moved into their new home.

In the spirit of starting new, Ross donated and sold most of his old furniture and together, they went to the nearest Pottery Barn and shopped. Turned out it wasn't hard for them to come into agreement in terms of how they'd like to decorate their house. They had exactly the same taste in the home decoration area and after spending the whole day in Pottery Barn, they basically transferred all of the furniture from their newest catalogue into their new home.

A month later after they settled in, they invited their family and friends into their new home. They were all so happy for the couple, including Rachel's father who had kissed Rachel on the cheeks as he congratulated her on their new home. At some point during the housewarming party, Rachel noticed that both her father and boyfriend were missing and when she went to look for them, she found them in the kitchen, seemingly engaged in such a serious conversation, but ended as soon as they noticed her presence. When she asked Ross about it later that night, he'd just brushed it off, saying that it was nothing she should be worried about and then distracted her by placing kisses on her lips down to her neck. And just like that the conversation was long forgotten as they engaged in a round of making love.

And now... after two whole months, the novelty of moving into a new home was starting to wear off and the house was starting to fill in with much more sentimental items - like the new framed photo of them with little Ben in the middle that they hang proudly on their living room wall. Taken on Ben's third birthday last Spring, the boy wore a toothy grin on his face as the two adults placed their hands on the boy's shoulder.

They were a family.

A family Rachel was really proud of being a part of.

Rachel fixed the slightly crooked framed photo of her family, smiling as the memories of that day entered her mind. She couldn't help but feel emotional when it came to Ross' little boy. She had been there the moment Ben was born, witnessing almost every important milestone he achieved, and even being there for him when he needed her. She was getting more and more alone time with Ben these days, especially on those days when Ross was suddenly called to work or that one time when he was asked to be a part of a panel to talk about another set of fossils they had just discovered, this time in China.