Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters apart from the children.

Monica was thrilled with her life. She had a wonderful husband, a beautiful six-year-old daughter, a one-year-old son, and the best friends she could hope for. Rachel and Gunther had married, and their three-year-old daughter, Kelley, was the cutest little thing that any of the gang had ever seen. Joey had dated a string of women, not settling down at all, and Phoebe was a single mom with a six-month-old son – the father wasn’t interested.

There was only one thing that could make the gang’s life more perfect. Ross, their ex-friend and brother, still hadn’t come round to the idea of Monica and Chandler’s relationship. Most of the gang had given up hope, but Monica still phoned him every birthday and Christmas. All they knew was that he had married again. He hadn’t invited any of the gang to his wedding.

"I wish Ross would call," Phoebe voiced her thoughts one snowy morning in December, when they were all in Central Perk.

Monica was shocked. Phoebe seemed to hate Ross most of the time. Looking at the woman nursing the baby, she noticed that Phoebe had changed a lot. They all had.

"So do I," Rachel confessed, her husband nodding.

"But not to steal you," Gunther added.

"Who’s Ross?" Kelley asked.

"He’s my uncle," Grace told her. "But I don’t know who really is," she added.

"He was our friend," Chandler informed them. "But he fell out with me and Mom when we first started dating."

"He’s my brother," Monica added. She cuddled little Leo closer to her, and Chandler held Grace tighter as well. For some reason, the mention of Ross always made the gang much more protective of their kids.

"Hey, wouldn’t it be weird if he suddenly walked in here now?" asked Joey. "I mean – so much has happened since he left."

Monica thought back to that day when her brother had kicked her in the stomach and walked out. She and Chandler had married, had Grace, had Leo, Rachel and Gunther had married and had Kelley, Phoebe had had little Joey. Joey was so proud of the baby’s name. He loved having a namesake, and he loved being a godfather. Ross had missed so much. He would have been Grace’s godfather, and probably Leo’s too. He might even have married Rachel instead of Gunther getting there first. Kelley could have been his child.

"Earth to Monica, Earth to Monica," Rachel said, smiling. "Where were you, Mon?"

"Ooh, ooh, were you abducted by aliens?" asked Phoebe eagerly.

"No," Monica said, with a ‘What-the-hell?" look.

"Oh, I guess not. Well, figures," Phoebe sighed. "I mean, why would they choose an unbeliever like you?"

Monica ignored her.

"What were you thinking about, sweetie?" Chandler asked.

"Just thinking how much Ross has missed out on," Monica said quietly. "I mean, he doesn’t even know Grace, and he has no idea that Leo and Kelley and Joey even exist."

"Hey, he knew me," Joey protested.

"I meant baby Joey," Monica told him. Joey nodded. "He doesn’t know about Rachel and Gunther, and we don’t know his new wife."

"I wish he’d call," Phoebe said, again. As she spoke, a new figure approached them. Grace noticed him first, but ignored him. Monica turned, and gasped.

It was Ross. And he’d heard every word they’d said.

* * *

"Ross?" gasped Phoebe.

"Uh-huh," he nodded. "I-I heard what you said. You, uh, you want me back?"

"Yes!" cried Monica. "T-that is, if you’ll come back," she added, worried.

"Uh, yeah," Ross said, as if she was stupid. For a moment, it was as if nothing had changed. Then Kelley turned to her mother and whispered something.

"That’s Uncle Ross," Rachel replied, absently. She couldn’t totally believe it. Beside her, Gunther didn’t seem to believe it, either.

"Ross?" he asked. "Why are you here?"

"Be-because I’m done being angry, and I was stupid," Ross explained. "I am so sorry." And he proceeded to tell them what had happened since he walked out.

"Well, I spent a lot of time with Susan and Carol, and then Susan introduced me to her sister, Penelope. I thought she was really cute, and we spent a lot of time together. Eventually, I proposed to her, and she said yes. We got married about two months later. And a year after that, we had a daughter. We called her Flora, and when she was eighteen months old, Penny had another baby, and we called that one Theresa. They’re two and five months old now. Well, a few weeks after Tessie was born, Penny was in a car crash, and she died two days later. I’ve come back because I need help."

Monica looked at her brother with tears in her eyes. He’d had such a bad time in those seven years. She turned to him, and smiled slightly.

With the rest of the gang backing her up, she gave her brother her full support. "We’ll help, Ross."

* * *

Three months later, Ross, Flora and Tessie were well acquainted with the gang, and the younger ones couldn’t remember a time when they hadn’t known Uncle Ross. The older ones could remember, and they could remember why. They were trying their best to forget, because Ross hadn’t shown any signs of hostility to Chandler, Monica, Grace or Leo, and they knew that he was trying to make up for his moment of madness seven years before.

There was one thing that made the gang all keep on trying to forget. Love.