TOW a Westchester Christanukkah
Summary: Monica and Chandler try to combine their two holidays for the twins' first holiday season. Rachel and Ross argue over how to build the dollhouse they got Emma. Joey tries to get home from California for the holidays. Phoebe and Mike wonder how they're going to make a very special announcement.
A/N: I didn't have a holiday fanfic for this year, and I usually try to do one to get in the Christmas spirit. For those waiting for another Cousins update, I'm really sorry. School and NaNoWriMo put everything on hold. But, NaNoWriMo has been done since November 30th, and school is pretty much done for the semester.
What I'm trying to say is, Cousins will be back in January. For now, enjoy my Friends holiday story!
Also – my favorite episodes were the ones where everyone was together (TOW No One's Ready, anyone?). This is my little tribute to that.
'Twas the time of Christanukkah, and all through the Bings' house,
Every Friend was stirring, along with their spouse.
The presents were wrapped and children watched with care,
In hopes that Uncle Joey would soon be there...
Chapter 1
Chandler held a squirming Erica in his arms. Her brother had fallen asleep in the playpen next to him, sleeping like a…well, a baby. Erica was showing no signs of weariness, however, and was giggling as he bounced her in his arms.
It was Christmas Eve, and Monica had ordered that the twins take a nap before their friends arrived at four that afternoon. She wanted them awake and at their full cuteness level so that she could show them off appropriately. As Monica often said in a sweet baby voice to either one of the twins: "Who's cuter than your cousin? Yes you are!"
While Chandler would object to the horribly inappropriate sentiment, he had to agree. True, Emma was adorable, but he felt that his own babies were the cutest little babies in the whole world. Of course, he would never say that to Ross and Rachel…unlike his wife. She never came out and said it, but she and Ross would get into "look how cute my kid is!" arguments every time the four were together.
He couldn't say he was surprised.
"Hush little baby, don't say a word…" Chandler began in an attempt to get Erica to quiet. "'Daddy's gonna buy you a mocking bird…'" He paused at that. "You know, I never got that," he said to his daughter. "Why would any kid want a mocking bird? What is a mocking bird, anyway? Wouldn't you rather have a pony?"
Erica giggled and smiled at him.
"Yeah, I thought so," Chandler replied with a wide smile of his own. "So let's see here…'hush little baby, don't say a word, Daddy's gonna buy you a pony…'" He paused again. "Well, that doesn't fit…what rhymes with 'pony'?"
Erica blinked at him.
"Right, like you would know." Chandler sighed and tried again. "'Hush little baby, don't…win a Tony? Eat macaroni?"
"Chandler, what are you doing?"
Noticing that Monica had walked in to stand in the living room doorway, Chandler held up the still-awake Erica. "Trying to get her to go to sleep. Hey, Mon, do you know a word that rhymes with pony?"
Monica shook her head and walked in, kissing him on the cheek as she took Erica from his arms. "Hey there, baby girl. Is Daddy being silly again?"
Chandler smiled at his wife as she held his daughter. All week, Monica had been extra-obsessive about getting the house spotless for their company. While he tried to remind her that it was just the friends they'd known for ten years, and that spotless wasn't a far cry from the house's usual condition, she insisted that she wanted the house looking extra good for the holidays. He knew there was no arguing with her over that, so he pretty much got out of her way as she organized cabinets and scrubbed moldings.
Now, they were in the home stretch, and Monica seemed to be winding down. Of course she'd kept to the strict cleaning schedule, so that day there wasn't much to do.
Except one key holiday element.
Once Erica had fallen asleep in Monica's arms, the mother carefully placed the baby next to her brother in her playpen. Then she whirled around to Chandler. "Okay, now you have to help me get the decoration bags from upstairs."
Monica and Chandler's different faiths had become an issue this year, since it was the first one with the twins. The couple still hadn't decided if they wanted to raise the twins Catholic or Jewish since neither parent was particularly religious. Normally, they just celebrated Christmas with their non-Jewish friends. But, Ross' near-futile attempt to expose Ben to Chanukah fresh in their minds, they reasoned that it might be a better idea to incorporate both sets of holiday traditions. That way, when the time came for the twins to decide on their own, they would be better prepared.
That was why there were both a Christmas tree and a menorah decorating the living room. Chandler had tentatively dubbed the holiday "Christanukkah."
Monica had just raised an eyebrow and replied, "We'll work on it."
But Christanukkah it was, since neither had come up with a better title. Ross and Rachel had been enthusiastic about the idea as well. Ross loved that Emma would learn about Chanukah…and Rachel liked the idea of receiving both Christmas and Chanukah presents. Phoebe and Mike hadn't minded, though Joey had asked if that meant there wouldn't be any Christmas cookies. Monica had assured him there would, so he was okay with it.
Speaking of Joey, he would be flying back from California for the holiday season. Neither of the five remaining New York friends could wait to see him again, if just for the week he would be staying at Monica and Chandler's in his Joey Room. Neither Chandler nor Monica realized the importance the Joey Room would hold until there was the shock of Joey announcing his big move.
"Chandler! Come on, we only have five hours to get everything up!" Monica insisted as she led the way to the stairs.
Chandler snapped back to the present and ran after her. Monica had bought some last minute decorations at the store the other day, since they found that what had been enough for a small apartment was not near enough for a huge house.
"Right, so, how many decorations did you buy, anyway?" Chandler asked.
In response, Monica opened the door to the Joey Room, which often served as a storage room when its main occupant was not using it.
Chandler's jaw dropped. Every square inch of the room was covered in brown bags, which were each filled to the top with sparkly ornaments and glittery signs.
"You know, Mon, I don't think we need all this," Chandler began. "We have the tree, the menorah, and I'm pretty sure the baby spit up stain on the couch cushion is a nice shade of holiday green by now…"
Monica narrowed her eyes. Clearly, him bringing up that one time he let Jack spit up on the couch while Monica was out of the house was not the way to win the argument. Chandler gave her a weak smile as he grabbed the bag closest to him. "So, uh, I'll get the tinsel, you get the dreidels?"
