AN: Here's another chapter for you guys. I'm really getting into writing this. Hope you like it. Please R&R!
Disclaimer: I own no one. They all belong to Bright/Kauffman/Crane.
Chapter 4-February 1989
10 Weeks
How Big Is Your Baby?
Your baby weighs between 0.3 and 0.5 ounce. Your baby's size has almost doubled in the past 3 weeks! Length of the baby is a better measure of how far along you are than fetal weight.
How Big Are You?
Your weight may have stayed the same or you may have gained a few pounds during these first 12 weeks. You may have even lost a few pounds because of morning sickness. For the first 12 weeks, a weight gain of 4 to 8 pounds is normal.
How Your Baby Is Growing and Developing
The structures already formed continue to grow and develop. At your doctor's visit, you may be able to hear your baby's heartbeat! The skeletal system now has centers of bone formation in most bones. Fingers and toes have separated, and nails are growing. The nervous system has developed further. Your baby is moving inside your uterus, but you most likely won't feel it for another couple of months.
Monica was sleeping in her seat on the airplane that was taking her to Seattle. Her parents were in the seats beside her. It had taken a few weeks for Monica to get everything in order. Jack and Judy were flying down with her and would stay until she got settled.
Monica slowly sat up and looked around. Her parents smiled at her as they put down the magazines that they were reading to pass the time.
"How'd you sleep?" Jack asked her.
"Fine," she sighed. "How long until we get there?"
"We're almost there." Judy told her.
A little while later, the plane landed and they walked down the terminal and to baggage claim to get Monica's bags and went to hail a cab. Ten minutes after they left the airport, they pulled up to an area that had three large buildings. Monica followed her parents into the middle building and they went to the front desk where there was a receptionist sitting as she spoke on the phone.
"Can I help you?" she looked up at them as she put the person on the other end of the phone on hold.
"We're the Gellar's," Jack told her. "Our daughter Monica is checking in."
"Take a seat and I'll page the administrator." They all sat in the seats and a few minutes later an older lady came out to them.
"Hello. I'm Miss Baker." She introduced herself. "You must be Monica."
"Hi." She said softly.
"I know you're nervous, but it'll be fine here." She smiled at her. "Why don't we let your dad fill out the paperwork and I'll take you and your mom to your room."
"Ok." She stood up and followed her down the hall.
They walked up two flights of stairs and into a room. There were two beds with a dresser, a small closet, and a desk by each bed. There was a bathroom off to the left, and two windows that overlooked the big yard outside.
"You have the room to yourself for awhile. The girl that was here went into labor this morning."Miss Baker told her. "I'll let you get settled and come back to check to see how you're doing in a little bit."
"Thank you," Judy smiled at her as she left them alone. "So this looks like a good place."
"Yeah." Monica started to unpack her things as Jack came in to them.
"All the paperwork is done." He told them as he looked around. "So this is a nice room."
"You guys don't have to sell me on this place. I'm the one who decided to come here." She looked at them.
"We're sorry," Jack hugged her. "We'll just miss you while you're here."
"I'll miss you, too." She said softly. "But I think I'll be fine here."
"We'll call each other all the time." Judy assured her. "And we can write, too."
"I know," she mumbled as she went back to unpacking.
"Hello?" there was a soft knock on the door and a girl not much older than Monica came in with her arms full of books and other things. "Hello, Monica. My name is Allie. I'm your advisor. I'm here to help you get situated and acquainted with the other girls here. And if you have any questions at all, I can answer them."
"I don't think I have any questions right now." Monica told her.
"How about you, Mr. and Mrs. Gellar?" she looked back at them.
"Well, we'd like to know about the other two buildings that we saw when we arrived here." Jack said.
"The one you can see out the window is the medical facility. That's where Monica will have her checkups, take Lamaze classes and we'll set up a tour when she gets farther along." Allie explained to them. "The other building is where she'll go to attend the prenatal and parenting classes."
"And what else goes on here?" Judy asked.
"Well, this is like a family unit. So we all eat together in the dining hall. And each of the girls have chores. They do their own laundry." She explained to them. "And we have a selection of maternity clothes for when she starts to really show. And there's also a library full of pregnancy and parenting books that she can read."
"I guess you have it all covered." Jack said.
"So what is all this?" Monica saw all the books.
"These are all the textbooks you will need for your classes," she explained to them. "And you'll get pamphlets, worksheets, and other information that you can put in these binders for safe keeping."
"Thank you," Monica started looking through everything that she had brought.
"No problem. I'll let you finish getting settled," Allie started to leave as she glanced at Jack and Judy. "All visitors do have to be gone by eight o'clock."
"We know." Jack said. "We just want to make sure that she's going to be ok."
"That's no problem," she walked out and Monica put everything on the desk by her bed.
"What kind of books did they give you?" Judy asked.
Monica took out the books and showed them. There were the main books: Understanding Your Changing Life, Your New Baby, Helping Your Child Grow And Develop, Building Your Future, Children The Early Years, Parents And Their Children, and Contemporary Living.
Then there were the more in-depth parenting books: Parenting: Rewards And Responsibilities, Parents And Their Children, The Developing Child, The Early Years, Families Today, and Making Choices: Life Skills For Adolescents.
"It looks like they have everything covered." Jack said.
"How are we getting settled?" Miss Baker came into them.
"I'm ok." Monica sighed.
"Before we introduce you to the other girls, I'd like us to go to the medical facility so we can examine you and see how your baby is doing."
"Ok."
Monica walked into the exam room and climbed onto the exam table and lay back as the nurse set up the ultra sound machine. Once everything was ready, her parents came in with Miss Baker.
"So you're also a doctor?" Monica asked her.
"I'm one of the doctors here." Miss Baker smiled at her. "Now why don't we look at your baby?"
"Ok." Monica said softly as Judy went to her and held her hand. They all watched the screen as Miss Baker ran the little wand over her stomach. Everything was quiet until they heard a sound coming from the machine.
"What is that?" Monica asked.
"That's your baby's heartbeat."
"Really?" she smiled as the volume was turned up on the machine.
"That's a strong heartbeat," Jack said. "I think it's a boy with a heartbeat that strong."
"We won't know the baby's sex for another couple of months," Miss Baker told them. "But your baby looks strong and healthy."
"Thank you." Monica slowly sat up as the nurse put the machine away.
Monica followed her parents outside as a cab pulled up to the facility. They hugged her good-bye and climbed into the cab and it pulled away. Monica waved after them and went back inside the facility, where Allie was waiting for her.
"Come on. It's time to meet everyone. Supper is almost ready." They walked into the dining hall and there were about twenty girls setting food out onto the table. Miss Baker spotted them there and went to her.
"Everyone, this is Monica. Our newest addition to the group." She introduced her and everyone greeted her. "Now let's all sit down and have some supper."
Monica sat towards the middle of the table beside a girl that was starting to show.
"Hi. I'm Anna." The girl smiled at her. "I'm almost four months along. How about you?"
"Ten weeks." Monica said softly.
"It's not that bad here. It's much better than going to my old school. There's no judgment here because we're all in the same situation. So is the father supportive?"
"I haven't told the father yet."
"That's ok. You're not the only one." They were quiet for the rest of suppertime as they all ate; or in Monica's case, tried to eat.
'Chandler,
I got to Holly House today. My parents came with me to help me get situated. I'm not sure what I think about it right now, but it appears to be just fine. The school administrator examined me and I got to hear the heartbeat. My dad swears that it's a boy because of how strong the heartbeat was. When I heard it, that's when it sunk in that this is real. I'm actually pregnant; with your child. This is very scary for me. And I know I should call and tell you what's going on, but I'm not sure what your reaction would be. I wouldn't be able to stand it if you reacted in a negative way. I'm still just very confused about everything. But just know that I think this baby was made out of love; even if we can't remember the night it happened.
Monica'
Ross hung up the phone in his dorm room slowly and sighed. He knew there was something bothering Monica the last time he talked to her, but this? He looked up as the door opened and Chandler came in with another kid.
"Hey Ross, this is Joey." He introduced them. "We met in the student lounge. He's not enrolled here, but he's taking some acting classes here."
"Nice to meet you," Joey shook his hand.
"Yeah. You, too." Ross said softly.
"Are you ok?" Chandler looked at Ross.
"I'm fine. I just got off the phone with my parents."
"Is everything ok?"
"Monica quit school."
"What? Why would she do that?"
"She's going to live in Florida for awhile with our Nana. She transferred to a school out there."
"Is your Nana sick?"
"No. Apparently, Monica just wanted to get away."
"I can see that."
"What do you mean?"
"No offense to your parents or anything, but they kind of get on her case about things. A lot."
"Yeah. They kind of do." Ross sighed. "But she didn't even call me to tell me she was leaving school."
"Maybe she thought you'd try to talk her out of it."
"I would have."
"She knows you well," Chandler told him.
"Do you guys still want to go to that party downstairs?" Joey spoke up. "Maybe it'll take your mind off things. Get you to relax."
"Sure. Let's go." The three of them walked out of the dorm room and went downstairs.
Judy watched Jack hang up the phone after telling Ross the white lie that they all came up with. He turned around to look at her and he slowly nodded.
"So he believed you?" she asked him.
"Yeah." He said softly. "I hate lying to my kids."
"I know, but Monica doesn't want him to know yet. We have to respect her decisions."
"Is it too early to call her and see how she's doing?"
"We can't call for another couple of days, according to Miss Baker. Just until she gets acclimated to her new surroundings."
"This is so hard," he sighed. "She's not even twenty, and she's going to be a parent."
"We don't know if she's going to keep it yet."
"I saw her face when she heard the baby's heartbeat. She's going to keep it. You know it, too."
"Yes, I do." She sighed. "But it's her decision. We can't make it for her. And no matter the outcome, we have to support her."
"I agree." He held her. "I really want to go down to that college and-"
"Chandler doesn't know anything is going on. Neither of them remember that night, so he'd just be confused if you went there and started yelling at him for no apparent reason."
"I guess," he sighed as they went up to their room for the night.
AN: So what'd you all think? The baby development information is from the book, Your Pregnacy Week By Week. That will be in every chapter until she has the baby. As will the letters that Monica writes to Chandler, but will never actually mail to him. Anyway, please R&R!