So I've had delays while writing this chapter. There were a few tornado watches and warning, the power kept flickering, and we had to shut down the computer so it's taken up a few hours but it past. It's still really windy, 60 mph wind. That is why I'm going to hurry up and post this chapter before we get anything else come through this state!
I hope you like this...
Chandler woke up the next morning to get ready for work. He took a shower, got dressed and started on breakfast when the other two came out dressed and ready.
"Hope you guys are hungry." He flipped the pancake in the pan before putting it on the plate.
"Starving." Cameron smiled as him and Peyton sat on the bar stool.
"Good, because I made plenty. It might not taste good but it's edible." He said, grabbing a couple from his building stack before handing them over with some silverware.
"So is that true what you said about Monica last night?" Cameron asked
"About what?" He questioned, not remembering much of yesterday's conversation off the top of his head.
"Her job."
Chandler nodded "She did give up her job as a cook to become a teacher." He handed them the syrup.
"Isn't it a better pay to be a chef, though?"
"Yeah it is. But I guess she just wanted to work more with kids." He told him "Eat up. We got a big day today."
"Because we are going to see Santa." Peyton smiled
Chandler chuckled "That's right. After school we will go to Macy's to see him."
Monica got her coffee ready and walked over to Chandler's to see how his first morning as a parent went. Parent, that had some getting use to.
As she walked in she smelt what seemed to be burnt pancakes that are drowned in syrup. "Wow," She said surprised "Chandler actually cooked for you guys."
"Yeah, I bet yours would have been better." Cameron slowly chewed
"Add more syrup, you'll get over the taste." Chandler joked before turning to Monica "You ready?"
"Yeah, whenever you guys are." She nodded "Does Peyton go to Washington grade school?" She asked
He nodded "Second grade."
Cameron was getting his books from his locker when he was joined by Tony and John "Hey, how's it going?" They asked
"Great," He grabbed his Geometry book and shut his locker.
"Great? Man, you have never been great, it was always just good or okay. What happened?" John asked
Cam shrugged "Things changed."
"Like what? Did they keep you and Pey together? Is it something to do with your family?"
He couldn't suppress the grin that came to his face "Yeah, something like that."
They walked to Mr. Bing's class and sat down in their seats.
"Morning." Chandler announced once the bell rang "How was everyone's Thanksgiving?" He looked around and saw smiling, nodding heads and talking to friends. Chandler looked over at Cameron who smiled big. He exchanged that same smile. "Alright, well like I said, once you got back from break we will be going over some more angles."
At lunch Sam, Alice, and Christina sat at the table waiting on Tony, John and Cameron to get their lunch. "Have you guys noticed how Cam has been acting?"
Christina shrugged "He seems like he is really happy, to me." She took a bite of her pear.
"That's what I'm saying. I haven't seen him this happy since..." Sam thought "I don't think I've even seen him this happy."
"Maybe something happened over break." Alice suggested
"That's just the thing...what could have happened over a long weekend?" Sam asked
Tony walked over to the table "Hey girls, what are you talking about?" He asked sitting down next to Alice
Everyone kept quiet and looked around.
"It's about Cam isn't it?"
"Yeah." They let out their breath and looked over at him
"What do you think is up?"
"I don't know." Tony said "I'm guessing something to do with his sister. Maybe they finally found a good home where they could stay together and out of trouble."
John was next to join the table after grabbing his lunch "Hey," He sat down next to Sam. John noticed the looks from them "You see it too don't you?" He asked referring to Cameron's behavior. "I think he got layed." He nodded
"Eww John." Sam threw her fruit snacks at him
"I think we should just let him be. It's obvious he doesn't want to share..." Alice suggested next
Cameron walked over to the table and noticed how everyone got quiet. It wasn't oblivious, it was more of a 'shhh, he's coming' kind of quiet.
He sat down at his table and everyone resumed eating silently.
Tony looked at Cameron then around at his table "Dude what's up?"
"Nothing." Cameron replied taking a bite of his taco.
"Really?"
Cameron nodded "Aww man." He looked down to see his taco meat fall out of its shell "I'll be right back." He got up to get some silverware.
"It's obvious he doesn't want to tell us." Alice repeated
Tony sighed "You're probably right. He's our friend, if he wanted to tell us he would have told us already."
John looked over at Tony "I can't believe you just said that."
Tony shrugged and took a bite of his taco. "Wou fnow itz true." He tried saying with a mouth full.
Sam and Christina agreed just as Cameron came back.
"What'd I miss?" Cameron asked sitting down.
"Nothing..." They continued to eat
"Is Monica coming with us?" Peyton asked as Chandler got them ready to go.
"No," He said sadly "Cam you ready!" He shouted to the bedroom
Cameron came out a minute later "I can't find my shoes." He said looking frantically around the apartment.
"Did you try the front door?"
Cameron looked over and saw where he left them right when he got home from school. "Thanks." He quickly went over to put them on.
"Are we ready now?" Chandler asked again
"Yes!" Peyton jumped up with excitement and grabbed ahold of Chandler's hand.
As they walked out Peyton looked over at apartment 20 "Why isn't Monica coming?" She continued to ask
"Because she is going to have some friends come over." Chandler explained "We can go see her after we see Santa. You can tell her all about it." He promised
They walked into Macy's and Cameron looked around at all the cool things.
"You want some new clothes Cam?" Chandler asked seeing him look the display of popular dark jeans.
Cameron looked over at him. "Really?"
Chandler nodded "Yeah, like I said before. I'll give you some money. Buy what you please." He took out his wallet. "A whole new outfit, some new accessory's, whatever." He handed over the money. "I'm going to take her over to Santa, if you can't find us in one hour meet back at the entrance."
Cameron nodded "Alright, thanks."
They went their separate ways.
Peyton grabbed ahold of Chandler's hand tighter, seeing that the place was pact.
"Is he still here Chandler? Do you see him?" She asked as they made their way through the crowd.
Chandler smiled "Yeah, I see him."
"Is he big? Does he have a beard? Does he have glasses and a rosy nose? Is Rudolf there? Does Rudolf have a red nose? Can you see his slay?"
"Why don't you look for yourself?" Chandler bent down and held her up so she could see past all the heads.
Peyton was amazed. She never seen Santa before. "He's really here..." She said in awe
Chandler nodded and put her down once they reached the line of kids "Are you going to tell him what you want for Christmas?"
She nodded eagerly
"Cam?"
Cameron turned around and was surprised to see Alice standing there.
"Hey," She smiled walking closer "I never see you out of school. I see everybody else but never you."
"Yeah, I don't usually get out much." Cameron explained embarrassed that he was looking at underwear when she came over.
She nodded "So who are you here with?"
Cameron started to panic. Has she seen Chandler with his sister yet? He wasn't sure what to say. Then he remembered that she never met his sister. He hesitated before answering"Um..." He looked around "Just my family."
"Oh," She was surprised not knowing that the foster care took the kids out to go shopping. "Is your sister with you?" She asked
Cameron's palms were becoming sweaty. She knew, oh God she knew. She can see right through him. "Well, not exactly." He motioned around him "Are you-are you here with anyone?" He asked next trying to get the heat off him
"Yeah, my aunt..." She motioned behind her.
Cameron nodded
"Well I better get back, it's pretty crowded here..." Alice looked around her "I'll see you around."
"Yeah, see you around." Cameron watched her walk away.
"What did you tell Santa?" Chandler asked once Peyton got her candy cane after seeing Santa.
"I can't tell you. It's a secret." Peyton said
"A secret?" Chandler smiled, grabbing her hand "Are you going to tell Cam?" She shook her head licking her candy cane "Are you going to tell Monica?" She shrugged. Chandler smiled picking her up and ticking her "It's a girls secret, ha?" Peyton laughed
"It's a surprise." She laughed uncontrollably until Chandler stopped
"Don't tell Joey, he's not good at secrets." Chandler said putting her back down and grabbing her hand "Let's go find your brother."
They walked through the store and found him staring off into space by the shirts "You ready?" Chandler asked
Cameron looked behind him and saw Chandler and Peyton standing there. "Yeah." He looked over where Alice was and saw her staring right back at him. He looked down and over at Chandler then back at her.
Alice gave him a friendly smile that told him she wouldn't tell. Cameron returned that smile before they checked out and left the store.
"Where's Joshua?" Monica asked once she saw Rachel and Isabella walk through the door.
Rachel walked over to her old room where Isabella would play as they talked.
She walked back out in the living room and sat down on the couch "We had a fight."
"Aww, Rach..." Monica sat down next to her "Do you wanna talk about it?" She asked
Rachel looked up and in her best friends eyes "It's like we fight every day, all day." She paused "And with Izzy..." She shook her head trying to hold back the tears. "I don't want her to see us fight all the time and drift apart."
"Maybe you should take a break. Not break up but just stay apart for a while until things cool down?" She suggested "Isabella was an unexpected baby, she was a surprise to the both of you. You weren't ready and things just got tough." She rubbed her friends hand "You'll get through it."
"Yeah, I just don't want her to grow up without a father."
"She won't. If anything, she has a whole family with people who love her."
"Thanks." Rachel smiled softly "I'm just jealous of you, you always know what to do and you have the perfect boyfriend..."
"I do not have the perfect boyfriend." Monica denied, smiling
"Oh come on, you so do. He is always saying that he loves you and kisses you each time he sees you. Now he has kids which makes it like a family-"
"Rachel you and Joshua will get better. I know it." Monica told her, sympathetically. "Besides, you aren't the only one who are having problems in their relationship."
"Who is having problems?" She asked leaning closer
"Phoebe and Mike split." She spilled
"What? I thought they loved each other."
"Well apparently Mike never wanted to get married."
"Nooo..." Her eyes widened
"Yeah." Monica nodded
"What about Ross and Emily, are they okay?"
"Rach you went out with Ross once, you decided it was better off as friends." She reminded her
"Yeah I know but, really, Emily?" She scrunched up her nose
Monica shrugged "They seem fine and mom really likes her so..."
They were interrupted by the door opening and Chandler walking in with Cameron and Peyton. "Hey girls." He walked over to Monica and gave her a sweet kiss. "I missed you." He smiled
Monica looked over at Rachel who rolled her eyes. She sighed "Rach it's going to get better. Why don't you call him." She handed her the phone.
Rachel took it "Alright." She stood up and that was when she saw them for the first time "Cameron and Peyton right?" They nodded "Wow, you guys are so old." Cameron exchanged a look with Peyton "Well not old old but older than my little one. She is just 16 months." She said feeling the awkward silence building up "Okay, well I'll talk to you guys later." She went to the other room with Isabella.
Monica shook her head as she stood up
"Everything alright?" He asked
"Yeah, they're just fighting again." She explained going over to the kitchen to grab a bottled water. "How was Santa? Did you see him?" She asked
"Yep." Peyton smiled "And I told him what I wanted."
"What do you want?"
"I can't tell, it's a secret. If I tell it won't come true."
"Peyton that's only on your birthday." Cameron told her.
She shrugged "I'm not going to tell, just in case you're wrong." She said kicking her feet on the chair
Rachel walked out of the room with Isabella, "We're gonna go Mon, I'll talk to you guys later." She said "Thanks for everything."
"No problem, bye."
Once they left their conversation continued
"Okay, you don't have to tell." Chandler assured her. "Unless you wanna just tell Monica?"
Peyton looked up at Monica.
"Cam and I will go across the hall and work on homework. Do you have any?" Chandler asked before leaving
She shook her head "I need you to sign a paper for Ms. Lilly." She said
"Okay, I'll get that out of your book bag for you." He said and left.
Peyton looked back at Monica.
"So what did you tell Santa?" Monica asked
Peyton looked back at the door to make sure no one was there. "I want a mom for Christmas."
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