Hi, I'm back with part 4. First of all, I'd like to say thank you to those of you who have sent me nice reviews!! I don't mind constructive criticism, but I tend to get really annoyed when people continually bash drama fan fics for no reason other than to just give a bad review. So to save you the effort of saying "its bad" or "it sucks", let me once again put up this little DISCLAIMER. If you think Friends is only a comedy, and no one should write a dramatic fan FICTION (and I do stress the word "fiction") then don't read my story! Its a drama and that ain't changing, so there is no point for you to even read any further!! I said its a drama in part 1 and if part 1 sucked so bad then why are you in my part 4?!!
Thanks, and here is part 4.
Over the next eight months, things went from bad to worse between Chandler and Monica. The drinking hadn't stopped and Chandler still refused to get any kind of help. Monica couldn't really believe what her life had come to. She still loved Chandler more than anything, even though he was no longer there for her on any kind of level. They never even talked anymore and Monica's heart was breaking. She had worked so hard to overcome what happened to her, and Chandler was the one it ended up hurting the most. Monica had continued in her therapy, which now mainly revolved around Chandler's new lifestyle. It had gotten to the point where Chandler wouldn't come home for days at a time and Monica feared he'd been cheating on her and maybe even getting into drugs. She had promised herself that once the baby was born she would have to give him an ultimatum - either get help or move out. Of course she hoped he would choose to get help because she needed him in her life and she wanted their baby to have a father. But it saddened her to think that it might already be too late to reach him.
It was a hot August day and Monica had just made some lemonade. She looked at the calendar as she sipped on her drink. Only three more weeks until her due date. She was really looking forward to becoming a mother, even under these circumstances. It was something she had always wanted more than anything and to think it was with the man she'd loved for so long made her very happy. She frowned when she recalled telling Chandler her due date. He had immediately realized the baby must have been conceived around the time of the rape. Monica reminded him they had been intimate the morning of the attack, but Chandler didn't seem to listen to her. He had convinced himself this wasn't his child and he told her he still wanted the paternity test when the baby was born. Monica had reluctantly agreed, mostly just to get him to shut up about it. It really had hurt her feelings that she and Chandler didn't get to enjoy the pregnancy like other couples. When she went to her doctor appointments, he never went with her; never got to see any of the sonograms, or even find out they were going to have a little boy. She hadn't even discussed names with him, and on her own had decided to call the baby Matthew.
She walked over and sat down on the couch to watch a little TV. The baby began to kick and she ran her hands over her very large belly. "It won't be too much longer, little guy." She smiled. "Not much longer."
Chandler was sitting in his office at work and desperately needed a drink. He hadn't been home in three days and felt horrible. He'd been sleeping at a cheap motel in Harlem, which was close to the bar he'd been frequenting. There was something very numbing about the alcohol that made him feel so much better. When he was drunk, he rarely ever thought about what had happened to Monica, something that was constantly on his mind when he was sober. As he sat at his desk, the pain of what he'd seen that night was just as strong as if it had happened yesterday. He fought the urge to cry and looked over at the clock. Only two more hours and this pain would be gone. All he had to do was get through two more hours. He wondered if he should go by the apartment that night and check on Monica. She never had much to say to him anymore when he did show up. Most of the time she was already asleep and he didn't bother to go into the bedroom. He had been sleeping in the guest room, but started crashing on the couch after it became a nursery for the baby. The baby, he thought to himself, was another issue in itself. He knew what Monica had told him about the rapist not climaxing and no semen had been recovered on Monica or her clothing that night. He wanted more than anything to believe her. But what if she was wrong? Chandler refused to get attached to a baby that might not even be his. And he couldn't believe Monica would even want a child that didn't belong to both of them. Maybe that was selfish on his part, but it was how it felt. He was afraid to think what would happen if the baby wasn't his. There was no way he could be around a constant reminder of that night. No way could he raise another man's child as his own. How could Monica even think he would? He didn't want to think about it anymore. There was no point in worrying about it anyway because once she had the baby, they'd perform the test and find out for sure who the baby's father was.
Over the course of the next three weeks, Monica saw Chandler maybe a total of four times. He'd come by the apartment for a change of clothes and to shower, but they hadn't had much to say. And he never mentioned anything about the baby. Monica felt he acted as though the baby did not exist. When her water broke on the fourth of September, her first instinct was of course to call Chandler, but when he couldn't be reached, she'd had to call Rachel at work. She cried the entire time she waited for Rachel to arrive thinking about how Chandler should have been with her. She couldn't understand what she had done to deserve this, but then she just tried to focus on the baby and getting to the hospital safely.
As Monica worked through one of her contractions, Rachel came into the room with a small cup of crushed ice. She felt incredibly bad for Monica and could see how much she was missing Chandler.
"Did you find him?" Monica asked Rachel, referring to Chandler, of course.
"No, honey, I'm sorry. I have everyone looking for him though. Ross and Joey are calling everywhere we can think of." Rachel took hold of her friend's hand and squeezed it gently as Monica began to cry again.
"Tell them just to try all the bars and pubs." Monica said in a sarcastic tone, as she felt another contraction coming on.
"I'm not going anywhere." Rachel told her. "I know you'd rather have Chandler with you, but I'll stay."
"Thank you for being here. I really appreciate it." Monica told her, smiling through her tears.
Chandler walked into the dark apartment that night a little after eleven. Surprisingly he was a lot more sober than usual. He'd had another blackout earlier in the day, which he took as a sign to go home. He really needed a hot shower and a good nights sleep. He made his way over toward the bathroom and felt around for the light switch.
"She had the baby today." A voice said from the living room. Chandler jumped, shocked that he was not alone.
"Ross, you scared the hell out of me." Chandler told him as he turned the lights on. Ross was on the couch, basically just staring off into space. "Why were you sitting here in the dark?" Chandler asked him. Ross didn't move and Chandler suddenly felt a lump forming in his throat. He walked over toward Ross and sat down in the barca lounger. "Is it Mon? Is she, is she okay?"
"She is fine. I think she would have liked for her husband to be there. You know for the birth of their first child." Ross replied.
Chandler could tell that Ross was extremely angry right now and at any moment could be pushed over the edge.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know." Chandler finally said.
"That's bullshit Chandler. Where the hell were you? Off getting drunk again? I can't believe you would do this to Monica."
"I didn't want her to be alone. I would have been there if I had known."
"Rachel was with her."
"Well that's good." Chandler mumbled, not really knowing what to say. He hadn't been forced to have a conversation in months and he had some trouble just trying to put a sentence together.
"Oh yeah! It's great!" Ross sarcastically exclaimed. "You know what Chandler, I never thought I would say this, but I actually hate you right now. I hate you for what you have done to my sister. I wish to hell that you two had never gotten together, I never thought you deserved to be with her and now I know why. She just went through 7 hours of labor to have your child and you weren't even there to help her through it. Hell, you haven't helped her through anything this year! You haven't been there for her at all. I'm ashamed to call you my brother-in-law." Ross stood up and headed for the front door. "Why don't you do us all a favor Chandler and get the hell out of our lives. We don't need you anymore." Ross left the apartment, leaving a stunned Chandler sitting motionless in the barca lounger.
Monica was in her hospital bed just about to doze off when she felt Chandler's familiar lips kissing her cheek softly. She opened her eyes and looked up at him. She didn't know if she was happy to see him or disappointed that he had decided to make an appearance.
"I didn't mean to disturb you." He said as he sat down next to her.
"It's okay. I wasn't asleep yet." She replied. There was an awkwardness between them. Monica had so much she had wanted to say to him, but for some reason no words would come out of her mouth.
"How are you feeling? I am so sorry I wasn't here, Mon."
"I'm fine. And the baby is fine too."
Chandler smiled slightly and placed his hand on top of hers. "Was it a boy or a girl?"
"It's a boy. I've known that for a few months now."
Chandler looked down, feeling guilty. He was so ashamed of how he had treated her. Ross was right, he didn't deserve her at all.
"His name is Matthew." Monica continued. "I'm sure the nurse will bring him by soon if you'd like to see him."
Chandler looked up at her. "I would like that. Thank you." Monica just nodded. She was furious with him, but she wasn't going to deny him his son.
"Mon, I just wanted to apologize for the way I've acted these past months. I know I've been crazy and unsupportive and I'm so sorry. I know I haven't been there for you, but I want that to change. I want to start over."
She pulled an envelope out from the drawer in the nightstand next to her bed and handed it to Chandler.
"What is this?" He asked her, slightly confused.
"Its the results of the paternity test. They already had your information on file, so I told them to go ahead and run the test."
"Mon, I know this will probably come as a shock, but I believe you when you say the baby is mine. I don't need a stupid test to confirm that. I was stupid to ever doubt you."
"Chandler, thank you for believing me. That means a lot to me. But I want you to see if for yourself, okay? I just want there to be no doubt in your mind that he is your son."
Chandler reluctantly opened the envelope and started to read the enclosed paper. When he didn't smile, Monica got a little worried.
"What does it say?" Monica asked, concerned.
"99.9% that I am not the father."
"WHAT!?" Monica exclaimed, not believing him. "That can't be! This baby is yours!" She began to cry mostly from shock.
Chandler looked up from the paper. "You lied to me! I can't believe you would do this."
"I never lied. I swear, it has to be your baby."
"Well these tests don't lie, Monica. I can't believe this. You knew this might not be my child all along, didn't you? And you were willing to take that chance. Because apparently this baby means more to you than our marriage."
"Chandler, I swear to you, I didn't think it belonged to him. I would have told you if I did."
"This is over Monica. I was coming over here to try and make things right between us, and if I hadn't looked at these results I would have never known the truth. But now I do and we are over." Chandler began to cry as he walked toward the door of the hospital room.
"Please don't do this, Chandler!" Monica cried from her bed. "Please!" She continued sobbing as she watched him leave and the door closing behind him.
To be continued....
Also, I have parts 5-7 posted on my web site if anyone would like to see what happens next. I may not post on here anymore just because I don't appreciate people with no manners reviewing fics that they probably haven't even read!!