I'm back again! I know that I'm getting these up fast, but I write them fast. I hope you like this part. Be forewarned, it is sappy. This is dedicated to all the victims of this week's tragedy. My thoughts and prayers are with them. This part takes place about three months after the last one.
Disclaimer: They're not mine. Just so that we're clear.
"See that couple? They have a baby,
Her name is Hailey,
cute little thing,
Daughter of Chandler and Monica Bing,
She's my godchild, and Rachel's too,
Because they didn't want either of us to be blue
La la la la la la," They listened to Phoebe's song. Monica was holding Hailey and Chandler was sitting next to her with his arm on her shoulder.
"Nice song," he told Phoebe as she sat back down.
"Thank you," she answered. "Now can I hold her Mon?" Monica smiled and handed Hailey to Phoebe. She was three months old now. It was a week before Christmas.
"I don't think you can get me a better gift then last year," Chandler told his wife. She smiled.
"What the watch?" She teased. He hit her lightly on the arm and kissed her on the forehead.
"Speaking of watches," he said. "I have to go." He kissed Monica on the mouth and kissed Hailey and then grabbed his coat and ran out the door.
"Where's Chandler going?" Rachel asked as she sat down in the chair.
"Work," Monica answered. She was on maternity leave for another month or so. She really didn't want to go back, but her and Chandler decided she would go back part time until Hailey got older. By then though, they would probably have another kid and she would stay part time.
"What are you doing today?" Phoebe asked.
"I'm taking Hailey to visit my mother," Monica answered. "Want to come?"
"Sure," Phoebe told her.
"What about me?" Rachel asked.
"Rachel? Don't you have to work?"
"So?" Rachel asked. "I still want to be invited."
"Fine," Monica said sighing. "Would you like to come also?"
"No thanks, I have to work," Rachel told her. Joey came in.
"Hey guys, hey baby," he said. "Mon can I hold her?" Monica nodded finding it entertaining that her friends couldn't get enough of the baby. Hailey was such a well-behaved baby too, that they could pass her from person to person and not have her wail at the top of her lungs.
"Oh Phoebe," Monica said ten minutes later. "We'd better go."
"Where you going?" Joey asked.
"My mom's," Monica answered.
"Can I come?"
"Sure," Monica said. "Lets go. Rachel? Can you put Hailey in her carrier for me?" Rachel nodded and placed the sleeping baby in her arms into the carrier while Monica got the diaper bag.
"I'll carry that for you," Joey said taking it off of Monica.
"Thanks, Joe," Monica answered taking Hailey and following him and Phoebe out of Central Perk. They got to Monica's car and she snapped Hailey in and climbed into the front seat and they pulled out.
"I love this car," Joey told her playing with all the buttons in the back seat.
"I know," Monica said. She pulled into her mother's driveway.
"Monica!" Her mother said. " Where's the princess?" She picked up Hailey and kissed her. "You know, Mon. You look like you haven't lost all the weight yet. Maybe you should go on a diet." Monica sighed. Like usual, it was going to be a long afternoon.
Chandler got home and found the apartment unusually quiet and empty. It was good, because he had to work out the details of his present for Monica. He smiled at the image of her face when he showed her his Christmas gift. She was going to love it. An hour later, the door opened and her and Hailey walked in. He ran up to them and kissed both and took Hailey off of her.
"I missed you," he told her.
"How was work?" She asked.
"It was fine," he told her. "My Yasmine Bleeth pictures kept me entertained."
"Watch it Bing," she told him. "I just came from a day with my mother and I don't know how much more I can take." He laughed and kissed her again.
"Want to eat out tonight? Just me and you? We can get Ross or Rachel to sit?"
"We've never left Hailey alone," Monica said biting her lip.
"Come on," he persuaded. "She'll be fine. And I want to spend time with my gorgeous wife."
"I guess," she conceded. "Call Ross."
"Thanks Monica," he said kissing her neck. "I'll go make reservations." Two hours later, Ross and Rachel both came in. Chandler smiled when he saw them. He handed them the list of numbers that Monica had made up.
"Here's her doctor, my cell, Monica's cell, the restaurant, and the emergency room on-call doctor's name," he said. "Monica?" He called. "Are you ready sweetie?"
"Yeah," came the response. "Hold on." She came out of the bedroom in a simple black dress. It was more conservative then she normally would do, but it looked great on her and Chandler's smile got even wider.
"Wow," he got out.
"Ready to go?" She asked. He simply nodded. She picked up Hailey and kissed her and then Chandler kissed the baby and Monica walked out the door holding her in her arms.
"Mon?" They all said.
"Right," she said coming back in and handing Hailey to Rachel. "Okay, we'll be back no later then eleven. Love you sweetheart." Chandler put his arm around her and grabbed her coat as he coaxed her out of the door. He helped her get her coat on and then they made their way to the car. They had a lovely evening and came back to find everything was fine at home.
"Thanks for a great night," she whispered to Chandler.
"I kind of did it to butter you up," he told her.
"Why?"
"I have some bad news," he told her.
"What?" She asked.
"I have to go to Atlantic city over Christmas," he told her. Her face dropped.
"But its Hailey's first Christmas," she protested.
"I know," he said. "I'm sorry." It was all part of his surprise. He did feel his heart break when tears slid down her face and she looked up at him.
"I know its not your fault," she said. He kissed her cheek where a tear was falling.
"I'll be back as soon as I can," he promised.
Christmas Eve, Monica sat with Hailey and watched snow fall. They were at her mother's house. The super told her that they needed them out of the apartment. This was turning into a horrible Christmas, Monica thought. Her husband was miles away and they weren't even in their own home.
"Merry Christmas, baby," Monica said to her sleeping daughter. The phone rang and Monica reached over to answer it.
"Hello?" She said.
"Mon?"
"Ross? What's up?"
"Can you come here?"
"Where?"
"Susan's mother's house. Bring Hailey, we have sort of a crisis," he told her. Chandler was behind him giving him the thumbs up.
"What kind of crisis?" She asked.
"I can't talk right now Monica," he told her. "Here's the address." She did what she was told and wrote it down. Then she bundled Hailey up and grabbed her diaper bag and put her in the car. She drove out to the suburbs to the address that Ross had given her. When she pulled into the driveway, she saw her Porsche parked there.
"That's weird," she said to herself. She got the baby out and walked towards the door. She went to ring the doorbell when she saw the knocker. Engraved on it was Bing. She was so surprised that when she finally did ring the bell and Chandler answered, she didn't even register that her husband, who was supposed to be in Atlantic City, was now here in front of her.
"Surprise," he told her.
"Chandler?" It finally dawned on her as Rachel came out of nowhere and took Hailey off her. She threw her arms around Chandler's neck and he kissed her passionately.
"Merry Christmas," he told her.
"What are you doing here?" She asked. "Where are we? Why is our name on the knocker?"
"That's your present," he said. "This house is ours. Here's the deed." He handed her a paper and she looked at him.
"Are you serious?"
"I had to top your gift last year," he told her. "I didn't, but I came close." He looked at his daughter. "Let me show you around." He pulled her into the warm house. There was a Christmas tree set up in the large living room and all their friends were sitting there. There was a fireplace with a fire going and stockings hung over it. The kitchen was excessively large, and Chandler led her through it and watched her face. He was so happy that she was happy. He led her into the dining room and the family room and finally up the stairs.
"How many bedrooms?" She asked.
"Five," he answered.
"Five?"
"Well, I wanted four kids remember? So I went out and found this one," he told her.
"Can we afford it?"
"That's the other part. I got promoted." She squealed and threw her arms around him once more. He showed her their bedroom and Hailey's new nursery right beside their bedroom. The guest rooms were all set up.
"That's our furniture!" She pointed out.
"I called Treeger and he helped me out," Chandler admitted. "Are you happy?"
"I couldn't be happier," she told him.
"There's a pool out back and an apartment over the garage and I thought that Joey could stay there if he wants. Everyone is staying tonight."
"I can't believe that you did this," she said kissing him.
"That's a good thing right?" He asked.
"Its a very good thing," she told him. He grinned. He knew that this gift would go over big. Hailey began to cry and they hurried down the stairs to her.
The next morning, Monica woke up and smiled when she remembered where she was. She rolled over and kissed Chandler gently on the mouth.
"Morning," he told her.
"Merry Christmas," she told him.
"Right back at you babe," he said as he wrapped his arms around her.
"How much longer do we have until Joey gets in here?" Monica asked.
"About four minutes," he told her looking at the clock that flashed seven. She giggled and felt warm and safe under the covers and in his arms.
"I could stay like this forever," she whispered.
"I could too," he kissed her on the forehead and snuggled down next to her. He had never tried his hug and roll on her. He didn't need or want to. He was perfectly fine with laying in bed with her close to him. They closed their eyes and a few minutes later, the door flew open and Joey walked in.
"Merry Christmas!" He yelled. "Lets go open presents."
"Four minutes exactly," Chandler told his wife who laughed. They slowly got out of bed and Monica went and got Hailey as Chandler went down to make sure that Joey didn't open any of the presents first. Monica walked down with the baby and found them all waiting for her.
"Can I open one first?" Joey asked excitedly. They all said yes and he tore into the paper like a small child. "Porn? Thanks Pheebs!"
"Courtesy of Ursula and the porn company she works for," Phoebe said.
"Give one to Monica to open for Hailey," Chandler suggested. Ross handed his sister a present and she opened it and Hailey clapped her hands together.
"Well, I think its a hit," Rachel said laughing. They had a wonderful morning opening presents. Monica made breakfast and everyone sat in the huge kitchen and ate.
"This house is gorgeous," Rachel kept commenting. "Chandler if Monica ever leaves you, be sure that I'll move right in."
"She's never going to leave," Chandler commented. Monica was sitting on his lap. Ross was feeding his niece her bottle and Joey was eagerly downing the pancakes.
"This is the best part of Christmas," he said with his mouth full.
"That's what you said about the presents," Phoebe mentioned. Joey thought about this and nodded.
"It's a hard choice," he said. They all laughed. Chandler kissed Monica and she smiled.
"The best present isn't the house," she told him.
"No?" He asked raising an eyebrow.
"Nope," she shook her head. "You being home for Christmas is."
****I might write an epilogue, but this might be the end. Tell me what I should do. If you want me to write more, I will. ******
