Hello! I had such a fabulous day! Musical was cancelled because of the band taking over the stage, and I got an A on my debate, and I got my note cards done for my research paper! Yay me! Anyway, here's the next chapter. I hope that you enjoy it. This is about four years later.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Friends characters, ah, but what a world it would be if I did.
"Maura Grace!" Monica yelled up the stairs of her house and waited for her daughter to come down and smile innocently at her.
"What Momma?" Maura's dimples and dark curls made her mother and father both go weak in the knees and allow her to get away with basically anything. This time, though, Maura could see that her mother was angry. She had a pretty good idea why too.
"Maura, didn't I tell you only draw on paper?"
"But Mommy, I couldn't find any!"
"So you drew on the wall?"
"It was white too," Maura said biting her lip. A nervous habit picked up at some point. Monica looked at her daughter.
"Please go to your room Maura and sit in the time out chair until I tell you that it's okay," Monica admonished.
"Not fair!" Maura wailed throwing herself at Monica's feet, at a last desperate attempt to get her mother to change her mind.
"Maura," Monica began.
"Mommy! I'm sorry," Maura cried tears streaming down her pretty face. Chandler walked in the door at the point and heard Maura's screams and Monica trying to reason with the little girl.
"Mon?"
"Chandler, come here and calm your daughter down," Monica said over Maura. Chandler came into the hall and saw Maura's fists balled up as she was hitting the floor.
"She is throwing a fit because I told her that she had to sit in the time out chair," Monica explained.
"Why is she in the time out chair?" Chandler asked.
"She drew on the walls with marker," Monica said.
"Maura, we told you about that," Chandler said kneeling to her height.
"But Daddy I don't want to go to the time out chair! It's not fair!" Chandler took his daughter in his arms and led her away from Monica who sighed and went into the living room to clean off the walls. They had been trying again for another baby, but like with Maura, it just wasn't happening the way Monica wanted. It didn't help that Rachel and Ross, who had gotten back together and got married, had three kids already. They had twins that were now going on three, and another baby girl that was one. Nina, Kyle, and Ashley. And Phoebe was pregnant with her first baby with her new husband Hank. Joey was still the womanizer he had always been. Monica wanted a sister or brother for Maura. A little while later, Monica had gotten the markers off the walls and Chandler brought Maura back down. Chandler and Maura were watching cartoons while Monica was reading her book when the doorbell rang and Monica answered it. Rachel was standing there looking tired and worn holding Ashley in her arms and Nina and Kyle fighting.
"Hey Mon," Rachel said. "I had to get out of the house for a little while." Her and Ross had bought a slightly smaller house then Monica and Chandler a few streets over. It just seemed so much smaller because Monica and Chandler had two less people living with them.
"Oh, come in," Monica said and Rachel flashed a grateful smile and followed Monica into the house. Maura was sweetly coloring when the three other children came in and Chandler, sensing that Rachel needed a break, took them up to Maura's playroom to give Rachel some space.
"Where's Ross?" Monica asked.
"Lecture," Rachel said sighing. "Why did we have to have so many kids so soon? Why didn't we just wait?" Monica shrugged thinking about how calm her life was compared to Rachel's right then. Her and Chandler had even made a down payment on a restaurant, which had been her dream since she was small. Rachel wasn't working anymore, three kids did that to you. Chandler came back into the room.
"Ash is asleep and the other three are coloring and watching a movie in the playroom," Chandler told her sitting next to his wife. "Long day?"
"You have no idea," Rachel said.
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, Maura decided to draw on the walls with markers today," Monica offered.
"Ha, Mon, that happens all the time in our house," Rachel said. Chandler kissed Monica on the temple as Rachel vented and then turned to her usual gossip giving Monica the lowdown on what she knew.
"Still want more kids?" Chandler whispered. Monica hit him playfully.
"Go check on the kids again," she told him and he got up and walked up the stairs to the playroom. Kyle and Nina were fighting again, but Ashley was still sleeping and Maura was coloring in her book and was humming to herself.
"Hi Daddy," she said when he came into the room. He broke up Nina and Kyle and looked again over at his daughter. She smiled with her dimples showing and he smiled back at her. If we can't have more kids, he thought, she's enough. In bed that night, he watched Monica sleep as it rained outside. Thunder crashed and a knock on the door woke Monica from her slumber. Maura came running into her parent's room.
"The thunder scares me Mommy," Maura said.
"Come here baby," Monica said patting the bed next to her. Maura jumped in and cuddled next to her mother as Chandler covered the two of them up and smiled at them as they both fell asleep. He resumed his position and watched their rhythmic breathing. Maura looked so much like Monica that he was amazed.
Lying here with you,
Listening to the rain
Smiling just to see
The smile upon your face
And these are the moments
I thank God that I'm alive
And these are the moments
I'll remember all my life
I've found all I've waited for
And I could not ask for more
"Phoebe had her baby," Hank told Monica on the phone. "A boy, Stephen."
"Oh that's so great," Monica told him. "Chandler and I will try to get there as soon as we can." She told Chandler and they decided to take Maura with them when they went. She hardly ever got herself into trouble and she was usually a very easy, calm child. They got into Chandler's car and drove there to find Rachel already in the room with Phoebe and Hank and the new baby.
"Where's Ross?" Chandler asked holding Maura in his arms.
"At home with the kids," Rachel said. Monica was finally accepting that Maura was going to be her only child, and she was okay with it. Her and Chandler could do a lot more things then Rachel and Ross could because it was much easier to convince people to watch only one child then three. Part of her still ached when she thought about it, but she had come to terms with the fact that she would only have one child.
"I'm going to go get some coffee," she said leaving the room.
"Hey Rachel? Can you keep an eye on Maura for me?" Chandler asked following his wife out into the hallway. They made their way to the machine and were waiting for the coffee when Monica grabbed a hold of his shirt.
"Mon? Are you okay?" He asked concern edging into his voice.
"I...uh...I just feel really dizzy," she said before closing her eyes to regain her composure.
"Let's go sit down," Chandler said and she nodded but as she took a step, she fell into his arms. "Monica?" He called for a doctor who took her away from him telling him to wait there. He ran back to tell his friends what had happened and where he would be.
"Chandler? What's the matter?" Rachel asked when he burst into the room.
"It's Monica, she just passed out," he said. "I'm going to go stay with her, will you stay here with Maura?"
"Of course, come tell us when you find out why she fainted," Phoebe said. He nodded.
"It's probably nothing," he told them. "She didn't have breakfast this morning." They nodded, but saw that he was more worried than he was showing. He found Monica awake and sitting in an examining room.
"Are you okay?" He asked coming in and taking her hand.
"Yes, of course I am," she said smiling.
"So why did you faint?" He asked. "I mean...I've never seen you do that before. What happened?" She just smiled at him as she squeezed his hand.
"I'm pregnant again," she told him.
"Are you serious?" He asked hugging her tightly. She nodded grinning. He kissed her all over her face. "I'm so happy that you're okay. That we're going to be parents again. That Maura will have a sister or brother."
"I know," Monica said finally crying the tears that had been building up.
"Oh, Mon," he breathed kissing her again.
Looking in your eyes
Seeing all I need
Everything you are
Is everything to me
These are the moments
I know heaven must exist
And these are the moments
I know all I need is this
I have all I've waited for
And I could not ask for more
"Would you like to know what you're having?" The doctor asked. Monica nodded and Chandler took her hand as they waited. "A healthy baby girl."
"Another girl," Chandler whispered to her. She nodded and he kissed her forehead. When they got home, Maura was dying to know what had happened.
"You're going to have a little sister," Monica told her.
"A sister? Wow! That's so much better then a brother," Maura said excitedly. Monica and Chandler laughed. "What are you going to name her?"
"Well, we haven't thought of that yet honey," Chandler said. He looked over at Monica who was deep in thought.
"Can I help pick the name?" Maura asked.
"What about if we let you pick a few names and we pick our favorite?" Monica suggested to her daughter. Maura seemed to like this idea and ran off to pick her names that she liked.
"Are you sure about this?" Chandler asked. Monica shrugged.
"I want her to be a part of this," Monica said. Chandler just hopped that this wouldn't backfire. Monica went into the living room and started reading a book, and so he grabbed the newspaper and sat next to her reading when about an hour later, Maura reappeared.
"Mommy? Daddy? I made a list," she told them proudly. Monica and Chandler set down their reading materials to listen to their daughter.
"Let's hear," Chandler said.
"Okay, here are the names: Hannah, Chloe, Rebecca, and Alyssa." Monica and Chandler were surprised that Maura had picked those names. Chandler had been sure she would come down with a list of her favorite cartoon characters.
"Oh," Maura said smiling. "And Barbie." Monica nodded.
"Let Mommy and Daddy talk it over and we'll get back to you." Maura seemed satisfied and ran off to her bedroom.
"So?" Chandler said. "What one did you like the best? How about we both say the one we liked at the same time." He counted to three and on three they both opened their mouths and said,
"Alyssa." They both smiled.
"Middle name?" Monica asked.
"How about Alyssa Jane? I know how big you are on the meanings of names, and Jane is the feminine form of John which means God has been gracious," Chandler said. Monica gave him a surprised look. "What? You left the baby name book out again!" She just giggled.
"Alyssa Jane and Maura Grace Bing," she replied tossing the name around in her head before nodding. "Perfect." Maura came back into the room.
"Did you pick a name yet Momma?"
"Yes, what do you think of Alyssa Jane?"
"That was one of my names!" Maura exclaimed.
"We know," Chandler said smiling at his daughter. "Come here." Maura ran over and hopped onto his lap and sat with her parents as they talked about the new baby.
"The baby's room looks really pretty," Maura told her mother. "What did my room look like when I was a baby?"
"It had stuffed animals everywhere, not unlike your room now," Chandler teased. Maura giggled.
"Daddy," she said. "Don't complain, you were the one who bought them in the first place." Chandler grinned at his wife over Maura's head.
"Guilty," he told her kissing her on the forehead. Maura ran and got a book for them to read as the three sat on the couch and read it together.
I could ask for more than this time together
Could not ask for more than this time with you
And every prayer has been answered
And every dream now has come true
Right here in this moment
Is that where I'm meant to be
Here with you, here with me
Maura ran to answer the phone as Monica tended to Alyssa who was a year old.
"Hello? Hi Aunt Rachel," Maura said into the phone. "Hold on let me get her." She dropped the phone and ran upstairs where Monica was finishing putting Alyssa down for a nap. "Mommy, it's for you." Monica nodded and walked out to the phone and picked it up.
"Hey Mon, it's Rachel," Rachel said. "I just haven't talked to you in awhile and the baby is sleeping, so I have a chance to talk finally." Rachel had had another baby, this time a boy named Gregory.
"It's funny," Rachel said interrupting Monica in her thoughts.
"What's funny?" Monica asked.
"I guess I always figured you to be the one with four kids, and me to only have one or two," Rachel said.
"Yeah, so did I," Monica agreed.
"Oh no! Kyle put that down! Monica, I have to go," with that Rachel hung up the phone and Monica saw Maura sitting on the stool in the kitchen coloring.
"Can I color too baby?" Monica asked. Maura nodded pushing a coloring book over to her mother.
"Mommy?"
"Yes, sweetie?"
"I'm glad I only have one sister," Maura said. "Aunt Rachel and Uncle Ross's is like a zoo." Monica had to laugh at that and kissed Maura on the forehead. The door opened and Chandler came in.
"Daddy!" Maura dropped her crayon and ran to him. He scooped her up and kissed her nose.
"Don't I get a kiss?" Monica asked grinning as he leaned forward and kissed her too.
"Alyssa sleeping?" He asked noticing the house was quiet.
"Yes," Monica said. "And Maura and I were coloring."
"Does Mommy stay in the lines?" Chandler asked.
"Not very well," Maura said.
"Really?" Monica asked grinning. "The tickle monster doesn't like that! He's going to get you!" Chandler put Maura on the floor and Monica chased her around tickling her and the two of them laughing. Alyssa's cries interrupted and Monica sighed.
"She's been cranky all day," Monica said.
"I'll get her," Chandler assured her and hurried to the nursery where their youngest daughter was screaming at the top of her lungs. Like her older sister, she looked the most like Monica, but her hair was lighter. She calmed when she saw her father.
"Da!" She exclaimed. She had started talking a week or so ago and it still made both her parents excited to hear.
"Hi sweetie," he took her out of the crib and held her to him rocking her back and forth. "Why are you crying? Are you hungry? Do you need changed?"
"Cha," she answered starting to cry again.
"I can do that," Chandler told her and laid her on the changing table. Monica and Maura were getting dinner ready down in the kitchen, so Chandler took Alyssa down to them. Maura was setting the table.
"Look Daddy, I didn't drop a single plate!" There were all plastic anyways, because Maura liked to help, but Monica didn't like having her plates broken.
"That's great honey," Chandler said placing Alyssa in her highchair and helping Maura finishing setting the table.
"The forks go on the other side Daddy!" Maura admonished.
"You're getting yelled at by a six year old," Monica noticed and Chandler stuck out his tongue at her.
"Mature," Monica commented as Maura giggled.
"Mommy's going to send you to the time out chair," Maura told her father. "Put him in the time out chair Mommy!" Maura said clapping her hands. Alyssa, who usually did everything her older sister did, began clapping too and giggling. Monica laughed and Chandler tickled both his daughters.
"Another normal dinner in the Bing household," Monica commented as the chaos continued.
And these are the moments
I thank God that I'm alive
And these are the moments
I'll remember all my life
I've got all I've waited for
And I could not ask for more
I could not ask for more than this time together
Could not ask for more than this time with you
"Momma! Tell Kyle to stop hitting me with the doll! That hurts!" Alyssa's little voice cried from the living room as Rachel and Monica both sighed on cue and then yelled for their respective children.
"Kyle!" Rachel said. "I talked to you about this!" Kyle looked sheepishly at his feet.
"Sorry Mom," he said. He ran off and Rachel sighed.
"Alyssa? Are you okay?" Monica asked her three year old with concern. Alyssa was holding her arm and crying. Both parents were extremely overprotective of both girls. Alyssa, noting that she could milk this, nodded bravely and climbed into her mother's lap. Monica let her sit there as she talked to her friends. Chandler came in and noticed Alyssa sitting in Monica's lap and picked her up and kissed her nose.
"How's your arm now baby?" He asked.
"Better," she sniffled.
"Are you sure?" He asked once more. She nodded and smiled at him.
"Can I go play now?" He laughed and placed her on the floor and watched as she ran into the living room with her sister and cousins. Maura and Alyssa surprisingly got along very well and hardly ever argued, but when they did, it was like World War III. They had both inherited Monica's ability to fight until she was blue in the face, and her stubbornness, so they both argued until neither one remembered what had started the fight in the first place. Maura was now eight, and Alyssa missed her when she was in school, but now she was in preschool. The afternoons were just Monica and Alyssa and they would pick up Maura and then go home and wait for Chandler.
"So Mon? How's the restaurant going?" Joey asked.
"I had to wait two hours there the other night to get a table," Phoebe complained. "I said that I knew the owner, but they just thought I was lying, so I was screwed out of a table faster." They all laughed.
"Next time, just call us," Monica told Phoebe. Phoebe nodded.
"Will do," she said smiling. They all sat around discussing their lives, something that they used to do quite often, but it seemed they never did anymore. Everyone was too busy with their lives and their children, well, except Joey obviously. Chandler had been right, Joey probably would end up living over Monica and Chandler's garage. Joey was finally settling down a little, he had a steady girlfriend named Rebecca. Monica often looked at her children and wondered what she would do without them. Chandler had slipped an arm around his wife and watched her face as she talked to their friends. Something that he actually did quite often.
"You're so beautiful," he whispered causing her to blush and smile at him.
"You're not so bad either," she told him.
"Really?"
"Yep, I don't think that I could be married to anyone but you," she assured him.
"Well, that's good information to know," he teased. "That way if you ever get mad at me I can remember that you wouldn't ever want to be married to anyone but me."
"That's right. What about me?"
"What about you?"
"Could you see yourself married to anyone but me?"
"Maybe Kathy," he said and she hit him. "What was that for? I'm kidding. Mon, I love you more then anything, well, you and the girls. I don't know what I did to deserve you, but I know that I couldn't imagine not waking up to you every day. Is that sappy enough for you?"
"Yes," she said smiling. "And I forgive you on the Kathy comment."
"Thanks," he kissed her and when they broke apart they noticed that everyone was staring at them.
"What?" Monica asked.
"You do that all the time," Rachel said.
"What?" Chandler asked.
"You go off into your own little world and leave the rest of us behind," Ross said.
"Oh," Monica bit her lip. "Sorry, go on with what you were talking about."
"Okay," Rachel said smiling at the couple. "So anyway...."
And every prayer has been answered
And every dream now has come true
Right here in this moment
Is that where I'm meant to be
Here with you, here with me
I could not ask for more
Then the love you give me
Cause it's all I've waited for
And I could not ask for more
And I could not ask for more
~*That's it! I hope that you enjoyed it and please review and tell me what you thought of it!*~
