The One With The Test
Continued from: 'TOW The Uninvited Dinner Guest'
By: Jana~
*****~*****
--Monica walked into her apartment, a little brown bag in hand, a worried look on her face that wasn't there before.
"Hey, Mon, what's in the bag?" Phoebe asked casually, lifting her attention from the magazine she had been reading.
"Nothing." Monica replied, "Just--"
She struggled for an answer. She didn't want to lie, but she didn't want her friend to know the truth either. Especially before she had an answer. Especially before she talked to Chandler.
"Just some rash ointment." She finally lied, "I have a rash."
Without any further discussion she excused herself and went into the bathroom, locking the door once safely inside.
She opened the bag and peeked inside, then reached in and pulled out the box, hesitating only a moment before opening it. After pulling out the contents, she picked up the instructions and started reading, breezing through quickly so she could get on with the chore ahead of her.
"Hold in urine stream…" she muttered to herself, reading aloud in a whisper… "Three minutes for result. Control window. Result window." She picked up the little plastic stick and stared at it for a moment, then followed the directions to the letter.
--She placed the cap on the test and set it on the counter, then watched it closely… as if her life depended on it. Her life did depend on it. She noted that the urine was seeping up through the 'windows'. First through the 'result' window, then through the 'control' window. Once the control line was present, the test was complete. There was no mistaking the results.
*****
--"Hey Pheebs, where's Monica?" Chandler asked as he walked through the door after work, "Still at the restaurant?"
She shook her head, "No. She didn't go in to work today," was her concerned reply, "I think something might be wrong, but she won't talk to me."
"What? Where is she?"
"Her room. She locked the door and she hasn't been out all day. She won't answer me when I knock either."
"Why did she lock herself in her room?"
"I don't know! She came out of the bathroom after being in there for, like, 20 minutes. I think she had been crying. I asked her what was wrong, but she didn't answer me, she just went to her room and locked the door."
Chandler scowled, worry creeping into his heart… "Monica? Open up. It's Chandler." When she didn't respond, he knocked loudly on her door… "Mon! Open up!"
"What's going on?" Joey asked as he casually strolled in…
"Monica has locked herself in her room." Phoebe replied…
Joey looked puzzled… "What? Why?"
Phoebe shook her head, "We don't know."
"Joe," Chandler turned to him, "Can you pick this lock?"
Joey stepped up and looked it over. "I think so," He headed for the front door, "I'll be right back."
Chandler nodded, then turned to Phoebe, "Pheebs, tell me everything you remember about today."
Phoebe nodded, "She left right after you guys did, but she was only gone for, like, fifteen minutes."
"Where did she go?"
"She didn't say. Oh!" she suddenly remembered, "When she came back she had a bag in her hand."
"A bag? What was in it?"
"She said it was rash ointment."
He frowned, "Rash ointment? She doesn't have a rash."
She shrugged, "Well, that's what she said it was." She continued, "She went straight for the bathroom and locked the door. When she came out twenty minutes later, she looked like she had been crying."
"And she wouldn't tell you why?"
"Nope."
"Ok, stand back," Joey instructed, "I got it."
Chandler stood back and watched as Joey opened his toolbox and sifted through his tools. After picking out one he liked, he knelt down at Monica's door and began to pick the lock.
"Hey, Mon, can I borrow--" Rachel's question dropped unfinished as she saw the concerned expressions worn by her friends… "What's going on?"
Phoebe turned to Rachel, "We think something might be wrong with Monica."
"What? Why?" Rachel inquired, noting that Joey was hard at work picking her sister-in-law's locked door.
"She's been in her room all day. She hasn't come out and she won't answer us."
"What could have been in the bag?" Chandler asked, almost to himself…
"Bag?" Rachel scowled, "What bag?"
"She had a bag with her when she went into the bathroom this morning," Phoebe explained, "When she came out, she looked like she had been crying."
Rachel began to share her friends' concern… "Well, did she have the bag with her when she left the bathroom?"
Phoebe gave that thought as they all looked at each other. Slowly, their eyes moved to the bathroom door.
Phoebe, Chandler, and Rachel each took a deep breath as they began to walk towards the bathroom…
"Door's open." Joey informed, and Chandler immediately abandoned the bathroom trek and ran for Monica…
"Monica? Monica?" he called as he entered the room.
She was on her bed, lying face down, her eyes open, tears falling to the bed sheet…
"Mon? What are you doing?" Chandler sat on the bed and touched her back, her only response, though slight, was a flinch.
Joey entered slowly and watched as Chandler tried to talk to her, his brow furrowed in concern…
"Monica? Talk to me. You're scaring the shit out of me here."
Rachel and Phoebe entered the room and Rachel cleared her throat…
"Chandler?"
He turned to face Rachel, and she held out a brown bag for him to take.
"What is it?" he asked her in a whisper, but she just gestured for him to look in the bag. Nervous over what he might find, he gulped in air before peering in.
It took him several moments before he realized what it was he was looking at…
"Oh my God." He whispered, and he looked up at Rachel abruptly with eyes wide… she nodded.
"What?" Joey asked, wanting answers as well…
"Outside Joey." Phoebe advised, taking his hand.
Phoebe would explain it to him. And they would all leave so he could talk to Monica. Chandler nodded to no one, then cleared his throat…
"Mon?" No answer. "Mon? We need to talk about this, ok? You can't shut me out like this."
"I didn't do it on purpose." Her tiny voice squeaked out…
"Were you afraid I would think you had?"
She shrugged.
"When did this happen?"
"Our quickie? In London? Joey had your condoms…"
He nodded. He remembered. "Right…"
"I'm scared." She confided, her eyes closed tight doing nothing to stop the steady trickle of tears,
"Me too, but, it'll be ok, ya'know? We'll be ok."
"We will?"
"Monica, what did you think was going to happen when you told me?"
"I thought you would get all weird and think I was trying to trap you or something."
He shook his head… "I don't think that. I think we both knew what could happen and I think we both took the risk." He crawled into bed beside her and cradled her in his arms… "You scared the hell out of me tonight, Mon. Don't ever do that again."
"I'm sorry."
"It's ok, sweetie…" he held her tighter… "I can understand why you were so scared…" he paused for a moment, then leaned back to look at her face… "But-- Wait-- I thought you always wanted kids."
"I do! But, with someone who wants them too. I thought I was going to lose you over this."
He sighed, "What kind of man would I be if I left you over this?" He smiled, "This is my baby too. And as frightening as this is, that's the main fact. I love you, and we created a baby. So, we deal."
She sighed, trying to smile as she rolled over onto her back… "Could you maybe just hold me for a while?"
He smiled as he kissed her forehead… "Absolutely."
He pulled her tight to him and held her while she dozed off, the stress of her day finally catching up with her, the relief of Chandler's reaction causing her to relax enough to drift off.
Rachel poked her head into the room and he just smiled and nodded. When she saw how content Monica looked, she knew all was ok. She smiled and nodded, then left, out to update the others on the situation.
--Chandler comforted Monica, beyond relieved that she was ok. He had never been so scared when she was locked in her room and he couldn't get to her, and in the brief time it took for Joey to pick the lock, a poignant thought crossed his mind: 'he loved her'.
Then his mind moved past the scare she had put him through, and moved to the dilemma at hand: 'a baby'. They were going to have a baby. He didn't know how to deal with that, so he didn't. He just sat numb, loosening his tie in an attempt to get comfortable, carefully so as not to disturb Monica.
When she felt better, probably by morning, she would be able to help him cope with the life-altering news. She was good at that, helping him cope, telling him how to feel. She would know how he was supposed to be feeling, so he would wait for her before doing what his brain and his heart was telling him to do… freak out.
*****
--Monica stretched and yawned, alerting Chandler to the fact that she was awake…
"What time is it?" she asked him, her voice shaky from exhaustion.
He glanced at his watch, "Ten after ten."
"How long have I been asleep?"
He kissed her hair, "About four hours."
She sat up just enough to be able to look at his face, "Have you been awake this entire time?"
"Pretty much. I might've dozed off for a few minutes a couple hours ago."
She could hear the strain in his voice, "Wanna talk about stuff?"
Slowly, he nodded.
She sat up further, and he moved from the position he had been in for hours and stretched, easing his aching muscles.
"This isn't what you want." She stated grimly, starting the conversation off.
He shook his head, "I would be lying if I said it was. I'm not ready to be a father. I'm barely ready to be a boyfriend."
"So, what do you want me to do?"
"What do you mean?" he asked, knowing perfectly well what she was asking,
"Did you want me to get an abortion?"
He shook his head emphatically, "Absolutely not."
"Adoption?"
Again, he shook his head, "Look how hard that was on Phoebe! And she knew going into it that she would be giving the babies to Frank and Alice! I couldn't ask you to go through that."
"Then, what?"
"I don't honestly know. I guess--" he sighed, "It's just time to grow up now… I guess. It's not the baby's fault he was conceived, so, as hard as it's going to be, I'm just gonna have to be the best dad I can be."
"I'm sorry I did this to us."
"You didn't do anything wrong. It would be so easy to pass blame, but, there really isn't anyone to pass the blame too, is there? We could try. We could blame Joey for taking my condoms. We could blame London for being romantic. Maybe I'm to blame for not being able to keep it in my pants."
"Yeah, well, maybe I'm to blame for not saying 'no'."
He shook his head, "The fact still remains… you're pregnant. Pointing the finger and laying blame won't change that."
"I know." She cracked a smile, "I can't believe how well you're handling this."
"I can't either. Believe me, I'm fighting the urge to go run screaming into the night. But, I know that won't solve anything. And I just love you so much, I just couldn't do that to you. So, as much help as I'm bound to be, here I am."
"You're more help than you realize. Just you being calm is helping tremendously."
"Then, I'll try to remain at least that helpful."
"Thank you."
He nodded, "So, what's next? What happens next? Like, DRs appointments or something?"
"Yeah. I'll need to go to the DR and get a referral to the OB/GYN."
"Are you going to want me to come to your appointments?"
"Do you want to come?"
"Only if you want me there."
"I do, but, maybe not for the first one."
He shrugged, "Ok."
"So, are you hungry? I could make you something to eat."
"No," he shook his head, "I just want to curl up with you and sleep clean through till next week."
"Well, the curling up we can do. The sleeping we can do, but the 'till next week' part? Not so sure our bosses would like that much."
"Fine," he agreed with a slight smile, "Then how about we sleep till tomorrow afternoon? Blow off work and just stay in each other's arms?"
"Yeah," she nodded, "I think we can swing that."
"Good. It's settled then." He climbed out of the bed and stood, stripping his work clothes and tossing them to the floor. He fought the urge to laugh when she cringed, and he just knew she wanted more than anything to pick them up and fold them neatly, and then place them on the back of the chair.
"Leave the clothes," he instructed, "They'll still be there tomorrow."
Reluctantly, she turned away from the clothes pile, stripping her own clothes before climbing into bed with him.
"I'm sorry I scared you today." She muttered as she snuggled up to his warm body.
He nodded, "I can't even imagine the stress you were under all day waiting for me to come home, not knowing how I would react."
"I did it to myself," she admitted, "I allowed myself to dwell in the worst possible scenario instead of allowing myself to believe that you just might not freak about it."
"Well," he quipped, "You went with the odds. Can't blame you there, right?"
She chuckled, her laughter dying, a smile remaining as she kissed his chest… "I love you, Chandler."
"I love you too Monica."
--They fell into an easy silence as they waited for sleep to envelop them.
*****~*****
--Monica paced the floor, waiting for Chandler to return. She needed to talk to him… alone, so she asked Phoebe to go visit with Rachel across the street. He wasn't at work, they both called in sick first thing that morning. Phoebe didn't know where he'd gone to, so, she was stuck waiting. And pacing. And the longer she waited, the more tense she became.
When Chandler finally walked through the door, she almost broke down in tears just at the sight of him. "You're back!" she heard herself shout, wincing as she realized he had no idea about the hours of turmoil she had just been through.
"Hey." He greeted with a smile, "You ok? You seem… tense."
She nodded, "I have something I need to talk to you about."
His expression took on a serious quality, "Ok. What's up? Is everything ok with the baby?"
That wasn't as easy a question as it seemed… "Not exactly."
"What? Something's wrong with the baby?"
She winced, "Not exactly."
"Ok," he scowled, "You're talking in circles. Just-- just tell me what's going on, Mon, k?"
She took a deep breath, "I went to the DRs today…" He nodded. "And, well, it's common to take a test to confirm the pregnancy before giving you the referral." He nodded again, gesturing for her to continue. "The test-- there was something wrong with the test, so, they decided to do an ultra-sound."
"That's where they take a picture of the baby?" he asked, she nodded.
"Right, so, they did the ultra-sound, and, well…" she stammered as she tried to think of the best way to say it… "The thing is, is--" she sighed, "Chandler, I'm not pregnant."
He just stared at her, unmoving for what seemed like a long time, but in reality was only about 45 seconds. "What?"
"The home test was a false positive. They're not very common, but they do happen."
"A what?"
"False positive. A positive result that's false." She explained, "You know how the box will say '99% accurate'? I'm the other 1%."
He scowled, "So, now you're just, not pregnant."
"Right."
"So, you put me through hell for nothing?"
She flinched at his tone, "What?"
"What was this, some kind of test? Tell me you're pregnant so that you can see my reaction?!"
Her jaw dropped in shock, "Have you lost your mind?! Of course I didn't do that! What's the matter with you?!"
"What's the matter with me?! I'm not the one messing with your head! What's the matter with you!"
"I didn't fake the test results!" she snapped, "I thought I was pregnant! I was shocked when the DR said I wasn't!"
He scoffed as he headed for the door, "I can't believe you would do this!"
"I didn't do anything!" she barked back, "Where are you going?!"
"Somewhere where you're not!"
With that he stormed out and slammed the door, leaving a confused and hurt Monica alone. She felt the tears sting her eyes, and she knew an onslaught of emotions was looming just beneath the surface, waiting to be unleashed.
TO BE CONTINUED…