Fate Has a Way
Disclaimer: They aren't mine, so please don't sue me
This chapter should clear up a few things that you may be wondering about, mainly the Ross/Monica thing. Well, it clears a little up, but not everything… I don't think I need to say much else.
~*******~
Chapter One: Fate Has a Way
Four hours later, Monica was awake and had gotten ready for work. Phoebe was already sitting in her kitchen in apartment 20, and Monica expected her not-a-morning-person best friend to stumble through the door at any moment, complaining as usual. And she was right, five minutes later Rachel came in grumbling about the people that lived in the apartment above her. (Rachel lived in the building across the street.)
"Rach, you're really starting to sound like Mr. Heckles," Monica laughed at the memory of her old downstairs neighbor. They sat down to breakfast; Monica had made pancakes. "How do you guys feel about going to Philadelphia with me tonight?"
Rachel understood immediately, but Phoebe was skeptical. "If you're going to invite us on a vacation, you could at least be a little more creative with the place. And why pitch the idea today if you're leaving tonight?"
Monica and Rachel look at each other with a look that says 'You've got to be kidding me.' "Phoebes," Monica starts to explain, "Phillip called me early this morning. Rosemary is in labor."
"Ohhh. Why didn't you say so? I can do that."
"I'll call the airlines for you if you want, Monica."
"Oh, I figure my parents already arranged for the three of us to fly out there, but if you wanna double check for me that would be wonderful 'cause I'm early doc this morning."
Just then, there's a knock at the door. The three girls look at each other; nobody ever knocks on Monica's door because she always leaves it open when she expects that one of the other two is coming over. And Rachel and Phoebe both had extra keys. Monica gets up and gets the door.
"Hi, I'm Joey and I'm the new neighbor. I'm Kip's roommate. Kip is, well, I'm not really sure. But he doesn't have anything in his fridge so I was coming to ask if you guys had anything I could borrow?"
"We're having pancakes if you wanna join us," Monica suggested. "I'm Monica Crawford, and these are my best friends, Rachel Green and Phoebe Buffay."
Joey then realized that he was in an apartment with three girls, and he instantly said, "How you doin'?" Phoebe giggled.
Monica gets up, puts her plate in the sink, and says, "Well, it was nice meeting you Joey. I have to get to work, but Rach, call me when you find out about our flight." Monica shuts the door behind her, leaving Phoebe, Rachel, and Joey to get to know each other.
"So," how do you guys all fit in an apartment with only two rooms? Or, ohhh…" he stops, mid-sentence.
"Actually, Monica is the only one of us who lives here." Rachel explains, "And before you ask any more questions, yes we are all straight. I live in the apartment building across the street and Phoebes lives a couple of blocks over with her grandmother and her grandmother's boyfriend."
"You live in the building across the street? Where?"
"Under Ugly Naked Guy's old apartment."
"Ugly Naked Guy? Oh my." (a la Joey)
"The guy that used to live there was always naked."
"He used to be Cute Naked Guy, but then he put on a lot of holiday weight and it just never stopped." Phoebe chimed in. "He went off to live in a nudist colony with my friend Francine who used to shave her head. But that was only until Bonnie did it."
"I think that's the place that one of my friends lives." Joey said. He got up and pointed out the window to Ugly Naked Guy's old apartment. "That's where Ross lives," he said.
"That's so weird!" Phoebe exclaimed. "It's like a conspiracy, but not a bad one, you know, like the one when Ursula is involved. We were supposed to meet! It must have been in the stars. 'Cause, you know, fate has a way about these things!" Phoebe could just feel it; they had made a new friend.
*******
It was 4:15 later that day, and Monica only had her 4:30 appointment to go. She had even managed to keep up with her charts; it's amazing the motivation that you have to get something done when you want to get off of work on time. But Monica wasn't complaining, she loved her job. She had considered being a chef at one point in time. She had loved to just watch people cook when she was a little girl, and she was really good at creating new recipes. But she had decided that she could always cook on the side, so she went to medical school instead. Now she was working in a general pediatrics practice, after deciding that specializing would be "too depressing." (I promise, I'll spare you the gory details from the stories that my dad comes home and tells us about all of these people dying. Trust me, my mom is in pediatrics and her stories, well, most of them are a whole lot happier. You know, little babies, toddlers, and the seven year old brats who… never mind…).
It had been a fairly uneventful day for her. They hadn't had any emergencies and no one had to be admitted to the hospital, so she had been able to call to check on Phillip, Rosemary, and the baby twice. So far everything was going well, which was a relief, and it looked like the baby was going to be born pretty soon. Rachel and Phoebe were going to meet her at her apartment and they would leave for the airport from there. Monica was in her office when one of the girls who worked at the front desk poked her head in. "Can I interrupt you for a second?"
"Sure Betsy, shoot."
"Your 4:30 is here a little early, do you wanna see her now or should I have them wait?"
"I can see her now, no problem."
"I blocked you off the schedule for tomorrow, and Tom and Marcy said they'd take your other patients so that you can get to Philly."
"You are an angel Bets. Do you have the charts on my 4:30?"
"She's new, they didn't like Dr. Brander's practice. I can't blame them, you know?"
"Absolutely."
"Here's what I got." Betsy hands her the patient's charts. "This is her past medical history, and her information: allergies, etc. I'll have them go to the purple room." (That's how my mom's office works, the doctors all know which room is which by the color of the door.)
"Thanks, Betsy." She pauses, and then adds, "If Phillip calls or anything else related to my niece or nephew happens, be sure to update me as soon as possible."
*******
"Hi Amanda, I'm Dr. Crawford," Monica said as she entered the 'purple room,' just minutes later. "Has someone come to record your height and weight yet?"
"No, there was some commotion at the front about someone's sister, so the woman at the front desk just brought us back here." Chandler said (like it was gonna be anyone else).
"That's okay; I'll just do it myself. If my brother's wife can have a baby, I can handle the scales." She continues, now talking to the little girl, "Amanda is such a pretty name for such a pretty girl. How old are you?" She holds up two fingers. "You're two?" Amanda nods.
"She's a little scared of the doctor after her last doctor yelled at her." Chandler explains.
"Completely understandable," Monica smiles at the little girl. "I was terrified of the doctor when I was a girl. My parents were understandably surprised when I decided to be one. And I promise, I haven't yelled at a patient yet. I'll tell you everything I'm going to do before I do it. Now, do you want to come out to the hall so that we can see how tall you are?"
"Come on Amanda." Chandler carries her out into the hall and Monica follows. Monica has Amanda get on the scales. (You know the ones I'm talking about that they have at doctor's offices.)
"You know," she says, "It's really nice to see a father in here for a change Mr. Bing. I don't think I've seen a dad in here with their child for a long time. And some mothers can be so pushy at times. Not all mothers, mind you, just the ones that think that their child is the only sick child in the world. They think that I'm off having a party when I'm taking an emergency call or admitting someone to the hospital. If I'm ever like that if I have kids someday, I think that'll be the day I turn over my medical license." She pauses, "I'm sorry, I've been talking your ear off."
"That's okay, I don't really like my ears anyway," he says. "And please call me Chandler, Dr. Crawford."
"Chandler, if we're going by first names, then I'm Monica. And it's good to know that I have a patient with a concerned father."
"Manda doesn't have a mother, so Dad has to take her to everything, right peanut?" Amanda nods. "My wife followed the lead of my friend's wife. His wife Carol decided she was a lesbian and then discovered that she was pregnant, so a year later, Amy decided to do the same thing. And as it turns out, Carol and Amy are now living together, since Carol's old partner Susan found another woman. And Ross and I have the kids. It's all one big happy soap opera." (LOL Alex, I just had to use your line.)
"Lesbian means that she likes women." Amanda chimed in as only a two year old can.
Monica laughed, "Well at least you have a dad who loves you." Chandler smiles at her, and she continued, "Everything looks good out here. Let's go back into the room." But as she says this, a woman comes around the corner looking for her.
"Monica! Monica!"
"Becky?!?!" The woman comes and throws her arms around Monica. "What are you doing here?"
"Getting ready to fly to Philadelphia with you tonight. I got away, so I flew up here to go with you guys."
"Sounds reasonable enough," she says. "But I've still got one more patient to finish up with before we can leave. You can go sit in my office 'til I'm done."
"Which one is it?"
"The one with the paintings on the walls. It's around the corner and to the left." She points in the general direction. "And my name is on the door. Even you can't miss it."
"Sounds easy enough."
"Sorry about that," she explains apologetically (because how else do you say you're sorry). "That's my sister Rebecca. Our older brother is about to have a baby, or, well, his wife is going to have a baby."
"Your sister looks a lot like you." Chandler comments, and Monica laughs. He looks puzzled. "What? Is there something wrong with that?"
"Oh no, not at all." She says, still laughing a little. "It's just that we're all adopted, my sister, my brothers, and me. And people are always telling us how much we all look alike and how much we look like both of our parents. After so many years, you have to admit, it does get pretty amusing."
"Then that makes more sense. I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"Saying that you looked like your sister."
"You have nothing to be sorry for. I don't mind at all. I'm actually glad that we all look similar because when we were really young it made us feel more like a family. It's really hard to convince a four year old who can't remember her birth family at all and spent most of her time going from foster home to foster home that these people actually want to keep you."
"That's so terrible."
"It's not so bad, not like most people think, because I found my real family. I wouldn't trade my family for anything; they're the only family I've ever known. It makes me more grateful for what I have." She pauses, "I don't know why I'm telling you this."
"I don't mind at all," he says as Monica starts to examine Amanda.
She had just finished with the check up when Rebecca pokes her head in. "I hate to interrupt, but…" She pauses, for effect, "It's a boy!"
"Really?" She hugged her sister. "We have a nephew! We're aunts!"
"Wow, don't say that. It makes us really sound old." She laughs and says, "I just thought I'd let you know, and now I'm gonna go back and wait for you. Later."
"I promise, she isn't always this rude," Monica said as she turned face Chandler. "You're all set Amanda. See now, that wasn't that bad now, was it?"
"I guess not."
"Listen Monica," Chandler started to say. "I know that you probably need to go see your brother and your nephew now, but would you be interested in getting a cup of coffee sometime?"
"That would be wonderful." She grabs a piece of paper from inside her file with Amanda's charts and scribbles something on it. "Here's my number. Give me a call on Monday; I should be back in town by then." She smiles and hands him the piece of paper. "Can you read that? As far as doctor's handwriting goes, I'm not too bad, but that's just based on doctor's standards." (A/N: I just love making fun of my dad's handwriting; I can hardly read it and I've been trying to my whole life.)
"It's fine, perfectly legible," Chandler says, when who else but Ross, Joey, and Ben walk into the room.
"The lady at the front desk said you guys were in here." Ross says.
Joey looks at Monica like he's trying to make a connection, while she's busy writing something in Amanda's charts. Suddenly he makes the connection. "You're that girl from across the hall! You're Monica!"
She looks up from the charts, "Yes, I'm- Oh hi Joey."
Chandler groaned inwardly, she hadn't seemed like the type of girl who would have gone out with Joey. As much as he thought of Joey like a brother, Joey went out with more women than anyone could keep track of; he was definitely quite a womanizer. He was afraid to ask, but he had to. "How do you know each other?"
"Joey just moved in across the hall from me; we met this morning." Monica said. Chandler breathed a sigh of relief.
"Her friend makes the best pancakes I've ever had," Joey told them.
"Did Phoebe or Rachel claim that they had made them this time?" She laughed. This wasn't the first time that they had taken credit for something that she had cooked.
"Rachel made them. Why's that so funny?"
"You've never had Rachel try to cook for you," she said. "I don't suggest that you ever try having Rachel make you pancakes. She flips them and they stick to the ceiling." She pauses for a second and looks at her watch. "Well it was nice meeting you all, but I have to go if I'm going to throw some stuff in a suitcase and catch my airplane." (A/N: I know that's not like Monica at all, but this Monica wasn't raised by Judy so I'm playing with it a little. Okay, okay, so I'm playing with it a lot, but…). "Call me," she says to Chandler as she leaves the room. "Bye Amanda."
"So Chandler," Ross and Joey immediately start in. "'Call me?' You're going to date your daughter's new pediatrician?"
"Nice," Joey added. "She's hot, and so are her friends."
"Joey," Chandler says, "Not in front of the kids."
"Yeah, speaking of the kids, maybe we should get outta here and go grab some dinner so that the kids don't get irritable," Ross added.
"Can we order the Joey special, Dad?" Ben asks. "Uncle Joey let us when we got lunch with him yesterday."
Ross and Chandler glare at Joey, and Joey shrugs his shoulders. They walk out of the room and towards the direction of Monica's office to leave. On the way out, Chandler sees Monica in what is presumably her office. He sees Monica talking on the phone and Rebecca looking at a painting on the wall of a lighthouse.
"Uh huh," Monica was saying. "James Phillip Crawford." She pauses for a second to listen to the person on the other line. "Me too. Anyway, Rach, I'll see you at my place and thanks again for taking the dogs to Phoebe's grandmother's. Bye." She hangs up the phone.
Chandler smiled inwardly, and he followed the others out of the office.
Meanwhile, Rebecca was talking to Monica after she hung up the phone. "That guy was pretty cute. It's too bad he's married."
"Actually, his wife left him through some lesbian soap opera situation, and he has my number. He's gonna call me on Monday. Anyway, if we wanna make our flight, we'd better go 'cause I haven't packed yet."
"You know, for someone who is usually fairly organized, this is quite unlike you," she jokes, knowing that Monica is the kind of person who liked things in order, but only if she had the time. She hated to stress out about things too much.
"Life is just too short," Monica laughed at her sister's joke. She got her purse and her coat. "Shall we?"
Rebecca put her arm over her sister's shoulder and they left the office.
*******
Monica, Rachel, Phoebe, and Rebecca finally arrived in Philadelphia, and they immediately rented a car and went to St. Elizabeth's. When they got there, they met Monica's parents and grandmother as well as Rosemary's parents, and they went and saw baby James. They visited with the relatives for a little while, but soon decided that they would go back to Phillip and Rosemary's apartment to get some rest. They had no doubt that much of the large extended family would be "dropping by" in the next few days for a visit with the first grandchild, who had been given his father's name as his middle name as was family custom for each firstborn son.
"Poor little James doesn't know it yet," Rachel said to the three of them once they had helped the new grandparents and Monica's grandmother get to their hotel, "But he's just become the first in the next generation of the most interesting family of New England psychos that ever was."
"The scary thing about that," Monica laughed, "Is that every word that you just said is absolutely true."
~*******~
Okay, so there's part two. I hope that you're not quite as confused anymore and that you have some idea of what's going on. Anyways, I really want to know what you think. Is this worth continuing? Suggestions and constructive criticism are always welcome. Please review 'cause it motivates me to get the next part written faster, just don't say that it's stupid because Monica would never be a pediatrician. Have a nice day. ~Audrey
Disclaimer: They aren't mine, so please don't sue me
This chapter should clear up a few things that you may be wondering about, mainly the Ross/Monica thing. Well, it clears a little up, but not everything… I don't think I need to say much else.
~*******~
Chapter One: Fate Has a Way
Four hours later, Monica was awake and had gotten ready for work. Phoebe was already sitting in her kitchen in apartment 20, and Monica expected her not-a-morning-person best friend to stumble through the door at any moment, complaining as usual. And she was right, five minutes later Rachel came in grumbling about the people that lived in the apartment above her. (Rachel lived in the building across the street.)
"Rach, you're really starting to sound like Mr. Heckles," Monica laughed at the memory of her old downstairs neighbor. They sat down to breakfast; Monica had made pancakes. "How do you guys feel about going to Philadelphia with me tonight?"
Rachel understood immediately, but Phoebe was skeptical. "If you're going to invite us on a vacation, you could at least be a little more creative with the place. And why pitch the idea today if you're leaving tonight?"
Monica and Rachel look at each other with a look that says 'You've got to be kidding me.' "Phoebes," Monica starts to explain, "Phillip called me early this morning. Rosemary is in labor."
"Ohhh. Why didn't you say so? I can do that."
"I'll call the airlines for you if you want, Monica."
"Oh, I figure my parents already arranged for the three of us to fly out there, but if you wanna double check for me that would be wonderful 'cause I'm early doc this morning."
Just then, there's a knock at the door. The three girls look at each other; nobody ever knocks on Monica's door because she always leaves it open when she expects that one of the other two is coming over. And Rachel and Phoebe both had extra keys. Monica gets up and gets the door.
"Hi, I'm Joey and I'm the new neighbor. I'm Kip's roommate. Kip is, well, I'm not really sure. But he doesn't have anything in his fridge so I was coming to ask if you guys had anything I could borrow?"
"We're having pancakes if you wanna join us," Monica suggested. "I'm Monica Crawford, and these are my best friends, Rachel Green and Phoebe Buffay."
Joey then realized that he was in an apartment with three girls, and he instantly said, "How you doin'?" Phoebe giggled.
Monica gets up, puts her plate in the sink, and says, "Well, it was nice meeting you Joey. I have to get to work, but Rach, call me when you find out about our flight." Monica shuts the door behind her, leaving Phoebe, Rachel, and Joey to get to know each other.
"So," how do you guys all fit in an apartment with only two rooms? Or, ohhh…" he stops, mid-sentence.
"Actually, Monica is the only one of us who lives here." Rachel explains, "And before you ask any more questions, yes we are all straight. I live in the apartment building across the street and Phoebes lives a couple of blocks over with her grandmother and her grandmother's boyfriend."
"You live in the building across the street? Where?"
"Under Ugly Naked Guy's old apartment."
"Ugly Naked Guy? Oh my." (a la Joey)
"The guy that used to live there was always naked."
"He used to be Cute Naked Guy, but then he put on a lot of holiday weight and it just never stopped." Phoebe chimed in. "He went off to live in a nudist colony with my friend Francine who used to shave her head. But that was only until Bonnie did it."
"I think that's the place that one of my friends lives." Joey said. He got up and pointed out the window to Ugly Naked Guy's old apartment. "That's where Ross lives," he said.
"That's so weird!" Phoebe exclaimed. "It's like a conspiracy, but not a bad one, you know, like the one when Ursula is involved. We were supposed to meet! It must have been in the stars. 'Cause, you know, fate has a way about these things!" Phoebe could just feel it; they had made a new friend.
*******
It was 4:15 later that day, and Monica only had her 4:30 appointment to go. She had even managed to keep up with her charts; it's amazing the motivation that you have to get something done when you want to get off of work on time. But Monica wasn't complaining, she loved her job. She had considered being a chef at one point in time. She had loved to just watch people cook when she was a little girl, and she was really good at creating new recipes. But she had decided that she could always cook on the side, so she went to medical school instead. Now she was working in a general pediatrics practice, after deciding that specializing would be "too depressing." (I promise, I'll spare you the gory details from the stories that my dad comes home and tells us about all of these people dying. Trust me, my mom is in pediatrics and her stories, well, most of them are a whole lot happier. You know, little babies, toddlers, and the seven year old brats who… never mind…).
It had been a fairly uneventful day for her. They hadn't had any emergencies and no one had to be admitted to the hospital, so she had been able to call to check on Phillip, Rosemary, and the baby twice. So far everything was going well, which was a relief, and it looked like the baby was going to be born pretty soon. Rachel and Phoebe were going to meet her at her apartment and they would leave for the airport from there. Monica was in her office when one of the girls who worked at the front desk poked her head in. "Can I interrupt you for a second?"
"Sure Betsy, shoot."
"Your 4:30 is here a little early, do you wanna see her now or should I have them wait?"
"I can see her now, no problem."
"I blocked you off the schedule for tomorrow, and Tom and Marcy said they'd take your other patients so that you can get to Philly."
"You are an angel Bets. Do you have the charts on my 4:30?"
"She's new, they didn't like Dr. Brander's practice. I can't blame them, you know?"
"Absolutely."
"Here's what I got." Betsy hands her the patient's charts. "This is her past medical history, and her information: allergies, etc. I'll have them go to the purple room." (That's how my mom's office works, the doctors all know which room is which by the color of the door.)
"Thanks, Betsy." She pauses, and then adds, "If Phillip calls or anything else related to my niece or nephew happens, be sure to update me as soon as possible."
*******
"Hi Amanda, I'm Dr. Crawford," Monica said as she entered the 'purple room,' just minutes later. "Has someone come to record your height and weight yet?"
"No, there was some commotion at the front about someone's sister, so the woman at the front desk just brought us back here." Chandler said (like it was gonna be anyone else).
"That's okay; I'll just do it myself. If my brother's wife can have a baby, I can handle the scales." She continues, now talking to the little girl, "Amanda is such a pretty name for such a pretty girl. How old are you?" She holds up two fingers. "You're two?" Amanda nods.
"She's a little scared of the doctor after her last doctor yelled at her." Chandler explains.
"Completely understandable," Monica smiles at the little girl. "I was terrified of the doctor when I was a girl. My parents were understandably surprised when I decided to be one. And I promise, I haven't yelled at a patient yet. I'll tell you everything I'm going to do before I do it. Now, do you want to come out to the hall so that we can see how tall you are?"
"Come on Amanda." Chandler carries her out into the hall and Monica follows. Monica has Amanda get on the scales. (You know the ones I'm talking about that they have at doctor's offices.)
"You know," she says, "It's really nice to see a father in here for a change Mr. Bing. I don't think I've seen a dad in here with their child for a long time. And some mothers can be so pushy at times. Not all mothers, mind you, just the ones that think that their child is the only sick child in the world. They think that I'm off having a party when I'm taking an emergency call or admitting someone to the hospital. If I'm ever like that if I have kids someday, I think that'll be the day I turn over my medical license." She pauses, "I'm sorry, I've been talking your ear off."
"That's okay, I don't really like my ears anyway," he says. "And please call me Chandler, Dr. Crawford."
"Chandler, if we're going by first names, then I'm Monica. And it's good to know that I have a patient with a concerned father."
"Manda doesn't have a mother, so Dad has to take her to everything, right peanut?" Amanda nods. "My wife followed the lead of my friend's wife. His wife Carol decided she was a lesbian and then discovered that she was pregnant, so a year later, Amy decided to do the same thing. And as it turns out, Carol and Amy are now living together, since Carol's old partner Susan found another woman. And Ross and I have the kids. It's all one big happy soap opera." (LOL Alex, I just had to use your line.)
"Lesbian means that she likes women." Amanda chimed in as only a two year old can.
Monica laughed, "Well at least you have a dad who loves you." Chandler smiles at her, and she continued, "Everything looks good out here. Let's go back into the room." But as she says this, a woman comes around the corner looking for her.
"Monica! Monica!"
"Becky?!?!" The woman comes and throws her arms around Monica. "What are you doing here?"
"Getting ready to fly to Philadelphia with you tonight. I got away, so I flew up here to go with you guys."
"Sounds reasonable enough," she says. "But I've still got one more patient to finish up with before we can leave. You can go sit in my office 'til I'm done."
"Which one is it?"
"The one with the paintings on the walls. It's around the corner and to the left." She points in the general direction. "And my name is on the door. Even you can't miss it."
"Sounds easy enough."
"Sorry about that," she explains apologetically (because how else do you say you're sorry). "That's my sister Rebecca. Our older brother is about to have a baby, or, well, his wife is going to have a baby."
"Your sister looks a lot like you." Chandler comments, and Monica laughs. He looks puzzled. "What? Is there something wrong with that?"
"Oh no, not at all." She says, still laughing a little. "It's just that we're all adopted, my sister, my brothers, and me. And people are always telling us how much we all look alike and how much we look like both of our parents. After so many years, you have to admit, it does get pretty amusing."
"Then that makes more sense. I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"Saying that you looked like your sister."
"You have nothing to be sorry for. I don't mind at all. I'm actually glad that we all look similar because when we were really young it made us feel more like a family. It's really hard to convince a four year old who can't remember her birth family at all and spent most of her time going from foster home to foster home that these people actually want to keep you."
"That's so terrible."
"It's not so bad, not like most people think, because I found my real family. I wouldn't trade my family for anything; they're the only family I've ever known. It makes me more grateful for what I have." She pauses, "I don't know why I'm telling you this."
"I don't mind at all," he says as Monica starts to examine Amanda.
She had just finished with the check up when Rebecca pokes her head in. "I hate to interrupt, but…" She pauses, for effect, "It's a boy!"
"Really?" She hugged her sister. "We have a nephew! We're aunts!"
"Wow, don't say that. It makes us really sound old." She laughs and says, "I just thought I'd let you know, and now I'm gonna go back and wait for you. Later."
"I promise, she isn't always this rude," Monica said as she turned face Chandler. "You're all set Amanda. See now, that wasn't that bad now, was it?"
"I guess not."
"Listen Monica," Chandler started to say. "I know that you probably need to go see your brother and your nephew now, but would you be interested in getting a cup of coffee sometime?"
"That would be wonderful." She grabs a piece of paper from inside her file with Amanda's charts and scribbles something on it. "Here's my number. Give me a call on Monday; I should be back in town by then." She smiles and hands him the piece of paper. "Can you read that? As far as doctor's handwriting goes, I'm not too bad, but that's just based on doctor's standards." (A/N: I just love making fun of my dad's handwriting; I can hardly read it and I've been trying to my whole life.)
"It's fine, perfectly legible," Chandler says, when who else but Ross, Joey, and Ben walk into the room.
"The lady at the front desk said you guys were in here." Ross says.
Joey looks at Monica like he's trying to make a connection, while she's busy writing something in Amanda's charts. Suddenly he makes the connection. "You're that girl from across the hall! You're Monica!"
She looks up from the charts, "Yes, I'm- Oh hi Joey."
Chandler groaned inwardly, she hadn't seemed like the type of girl who would have gone out with Joey. As much as he thought of Joey like a brother, Joey went out with more women than anyone could keep track of; he was definitely quite a womanizer. He was afraid to ask, but he had to. "How do you know each other?"
"Joey just moved in across the hall from me; we met this morning." Monica said. Chandler breathed a sigh of relief.
"Her friend makes the best pancakes I've ever had," Joey told them.
"Did Phoebe or Rachel claim that they had made them this time?" She laughed. This wasn't the first time that they had taken credit for something that she had cooked.
"Rachel made them. Why's that so funny?"
"You've never had Rachel try to cook for you," she said. "I don't suggest that you ever try having Rachel make you pancakes. She flips them and they stick to the ceiling." She pauses for a second and looks at her watch. "Well it was nice meeting you all, but I have to go if I'm going to throw some stuff in a suitcase and catch my airplane." (A/N: I know that's not like Monica at all, but this Monica wasn't raised by Judy so I'm playing with it a little. Okay, okay, so I'm playing with it a lot, but…). "Call me," she says to Chandler as she leaves the room. "Bye Amanda."
"So Chandler," Ross and Joey immediately start in. "'Call me?' You're going to date your daughter's new pediatrician?"
"Nice," Joey added. "She's hot, and so are her friends."
"Joey," Chandler says, "Not in front of the kids."
"Yeah, speaking of the kids, maybe we should get outta here and go grab some dinner so that the kids don't get irritable," Ross added.
"Can we order the Joey special, Dad?" Ben asks. "Uncle Joey let us when we got lunch with him yesterday."
Ross and Chandler glare at Joey, and Joey shrugs his shoulders. They walk out of the room and towards the direction of Monica's office to leave. On the way out, Chandler sees Monica in what is presumably her office. He sees Monica talking on the phone and Rebecca looking at a painting on the wall of a lighthouse.
"Uh huh," Monica was saying. "James Phillip Crawford." She pauses for a second to listen to the person on the other line. "Me too. Anyway, Rach, I'll see you at my place and thanks again for taking the dogs to Phoebe's grandmother's. Bye." She hangs up the phone.
Chandler smiled inwardly, and he followed the others out of the office.
Meanwhile, Rebecca was talking to Monica after she hung up the phone. "That guy was pretty cute. It's too bad he's married."
"Actually, his wife left him through some lesbian soap opera situation, and he has my number. He's gonna call me on Monday. Anyway, if we wanna make our flight, we'd better go 'cause I haven't packed yet."
"You know, for someone who is usually fairly organized, this is quite unlike you," she jokes, knowing that Monica is the kind of person who liked things in order, but only if she had the time. She hated to stress out about things too much.
"Life is just too short," Monica laughed at her sister's joke. She got her purse and her coat. "Shall we?"
Rebecca put her arm over her sister's shoulder and they left the office.
*******
Monica, Rachel, Phoebe, and Rebecca finally arrived in Philadelphia, and they immediately rented a car and went to St. Elizabeth's. When they got there, they met Monica's parents and grandmother as well as Rosemary's parents, and they went and saw baby James. They visited with the relatives for a little while, but soon decided that they would go back to Phillip and Rosemary's apartment to get some rest. They had no doubt that much of the large extended family would be "dropping by" in the next few days for a visit with the first grandchild, who had been given his father's name as his middle name as was family custom for each firstborn son.
"Poor little James doesn't know it yet," Rachel said to the three of them once they had helped the new grandparents and Monica's grandmother get to their hotel, "But he's just become the first in the next generation of the most interesting family of New England psychos that ever was."
"The scary thing about that," Monica laughed, "Is that every word that you just said is absolutely true."
~*******~
Okay, so there's part two. I hope that you're not quite as confused anymore and that you have some idea of what's going on. Anyways, I really want to know what you think. Is this worth continuing? Suggestions and constructive criticism are always welcome. Please review 'cause it motivates me to get the next part written faster, just don't say that it's stupid because Monica would never be a pediatrician. Have a nice day. ~Audrey