Their Story

(Chapter 4: Childhood Memories – Part 3)

Year 2000

Monica stood outside on the balcony; she had her oven timer in one hand and a bucket of hot soapy water in the other. She put the oven timer down on the window sill and the bucket of water on the floor. She stood up and sighed – she was uncomfortable, summer was here and it was usually hot, she placed her hands on the small of her back and slowly leant backwards – she heard her back creak, 'well that's great,' she thought to herself, 'something else wrong, why can't this be over!?!' She sighed again and plunged her hand into the bucket and scooped out the sponge. There was a slap when the sponge made contact with the balcony window. "This is disgusting," she stated, "that's the last time I make Chandler clean the windows." She was concentrating so hard on scrubbing the windows that when her oven timer went off 20 minutes later Monica nearly fell over with shock, she fell back slightly and stumbled into the chair that was in the corner of the balcony. She fell down into the chair, her heart beating fast, she took a couple of deep breaths and started to stand up but felt a pain in her stomach that was so bad that she fell back into the chair gasping for air again. 'Oh no,' she thought, 'not now.' But it was now and every time she got up she fell back down in pain – she started to panic, she was alone, in pain and about to give birth on her and Chandler's balcony.

"Honey I'm home." Chandler greeted an empty apartment – but he knew instantly that something was wrong, firstly the table was made up for dinner, second the windows had water smears over them, and thirdly smoke was starting to leak out of the oven – he ran over to it and turned the oven off then started to frantically look for Monica in the apartment. "MONICA!!!! MONICA!!!" He paused as he came out of the bathroom and he heard a faint voice and heavy breathing. "Chandler…" The voice was coming from the balcony – he rushed out the window and found Monica (who had managed to move from the chair to the floor) crying in pain and obviously in labour. "Oh my God Monica!" He started towards her, then stopped and ran backwards, stumbling back through the window and grabbed the phone – he then ran back to Monica. He sat next to her and dialled 911.

"Wife, labour, balcony, come now…."

"Sir, would you like the ambulance service?" The annoyingly calm operator asked.

"No, I would like to order a pizza – off COURSE I need an ambulance!"

At that point Monica – who had calmed down since Chandler had arrived – grabbed the phone from Chandler and talked to the operator herself. While she was on the phone Chandler realised that he was about to become a father, he was just getting used to being a husband, granted Monica was pregnant before they got married but that still didn't mean that although he was coping as a husband, he was going to cope as a father!!! Monica hung up the phone. "Chandler they're on their way, are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh Mon I'm fine, I'm so sorry I never got home earlier, how long have you been out here?"

"About an hour."

"Oh Monica." He leant forward and kissed her gently – he took her hands in his and leant back and they waited.

The four of them stood looking out the window in a trance – it was like watching a movie with the sound off, they couldn't really hear anything, it was like the shock of the situation had made them deaf. But they saw everything… Monica crying, the blood, Chandler whispering soothing words in Monica's ear. But they couldn't move, they just stood, watching their niece or nephew being born. Regardless of being blood related all of them were going to aunts and uncles to the new addition to the Bing family. The paramedics had decided that Monica was too far in labour to be moved to a hospital, so the baby would have to be delivered on the balcony – which didn't please Monica, in between contractions she yelled at Chandler for doing such a crap job cleaning the balcony when she asked him. After a while the contractions got closer and more painful so Monica stopped worrying about the balcony and instead she concentrated on her breathing. Suddenly there was a scream that not only Monica, Chandler and the paramedics heard – the four of them instead also heard the scream, it woke them up from their trance. The baby was out, and was screaming, the paramedics wrapped the tiny newborn in a blanket.

"It's a girl."

"Monica you hear that? We have a daughter!"

"Really? We have our baby girl?"

"Yeah sweetie."

The paramedic handed the baby over to Monica, Chandler stroked his daughter's head tenderly.

"Do you have a name?"

"Yeah," Monica replied "Abigail."

"That's beautiful."

"Oh but she isn't just Abigail, she's also an angel." Chandler said proudly.

The paramedics rushed Monica and baby Abigail to hospital – but as they, including Chandler, was leaving the apartment the four who had be observing congratulated the new parents. Chandler turned to them as he was walking out the door and said, "I'm a father, a husband and I have the family I never thought I'd have." He smiled and then he left.

The seventh member of the gang did not cause problems that were expected – Chandler and Monica, although now parents, still hung out with the gang, they went to the coffee house, Chandler would more than likely have Abby bouncing up and down on his lap. Monica would still cook breakfast and dinner for everyone while Abby would entertain them by getting her food all over her. As 2001 approached things were changing, Rachel – would had worked everything out with Ross while she was in France – moved in with Ross, they were still engaged and not in any rush to get married, they wanted to take things slow. So with Phoebe living on her own Joey asked if she wanted to move in with him. Joey and Phoebe had never officially stated that they were dating, but it was common knowledge that they not only enjoyed each others' company they also slept with each other now and then. And once Phoebe moved in, the one night stands with other men and women got less and less until they just moved to each others' rooms each night. Joey and Phoebe were Abby's God parents, Chandler and Monica explained to the gang that Rachel (when she marries Ross) and Ross will be Abby's official Aunt and Uncle so they decided Joey and Phoebe should be Abby's God parents. But from the day Abby was born Joey and Phoebe were known to her as Uncle Joey and Aunt Phoebe and that stuck all her life.

Joey became especially attached to Abby, he loved children, he had to to be fair, he did have loads of nieces and nephews himself. But Abby was special in his eyes, and he spoilt her rotten – too much according to Chandler and Monica, every other time Joey babysat Abby he would buy her something or try to teach her his Joey-isms and normally Chandler and Monica would tell him off. So it's not surprising that Abby's first word was 'Joey', although it was cute it did upset Chandler and Monica, who wanted her first word to be mama or dada. However Joey pointed out that if they didn't yell at him so much then Abby wouldn't have picked up 'Joey', soooo in fact it was THEIR fault not his! That didn't impress them though, but after a while they saw the ironic side to Abby's first word being 'Joey', Chandler and Monica had both lost to Joey in Abby's first word fight.

Year 2001

"Chandler have you finished bathing Abby yet."

Splash!!!

"Does it sound like it?"

Monica rolled her eyes and continue to ice Abby's birthday cake, meanwhile Chandler was in the bathroom trying to wash Abby's hair, but all Abby wanted to do was splash and get Daddy wet.

"Abigail Bing!!! That's naughty; Daddy has already had his bath."

Monica laughed from the kitchen.

"Dada wet!"

"Yeah Dada is VERY wet now. I know you like splashing but I got to wash your hair…"

Chandler was cut off by Abby making another big splash – she giggled.

Monica finished the cake then opened the fridge and started taking out all the party food, the door opened and Joey walked in.

"Hi Mon, wow how many friends does a 1 year old have?"

"It's her first birthday, I have to make is special. Anyway why are you here?"

"I finished on the set early so I thought I would take Abby downstairs while you and Chandler finish setting up the party."

"Nice thought Joe, but Chandler is bathing Abby."

At that moment Chandler walked out the bathroom, soaking wet, carrying a smiling Abby wrapped in her pink baby dressing down, Chandler sees Joey and walks over to the kitchen.

"Hey Joe." Chandler says tiredly.

"Joey!!!" Abby cries out and stretches out her arms to him.

"Great, my daughter hates me, she just turned 1 and she's chosen Joey over me."

"Well you gotta give angel what she wants and she wants her Uncle Joey doesn't she?" Joey says grinning.

"Joey!!!" Abby pleads.

Chandler gives Abby to Joey and then turns to Monica, who gives him a sympathetic smile.

"Awww, don't worry honey, you know she loves you." They hug. "Eww, Chandler you're all wet, go change."

"Wet? More like drowned, I think Joey is turning our angel into a little devil."

"Ewwww… Abby!!!" Joey said shocked. While Chandler and Monica were talking Joey had been playing with Abby on the couch, she was sitting in his lap and had just peed over him. "She PEED over me – Chandler take her, take her, take her, take her…" Chandler takes Abby and laughs.

"You really are my daughter aren't ya? Only my angel would wait until she is sitting on Uncle Joey's lap to pee." Chandler and Monica laugh while Joey runs out.

Later at the party, all the gang is there as well as Jack, Judy, Nora and Charles. Abby is dressed in a cute white dress, her long black hair in bunches and she is sitting on the couch in the middle of a mountain of wrapping paper – which Abby is more interesting in playing with than the all the presents lying on the floor. Monica lights the single candle on Abby's birthday cake while Chandler picks her up and the walks to the table, he holds Abby over the cake and everyone starts to sing.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR ABIGAIL, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU." Then Chandler tells Abby to blow her candle out, there's a round of applause and Abby claps along.

Monica loved taking pictures, and when Abby was born that obsession grew, Abby inherited most of Monica's photo albums, which were amazingly organised. There were thousands of pictures of Abby and her brother Stephen, and then there were thousands of Chandler and Monica, and then thousands of the gang and other friends. Monica wanted to capture all the special moments in her life so they would live on forever. However Abby was disappointed that there wasn't many pictures of her Mum and Dad as children – Monica hated her picture taken as a child while Chandler's parents were never around  when any photo taking moments arose, which is probably why Monica (and Chandler to some extend) took photos everyday. There were photos of Abby eating, sleeping, playing, in the bath, in the park, on holiday etc. You name a special time or occasion and guaranteed there would be picture! But Abby's first birthday had the most pictures – Monica and Chandler were so proud of their daughter, and their favourite picture of Abby at her 1st birthday party is Abby blowing out her candle, Chandler is holding Abby over the cake grinning while Monica's arm is wrapped around his waist and she is leaning on him. It was such a beautiful picture that all of the gang had copies, an enlargement was put up on the wall above the TV in their apartment, Monica carried small copy of the picture in her purse while Chandler had the photo in a beautiful silver photo frame (which had angels in the top left and bottom right corners) on his desk at work.  

Year 2002

Abby was nearly 2 when Monica discovered she was pregnant again; Chandler was thrilled, yes it was a little quick, quicker than they had planned but they were still over the moon. What was hard was trying to explain to Abby that she was going to get a little brother (yes Chandler and Monica knew they were having a boy, they discovered the hard way that although waiting for a surprise is lovely, but they needed to start buying things before the baby was born so they needed to know if it was going to be a boy or girl), Abby accepted the idea happily, now she was going to have a friend to play with she said. Chandler was extra thrilled that they were going to have a boy – he adored Abby, but he would love a son, another male in a female dominated household would be nice he had said! However things were going to be a little cramped, for the time being Stephen (their unborn son) could share a room with Abby, but they would have to move eventually (FYI Joey offered to adopt Abby 'to help create space' but Chandler and Monica 'politely' declined).

In early November, at the convenient hour of 3am, Monica went into labour, so Abby found herself woken up and rushed to the hospital with her Mum and Dad (with Joey and co. following in a taxi). She sat on a plastic seat, swinging her legs, outside the delivery room. Joey was looking after her, and although it was gone 4am all Abby could do was ask about her new brother, she understood a lot for a 2 and a half year old! When Monica gave birth to Stephen Abby was the first one in to see him, and she fell in love with him, she stroked him as she sat next to her exhausted Mum while her teary-eyed Dad stood next to the bed.

Abby loved Stephen; she thought it was great that she had a younger brother to play with; however things were about in change in 6 months. Unbeknown to Phoebe when Monica gave birth to Stephen she was 3 months pregnant. When she found out, which was a couple of weeks after Stephen was born, she was worried about Joey's reaction. She knew that Joey loved children and Abby had a soft spot in his heart but how would he react to his own child? Monica calmed Phoebe down and told her that she was most likely worried over nothing. "Joey will be thrilled Pheebs." She had said. But Phoebe was still unsure, but ultimately knew that she had to tell him. A few days later Joey came home to Phoebe sitting in the recliner with the Joey-special on her lap and a 6-pack of beer next to her.

"Wow Pheebs, if this how I'm gonna be greeted every day then I have the best girlfriend ever!!!"

"So it's official then? I'm your girlfriend?"

"Well yeah, you're so much cooler and hotter than all the chicks I normally go out with." Joey said eagerly.

"You might not be so eager after you hear what I got to tell ya."

Joey looks worried. "What's wrong? Are you sick? Is it Abby? Stephen?"

"No, no one is sick."

"Oh thank GOD, but you have been throwing up Pheebs. Are you okay?"

"Well yeah I will be," she quietly adds "in about 6 months."

Joey didn't hear. "So what's up Pheebs?"

"Okay, okay… okay… so well you know how you have nieces and nephews, and they are blood related to you. Then there's Abby and Stephen, who aren't your niece and nephew but you spend a lot of time with them – wouldn't it be GREAT if an opportunity came up that you could have a child to play with all the time like Abby, but also related to you like your nieces and nephews. I mean wouldn't it be just GREAT!!!"

"I have no idea what you just said."

"Okay, I'm pregnant." She gave up.

"I'm gonna have a little Joey or Joesphine!?!?!?!?"

"Or a little Phoebe or Phoebo?"

Joey ran over to Phoebe and picked her up. He kissed her deeply and swung her around.

Year 2003

The gang grew again from 8 to 10 – yeah 2 extra children, Phoebe discovered a few months later that she was pregnant with twins – a boy and a girl. But Joey and Phoebe couldn't agree on names, Joey wanted the boy to be named after him and Phoebe wanted the girl to be named after her but it everyone told him that it would be far too confusing to all J and P names were thrown off the table. Donnelly and Drew Tribbiani were born in April 2003. Stephen was only 6 months older than the Tribbiani twins so Stephen spent a lot of time with Donnelly and Drew, which made Abby feel left out.

Summer was approaching, Abby was turning 3 and Stephen was months away from his 1st birthday when Chandler and Monica agreed that they had to find a bigger place, however they couldn't afford to move from an apartment to a house, which is what they needed. It worried the couple immensely but it was a vicious circle, the give their children everything they wanted (including starting to save for their futures) meant that they had to stay put, but to give them the family home that they deserved not only meant tightening belts, it meant going without a lot of things, how do you explain that to a toddler and a baby? One Friday in July Chandler's boss, Doug, called Chandler into his office. Chandler feared the worse, he thought after his years of slacking this was it, he was finally going to be fired, and it was ironic that he was going to be fired the one time he cared about keeping his job. His worrying was unnecessary though, Doug had noticed how much harder Chandler was working and that he seemed exhausted everyday. He didn't want to loose Chandler but he had seen it before, a new father burning out – and he understood the pressure.

"Bing," he started, "I don't want to loose you, but…" Chandler was thinking the worse, "…I can see that you're struggling with everything, so I thought it would be best to find a way to take the pressure off but at the same time make use of your talents. Bing, I like your decisions and the changes you have made. I think you're good, so what if I said I had found a way to take off all the other pressures – the WENUS, ANUS etc. and just let you take care of the reports?"

"I would say thank you, sir, then ask how that would work?"

"It would work if you were me. That is all I do, Bing, it's my men below me, like you, that handle all the other work."

"But I'm not you."

"But you could be if you wanted to be a company partner."

Chandler stared in shock. Company partner! That was HUGE he wouldn't have to worry about money anymore, he would have more time for Monica and their children.

"I'll give you the contract to read over Bing and take your time, it's a big decision. But let me warn you; don't think of this as a way out of work. The work that I do is far more serious and important than what you do. You would be dealing with other companies all over the World, not just this company."

"Oh thank you sir, thank you so much."

Chandler got up and shook Doug's hand excitedly, took the contract then ran out.

The first thing he did was call Monica.

Monica was over the moon, she told him to come home immediately so they could 'celebrate'.

The second thing he did was take the afternoon off.

Officially to take some time to think things over and to read the contract, humm well that was the half-truth.

The third thing he did was buy Abby and Stephen a present.

He couldn't resist – this promotion was for them.

The forth thing he did was make love to his wife.

"I'm telling you Rachel, it was the best sex we've ever had – it was like our lives had become complete. After years of bitching about his job, he finally made it and we have a family and an opportunity to have the perfect family home." Monica reported dreamily

"Whatever turns him on Monica." Rachel retorted.

The fifth thing he did was read the contract and sign it.

Everything was coming together…

The sixth thing he did was buy their apartment.

Like a fairy tale…

The seventh thing he did was go house-hunting with Monica.

The house-hunting was the seventh thing on his list – lucky number seven. They found a beautiful house on the suburbs of New York.

The eighth thing he did was tell the gang.

The number eight was not a lucky number. The gang were happy for Chandler and Monica but not that fact that they were moving so far away.

The ninth thing he did was let out their apartment.

Joey and Phoebe was Chandler and Monica's tenants; Joey and Phoebe were struggling with 2 babies and bills so Chandler and Monica offered them a good rental price and didn't want any deposit. The apartment was also bigger than Joey and Phoebe's so it gave them extra space – in return Joey and Phoebe were Chandler and Monica's unpaid babysitters whenever they were needed.

Year 2004

"Abby smile for Mummy."

Click.

Monica took a picture of Abby on her first day at school, Monica was so proud of her daughter – she looked so cute in a pink and white checked dress and ribbons in her hair.

"Okay lets move."

Monica ushered Abby out the front door while she picked up Stephen who was playing on the floor. Monica opened the door to her and Chandler silver Jeep and put Stephen in the car seat in the back and Abby climbed in the back next to Stephen and tried to put her seat belt on.

"Here let me help you Abby."

Once she had sorted Abby and Stephen she climbed in the driver's seat and started the car, Chandler wanted to be here to see Abby off on her first day but had been called into an emergency meeting half and hour ago. She backed the car out of the drive way of their 4 bedroom house and started towards Abby's new school. It was only a 10 minute drive and Monica parked perfectly in the school parking bay. Abby managed to undo her seat belt and opened the door. "Abby stop right there young lady, wait for Mummy."

"But Mum, I wanna go now!" Abby was really excited about her first day, Monica smiled to herself while she got Stephen, who was sucking his 2 middle fingers and clutching onto his blanket, out of the car seat. She carried him and held onto Abby with her other hand, Abby skipped along the path leading into the school. Once inside Monica found the right classroom and opened the door, Abby let out a gasp of surprise when she saw all the books, sand trays, play dough, and the box of toys in the corner – Abby, being Abby, ran straight over to the book corner while Ms Johnson walked over to Monica.

"Hi, can I help you?"

"Yeah I'm Monica Bing and that's my daughter Abigail Bing who just ran over there."

"Oh yes, Abigail is starting today."

"I need to take her coat off and give her pack lunch…," Monica started and tried to walk past Ms Johnson to Abby. "Mrs Bing, Abigail will be fine, it's good that she has run straight in, we have a lot of problems of children not wanting to leave their parents on the first day, but looks like Abigail is going to be fine."

"But she didn't even give me a kiss goodbye." Monica said sadly.

"She excited Mrs Bing, like most children, she'll tell you all about it when you pick her up later."

Monica held Stephen tighter as if the teacher was going to take her son away as well as her daughter, she sighed and started to walk out, giving Abby one last look – she was talking to some girl with long blond hair. As Monica opened the door, Abby screamed excitedly. "MUMMY!!!!!!" Monica's smile returned, she turned and caught Abby as she ran into her arms.

"Bye, bye Mummy."

"Bye, bye angel."

Abby ran back to the other children and Monica felt much happier.

The opposite happened on Stephen's first day at school – he had to be dragged to school by Monica and he screamed and screamed when Monica tried to leave him at school. It became a long running joke among the Bing children – Abby was the outgoing one as a child, but became more shy and quiet when she became a teenager, while Stephen was a shy and quiet child but became outgoing once he hit his teen years.

Year 2006

Such a small thing became such a big part of Abby's life – water, she loved it. Whenever she was in the bath she splashed and splashed so Chandler and Monica eventually thought that sending Abby to swimming lessons would stop her soaking the bathroom floor every bath time. Well it didn't stop Abby soaking the bathroom floor, but she did fall in love with the art of swimming, because it is an art. The way the human body can gracefully move through the water and water itself is as lethal as fire. Abby loved swimming under water – it was like she was in a different world and if you think about it, it is a different world. The underwater world has its own set of rules and regulations, gravity reacts differently, oxygen doesn't apply and all your senses become distorted so much so that your concentration has to increase to sense things that you take for granted on land. This is how Abby thought of the underwater world as a child and that never changed…

Year 2010

Abby's 10th birthday was the last year that she had a birthday party for many years. Things weren't going too great between the Bing children – Abby had started to feel jealous of Stephen. Stephen was very close to Donnelly and Drew Tribbiani, in fact they were inseparable. Drew Tribbiani was a tomboy and the boys didn't consider her a girl, unlike Abby who was a girl's girl – she played with dolls while Drew was making tree houses with the boys. Abby felt left out, most Sunday's Joey and Phoebe came round with Donnelly and Drew as well as Ross and Rachel with their son Robert (he was born in 2005). Abby considered her life hard and unfair – every Sunday everyone came round and it was 'family' only, but Abby didn't understand how why she wasn't allowed to ask her best friend Tamara around when Joey, Phoebe, Donnelly and Drew were allowed to come over – they weren't actually family. But her Dad had said, "Abby, they are family, Joey is like the brother I never had, we've known each other for years."

So every Sunday Abby just sat on the couch reading, trying to ignore the fact that all the grown ups were obsessed with Robert while Stephen, Donnelly and Drew were playing in the garden. The only one who spent about an hour with Abby every Sunday was Joey, who still adored Abby. Don't misunderstand, Chandler and Monica spent equal amount of time with Abby and Stephen, but liked to take advantage of the Sunday's to talk and spend time with their friends. So Abby ended up liking Joey the best, especially when he sneaked her chocolate before dinner.

Abby had all her friends at her birthday party, including her 'family'. She had a big birthday cake and a jumping castle. Although Chandler and Monica tried their best to make her 10th birthday as special as possible, Stephen managed to spoil it – typical of her brother. She had asked him to help her carry her presents upstairs; he said no, Abby had told her Dad who then ordered Stephen to help her. Stephen did so sulkily but then got revenge when they were alone in Abby's bedroom.

"You know Abby, sometimes I wish Drew was my sister and not you, 'cause you ALWAYS boss me around and tell me what to do and get me in trouble!"

He then left her bedroom with a grin on his face, and Abby had fell down on her bed and cried herself to sleep, and forgot all about her party downstairs. When it came to cake time Chandler went looking for Abby and found her asleep, he woke her up and asked what was wrong and for the first time in her life she lied to her Dad. She said she didn't feel well, she didn't tell him what Stephen said, as far as Abby was concerned that was it. How could her own brother say that to her, she hated him and wished he would just move in with Drew if he liked her that much!

As the year continued, she drew back further from her friends and family. Chandler and Monica were very concerned, Chandler knew that he had done the same as a child but for very different reasons, and he didn't want his daughter to go through the same. He left work early one winter morning and went home; he wanted to be home for when Abby got home from school. He was early, like he planned, so he went up to his and Monica's bedroom and searched through the his cupboard (he and Monica had separate cupboards for odd bits and pieces) and he found what he was looking for – the copy of The Lord Of The Rings that his childhood teacher, Miss Carter, had brought for him when he was younger. Chandler had always planned to sit down with both of his children and try to share some of the things that he treasured in his childhood – his reading, writing and painting. However by observing his children's developing personalities he could see that Abby was more like him while Stephen was more like Monica. Stephen had a flare for cooking, which pleased Monica to no end since when she had tried to teach Abby how to cook (simple things like cakes and cookies) she was never really interested.

Abby walked through the door about an hour after Chandler had got home, as usual she walked straight up to her bedroom and took off her coat and shoes then methodically unpacked her school bag. Although she was like Chandler, she was like Monica in many other ways – she couldn't stand messes and everything had to be in its right place (Stephen was the opposite as Monica discovered the hard way – while teaching him to cook, he enjoyed cooking but was a messy cook!). Chandler knocked on Abby's door and he hears a faint 'yeah', he opened the door and found Abby sitting at her desk starting her homework.

"Angel I want to talk to you, lets go for a drive."

"Dad I got homework to do."

"We won't be long, promise."

She grunted but got up and put her coat and shoes back on and followed Chandler downstairs.

They drove for about 30 minutes and found themselves back in The Village where the gang used to live, Chandler parked outside Central Perk and they got out. Abby only faintly remembered Central Perk, once the Bing's had moved it was easier for the rest of the gang to come to their house rather than all squashing into an apartment. They walked in and sat on the couch – it only seemed like yesterday that Chandler had been here with the rest of the gang, but it was about 7 years ago. He often came here alone after work or in his lunch break, he liked to sit and think here. Chandler orders a coffee for himself and a soft drink for Abby.

"Dad why are we here?"

"I want to talk to you, I'm worried about you angel. You've changed, you used to be the life and soul of the party but over the last few months you've stopped talking to us. We're your parents Abby, if you are worried about anything then you can tell us, we love you."

Abby smiled sadly and a few tears escaped from her bright blue eyes.

"I guess I don't feel like me anymore, I don't feel like I belong. The only time I feel right is when I'm curled up in my bed reading one of my books or swimming."

"I don't think we've ever talked about me when I was your age."

"No Dad we haven't."

"Well I was the same, the only time I felt right or remotely content was when I was by myself reading and writing."

"Why do I feel like this Daddy? Why do I feel so alone?"

"Oh sweetheart I wish I knew, the reason I felt like I did was because I was all alone. Your grandparents were divorcing and I had no brothers or sisters so I was alone, but you have Mum and me and we aren't separating and you have Stephen." When Chandler mentioned Stephen Abby's faced dropped but she kept quiet. "I know you and Stephen haven't been getting on recently but I promise that it's just because of your ages. Mum and Uncle Ross used to argue and fight all the time, you ask your Mum and she'll tell you how much she hated Uncle Ross, but now they are like best friends. What I'm trying to say is that it's hard growing up with someone else, especially when life is difficult because of school, making friends etc. But once you and Stephen grow older you'll understand that you argued not because you don't like each other, it will be because you didn't understand each other."

"Thanks Dad."

"Well I got something else to say and something to give you, out of you and Stephen you are the child who is more like me. That doesn't mean I love you more than your brother, I love you both just the way you are. But I know you will appreciate this more than Stephen, when I was younger than you my teacher gave me a book at school. A book that I consider the best book ever written, and I want to share it with you. I'm going to give you the book but if you want we can read it together or talk about it together and a film was made of the book back when you were a baby so maybe once you've read the book we can watch the film together. I want this to be an Abby and Daddy thing. Just us, and when you're brother gets a bit older I'll find a Stephen and Daddy thing."

"Do you and Mummy have a Monica and Chandler thing?" Abby innocently commented.

"That's one why of putting it…" Chandler trailed off. "Anyway, here it is," he passes her The Lord of the Rings. "If you want we can read some tonight before bed time."

Abby took the book and held it like it was precious; well it was precious to her. This was an Abby and Daddy thing, and it was special. For the first time for what seemed like months, Abby smiled. Chandler smiled back and gave her a big hug and kiss. And she took her book everywhere with her, school, holidays, the supermarket – she didn't care, she had to have it with her.

Things did start to get better for Abby, she engrossed herself in her reading and had considered to write, she had such an amazing imagination but by the time Abby got a pen and paper the ideas that were as clear as glass only hours or minutes before hand had faded into blackness, so she let her ideas die. She got most of her ideas when she went swimming but she didn't think stuffing a pen and some paper in her swimming costume would work. So all her ideas came then faded, this continued for many years, until she found the determination and concentration to keep her ideas alive long enough to write them down, but this wouldn't happen for another 6 years. In the meantime Abby (and her parents) would have more to worry about than ideas getting lost…

Year 2012

On New Year's Eve 2011, Abigail Bing spent the evening in bed. It didn't matter that it was the end of the year or that the rest of her family and friends were downstairs celebrating, she physically couldn't be there. She was sick, not sick as in the flu or anything else a doctor could prescribe, she was exhausted, and no one knew why. It had started a few weeks before Christmas – Abby would come home from school and sleep for a few hours then get up for dinner, do her homework and then go back to bed. Chandler and Monica were very worried, Abby was so exhausted that she had to temporary stop swimming and that broke her heart. As she heard people countdown to midnight her bedroom door opened and her Dad crept in and sat down next to her. He leant over to the half asleep Abby and kissed her, he then whispered in her ear – Happy New Year angel. Then just before sleep took her fully she heard her Dad crying next to her, and it broke her heart more than when she had to stop swimming. "Please God; don't take my angel away from me." Chandler begged.

Those where the first words she heard in 2012.

The first few months of 2012 were hell for Abby, she had so much time off school and while this wouldn't bother her brother, she hated it. She enjoyed school, she enjoyed learning and now that was being taken away, just like her swimming. If she wasn't off school because she physically couldn't get out of bed, then she was off school because of doctor's and hospital appointments. It wasn't unto mid-March that the doctor's finally found out what was wrong with Abby, she had a disease called Glandular Fever – and it was untreatable. Chandler and Monica were devastated at first; it took a doctor and a nurse to calm the parents down. The doctor then explained that it wasn't treatable but it wasn't fatal. Yes, it WAS serious but not life threatening and it will go away, but he couldn't give a time. Some people have Glandular Fever for a few months, others for years. Common symptoms include swollen glands and exhaustion, there are different levels of the illness, some people can continue life as normal but with a few bad days when they feel tired all the time, others spend months in hospital not being able to move because of the exhaustion.

Abby was in the middle, she improved but not enough to go back to swimming and on average she would spend 3 and a half to 4 days in school per week. For 4 years she was ill, and for those 4 years she only ever spent 5 complete weeks in school. It was hard for a 12 year old to spent 50% of the day in bed, and the majority of the time she wasn't mentally tired, she normally cried herself to sleep. Chandler and Monica felt helpless; there was nothing they could do. There was nothing anyone could do, not doctors, not her parents and not herself. She hated that she couldn't do anything – she felt helpless and she made herself a promise that if she ever got better she wouldn't take life for granted again.

And she didn't.

As the years passed she eventually lost contact with all friends she had at school which started off depression. The only times she smiled was when her family did special things for her, even Stephen made an effort. They didn't get along but Stephen hated seeing his sister in pain, it hurt him. He would go around to her teachers and collect class and homework for her whenever she wasn't in school, and he gained a lot of admiration from her teachers for doing that (and from girls). Chandler brought her books and read them to her, or there were times that they would lay on her bed together and read together. Monica would tell Abby stories about herself, her Dad and her Aunts and Uncles (related and non-related) that would make her laugh. Then after she ran out of stories Monica gave her permission to read her diaries – no secrets between mother and daughter she had said. Joey also used to come around a lot – still a struggling actor after nearly 2 decades, whenever he wasn't working he would come over and keep Abby company in the days, they used to watch films together and he used to tell her all the chat-up lines used by guys so she can be prepared when she starts dating. Abby loved spending time with Joey, Joey would hug Abby and all her worries used to disappear. Joey even gave Abby his DOOL collection when his biggest fan, his grandmother, passed away. She had taped every episode that Joey was in. Whenever Abby felt up to it Joey used to take her to the cinema for a special treat, they used to go and watch a girly flick (that's what Abby liked watching) and then go and eat pizza.

Year 2016

When Abby got the all clear it was just before her 16th birthday – so it was a double celebration, but Abby still didn't feel like herself. She had been back to school full time for a few months, but everything had changed. She still did really well, even though she spent the last 4 years ill she had still kept up with school work – there was nothing wrong with her brain she kept on insisting, it was just her body that couldn't keep up. Abby was especially happy because she had started swimming again, granted it was just weekend swimming – she was told that even though she has been given the all clear, she could have attacks for the next 5 years or so, so no more swimming lessons yet. But she had fought to go swimming on weekends and finally won. It was strange being back at school 5 days a week, her brother had grown up a lot and she never really noticed until she went back to school full time. He was popular and he used his sister's illness and how he collected her class and homework every day after school to his advantage. This made Abby bitter – like he never REALLY cared about her, he only cared about his image.

At the party Chandler and Monica had a gift for Abby, and when they announced it Abby was so happy that she was practically screaming the house down. As a 16th birthday present and a well done for getting better they (all 4 of them) were going on holiday for 2 weeks to Portugal and Chandler and Monica had arranged for Abby to swim with dolphins.

That changed her life.

She began to write.

And she never looked back.

Year 2018

In 2018 Abby graduated top of her year, she also won the New York Young Writers' competition and she was accepted into Liverpool University in England on an English Literature course. 2018 was turning out to be a promising year until Abby's love for Joey crossed the line. Abby had loved Joey unconditionally all her life – and what had begun as fatherly love had turned into romantic love on Abby's part. Being ill for 4 years meant that Abby didn't have a stereotypical teenage life like Stephen who was dating from the earliest possible age. The only non-related male that she had contact with (that actually took her out and spent time with her) was Joey. However Joey only thought of Abby as a daughter, nothing more. The misunderstanding happened after Joey gave Abby a beautiful gold St. Christopher on a gold chain as a joint graduation present and good luck present for university. Abby thought it was his way of saying he loved her and what started out as an innocent kiss on the cheek became a forced full blown kiss from Abby, what made the situation worse what that Chandler had choose that particular moment to walk in Abby's room. Joey immediately pulled away shocked, but Chandler exploded and punched Joey in the face, dragged him down the stairs and threw him out of his house. Abby tried to explain that it had been her fault but Chandler didn't believe her.

The summer was ending and Joey still wasn't allowed anywhere near Abby or the Bing home. It was breaking Joey apart and Abby felt so guilty. Just before Abby left the house with her parents to the airport she wrote her Dad a letter that explained everything (Chandler refused to listen to Abby, he kept on saying that she was 18 and didn't know better) and begged him to forgive Joey, that without Joey Abby would have given up on getting better when she was ill. He kept on encouraging her; he was like a best friend to her.

Abby sat on the plane that was flying to the country that she would be spending the next 3 years in. A new part of her life, and she felt bad that she had destroyed her perfect family by a stupid crush and now it felt like she was running away from her mistake. But she had done her best, she hoped that her Dad would stop being stubborn and realise that his little angel wasn't as angelic as he thought. She fingered the St. Christopher around her neck and prayed that everything would turn out okay.