A/N: Hi! Thanks for reviewing this! Sorry this chapter took so long... I've got a family crises, so I might not post much for a while. Or I might post a lot - you never know. But reviews would seriously make me so happy right now. So please leave one and brighten my day!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Friends, however I do own Elizabeth jean Geller-Bing! So ha!

CHAPTER SIX

Monica stared at Chandler, who had become very pale and wide-eyed. "M-M-Monica?" he stammered.

"I - I..." she whispered. "I - "

She didn't get to finish. After staring at her, speechless, for another second, he sprinted away.

"Chandler!" she screamed.

"Miss!" the nurse said, alarmed. "Miss, follow me." Monica watched as Chandler disappeared through two swinging doors. Feeling ill, she turned her attention back to Elizabeth's, who's wound was now bleeding freely on her white cotton shirt. Monica was startled to feel the warm blood on her chest and arms.

I messed up, Monica thought miserably. I messed up in every way possible.

An hour later, Elizabeth's cut had been stitched up. She didn't have a concussion and would recover soon from the fall. She was laughing at the nurses as they played with her, and seemed to have forgotten she was injured.

Monica, on the other hand, was inconsolable. She felt like the biggest idiot in the world. How could she have forgotten? How could she have blurted out Geller-Bing right in front of Chandler? She wasn't even sure if she was ever going to tell him, and if she was, it certainly wasn't going to be like that. Now he knew, now he hated her - now she'd lost him forever.

"Miss Geller?" a nurse said softly, tapping Monica on the shoulder. "Miss Geller, you can take your daughter home now." The nurse said several more things, but Monica wasn't listening. She was grateful when the nurse handed her an instruction sheet, presumably covering everything she'd just said. She was to bring Elizabeth in if she got lethargic or cranky - back in a week to check on the stitches...

Monica was barely paying attention to anything as she carried Elizabeth out to the emergency room. "Do you have someone who can come to pick you up?" the nurse asked.

A tear slid down Monica's face. "No," she whispered. "There's no one."

The nurse looked incredibly sympathetic, and quickly called for a cab. When it arrived, Monica walked outside, carrying Elizabeth, who was leaning against her mother's shoulder with a pacifier in her mouth. She was passing by a bench when she saw a familiar head - it was Chandler, sitting there with his head in his hands.

"Chandler?" she asked unsteadily. He looked up

"Mon," he said, his voice raspy. "Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she'll be all right," Monica said. "Listen, Chandler - "

"I don't want to talk about it right now," he said. "I really don't."

"Okay," Monica agreed quietly. She wanted to talk about it, but this was better. She looked out at the cab, which was waiting for her in the dark parking lot. "Chandler - please. Call me tomorrow. I'm going to go home now, so please, please come by," she begged. She had to explain everything to him.

"All right," Chandler muttered.

"Bye," she whispered, the tears coming fast. Clutching Elizabeth to her bloodstained blouse, Monica ran in the direction of the cab.

Rachel received a call from a sobbing Monica twenty minutes later. She couldn't understand what Monica was saying, so she said, "I'll be right there," and raced over as fast as she could.

She found Monica lying on the couch, surrounded by pillows and balled-up tissues. The first thing she noticed was the bloodstain on Monica's shirt.

"What happened?" she cried in terror, afraid Monica had stabbed herself and couldn't move.

"What?" Monica asked confused.

"You're bleeding!" Rachel yelled, launching herself at her friend.

"Huh?" She looked down. "No, this is Lizzie's blood."

"What? Is she hurt?" Rachel looked confused.

"Yeah, she fell." Monica took a deep breath and began to tell the whole story.

Rachel sat there staring at her, her mouth wide open. "Oh, no," she breathed. "That's - that's bad."

"Tell me about it," Monica said sarcastically. "And now he probably hates me. He'll never speak to me again. He - "

"He loves you," Rachel assured Monica. "And he loves Elizabeth. I'm sure he'll get over it."

"That's unlikely," Monica said. She puffed out air and closed her eyes.

"Come on, honey, you're so pessimistic! You just have to explain to him that you messed up by not telling him, but that you... you want him in Elizabeth's life, if he wants to be in it. Is that right?"

"Ye-aah," Monica said slowly. "But he won't stay. He's got to go to school. England, remember? I just probably won't ever see him again. I can't even imagine..." she trailed off, crying again.

"Hon, I'm sure he'll call tomorrow, just like you asked him to," Rachel said.

But Rachel was wrong. Chandler did not call the next day, or the day after, or the day after that. Five days went by without a word from Chandler. Monica was starting to think that he'd left for good. Then, one day after work, there was a message on her machine.

"Hi Mon, it's Chandler. Um, yeah, we really need to talk. Could you maybe come down to the Plaza after work? Well, if not, please call me. Okay. Bye."

Monica looked at her watch. She had forty minutes before she had to pick Elizabeth up from the baby-sitters. She put her coat right back on and splurged on a cab to the Plaza Hotel.

She raced straight up to his room and was about to knock when she heard a female voice from inside. She paused and frowned, listening intently.

"I have a fantastic lawyer," the woman was saying. "He can get her for you - "

"But I don't want that," Chandler interrupted the voice. "I don't - I don't think I do - "

"Oh, yes, you do. You have rights! You're going to sue for that child." Monica grabbed the door handle to keep from falling over. Her throat had closed up and she felt like she was going to faint.

"Mon, I'm not sure I want that," Chandler said. It's Nora, Monica thought, stunned. Monica had met Chandler's mother a few times, but never really liked the woman, which was probably caused by Chandler's less than loving attitude.

"Chandler, you need to understand, what - what's her name again? Monica, is it? - What Monica did is ridiculous. Hiding your own child from you - it was stupid and immature, just a way to get back at you for leaving to go have a life!"

"She didn't hide her," Chandler argued.

"Well, she didn't tell you about her either! No, I am getting that baby for you. Honestly, darling, who's going to win - the nineteen year old or world-renowned Nora Bing? It's no contest. Let me just go back to my room and get my lawyer's number." The door started to open. Instinctively, Monica leapt away, but she wasn't fast enough. The door opened to reveal Nora Bing, primped and as elegant as ever, looking at her, scowling. Chandler stood behind him, looking pained, and then shocked to see Monica there.

And it was Monica's turn to run away.

An hour later, she was clutching Elizabeth and sitting on the couch in the living room of Rachel's spacious apartment, sobbing and trying to tell Rachel what she had just witnessed.

"He's - he's - he's going to try to take her from m-m-me," she sobbed. "His mom was talking about her lawyer," sniffle, "and calling me st-st-stupid." She wiped her nose on her shirt and stared at Rachel with running eyes. "What am I going to do?"

"You're going to stay here tonight," Rachel said. "I've got pajamas for both of you, and God knows enough beds. I'll order Chinese, put Elizabeth to sleep, and talk we'll the whole thing through, okay?"

"Okay," Monica whispered, gratefully handing Elizabeth, who was starting to get sleepy, to Rachel. As Rachel changed her diaper and put her into clothes to sleep in, Monica tried to stop her tears and think rationally.

I can't believe he's going to try to take Elizabeth from me, she thought numbly. My baby! I knew it was a mistake not to tell him... but even my parents never dreamed this would happen.

When Rachel came back from putting Elizabeth down, she said, "Okay, I have a plan. We're not going to let him take her."

"But I don't have the money for a lawyer!" Monica said.

"But I do," Rachel reminded her.

"No, Rach, I - "

"I won't let him take my goddaughter!" Rachel said with a smile. "Mon, whoever Nora's got, my Daddy's got better."

"What could Nora want with Elizabeth anyway?" Monica wondered.

"Maybe she wants to sell her to the black market baby ring."

"Not funny!" Monica cried, hitting Rachel's shoulder.

"Sorry, sorry," Rachel said. "I don't know. Maybe she thinks this is the only chance she'll get to have grandkids. Or kids. Her and Chandler don't get along, do they? Maybe she wants Lizzie for herself."

"Maybe," Monica said slowly. "But she made it sound like she was getting her for Chandler. Could Chandler possibly want to take her away from me?" she asked, troubled.

"I'm afraid that looks like the most plausible explanation," Rachel said sadly.

"Then I don't ever want to see him again. And since when do you use the word 'plausible'?"

Meanwhile, Chandler was frantically searching New York. After seeing Monica's horror-stricken face in the hallway, he couldn't erase it from his mind. After she'd run, he'd tried to follow her, but his mother had stopped him by standing in front of the door and droned on about how she would move to England with him to take care of the baby, refusing to listen to Chandler.

Finally, he'd taken a step closer to his mother, got right in her face, and snarled, "Mother, get out of my way or I'm going to have to move you." Nora Bing had gone slack-jawed, but then remained her dignified pose and gracefully walked away from the door. Chandler had bolted out of the hotel.

He'd gone to her apartment. He'd gone to her work, to her gym, to her dry cleaners. He'd gone everywhere Monica could possibly be. Then, another face popped into his head.

"Rachel," he muttered. He looked her up in the phone book and was on his way to her apartment instantly.

He got to Rachel's elegant building, walked up to the doorman, and introduced himself as Rachel Greene's boyfriend. He immediately let Chandler up.

Rachel opened the door when he knocked. She gaped at him, and then scowled, starting to close the door.

"Please, let me talk to her," Chandler said, throwing his arm out to hold open the door. "I have to explain."

Monica appeared behind her friend. Her scowl matched Rachel's, but when Chandler stared at her pleadingly, she said, "Gimme a sec, Rach," before pushing Chandler into the hallway and closing the door behind her.

"Mon, what you heard - "

"You know what? I don't want to hear what you have to say. I just want you to know that you are not getting my daughter. You may be her father, but I am her only parent. You have been gone for her entire life. There's no way in hell any judge would grant you or your bimbo mother custody."

Chandler felt a spark of anger rise to the surface. "Monica, I don't want to sue for custody - " he began, but she once again cut him off.

"I also want you to know that I am suing you for child support," Monica said briskly, crossing her arms.

Chandler let out an irritated sigh. "What is your problem? I came over here to apologize - and you start yelling at me?! I wasn't going to sue for custody! And I was going to give you all the child support you need! I will give you everything I have if that's what you want!"

"But I heard - "

"For God's sake, Monica. You heard my mother! She hates not having control of something, and suing is the answer! I would never want to take Elizabeth away from you. You love her, and she loves you, and she doesn't even know me. I'm twenty years old; I go to college in England - what do I want a baby for?!"

Monica looked hurt.

"No! Not in a bad way," Chandler said quickly. "No, honestly, I - I want her - I want to see her... God, this isn't coming out right." He ran his hands through his hair. "I don't want things to be bad between us. We both made a lot of mistakes." At the look on Monica's face, Chandler said, "Well, I probably made more. But we have a daughter. And if you'll let me - I want to be a part of her life. And yours. Please, Monica. We screwed up - I know that. But can't we work things out - can't we try? For our daughter's sake?"

Monica was silent for several moments. Then she said, "I don't know, Chandler. You left me, remember? You deserted me and our baby when I loved you. But can I let you back into our lives? I just don't know."

"Well than maybe you need to figure it out," Chandler said coldly. He turned and walked away. "And good luck finding me when you do."