Chapter 7. Life Goes On
Returning from their weekend trip to the cabin, Ross and Rachel were the last to hear the big news.
Chandler had moved his things from Monica's apartment and back into Joey's, while Rachel's stuff was packed and put near the door as a nonverbal suggestion that she should leave, unless she could handle living with Joey and Chandler all over each other all the time, in a frenzy of desire.
Phoebe was still comforting Monica. "Look at it this way. At least you didn't get married in Vegas! You found out the truth before things went too far."
Monica sniffled. "What if we *did* get married? What if--what if this is like a Geller pattern or something? Marrying somebody who turns out to be gay? I should've known! I should've seen!"
"Aw, Monica--"
Puzzled, Rachel found her bags out in the hallway and grabbed them as she came into Monica's apartment. "What's going on?"
"There you are!" Phoebe said. "Why don't you leave a number if you go away for a whole weekend!"
"Sorry! It was Paul's big surprise, remember? He was not gay; he just took me to his family's cabin in the woods. Ross and Elizabeth were there too."
"Whoa! Talk about an awkward surprise."
"Monica, my God, you're crying! What's wrong? Where's Chandler?"
Phoebe shushed Rachel and pointed her toward the phone. "You call Ross and tell him to get over here right away. Forget unpacking and just get his little tushie here, so we can tell you both at the same time."
"Okay, okay." Rachel obeyed, and soon Ross answered the summons.
***
"Oh my God!" Ross paced around in outrage after the weekend's events were explained. "How can Chandler do this to you? I'm-I'm going over there right now to kick his ass!"
Phoebe and Rachel laughed, and Monica even managed to crack a smile.
"Wh-what? You don't think I can?"
Rachel giggled. "Well, even if you could, Ross, you'd have to kick Joey's ass first to get to Chandler's ass, which I'm guessing he's pretty protective of right now."
"Eww, thanks for the mental image!" Ross sat down again, still upset. "So--so like, are they feeling guilty at all about this mess they've made? Is anybody going to make them be responsible?"
"The way I see it," Phoebe replied, "they *are* being responsible, by preventing Monica from making the horrible mistake of marrying Chandler, like you married Carol."
"She's got a point, there," Rachel said. "Although it wasn't all horrible, right? At least you got a son from Carol."
"Aw!" Monica got upset again. "I'm never gonna have babies!"
"No, no, no!" Rachel quickly regretted her words.
"You had to bring up the babies!" Ross complained.
Phoebe soothed Monica again. "No, Mon, there's plenty of time still! Trust me, you're gonna find your real soul mate, and you're gonna get married and have lots of babies."
"But when? I thought I'd finally found a relationship that was going somewhere!"
"Look, if worse comes to worst, and you've totally forgiven Joey and Chandler by then, you can ask one of them to donate some sperm to you, so that you can have a baby."
Monica found that idea intriguing. "Well, I'd already know what the kids would be like: pretty and slutty like Joey, or smart and funny like Chandler."
***
The whole gang slowly got back on speaking terms, through Phoebe's masterful puppeteering and manipulation. Joey and Chandler hesitantly showed their faces across the hall again, to ask if Monica was all right, and she asked about them in return. Everyone, especially Ross, slowly adjusted to the new love affair in their midst.
Meanwhile, Rachel at first stayed on the couch in the girls' apartment, helping Phoebe to look after Monica, until she found another apartment in the area that she could afford. In the middle of this move, she broke up with Paul, and Ross soon decided to break up with Elizabeth too, because he didn't see their relationship having a future.
Suddenly, Richard came to Monica's restaurant to see her, and confessed that he still thought about her, even though their last meeting was a year ago, prior to the gang's trip to Vegas. Richard said that he still loved her, wanted to marry her, and wanted to have kids. This was all quite sudden, so Monica asked for some time to think about it.
She eventually told him about the whole thing with Chandler, and how she was on the rebound from that traumatic breakup. So Richard agreed to take his proposal off the table and take things slowly with Monica, to help her trust and fall in love again. He even quit smoking cigars for her, to show his determination to be with her permanently, and not just on the rebound.
The repairs on Phoebe's apartment finally finished, and the two-bedroom became a spacious one-bedroom, much to Phoebe's delight. So when she moved out of Monica's guest bedroom, Richard moved in with Monica, and they made the spare room into a study containing Richard's African art. Hopefully someday it would become a nursery.
Since Phoebe took her fridge back when she left, Joey and Chandler bought a new fridge for themselves, and Chandler moved permanently into Joey's room, leaving his old bedroom with the slashed door to their pet duck and rooster. It was nice for both the guys to be earning money now; Joey felt that he was paying his fair share at last, instead of living off Chandler's indulgent charity.
Rachel remained happily settled in her own apartment and made more progress in her career at Ralph Lauren.
Inspired by Richard's return to Monica's life, Ross started thinking about getting back together with Rachel again, although he had to contend with the obstacle of Rachel's inappropriate crush on her assistant Tag. Maybe Ross should talk to Phoebe and ask her to do more of her "puppeteering" magic for him!
The End
Returning from their weekend trip to the cabin, Ross and Rachel were the last to hear the big news.
Chandler had moved his things from Monica's apartment and back into Joey's, while Rachel's stuff was packed and put near the door as a nonverbal suggestion that she should leave, unless she could handle living with Joey and Chandler all over each other all the time, in a frenzy of desire.
Phoebe was still comforting Monica. "Look at it this way. At least you didn't get married in Vegas! You found out the truth before things went too far."
Monica sniffled. "What if we *did* get married? What if--what if this is like a Geller pattern or something? Marrying somebody who turns out to be gay? I should've known! I should've seen!"
"Aw, Monica--"
Puzzled, Rachel found her bags out in the hallway and grabbed them as she came into Monica's apartment. "What's going on?"
"There you are!" Phoebe said. "Why don't you leave a number if you go away for a whole weekend!"
"Sorry! It was Paul's big surprise, remember? He was not gay; he just took me to his family's cabin in the woods. Ross and Elizabeth were there too."
"Whoa! Talk about an awkward surprise."
"Monica, my God, you're crying! What's wrong? Where's Chandler?"
Phoebe shushed Rachel and pointed her toward the phone. "You call Ross and tell him to get over here right away. Forget unpacking and just get his little tushie here, so we can tell you both at the same time."
"Okay, okay." Rachel obeyed, and soon Ross answered the summons.
***
"Oh my God!" Ross paced around in outrage after the weekend's events were explained. "How can Chandler do this to you? I'm-I'm going over there right now to kick his ass!"
Phoebe and Rachel laughed, and Monica even managed to crack a smile.
"Wh-what? You don't think I can?"
Rachel giggled. "Well, even if you could, Ross, you'd have to kick Joey's ass first to get to Chandler's ass, which I'm guessing he's pretty protective of right now."
"Eww, thanks for the mental image!" Ross sat down again, still upset. "So--so like, are they feeling guilty at all about this mess they've made? Is anybody going to make them be responsible?"
"The way I see it," Phoebe replied, "they *are* being responsible, by preventing Monica from making the horrible mistake of marrying Chandler, like you married Carol."
"She's got a point, there," Rachel said. "Although it wasn't all horrible, right? At least you got a son from Carol."
"Aw!" Monica got upset again. "I'm never gonna have babies!"
"No, no, no!" Rachel quickly regretted her words.
"You had to bring up the babies!" Ross complained.
Phoebe soothed Monica again. "No, Mon, there's plenty of time still! Trust me, you're gonna find your real soul mate, and you're gonna get married and have lots of babies."
"But when? I thought I'd finally found a relationship that was going somewhere!"
"Look, if worse comes to worst, and you've totally forgiven Joey and Chandler by then, you can ask one of them to donate some sperm to you, so that you can have a baby."
Monica found that idea intriguing. "Well, I'd already know what the kids would be like: pretty and slutty like Joey, or smart and funny like Chandler."
***
The whole gang slowly got back on speaking terms, through Phoebe's masterful puppeteering and manipulation. Joey and Chandler hesitantly showed their faces across the hall again, to ask if Monica was all right, and she asked about them in return. Everyone, especially Ross, slowly adjusted to the new love affair in their midst.
Meanwhile, Rachel at first stayed on the couch in the girls' apartment, helping Phoebe to look after Monica, until she found another apartment in the area that she could afford. In the middle of this move, she broke up with Paul, and Ross soon decided to break up with Elizabeth too, because he didn't see their relationship having a future.
Suddenly, Richard came to Monica's restaurant to see her, and confessed that he still thought about her, even though their last meeting was a year ago, prior to the gang's trip to Vegas. Richard said that he still loved her, wanted to marry her, and wanted to have kids. This was all quite sudden, so Monica asked for some time to think about it.
She eventually told him about the whole thing with Chandler, and how she was on the rebound from that traumatic breakup. So Richard agreed to take his proposal off the table and take things slowly with Monica, to help her trust and fall in love again. He even quit smoking cigars for her, to show his determination to be with her permanently, and not just on the rebound.
The repairs on Phoebe's apartment finally finished, and the two-bedroom became a spacious one-bedroom, much to Phoebe's delight. So when she moved out of Monica's guest bedroom, Richard moved in with Monica, and they made the spare room into a study containing Richard's African art. Hopefully someday it would become a nursery.
Since Phoebe took her fridge back when she left, Joey and Chandler bought a new fridge for themselves, and Chandler moved permanently into Joey's room, leaving his old bedroom with the slashed door to their pet duck and rooster. It was nice for both the guys to be earning money now; Joey felt that he was paying his fair share at last, instead of living off Chandler's indulgent charity.
Rachel remained happily settled in her own apartment and made more progress in her career at Ralph Lauren.
Inspired by Richard's return to Monica's life, Ross started thinking about getting back together with Rachel again, although he had to contend with the obstacle of Rachel's inappropriate crush on her assistant Tag. Maybe Ross should talk to Phoebe and ask her to do more of her "puppeteering" magic for him!
The End