A.N. : Wow, sorry for the extreme delay in updates… school wrapping up has pretty much taken over my life (sad, I know.) Well, here's the third chapter. Hope you like it… REVIEW PLEASE!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything having to do with Friends
This story begins roughly 10 months after we left off…
It had been hard, at first, she reflected thoughtfully, but it was getting better.
At the beginning of her first month in Boston, she was faced with a huge amount of responsibility at work, a rent she couldn't afford, and not a single friend in the entire city. By the end of that first month, she was managing well at work, found herself a roommate, and was beginning to make a few friendships; nothing like what she left behind, but it was progress all the same.
The roommate factor came in the form of her best friend from childhood, Rachel Green. Rachel had run out on her wedding, and had landed in Boston on a whim. The two had run into each other on the street, and after catching up over coffee, decided that it was fate. Rachel moved in at the end of the week.
However, even after she had begun to acclimate herself, it hadn't been easy. She'd talked to Chandler on the phone every single night, and at least 5 times out of 7 would hang up crying. And then there was there was the time he came to see her…
"Mon, seriously, you gotta tell me. Are you doing okay over there? I mean, I know you miss us and home and everything. But are you going to be okay?" he had asked her, concerned.
"I don't know. Sometimes I think I am. Others it's all I can do not to jump on the next plane back to New York."
"You've only been there for two weeks. You can't expect it to feel like home after two weeks."
"I know," she had sniffled. "But I'm starting to think that it won't ever feel like home without-"
"Without what?"
"Without… you," she finished quietly.
"Monica… we had this conversation two years ago."
"I know. And I'm not saying I want anything romantic between us." His heart had fallen at that statement, but he brushed it off.
"Then what are you saying?" he asked impatiently. She broke down crying.
"I'm just saying I miss you," she sobbed.
He was in Boston approximately 13 hours later. The doorbell rang, and Rachel answered it, appraising the sandy haired handsome stranger while greeting him.
"Hi, you must be Rachel… Mon's roommate? I'm-"
"Chandler. I've seen your picture. She's in the shower, come on in."
Rachel had just gotten Chandler settled with a glass of iced tea when the bathroom door opened and Monica exited distractedly, wrapped in a towel, her hair dripping wet.
"Rach? Who was at the-" Her gaze settled on Chandler. She crossed the distance between them in no time flat and flung herself into his arms. He laughed and squeezed her tightly. Rachel smiled and left quietly.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, muffled against the sleeve of his shirt.
"I was in the area," he joked. "You know, the others are gonna kill me for not telling them I was coming to see you. Everyone misses you terribly. And Ross and Carol are really on the outs-"
"Shut up… be quiet for a second," Monica interrupted, holding him at arms length before enveloping him into another giant hug. "I can't believe you're here."
They had spent the weekend together. That night, they almost kissed three times, and had another "conversation" about why they couldn't be together and their friendship was too important to both of them for that kind of risk. He left on Sunday feeling happy to have seen his best friend, but slightly discouraged, and almost vulnerable. And he met Jaime that next week.
Jaime was supposed to be a fling, a one night stand. But she was nice, and pretty, and Chandler wanted to get on with his life. And hadn't Monica once told him that the best way to get over someone was to get under someone else? Oh no, that was his mother. Whatever. It was working.
After 2 months of dating Jaime, and 3 months after Monica had left New York, Jaime told him that she was pregnant. At first, Chandler thought that the world was ending. But the more he thought about it, the more he became excited to be a father. Jaime had been talking about abortion, but he convinced her that they could do it, that they could be parents together. He called Monica the second he found out.
"Mon?"
"Hey! How's the home front?"
"Good… great, actually… Jaime's pregnant." There was a long pause after that.
"Oh my god… that's so… is she-"
"Yeah. We're gonna have baby. Monica… I'm gonna be a daddy."
"Chandler that's so… I'm so happy for you! I can't believe it, but it's great…"
"Yeah, I was a little, ya know, me, at first, but now… I'm so happy."
"Are you and Jaime going to-"
"Get married? I don't know. I told her I'd marry her, but she said marriages for the sake of the child are never happy. She said we should wait, and see how things play out."
"I think that's smart," Monica said, trying to hide a sense of relief she didn't even understand.
"You'll be here for the birth, though, right? Jaime's due in May."
"I wouldn't miss it for the whole entire world."
"Oh my god… can you believe this? You're the first person I'm telling."
"No,
I can't… but Chandler?"
"Yeah?"
"You're going to make an amazing father," she finished quietly.
"Thanks Mon. I gotta go, but I love you."
"Love you. Congratulations."
That had been nine months ago, and now Monica was seated on a plane back to New York for the first time since she'd left after receiving an emergency phone call at work; Jaime was having the baby a week early. So much had changed. She had established her life in Boston. Carol and her brother were talking about a trial separation. Some guy named Joey, who she'd yet to meet but had talked to on the phone countless times and felt like she knew, had moved in with Chandler. Chandler was having a kid, and probably marrying this Jaime woman, who she'd met when Chandler dragged her to Boston with her so that "his best friend could meet the mother of his child". Phoebe… well, she was the same.
"We will now begin our descent. The time in New York is 5:32 pm…"
She didn't know what to expect, but she couldn't wait to find out.
Sorry that was a little short, but a lot happened. The next chapter will be longer, promise J Review please!!!!
