TOW The Reunion

Part 16

"Hi, come on in," Chandler greeted the lawyer, Karl Jeffers, as he opened the door. He had a young face, and couldn't be much older than mid-thirties but the little wisps of grey in his black hair suggested a hard life.

"Hello, Mr Bing I presume?" Karl asked, a faint of a smile spreading across his tired face.

"Yes, that's me."

"My records need updating! I still had your L.A address, been trying to track you down for weeks." Karl told him, sighing.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Chandler said to him, gesturing to the living room chair for Karl to sit on. He sat down and opened up his briefcase.

Monica and Chandler exchanged puzzled glances, "Um…Mr Jeffers?" Monica asked timidly, "Is there anything you wanted in particular?"

Karl looked at Monica in surprise. "I thought it was obvious Miss Geller."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm here to confirm your acceptance of the contents of Michael Kip Granger's will," Karl said, frowning, "you did know he had a will, didn't you?"

"No, we didn't," Chandler said, shocked; "what's in it?"

"Well, if you don't know that, this may come as a shock to you," Karl said, smiling slightly. "You two may want to sit down for this."

Chandler and Monica sat down on the couch together and gripped each other's hands.

Karl smiled again. "Well, so Kip was right, you two are a couple."

Chandler and Monica exchanged amused glances. "You knew Kip personally then?" Chandler asked.

"As his attorney, I kind of spoke to him a lot," Karl pointed out. He pulled out an official looking envelope and opened it, taking out a document.

"Kip died a rich man," Karl continued, "When he was 10 years old, Kip's grandmother died and left all her money to him…but he couldn't access it until he turned 21."

"Wow," Chandler breathed, "We had no idea."

"How…how much money did he have?" Monica inquired.

"$10,000,000."

"What?!" Chandler and Monica burst out.

"Kip's Grandmother had a large house and estate in Connecticut, and that was worth $7,000,000 alone. That's where most of the money comes from; the rest came from interest in her bank account."

"Oh my god," Monica muttered, staring at Chandler in shock. She turned back to Karl. "But…but why are you telling us this?"

"Don't you see yet?" Karl asked, smiling at her, "Kip has left the house and its contents to you two."

Monica gripped Chandler's hand tighter, feeling him go limp. She looked at him, noticing that he looked like he was about to collapse.

"You…you can't be serious," Chandler mumbled, "Kip wouldn't leave us his house."

"Well, he did," Karl told him, "the other $3,000,000 goes to Ross Geller, Rachel Green and Joey Tribbiani, to be split equally between them."

"What about his parents?" Monica whispered.

"I guess he cared more about his friends, who he lived with during college, than the family he's hardly seen since he turned 18." Karl said, shrugging.

"I can't believe he would leave us all his money," Chandler muttered.

"The mortgage is paid for on the house, the furniture is still intact. All you need is the keys and it's yours," Karl explained, smiling, "However, there is a catch…"

"What kind of catch?" Monica asked suspiciously.

"In order for you to get the house and its contents, you two must have a valid marriage certificate." Karl said, re-reading the will, "Kip pretty much had his heart set on the fact that you two would be married by the time he died. I guess he never guessed he would be dead before he was 30." He glanced at Chandler and Monica, "Are you two married?" he asked now, "you do seem to be a couple at least."

"Well, we are engaged," Monica said, smiling at Chandler lovingly.

"Sorry to ask this, but do you have proof of that?" Karl asked, "You're not just saying that to get the house?"

"Well…no," Monica stammered, looking at Chandler worriedly who was starting to smile.

"Actually, we do," he corrected.

"We do?" Monica looked at him in confusion.

"This was going to be a surprise Monica, but I kind of did something yesterday…please don't kill me." He looked into her eyes. "I've booked the date of our wedding."

"Oh my god," Monica whispered.

"I know I should have spoken to you about it first but it's this really beautiful place, I just fell in love with it and they had a six month waiting list…" Chandler rushed on, only to be stopped by the hand Monica placed on his lips.

"That's got to be the sweetest, most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me," she said gently, kissing him on the cheek.

The sound of Karl clearing his throat made them look back at him, blushing slightly.

"Excuse me for interrupting, but you have some documents to sign. I assume you want the estate?" he asked, smiling wryly.

Chandler and Monica smiled happily at each other and nodded.

"Thank you Kip," Chandler whispered.

****

"$1,000,000 each?" Ross whispered, glancing at Rachel and Joey. His gaze lingered longer on Joey, "you mean… him too?" he added coolly.

"I have a name," Joey said, his expression darkening.

"Yeah, Joey Tribbiani who drives drunk," Ross spat.

"Ok, I'm an attorney not a councillor," Karl told them, rolling his eyes, "whatever issues you two have, it has nothing to do with me. My job is to attend to my clients wishes and he states he wants the money to go to you three."

"What about Monica? And Chandler?" Ross demanded.

"Oh, they're sorted," Karl said, smiling. "They are now the proud owners of Kip's grandmother's house in Connecticut."

"That's going to be difficult deciding who gets to live in it," Ross mused, "Knowing Monica, she'll want it to raise a family in the future."

"Um…Mr Bing and Miss Geller are living in it together." Karl corrected him, frowning slightly.

"I knew it," Rachel breathed, smiling wryly.

"What do you mean…together?" Ross asked suspiciously.

"Um…hello? Attorney… not councillor for dysfunctional friendships!" Karl said, waving his briefcase, "if your friends have neglected to tell you they're in a relationship it's not my problem."

"What?!"

"I'll explain later Ross," Rachel said urgently, "Don't start getting angry now."

Ross glanced at Rachel in shock. "You knew?!" he bellowed.

"Not exactly, but I had an idea."

"Why didn't you tell me you had an 'idea' then?" Ross folded his arms and glared at her.

"And getting back to the matter in hand," Karl interrupted, "You need to sign a document agreeing to the contents of the will."

"I refuse," Ross said stubbornly, "there is no way in hell I'm letting my old college roommate shack up with my sister!"

"There is nothing you can do about that," Karl explained impatiently, "they've already agreed to have the house on the condition that they'll go through with their wedding in six months' time."

"They're getting married?" Ross and Rachel exclaimed together. They glanced at Joey who smiled knowingly.

"You knew, didn't you?" Ross asked coolly.

"Hell yeah," Joey confirmed, smiling triumphantly at him, "and Phoebe."

"You mean…I'm the only one who didn't know about this?" Ross yelled.

"Hey, I didn't know they were getting married Ross," Rachel said helpfully.

"You knew something though!" Ross charged out of the lawyer's office and stormed out of the building.

"I'll go after him," Joey said hurriedly, racing after him.

Rachel sat quietly with Karl and sighed. "Why did I come back?" she muttered.

"Miss Green, there is something else in Kip's will I wish to discuss with you," Karl told her, looking at her sympathetically. "He specifically says to tell you this when you are alone in the room."

"What is it?" Rachel asked, trying to look impassive.

"Kip had a safety deposit box," Karl explained, "He wants you to have it." He pulled out a key from the envelope and handed it to her. "You need that to unlock it. His box is currently at National Bank in this city. He hasn't touched it since he left college and travelled to Chicago."

"What is in it?" Rachel whispered, clasping the key tightly in her hands.

Karl shrugged. "He never told me. You need to open it to find out."

Rachel looked down at the key and nodded.

****

"I can't believe Kip did this," Monica said, wrapped in Chandler's arms on the couch.

"I know, it's unbelievable," Chandler agreed, kissing her forehead gently.

"We have our own house," Monica smiled at him and grinned.

"We can grow old together and have lots of kids and everything," Chandler added, grinning back at her.

"If the garden is big we could have a pool for them to swim in," Monica said, stroking his cheek.

"If the garden is big?" Chandler asked; his eyebrows arched high, "we have a multi-million dollar estate. It's going to be big."

Monica giggled; "I suppose so," she agreed, looking into his eyes. "Did you mean what you said about growing old together?"

"Sure, we'll have walking sticks and hobble around the garden together during the warm weather," Chandler quipped, smiling softly.

"That would be really great," Monica whispered.

"I know." Chandler kissed her gently on the lips.

The apartment door suddenly burst open causing the couple to look up in fright. Ross was standing in the doorway, his body shaking with anger, his face wearing an expression of fury.

"You!" he yelled, pointing at Chandler and beginning to walk closer to the couch.

Chandler leaped up, giving Monica a desperate glance and then staring back at Ross nervously. "Ross, just give me a minute to explain…"

Ross ran around to the front of the couch causing Chandler to run around to the back of it. "You and my sister?!" he bellowed, chasing him. When they had made a full turn around the couch, Monica stood up and blocked Ross' way. Chandler had moved nearer to the kitchen, biting his nails.

"Ross, stop it," she chided, glaring at her brother angrily.

Ross stared at her in shock. "You want me to…to stop?" he asked wildly, "I should kill him for what he did to you!"

"Hey now just hang on a second!" Chandler interrupted angrily, "just what are you accusing me of…"

"Ross, Chandler didn't force me to do anything," Monica said desperately, knowing by the look on both men's faces a fight was about to brew up, "we're in love."

"In love?" Ross shouted in disbelief.

"Yes, I love Chandler and he loves me," Monica said softly, glancing at Chandler and smiling.

Ross looked between them and shook his head. "I can't believe what I'm hearing," he said, "when did this happen?"

"Not long after Chandler moved in," Monica explained, "it just kind of…happened."

Chandler nodded and walked over to the pair. He put an arm around Monica, "I love your sister very much," he reassured Ross, "I'm not going to do anything to hurt her."

"Is this Chandler Bing I'm speaking to?" Ross asked incredulously, "you were NYU's most eligible bachelor!"

Chandler shrugged and smiled softly at Monica, "things change," he said quietly. Monica smiled back at him and reached up to kiss him.

Ross watched this scene quietly. "Wow…I'm…I'm speechless," he uttered.

"Does that mean you're not going to kill me?" Chandler joked uncomfortably.

"I suppose not," Ross said, a slight smile spreading across his previously sullen face.

"I think that's the first time I've seen you smile since Kip died," Chandler commented, staring at him.

"Oh come here you two!" Ross cried, bringing Monica and Chandler into a hug, "I'm really happy for you. A little shocked about the wedding though…" he stepped back and studied them. "How long have you two been engaged? A little…hasty isn't it?"

"We decided earlier this week," Monica replied, smiling happily, "And the haste doesn't matter to us, we would have done at some point in the future anyway."

"Well, I was expecting a fist fight," Joey's voice came from the doorway. Everyone looked at him and grinned. "I thought I had to become Chandler's bodyguard!"

"Hey I would have given all I had!" Chandler protested mock angrily.

"Sure, whatever," Joey said, rolling his eyes.

Chandler studied Joey's facial expression. It still look tired and the worry lines in his forehead were still there, but the shadows under his eyes had faded and the grin appearing on his lips immediately made him look five years younger. "You ok Joe?" he asked now.

Joey nodded and Chandler smiled in understanding. The court date was still hanging over that man's head but he was finally starting to get over his grief.

"Hey, um…I think I owe you an apology," Ross told Joey shamefacedly.

"None needed," Joey said to him, "I know you're upset about what happened with Kip."

"I still shouldn't have treated you like that," Ross insisted.

"If it was me, I would have," Joey said, smiling sadly, "I probably would have punched you in the guts if I had found out you were involved in a friend's death."

"I know there are still issues between us and I still don't agree with what you did after the crash, but I would like to call a truce," Ross offered, holding out his hand.

Joey looked at him hesitantly.

"If you want to that is," Ross continued nervously.

Chandler nodded at Joey, pleading with him to agree. Joey gave a slight nod back to reassure him and turned back to Ross. He took his hand and shook. It was like a 'business' type of handshake and Chandler wished as he watched that it was a bit more personal, but miracles didn't grow on trees.

"So, Joey, do you know your court date yet?" Ross asked him.

"No, not yet," Joey replied, shrugging uncomfortably.

****

Rachel smiled politely at the security guard as she took Kip's safety deposit box to a private room. She shut the door behind her, and, breathing deeply, she sat down at the table in the centre of the room. She was almost afraid to open this tiny box. It seemed like it contained a private part of Kip's life that should remain private, and she felt like she was invading it somehow. Why had he requested she open it? Why not his parents?

She inserted the key into the tiny lock and opened the lid. There were neat little piles of discarded pieces of paper; they were on closer inspection just bank statements. The normal kind of thing you would expect in a safety deposit box. That is, until she saw the thick book at the bottom of the pile.

Her hands shook as she pulled it out and placed it on the table. She studied the lime green front cover and saw that the corners were very well thumbed, as though it had been used every day at some point. In the corner, the single name 'Kip' in neat handwriting.

Rachel frowned. This looked like, to her, a diary. In those few years she had known Kip at college, he had never mentioned he wrote in one. It seemed beneath him and he had taken no interest in writing and books of any sort. She opened the book gingerly, careful not damage the worn pages and inside she saw the inscription, 'My Diary – For Your Eyes Only'.

Rachel suppressed a smile. Kip always had preferred Roger Moore to Sean Connery in the Bond films. It seemed fitting he would use that as an introduction to a diary. She turned another page and out slid a tiny piece of paper, folded three times and on the front of it the single word Rachel. She unfolded it, her heart pounding at the thought of what could be written inside it, and when the paper was spread out flat she started to read the letter enclosed.

End of Part 16

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