A/N: Okey dokey, here's chapter four! This is mainly a filler chapter, but
lots of stuff will happen soon, I promise. I originally wanted this to be
a Christmas story, but I think it's just a story now. It'll probably have
Christmas somewhere else in it, though. Thank you guys SO much for
reviewing this story! This is the farthest I have ever written into a story
before because of all the great reviews I've gotten. I've only gotten to
chapter three before. Please keep reviewing! ;) Oh, and I don't know if
this story is going to be finished by Christmas cause finals are next week
and I'm really nervous! Ahh! Wish me luck, I'm a freshman and this will be
the first time I've ever taken a final. I'm scared, lol. Oh, and the title
of this chapter, well, I couldn't think of one and in school we just
finished Of Mice and Men. Soo . I looked at some of the sentences in this
chapter and noticed I used 'Of Babies and Lobsters'. In case you are
wondering, that's where the title is from. Of course most of you have
probably skipped right ahead to the story cause these a/n things bore some
people. ;) I like to read them, but oh well! ;) Read, review, and
reciprocate!
Disclaimer: Wow, this get's old! What if I said I was Marta Kauffman? Would ya shoot me? ...Oops, probably! So, I am in no way affiliated with Bright, Kauffman, or Crane and have no ownership of the actors on Friends. If anyone knows where they are, please tell me so I can go find them! ;)
Chapter Four: Of Lobsters And Babies
The fluorescent lights suddenly became very bright in the bathroom. The world blurred before Rachel's eyes as she teared up. Coming to the realization of this fact was almost too hard for Rachel to bear. All the pieces were beginning to fall into place, yet Rachel felt the puzzle lacked the most critical piece. She was having a baby. Yet, who was the father?
'How can this be?' wondered Rachel. 'I haven't had sex in like five months!'
She stood up, ready to grab another pregnancy test in order to make certain that this was just a 'false positive'. She reached around the cabinet, searching for yet another one. That's when it hit her like a bullet from a gun.
Memories of hot chocolate, snowmen, and one passionate night became a blur of illusions in her head. Almost as if she was moving in slow motion, she dropped her stick. Her knees gave way, causing her to crumple to the ground in a heap. A crash erupted from the bathroom, signifying that she had hit the floor. Her last thought before she drifted out of consciousness was that Ross was the father of her child. Then her whole world gave way to darkness.
****
3,000 Miles away, San Diego, California
Ross Geller breathed in the salty sea air and drank in the ocean with his eyes. Its blue waters glittered like turquoise in the sunlight. It was vast and stretched on for an eternity. All sounds became lost to him as he stood on the edge of the crowded beach. He was a lost soul, waiting for revival.
Having been fired from his job just days before for no apparent reason, Ross made the decision to leave Arizona on hiatus and take a trip around the country. His first stop took him Northwest to San Diego. He didn't know why he chose there of all places, but he felt drawn to it, magnetically and emotionally.
His job had meant everything to him. It was the one thing he lived for. Day in and day out, he worked. Whether the sun was shining or torrents of rain descended from the Heavens above, Ross Geller would go to work without fail. It was a routine and Ross was a creature of habit. Not knowing where his life was headed scared him more than anything in the world. His work was the one thing in which he excelled; the only aspect of life he felt good at.
'I'm certainly not good at dating, that's for sure,' he thought. 'Hell, I can't even keep one for two days!' By some twist of fate, a woman that was perfect for him was put into his life, only to leave by choice a day later. He continued his walk down the beach, feeling rejected by the people at his work, women, and worst of all, himself. **** Rachel awoke to even brighter fluorescent lights than the ones she saw just before falling. She grimaced as she opened them wider. Drab, colorless walls and a single window overlooking the parking garage adorned the room. She tried to sit up, but noticed her right arm had an IV in it. 'What the heck happened to me?' she wondered.
An older doctor entered. Her gray hair was tied back in a ponytail, and her gray eyes were dull. She was the picture of uniformity. In a monotonous voice, she began her routine speech. "Hello, my name is Dr. Clemens, I'll be taking care of you." She looked down at her clipboard. "Apparently, you fell down and hit your head on the toilet seat. Your friends brought you here when they found you; I'm sure they'll be thrilled to hear you are ok. Can you tell me how you feel right now, Rachel?"
Rachel blinked again, and the world came into better focus. The doctor was impatiently tapping her clipboard with her pen. "Well.?"
Rachel began to talk in a groggy voice. "I really don't know how I feel. It's kind of hard for me to put the pieces together right now. Why did I fall down? What was I doing?"
"Ms. Green, I cannot fathom what made you fall down, but I do know that you suffered a mild concussion and will need to stay here one night. Other than that, you are free to go tomorrow."
She was struggling to remember why she fell. Random thoughts raced through her head. Lights, bathrooms, cabinets. The doctor snapped her back to reality. "Ms. Green, please let the nurse know if you need anything." Dr. Clemens gave her what Rachel supposed was a smile, yet came out looking like the face a hungry fox gets when he is about to devour his prey. Rachel shuddered. "And by the way, congratulations."
Rachel looked confused. "Congratulations?"
"About the baby. Congratulations. Despite the fact that you somehow managed to give yourself a concussion by hitting your head on a toilet seat, it is fine and so are you. Consider yourself very lucky that you are both ok. The OBGYN will need to see you sometime later this week for your first sonogram." She flashed the fox smile once more and left the room with a swift turn and brisk walk.
It all came flooding back to her now. She was going to be a mother, and there was nothing she could do about it. She reached down and cautiously felt her stomach. Inside, a miraculous event was occurring. Rachel sighed at the thought that her child would grow up without the love of a father. With tears glistening in her eyes, she turned her head towards the window. No stars were shining tonight to wish upon, and the moon hung alone in the sky. She wondered what path her life was heading down. The first time she had a baby, she never thought it would be alone. She sighed sadly and wondered where her baby's father was in the world, and if he had any clue as to what they were going through, would he even care?
Monica, Phoebe, Joey, and Chandler all came bursting through the door. "The doctor said you were awake!" exclaimed a breathless Monica. "How are you feeling?"
Rachel wiped a tear, the only evidence of her misery, off her cheek. "I'm alright, I guess. My head kind of hurts, but other than that, I'm ok."
"We know about the baby," Phoebe said quietly as they all began to drag chairs around her bedside.
Monica reached for Rachel's hand. "You know we'll be here for you the whole time, Rach. We're gonna love this baby to death!"
Chandler chimed in. "Yeah, and if you don't want to tell us who the father is yet, that's totally ok."
"Thanks, you guys. And I really don't think I should say anything about the father yet. You guys don't know him, and he's not from here. It's just nice to know you guys will be here."
"What else are friends for?" asked Joey with a small grin.
Chandler held up a McDonalds bag. "We brought you some food. Are you hungry?"
Monica snatched the bag away from him. "Now that you're pregnant, you have to eat healthier. No more junk food for you," she instructed somewhat sternly.
Rachel couldn't help but smile at this. "Ok, Mom."
"I'm going to have so much fun cooking for you," Monica went on. "I can try out all these special recipes and whichever ones you like best, we'll save. That way, when I become pregnant, Chandler can cook them for me!"
"W-w-what!?" exclaimed Chandler. "Y-y-you're pregnant!?"
"No! I said when."
"Oh." His face became very uneasy. "Joe, can I ah-talk to you in the hall for a minute?" Chandler got up and motioned for Joey to follow him.
"I think you scared him, Mon," Joey said before following Chandler.
"Now why did you do that?" Phoebe asked. "My job is to scare and tease him and yours is to comfort and sleep with him. It works perfectly, so don't be getting any crazy ideas that we're switching! 'Cause this," she motions to herself and the chair where Chandler had been sitting minutes before, "is not gonna happen!"
"Calm down, Pheebs! I wanted to scare him away so we could talk to Rachel alone."
"Ahh. Very smart."
Monica glanced over at Rachel who was staring off into space with one hand tentatively resting atop her belly. Very gently, she began to talk to her. "Sweetie, are you ok? 'Cause even though you said you were, it doesn't look like it."
Rachel looked up at Monica, her brow furrowed and lip being bitten by her bottom teeth. "It's taking all of my strength not to cry right now. I'm having a really hard time believing that this is happening to me."
"Rach, you can cry. That's why we're here. C'mon, we're your two best friends." Phoebe said.
Monica smoothed out her shirt, nervous of the question she was about to ask. "Honey, I'm going to ask you something. And if you don't want to tell us, we totally respect that. But if you think it will help, we're here for you. She cleared her throat and looked into Rachel's eyes. "Rachel, who is the father?"
Rachel's eyes began to fill with tears. Within seconds, her whole body was heaving with sobs. Monica and Phoebe immediately scooted closer to Rachel. Seeing their friend sobbing over something no one had any control over left them feeling rather helpless. "It's okay. Let it all out. Everything is going to be alright," soothed Phoebe.
"No it's not!" exclaimed Rachel through her tears. She sat upright and began to tell her story. "Everything is not going to be alright! Nothing in my life is all right. I'm having a baby! And guess who it's with? Some guy I knew for a day and a half! I was having the worst Christmas ever. I was alone, my parents had just gotten divorced, and I made this rash decision to move across the country to make something of myself. I could have lived in California for the rest of my life and never have had to work. I meet this guy who is absolutely perfect in every single way. He is also alone on Christmas Eve with a heartbreaking story. Our paths cross in Nowhereville, Pennsylvania and have some hot chocolate.among other things. We both have the best Christmases ever. After spending the night with him, I left. I could have stayed, you know. He was so right for me I every way. If I had stayed, we probably would have been together forever. But then again, I wouldn't have met you guys. Now, I'm having his baby and I have absolutely no idea what to do." She slumped back onto her pillow.
"Wow," breathed Monica. "I bet it felt good to get that off your chest.
Phoebe looked very serious. "Rachel, do you know who that man was? He was your lobster!" She saw the confused looks on Monica and Rachel's faces. "No, no. Let me explain."
"Every person has some other person they were meant to be with. This one person compliments the other so well it is hard to believe. Some people spend their whole lives searching for this one other person that they are meant to be with. Some people call them soul mates, others call them true loves. I prefer to think of them as lobsters. 'Cause when lobsters get old, they walk around their tanks together claw in claw." She demonstrates. "Lobsters fall in love and mate for life. From everything you said and this psychic vibe I am getting, it sounds like this man is your lobster. You two were brought together by fate, and you will see him again someday. That's what happens with lobsters. When two people are meant to be together that much, their paths will cross until they realize it too. Mark my words, you will see him again. It's written in the stars."
Rachel hung on to every word Phoebe said. "That was either the wisest or weirdest thing I have heard in my entire life."
"Consider it the wisest," Phoebe said with a smile.
"Rach, that guy sounds really great. If what Phoebe said was actually true, I can't wait to meet him!" exclaimed Monica. She said slyly with a wink, "Just make sure I don't take him instead!"
This made Rachel giggle, but Phoebe was disturbed. "Ew, no! That would be so wrong! I can just tell the guy she described is not right for you in that way. No, it would be wrong, just wrong!"
"Ok," said a bewildered Monica. "Anyhow, I have Chandler. Speaking of which, I had better go find him before I let Joey give him too much advice."
"Are you going to be ok now?" asked Phoebe.
Rachel smiled a small smile and placed her hand protectively on her abdomen. "Yeah, I think we'll be alright. Can one of you pick me up tomorrow?"
"Sure," they replied. After saying goodbye to her two best friends, she was all alone.
'Tomorrow I will se if I can get a hold of Ross. Whether he wants to hear it or not, he deserves to know that he's going to be a father,' she thought. 'Didn't he say he worked in Sedona? That's a pretty small town, so somehow I should be able to contact him.'
She drifted off into a somewhat peaceful slumber, having Phoebe's comforting 'Lobster Theory' to lull her to sleep. Although she would have no memory of them when she awoke the following morning, her dreams that night were of lobsters and babies.
****
Ahead of Ross was a fork in the road. One direction headed towards the right, which would lead him north to New York. If he took the path on the left, he would be on his way back to Arizona. He paused for a moment and took a deep breath. This was it. If he turned left, he could go home and try to find another job somewhere. He could return to his life of comfort and no risk. He looked to the sky for an answer. No stars were out tonight, and the moon he gazed upon was the same one that Rachel had just minutes before. His mind told him to go back to Arizona, yet his heart sang a different song. 'Go to her,' it seemed to say.
For the first time in his life, Ross Geller listened to his heart and not his head. He was going to New York. He was going to find the woman who had made such an impact on his life. He turned to the right and drove on. She came as quick as she had left, but not without leaving a kiss on his cheek, and footprints on his heart. And he was determined to find her.
TBC.
So tell me what you think about that chapter. It was mainly a filler chapter but a lot of action is coming up soon. So if you review, you may motivate me to post another chapter soon! Thanks! Mel
Disclaimer: Wow, this get's old! What if I said I was Marta Kauffman? Would ya shoot me? ...Oops, probably! So, I am in no way affiliated with Bright, Kauffman, or Crane and have no ownership of the actors on Friends. If anyone knows where they are, please tell me so I can go find them! ;)
Chapter Four: Of Lobsters And Babies
The fluorescent lights suddenly became very bright in the bathroom. The world blurred before Rachel's eyes as she teared up. Coming to the realization of this fact was almost too hard for Rachel to bear. All the pieces were beginning to fall into place, yet Rachel felt the puzzle lacked the most critical piece. She was having a baby. Yet, who was the father?
'How can this be?' wondered Rachel. 'I haven't had sex in like five months!'
She stood up, ready to grab another pregnancy test in order to make certain that this was just a 'false positive'. She reached around the cabinet, searching for yet another one. That's when it hit her like a bullet from a gun.
Memories of hot chocolate, snowmen, and one passionate night became a blur of illusions in her head. Almost as if she was moving in slow motion, she dropped her stick. Her knees gave way, causing her to crumple to the ground in a heap. A crash erupted from the bathroom, signifying that she had hit the floor. Her last thought before she drifted out of consciousness was that Ross was the father of her child. Then her whole world gave way to darkness.
****
3,000 Miles away, San Diego, California
Ross Geller breathed in the salty sea air and drank in the ocean with his eyes. Its blue waters glittered like turquoise in the sunlight. It was vast and stretched on for an eternity. All sounds became lost to him as he stood on the edge of the crowded beach. He was a lost soul, waiting for revival.
Having been fired from his job just days before for no apparent reason, Ross made the decision to leave Arizona on hiatus and take a trip around the country. His first stop took him Northwest to San Diego. He didn't know why he chose there of all places, but he felt drawn to it, magnetically and emotionally.
His job had meant everything to him. It was the one thing he lived for. Day in and day out, he worked. Whether the sun was shining or torrents of rain descended from the Heavens above, Ross Geller would go to work without fail. It was a routine and Ross was a creature of habit. Not knowing where his life was headed scared him more than anything in the world. His work was the one thing in which he excelled; the only aspect of life he felt good at.
'I'm certainly not good at dating, that's for sure,' he thought. 'Hell, I can't even keep one for two days!' By some twist of fate, a woman that was perfect for him was put into his life, only to leave by choice a day later. He continued his walk down the beach, feeling rejected by the people at his work, women, and worst of all, himself. **** Rachel awoke to even brighter fluorescent lights than the ones she saw just before falling. She grimaced as she opened them wider. Drab, colorless walls and a single window overlooking the parking garage adorned the room. She tried to sit up, but noticed her right arm had an IV in it. 'What the heck happened to me?' she wondered.
An older doctor entered. Her gray hair was tied back in a ponytail, and her gray eyes were dull. She was the picture of uniformity. In a monotonous voice, she began her routine speech. "Hello, my name is Dr. Clemens, I'll be taking care of you." She looked down at her clipboard. "Apparently, you fell down and hit your head on the toilet seat. Your friends brought you here when they found you; I'm sure they'll be thrilled to hear you are ok. Can you tell me how you feel right now, Rachel?"
Rachel blinked again, and the world came into better focus. The doctor was impatiently tapping her clipboard with her pen. "Well.?"
Rachel began to talk in a groggy voice. "I really don't know how I feel. It's kind of hard for me to put the pieces together right now. Why did I fall down? What was I doing?"
"Ms. Green, I cannot fathom what made you fall down, but I do know that you suffered a mild concussion and will need to stay here one night. Other than that, you are free to go tomorrow."
She was struggling to remember why she fell. Random thoughts raced through her head. Lights, bathrooms, cabinets. The doctor snapped her back to reality. "Ms. Green, please let the nurse know if you need anything." Dr. Clemens gave her what Rachel supposed was a smile, yet came out looking like the face a hungry fox gets when he is about to devour his prey. Rachel shuddered. "And by the way, congratulations."
Rachel looked confused. "Congratulations?"
"About the baby. Congratulations. Despite the fact that you somehow managed to give yourself a concussion by hitting your head on a toilet seat, it is fine and so are you. Consider yourself very lucky that you are both ok. The OBGYN will need to see you sometime later this week for your first sonogram." She flashed the fox smile once more and left the room with a swift turn and brisk walk.
It all came flooding back to her now. She was going to be a mother, and there was nothing she could do about it. She reached down and cautiously felt her stomach. Inside, a miraculous event was occurring. Rachel sighed at the thought that her child would grow up without the love of a father. With tears glistening in her eyes, she turned her head towards the window. No stars were shining tonight to wish upon, and the moon hung alone in the sky. She wondered what path her life was heading down. The first time she had a baby, she never thought it would be alone. She sighed sadly and wondered where her baby's father was in the world, and if he had any clue as to what they were going through, would he even care?
Monica, Phoebe, Joey, and Chandler all came bursting through the door. "The doctor said you were awake!" exclaimed a breathless Monica. "How are you feeling?"
Rachel wiped a tear, the only evidence of her misery, off her cheek. "I'm alright, I guess. My head kind of hurts, but other than that, I'm ok."
"We know about the baby," Phoebe said quietly as they all began to drag chairs around her bedside.
Monica reached for Rachel's hand. "You know we'll be here for you the whole time, Rach. We're gonna love this baby to death!"
Chandler chimed in. "Yeah, and if you don't want to tell us who the father is yet, that's totally ok."
"Thanks, you guys. And I really don't think I should say anything about the father yet. You guys don't know him, and he's not from here. It's just nice to know you guys will be here."
"What else are friends for?" asked Joey with a small grin.
Chandler held up a McDonalds bag. "We brought you some food. Are you hungry?"
Monica snatched the bag away from him. "Now that you're pregnant, you have to eat healthier. No more junk food for you," she instructed somewhat sternly.
Rachel couldn't help but smile at this. "Ok, Mom."
"I'm going to have so much fun cooking for you," Monica went on. "I can try out all these special recipes and whichever ones you like best, we'll save. That way, when I become pregnant, Chandler can cook them for me!"
"W-w-what!?" exclaimed Chandler. "Y-y-you're pregnant!?"
"No! I said when."
"Oh." His face became very uneasy. "Joe, can I ah-talk to you in the hall for a minute?" Chandler got up and motioned for Joey to follow him.
"I think you scared him, Mon," Joey said before following Chandler.
"Now why did you do that?" Phoebe asked. "My job is to scare and tease him and yours is to comfort and sleep with him. It works perfectly, so don't be getting any crazy ideas that we're switching! 'Cause this," she motions to herself and the chair where Chandler had been sitting minutes before, "is not gonna happen!"
"Calm down, Pheebs! I wanted to scare him away so we could talk to Rachel alone."
"Ahh. Very smart."
Monica glanced over at Rachel who was staring off into space with one hand tentatively resting atop her belly. Very gently, she began to talk to her. "Sweetie, are you ok? 'Cause even though you said you were, it doesn't look like it."
Rachel looked up at Monica, her brow furrowed and lip being bitten by her bottom teeth. "It's taking all of my strength not to cry right now. I'm having a really hard time believing that this is happening to me."
"Rach, you can cry. That's why we're here. C'mon, we're your two best friends." Phoebe said.
Monica smoothed out her shirt, nervous of the question she was about to ask. "Honey, I'm going to ask you something. And if you don't want to tell us, we totally respect that. But if you think it will help, we're here for you. She cleared her throat and looked into Rachel's eyes. "Rachel, who is the father?"
Rachel's eyes began to fill with tears. Within seconds, her whole body was heaving with sobs. Monica and Phoebe immediately scooted closer to Rachel. Seeing their friend sobbing over something no one had any control over left them feeling rather helpless. "It's okay. Let it all out. Everything is going to be alright," soothed Phoebe.
"No it's not!" exclaimed Rachel through her tears. She sat upright and began to tell her story. "Everything is not going to be alright! Nothing in my life is all right. I'm having a baby! And guess who it's with? Some guy I knew for a day and a half! I was having the worst Christmas ever. I was alone, my parents had just gotten divorced, and I made this rash decision to move across the country to make something of myself. I could have lived in California for the rest of my life and never have had to work. I meet this guy who is absolutely perfect in every single way. He is also alone on Christmas Eve with a heartbreaking story. Our paths cross in Nowhereville, Pennsylvania and have some hot chocolate.among other things. We both have the best Christmases ever. After spending the night with him, I left. I could have stayed, you know. He was so right for me I every way. If I had stayed, we probably would have been together forever. But then again, I wouldn't have met you guys. Now, I'm having his baby and I have absolutely no idea what to do." She slumped back onto her pillow.
"Wow," breathed Monica. "I bet it felt good to get that off your chest.
Phoebe looked very serious. "Rachel, do you know who that man was? He was your lobster!" She saw the confused looks on Monica and Rachel's faces. "No, no. Let me explain."
"Every person has some other person they were meant to be with. This one person compliments the other so well it is hard to believe. Some people spend their whole lives searching for this one other person that they are meant to be with. Some people call them soul mates, others call them true loves. I prefer to think of them as lobsters. 'Cause when lobsters get old, they walk around their tanks together claw in claw." She demonstrates. "Lobsters fall in love and mate for life. From everything you said and this psychic vibe I am getting, it sounds like this man is your lobster. You two were brought together by fate, and you will see him again someday. That's what happens with lobsters. When two people are meant to be together that much, their paths will cross until they realize it too. Mark my words, you will see him again. It's written in the stars."
Rachel hung on to every word Phoebe said. "That was either the wisest or weirdest thing I have heard in my entire life."
"Consider it the wisest," Phoebe said with a smile.
"Rach, that guy sounds really great. If what Phoebe said was actually true, I can't wait to meet him!" exclaimed Monica. She said slyly with a wink, "Just make sure I don't take him instead!"
This made Rachel giggle, but Phoebe was disturbed. "Ew, no! That would be so wrong! I can just tell the guy she described is not right for you in that way. No, it would be wrong, just wrong!"
"Ok," said a bewildered Monica. "Anyhow, I have Chandler. Speaking of which, I had better go find him before I let Joey give him too much advice."
"Are you going to be ok now?" asked Phoebe.
Rachel smiled a small smile and placed her hand protectively on her abdomen. "Yeah, I think we'll be alright. Can one of you pick me up tomorrow?"
"Sure," they replied. After saying goodbye to her two best friends, she was all alone.
'Tomorrow I will se if I can get a hold of Ross. Whether he wants to hear it or not, he deserves to know that he's going to be a father,' she thought. 'Didn't he say he worked in Sedona? That's a pretty small town, so somehow I should be able to contact him.'
She drifted off into a somewhat peaceful slumber, having Phoebe's comforting 'Lobster Theory' to lull her to sleep. Although she would have no memory of them when she awoke the following morning, her dreams that night were of lobsters and babies.
****
Ahead of Ross was a fork in the road. One direction headed towards the right, which would lead him north to New York. If he took the path on the left, he would be on his way back to Arizona. He paused for a moment and took a deep breath. This was it. If he turned left, he could go home and try to find another job somewhere. He could return to his life of comfort and no risk. He looked to the sky for an answer. No stars were out tonight, and the moon he gazed upon was the same one that Rachel had just minutes before. His mind told him to go back to Arizona, yet his heart sang a different song. 'Go to her,' it seemed to say.
For the first time in his life, Ross Geller listened to his heart and not his head. He was going to New York. He was going to find the woman who had made such an impact on his life. He turned to the right and drove on. She came as quick as she had left, but not without leaving a kiss on his cheek, and footprints on his heart. And he was determined to find her.
TBC.
So tell me what you think about that chapter. It was mainly a filler chapter but a lot of action is coming up soon. So if you review, you may motivate me to post another chapter soon! Thanks! Mel