Chapter 18:
Forgive doesn't mean forget
The following morning…It wasn't a good moment to worry about Rachel…. Monica was in Chandler's arms resting comfortable and thinking about the night before. Monica and Chandler had made passionately love and Monica had really enjoyed it… it was like in the old times. The only think that worried Monica was Joey… Naturally, Rachel wasn't in her thoughts until she called her… The phone rang and Monica answered…
Monica- hi…
Rachel's voice on the phone- Mon! Thank goodness you are there! please, come here! I need to see you… I have a huge problem…
Monica- what's wrong? Where are you?
Rachel's voice- I have just got out the hospital… please… meet me in the coffee shop that's in front of the Beth Israel hospital… Emma and I will wait for you there.
Monica- but what happened? What were you doing in the hospital again?
Rachel's voice- I'll explain you when you get here…
Monica- ok… I'll be there in half an hour…
Monica woke Chandler and explained to him the situation… then she took the twins and drove all the way to the Beth Israel Hospital, it was 15 minutes away… the traffic make her be 15 minutes later than she should… she found Rachel sited in the coffee house that was in front of the hospital with Emma… she walked towards them with the twins in their stroller. Emma was eating a cookie and when she saw Monica and the twins she started to jump excitedly…
Emma- hi… aumt MomThe two year old still mispronounced the "n"… Monica smiled at Emma and picked her up…
Monica- hi Emma!… are you ok?
Emma nodded and took another cookie.
Rachel- hi…
Monica- hi Rach… sorry I'm late…
Rachel- you are not late… I'm late… I'm three weeks late!
Monica looked at her best friend in shock and very confused.
Monica- what?
Rachel- I'm pregnant…
Monica- oh… Honey… are you sure?
Rachel- yes… I just went to see my doctor… that is why I told you to meet in front on the hospital, on "I'm in hell" street.
Monica- but… Who is the father?
Rachel- Ross is…
Monica's jaw dropped… she was speechless. Ross knocked up Rachel again? When did they have sex? Were they back together?… too many questions in Monica's head… finally she could ask Rachel one of those questions.
Monica- are you back with Ross?
Rachel- no! I'm not dating Ross again… we had sex once… two months ago, it happened two weeks after Emma got sick… it was Emma's first night home after being in the hospital for two weeks and I was scared so we had….
Monica didn't need to hear the rest… she knew exactly what Rachel was going to say, so she said for her.Monica- comfort sex
Rachel- exactly
Monica nodded… she knew a lot about comfort sex… she could understand it perfectly.
Monica- so… what are you going to do?
Rachel's eyes filled with tears….
Rachel- I have not idea Mon… oh my! I can't believe I'm having a second baby and I'm still single… How could this happen to me twice?
Monica- I don't know honey…
Rachel- I can't go trough all that AGAIN! I mean… I love Emma… I'm glad I had her and I already love this new baby too… but is too dam hard to raise a kid being single…
Monica was a single mother who was raising twins, so she knew exactly what Rachel was talking about.
Monica- I know is very hard being a single mother… but Rachel… you are doing it great with Emma, you are a wonderful mother and you can do it again, don't be afraid… plus… we can help each other
Rachel- that's right… everything is going to be ok… I have my friends and Ross will help me to raise this kid too…
The mention of Ross's name brought up other of the questions Monica had in her head.
Monica- Rachel… if you have to do it, you will do a wonderful job raising two kids alone… but are you sure you don't love Ross? Are you sure you don't want to marry him?
Rachel- Mon… please…
Rachel was obviously not in the mood to talk about her feelings for Ross.
Monica- all I'm saying is that there must be a reason why you two couldn't really move on with your lives…
Rachel- but there was a reason why we broke up… I could never forgive him for cheating on me… I could never let that go…
Monica- but if you really love him you have to forgive him… just like I forgave Chandler
Now Rachel's jaw dropped…Rachel- what?
Monica- I had sex with Chandler last night… and we are together again…
Rachel- oh my god! Poor Joey! He will be devastated…
Guilt took over Monica… She had broken Joey's heart… Monica's blue eyes filled with tears.
Monica- I know… Oh Rach… Joey is so wonderful and sweet… and I was really happy with him…
Rachel- but you don't love Joey… don't you?
Monica- I don't think I love him like he loves me… but I was getting there… I was falling for him…
Rachel- then what happened last night?
Monica- Chandler happened….
Rachel- but Mon… How can you be with Chandler again after what he did? I mean… How can you forget what he did to you?
Monica- I didn't forget! I will never forget… I just forgave him because I want to be with him…
But Monica couldn't help wondering… Could a person really forgive without forgetting? She new one thing for certain: she had to try… she had to make her relationship with Chandler work… she needed it to work. However… before she could do that she had one unsolved issue… Monica went to the Central Perk with her twins in their stroller. There was Joey… with a big muffing before him… but he was too sad to eat it. They looked at each other and they were both very uncomfortable… they had not idea what to say… But Elizabeth broke the silence… the baby saw Joey and she pointed at him excitedly.
Elizabeth- daddy! Daddy! Daddy!
Then little Joey clapped his little hands excitedly…
Little Joey- Daddy… Monica and Joey looked at each other confused… then Joey smiled and picked up the twins…Joey- hi… little babies
Monica- they must think you are their father because you spend so much time with them…Joey nodded feeling incredibly uncomfortable.
Joey- yes… I do spend a lot of time with them…
Monica took a sit on the Orange couch, right next to Joey.
Monica- Joey… about last night…Joey interrupted her… He knew very well that Monica was with Chandler again… he saw it coming right after the fight, when Monica helped Chandler instead of him… so, when he find out that morning that Chandler spent the night in Monica's apartment it wasn't a big shock… but it did caused Joey a lot of pain.
Joey- is ok… I know everything…
Monica- Joey, I'm sorry…
Joey- don't be! It wasn't your fault…. I mean… you don't decide who you love… you can't stop your feelings… I'm sure that you didn't hurt me on purpose…
Monica- but I did hurt you… and I AM sorry…
Joey- I'm hurt… but is my own fault… I should have never date you because I knew deep down something like this was going to happen…
Monica saw that Joey was really hurt and she felt the tears falling down her cheeks again… what made her feel worse was that she had probably lost Joey's friendship forever because of what she did. She took his hand to his surprise.
Monica- Joey… I know that nothing will be the same again… but Can we still be friends?
Joey- I don't think so…
Monica- Joey… please… the twins love you so much…
Joey- but Mon… even if I could forgive you… I will be gone in one week…
Monica- what?
Joey- I got a great job in Los Angeles… so… I will move there with my sister Gina.
Monica- oh…
Joey- is going to be very good for my career… moving to L.A. will help me to become a very famous actor. This is my big break! Is what I need Mon.
Monica sighed… she didn't want to loose Joey, but she needed to stop being selfish. L.A. was really what Joey needed, so… she simply said…
Monica- then I'm happy for you, Joe…
That same night… Phoebe was in the Central Perk with Mike and baby Lily… suddenly Rachel came inside with Emma. The couple noticed that Rachel was very nervous… Phoebe- what is it Rach? Rachel- well… I have a problem and I don't know how to solve it… Phoebe- hey… I'm the puppet master of the group… tell me what's the problem and I will tell you what to do…Rachel- the thing is…. Well… eh…
Phoebe- Come on Rachel Karen Green! Spit it!
Rachel suddenly yelled:
Rachel- I'm pregnant again and Ross is the father!
At that moment, Rachel saw Ross coming out of the Central Perk's bathroom… he had a shocked expression on his face.
Ross- what?
Rachel- I'm pregnant again Ross… and is your baby…
Ross- oh my God! I have to go!
Rachel- What?
Ross- I have to sue that condom company!
Saying that Ross left and the rest of them stayed there in shock… apparently Ross wasn't going to forgive the condom company this time. Phoebe- by the way… Ross is in the bathroom…Rachel- too late Phoebe! Couldn't you have tell me that before I spoke…
Phoebe- I didn't know you were going to say that!
Mike looked at the two girls in disbelieve…Mike- am I the only one who is concerned because Ross went to sue the condom company instead of talking to Rachel about the baby?
Phoebe- don't worry honey… that is his normal reaction to this kind of situations…
Rachel- yes, he will act normally later… I'm not worry about that…
Monica entered in the coffee house; she was very well dressed with a black short dress.
Monica- hi… I have a question… why did Ross just told me that he had to go to talk with his lawyer? Did he get married again?
Rachel- no honey… he is just going to sue the condom company…
Monica wasn't surprised at all… she just sited on the orange couch and very casually she said:
Monica- of course he is…
Phoebe- tell us… why are so well dressed?
Monica- Chandler is taking me to the Rainbow Room…
Rachel- oh… nice… a fancy reconciliation dinner…
Monica- and he also gave me this…
She showed them a necklace that was made of gold and had a diamond on it.
Phoebe- OH MY GOD!
Monica- is from Tiffany's…
Rachel- he would do anything to get you to forgive him completely… wouldn't he?
Phoebe- I think is sweet… a diamond says "I love you"
Monica- well… this diamond says: "I'm sorry and I swear I will not fuck somebody else again"
Rachel- oh… so… is a talking diamond.
Monica- frankly… he doesn't need to give me all this for me to forgive him… I already have…
Rachel- and you made that very clear when you had sex with him without even breaking up with Joey first.
Rachel's tone had been very judgmental during the whole conversation… and Monica was getting sick of it…
Monica- you seem to be having very strong opinions today…
Rachel- yes… I think you are being a fool going back with a cheating man… I mean… who says Chandler is not going to "get confused" again? Who says he is not going to fuck another man again the next time your marriage gets a little hard?
That was exactly what Monica feared the most… that Chandler might cheat on her again. And just when she was about to dismiss that idea her cell phone rang… it was Chandler saying that he had to work late… that he couldn't make it to dinner.
And suddenly Monica realized that she wasn't neither forgiving nor forgetting.
To be continued…THANK YOU! Thank you for all the wonderful reviews…. You are all making me very happy!
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