Remember, this story began as an alternate season 10, and over two years have passed, so it is now about February/March in what would have been season 12. Re-read the story for any other plot details.

I have decided to make David's last name Frink, after Professor John Frink, a character on The Simpsons voiced by Hank Azaria. Phoebe's name is now Phoebe Buffay Frink, so she finally has a middle name.

On Friday evening, while her husband Chandler was visiting Joey in L.A., Monica brought her son Daniel over to Phoebe and David's apartment. (Since Monica still claimed to be allergic to the chick and the duck, Phoebe herded them into the other room right after she buzzed Monica into the building.)

"Thanks for babysitting, Pheebs." She handed over the toddler and a bag of his favorite toys and stuff.

"No problem. Why should Chandler have all the fun? You deserve a night out too."

Monica smiled. "Yeah, you know, I'm really looking forward to it. I've been working too many hours lately and I need a break."

"Sure!" Phoebe encouraged her. "You're only human. Let your hair hang down tonight! Get drunk! Woo-hoo!" She loved drunk Monica.

Monica laughed and shook her head. "I won't go that far. It's just a friendly dinner, not a bachelorette party! Anyway, thanks for convincing Chandler to go visit Joey. Are you sure he doesn't suspect anything?" She really didn't want Chandler to get jealous and paranoid, like he did over Richard.

"Of course not. I promise. All he's thinking about right now is Joey." Phoebe wondered whether they were still arguing about that "home wrecker" business, or having sex already. She hoped that Chandler would call her back and report to her soon about his progress.

"All right, but if he somehow finds out, then you are taking the blame for this, because you talked me into it."

"Fine, fine!" Phoebe pushed her toward the door. "Now go have fun, Monica."

"All right. See you later." Monica gave her son a kiss goodbye, then left for her secret dinner with Don, the gourmet cheese importer.

After closing the door, Phoebe smiled and sat down with Danny. "Hey, Danny! Remember your aunt Phoebe? Can you say Phoebe? Phoebe?"

Danny could only manage, "Fee-fee," so Phoebe put on a French accent and pretended that her name was Fifi. "Oui, monsieur. You can tell that I was French in a past life, uh-huh?"

Danny laughed at her strange voice, then Phoebe went to let the chick and the duck out of the other room. Soon they all made funny sounds and played together in the living room, while Phoebe periodically glanced at the clock.

Waiting was the hardest part of her puppet master plan. Phoebe didn't like being uninvolved in the action and not knowing what was happening. In trying to fix her friends' romantic problems, she felt that she should have more direct control over her friends' actions, but Phoebe knew that there were limits to her influence, and sometimes people acted stupidly or stubbornly despite her best advice, like Ross and Rachel had done for so many years. Phoebe herself had acted stupidly when she dumped David for Mike for a while, but luckily, she had realized her mistake and corrected it; therefore she had faith that destiny would also make things right for Joey and Chandler and Monica and Don, no matter how long it might take.

While she was babysitting, Phoebe's husband David came home with their baby Frannie. "Hey, sweetie!" She kissed him, then took her daughter while he took off his coat.

Then he said hello to their guest for the evening. "Oh, Danny, you're getting to be a big boy, now!"

Phoebe started making dinner in the kitchen, while David attempted to get Danny to interact with Frannie, but the children were too far apart in age and didn't really get along. After a noisy and tumultuous dinner, the Frinks finally decided that it was best to keep the kids separated for the sake of tranquility.

So David took Frannie into her bedroom to read her a bedtime story, while Phoebe remained in the living room with Danny and the birds.

Then the phone rang, and Phoebe answered it, hearing Monica's voice on the other end. Finally, she'd get a progress report.

"Hi, Mon! Oh yeah, Danny's doing fine. I mean, Daniel." She rolled her eyes and hoped that finding true love would counteract Monica's anal and controlling nature. "So, you wanna say hello to him? Okay, Danny, talk to your mommy." She held the phone toward the toddler.

After some cute incoherent babbling, the boy said bye to his mommy and went back to playing with the pet birds. Phoebe put the phone back to her ear and asked Monica, "Anyway, how was your dinner with Don? Oh, you're still at the restaurant?" She grinned and took on a gossipy tone, "So, is he still hot, Mon? Ooh! Yeah, don't you just love his British accent?"

David, who had just come back to the living room after putting Frannie down in her crib, was rather confused and concerned by what he overheard.

Phoebe giggled and chatted blithely, "See! Didn't I tell you that you'd have fun with him? Sure, go ahead! Stay out with him longer. We can handle Danny. Okay, bye!"

After she hung up, David coughed behind her. "Uh, Phoebe?"

She turned and smiled at her husband. "Hey, honey. So Frannie got to sleep all right?"

David nodded and sat down with her on the couch. "Uh, Phoebe, did you, did you just tell Monica to, uh, to stay out longer with some hot British guy?"

"Yeah, I did. That's Don. Remember? That's why we had to babysit for her tonight. They're having dinner."

"I know, but you told me that it was some kind of business dinner, honey. Butbut the way you were talking just now... I mean, what about her husband Chandler? He's out of town now, and I don't think he's going to like hearing about this when he comes back."

"Oh no, that's where you're wrong, David. Chandler already knows all about Monica having dinner with Don."

"Yeah, but for business"

"No, for a date. He knows all about it." She put a finger to her lips and hushed him.
"But don't tell Monica, though. She's not supposed to know yet!"

David became even more perplexed. "But honey, I don't understand. They're married. You're not supposed to, you know, go out on dates with other people when you're married." He took her hand and looked worried. Surely, despite her highly unorthodox life, Phoebe understood the basic rules of monogamy?

"Oh, I know that, honey. I'm not seeing anybody else," she reassured him with a kiss. "But see, it's different with Monica and Don. It's all right because he's her soulmate! They're meant to be together."

David's eyebrows furrowed. "I thought Chandler was Monica's soulmate."

"No!" She waved her hand dismissively. "No, he's just a temporary substitute guy, likelike Mike was for me."

David grimaced automatically at the name of his one-time rival for Phoebe's love; Phoebe hadn't mentioned Mike in a long time.

Phoebe kissed him sweetly and explained, "Look, remember how stupid I was over Mike? I thought that playing it safe with Mike was better than taking a risk with you again. But I should have just trusted my heart and known how much I love you, David. Well, with Monica, it's the same thing. She got tired of waiting for the perfect guy to have a family with, so after they hooked up for sex, she convinced herself that she loved Chandlera nice safe guy with some neurotic problems that she could fix. Then they lived together and got married and had a baby. But it won't work out between them. It can't. I mean, I even wrote a whole book years ago, on all the flaws in their relationship, if you wanna see it. I just have to find"

"No, no, nevermind." David still struggled to see her point. "So you're saying that they're not soulmates? That Monica belongs with this Don guy? But what about Chandler?"

"He has a soulmate too. That's why I sent him to L.A., so they could hook up."

"But I thought he was just visiting Joey?"

"He is, and then they'll hook up, and he'll convince Joey to come home, and then everybody can be happy. Voila."

"Chandler and Joey?" David stared at her in disbelief. "But they're not gay."

She laughed. "Gay, bi, whateverthey're in love."

"In love? No, they're just friends." At least, that was what David knew of them from his acquaintance with Phoebe's circle. "Um, honey, is this another one of your psychic visions?" He tried not to look skeptical, but he was a scientist after all.

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Just listen, you Scientist Guy, you!" She then told her husband all about Chandler's confession the other day, that he had kissed Joey, and that Joey had moved to L.A. to prevent breaking up Chandler's family.

David was quite shocked, having never suspected it. "Butyou mean all this time...?"

"Yes! So, anyway, Chandler needed some help figuring out how to end things with Monica and how to get Joey back. He thought he had waited too long already, but I showed him how to fix it all." Phoebe quickly explained her puppetmaster plan to him. "Then Monica ends up with Don, and Chandler with Joey. Everything works out perfectly."

David was not so confident about the plan, though. "Wait, Phoebe, are you sure you want to break up a family like this? What if Joey doesn't love Chandler anymore? What if Monica doesn't love this Don guy? And what about Danny?"

"He'll be fine. They'll work out some kind of joint custody arrangement. Besides, Chandler said that he was going to divorce Monica anyway, whether or not Joey loves him. He can't take it anymore, hiding his feelings and staying married just for Danny's sake. That would be like Carol staying with Ross just for Ben's sake. It's wrong and would only make things worse. Families should stay together only for real love, not just for the kid."

"But still, it's risky to interfere"

"I know what I'm doing, David! Monica will be much happier with her soulmate Don. They're meant to be together."

"How do you know?" He was getting frustrated.

"Because I do. Honey, I know you weren't here for most of it, but trust me, Monica has changed a lot since she and Chandler got together, and mostly it's been for the worse. She wasn't nearly as uptight and shrill and loud as she is now. And she's so concerned with appearances lately, making sure that things seem perfect, that she doesn't relax as much or even go out and get drunk. Deep down, she's unhappy and knows that Chandler's not the one for her. I just need to nudge her until she knows that she knows it."

David remained unconvinced, but Phoebe insisted, getting up and telling him that she would find one of the books that she had written years ago about Marsha and Chester's flawed relationship. David reluctantly agreed to read it, but he glanced Danny with fear and doubt about the consequences of this divorce on the boy.

At nearly 10 o'clock that night, Monica finally arrived to pick up Danny. The children, the birds, and David had gone to bed already, but Phoebe had stayed awake by the telephone, impatiently awaiting news from either Chandler or Monica.

Phoebe buzzed Monica into the building and soon opened the apartment door with an eager smile. "Hi. How was dinner?"

"Uh, fine. I-I'm sorry I was late." Monica seemed distracted and subdued. "Can I get Daniel now?"

Phoebe shushed her and herded Monica toward the couch instead. "In a minute. He's asleep in the other room. Before we go wake him up, tell me how the rest of your date went."

"It-it wasn't a date." Monica avoided Phoebe's eyes. "It was just dinner."

"Um, yeah, that's what I meant. So how was it?"

"Fine. Uh, how was Daniel tonight? Did he eat your tofu vegetarian stuff or throw it?"

"Both." Phoebe looked at her suspiciously. "What happened?"

"Nothing! Nothing happened." Monica was jumpy and defensive.

"Come on, what's wrong? You were all happy and relaxed before. Something happened."

"Nothing. We just had dinner, and we talked, and then we said goodnight. That's it."

"Okay."

Fidgeting under Phoebe's stare, Monica got up and turned to go get her son, but Phoebe followed and pestered her, "Are you gonna see him again?"

"No!" Monica halted and seemed alarmed by that idea. "No, why would I see him again?"

Phoebe shrugged and spoke casually, "Well, 'cause you have the whole weekend free with Chandler in L.A. You could go out again, and he'd never find out."

Monica glared at her, and started to get suspicious about Phoebe's motives. "This was your idea." She blinked and frowned at the memory. "He saidwe were talking about youand Don said that you had a psychic premonition that we'd make some big business deal about Javu's and become very successful."

"Oh yeah. So did you guys make the deal?"

Monica didn't answer that. "Why didn't you tell me that you had that premonition, if it was so important?"

Phoebe skirted the question. "'Cause my vision said that Don would tell you, not me."

"And Don didn't call you first; you called him."

"Uh-huh. Because of my vision. Keep up, Monica."

Monica grew frustrated with her. "Why did you do this! Did you know?" she accused.

"Know what?"

"Did you see it happen!"

Phoebe said nothing, but bluffed with a knowing smile.

Monica wavered about whether she believed in Phoebe's psychic abilities, and how much she might know or guess. Finally she broke down and started to cry. "I-I kissed him."

"Oh, Mon!" Phoebe was quite pleased, but quickly covered her smile as she walked over to Monica. Then Phoebe hugged her and led her back to the couch soothingly. "It's okay. Let it out."

"I-I didn't mean to!" Monica struggled through her tears and guilt. "I didn't!"

"I know, honey." Phoebe patted her head. "But you're only human."

"It was just dinner! It was just" She sobbed, and it was quite some time before she could confess what had happened between the dinner and the kiss.

They had a lively conversation over dinner, critiquing various upscale restaurants in New York and catching up on each other's lives for the past four years. Don was surprised to learn that Phoebe was married and had a baby, which she had not mentioned on the phone at all.

"How odd. Perhaps she was too intent on convincing me of her premonition."

"What?"

Don told her about Phoebe's premonition, then shrugged and chuckled skeptically. "But all the same, I'm delighted for the excuse to see you again, and to hear about all your good fortune. You'll be buying a house next, I suppose?" He joked, "Not one made of cheese, of course?"

"No, Chandler hates stinky cheese."

"Oh, of course. Such a pity." Speaking of cheese, Don raved about an exquisite new shipment from France that had arrived at his warehouse, and he invited Monica to come sample it. She gladly accepted his offer, then excused herself to call Phoebe and check in on Daniel. Meanwhile Don paid the bill, and they left the restaurant together.

At the warehouse, Don took her on a tour through many rows of strong-smelling cheese, enough to make a connoisseur swoon.

"All the best things come from France!" Monica exclaimed. "Oh, wouldn't you just love to lose yourself for hours here?"

Don nodded and smiled. "It's the closest I'll ever come to living in a house of cheese!"

They laughed and chatted enthusiastically about the wonderful food and culture of France. Monica said that she'd always wanted to live in Paris for a year and study French cooking, but Don said that she had no need to learn anything, being an accomplished chef already.

She was quite flattered, and Don continued, "Still, if you should like to take a holiday there sometime, you could borrow my villa and tour the countryside where all the best wines and cheeses are made."

"Oh, that would be wonderful! Is it beautiful there?"

"It's exquisite. I wish I could stay there more often, but business calls me here."

Finally they strolled into his office, where he had a special sample of cheese set aside, along with a bottle of wine. Finding two glasses and taking out a knife, Don cut a few slices from the wedge and poured a little wine to wash down the cheese.

Sitting on his desk, they toasted to "renewing old acquaintances," then ate the cheese. Don remarked appreciatively, "Doesn't that just melt in your mouth? It goes excellently with this wine too."

"Mmm." Monica agreed and savored the flavor. "It's incredible."

"It's a shame that your husband doesn't share your tastes, or I'd give you some to take home with you."

Monica sighed. "His idea of good cheese is macaroni and cheese with cut up hot dogs."

Don grimaced. "Does he make you cook that for him? What a waste!"

She shrugged. "I still try to sneak in some fine cuisine, when I have the time to make itwhat with the baby and the restaurant."

"Of course." He looked sympathetic. "You certainly do have a lot of demands on your time. But that's as it should be. Ever since I first tasted your cooking at Allesandro's, Monica, I recognized that you had enormous talent. I always knew you'd be a top chef at a top restaurant some day, and now you are. I'm very happy for you. You deserve it all and more."

She blushed and looked shy. "Thank you."

"I'm glad that you found a little time to see me again tonight. It's been much too long." He reached over to touch her hand.

"It has." Monica looked up from their hands to his face, and both fell silent as they smiled at each other. Gazing into his eyes and getting caught up in the romantic moment, she impulsively leaned close and kissed him.

Abruptly breaking it off, Don stammered and nearly tripped over his desk as he backed away. "I-IMonica, I didn't mean" He gulped and looked appalled. "You're married, and you have a son"

Shocked at her behavior, she gasped and felt ashamed. "I-I know! I'm sorry. Oh God!" How could she forget her own husband and child?

"No, it's, it's my fault!" he protested. "I-I was flirting too much. But I-I only meant us to be friends, I swear..."

They both continued apologizing to each other and cleaning up after the wine and cheese. Then he locked his office up and hurriedly led her out of the warehouse. At her car, they exchanged awkward goodbyes and more embarrassed apologies before she drove away.

"I didn't mean to!" she repeated as she sobbed in Phoebe's arms. "It was just, something about the momentthe darkened office, the wine, the way we had been talking about France... I forgot myself. It felt like a date, and I just"

"Well, he is very hot and irresistible," Phoebe said, unhelpfully. "I like older men, don't you?"

Monica continued to cry. "Oh my God, Phoebe, what's wrong with me? I'm horrible! Horrible!"

Phoebe hugged her closer and patted her back again. "It's okay, Monica. You can't help it. You're just falling in love with your soulmate."

"He's not my soulmate!" Monica found it quite inappropriate for Phoebe to bring up that old nickname at a time like this. "Stop calling him that!"

"But he is, Monica! You might not believe it yet, but it's your destiny. That's why I set up this dinner for you guys."

"What?" Upset, Monica suddenly pulled away and glared at her. "Youyou planned this!"

Phoebe nodded as if it sounded perfectly logical. "Yeah, so you guys could fall in love and be together. And don't worry about Chandler, either. He wants a divorce too, but he was just afraid of telling you about it. See, he's in love with Joey."

"What!" Monica stood up and shouted furiously.

In Los Angeles, it was only 7:30 that night, and Joey and Chandler were having dinner at his apartment when the telephone rang. It was Monica, mad as hell and yelling at them for being gay and cheating on her. Clearly, she'd just found out about them from Phoebe.

Chandler tried to apologize and explain everything in between Monica's outbursts. "I'm sorry! I didn't want to lie to you. I was going to tell you when I got home tomorrow that I want a divorce."

"You bastard! And you cooked up some scheme with Phoebe to make me cheat first?"

"I didn't mean it like that! Phoebe said that you'd love him and be happy. Then maybe you and me could divorce amicably."

Monica scoffed. "You just want to get out of your guilt for leaving me! Well, guess what, I'm leaving you now! Don't bother coming back from L.A., Chandler! I'm tossing out all your stuff and getting a lawyer first thing in the morning! You'll never see Daniel again!"

"Monica!" Joey tried to protest, but she hung up on them.

They sighed heavily, utterly demoralized by the fight. What a disaster this was! And yet, somehow Chandler wasn't really surprised, because he had a feeling that Phoebe's plan wouldn't work out so neatly.

Joey finally broke the uncomfortable silence and hugged him. "You okay?"

Chandler shrugged. "I guess so. I mean, it's almost a relief to have finally told her now."

Joey was worried. "What are you gonna do about your kid? You think she meant that?"

"I-I guess I'll have to cut my trip short and go home tomorrow morning. You know, try to find myself a good lawyer quickly so I can fight for custody or visitation rights."

"Yeah." Joey felt sad and guilty about being a home wrecker again. "Should I come with you?"

Chandler thought about it, then shook his head. "I don't know. It might not help, and you already promised to watch Maddy for Sarah, right?"

Joey nodded, but he didn't want to say goodbye to Chandler yet. They'd only been together for one afternoon and evening, not even a full day.

Chandler continued, "I guess Phoebe can help me out with the divorce and finding a place to stay. Although, I should probably talk with her about why on earth she suddenly had to spill the beans to Monica like that." He got up from the table and started to clear away the dishes.

Joey helped him, and they washed up in the kitchen, letting the ordinary chore be a welcome distraction from their troubles.

After a while, Chandler finally murmured pensively, "Joey, if I don't win custody"

"Don't say that!" Joey didn't want him to imagine such a scenario.

"But if I don't..." He winced and struggled to finish the thought. "If I lose Danny, then at least wewe could adopt Maddy, right?"

Joey fidgeted. "Um, yeah. If you want to." But would this adoption really cheer him up and fill the void after losing his son? Would Chandler be sad and come to resent Joey? So he spoke cautiously, "But, uh, we don't know if Sarah really wants to give Maddy up yet."

"Oh, right." Chandler continued quietly, trying to sound hopeful, "But wewe could ask Phoebe to give us the chick and the duck back, you know. We'll all live together again, and it'llit'll be like old times." His voice cracked, and he tried to hide his tears.

Joey held him again and kissed him. "I'm sorry."

"I know." Chandler kissed him back and returned the embrace. They stood close together, wordlessly crying and kissing each other comfortingly for several minutes. Then Chandler wiped away his tears and swallowed, whispering, "Joey, can I stay here with you tonight?"

Joey hesitated and backed away. "Are you sure? What about your hotel room?"

Chandler clung to him. "Please, Joe. I mean, wewe were only going to postpone sex until I told Monica about the divorce. Well, I've told her now." He looked into Joey's eyes imploringly. "And I have to go home tomorrow and deal with all of this... Please. I need you tonight."

"Okay." Joey gave in with a tender kiss. They turned out the light in the living room, then he led Chandler by the hand to his bedroom.

If you want sex, I'll post a more explicit version of the next chapter at Forever Fandom.