Opening Night

If you ask Monica Geller-Bing what she was truly great at, she would probably tell you that she was a master at many things. Cooking, cleaning, sexual prowess, fitness, games of chance, games of skill, athletic competitions, knowing all the names of Joey Tribbiani's sisters (in order from oldest to youngest), Christmas gift hiding, decorating; the list would be endless. However, if pressed to name just one thing that she is the absolute best at, she would have to admit that her greatest gift is her ability to forge order out of chaos.

There is not a tangled mess of a situation that she could not untie. Need to plan a last-minute surprise party? She's your gal. You only have three days to pack-up and dispose of an apartment filled with junk, saved for decades by an anti-social hoarder-hermit? She's your coordinator. You need someone to cater an on-again, off-again, on-again lesbian wedding? Done, with nary a tear shed. You need help turning a bulldozed building into a gorgeous space, perfect for a wedding ceremony? She's got you and that hole in the wall covered. You need someone to coordinate a wedding during a blizzard? Just hand her a headset and watch her go.

So, when the chance to turn an empty, worn, husk of a store into a brand-new restaurant with a timeline of only three-and-a-half months arose, she was practically drooling at the opportunity. Barely able to contain herself at the prospect of using her lifetime of organizational skills to accomplish the daunting task. She knew how much work was going to be involved once she accepted Nora Bing's offer, but she also knew how well she performed under that kind of pressure. She had to navigate past the holiday season, make it through New Year's and motivate people to work during the cold months of January, February and March in order to finish on time. She was able to stay on track thanks to the Mona Lisa schedule, which helped her run the household and keep track of the work being done in the restaurant. She was thrilled to get help from Charles Bing, who was now only dressing as Helena Handbasket, and his troupe of performers. She was firm and demanding, never accepting of even the slightest blemish throughout the entire process. Hazel Nuts and Crystal Queer, who were doing the woodwork, had confided in Chandler that this was the first straight woman who they were truthfully afraid of since they came out of the closet.

It was the longest three-and-a-half months of her life, and yet, at the same time, it was also the shortest. And as soon as she worked her last shift at Javu a week-and-a-half ago, taking herself and the best of the staff with her, time began to speed up. Everything was still right on schedule, but at a much more frenetic pace. Liquor license, permits, vendor orders, inspections; it flew past her, buzzing around her head, practically making her dizzy at times. Chaos in need of order.

And now, as she sits here at the edge of her bed, the morning of her restaurant's soft opening, a day that she has planned down to the last possible detail, she is still facing chaos that needs to bend to her will. A brand-new kind of chaos that had just reared its ugly head today. Staring her in the face and for the first time in her life, she is not sure what she is supposed to do with it or even how she can make any sense of it; so instead, she is going to ignore it. Work through it. Work around it. Avoid it by concentrating on her job and the rules and sweet beautiful order. Focus on what she could control now, and work out a plan for the newly discovered chaos later.

She stands up straight and shakes her head, putting her energy into getting dressed. She did not know exactly what to wear today. It is the end of March, and the weather is at that infuriatingly indecisive state. Stifling hot in the sun but freezing cold in the shade. It is that time of year where you would constantly be taking your sweater or coat off and on and off and on and off again; never able to find the perfect outfit for the temperamental temperature. She knows that later in the evening she will be wearing her chef's coat and hat with a simple pair of casual black slacks and her most comfortable work shoes; but for the afternoon leading up to when they are finally ready to open their doors for the first time, she wants to dress the part of the strong business owner, the sophisticated restauranteur who is stopping by her place of business to oversee the staff's preparations for tonight.

Everyone is coming. Helena and her entire group of drag queens, musicians and dancers from her new show would be there. Nora Bing was bringing a date and a few guests that she had declined to name. Her parents are coming, of course, along with Ross, Rachel, Phoebe and Mike. A few of her aunts, uncles and cousins would also make the trip from Long Island. Even Rachel's father was coming. When all is said and done, it will probably feel more like a party and less like the first night running her own restaurant, but it is a good way to test how well prepared they are going to be for the real deal, when the place is packed with actual paying customers for the first time.

Ross is already downstairs; he came over early to help out, making himself available for a possible emergency run to the restaurant depot outside of town or help fix any last-minute equipment malfunction. As frustrating as he can be at times, Monica knows how lucky she is to have a brother like him. He is always there for her when she needs him, and his overprotective tendencies have always let her know how much he loves her.

Chandler had left to run some errands after breakfast and her brother was watching the twins while she took a shower and got dressed. By the time she finished and made her way downstairs, Jack and Erica were already asleep, just at the beginning of their early afternoon nap. Ross put them in their cribs and then decided to wait for her downstairs in the living room, watching television at a low volume. As she steps into the room and looks down at her brother on the couch, he appears close to dozing off himself, his eyelids heavy and his head bobbing down uncontrollably. Ross doesn't even notice her in the room and only stirs when he hears the front door shut as Chandler returns home.

Chandler smiles as he approaches his wife, a colorful bouquet of flowers in his hand. He lets his eyes trail up-and -down her body as he takes in the ensemble Monica had put together. Her hair was loosely pulled back into a ponytail. She was wearing a dark, form fitting skirt and a white blouse which hugged her at her hips. "You look amazing." Monica smiles at the compliment. "These are for you, boss lady." He hands her the flowers and Monica blushes slightly as she gives him a kiss on the cheek.

"Oh, these are lovely. Let me put them in some water." She turns to leave, and heads into the kitchen.

Ross lifts his head, still a bit sluggish. "Boss lady? Oh, yeah, because of the restaurant."

"Oh no. I always called her…I mean, yes. Because of the restaurant. She's not the boss here at home. That would be ridiculous." Chandler looks down sheepishly. "We're both the boss."

Ross looks over at him, a skeptical expression on his face and Chandler decides to look towards the kitchen, avoiding his stare. Monica darts back into the hallway, already wearing her coat. She approaches her husband and places her hands on his chest. "Okay, now Chandler. Make sure to dress Jack and Erica in the outfits I laid out on our bed for tonight. My mom and dad will bring them back here at seven and put them to bed so we can stay. Also, I switched out your tie. The grey one will go much better with the suit I bought you than the one you chose. Okay, I'll be back at four so we can all go together tonight. Make sure everyone is ready to leave at five! I need everything perfect! Please do not have any dairy after lunch because you know it gives you gas."

Chandler blinks his eyes open wide and then nervously turns to Ross. "See, we're both the boss." Ross shakes his head and laughs.

Monica, a puzzled look on her face, decides to brush off their odd behavior and gives Chandler one more kiss on the corner of his mouth. She waves goodbye to Ross as she bounces down the hallway and out the door. Ross lets a louder, more obnoxious laugh escape his lips. "Oh, yeah. You make all the decisions together."

Chandler shudders out of embarrassment and finally takes his coat off. He walks past the entranceway to the living room towards the closet in the hall and notices that Ross' suit is carelessly flung over the back of the couch in the living room. "Hey man. I'll hang your suit up in the closet. You know Monica will kill you if you come to the opening with creases." He roughly picks up the suit and as he turns to hang it up, the coat drops to the floor and a small box falls from the inside pocket. He picks up the box and studies it for a moment. "Ross? What's this?" He opens it and gasps, jabbing the exposed diamond ring in Ross' direction.

Ross gets up from the couch and turns to face him. He breathes in deep and with one hand covers his mouth and with the other, he snatches the box from Chandler's hand. "Hey! Don't go through my stuff! And why is my jacket on the floor!"

Chandler looks at him and his eyes go wide. "Oh Ross, is this what I think it is? Please tell me that isn't what I think it is."

Ross looks down. "Yeah, it is. I thought tonight would be perfect night to, you know, propose to Rachel. All our family will be there. It's already a special occasion. What could be more special than a proposal?" Ross smiles proudly and a wistful look glosses over his eyes.

Chandler starts to wave both his index fingers in the air emphatically, crossing them over into an X at times to punctuate his word. "No. No. No-no-no. No-no-no-no-no! You can't do that. This isn't a special occasion for everyone. This is a special occasion for Monica. You can't turn her opening night into your engagement."

Ross screws up his face as his brow wrinkles in confusion. "What? Why not? She'll love it. Monica loves stuff like this. She's all about the romance!"

Chandler, a look of disbelief on his face, stammers and shakes his head. "Are you crazy or just an idiot? Do you not remember how mad she got when all you guys did was kiss on the same night she got engaged? Imagine what would happen tonight."

Ross relents a bit, but still appears not to fully understand what his brother-in-law is trying to say to him. "Yeah, but this is different."

Chandler, still frantically waving his hands, starts to speak in a more anxious tone. "No, it isn't. Not at all. Oh man, she is going to murder you. And now that I know about it, she's going to kill me too." Chandler hops around on his feet for a moment and then takes his fingers to his chin and calms down. "Unless I can convince her she needs me around to help take care of the babies." He then jabs his finger back at Ross, his agitated tone returning. "That'll never work. No, she will kill me. You have to wait. Can't you do it tomorrow? Or, next weekend? Why would you ever think doing it tonight at the restaurant would be a good idea."

"But nothing special is happening tomorrow. Look, if it makes you feel any better, I'll talk to Monica first." Ross looks down at his feet.

Chandler eyes his brother-in-law for a few moments. "No, you won't. You're doing that lying thing Joey told us about."

Ross, unconvincingly shakes his head. "Nuh-uh."

Chandler, his incredulous expression only being overshadowed by his bulging eyes. "Yuh-huh."

Ross straightens up and a serious expression falls over his face. "Okay. I promise I won't do it until I speak to Monica."

"Are you serious? You won't do anything until you talk to her?" Chandler puts his hands together as if pleading with Ross. "Please tell me you're serious."

Ross nods. "I am, cross my heart."

Chandler wipes his brow in an exaggerated manor and lets out a deep exhale in relief. "Oh, thank god. That would have been a disaster." He puts his hand on his heart as if he thought he was having a heart attack and then walks into the kitchen.

Ross smirks and looks at the ring box. "Oh yeah, I won't do it tonight. Sure, I'll talk to Monica. Pfft, yeah, right." He sticks the box in his pants pocket and sits back down on the couch.

Monica arrives at the restaurant, which is already bustling with commotion as tables are being moved into place. She looks up at the sign that is covered up on the front of the store and smiles. She had decided on a name and commissioned a local company to make the sign last month. She told no one what she picked and swore the members of her staff who did know to secrecy. The reveal would be part of the celebration.

She walks into the main lobby and can't seem to get the grin on her face to stop. Her cheeks are almost in pain from all the smiling she is doing. She walks back towards the kitchen, Julio, her sous chef is already there, prepping food. They have a staff of three line cooks for tonight, all already setting up their prep stations. The bar was fully stocked and a list of specialty cocktails were written down on some placards. She turns and looks at the specials' chalkboard. Everything is still written just as she had done two nights ago. Already solidifying the menu. Soon enough the waitstaff would arrive, and she could have a pre-shift meeting with the entire crew. This was going to be the easy part. The actual running of a restaurant for the night. That is a kind of chaos she is used to. The kind of chaos she can handle.

"Monica!"

Monica quickly turns around and smiles. "What are you doing here so early?"

Her father steps closer and wraps her in a tight hug. "I just had to see you before it got so busy. I dropped your mom off at your house, she wants to check and make sure everything is ready for tonight while we watch all the kids. You know how she can be. Everything has to be perfect."

Monica smiles and shakes her head. "Yeah, I know. I'm so happy to see you, but there isn't anything to see here yet."

"Nothing to see? I'm here to look at my little girl living her dream. The place is gorgeous! I am so proud of you."

Monica beams as he leans in and wraps her up again in his arms. Jack Geller kisses her one more time on the top of her head. "But why is the sign still covered up?"

"I'm going to have someone pull it off when we all get here tonight. It's a surprise."

Jack smiles again at his daughter and looks around the room. His chest puffs out as he can barely hold in his excitement. "You know princess, you did it. You always wanted this and you went out and did it."

"Well, I had help. Nora really did this."

"Oh nonsense. You are the one who is here right now, unless, is Nora here?" Jack starts to fuss with his hair a bit, trying to flatten a cowlick.

"Gross Dad. That's Chandler's Mom. Plus, what about my Mom. You know, your wife?"

"Well, funny that you mention that pumpkin. One time, while your mother was still pregnant with you, we decided to have a bet to see who could guess the sex. I said you were going to be a girl and she said she was having another boy. Well, as time went on, the stakes kept getting higher and higher, and well, long story short, your mom owes me a threesome."

"Oh, gross Dad. I don't want to hear about your weird sex stuff with Mom on my opening night. You are not allowed to try and have a threesome with my husband's mother. Especially tonight!" Jack Geller just winces a bit and nods reluctantly as he purses his lips in defeat. Monica shakes her head. More last-minute chaos she needed to hammer into shape.

By the time Monica returns home to change quickly into her chef's uniform and check on the twins, most of her houseguests have already arrived. Her father and mother were in the den with all four of their grandchildren. Jack and Erica, the center of attention as Ben and Emma goad them into playing with them on the floor, the older cousins trying to get the babies to walk back and forth while holding their hands. Only Erica is up to the task, already able to take a few steps as long as someone was there for her to hold onto. Jack seems to be content to slither along the ground as he moved from toy to toy.

Monica quickly loses her jacket and slides down to her knees in the den so she can have a few moments with her children, minutes that she had already allotted herself thanks to the Mona Lisa schedule. Once she feels that she spent as much time as she could cooing and cuddling her children and giving her niece and nephew big hugs, she went to the kitchen to see her friends quickly before she had to run upstairs and get changed. Rachel, Ross, Phoebe, Mike and Chandler were all there, sipping at coffee and chatting loudly.

Chandler turns his head as soon as she enters the room. "Hey! It's the prettiest chef in New York!" He jumps from his chair so he can pull her into his arms for a quick kiss. "How is it going?"

"Ugh, busy. Really busy. I only have a few minutes and then I need to get back there. Are you guys ready to go?"

Rachel brings her hands up to her chin, her lips quivering as if she were about to cry. Her voice becomes high pitched and some of the words are barely perceptible as she punctuates each one with hitched breath. "I just can't believe this is finally happening. I'm so happy for you!"

Monica immediately tears up and loosens herself from her husbands grasp so she can wrap her arms around her friend. "I know! I'm so happy too." The two women stand in the kitchen, crying as their breathing becomes erratic, overcome by the emotion.

Phoebe allows a frown to spread across her face as her eyes grow moist with tears. "Hey! I'm happy too!" She gets up and both women invite her in as they share a tearful three-way hug.

Chandler softly elbows Ross and chuckles. "This is not how we always imagined a threesome between them, huh?"

Ross twists his face into one of disgust. "Eww, dude. That's my sister and my girlfriend!"

Chandler looks up and nods as he lets his fingers dance along his chin. "Oh yeah, that was Joey, not you."

"I'm so happy that I can't even get mad at how much of a pig your husband is." Rachel squeaks out.

"I know, but I'm still going to yell at him about it later." Monica squeezes her two friends tightly, causing the moment to end as Phoebe yelps in pain.

"Monica! Too hard! Too hard!"

They separate and start to laugh as they sniffle through a few more tears. Mike grabs a tissue box from the counter and hands it to them as they dry their eyes. Monica smiles as she takes another look at her friends. "I'm so glad you guys could all make it. Phoebe, Mike, it really means the world to me that you would come out so soon after the baby was born."

Mike approaches Phoebe from behind and places his hands gently on her shoulders. "We wouldn't miss it! Plus, my parents were overjoyed at the idea of having Fiona over for the night."

Phoebe looks over her shoulder sternly. "Fi Bea." To which Mike can only groan and roll his eyes. "I'm actually looking forward to a night off. I love that little muffin so much, but she is really needy."

Mike purses his lips and shrugs his shoulders. "Well, she is only three months old babe."

Phoebe shakes her head incredulously. "I know. You'd think she would have gotten with the program by now."

Monica exhales out a laugh until her smile fades as she spies two pizza boxes on the counter. "Hey! What happened? Did you guys order pizza? We're supposed to be eating dinner in an hour! Why would you guys spoil your appetite like that?"

Rachel's eyes widen defensively and she gestures with her hands for Monica to calm down. She steps over to the kitchen counter, placing her hand on one of the pizza boxes. "Mon. We did not order pizza. Joey did."

"What?"

"Well, I guess he wanted to send you something since he couldn't be here, and apparently, he didn't think flowers would be appropriate so he ordered you pizzas."

Phoebe sits back down at the table and looks over at Monica. "Oh, but it's so sweet. He had them write out 'good luck' in pepperoni."

Rachel lifts the cover and Monica leans over to look inside, nodding with a slightly impressed expression on her face. Rachel then opens the second box. "This one says, 'Love, Joey'."

"Oh, and they made a little flower out of the anchovies." Monica allows herself to smile even though she now has two pizzas to pack up and store in the refrigerator before they leave. More chaos to corral.

The caravan of cars carrying Monica, her family, and her friends, makes its way through the sleepy streets of her town until they finally get to the Main Street strip of stores, offices and apartments. Throughout the entire ride she squeezes Chandler's hand, her nerves causing her grip to tighten the closer they get to her restaurant. Whenever they stop at a red light or a stop sign, he sneaks a glance at her and tries to smile through his pained grimace.

"Am I hurting your hand? No wait. Don't answer that. I need something to squeeze right now."

Chandler struggles to chuckle. "Well, maybe next time you open a restaurant we get you one of those stress balls to squeeze."

"Those don't work for me. I tend to break them."

"That doesn't bode well for my fingers."

She looks over at him and tries to suppress a smile as she shakes her head. She then turns her attention to view outside the passenger window. Marveling at how this is now her new commute to work. No more trains, no more subways, no more traffic on the bridge. Just a leisurely fifteen minute drive from door-to-door.

"Hey, the signs still covered. I thought you said that would be off tonight."

Monica beams as she turns her attention back to her husband. "I wanted to show everyone when we got here."

"So nobody knows what the name is?"

"No, silly. Of course, people know what the name is. But unlike my husband and my friends, the people who do know can keep a secret." She leans over far enough to plant a reassuring kiss on his cheek and looks back out the window as a giggle slips from her lips.

Once they pull up across the street from the restaurant and exit the vehicle, Monica leads him out to the curb of the street excitedly. She holds one of his hands in-between both of hers as she shifts nervously. Chandler smiles and leans down whispering into her hair. "Relax. You've got this."

She smiles up at him and the rest of her friends and family join them across the street from the restaurant. She stands on her tiptoes and silently signals to Geoffrey who gets two of the busboys and leads them outside. He grabs a rope connected to the tarp covering the sign above the door and they help him tug it down.

Chandler smiles, seeing she used his design for the sign, yellow frame around a purple background. The words in a lowercase font simply read "four". He looks down at her and she squeezes his hands again as everyone around them starts to clap, hoot and holler.

"Hey. You used my design."

Monica nods. "Yeah. I thought about all the names and I kept coming back to this one. I hope you didn't have your heart set on the die or…."

He cuts her off by squeezing her hand gently, "No, no. This is great. It looks amazing."

Before they can finish, the crowd of family and friends swarm Monica, everyone wanting to get in a hug and offer her congratulations. She is overcome a few times and allows a tear or two to slip down her face, but Chandler is there quickly with a tissue or even at times he uses the sleeve of his coat. Finally, once it seems as though everyone is satisfied with the amount of time they got with her, Monica claps her hands together a few times to punctuate her words. "Okay people. I have to go to work. Let's eat!" Family chaos averted, order restored.

With the evening winding down; Monica's parents, along with most of her guests, had already left. They took Ben, Emma, Jack and Erica back to her house. Ross and Rachel were sitting at a table with her father, still picking at some food on a shared plate between them. At Phoebe's insistence earlier in the night, her and Mike had pulled their table up next to Helena and her group, which included four other drag queens, three male dancers and one very tired piano player. A few of Monica's extended family was also still hanging around, and there was even two tables full of actual customers who just happened to be passing by and stopped in when they saw the crowd.

Nora Bing has been nursing a glass of wine for most of the night, sitting in a corner table away from the other patrons. She showed up with a young man, who she didn't even bother to introduce to anyone. And although he is very handsome, the real attraction at her table for Monica are her other two guests. Gavin Regan and Cynthia Maxwell. Two celebrity chefs who own several restaurants in Manhattan between the two of them. Now, not only did Monica feel like she had to dodge any criticism from her family all night, but she also needed to make a good impression on two very influential people in her field. More chaos in need of bending to her will.

As she walks past the rowdy table of drag queens and Phoebe, she looks back at the bartender and signals to him that they are cut off. She then walks over to Chandler who had just left his mother's table. He approaches her and clenches his hands together, fighting the urge to grab at her and pull her into him. "Well, how are you holding up?"

She looks around the room and nods. "Good. I think everything was at about seventy-five percent tonight. A little work and we might be able to get up to ninety-nine by next week."

Chandler lifts his eye brows and shakes his head, but soon his disbelief gives way to an excited grin. "Well, my mother loved it, and so did her guests. They said they actually heard of Javu and loved it there but then the food started to get uneven over the last few months. They raved about tonight though."

Monica's face brightens up at that and instinctively she snakes her arms around his waist. "I think maybe we can do this."

He smiles down at her and is shaken from the moment as he remembers his talk earlier in the day with Ross. "Hey, uh, did Ross talk to you at all tonight?"

"Not really. Why? Is something wrong?" Monica steps back, a confused look on her face.

"Ugh, no. Yes. Maybe. Let me go talk to him." Chandler leaves Monica and sprints over to Ross at his table. Ross looks up and starts to dart his eyes around the room nervously. He slips his hand into his jacket's inside pocket, but before he can take his hand back out, Chandler grabs him by the arm, pinning it to his chest, and pulls him from his chair. Chandler smiles as he looks at Rachel and her father. "Hey, I'm just going to borrow him for a few minutes? Mmkay? Okay, bye."

Rachel and her father look at each other. "Oh, well, you get used to stuff like that dad."

Chandler drags Ross over to the back of the restaurant next to the restrooms. He finally releases him after a lot of posturing and protesting from Ross. Ross looks down at his coat. "Hey! Come on. This is my good suit!"

"What are you doing? You didn't talk to Monica. Are you still going through with this?"

Suddenly the door to the women's bathroom opens up and Phoebe walks out. "Going through with what?"

Chandler turns to face her. "Ross wants to propose to Rachel tonight."

Ross' face turns red as he hits Chandler on the shoulder. "Hey!"

Phoebe smiles and nods at Ross. "Oh yay! How exciting! That should liven this dull party up."

Chandler looks over at her. "Phoebe? You've been hanging out with my father and his friends all night."

"Yeah, and all we can talk about is how boring this party is. Ooo! They could do a number from their show if you want!" She jumps up excitedly and claps her hands together. "Oh, think of it Ross, they do a song and dance and then you propose!"

Chandler runs his hands over his face and lets out a loud, exasperated breath. He looks at Phoebe, "Definitely no songs!" Then he turns to Ross. "And no proposals!"

Phoebe crinkles her brow. "Oh, why not. Ross and Rachel getting engaged at his sister's restaurant. It sounds so magical!"

"Phoebe. Think about how angry Monica will get when the first night her restaurant opens ends up only being remembered for this idiots twelfth proposal."

Ross, looking wounded, can only offer up a half-hearted. "Hey! I've proposed to women way less than twelve times!"

Phoebe turns to Ross. "Oh no. He's right. You can't do it."

A woman's voice from behind them sounds off tersely. "Can't do what?"

Before they can turn around, Phoebe blurts out. "Ross is going to ask Rachel to marry him tonight."

The three of them finally spin around, coming face-to-face with Monica, who Chandler could swear, appears to have steam blowing from her ears. "What!"

Chandler gestures with his hands for her to stay calm. "Now Mon, I told him not to do it." He looks at Ross. "You're not going to do it, right?"

Ross stammers a bit, looking back-and-forth between his three friends and the table where Rachel is sitting. Monica shakes, she can't believe this new chaos that has been unleashed. She shouts loudly at her brother. "Ross!" She then forcefully grabs him by the arm and he yelps in pain.

He tugs on his arm and inspects the sleeve of his suit. "What is it about you guys and putting creases in my jacket!"

Monica huffs and drags him into the office. "We need to talk!" She slams the door shut behind them, releases him and then points an angry finger in his face. "No Ross! No!"

"Why not?"

Monica shakes with rage at how obtuse her brother is being. He is almost more chaos than she can handle. "Ross, why do you two have to constantly try to upstage me. Why can't I ever have one night! You don't see me spilling any news to overshadow tonight like how I think I might be pregnant!"

Ross freezes and his eyes go wide. "What?"

Monica raises her hand to her mouth. Here it is. Chaos now of her own doing. An out of control, raging five alarm fire kind of chaos. She feels like her words are reverberating through the room. She drops her hand and her tone becomes calm and measured. "Nothing. I said nothing."

"Mon, wait, are you pregnant?"

She shakes her head, clearly dismayed at her inadvertent confession, "I don't know! I'm late and…"

"Wait. This is perfect. Now you have something else you can have for yourself. You can announce your pregnancy and have your big moment and you can let me have tonight. I need to do it now. I already found us a bigger apartment. I want us to try for another baby after we get married and we need more room. I can't tell her about the apartment first and then propose after."

Monica shakes her head. "Well, why not do it when you get home."

"Oh yeah, I'll just ask her while she sleepwalks up the stairs after the drive back to the city. Come on Monica. This is the perfect moment to do it. Her dad is here. We can tell mom and dad tonight when we all get back to your house."

"You can't. I have two really famous chefs here and they are probably going to spread the word about this place based on their impression of tonight and that can either make or break my reputation. They are right out there sitting with Chandler's mom. You can't do this and make a big scene."

"Oh, I'm doing it! People will love it!" He storms out of the office and Monica chases after him. Both of them grabbing and pulling at each other to get to Rachel's table first.

"Ross! Stop!"

Chandler and Phoebe turn their heads at the same time, almost unable to keep up with them as they speed into the dining room.

Ross starts to reach his hand into his suit pocket. "Rachel…."

Rachel turns to face Ross as he clears his throat. Before he can pull out the ring box, Monica grabs him from behind and stuffs her hand into his pocket with his, both wrestling with each other's fingers, fighting for a grip on the ring box. Suddenly there is a loud tearing sound as his pocket rips off the inside of his jacket and Monica triumphantly raises the box in her hand.

"Aha!"

Monica!" Ross inspects the tatters of his jacket. "Great! You guys finally ruined my suit!"

Rachel looks up and starts to point at the ring box. "Monica what is that?"

Ross clears his throat again. "Rachel…"

Monica pushes him and cuts him off. "Ugh! Fine. Here." Monica opens the box and hands it to Rachel. "My dumb brother wants to marry you!"

Rachel freezes and she looks down at the ring. Ross shakes a fist in his sister's direction. "Monica!"

Monica narrows her eyes angrily at her brother. "There. Now it can be our moment!"

Rachel grabs at the box. "Is this….is this for real?"

Ross angrily starts to flail his arms around. "Oh yeah, well, Monica knows there are two chefs here that she's trying to impress so they say nice things about her restaurant."

Monica gasps but then doubles down on her anger. Shouting loudly and pointing at him. "Oh yeah? Well Ross already found a new apartment for you guys to live in because he wants to have another baby after you get married!"

Ross pulls his fist to his mouth, chewing at his knuckles in frustration. He drops his hand and yells back at her. "Oh yeah! Well Monica thinks she might be pregnant!"

Phoebe looks over at the drag queens sitting at her table and nods at them with a big smile on her face. "Wow, now this is a party!"

Chandler's eyes go wide and he looks over at his wife. "What? You're what?"

Monica slowly approaches him, reaching her hands out to him. "I know. Look. I'm late and I took two tests this morning and one of them was positive and one was negative, and with everything going on I couldn't find time to buy more tests and I wanted to talk to you about it tomorrow but then Ross…."

Chandler takes her into his arms. "Hey, hey. Shh, shh. It's okay." He then looks around the room, all eyes on them. "We have to get some more tests."

As if choreographed, every drag queen leaps up from their chairs. Helena shouts out to them. "There's a twenty-four-hour drug store two blocks away! Come on ladies! Let's get my daughter-in-law some sticks to pee on!"

Mike looks over at Phoebe and winces. "Well, that won't look good in a review."

Monica and Chandler are sitting on the floor in the office, leaning against the back wall, holding hands as they wait for the test results. "I'm sorry, I only had enough pee for two more tests. I guess I should have used a cup."

Chandler smirks as he cranes his neck to look at the test sticks laying on the desk. "It's okay. We can do the rest of them tomorrow morning. Can you believe after all of this, Rachel still said yes?"

Monica laughs. "Yeah, and you know what, I don't think anyone is going to remember the proposal. Not when five drag queens came running in yelling about pregnancy tests."

Chandler laughs and looks down at their hands.

Monica looks over at him. "I'm really scared."

He nods. "Me too."

"What if it's positive? I mean, I can't be pregnant. I can't get pregnant. Right? I have a restaurant to run. I won't fit back there in that kitchen with a big belly. Anyway, Dr. Connelly said I can't get pregnant. I'm overreacting. I'm only nine days late."

"Well, he did say it was a long shot." Chandler looks up and smiles. "You know, it is like in Star Wars when Luke blew up the Death Star. He just had this tiny window of opportunity, and he didn't have a targeting system. He just took his shot and blam!"

Monica offers him an admonishing look. "Are you calling my uterus the Death Star?"

"That depends, can we call my penis a lightsaber?"

Monica screws up her face in disgust. "Seriously. I don't know what I am more afraid of. If it is negative then my body is playing a cruel joke on me. If it is positive, then what the hell do we do?"

"Look, whatever it is we can handle it. Okay? We can freak out at first. That's actually my specialty. Then, well, we can handle it. We're still good."

"We are still good." They hold hands tightly as they sit on the floor in silence for a few seconds. She looks up, trying to see the clock. "Is it time?"

Chandler checks his watch. "Yeah. I think so."

He grabs both test strips and hands her one. They hold them down, only looking at each other. Monica allows an uneasy smile to spread across her lips. "Do you want to do it at the same time?"

Chandler offers her back a warm, earnest smile. "Count of three?"

"One…."

They both sound off together. "Two…"

Chandler's eyes go wide and he shakes his head. "Wait!"

Monica looks back at him, confused and worried. "What?"

He leans in and presses a long, sweet kiss on her lips. "For luck."

Monica smiles, then motions with her head at the tests. "Okay?"

"Okay."

They both share one more look, staring into each other's eyes, and together, at the same time, they softly utter. "Three."

End of Part 1

A/N – Sorry this is so long, but there was a lot I wanted to do here, and I couldn't find a good spot to chop it in half and make it a two-parter. If it is too much, let me know and I can always figure out a good place to split it. This is sort of the end of this arc covering Monica's restaurant and Chandler's renewed relationship with his dad. I guess, if this were a show, it would be the season finale.

I'm going to step away from this one for a just little while and let it settle since I feel like I packed a lot into it. I am going to focus a bit more on the season 5/season 6 story I also have going, at least until I get them through Vegas. I also have another chapter or three for the pre-Mondler story.

When those are done, we will come back here and pick up where we left off and everyone can see what happens next. I want to thank everyone again for taking the time to read and also thank everyone who reviews these chapters. They let me know I should keep going. Even if you don't review, I appreciate you coming around, I see you Slovenia and Finland, I know you're there!

I really want to extend a special thanks to Babatomyfriends for some invaluable help in making these chapters a bit cleaner. Sometimes I write late at night, and it shows. It is 2am now, so this one is going to be a doozy!

Also, everyone else who has shared a PM with me or a kind word about what I have been producing, it really means a lot. Thanks.