AN: Another update for all of you. I had a little trouble writing this in a way that I was happy with. I hope you like this. PLZ R&R!

Disclaimer: See first chapter.


Chapter 22

Chandler and Monica were crowded in front of Chandler's laptop as everyone else was scattered throughout the house. Chandler typed a few sentences then deleted them and rewrote them as Monica read over his shoulder.

"Why don't I write it by myself and then you can edit it?" Chandler looked at her as they sat on the couch in the den.

"Sorry," she smiled at him.

"It's ok," he shut his laptop to go back to later. "How about a movie on Netflix?"

"Sounds good," she lay back against the couch as she glanced around. "You'd think we were about to be stormed by Normandy."

"Tell me about it," Chandler sighed as the movie started.

At the moment, Ross and Carol were sitting in the window seat that overlooked the street in front of the house. By outward appearances, it just looked like they were chatting, but every so often they would glance outside to make sure that they didn't have any unwanted guests arriving.

Joey and Phoebe were upstairs monitoring the social media sites for any new comments on their posts. Chandler and Monica had requested that they stop giving them updates every time there was a new comment. They would just look at it all in a little bit.

All of the adults were in the kitchen talking as they had coffee and snacks. George and Adalee had promised to stay until later that night just in case they needed help with unwanted guests. Terry already had their cop friend waiting in case they needed him.

"Do you want some popcorn?" Chandler asked.

"Sure," Monica smiled as he got off the couch and started into the kitchen.


Ross glanced into the den again as he saw his sister getting comfortable on the couch as she took the remote. He turned to look outside again but still saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"Relax," Carol rubbed his arm.

"I'm just nervous about the outcome of all this," he sighed.

"For yourself or your best friend and sister?"

"For all of us. Along with you, Charles, Terry, Joey Phoebe, your parents….."

"We'll all be fine."

"How can you be so sure?"

"That's been my experience ever since my parents became friends with Chandler's dads."

"Right, you knew Chandler when he first got here."

"Yeah," she said softly. "We welcomed him home when he got out of the hospital and was able to go home with his dads. He was just so withdrawn. He didn't even talk. They tried so hard to get him to open up."

"So do you know-"

"A few small, minor details. But I made a promise to him that I would never divulge anything that he told me."

"I'm not asking you to tell me anything. I just-how bad was it? What he went through before he came here?"

"Let's just say that I hope he never has to see his mom ever again in his lifetime."

"I can't even begin to imagine what he lived through,"

"It's why Chandler is so protective of others. Like when he defended you against those jerks when he first met you. And especially why he tried to defend your sister so hard when he found out how your parents and Rachel were treating her. It's also why he developed such a hard shell that it seems like everything just rolls off him."

"Uh oh," Ross looked up as he heard squealing tires and they both looked out the window where they were sitting and saw a familiar car come to a stop in front of the house.


Chandler walked into the kitchen and all the adults looked up at him. He rolled his eyes as he grabbed a pack of microwave popcorn. He turned to put it in the microwave and turned to see all the adults looking at them.

"That's not creepy at all," he muttered as he started the microwave.

"How is everything out there?" Terry asked him.

"Ross and Carol are keeping a constant vigilance over the street," Chandler poured the popcorn into a bowl. "Joey and Phoebe are monitoring everything online from upstairs. I decided to take a break from school and am starting a movie with Monica. She is fine too."

"Incoming!" Carol called out.

"Spoke too soon," Chandler stated as he rushed out of the kitchen and found Monica going to the window seat as Phoebe and Joey came from downstairs.

"It's mom and dad," Ross told them as they all crowded around the window.

"I'll call Tom," Terry took his phone out.

"You kids stay over there," Charles told them and Phoebe and Joey joined the others.

"I'll stand here," Ross stood just behind the door, out of sight, as Charles opened the door.

"Gellars," Charles greeted them. "We were expecting you."

"Where is our daughter?" Jack demanded.

"She's resting. There was a lot of excitement last night with the dance and all."

"Is it true?"

"What?"

"Did our daughter marry your kid?"

"Yes," Terry came out as he hung up his phone. "Tom is on his way."

"Did our daughter marry your kid?" Jack repeated.

"She did," George and Adalee appeared. "It was a beautiful ceremony."

"What-"

"Didn't you see the announcement?" Adalee asked. "I'm sure you're here because of what was on Facebook."

"We were hoping that it was a joke."

"Not a joke," Ross came from behind the door to face them. "Did you like my post?"

"Ross," Judy looked at him. "Is it true?"

"Yes," Ross stated. "I was there. Didn't you see the picture?"

"When did this even take place?"

"About a month ago," Charles told them.

"How did this happen without us knowing?" Jack looked at his son.

"I told you it was a friend of Carol's family getting married," Ross told them. "It wasn't a lie."

"It was held at our beach house on the Jersey Shore," Charles told them. "We wanted a private ceremony with just family."

"Is this even legal?"

"It's legal," Terry stated as he saw his friend from the police station walk up to them. "Hey, Tom."

"I see we have some trespassers," Tom faced the Gellars.

"Excuse me," Charles left the group by the door and the group gathered in the window seat watched him go into his office and return with a set of papers. "Here you go."

"What is this?" Jack looked through it.

"A copy of the marriage license," Charles told him. "Signed by the minister who officiated. It was all legal."

"Now that you've seen it, you can go now," Tom stated.

"I want to see my daughter," Jack glared at all of them. "I'm not leaving until I see her."

"You need to show yourselves, kids," Terry called.

Chandler took Monica's hand as they stood up and walked towards the door with Carol, Joey, and Phoebe following them. Monica stood next to Ross and he took her other hand.

"Hey mom, dad," Monica faced them. "I see you heard the news."

"So it's true," Judy said.

"Why would I post it online if it wasn't?" Monica looked at them. "Did you not hear what everyone else has said to you already?"

"Why on earth would you get married before you even graduated high school?"

"Because we love each other and we want to be together. You couldn't have stopped me if you wanted to now that I'm emancipated."

"Is this because of..of…."

"The baby?" Monica finished. "Everyone here already knows."

"Is it because of the baby?" Jack repeated his wife's question.

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. You don't get to know every detail of my life anymore."

"So you're keeping the baby,"

"Once again, none of your business," Monica stated forcefully and felt both Chandler and Ross give her hands a squeeze to help her calm down. "Chandler and I have already talked about our situation and discussed things. We made the decision together."

"I recommend that you leave now," Tom spoke up.

"We are not done here," Jack said.

"Yes, we are," Monica glared.

"Here we go," Tom started to usher Jack and Judy out to their car.

"We will be back," Judy told them.

"Not without an invitation," Charles told them.

"And you won't have one anytime soon," Monica told them before Terry closed the door.

"Everyone really needs to stop looking at me like that," Monica told them all.

"Come on," Chandler started to pull her away. "Don't any of you follow us or try to eavesdrop on us."

They all watched the two of them disappear upstairs and exchanged glances.

"This is only the beginning," Charles told them all. "Things are just going to go from bad to worse."

"Ross," Terry turned to him. "I hate to even suggest this. I know they're your parents, but you still live at home so…."

"I can keep you updated about everything," Ross told them. "Not looking forward to going home tonight."

"You can stay over here tonight if you would like,"

"Are you sure?"

"We may have a few more living here now, but there's still plenty of room."

"Thank you. I think I'll wait for a little before I go get some clothes for tomorrow."


Chandler took Monica into his old bedroom that was now their game room. He got Netflix up on the TV and Monica chose a movie. They sat next to each other on the small couch that was in there before Chandler attempted to talk to her.

"So…." he started.

"I'm fine," she looked at him. "Really."

"But-"

"We both knew that they would not have the greatest reactions,"

"But still. They're your parents. I know that a small part of you wished that they would support you in some way."

"Ok, yes," she sighed. "I was hoping that for the first time in a very long time that at least my dad would come to my side and defend my actions to others; especially if that person was my mom."

"So what now?"

"Now I get used to not having them on my side for the time being. And focus on what's to come in the morning when we step into that school."

"Man," Chandler sighed. "We're going to be like the traveling sideshow in a circus act."

"Eventually they will lose interest," Monica assured him. "Not right away, but eventually."

"Then we're going to announce the pregnancy and it will all start over again."

"Things will be awkward, but eventually something else will happen and we'll be yesterday's news."

"I guess," he sighed.

"Come on," she took his hand. "Put it out of your mind and watch this movie with me."

Chandler settled in next to her as he turned his attention back to the TV. The others didn't bother them for the next while, to give the couple a little privacy. They eventually drifted off and didn't wake up until Joey and Phoebe came in to get them for supper.

Chandler stood up from the couch, pulling Monica up after him and the four of them started downstairs. They got to the lower level of the house as the front door opened and George and Adalee came in with Ross and Carol.

"Where'd you guys go?" Monica asked them.

"And why does Ross have a duffel bag?" Chandler asked.

"I didn't feel like staying at home tonight," Ross told them. "Charles and Terry said that I can stay in one of the spare rooms tonight."

"Did they say anything to you?" Monica asked. "Did mom and dad say anything to you when you were there?"

"They attempted to, but George and Adalee stopped them from stopping me."

"If everyone is back, supper is ready." Terry looked at them. "Kids, you want to help us get everything out on the table?"

They all went into the kitchen to grab the plates, silverware, and cups while the adults grabbed the meal and drinks. Everyone gathered around the table and settled in as they passed the food around.

"What is this?" Joey asked.

"Loaded mashed potato casserole," Terry told them. "I found the recipe online."

"I like it," Monica told him.

Charles passed around the salad and buttered bread as they all tucked into their food. Everyone made idle chit chat as they talked about what the next day at school would hold for them.

"Ok, please cut it out," Chandler told them all. "What will happen, will happen. We know there's going to be an explosion. We're prepared for that. Can we just let it go for now?"

"Please?" Monica looked at all of them.

"Yes we can," Carold told them firmly. "Chandler, when's your next game?"

"Tuesday," Chandler relaxed with the change in conversation. "Ridgeway."

"I hear they're good. Rumor of their team…"

"I heard those too," Chandler said. "I think it's just talk. A ploy by the players to try to intimidate us."

"It won't work," Charles said.

"Nope," Chandler agreed.


Supper ended and the adults cleared off the table so the kids could all converge upstairs to support Monica. No matter how the young married couple tried to convey that they weren't worried about what was to come, the adults saw through it. They would need the support of not only their family but their friends as well.

Chandler opened the door to one of the guest rooms next to Joey's room. Ross followed in behind him and dropped his overnight bag on the bed and sat down as everyone else filed in; leaving the door open as per Carol's parents' request.

"So what really happened when you went to go get your things?" Monica sat down next to her brother. "I know that you feel the need to keep things from me to spare my feelings. I can handle it though. I'm a big girl."

"Honestly, I didn't pay attention to what they were saying," Ross started. "Not after I heard them say that you would be forever tied down to Chandler and his gay dads. Though they did use different wording than that."

"They were a little brutal once you were upstairs," Carol interjected. "They started in about how we were all poisoning you against them. That the Ross they knew wouldn't keep something like this from them. Blah, blah, blah…."

"They're already planning something," Chandler stated. "I don't want to think like this. But if my experience of them is anything to go by…."

"They're definitely planning something," Ross told them all. "The real question is how bad will it be and who will be caught in the wreckage?"

"And will they have any remorse for what they do?" Phoebe asked.

"We already know the answer to that last question," Joey said.

"All right guys," Terry came into the room a little while later. "Time to get to bed."

"Yeah, we'll need lots of energy to be able to get through tomorrow," Chandler said as they all filed out of the room.

"Good news is, we only have half a day tomorrow," Monica told him as they walked into their room and started to get ready for bed. "Remember we have our first ob-gyn appointment tomorrow afternoon."

"I remember," Chandler looked at her as they both got settled into bed. "I can't wait."

"Me neither," she smiled at him.

"And I will be there for you tomorrow," he assured her. "I will make sure of it."

"I know," she smiled as he turned out the light. "And I love you for it."

"I love you too," Chandler told her as they got situated next to each other for the night.

They both lay in bed next to each other, not talking, both thinking about all the scenarios that would most likely play out the next day at school.


AN: So what did you all think? I hope you liked the confrontation between Monica and Ross and their parents. This will not be the last we see of the Gellars. Hope you liked this chapter. PLZ R&R!