The One With Ross' Huge Commitment

A/N: Please tell me what you think..

Reminder: Joey is still living at Ross and Rachel's, and Phoebe is pregnant.

Summary of ep2: Ross makes a huge decision about his relationship with Rachel and Chandler is left alone with the twins for the first time.

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Ross, Rachel, Joey, Chandler and Monica were all sat in their usual place at Central Perk, drinking coffee and talking when the sixth and final of the friends, Phoebe, ran in.

"Guys, guys," she yelled, sitting next to Joey on the couch. "Oh my God, I, I have the most incredible news!"

Chandler opened his mouth, intending to say something funny, but before he had even said a word Phoebe put him right back, "No!" she told Chandler loudly. "I will not have my news ruined by your jokes!" Chandler obediently kept his mouth shut, a little taken aback. "Alright," went on Phoebe. "I'm pregnant." The others all gave cries of "Oh my God" and "Congratulations" as Phoebe grinned at them all. "Thank you, I know. I found out last night at about midnight, and I wanted to tell you guys then but Mike thought it might be too late, so," she shrugged.

Joey gave Phoebe a one armed hug, "Congratulations Phoebes, I'm so happy for you."

Monica said, "So, do you have doctors appointment?"

Phoebe nodded, "Yeah, actually I got one for later today and I was kinda wondering if one of you would come with me... Mike has to work you see, which sucks but he convinced me we need the money... he's gooood at convincing me." she gave a cheeky smile.

"Sure I'll come with you," Monica said.

"Great! We'll make a day of it!"

This made Chandler turn suddenly to his wife, "What? You're gonna go and leave me?"

Joey frowned at Chandler, "Relax man, they're only going to the hospital. She's not leaving you for good."

"Yeah, that wont happen for a few years yet," put in Phoebe.

"No, it's not that," Chandler said. "I just, I haven't been alone with the twins yet."

"Oh, honey," Monica said, smiling and putting her head on Chandler's shoulder. "You don't need to worry, I trust you. You'll be fine."

"Really?" Chandler asked.

"Yeah, of course" Monica said, and then she stood up. "Right Phoebes, we better get going." On their way out Monica managed to whisper in Ross' ear, "You check in on him."

Ross nodded, "Got it."

Starting Credits

The friends were still in Central Perk about twenty minutes later, but eventually Rachel stood up and sighed, "I gotta get to work."

Ross stood up too, "Yeah, me too. I, uh, I got some papers to mark so... see you guys later"

They both began to walk towards the door when a person sat at a table by the window called over, "Hey, Rachel? That you?"

Rachel turned and looked at the handsome man in his late thirties with dark hair and wearing a brown shirt, she grinned at him, "Tom, hi."

"Hey it's nice to see you," the man said, smiling at Rachel.

Rachel smiled back and Ross gave and uncomfortable clearing of the throat to get Rachel's attention. Rachel said, "Uh, Ross this is Tom, he works over at Ralf Lauren with me. Tom, this is Ross."

Ross nodded at Tom, holding out his hand to shake, but before even saying 'hi' he said quickly and in a very firm voice, "I'm Rachel's boyfriend."

Tom frowned slightly as he shook Ross' hand, "That's … great… Well, Rachel it was nice seeing you I guess I'll see you in that meeting tomorrow."

"Yes, Okay. Bye," Rachel said. Tom left the coffee house and Rachel turned and stared at Ross for a moment, a slight frown in place.

"What?" Ross asked. Rachel shook her head and headed out of the coffee house, but when she had left and had begun looking up and down the road for a cab Ross grabbed hold of her arm, "Rach, What's up? Why did, uh, why did you look at me like, like that?"

"No, no I didn't look at you like anything." Rachel muttered, looking away from Ross.

"Yes, you did. What, what is it? Come on, what's up?"

"Well, I don't know. I guess it's just a bit of a déjà vu moment, that's all." Rachel said, looking up at Ross.

"What, what do you mean? All the times you've left Central Perk?"

"No, no actually it's you Ross. I mean you, what you were saying to Tom, you said you were my boyfriend, which is fine 'cause you are, but … it was just like … you were … it was…"

"Okay, Rach, you're not making any sense."

"I guess you just seemed jealous, and … and I guess it just reminded me of how you were with Mark," Rachel said in a rush.

"What, that's crazy. I, I'm not, not jealous… I'm just, I uh, I just, you know, like letting people know that I, I'm dating you," Ross said. Rachel sighed again and shook her head. Ross stared at her, "What?"

"Nothing, listen, I gotta go Ross," said Rachel. Ross leaned forward to give Rachel a kiss but Rachel was walking away to a nearby taxi before he got the chance.

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About two hours later and Phoebe and Monica were just leaving the doctors office. Monica smiled down at the little sonogram picture in Phoebe's hands, "I can't believe this is your baby."

"I know, it's amazing isn't it," Phoebe said gleefully. "Just think, in eight months time this little potato looking blob in my stomach will turn into a baby."

Monica nodded, "Yeah… exactly how it works." She stared at the picture in Phoebe's hand, "God, you're so lucky." She thought, staring subconsciously at the sonogram, of her own failed pregnancy but shook it off thinking of the twins.

"Hey, you want to go shopping for baby clothes?" Phoebe asked.

Monica frowned, "Now? At only one month pregnant?"

"Yeah," Phoebe replied as if it was obvious.

Monica shrugged, "Okay!"

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Chandler was doing his best, but apparently to the twins, that wasn't quite good enough. They screamed so hard Chandler thought they might be torturing themselves. He was sat on the floor, with them both laid out side by side in front of him on a blue and pink sheet. "Okay," he half yells to the twins over their screaming. "Please! Just stop crying! If you do I wont tell Monica about the spillage you did on the kitchen floor! Please!"

The twins took absolutely no notice what so ever and continued bawling harder than ever. Chandler sighed and then pulled an odd face, something between a puffer fish and a pig. "Oh, come on!" he cried when they cried even harder, "I'm your daddy! I'm funny!"

Just then there was a knock at the door and Ross walked in, "Hey." He was slightly put off though by the loud screaming. "Chandler, are you … hurting your babies?"

"No! No I'm not! They're crying! They're crying and they won't stop!" Chandler said loudly.

"Well okay," Ross went over, picked up Erica from where she lay and held her close. Almost immediately she stopped crying. He put her back down and picked up Jack up, doing exactly the same thing. Jack also stopped crying.

"Okay, wow… How, how did you do that?" Chandler asked, amazed.

"It's easy," Ross said, picking up both babies again and putting them in the travel cot in the corner. He went and sat down on the couch, "You just have to hold them right."

"God, I'm so bad at this," Chandler muttered, sitting next to Ross.

"You'll get better."

Chandler sighed and looked at Ross, "What's up man, you seem down?"

"I don't know, Rachel's kind of annoyed at me; she thinks I'm jealous just because I told some, some work guy friend of hers that I'm her boyfriend." Ross sighed, "I don't know what's wrong with her, I mean, she was on about all this stuff, like Mark, and how it feels like 'déjà vu'.

"Oh," Chandler said. "So, you had a fight, huh?"

"Yeah… I'm, uh, I'm thinking I need to let her know that I trust her totally…" Ross said, trailing off. "I just …I don't know… Maybe I should… That's it!"

"What?" asked Chandler, watching Ross curiously.

"I'll ask her to marry me."

Chandler was stunned, and then said, "Because you're just … used to asking that?"

"Seriously, if she knows I'm willing to make such a commitment she'll know I'm not jealous!" Ross said, excited.

"Ross, you've married three times. Now I can't speak for Rachel, but you're sure as hell the most committed guy I know," said Chandler.

"No, committed to her. This is sure to, uh, to work 'cause she'll know I trust her completely and, and that I want to spend the rest of my life with her," Ross stood up as he spoke and headed to the door. "This is it! I'll do it tonight!"

Chandler quickly got up and walked over to Ross, "Are you crazy? You can't do this, you and Rachel just had a fight. You can't ask someone to marry you after a fight! What if she says no!"

Ross nodded, "I guess you're right." Chandler relaxed, pleased he'd got through to Ross… but then, "…Or not." Ross muttered and headed towards the door. "Cause' you know what? I don't think I believe she'll say no, and unless she does I'm gonna marry her!" Ross opened the door and ran outside

"Ross no! I'm saying no for her! No! No! No!" Chandler yelled. Ross didn't look back though and Chandler sighed as he heard the babies scream from the cot in the corner. "No," he muttered under his breath.

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Joey was watching TV in Ross and Rachel's apartment when Rachel walked in, looking gloomy. He frowned at her slightly, "Hey … what's up Rach?"

"Oh, nothing," said Rachel. "I guess I just had a rough day. Ross and me had a little fight." She sighed, "But it's okay 'cause I'm home, Emma's at my mom's and I think I just wanna relax and get good and drunk. And maybe I'll talk to Ross later."

Joey nodded, "Fair enough."

He went back to his TV show and Rachel noticed he didn't exactly look like the happiest guy in the world. "Are you okay Joey? How was you day?"

Joey sighed and shrugged, "Went to an audition, but I didn't get the part. I don't know… having a dead agent sucks."

"Maybe you should get a new one… but until then, you wanna get good and drunk with me?" Rachel asked.

Joey nodded, "Sounds like a plan."

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Ross had decided that now was the perfect time; he'd buy the ring, take Rachel out to a dead romantic restaurant, and then simply propose. He decided to go to a top selling ring jeweller to buy Rachel the perfect ring. There were plenty of rings, all beautiful, all shimmering behind the glass barriers. A balding man in his late fifties stood behind the counter, staring at Ross.

"Hi," said Ross. "I'm here to buy a ring."

"Really?" said the man, sarcastically with a strong London British accent. "And there was me thinking you had come for car parts."

Ross stared at the man for a moment, but then he simply shrugged, " Look, I uh, I want to propose to my girlfriend this evening and I, well I don't have that much money but…"

"Not much money? Odd thing, coming looking for an engagement ring with not much money, good sir."

"Look, can you help me, or not?" Ross asked, annoyed. "I really love this woman."

"I can see that, you look like an idiot in love," the man looked at Ross for a moment, as if sizing him up, "Well no, actually you just look like an idiot." He smiled at the look of anger on Ross' face and led Ross towards some rings to his left; "These are most probably some in your price range. You look like a man, hmm, cheap and…" The man smiled even more at Ross' angry face "Cheerful."

"Are you – are you this mean to all of your customers?"

"Why? Want to feel special?" the man asked. He then said rather bluntly "Well, yes I'm simply a nasty person. Problem with that?"

Ross couldn't tell if he was being serious or not, "Look can I just…" he sighed, "can I, can I see that ring, there?" he pointed out the one he wanted.

"If you must," The jeweller got out the ring Ross had pointed out; a diamond sparkled on it, small but sweet.

"Yeah, that's perfect and just the right price," Ross said happily. Temporarily forgetting the rude jeweller, he stared at the ring for the longest time, imagined seeing Rachel's face as he proposed, hearing her scream of 'Yes!' as she took the ring from him. Their wedding; a beautiful white wedding, with Emma as an adorable little bridesmaid and all their close friends there. The picture Ross saw in his minds eye was perfect.

"You'll soon be done here then?" said the ring jeweller, bringing Ross back to reality.

"Yes... yes, I'll take it." Ross brought the ring, right then and there on his credit card.

"Goodbye," said the Jeweller. "Tell your friends about me."

"Yeah," Ross muttered as he left the shop. "But don't count on it."

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Meanwhile over and Ross and Rachel's apartment, Joey and Rachel were absolutely and totally drunk. Five or more bottles of strong wine were on the coffee table, Rachel was sat next on the coffee table next to them all, laughing fit to burst. Joey on the other hand was on the couch, pushing his feet forwards to the carpet and leaning back on the couch, making it move steadily back and forth. Rachel laughed more and more as he continued to rock the couch but not fall off. Then she leaned back on the coffee table, mistakenly thinking she was sat on a chair with a back to it and fell backwards off the table. Her head popped up from behind the table, with an odd expression on her face, "Where'd da back go?"

Joey was laughing over on the couch, "I dunno, you know I - I don't know... I don't th-think it had one." Joey sat back up on the sofa and leaned towards the alcohol on the table, he picked up a bottle and took a swag, he then frowned slightly and tipped it upside down, where a single small drop fell from the wine bottle, "Rach-el someone drank all our ... our acky-hol."

"Wha-?" Rachel stood up. "I'll go get some from the - the uh, the place in there," she slurred, pointing to the kitchen. Rachel got up from behind the table and staggered towards the kitchen, but not before leaning too far right, grabbing a nearby shelf for balance and bringing down photo's and dinosaur relics with it. Joey and Rachel stared at the mess for a moment, "Uh oh."

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Chandler was having problems of his own over at his and Monica's place. The twins were screaming the house down again and Chandler was having trouble coping with it. He had them both in his arms and was trying, without success, to win them over. "Okay, okay, how about I give you a huge allowance when you're older, and- and I keep raising it? ... No?" Chandler moaned as the twins continued to cry, "Uh, I ... I, I'll save you from Monica whenever she tries to ground you, and I mean whenever. Come on that's gotta be a good deal, right?" The twins didn't answer, but instead simply continued their crying, and as it grew louder and louder Chandler began to feel like he was loosing his mind.

He sighed and went and put Erica into the travel cot, where she continued to cry. He held Jack tight to his chest and tried to do what Ross had done to make them stop crying earlier. It didn't work. Jack simply continued to cry harder then ever, Chandler groaned, "C'mon ... c'mon ... please." Jack took no notice. "Oh my God," muttered Chandler. "I am officially the worst father in the world." Chandler sighed and sat on the couch, "Please stop." He went over to turn on some music on the stereo and 'The way you look tonight' came on.

Immediately the babies were silent. Chandler looked quickly down at Jack, but he was quietly looking up at Chandler. "Oh my God," whispered Chandler. "Did - did I break you?" Jack said nothing, but continued to stare up at Chandler. Quickly, Chandler went over to Erica in the travel cot, but she was silent too. Chandler stared at the twins, and then looked at the stereo, where the music coming from, "Wow, you and your mom have the same taste." Chandler placed Jack in the cot next to Erica and backed away. He waited for the cry. It never came. Edging slightly nearer Chandler saw that both babies were slowly drifting off to sleep. He grinned, "Yes!" he hissed quietly, and backed over to the couch, doing a little jig on his way.

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Ross walked home, uplifted late that afternoon. He walked slowly through the corridors to his apartment, ring in his pocket and flowers in his hands.

Joey and Rachel were both still incredibly drunk, Rachel was trying, still in her drunken state, to clean up the mess on the floor from the shelf falling. Joey, on the other hand, was asleep (and snoring) on the sofa.

To be continued...

Ending Credits

Monica got in that evening, threw her keys on the nearby side table and called, "Hey honey, I'm home." There was no reply from the next room though. Monica frowned, maybe it had been a mistake letting Chandler look after the twins alone for the first time for a whole day. "Chandler?"

She saw Chandler on the sofa fast asleep, with Erica and Jack in each arm, all three looking adorable. Monica smiled and went over to sit with them all on the sofa, causing Chandler eyes to open as he woke up. He looked up at Monica, "Your home?"

Monica gave Chandler a grin, "Yeah, and you are so great, you see you did it."

"Yeah," said Chandler. "I did. And I saw them in the crib and couldn't resist taking them over here. They're so cute when they're asleep... and so loud when they're awake."

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A/N: So what do you think? Please read and review. What do you think will happen in the next episode - The One Without The Proposal

Thank You And Goodnight