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This is not a comedy. I've taken away what was the essence of the show and focused on their personalities without the exageration that a sitcom brings to these characters.

Enjoy this chapter

Joey: But just think, okay? What if everything goes right? What if this woman does pick you guys?

Monica: Oh my God. She's gonna pick us!

Chandler: So we're standing firm on the "not getting our hopes up"?

Monica: No. I know things could still go wrong, but if they don't, if this works out,

we're gonna have a baby, Chandler. A baby!

Chandler: Yes, but...

Monica: Oh my God. It's gonna work! We're gonna make it work! I'm gonna be a mommy and you're gonna be a daddy! All right, I'll see you suckers. I'm gonna go get me a baby!

(Monica leaves, triumphant)

Chandler: Oh, screw it! I'm gonna be a daddy!

(Chandler runs off, all happy)

Season 10, Episode 9 (The One With the Birth Mother)

On Thanksgiving morning, Chandler got up early. He had promised to make pancakes for all the kids and for Joey. He came up from the basement and quickly made his way to the kitchen. The patio door opened onto the backyard, which was filled with tents. All the kids, whether they were 19 like Emma Green-Geller, or 10 like Elizabeth Bing, had slept outside. Only Ben, at 26, thought he was a little too old for that, and had slept on the living room couch, next to his father Ross, lying on an air mattress. They had all arrived the night before and had shared the bedrooms or sofa beds in the house. Monica had left her room for her parents and had shared a room with Rachel. Mike had decided to sleep with his daughters and the young Bing girl in a tent, while Phoebe preferred the comfort of a real bed, saying she had slept outside enough as a teenager. Joey's daughter Catherine shared a tent with Erica and Emma. Daniel and Jack had been playing scare tactics with the girls most of the night, and Mike had been waking up with a start all night. Joey had shared the basement with Chandler, just like in the good old days when they were roommates, only the former still remembered.

Chandler looked outside for a few seconds. He felt calm in front of this spectacle. Everybody seemed to be asleep, as were the parents in the house. He got to work with enthusiasm. He had been learning to make pancakes for a week and could not stop making them. He began to get out the ingredients he would need when he heard someone yawning.

"Good morning, Godfather!"

Chandler turned to Ben, who had messy hair but preferred to run his hand over his unshaven jaw rather than put his hair back in place. Monica had taken the time to tell him about each child before he arrived so that Chandler wouldn't feel too lost in this zoo. Nevertheless, he had experienced an inner turmoil with the arrival of his own children in addition to all those who called him "Uncle Chandler" or "Godfather". He was four times a dad. He was a three-time godfather: Ben, Emma and Skye, Phoebe's last kid. Then he was only uncle twice with Catherine, and Jewel, Phoebe's oldest. All this young world knew about Chandler's condition, but habits don't change easily, especially when they haven't lived with their favorite uncle who had amnesia.

"Hi Ben! Do you want to start with a shower or a coffee?"

"Coffee!"

"You'll have to make it for everyone," Chandler chuckled, proud to have caught his godson.

"Is that the curse of the first born?"

"No, of the first one awake."

Ben laughed and started the coffee pot and sat down at the kitchen island. The patio door opened for Mike.

"Have you ever slept with three little magpies who do nothing but yap and giggle all night and silence their father to impress his 10-year-old goddaughter," Mike complained.

Ben shook his head and smiled as Chandler shrugged, not sure if he'd ever had that experience. Mike came and sat down next to Ben, resting his head on his hands. He had been shocked when he saw Chandler. Phoebe had explained the situation to him at length, but he couldn't pretend the situation didn't affect him. He knew that it affected Phoebe tremendously and Chandler was the one in his wife's group of friends with whom he had more affinity. Rapidly, Chandler had been the least annoying, the funniest, and the one he could talk to most easily. With Ross, it had quickly turned into a disaster and with Joey, it had started badly because the latter seemed to be in competition with every new person. Even though he had been in a relationship with Phoebe for 17 years, he was still the new guy. The three men spoke softly so as not to wake Ross, who was sleeping next to them in the living room. The patio door opened to reveal the herd of children. Even though they were all teenagers, with the exception of Elizabeth, they looked exactly like their parents. They all loved each other with a sincere love, even though only the two Ross children and the four Bing were "real" cousins.

Elizabeth, at the age of 10, didn't care that her Uncle Ross was sleeping. When she noticed her father at the stove, she jumped up and down and yelled that she was the one adding the chocolate chips and stirring the mixture. She hadn't seen her father in so long. Her mother had told her that Daddy had not yet returned, but this morning she forgot for a few seconds that it was not quite her father in the kitchen. Chandler froze, surprised by the little girl's energy, but Erica walked behind him and whispered.

"You always let Beth stir the ingredients because she made a lot of messes and you thought it was funny that Mom was the one who cleaned up."

"I'm a smart man," Chandler replied to his oldest daughter, acknowledging and beckoning his youngest to come over to him.

Chandler handed the bag of chocolate to the little one, who dropped more than half of the bag into the pancake mixture and he handed her the spatula in a solemn gesture that made everyone in the kitchen laugh except Jack. His arms were crossed, his back was against the refrigerator and his face was closed. To see his little sister's cheeks flushed with excitement and to see Chandler making an effort troubled him. He didn't want to open his heart to hope if he was going to have it broken. Even though this man had almost the same behavior as his father, he had seen the lost looks on Chandler's face during the previous evening. He hadn't returned. He still didn't know who they all were. Instead, his mother had told him to concentrate on the effort.

Monica found them all there when she came downstairs. She arrived in time to see the splashes Elizabeth was making as she stirred the pancake mix. Her heart sank. She had that sense of déjà vu she could identify from her old life. The scene was identical to all their Saturday mornings since the girl had the dexterity to hold a spatula. She didn't have time to say anything as the herd of adults quickly rushed into the kitchen with their sleepy looks. Everyone was talking at once, happy for an old-fashioned Thanksgiving in a Florida version. Monica's gaze was fixed on Chandler. She could see that sweat was starting to break out on his temples, but it was Erica who reacted first. She pushed him slightly to take his place beside her sister.

"Out with the adults! The kids are making lunch, and so are you Ben! You're old, but you're in the children's category."

"Oh shit, I'll never make it," chuckled Ben as he rolled up the sleeves of his sweater.

Chandler took advantage of the hubbub and went out the patio door to take a breather, Monica wanted to follow him, but her father stopped her with one hand and went outside with his son-in-law. The catastrophe, thought Monica. Jack Geller wasn't the most talkative person, and he was even more awkward than Ross. Judy slipped in her daughter's ears:

"Let him do it. I think Chandler will need his Jack Geller to come to his senses with all that morning action."

Chandler sat on the steps of the balcony, wondering how he could have come up with the idea to bring all these young people together. Mr. Geller came and sat down beside him.

"What do you use to make your lawn so green?"

Chandler looked back at his father-in-law. In his memory, Jack Geller was younger. He was in his eighties now and the bud looked great.

"What's that?"

"Your lawn! I've never seen a lawn so green. What is the product?"

"I couldn't tell you, really," replied Chandler, not understanding the point of the question. "And it's not because of my amnesia. It's because Monica's in charge of it and they say you shouldn't bother her when she's in charge of the lawn."

"Yeah, my Harmonica always knew what she wanted."

"Yeah, I noticed that."

Jack walked down the balcony and toward the pool, motioning for Chandler to follow him. Surprised, Chandler followed him. They looked at the water in silence.

"Daniel could have drowned in that pool," Jack began. "We were all together for the first time in Florida. Monica was arguing with Jack about throwing a rock at her sister. We all looked at Jack and Erica and we all thought that the twins looked a lot like you and Monica. Everyone was looking in the opposite direction at the pool, except you. You were following Daniel with your eyes and when he got too close to the pool and lost his footing you, you threw your beer and I think you jumped in the pool before Daniel hit the water. He fell into the water on your chest laughing, thinking you were playing with him. You, you played it down by making a face at him, but when Monica came to you in a panic, you, you told her in a terse tone that it wasn't a good idea to have a pool. And the next day, you put a fence around the pool."

Chandler was still staring out into the still water of the pool, embarrassed, not knowing what to add to the story. He finally turned to Ross and Monica's father, who was still looking at the water.

"I don't understand what you're trying to tell me, sir."

"I've known you since you were 19 years old. At first, Judy and I had a low opinion of you because of because of Ross. But when that misunderstanding was cleared up and we realized what a friend you were to Ross, and we learned that you were in a relationship with Monica, we got to see what a fine young man you were. But still, we had prejudices. We loved you, boy, but we didn't think you and Monica would last in time. Again, you surprised us. The wedding did take place and you paid for it out of your own pocket, I'm ashamed, but we didn't save the money, not believing that you were going to propose. And you adopted the children. We thought that with adoption, it wouldn't be like Ben and Emma, but we were wrong. We love your four little angels. But my boy, what I want to tell you is that since I've known you, you've always manage to surprise us. So don't put any pressure on yourself, you'll manage to surprise us again."

Jack Geller patted his son-in-law on the shoulder and went back into the house as if nothing had happened, leaving Chandler alone in front of the pool that had nearly killed Daniel. His moment of panic calmed, he returned to the house filled with people who loved him and only wanted him well. Lunch passed with laughter and chatter from the children. The rest of the day was spent in the same good mood of the morning. Monica, her mother and Rachel began to prepare the Thanksgiving meal while the kids played on the Playstation and the rest of the adults chatted in the garden. Judy stood in front of the TV and suggested a game of ball basket to get everyone moving.

"Basketball, Grandma. Not ball basket," chuckled Daniel.

"Whatever. Everybody out. You can't hear yourself think in the kitchen. Kids, show your fathers how old they've become," Judy added, before heading back into the house.

Excitement gripped everyone and they found themselves in front of the house where the basket was hanging, right on top of the garage. The two Jacks, grandfather and grandson, declared themselves the referees. Ben was returned to the youth team, not wanting to be associated with the old guys, even though he was closer to thirty than twenty. The youth team consisted of Ben, Emma, Erica, Daniel and Catherine. The old team consisted of Ross, Joey, Mike, Chandler and Jewel. Elizabeth was cheering on her daddy at the expense of her brother and sister.

She had a bias and didn't hide it, as did Skye, who cheered for her father and godfather. The teams didn't seem equal in strength, but Joey and Ross teased Chandler that he had the memories of his 20s.

"It evens out with Chandler's youth," said Mr. Geller.

"He only has the magical thinking of his youth because he has the lungs and cardio of a little old man, Grandpa," replied Jack Bing.

Everyone froze when they heard young Jack's reply. His tone was funny, so everyone started laughing. Chandler jumped up and down to show that he was in good shape before he started coughing exaggeratedly, proving Jack's point, which made the group laugh even more. The game could begin, with shouts and laughter.

For Monica, it was the first Thanksgiving where she was not so much present in the kitchen. As a cook by trade, nobody normally helped her for this meal. But her mother, Rachel and Phoebe were present, knowing perfectly well that this year was more difficult for Monica. They had seen it. Hearing the laughter outside, all she wanted to do was go see how her husband was doing with all these strangers. She walked to the living room window where she could see the entrance to the garage where the group was playing.

Daniel had the ball. Smaller than his father and thinner, and at 15 years old, he tried to get around Chandler, who grabbed him from behind and pulled him out of the way to the basket. Daniel howled with laughter.

"Penalty! PENALTY," he shouted with laughter as he struggled weakly in his father's arms.

Monica put her hand to her chest, Daniel laughed as he tried to get out of his father's grip, who was playing innocent. Since his father woke up from his coma, Daniel had been locked in a silence that worried Monica. Seeing him laughing and bickering with his father as before brought tears to her eyes. Her son Jack approached them, trying to keep a straight face.

"Daniel, you lost the ball. It's the old man's team turn."

"WHAT! But Dad chained me in his arms of death, that's a penalty! I should have two shots."

"I didn't see anything sorry," Jack replied having a hard time not laughing.

Daniel turned to his father and stuck his tongue out at him, to which Chandler replied with a cheerful wave of his hand, before clapping the hand that Jack held out to him, congratulating himself on the trick they had just pulled on Daniel.

"They look like they're having fun," Judy said, startling her daughter.

"How can it be so much the same and yet. Look, it looks like everything is normal. Chandler is having the same fun. How can it be? He still has no memory of all of us, but he's acting the same."

"Maybe it's physical. He only cares about playing. He doesn't think about who he is or who he's been. He's just in the moment. Maybe his body knows how to react to his children," Judy tried.

They looked at them for a moment before returning to the kitchen after seeing Daniel jump on his father's back as soon as his father received the ball. Outside, Mr. Geller quickly lost control and young Jack seemed to be siding with both the youngsters and the olders. When Grandma Geller came to get everyone to eat, they all rushed inside.

When Chandler returned from washing his hands, he walked over to the table and saw the feast that had been prepared and his mouth watered. Monica showed him to his seat and when he saw the plate he exclaimed with joy.

"Macaroni and cheese! Is it the same one you made for me at your parents' house?"

"It's been improved over 30 years, but yes, it's, it's one of your favorite dishes."

"I understand, it's so good," Chandler replied as he sat down.

When the turkey was served to everyone but him, Chandler frowned before looking over to Monica.

"I don't eat turkey?"

All the adults stopped talking and looked at Chandler. Monica glanced at Ross, who put down his utensils.

"You only started eating Thanksgiving food 15 years ago. Before, do you remember that you anything to do with this holiday?"

"Yes," Chandler said thoughtfully, searching his memory.

His parents had told him about their divorce during Thanksgiving dinner in 1978, and he vaguely remembered hating anything that came close to the holiday. But he didn't have the revulsion he remembered having, and Ross had just confirmed to him that in the last 15 years he had matured enough to realize that one bad Thanksgiving didn't make all the others and to have heard about this holiday over the years with this group, it sounded more like a nice holiday. Chandler had a great day and the meal smelled divine. He handed his plate to Ben who was the one cutting the turkey.

"Do you have a preference? The leg or the breast," Ben asked his godfather.

"All of it. I was cowardly attacked on the field and I need to get my strength back," Chandler replied.

"You attacked me, you liar," said Daniel, sitting at the second table.

The atmosphere was festive and everyone was enjoying the good food. It seemed as if time had stood still, that Chandler had never lost his memory, yet everyone was just telling stories because Chandler had no memory of them. It was the best Thanksgiving ever and even Phoebe's suggestion of karaoke was accepted. Everyone joined in, the show making everyone laugh or cry depending on who was doing it. Everyone went to bed with a lighter heart, even Chandler. He hadn't thought about his amnesia for a moment and had enjoyed himself as much as everyone else.

After this chapter there are only two left!

Have a nice week !