A/N: I couldn't help myself with the description of Grand Central Station. I go through there all the time on my way home from school. And, while I've grown used to it, I still love to glance up at the painted ceiling of the Main Concourse. Oh, and of course, I couldn't resist using "White Plains", the town near school to which I take the train.

As always, thanks for the amazing reviews! You guys are the best!

Joey ran into the train station with panic in his eyes,

Up to the information booth, down the stairs he did fly.

Down the stairs and train doors Joey made his way through,

But the train would be stalled, Joey found soon.

Chapter 5

Joey ran through Grand Central Station. He'd entered on one of the side entrances and needed to find out when and on what track the next train would be, information that was at the main information booth. but stopped when he entered the Main Concourse.

"Whoa," Joey whispered. He hadn't been in Grand Central for a long time, and forgot just how massive it was. And the holiday light show going on just made it that much more awe-inspiring.

Colored snowflakes and other winter symbol holograms flashed on the ceiling in patterns while loud, instrumental holiday music blasted from unseen speakers. Most of the station patrons were unfazed and kept moving, but some stood like Joey, a smile on their faces with their necks arched back.

The whole room was at least three stories high, with grand staircases on each side. It was all made of light-colored marble, with gold-colored imprints of signs like "Dining Concourse" or "Subway." These imprints were over the four arched doorways on either side of the staircases that led to tracks. In the center stood a huge round information booth with a proportionate, ornate clock on top.

The show ended, and Joey was brought back to reality. "Crap," he swore as he realized he didn't have show-watching time to spare. He ran up to the booth and asked one of the attendants at the window, "Hey, when and where is the next train to White Plains?" That was the station in a Westchester town where Monica and Chandler would pick him up.

The attendant glanced at the screen which displayed train information. "4:38, Track 117. You better make a run for it – that's in four minutes, and the track is downstairs."

"Thanks," Joey said and broke into a run. He was thankful that he didn't have any luggage to drag him down. There were enough clothes and underwear left in his room from last time to get him through the week he'd be there, and he didn't really care if he wore those same outfits again. Besides, Monica and Chandler had assured him that he would get a some clothes from his friends as Christmas presents.

"Track 117…117…" Joey muttered to himself as he looked at the numbers on the signs above track entryways. He found it, dashed down the stairs and jumped into the first car he saw…five seconds before it closed. "Hah! Made it!"

The train lurched forward, and since there were no seats, Joey leaned on one of the short walls that made up the entryway to the car. They burst forward through the dark tunnel and stopped at one or two local stops before they reached open air.

Joey glanced out the window, amazed by the heavy snow. It had stopped on his mad dash from FAO Schwarz to the station, but it picked up again real quick. Pretty cities covered in white flew by.

But his gaze was soon distracted by a hot young woman in jeans, a blouse and wool coat right across from him. Her hair was curly dark blond, and her chocolate brown eyes were reading a paperback novel, her large pock book on the floor between her boot-clad feet.

Well, Joey didn't have a book, but he now definitely had something to do for the ride.

"Hey, how you doin'?"

The woman looked up at Joey and smiled. "Hi!"

"I'm Joey," he said as he stuck out his hand.

She kept a thumb on the page in her book on one had while she shook his with the other. "I'm Melinda. Nice to meet you."

"That's a nice name," Joey complimented. "So…"

He trailed off as the train gave a sudden, harsh lurch and screeched to a stop. Melinda lost her balance and ended up in his arms.

Joey grinned down at the embarrassed woman. "So, did the earth move for you?"

That the dreidel was interesting, Emma needed proof

So Uncle Chandler ended up looking like a goof.

He tried to spin and get the top to spin fast around,

But fell flat on the table with a taunting wooden sound.

In the living room, Chandler sat on the couch next to Ross, in front of his audience. His audience was made up of Emma and the twins, who had woken up about when Phoebe and Mike got there. Erica and Jack were old enough to sit on the floor by themselves, and were watching with mild interest.

Rachel, and Phoebe were in the kitchen helping Monica fry doughnuts, while Mike had gone upstairs to unpack. Both Chandler and Ross could smell the fried dough, and were trying not to let their growling stomachs interrupt their babysitting session.

"Now, listen to Uncle Ross…and, well, Dad…you three. He's going to teach you how to play the dreidel game," Chandler said. Both adults and Emma had a wooden dreidel in front of them. The babies had baby-safe plastic ones, which they used as teething rings.

The three old enough were going to play the actual game after Ross taught them. Despite being married to a Jewish woman for about four years, he had barely known that there was a game to go with the popular toy. As Ross had instructed, there was a pile of pennies in the middle of the coffee table, and each player had their own handful.

Emma didn't look too thrilled at the prospect. "I wanna sing Santa songs."

Chandler and Ross glanced at each other and probably had the same thought: Ben, 2.0.

"But Emma, this game is really fun. And you get to put the pennies you win in your piggy bank when you get home," Ross persuaded.

After some thought, Emma smiled. "Yay! Teach me, Daddy!"

"That's nice, Ross," Chandler muttered under his breath. "Bribe your child to embrace religious tradition!"

Ross wasn't bothered by the sentiment. "Hey, I wish I thought of this sooner. Maybe I wouldn't have had to dress up like an armadillo."

"You have to admit, it was priceless," Chandler said with a laugh.

Not amused, Ross shifted focus to the game. He began by pointing to each of the symbols on the four-sided shape. "Here. The one that's shaped like a backwards 'C' is called 'Nun.' The backwards 'C' with two feet at the bottom is 'Gimel.' The door is 'Hey', and the odd shape with three lines is called 'Shin.' Together, they stand for Nes Gadol Haya Sham, which means A Great Miracle Happened There."

Chandler was impressed. He'd never known Ross or his family to be particularly caught up on Jewish traditions. "Cool. Where'd you learn that, your parents?" Somehow, he couldn't imagine Jack and Judy Geller teaching their children how to play with a dreidel.

"Yeah, right," Ross whispered. "I looked it up online."

"Ah," Chandler replied. Now it made sense.

Emma was losing interest fast. "When do I get pennies?"

Chandler laughed while Ross tried to not let Emma's question bother him. "Soon, Em. Let me explain the rules first, okay?"

"Okay," Emma agreed with a reluctant pout.

"See, here, the symbols each stand for something," Ross explained. "Kind of like picking a card in Candyland. Nun means that you lose a turn. Gimel means that you win all the pennies in the pot. Hey means that you win half the pot. And Shin means that you lose all of your pennies."

Chandler nodded. "Right. And you spin it like this." He then attempted to show-off by spinning the top. But he put too much force on it and it just toppled over. "Hey!"

"That's 'Shin'," Emma corrected with a smirk and pointed to the symbol that happened to be face up.

Ross held back a laugh as Chandler did his best not to give Emma a dirty look. "That's right, Emma," Ross praised. "That means that Uncle Chandler loses all his pennies."

"We weren't playing yet! That was a practice spin!" Chandler objected, embarrassed to be one-upped by a toddler.

Ross gave Emma a sidelong glance. "I don't know, Em. I think it counts," he said, his competitiveness showing. "What do you think?"

"It counts!" Emma exclaimed with a laugh at her uncle.

His hands raised in a helpless gesture, Ross said with sarcasm, "Sorry, man, majority rules. Em, why don't you try?"

"Yay!" Emma cheered. She took the dreidel and spun it as hard as she could. But because she didn't have nearly as much strength as her uncle, it spun in a perfect spiral until it gently landed on 'Gimel.'

Chandler frowned at the injustice. "Oh, come on!"

A/N: Boy, did I have fun writing the dreidel scene. But, since I'm not Jewish, I had absolutely no idea how to play with a dreidel until I, like Ross, looked it up online. If I got anything wrong and offended any Jewish readers, I'm really sorry.