A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Two more chapters to go!

While Rachel and Ross worked, fixing each bed and each shelf,

Their charges had gone as they'd talked amongst themselves,

Chandler came to help and used his head,

But Monica finding out filled them with dread.

Chapter 8

"I can't feel my legs," Ross complained in a pitiful whine. He and Rachel had been sitting in the same positions for a half hour after everyone had split up. While Rachel put stickers in their appropriate places, Ross was stuck with the job of putting together complex pieces of furniture. He was almost done with a bed frame when the balcony fell off the house. "You've got to be kidding me."

Rachel hadn't heard him, since she was preoccupied with singing along to The Best Christmas Ever, which they'd played for the twins while Monica and Chandler were busy. "'Up on the housetop, reindeer pause, out jumps good old Santa Claus,'" Rachel sang. She actually seemed content with herself, her tone genuinely upbeat. "'Down through the chimney with lots of toys, all for the little ones' Christmas joys…'"

"Hey, Rach, you take requests?" Ross teased in an effort to get her attention. "How about 'Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer'?"

Rachel frowned at him. "Ross, that's a horrible song. I loved my Nana."

"You have to admit it's a little funny," Ross joked. In rare moments of bonding as children, he and Monica vowed to teach it to their future children and encourage them to sing it in front of their grandparents as payback.

"I don't think so. I mean, it's a hit-and-run, summed up in a cute Christmas song," Rachel insisted as she leaned over to install a sticker on the other side of the dollhouse.

Ross had never thought of it like that before. Now the song seemed almost…cruel. In a funny way. "Maybe. But how can you not laugh at…'She'd been drinking too much eggnog, and we begged her not to go…'"

"'But she forgot her medication, and she staggered out the door into the snow…'" Rachel paused, then glared at him. "Damn it, Ross! Now it's stuck in my head!"

They hadn't noticed that the DVD ended. But when the DVD flashed from the movie to the play menu, Ross glanced up. At first he was glad that the babies, who had been resting against the bottom of the couch, didn't burst into tears that their show was over.

That relief faded fast when he realized that the babies were no longer in their spots.

"Hey, um, Rach?" Ross asked, the panic he felt causing his voice to crack.

"Yeah?"

He gave her a sideways glance. "Have you seen Jack and Erica recently?"

"What are you talking about? They're right…" Rachel trailed off when she realized that, while they had been working on the dollhouse, the twins had crawled off. "Oh, crap. Monica and Chandler are going to kill us."

The doll furniture that had been in his hand fell to the floor as he stood up. "Okay, the front door's closed, and they haven't learned to crawl upstairs yet. They have to either be in here, in the dining room, or…the kitchen."

"Isn't Monica in the kitchen?" Rachel asked in horror. If she found the babies before they did, they'd never hear the end of it. She leaped to her feet. "I'm on it. You look for them in here. Maybe they crawled around the tree or into the closet."

Ross nodded. "Right. I'm sure we'll find them soon, but we have to be safe. Godspeed." Rachel didn't even make fun of his melodramatics as she made a beeline for the kitchen where, last they checked, Phoebe and Monica were making doughnuts.

"Okay, if I were a seven-month old, where would I be…" Ross muttered to himself. His gaze fell on the sparkly ornaments on the tree and checked there first. His search was fruitless, and he moved on to the entryway closet…but not before he stubbed his toe on the tree stand. "Son of a...." he exclaimed.

The closet was empty as well. He ran to check the dining room, but he had no luck there either. His heart racing, he went to see if Rachel found them, so he went through the wide hallway from the dining room to the kitchen.

And paused when he heard a loud giggle from the huge walk-in closet, which had a door in the hallway as well as the kitchen. First there was Erica's high-pitched one, then Jack's typical gurgle. "Oh, thank God," he whispered, careful not to alert his sister of his presence. The kitchen was large, and the stove where his sister was surely situated was at the other end.

He twisted the doorknob and pushed…only to have it blocked by a small hook-and-eye latch. It must've been loose and closed when either Erica or Jack kicked the door shut. He could see them inside, though, and they seemed to be content for the moment. It turned out that his sister had stored a mountain of presents in there, and the babies were enjoying themselves as they tore the wrapping paper to shreds.

One problem at a time.

Careful to keep his panic in check, Ross strolled into the kitchen. Rachel was trying to be discreet as she checked cabinets and under the table. "Hey, there she is, the love of my life!" Ross exclaimed and went to throw his arms around his girlfriend.

"Oh, uh, hey honey," Rachel greeted. Her wary tone revealed that she realized he needed to tell her something about the baby situation.

Meanwhile, the other two women glanced at each other. "Aw, isn't that cute?" Phoebe asked Monica.

"Yeah," Monica replied. Then turned back to the stove. "You two either start helping or get busy in another room. There's only room for cooks in this kitchen."

"Whatever you say, Mon," Rachel assured her, then dragged Ross into the hallway, coincidentally right next to the pantry. "What is it? Where are the babies?"

As if in response, a loud giggle sounded from the closet. Rachel stared at him, incredulity on her face, silently demanding an explanation.

"Yeah, um…" Ross began. "We have a problem."

The house phone at his ear, Chandler talked to Joey as he walked down the stairs. Soon after Mike and Emma had pummeled him with snowballs, he'd been done playing in the snow for the day and went inside to get changed. Emma was still out there in the backyard with Mike finishing off the snowman. All he could say was that Ross and Rachel were lucky that their daughter had extreme tolerance for cold.

"So when do you think the train will start up again? Did the conductor say?" Chandler asked on the phone. Joey had told him all about his adventures for the day, and Chandler found it amazing that, of course, Joey would be stuck on a train with a hot girl.

"They said an hour, but it's already been more than that. But I don't mind since I've got a girl here. And Santa!"

Chandler paused at that. "Santa?"

"Yeah! This guy's dressed up as Santa," Joey said in a whisper. He must have been trying not to be overheard by said passenger. "He looks like the real one, too!"

"Whatever you do, don't try to sit on his lap," Chandler joked.

"Ha, ha. I know it's not the real thing," Joey replied. There was a pause, then Joey added in an even lower whisper, "Hey man, have to go, Melinda called home again and she needs some Joey comfort. Tell everyone I said hi!"

Chandler shook his head as he hung up the phone. Only Joey.

An amused smile on his face, Chandler turned the corner into the hallway that led to the kitchen…to find his friends huddled at the closet that Monica had warned him to stay away from since she was stowing presents there. "Hey, if you found the presents…" he paused. "Let's open mine first, okay?"

Both Ross and Rachel bolted upright with guilt all over their red faces. They hung their heads in shame and kept their hands behind their backs. Still not getting the situation, Chandler joked, "You are forgiven, my children."

"Yeah, keep that in mind when we tell you who's in the closet," Ross mumbled.

Unable to resist a gay joke, Chandler quipped, "It's Mike, isn't it? I knew it!"

"No, that's not what we meant!" Rachel insisted and pointed to the closet door.

Chandler became confused as he peeked in the small crack the latch allowed. His jaw dropped when he saw a mess of wrapping paper, his delighted children in the middle. Stunned, he whirled around, but kept his voice low. "Wha…What happened? You were supposed to be watching them!"

"I know, I know, I know, we're so sorry!" Rachel whispered back, her hands clasped in a begging manner.

Ross nodded in agreement. "We're sorry, man, but we were busy with the dollhouse and didn't notice until it was too late."

"Guys, it's not like we asked you to watch a dog and it ran away! These are our kids! Monica is going to be very upset with you! I mean…" Chandler trailed off as he pulled a credit card out of his pocket. His friends sighed with relief when he slipped it in and opened the latch with ease. "This latch has been loose for weeks! You shouldn't have let them get in here! This never would've happened if you'd watched them, and I'd fixed the latch on the door like Monica's been asking me over and over and over…" He trailed off as he realized his part in the incident, and that his wife would surely be quick to point it out.

While he pushed open the door, Chandler said, "Monica doesn't find out about this."

Ross and Rachel nodded in agreement.