A/N: Once again, thank you all for the reviews! Merry Christmas Eve, everyone! And Happy Fourth Day of Chanukah!

When all hope was lost, the train lurched with a jerk,

That Joey found presents for the kids was quite a perk.

And while the dollhouse was a challenge that had been posed,

To the occasion Ross and Rachel had successfully rose.

Chapter 9

Joey leaned against the wall of the entryway barrier with Melinda in his arms. The crying girl had just gotten off the phone with her family again, and hadn't been able to take it when they said they had to have dinner without her. "I know it's not fair," Joey assured her. "I want to be with my friends so much, it hurts."

"Likewise. I can't believe I missed my mom's stuffed mushrooms! They're all gone!" Melinda said in a dramatic wail.

Her head on his shoulder, Joey agreed, "Yeah, it sucks to miss out on food. I mean, I keep thinking of all the potato pancakes I could've stolen by now!"

"What?" Melinda said and picked her head up. "I thought you said you were going to celebrate Christmas at your friends' house. Potato pancakes are Chanukah food."

"I personally don't care, food is food," Joey replied, then explained, "But my friends want to 'expose their children to both religious traditions' since Erica and Jack are half-Jewish. Well, we don't know for sure since they're adopted, but Monica and Chandler are treating them like they're half-Jewish anyway."

Melinda sniffed as she tried to recover from her break down. "That's nice. Especially since Christmas is so overwhelming. All the Christmas songs, the specials on TV…"

"Aw, man! I hope Chandler hasn't watched Baywatch yet!" Joey exclaimed. At Melinda's confused look, Joey explained, "See, when Chandler and I were roommates, we used to watch the Baywatch episode, 'Silent Night, Baywatch Night' every year after we taped it. It's not Christmas Eve without it!"

Melinda frowned at him. "You watched that show?"

"All the time!" Joey confirmed, with no shame whatsoever.

Eager to change the subject, Melinda nodded to the guy dressed as Santa Claus. Since they had been stuck on the train for so long, other restless children had asked to sit on his lap. "Look at that," Melinda said with a nod at the scene. After the five or six children had their turn, "Santa" had unexpectedly pulled a children's book of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" out of the "Santa bag" he carried with him, and was almost done with the long poem. "That guy is fantastic, isn't he? He must have a big heart."

"He needs one with all that fat," Joey replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

Melinda laughed. "I'm sure it's just padding. It's nice for the kids' parents though. I mean, who knows when this train is going to get moving again."

About to reply, Joey pause when he happened to make eye contact with "Santa." There was an almost knowing look in the guy's eye when the train's speaker system crackled.

An excited, happy conductor's voice made an announcement. "Good news, ladies and gentlemen! The part that overheated cooled faster than expected, and we're starting the train up now! We should be moving in five minutes!"

The passengers erupted into cheers. While the gathered children thanked "Santa" and dispersed, Melinda remarked, "Well, wasn't that good timing."

"Yeah…" Joey trailed off, his gaze still on "Santa." The guy had put his book in his sack and sat back in his seat. Despite both Melinda and Chandler's warnings, he couldn't shake the feeling that this guy really was Santa. I mean, he can't use the sleigh for everyday travel, Joey reasoned. So maybe he needed to take a train…

Meanwhile, Melinda was dialing her phone. "I have to call my family and tell them the good news!"

Melinda stayed on the phone all the way until they reached the first stop. Joey knew he should call his friends as well, but his thoughts were still on "Santa."

The speaker system crackled again. "First stop, Harlem 125th Street."

In response, "Santa" got up to stand in the same entryway as Joey and Melinda. After he waved at the other passengers who had waved good-bye, "Santa" turned to Joey. "Hey, Joey, right?"

Joey's eyes widened. "You are Santa!"

The guy let out a deep chuckle. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation and heard your name…and that you're short three presents." "Santa" rummaged through his sack and pulled out three good-sized wrapped presents. "I happen to have three presents left from a grab bag I attended earlier. One for a young girl, and two for babies."

"Well, that's great, but what am I…" Joey began, then caught on. "Are you serious? Dude, I'll give you money for them…"

"Santa" held up his hand. "It's Christmas Eve – don't worry about it." After he'd balanced the gifts in a manageable pile, "Santa" gave the presents to Joey.

Joey was overwhelmed. Not only had he met a hot girl, but his gift problem was solved! This was the best Christmas ever! "Thanks, Santa! Hey, what's your real name?"

The door opened at the first station as the guy replied, "It's Scott."

Then he stepped onto the platform and disappeared into the crowd.

"Whoa…" Joey whispered while he took in the oddness of the situation. Then he turned around and noticed that Melinda was off the phone. "Hey, can I get your number?"

"Sure," Melinda agreed. She wrote it down on pen and paper she had in her bag. "But I thought you were just in town visiting friends. Won't they want you to spend all your time with them?"

Joey smiled. "They'll understand."

"Oh my God, are you serious?" Rachel exclaimed. Joey had called again, and she happened to be the one who answered the phone. The entire group, other than Phoebe and Emma, were together again and seated around the living room. Since they were almost, but not quite, done with the dollhouse, Phoebe had offered to stall and give Emma a warm bath after being outside in the snow for so long.

When Rachel had made a remark about how maternal Phoebe was, Phoebe had turned bright red and hurried to get Emma. It was weird…but then again, so was Phoebe.

After she listened more, Rachel informed everyone, "The train's moving again! He just passed Hartsdale and should be here in ten minutes!"

The group gave various exclamations of joy. Monica and Chandler went to grab their coats. "Alright, that means we have to leave to go pick him up," Monica explained. "You guys don't mind watching the twins again, right?"

After the three left all agreed, Chandler remarked, "Yes, honey, don't worry…Mike is an excellent babysitter."

Confused, Mike shrugged. "I'm okay, I mean, I babysat my cousin a few times…"

Ross and Rachel traded guilty looks as the Bings left and closed the door behind them. The two then sat back down to work on the dollhouse, this time with one eye always on the twins.

One baby, Erica, in his lap, Mike joined them. Jack had fallen asleep after his little adventure. "I can't believe you guys are still working on this," Mike said. "It's been what…two hours?"

"Neither can I," Rachel muttered. She was beginning to think it would have been much easier just to get Emma one of those battery-powered toy cars that Joey had suggested while he was trying to come up with his own present. One, big piece was better than a million little pieces.

Ross, snapped together two halves of a bookcase. "The last piece of furniture!" he declared as he held up the plastic piece in triumph.

Rachel and Mike stuck on the last few stickers and freed the last of the accessories from their plastic holders. Before long, there was nothing left to do. There were no more stickers to unstuck. No more plastic pieces to free. No more furniture parts to snap together. They might…actually…be finished. "Are we done?" Rachel asked.

"It looks like it," Mike agreed.

Ross inspected some of the rooms, then nodded. "I think we are. We're done."

"Hallelujah," Rachel exclaimed. "It's a Christmas Eve miracle!"

Mike laughed. "Oh, yes, God bless us, everyone."

As she unfolded her legs and stood up, Rachel went to get the dollhouse box. "Okay, we'll put all the pieces in here, and then we'll drag the dollhouse into the cl…" She trailed off when she noticed a white piece of paper stuck under the bottom cardboard flap. She reached in to pull out…the instructions. In English.

With the knowledge that she should've found it in the first place, Rachel crumpled up the paper and stuffed it in the pocket of the light jacket she was wearing. "Okay, guys, let's get going! Emma will be coming downstairs any minute!"

A/N: Couldn't resist putting in some "The Santa Clause" references. I love those movies. Well, the first two. The third kind of ruined it, lol.