"I really don't care, Mom," Monica said, her patience hitting the tipping point. "I just know she can't stay with me."

Her Mom stood up to grab the whistling teapot off her stove.

They'd spent the morning, with Rachel and Ben, at her parents' house putting together the gift bags for guests at the rehearsal dinner.

"Of course I know she can't do that!" Judy said, her tone matching her daughter's. "I really don't care where she stays either, but I just thought you might have an idea. Maurine is your cousin, Monica, and it would be nice to accommodate her, given the circumstances."

Monica put both elbows on her mother's kitchen table and rubbed her temples with her fingers. Her head felt like it was going to explode and her mother wasn't helping. Yes, she was sorry Maurine's credit cards were compromised in a data breach and she had no money to pay for a hotel, but she didn't have any energy to put thought into the matter.

In her mind the story paled in comparison to the news from Arizona she'd heard from Richard last night.

Michelle and Phillip were going to have a baby.

Monica was going to be a grandma. OK, so a step-grandma, but a grandma none-the-less. And it didn't help that Richard was "so excited" about becoming a "grandpa" and had been talking about it all morning on the way to Long Island.

"Here's your tea," Judy said, eyeing her daughter warily before sitting down. Just then Rachel walked into the kitchen.

"How are you feeling, dear?" Judy asked.

"Fine, fine," Rachel said with a hint of sarcasm. "I love peeing every 10 minutes."

Her mother-in-law patted her arm. Monica smiled weakly at her.

"Now, you'll forget all about it when the baby comes. There's nothing like a new baby," Judy said. "I was just talking to a friend earlier today who is expecting her first grandchild..."

"Oh?" Rachel said, walking to the stove to get herself a cup of tea. "Anyone we know?"

Monica gave her Mom a look that, if deadly, may have killed her. Judy, realizing too late her mistake, went beet-red and looked at Monica, and then at her tea.

"What?" Rachel said, sitting down and looking between the two women.

"Honey, I'm sorry…" Judy mumbled, not knowing what else to say.

Monica sighed.

"Michelle and Phillip are pregnant," she said, flatly.

"Oh! Oh…" Rachel said, excited and then not.

Judy excused herself to check on Ben.

"Oh my God, Monica," Rachel said, once Judy left the room. "You are going to be…"

"Don't say it," Monica said, sharply. "Don't even think it!"

"Umph," Rachel said, running her fingers across her lips to "zip" her mouth shut, but struggling not to laugh while doing so.

Monica threw her face into her hands.

"I know," she said, her voice muffled. "I know it's stupid but…a grandma? Really?"

She looked up.

"Go ahead, you can laugh…" she said with a heavy sigh.

Rachel chuckled.

"Oh, it's not so bad," she said, casting a sideways glance at Monica, who looked unconvinced.

"Good thing Chandler isn't here though," Rachel mused, with a smile. "He'd have a field day with this."

"Mmmm," Monica squished up her face and smirked back at her.

"There's my Little Harmonica," Jack said as he came into the kitchen from the garage. He kissed her on the cheek. He, Richard and Ross had gone to get the fitting done to their tuxes, which had been picked out by Monica weeks earlier, and then to play nine holes of golf at the country club where Jack and Richard belonged.

"Where's Richard?" Monica asked.

"Putting his clubs back in the car," Jack said, looking at his daughter curiously. "He told us Michelle and Phillip's news."

"Yes…yes," Monica said with a tight smile. Jack and Ross briefly looked at each other.

"Where's my grandson?" Jack said with a clap as he made his way out of the kitchen and down the hall.

Ross kissed Rachel on the cheek and sat beside her.

"So…Grandma…" he said cheekily, earning the same death stare as his mother received. "Whoa, sorry. I just…Richard seems pretty excited about it."

Monica nodded. It was good that he was excited about a baby coming into his life again, right? But it seemed to her that the "grandpa" part was what he was most excited about.

Ross took a deep breath.

"Um, he, well, he mentioned maybe…selling his half of the practice to Tim and, maybe, um… moving out there part time?" Ross said slowly, not sure if he should have brought it up but very curious to know what his sister thought of that plan. "Have you…have you guys talked about that?"

Rachel raised her eyebrows and looked at Monica.

"What!?" Monica said, completely surprised. "No! I mean…I…no, we haven't talked about that. We just found out about the baby last night…"

Monica's heart started to beat fast in her chest. Move to Arizona?

Ross and Rachel looked at each other.

"Maybe…maybe it was just a thought that occurred to him today," Ross said quickly. "You know, just the excitement of the news…"

"Yeah…" Monica said, distractedly.

Her head shot up as Richard walked in from the garage.

"Well," he said, with a smile, "we're all done here. Ready to head back home?"

###

Except for the toddler tunes tape playing in the car for Ben, it was quiet as Ross and Rachel drove back to the Village from Long Island - their thoughts otherwise occupied.

"Do you think they'll move to Arizona?" Rachel said, finally breaking the silence.

"I don't know," Ross said, having been thinking the same thing. "I don't…well, I just don't know."

Rachel thought about Monica's reaction to the news, and about her overall behavior lately. She seemed very stressed. Monica didn't get stressed. She thrived on planning and organizing and fretting over the small things. She kicked herself and everyone around her into high gear, but she didn't get stressed.

Rachel sighed.

"Do you think she's happy?" Rachel finally asked. Ross stole a brief glance at his wife.

"What do you mean?"

"I just…I don't know. She doesn't seem happy," she said, looking out the window.

Ross shrugged.

"It's probably just pre-wedding nervousness," he said, though not completely convinced of that himself. He'd have to start paying more attention, he thought.

"Yeah, maybe," Rachel replied as they made their way across the bridge back into the city.

###

Chandler slammed the door shut and threw his bag against the wall.

He scanned their apartment - his apartment. The shades were drawn. It looked gloomy.

Perfect.

He went to the fridge and grabbed a beer, then sunk down on the couch. The red light from the answering machine on the end table was flashing vividly in the dark and he wanted to make it stop. He pushed the button.

"Hey, it's me. Listen, I know you had plans to come down tomorrow, but I don't think that would be a good idea…"

"Jesus Christ!" he cursed as he grabbed the machine and threw it across the room, hitting the front door. "God Dammit!"

Elbows on his knees, he buried his head in his hands.

He'd been waiting near the backstage door, flowers in hand, ready to surprise her. He watched from afar as she signed autographs. He was so proud of her. He could tell she was relishing signing the little books and slips of paper from fans.

Then the star of the production, a "Nick" somebody, had walked out, grabbed her from behind, around the waist and kissed her.

And she'd kissed back. It wasn't a friendly kiss between friends. It was a kiss.

The crowd went wild and Chandler dropped the flowers.

He'd gone back to her hotel and waited for her. He watched as they walked into the lobby together, hand-in-hand. She was giggling at something Nick said when she spotted Chandler.

He saw the blood drain from her face.

Leaving Nick in the lobby she wordlessly led Chandler to her hotel room.

He was seething.

And it got uglier from there.

"YOU were talking about it, Chandler," she screamed, crying. They were fully in the throes of the biggest fight of his life. "I never said I was ready for it!"

"And I never said it had to happen now!" Chandler shouted. "God, Kathy, what the hell are we doing? I thought we were planning a future. I thought … I thought you … loved me…"

"I do," she said moving toward him. He backed away. She stopped. "I just…it's all too fast. I have my career. It's just starting now, Chandler. We were having fun, I thought that was enough for you."

"Well, it's not," he snapped, now on the verge of tears himself, but demanding answers. "Why the hell did we move in together then? What was that?"

"I…I," she stammered, then closed her eyes. "I needed a place to stay…"

He stumbled back and let out a low, harsh breath, like someone had knocked the wind out of him.

"I…I didn't mean it like that…Chandler," she said quickly, trying to reach out for him again.

He jerked his arm away from her.

"Glad I could find a place for you to store your shit," he spat out in sarcastic bitterness.

She looked past him, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down enough to ask the one question he didn't want to.

"Is this because of that guy, that Nick?" he asked in a whisper.

After a moment she looked at him with sad, guilty eyes but she never said a word.

He stared at her, willing her to speak, but she just looked down again.

"Got it," he finally said. Grabbing his bag and storming out the door.

"Chandler…" she called, but she didn't follow him.

He'd spent the night at the airport and boarded the earliest flight he could get back to New York on Saturday.

And it was over.

He closed his eyes and rested his head against the back of the couch.

Then grimaced as he felt the sense of self-loathing creep back into his consciousness and the walls slowly close in around him once again.

NOTE: Poor Chandler, I know. :( I am probably going to update every 5-6 days. Thank you so much for your reviews! I hope you are enjoying it so far :)