AN: I got this done in time for Thanksgiving. I'm so proud of myself. A couple people have commented that Chandler doesn't really interact with Sophie like he should. So hopefully I'm getting a little better with that. Let me know in your reviews. They make me happy:)

Disclaimer: I own no one. They all belong to Bright/Kauffman/Crane. Although I do have the rights to the character Sophie.

Chapter 8: Thanksgiving Conflicts

Chandler was sitting at the table trying to finish a paper for his business class that was due as soon as he got back from Thanksgiving break. He wanted to get it done before tomorrow, which was Thanksgiving Day. Sophie was scooting around the living area in her walker as a cartoon videotape played in the VCR that Nora had sent to him. Chandler put down his textbook as he heard a crash and Sophie giggled.

He walked into her and saw that Sophie had somehow managed to climb out of the walker and was sitting on the end table. The lamp was now on the floor where she had pushed it. He wanted to get mad and yell at her, but she looked up at him with a toothy grin showing off her two front teeth that had finally came in.

"Ok. I guess you don't want me to get any work done." He picked her up off the table and set her down on the floor. He picked the lamp up and put it back on the table for now until he had a chance to fix it. "Want daddy to play with you for a little bit?"

"Dada!" she smiled at him and he sat beside her.

"That's right. I'm your dada." He smiled as he picked her up and held her on his lap and started to read a board book to her.

Chandler was feeding Sophie some squash that night when his phone started to ring. He reached for it on the nearby kitchen counter and held it to his ear.

"Hey, Ross." He held the phone to his ear with his shoulder as he continued to feed Sophie. "No. I can pick you up at the dorms tomorrow. That's fine. Around two o'clock, right? Are you sure your parents won't mind that I'm coming? Ok. I got to go. Sophie's getting her supper everywhere."

Chandler hung up the phone and finished feeding Sophie her supper. He lifted her out of the high chair and took her clothes off her and got out a wash cloth and cleaned her off.

Chandler sat on the floor with Sophie for the rest of the night as he watched her cartoon videotape with her two times in a row. They played with her wooden blocks and musical toys as she giggled every time the tower of blocks toppled over.

A few hours later, Sophie started to get tired and cried every time Chandler tried to calm her down.

"Ok. I think it's someone's bedtime," he stood up with her and took her into her bedroom. He lay her down to change her diaper and got her into some footed pajamas. He picked out a book to read to her from the bookcase of the collection that his mom had started for her.

"How about Goodnight Moon tonight, Princess?" he looked down at her and she smiled at him.

He sat with her in the rocking chair that was near her crib and started to read to her as she clutched her favorite toy and blanket to her. She was fast asleep before he even finished the book. He carefully lay her down in the crib and covered her with a soft blanket. He turned on her night light before turning off the overhead light and shutting the door behind him.

He cleaned up all the toys before he sat back down at the table and tried to do some more work on his paper before he went to bed.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next morning, Chandler was awoken at seven when Sophie let out an ear piercing scream. He bolted out of bed and rushed into her room to find her sitting up in the crib with tears rolling down her cheeks.

"What's the matter with Daddy's girl?" he lifted her out of the crib and she laid her head on his shoulder. "You feel very warm."

He felt her forehead as he walked out of her room with her. He searched the bathroom cabinet for some infant fever reducer medicine as he saw Sophie tugging on her ear. He sighed in defeat when he couldn't find any medicine for her. He went to get the phone and dialed the number to the doctor's office, but got no answer.

He bundled Sophie up in her fleece jacket and covered her head with a blanket as he took her out to his car and drove to the nearest drug store. The pharmacist on-duty showed him what kind of medicine to get for her and also recommended an electrolyte solution to give her with her bottle.

He got her back home and tried to feed her, but she didn't want any of it. He gave up trying to feed her and gave her some of the electrolyte solution in a bottle with her formula. She calmed down a little bit as she was drinking it, but started fussing as soon as the bottle was empty.

"It's ok, sweetie." He placed the pacifier in her mouth. "Daddy's here. You're going to be ok."

He started to walk around the apartment with her as he rocked her in his arms slowly. Her eyes started to close and Chandler carefully fastened her into the swing and turned it on so she'd sleep for a little bit. Chandler collapsed onto the couch and fell asleep for a few hours.

He awoke a little after ten when he heard soft giggling. He looked over and saw Sophie awake and smiled at her. He sat up and went and got her out of the swing.

"You feeling a little better?" he looked at her and felt her forehead. "You're still warm, but not as much."

Chandler made Sophie some more cereal mixed with fruit and she actually ate half of it before getting cranky again. Chandler put her down on the floor and she crawled over and found one of her stuffed animals. She hugged it to her and watched as Chandler tried to get a channel in on the TV.

"Success!" he looked back at Sophie. "I got the parade in."

He sat on the floor with Sophie on his lap as they watched the parade together. Sophie clapped along as she watched all the floats and the dancing.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chandler pulled up to the front of the dorms a little after two that afternoon. Ross got into his car and they pulled away.

"Sorry I'm late," Chandler told him. "Sophie got sick this morning, and her doctor's office is closed today."

"Is she ok?" Ross looked back at Sophie dozing in her car seat.

"I got her some medicine this morning. She'll be fine until I can get her in to see the doctor tomorrow." He told him. "So where am I going?"

"Just keep going straight. I'll tell you where to turn."

A little while later, Chandler pulled up to a white house. They got out of the car and Chandler got Sophie out of the back and started towards the front door with Ross. The door opened abruptly and Monica came out to them.

"I have to warn you guys before you go in." she looked at Chandler.

"What's going on?" Ross asked.

"I invited Rachel over today, and I made the mistake of telling her about Chandler and his daughter. And mom overheard us."

"Uh-oh." Ross glanced at Chandler.

"Ok. How bad is this going to be?" Chandler asked.

"I'm not sure," Monica told him truthfully. "But they are both very old-fashioned with this kind of thing. They think you should be married if you have kids."

"Do you still want to go in?" Ross looked at Chandler. "We don't have to."

"It's ok. Let's go." Chandler followed them in and saw the table set with fine china and all the food.

"Ross, you're here." Two older people came out to them.

"Mom, dad, this is Chandler." Ross introduced them. "And this is Sophie."

"Hello, Chandler." Judy looked at him with the coldest stare he's ever seen.

"Mr. and Mrs. Gellar," he smiled at them. "Thank you for inviting us over."

"Oh." Monica saw the door to the kitchen open. "This is my friend, Rachel. This is Chandler and his daughter, Sophie."

"Nice to meet you," Rachel smiled at them. "We made macaroni and cheese for you since you don't like any kind of Thanksgiving food."

"Thank you." He smiled at her as he got Sophie out of the fleece jacket and followed Ross and Monica into the living room with her. "How are you feeling, princess?"

"Is she sick?" Monica asked.

"Yeah." Chandler sighed. "I've been up since seven this morning."

"You have her on any medicine?"

"I gave her some fever reducer this morning. And some electrolyte solution with her formula. But she's been kind of cranky all day."

"Everything is ready." Jack told them all.

Chandler followed the others to the table and sat with Sophie on his lap. She was really clingy to him and seemed to sense the tension that was in the room.

"So what is your major, Chandler?" Jack looked at him as he tried to get Sophie to eat some mashed potatoes from his plate.

"Data processing," he told him. "I always excelled at math."

"Do you live on campus?"

"No. A few blocks away in family housing."

"You can afford that?" Judy asked him.

"Well, my mom helps me out."

"I see,"

"Mom, Dad, stop grilling him." Ross said.

"It's fine, Ross." Chandler told him. "Yes, I have a daughter. No, I'm not ashamed of her. Yes, my mom helps me out. If it wasn't for her, I probably wouldn't have graduated high school and wouldn't be in college right now. But we have a deal. My mom covers all my expenses, and I cover all of Sophie's." Chandler paused a moment to stare at Jack and Judy defiantly. "I am going to college and am holding down a part-time job. But the most important thing that I do is take care of my daughter. I sometimes go without things so that she can have everything she needs."

An hour later, the table had been cleared off. Chandler was sitting in the living room again rocking Sophie in his arms as she fussed. Ross was in the kitchen arguing with his parents, and Rachel and Monica were up in her bedroom.

"How's it going in there?" Monica and Rachel came back downstairs.

"Your parents don't want you guys to hang out with me." Chandler looked at them. "I think I'm going to go. Can you get Sophie's bag? I left it in the kitchen."

"Sure." She went into the kitchen as Chandler got Sophie's coat back on her.

"Chandler," Ross came out of the kitchen. "You're leaving?"

"I told you I don't want Sophie around anything negative." Chandler glared at his parents as they came out of the kitchen behind him. "I'm taking Sophie somewhere else for dessert."

"We'll come with you." Ross told him. "I'd rather hang out with you right now anyway."

"I'll get our coats." Rachel told Monica.

"Ross, Monica," Jack and Judy started. "It's Thanksgiving."

"And you said that I could invite anyone over. That they were more than welcome to join us. Chandler is my friend. I don't want you treating him like you just did."

"Let's go." Monica put on her coat as Chandler walked out of the house with Sophie and the others followed.

Chandler got Sophie secured into the car seat and Monica and Rachel slid in beside her as Ross got into the front passenger seat.

"So where exactly are we going?" Chandler looked at them as he started the car and pulled out of the driveway.

"There's an ice cream parlor on the next block." Monica said from the back.

"That's good enough for me." Chandler said.

They all walked into the ice cream parlor and saw that they were the only customers. They each ordered some ice cream and sat at a table near the counter.

"Some Thanksgiving," Ross sighed.

"You guys didn't have to come with me." Chandler looked at them as Sophie tried to grab the spoon and feed herself.

"Yes, we did." Monica told them. "They were being very unfair to you."

"They shouldn't have treated you like that," Rachel added. "You were a guest in their home."

"It's fine." Chandler said. "I haven't celebrated Thanksgiving since my parents' divorce. Something always seems to happen."

They all finished their ice cream and spent the next few hours just talking. Chandler dropped Monica and Rachel off at the Gellar house, and then took Ross back to the dorms. He finally took Sophie back home to give her some more medicine before he tried to get her to bed.

AN: So there's another chapter. I was trying to make Ross and Monica's parents more harsh with Chandler, but it didn't turn out how I wanted it to. But I hope you all liked it anyway. I'm going to post a one-shot story later today or tomorrow that takes place on Thanksgiving and involves Chandler getting sick. Leave some reviews for me. They make me very happy:)