Hey you guys! :D Thank you so very much for everything, again. You're pretty cool, you know that, right?

Oh my god, I'm laughing so hard right now XD remember like a year ago when I said something like "I guess fast updating is my thing" ? :D That is so true, isn't it?

By the way, I forgot to mention that I'm not going to add the part with Monica and Richard and what happened between them. Actually I had some of it written already, but personally I don't think it's that important. And apparently most of you seemed to agree with me, so.. :D

hugefriendsfan00 ~ Thank you, I'm so glad you're enjoying!

Blunz ~ Haha, I know right? Thank you very much :D

Mystery Girl 911 ~ You know, that was actually just what I was trying to do with the middle part. I felt like it had been too long since the group was together and just talking and having fun, so I'm glad that you liked it! Haha, thank you so much :)

The Irish Gleek ~ Thanks! I'm happy that I managed to scare you. :D Well, you'll find out who the father is in this chapter..! And yes, Monica is about, um.. seven months pregnant and Rachel is like three to four months.

confusednikki24-7 ~ Haha :D Thank you, I did enjoy it!

Guest ~ Thank you! :)

Nicole ~ Thank you so much! I hope you survived, even though I didn't update really soon. :D

Guest ~ Yay, I'm glad :D Thanks!

Here's the next chapter, I hope you guys like it.


Chapter 28

The gang was kind of surprised to see that Christmas was only three days away. They hadn't had time to think about that, but now they felt like it was time to let go of all the drama and everything for a couple of days and just have fun together. Thanksgiving had passed by already, and unfortunately the six of them hadn't really had a chance to celebrate it. That's why they were really looking forward to Christmas, and Monica had already planned everything out. Despite the others' different suggestions she had insisted on being the hostess. Her friends thought that it would be better for her to just relax for once, but she knew what really made her comfortable. She was always the hostess, and she loved it. Actually she had been so eager to arrange everything that she had already done it all, so now she got to relax a bit.

Chandler and Monica were cuddled up on the couch in their apartment, and Rachel was sitting on the armchair. They all were staring at the TV screen when Ross entered the apartment with Ben.

"Hey, guys," Ross said, getting his friends' attention as they all turned to greet him and his son. Ben was going to spend Christmas with Carol and Susan so he was with Ross for this weekend.

"Hi," Ben said, and ran to the couch.

"Hi, Ben," Monica said with a smile, breaking off of Chandler. "Are you excited for Christmas?" she asked from her nephew.

"Yeah," he said. "I'm gonna get loads of presents."

"Really? Have you been good this year, huh?"

Ben nodded. "Daddy said that Santa will probably hurt his back while carrying my gifts."

"Well, that's.. awful," Monica said, glaring at her brother who just shrugged helplessly.

"Yeah. But you know what? Fortunately your dad has a PhD, so I'm sure that Santa's gonna be fine," Rachel joked, getting laughs from Monica and Chandler.

Ross rolled his eyes. "Actually, Rach, I was hoping to talk to you for a sec," he said then.

Rachel frowned. "God, Ross. It's called humor," she muttered, but got up and followed him into the guest room.

She closed the door behind them. "What is it?" she asked then.

Ross let out a sigh. "Well, I.. We haven't really discussed this situation in private. And because of our past, I kind of feel like we should," he suggested tentatively.

"You know, you're completely right," Rachel said with a nod. "I was about to bring it up before but I didn't know if you wanted to talk about it, but now that I know that you do.." she let out a laugh.

"Yeah.." Ross said, before a silence filled the air. He cleared his throat before it got too awkward. "So.. have you already told the father?"

Rachel shook her head. "No," she said, letting out a sigh. "I know that he should already be in the know, but I just keep making these excuses like, 'it's Christmas, he probably didn't ask for a baby.'"

"Fair enough," Ross smiled. "You can tell him after Christmas though."

Rachel exhaled in despair. "I don't know if I can, Ross. He has just turned 25," she said. "You haven't met him, but he is so not ready to have a kid."

"Well, that's what we thought about Chandler. Now, look at him. The baby's not even born yet and he's already changed," Ross said. "You can do it, Rach. The bottom line is that he needs to know."

Rachel gave him a slight smile. "I know... Come here," she said and hugged him tightly.

Months back she had had a brief, secret relationship with a guy named Tag. She had almost hired him as her assistant, but at the last minute she had decided to do the right thing and hire the more qualified applicant. However, Tag had later come to thank her anyway and she had just asked him out. Her friends hadn't known about their romance because at the time they hadn't really talked about any other relationship than Monica and Chandler's. Secondly, Rachel hadn't thought of it as a long term thing, and also Phoebe had told her not to hire him because of his good looks, which she hadn't done. Still, she hadn't thought it would be necessary for everyone to know that she'd been sleeping with him instead.

Unaware of the fact that she was already pregnant with Tag's child, Rachel had ended it with him when she'd finally realized that she was still in love with the man she was now hugging. But what she didn't know was that Ross was once again smelling her hair and silently wishing that things would be different.

Rachel broke the hug reluctantly. "This is so weird," she said, swallowing back emotion.

"Yeah. I always thought you'd be a great mom, but I wanted you to be one for our kids," Ross said almost wistfully. "I know we haven't been a couple in a long time, but seeing you pregnant with another guy... It's gonna take some getting used to."

"Same here," Rachel nodded. "But it's gonna be okay. It has to, right?"

"Absolutely. And you're never gonna be alone. You have us," Ross smiled, giving her hand an encouraging squeeze.

"I know," Rachel said with a knowing smile. "And it's pretty amazing that Monica and I get to go through this together."

"That was going to be my next observation."

Rachel grinned. "Thanks, Ross."


"You know what, Ben? I have just the job for you," Monica said. "You get to decorate the other side of the Christmas tree!"

"Really? Cool!" Ben said excitedly. "Do you want to help me?"

"Sure," Monica and Chandler said in unison. They all got up from the couch, and that's when Ben really noticed Monica's belly.

"Wow, your stomach is huge," he said then.

Monica laughed. "Yeah. It sure grows fast," she said as they started decorating the tree. "And in a couple of months you'll have a cousin and you can tell him just how fat he made me."

"It's a boy?" Ben asked.

"Well, we don't wanna know yet but we have a feeling that it might be," Chandler said.

"I hope it's a boy," Ben said, wanting to have someone in the family to play with.

"It seems like we're gonna find out in two months," Chandler said. Monica couldn't help but grin as she caught him smiling to himself.

They continued in silence, and Ben kept glancing at Monica's stomach a couple of times. "How did he get in there?" he asked from his aunt.

Monica was surprised of the question and the fact that Ross hadn't already tried explaining it to him, and now she didn't know what to say. She opened her mouth to start explaining some crap about the birds and the bees, but when she saw Chandler grinning gleefully at her, she decided to leave it to him.

"Why don't you ask Chandler," Monica said with a smile. "He knows way better than I do."

Chandler turned from joyous to alarmed in no time as Ben turned to look at him expectantly.

Chandler looked at him for a second before letting out a nervous laugh. "You should really talk to your dad about this," he said. "I mean, he has a PhD, after all."

"Okay," Ben said before glancing around. "Are you gonna keep living here when the baby comes?"

"Sure," Monica said. "Why wouldn't we?"

"Mommy said that babies take a lot of space."

"Well, yeah, that's true," Monica shrugged. "But we have a whole room for him."

"That one?" Ben pointed at the room where his dad and Rachel were in right now.

"Yeah," Monica said. "We're going to turn the guest room into a nursery."

"But where will all the guests go?"

Monica stopped in her tracks as she looked at him for a second. "I don't know," she said, realizing that they indeed had a problem. She looked up at Chandler, who was already looking back at her. "I have no idea."


That night, Chandler went to bed pretty early. He needed some privacy to think about.. well, Ben's words.

The kid was right, they didn't have enough space for the three of them. Well.. actually they did. But did they really want to raise their child in the city? Even in Chandler's plans they would buy a house outside the city, and he knew that Monica wanted the same thing. All this drama had really made them forget about their dreams and things that really mattered.

But on the other hand, this was their home. Apartment 20. That's where all their friends came every night, that's where all the good memories were. Was it possible to find another place that would ever feel like home?

It didn't take long until the bedroom door opened, and Monica came in.

"Hi," she said as she noticed that he was awake.

"Hey," Chandler said, sitting up.

"Good, you're still up," Monica said as she made her way to the bed. "I kinda need to talk to you about something," she said, sitting next to Chandler.

"Me too."

"Is it about what Ben said?"

"Yeah."

Monica let out a sigh. "It totally freaked me out," she said. "What was I thinking? I've never wanted to raise my kids in the city."

"I know," Chandler said. "What are we going to do?"

Monica shrugged and shook her head. "I don't know," she said. "I want to move. I want to live in the suburbs, but at the same time, I... I don't wanna leave."

Chandler nodded, knowing exactly what she meant. "I feel the same way. But honestly," he gave it a thought, "I think we should go."

"But... Look at this place," Monica said, looking around the room. "It's perfect. And-and this is our home, I don't want any strangers living in here!"

"Maybe Ross or Phoebe will take this apartment," Chandler said, but when she still didn't look pleased, he drew her closer for a hug. "Look, I don't wanna leave this place either," he said, stroking her back soothingly, "But we don't wanna keep living here for the rest of our lives, do we?"

"No, I know," Monica admitted, sadness filling her voice.

"I'm not saying we'll have to move right away, I mean, we'll have to find a house that we love," Chandler explained. "And we have to afford it."

Monica pulled away from his embrace, nodding slightly. "When are we going to start looking?"

"Whenever you're ready," Chandler said, and planted a kiss on her fingers. "Okay?"

"Yeah... I'm gonna miss living in here," Monica said before letting out a sigh. "But I know you're right. It's time to move on."

Chandler smiled at her slightly. "So.. Does that mean -"

"Yeah," Monica smiled back at him. "I'm ready."

Chandler grinned before leaning forward to give her a gentle kiss.

"I love you so much," Monica muttered then.

"I love you too," Chandler said. "Now come here," he said as he lay back on the bed. Monica rested her head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her.

They both started to think about their future as they lay there, staring at the ceiling. "What kind of a house should we get?" Monica asked then.

"I have no idea," Chandler shrugged.

"Do you still want four kids?" Monica asked.

Chandler thought about it for a second. "Sure," he said.

Monica looked at him. "Really?"

"Yeah. One thing that hasn't changed," Chandler said with a smile.

Monica returned his smile, stroking his cheek lovingly. "What the hell happened to my annoying friend-Chandler?"

Chandler grinned. "I don't know, you must have kicked his ass."

"That does sound like something I would do," Monica mused with a nod. "What else would this New Chandler like to do?"

"Well, he'd like to get married to a certain, very beautiful woman," Chandler said, causing Monica to blush slightly. "He'd like to get a bunch of kids and mess them up in his own specific way. Of course, getting some help from his wife."

Monica hit him playfully on the arm, but let him continue.

"He'd love to live in a pretty and... Well, probably clean house that would have like a big fireplace, y'know? Then in winter, after having a big snow fight with his family, he'd build a fire in the fireplace and his wife would bring some of the world's best chocolate cookies and then all the six of them would just cuddle under one, big blanket."

Monica was literally beaming as she stared at him. "Keep talking," she exhorted.

"That's all I've got so far," Chandler smirked.

"Well, that was the sweetest thing I've heard in a long time," Monica said, and gave him a slow kiss. "We are going to be so happy."

Chandler smiled at her lovingly and said, "I know."

She smiled back at him as she thought about it for a second. "But can you actually build a fire?" she asked.

Chandler gave it a thought. "See, I don't like that question."

Monica grinned. "Well, maybe this certain, very beautiful woman could teach you how to do that."

"I'd like that," Chandler smiled. "But first we need to get a house."

"Yeah," Monica agreed. She couldn't help but smile at the fact that once again Chandler had managed to make her feel so much better. She was certainly going to miss this apartment, but she was really looking forward to the future. But one thing was still on her mind.

Monica cleared her throat. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Well, I think you just did, but I can take another one."

"When are we going to get married?" Monica asked in all seriousness.

Chandler's eyes met her inquiring ones. "Whenever you want, babe," he said, brushing the hair out of her face.

Monica smiled as she once again realized just how lucky she was. "Thank you, Chandler," she said and hugged him once more.


It was Christmas Eve and everyone was at Monica and Chandler's, as usual. The couple had just announced their plans about moving, and it came as quite a shock to their friends. Joey was now sulking in the kitchen, not believing Chandler who kept saying that everything was going to be okay. Monica was telling Phoebe more about their plans in the living room, and Rachel had gone to the balcony on her own. Ross noticed this, and after considering it for a long time, decided to join her.

"Hey," Ross said and climbed through the window. Rachel just gave him a weak smile as he stood next to her. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I think, yeah. I guess this is all just so overwhelming, and.." Rachel said as her eyes filled with tears. "Well, I'm sure these pregnancy hormones have something to do with this," she added.

Ross put his arm around her, stroking her shoulder. "It's gonna be fine," he assured her. "It's not like we're never gonna see them again."

"I know," Rachel said, and wiped the few fallen tears away from her cheeks. "But Joey's right, too much is changing, and all at once."

"Yeah," Ross said. "Life used to be pretty simple. Who knew that everything would get so complicated?"

Rachel nodded and let out a deep sigh. She couldn't believe that two of her dearest friends were leaving. Of course she was trying to be happy for them, and inside they had all knew that sooner or later this was going to happen, but she really couldn't believe it. She had been looking forward to raising their babies together, and now she didn't know what to do. Could she really handle it all without Monica's constant help and support?

Her thoughts were interrupted by Ross. "I think I'm gonna take their apartment," he said.

"Really?" Rachel turned to look at him in surprise. "That's amazing, I.. Now I don't have to deal with some strangers!"

"Yeah," Ross said, looking down. "And I was thinking, um... I don't know if you've thought about this yet, but if you're not going to keep living with Joey once the baby comes, maybe you could live here with me."

Rachel gave it a thought. "Ross, I don't know -"

"Just think about it," Ross cut her off. "I think it'd be great. I could help you out, and I know how much you love this place."

It really did sound great, but there was just one problem. "What about our past?" Rachel asked.

"I know, but it doesn't have to be weird," Ross said. "We're just friends.. right?"

Rachel turned away, shaking her head. She couldn't do this, not this time. He had asked her that question so many times before and she had always lied and agreed. But now, she needed to tell the truth. "No, Ross," she said.

Ross frowned. "What?"

"I don't want to be just friends!" Rachel snapped.

Ross just stared at her in shock. "What.. What do you mean?"

Rachel sighed - there was no turning back now. "I love you, Ross," she said. "I'm still in love with you."

"Oh my god," Ross said, taken aback by surprise. He couldn't believe that after all this time, she was still in love with him. She had hidden it so well.

"Yeah, well.. now it's said," Rachel muttered.

Ross looked at her as she stared into space. He took a deep breath. "I love you too," he said. "And I.. I can't picture my life without you, Rach."

Rachel turned to look at him. "You what?"

"I love you," Ross repeated. "I never stopped loving you, and I wanna spend the rest of my life with you. And I know it's wrong because you're pregnant to another guy and -"

He was cut off by Rachel's lips on his. She kissed him with all her love, not wanting to waste another second by listening to some rational trash. They had both wanted to do this for so long, and finally they knew.

"Look, it's my best friend and my brother!" Monica shouted through the window, and soon the four of them were standing there, watching as the Lobsters held each other.


Is it just me or was that like way too simple? :D
Well, anyway - Tag is the father! I know you all hate me because it's not Ross, but I'm gonna make it up to you. Or maybe I already did..? You tell me! :D
Now that was kinda strange though 'cause I haven't written Roschel stuff like ever before. I'm pretty nervous right now. :D What do you guys think? Please leave a review! xxoo