Disclaimer. I don't own the characters. There is no more gain than the writing practice that is done here
Chapter 10: The Decision,
"Hello Monica, what a surprise, how are you?" exclaimed Rachel
"I'm fine Rach, we found an apartment very well located near the Academy, in the Latin Quarter, it's small, but very cozy, we can move in at the weekend"
"Great, what good news."
"Rach, I was also calling you to tell Chandler that we have a change of plans, Richard's children organized a very good trip through several cities in Europe, so we will be in NY on August 17 to take the children to Disney for 5 or 6 days, and then we return to NY since on the 28th we have to return to Paris"
Rachel was silent for a few seconds "Okay Mon, I'll let you know, they are now on vacation in Hawaii, they planned to return by mid-July so the children could rest a bit before going with you."
"Chandler and the kids are in Hawaii? I never knew Chandler was interested in seeing Hawaii." exclaims Monica
"Well, it seems so, they've been there for a few days and it seems they're having a good time, Jack and Erica are learning to surf, and it seems Chandler is too, can you imagine! In addition, Joey took a few days of vacation to accompany them "
Monica tensed, since when Chandler was interested in surfing? and it was also a dangerous sport for kids... although she knew that he would take care of them, but... the truth... The news bothered her a lot, she imagined them at her parents' beach house on a quiet vacation as always... not on an exotic beach, doing sports and full of beautiful young women.
"Well Rach, I have to go out, don't forget to let him know the new dates"
"Don't worry, I'll let him know, and if we don't talk before, have a good move and a good trip"
"Thank you friend; we'll talk"
Monica had been thinking about Chandler's trip, when Richard asked her smiling what cloud she was on, she commented that she was surprised that Chandler had taken the children on vacation to Hawaii.
"That's a destination I would never go to," Richard commented.
"Because?"
"Well, vacations on the beach are for lazy people who spend all day lying on the sand doing nothing. …. I spend all the vacations with my children touring cities in the USA and Europe, so that they soak up the culture, see museums and monuments, the architecture of the cities…. And the kids learned to enjoy those tours and it helped them to open their minds at university"
"And you never went to the beach…?'
"Yes, once with the maternal grandparents, but they were not fans, they had gotten used to the cultural offer that we had instilled in them"
"And Michelle and Timmy do the same with their children…?" ask Monica
"Yes of course, that's why they organized this trip, which is somehow for studies instead of wasting time"
"And they never took them to Disney" ask again Monica
"NOOO, it is a waste of time and money, nonsense to distract children and adolescents but it does not contribute anything"
Monica remained silent, obviously they had very different opinions when it came to educating their children, but that did not matter to her since it had been made clear that he did not have to get involved in their children's education.
On the other hand, after the call from Monica, Rachel had been surprised that Monica had reduced her vacation with her children to only 8 or 9 days, she was sure that Monica adores her children…. or at least she always believed she did, but now...
Rachel soon called Phoebe to tell her the news, that was not well received by she, in reality she was always the most critical and disbelieving of Monica's decision and her relationship with Richard.
Rachel then calculated the time difference and called Chandler to let him know about the changes. Did he just say "okay, thanks for letting me know" and ask "is everyone okay over there?"
"Yes Chandler, missing you, and you guys enjoying yourself, Joey's here."
"Yes, I arrived yesterday, and we are enjoying ourselves, especially the children who are happy with the beach, the surf, they even like the food" and it was noted that when talking about the children, her voice had become happier.
"Well friend, let us know when you are coming back so we will look for you"
"Okay, hugs to everyone."
When Chandler cut his face, he became serious, and his eyes lost the faint glow that had begun to appear again,
Joey took notice quickly and sat down next to Chandler on the balcony of the hotel room.
"What's up dude"
"Monica changed plans and she's only going to be with the boys for 10 days in August"
"Okay Chandler it's her decision…. If that time is enough for her…"
"Joey, one of the reasons I was hesitant to come live here was precisely that we were going to be very far from NY and it was going to be difficult for Monica to see de kids often as she had told Phoebe she wanted, that she was planning to travel to NY to every two months to be with them, ...but now...this change makes me think that she really doesn't care much about being with the kids..."
"Hey Chandler, don't make your decisions based on what Monica says or does, she went her way without thinking about you and you're afraid that she's going to go your way without any strings attached, she's gone, well...if she wants to see her kids, let's go." "take the trouble to travel here."
"If you like the place, if the kids like it, if the job proposal interests you, these three things are the only ones that count for your decision, don't hesitate any longer"
"I know Joey, I just feel pain, not for me, but for Erica and Jack, I know what it feels like to have a mother abandon you, that she doesn't care about you, and it bothers me that they go through that horrible feeling. And to make matters worse twice, they have already been abandoned by their biological mother and now by their adoptive mother, I don't know what to do so that all this does not affect them in the future as it did to me"
"Maybe you should see a therapist to help them cope with all that drama"
"Yeah, you're probably right, thanks Joey."
That afternoon, as the sun was going down, Chandler took the kids to the beach, and they sat watching the sunset.
"Children, I want to know your opinion about something very, very important"
They both looked at him with wide eyes, especially since it was not common to see his father so serious and focused.
"We traveled here to get to know the place and see if we liked it, the agency suggested that I move here, with a great promotion and better pay, I didn't make any decisions because I want to know if you would like to live here"
The smile of both children was radiant, Jack stood up and began to do the happy dance
"Yes dad" said in unison, "that would be wonderful..."
"Well, but you have to think that the three of us would be here alone, the grandparents, uncles and cousins live in NY, so we wouldn't have them around all the time"
"But daddy" said Erica "they can come here, I'm sure they'll love the place, and we can travel there, the flight is long" Erica smiled "but it flew by..." she said laughing, both children had acquired the idioms and sarcasm of the father's speech.
"You are both safe…. change of house, school, friends…"
Now Jack intervened "dad the house you already told us that you are going to sell it and we will have to move, at school we can make new friends, we are going to start first grade and at the school where we went not all of us will continue together..."
"Wow, I have two very mature children for their age..." "OK, if they're 100% sure we'll do it... "
YUPY! both exclaimed
It wasn't a good night for Chandler, there was so much to think about...the insecurities he had overcome shyly loomed again, especially he wondered what life would be like without the irreplaceable support of his friends, actually his family..., but when he got up the next morning he had made up his mind "I WOULD ACCEPT THE TRANSFER!"
