Coming Home (part 14)

Another really old fic, but I’m in a fic writing mood and I don’t have any new ideas. To sum up this one, Monica married Richard and had two little girls, Becky (aged 4) and Amy (aged 2). Chandler moved to Canda, but he came back when Richard died and C&M got back together. Then Monica and Amy got killed by a car crash and the last part was about the funneral. I do have an actual reason for this one taking so long though: I didn’t know when to set it, the present or the future and when in the future. In the end I decided on the future. Becky is now 17.

I still don’t own these characters, except Becky and Amy.

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Chandler sighed as he heard the front door slam. It was 2am on a Friday night and Becky was only just getting home. He knew that even though Becky could sleep till past noon on Saturday, he still had to be up early to go to work. But he had spent the last 13 years trying to learn how to sleep when he knew Becky was awake and he hadn’t managed it yet. It was especially hard when she was clattering around in the kitchen.

“Becky, go to bed already!” he shouted, knowing even as he spoke that she would either ignore him or shout back. She ignored him, except to slam the bathroom door as loudly as possible. Chandler sighed again.

Thirteen years ago, when Monica and Amy had died, he was too grief stricken to think of anything except Becky. He had insisted that she live with him even though in Monica’s will, it was Ross who she had named as Becky’s guadian. But before she died, Monica had told Chandler and Ross that she wanted Chandler to take care of her surviving daughter. Ross had helped Chandler fight to keep Becky and still saw his neice regularly.

However, when Becky was stomping round the apartment at 2am, Chandler almost found himself wishing she wasn’t his responsibility. Almost. Chandler knew that he wouldn’t really give up Becky for anything in the world. Even though she was still in her rebellious teenager phase and the thought of what she got up to until 2am was enough to make him want to lock her up in her bedroom until she was 80, he loved her as if she was his own daughter. She looked like Monica, so much so that sometimes it hurt to look at her because she reminded him so much of her mother.

In the morning, as he dragged himself out of bad after less than five hours sleep, Chandler felt a childish impulse to be as loud as possible and yell at Becky. But he didn’t. He was quiet and left her a note, as usual, telling her he’d be back late because he had a meeting.

In the end the meeting was canceled and Chandler came home at around six pm, the same time he normally did when he wasn’t held up. To his surprise, Becky was home. She was in her bedroom, which wasn’t unusual, she tended not to venture out of it, especially since she had a TV/VCR in there. Then, to Chandler’s horror, he heard moans and screams coming from Becky’s room. He covered his ears, grabbed his keys and his jacket and ran out of the apartment, being careful to shut the door so she wouldn’t know that he was home.

Becky was having sex in there! Becky, his 17 year old ‘daughter’ was having sex with her boyfriend! Chandler had to cover his mouth; he felt sick just at the thought of it. She was too young to have sex! Although in Chandler’s eyes, she would ALWAYS be too young to have sex, even when she was thirty, he would still consider her his little girl. Slowly the realization that this couldn’t be her first time dawned on him. He had secretly known that for a few years now, she had been having sex. He had even once found a used pregnancy test in the bathroom trash, but since it had been negative, he hadnt’ brought it up with her, and now he realized how stupid that was.

Chandler stayed out until gone ten. He didn’t want to risk coming home in case Becky and her boyfriend were still there, still doing things that made Chandler want to scream. When he did eventually come home, Becky was still in her bedroom, but she was silent, the only noise was the faint sound of her TV.

“Hi Becks,” he called tentatively.

“Hi Chandler,” she replied casually, having no idea Chandler didn’t still think she was a virgin. For a while after Monica died, Becky had called Chandler ‘Dad’, but since she became a teenager, she had reverted to calling him Chandler. He hated it, because he had spent more years looking after her than anyone else, but it was still Richard that got to be ‘Dad’ and he was just ‘Chandler’. It was something Becky had learned to use against Chandler when they fought, since he would stop dead and look devastated when she screamed that he wasn’t her dad anyway.



After that incident, Chandler was careful always to come home at the time he had told Becky he would. He didn’t want to risk walking in on his daughter and her boyfriend again. He still hadn’t discussed it with her, not knowing how to. It had been hard enough for Chandler to tell her the basics of sex, only to discover, much to his embarrasement, that she already knew. There was no way he could discuss her sex life with her.

Becky and Chandler had once been very close, and he knew that just a few years earlier she would have realised how uncomfortable he was within a day or so. But now she barely noticed he was even there at all. Partly because she saw him even less than she usually did now that he was avoiding her, but also because when they were together, they were awkward in each other’s company.

That all changed when, two months later, Chandler came home after work to find Becky crying on the couch. He was as moved as if she was Monica and immediately wen over and hugged her tightly. Instead of jerking away as she usually did now, Becky collapsed in his arms, sobbed into his shirt and let him hold her as if she was a small child again.

“Oh Becky, honey, what’s the matter?” Chandler asked, gently rubbing her back.

“I’m sorry Dad,” she said through her tears. Chandler noted that she had gone back to calling him Dad, but didn’t question her about it.

“Why? What is it? Whatever it is, its ok, I won’t be mad, I promise,” he assured her. It was true. Just as he had found it impossible to be mad at Monica for more than a few seconds, Chandler couldn’t be mad at her daughter either.

“Don’t say that till I tell you what it is,” she said desparingly. Despite her attitude problem over the last few years, she really loved Chandler and appreciated all he’d done for her. She hated the thought that she was letting him down.

“You’re starting to scare me,” Chandler said nervously.

“Dad, I’m pregnant,” she whispered and burried her face in his hands, to ashamed to look at him. Chandler was shocked. He couldn’t’ believe that Becky, who he still thought of as his little girl, was going to become a mother in a matter of months.

“Oh my God,” he said softly.

“I’m so, so sorry,” Becky said tearfully.

“Oh honey, I’m not mad, honestly. Just, shocked I guess,” Chandler said. He put a soothing hand on her back and she raised her head to look at him, her blue eyes, so like Monica’s, overflowing with tears.

“Really?” Becky asked, daring to hope.

“No. I mean, its not exactly what I would call smart,” he said, remembering that as a substitute parent he was supposed to encourage her to be sensible and that included safe sex. “I mean, they have birth control for a reason you know.”

“Dad, I’m not stupid! He used a condom, but it broke,” Becky said defensively.

“Ok, ok. Um, what do you want to do?” he asked.

“If you’re asking me to have an abortion, there’t no WAY I could ever go through with it! I lost my mom, my dad, my sister, all before I was five years old! I will NOT lose my baby too!” Becky was almost screaming at him now.

“Easy girl, easy,” Chandler said soothingly. “I was only asking. I totally understand. And hey, you’re not gonna lose me either. I’m gonna stand by you and help you however I can,” he promised. Becky smiled gratefully.

“thanks,” she mumbled.

“Who’s the father?” he asked softly. Stupidly, he hoped it wasn’ the guy he had overheard her having sex with.

“A guy called Stephen. You don’t know him,” Becky said, calming down and attempting to wipe her eyes.

“Oh. Did you tell him yet?” Becky shook her head. She looked ready to cry again. “You know what, do you even know for sure? You could be getting all worked up about nothing.”

“Dad, I’m not stupid, I took like four home pregnancy tests at Kim’s house,” Becky said. Kim was her best friend.

“Well we’d better get it checked out at the doctors, just to be on the safe side,” Chandler said. He was latching onto that, still vaguely hoping that Becky would turn out NOT to be pregnant after all.

“Ok, ok,” Becky said. She didn’t hold onto the same hope as Chandler, but she was willing to play along. She didn’t really want to be pregnant, she was only 17 after all but Becky knew that she was pregnant really.

“Who else knows apart from me and Kim?” he asked.

“No one, just you two.”

A week later, Chandler and Becky got home from her doctor’s apointment. She was definitely pregnant and trying to deal with the still shocked look on Chandler’s face. HE was taking this harder now than when she first told him.

“Looks like you’re gonna have to tell Stephen then,” chandler said, practically spitting out the boys name.

“He wont’ care,” Becky predicted.

“I’ll make him care,” Chandler said threateningly.

“Dad!” she said warningly.

Becky was right. She had already broken up with Stephen, and he definitely was not happy at her coming back into his High School life and announcing she was pregnant. As Becky had known he would, Stephen simply claimed the baby wasn’t his and refused to accept any responsibility for it. Becky wasn’t really bothered, except it meant her baby would grow up never knowing its father.

When she got home feeling tired and emotional, even though she told herself she didn’t care, Becky was surprised to see her dad sat on the couch, tears running down his cheeks, staring at something he was holding in his lap. As she moved closer without Chandler even being aware she was there, Becky saw it was a picture of him and her Mom. It had been taken a long time ago, in Las Veags, although obviously, Becky didn’t know that. She just saw how happy they both looked in the photo and the contrast with how sad Chandler looked now.

“Hey,” she said softly.

“Oh, hi,” Chandler said, stuffing the framed photo under a cushion and hurridly trying to wipe his eyes.

“You ok?”

“What? Yeah, I’m fine sweetie, you?”

“Yeah. Um, I told Stephen and I was right, he doesn’t want to know,” Becky said, feeling stupid as tears welled up in her eyes. She went and sat next to Chandler on the couch and they hugged briefly.

“Oh I’m so sorry Becks.”

“Its ok. I’ll be fine on my own.”

“You won’t be on your own. I told you I’d support you didn’t I?”

“Thanks.”

Chandler was true to his word, and six months later, Becky’s bedroom (they lived in a two bedroom apartment) was full of stuffed toys, a crib, a changing table, baskets of baby clothes, a big box of diapers, and all the other accessories that babies need. The walls hadn’t been repainted, since Becky liked the pale purple colour they currently were, but Chandler had struggled to put up a Winnie The Pooh border and a soft matching rug covered the floor.

Becky had managed to gradute high school, even though by the time the Graduation ceremony rolled around she was four and a half months pregnant. The billowing robes hid her bump but her classmates still knew she was pregnant. But Becky managed to hold her head up high and ignored the sniggers as she collected her diploma.

Chandler and Becky didn’t stay for the after ceremony politeness and chatting to teachers. Becky looked tired, pregnancy was hard work, so Chandler steered her away to the car, helped her in and drove her home. He glanced over at the girl and saw that her eyes had closed and her hand rested on her stomach. He hated to wake her up when they got home, but he had to unless he wanted her to sleep in the car.

“Congratulations sweetheart,” he said, draping his arm around her shoulder and hugging her.

Now that she was eight months pregnant, Becky slept restlessly. In the next room, Chandler also found it difficult to sleep. He often didn’t’ manage to fall asleep until the early hours of the morning. Which was why he mumbled incoherantly and struggled to fall back to sleep when he was woken at four am by someone shaking him.

“Not now Mon, I’m tired. We’ll have sex tomorrow,” he muttered and rolled over.

“DAD!” Becky said firmly and Chandler opened his eyes. “Dad, we have to get to the hospital.” That woke him up alright, and Chandler bolted upright.

“Oh my God, the baby, is it ok? Are you in labour? You’re not supposed to have the baby for another month, oh God Becky, breath honey,” he babbled.

“Try taking your own advice, get dressed and we’ll be fine,” Becky said through gritted teeth. She started to leave the room, then doubled up as a contraction hit. Chandler jumped out of bed and hurried over to her. He couldn’t believe this was happening now, it was too soon.

Chandler never knew how he got them to the hospital. Becky was in so much pain, he wanted to cry everytime she screamed or cried out. In less than an hour, Becky was in a delivery room at the hospital and Chandler was next to her, wearing scrubs and holding her hand tightly. He refused to leave her even for a second. Becky looked up at the man she thought of as her father, even though he wasn’t really, with scared eyes. Something didn’t feel quite right, but having never done this before, she didn’t know whether that was normal.

Six hours later, it was obvious that it wasn’t normal. Becky was losing a lot of blood. The midwife put up a screen and told Chandler to stay by Becky’s head and hold her hand and comfort her, because she didn’t want him to panic. Chandler wasn’t worried until he noticed the room was full of doctors. Surely this wasn’t routine, but he assumed it must just be because the baby was a month premature. He heard the medical staff discussing the possibility of a C-section in hushed tones and began to worry even more.

It was just then that Becky screamed the loudest she had so far. The midwife told her to push and she did so, squeezing chandler’s hand so hard he thought it would break, but he didn’t care.

“We have a head,” one of the doctors announced in a grim voice.

“Nearly there now honey,” Chandler said stroking her cheek with the hand not clenched in Becky’s deathlike grip. “You’re being so brave and doing so well.” Becky tried to smile but it looked more like a grimace.

A few minutes later the baby was born. A baby girl with dark hair and big blue eyes, just like her Mom, and just like her Grandma. The nurses fussed over the baby, checking it was breathing (there was no doubt about that judging from the screams from the tiny girl), and cleaning her up a bit. Chandler kissed Becky’s cheek then left her side for a minute to see his granddaughter.

“Fuck!” he yelled when he caught a glimpse of the baby. She was covered in blood!

“Mr Bing, calm down, the baby’s absolutely fine. She’ll have to go in an incubator for a few days, but that’s just because she’s so small, but she’s gonna be fine,” the doctor assured Chandler calmly.

“How the hell can you say she’s fine when she’s covered in blood!?” Chandler demanded. Becky whimpered but she seemed very far away. Chandler’s only concern right now was the tiny baby girl.

“Your daughter,” the doctor began seriously, beginning to explain the complications with the labour to Chandler, but all he heard was that it was Becky who was the one in danger. When he went back to hold her hand, it was obvious that she was weakening. Her breathing was shallow and too fast and her face had lost the flush of labour and was very pale.

“Oh God, Becky, don’t’ leave me,” he whispered, fresh tears falling down his face.

Ten minutes later, she was dead. Chandler stood just outside the room, staring through the glass window in the door at her. She looked so peaceful, not dead at all, but he knew she was. He wanted to see the baby, and hold her, but right now he felt he should be here and keep a sort of watch over Becky.

Later that night, after Becky’s body was taken to the morgue, Chandler went to the baby unit and stood looking through another glass window at the baby. She had no first name on the board above her incubator, just ‘Bing’. Becky had changed her name from Burke to Bing years ago and since Stephen wanted no involvement, the baby was a Bing.

“What are we gonna call you then little one?” he asked through the glass.

A nurse went in to check on all the babies and glanced up at Chandler. A few minutes later, he was allowed in and was even allowed to take the baby out of her incubator and hold her for a little while. The baby looked up at him with her gorgeous blue eyes and waved her hands.

“How would you liked to be named after your grandma little one?” Chandler asked, rocking her gently. The baby yawned. “Hey, don’t be like that, Monica’s a beautiful name. A beautiful name for a beautiful little girl. And why not Amy for a middle name. Amy was your Mommy’s sister you know, but she died a long time ago, just like grandma,” Chandler told the baby. He sighed softly to himself. Why did all the women in his life have to die?

TO BE CONTINUED…

I know its not brilliant, but I wanted to tie up some loose ends with my old fics. Please review. I’ll try and have the next part up in less time than this one took me, lol