Haley's Note: This fic is a lot like one that was written by Joey a long
time back. I simply wanted to continue that one, but after emailing and
waiting a week or two I decided I would never get a reply back for permission
and decided to write my own version.

This is a little bit like the original fic, but it has changed in many ways.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Rachel waited in Monica's apartment after she got the call; too nervous to
watch TV or do anything but just sit calmly on the couch and run Joey's words
and the effect they would have on Monica over and over again in her head.

Monica came in at the usual time, an exhausted yet happy look on her face as
she set her purse down. "I thought Ross had Matt?" she said, confused as she
saw Rachel on her couch.

"He does," Rachel said. "I've been waiting for you."

When Rachel stood up Monica recognized the look on her face. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know how to say this," Rachel said after a moment of silence after
Monica's question. "Joey called."

"Really?" Monica asked, looking happy and surprised. Her face got suspicious.
"Wait. I thought something was wrong. Did he get that movie he wanted? I'm
sure he did with the publicity on his last one . . ."

"He got it," Rachel assured her friend. "That's good news. But, inevitably,
bad news tags along with it." Rachel sighed. "Mon, the movie is being filmed
here, nearby, actually."

"Rach, just spit it out," Monica snapped, getting annoyed.

"Chandler got a part in the movie too," Rachel blurted out. She wrung her
hands together. "They're coming here to New York sometime next week."

Monica sat down heavily.

"Joey knew that I took over his apartment after Matt was born. I mean, he
doesn't know about Matt, but he knows that I took over his apartment. And,
um, he wanted to, um . . . stay with me. Chandler too."

Monica's eyes flashed. "Well, did you tell him no?"

"Monica, you know I'm a pushover!" Rachel said defensively. "But maybe this
is for the best. Maybe Matt should--"

"Don't even say it," Monica interrupted, putting her hands up. "How long are
they going to be staying?"

"Joey said between three and five months," Rachel said meekly.

Monica felt her eyes well up with tears and she quickly swiped her eyes,
pretending that she had an itch. "What am I going to do?"

"Tell Chandler?" Rachel suggested.

Monica glared at Rachel. "If Chandler knew then the press would know and then
Matt and I would be all over the tabloids. I can't let that happen. We're too
deep in this."

"You wouldn't be so deep if you had told Chandler to begin with," Rachel said
haughtily.

"I was going to," Monica said bitterly, "but then he became famous."

"That's still no--"

The door opened, interrupting Rachel and Ross, accompanied by Ben and Matt,
stepped through into the apartment with a smile on his face.

Monica immediately went to Matt and scrubbed at an ice cream stain around his
mouth. As much as she wanted to forget Chandler existed, everytime she looked
at Matt she was reminded. Matt was the splitting image of his father and
Monica was sure that if she found pictures of Chandler's childhood you would
mistake them for pictures of Matt.

But there was no way she could hate her own child. Matt was her life now.

She looked sternly up at Ross. "You gave them ice cream before dinner," she
stated.

Ross looked like he wanted to dig a hole -- knowing that it was dangerous to
upset his sister. "We were walking in the park and this guy had a little
stand and I thought it might be a nice . . ." he trailed off, realizing that
he was going to get nowhere. Monica was obviously upset about something else
as well as the ice cream, but the ice cream had set her off. He glanced
questioningly at Rachel.

"Monica, why don't you go ahead and tell Ross while I put a movie in for the
boys," Rachel suggested, clapping her hands together and moving to the
living room.

Monica nodded absently. She didn't want to tell Ross -- she knew exactly what
he would do. Lecture and lecture and lecture her about how she should have
done this and that . . . it was depressing.

"Chandler's coming to New York," Monica began. "With Joey. They're shooting a
movie and they're going to be here for at least three months, depending."

"Mon--"

Monica held up a hand to stop him. "That's not the worst news. The worst news
is that Rachel told Joey that he and Chandler could stay in their old
apartment."

"This is the perfect chance," Ross said when she was finally done. "You can
tell Chandler about Matt."

"Did it ever occur to you that I don't want to?" Monica asked heatedly. "Matt
and I are fine on our own. We don't need Chandler for anything!"

"Are you forgetting something?" Ross asked, just as mad as his sister.
"You're making Chandler into somebody he's not. When it was just you, me,
Pheebs, and Chandler, you were always closest to him. You know what he's like
and you know that telling him won't be a bad thing. You know that not telling
him was a mistake and so you're trying to make Chandler a jerk -- something
he's not -- so that you can feel better about lying to him."

Monica looked up at Ross with a hurt expression. Everything he'd just said
was true. "I want to protect Matt," she said quietly.

"From a loving father?" Ross demanded. "Because you know that that's the only
thing Chandler would ever be for Matt."

"From the press," Monica said. "You know this. If the press found out about
Chandler's child, Matt and I would never have peace for the rest of our
lives."

"You know it doesn't have to be that way," Ross said.

Monica just wanted Ross to leave. He was saying aloud everything she'd been
suppressing from entering her mind.

"Ross, let me deal with this," Monica said after a moment. "I am Matt's
mother, not your little sister. I have to be responsible for both of us and
I won't make the wrong decision."

"Don't you get it, Mon? You already have."

* * * * *

"Pheebs!"

Phoebe turned around only to be caught up in a great big bear hug by Joey.
He spun her around and then set her down, letting Chandler hug her next.

She had been waiting for an hour, and was about ready to give up on them, but
here they were. She hadn't seen them in a year, since the lunch she'd had
with Joey when he was in town.

Phoebe was smiling from ear to ear. "How are you guys?"

"Great!" Joey said. "Did you see my last movie?"

"The day it came out," Phoebe said solomnly.

"So . . . whadya think?" Joey pressed.

"I think that I'm proud to be able to say that you're one of my best friends.
Amazing work, Joey," Phoebe said and was caught up in another hug.

Chandler, however, was looking around. "Where's everybody else?"

"Well, I'm not sure about Monica," Phoebe lied. "But Ross and Rachel are
getting your party ready. Of course, it's only Ross, Rachel, and me . . .
but we can still call it a party."

"What about Monica?" Chandler asked.

"She . . ." Phoebe trailed off, not able to come up with a lie. She turned
brightly to Joey. "I saw your movie three times in the theater and bought it
the day it came out!"

Chandler put a heavy hand on her shoulder. "Phoebe."

"All right, all right!" Phoebe snapped, hating Monica for making her do this.
"Monica doesn't want to see you."

"What?" Chandler asked, hurt immediately showing on his features. "Why not?"

"Something about . . ." Phoebe stopped herself again. "Just don't ask me,
Chandler, please? I don't like lying to my friends and that's what I'm going
to have to do if you ask again."

Chandler nodded, not trusting his voice for fear that he might cry. Monica
hadn't wanted to talk to him since he left. She was obviously mad at him for
leaving, and he knew a lot of it had to do with their one night together
that they never got a chance to work out before Chandler ended up leaving.

"Well . . . let's go to the party then," Chandler said with obviously false
enthusiasm.

* * * * *

"Hey!" Rachel greeted when the two actors and Phoebe came through the door to
the apartment that was now hers. She was moving in with Phoebe for the short
time the guys would be there, so that they would be able to have thier
apartment.

Chandler and Joey each embraced Rachel, then gave Ross a hug instead of the
handshake Ross had offered.

"I haven't seen you in nearly two years," Ross said to Joey. "I met up with
Chandler on business a few months ago, though. How you been?"

"Fabulous!" Joey said, putting up two thumbs. "Man, I always wanted to be an
actor, and now I am and it's more than I ever dreamed of."

"Does Monica still live across the hall?" Chandler asked.

"N-no," Rachel said quickly.

Chandler gave her a look. "When you guys lie to me you shouldn't have Rachel
do it -- she's obvious about it. Can I go across the hall and at least say
hi to her. I'm eventually going to see her."

"Hold on," Rachel said and left the apartment quickly. She was over at
Monica's place a second later to find Monica curled up, looking nervous on
the couch.

"Is Matt already asleep?" Rachel asked quietly.

Monica nodded. "I thought you guys were having a party. Is it over already?"

"Chandler wants to see you. Joey does too, but Chandler wants to see you
more." Rachel paused. "Mon, I think you should. Whenever someone says your
name Chandler gets this look in his eyes and . . . oh, please, just say hi
to him. You don't even have to tell him about Matt."

Monica sighed. In truth she wanted to see Chandler. What Ross had said
earlier was true, she'd always felt closer to Chandler than anyone else.
Rachel's offer was tempting her . . . he was going to find out anyways. One
glimpse at Matt, and it was inevitable when he was across the hall, and
Chandler would *know*.

Monica got up and Rachel got a giddy look on her face as she realized Monica
was giving in.

"How do I look?" Monica asked.

Rachel laughed. "It's just Chandler."

"Chandler, the father of my child. How do I look?"

"Gorgeous," Rachel said, taking Monica's arm. "Now come across the hall with
me and let's be the six friends were six years ago."

Monica stopped Rachel before going into the apartment and took a deep breath
to compose herself. Rachel looked at her questioningly and Monica nodded.
Rachel opened the door to see Phoebe and Ross's shocked faces that she'd
actually came over, and Joey's grin, and Chandler's distant, unsure
expression.

Monica made a little, awkward wave with her hand. "Hi."

"Monica!" Joey said, excitement coursing through his voice as he picked her
up in the same bear hug he used with Phoebe and spun her around the room.

He set her down and looked to Chandler, as if expecting him to hug her as
well.

Chandler moved cautiously towards Monica and she held out her hand as an
awkward gesture of peace. Chandler shoved her hand aside and put his arms
around her. Monica sighed against his chest and closed her eyes, relishing in
the arms she hadn't felt around her for nearly six years.

In Chandler's comforting embrace she came to a conclusion. She couldn't lie
to him anymore, not about Matt. But she'd have to tell him in her own time,
she just wasn't ready to tell him immediately.

Chandler and Monica pulled away after a long moment and chattering came up
from all of the friends as they laughed and reminisced about the past long
into the night.

Monica glanced at the clock and felt shocked. "Dear God, it's one in the
morning. I have to go back to my apartment. Matt might wake up from a
nightmare. He's been having them a lot . . ." Monica trailed off. She had
become too comfortable and mentioned Matt without thinking about it.

"Who's Matt?" Chandler asked.

"My . . . son," Monica said after a moment. She didn't have to tell him that
it was also his son just yet. But she could tell him that she was a mother.

"You have a kid?" Joey asked, excited. "Who's the father? Are you married
yet? Why didn't you invite us to the wedding?"

"Because there wasn't one," Monica said quietly before leaving the apartment.

Joey looked after her. "I thought her dream was to have a loving husband and
a bunch of kids," he said, sounding confused.

"It was," Rachel said. "But she got pregnant."

"Well, didn't the father at least offer to help?" Chandler asked.

"I'll kick his ass!" Joey said, getting into his protective mode. "Who is
he?"

"The father doesn't know," Ross said. "Monica was being irresponsible and
wouldn't tell him. But, I'm guessing. she can tell you in her own time."

"Do we know him?" Joey asked, calming down a little bit.

Phoebe started laughing. "Quite well, actually."

Joey gasped. "It's Richard, isn't it?"

"Look, we're really not in the place to tell you," Rachel said reluctantly.
"I really don't feel comfortable about it. Monica will tell you in her own
time."

"If she ever wakes up from being irrational, that is," Ross said.

"Ross has issues about it," Rachel explained. "He talks to this guy on a
regular basis and he hates lying to him."

"Rachel, shut up," Ross hissed, not wanting the gossip to say something that
would indicate it was Chandler. Then he said to Joey and Chandler: "We're
going to be heading out. See you tomorrow, right?"

"I'll be at Central Perk," Chandler said. "Man, I haven't been there in
years."

"When do you start shooting the film?" Phoebe asked.

"Two days," Joey said. "So we have tomorrow and the next day to spend
catching up with you guys."

"Are you going over to Monica's for breakfast?" Phoebe asked.

"She still does that?"

"Of course."

"I wouldn't miss a chance to taste her food again for the world," Joey said.
"We'll be there."

"Phoebe!" Rachel said as she, Phoebe, and Ross were in the hallway. "You
should have talked to Monica first. What if Chandler or Joey sees Matt?
They'll put it together in a second."

"Maybe that's a good thing," Phoebe said. "Monica needs a push in the right
direction."

* * * * *