New Friends, New Family, New Forever

Rachel Finds Out: Part 1

Sarah's POV:

The whole gang is hanging out at Central Perk as Ross shows off pictures of Ben.

Ross: "Here's little Ben nodding off."

Monica: "Aww, look at Aunt Monica's little boy!"

Phoebe: "Oh, look, he's got Ross's haircut!"

Rachel: "Oh, let me see!-*grabs picture*-Oh, God, is he just the sweetest thing? You must just want to kiss him all over!"

Ross: *softly* "That'd be nice."

Annoyed with Ross's fawning over Rachel, Chandler makes a 'pfft' noise.

Rachel: "Pardon?"

Chandler: "Nothing, just a little extra air in my mouth. Pffft. Pffft."

Joey: "Hey, Chan, can you help me out here? I promise I'll pay you back."

Chandler: "Oh, yeah, right, Ok... including the waffles last week, you now owe me... 17 jillion dollars."

Joey: "I will, really. I'll pay you back this time."

Chandler sighs as he hands Joey the money.

Chandler: "And where's this money coming from?"

Joey: "Well... I'm helping out down at the N.Y.U. Med School with some... research."

Ross: "What kind of research?"

Joey: "Oh, just, you know.... science."

Ross: "Science. Yeah, I think I've heard of that."

Joey: "It's a fertility study."

Monica: "Oh, Joey, please tell me you're only donating your time."

Joey: "Ahhh, actually a little bit more than that."

Chandler: *looks up* "Oh thank you God! This will bring us so much joy!"

Me: *mutters* "Speak for yourself."

Rachel rubs my arm in sympathy as Joey describes in detail the purpose of his donation.

Joey: "All right, come on you guys, it's not that big a deal. Really... I mean, I just go down there every other day and... make my contribution to the project. Hey, hey, but at the end of 2 weeks, I get $700."

Phoebe: "Wow, ooh, you're gonna be making money hand over fist!"

Joey: *sarcastically* "That's funny! Very funny!"

Rachel: "No, this is really really great. I mean, I actually know somebody who loves what they do."

Ross: "Yeah, but what do you do to unwind after a tough day at work?"

Having had enough of the teasing, Joey gets up to leave.

{Time skip}

I walk into Monica & Rachel's apartment to help them prepare for Rachel's birthday party tonight.

Me: "Let me go on the record and say that what's about to happen was not my idea."

As if on cue, Chandler & Joey walk into the apartment with charcoal for the barbecue.