Disclaimer: I own none of these characters. They belong to the wonderful creators of Friends.
A/N: Thanks again for your comments and, again, I'm sorry it took so long. As far as the babies' names, I'm not very good at that, but I hope they'll do. lol Please let me know what you think - about that, and the chapter as a whole. I hope you enjoy...
Chapter Three - TOW the Baby Talk
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"It's two in the morning! What do you want?" Joey yelled as he opened the door to his apartment to find Chandler and Monica waiting in the hallway. "What's going on?" he asked angrily. "We were sleeping!"
"If you want to call that sleeping," Phoebe grinned when she joined the others.
"Rachel's in labor!" Monica explained. "We're going to the hospital. Come on!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Phoebe answered. "I'm not dressed, if you haven't noticed," she began, indicating her robe. "Besides, it's hard to say how long having those babies is gonna take."
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"How long is this gonna take?!" Rachel yelled at Ross. She was obviously in pain, and she wasn't taking it well at all. "You did this to me, Ross Gellar! Get these things out of me!"
"Rachel, sweetie, just breathe -"
"You breathe!" she yelled. "You are never gonna touch me again!"
"Now, Rachel, you don't mean that."
"Oh yeah?! You just wait and see!" she glared at him. "Hey, you know what? I don't think I'm gonna marry you anymore."
"Okay." Ross was trying to be patient with her.
"Okay?! That doesn't bother you?" Rachel asked, shocked, as she tried to breathe through another contraction.
"Of course it bothers me. But I can't force you to marry me, Rach... Oh, I'll just take that ring back since you changed your mind about the engagement." He held out his hand to get the ring from her.
"Oh no you don't. You're not getting rid of me that easily," Rachel retorted. "Wow. I feel so much better now," she sighed as the contraction subsided.
"I'm glad, honey. I'm sorry this hurts so much," Ross said sincerely.
"I know you are. I'm sorry I keep biting your head off."
"No problem. After all, I did have a part in doing this to you," he smiled weakly.
"Yeah, I vaguely remember," she teased. "Ouch, ouch, ouch!"
"What? What is it?"
"Contraction," she answered. "Ross, it hurts," she moaned.
"I know, honey. I know," he soothed.
Rachel screamed again as the pain hit her. "You don't know anything! If you'd known how to read the fine print on certain packages, we might not be in this mess!"
"Oh, that... Rachel, sweetie, I don't think that would have changed anything."
"Oh yeah?! Maybe if you'd read the package, you would have changed your mind about taking advantage of me!"
"Taking advantage of you? Rach, I didn't -"
Knock, knock.
"Can we come in?" Monica said with her head stuck in the door.
"Come on in guys," Ross instructed. "We're having a contraction," he informed them.
"We?!" Rachel exclaimed, getting over another contraction. "I don't see you up on a bed waiting to push two watermelons out of a hole the size of a peanut.!"
"A peanut? Really?" Joey pondered that thought.
"I don't know, Joey. The point is, it hurts!" Rachel replied.
"Yeah, it hurts!" Phoebe chimed in. She looked from Joey to Rachel. "At least you don't have three watermelons - and you get to keep yours."
"Rach, are you sure you don't mind us being in here?" Monica asked. "We can go back to the waiting room if you want."
"No, I want you to stay. Besides, you're gonna have to do this in nine months or so anyway."
"What?!" Ross exclaimed. "Monica?" He looked to his sister.
She smiled brightly at her brother. "We're having a baby!" she said excitedly.
"A baby? Wow," Joey smiled.
"Yeah, wow," Phoebe agreed. While Ross, Monica and Chandler exchanged hugs and congratulations, she leaned over to whisper to Joey. "Can we talk?"
"Sure... Let's go to the waiting room."
They left the rest of the group in Rachel's room and headed for the waiting room.
"What is it?" Joey asked when they sat down together.
"You know, nevermind. It's nothing. Let's just go back to Rachel's room," she sighed.
"Pheebs," Joey smiled at her. "Come on. What is it?"
"Joey, it's really silly... I just keep thinking that among the six of us, there have been six babies - well, seven, with Monica - and not one of them has been mine... I guess I'm just a little jealous."
"Hey, none of 'em are mine either, Pheebs."
She smiled at him. "Yeah, I know that."
"Oh... You're not saying you, uh, wanna have a baby with me, are you?" he asked worriedly.
"Of course not. Not now, at least... But someday."
"Me and you? A baby?" Joey grinned.
"I don't know. Maybe," she smiled back at him. "Let's go back and check on Rachel."
"Okay." He took her hand and led her down the hallway.
When they entered the room again, they were greeted with the sight of everyone crowded around Rachel's bed, trying to help her through a contraction. From what Phoebe could tell, all they were doing was annoying her.
"Come on, Rachel, breathe!" Monica encouraged.
"You can do it, sweetie," Ross cheered her on.
"You're doing great," Chandler added.
"Would you guys shut up?!" Rachel yelled. The room suddenly became quiet. "Thank you. Now, somebody please get a doctor in here because I'm not holding these babies in anymore!"
"Dr. Grant will be in in a moment," the nurse chimed in. "And I need everyone out except the mother, the father, and the babies."
"Good luck, you two," the rest of the group said before leaving the room.
"Let us know when something happens," Monica added.
"I'll be out as soon as the babies get here," Ross promised.
Just as Monica, Chandler, Phoebe and Joey left the room, Dr. Grant entered the room.
"How are we doing?" he asked as he flipped through Rachel's chart.
"Ross is fine. I'm in a little pain here," Rachel snapped.
The doctor smiled. "It'll all be over soon, I promise," he laughed. "Are you ready to start pushing, Rachel?"
"Yes! Let's get this show on the road," she replied anxiously.
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"Think she's had the babies yet?" Joey asked his three companions in the waiting room.
"Ross said he'd let us know as soon as anything happened," Chandler answered.
"Well, it sure is taking a long time," Monica sighed.
"Guys, it takes time for these things," Phoebe reminded them. "And Rachel's such a wimp, it'll probably take a lot longer than it took when I had the triplets."
"It shouldn't be much longer..."
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"All right, Rachel. One more big push and we'll have baby number one," the doctor encouraged.
"Come on, sweetie. You can do it," Ross urged as Rachel continued pushing.
Soon the room was filled with a baby's cry.
"Congratulations," the doctor smiled. "Baby number one is a girl!"
"A girl?" Ross asked as he stared at the tiny baby. "Rachel, it's a girl!"
"A girl," she sighed happily.
"Okay, Rachel. Let's do this one more time..."
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Ross was all smiles when Joey spotted him coming down the hallway to the waiting room.
"Hey, it's Ross!" he informed the rest of the group. They all stood to meet him.
"Well? What happened?" Monica asked eagerly.
"We, um... We have two babies." He held up two fingers to illustrate.
"We know that, Ross," Phoebe replied.
"Yeah, what are they? Boys or girls?" Chandler asked.
"Girls. Two girls." Again, he held up two fingers.
"Girls! Can we see them?" Monica asked.
"Yeah... Rachel's waiting for you guys. Come on..."
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"Hey," Rachel smiled at her friends when they entered her room. She was holding both babies, wrapped in pink blankets.
"Aww..." They all smiled back at the newest additions to the group. "They're beautiful," Monica said quietly as she approached the bed.
"What did you name them?" Phoebe asked curiously.
Ross took one of the babies from Rachel. "This one is Kelly Dawn Gellar and -"
"No, no, no, Ross. This one is Kelly Dawn Gellar. That one is Chelsea Brooke Gellar," she corrected him.
"Oh no. I don't even know my own daughters!" Ross panicked.
"You could put some paint on one of their backs. That's what I did with my turtles when I was a kid." Joey seemed proud of his suggestion.
"Bad idea, Joey," Chandler responded.
They all stood there, staring at the babies. Monica squeezed Chandler's hand, anticipating this event in their own lives. Joey smiled at Phoebe, remembering their earlier conversation. Ross handed Chelsea back to Rachel and leaned over to kiss his fiancee and the mother of his daughters. He smiled at his babies. "Welcome to the world, Kelly and Chelsea."