i'll be there - chandler bing (on hold)

the one with the sonogram at the end

"and that would be?" chandler asks as joey steps into the apartment, gianna immediately bumping into him. 

"she got a job." joey smiles, wrapping his arms around his little sister. 

"oh wow!" phoebe exclaims, standing from the table and also hugging gianna. 

"where is it?" monica asks, taking a sip from her coffee. gianna swallows, her excitement getting to her. 

"it's at the central park zoo." she replies, placing her empty glass in the sink and waltzing around the table again. "i get to oversee everything. say hello to the central park zoo curator." 

"oh that's amazing gianna!" rachel exclaims, pulling the girl into a hug. 

"congratulations!" monica smiles, joining the girls in their hug. 

"thanks guys." gianna smiles, grabbing her coat. "i don't start until next week but i'm going down to meet everyone. i'll see you all a bit later." and with that she was out of the door. 

"well, lucky her." rachel smiles, sitting down on the back of the sofa. 

"i'm glad she's forgotten about her ex-boyfriend." phoebe adds and the others nod. 

"i wouldn't be too sure about her forgetting him just yet." joey nods, taking a bite of some toast. 

"what do you mean joe?" chandler questions, leaning against the counter. 

"last night, she was sitting at our kitchen counter after being on the phone with the zoo and she had a bunch of stuff in her hands. she'd been crying, i could tell." he explains and everyone nods. 

"god, i feel bad for her." rachel states. "and i ran out of my own wedding." she finishes and the others laugh slightly. 

*

gianna smiled as she stood at the entrance to the zoo. there was a certain comfort she felt around the animals and the excitement children had whilst running around. 

"miss tribbiani?" an older gentleman approached her and she turned with a smile. 

"that's me." she replies and he smiles. 

"i'm mr blackwell. current curator of the zoo." he adds and her face drops slightly. "i'm retiring at the end of this week, hence your appointment of the new curator. how about we go and meet some people?" 

"of course sounds brilliant." she smiles nervously. something about the name seemed familiar. "before we start, i have a question." 

"yes?" 

"are you related to a matt blackwell?" she asks nervously and a bright smile covers the mans face. 

"why! he's my grandson!" 

*

gianna wandered home dazed. she wasn't actually sure she was even going the right way. 

"woah watch where you're going little miss." 

"uh sorry." gianna mumbles, continuing to walk past the man she'd bumped into. behind her, chandler was making his way through the crowds, coming home from work. 

"gianna?" his voice was drowned out by the crowd. in an attempt to reach her, he began slipping between people. "gianna?" chandler says again, slowly taking a hold of her elbow. when he turns her around, he sees the distance in her eyes. 

"chandler." she replies, her face emotionless. 

"is everything alright?" he asks, pulling her to the side slightly. 

"i, uh-" she swallows hard, feeling tears well in her eyes. "y-yeah. i just want to go home." chandler's face softens as he watches her expression. 

"well, lucky for you that's where i am going." he attempts to joke but she doesn't change her expression and that's when he knows he would need joey. "come on." slowly chandler holds his arm open, letting gianna rest in his side. with an arm over her shoulder, chandler guides her home. 

*

once inside the apartment, chandler sits gianna down on the sofa before placing his briefcase and coat in his room. 

"now, i'm probably not the person you want to talk to but what hap-"

"my ex-boyfriend's grandfather is whose job i'm taking." gianna mutters, cutting chandler off. 

"oh." there was a pause. "well, that's a bit of a pickle." he continues and gianna shakes her head. 

"god, i can't believe it." she mumbles, placing her head in her hands. 

"i'm sure it will be fine." chandler tries to comfort her but he wasn't used to this. he didn't quite know what to say. 

"god i'm so stupid." gianna mutters, standing from the sofa and beginning to pace. 

"you're not stupid." he argues, also standing. "do you want to see joey?" chandler asks and she shakes her head slightly. 

"he's already so angry about what matt did. i'm not sure this will help." she jokes and chandler smiles softly. 

"well...i guess i will have to do." his voice was oddly shy as gianna looked up at him. a soft smile spread across her lips as she stepped closer to him and wraps her arms around his torso. 

"thank you." she mumbles, her voice muffled by his chest. in shock, chandler isn't sure what to do. finally realising he was just standing there, he places his arms around her shoulders, his chin resting on the top of her head. they stood in silence, rocking back and forth slightly. 

"do you want to go see if monica has any cookies?" chandler offers and gianna nods. the pair then exit the apartment, both their hearts pounding a little faster than before. 

"well? isn't it amazing?" ross asks as the pair enter the apartment. on the tv screen was the tape of the sonogram.  

"what are we supposed to be seeing here?" joey asks. gianna sits down beside him, leaning into his side. 

"i dunno, but...i think it's about to attack the enterprise." chandler jokes sitting down on the other side of gianna. 

"you know, if you tilt your head to the left, and relax your eyes, it kinda looks like an old potato." phoebe mutters, her head tilting slightly at the screen. 

"then don't do that, alright?" ross argues. 

"okay!" 

"monica. whaddya think?" ross asks, walking to where she was standing. 

"mm-hmm." she replies, her eyes beginning to well. 

"wh-are you welling up?" ross looks at his sister again closely. 

"no." 

"you are, you're welling up." ross teases. 

"am not!" she argues, her voice breaking slightly.

"you're gonna be an aunt!" ross continues and monica pushes him away as she begins to cry. 

"oh shut up!" she blubbers, looking at the small picture on the screen. 

"it's beautiful." gianna mutters, looking over at ross' amazed expression. behind them all, rachel was on the phone. 

"hi, mindy. hi, it-it's rachel. yeah, I'm fine. I-I saw barry today. oh, yeah, yeah he-he told me. no, no, it's okay. i hope you two are very happy, i really do. oh, oh, and mind, y'know, if-if everything works out, and you guys end up getting married and having kids- and everything- i just hope they have his old hairline and your old nose." rachel slams the phone down and glances over at everyone. "okay, i know it was a cheap shot, but i feel so much better now." 

*

<3