Loving Lillie, Part Two – A Face From the Past

Disclaimer: I don’t own any of these characters apart from Lillie.

It was eighteen years since the young woman had given up her baby daughter, and she never stopped thinking about her. She had hidden away from her friends and family at first, but had finally realised that hiding from the world was not the answer. She had to get on with her life, and forget about the attack, the unwanted child, the need to have another child that she would love, and the barely disguised disgust that her mother felt for her – a mother who didn’t want her child.

It was her close circle of friends that helped her get on in life. She had been twenty-one when the little gang was formed, and even though only three of her five friends knew about her secret daughter, they wouldn’t let her be unhappy. Anyway, why would she want to be unhappy? Apart from Lillie, she had a wonderful life. She had some wonderful friends, a wonderful brother, and was married to the man of her dreams. Her name was Monica Bing.

On the day that would have been Lillie Gellar’s eighteenth birthday, Monica was in her apartment with her husband, Chandler, her brother, Ross, her best friend from high school, Rachel, and Ross and Rachel’s three-month-old baby daughter, Kimmy. These were the only three of her friends that knew about Lillie, and, knowing that it was her birthday, they’d all gathered together to make Monica feel better. Monica knew why they were doing it – they weren’t exactly subtle – but she appreciated the gesture all the same. She loved her friends, and knew that they didn’t want her to be sad about a baby she had abandoned sixteen years ago. It wasn’t as if she’d even liked Lillie. Lillie was a reminder of all the pain that the rape caused her. Lillie was the reason that she didn’t sleep with anyone until she was twenty-two. Lillie had been a memory of everything bad in her life – all rolled into one little child, so innocent. It was like a bad metaphor.

Chandler and Ross were drinking beer, and Monica and Rachel were gossiping about Phoebe Buffay, one of their other friends, when there was a knock on the door.

Monica got up and answered it. Outside was a petite, dark-haired girl, with startling blue eyes. She was looking very uncertain about being there.

“A-are you Monica Gellar?” she asked, tentatively.

“No, I’m Monica Bing,” Monica replied, doubtfully. As the girl’s face fell, she added, “But I was Monica Gellar. Who are you?” she added. She didn’t really want a stranger outside her apartment, especially not a stranger who knew her name.

The doubtfulness on the girl’s face was eclipsed by a sudden look of – was it? – happiness. She paused a moment before she spoke. Then, she said, in a very clear voice, “I’m Lillie Gellar… Mom.”

* * *

Lillie had never been certain about finding her birth mother, but when her adoptive parents, Jessica and Lloyd, had been killed in a car crash, three months ago, there had seemed little else to do. She had been seventeen, depending on Gayle’s aunt, and didn’t feel the need to be around her adoptive family any longer. She and Aunt Sylvie had never got on that well, and she wanted a better life. Who better to have a new life with than her real mother?

She had always known that her mother was called Monica Gellar, and, by dint of a hell of a lot of searching, had found out where Monica Gellar lived. And now she was standing in front of her birth mother. The woman she had not seen since she was a few hours old.

* * *

“L-Lillie?” asked Monica, almost crying.

“Lillie,” she confirmed. “I’m definitely, definitely Lillie Gellar.” She gasped as she realised how much she looked like her mother.

“Ohmigod!” Monica was crying now. “Chandler?” she called. She saw Lillie’s face change when Chandler appeared, and put his arm around Monica. “Chandler,” she began, faltering slightly. “T-this girl, she says that – she says she’s Lillie.”

“Lillie Gellar?” asked Chandler, loudly enough for Ross and Rachel to stand up and come to the door. They each had identical looks of shock on their faces.

“You’re Lillie Gellar?” asked Rachel.

“Lillie Gellar,” she said, firmly. “I was abandoned by my mother when I was two hours old, and I was adopted three months later. My adoptive parents were called Jessica and Lloyd Thomas. They died three months ago in a car crash and I’ve lived with my aunt ever since. And today is my eighteenth birthday. Does that prove anything?”

“You’re really Lillie,” Monica whispered. The innocent image of all the hurt and pain in my life, she thought. And she’s standing here in front of me. A sixteen-year-old, responsible for all the hurt in my life, it’s impossible. There’s got to be a way I can forgive her.

“I, uh, we’d better go,” Ross whispered to Rachel, who nodded, and the two of them slipped quietly away, Rachel holding Kimmy. Monica was left alone with her husband and her daughter.

“Come in,” Chandler told Lillie. “Mon?” he murmured. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she replied. “J-just a bit shocked.” Lillie was looking at them, so they went over, and sat down on the sofa, one on each side of Lillie.

“So,” Chandler began, trying to ease the tension. “I’m Monica’s husband, Chandler Bing.”

“M-my stepfather?” asked Lillie.

“Uh, yeah, I guess,” Chandler replied. Wow! I’m a stepfather, he thought. “And that was Monica’s brother Ross that just went out the door – your uncle. And Rachel’s your –”

“I’m your mom,” Monica said, faintly, cutting him off. “I never thought I’d see you again.”

“Is it good that I’m back?” Lillie queried, needing to know the answer. “You don’t want me to go away again, do you?”

Monica paused. She couldn’t take out all her hurt on her daughter. Her poor, abandoned daughter. “You – you can stay,” she faltered. “For now. But, this, this isn’t going to be easy for me – or you, I guess.”

Lillie nodded. “I know. I just need to know my mom. I need to know that I have a mom.” She hesitated. “And… can you tell me about you? And – my dad?”

“I-I guess,” Monica replied. “But, I was raped, I wasn’t going out with your dad.”

“Did you know him?” asked Lillie, after taking this information in. Chandler put his arm closer around Monica. “You don’t have to, not if you don’t want to, Mon,” he whispered.

Monica sighed. “I – knew him. He-he was my best friend’s dad. So, my friend Rachel is your sister.”

A/N: Ha! It wasn’t Phoebe. How could it be? Her mom was dead when she was 15. And, Kimmy, I hope you don’t mind me using your name for the baby. And I bet no one guessed that Rachel’s dad was the father.