"Sandra, I am so sorry. I thought you were Rachel, and we just weren't ready for you yet."

"You thought I was Rachel?"

----------

"So, I'll get candles and my mom's lace tablecloth. And since it's Rachel's birthday, and we want it to be special, I thought I'd poach a salmon." Monica clapped her hands in excitement, but the rest of us groaned. "What?"

"Question: why do we always have to have parties where you poach things?" Ross asked her.

"You want to be in charge of the food committee?" Monica raised an eyebrow at her brother.

"Okay, question two: why do we always have to have parties with committees?" He inquired.

"Really. Why can't we just get some pizzas and beers and have fun?" Joey suggested. Meanwhile, he kept running his hand up my thigh no matter how many times I brushed him off.

"I agree. You know, I think fancy parties are only fun if you're fancy on the inside, and I'm just not sure we are." Phoebe thought out loud.

"Alright. If you guys don't want it to be special. Fine. We can throw any kind of party you want." Monica shrugged her shoulders. "Chandler, they're not real." She said, referring to her boobs.

"Huh? What?" Chandler seemed to have finally woken up from his daydream.

"I start miles beneath the surface of these things, okay? They're fake." She clarified for him. "See, honk, honk." She squeezed one of the boobs.

"Wow...it's like porno for clowns." Chandler joked. The next day, we were sitting around Central Perk, talking about the logistics of the party.

"Neither of Rachel's sisters can come." Ross hummed sadly.

"So I still have to invite Dylan and Emma and Shannon Cooper." Monica looked down at her list.

"Woah, woah, woah. Uh...no Shannon Cooper." Joey shook his head.

"Oh, why not her?" The five of us looked over at him. 

"'Cause she, uh...she steals stuff." Joey quickly made up, sending me an apologetic look. I can't blame him for his past. Hell, I've known about his past for a long time.

"Or, you know, maybe she doesn't steal stuff and Joey actually slept with her and never called her back." Chandler exposed his roommate.

"That's horrible, Joey." Monica and Phoebe shook their heads disapprovingly.

"But, you know, you haven't brought any girls back to the apartment late in the night." Chandler glanced over at him. "You know what? You haven't been flirting with strangers or anything. What is the matter with you?"

"I don't know." Joey shrugged his shoulders. "I'm just...I'm thinking about settling down and finding the right woman, you know?" I instantly started to blush.

"Hi, honey. How'd it go?" Ross called out to his girlfriend as she walked into the coffee house.

"Graduation from hell. That's all I I can say." She stormed to the back of the counter.

"You know, my cousin went to hell on a football scholarship." Chandler tried to ease her.

"I mean, this is supposed to be a joyous occasion. My sister's graduating from college, and nobody thought she would. It's a true testament to what a girl from Long Island would do for a celiac." She wrapped her apron around her waist.

"So what happened?" Monica inquired.

"My parents happened. All they had to do was sit in the same stadium, smile proudly, and not talk about the divorce, but no–o–o–o. They got into a huge fight in the middle of the commencement address. Bishop Tutu had to actually stop and shush them." She let out a frustrated sigh. "But you know what? You know what the good news is? I get to serve coffee for the next eight hours." She smiled sarcastically.

"Okay, so I guess we don't invite her parents." I glanced over at Ross.

"Well, how about just her mom?" Monica suggested.

"Why her mom?" Chandler asked.

"Because I already invited her." Monica smiled nervously.

"Ooh, ooh, did you ask Stacey Roth?" Phoebe nudged Monica's arm.

"Can't invite her." Joey shook his head. "She also steals." I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my check, sinking back into the couch. Later that night, we were decorating Monica's apartment for Rachel's party.

"Here are the birthday candles. Where's birthday cake?" I held up the small pack of candles.

"We're not having birthday cake. We're having birthday flan." Monica grabbed the dish out of the fridge and place it on the dining table.

"Excuse me?" Chandler raised his eyebrows.

"A traditional Mexican custard dessert." Monica clarified.

"That's nice. 'Happy birthday, Rachel. Here's some goo'." Joey teased. Then, we heard someone knock at the door. Monica went to open it up.

"Dr. Green. Oh my God. It's Rachel's dad." Monica glanced at us, her eyes wide in panic. "What are you doing here?"

"What? The father can't drive by to see his daughter on her birthday?" He chuckled.

"No, no. The father can." Monica giggled. "But, um...since I am the roommate, I can tell you that she's not here, and I'll pass along the message. Okay? So, bye bye." God, she does not do well when she's nervous.

"Oh! You're having a par–ty." He walked into the apartment to see the balloons and streamers.

"No, no, no. Not a party." Monica shut the door. "Just a surprise gathering of some people Rachel knows." Monica waved it off. "This is Phoebe and Joey. And you know Suparna and Chandler." I waved my hand.

"I'll never remember all of that. Hi, Suparna, Chandler." He greeted us with a hug. "So, uh, what's the deal? Rachel comes home, people pop out and yell stuff?"

"This isn't your first surprise party, is it, sir?" Chandler joked, so I smacked his back. Then, someone else knocked on the door.

"Hi, Monica." Monica quickly shut the door on Rachel's mom. Thankfully, Dr. Green was looking through the liquor, so he didn't notice her.

"Chinese menu guy. Forgot the menus." Monica quickly made up.

"So, basically, just a Chinese guy." Chandler tried to ease the awkwardness in the room. Rachel's mom knocked on the door once again.

"Uh, hey, Dr. Green, why don't you come with me. We'll put your jacket on Rachel's bed." Joey offered to him.

"Alright. That sounds like a two–person job." Dr. Green put down his drink, and the two headed into Rachel's room. Monica opened up the door once again.

"Well, my goodness, what was that?" Sandra chuckled as she walked in.

"Sandra, I am so sorry." Monica apologized. "I–I thought you were Rachel, and we just weren't ready for you yet."

"You thought I was Rachel?" Sandra pointed to herself.

"Of course. You look so young." Chandler quickly added.

"And because you're both, you know, white women." Phoebe pointed out.

"I missed you kids so much. Suparna." She came over to me and hugged me tightly. "Well, should I put my coat in the bedroom?" 

"No!" Chandler exclaimed and got in front of her. "No, I'll take that for you."

"Well, thank you. Such a gentleman." Chandler helped take her coat off before going into Rachel's room where Joey and Dr. Green are.

"It all looks so nice. So festive with all the balloons." She looked around the apartment. "The funniest thing happened to me on the way here. I was dri—" 

"That's great." Phoebe laughed, cutting her off, when Joey opened the door. "I can't wait to hear the rest of it. But I really have to go to the bathroom, so...hey, come with me." 

"What?" Sandra looked over at me for an explanation. 

"Yeah, it'll be like we're gal pals like at a restaurant. Oh, come on. It'll be fun. Come on." Phoebe headed to the bathroom with Sandra behind her.

"Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God." I fanned my face.

"Think. Think. Think." Chandler joined our little panic session in the kitchen. 

"Now that your coat is safely on the bed..." Joey peeped out. Chandler ran over to the bathroom and stood in front of the door. "Okay, we can come back out to the living room."

"Joey, Chandler, I think it's time you two take Dr. Green to your place." I suggested.

"Uh, yes, absolutely." Chandler jumped over the couch to their side. "Why again?"

"Because that's where the party is, you goon." Monica caught along with what I was saying. "This is just the staging area." The three guys walked out. Later that night, Chandler was sending the guys to Monica's apartment and the girls to the guys' apartment.

"Guys, Rachel's coming!" Chandler came into the place. I cannot believe we have two parties.

"Surprise!" We yelled when Ross and Rachel came in and turned on the lights.

"Happy Birthday, sweet pea." Dr. Green greeted his daughter.

"Daddy!" She exclaimed. Joey and I just stood around, our hands holding each other. Joey and I spent some time at both parties before going to my apartment.

"I feel like Rachel's going to be a little happier when she finds out she's having a real birthday cake...with the flan." I took out a pretty plate, four bottles of food coloring, and three packs of frosting. "Joe, call that bakery near Central Perk and tell them to have a basic frosted chocolate cake ready in the next ten minutes." I instructed him. After he made the call, the two of us went down to the bakery.

"Phoebe finished up the birthday candles on the flan." Joey said to me. I grabbed a pack and made my way to the register. After paying, he carried the cake, and we headed up to my place. We put on aprons and got to decorating.

"Hey, Joe. Look at me." I called out to him. He glanced up at me, and I took the opportunity to wipe some frosting on his nose. "Oops." I giggled, licking my frosting–covered fingers.

"Oh, you are going to pay for that." He chased me around the apartment. with the frosting can. I squealed and ran away from him. Finally, he caught me by wrapping his arms around me. He turned me and chuckled. "I've got you know." He just pulled me in for a kiss.

"Suparna, do you have any more—what the hell?" We quickly pulled away to see Ross by the door. His jaw was dropped, clearly seeing me and Joey kiss.

"Have any more what?" I cleared my throat and pushed Joey's arms off of me.

"What? Wh–What is...you two...kissing...how did this...what?" He couldn't say sentences.

"Ross..." I trialed off, not able to admit what Joey and I were.

"We're dating. We have been dating for almost a year. Actually, in a week, it'll be a year." Joey wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me into him.

"How did you guys hide this from us for a year?" Ross looked at us in surprise and confusion.

"Um...at this point, Chandler's the only one who doesn't know." I corrected him.

"At least I'm not the last one to find out." He shrugged his shoulders. "You guys!" He came over to us and hugged us. "This is amazing. Seriously?" He pulled away for a moment. Joey and I nodded our heads. "I can't believe this!"

"You should go. Joey and I are finishing up frosting the cake we got for Rachel." I pointed to the mess on the dining table.

"That reminds me. Do you have more alcohol?" Ross pointed at me.

"Unless you want some schnapps, that's all I have." I handed him two bottles of wine.

"It's a good amount. Thanks." He kissed my cheek. "I still can't believe it!" He jumped up and down and left.

"Now I understand why you didn't want to tell them." He whispered into my ear. We chuckled, and the two of us finished up the cake.

"Let's go and see if the parties are over." The two of us stepped out to see Chandler kissing Sandra, Phoebe in front of Monica's apartment, and Ross, Rachel, Chandler, and Monica in the middle of the hallway.

"Where have you two been this entire time?" Chandler looked at us.

"Making Rachel a birthday cake. Homemade with frosting and birthday candles." Joey held it up.

"What about my flan?" Monica put her hands on her hips.

"But...cake." Everyone turned to look at her.

"Fine, let's go back to our apartment." Monica groaned, and we headed to her apartment for a little party of our own.