Happy 4th of July!
"Are the fireworks going to be loud daddy?" 4 year old James asked. He wanted to be next to his dad but he knew the rules of the grill. He knew not to stand to close so he stood a few steps back.
"Some of them will be loud but they aren't scary." Chandler said as he lit the grill and closed the lid.
"You promise?" James asked.
Chandler picked him up. "I promise. You can even help with some of them."
"Absolutely not." Monica said when she walked in the back yard with 2 week old Grace.
"Not the dangerous ones Mon." He promised.
"Yeah mommy I'm a big boy now." James said and stretched his arms out to show her.
Monica fixed his hair. "Go get your swimming trunks on baby. Your cousins will be here soon and you can go in the pool."
His face lit up and he forgot all about the fireworks. "Ok." He smiled and ran in the house.
"Oh you're up from your nap." Chandler cooed and took the tiny infant from Monica's arms. "She looks more like you every day"
Monica smiled and kissed him.
"Oh get a room." Phoebe said when she walked in the back yard followed by everyone else.
"Oh like you and Mike don't kiss." Monica said.
Phoebe shrugged. "Not publicly."
Monica smiled and shook her head, knowing that was in fact not true. She looked over at Chandler and saw he was contently rocking Grace back and forth. "I'm going to go get James, do you got her?"
Chandler nodded, not taking his eyes off the baby.
Monica went into James' room that was painted a bright blue just like he wanted with batman wall decals on it. "Come on buddy, your cousins are ready to go swimming." She couldn't help but laugh when she saw James wearing his batman swimming trunks and his duck floaties that weren't blown up yet. "Do you need help son?"
He nodded as he blew hard trying to blow them up.
She sat on his bed. "Come here."
He walked over to her and she helped him take them off and then she blew them up.
"Wow how did you learn to do that?" He asked in amazement.
"It's a mommy thing. It's just something I know." She winked at him and helped him put them back on. Then she kissed the top of his head when he stood up. "Ok are you ready now?"
He nodded and took her hand.
She took him outside and applied sunscreen on him.
The kids played in the poo while the food cooked. They were having hamburgers, chips, potato salad, macaroni salad, beans, salad, hot dogs and fruit salad.
Monica put Grace to bed since she fell asleep on Rachel and then everyone ate.
"So Ross and I have some news." Rachel said as they ate.
"What is it?" Monica asked.
Ross put 6 year old Emma on his lap and looked at Rachel to continue.
"We're having another baby." She said with excitement. This time they were married and this baby was planned.
Everyone cheered and hugged Ross and Rachel and congratulated them.
"Can you have a baby?" James asked from Chandler's lap.
Chandler chuckled. "Mommy just had a baby. Grace is still very little."
James sighed. "Then can you have a boy?"
This time it was Monica's turn to chuckle. "Maybe in a couple years."
"Sounds good." Chandler said with a wink.
They all talked for a little while longer while they waited for it to get dark enough to be able to shoot off fireworks. Monica and Chandler didn't have neighbors that were close and they had a lot of yard space. So their fireworks wouldn't bother anyone.
When it was time to shoot them off Chandler picked stood up and put James in his spot. "Now remember what I said?"
James smiled. "Yes you said they were loud but they aren't scary."
Chandler nodded. "Very good. Now will you sit here with mommy and Grace and make sure they're ok?" He winked at Monica who smiled at him.
"Oh yes." James said, feeling very important.
Chandler, Joey, Ross and Mike walked out in the yard with all the fireworks. Everyone pitched in so there would be a lot.
After a few was shot off, Chandler walked over to where his family was. "Is Grace doing ok with the noise?"
"Yeah she's doing great." Monica told him.
Chandler pulled back the blanket a little so he could see her. Sure enough, she wasn't bothered by the fireworks or all the commotion that was going on. She was eating and falling asleep. He kissed Grace's cheek and put the blanket back. Then he knelt down in front of James. "How are you doing buddy?"
"You were right daddy. This isn't scary at all. This is fun. A lot of fun." James smiled.
Chandler gave him a high five. "That's great son."
Once all the fireworks were shot off, it was late so everyone left after they helped clean up. Then Chandler heled Monica get James to bed. Grace had already been in bed for an hour now.
"Did you have fun Mon?" He asked as he waited for her in bed.
She turned the bathroom light off and walked over to the bed. "I did." She kissed him. "Did you?"
"I was with my family of course." He said and brought her closer to him.