This is my first Friends fanfic. I've neverpublished onthis site before so I hope I did it right.This is slightly AU. It is how I would have played out the fertility storyline. I would love any feedback. Of course, I don't own them...but if I could please borrow Matthew for a little while I would be forever grateful. And now for the prologue..
Snow fell softly on the street below. The snow brought a quiet to the city that should have been reflected internally. Nevertheless, Chandler's hands shook slightly as he brought the lighter up to the unlit cigarette clamped tightly between his dry lips. He hesitated only briefly before lighting it and inhaling deeply. What the hell, he thought. The damage is already done.
Everyone hated when he smoked, most of all Monica. Monica was sleeping fitfully in their shared bedroom. But for Chandler sleep was elusive. He kept hearing the ringing phone echoing throughout his brain. The doctor's words that followed his tentative 'Hello' repeatedly robbed the breath from his throat as he played them over and over in his head.
Chandler had collapsed against the sofa in shock. Monica had come in just as he hung up the phone. He had no choice but to tell her the conclusion the fertility doctor had come to. Everything he had said to her was true. Her uterus was "inhospitable" and his sperm were "too lazy to get off of their Barcaloungers." But it was what wasn't said that terrified Chandler the most.
How could he possibly tell his wife that? How could he tell her his swimmers weren't just lazy as he had claimed, but were in fact blocked. Blocked by some...thing. A hideous growth. A malignancy.
Chandler could see Monica crumble from the inside, out when he relayed the news. He didn't have it in his heart to deliver an additional blow. Hey honey, we can't have kids. And guess what? We never will because I probably have cancer.
Chandler took another drag on his cigarette. There were too many questions and not enough answers. He wasn't sure of anything anymore, least of all the future. The only conclusion he could come to was that Monica deserved the truth - and she deserved an out.
He lit another cigarette hoping for some sort of catharsis. He followed the trail of smoke upward into the darkness as he blew out another shaky breath.
TBC