AUTHOR'S NOTE: First of all, thank you for your reviews, favorites & follows for all my stories. I appreciate each and every one and since many reviews are from "guests" I send a specific shout-out to you. Thank you. I am still mapping out a post-series, multi-chapter story. And, I have recently had an idea for an AU for how our favorite couple gets together. But these one-shots are still my favorite, so I won't abandon them completely. :) And this is actually going to be at least a couple chapters. Enjoy!

Every inch of his body ached. His feet hurt, he was cold and he was ready to go somewhere, anywhere, and sit down with a cup of coffee and feel human again.

He looked forlornly at the clown in the window of the big toy store he was standing in front of, envying the character the little bench it was sitting on in the display. Monica was inside the store, getting just "one more thing" for the baby. They'd been shopping since about 8 in the morning and it was now almost 5 and getting dark. They'd stopped once to drop off the first load of packages at their apartment, grabbed a very quick sandwich, and set out again.

It was a Sunday during Christmas season in New York. The stores were crowded and the streets were crowded - and on a normal day they were crowded, so it was suffocating. When Monica's eyes were drawn to the toy store they were making their way past, he'd put his foot down. Kinda. He refused to go in, but he agreed to hold the few packages they had and wait outside for her.

Chandler smiled, despite himself, remembering when they'd gotten the call on Thanksgiving that someone had picked them to adopt a baby. It was the best news - ever. They were scheduled to go to Ohio and meet the birth mother just after the holidays. And they were trying so hard, so hard not to get too excited. They both knew it wasn't a done deal yet. But the excitement of the news and the magic of the holidays had completely taken over Monica. And, if he was truthful with himself, it had taken over him, too. They had waited so long and their biggest dream-come-true seemed to be waiting just around the corner. She was so excited and it was so fun for him to watch. He hadn't seen his wife this happy for a long time and he was determined to let her enjoy it.

"Sure beats the hell out of last Christmas," Chandler thought, thinking about flying home from Tulsa after quitting his job. Now he was always home with his wife, in a job he loved and was already winning accolades for doing well, and waiting for a baby to be born. It was exactly where he wanted to be. And if all went well, if all went as planned, next Christmas would be the best one of his life, with a little baby boy or girl celebrating with them.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard someone call his name. At first he thought it was Monica, but in the din of the evening crowd he wasn't sure.

"Chandler? Chandler Bing?" The female voice called.

And as if thinking about last Christmas made her appear, he turned around and came face-to-face with one of the reasons he'd left Tulsa.

Wendy.

"I thought that was you," she said, with a smile as her eyes ran up and down his body and she reached up to give him a hug.

Too taken by surprise to see her, he briefly hugged her back before taking a small step backward, putting some space between them. Her hair was longer than he thought it had been in Tulsa, but otherwise she hadn't changed since the last time he saw her.

"Hhh…hi" he stammered out. "Wha…what are you doing here?"

"Shopping," she laughed, gently touching his arm. "I live in New York now."

He took another small step back, though it was hard not to bump into other pedestrians in the process.

"Really?" he asked, eyes darting around in search of his wife, feeling more uncomfortable by the second. "Why?"

"Well, when you left so, um, suddenly last year I finished off the year-end paperwork and they promoted me to VP," she explained. "When what was supposed to be your year of service in Tulsa ended they asked me to move to the New York office and I said 'yes.' I've been here about six months now."

"Oh, wow, well, congratulations," he said, willing himself to relax. He was just talking to an old colleague, no big deal, he told himself. No need to feel awkward. "So you and your husband moved here, huh?"

"No," she said, taking a step closer to him and then looking into his eyes. "I'm divorced."

"Oh," he said, shifting again to avoid her gaze. "I'm…sorry."

Wendy shrugged. "It was a long time coming…"

Monica finally made her way out of the toy store and onto the heavily populated sidewalk. She knew Chandler was beat and ready to go sit somewhere. And she had to admit, she was tired, too. It had been a long day and after working a double-shift on her feet yesterday her legs were aching. In the toy store she had found a small, stuffed giraffe she thought was cute for the baby, but after taking one look at the length of the checkout line she had put it back. There would be plenty of time to shop for their baby, she'd told herself. "Their baby," she thought as she smiled and walked out of the store and into the cold New York air.

It took a little while to spot Chandler in the crowd because his back was to her. She was about to call out to him when she noticed he was talking to someone. It was a woman she didn't recognize. And this woman was standing very close to her husband, one hand on the sleeve of his coat. She was a pretty, petite brunette and for a split, panicked second Monica thought it might be Kathy. But, as she got closer she realized she had no clue who this woman was and reasoned that it was probably someone Chandler worked with at the advertising agency. She put a smile on her face and made her way over to them.

"Hi, honey," she said, linking her arm with Chandler's. She felt him jump in surprise as he dropped one of the packages on the sidewalk.

"Monica! Hi…hi, honey," he said a little too loudly, feeling jittery as he retrieved the package he'd dropped.

When he straightened up both Wendy and Monica looked at him expectantly to make introductions.

He let out a heavy sigh.

"This is my wife, Monica," he said to Wendy, as Monica linked her arm again with his and smiled at the woman. "Monica, this is…ah…Wendy."

Wendy? Wendy…the name rang a bell with Monica but she couldn't remember why.

"Nice to meet you, Wendy," she said, warmly. "Do you work with Chandler at the agency?"

"Um…agency?" Wendy said, looking to Chandler to explain.

"Ah…yes, I'm, um, in advertising now. I'm a copywriter," he said, wishing the awkwardness away. Wendy nodded.

"Oh," Monica said, confused. "So you don't work together?"

"Well, uh…we did…before," he said, wishing the sidewalk would open up and swallow him whole in that moment.

"In Tulsa," Wendy explained. "I was regional vice president when he was working in Tulsa and we worked together there. I took his old job and work in New York now."

Monica's smile froze and her body tensed up. She nodded in response. Wendy. In Tulsa. Second runner up in the Miss Oklahoma pageant. The Wendy who had caused her to have the most jealous anxiety she had ever experienced in her life one year ago. That Wendy.

"I see," Monica said politely, but Chandler could tell by her tone that being polite wasn't what she was thinking just then. She'd connected the dots. He had purposefully never told her about Wendy coming on to him in Tulsa because nothing had really happened. But he also never expected the two women to meet and never expected he'd have to explain that nothing happened.

"So, well," Chandler started quickly, plastering a smile on his face. "Great, great to see you Wendy, but we gotta go. Have a great time living in New York!"

He made a little wave and Wendy smiled at him and raked her eyes over him once more. Monica's eyes narrowed at the woman as the tight smile stayed frozen on her face.

"Thanks, Chandler. It was great to see you, too," Wendy said, then she looked at Monica and added. "You're a lucky woman, Monica. You have one hell of a man here."

"Yes, I do," Monica said, emphasizing every word through nearly clenched teeth. "Good bye, Wendy."

Silence fell over the couple as Wendy walked into the crowd. Chandler gave Monica a small smile, which she didn't return. The cold night air wasn't the only chill he felt.

"So, ah, have any luck in there?" he said, desperate to change the subject.

"No." she stated flatly.

Oh boy…

"Wanna go grab that coffee?" he asked, scouring the storefronts until his eyes fell on a Starbucks sign in the next block. "We could head over there."

"Fine," Monica said, turning in the direction of the coffee shop and pounding the pavement as quickly as she could, dodging people along the way.

He tried to keep up and was right behind her when he started to open his mouth to again attempt to change the subject, but in the end he knew it would be fruitless. He followed her to Starbucks, feeling very much like a man who was following the captain of a pirate ship as she led him to walk the plank.