A/N: Okay, this is a filler scene that takes place during 'TOW Rachel's other sister' in 9th season. It's a Mondler one-shot! I first wanted it to be kinda comical, but as I was writing it, it turned out to be more of an angsty, 'hurt, comfort, romance' kind of story. So, just read and please let me know what you think. Oh, and this is my first fic. So, reviews are all the more appreciated!
Disclaimer: I don't own 'Friends' and I don't own the lines that are from the show.
The Fun parts and The Hard parts
Monica held her wedding china under the lights to see if they had any scratches. She, Chandler, their friends and Rachel's sister had all just finished dinner, and she'd washed the plates thoroughly, all by herself, even though Rachel and Phoebe had offered to help. They could not be trusted with the plates.
"So far, so good," she muttered to herself and picked up the last one. Good, no scratches, none at all.
She piled the plates up and placed them on the counter, at the far end, so that any human contact with them could be avoided. Not that her friends would try anything stupid, but it never could hurt to be a 'tad careful' with stuffs. Or 'obsessive and paranoid', as Chandler might put it.
She turned to the living room to ask Chandler if he could help her put the plates back, only to find that he wasn't there, even though the others were all still there. Rachel's sister, Amy, was sulking in the corner since Rachel and Ross had blatantly rejected her offer to be Emma's guardian. Rachel was on the couch, ignoring her sister's death glare, reading a magazine, Ross sitting beside her, while Joey and Phoebe were having another conversation about raccoons.
She was about to ask if they'd seen Chandler, when they heard Emma's cries from the guest bedroom. "I'll go check on her." Ross rose from his spot on the couch and Rachel nodded her thanks.
"Guys, have you seen Chandler?" asked Monica, wondering how long she'd been washing the plates to have not even noticed the absence of her husband in the apartment. She hadn't seen him after dinner.
"Yeah, he went outside some time ago. You know, it's actually been a while. You should probably go talk to him, Mon. I don't think he was very happy about what Ross and I said earlier-" Rachel's reply was cut off halfway with a loud snort from Amy, making Rachel glare at her sister. "Just make him understand that we didn't mean to hurt him," she added to Monica with a pleading look.
Monica knew how hurt Chandler had been on hearing Ross and Rachel say that he wasn't fit to raise a child without her. She'd spent years trying to make his insecurities go away and they were both finally excited and even ecstatic about the idea of trying for a baby, but their friends had most probably ruined it all. With one stupid conversation.
She nodded to Rachel, trying not to snort, herself, as she made her way to the door and opened it. She found Chandler sitting on the steps, looking down at his fingers as they played with his wedding band. She'd rarely seen him look so sad and vulnerable, a side of him which he would show only her. She felt the sight tug at her heart.
"Hey, there you are." She sat down on the steps, next to him. "You disappeared after dinner."
"Oh, did somebody miss me? Is there a child to raise poorly?" he asked, the bitterness in his voice making Monica cringe. She had to make him see how asinine the whole notion of him not being a good father figure was.
"Ross and Rachel don't know what they're talking about!" She moved closer to him. "I mean, It's not like they're so responsible. Emma is a product of a bottle of Merlot and a five year old condom!"
He smiled at his wife's words, but it soon fell. "Yeah, but they're right. I am not a strong father figure, and I never will be."
"No! You learn these things. You grow into it!" She argued. Every time she dreamed about their future, their children, she smiled. She smiled thinking how great a dad Chandler would be, how great a family theirs would be. She cannot let him think he'd be an abysmal father. She had to make him understand.
"Yeah, but it's not who I am. Everything they said is exactly why I was worried about having a kid, and it's true! And look, everybody knows it..."
Not everybody. If he thought that she thought of him that way too, he was wrong.
"I don't know it!" She touched his arm. "I wanna have a kid with you because I think you're gonna be an amazing dad. At the fun parts and at the hard parts!" She looked at him, trying to get through to him that whatever she'd said was exactly how she felt about his parenting skills and that it was not just a bunch of sweet words made up at that instant.
He smiled lightly. "Oh yeah, well, can you picture me saying 'Go to your room! You're grounded!'?"
She chuckled at his impression. "Can you picture me say 'you're grounded'?"
He looked at her deadpanned. "You said that to me last week."
Oh yeah. That time when he'd just come home from the airport.
"How hard is it? No shoes on the furniture!" She shook her head, exasperated, both reliving the moment.
The conversation was getting off-track. She looked at him staring into the distance. "Anyway, that's not the point." She moved further closer to him, hugging his arm as she rested her chin on his shoulder. "The point is, Chandler, being a father, or a parent for that matter, is pretty much like everything else. You learn it as days go by, once you get the hang of it."
He turned to look at her, a slight smile playing on his lips, but suddenly a petulant expression took precedence on his face. "You know what, he's not gonna get Joey!"
She drew back to look at him. "What?"
"If I die, Ross is not gonna get Joey!" he repeated, making Monica laugh, as he emphasized the statement in a childish manner.
"Good. You know, you could actually give him Joey. That'd be a worse punishment." She stood up and held out a hand for him, which he accepted.
"No. That's the next part of the plan. First he needs to know what it feels like to be denied!"
"Oh, you and your plan." She giggled. "Anyway, you need to help me put the plates back before some other sister of Rachel decides to take out her anger on them."
She placed a hand on the doorknob but stopped abruptly and turned to look at him. "Chandler, you're going to be a wonderful father." He looked at the sincerity on his wife's face, his smile getting wider. He bent down to kiss her softly on the lips and then on her forehead, placing his hand over hers to turn the doorknob, before softly whispering in her ear.
"I know, as long as you're here with me."
~.~.~
The End
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