"I'm pregnant."
"What? Excuse me, I don't think I heard you right. Did you just say you're pregnant?"
Sometimes things turned out the way you planned them and sometimes they didn't. Monica was looking "didn't" right in the face.
"Well, Joe, apparently there's nothing wrong with your hearing."
Monica was not quite sure when her life started to stray away from the plan she had set out to accomplish so many years ago. At one point she had thought that Joe was part of that plan, but the longer they stayed together the more she realized that he was not. It had only took one date for Monica to start thinking about all the things the future held for them. He had made her laugh, she enjoyed listening to him, he seemed to enjoy her stories, and most importantly she felt really comfortable with him. It took two years before she realized that comfortable and happy were not the same thing.
"I guess I just don't understand how this could have happened, I mean, you are on the pill, aren't you?"
"Yes, Joe, I am on the pill, but nothing is 100 percent. I'm glad to see you trust me, though."
At this point she was just so tired of all of it. As long as she could remember the only thing she wanted in life was a family. That meant a husband who loved her and children. She hated a lot of the things Joe did. She hated when he left for work without saying goodbye, she hated when he came home late without calling, she hated when he made plans for the two of them without checking with her first, but most of all she hated that he was making her wish she weren't pregnant.
"Well...what are we going to do about it?"
"Well, I don't know about you, but I am going to have this baby. Whatever role you play in this pregnancy and the life of this child is up to you. I do not want you to do anything you don't want to. As much as I want my child to have a father, you have got to want to be a father, and from the look on your face I can see that you don't."
"Monica, please don't do this to me..."
"Excuse me, what exactly am I doing to you?"
"Just listen to me for a second will you? Goddamn it Monica! We have talked about children before. You say you want them and I tell you that I am not ready. Right now I need to focus on my career. Do you even listen to me when I talk to you?"
"Yes, Joe, I listen to you, but it is quite obvious that you have not been listening to me. This is not something I planned. As much as I want a child I would never choose to bring a child into a home where it wouldn't be the most important thing."
"Okay, that's fine. But the fact is that you are pregnant and I don't need you to lay this guilt trip on me to try and make me happy about this."
"I am not trying to lay anything on you. I have meant everything I said. Whether or not you believe it I am perfectly capable of raising this child on my own. I've been taking care of you for the past two years, haven't I?"
Joe and Monica met during their senior year of college. He was a sucker for good food and the risks that he was willing to take by becoming an actor amazed and excited Monica who had always avoided risks. Monica had always assumed that she would meet her husband while she was in college. That was what people did, it was what her parents did, it was what her brother did, and it was what she would do. When Monica was still single her senior year she started to get worried, if she didn't meet her husband in college she thought that she would stay single for the rest of her life. She knew it was a ridiculous thought but she couldn't shake it, even now it was that fear that she would never meet anyone else that kept her with Joe when she knew that their relationship was going no where. So a mutual friend set them up and after a few good dates the wedding bells started to ring in Monica's head. They were still engaged when he started cheating on her. At first she was outraged when she realized what was going on, but then she talked to her friend Rachel who was going through the same thing. Rachel told her that that was what guys did before they got married, they were just sowing their oats or something like that. Monica didn't really buy it, but she needed to get married, and she didn't have any other options.
"Okay, fine. If that's the way you're going to be, then go right ahead. I'm not listening to anymore of this bullshit, Monica. I am sick and tired of you treating me like I'm some goddamn five-year-old. No one made you marry me, so you can just stop blaming me for everything that is wrong in your life. I'm not perfect, Monica, believe me, I know that, but neither are you. You act like life is just something that happened to you, that this mess that we call a marriage is not your fault, well I hate to break it to you, but you are just as much to blame as I am."
"I never said that I was innocent in all of this. I know that I have made mistakes along the way, but maybe if you could just keep your pants on I could have avoided my biggest mistake, which was putting up with all of your infidelities."
"You have got to be kidding me."
"Excuse me? Are you telling me that I don't have a right to bring this up, because you better believe I do. The first rule of sex: don't do it unless you are willing to take responsibility for the consequences."
"I thought the first rule of sex was to get it as often as you can."
"You know what, Joe? Fuck you. I am so sick of you and all of this. I don't understand how you can get mad at me and tell me I treat you like a child when the maximum mental age you ever approach is sixteen. And as far as the consequences of your college boy antics are concerned you got lucky, you got your wife pregnant, although maybe it's not lucky since I am probably the only one you sleep with who would actually keep the baby."
"Jesus Christ, when did my life come to this?"
"I don't know, Joe, I have not idea when YOUR life came to this, if I did WE wouldn't be here. But like it or not we are here and we have to deal with it."
"I don't know Monica, I don't know what to do. Why don't you just figure it out and tell me what you decided so I can figure something out."
"I don't believe this Joe, I really don't. You've given me a lot of shit since we've been together but I just always thought that you were one to stand up and take responsibility for yourself. It was the one thing I could count on. Now, I just don't know...I don't...I can't do this anymore...I...I'll see you later, Joe."
The tears were streaming out of Monica's eyes as she ran out of the apartment straight into the arms of another man. Of course, she hadn't seen Chandler, but she turned the corner and there he was.
Chandler was just stopping by to hang out with his former roommate and his wife and as he neared the apartment he heard a door slam and a woman crying; he turned the corner and there was Monica.
'Great,' he thought, 'what has he done now?'
"What? Excuse me, I don't think I heard you right. Did you just say you're pregnant?"
Sometimes things turned out the way you planned them and sometimes they didn't. Monica was looking "didn't" right in the face.
"Well, Joe, apparently there's nothing wrong with your hearing."
Monica was not quite sure when her life started to stray away from the plan she had set out to accomplish so many years ago. At one point she had thought that Joe was part of that plan, but the longer they stayed together the more she realized that he was not. It had only took one date for Monica to start thinking about all the things the future held for them. He had made her laugh, she enjoyed listening to him, he seemed to enjoy her stories, and most importantly she felt really comfortable with him. It took two years before she realized that comfortable and happy were not the same thing.
"I guess I just don't understand how this could have happened, I mean, you are on the pill, aren't you?"
"Yes, Joe, I am on the pill, but nothing is 100 percent. I'm glad to see you trust me, though."
At this point she was just so tired of all of it. As long as she could remember the only thing she wanted in life was a family. That meant a husband who loved her and children. She hated a lot of the things Joe did. She hated when he left for work without saying goodbye, she hated when he came home late without calling, she hated when he made plans for the two of them without checking with her first, but most of all she hated that he was making her wish she weren't pregnant.
"Well...what are we going to do about it?"
"Well, I don't know about you, but I am going to have this baby. Whatever role you play in this pregnancy and the life of this child is up to you. I do not want you to do anything you don't want to. As much as I want my child to have a father, you have got to want to be a father, and from the look on your face I can see that you don't."
"Monica, please don't do this to me..."
"Excuse me, what exactly am I doing to you?"
"Just listen to me for a second will you? Goddamn it Monica! We have talked about children before. You say you want them and I tell you that I am not ready. Right now I need to focus on my career. Do you even listen to me when I talk to you?"
"Yes, Joe, I listen to you, but it is quite obvious that you have not been listening to me. This is not something I planned. As much as I want a child I would never choose to bring a child into a home where it wouldn't be the most important thing."
"Okay, that's fine. But the fact is that you are pregnant and I don't need you to lay this guilt trip on me to try and make me happy about this."
"I am not trying to lay anything on you. I have meant everything I said. Whether or not you believe it I am perfectly capable of raising this child on my own. I've been taking care of you for the past two years, haven't I?"
Joe and Monica met during their senior year of college. He was a sucker for good food and the risks that he was willing to take by becoming an actor amazed and excited Monica who had always avoided risks. Monica had always assumed that she would meet her husband while she was in college. That was what people did, it was what her parents did, it was what her brother did, and it was what she would do. When Monica was still single her senior year she started to get worried, if she didn't meet her husband in college she thought that she would stay single for the rest of her life. She knew it was a ridiculous thought but she couldn't shake it, even now it was that fear that she would never meet anyone else that kept her with Joe when she knew that their relationship was going no where. So a mutual friend set them up and after a few good dates the wedding bells started to ring in Monica's head. They were still engaged when he started cheating on her. At first she was outraged when she realized what was going on, but then she talked to her friend Rachel who was going through the same thing. Rachel told her that that was what guys did before they got married, they were just sowing their oats or something like that. Monica didn't really buy it, but she needed to get married, and she didn't have any other options.
"Okay, fine. If that's the way you're going to be, then go right ahead. I'm not listening to anymore of this bullshit, Monica. I am sick and tired of you treating me like I'm some goddamn five-year-old. No one made you marry me, so you can just stop blaming me for everything that is wrong in your life. I'm not perfect, Monica, believe me, I know that, but neither are you. You act like life is just something that happened to you, that this mess that we call a marriage is not your fault, well I hate to break it to you, but you are just as much to blame as I am."
"I never said that I was innocent in all of this. I know that I have made mistakes along the way, but maybe if you could just keep your pants on I could have avoided my biggest mistake, which was putting up with all of your infidelities."
"You have got to be kidding me."
"Excuse me? Are you telling me that I don't have a right to bring this up, because you better believe I do. The first rule of sex: don't do it unless you are willing to take responsibility for the consequences."
"I thought the first rule of sex was to get it as often as you can."
"You know what, Joe? Fuck you. I am so sick of you and all of this. I don't understand how you can get mad at me and tell me I treat you like a child when the maximum mental age you ever approach is sixteen. And as far as the consequences of your college boy antics are concerned you got lucky, you got your wife pregnant, although maybe it's not lucky since I am probably the only one you sleep with who would actually keep the baby."
"Jesus Christ, when did my life come to this?"
"I don't know, Joe, I have not idea when YOUR life came to this, if I did WE wouldn't be here. But like it or not we are here and we have to deal with it."
"I don't know Monica, I don't know what to do. Why don't you just figure it out and tell me what you decided so I can figure something out."
"I don't believe this Joe, I really don't. You've given me a lot of shit since we've been together but I just always thought that you were one to stand up and take responsibility for yourself. It was the one thing I could count on. Now, I just don't know...I don't...I can't do this anymore...I...I'll see you later, Joe."
The tears were streaming out of Monica's eyes as she ran out of the apartment straight into the arms of another man. Of course, she hadn't seen Chandler, but she turned the corner and there he was.
Chandler was just stopping by to hang out with his former roommate and his wife and as he neared the apartment he heard a door slam and a woman crying; he turned the corner and there was Monica.
'Great,' he thought, 'what has he done now?'