Chandler started jogging down the sidewalk, dodging people left and right, glancing up now and then at the clouds that looked ready to burst at any moment.
He'd been held up at a meeting at work, which is why he was running late to this most critical of doctor's appointments. He stopped jogging and sighed heavily at the throng of pedestrians now blocking most of the sidewalk, masses of people as always cramming the city's streets. He'd almost hailed a cab when he left his building, but decided he could go the 10 blocks or so faster on foot. He was currently bitterly regretting that decision.
As he fell into step with the pack, he couldn't help but smile. Four months. Monica was four months pregnant. Ever since the morning sickness had subsided a few weeks ago, she'd told him she felt better than ever. Oh, she was a little more tired in the evenings, she'd said, but so energized every morning that she could handle a little weariness.
Chandler's smile turned into a soft grin as he crossed the street. She was starting to show. It was just a bump, but it was clearly noticeable. Sometimes he caught himself just staring at her when she made breakfast in the mornings, still somewhat in shock that a little part of him was growing inside of her. He, of course, wasn't the only one. The initial shock their friends - and her brother - felt at the news was pretty intense...
"What?!" Ross demanded, swiftly standing up from his chair at the kitchen table when Monica had told them the news.
Rachel stood too, grabbing onto Ross's arm so he wouldn't move toward Chandler, who had suddenly gotten very pale as he stood gripping the back of the couch.
"Ross!" Monica said, more exasperated than angry.
Chandler held his breath a moment, then nodded and Ross jerked his arm away from Rachel. Joey jumped up then, also to stop Ross, as Chandler put his hands up and began to try to explain.
"Listen..." he started, then Phoebe interrupted him.
"Ross!" she said firmly, arms crossed as she took a step into his short path. "Stop acting like an ass and sit down."
"But…" Ross protested.
"Sit!" she pointed back to his chair. And miraculously he did after a brief glance at his sister with a scowl on his face.
Rachel and Joey sat again. Suddenly four sets of eyes were flicking back and forth between Monica and Chandler, waiting for an explanation. Monica took a deep breath.
"Look," she started, not really looking at anyone in particular as she started to explain. "I know I impulsively decided I wanted to have a baby on my own after Richard and I broke up a couple years ago, but I didn't. I was...I was just trying to fill the void he left, I guess, back then."
She paused as she looked into the concerned faces of her friends, then glanced at Chandler, who finally had color back in his face.
"Anyway, this isn't...this decision wasn't like that," she said, speaking from the heart. "I'm not trying to fill a void, at least not a 'boyfriend' void."
She looked down at Ross, who had calmed a bit by this point.
"I want to be a Mom," she said simply, tears springing to her eyes. "I want what you and Ben have. I want what Alice and Frank have with the triplets. I...I want a baby of my own."
"Mon…" Ross started, but she shushed him.
"I'm going to have a baby of my own," she said, more firmly this time, putting her hand over her stomach, "and I hope as my brother, as my friends, you'll support me."
Rachel and Phoebe smiled and nodded when she looked at them. Joey had a goofy grin on his face and glanced at Ross, who sighed and dropped his head. No one said a word for a moment, silent looks passing around the group. Then Ross reached up for his sister and pulled her to him, kissing the back of her hand.
"Of course I will," he said, with a small smile. Then he sobered again and looked over at Chandler. "But, I gotta know, how did you get involved in this?"
"Yeah," Joey said. "Your baby? How is she havin' your baby, dude?!"
All eyes turned to Chandler as he sucked in his bottom lip and looked at Monica. She gave him a nod and a grin, giving him the signal to speak as freely as he wanted.
"Yes," he said quietly. Phoebe smiled as Rachel gasped.
"Yes, the baby...the...ah...sperm that made the baby did, um, come from me," he began to clarify as he saw Ross's ears begin to turn crimson again. Then he started to ramble."I'm just the sperm donor. I mean, there was no sex involved or anything like that. It was kinda, actually, really, ah...clinical, to be honest…"
Chandler trailed off.
"So...what?" Phoebe asked. "I mean, how did it happen? How did you end up being her baby daddy?"
Ross moaned as Chandler glared at Phoebe, who winked at him. Chandler shot an imploring look to Monica, who gratefully took over the story.
"He, um, he found out that I was looking at sperm donor applications," she said.
"Oh," Rachel said, beginning to connect the dots. "You saw the donor sheets, too?"
Chandler just nodded.
"He, well, he knew I was seriously thinking about it and, honestly, the only thing holding me back was making sure I picked the right donor, ya know?" Monica continued, beginning to ramble herself, so Chandler jumped back in.
"I just...I thought she should at least know the guy whose baby she was going to have," Chandler said quickly. "So, I...I offered to be the donor."
"Oh my God," Rachel said, looking back and forth between them with tears in her eyes.
"So, what does this mean, then?" Ross added, not quite angry anymore but curious. "This is your responsibility, now, too, ya know," he said, pointing at Chandler.
"No, it's not," Monica said. "I'm going to raise the baby on my own."
"But…" Ross protested again.
"No, look, Ross," she said, pleading with him. "Chandler and I, we met with a lawyer, drew up papers..."
"You did?" he said, blinking back in shock.
"Yes," Chandler said, taking a step toward Ross, then he saw his glare and pivoted to Monica. "I donated sperm at the sperm bank for her after we talked to the lawyer. I won't have any legal rights to the baby. There is no shared custody agreement…"
He glanced at Monica.
"We worked everything out," she continued. "The baby is my responsibility, but he or she will know that Chandler is the father."
"Yeah, we...we both wanted that," he said quietly. "I mean, I'm still gonna be in the kid's life anyway and he, she, whoever, should know where they come from."
"Whomever," Ross corrected, after a quiet moment had passed.
"Really, Ross?!" Rachel said. Ross gave her a little smile, breaking the tension in the room.
"Well, come here," Phoebe said, starting the group hug that formed around them. "Congratulations, Monica!"
"Oh, you're gonna be a great Mom," Rachel said and Monica beamed, finally relaxing into the moment.
"Congrats to you, too, Sperm Donor Dad," Phoebe said. Chandler chuckled.
"Thanks, Pheebs," he said, relieved. "I'll take it. After all, this could be the only way I'll ever be able to procreate."
Monica rolled her watery eyes and elbowed him in the ribs as the group hug broke up.
"But you didn't even have sex," Joey said, shaking his head in disbelief. "You can't even knock someone up right!"
Ross and Chandler both shot him a glare as Rachel and Phoebe snickered.
"Oh, he offered," Monica said, a tease in her voice.
"Oh my God, Mon, shhh!" Chandler said, his head swiveling from her to her brother in a panic.
"I was just kidding," he said quickly, with a nervous grin.
"I know," she giggled as Ross came over to give her a hug, just a touch of apprehension in his eyes.
"Then, I guess, congratulations, Sis," he whispered into her hair and she squeezed him tight. He looked down at her and added sincerely. "Your baby has no idea how lucky it is that you are going to be his or her Mom."
Monica's still-teary eyes overflowed.
"Thank you, Ross," she whispered, as he pulled her to him again. Chandler was grinning at them both and Ross grinned back.
"Oh," Rachel said, smiling at Chandler then her roommate. "Your baby is going to be so beautiful."
Chandler swallowed hard and glanced at Monica.
"Only if it takes after Mon," Chandler said softly, and Monica beamed at him as she shook her head…
Chandler was a block away from the doctor's office building when the skies opened up. He trudged up the one flight of stairs shaking the rain from his coat. He explained to the receptionist who he was and learned Monica had already been taken back to the examination room and was expecting him.
"Where have you been?" she asked as he came into the room, hung up his coat and slicked his wet hair back.
"Sorry," he said, coming to stand next to her
"Raining?" she asked, with a smirk.
"No. Swam the Hudson," he deadpanned and she glared at him.
"Has Dr. Connolly been in yet?" he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets as he came to stand next to her shoulders as she lay down on the table.
"No," she said. "The tech said she'd be back any minute. The ultrasound machine was out of paper."
"Ah…" he said, beginning to nervously bounce on the balls of his feet.
"I think she might be new," she said, her eyes widening at him.
"Grrrreat," he said sarcastically, as he rolled his eyes. The door opened.
"Here we go," the tech said as he put the photo paper into the machine and pushed back Monica's paper gown, nodding in acknowledgment that Chandler had joined them. "Ohhh...this is my favorite part! Are you both ready to find out your baby's gender?"
Chandler swallowed hard as Monica nodded excitedly. The wand went over her belly, then suddenly the swoosh of the ultrasound machine was overwhelmed by rapid heartbeats.
"Oh my God," Monica whispered, subconsciously reaching for Chandler's hand. He took her hand in his and listened as the heart beats seemed to double in rapid succession. He looked at the tech, who had a small frown on her face.
"That's...fast," he said, the awe of the moment replaced by worry as his own heartbeat pounded in his ears. "Or, is that an echo?"
"Is that normal?" Monica asked quickly, now squeezing Chandler's hand painfully. "Is everything OK?"
"Um," the tech said, shutting off the sound of the machine. "Yes. I...I'll be right back."
Chandler watched her leave the room, then looked down at a terrified Monica.
"It'll be OK, Mon," he said, trying to reassure her, himself, as he smoothed her hair away from her face.
"What was that?" she asked, not really expecting him to answer. "The last ultrasound didn't sound like that. The heartbeat was fast, but…"
She chewed on her thumbnail. Something was wrong, she just knew it. She stared at Chandler's long fingers, wrapped tightly around her hand as he looked pensively once again toward the door. Monica closed her eyes, hanging on to him for dear life and thanking God he was there with her. She'd done everything she was supposed to do. She'd felt great. But, if something was wrong with the baby…
"Hello Monica," Dr. Connolly said as he came in, with the tech following behind. "And, it's Chandler, correct?"
"Yeah," Chandler croaked out, then cleared his throat. "Yes."
"Is everything OK?" Monica asked, her anxiety about to overwhelm her.
"Oh, I think so," he said, giving her a reassuring smile. "Let's take a look though, shall we?"
For a frozen minute they all sat and waited in near silence as the doctor pushed the wand around her stomach. Then he smiled and turned up the volume on the ultrasound machine. Again, there were rapid heartbeats beating in succession.
Chandler furrowed his brow, still gripping Monica's hand.
"Doctor?" she asked, unable to wait for an answer any longer.
"What you hear are two heartbeats," he said, looking from Monica to Chandler and back again as Monica gasped. "What we have here are two babies."
Monica just stared at the doctor, dumbfounded. Chandler was sure he hadn't heard him correctly.
"I'm sorry," he asked, frowning. "What did you say?"
"Two babies," he repeated. "Developing right now are two healthy baby girls. You, Monica, are going to have twins."
NOTE: So, I hate writing flashbacks like this two updates in a row, but I wanted to speed time up a little bit. This story has already gone on for the gestation period of an elephant as it is. LOL!
I have no idea when the next update is going to come. But, on the plus side, a few later chapters are already close to completion or have been finished for quite some time. So, the sooner I get to those, the better. Thanks so much for sticking with this one. And, as Mon would say, it "just got interesting!" :)
