Butterfly Kisses

Chapter 8~ Little Things in Life

"Turn left here." *Jamie turns left and a few seconds later the backseat goes silent* "Um, why did you turn left back there?" *Katie bursts out laughing* (deadpan) "Because Katie told me to." *Katie continues to laugh hysterically* "Since when do you listen to Katie?" *we come out in the exact same place that we were five minutes earlier* "Well not since now…" LOL, I just love my friends and how nice they are to me. And while we're laughing at me, I got ran over today. On the stairs. This girl came running up the stairs and ran straight into me and we both fell over and I grabbed for my friend and she wasn't paying attention and was like "What are you doing?" LOL, it was hilarious. Cause, you know, people fall, everyone else stops to stare and laugh…And while we're talking about laughing at people still, you gotta love the people who forget their locker combination over spring break and stand there, banging their head against the lockers going "16-something-43…16-something-43" as if that will somehow cancel out the middle number and magically open it.

But anyway, you know how you get to a point in a fic and you're like, omg, what have I gotten myself into and how am I ever gonna get myself out of it? And then there's that moment where it all finally falls into place and you wanna jump up and do Chandler's happy dance screaming "Jamie rules all! Jamie rules all!" Not that I actually do Chandler's happy dance. Or sing the Jamie-Rules-All song. Not that there even is a song. But speaking of Chandler's happy dance, I miss that. He hasn't done that on the show for a long time…they need to have something good happen so he can do his happy dance. Like have Monica be pregnant. So that they can have a baby before the show ends. And they need to get Ross and Rachel back together before the show ends. Yes, guilty, I used to be a die-hard RnR fan (ever noticed that I tend to have them be together in my fics…)…but then they had Chandler and Monica get together and I just like them together so much more…and I think it's hilarious when Ross and Rachel hate each other and fight constantly. But I'll shut up about my opinions on…everything.

Oh, and see all that rambling up there? That can be blamed on Becca and Llew. You guys do realize that admitting out loud that you actually enjoy my rambling only encourages me, right? ;)

Chandler sat, stunned to silence. He wanted to sing and scream at the top of his lungs and jump up on that stupid receptionist counter in the waiting room and do his happy dance in front of everyone. That was the one word that he had been waiting to hear. One word, that after the past three months, he had doubted that he would actually hear.

Remission.

The cancer had gone into remission.

He'd been dreading this appointment for the week that he'd been home, knowing that all they'd tell him was that the second round of chemo didn't work and what they'd be doing next…

Chandler grinned, shaking Dr. Grace's hand as he said he'd see him in three months for tests…He wasn't really listening, though. It was that feeling of being extremely happy, ecstatic, floating on air.

Life was good again. He was okay. It was all going to be okay. He had no reason to give up. It was all going to be okay. The future that he thought was slowly moving out of his grasp was now completely palpable once again.

~*~

Chandler walked up behind Monica, who was cooking something on the stove and had obviously not heard him come in. He leaned down and kissed her neck, grinning when she turned to face him. He kissed her again on the lips, looking down as he placed his hands on her stomach.

When he looked back up, their eyes locked, and he once again grinned. Monica smiled back; she didn't even have to ask how his appointment went. It had scared her to death that he had wanted to give up, that he said he couldn't do it anymore. But now he wouldn't have to. They wouldn't have to.

Monica smiled against his lips as he kissed her again.

It was really going to be okay.

~*~

"No! I need my pink sandals!" Kayley squirmed away from Chandler.

"I don't know where your pink sandals are, baby," he sighed. It was her first day of preschool. She was going in the afternoons this year and both Monica and Chandler were going to take her, so Chandler was finishing getting her ready, waiting for Monica to get home from work.

"But I hafta wear my pink sandals," she repeated as Monica walked in the front door.

"Pink sandals?" Chandler asked, looking up at her.

"Let's go find them, Kayley," she held her hand out to her, smiling at Chandler and hitting the back of his hat as they walked by.

Chandler smiled. He was learning to love, to appreciate, the little things. He felt like before, he'd taken everything, everyone, for granted. But now he wanted to cherish all of it. Kayley's laugh, her nightly request for butterfly kisses before bed. The way Monica kissed, the smile she gave to him and him alone. How excited Joey had been after his first day filming his movie, the way he'd described it the way a little kid would describe their first day of school. The way Phoebe had of always making anyone smile. How the promise he and Ross had made at the age of 20 to remain friends forever was still going strong. The fact that Rachel had returned every single gift she had ever received, but how the word return hadn't even crossed her mind when the only thing under the tree one year had been an engagement ring, and when she asked where all the presents were, he got down on one knee underneath all the Christmas lights, and she cried…Kayley's "I love you, Daddy"…The look in Monica's eyes when she said "I love you."

"Found 'em!" Kayley came running back into the room.

"Where were they?"

"Under my bed," she grinned, and Chandler smiled back. It was the little things. And that's what he was going to enjoy from now on. The little things.

~*~

"Okay, um, before I start carving the turkey, I would just like to say that I have not actually eaten Thanksgiving food in," he paused, thinking, "28 years, I believe. But I figure I'd might as well give in to this stupid holiday eventually and be thankful and eat turkey and stuff," he rolled his eyes, getting an assortment of "Thank God" and "It's about time"'s from all of his friends.

"So no more depressing stories about how your parents got divorced on Thanksgiving anymore?" Phoebe asked, and everyone else laughed.

"No," he smiled back. "Or not every year at least," he winked at her.

Chandler had gone back to the doctor the week before and his tests were still clear, so he felt the need to actually be thankful on Thanksgiving. So that's what he was doing.

"Okay, so who wants dark meat and who wants light meat…"

~*~

"Chandler," Monica said. "Chandler," she repeated, shaking his shoulder.

"Hmm," he mumbled, still asleep.

"Chandler, wake up."

"What, why?" he mumbled again.

"Because your babies have a thing with making late-night entrances," she replied, and he finally rolled over, looking up at her,

"What?"

"The baby's coming now."

"N-now?" he sat up. "Then what are you doing still just sitting there? We need to get you bag and call your parents and call my parents and call Ross and Rachel and get Kayley up and drop her off at their house and go to the hospital," he rambled, getting out of bed and pulling on the pair of jeans he'd worn the day before, grabbing his glasses off of the dresser.

Monica laughed, watching him. In the past few months everything had gone back to normal, and she thanked god everyday for that.

"What?"

"You remember this taking 13 hours with Kayley, right? So we probably don't have to be in that big of a hurry…"

"Well didn't you hear all of those things we have to do?" he walked back over to the bed, holding his hand out to help her up. "And doesn't it usually take longer with the first kid?" he asked, and Monica raised her eyebrows, impressed. "Yep, I know some stuff," he grinned at her.

"Great, that helps me a lot. Now go get Kayley," she stopped suddenly, squeezing his hand as another contraction hit.

"Wait, I can wait," he stopped, placing a hand on her back.

Monica shook her head. "Go get Kayley, I'm fine."

"You sure?" Monica nodded. "Okay, I'll be right back," he kissed her forehead before going down the hall into Kayley's room. He found a backpack and packed a change of clothes for her to put on in the morning before going to get her up. He leaned down to pick her up, not really wanting to wake her.

Kayley opened her eyes anyway, squinting up at him. "Is it morning?"

"No, it's not, baby," he whispered.

"Then where are we going?"

"Mommy's going to have the baby, so we're going to the hospital, and we're going to drop you off at Uncle Ross and Aunt Rachel's on the way, and then you can come in the morning," he explained as he put her coat on over her pajamas.

"Kay," she yawned, leaning her head back against his chest as he walked down the stairs.

"Are we ready to go?" he asked Monica, who was sitting in one of the kitchen chairs, and she nodded. "Okay, then let's go," he once again helped her up. "Wait, where's my keys?" Monica held out his keys. "Right," he smiled, taking them from her as they went out to the car. He put Kayley in her car seat and helped Monica get in before running over to the driver's side and getting in. "Did you call Ross and Rachel yet?" he asked as he started the car, and she shook her head, so he took out his cell phone.

"I can do that, though," she said, so he handed her the phone. "And don't you want a coat?" she laughed, motioning to the t-shirt he was wearing. "It is kind of snowing out…"

"Crap," he looked down. "I'll be right back," he got out, running inside to get his coat.

~*~

Chandler watched Monica, eyes closed in exhaustion and pain, as he traced small circled on her hand with his thumb.

"I'll be right back, babe. I'm gonna go to the bathroom," he moved to stand up, but Monica looked up, holding onto his hand tightly.

"Wait, don't leave me."

"Mon, I really have to pee," he smiled at her.

"Just wait a few minutes, after the next one…please?"

Chandler smiled, sitting back down on the edge of her bed, brushing a few strands of sweat-soaked hair off of her forehead. "I'll wait."

They both looked up as the doctor walked into the room.

"How much longer?" Monica asked, thinking that it hadn't seemed to be this bad with Kayley.

The doctor pause before answering. "Well, you haven't made much progress at all in the past couple of hours, and the baby's blood pressure is starting to fall, It's still high enough and everything's okay right now, though," she added as she quickly recognized the look of panic on both of their faces. "We can give it a little more time, but if you still don't progress any, or if the baby's blood pressure gets too low we'll need to do a c-section."

"How much longer do we wait?" Monica asked.

"That depends. We don't want the baby's blood pressure to get too low, so if we wait too long, we're risking it," she paused. "We can schedule a c-section in half an hour, as long as nothing happens before then," she paused again. "Does that sound alright?"

Monica looked up at Chandler before nodding.

"Okay," she smiled back at them. "I'll be right back."

~*~

"It's okay, it'll all be over in a few minutes," Chandler whispered softly as he kissed Monica's forehead, and she squeezed his hand in response.

"I can't see what's happening," she looked at him.

"Trust me, Mon, you don't want to," he made a face at all of the blood and stuff before looking back to Monica, staring into her eyes, mouthing "I love you."

"Mom and Dad, it's a girl," the doctor said, and a few seconds later, the sound of crying filled the room.

"She's beautiful, Mon," Chandler said, leaning down to kiss her. "God, she's beautiful."

They both watched in awe as they cleaned her off, wrapping her in a blanket before handing her to Chandler, who then walked over to Monica.

Monica wordlessly took the baby, still screaming and crying, from Chandler. "Welcome to the world, little one," she whispered, and Chandler wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"Felicia," he finally said.

"What?"

"The name Felicia means happiness," he said, looking down at her. "And after the past six, seven months, that's definitely what I'm feeling now," he smiled at her.

"Felicia," Monica repeated. "I like that."

"I love you so much," Chandler grinned.

"I love you, too."

"And I seriously have to pee so bad still," he said, and Monica laughed slightly. "I'm going to go tell everyone that everything's okay and that it's a girl, and then I'm gonna go pee."

Monica smiled at him, shaking her head. "Okay."

"Okay," he repeated, staring back at her. "I'd tell you that you're amazing, but you're pretty self-assured, so you probably already know that."

Monica laughed again, "Get out of here already."

Chandler grinned. "I love you," he kissed her. "And I love you, too," he kissed the baby as well before turning to go. "I'll be back in, like, five minutes," he smiled at her, turning to leave. "Oh, and, by the way, you are amazing," he added with a grin before walking out the door.

To

Be

Continued…

And now you're all like where the hell are you going with this…but I know…just trust me…and review…and word to the double r's…lol, I love misunderstandings that turn into inside jokes…