Hey guys...so it's been a little bit, huh? Sorry about that. I wish I could say I had a huge, groundbreaking update to make up for it, but I don't yet, so here's this instead. I'm not proud of it, but I wanted to get something out to you guys since I promised people on Instagram that something would be coming this week (actually, I think I said something would be coming last Monday or Tuesday, so here I am on Friday). I promise this story is going somewhere, but I didn't want to make huge time jumps so the result is a few filler chapters of fluff.

Like I said, I don't think I like this chapter at all, but hopefully it's not too disappointing? Let me know what you guys think, and I'll do my best not to take so long in between updates next time. This story WILL be finished, this I can promise you. I WILL NOT leave it incomplete, so don't worry about that, and hopefully what I have planned for the next few chapters makes all this filler worth it.

"Chandler! Chandler, wake up!"

Chandler groaned and tried to shrug off the incessant poking on his arm before realizing what, or who, was attempting to wake him and jerking up in bed.

"What?! What? What's wrong, are you okay?" he rushed out, quickly, checking his girlfriend over for any potential sign of distress.

"Chandler!" she interrupted. Before he could start up again, Monica grabbed his hand and placed it squarely over the bump on her stomach. He didn't feel anything for a moment, and was about to tell her as much, when he suddenly felt a small flutter against his palm.

"Is that…?" he gasped, bringing his other hand to rest on her belly as well. It was another moment before he felt it again, but when he did, he felt tears spring to his eyes.

"Yes," Monica breathed, her own eyes shining with tears. "That's the baby, Chandler. That's our baby."

"That's our baby," Chandler repeated, hypnotized by the sensation of tiny feet pressing against his hand. "That's…oh my god."

Monica brought her hands to his face to pull him into a kiss. He sat up so he could pull her into his lap and pulled her as close as physically possible, wanting to feel every inch of her. The baby had stopped kicking for the moment, so Chandler reluctantly moved his hands to Monica's back, bringing her as close as her bump would allow as they continued to kiss slowly.

It was the middle of the night, and they both were too tired for much more than this, but just being close to her was more than enough. She gently slid her hands down his cheeks to his shoulders and down his arms. He brought his hands to meet hers in the middle and she brought their joined hands to rest on her stomach again as their kissed tapered off and eventually stopped. She leaned her head on his shoulder so she could still look down, and Chandler rested his head on top of hers.

"Wow," she sighed.

"It gets realer every day doesn't it?" Chandler squeezed her hands and kissed her gently on the top of her head.

"You know we're halfway there?" she asked. "Four and a half months from now we're gonna get to meet this little guy. Do you think we're ready?"

"Now?" Chandler asked. "No. We don't have a crib, or a changing table. I still have no clue how to change a diaper, and we haven't even started talking about names. But four months from now?" he kissed her forehead, causing her to look up and meet his gaze. "Yeah, I think we'll be just fine."

Monica was quiet for a moment, and Chandler knew she was thinking, deciding how to phrase something.

"Chandler?" she hesitantly broke the silence.

"Hmmm?" he replied sleepily.

"Do you…" she took a deep breath. "Do you think I'll be a good mom?"

Chandler jerked his gaze to hers, but she continued to look down, avoiding his eyes. He brought a hand to her chin to tilt her head up, heart breaking at the genuine fear he saw in her eyes when he did so.

"Sweetheart, why would you even ask that?" he asked, genuinely confused. There was no one he knew who was better equipped to be a parent than her, and that included a lot of people who were actually parents.

"What if I do something wrong, or the baby hates me, or…or…" she trailed off, and Chandler knew what she was thinking, what she wanted to say. He gently pulled her head close to him again as she started to cry softly, tears soaking their way through his shirt. "What if I end up like my mother?" she finished, and Chandler held her tighter, not for the first time finding himself irrationally angry at Judy Geller. It was bad enough that she had made Monica—his sweet, beautiful Monica—grow up not realizing just how amazing she was, but now she had Monica doubting her own ability to love a child.

"Baby, you are not your mother, okay?" he soothed quietly, rocking her in his arms. "There is no one in the world who I would rather have as the mother of my baby. And not just because I love you, which I do, more than anything, but because there is no one in the world who I think is going to be a better mom than you. And I know I'm not the only one who thinks that." He kissed the top of her head. "You're a natural with kids, and you're so, so good of taking care of people. You take care of all of us every day. You wanna know why I'm not scared of having this baby? Because I know that you're not gonna let anything go wrong, because that's just who you are. You're gonna be the best mommy in the entire world because you want to be, and you're always the best at everything you do. And I'll be there, too, remember? I may not be model father material yet, but I'm sure between the two of us we'll be able to figure it all out, don't you think?"

She didn't respond, just continued to cry and Chandler let her, by now very used to these displays of emotion which had been so rare before her pregnancy. He took pride in knowing that he was the only one allowed to see her like this, that she was beginning to really let her guard down around him. It made him realize just how far they'd come in the past few months. She was nowhere near as reliant on him as he sometimes wanted her to be, and adamantly refused most of his help during the day, but during moments like these when it did all become too much, she just allowed him to hold her while she broke down. Chandler couldn't help but find her even stronger because of it.

Suddenly she grabbed his hand again and placed it over her belly and all her worries seemed to be forgotten as they felt the physical proof of their baby, kicking away against their joined hands.

"Looks like now that this little guy has figured out he knows how to kick, he's not gonna stop," Monica commented with a watery laugh.

"He? You think it's a boy?"

Monica shrugged, absently tracing patterns on the back of his hand with her thumb. "I don't know, maybe?" she responded, trying to seem causal, though Chandler knew she had probably spent a lot of time thinking about this. "Call it…mother's intuition or something."

Chandler smiled and kissed her forehead. "Well, I'm not going to argue with mother's intuition," he teased with an affectionate smile. "You would know him better than anyone, so if you say it's a boy, I'll believe you."

"I didn't say it was for sure!" she protested. "Just that…I don't know, I have a feeling or something. Watch it be a girl now, really drive home what crappy instincts I have for this. I don't even—"

"Mon," Chandler interrupted her, causing her to look up at him again. He smiled down at her fondly, completely overcome by the love he had for the woman in his arms. "I think it's a boy too."

Her answering smile was worth the entire world to him.

"Oh my god!" Rachel squealed for what seemed like the hundredth time in an hour. All three girls were sitting on Monica's couch—Phoebe and Rachel on either side of Monica—completely transfixed by the newfound movement of the baby.

"I know!" Monica beamed, looking over her shoulder at Chandler who was standing by the fridge, a water bottle in each hand. He shook his head at her fondly, trying to feign annoyance at their friends' enthusiasm, but both of them knew that he was more excited than Rachel and Phoebe combined, times ten. He wasn't even embarrassed.

"Oh Monica, I can feel it!" Phoebe added. "Ooh this is so exciting! I remember when the triplets started kicking. Pretty soon it's gonna be, like, nonstop and you'll never get a moment of peace and, oh, just wait until it gets big enough to actually stand on your bladder now there's a fun time and…" she trailed off, seeing Monica's shy smile as she caressed her stomach. "And you're probably gonna enjoy every second of it, aren't you?"

Chandler would never get tired of the happy smile on Monica's face whenever she thought about their baby. The rough patches—like her breakdown early that morning—were really few and far between, especially in comparison to the pure joy and excitement that she experienced daily, and Chandler felt it too. Every time he looked at her, and she looked happy, Chandler felt his love for his girlfriend and his baby multiply by a hundred.

Monica giggled—actually giggled—and Chandler almost melted on the spot. Unable to help himself any longer, he made his way to the couch with the bottles of water and lodged himself between Monica and Phoebe, before pulling his girlfriend onto his lap and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"He's still going," Chandler noticed with surprise. Now that they had felt it once, it seemed as though the kicking never stopped. "Is he supposed to be kicking that much already?"

"The hell if I know," Monica responded. "I'll call Doctor McKay later today or tomorrow just to check in, see what she says. He probably just likes the attention."

Chandler grinned and kissed the top of her shoulder, stroking gently over the bump.

"Gee, I wonder where he gets that from," he joked, protesting when Monica slapped his arm in retaliation.

"He?" Rachel cut in. "I thought you guys weren't going to find out."

Monica blushed lightly. "We didn't," she admitted. "I…well, I just kinda have a feeling that it's a boy, and Chandler is good at humoring me. So, I guess we're going with "he" until proven otherwise."

"I do think it's a boy!" Chandler added. "I don't know why, I just do!"

"Admit it, you didn't think that until I said something," Monica prodded. "It's okay, I appreciate you being so supportive."

"I'll have you know that I've thought it's a boy this entire time," he argued. Monica gave him a look. "Well, okay, maybe not the entire time, but it's not just because I'm agreeing with you!" he promised. "Honest."

"Okay, honey, whatever you say," she tapped the side of his face indulgently, and he stuck his tongue out at her like the mature adult he was. Fortunately for him, she responded in the same way so he felt slightly more like it was the appropriate reaction. Obviously.

"Well I think it's a girl," Phoebe cut in. "And you know I have a gift for this."

"Yeah, I agree with Phoebe," Rachel added. "I don't know why, I just can't imagine you guys having a boy first."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Monica asked, arms going protectively around her stomach (to protect from what, Chandler had no idea).

"It doesn't mean anything Mon," Rachel assured her. "Just whenever I picture you guys actually having this baby I always picture you having a girl."

"You don't trust my mother's intuition?"

"You don't trust my intuition?" Phoebe countered.

"No! You know what?" Chandler knew that Monica had that glint in her eye that she always got when she sensed a challenge.

"Baby—" he tried to cut her off.

"Fifty bucks says it's a boy," Monica threw down.

"You're on!" Phoebe replied before Chandler could get a word in to discourage the betting.

"I'll take that bet," Rachel agreed and Chandler threw his hands up.

"Why do I even bother?" he asked to no one.

"Good question," Monica answered, patting his leg as she stood up. Oh so now she chooses to listen.

"Hey, where are you going? What do you need?" he sprung up after her.

"Chandler, honey, relax," she instructed him. "I'm just going to the bathroom and we're still a few weeks away from me needing help in there."

"Are you sure?" he pressed. "Can I get you anything? Are you hungry? Do you need more water?"

"Chandler, I'm fine," she replied, a note of irritation creeping into her voice. "And even if I did need something, I'm five months pregnant, I'm not an invalid. I can still do things for myself."

"I know you can, but I want to help!"

"Oh, not this again," Phoebe spoke what he knew they were all thinking. Not this again.

"Chandler, I appreciate your help, I appreciate everything you do for me but what I really need right now is for you to let me go pee and drop this issue for now because I don't need anything."

"Yes dear," Chandler muttered under his breath, sinking back into the couch under the amused but slightly uncomfortable gazed of his two friends. "Not a word," he grumbled, and the two of them shared a look.

The apartment door banged open at the same moment as the toilet flushed, and Ross entered in the moment before Monica reappeared.

"Hey guys," he greeted, looking around the room. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Chandler responded at the same time Phoebe spoke up.

"They're doing it again," she informed him.

"Doing what?" Monica asked, taking her place back on Chandler's lap. "We're not doing anything."

"That fight again?" Ross clarified, completely ignoring that his sister has spoken.

"It's not a fight," Chandler argued. "It's just…two stubborn people being continuously stubborn."

"Sounds like a fight to me," Phoebe shrugged.

"We don't fight!" Monica snapped, deflating a bit when all three friends raised their eyebrows in disbelief. "We don't! We may not agree on everything all the time, and he may be a stubborn ass—"

"Oh I'm the stubborn ass," Chandler grumbled; Monica ignored him.

"But that doesn't mean that we fight all the time or anything," she continued. "I mean, we spend a lot more time not fighting that we do fighting."

"Yeah, but how much of that "not fighting" time is when you're having sex? Because that doesn't count," Phoebe countered.

Chandler rolled his eyes. This was exactly why they kept their relationship a secret for so long to begin with. The others just didn't get it. He loved Monica, and at the end of the day that was more important than any stupid argument or disagreement or, okay, fight they could ever have, wasn't it? He liked to think it was, that they could somehow defy all the forces working against them and just make it work. That Monica thought it was worth it enough to make it work, no matter what it took.

Monica didn't answer Phoebe's question, just grabbed Chandler's hand to place back over her stomach, seemingly a sign to their friends that everything was good between them. Chandler wasn't complaining, he would take any excuse under the sun to touch her.

The baby was still at the moment, but Chandler smiled at the memory of the soft flutter that he had already memorized, even though it had been fewer than twelve hours since he had felt it for the first time. Every day the reality hit him harder and harder: he was having a baby. He, Chandler Bing, was going to be a father. His girlfriend—his girlfriend Monica—was carrying a tiny human that he had helped create.

He really should be freaking out more than he was.

"Honey? Don't you need to go to work?" Monica interrupted his thoughts.

"I mean, I don't need to…" he trailed off, looking around the room. Chandler sighed. "Yeah, okay." He lifted Monica off his lap just enough to put her down next to him on the couch. "Have a good day," he kissed her lightly on the cheek. "And you," he turned his attention to the bump. "Don't do anything exciting until I get back, okay?"

"Just go," Monica rolled her eyes, but she smiled at him fondly, and Chandler smiled back.

"Bye," he said one last time before standing up and making his way to the door.

"Hey, wait up man, I'll walk down with you!" Ross called before Chandler could leave the apartment. He said his goodbye to the girls before joining Chandler in the kitchen, and the two men left together.

Before Chandler could try to make conversation as they started down the stairs, Ross spoke up.

"Is everything really okay with you guys?" he asked. Chandler sighed.

"I promise, Ross, everything is great. Like, really, really great."

"So have you talked any more about getting married then?"

Chandler gritted his teeth and took a breath to maintain his composure. It was far from the first time he or Monica had encountered that question from one of their friends, hell it probably wasn't even the first time that week, but it never failed to grate on his nerves just how nosey everyone could be, even after both he and Monica had—he thought—made their position clear.

"Ross," Chandler began.

"I know you guys keep saying you don't want to, but really, why not?" Ross pressed.

"We're just not ready for that yet, okay?"

"Dude, you've been going out almost a year!" Ross protested. "If you ask me, that's plenty of time."

"If I ask you, six weeks is plenty of time, apparently," Chandler retorted, not caring that the Emily debacle was still probably a sensitive topic. "Besides, we're not you. I know this is a little unconventional, but we really don't want to rush anything. I want to marry her because I love her, not because I got her pregnant, and that's what she wants too."

"But you do love her," Ross reminded him. "And she loves you. And you already said you wanted to marry her, so seriously, what are you waiting for?"

"I…I don't even know," Chandler admitted. "I'm just waiting for her to say that it's okay, I guess. In case you hadn't noticed, Monica kinda calls the shots here."

"What about like…moving in together, or something?" Ross suggested. "Wouldn't that make sense anyways for when the baby comes?"

"I…guess…" Chandler contemplated the idea slowly. They had never really talked about anything like that; for some reason his brain usually seemed to jump straight from where they are now to marriage, without considering the middle ground. But Monica had never brought it up either, and Chandler was almost certain she must have thought of it. Monica thought of everything. And if she had thought of it, but didn't bring it up to him, Chandler could only believe that she didn't want to take that step yet either. Maybe he could find a way to sneak it into conversation, or…

"Dude," Ross interrupted his thoughts. "It was just an idea, you don't need to freak out."

"I'm not freaking out," Chandler argued. "I'm just…thinking. I don't know. I really don't know what's going on with us Ross."

"Just talk to Monica about it," Ross responded, hailing a cab when they reached the street. "Seriously, you guys have been together long enough, you can't just stay in this no man's land forever." Chandler slumped his shoulders; he knew Ross was right. "Think about it," he instructed, ducking into the taxi that pulled up with a wave before driving off, leaving Chandler to walk to the subway by himself.

He wanted to marry Monica. He wanted to live with Monica. He possibly wanted to have more kids with Monica (and where did that come from?). Chandler had never been so sure of something as he was of his love and commitment to her.

He just wished he could be sure that she felt the same.

That was the holdup, wasn't it? If she didn't want to get married, they weren't going to get married. If she didn't want to move in together, then they wouldn't do that either. If they were going to move forward, it had to be in a way they were both comfortable with.

Maybe they were due for another conversation about where they stood. So much of their time and energy and talking lately had been directed towards the baby and the pregnancy, that they hadn't just been a couple in weeks. And they hadn't talked about being a couple in months.

It was definitely time to change that.

Chandler resolved to take her out somewhere, to take her on a date like they hadn't been on since before all this started. It would be good to spend some real time together, and maybe it would give him a better idea of where exactly she stood on moving forward in their relationship. Maybe she would bring it up herself and Chandler would be off the hook. At the very least, though, he would be with Monica, and at the end of the day that was all he ever wanted.

Reviews motivate me to write faster, so please let me know what you think! (Predictions are also welcome, because while I've known since the beginning where I wanted to go, I'm very curious what you guys think I'm planning...I promise I won't spoil anything, I'm just personally curious haha)

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