Living in Sin - Mon POV

The fire is crackling before us while we cuddle together on our living-room floor. Candles are lit around the apartment, giving off an apple cider and warm vanilla scent. His arm is placed protectively around my body as my head rest on his shoulder.

"You made such a romantic fire." I joke, looking back at the Yule Log on the television.

Chandler rubs my shoulder with his thumb but doesn't comment. He doesn't need to.

"There is just one problem with it." I admit

"What's that, baby?" He asks softly, continuing his motions.

"I'm freezing, baby."

It's then that Chandler turns his attention from the television to me and stands us up. Rubbing my arms to create friction, he asks "Is that better? Are you a little bit warmer?"

"Yeah..."

He wraps his arms inside of my jacket and around my waist before leaning down to kiss my neck. "What about now?"

Moving my hair out of his way, I give him more access "That gets me a little hot right there."

He smiles and leans back so he can look me in the eyes. "Yeah?" I smile and wrap my arms around his neck "I find that, when I get hot, I like to take off my pants..."

Laughing, I shake my head and cock it to one side. "You know what?" I sigh "The luckiest day of my life was when I got drunk, blacked out, and woke up married to you."

The smile on his face gets my heart pounding a little faster. "What do you say we climb in bed and finally..." He trails off, holding me a little tighter against his body.

"Do what married people do?" I finish shyly

He nods "Or we could have sex."

He makes me laugh so easily, I don't know how I ever managed to hate him. I was so blind before, all I wanted to see was hate that I convinced myself that was all there was.

I don't remember when it happened; when I fell in love with him. I just remember suddenly feeling complete, and feeling happy with where I was. Or rather, who I was with. And finally, I think we both are in a place where we want to move forward with this relationship and begin our life together as a real couple.

And nothing's going to stop us.

Reaching down, he grabs my legs and lifts me up in his arms before turning towards the bedroom.

"Wait, wait, wait!" I stop him, causing him to turn around.

"What?" He whines

"T.V."

"T.V. what?"

"T.V. off."

With a sigh, he walks us over to the table and maneuvers me so I can grab the remote without leaving his arms.

Picking up the remote I accidentally press a button, causing the channel to change back to the news.

"Hey," I pause, recognizing something. Or someone. "That looks just like the Elvis impersonator that married us..." I comment, seeing his mugshot on the screen.

"Has this Elvis impersonator turned out to be nothing but a Hound Dog. When hundreds of couples find out they are not legally married."

I glance back at Chandler; wondering if he heard the same thing.

I don't have to wonder for too long as he slowly puts me back on my own two feet. Sliding my arm from around his neck I pause the T.V. "Oh, my God." He rubs his face and I can tell he is just as shocked as I am. I look back at the T.V. set and try to figure it out. "The Elvis impersonator that married us is really an impersonator, impersonator..." I have confusion written all over my face.

Chandler chuckles lightly as I wrap my jacket tighter around my body. "Yeah, you know, it's kind of funny." I turn to him "We thought we were married, but we're really not married."

I shake my head "That's not funny." I clear my throat "We thought we were married...but we're not married." Shaking my head all these emotions are starting to get mixed up "What does that mean?"

"Well." He shrugs "It just means we were living in sin, but, without the sin. Now, come on." He leans down to scoop me back up but I step out of the way and swat at his arms.

"No, no, no, okay..." We stand a couple feet from each other, the environment in the room completely changing. "Honey, that changes everything." I look at him shaking my head. "See, cause, you've been living here for the past four months because you thought we were married." I point out "But we're not married!" I laugh and motion to the door "So, you can go now."

Without a response, Chandler closes the gap between us and connects his lips to mine.

After a few seconds he pulls away and I stand there speechless. Touching my tongue to my lip, I try to hang on to the feeling just a little longer. "Well, that shut me up."

Holding my hands, Chandler searches my eyes. "Tomorrow, when we go to meet my mother for dinner we will stop at City Hall. We will get married. And then we will be married for the rest of our lives, okay?"

Taking a deep breath, I squeeze his hands softly. "Really?"

Smiling, he nods "Really."

Bringing my shoulders up, I sigh "Okay." Then I repeat it a little louder "Okay." Then once more for reassurance. "Okay." I nod with a smile.

"Okay." He leans down and swoops me back up in his arms.

"Whoa. What are you doing? Put me down." He lets go with a frustrated sigh.

"What?"

I straighten his collar as I explain. "It's the night before our wedding. It's bad luck for the bride and groom to see each other." And with that, I quickly hurry to my room.

Before I have a chance to close the door, I hear Chandler yell from his spot by the couch. "We'll do it in the dark!"

I honestly love this man. This is not how I planned to spend Valentines day. However, we've waited this long, so what is one more day?

Yet, one day later and we have yet to tie the knot.

"I can't believe the state of New York makes you wait 24 hours before they let you get married. Why would they do that to us? Why us?" I'm frustrated, and I'm doing a horrible job at hiding it.

"Look honey, the state of New York isn't against us. They're against everybody." Chandler explains from the drivers seat. "Okay? Now, I thought we agreed we weren't going to let this get you upset?"

We just left City Hall wearing our best formal and now we are stuck in traffic on the freeway.

"You're right, I'm fine." I assure him with a smile as I brush it off. What's one more day? "Can you believe they make you take a test?" I laugh, bringing up the pamphlet they handed me on the way out. "Look at this, Ten Things You Should Know About Your Partner Before You Marry Them." We laugh but I quickly turn around the joke. "Let's take it."

"Uh, you know what, I don't think that's-"

"Yeah, yeah, number 1." I continue.

"Okay."

"If your aging parents are unable to care for themselves, where will they live?" I read, looking over at Chandler for his answer.

"Uh, with the housekeeper."

"I'd say with my brother." I smile, knowing we are on similar pages with the fact they won't be bunking with us. "Good, okay. One for one." Looking down I resume the questions. "Number 2. Uh, how many times a week do you see yourself having sex?"

The determined look on his face tells me he is really trying to find the truthful answer. "Oh, uh," He shrugs "I'd say 30."

I swallow the lump in my throat "Again. On the same page." I admit.

"I like this test." He laughs, trying to find his way through the traffic that we've been sitting in for quite some time now.

I smile "Okay, uh, let's see." I move on with ease. "How do you want your child's life to differ from your childhood?"

"Ooh, okay, uh, let's see." He nods "I want them to have a lot of bathrooms. Because one bathroom for six kids just sucks."

Staring at him, my eyes go wide. "Wow. Six kids." I laugh nervously. "Ouch." I continue to laugh "Well, good thing we don't have to worry about that."

"Why's that, baby?" He glances over at me.

"Because this," I motion to my body "Ain't having more than two."

He cocks his head, confused. "What?"

"Oh, yeah. One, two, buckle my shoe. Three, four...ain't gonna happen."

"Oh," He clears his throat, sitting up straighter. "Okay."

It's not until that final word that I realize my answer isn't the one he is looking for. "What's the matter?"

His attention is on the road as we make our way to the end of the construction zone. "You've already decided how many kids we're going to have without actually discussing it."

"We can discuss it." I raise my eyebrows "I'm only having two kids. Now you talk."

He takes one hand off the steering wheel and begins motioning. "Okay, see Mon, when I say discussion, I mean you and I discuss it. Like, I give a little. Then you give a little." He states. "Say I come down to 5, then you come up to-"

"See you and your 5 kids with your new wife."

"Look, honey. Having a big family is important to me."

"Hello, how do you think I'm feeling over here?" My voice rises "You're trying to make my lady part in-into a tennis canon..."

"Okay." He sighs. "Then. You know. We have a little problem."

I match his sigh and rest my body back against the seat as I try to come down from my high. "Yes, we do."

"Yeah, I mean, if you hate children."

"I don't hate children." I look over at him "I'm not feeling too good about you right now."

I'm being ridiculous if I'm going to let this little thing break us apart. I'm acting like a child; I know that. I also know how much Chandler wants children. Being raised as an only child, I figured two would be enough. Although, learning that he wants six! I don't think I can keep up with six little versions of us.

Taking the next available exit, Chandler makes a few turns before pulling into a gas station. Yet, he doesn't get out right away. He sits there and together we remain silent inside the car.

After a minute or two I finally speak up. "I want to, but I can't." He looks over at me and I search his eyes. "See, this is what I've been trying to tell you." I say softly, "I can't compromise. I can't go with the flow." I explain, "I can't leave the DVD player running if no one is watching it." I laugh uneasy. "I'm a mess." Shaking my head, I turn so I'm facing him a little more. "I don't even know why you would want to marry me. I was so happy for you when we found out we weren't actually married." My voice rises as I ramble on "I thought, yay! Bing has an out!"

He isn't laughing, he isn't smiling, or crying. He shows no emotion as he sits there silently watching me.

"But you wouldn't go." I shake my head "I even showed you my crazy, but that didn't work, either. You still wanted to marry me." I look away before adding. "You want to have six kids with me! Are you insane? Can you imagine six little me's running around?"

It's not until then that he looses eye contact and speaks "Less and less."

"I'm sorry. I really wanted us to work. I did. But I-I tried to warn you. I tried to show you-"

"Mon." He cuts in, keeping me from having a panic attack. "Monica, look. Would you just stop it? Okay? I'm not going anywhere." I swallow my breath "How could I? Look, we got 2 out of 10 right on that marriage pamphlet, didn't we?"

A look of realization crosses over my features. "Yeah."

"And that is a great foundation to building a marriage." He explains "And I don't believe you can't compromise and that you're not capable of change because the Monica Geller I once knew hated her job and never spoke up in the board meetings." He points out "Then, less than a month later, you asked a question that started a discussion and now you've quit the job you hate and started your dream bakery. All by yourself." He reminds me "See, honey, you can do anything."

Oh, my God. He is absolutely right. I've been changing my ways more and more this year. He is the one bringing it out of me and making me realize my potential in life. He makes me less afraid to take on the world and fight for what I want.

"I can." A smile surfaces from within me "I can. Oh, my God, baby? I've changed." He nods, with a smile "Do you think I can change other things? Like, like, um.." I think "Um, my premarital break-up fears? Or my post-marital break-up fears?" He shrugs, so I continue. "Oh, maybe, I can have three kids. Maybe even four!"

"Actually, um, I think two of you running around is plenty." He stops my train of thought.

I shake my head and lean back against the seat as I stare at my man. "I love you." I say softly.

Smiling, he leans over and kisses me with passion "I love you, too."

AN: I love this chapter, you all may hate me because kids are going to have to wait a little longer :) If I write it that far. I'm planning on ending it in a few chapters, but I'm not sure yet. I don't want to make it worse by dragging it on...well, I guess I kind of ruined that aspect by announcing they aren't really married. You're welcome.