PART THIRTY-SIX - The one with the girls hospital party.
"Okay. They're finally asleep" Monica told her friends.
It was late at night and Monica, Rachel, Phoebe and Chandler were all hanging out in Monica's room. Monica had just put the babies down for a nap.
Monica was right, Chandler decided that he wasn't going to go out. Although he promised to stay out of the girl's way. So he stayed near the babies.
Phoebe and Rachel had brought some make-up, gossip magazines, wine and new clothes. They were determined to cheer Monica up.
"Finally" Phoebe whispered to Rachel
"Alright. So what exactly do you guys have planned?" Monica asked as she joined her friends on the bed.
"Just a few things to make you forget about being stuck in here" Rachel replied
"You know what you should do" said Chandler
"What?" Phoebe asked
"Have a pillow fight" Chandler said, with a grin
"And how exactly is that going to make me forget about being in here?" Monica asked
"Well it'll make me forget" Chandler replied
Monica grabbed one of her pillows and aimed it at him. He quickly raised is hands.
"Don't, don't...I'm standing near the children" He said quickly.
Monica scoffed and placed the pillow back down. She turned back to Phoebe and Rachel.
"Anyway..." Rachel began "We brought some of our old clothes. And some of your's"
"We thought we'd try one of those clothes swapping things" added Phoebe
"And the good thing is, we're pretty much the same size" said Rachel
"How do you guy's know that these are my old clothes?" Monica asked
"We kind of guessed. Most of these things we haven't seen you wear for years" explained Phoebe
"Oh okay" said Monica
They threw all of the clothes into one big pile in the middle of the bed. They poured themselves a glass of wine and began going through the clothes. They each ended up having a small pile of clothes on the floor next to them. Chandler was busy watching Kaylee and Liljana sleep and reading a comic book.
"Okay we have one last thing" Rachel said one hour later.
She held up a light blue, quarter sleeve blouse.
"Who's was it?" Phoebe asked
"I think it was mine" replied Rachel
"Can I have it?" Monica asked "Please"
"Sure" said Rachel.
Rachel tossed Monica the blouse. Monica folded her new top and placed it in her pile. Rachel and Phoebe shoved their clothes into bags while Monica placed hers carefully into her bag.
"Anyone else hungry?" Phoebe asked
"I'm a little peckish" said Monica "Let's order something in. Hospital food really isn't that good"
"How would you know?" Chandler asked "You've hardly eaten any since you've been here"
"What happened to 'staying out of the way'?" Monica asked him
"Hey I'm out, I'm out" he said raising his hands.
"So what do you guys want?" Rachel asked Monica and Phoebe
"Let's get pizza" Phoebe suggested excitedly
"Mmm. Sounds good" said Monica. She turned to look over at Chandler "Honey, do you think you could sneak in two large pizzas for us?" she asked
"For you, babe. Anything" he said
Chandler stood up and walked over to the girls. Rachel got out her purse and handed him a fifty dollar note.
"You better bring back the change" she warned.
Chandler smiled and bent down and kissed Monica quickly.
"Be back soon" He said just before leaving.
"I still can't get over the fact that you and Chandler have children...Together" said Phoebe after a few minutes
"Same" added Rachel
Monica got off the bed and walked over to the babies' cradles. Phoebe and Rachel quickly followed. They looked down at the sleeping children and smiled.
"I know" Monica replied dreamily
After making sure that her daughters were okay, Monica moved back to the bed followed by Rachel and Phoebe.
"Hey didn't Chandler offer to have children with you a few years ago?" Rachel asked Monica
"That's right he did" replied Monica, suddenly remembering.
"Really? When?" Phoebe asked
"When Ben was born" said Monica "I was really bummed that I wasn't in a relationship and my brother was having a baby. Plus my Mother wasn't helping so Chandler suggested that if neither of us were married by the age of forty, we get together and have a baby"
"Chandler said that?" Phoebe asked
"Yeah" said Monica
"The same Chandler who, back then thought that if a girl wanted to meet your friends, was too big a step" said Phoebe
"Phoebe's right" said Rachel "Why would he make plans like that with you if he was so afraid of commitment?" she asked Monica
"Don't look at me. I have no idea how his mind works" said Monica
Phoebe chuckled as an idea came to her head.
"What Pheebs?" Rachel asked
"Don't you see. It was because deep down Chandler's always known that you two were meant to be" Phoebe explained
"I don't think so, Phoebe" said Monica
"Well think about it. He offered to have children with you. He's offered to be your boyfriend a whole lot of times" said Phoebe
"Like when?" asked Rachel
"Remember when we all went to the beach that weekend?" Phoebe asked. Both Rachel and Monica nodded so she continued "Didn't he ask you like...seven times why you wouldn't date him?" she asked Monica
"That's right he did" Monica replied "But I think that had more to do with his self-esteem then with me"
"No wait I think your on to something here, Pheebs" said Rachel "I don't think I've ever seen Chandler like any of the guys you've dated" she said to Monica
"That's not true" Monica protested "He liked Richard"
"As a father figure" said Phoebe
"Okay. What about Pete? He liked him" said Monica
"'Cos the guy was rich. I don't think he liked him as your boyfriend" said Rachel
"Ooh what about the time Rachel set you up with that nurse, when I had the triplets?" said Phoebe "He was really rude to that guy"
"Because we were...seeing each other then" Monica reminded them
"Oh yeah" said Phoebe "Still you've gotta admit it adds up"
"I guess. I've just never really thought about it before" Monica said honestly "Do you really think Chandler had feelings for me back then?" she asked after a pause
"Absolutely" replied Rachel
"You know he did tell me he thought we'd end up together even if all that stuff in London hadn't happened" said Monica
"See. I was right" Phoebe said proudly
"Alright. Fine" said Monica
A few minutes later. They each put on one of their new outfits and were doing each others hair. Rachel was brushing her hair as a thought occurred to her.
"Hey Mon, since we've discovered that Chandler's always liked you. Do you think you've alway's like him?" Rachel asked Monica
Monica stopped brading Phoebe's hair and looked over at Rachel.
"I-I don't know" she replied "I mean I guess I've alway's kinda liked him. And I did have that huge crush on him when I first met him. But then again I also had a crush on Joey when I first met him. That doesn't mean I want to marry Joey"
"You better not marry Joey" said Phoebe
"And didn't you lose all that weight just to show Chandler up?" Rachel asked
"Maybe" replied Monica
Rachel sighed and looked over at Monica and then the babies.
"Your life is just so romantic" she said "It's like a fairytale or something"
Monica smiled as she too looked at the sleeping babies. She shook her head to focus on finishing Phoebe's hair.
"Yeah. My life's great isn't it" Monica said with a smile.
"Well I'm jealous" said Rachel "But also very happy for you"
At that moment Chandler walked in carrying two pizza boxes.
"Food is here ladies" He announced
"Finally" said Phoebe.
Phoebe stood up and took the boxes out of Chandler's hands. She took them over and placed them on the bed. Rachel joined her as Chandler and Monica walked over to each other.
"What took you so long?" Monica asked
"Do you know how hard it is to sneak that stuff in here?" Chandler asked her
"Thankyou" said Monica
They shared a kiss and pulled apart when they heard Rachel clear her throat.
"Ahem" Rachel coughed.
The couple pulled apart to see Rachel standing before them with her hand out.
"Change please" Rachel asked Chandler
Chandler fished through his pocket and handed Rachel her money. Rachel smiled and went over to the pizza. Chandler and Monica quickly looked over at their children before joining their friends.
TBC