It was 6am and 3 year old Joey was wide awake. Chandler and Monica were still fast asleep, desperate to get back as much sleep as their three year old deprived them of. Joey clutched Hugsy tight and got out of bed, he giggled as he tiptoed into their bedroom. Climbing on the bed gently, he then began to bounce.
"Wake up! Wake up!" He chanted.
Chandler and Monica both shot awake and were greeted with an adorable smile from the young boy.
"What's wrong! What's going on?" Chandler exclaimed half asleep.
"Wake up time," Joey exclaimed, clambering onto Chandler.
"Joey, it's 6am, go back to sleep," Monica yawned.
"Come on buddy, back to bed," Chandler said wearily with his eyes half close as he tired to grab Joey who was using him as a climbing frame.
"I wanna play," Joey laughed.
Chandler managed to grab him and wrestle him off his neck.
"Well if you don't go to sleep, the tickle monster is going to get you," he said tickling the young boy, who erupted into giggles. A sleepy smile spread across Chandler and Monica's faces at the joyous laughter emerging from their son. Joey gasped for air and Chandler finally stopped tickling him.
"Well there's no way he's going back to sleep now," Monica sighed.
Joey started to jump up and down on the bed again.
"Ok come on then, we'll let Mommy get some sleep, but you need to promise me you'll be a good boy and have a nap this afternoon," Chandler bargained.
Joey nodded, excited that he was going to get time with his Dad. Chandler returned his son's smile and hoisted him into a carry, planting a kiss on Monica's head before he left the room.
As soon as they got out of the bedroom, Joey wriggled to be put down.
"Rachel, Ross and Phoebe!" Joey said springing towards the door, disappointed to find it locked.
"They will be asleep, come on buddy let's have some breakfast," Chandler said steering him to the table.
Joey sat happily singing and babbling to Hugsy as Chandler cooked some bacon and scrambled eggs for the two of them. Chandler made sure to slice Joey's food up small because the speed he ate at it was a miracle he didn't choke.
In less than 10 minutes both plates were clean and Chandler had finished wiping the bacon stains off Hugsy, who Joey had insisted on wanting some bacon.
"Can I have some chocolate?" Joey asked, waddling after his Dad as he cleared the table.
"It's 6:30," Chandler said.
"Is that a yes?" Joey said, cocking his eyebrows.
"No," Chandler scoffed.
Joey pouted.
"Right Mr Robber you have 5 seconds to run or Mr Hero Cop here is going to take you to jail," Chandler told him.
A grin spread across the 3 year old's face and he charged off round the apartment.
They spent the next half an hour chasing each other back and forth, Joey constantly giggling. Chandler could easily catch him but the kid had so much fun thinking he was getting away.
"I wanna play a new game," Joey said slumping on the couch.
"How about hide and seek," Chandler proposed.
Joey shook his head.
"I spy?"
"No."
"Well what do you want to play?" Chandler asked sitting down next to Joey on the couch.
"Face painting!" Joey beamed.
"Joe we don't have any face paints," Chandler told him.
Joey's face sank.
"Wait hang on," Chandler said going off to the bathroom.
He emerged a few minutes later with Monica's makeup bag.
"Urrm what are you doing mister?" Chandler said, seeing Joey had used his absence as an opportunity to try and reach the chocolate on top of the fridge. Joey jumped at the sound of his voice.
"Nothing," Joey said innocently.
Chandler lifted him down off the counter and then showed him the makeup bag.
Monica slowly opened her eyes, the room was much lighter than it had been earlier. She sat up yawning and stretching and turned to her clock. It was 8:30, but that was fine, she didn't work on Mondays. Her and Chandler's work schedules meant they had a 3 day weekend every week. After she had woken up a bit, she put her slippers on and headed to the living room. "Joey, what is on your face?" She asked horrified at her graffitied son.
"I'm a space cowboy," Joey replied.
Then Chandler turned round to face her, his face was covered in scribbles, clearly the work of a three year old.
"I on the other hand am a bathroom stall wall," he smiled.
"Mommy look, I did Daddy's face paints," Joey said proudly.
"Wow sweetie! Joey, whose idea was it to use my very expensive makeup as face paints?" Monica asked.
"Daddy's!" Joey replied jumping up and down and pointing at Chandler.
"Hey! Tattle tale!" Chandler said blobbing his tongue out at his son.
"I thought as much," Monica said.
"Yeah well I can make up for the make up," Chandler laughed, stopping when Monica glared at him.
He walked over to the kitchen and pulled out a plate of warm bacon and eggs and a cup of coffee. Chandler put the breakfast down in front of Monica and planted a kiss on top of her head, she smiled.
"I love you," she said, looking up at him.
"I love you too," he replied dreamily.
"But you do need to go and wash your face," she said seriously.
Chandler nodded and headed off to the bathroom.
Monica sat happily eating the food her husband had made whilst listening to her son sing nonsense songs to his stuffed penguin. She finished off her food as Chandler emerged.
"I'll go and see where everyone is at," he said, heading out the door.
"Okay, Joey honey, let's go and get your face cleaned," Monica said, leading him into the bathroom.
She picked him up and placed him on the counter and then began to run the warm water. Meanwhile Joey was using one of her lipsticks to draw up his arm.
"Joey! These were expensive," Monica said , taking the lipstick away and collecting up the rest of the makeup that the boys had stolen.
"Oh no!" Joey exclaimed looking worried.
"What's the matter honey?" Monica asked concerned.
"Hugsy bleeding!" He said with tears brimming in his eyes.
Monica looked at the penguin and laughed.
"No silly, look you've just smudged the lipstick on him baby," she told him.
"So he okay?" Joey asked, his face still ridden with concern.
"Yeah look," she said taking Hugsy and gently wiping off the make up with warm water. Then handing him back to Joey, "Now your turn," Monica told him stroking his hair.
As Monica began to scrub Joey's face, his interest quickly faded and he began to try and get off the counter. When she turned to retrieve a new washcloth, he made an escape and disappeared into the living room.
"Joey, come back," she called.
Monica could hear him giggling in the living room but when she opened the door, he was nowhere to be seen.
"Chandler, have you got Joe?" She shouted.
Chandler emerged from their bedroom, now dressed.
"No, he definitely went into that bathroom with you, he was your responsibility," he said, raising his eyebrows with a grin.
"If you've hidden him," she warned.
"I actually haven't hidden him this time, but I bet I know where he is," Chandler teased.
"Where?" Monica said, her annoyance growing.
Chandler strutted around the room cockily.
"Oh the power of knowledge," he taunted.
"Chandler!" Monica groaned.
Then she heard a distinct giggle, but she couldn't work out where in the room it was coming from.
"Joey honey come out please," she sighed.
The door opened and Phoebe and Rachel walked in.
"Morning," Rachel said, sitting down on the couch.
"Ooh what are you doing? Are you counting the colours of the room?" Phoebe said clapping her hands excitedly.
"No I am trying to find Joey, but he is hiding and Chandler won't tell me where," Monica moaned, hearing another giggle from somewhere in the room.
"Oh I see boys vs girls, well I reckon we can find him Mon," Rachel said, standing back up off the couch.
"Joey as soon as you can come out we can play," Monica pleaded.
Phoebe walked around the room with her hands out.
"Phoebs, what are you doing?" Chandler asked.
"I'm trying to detect his body heat," she told him, matter of factly before continuing.
Monica's frustration was starting to build.
"Joey, I am going to count to 5, if you are not in front of me when I get to 5, you are going in timeout," Monica said sternly.
"How can you put him in a timeout if you don't know where he is," Chandler remarked smiling, but his smile disappeared when he saw her death glare.
"Oh found him!" Phoebe said leaning over the back of the sofa.
"Oh never mind, it was the radiator," she sighed and then continued her body heat detection.
"Right 1...2...3-" Monica started but then Rachel cut her off.
"Joey, I have a meatball sub out here for you," Rachel called.
At the word meatball the entertainment unit cupboard burst open and Joey emerged. He ran toward Rachel expectantly.
"Where?" Joey asked, looking round.
"Come on" Monica said, grabbing his hand and manoeuvring him back into the bathroom.
"What about my meatball sub," Joey whined, still looking round the room trying to find it and break free from Monica.
"Joey the meatball sub is in the bathroom," Chandler said quickly.
Joey charged forward and Chandler motioned for Monica to follow him.
She shut the door behind them but Rachel, Chandler and Phoebe still heard Joey say.
"There's no meatball sub in here," and they all laughed.
"I'll go and get Ross," Chandler said and headed out the front door.
Moments later the bathroom door opened. Phoebe and Rachel turned to see Monica coming out with Joey who had his arms crossed and a big pout across his now clean face.
"Can you watch him while I go and get changed," Monica asked.
Rachel nodded walking over to Joey.
"What's that face for?" She said tweaking his nose.
"He's sulking about the meatball sub," Monica said before disappearing into her
bedroom.
Joey stood silently pouting, soon Phoebe attempted to mirror his expression. He managed to suppress his laughter.
"Where's that cheeky little grin," Rachel coaxed.
Joey stubbornly tried to control his face muscles, but Rachel continued to pry.
"Oh no Phoebe, Joey's lost his smile!" She exclaimed over dramatically.
"Oh no! Does he want mine?" Phoebe cried matching Rachel's drama and pretending to try and remove her mouth from her face.
Rachel went over to her to assist her in helping her remove her mouth. Joey couldn't hold it in any longer, he burst into giggles.
"There it is!" Rachel said triumphantly, going over and tickling him.
"Joey look, I got your nose," Phoebe teased holding up her hand.
Joey gasped and ran his fingers over his face.
"No you didn't," he laughed, relieved to find his nose was still there.
Then Rachel lunged forward and pretended to grab his nose, before taking off around the room.
Monica and Chandler emerged from the bedroom all ready for the day.
"Get the nose thief!" Joey exclaimed pursuing Rachel down.
Monica and Chandler joined him. Monica managed to grab Rachel.
"Quick Phoebe catch!" Rachel said, throwing Joey's 'nose' across to her. Chandler managed to intercept the throw.
"Aha! You nose thieves, I have defeated you!" He declared.
Joey hurried over and hugged Chandler gratefully.
"Quick Joey, I need to reattach it before the boogers die!" Chandler told him.
Chandler crouched down, pretending to sew the nose back on.
"All done, you may sneeze freely," he said.
"Are the boogers alive?" Joey asked concerned.
"Yes yes, there were no fatalities this time," Chandler assured him "come on let's get you dressed," he said leading him into his bedroom.
The girls all smiled at each other.
"Monica, you and Chandler have made the sweetest kid in the world," Rachel said.
"He's so cute!" Phoebe squealed.
The door opened and Ross came in.
"Morning, are we going to get coffee?" He asked.
"Yeah sure, I'll get my stuff," Monica said.
The bedroom door opened.
"Ross!" Joey said running over to him.
"Hey buddy," Ross said, ruffling his hair.
"Joey, do you want to go to Central Perk?" Monica asked him.
"Can I bring Hugsy?" He said hopefully.
"Now remember what happened last time Joey, you lost him and you got really upset. You were lucky Gunther found him, you don't want to lose him again," Chandler explained.
Joey started clinging tighter to Hugsy, Monica and Chandler exchanged a glance; trouble was brewing.
"Hey Joey, I think Hugsy looks tired," Ross said.
The 3 year old looked at his stuffed animal curiously.
"Do you want me to show you how to put him down for a nap?" Ross asked him.
Joey nodded, taking the hand Ross held out and following him into Joey's room.
"Man I thought that was gonna be a meltdown moment," Chandler said, everyone nodded. Thankfully a minute later Ross and a now very happy Joey came back out.
"Hugsy was snoring!" Joey told them excitedly.
"Oh he was?" Chandler said looking at Ross, who nodded smugly.
"Yeah!" Joey said.
"Come on guys let's go!" Monica said ushering everyone out.
They all sat around as a group in their usual spot in Central Perk, Joey was occupied with some paper and crayons and the gang chatted while he drew.
"Hey Mon can we go shopping soon I need an actually warm coat ," Rachel said.
"Ooh I want to come!" Phoebe said.
"Yeah and me!" Chandler mocked their excitement, Monica rolled her eyes at him.
"How about Wednesday?" Monica suggested.
"Hey I have a meeting that day, I can't watch Joey," Chandler reminded her.
"Well he can come with us," Phoebe said.
"Joey and shopping is not a good combination," Monica said.
"Yeah last time after about half an hour he had reached his limit and started running around with women's underwear and trying to eat all the food on the shelves," Rachel explained.
"Well we know who he gets that from," Phoebe said.
"I am offended. I am a great shopping partner!" Chandler defended himself.
"No you're not, you're as bad as Joey!" Monica retorted. Chandler pulled a face at her which she returned.
"Joey honey, would you want to come shopping with me and Mommy?" Rachel asked him.
"No!" He answered immediately.
"Well I can take him, Joe, you want to come work with me at the museum for a few hours?" Ross proposed.
"Can I play with the denorsorus?" Joey questioned.
"It's dinosaurs bud," Chandler corrected.
"That's what I said denorsorus" He demanded.
"Yes okay you can play with the denorsorus," Ross said.
"Okay well that's that sorted," Monica said.
"Stop it!" Joey exclaimed slapping Chandler's hand away.
"Is Daddy ruining your picture sweetie?" Monica laughed as Chandler pulled a face at the 3 year old and sat back sheepishly.
"I was just adding some details," he muttered.
"Whatcha drawing Joey?" Phoebe asked, leaning over to look.
He proudly held up his picture of the 6 of them, it was a bunch of scribbles but there were definitely 6 scribble figures.
"Okay who's who?" Rachel said squinting at the paper.
"Yeah you tell me which one is which and I can label them and we can practice your letters," Monica said, getting a pen out of her bag.
"I don't want to do letters," Joey moaned.
"Come on Mon, he doesn't start school for nearly 2 years," Chandler said, agreeing with Joey.
"Ok fine! But we are going to do some practice sometime," Monica said.
Joey wasn't the smartest tool in the box and she was beginning to worry he would be behind by the time he started school. He struggled with counting to 10 and didn't know his alphabet, mainly because he thought the song was too long and got bored.
They sat around for a little while longer and then paid the bill.
"Should we go for a walk and get some lunch?" Ross suggested.
"Good idea, Joey, your picture is in my purse okay, I'll put it on the refrigerator when we get home," Monica told him.
"Now do you need the bathroom before we go?" Chandler asked him, crouching down and buttoning up his coat.
Joey shook his head.
"You sure?" Monica checked.
She got a firm nod from Joey.
"Okay then, let's go," Monica said taking Joey's hand.
As they walked Monica and Phoebe each held one of Joey's hands as he would run, jump and swing laughing every time.
"1, 2, 3, wee!" He shrieked as he swung for the 10th time.
"Okay last one honey, my arm is getting tired," Monica told him.
He did one last almighty swing and then carried on skipping along with Phoebe. 5 minutes later Joey announced he needed to go to the bathroom.
"Joey, we asked you at Central Perk if you needed to go and you said no," Monica told him.
"I didn't need to go then," he whined.
"Well I'm sorry sweetie, you're going to have to hold it," she declared.
"I need to go pee!" He whined louder.
Monica stopped walking.
"Chandler," she called. He turned around and the group came to a halt.
"Joey needs the bathroom," she sighed.
"Buddy we asked you at Central Perk-" he started.
"Already done that," Monica said.
"The museum is just round the corner, I can take him in there, I have my work ID in my purse," Ross said.
"Okay, we'll figure out where to go for lunch," Rachel said.
"Come on Joey," Rossl said, holding out his hand, he took it and they hurried off down the street.
They decided on the pizza place 2 blocks away, once Ross and Joey had rejoined them they set off.
Joey was already listing all the pizza toppings he was going to have.
"I don't think they do peanut butter Joe," Chandler said.
"What about jam?" Joey asked.
"Nope, that might be another they don't have," he answered, much to Joey's disappointment.
They got a table for six and began to look at the menu. Chandler read Joey all the different pizza options and then had to answer a barrage of questions about whether they had this or that. Eventually they ordered.
While they waited for food, Joey asked Chandler every 10 seconds how long it would be for the food. Eventually,Ross and Rachel managed to occupy Joey with a game of rock, paper, scissors, which he was changing the rules to every 4 seconds.
"Okay Joey wins, but I was second," Ross said as the food began to arrive.
"No I was second," Rachel protested.
"Nuh uh," Ross said.
"Joey, who won?" Rachel asked the 3 year old.
"PIZZA!" Joey exclaimed standing on his chair as he saw his pizza approaching.
"Okay, well apparently pizza won," Rachel shrugged.
"Joey sit down!" Monica told him firmly as he began to try and climb on the table to get his pizza from Chandler, who was cutting it up for him.
He sat back down and moments later Chandler placed the plate in front of him, much to Joey's delight.
"What are we doing after this?" Rachel asked as they were all eating.
"I've got to go and get Ben from school but I can catch up with you guys this evening," Ross said.
"We've got to go and put this one down for a nap," Chandler said, motioning to Joey, who was happily munching on his pizza, oblivious to the people around him, only focused on the food.
"How about once Joey's down we go to a movie," Monica suggested.
"What about me?" Chandler said offended.
"Well I thought you'd want to watch Baywatch," Monica said.
"You thought right," Chandler said grinning.
The plates were soon clear and they headed back out to the street. Ross said goodbye and set off in the opposite direction to the gang. About 5 minutes into the 20 minute journey Joey decided he didn't want to walk.
"My feet ache," he groaned.
Chandler sighed and hoisted him into a carry, where for the rest of the journey home Joey grilled him on different pizza toppings. He was close to heartbreak when Chandler told him you cannot get marshmallow on pizza.
Chandler lifted Joey down once they'd reached the top of the stairs. The girls headed into Rachel's apartment and while Chandler was unlocking his door, Joey ran off to join them.
"Joey, time to take a nap," Chandler called, when there was no response he headed across into the other apartment.
Joey was sitting on the couch with the girls, he looked up at Chandler and grinned cheekily.
"Come on, nap time," Chandler said.
Joey ignored him and jumped over to the empty chair.
"When you get up from your nap we'll play a game, but you need to have a rest," Monica told him.
"I don't want a nap," Joey replied.
"You've been up since 6 Joe, you need to sleep," Monica said. "Go on, go with Daddy,"
Joey just wandered over to Phoebe and Rachel.
"Joey!" Chandler warned.
"Honey, go have a nap and we can play after," Rachel said kindly.
"I don't want a nap," Joey whined, his eyes brimming with tears.
"Come on buddy you're overtired," Chandler said wandering over and picking Joey up and carrying him back to their apartment.
As soon as Chandler put him down on the bed he climbed back down.
"I don't want a nap," he said, walking over to his toys.
"Yeah but Joe, you know who wants a nap," Chandler said.
"Who?" Joey asked, looking over to his Dad.
"Hugsy!" Chandler told him, picking up the toy.
Joey wandered over curious, Chandler handed it to him and then lifted him back onto the bed.
"I think Hugsy is tired, but I think if you have a nap he'll have a nap too," Chandler said, stroking Joey's hair, hoping the 3 year old wouldn't realise his toy was supposedly napping all morning. Chandler smiled when Joey lay down, cuddling Hugsy tight.
"Why don't you and Hugsy have a race and see who can get to sleep first," Monica suggested form the doorway, a grin on her face; she had been watching her husband and son for the past minute.
A weary eyed Joey nodded.
"I'm gonna go, be good baby," she said, kissing him on his forehead.
"I will be," Chandler said, grinning.
"You be good too," Monica said to him, as her lips met his.
Chandler settled down to watch Baywatch in peace, a rare occurrence for a father of a three year old.
After about 2 hours Chandler went to go and wake up Joey.
"Wakey wakey sleepy head," he said, gently shaking him.
Joey yawned and slowly sat up, his hair sticking up all over the place.
Chandler sat with him at the table while he had some fruit and milk and talked sleepy nonsense to Hugsy.
"Should we go over and see Ross?" Chandler asked.
Joey nodded.
Chandler picked him up and carried him over to the other apartment.
Ross was sitting in the armchair reading.
"Is Ben here?" Chandler asked.
"Oh no, he's staying with Carol, he'll be here tomorrow though," Ross replied.
Joey was wiggling to get down.
"Alright alright," Chandler said as he released him on the ground.
Joey started to gallop around the apartment, Chandler knew that meant he was playing with Maurice; his imaginary space cowboy friend. He and Ross sat and played cards, soon Joey's galloping stopped.
"Do you want to watch cartoons Joe?" Chandler asked, noticing the silence.
"I want to play with you," Joey replied with puppy dog eyes.
"See I don't know if you'll understand it buddy, it's quite complicated," Chandler told him.
Joey walked over to Ross's armchair, leaning on the arm, he tried a new tactic.
"Uncle Ross," he said in his best adorable voice.
"Yes Joey," Ross said.
Chandler couldn't help but smile, he took after his mother in the sense he always wanted to get his own way.
"Can I play with you?" He asked with big pleading eyes.
"Well that's fine with me," Ross said and then looked towards Chandler, Joey also turned to face him and continued with his puppy dog face, which Ross mirrored.
"Okay, Joey you can come and be on my team and help me beat Uncle Ross," Chandler said.
"Yay!" Joey said running over and climbing onto Chandler's lap.
Chandler explained the rules to him, Joey said he understood, Chandler knew he didn't.
As they continued the game, Joey kept shouting out which cards they had.
"Joey for the hundredth time, you need to keep it a secret what cards we have," Chandler sighed.
A few minutes later Joey had gone quiet, which usually meant trouble. Chandler looked down and sure enough he was blowing air at all of the cards on the table, most of which were now on the floor.
"Joey!" Chandler scolded.
Joey giggled.
"That's naughty! Apologise to Ross for ruining the game," he said firmly.
Joey wandered over to the armchair, looking at the ground.
"Sorry Ross," he said.
"That's okay buddy," Ross said, ruffling his hair.
Just then the door opened and the girls arrived.
"Mommy!" Joey shouted running over to Monica.
"Hey sweetie," crouching down and giving him a big hug.
"Joey, we got you a present," Rachel told him.
Joey gasped. "What?" He asked excitedly, following her over to the table.
Rachel pulled out a chair and lifted Joey into it.
"Ok close your eyes and no peeking, till I say," Rachel said.
"Okay open your eyes!" Phoebe said, a few moments later.
As he opened his eyes, sitting before him was a lovely, fresh meatball sub.
Joey's face lit up.
"Woah! Thank you," he said, giving Rachel and Phoebe a hug.
"You can eat that now as it is dinner time, I'll cook some macaroni cheese for everyone else?" Monica announced.
Once they'd all eaten and the dishes were cleared away, they headed over to the couch.
"Err hold up mister," Monica said, pulling Joey back.
He turned his food covered face and gave her his adorable grin.
"Let's get rid of all this, Joey are you sure you got any food in your mouth, most of it seems to be on your face" she said, wiping it away as he stood there reluctantly, scrunching his eyes tight. After he had passed the Monica inspection he went and sat on in between Phoebe and Rachel.
"Hello Joey," Rachel cooed.
"Hello Rachel," Joey replied, but with his adorable 3 year old speech, that struggled with r's.
"Do you wanna play a game?" Phoebe asked.
"Yeah!" Joey answered eagerly.
"How about I-spy? Or oh oh rock, paper scissors," she suggested matching Joey's excitement.
"See we played that earlier, how about dressing up?" Rachel proposed.
"Ooh yes!" Phoebe agreed, clapping her hands.
"Joey?" Rachel asked, nudging him, he didn't look too willing. "Please Jojo!" she pleaded with her puppy dog eyes.
"Okay," Joey sighed.
"Yay!" Phoebe exclaimed, skipping off into Rachel's room.
Rachel followed close behind, leading Joey by the hand.
10 minutes later Rachel lifted Joey on to the bed, they had dressed him in a cute little white button up shirt and mini bow tie, with some smart trousers that had been Ben's.
"Awww don't you look handsome!" Phoebe said.
"Joey please-" Rachel began, holding up a little hat.
"No!" Joey moaned, wiggling away.
"But you'll look so precious," Rachel whined.
"No!" Joey groaned, retreating further across the bed.
"Oh I know, I know, how about trying on the cute little bat costume we got you last Halloween but it was too big," Phoebe said, rushing around to find it.
"Fine, but one day you are wearing this hat!" Rachel said wagging her finger at Joey.
"Found it!" Phoebe said triumphantly holding up the costume.
They got Joey into it and he fitted perfectly, it had a cute little hood with bat ears on top and some sweet wings on the side.
"Oh my god, you look adorable," Phoebe sighed, taking a photo on her camera.
"Come on Joey let's go show Mommy," Rachel said, lifting him down off the bed.
"Can bats fly?" Joey asked.
"Oh yes they can, see I'll show you," Rachel replied, picking him back up and flying him a lap around the bedroom.
"Wooooahhh," Joey exclaimed in delight, holding his arms out either side, pretending to glide through the air.
"Come on let's fly you to the living room," Rachel said, steering him out of the room and landing him back on the floor.
"Look what we found in the bedroom," Phoebe announced.
The three of them looked up.
"Wow, did you find Robin in there too?" Chandler joked.
"Aww, you look so sweet," Monica said, walking over and tickling Joey.
"Did you know bats are very closely related to dinosaurs, because their ancestors-" Ross started, but was interrupted by a snore from Joey, everyone laughed, even Ross.
"That's my boy!" Chandler said clapping his hands and high fiving Joey.
They spent the next hour sitting watching television all together, snuggled on the sofa. As it reached 7:30, Monica stood up.
"Come on Joey, let's go get your pyjamas on," she said, motioning for him.
"But I'm not tired," he insisted, snuggling deeper into Chandler's chest.
"Okay well it is nearly time for bed. How about we go get them on and then you can come and watch tv here for a little bit longer," Monica suggested.
"Okay," Joey said following Monica back to their apartment.
"Which pyjamas do you want honey?" She asked him, opening the drawer.
"That one and those ones," Joey said.
Monica giggled "sweetie, they don't match," she told him.
"It's a top and a bottom," Joey pointed out.
"Yes but they're not a set," she said.
"Does it matter?" Joey said.
"Yes! Now which MATCHING set do you want?" Monica said.
"Umm Star Wars," Joey answered.
Monica retrieved the pair from the draw and got Joey changed into the coordinated pair of pyjamas.
She then went into their kitchen and warmed up some milk and put it in Joey's nighttime sippy cup.
"Come on then," Monica said, motioning for him.
But then he held out his arms.
"Okay fine," she sighed, picking him up and handing him his warm milk, which he began to slurp happily.
As they went into the other apartment, Phoebe was leaving, but gave Joey a kiss goodnight first. Monica sat down on the couch next to Chandler with Joey on her lap. Ross and Rachel snuggled together in the armchair and they all watched an episode of Cheers. Monica stroked Joey's hair with one hand and held Chandler's hand with the other.
"I think someone is getting tired," Rachel said, pointing to Joey who was sleepily sipping at his milk.
"Come on, time for bed," Monica sitting up. "Say good night to everyone,"
"Night night daddy," Joey said wrapping his arms round Chandler's neck.
"Night night buddy," he replied.
Then Joey slipped off the couch and wandered over to Ross and Rachel.
"Night night honey, sweet dreams," Rachel said kissing him on the forehead.
"Goodnight buddy," Ross said, ruffling his hair.
"Come on then," Monica said, lifting Joey up. He rested his head sleepily on her shoulder. As she walked out of the apartment, he gave everyone a little wave.
She took him in the bathroom and helped him scrub his teeth, then made him go to the toilet twice, just to try and avoid any night accidents. By this time Joey was practically sleep-walking. Monica had to pick him up to walk back to his bedroom. She held him tight, rocking her baby as he yawned; he was growing up so fast, she was not ready. It seemed only a week ago she had been carrying a 1 year old into his bedroom. In the next couple of years, he'd be starting school and then before you know it, he'd be moving out. A sadness began to fill Monica, but as she placed him down on the bed and he looked up and smiled at her, it disappeared. She would just appreciate the here and now, she couldn't stop the future, but she could make sure she made the most of the present.
"I love you Mom," Joey said, smiling at her.
"I love you too Joey," she said, placing a kiss on his forehead and tucking him in tight with Hugsy. She sat with him, gently stroking his hair, but after 10 minutes the room was filled with soft snores. The door creaked open and Chandler poked his head round.
"He's just dropped off," she whispered, creeping over to him.
He put his arm around her and she laid her head on his shoulder as they both looked over at Joey.
"I'm sorry but we have the best genes; we have made the most amazing human," Chandler sighed.
"I know, I feel blessed to get to share him with you," Monica replied.
"I love you Monica Geller," Chandler smiled kissing her lips.
"I love you Chandler Bing," she replied, returning the kiss.