The twins were closing in on two weeks. The house was a wreck. Monica and Chandler were basically living out of boxes. They were scrambling - they had planned for one baby, not two, and they planned to have time to settle before the baby - just one - arrived. In fact, Monica told Chandler she had read that something like 75% of first-borns were born after their due dates.

This was not what they expected.

Monica came into the living room one evening, having just put the twins down - not for the night, of course, but hopefully for a few hours. Chandler was looking through boxes.

"Hey," she began softly. "They're both asleep."

Chandler looked up, pleased. "That's great!" He returned to the boxes. "I swear we packed laundry detergent, right?"

"Come sit with me for a sec," Monica said.

"You know where it is?"

"Just come sit with me!" Monica whispered harshly.

"OK, OK," he said, moving toward the couch. "What's up?"

"Nothing. I just - I don't think we've had two seconds together since the babies were born," she said quietly.

They sat together on the couch. Chandler put his armed around her as she leaned in. He kissed her forehead, several days of stubble tangling with her messy hair. Monica sighed, deeply and wearily, closing her eyes.

"This is harder than I thought it would be," she admitted.

Chandler nodded emphatically. "Definitely. There's two of them! I was barely ready for one. Barely." he began. "But, honey, I'm on my last pair of clean underwear. And honestly? The ones I'm wearing aren't all that clean. I can't even remember the last time I changed clothes? I really need to find that laundry detergent."

Monica giggled. "It's with the kitchen stuff. I'll get it in a minute," she promised. "Just hold me for a while."

They sat together, enjoying the quiet. Occasionally, the baby monitor lit up on the coffee table as one of the twins gurgled, sighed, or passed gas in their sleep. They had so much to do - unpacking the house, never mind decorating; introducing the twins to the important people in their lives; assembling all the baby gear. Monica hadn't even made their bed since she made it the first night before they climbed in after a long day of moving and taking care of two - not one - brand new babies.

This was not how they envisioned new parenthood or home-ownership. This was not what they expected.

Monica clumsily brought a hand to Chandler's face, sporting almost two weeks of stubble.

"I like this scruffy look you've got going on these days," she said.

He smiled sleepily, sighing a laugh. "You comin' on to me?" he teased. "Because honestly, Mon, I think I'm too tired for that -- as much I'd love to."

"No, just complimenting you. I like the rugged look," she said. "The rugged, tired, frazzled look," she paused, meeting his eyes. "Fatherhood looks good on you."

Chandler leaned his head against Monica's. "I can't find my razor," he admitted and she giggled. "I knew this would be hard, but I had no idea it'd be this hard. I've never been this tired. Ever."

Monica nodded. "I thought we were going to have a couple weeks to get the house set up. Decorate the nursery - just one," she paused, laughing dryly. "I thought we'd have a minute to enjoy the house before bring a baby home. Maybe even have a small housewarming? I thought we'd have time to get some yard work done? Plant some flowers? Then we'd have one baby, who I would get on a schedule immediately. Not like Emma, or other babies, who cry nonstop or spit up everywhere. We'd never misplace diapers or burp cloths. We'd shower every morning. Somehow, I thought we'd have the Gerber baby? Like literally, from the commercial - a baby who coo'ed when they were awake and slept 10 hours a night from day one." She laughed at her own naivety.

Chandler laughed, and nodded his head in agreement. "A baby that never had diaper blowouts," he said. "I had no idea babies could get poop in their own ears."

He turned and looked at her seriously.

"I mean, I thought we'd spend the first few weeks christening every flat surface in this house," he said. Monica laughed, but that only encouraged him. "Seriously! I had some great ideas -filthy ideas - but now I'm too tired to even tell you about them." He let his head fall back against the couch, then turned toward her. "C'mon - All that counter space in the kitchen?" His eyebrows nearly reached hairline. "That big bathtub? The fireplace? I had some great plans. But now?" He pretended to drift off. "They're going to cock block us for the 20 years or so, right?"

Monica shrugged, as Chandler rubbed his forehead. "For the first time in my life, I'm too tired to be horny."

They sat in silence for a while. So long, that they almost drifted off.

"But, Mon, I'm so happy," Chandler said. "Like, stupidly happy. It doesn't even make sense how much I love those babies."

"Me too," Monica said, wiping away tears that appeared all too often these days.

This was not how they envisioned new parenthood or home-ownership.

But they had never been happier.