A/N - First of all, I'm sorry this has taken so long to put up - and I left you with a cliffhanger in the last chapter. What a horrible thing to do... I'm sure you didn't think I'd mess things up too much, did you? Well, you'll soon see... And thank you very much for your reviews. I'm glad you're enjoying this.

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The Gift

Chapter Fourteen - My Girls

"I have some good news and some bad news."

Chandler just looked at the doctor and waited for her to continue. At least there was some good news. He could only hope that the good news was that Monica was going to be all right.

"The good news is that Monica is going to be fine," Dr. Collins began, as if she were reading Chandler's mind. "She lost quite a bit of blood, and she's going to be weak for awhile, but she'll be fine. She just needs to get plenty of rest. I'm sure you can see that she follows the doctor's orders," she smiled slightly and placed her hand on Chandler's shoulder.

"That's wonderful news, but what was the bad news?" Chandler asked. He wasn't sure if he wanted to hear the answer to that question, but he knew that he needed to.

"Well... Why don't we discuss that when you're with Monica?" the doctor suggested. "You just adore those precious babies for now. Monica is in a recovery room down the hall. They can tell you which one at the nurses' station. And I'll have them bring your babies soon," she smiled and walked away from the group of friends.

"See, Chandler? She's gonna be fine," Rachel said, rubbing Chandler's back, trying to comfort him.

He turned back to look into the nursery again and allowed himself to smile at his daughters. Today was supposed to be a happy day, and he wasn't going to let anything ruin it for Monica or himself. "I'm going to check on Monica," he said, looking back at his friends. "Keep an eye on my girls for me," he smiled slightly and headed down the hallway.

Soon he was shown to Monica's room by a nurse, and he walked in to find Monica wide awake.

"Hey," she said quietly. "How are the babies?"

"They're wonderful," he assured her before placing a gentle kiss on her lips. "How do you feel?"

"A little sore, a little tired... But I've never felt better," she added with a smile. "I'm a mother. I've been looking forward to this day all of my life. And sharing it with you just makes it even better."

He smiled at her, and sat in the chair by her bed. "The guys are out there... They're looking at the babies right now."

"I really want to hold them, Chandler," she said quietly.

"You will," he promised. "Someone's supposed to bring them to you in a few minutes," he informed her. "I'm sure they can't wait to see their mom again."

"I don't know. They seemed to like their dad an awful lot," Monica laughed weakly. "I think they've both got you wrapped around their little fingers already."

"Of course they do," he chuckled, and was interrupted by the opening door.

"Ms. Geller, you have some visitors," the nurse said cheerily and pushed a bassinet into Monica's room. She was followed by another nurse and another bassinet. "We'll leave the four of you alone, but you can buzz if you need anything at all," the nurse informed the proud parents before leaving the room again.

Monica glanced into the bassinets and felt tears running down her cheeks. "Could you?" she said, looking at Chandler, indicating that she wanted him to hand the babies to her.

He carefully took the babies out of their bassinets one at a time and placed them in Monica's arms. He smiled at the sight of the three most important people in his life, and just watched as Monica gazed at the tiny versions of herself. "My girls," he said quietly and smiled when Monica looked up at him. "I love you. All three of you."

"We love you, too," Monica whispered, then looked back at the babies. "I can't believe they came out of me," she marveled.

"I wouldn't believe it either if I hadn't seen it up close and personal," Chandler teased.

"Knock knock," Ross called, poking his head in the room. "Are you up for a little company?"

"Absolutely," Monica smiled and watched as her friends filed into her hospital room. She looked back down at the babies. "Girls, these are your aunts and uncles. Get used to them. We have to put up with them a lot," she teased, looking up to smile at everyone.

"Have you named them yet?" Rachel asked curiously.

"Well... No, we haven't," Monica replied. "We've talked about names, but nothing's set in stone yet."

"But we'll let you know as soon as we figure it out for ourselves," Chandler assured them and looked back at his family. His family. Chandler finally had a real family.

"They look just like you, Mon," Ross smiled at his sister.

"Yeah... Thank goodness they don't look like Chandler," Joey added, looking over at his best friend. "They're lucky kids."

"You can say that again," Chandler laughed.

"Could I hold one?" Phoebe asked excitedly. Monica nodded and watched as Phoebe took one of the babies from her.

"Here, Rach," Monica said, holding the other baby toward Rachel.

"Thank you," Rachel said quietly, taking the baby into her arms. "They're so little."

"Yeah. Premature babies usually are," Ross replied, looking over his wife's shoulder. "But they're healthy. That's all that matters."

"Wow. I can't believe I'm gonna have one of these in a few more months," Joey said in awe, looking at the baby in Phoebe's arms. "Joey Tribbiani. A dad."

"How about this? Chandler Bing. A dad. Never thought it would happen, did you?" Chandler laughed. He leaned over and kissed Monica tenderly. "I'm so glad it did happen. Especially with you."

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Knock! Knock!

Dr. Collins entered Monica's hospital room later that afternoon, prepared to talk with her patient about the "bad news."

"Hi, Monica. Chandler," she smiled and neared the bed. "I guess now is as good a time as any to talk about a few things."

"The bad news?" Chandler asked, holding Monica's hand. He felt her tighten her grip on his hand.

"Well, yes," the doctor replied, taking a seat by Monica's bed. "Monica, you were very lucky to make it through this birth. Your babies are perfectly healthy and, thankfully, so are you. I think you both know that you're very lucky to be doing this well, Monica."

"Yes, we know," Monica agreed.

"I'll stop beating around the bush. I'm sure you just want to get this over with," the doctor smiled sympathetically.

"Yes, thank you," Monica replied. "What's wrong with me?"

"You know, I've probably made this seem a little more horrible than it is. It isn't good news, but it's not the end of the world -"

Chandler had to stop her. "Doctor, I hate to interrupt, but... You know that bush? You're beating around it again."

"Yes. I'm sorry," Dr. Collins apologized. "This never gets easier... Monica, you can't have anymore children," she finally told them.

"Oh," Monica replied quietly. She wasn't sure whether to start crying or to thank the doctor for not telling her that she was dying.

Chandler got up from his chair and pulled Monica into a hug. He could tell, even though she had only uttered one word, that she was devastated.

"I'll let you have some time alone," the doctor said before standing up to leave. "We'll discuss the details later... And I'm very sorry," she continued, looking back at the couple as she walked out the door.

"Are you okay?" Chandler asked after a moment of silence. He was still holding her, and she was clinging to him as if her life depended on his embrace.

"I'll be fine," she answered unconvincingly. "I just... I just wish I..." She trailed off, finally allowing the tears to fall.

"Shh..." Chandler whispered, rubbing her back lovingly. "We've got two beautiful little girls, Mon. And if that's all we were meant to have, then that's what we'll have."

"I know," she said quietly, wiping away her tears and pulling away from him so she could look into his eyes. "They'll be plenty to keep our hands full, right?" she smiled weakly.

"Absolutely," Chandler agreed, smiling back at her. He kissed her tenderly.

"Besides, I'm too old to have anymore babies," Monica continued, looking over at the two bassinets by her bed. Both little girls were sleeping peacefully.

"Hey, you're not too old for anything," Chandler assured her and kissed her forehead. "You're a young, beautiful, brand new mother," he smiled.

"Yeah," she replied. "A brand new mother. I can't wait to take them home," she said, looking back at the babies. "We're going to be a perfect family, Chandler."

"We already are..."

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"Welcome home, girls," Monica whispered as she carried one of the babies into the apartment two days later. Chandler followed behind her with the other baby.

The others were supposed to come over later that evening to make sure the new parents had gotten settled in. For now, Monica and Chandler were alone with their daughters.

Monica sat down in the armchair and Chandler sat down on the couch. Both of them were fussing over the babies for several minutes before Monica looked up at Chandler and simply smiled. "Never in a million years would I have dreamed that I would give birth to your children," she laughed lightly.

He looked up at her and smiled. "I know... But here we are, at home with our beautiful baby girls."

"Yeah... It's pretty wonderful, isn't it?"

"It certainly is," he agreed, grinning. After another few minutes of fussing over the babies, Chandler looked back at Monica. "Hey, Mon?"

"Yeah?"

"I know that I'm going to sound like a horrible father, but... Which baby am I holding?" he asked hesitantly.

Monica laughed lightly. "The one you're holding is Abigail Rachel," she answered. "This one is Savannah Phoebe," she continued.

"Thanks... I guess I'm gonna have to get to know them a little better, huh?"

"I guess so... And you've got a lifetime to do it... But I think you need to remember their names as soon as possible."

"Will do," he smiled. "Do you think Phoebe and Rachel will be surprised that the babies have their names?"

"Probably... And thank you for letting me do that, by the way. They've just helped me through this so much... I thought it would be right... Besides, you wouldn't let me name either of them Chandler."

"They're girls, Mon. Chandler is a man's name," he replied.

"All right, sir... I'm gonna put Vannah down," she said, looking at the sleeping bundle in her arms. "Are you coming with Abby?"

"I'm right behind you," he answered and followed her into the nursery. Soon the babies were in their cribs, sleeping peacefully, and Monica and Chandler were standing between the two beds, with Chandler's arms wrapped around Monica from behind. "I love you," he whispered and kissed the back of her neck.

"I love you, too," she whispered.

"Thank you so much," Chandler continued. "Thank you for my girls..."

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A/N - I could never kill Monica - or Chandler, for that matter. Did you really think I would? Anyway... I hope you liked the chapter. As for the names... I hope you liked them. Honestly, using Phoebe and Rachel as middle names was just so I wouldn't have to come up with two more names there. I've already named my own children - the ones that don't exist yet, but that's a whole different story - but it's kind of hard to do it when I'm writing. I have no idea why. Anyway... Sorry for my rambling. I guess I'm just in a rambling kind of mood... Please let me know what you thought.