The One With The Souvenirs
Chapter Nine
Continued from: 'TOW The Trip To London'
By: Jana~
*****~*****
--Chandler and Monica frantically kissed as she struggled to unlock her hotel room door. Once open, they nearly fell inside and onto the bed…
"We have to start getting ready…" Monica whimpered, his hands transforming her body into the consistency of jello…
"We have time…" he murmured as he continued his affectionate assault… "We'll just do a quickie."
She groaned… "I want a 'longie'…"
"Tonight… all night long…"
His hand slipped up her thigh and all thoughts of getting ready for the wedding left her mind…
*****
--Rachel looked beautiful… and so happy. She walked down the aisle towards her prince, Ross smiling at the sight of her…
"She looks incredible…" he breathed, and Chandler smiled, his gaze moving from Rachel to Monica…
"She sure does." He whispered to himself…
--Rachel swore she wouldn't cry, not wanting to ruin her make-up, but it quickly became a lost cause…
"Repeat after me…" the minister instructed… "I, Ross, take thee, Rachel to be my lawfully wedded wife,"
Ross smiled… "I, Ross, take thee… thee…" His smile dropped as he struggled with his lines, his excitement and nervousness causing his brain to shut down momentarily…
Rachel chuckled, noticing the sheer terror on his face… "Rachel," she prompted, then her smile grew wider… "This really isn't a scam to get citizenship…" she quipped to everyone as a whole… "We're both citizens of the same country."
Everyone chuckled, and her lighthearted reaction helped Ross to relax…
The minister smiled… "Let's start over…"
*****
--The reception was fun, and the food was wonderful, but all Chandler and Monica wanted was for it to end so they could leave… back to her room… to be together…
They danced closely, but not so close as to attract suspicion. They were finally a couple, but they weren't ready to announce it to everyone just yet. It was Ross and Rachel's day, and Monica didn't want to intrude on that.
--Ross and Rachel had done all the little things a newly married couple does at a reception… cut the cake, first dance, throw the bouquet and garter, then they left for their honeymoon, giving Monica and Chandler the opportunity to duck out.
--"Joey, we're going now." Chandler approached his friend at the buffet table and informed him of his plans…
"We are?" he asked as he continued to load down his plate…
"Monica and I are leaving." he clarified…
"Oh. Where'ya going?"
Chandler's brain quickly thought up a place, knowing if he wasn't careful, Joey would invite himself to come along… "The movies. To see a chick flick… that has subtitles."
"Eh!" Joey made a disgusted face… "Why?"
Chandler shrugged and made a similar face… "Monica wants to go."
He scoffed… "Have fun, Dude."
"Thanks." As Chandler moved to leave, he noticed Joey had meat on his plate…
--That wasn't uncommon for Joey. In fact, it was very common for Joey, but he had made a promise to Phoebe… he promised to stop eating meat until she had the triplets for her brother and his wife.
--Typical of pregnant women, Phoebe had a craving… and that craving for her was meat. But with being a vegetarian, that posed a problem for her. Joey, being a good friend, volunteered to stop eating meat till she gave birth. The reasoning behind the sacrifice was that she would be eating his meat, and no additional animals would be eaten.
--"Um, Joe, that's meat." He pointed at the plate…
"Yeah?"
"What about your promise to Phoebe?"
"We're in a whole other country!" Joey exclaimed… "I still have to do that here?"
"Uh, yeah! You made a promise."
Joey groaned and dropped the meat back in the tray, then stabbed a chunk of overcooked, soggy broccoli, waggling it at Chandler… "Mmm! Yumm!" he snipped, upset, then flung it onto his plate and walked away…
*****
--Chandler and Monica were in each other's arms and kissing before the door was even shut, locked, and bolted, their passion for each other fueling their desires…
"Rachel looked so beautiful…" Monica muttered as Chandler's lips found her neck…
"Mmm-hmm…"
"And Ross seemed so happy…"
"Mmmm…"
"So did Rachel…" Monica added…
"Do you want to make love or commentary?" he asked playfully…
"Hush," she smirked as she scolded… "Or my next commentary will be about your 'performance' while making love!"
Chandler winced… "Beautiful wedding, huh?" He smiled sheepishly…
"Yeah," she chuckled… "Now kiss me."
*****
--They snuggled under the blankets, naked and sweaty, content and sleepy…
"I think that's a record…" Monica panted… "Who knew you had such stamina."
He shook his head… "Not me."
He stroked her arm as they remained silent for several minutes, enjoying the closeness… he knew an in-depth conversation was imminent…
"Chandler?"
And there it was…
"Yeah?"
"We need to talk…" It sounded more like a question than a statement…
"Right."
"Why did you agree to this?" she asked hesitantly… "What's changed?"
"I have," he replied without pause… "I've changed."
"In what way?" she pressed…
"I know now what I want."
"And what's that?"
He kissed her hair… "You." he answered simply…
She smiled as she kissed his chest… "I want you too." She snuggled in closer, running her index finger in little circles across his abdomen… "You're not scared of being in a relationship with me?"
"Oh, couldn't be more terrified." He admitted… "Terrified of being in a relationship with you. Terrified of hurting you. Losing you. Terrified that you'll start hating me…"
"I won't ever hate you, Chandler."
"I'm gonna hold you to that…" he chuckled, then a seriousness that was uncharacteristic for him followed… "You said once that you could help me with my issues…"
She nodded… "I did…"
"You're still willing to do that?"
"Of course…"
"Just so you know, I'm going to mess up. A lot." He tensed… "Still sure you wanna do this?"
"I'm sure." Her tone was firm, unwavering… "And just so you know," she added… "I'm not gonna let you bail at the first sign if trouble." She tapped his chest with her finger… "Now are you sure you still wanna do this?"
"Very." He answered softly… "Very sure. I want to make this work."
"I do too."
He sighed as he pulled her tighter to him…
"What are we gonna tell everyone?"
"The truth." he offered… "That we 'hooked up' in London."
She chuckled… "How romantic." She propped herself on her arm and turned slightly to face him… "We should wait to tell them though."
"Ok," he agreed… "For how long?"
"Well, we should wait till Ross and Rachel get back from their honeymoon…" she reasoned… "So we can tell them all at the same time."
"Ok…"
"And maybe we should wait till after Phoebe has the babies." she suggested… "I think everything will be a little on the tense side for a while… after she gives them up to Frank and Alice…"
"Really?" he questioned… "Why?"
"I think it's gonna be hard for her…" Monica replied, a touch of sadness to her voice… "She said something before…"
"Oh. So, we can't be together for a while then…"
She chuckled at the sound of disappointment in his voice… "No… we can be together, we just have to be sneaky about it."
He smiled, his grin so sweet and playful it made her smile wider… "Aaaahhhh, I see. Yeah, we can do that. We've done it before."
She touched his lips, running her finger along them before moving to his chin… "Exactly."
"I don't think I could be without you for hours let alone days or weeks!"
"You won't have to," she assured him… "You're stuck with me now."
"Why am I suddenly thrilled and frightened, all at the same time?" he quipped, his eyes twinkling with mischief…
"Cause relationships are scary?" She answered his question with a question, playing along with his wisecrack...
"I was thinking more along the lines of: because you are scary."
She slapped him playfully, then kissed where her hand had made contact… "And as your punishment for such a remark, we're gonna 'go' again!"
"That doesn't sound like punishment…" he smirked…
"It might be," she raised her eyebrows suggestively… "If you don't be good…"
He pretended to recoil from the possibilities… "I'll be good."
"Good boy. Now, kiss me."
"Woof."
*****~*****
--"Hey! Pheebs! We're back!" Joey exclaimed as he, along with Chandler and Monica, entered Monica's apartment…
Phoebe struggled to stand, her swollen belly making such a simple task difficult… "Good. Fine. Where's my presents?"
They all dropped their smiles and fished into their bags, handing over gift-wrapped souvenirs… Chandler held his up as if it were an offering to some ancient king.
Phoebe faked a chuckle, then glared as she collected the gifts from each of them…
Joey, Monica, and Chandler shared looks as she struggled to sit at the dining table…
She started with Joey's, and he smiled as she tore away the paper and opened the box, hoping she would like it.
She peered into the box, discovering a tall soft hat, royal blue with a British flag pictured on the front.
She looked between it and Joey, then put it on her head… "Who am I? Cat-in-the-Hat??" She then yanked the hat off her head and dropped it to the table… "Who's next?"
Monica timidly pushed her gift towards her, and Chandler patted Joey's back as he pouted…
"You couldn't have picked her up an unused gift, huh?" Chandler whispered sotto to Joey…
Joey frowned and shrugged… "Ran out of money."
Phoebe scowled as she ripped the paper off of Monica's present, but once the gift came into view, her expression changed and she smiled… "A porcelain doll?"
Monica exhaled in relief at Phoebe's reaction… "Yeah, it's the flag guard."
"Thanks Monica," Phoebe strained to hug her… "It's so pretty!"
Chandler, seeing Phoebe as not so scary and moody, inched his gift towards her with confidence.
She smiled as she ripped the paper free to produce a 'Big Ben' miniature clock. She looked at him with an add expression, like he'd lost his mind…
"See, Pheebs, it's a real clock! It does the chimes and everything!"
"So every hour on the hour I can be reminded that I didn't get to go?!?"
Chandler winced and backed away slightly…
She dramatically pushed the clock back across the table towards him, sighing loudly with great irritation… "And I suppose I'll have to wait till Ross and Rachel get back from their honeymoon before I'll get their gifts!"
"Well, yeah sweetie," Monica stated softly… "But I'm sure they got you something really nice…"
"Are you?! Are you sure?!" she snipped, then struggled to stand, waddling to the bathroom and slamming the door…
"What's wrong with her?" Joey asked, concerned and irritated…
"She's just hormonal…" Monica explained… "And sad cause she didn't get to go to London."
Joey scowled and nodded… "I'll be back…" He grabbed his carry-on bag off the floor and walked out the door…
Chandler looked at Monica and cracked a tiny smile… "He's really worried about her…" he confided… "She's been really different since the pregnancy. I think he thinks he's lost her as a friend."
"She'll be fine once she has the babies…" Monica stated as she began to clean up the wrapping paper…
"You had said that she might have a hard time giving up the babies?" he asked as he helped her… "What did she say to you?"
She looked over at the bathroom door to be sure it was still closed, then leaned in and spoke very quietly… "She said she was bummed because it was almost over, and that usually, when you're done with the pregnancy, you get to be a mom, and she doesn't get to be."
"Wow."
"Yeah. She'll be ok though… just might take a while, ya'know?"
"Yeah."
"Especially if she gets 'baby blues'."
His brow wrinkled in confusion… "What's that?"
"Postpartum depression? A lot of moms get it. Hormonal changes causes the mom to get really depressed."
"You sure know a lot about this stuff…"
She shrugged… "I've done some reading… since she's gotten pregnant…"
"Is there anything we can do to help her?"
"We just need to be there for her."
"Of course."
The bathroom door flew open and Phoebe waddled out… "You think you have to pee! You sit down to pee! You wait to pee! But you don't have to pee! It's just a baby sitting on your bladder! Squeezing it like a squeak toy!"
Chandler approached, trying to be helpful… "Phoebe? Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Yeah! You can tell the babies to stop kicking my bladder like a soccer ball!" she snipped as she struggled to sit on the couch…
Chandler looked to Monica who just shrugged in response…
"Ok, umm, well, I guess I can try…" He knelt down next to Phoebe and inched his face closer to her protruding abdomen… "Um, hello? Little babies? Um, could you stop kicking your Aunt Phoebe in the bladder? You're hurting her…"
She squinted at him… "Is that how you're going to discipline your own kids? You don't ask! You tell!"
He flinched when she yelled, then nodded and leaned in again… "Babies!" he said firmly, placing his hands on her stomach… "You stop kicking your Aunt Phoebe right this minute!" Just then one of the babies kicked and he jumped back when he felt it… "Defiant, aren't they?"
"What good are you?" Phoebe snipped, then waved him away…
He approached Monica who was standing in the kitchen and shrugged… "I tried."
Just then Joey walked back into the apartment. He acknowledged Chandler and Monica briefly with a look before walking over to Phoebe and kneeling down next to her…
"I have something for you…" he stated softly…
She put down the magazine she had just seconds before picked up, then gave Joey her undivided attention…
He gave her a slight lop-sided smile, then handed her a small wrapped gift…
"What is this?" she asked as she took it from his hand…
"It's something I was going to give you after the babies were born, but, I thought maybe, you'd kinda like to have it now."
She ripped away the wrapping and opened the small box inside, gasping at what she saw. Inside the soft velvet box was a necklace.
A necklace of white gold, with a pendant attached, also made of white gold, and on the pendant it had the inscription: 'World's best aunt'.
She started to cry, and Monica quickly dashed to the bathroom to grab her a box of kleenex…
Joey grimaced and began to fidget, thinking she was upset with his gift… "I'm sorry! I'll take it back! You can take it back! Get anything you want!"
"Joey…" she whimpered through her tears… "I love it. I'm not crying cause I don't like it, I'm crying cause I do."
He sighed with relief, wrapping his arms around her when she reached for him…
"You're the greatest…" she whispered… "I'm sorry I've been so bitchy lately…"
"It's fine, Pheebs. We just hate seeing you so upset…" Monica interjected, and Chandler nodded in response…
Joey broke the hug and took the necklace out of the box, undoing the clasps and extending the opened ends towards Phoebe… "May I?" he asked, offering to help her put it on…
She smiled and nodded… "Thanks for being so understanding guys. And I'm sorry I complained about the souvenirs. I'm just irritated that I didn't get to go."
"Maybe after you have the babies we can go somewhere?" Joey suggested…
Phoebe smiled… "That might be fun…"
"Yeah!" Joey exclaimed… "And, ya'know Pheebs, we really missed you being there."
"Of course you did," she scoffed… "I'm loads of fun to travel with!"
Chandler, Monica, and Joey smiled over her comment as she looked at her new necklace with quiet awe.
*****~*****
--Ross and Rachel bounded through the door excitedly…
"We're back!" they both said in unison…
Immediately, Chandler, Monica, and Joey jumped up to greet them… Phoebe moved much slower due to her huge stomach…
Hugs were exchanged and several overlapping conversations and laughter made the scene noisy and chaotic… but no one minded.
"Did you bring me souvenirs?" Phoebe asked, and Joey and Chandler instinctively moved back…
Ross' smile dropped slightly… "Well, we did get you souvenirs, but they're in our bags at home."
Phoebe sighed… "Figures…"
Rachel quickly reached into her purse and produced a video… "We did bring the wedding video though!"
Phoebe snagged it from her hand and held it up excitedly… "Yay! Let's watch it!" She turned towards Monica's VCR, then stopped cold…
"Pheebs? What's--" Joey didn't even finish the question when he saw the problem… "Phoebe?! You're leaking!"
"Oh my God, Phoebe! Your water broke!" Monica announced as all eyes moved to the puddle on the floor beneath Phoebe…
"Yeah. I feel that." Phoebe uttered softly, then began to head for the VCR again… "So, Let's pop some popcorn to eat while we watch the tape!"
"Phoebe!" Chandler called out… "We have to take you to the hospital now!"
She turned, facing Chandler and her friends, everyone making similar comments and nodding in agreement…
She forcefully slapped the video into Joey's hand and huffed… "I'm NEVER gonna get to see this wedding!"
She stormed towards the door and everyone shared looks of bewilderment…
Phoebe stopped at the door… "You guys COMIN' or NOT?!"
With various comments of affirmation, they all fell quickly in line behind Phoebe as they headed out the door.
TO BE CONTINUED…
--In: 'The One Where Chandler Comforts Phoebe'