A/N - Again, thanks for your reviews on the last chapter. Um... I hope this one's okay. I've got one more chapter finished after this one, and I'm trying to decide if I really want to use the idea I'm playing around with, so it might take a little longer for the next chapters. Anyway... I hope you like this one. Please let me know what you think...

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There You Are

Chapter Eight

"Hi," Monica called when she entered her apartment later that afternoon. Chandler and Emily were playing with dolls in the living room floor. Monica had to smile at the sight of Chandler with Emily in his lap, helping her "feed" her doll.

"Mommy!" she exclaimed, jumping up from Chandler's lap and running over to hug Monica.

"Hey, sweetie. Did you miss me?" Monica asked, picking up her daughter and carrying her into the living room to join Chandler.

"Uh huh," she answered as the two of them sat down on the couch.

"Did Chandler take good care of you?"

"We played, Mommy," she said, jumping out of Monica's lap and walking over to Chandler who was still holding the doll Emily had given him.

"I see that," Monica smiled. "Did you two have fun?"

"Yes... Chandler's my friend, Mommy."

"I'm glad you like him, honey," Monica replied, smiling over at Chandler who smiled back at her in return.

"Everything okay?" Chandler asked reluctantly.

"Yeah. Everything's fine," she assured him. She turned back to Emily. "Emily, honey, do you think we should ask Chandler to stay for dinner?"

"Yes! Please, Chandler?" she pleaded with her newfound friend.

"Well, it depends on what we're having," Chandler teased.

"Emily's favorite. Spaghetti," Monica replied.

"You're kidding?" he gasped, looking at Emily with wide eyes, which received a giggle from the little girl. "Spaghetti is my favorite, too!"

"So I guess that means you'll stay?" Monica laughed.


"Yeah. I'd love to," Chandler smiled at her.

"Good... Now, you kids have fun, and I'm gonna start dinner."

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After dinner, Monica gave Emily her bath and, after wrestling her away from Chandler, tucked her into bed for the night. Once the little girl had fallen asleep, Monica rejoined Chandler in the living room, where he had been entertaining himself with the television.

"Hey," she said as she walked over to join him on the couch.

"Hey," he replied, flipping off the television and turning to look at her. "So? How'd it go?" he asked, wondering about what she and Joey had discussed earlier.

"It was fine, I guess," she answered. "He asked me to make sure you didn't come home and kill him," she smiled.

"Well, that depends on what he said to you."

"Don't get mad," Monica began.

"Don't get mad? I don't like the beginning of this conversation," Chandler replied. "What did he say?"

"He said that he thought he made the right choice. He said that he thought Emily and I were better off without him."

"Did you agree?"

"Yeah, kind of. We're fine without him. I've already told you that, before you knew he was your roommate - before I knew he was your roommate."

"So... What's the plan? Does he want to see her?"

"He said that he doesn't want to interfere in our lives. And he also told me that Emily would be lucky to have you in her life," she smiled slightly.

He smiled back at her. "Well... She's a great kid. I really had fun with her tonight."

"I'm glad," Monica said, then reached over to squeeze his hand. "So... Are you still planning on attacking Joey when you go home?"

"Do you want me to?" he asked, completely serious. If she told him to, he'd probably rush home and take care of his roommate at that very moment.

"No. I think it's better this way. And if things work out between us -" She stopped herself before she said something that might scare him off. "Well, we'll just have to figure that out when the time's right," Monica answered.

Chandler smiled at her, and they sat there in silence for a few minutes, both of them wondering what should be said next. Chandler broke the silence.

"Monica, there's something that I haven't told you, and I think that now is as good a time as any," he began nervously. "And I'm not sure how you're gonna take this, but I think you should know."

"Okay," she replied worriedly. "What is it?"

"You know how upset I was when I found out what Joey had done to you?" She nodded. "Well, I almost did the same thing to someone else."

"What? What Joey did?"

"Yeah. What Joey did," Chandler answered.

"You mean... You have a child?" Monica asked, shocked.

"No. No, I don't," he replied. "I almost did."

"What do you mean almost? How do you almost have a child?" She was definitely confused.

"Well, I did... Maybe I should just start at the beginning," he suggested. She nodded. "I was dating this woman - Erica - a few years ago. We weren't really serious or anything. Just a fling, I guess. And, a few weeks after we broke up, she showed up at my apartment to tell me that she was pregnant."

"And you abandoned her?" Monica asked. The Chandler she had gotten to know over the past few weeks didn't seem like the kind of man who would run away like Joey had done.

"Kind of... Yeah," he said. "But, after thinking it over, I realized that I was stupid to do that, so I called her. And, for the next few months, I helped her out when I could with doctor's appointments and planning for the baby - picking out names, buying those tiny little outfits, learning how to change diapers... I was starting to get really excited about it, actually, once I got used to the idea that I was going to be a father," he smiled slightly.

"Then what happened?" Monica asked curiously.

"Erica went into labor early. I barely made it to the hospital, but I got there to see the baby the few minutes she was alive. She was so tiny," he said quietly, tears starting to form in his eyes. "We named her Elizabeth... Elizabeth Bing."

"Oh, Chandler," Monica said quietly, reaching over to put her arms around him. "I can't imagine... If something were to happen to Emily, I..." They were both in tears as they clung to each other.

After a few minutes of crying while Monica rubbed his back soothingly, Chandler finally pulled away. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to break down like that," he said after wiping his tears away. "It's just... I've never really told anyone about that."

"Does Joey know?" she asked hesitantly.

"No. This happened before he moved in," he informed her. "I, um... I just thought you should know about it."

"Chandler, I don't even know what to say."

He smiled weakly. "That's okay. I don't know what to say myself sometimes," he said. "I guess that whole ordeal is what made me get so upset with Joey when I found out that he was the one who did this to you. I mean, you were lucky. Emily's healthy and happy, and you're fine. But if I had left Erica like Joey left you, she would have had to deal with that alone. And I never would have gotten to see my little girl... I just... I still don't understand what he was thinking."

"I know," she said quietly. "Chandler?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you still see Erica?" she asked curiously.

"No. Not anymore. After Elizabeth was born, we leaned on each other for awhile. I guess no one else can really understand unless they've lost a child, too, and I know that we'll always have that connection," he answered quietly, looking down at the floor. "But we never planned to stay together, even if Elizabeth had survived."

"Oh," Monica answered, then turned Chandler's head so he was looking at her. "I want you to know that I love you," she said quietly. "I wondered if I'd ever say that to any man, and now that I know how I feel about you, I just... I have to tell you. I love you."

He smiled and brushed away the tears from her cheeks. "I love you, too," he said quietly before leaning in to kiss her tenderly. "I love you."