A/N - Well, here's the next one... Thanks for your reviews on the last chapter. This one isn't very eventful, but I hope you like it. I've got chapters eleven and twelve - and part of thirteen - finished, but I want to make sure I can get from those chapters to what I want to happen next. Did that even make sense? Well, anyway, I've got a little writing to do before I put up the next one. I should have some time to kill on Friday, so maybe I'll have the next one up by the weekend. But for now, I hope you like this one.

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There You Are

Chapter Ten

"Mommy, when's Chandler coming?" Emily asked impatiently as she sat in the living room floor, playing with a teddy bear.

"Honey, he should be here soon," Monica answered as she glanced at her watch again. He was already fifteen minutes late, and she was beginning to wonder if he had changed his mind about spending more time with her and Emily. He had already told her about making up with Joey, although Monica hadn't gotten any of the details from that conversation. She assumed that they were at least acting civil toward one another.

Knock! Knock!

"Chandler!" Emily exclaimed, rushing toward the door. She'd been looking forward to seeing her new best friend again since their baby-sitting adventure.

Monica reached the door just as Emily reached for the doorknob. "I'll get it," Monica said, stopping Emily from opening the door. She opened the door and smiled when she saw Chandler.

"Chandler!" the little girl exclaimed again and reached up for him to pick her up.

"Hey, cutie," Chandler laughed and reached over to get her. Emily wrapped her arms around his neck. "Miss me?" he teased, smiling over at Monica.

"I think she might have missed you a little bit," Monica grinned.

"I missed you, too," Chandler said, looking at the little girl in his arms. "I didn't have anybody to play with at my house."

"I'll play!" Emily assured him.

"I'm sure you will," he laughed, then looked over at Monica. "I'm sorry I'm late. I got caught up at work."

"Oh, it's fine. Don't worry about it," Monica replied. "We're just glad you're here now."

"So… Who wants to go out for ice cream?" Chandler asked.

"Me!" Emily answered excitedly.

"Well, maybe we should make sure it's okay with your mommy first. Don't you think?"

"Yes. Mommy, can we have ice cream with Chandler?" she asked, pleading with a cute little puppy dog face. "Please?"

"Yes, we can have ice cream," Monica replied. "But someone needs to put on her shoes first."

"Okay," she said. "Come on, Chandler."

"I guess I get to help, huh?" Chandler chuckled.

"I'll give you a hand," Monica said. "Come on," she continued, leading Chandler, who was still holding Emily, into the little girl's bedroom.

Monica walked over to the closet while Chandler put Emily into her pint-sized rocking chair in the corner of the room. Soon Monica returned to them with a pair of pink tennis shoes.

"Ooo… Pretty," Chandler smiled.

"They're my favorites," Emily informed him. "And they're like my shirt. See?" she said, indicating her pale pink t-shirt.

"I see that," Chandler replied as he helped her put on the first shoe. "You know what? I have a pair just like these at home," he teased.

"No you don't," Emily giggled. "Pink is for girls… And they're too little for you."

"Okay, so I don't have any like these," he admitted as he tied the second shoe, "but I like 'em… Okay. All finished."

"Ready to go?" Monica asked as she held out Emily's jacket.

"Yes!" she exclaimed.

Monica helped Emily put on the jacket, then kissed her cheek. "Well, let's go."

"Can I have a piggy back ride?" Emily asked.

"Well… I don't have much experience with piggy back rides, but I think we could give it a try," he smiled. He picked her up and carefully placed her on his shoulders.

"Hey, that's not fair. I want a piggy back ride, too," Monica teased.

"You're too big, Mommy," Emily explained. "When you're little, you can do it, too."

"Okay. When I'm little," Monica laughed. "Let's go," she said again, leading them into the living room, then out the front door.

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"Emily, be careful, honey!" Monica called as she watched her little girl run over to the playground in the park.

"She's full of energy," Chandler laughed. "I don't think I remember ever having the energy to run to every single place I wanted to go."

"Well, kids are good at that," Monica smiled at him as the couple sat down on a bench near the playground. "She keeps me on my toes."

"Yeah, I guess so," he smiled back at her. He looked over at Emily, who was now playing in the sandbox with another little girl. "Do you think she likes me?" Chandler asked. "I mean, I know kids can be picky, so I was just wondering if you think she likes me."

Monica smiled at him. "Chandler, are you kidding me? She loves you," she assured him. "When I was trying to get her to go to bed last night, she kept asking me how much longer it would be until you got there. She absolutely adores you. All I ever hear is 'Chandler showed me this' and 'Chandler can do that' and 'Chandler is so funny, Mommy,'" she smiled, imitating her daughter.

"Really?" he grinned.

"Yes, really. You know, I was worried about her getting attached to you too soon, so it's a good thing you didn't meet her before we figured out where we were."

"Yeah… Um, Mon? Where are we?"

"Where are we?" she repeated. "Well, we love each other, we want to be with each other… Right?"

"Yeah, absolutely… I just… I don't want us to move too fast, but I don't want to drag things out either."

"I know," Monica replied, looking over at Emily again. "And I want to be with you, Chandler. I really do. You're everything I've ever wanted – and more. You want to be with me, and I want to be with you, but there's a third factor here," she continued, gesturing toward Emily. "And I don't want her to get hurt. We've got some things to work through before we make a major commitment. I mean, you're already making one right now, spending time with Emily like this."

"You're right. We do have some things that we need to work through before we rush into anything. But this is right, Monica. We're right. I know that."

"I do, too," she smiled.

Chandler reached over and squeezed her hand gently just as Emily rushed back over to them, crying.

"Em, what's wrong, sweetheart?" Monica asked worriedly, immediately putting her daughter on her lap. As soon as she was seated, Monica started looking her over for any cuts or scrapes.

"Mommy, that boy said I couldn't play with his bucket," she cried, pointing over at a boy who looked about twice as old as her. "And then he called me a baby and then he stuck his tongue out. He's mean!" she cried.

"It'll be okay," Monica assured her as she brushed away the little girl's tears. "Are you ready to go home? It's getting kind of late."

Emily sniffled and looked over at Chandler. "Will you come, too?" she asked hopefully.

Chandler looked at Monica, who nodded. "Sure I will," he answered. "Do you want me to carry you home?" he asked.

Emily nodded and reached for Chandler. He took her, and she buried her head in his chest. Chandler stood, then Monica joined him and they began to walk toward her apartment building. Soon the three of them were walking up the stairs to apartment twenty.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Monica asked for the hundredth time. "I know that she's heavy."

"She's fine," Chandler assured her. "And she's so cute when she's sleeping."

"I know," Monica smiled as they reached the door and she opened it to allow him to take Emily inside. She walked with him into Emily's bedroom and watched as he carefully placed the little girl on her bed, then gently kissed her forehead. He turned back to face Monica and walked into her waiting arms. "Thank you for today," she whispered. "Emily had such a good time."

"Did you have a good time?" he asked quietly.

"I had a wonderful time," she assured him, then leaned in to kiss him tenderly. "I guess we'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah. I'll be here," he said, then gave her one more quick kiss before she walked with him to the door.

"Good night," she said as she watched him walk out the door.

"Night, Mon," Chandler replied, looking back at her. "I love you."

"I love you, too," she answered before closing the door. Once she was alone, she leaned against the closed door and sighed happily. "Yep," she smiled to herself. "This is it."