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Fallen Hopes

"So, what do you guys wanna do?" Phoebe asked once they had un-packed and had lunch.

"Oh! We can go shopping!" Rachel suggested. "Yeah, lets go shopping!"

"Yeah! I wanna go shopping!!" Phoebe clapped.

"Yeah, I guess we can…" Ross sighed, knowing there was no point in disagreeing.

"I'll call Gina and Michael see if they wanna come!" Joey told them.

"Okay…. Chandler you coming?" Rachel asked, noticing that he hadn't said anything.

"Nah, I don't think so…" He shook his head giving them a small smile.

"Well, what do you want to do?" Ross questioned.

"I was thinking about taking the twins down to the beach."

"Couldn't you come shopping and then go to the beach after?" Mike asked.

"Nah, twins aren't very good with shopping, unless it's a toy store." Chandler replied.

"I wanna go to a toy shop!!" Joey stated.

"Chandler's right… Emma doesn't like shopping either!" Rachel sighed loudly and dropped down on the couch.

"You okay, Rach?" Phoebe looked at her.

"Yeah, I just hope this is just a phase…" She told them.

"Um…what?"

"Rachel's worried Emma won't like shopping."

"Yeah, well if she doesn't like shopping she's going to have to like something and I'm blaming you if its science!"

"Hey! What's wrong with science?" Ross asked.

"Dude, you really want to get into this?" Joey whispered to him.

"Look, if you guys want to go shopping I'll take Emma with us to the beach." Chandler interrupted, laughing slightly.

"Well, why don't we all go to the beach." Phoebe replied.

"Yeah, I guess…" Chandler said uneasy. He loved his friends but every since they had arrived it seemed like they had been watching him, waiting for him to do something, waiting for him to break down.

"Or you lot could go shopping and I'll help Chandler with the kids." Rachel noticed Chandler's reaction.

"But it was your idea and you love shopping." Chandler looked at her.

"Yeah well this way I can get a tan!" She smiled at him. "Plus we need to catch up! I need all the gossip about Chandler Bing being a father of two…"

Chandler help but smile in return, realising that his friends haven't changed since they had gone all there separate ways but he was the exception.

"Okay then, we'll go shopping and you guys take the kids to the beach." Ross said, knowing what Rachel was doing. Chandler wasn't going to open up about nothing with all of them there. Plus he might be more comfortable talking to Rachel about if it was to do with his marriage, considering Ross was Monica's older brother.

"Yay! So we're going to a toy store?" Joey asked.

"Why would we go to a toy story?" Ross looked at him. "The kids are staying here."

"So?!"

Ross rolled his eyes; it was going to be a long day.

XxXxX

"So, how's life in the suburbs?" Rachel asked once they were at the beach, watching the kids as they played happily in the sand.

"It's great… it bit quiet, I still expect you lot to come barging in demanding food." Chandler replied, laughing slightly.

"Hey we wasn't that bad!" Rachel stated but Chandler just looked at her. "Okay, maybe Joey was…"

"Well, I do miss it but I wouldn't change my family or house for the world…" He smiled, his eyes resting on Jack.

"Aw that's sweet…" Rachel replied. "So, everything is great?"

"Perfect."

"Even with Monica?" She asked the question her and the others had been wondering and dreading what the answer would be. "I mean, some people find that when they have kids then their relationship tends to change…"

"Oh right, yeah I thought that it might as well but it hasn't…" Chandler said confidently. "With working different hours and looking after these two, I thought we might not be able to spend as much together as before and it might cause problems but luckily it hasn't….well not yet, anyway."

"That's great!" Rachel grinned, Chandler was quite convincing and she was beginning to think that he might have been telling the truth all along, that he was just tired. Maybe Phoebe was right; maybe he was just missing Monica that's why he's acting weird. She predicted that everything would go back to normal once Monica turned up. Then they could get back to all hanging out and having a good time.

"Yeah, it is pretty great!" Chandler forced another smile but Rachel didn't notice, she was more concerned about what Emma was up to.

"Emma! Don't eat that!" She jumped up and grabbed the spade of sand; her daughter was about to shovel into her mouth.

"Just great…" Chandler mumbled unheard, turning his eyes out towards the ocean. Wondering how easy he found it to lie to one of his best friends, maybe it because he had been lying to himself all this time.

XxXxX

"Chandler, you want the last slice?" Joey held out the last piece of pizza to him.

"Nah, you go ahead…" Chandler told him, spooning the last bit of food into Jack's mouth.

"You sure? You only had like 1 piece.." Ross frowned.

"Yeah, I'm not really that hungry…" Chandler answered, he saw them all looking at him concerned. "What?"

"Nothing, you just don't seem to be eating a lot lately."

"Yeah, well ummm….with the baby and work and all, you know how it is…" He shrugged, turning to look away from them.

"No not really…" Rachel stated.

"It just easier to snack every now and then…" He told them, laughing slightly. "I guess I've got use to not eating a lot of meals…"

"That can't be healthy!" Phoebe commented.

"Yeah, does Monica know about this?" Ross asked.

"Of course…she keeps telling me off about it!" He grinned.

"Oh right, okay then…."

They all turned back to their meal and continued the conversation they were having before about Joey's new show.

"Did you get anything out of him?" Ross whispered to Rachel, later that night as Chandler disappeared to put the kids down for the night.

"He said everything is great." She informed them. "I think he's telling the truth as well, maybe Phoebe was right this morning about him missing Mon…"

"Yeah, I guess, that could be it." Joey agreed.

"Are you sure he never said anything else?" Ross asked, doubtful.

"Positive."

They changed the subject just in case Chandler over heard them when he returned but when he hadn't come back after an hour they all got up to look for him.

"So, you really think he hasn't changed?" Ross asked the others as they saw him laid flat out on his back, asleep with the twins in each arm, curled up next to him.

"Yeah, I think he has but I think he's just become a father." Rachel told him.

"Me too," Joey and Phoebe added.

"If there was something wrong he would have told us…" Rachel said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right…" Ross agreed as they all turned and walked away so they didn't wake him up.

When he heard the door click shut quietly, Chandler opened his eyes.

XxXxX

"Hey, you're up early…" Ross said as he and Rachel walked hand in hand down the stairs.

"Aw, they look so cute!" Rachel cooed, at the twins who were wearing matching outfits.

"Yeah, well we need to look good for Mommy, don't we, guys…" Chandler said, as he finished pulling the little bit of Erica's hair into a ponytail.

Ross and Rachel smiled at each other when they saw how happy Chandler was about Monica arriving. "What time does she get her?"

"In about half an hour."

"You picking her up?" Ross reached for the stuff dinosaur Jack had thrown across the room.

"Nah, she thought it would be best to get a cab…" Chandler shrugged. He grinned and picked Jack up, holding to face Ross. "Look, watch this! Who's that, Jacky."

Jack looked at him confused slightly but then turned back to his uncle, something caught his eye and he grinned. "Dino!"

"Did my 10 month of nephew just call me old?" Ross asked.

Chandler laughed. "No, dude, I think he was referring to the toy. We leant that last night!"

"Aw! That's great!" Rachel held out her arms to take Jack.

"Yeah, now he can say cook for cookie and dino for dinosaur…" Chandler commented. "God, he's either going to turn out like Joey or Ross."

"Hey!"

"You just wait till he's talking properly, he'll be cracking jokes left, right and centre." Rachel teased.

"Yeah or he'll become a neat freak…" Ross added just as Jack once again threw his dinosaur away. "Or not…"

"Looks like he doesn't like dinosaurs anymore…" Rachel laughed.

"Thank god, for that!" Chandler quipped; he reached down and picked up Erica. "Now, Missy are you going to say any more words for Daddy?"

"Da?" She looked at him.

"How about, Mama? Mama?" Chandler tried but she just stared at him.

"How about Ross?"

"No, Rachel!"

"Da!" Erica grinned at her aunts and uncle.

"Okay, that will do.." Chandler laughed, kissing her forehead.

They sat down and tried to teach both of them more words but gave up when the others came down and when Emma started to demand breakfast.

"Isn't anyone going to help me with my bags?" Monica asked as she opened the door and saw them all.

Joey was the first to run over to her and pull her into a hug.

"Hey, Joe…" She laughed as he spun her around.

"It so good to see you!" Joey exclaimed.

"You too, Joe…" She smiled at him and then turned. The three girls started to scream, hugging each other.

Ross rolled his eyes, frowning slightly when he saw Chandler simply pick up her bags and take them into their room. They had all convinced themselves that Chandler was upset because he missed Mon but if that was true, why wasn't he excited to see her now?

Monica looked down when she felt someone clutching to her leg.

"Hey, Jacky…." She picked up her son, kissing him softly and then took Erica from her highchair. "I missed you guys…"

"So now we're all here!" Joey said just as Chandler came back in. "This is great!"

"How have you all been?" Monica asked, handing Chandler the twins and walking over to the couch.

The others exchanged looks when they saw her do it. She had practically ignored him, she hadn't even said hello to him yet.

Chandler sighed and began to place the twins in their strollers.

"I'm going to take the kids out for a walk…" He told them quietly. "I'll be back soon."

There was silence when he left, no one knew what to say or do. Their fears about their friend's marriage being in trouble rose again.

"Mon, is everything okay?" Rachel questioned.

"Yeah, its great!" She flashed them a smile and then changed the subject quickly. "So, Joe? How's the new TV show going?"

XxXxX

"I'm telling you, Ross…something is not right." Rachel stated, as they got ready for the bed that night.

"I know." Ross sighed. "What do you think it is?"

"I dunno, I thought they were perfect for each other and nothing could break them." She sat down heavily on their bed.

"Don't worry, Honey…I'm sure they'll work it out."

"How do you know?"

"Because it's Monica and Chandler."

Chandler gently placed Erica into her crib and then he glanced at his wife. He could tell she was pretending to be asleep.

"Mon?"

"Umm…"

"I'm going to see Sarah when we get back…" He told her quietly, looking at his feet. He continued when he never got a response. "I'm going to tell her…"

"Chandler, don't!" She interrupted. "We agreed it was best to forget about this…. About her…while we were here with our friends."

"I know but…"

"No, if we start talking about it again and then they're going to find out." She told him. "Now is not a good time, what with Joey and his new show, Ross and Rach planning the wedding and Pheebs trying for a baby…we can't let them know yet."

"Okay fine…" Chandler said defeated and got into bed. He sighed when she moved away from him. The last couple of week, he hadn't had a lot of sleep…it had start when Monica refused to cuddle up to him. He remembered when there was time when he needed his space to sleep but things were different with Mon.

"Mon…" Chandler said quietly. "I'm sorry…"

TBC

Worked out what the problem is yet?? Hehe, please review and let me know what you think!!