Perfect Day

AN: Hi there. This is my short short short version of Jack and Erica's first birthday. Or well, Monica's view at the end of the day really. It's written for the fanfic contest at Friends Boards. The reason for it being so short is because I wrote it in about 20 minutes so heh.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Friends cast, sadly. I do have a stuffed monkey that freakishly resembles Marcel.

Monica picked up the last toy which was lying on the floor and put it in the basket near the staircase. She plopped down on the sofa and let out a long breath. She looked around the living room, which was now perfectly clean. It had taken her two hours to clean it all up, but she couldn't go to sleep until she was completely satisfied.

It was now nearing 2 am and she'd had one of the best days of her life. About an hour ago, her friends had left their twins' first birthday party. Although the children had long been in bed, they had all stayed and enjoyed dinner together. Those were the moments she enjoyed the most. The only one absent from their entire gang had been Joey, who couldn't manage to get out of LA. He did promise to visit as soon as possible and bring something special for all of them.

But although he couldn't be there, they'd all felt his presence. Chandler had opened the mailbox earlier that week to discover a videotape from him. He'd made a little documentary for the twins to watch so that they wouldn't forget what their uncle Joey looked like. There wasn't much chance of that happening, since their daddy often sat himself down beside them with a couple of photoalbums. He loved to tell them stories and he knew one for each picture he showed them. They didn't understand much of course, but he liked to think they thoroughly enjoyed it.

When the others got here, he had put the twins on his lap so that they could all watch the tape together. It showed Joey's home in LA and some of his crazy antics which made everyone laugh. Everyone missed him. At times like these it was just more obvious that their gang was missing a vital member. Ross and Rachel had brought Emma along, who was starting to speak like a true attorney. She would not shut up for a minute, much to Rachel's frustration who often begged her to be quiet for just a second. They had bought a mini piano so that the twins could bang away on it. So much for being quiet around their house in the months to come.

Phoebe and Mike had brought a variety of smaller gifts. Colouring books, stuffed animals and a beautiful little Winnie the Pooh table which they both could sit at to play with all sorts of toys. They had been really happy with that particular one, Monica could still hear Erica's squeal as they revealed it. "Pooh!" It had been one of her first words.

Neither Monica nor Chandler's parents had been there. They both decided it would be best to split the birthday party and so the grandparents were coming next week. Even Charles was making an effort for his favourite grandchildren and he would be flying in from Vegas. It just meant the twins would get to celebrate twice, they loved being the centre of attention and having a lot of people around them.

She looked at the clock and lifted herself off the couch, climbing the stairs. It had been an early morning as she'd wanted to make sure everything was perfect. This needed to be the ideal first birthday and she liked to think that the twins had truly had a good time. They had taken about a million pictures throughout the day so Chandler would have a lot of stories to tell. She was beginning to wonder if he was even still alive. He'd gone upstairs shortly after the gang left to check on the twins and she hadn't seem him since.

Pushing open the bedroom door, she smiled at the sight in front of her. Chandler was sprawled out on the bed, still wearing his clothes and his hair sticking to every possible side. She slowly walked over and noticed a yellow post-it on her pillow. She tore it off while sitting down on the bed. "In case I fell asleep before you came up and didn't have a chance to tell you, I love you."

She grinned and put it on her nightstand before running a hand through his hair, slightly shaking him. "Chandler", she whispered, "Chandler, sweetie…".

He woke up with somewhat of a start and Monica laughed at his immediate 'panic mode'. "Hmmm what? Mon, what's wrong?"

She laid down and turned on the bed so she was facing him. "Nothing's wrong, don't worry. I just wanted to say that I love you too."

He opened one eye and looked at her sleepily. "You woke me up just for that?" he yawned. "I thought it was something important."

"It was", she simply stated.

He smiled even though his eyes remained closed and put an arm over her body, pulling her closer to him. After about 2 minutes of silence, she felt his head move and heard him whisper: "Are you aware that you're still dressed?"

She laughed to herself and decided not to go into it. He would notice as soon as he woke up anyway.

AN: And that was it. It seems rushed, I know. But I wanted to have it done for the contest :p