Thanks to everyone who has left a review and stayed with this story for so long. I really appreciate all your support, especially since this story keeps expanding and expanding, much longer than I had anticipated. This epic will wrap up in about two or three more chapters, as I get to the baby shower/coming out party.


When Joey met Chandler at his office, Chandler no longer minded Joey's public displays of affection, though he blushed when his co-workers remarked on how happy they seemed. Even Chandler's obnoxious boss Doug was forced to behave after being reminded by his superiors of company policy regarding employees with same-sex mates.

"So, uh, Bing--should I still call you Bing, or are you gonna change your name now that you're married and all?"

Chandler was flustered for a moment, but replied, "No, uh, I'm--I'm keeping my name. We both are." He felt a bit disconcerted that Doug assumed he was the "wife" in this relationship. Did everybody assume that?

Joey glared at Doug but only said that they better leave if they wanted to beat the lunchtime crowds. So the couple headed out to a nearby diner, and Joey said, "Man, we should definitely ask Carol and Susan about how to handle bosses like that."

Chandler nodded. "Turns out that Doug trying to be sensitive is still the same old Doug--a total ass."

After they ordered their meal, Joey toyed with the wedding ring on his finger and asked, "Hey, Chandler, just how long should we keep up this whole being married thing, huh?"

He shrugged uncertainly. "I-I don't know, Joe. I mean, my whole plan was to say we divorced after a month or so, then cancel the insurance. But now everything's changed, and I'm not sure anyone will believe in us splitting up, and--" he squeezed Joey's hand, "--and I don't even want to break up with you, even just for pretend."

Joey nodded and kissed him softly. Then he got an idea. "Oh! How about we say that we just want to back out, like you did with Monica in Vegas? Tell them that we rushed into the wedding on the spur of the moment, 'cause of Vegas and all, but now we realize that we weren't ready for it yet. It's just the commitment that was too much, you know?"

"Yeah, that's good," Chandler answered approvingly. "We can stay together, but just slow down."

"Right. And this way you won't get into trouble about the insurance fraud, but we don't have to pretend either. I don't think I could take anymore lies and secrets, you know!"

Chandler laughed and squeezed his hand. "Yeah, and if Carol and Susan still want our wedding rings on Saturday, they can have them."

"Yeah." Joey smiled and wondered if, someday, he'd ever ask for the rings back so that he could propose to Chandler for real. But perhaps it was too soon to think about that; better just to enjoy the here and now.

Their meals arrived and they started eating, sharing the food off each other's plates. Chandler asked, "Oh, did you talk to Ross and Phoebe yet?"

Joey nodded. "Yeah, I told them we're not coming to the baby shower, 'cause of Monica. They understand but they miss us. So they'll call us later, and we can help 'em put together some baby furniture then."

"Good. Thanks, Joe." Chandler kissed him sweetly.

"You're welcome." He grinned. "Hey, I called Carol and Susan too, since they're gonna get the baby shower presents instead of us. They said we can pay them back for half when they come see us on Saturday."

"That's great. I'll write them a check I guess. What are they gonna buy?"

"Oh, I think they're still trying to decide between some toys and books. Also, they said they're gonna give some of Ben's old baby clothes."

Chandler was surprised. "Really? Do they know if the baby will be a boy already?"

"Nah, it's too soon for that, but they said that lots of Ben's old clothes are unisex. That means for guys or girls." Joey had evidently had the term explained to him that day. "Oh, and they're thinking about including Ben's old Barbie doll too."

"Oh!" Chandler laughed at the memory of that Barbie. "Ross might freak out again! I hope that kid is a girl, then."

"Yeah," Joey agreed. "But who knows? Sometimes even doctors make mistakes in the sonogram. After all, that baby Chandler turned out to be a girl, didn't she?"

Chandler nodded and chuckled, "Yeah, it gave me a real kindergarten flashback!" More seriously, he added, "Hmm, I wonder how the triplets are doing now. I'm kind of sad that I missed out on Phoebe babysitting them recently. Not that I know how to babysit really, but it might have been fun to drop by and play with them for a while."

"Well, we got to take Ben to the zoo, remember? Did you like that?"

"Yeah, that was fun. Certainly better than when we lost him on the bus that one time!"

Joey smiled and wondered if Chandler might like to have kids someday, when he was ready for the commitment. Of course, Joey didn't ask about that yet, nor did he have time to say anything else, for Chandler's lunch break was almost up. They hurried to pay the bill and left the diner together.

Joey kissed him goodbye at his office door, then said, "See you tonight."

"Okay. I love you, Joe."

"I love you."


That evening after Chandler came home from work, the guys went out for a dinner date as well. Joey wanted to celebrate their new love properly, with a night on the town, so they took off their wedding rings and got dressed to go out.

They chose a romantic and cozy restaurant which their friends didn't frequent, and they got a booth so that they could sit close to each other, with Joey's arm around Chandler's shoulders. They were very much in love, kissing and smiling constantly. This night felt even better than the first time they had bonded as roommates over beer and Baywatch.

Chandler felt especially happy that Joey kept looking into his eyes, even though there were hot waitresses and other customers all around the restaurant. Joey flirted only with Chandler, and when the waitress commented that they made a very cute couple, Joey said "Thank you" and looked proud.

It was the perfect date, and when they got home that night, they went straight to bed. "You paid for dinner, after all," Joey said with a smile. "So let's do whatever you want tonight."

Chandler kissed him and took him up on that offer.


On Saturday morning, they made love a little bit more, but then decided to join their birds for breakfast and cartoons. In fact, Joey and Chandler decided to make up for a week of ignoring the chick and the duck. After playing indoors for a while, they decided to take Yasmine and Dick out to the park. Of course, due to leash laws and the possibility of the duck flying away or the rooster getting lost, Joey and Chandler had to put on the birds' harnesses first.

Taking some toys and a picnic basket with them, the guys left for Central Park together and had a fun day outside. Dick particularly enjoyed hanging out with the wild ducks that gathered on the lake, and they rented a boat from Loeb Boathouse so that Dick could swim without getting too far away from them.

"Didn't I tell you that we should have kept the canoe?" Joey said to Chandler as they rowed along.

"I'm sorry! I didn't think we'd need it again when I bought all the new furniture. Besides, how hard would it be to keep dragging the canoe down here with us?"

Joey shrugged. "I guess you're right. I kinda miss the canoe at home, though. When we don't have time to go to the lake, we could pretend we're rowing on the water."

Chandler laughed and pet the rooster again to calm his anxiety that he might be given a bath in this great big lake. "You know what we haven't played in a while, Joe? Fireball."

"Ooh, ooh! If we do that, we should play Ultimate Fireball too."

"Joey, it's too dangerous to play with a burning bowling ball!"

"Just once, Chandler! Just once!" He pouted.

Chandler sighed and suggested, "Look, just give me awhile to get some money saved again, okay? Then we'll make one of the rooms into a game room and fill it with arcade games, the foosball table, and whatever else you want. Then there'll be plenty of fun stuff to keep you from getting bored."

"Okay," Joey said, feeling impatient but also pleased by the idea that either Chandler would move into his bedroom or vice versa. They would be a couple, sleeping and waking up together always.