Bedtime Stories

Monica stirs a bit from her slumber as she feels the bed shift. She opens her eyes slightly, allowing them to adjust to the low light, and sees Chandler sliding out of his side of the bed. They make eye contact and he smiles at her as he reaches over to turn the volume for the baby monitor down.

"Go back to sleep. They're making some noises, but I don't think they're ready to wake up. I'll just check on them real fast. I'll let you know if I need you."

He leans over, kisses her cheek, and slowly walks out of the bedroom. Monica smiles sleepily as she watches him leave. She tries to settle herself back down, wrapping the comforter over her shoulders and closing her eyes.

"I have the best husband."

She rolls her shoulders a bit, stretching them slightly to ease some stiffness in her neck. She still feels physically exhausted from the long day of hosting her first Fourth of July barbeque and all the work that entails. Yet, as tired as her body feels, her mind cannot stay still. She realizes that her maternal instincts will not let her fall back asleep while the baby monitor is switched off.

"What if he forgets to turn it back up when he is done?"

Reluctantly, she pulls an arm out from under the covers, leans over and slowly raises the volume until she can clearly make out Chandler's voice.

"…you guys don't look ready to get up. What is all the noise about?"

She rolls over on her side and watches the volume meter rise and fall as he speaks. She smiles and decides that instead of falling back to sleep she would take advantage of this opportunity to catch a private moment between her husband and their children. She hears faint, weak gurgles and grunts from the twins as if they are trying to answer him back and she chuckles at the image it creates in her head.

"Well, I don't smell anything which is a good sign. You know, if someone told me five years ago that I would spend most of my time smelling baby butts, I'd have said they were crazy."

Monica lets another light chuckle escape her lips. She is constantly amused that Chandler eschews the typical singsong baby talk most use around the twins and instead opts to speak to the babies as if they are little people who can understand his every word.

"Well, let's try to lie down quietly and fall back asleep, okay guys? Mom had a long day and it would be great to give her a little break. I guess you two aren't used to having so many visitors. It was a busy day. Everybody wanted to get to spend some time with you two. Maybe you're just a little amped up from your first chance to see some fireworks."

She hears something shifting and can only assume it is one of the rocking chairs being moved closer to the crib so he can sit down.

"You guys are still pretty new to this whole being part of a family thing. You know, I'll let you in on a little secret. I'm a little new to it too. I understand how it can be a little overwhelming, but it is a good thing. We got pretty lucky with your mom, she's really the best family we could ask for. She takes real good care of us. I know I'm not that great at it yet but I'm trying to keep up."

Monica sits up a bit, now invested in hearing everything that is going on in the other room. She turns the monitor up so she can make out the soft voice of her husband a little better as he whispers to Jack and Erica.

"I never really knew how to do this whole family thing that well. I'm kind of like you guys. Except I don't poop in my pants. I guess we will have to learn how to do this family thing together. I think if we just follow your mom's lead, we should be okay. She was sort of my first family, just like how she's your first family. Many years ago, she just would not leave me alone and forced her way into my life, no matter how grumpy I would be. Sort of like the two of you. When you're crying and fussy."

Monica, now wide-awake, pulls her knees up to her chest and wraps her arms around her legs. She lets a sad smile cross her lips at the thought that her husband did not feel like he had a family until he had moved into their building.

"Yeah, she really took care of me. She was the closest thing to family I ever had. I didn't know it at the time, but looking back, I can see it. It's the same with you guys. So, no matter how much commotion there is with everyone grabbing at you, it's okay, because you'll have me and your mom right there. I know I'm still all thumbs with some stuff. Don't you guys give up on me though, okay? I'll get there."

Monica brushes a finger under her eye instinctively to stop a tear from forming.

"You're already there."

"I can tell you guys one thing at least, I know what not to do thanks to my parents. I'll never leave you alone with people you don't know for a few weeks at a time. I promise I'll never forget your birthday. I'll never take you to the wrong house for a friend's party and then leave you on the curb because I didn't wait and make sure you went inside, forcing you have to figure out how to walk home all by yourself. I won't ship you away to some school you don't like. I won't miss your graduation."

Despite her efforts, Monica feels a tear slowly form and fall down her cheek. She forgets sometimes exactly how lonely Chandler was as a child with two absentee parents. Even at his most acerbic when talking about his childhood, he always treated everything like it was a punchline. All of his jokes about growing up in the Bing house somehow made it seem less real. Now, in this tender moment that she is eavesdropping on, it feels like too much, and she wonders how he turned out to be such a sweet and devoted man from this childhood filled with so many sad memories.

"And, I'll never let you guys think I don't love you. I'll never let you guys feel like you aren't good enough. I know I may not be the best at all this dad stuff and I might be still learning how to be someone's family, but I'll try okay? Hey? Did you guys just fall asleep while I was talking. Typical. I take back everything I just said. You two are on your own."

Monica covers her mouth as she allows herself a quiet laugh at the obvious sarcasm in his voice. She wonders if he even realizes what he was saying this entire time, and the weight those words carry, or if he was just rambling; offering soothing white noise to lull his children to fall back asleep.

"Okay, I'll see you guys when you really wake up in a few hours."

As she hears him move the rocking chair back to its original position in the room, Monica gets up out of bed and wipes under her eyes, stifling any tears that were forming. She composes herself, and folds her arms, waiting for Chandler to return to the bedroom. She decides to adopt a scornful expression to greet him with when he arrives.

Chandler walks in and is immediately taken aback by her stance and stern look. Monica takes a sharp, admonishing tone as she speaks.

"I don't appreciate you lying to our children. Sit down, I'll be right back! Another mess I have to clean up."

Chandler huffs as he sits down on the bed, bewildered at exactly what his wife could be talking about. He shakes his head, slightly annoyed that it seems as if she is picking for a fight. A few moments pass and her voice begins to carry through the baby monitor. She speaks softly, at a bit of a higher octave than usual. A tone she often has when speaking to the twins.

"Hello bunnies. I hear you guys just had a talk with your daddy. Well, don't listen to him. He doesn't know what he is talking about. He doesn't give himself enough credit."

Chandler turns to face the monitor. He smirks and rubs his stubble a bit with his hand. He isn't exactly sure what is going on, but he is at least relieved that he isn't in trouble.

"I'll tell you something he didn't tell you. If it wasn't for your dad, we wouldn't even be a family. You guys wouldn't be here at all. Mom almost messed it all up. I was so excited to meet you guys that I almost ruined it. And your dad, well, I don't know what he did, and he won't tell me, but…"

Chandler can hear Monica's voice begin to crack as her words start to sputter in watery drips. He stands up for a moment, intending to go into the nursery.

As if she can see through the walls or read his mind, she chokes down on her tears and in a soft but commanding tone speaks directly to him through the monitor.

"Don't come in here. I'm having a private conversation with my children."

Chandler chuckles and sits back down, amazed at his wife's intuition to always seem to know what he is thinking and what he is doing, even when she isn't in the room.

Monica looks directly at the transmitter sitting in the nursery as if she were looking into his eyes.

"I don't know what you did, but you saved this family before it was even a family. You always blamed yourself for us not being able to have a baby. You put all that weight on yourself. Your too blind to see you gave us the two of them. Whatever you said to Erica to get her to change her mind, that was all you. I don't ever want to hear you talk about yourself like you aren't any good at this. Do you hear me? We are not a family if it wasn't for you."

Chandler nods to himself in the darkened bedroom, he can feel his eyes begin to water and tries hard not to let any tears come. As she speaks, he can hear her choking a bit on her words. He knows, without even seeing her, that tears are flowing down her face.

"We wouldn't all be here without you. I'd never know these two little bunnies and worse, they'd never know you and they wouldn't get to see just how wonderful you are. You're the perfect father and husband for this family. I know it. These two little ones know it, and you better know it too."

Chandler just replies softly as if she were sitting next to him in the room. "Okay. Okay."

As he reaches over to the end table to grab a tissue, Monica appears in the doorway. She's holding herself and looking at him, the shadows from the darkened hallway cover her face.

"You weren't the only one who needed someone back then when you first moved into the building. You know that right? I needed you too. You were always there for me. You were my best friend. I know sometimes you don't think you're good enough for us, but you really are. Sometimes, I don't know if I'm good enough for you."

Chandler rushes over to the doorway and takes her in his arms. "Monica. That's crazy. How could you think that?"

She looks up at him, tears staining her cheeks. "That's exactly what I think when you say stuff like that. So, I need you to get it through your thick skull and stop being so hard on yourself. That's my job anyway."

He pulls her in tight and kisses her on the top of her head as he chuckles.

"Okay. I will. I get it. I do. I promise."

They stand there for a few minutes, wrapped up together. The tears have stopped and both take this moment to enjoy their quiet embrace. Chandler pulls back a bit so they can look at each other and smiles.

"So much for trying to let you sleep, huh? If I knew this was going to happen, I would have just let you check on them."

Monica smacks him on the chest and laughs. "You were this close to getting lucky too." She disentangles herself from him and hops into bed, wrapping the covers around her.

Chandler turns around and follows her, putting his hands together and pleading. "Wait. Mon. Seriously? Wait. Don't go back to sleep. I didn't know this was a 'get lucky' kind of talk! I wouldn't have made a joke if I knew I was going to get lucky!"