Yeah

Chandler lowered the dial on the electric griddle as he slid his spatula underneath a pancake to flip it over. He took a moment to look over his shoulder at his two children to check and make sure they were staying out of trouble. Jack and Erica were next to the kitchen table, strapped into their highchairs. He wondered how much longer they would be able to secure the twins into place like this, as he and Monica attempted to garner themselves a moments respite from their children's constant movement. How many more days did they have left where they would be able to keep one eye on them while making breakfast? They were getting too big. Too big for their chairs, too big for their clothes. Too big for he and Monica to keep up with. He smirked as he shook his head at the thought that they were going to be two years old in another month.

If he were being honest, the twins were already a handful before they could even walk. One of them always needing attention, or falling, or making a mess. These last two years have been a chaotic ballet as he and Monica tried to keep their heads above water. And now, they were waiting and hoping to hear from the adoption agency that someone would pick them, and bestow upon them the gift of a third child. He chuckled to himself at the thought of how stupid they must be to attempt that.

"Your mother and I are going to be outnumbered. Do you know that?"

He turned his head again to see if his children were even aware that he was with them in the kitchen. When he looked at them, he half-expected the two of them to be much more interested in the fruit they were eating or what toys they had to play with while they waited for their pancakes. To his surprise, Erica was staring right at him.

"Hey babygirl, everything okay?"

"I wan' garbage truck."

"What?" Chandler placed a few more small pancakes on a plate and then poured more batter onto the griddle.

"Truck!"

Chandler pursed his lips and shrugged his shoulders as he turned to lean his back on the counter and face his daughter. "You want a garbage truck?"

"Yeah."

"For your birthday?"

"Yeah."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah."

"Is 'yeah' the only answer you can give to me right now?"

"Yeah."

"Good to know. Your mother will be thrilled. She loves garbage."

"Yeah."

Chandler chuckled again and shook his head as he turned his attention back to the griddle and flipped over the second round of pancakes.

Erica was talking more and more these last few months, yet, she could still get stuck on "yeah" as a response to every question asked of her. She has been unpredictable over the last six months. Playing with trucks and cars as opposed to the doll Monica's mother had bought her. She was a bit rough, and played recklessly; usually resulting in toys strewn everywhere by the end of the day. She was this weird mix of both her parents; Monica's brash physicality with Chandler's lack of self-awareness. Her latest obsession though, has been the weekly garbage pick-up. She would compel one of her parents to open the door so she could watch as the truck came to the front of the house and the men collected their trash. Her eyes lit up every time she heard them coming down the block. Like some grotesque Pavlovian response to garbage that most children reserved for the ice cream man.

Chandler smiled and nodded at his daughter. "Okay. Garbage truck it is."

He turned his attention to Jack who was furiously flipping through pages of a picture book. Lately, he seemed to need to have it with him at all times. Bedtime, mealtime, out at the park. Wherever Jack went, that book would follow. Monica had to resort to keeping it in a Ziplock bag during his bath to avoid a tantrum in the tub. He would stop at a page and jab his finger at the colorful characters, vocalizing some series of noises and squeals before flipping through the book again. Jack, while never quite as talkative as his sister, would not have missed an opportunity to join Erica in a chorus of "yeahs" as he would assist her in confounding their parents with their ubiquitous one-word answer. Lately though, he doesn't speak at all. No mama, no dada, not even Elmo, which for a time, seemed to be his favorite word. He had grown quiet, save for the occasional vocalization where his voice would travel up and down from low hums to high squeals.

Chandler offered him a half-smile. "What about you Jack?"

Erica nodded to herself as she focused her attentions on the bowl of grapes in front of her. "Jack wan' truck."

Chandler laughed and turned his attention back to the pancakes cooking on the griddle. "I don't think so baby. I don't think Jack likes playing with trucks. He's more of a book lover."

Erica looked at her father. Her face turned red as she wrinkled her brow. "Truck!"

"Uh, Erica? Is that your poop face or your angry face?"

"Yeah."

"Great. Thanks for clearing that up."

Chandler reached into the cupboard to take out some plates.

"Jack wan' truck."

"Yeah. I heard you kiddo."

Chandler laughed as he placed two dishes with cut up pancake in front of his children.

"Dig in."

Erica reached out for him and as he bent down to get closer to her, she squeezed his nose. She started to laugh and squealed as she let out one last, giggly "yeah" before focusing her attention on her breakfast.

Chandler crouched down next to Jack's seat and pushed his plate a little closer to him. "Hey buddy, time to eat."

Jack looked up at Chandler and smiled as they made eye contact. He then arranged his book and plate so he could look at a page while he ate. Appearing like a little old man reading the paper as he eats his breakfast. Chandler couldn't help but laugh at the image. For all the worrying he and Monica have been doing over their son's changed behavior these last few weeks, Jack still had the ability to disarm them by making them laugh.

For the most part, both of their children were happy, the occasional tantrum aside. They laughed a lot, smiled, and reached out for hugs. They played together well and never fought over toys or made each other cry. They enjoyed baths and hardly fussed at bedtime. Chandler considered he and Monica to be very lucky as he shuddered when he thought of what Rachel's daughter Emma was like as a baby.

He reached over and ran his fingers through Jack's hair as he exhaled through his lips. "Just talk to me Jack. I'll buy you a car if you tell me that's what you want."

Erica mumbled "truck" again through a mouthful of pancake.

Chandler stood up as he heard Monica scurry down the stairs. She rushed through the house and burst into the kitchen, looking like a bundle of nervous energy. She barely took the time to make eye contact with Chandler before she crashed into him with a quick kiss and a breathless "morning sweetie". She then gave each of her children a quick peck on the tops of their head while they ate and walked over to kitchen counter. She lifted up the coffee pot so she could fill her travel mug.

Chandler walked over and held out a plate with a stack of pancakes on it in front of her. "I made breakfast."

Monica offered a weak smile and shook her head. "I don't have time." She then reached over and grabbed a pancake from the plate. She folded it in half and quickly devoured it in three bites.

"Honey, I think we're going to be rich. I just invented pancakes that you can inhale!"

Monica slumped her shoulders and flattened her lips as she rolled her eyes at her husband. "I've got to get to the restaurant. Joey's production crew is going to be there to set up in a little over an hour and I need to make sure the place is perfect."

"Isn't that why you were there until 2am last night?"

"I have to make sure nothing got messed up since then!"

Chandler checked his watch. "In five hours? With no one else in there since you left? Honey, could anything have really gotten messed up?"

Erica slapped her hand down on the tray of her chair as she reached for her cup. "Yeah."

Monica nodded and walked over to give Erica another kiss on her forehead "Thank you, Erica. At least someone has some sense in this house."

Jack looked up when he heard his mother's voice and grunted before he let out a happy squeal.

"Oh, hi baby." Monica gave him a kiss as well. "I'm happy to see you too, but I have to go to work." Monica tickled at him under his chin. She smiled at the two of them before she rushed back over to the counter.

"Are you sure you'll be okay? Because I can call my mom or someone to come over and help out." Monica reached over and took another pancake, quickly nibbling at it as she finished preparing her coffee.

Chandler puffed out his chest. "Are you kidding me? I'll be fine. I am perfectly capable of taking care of these two and keeping the house in order all on my own."

Monica turned to face him and stared at him with a pair of skeptical eyes as she put her hand on her hip.

Chandler nodded back in sheepish surrender. "I'll call your mom if I need help."

Monica laughed and then her face dropped as she started looking around the room.

"Where's Joey! He should be up by now! Doesn't he know we start taping in six hours!" She swallowed down the last of the pancake she had in her hand and grabbed one more from the plate.

As if on cue, thundering footsteps could be heard trudging down the stairs as both Monica and Chandler focused their eyes on the entranceway to the kitchen. Monica huffed before Joey even reached the room.

"Joey! Why are you not up and dressed already! You're going to be late!"

"What? No I'm not."

"But everyone is going to be there in an hour!"

"Not me." Joey walked over to Monica and gave her a cocky smile. "What you have to understand is, I'm the talent. And as the star of the show, I don't go anywhere before noon."

Chandler smirked. "Joe, even before you were 'the star of the show', you didn't go anywhere before noon."

Joey waved his hand dismissively at him. "Look, everyone knows that the person who is actually on camera needs to be well rested."

"Yeah."

"See? Erica gets it."

"She's not even two yet Joe. She'd say 'yeah' if you asked her who the president was." Chandler shook his head as he turned to look at his daughter. "Honey, Don't encourage your uncle Joe."

Joey stretched and let out a yawn. "I won't get there until twelve. But the producer will be there and they'll have everything set up."

Monica pointed her finger at Joey. "Don't be late."

"I won't. Yeesh."

Monica turned to Chandler. "Okay, I have to go, I lover you. Call my mom! But not too early or she'll think I left the house a wreck for you and never let me live it down. But not too late either or she might think I told you not to call her early and she'll get suspicious." She gave him another quick kiss and then scurried across to plant one last peck on Erica and Jack's heads. "Bye babies, Mommy is going to miss you, be good for daddy okay?"

Erica, without looking up from her breakfast lets out another low "yeah" as Monica ran out of the kitchen, flew down the hall, and exited the house.

Chandler scratched at the back of his head. "Well, those instructions weren't confusing."

Joey walked over to the counter as he stretched again and grabbed a cup to fill with coffee. He looked over and smiled when he saw the stack of pancakes. "Don't mind if I do." He threw a few pancakes on a plate and sat down at the kitchen table. "Wow. She is pretty wound up, huh?"

"Well, Joe, she is excited. This could be big for her getting Four on TV. To be honest, the restaurant isn't exactly turning in a profit."

Joey shoved a forkful of pancake into his mouth. "Trust me. Every place that gets on my show has seen a big boom. I call it 'The Joey Bump'. It's guaranteed to make Four a hit. Monica just has to relax."

"I'm sorry, did you just meet Monica."

"I know, it's just, she can be a bit much. I don't know how that will come across on camera."

"Ha! This is 7am Monica. If you can't handle that I don't know how you will handle her when the taping actually starts."

"She's going to be worse?"

Erica slid her plate forward on her tray. "Yeah."

Joey looked at Erica. "But she knows that she just has to do her whole chef thing, and forget about the pressure right? Her food will look great on TV."

"Yeah."

"I mean, would you be nervous?"

"Yeah."

"Well that makes sense, you're just a baby. I mean, you aren't even two years old yet! Of course you'd be nervous to be on television for the first time. But your mom is hot. Hot people belong on TV."

"Yeah."

Joey turned to look at Chandler and nodded at him with a sage look on his face as he gestured towards Erica. "She is so wise."

Chandler shook his head as a dumbfounded expression spread across his face. "I have no idea how you survived this long on your own."

Joey nodded and smiled. He looked over at Jack.

"Hey, morning buddy."

Joey put his hand up and made a fist. Jack without looking up, quickly hit Joey's fist with his own hand. Chandler smiled at that. Joey didn't miss a beat with Jack. The last time Joey visited, Jack had a few words and said hi and even almost said something that sounded like "Joe". Now, knowing he isn't talking, Joey adapted quickly to high fives, hugs and handshakes as a form of communication.

Erica reached her hands out as she pushed her plate even further forward. "More."

"You read my mind little girl!" Joey sprung up, grabbed a stack of pancakes, cut two of them up for the twins and then threw three more on his plate.

He stepped over to Chandler on his way back to the table and spoke softly as he leaned into his shoulder. "So, uh, what have you guys decided to do about Jack?"

"Well, we did some research."

"You mean Monica did some research."

Erica squeaked out another "yeah" before shoving a small piece of pancake into her mouth.

Chandler turned to look at Erica. "Hey, I turned on the computer."

Joey stared at Chandler "Yeah, but that was just to make sure she didn't see your…" he covered his face, shielding himself from the twins. "P-O-R-N."

Chandler shook his head and rolled his eyes. "We have a child psychologist coming to evaluate him next week. Just to make sure he is keeping up with development at his age."

Joey walked over to the kitchen table, sat down, and turned to look at Jack. "I'll tell you kiddo, I never kept up with development, and look at me now!"

Chandler chuckled "Yeah, you developed all right."

Joey looked at himself and smiled proudly, oblivious to Chandler's playful jab. "Thanks man."

Joey got up and took more coffee from the pot. "So, uh, I guess Monica won't be too happy when I tell her that I need her to talk me up to the producer."

"What?"

"Well, he knows his daughter is seeing someone. I think we might have to come clean soon before he finds out on his own. I need Monica to tell him what a great guy I am. You know, to soften the blow. This is going to be my last chance since they fly out tonight after taping and I leave for L.A. in the morning. I need her to make him want his daughter to go out with me."

"Haven't you been working for him for, like, two years? Doesn't he already know you well enough to make that decision?"

"No. Somehow I think he got the wrong impression of me."

"How did that happen?"

"I slept with three assistants, two associate producers, and a PA."

Chandler ran his hand over his face and let out an exasperated sigh.

"Wait. Didn't you and his daughter start going out right after you go this show?"

"Not for the first month."

"Unbelievable."

"I know. I couldn't believe how slow it was for me either."

"Joey. You can't do this to Monica. She has enough to worry about."

Joey stuffed a large piece of pancake in his mouth. "I'm not asking her to lie, I just need her to slip into the conversation about how good I am to women. How I'm loyal, respectful and committed."

"I'm sorry. I thought you said you weren't going to ask her to lie."

"Come on Chandler. She's the only one who can do this for me. I know that if he hears good stuff about me from a woman, he will keep an open mind when we tell him we are going out. Is that too much to ask for?"

Erica took a sip from her cup and nodded. "Yeah."

Joey turned to look at Erica. "But, Monica…uh, I mean, your mom, has always talked to me about one day being ready to settle down."

"Yeah."

"Yeah. And now, I think maybe I found to girl to do that with."

"Yeah."

Chandler brought his hands up to cover his face as he could not help himself but groan at the conversation unfolding before him.

"Oh yeah Erica. She's smart, but not like, in a way that makes me feel bad. And she's funny, but not like your dad who tells jokes no one really gets."

"Yeah."

"I see. He told you some jokes too huh?"

"Yeah."

Chandler gesticulated as he stumbled on his words before gathering the wherewithal to speak.

"What? Erica, I make you laugh all the time!"

"Yeah."

Chandler nodded and folded his arms, satisfied with her answer. Joey leaned in closer to Erica.

"You just said that so his feelings wouldn't get hurt, right?"

"Yeah."

"You're a good daughter."

"Yeah."

Joey stood up and stretched as he put the last piece of pancake on his plate into his mouth. He walked over to the coffee pot to top off his cup.

"Well, I think my work here is done. I'm going to take a shower."

"Don't be late Joe. And please don't put Monica in between you and your producer. That isn't fair to her. And don't put me in between you and Monica. Because I'll have to pick her. She sleeps with me."

Joey reluctantly nodded and then walked out of the kitchen.

Chandler sighed and shook his head. He looked at Erica and Jack and gestured towards the entranceway of the kitchen.

"All this before breakfast. Let me just grab some pancakes and I'll join you two before the chaos starts."

Chandler walked over to the kitchen counter and huffed as he saw an empty plate where his stack of pancakes used to be.

"Or, maybe I'll just have a cup of coffee."

He walked over to the coffee pot and lifted it up to find it empty.

"This is going to be a long day. Isn't it?"

Erica flapped her hands around on her tray and knocked her sippy cup to the ground.

"Yeah."