A/N: Okay, I am going to take a moment here to thank you guys.

sammie-jayne, JennLoveMondler, Lainel & IsabelleBing: I was nervous about making Chandler not do his usual 'freak-out' thing elaborately, and I am really glad you liked my approach.

dancer cherrybug & gAnGsTa GaBbY lOvEs JoKeR: Thank you for your constant encouragement, I really appreciate it :)

Veridissima: Glad you liked the previous chapter! I am gonna cover the gang's reaction in the next chapter (hopefully), but I really hope you'll like this!

lizard: Thank you for reviewing! Your review made me blush ;)

Now, my knowledge of pregnancy and its associated tests and scans is rather limited. Although I've looked up the necessary info on the internet, if you still do find any glaring errors (from this chapter on), please do let me know.

Forever and a Day

Chapter 4

Chandler looked at Joey, who was gulping down his beer, watching 'Baywatch'. There was nothing that could tear Joey's eyes away from the screen when Yasmeen or Nicole (or any other woman, for that matter), was on it. He used to be like that, too, until this evening happened; until he'd learned he was going to have a baby.

He wanted Yasmeen Bleeth to entrance him into the glamorous world of lifeguards and slow-motion running, like she always did, but he knew it wasn't going to happen tonight and possibly never during any other night for the foreseeable future.

Monica had gone down to the clinic that evening to get a blood test done to find out whether she really was pregnant. But he didn't have any doubts in his mind. Three positive pregnancy tests just don't lie. He wondered why she couldn't see it. Besides, given his luck in life, he'd be happy if it weren't twins.

"Chandler, are you all right?" Chandler heard Joey's voice, pulling him back into reality. Joey was looking at him curiously.

"Yeah, yeah, I am. Why?" he asked him back, wondering whether his feelings were so transparent.

"Nothing. It's just that you've been staring into the space for like fifteen minutes, not even looking at the TV when Summer was running. Are you really okay?" Joey asked again, concern lining his face.

Joey's intuitive abilities never failed to surprise Chandler. As dull as he could be, Joey could always sense when something was wrong with the person next to him.

Chandler was tempted to tell him that he was not 'all right' and it was because he was going to become a father in nine months, and there were no universities in NYC that offered a crash course on 'How to be a Dad'. But he kept his mouth shut. He didn't think Monica would appreciate it if he told Joey what the problem was, much like how he wouldn't appreciate her telling Rachel about it.

"It's nothing, Joe. It's just... I have loads of things to do at work tomorrow," he shrugged.

Joey seemed to understand. "Oh," he nodded and turned to the TV again.

His work was always a safe bet when he wanted to be left alone. He didn't care about it, nor did his friends.

"Hey, do we have any juice?" he asked Joey a moment later, knowing fully well that they never had anything besides expired milk in their fridge. He just needed an excuse to go over to Monica's apartment. He wanted to know how it'd gone at the doctor's clinic. When he'd offered to accompany her, she'd refused, saying that it might invoke suspicion on the part of their friends, if they left together.

Joey looked at him like he was crazy. "Dude, when have we ever had juice at our place?"

"I feel like having some. I am gonna go across the hall to see whether the girls have any. 'Kay?"

"Okay." Joey turned back to face the TV, but just as he was about to open the door, Joey called out for him. "Oh, and Chandler, while you're at it, you may also wanna ask Mon whether she'd saved some of that lasagna."

Chandler made a non-committal sound and left his apartment. He sure as hell didn't care about the lasagna.

He entered the girls' apartment to find both Monica and Rachel at the kitchen table. He'd hoped to find Monica alone. He tried to mask his disappointment. "Hey."

While Rachel smiled back, Monica just nodded, the look on her face revealing that she wished to speak with him alone, too.

"Do you guys have any juice?" he continued with his act, owing to Rachel's presence.

"Help yourself," Rachel pointed at the fridge.

He poured some orange juice onto a glass and took it with him as he sat down at the table, adjacent to Monica. "So, what were you guys talking about?" he asked conversationally as he took a sip of his juice.

"Well, I was just telling Monica the she has to go see a doctor about her "stomach flu"." Rachel made air quotes. "Every morning I wake up to the sound of her throwing up," she finished worriedly, looking at Monica. "Really, every single morning."

Chandler choked on his orange juice, the sharp tang of it rising up to his nostrils. Who said you can't taste with your nose?

"Oh my goodness, are you okay?" Rachel moved swiftly and patted him on the back as he struggled to breathe, but his brain refused to process all things except one.

Morning sickness...?

He was not an expert on pregnancy by any means, but there were a few things that even he knew from watching innumerable movies and soap operas.

So she knew it even before today?

Once his coughing subsided, he assured the girls saying that he was okay. He then asked Monica slowly, "Since when have you been throwing up?"

"Four, five days…" She avoided his eyes as she said it.

"Mon, please promise me you're going to see a doctor about this." A very concerned looking Rachel requested Monica.

"Yes, Rach. As soon as possible," Monica nodded.

"'Not as soon as possible'. Tomorrow." Rachel looked at her pointedly.

Monica nodded again resignedly. "Okay." There was no use in arguing with Rachel.

Rachel got off her chair. "All right, people, I have an early day tomorrow. Lots of coffee to pour! I am off to sleep. Goodnight, guys!" her voice dripping with fake enthusiasm as she left for her room

"Goodnight," they echoed, watching her walk away.

He waited until Rachel's bedroom door closed and then turned to look at Monica. "What did they say at the doctor's?"

"They're gonna do something called the quantitative HCG test. It looks for the presence of pregnancy hormone in my blood. We'd get the results tomorrow," she spoke in a low voice so that Rachel wouldn't hear them. "I have my fingers crossed," she added, showing him her crossed fingers.

"So you still think that there is a chance that you might not be pregnant?" he asked her slowly.

"Yes, I do," she nodded.

He looked at her long and hard before he spoke again. "We've got three positive pregnancy tests. You've been throwing up for nearly a week now. Why can't you get your head around the fact that you are pregnant?"

He looked mad, almost hurt. She didn't really know what to tell him, so she took a second to answer his question, thinking over her motivation. "Chandler..." she started slowly, "even if there is a one percent chance that I am not pregnant, I am going to hold on tight to it."

He knew the concept of denial really well. It was his area of expertise and he could easily detect it when he saw it.

"What's with the wishful thinking, Monica? Why are you refusing to accept something that's so obvious?" Before she could answer, he felt something else stirring in him. "Is it because I'll be your child's father?" He could feel the color rising in his cheeks, his heart pumping faster.

"Look, Chandler, that's not-" she started, but he cut her off.

"You know what, when you do finally realize that you are pregnant, and it is my baby that you're carrying, give me a call." With that, he got off his chair and stormed off the apartment, slamming the door close behind him.

She closed her eyes tightly, flinching as the door banged shut, feeling physically and emotionally drained.

~.~

Joey turned around in his chair when Chandler opened the door. "Hey, did you ask her about the lasagna?"

"No, she hasn't saved any," he hissed, walking past Joey to his room and slamming his own door shut, causing Joey to jump in his chair.

He was already having doubts about where this was headed and he really didn't need Monica doubting his parenting skills as well. Although she didn't say it out loud, he knew that that's what she'd meant.

Why did he have to sleep with her? Why should she have gotten pregnant? Things like these were supposed to happen to people in movies and in books, to people that he didn't know. Not to him.

He collapsed on his bed and threw the covers over himself.

The last thought on his mind before he fell asleep was, what will remain of their friendship by the end of these nine months, if anything.

~.~

"Honey, you're not okay. Go home. Now." Paula literally pushed Monica out of the Iridium kitchen the next evening.

"Paula, I am fine. I really am," she protested feebly, knowing fully well that she wasn't.

When Paula insisted the fifth time, she didn't protest.

She reached home, completely exhausted. She no longer doubted that she was pregnant. This baby was already sapping her energy away.

She hit the play button on her answering machine, which was blinking with new messages, and sat down on the couch, her fingers rising to massage her throbbing temples.

There were two messages. The first one was from Ross. "Mon, it's me. I don't think I'll be able to make it to dinner tonight. One of the displays here has collapsed, and it's going to be a long night. Could you save me some food? I'll call you later. Bye."

The machine beeped and went on to play the next message: "Miss Geller, this is Doctor Nelson. Your blood test results are positive for pregnancy. You're about five-and-a-half weeks pregnant. Call my office for an appointment."

Well, that was no surprise.

Chandler hadn't come for breakfast that morning and Joey had said he'd left early for work. She wanted to talk to him. She wanted to explain to him how she felt, how he'd misunderstood her, and how much she needed him for her to get through the following nine months.

She glanced at the clock. He wouldn't be home for at least two more hours.

Usually when she felt this restless, she'd clean. But the tiredness overtook any urge to clean. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to succumb to the fatigue by falling asleep on the couch.

~.~

Chandler entered his apartment at around six and found it to be empty. Joey had told him something about an audition, but he hadn't been listening.

He felt guilty about the way he'd acted towards Monica the previous night. If she was reluctant to realize the fact that she was carrying his child, he couldn't really blame her. His persona really didn't scream 'guy who'd be the most amazing father', nor had he had the perfect role models while he was growing up.

She was already going through a lot and she didn't need him to lay a guilt trip on her.

He knew he had to apologize to her.

He placed his briefcase on the Foosball table and opened the door, only to find Monica standing at the other side.

"Hey," she smiled at him tentatively. "Can I come in?"

He moved aside, stuttering, "Oh, yes, yea-sure," still from the surprise that she'd come to see him. He closed the door behind her and moved past her to stand on the other side of the kitchen counter.

"Mon, about yesterday-"

"The blood test results-"

They started at the same time. He stopped his sentence midway. "Yours sounds like a more important news." He motioned for her to continue.

"The blood test results are positive for pregnancy," she told him, looking at his face closely for his reaction. The only thing that she noticed was, he didn't look surprised.

"Well, that, that's-" he floundered, not knowing what to say.

"That's what you expected," she finished the sentence for him.

He nodded.

"Chandler, I am sorry about yesterday," she said softly.

"No, Mon, I am sorry for-"

"Can I talk first?" she interrupted. He nodded, taking her hand in his.

"Chandler, it's not that I don't want you to be the father of my baby. It's just..." she trailed off. "It's just that I am not ready to have anyone's baby..." She sighed. "Not this way," she added quietly.

He understood it. Even for a woman whose life-long dream had been to become a mother, he imagined this was not the ideal way of doing it - having a child with a commitment-phobic guy with whom she was not in love.

"But there's nothing we can do about that now, is there?" she smiled at him slowly. "Anyway, I am really sorry if you mistook it to mean something else."

He smiled back. "Even if you did mean something else, I can't really blame you, you know. I don't exactly come off as an excellent 'father material'." He looked down, his thumb flicking across her knuckles.

She looked at him, slightly shocked. Never once had that thought crossed her mind.

Sure, he was goofy, sarcastic, and immature, but he had a kindness about him that she always thought would make him an excellent father. Now, she saw the insecure side of him, which he revealed very rarely without the mask of humor that accompanied it as a defense mechanism.

She placed her other hand over his, holding his hand securely between hers as he looked up at her again. "Chandler, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Being a father is a natural instinct, like how a child learns to take his first step. You'll learn it with relative ease once you get the hang of it." She smiled at him gently. "I, for one, think you're going to be an amazing dad."

She looked so sincere saying it, he had no option but to believe her. "Thanks, Mon." He smiled back, pulling her into his arms. "That means a lot to me," he murmured against her hair.

She hugged him back fiercely, glad that things were okay between them. She suddenly leaned back in his embrace to look into his eyes. "There's no one else I'd rather be going through this with," she said, earnestness etched on her face.

He smiled down at her, his fingers rising to tug on her ear playfully. "Me too, Mon," he whispered back. "Me, too."

She stood on her toes to kiss him on the cheek and drew herself out of his embrace. "I'll see you at dinner tonight?"

"Yeah," he smiled as he nodded.

She grinned back at him and turned around to leave his apartment, just as he turned to enter his room. She stopped in her tracks abruptly and called out for him. "Oh, and Chandler?"

He looked back.

"Your blue eyes are really all I'd want for my baby," she said softly, recalling what she'd told him on that night. Her eyes lingering on his face for a couple of seconds, and then she turned back and left through the door, the door closing behind her with a gentle thud.

He turned again to enter his room, the smile on his face uncontainable.

Maybe, having a baby with his best friend wasn't such a bad thing, after all.

~.~.~

A/N: I realize not much happened in this chapter, but you know, Chandler wouldn't be Chandler without a little freaking out :)