Monica and Chandler had everyone over at their house for a summer dinner. Chandler was on the patio in the backyard grilling the burgers, talking with the rest of the dads as they sipped at their beers. The Moms were sitting around the patio table with glasses of wine, while the kids ran around the backyard. Monica was moving back and forth between the patio and the kitchen, making sure her friends had everything they needed.
He kept insisting that she should sit and relax with the rest of the mothers, but she wouldn't. Chandler knew she wanted to make a good impression on the Wheelers, a family they had become close with through their kids' school, though he didn't see the need to. They'd had them over a few times before during playdates. The rest of the group was just her brother, Rachel, Phoebe, and Mike who knew Monica's seemingly erratic behavior was how she relaxed.
So instead of bothering her too much, Chandler let her do whatever she needed to do while he kept an eye on the kids.
In the large backyard, the kids had started a soccer game. They didn't seem to be playing by the real rules, only going back and forth between goals. Erica kicked the ball toward her brother who started to run with it between his feet toward the goal.
Johnny Wheeler, who was the oldest son by one year, tried to get the ball from him. He stuck his foot out in an attempt to grab the ball, but instead tripped Jack over, forcing him to the ground.
The kids all stopped as Johnny started to apologize in a panic that he had hurt his friend. Jack pushed himself up with a small groan in pain. He looked down and frowned slightly at all the dirt and grass stains on his clothes. "My clothes are all dirty…"
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," Johnny said softly.
He shook his head slightly, "That's just part of the game. It's okay."
Jack tried to dust all of the dirt off his shirt, even though it wasn't really working when he noticed something small in the grass. He carefully picked it up and held it in the palm of his hand.
Erica went over to her brother leaning over his shoulder to look at what he was holding. "Jack, smile."
He looked up at her and smiled wildly. One of his front teeth was now missing, leaving a gap in his mouth. Erica noticed his mouth was even bleeding, "Ew! Your tooth fell out!"
"Really?" Jack looked back at the small tooth in his hand with concern. "Do I have to go to the doctor?"
Johnny shook his head quickly. "No, you're supposed to put it under your pillow and a fairy comes when you're sleeping and gives you money! When I lost my first tooth, my mom said that kids have to lose their baby teeth before they can get big ones."
"I'm gonna go show my Dad!" Jack got up quickly, running across the yard and up the few wooden steps. He pushed through the small crowd of Dads to get to his own and he tugged on his father's shirt. "Daddy!"
Chandler looked down at his little six-year-old son and crouched down to his level. He saw the small trickles of blood on his shirt but tried to stay calm. Jack wasn't crying, which was a good sign, but he had to ask anyway. "What's up, bud? I saw you fall out there, are you okay?"
The boy nodded and then held out his hand to show his tooth. "My tooth fell out!"
"Oh, wow! That's exciting. Why don't you go in the kitchen and Mom can get you something to put it in so you don't lose it? She can help you get cleaned up too," Chandler ruffled his hair, making the kid giggle before he ran off.
Jack went through the back door, taking his shoes off in the laundry room. He put them on the shoe rack next to the door before running off into the kitchen. "Mommy, look, I lost my tooth!"
Monica closed the fridge, abandoning the task she was doing to see her son beaming up at her with a new gap in his teeth. "Oh my gosh! Look at you!"
She knelt down next to him, gently grabbing his cheeks to look at his new smile. The socket was still bleeding a little as he beamed up at his mother. "Do you have the tooth? We need to put it under your pillow for the tooth fairy."
"Johnny said that I get money, is that true?"
"Yes, the tooth fairy will take your tooth and give you money for it." Monica got up to get a small plastic bag to hold his tooth in. Next, she grabbed a paper towel and put enough water on it for it to be damp. She held the bag open so he could drop the tooth in before she closed it with the seal, then handed him the towel, "Here, bite down on this."
"Why does the fairy take teeth?" Jack mumbled with the towel now in his mouth.
Monica hummed, thinking about her answer. "I heard she uses it for castles back home. If you don't want to give it to her, your Dad and I can keep it safe for you."
"No, I want to get the fairy money," Jack said softly.
"Okay sweetheart. We'll keep it here for now so it's safe while you go play." She kept the bag on the counter and then noticed his clothes. "What happened?"
"I fell down," Jack looked at his shirt with grass stains, dirt, and now blood. "That's when my tooth fell out."
Monica was better at not needing everything to be spotless since having the twins, but she couldn't let one of his shirts be stained. She took the towel out of his mouth, seeing his mouth had stopped bleeding. "Why don't you go change your shirt and I'll clean it for you?"
He smiled and took off his shirt to give to her, then went upstairs to put on a new shirt. Monica went to the laundry room to work on getting out the stains when Chandler poked his head in from outside. "The burgers are done."
"Great, Jack is changing his shirt and we'll be right out."
He moved behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. Chandler hid his face in the crook of her neck and mumbled, "He lost his first tooth."
"I don't want to think about it," she muttered back. Monica laid the shirt out flat and grabbed a spray bottle with her own stain recipe that she refused to share.
"They're growing up," he smiled.
"Shut up," she said with a chuckle. The twins were still kids so maybe she was overreacting, but thinking about it made her spiral. Soon they'd be teenagers, then adults who didn't need them anymore. "How did our son fall so hard that he knocked a tooth out?"
Chandler rolled his eyes slightly, "It was already loose. They were playing soccer and Johnny accidentally tripped him. He said he's fine though. Our kids are tough."
"I don't know how that happened," she smiled.
"Maybe their father really is the shovel killer," Chandler said softly.
Monica laughed, shaking her head. "Their father is a wonderful man who teaches them how to be brave. And who I've never seen holding a shovel."
"I have once. When I was twelve my mother forced me to help in the garden," he explained. Chandler pulled away from her when he heard Jack's footsteps approaching them.
Jack ran into the laundry room, straight into his father's arms. His Dad lifted him into the air and then settled him on his hip. "Daddy, I'm getting money for my tooth tonight when the fairy comes!"
"You are? That's so cool! Are you ready for dinner, buddy?" Chandler planted a kiss on his son's cheek, then leaned over to kiss his wife.
"Do you love Mommy a lot?" Jack asked as his father carried him outside.
"A lot times infinity," Chandler smiled.
"Woah," the boy whispered.
That night, as Chandler tucked Erica into her bed, Monica helped Jack get ready for the tooth fairy. In his pajamas, he jumped into his bed and moved his pillow out of the way. "I put it here? Will she find it?"
"Yes, I promise. Do you want to leave it in the bag or just put the tooth down?" She asked while moving his blankets out of his way.
His face scrunched in disgust, "Is that clean?"
"I don't know," she said honestly. Even though she had cleaned the tooth before putting it back in the baggie, it didn't seem wise to have a single tooth on the bed. "It's up to you honey."
"Keep in the bag," he decided. Jack put the plastic baggie down on his bed and put his pillow on top of it. He laid down in his bed then his mother placed the blankets over him as he got more comfortable. Jack grabbed his favorite stuffed dog that he's had since he was a baby, holding the toy close to his chest."Can you read me a story?"
Monica smiled softly, going to his bookshelf to grab a book to read. "Which one would you like?"
"Chrysanthemum!" Jack said excitedly.
She chuckled, knowing that he liked the pictures in the book so he picked it often. Monica sat next to him on the bed, wrapping her arm around him, and started to read. She held the book up so he could see as she told the story of the mouse. Halfway through, she felt Jack slump against her side when he fell asleep.
"Hey," Chandler whispered.
"Is Erica asleep?" Monica asked quietly, gently running her fingers through Jack's hair.
He nodded, kneeling on the floor next to her. "How much are we supposed to give him for a tooth?"
"The tooth fairy used to give me ten."
"Ten? For a tooth? I got like a dollar," he frowned.
Monica shook her head slightly, "If it makes you feel better, Ross got fifteen, so I got the short end of that stick."
"That doesn't make me feel better at all," he muttered. "How about we give five? Each kid has twenty teeth to lose, that's a total of a hundred each."
"That's fair. You have to get it from under the pillow though," she smiled.
Chandler looked at the pillow under them, trying to calculate how to grab it without waking up Jack. "Lift him up a little."
She carefully sat up, moving Jack up with her as Chandler reached under the pillow. When he grabbed the bag, he held it up with a proud smile that he successfully found it without waking him. "Do you have the money?"
"I think I have some in my wallet," he whispered softly. Chandler patted his pockets where he usually kept his wallet, but it wasn't there. "I think it's on the dresser."
"Well, go get it," she said.
He huffed in reluctance to get up as he went to their bedroom. When he found his wallet, he looked through the cash which was mostly ones, and a few twenties before he found a five-dollar bill. Chandler went back to Jack's room and slid it under his pillow just as carefully. "Are you going to stay here all night?"
She shook her head and then looked down at Jack again. "No, I just don't want to wake him."
"You won't," he promised, taking her hand.
Monica stood slowly, guiding his head to the pillow then watched him as she leaned against Chandler. "After six years of putting them to bed, you'd think I wouldn't worry about them anymore."
"It might be a parent thing. We can't help but worry I guess," he shrugged. Chandler started to guide her out of the room, turning off the warm lamp on the bedside table. "They're okay though."
"Yeah, I know," she muttered softly.
"Momma!" Jack yelled the next morning. He quickly ran into the kitchen where his family was around the breakfast island eating their cereal. "I got five bucks!"
Erica furrowed her eyebrows at the money in her brother's hand. "That's not fair! I want five bucks!"
"When you lose a tooth, the tooth fairy will come and give you five bucks," Chandler said.
She slammed her spoon down on the table with determination. "Daddy, you have to help me pull my teeth out."
He jumped slightly at the noise and looked at his daughter with concern. "I'm not going to pull your teeth out. They'll fall out on their own just give them time."
"This isn't fair," she pouted. "Why did his tooth fall out first?"
"'Cause I'm the oldest," Jack said smugly. He sat next to Erica, putting his money on the counter just as Monica put a bowl of his favorite cereal in front of him. "That means I'm better."
Erica scowled at her brother and slid off her chair to run to her father's side, "Only by three minutes! Daddy, he's being mean."
"Jack, don't say that. You're both equally awesome. His tooth only fell out first because it was loose when he fell over yesterday." Chandler put an arm around Erica and kissed the top of her head. "I'm sure the tooth fairy will visit you soon."
"I hope so," Erica muttered.