Listen to Your Heart – Chapter Eight
xx
"Are the two of you hungry?" Monica wondered, "It's almost lunchtime." She shot pointed glances at Chandler and Michelle who were sitting in her living room. Monica smiled to herself when they nodded identically. In the week since she'd known the two of them, Monica had come to realize just how much Michelle took after her father; a reason to love them both, she decided.
"I wants choco' chip cookies!" Michelle exclaimed.
"That sounds like dessert, sweetie," Monica told her. "How about this," she proposed, "after we all have a nice healthy lunch we'll all make some chocolate chip cookies together. How does that sound?"
Michelle agreed excitedly, "Daddy never makeses choco' chip cookies!"
Monica smiled at her exuberance and kissed her hair, whispering conspiratorially in Michelle's direction, "That's because he doesn't know how!"
"Hey!" Chandler complained, "I may be over here on the couch, but I can still hear you!" Monica and Michelle both giggled at him.
Monica shot him a questioning look. "Are you trying to tell me you think you know how to bake cookies?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, "I've seen some of your confections, honey, and I think it's best you leave the cooking to me in this relationship. Those things you called brownies, well, they're probably best left without description."
Michelle twisted up her face in disgust, "They was yucky!"
Monica laughed. "See?" she offered as proof, "You couldn't even convince your three-year-old to eat them and they're chockfull of sugar!"
"Haha, I can't cook, you can. Very funny," he muttered deadpan, the smile on his face letting her know he wasn't wholly serious. "Joey liked them!" he countered.
"Joey bragged about eating cherry scented soap and liking that," she teased, "Are you sure you want to brag about him liking your baking?"
"Uncle Joey ated a whole thing of tootpaste," Michelle interjected helpfully, in Monica's defence. Monica nodded, and stroked her hair maternally in thanks. Michelle seemed pleased.
"What's up with the two of you ganging up on me?" he complained, "You're my daughter, and you're my girlfriend!" he pointed at Michelle and Monica respectively, "You're both supposed to be on my side!" They both laughed at him. "And, fine, maybe Joey isn't the best judge of taste," he conceded. "I just want you to know I can cook some stuff! You just do it so much better than I ever could!" he told Monica.
"That's sweet, honey," Monica told him, "even if I'm only the winner by default."
"Hey! I compliment your cooking and you insult mine? You're going to pay for that later," he promised teasingly.
"I'm counting on it," she told him with a grin. "You may not have much cooking talent, but you are good at some things!" she raised her eyebrows suggestively, "Now, come on, you two, sit up at the table for lunch, we're having sandwiches! I don't think even your Daddy could mess that one up, huh, Mishi?" She giggled and shook her head. Chandler shot them both a slightly sour look.
"Can I haves peanut butters and jelly?" she asked Monica, after she had stopped laughing.
"Of course you can, sweetie," Monica told her.
xx
"What is that?" Monica laughed, pointing at Chandler's cookie dough creation. As she had promised Michelle, after lunch Monica had whipped up a batch of the little girl's favourite cookies. They were currently in the process of molding the dough into various shapes.
Chandler looked at her, a little offended, pointing at his shape indignantly, "It's a star! How can you not see it?! It's a good star!"
Monica squinted and stared at the shape, attempting to see what he saw in it. "Okay. Sure," she agreed, "If I squint like this, I can kinda see it!"
Chandler shot her a look. "Shut up, Ms. 'My Unicorn Shaped Cookie is Perfect!' You know that's going to melt into a big blob, right?" he teased.
"Yeah, surprisingly, I do! I am a chef and I know how baking works! But at least mine looks better right now!" she explained. Chandler looked down at his star grumpily.
"Maybe I should mold my cookie into the shape of your face," he countered, "then it'd be the most beautiful, automatically!"
"That's sweet, but are you sure your artistic talents are up to the challenge?" she teased, "That would not be a pretty picture when my face melted in the oven, anyway!"
Chandler grinned at her charmingly. "I wouldn't mind. Your face would be beautiful no matter what! Besides, any deformity would be unimportant, when I got to take a bite out of your head!" he laughed.
Monica laughed, "What a nice mental image."
Chandler grinned back, and kissed the side of her head. "Would you rather I bite somewhere else?" he wondered cheekily.
"Looks at mines, Daddy!" Michelle interrupted with a giggle, waving her cookie dough covered hands in his direction.
"Wow, it's pretty sweetheart!" he appeased her, glancing at the shape she had created. It just looked like a weird curved blob to him. "What is it, sweetie?" he asked tentatively.
Monica answered for her, "It's a rainbow, of course!" Michelle nodded eagerly.
"It's gotses no colourses though!" Michelle informed them, as if they hadn't known, "Rainbows is apposed to be pretty colourses."
Chandler looked at Monica questioningly, whispering, "How did you know that? I had no idea. I'm her father, I've known Mishi her whole life, you've known her a week and a half!"
"I'm more observant than you, sweetie!" she teased, kissing his cheek, consolingly, "You didn't know her last cookie was Shell, either, and she's had that stuffed turtle since she was a baby, and sleeps with it every night!"
"Stupid turtle," he muttered under his breath, before adding seriously, "You're great with her, you know. If I didn't know better, I would think you were a mommy, already!"
Monica grinned at him pleased with the compliment. She couldn't help but wonder if anyone were to look into the apartment at that moment… would think they were watching a family? Michelle did kind of look like both of them…. she had her dark hair, Chandler's eyes. The thought of being linked to her in that way sent a warmth shooting through Monica's heart.
"Well," Monica explained, pushing away her previous thoughts, and concentrating on responding to Chandler, "Phoebe told me I was in a past life!" She frowned as she tried to recall exactly what Chandler's eccentric friend had told her, "She said in my last life I had 16 kids!"
Chandler laughed, "That sounds like Phoebe. I don't think you wanna know about any my past lives according to her! Some of her stories are downright frightening!" he glanced at Michelle who was still dutifully creating cookies on the cookie sheets that he and Monica had all but abandoned.
"You can tell me!" Monica claimed, chiding him, "Are you chicken?"
"What, no! I just don't wanna!" he asserted, backing away from her, carefully.
"Stop being a baby, and tell me!" Monica grabbed a chunk of dough and threw it at him.
"Oh, and throwing cookie dough on me is the mature way to handle things!" he complained, sarcastically.
"Just tell me!" Monica complained, "there may be something in it for you…" she kissed the line of his jaw seductively, careful to make sure Michelle was still engrossed in cookie making, as she did. Chandler groaned and looked torn.
"Okay, okay, fine!" He relented, "I just want you to know you're a devil woman! That was pure evil. But I'm not doing this because you seduced me into it! I just wanted you to know…" Monica smirked. Winning was winning. "In one I was supposedly a clown, and another a lion slash elephant trainer." He grimaced, "That's all I'm going to say. Trust me, you don't want to know any details."
Monica grinned, suppressing her laugh, "You a clown? That doesn't sound so ridiculous to me!"
xx
Ross entered his sister's apartment, greeted by the smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. He immediately headed towards the counter where the cookies were laying on a cooling rack, intending to snag one.
He looked at the cookies, calling to his sister, "What's up with these cookies, Mon? Why are they all, uh, you know, weird shapes?"
"Michelle and Chandler were here, we were hanging out and she mentioned she liked chocolate chip cookies, and so we thought it'd be a fun little activity for her to help make them. She was so cute. And Chandler's so awesome with her! They had to leave, though, Chandler's mother's in town on a book tour and wanted to spend the evening with them." Ross looked at his sister, watching as her radiant mood mellowed to melancholy as she explained they had to leave.
"Nora's around?" Ross asked, surprised, "Does Rachel know? Surprised she's not over at his apartment begging for an autograph!"
Monica shook her head. "She's spending the night 'bonding' with Joey, is what she told me. Think he's taking her to a play or something?" she told Ross carefully, not wanting to upset him.
Ross' eyes darkened, but he opted to ignore the elephant in the room, asking as casually as he could muster, "So how are things with you and Chandler?"
Monica shot him a warning look, "Ross. You said you were okay with this, when we asked you earlier."
"I am!" he told her defensively. "It's another relationship in this happy little group I take issue with," he muttered, under his breath. Out loud he added, "Trust me, I'm so happy for you guys. I love both of you and I know you couldn't have found a better guy."
"Really?" Monica asked touched, "I'm glad, big brother because I think this may be it, for both of us. And, of course, Michelle. I miss them, already and they've been gone, like, two hours. Is that pathetic, or what?"
Ross smiled and shook his head. "You're, practically glowing, Mon. You really love them, don't you?"
"Yeah," she sighed, "I really do! Not sure if he's ready to hear it, though. Pretty sure we both feel it… there's just so much, ugh, stuff!"
"Well, that - that clears it up, then!" Ross muttered sarcastically.
Monica shot him a sardonic look, and clarified, "There's his ex-wife, and of course Michelle. And we haven't even slept together, yet!"
"Ugh, Monica! File that under 'stuff I don't want to know about the two of you!' I may be cool with the two of you hooking up, but there's still a line!"
"Sorry, sorry," Monica apologized, "didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I'm just… frustrated."
Ross made another face. "Didn't need to know that, either!"
"Not sexually frustrated, bonehead," Monica snapped, shooting a glare in his direction, "Frustrated about what do with this entire situation! I love him and Michelle so much. I don't want to scare him away by doing something premature."
"Look, Mon, I may not be his best friend, anymore, or a gossip like Rachel," his eyes seemed slightly murky at the mention of her name, "but Chandler's still said some stuff to me. Trust me, saying you love him isn't premature. He feels it, too."
"Really?" Monica looked at him suspiciously.
"Really," he confirmed, "Hey, how about next Saturday, I take Michelle out from under your feet? I have Ben, they could have a little play date thing? You could get some time to talk to Chandler, alone?"
"That's sweet of you to offer, Ross, but Joey's parents are taking her for the evening next Saturday. They haven't seen her in a while, since just after they moved back to Queens from LA. They wanted to hang out with her. Me and Chandler are going out with Joey and Rach for the night."
"Oh," Ross muttered despondently.
"How are you doing with that, by the way?" Monica questioned gently, hoping Ross would take her up on her offer to talk about it. She figured she was his only real chance at having a neutral outlet. He couldn't talk to Rachel herself, and Chandler was Joey's best friend. His ex-wife and her new wife probably weren't a viable option, and neither were his dino-geek colleagues. That left only her.
Ross sighed and shot her a grateful look, "I don't know. I hate seeing them together. I just want to strangle Joey. He's a nice guy, though… does that make me a bad person?"
"No, sweetie. You're just hurting. You're upset that she's moving on, and you're not. But," she added sternly, "remember, it was you who cheated on her. You can't very well to expect her to forgive you as easily as you seem to want her to. You hurt her really badly, too, and in all honesty, I think you're lucky she was happy to remain your friend after what you did to her."
Ross glared at her petulantly for a moment, "I thought you agreed with me that we were on a break and that she was being unreasonable refusing to see my side of things!"
"Ross, we are not going into this again! It's been done to death! Look, the bottom line is that you and Rachel are over, and you have to move on. Shifting blame isn't going to help either of you, and I'm not getting stuck in the middle, again!"
"Yeah, I guess," Ross mumbled miserably, "I just thought we'd end up together, in the end."
"And I did, too, for a while. But now Rachel's moving on, you should be happy for her. She's with a great guy, who genuinely cares about her. Joey may be a little immature, but he has a heart of gold. Better him than Paolo."
"Yeah," Ross relented, "Paolo was an ass, cheating on her and all, with that girl at the massage parlour! I should have looked into having him deported!"
"You did the same thing," Monica reminded him sharply. Seeing Ross was about to retort, she added quickly, "Don't even say the word break, buddy." Ross merely gave her a sour look in response. "Stop with the hard-done-by-me expressions and start moving on!" Her tone softening, she added, "Hey, this might interest you! I spoke with Julie a couple weeks ago. We bumped into one another at Bloomingdale's, and we met up for lunch a few days ago… she asked about you, you know."
Ross looked curious, underneath his gloomy expression. "She did? What did – uh, what did she say?" he wondered, trying to sound nonchalant. He was unable to keep his curiosity from seeping into his voice.
"She wanted to know how you were. When I mentioned you and Rachel had broken up, she was so bright and friendly about it. If I had to guess, I'd say she's still a little hung up on you! She's coming by on Thursday night, to pick up some of the old cat toys I dug up when you two were going to get a cat. Remember that? She just got the cutest kitten. You should drop by, she was strongly hinting she'd like to see you."
"Yeah," Ross nodded, a faint reminiscent smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, "I think I just might. Julie and I had a lot in common, and she was pretty amazing… maybe it's for the best."
"Good," Monica praised his decision, "Look, just so you know… Rachel's worried about you, and how you feel about her relationship. She wants you to like Joey, and not resent her. She's not expecting a miracle. She knows the you guys aren't going to be the best of friends, but she wants you two to get along. And if Chandler's going to be around me a lot, it'd be important to me, too, since Joey's his best friend… Can you try to be civil around them?"
"I will try…" Ross nodded, all but a trace of melancholy gone from his expression. "This thing with Julie has really put me in a better mood. Are you sure she wanted to see me?" he wondered insecurely.
xx
"C'mon, Mon!" Chandler whined, "This is like the millionth store we've been to! Are you sure she wouldn't like that skirt from Bloomingdale's? Or the bracelet from Nordstrom? Michelle's getting bo-ored!" The process of shopping for a gift for Rachel's birthday had been much more draining than he had anticipated. Monica's competitiveness hadn't been helping. She was insisting on getting the best possible gift, something Rachel would at least consider not returning.
Monica laughed, "When you say 'Michelle's bored' do you mean 'she's bored,' or 'I'm bored?' She seems to be having fun, to me." She wiggled the hand Michelle was holding. Michelle was between them, holding onto Monica's left hand, and Chandler's right. Every so often she'd jump, and expect them to swing her. Even as both Monica and Chandler got tired of it, Michelle still seemed to find great amusement in it.
"Okay, fine," he relented, "I'm bored! But," he amended before she could criticize, "spending time with you is worth anything!" He smiled sweetly at her and Monica grinned back pleased with the sentiment. "All of the gifts we picked were fine! Can we just pick one and go home?"
"Just a few more stores, sweetie," Monica told him, reaching up to his cheek. "Hey how about Neiman Marcus?"
Chandler shot her a look, "I know you want to get Rach the perfect gift, sweetie, but do you want to bankrupt yourself, too?" Monica brushed him off with a wave of her hand and they continued down the street.
As they passed FAO Schwarz, Michelle's eyes widened as her stare followed the building, eyeing the rows upon rows of toys inside. Seeing a window of opportunity, to save his arm (which was about to fall off from all the swinging) and a way to get out of shopping for Rachel's gift, Chandler figured he could kill two birds with one stone. "Hey, Michi!" he suggested, oh-so-casually, pointing at the store display, "Check out that Barbie! She has a pet unicorn!"
As he had expected, Michelle took that as permission and pointed at the store as well, "We goes inside, Daddy?"
"Sure, sweetie. You don't mind, do you, Monica honey? She's been so good all day, being dragged from store to store. Maybe you could go get Rachel's gift and meet us back here?" Chandler wondered innocently, fighting away the urge to smirk.
As they followed Michelle who was skipping happily towards the entrance, Monica slapped Chandler's butt teasingly, and growled under her breath, but loud enough for Chandler to hear, "I don't believe you, Chandler Bing! Using your daughter like that! If you think that this is going to get you out of helping me, you're mistaken! I'm coming with, then we'll go get Rachel's gift!"
Chandler quickly erased the frown that had overcome his face, plastering on a false smile, "Sure, sweetie. But don't you think, it'd be more time efficient…" seeing her impatient expression, he finished, "If I shut up now?"
"Yes, I think that would be for the best," she agreed, lacing her hand through his with a smile, he squeezed her hand, and moved to hold open the door for Michelle, who was too small to push open the heavy door by herself. As soon as the way was clear, she immediately ran into the store. She faltered for a moment, deciding whether to head for the Barbies or the stuffed toys first. Briefly checking over her shoulder to make sure her father and Monica were following her, she bounded toward the plush toys.
"Look Daddy! Shellses' Daddy is here!" she called out joyously, indicating a monstrously large stuffed turtle.
"Yeah, sweetie," he agreed, "Maybe." Preempting the question he saw forming, he told her, "We're not taking him home, though." Michelle gave him a pouty look, so he explained rationally, "Look how big he is! You wouldn't have room for any more toys in your room! Do you want to get rid of all your Barbies?"
Michelle frowned at the thought and proposed, "He sleeps with me in mys bed!"
"Aw, what about Shell, then?" Chandler questioned sadly, "You can't sleep with two turtles at the same time and Shell would be very sad if you left him all by himself."
Michelle shook her head, pondering the dilemma briefly before making another proposal, "He stay in your room!" Chandler and Monica both laughed.
"No, sweetie. But, hey, how about this little guy?" he suggested, wiggling a plush tiger at his daughter, hoping to distract her. He shot Monica a frustrated look; she said nothing and shook her head before moving towards the end of the aisle, gesturing that she'd be right back. Chandler raised an eyebrow and watched her leave, turning to deal with Michelle again. Maybe dragging her out shopping all day, had been a bad idea… He was just as tired himself, having carried her most of the day, and was not really in the mood to deal with a tantrum.
"No," she said stubbornly, crossing her little arms petulantly.
"Hey, Michelle," Monica called to her, reappearing at the end of the aisle, a book in hand, "You want to come read this book with me?" She waved the talking Disney Princess book she was holding at her.
Michelle grinned at her and nodded, running towards her, immediately forgetting the turtle in an instant.
Chandler watched in awe as Monica took a seat on one of the little plastic children's chairs on display. It was no higher than a foot off the ground. After getting herself situated, Monica helped Michelle onto her lap and assisted her with 'reading' the book, along with the automated voice.
Getting a lump in his throat, Chandler moved to sit next to them on an equally tiny chair, wrapping his arm around both of them. He kissed Michelle on the head, thankful she had decided to behave, after all. He repeated the action on Monica, kissing her hair, then brushed the strands aside so he could whisper in her ear, "You're a miracle worker! How come she listens to you and not me?"
"Because I'm the fun one! I was born to be a Mommy, remember?" she reminded him.
"You won't let me forget," he teased, "Thank God for it, though! We were about to have an angry screaming child on our hands!"
"Nah, she's a good girl. She would have settled down eventually," Monica told him, brushing Michelle's dark braided pigtails away from her face. Michelle took no notice of either of the adults, though, and continued to 'read' her book, shifting on Monica's lap every once in awhile.
Chandler looked at her in mock-horror, "Don't tell me she's got you wrapped around her little finger, too! You were our last hope. She's already got me, Joey, Phoebe and Rachel."
Monica shook her head ruefully, "It's awful, isn't it? Five adults outsmarted by a toddler."
Chandler couldn't resist kissing her gently, "Only if awful means wonderful. I love that you guys get along so well. I wouldn't have it any other way. The two of you mean the world to me."
"I's done this book!" Michelle told them, "I's going to gets more." Monica and Chandler supervised her as she toddled down the aisle, inspecting the talking books in the displayer carefully, trying to decide which to take, before deciding one wasn't enough an lugging all of them back towards where Monica and Chandler were seated.
"Wow," Monica told her, "You're going to read all of those? You're going to be really smart by the time you finish all of those!"
Michelle nodded, helping herself back onto Monica's lap with a steadying hand from her father.
"Daddy says I's going to collez a'cause I is smart," Michelle informed her.
"I bet you will, sweetie," Monica told her, "You're definitely smart enough to go to college. Just give it a few years."
Chandler nodded. "Yeah, say about thirty?" he proposed, "Until then you can stay my little girl, right, Mishi?"
"Okay!" Michelle agreed eagerly. Both the adults laughed.
"So which one of these are we reading, Mishi?" Monica wondered, looking at the stack of books at her feet. Michelle browsed them, biting her lip, before eventually selecting Peter Pan and opening it, beginning to 'read.'
Just then a salesgirl walked down the aisle and spotted them, "Can I help you guys, or are you still browsing?"
Chandler shot her a quick smile, indicating Michelle. "I think she's still browsing. We may be here awhile," he laughed.
"Oh, that's no problem," the salesgirl informed them helpfully, "I'll just be over there, if you need me," she gestured to the opposite end of the store. "I don't usually say this kind of thing to customers, but you three make just the cutest little family!"
Chandler and Monica exchanged quick glances unnoticed by the salesgirl, who continued on, "Your daughter is just so cute! I hope the next one is just as cute!" she winked, explaining gleefully, "I saw you guys in the baby aisle, earlier. Don't worry, your little secret is safe with me!"
She apparently didn't notice their wide-eyed expressions and winked again, before waving to Michelle, who had finally looked up from her book to notice the stranger standing over them. "Bye cutie!" the salesgirl told her, and Michelle waved back exuberantly, pleased with being called cute, before going back to her book.
Monica and Chandler looked at one another in amazement. Chandler managed to squeak out, "Ba-baby aisle? I wasn't in the baby aisle! Were you?!"
"No," Monica managed, dragging out the syllable in such a way that made it clear she thought that fact was obvious. "Maybe she saw a couple that looked like us?" Monica offered rationally.
"Maybe. I mean it couldn't have been us! We haven't even… you know," he supplied, a deep blush crawling up his face.
"I know," she agreed, a slight smile on her face, "I think I would have remembered if we had."
"Right," his blush grew darker.
"Uh," Monica's face darkened to match his, "Um, I was wanting to know, anyway, I mean – I wanted to ask, how you felt about that, you know, issue?"
"Feel, um, about sex?" he whispered, so Michelle wouldn't hear, "In general, I feel good about it." He squeezed her hand and laughed, not sure how else to respond. It was either that, or blush deeper, and he was pretty sure his face had reached its maximum threshold for redness.
"No," Monica clarified with a hint of a smile, "I was, ah, talking about, uh, well, kids."
"I have a daughter who I love very, very much, Mon," he told her, oblivious to the question she was actually asking, "Of course I like kids."
Monica stared down at Michelle in her lap to avoid his gaze. "But when that, uh, salesgirl mentioned well, you know, you didn't seem all that pleased about the idea of ever having another one."
"She just caught me off guard, Mon. I'd love to have more kids. Someday," he stated carefully.
"That's good to know," she told him, leaning her head comfortably against his shoulder, "Very good to know."
xx
"Oh my God, what an exhausting day!" Chandler claimed, as he threw himself into the couch after grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge, "You two have worn me out!" Monica plopped down on the couch next to him and ran a hand through his hair and pecked him on the lips quickly.
"At least we got lots done before we go out with Joey and Rach tonight!" she told him, proud of their efficiency.
Chandler looked at her questionably. "You call buying a necklace for Rachel and spoiling my daughter 'getting lots done?'" he laughed. "You do know all of those two things took us five hours of wandering up and down fifth avenue, right?"
"Trust me, sweetie, if you'd ever gone shopping for a gift for Rachel you would know that that is amazing, record-breaking time."
"And we gots Sarkle!" Michelle chimed in, trying to be helpful.
"We got what?" Chandler questioned, with a raised eyebrow.
She waved her new plush fish in answer. "Sarkle!" Michelle grumbled, not liking that she had to repeat herself.
Chandler and Monica both looked at her with raised eyebrows. It was Chandler who eventually deciphered what she meant, "Oh, you mean Sparkle, sweetie!"
"That's whats I said!" Michelle told him grouchily.
"Okay, honey," Monica intervened, preventing the temper tantrum she could see brewing. She patted the couch next to her. "Come bring Sparkle and sit here on the couch with us and we'll watch Alice in Wonderland," she gestured to the TV which was currently playing the VHS of the Disney movie, "together, okay?"
Michelle moved towards her dragging the plush toy behind her, purposefully climbing onto the couch between Monica and Chandler, so as to be the centre of attention to both of them.
"Ah, sweetie, your pigtail has come all undone. It's not braided, anymore," Monica told her, gesturing for the little girl to scoot into her lap, "C'mere and I'll fix it for ya."
Michelle obediently followed Monica's directions, letting her fiddle around with her hair.
"You should does Fench braids! You says you knows how, afore," Michelle reminded her.
"Yeah, let's do that!" Monica told her with a smile. "Chandler get me her hairbrush?" she instructed.
Chandler shot her a look, already moving to do as she asked, retorting cheekily, "Am I your slave, now?" Monica looked at him with a raised eyebrow, and he relented as he disappeared into Michelle's room, "Because if you want me to be, I will!" He walked back out of the room and handed her the purple brush. She immediately began brushing out Mishi's dark hair, not causing the little girl to flinch even once.
Chandler watched the two of them with a impressed smile. Teasing, but curious, he asked Michelle, "Does Monica brush hair better than I do Michi?"
Michelle pondered her answer carefully before answering, "Nopes. Yous guys is the sames, you boths don't do owwies!"
Monica laughed. "How very diplomatic!" She tickled Michelle, whispering in her ear, "But you really like me best, right?"
"Whats is dipo-ma-kick?" Michelle wondered, looking to Monica for the answer.
"It means being nice to everyone," Monica told her, "It's a good thing."
"Okay," Michelle agreed, not really paying much attention to the answer to her own question; she was more interested in returning her attention to the Disney movie than learning new vocabulary words.
As Michelle immersed herself in Alice who was in the process of rapidly changing size inside a house, Monica French braided Michelle's hair, praising her for her ability to sit still.
When she was finished, Michelle was very pleased, "It lookses so cool! Thank you, Monica! Daddy does it so boring. I's bored of pigtails and reg'lar braids."
"Hey," Chandler complained, "I thought I was doing well to even know how to do a braid! Not many guys know how to do that!"
Michelle frowned at him, "But yous a Daddy, Daddies is apposed to know. Hows other girls like me goings to get their hairs did?"
"Mommies usually do that, sweetie. Remember how we talked about how we're a special family because we only have a Daddy," he pointed to himself, "and a little girl," he tapped her nose, "but most of families have big girls called Mommies, too. You remember now, sweetie?"
"Yes," Michelle frowned at him. "Jess'ca at school just gots a new Mommy. Can I gets one, too? Monica can be my Mommy!" she suggested what seemed logical to her.
"No, honey, it doesn't work like that," Chandler explained delicately, "You don't get to pick a Mommy, the Daddy has to pick the new Mommy."
Michelle looked at him accusingly putting her small hands on her hips, reminding Chandler, in a strange sort of way, of his mother, "You don'ts like Monica?"
"I do, sweetie. I like her a lot," he mollified her, "But it's complicated, grown-up stuff, okay? Watch Alice. Look!" he told her excitedly, hoping to distract her from asking more questions, "She's talking to the caterpillar!"
"I don't wants to watch no more!" Michelle complained, suddenly seeming cranky.
Chandler raised an eyebrow at her, "Are you getting tired, sweetie? It's almost your nap time."
"No," Michelle told him, stretching and yawning anyway, "I not go to sleeps."
"Sweetie, you're getting cranky. We're having naptime early today. Shopping for Auntie Rachel is hard work and it tired you out!" he told her, muttering, "It tired Daddy out, too!"
"No," Michelle protested feebly, squirming as he picked her up. Michelle grabbed onto the fin of her toy fish, dragging him with her as Chandler walked her into her bedroom.
He looked at Monica shyly, "You want to help me put her to bed?" Monica smiled and nodded, walking towards the two of them, kissing Michelle's head when she reached them.
"I wants Monica to tucks me and Shell and Sarkle in," Michelle informed them sleepily, yawning.
"Of course, I'd love to, sweetie," Monica told her, kissing her cheek.
xx
In the twenty minutes since they had tucked Michelle in for her nap, Monica and Chandler had cuddled contentedly on the couch, reveling in the closeness of one another. They chatted quietly, making small talk, just enjoying being alone together.
"I wanted to thank you for today," Monica told Chandler quietly, "Not many guys would walk up and down fifth avenue, dragging a three-year-old for five hours, just for their girlfriends."
"Not many guys have girlfriends like you, then," he smiled at her winningly, "I don't mind. I had fun! And I know Michelle did, too, even if we exhausted her. And hey, maybe we can submit ourselves for the world record for most stores visited in a single day!"
"Yeah," Monica laughed, "I think the Queen of Shopping herself, Rachel, might have us, beat, though."
Chandler looked at her incredulously, "We visited, like, every store on fifth avenue, some more than once! You're telling me someone can beat that?"
Monica laughed again, "Not someone, Rachel! Trust me, if anyone knows how to shop, it's Rachel. She would have made a career of it, if she hadn't left Barry. Her ability to shop in inhuman! We have but mere mortal shopping abilities in comparison!"
"Wow," Chandler mouthed, adding after a moment of contemplation, "Poor Joey."
"Hey," Monica slapped his arm, "Rachel said Joey's really sweet to her," she frowned, "even if he does sometimes have trouble paying for stuff."
Chandler nodded, smirking, "Common problem with Joey. He's really actually grown a lot since we moved out here, though. Has his own place and he manages to pay all the bills with minimal difficulty. He's a good guy. And the best friend I've ever had. I'd trust him with my life, and Michelle's. Even if he does eat tubes of toothpaste in front of her." He frowned.
Monica laughed slightly and laid her head on his shoulder, "You guys are lucky to have one another. I think Ross is feeling like he's missing out on the brotherly bond you guys used to have in college. When talking to him, earlier, I kinda got the feeling he's jealous of Joey, not just because of Rachel, but because of you, too. He's feeling kinda left out." When Chandler looked down at her in surprise, she wondered, worriedly, "Did I do the wrong thing by telling you this?"
"No, no, sweetie," Chandler assured her, "I'm just surprised is all. I didn't know I meant that much to him. Me and Joey'll invite him to a Knicks game or something. Maybe they just need to get to know one another… Then I'm sure they'll get along great!"
Monica looked up at him gratefully, "That's sweet of you. You'd do that for me?"
"Well, yeah, for you and Ross," Chandler explained, "All three of you are very important to me, and I want all of you to be happy."
"You're so great, I love you," Monica told him, closing her eyes and snuggling deeper into his chest, unaware of what she had revealed.
Chandler stared at her open-mouthed, "Uh, um, what? You love me?"
Monica's eyes shot open in shock and she sat up quicker than Chandler had ever seen anyone do so before in his life, "Oh my God. Oh my God," Monica looked at him in horror. "I can't believe I just blurted that out!" she covered her face with her hands, "I'm such an idiot… and now it's too soon, and you don't feel the same and everything is going to be ruined," she rambled with what sounded suspiciously like a sob.
"Monica," Chandler called out, but Monica was too entrenched in her own misery to pay much attention. "Monica," he tried again. Lost as to what else could get him her attention, Chandler pressed his lips soundly against hers, drawing her into a kiss that he hoped conveyed everything he felt for her.
When they finally pulled apart, Chandler leaned his forehead against Monica's, whispering, "I love you, too."
Monica moved her eyes up from her lap, where she had been looking to try and avoid his gaze, for fear of what he might say. Her eyes were glassy, and Chandler felt a tug at his heart. "Really?"
"Yes, really. I love you so much! Pretty sure I fell, or at least started to the day we had that long talk… I felt like such an idiot, falling for the woman who 'saved me,' as Joey put it. I was worried you didn't feel the same."
"I'd have to be the idiot not to feel the same. You're amazing. I'm the lucky one. I'm so glad I can say it out loud now," she told him, hugging him tightly. Unsure how else express his gratitude, Chandler pulled her into another searing kiss, this one deeper than the last. They quickly melted into the couch, her on top of him.
When they finally pulled away she looked at him shyly. "How much longer is Michelle going to be asleep?" She wondered, coyly playing with the collar of the blue polo that she had told him 'brought out the green flecks in his eyes.'
His return glance to her was slightly nervous, but the desire in his eyes was unmistakable. He licked his lips, and took a deep breath to calm his thoughts. his voice slightly husky he informed her, "She's usually naps for an hour or so. But she was exhausted today, so probably closer to two. I'd say we have more than an hour left, easily."
"Oh good," Monica returned pressing her lips back against his, "Plenty of time," she murmured through the kiss. Chandler smiled against her lips, returning the affection hungrily.
Now that their 'I love yous' had been said, Chandler felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. The guilt and nervousness he felt over Mary Angela was slowly slipping into the background of his life. Monica was now the centre of attention in the part of his life Mary Angela had once occupied. That thought in mind, he propelled his body forward, pulling Monica, by her hips, further into his lap and sat up slightly so he could reach to kiss her again.
Their tongues met and intertwined, but Monica wasn't content. Desiring more contact, she stared deliberately into Chandler's eyes as she grabbed his wrists, directing his hands to her chest, which she thrust out to him, moaning deeply the instant his skin made contact with her shirt.
Permission given, Chandler stroked her breasts through the thin material of her t-shirt, unable to think of anything but her and how he could further please her. The sound of her moaning softly in his ear, because he was there, because he was providing her pleasure was nothing short of heaven. If he had thought that he was aroused the previous week, it was nothing in comparison to how he was feeling now. He felt utterly drunk on his emotions; he knew there was no way he could force himself to stop this time.
They were in love! That changed everything, in the best imaginable way. The thought sent another pleasant wave of emotion coursing through him. Unable to satisfy his need with distance remaining between them, he pulled her closer still, gripping onto her waist until his fingertips were white. Monica didn't seem to mind. She responded only by groaning pleasurably into their heated kiss. He returned his hands eagerly to her breasts, groaning in pleasure when he felt her skin contract and stiffen beneath his fingers.
Unable to help himself, he tore himself away from the kiss, shimmying lower, kissing the taut peaks of flesh through the thin material of her shirt. Even through the barrier, the action was extremely satisfying, especially when Monica moaned and pressed herself harder against him in response.
Feeling even more drunk than before, he raised himself back up to eye-level with her, making sure to drag his body against hers as he did so, smiling as he got the desired response.
Monica wrapped her arms around him, as she settled against him, laying all of her weight on top of him, their foreheads touching.
Breathlessly, Chandler told her, "You are so gorgeous, you know that?"
She pressed a kiss to his lips quickly, "Certainly feel that way when I'm with you. More than I ever have with anyone else."
Slightly hesitant, unsure if the sentiment would seem out of place, he explained, "It's because I love you."
Tears pooled in her eyes, magnifying the blue of them. She nodded, "I love you, too." They wasted no more time with idle talk, meeting halfway in another enthusiastic kiss.
Tiring of his submissive position underneath her, and feeling slightly daring Chandler wrapped his arms around Monica's waist, rolling her over onto her back, so he was cradled between her legs. Monica groaned in surprise at the action, but responded with fervor when Chandler pressed his aroused body against her.
They were so close… Monica arched her back enjoying the feeling of Chandler stimulating her in all the right ways. She wrapped her arms around him, clutching at his back, unable to do little more than drag her nails up and down it teasingly.
Chandler groaned as Monica arched her back, her head tilting backwards, exposing the long soft column of her neck to him. He immediately began applying soft kisses down the length of it, reveling in the wanton pleasure her responding gasps provided him with, a massive surge of pride filling his heart, and threatening to burst it, as she mumbled his name heatedly.
As he continued to apply a series of feathery kisses along the line of her neck, he simultaneously reached for the hem of her shirt and slowly began pulling it up, exposing millimeters of gorgeous skin at a time. As soon as Monica felt what he was doing, she pushed his hands away impatiently, whipping the shirt off herself, before pulling him eagerly back into the position he had been before. He groaned, unable to help himself, the feel of her soft, supple skin beneath him was much too pleasurable to ignore. He skated his hands across her soft abdomen, and both of them shuddered in pleasure.
Regaining his head, Chandler bit her neck, gently, teasingly, "Impatient much? I would have gotten there eventually, baby," he paused to distribute more kisses, "we have lots of time, honey. We can go as slow as we want and take the time to savour this." He groaned, as much as he wanted to go slow and enjoy their first time together, there was a part of him that couldn't help but feel like she did, because he wanted her so badly. He knew though, that'd they'd only get one chance to have a first time, and he wanted it to be like something out of a fairy tale, as clichéd as it was. Joey had always called him overly romantic, chiding him for 'saving himself' after Angie. Maybe there was a shred of truth to that, after all… He groaned as Monica rocked against him, quickly erasing the thought for him.
"I don't care," she groaned, her voice barely rising above the note of pleasure he could hear gurgling in her throat, "I want you so much. I can't wait, I need you now. Please," she begged, "I'm going to explode."
"Shh, baby," he soothed, "We'll get you there, I promise. You'll be fine. You trust me, don't you?"
"Yes," she gasped, "I'd trust you with my life. Just… do you have to go so damned slow?" She groaned, arching further, so she was pressed more tightly against him. "We both want this, sweetie… I know you do, too, I can feel it," she told him.
He pouted slightly, groaning, "God, you're so, so right… I just," his cheeks coloured more than they already were from his exertions, as he shared what he considered his corny thoughts, "we only get one first time. I wanna do it right. Does that bother you?"
"God, no," she groaned, "I think it's sexy… The thought that you'd even think about that. Have you thought about… us, before. Like this?" He nodded against her so she could feel his answer, burying his head against her neck, so she wouldn't see his pink flushed cheeks.
"Tell me?" she implored, gently, running her hands through his hair, encouragingly. Seeing his hesitation she kissed his jaw, "Please? I'll tell you mine."
He looked up at her intrigued, suddenly very tempted. His curiosity finally got the best of him, "Well, um, in this one dream I had, we, um, we're in the shower together," he explained slowly, his voice clouded with a combination of arousal and embarrassment, "we uh, you know, soaped one another up, uh, everywhere, and um, then, wehadsex," he finished hurriedly, his cheeks feeling as if they were on fire, "You go."
"Mmm, yours sounds better, we should do that one, later," she grinned carnally at him.
He grinned back, suddenly worried his head would split open if he grinned any wider, humming in his throat at the pleased sound of her voice. He felt much less embarrassed about what he had shared, his tone just short of glowing as he questioned, "Really?" She nodded. "You're the best girlfriend, ever," he told her. She grinned in response, the smile soon fading as his kisses brought other emotions to the forefront. Seeing that she was starting to slip back from reality, he reminded teasingly, "You bribed me into telling you, so you're not getting out of telling me yours!"
She stared into his eyes as she talked, needing to see his reaction as she recounted her fantasies. She explained, her voice thick, "Well, there's this secluded back row in the top floor of the university library, where all these old dusty books are…" she trailed off, unsure how to continue.
"Yeah?" he prodded, his breath held in anticipation.
Smiling at his eagerness, she continued, breathily, "You pressed against me, my back against the books." She groaned, looking at him, "Is that okay?"
"Mmm, more than okay," he murmured his lips gravitating towards hers, "I suddenly wish I had a bookshelf…"
"Maybe, we'll have to try it out for real, then," she offered suggestively. Chandler groaned as the image filled his mind, Monica thrashing in pleasure beneath him, in the open space of a public library. The image filled him with a renewed sense of vigor; the idea of fulfilling her fantasies for her, very much appealing to him. Anything to make her moan his name in the way she did so well.
Monica didn't seem to notice his far off expression, and moaned his name desperately, satisfying the very thing he had been wanting. "You're wearing too many clothes," she complained suddenly. Chandler couldn't have agreed more. Together they quickly set about undoing the buttons on his shirt, her starting from the top, him from the bottom. The instant they had garment loosened, Monica shoved it off his shoulders, running her hands eagerly down his chest, groaning in pleasure when he pushed himself against the skin of her bare torso.
He drew her into another kiss, feeling more aroused than he could ever remembering being in his lifetime. They were so close. This was it, strangely, he almost felt like it was his very first time, again. He couldn't remember his first time with Mary Angela being so nerve-wracking, but then again he couldn't really remember much of it, he had been so hammered. After that, there had been no pressure, because he knew she'd already had sex with him and enjoyed it, as smashed as he was. With Monica, it was different… he was insanely aware of himself and his body, and the need to make her feel as close to him as he was to her, to make the experience as enjoyable for her as it was for him. He pushed away his deep thoughts concentrating solely on the gorgeous woman pinned beneath him. Every sigh and whimper from her was met with further affections from him.
He sighed as Monica mumbled something unintelligible, and rolled them over again, so she was sitting astride him. He groaned at the loss of skin on skin contact, moving to coax her back against him, but Monica was quicker than he was. She immediately pressed herself flat against his left side, throwing her right leg over his left.
Deciding he was ready to take things a step further, Chandler reached around Monica slowly, feeling for her bra clasp. Monica took that as permission to advance and immediately reached for the zip on his pants.
They had just managed to get the fastenings undone, and cup the willing flesh exposed when the unwelcome noise of the doorbell punctured the silence previously only broken by their moans and heavy breathing.
Neither Monica nor Chandler wanted to move away from their embrace, so they continued to caress and fondle one another gently, hoping whoever was at the door would go away. Unfortunately that was not their luck. Whoever was at the door pressed the buzzer several more times in their impatience, sending the annoying noise across the apartment several more times.
Monica was the first to pull away, cursing. "Who the hell could that be, now, anyway?" she muttered angry at the interruption. He gave a shrug, indicating he had no idea who it was.
No less happy about the interruption, Chandler stalked over to the door, not even bothering to zip his pants, he snapped into the intercom, testily, "Hello?"
"Hello, dear. Are you going to let us up?" a familiar voice rang out. Chandler blanched.
xx
Thanks for reading, I hope you all enjoyed reading this one, it has probably been my favourite to write of the series so far!
I hope you'll review and let me know what you think, it'd mean a lot to me, especially since this chapter is so important to me :) The last chapter wasn't all that well reviewed in the first few days, so I was doubting the direction of this fic, but now that's back on track. A couple of reviews, coming at just the right time and a good friend (Thanks, Jana :)) were what finally propelled me to get off my ass, stop being lazy and mourning what I can't help (see below :P), and write this.
I'm not in the best of places, at the moment. Why? My university is currently closed because the majority of our teaching staff are on strike, because their union is negotiating better contracts for them and the admin refuses to cooperate. Needless to say this isn't like a typical break in the school year, and really messes up coursework, deadlines and the structure of the entire year, so I'm still on a little bit of an edge right now. The last time this particular union went on strike, in 2000, it went on for way too long and messed up the academic year in a major way. I'm hoping it doesn't come to that, though it's looking grim.
Happy thoughts, though, please :)