Monica put on her sunglasses and stepped out from under the awning of her building into the cool spring air. It had rained early in the morning, but now the sun was out and small droplets clung to the tiny green buds that had just started poking out of the trees lining the sidewalk.

It was mid-April in New York and a new season had started to take hold. The winter had been a long and snowy one so the beautiful bright colors enveloping her were as welcome as the day itself.

It was Thursday. It was "Chandler" day.

Nearly every week for a few months, unless Chandler had a meeting, they had met for lunch at Sturky's, a throwback diner-like place just outside the edges of the financial district. It was a hole-in-the-wall, meet-half-way point up the stairs from a little garden boutique shop. It had booths that lined a big picture window overlooking the sidewalk. Since the start of the new year one of those booths had become "theirs" every Thursday at noon.

It was a good 20 blocks from Monica and Richard's apartment to the diner and Monica had spent the last several weeks taking a cab there to escape the cold. Today it was too pretty not to walk.

She'd adjusted her busy work schedule to fit the day.

She worked on Thursday nights, when Richard worked late. She would work a random Monday or Tuesday lunch shift. She usually worked a double on Wednesdays, when Richard was at his weekly poker game, and either one Friday or Saturday night.

Richard found her work ethic endearing initially, but it had started to grate on him. He thought she worked too much when she really didn't need to, especially after they had moved in together.

But she loved her job and wanted to continue it. She had been hired as a Su Chef at JaVu, a 4-star restaurant in Manhattan. She'd worked really hard to make it that far in her career and she didn't want to give it up. She even would fill in with other shifts here or there, but she made it a point to never work the lunch shift on a Thursday.

As she made her way down the sidewalk she checked off a list of wedding details that had been completed in the last week or so. Invitations sent. Check. Honeymoon reservations in Paris confirmed. Check. Roses changed from pink to red. Check. She and Richard would be married in five weeks and there wasn't one detail of the day Monica had left to chance.

If only she was 100-percet sure about what was going to happen after they said "I do."

She sighed as she thought for the umpteenth time about their future together - and how it was all coming to pass in what seemed like the most logical way, except for one thing.

A long time ago, at Barry and Mindy's wedding, he had told her that "if he had to" he would have children…again. She accepted that and they dropped the subject. They'd only been together a few months at that point so it didn't seem like it was vital to know how to feel about right then. As months passed they fell into a comfortable routine together, but no closer to deciding if they had a real future that would include getting married and having babies.

Then everything seemed to happen all at once.

Ross proposed to Rachel the autumn after Barry and Mindy's nuptials. And quickly everyone was involved in the preparations for their wedding the following July. Monica was to serve as maid-of-honor, Chandler as the best man. In the meantime Richard's daughter Michelle became engaged at Christmas to another doctor, Phillip, who she met while in residency in Phoenix, Arizona. They were to be married, also in New York, just 7 weeks after Ross and Rachel.

Monica suddenly found herself caught up in the excitement of two weddings that were not her own. There was a whirlwind of dress buying, reception planning and bridal showers.

She was on a high from all the romance in the air. Richard was all-consumed with the role of father-of-the-bride, but not so much with getting married again himself.

It didn't take long after the weddings for Monica to seriously wonder whether or not Richard would ever propose - and whether or not she really wanted him to.

She knew without a doubt that she wanted to be a mother, and in her heart she never felt secure that he felt the same way.

Then one night in early October he took them to her favorite restaurant and ordered the most expensive bottle of bubbly. Instead of proposing a toast, he proposed.

She didn't see it coming but she didn't say "no." She was happy - she was going to be a bride. For a while she put all other thoughts out of her mind.

And it so happened that the night she and Richard got engaged was the same night Chandler met Kathy.

Because Joey was nervous Chandler had gone to an audition with him. Kathy was chosen to do scenes with Joey, and she thought it was sweet that his friend had come along for support. Between scenes Kathy and Chandler bonded over their shared love of classic comedy and classic books. The spark was immediate for both of them.

Everyone's lives changed very quickly after that.

Monica, who had been living alone since the Gellers were married, moved in with Richard and started planning her wedding. It worked out perfectly for Ross and Rachel. At Thanksgiving they announced they were going to have a baby and shortly thereafter moved from Ross' one-bedroom apartment into Apartment 20 across from Joey and Chandler.

The biggest and most surprising change came last Christmas. Chandler and Kathy had been inseparable, so when the owner of the apartment she was subletting sold it and ordered her out by January 1st, the now-formerly, commitment-phobic Chandler offered a solution.

He talked to Joey and decided he would move out and ask Kathy to move in with him in a new apartment. He knew Joey would be OK living on his own while making Dr. Drake Ramoray money on "Days of Our Lives."

Having no other alternative, Kathy readily agreed to the plan. The couple ended up moving into a two-bedroom, pre-war apartment not too far from Monica and Richard's place between Christmas and New Year's.

But all the moving and changing made the gang splinter apart, just a bit - making it harder to get together as much as they wanted. Now they had to make time to see each other.

And the person Monica missed the most was Chandler.

That's what made Thursdays so special. For at least one hour every week they were best friends again. No Richard. No Kathy.

No one else but them.

She climbed the steps and headed into the diner. She smiled when she saw that she beat him there. She always did.

"Hi!" said a cheery voice. "How are you today? Isn't this weather great?"

Monica laughed and nodded. Her greeter, Christy, was always their waitress. Her cheerfulness made Chandler's eyes roll. He would perform good-natured impressions of her after she took their order and left their table. They never failed to make Monica giggle.

"It's wonderful," she said, with a smile.

Christy led her to their booth. She looked out the window and within 30 seconds she saw him hurrying down the sidewalk. She didn't fail to notice that he was wearing one of her favorite suits on him, a tan one with a bright blue tie that brought out his eyes. The man always looked good in a suit, she thought as he glanced up at the window. She smiled at him. He smiled back and gave her a short wave before disappearing behind her and into the restaurant.

"Man, it doesn't matter when I leave, you always beat me," he said with a wink as he brushed his lips against her cheek and took his seat across from her.

She laughed.

"Come on, Bing, I always win," she teased, smiling at him, her blue eyes dancing. "And I even walked today."

"Well, la-de-da," he said, with an eye roll. "I walk every day. Snow, sleet, ice, sun, nothing keeps me from my appointed rounds."

"What, are you a mail carrier now?"

"Yeah," he said as his lopsided grin came across his face, "realized it was my calling."

Christy came over to the table with waters for them both.

"Hello there," she said. "The usual for you?"

Chandler let out a sigh.

"Are we that pathetic that you know what we want every time?"

Monica shrugged and nodded.

"'Alright," he said, throwing his hands up in surrender.

Christy smiled and walked away.

"So tell me, did she comment on the weather when you came in?" he whispered, very conspiratorial, then added quietly in a high-pitched voice. "Was it 'can you believe the sun made an appearance…the snow is so pretty… the ice makes everything shine…isn't this weather great?'"

"The last one," Monica said, trying not to laugh too loudly, or snort.

Chandler grinned. He did love to make her laugh.

"Hum…so, are you all set for the big day?" he asked, pretending to look at the table-top menu. "Got my invitation in the mail this week…thank you very much."

His last comment was a gentle jab at her and she gave him a look. It had been a bit of a sore spot, especially with Joey, that he, Chandler and Phoebe weren't part of the wedding ceremony. Richard's best man was his son, Tim. Rachel was Monica's matron of honor. Ross was the only other groomsman and Richard's daughter was the bridesmaid.

"At least it was addressed to you and Kathy, not you and "guest," she noted. "You guys are right next to the head table…"

"Mon," he said, reaching for her hand. "I'm kidding. Thank you for adding Kathy's name, by the way."

She smiled and gave his hand a squeeze. "Sorry, just so many details."

"But you love the details!" he exclaimed, releasing her hand.

"Yeah….I mean, well, yeah, I guess so," she answered vaguely.

"That doesn't sound very Monica-like to me," he said, as she playfully slapped his arm. "So…what is it?"

She looked at him and sighed. Christy came back to the table to drop off their lunch and Monica was grateful. For a moment she thought about telling him what was bothering her. He was looking so curiously at her. But she decided against it.

She didn't want to ruin their hour together by bitching about something that was really nothing new.

"No, no, it's fine," she finally said. "Just getting so close now, ya know?"

"Yep," he nodded, satisfied with that answer. "So many weddings. Glad I have a date for this one, since you'll be unavailable."

"I was unavailable at Ross and Rachel's, too, ya know," she said, with a wink.

"Ah, yes, but we still got a lot of dancing in that night, if you recall," he said, with a grin.

"We sure did," she smiled fondly at him as her mind took her back to the wedding last Fourth of July…