Thank you guys so much. Here's your reward..
Chapter 23
Monica watched as he kneeled down in front of her...
"Chandler, don't," she stopped him immediately.
Hurt could briefly be seen in his eyes. "What?"
Monica looked down. "I.. I have something I have to tell you."
Chandler stared at her for several seconds, too many thoughts running through his head. What did she have to tell him? Had she not been honest with him? What if she'd been.. unfaithful again? He made himself try not to wait for the worst, and just wait for her to tell him instead. Without saying a word, he sat next to her on the bed.
She kept looking down and avoiding his gaze as she thought about what to say. The light was off so it was a bit dark, but he could see her features. She looked a bit worried and uneasy, her lips pressed together. She could've not cheated on him again, he told himself. He knew Monica. No, she wasn't cheating on him.
"About a month ago, I-I realized this thing that I hadn't noticed.. I don't know, I hadn't thought about it before. I guess I had so much other stuff to think about.. But when I did think about it, I um.. I didn't tell you about this before 'cause I wanted to know that you'd be there for me no matter what, but I just can't do it anymore. I know.. I mean, I can't even imagine what you've been feeling, but I know you deserve to know everything, and I'm really hoping that you won't freak out about this," she explained, staring at her hands. He listened quietly, not sure if he wanted to know. Before taking a deep breath, she went on, "You know that.. I was supposed to be on the pill when I got pregnant..? Well, I wasn't. I hadn't been taking them."
Chandler frowned and opened his mouth but before he actually got to ask, Monica was already responding.
She sighed. "At first I had forgotten to take them, I mean genuinely. But then I thought about it and I didn't think of it as a huge deal, and then.. well, you know how I've always wanted a baby? I didn't take them, and um.. I didn't tell you about it."
"Oh my god," Chandler said. Monica couldn't tell if he was mad or just shocked.
"I'm sorry, Chandler. I've been lying the whole time. But I swear, I totally forgot about this when I got pregnant. And I guess I never gave it a serious thought, I didn't think I would actually get pregnant. Oh god, what the hell was I thinking?" Monica was on the verge of tears again, desperately fighting them back 'cause she wanted to see Chandler's honest, real reaction. And if she was crying, he probably wasn't going to give her one.
Chandler let out a deep sigh. "It doesn't matter anymore, Mon."
"But.. it does. I figured that, when Richard and I, um.. when we.. you know, -"
"Say it," Chandler cut her off gently. "Just say it, we both know what it is anyway."
Monica looked up at him. "When Richard and I had sex.. we used a condom."
Chandler gazed into her eyes before looking down. As much as it disgusted him, the thought of his fiancée and Richard having sex together, he couldn't keep a slight smile from appearing on his face. He knew exactly what this meant.
"And we didn't," he added quietly.
"That's right, since you thought I was on the pill," Monica said, unable to see his face properly. "And you know what else I figured? You and I had sex twice that night."
Chandler couldn't help but smirk. At that very moment, all the pain he'd been feeling for the last four months was taken away. In that second, he forgot about everything he'd been so badly wanting to forget about. He'd never thought something like this would come along, but he'd been hoping. He wasn't religious, but this time he really felt like there was a God. He couldn't be mad at Monica after telling him something that made him probably the happiest guy alive. He looked up to her. "I certainly remember that."
Monica smiled too without saying a word. She couldn't believe he was actually happy about this, despite the fact she'd been lying to him.
Chandler shook his head slightly before leaning in and making their lips meet in a gentle, soft kiss. He brought his fingers to her cheek and hair, slowly deepening the kiss. Monica responded happily, her hand on his neck. The kiss was over way too soon.
"Thank you," Chandler said.
"For what?"
"For lying to me, and then telling the truth," he smiled weakly.
Monica gazed at him in disbelief. "Thank you," she whispered. "You have no idea how amazing you are. I.. I can't believe I still have you."
"I love you."
"I love you too."
He kissed her again, and just a moment later she felt him starting to lie them down on the covers. Before she could tell, he was already placing kisses all over her neck and chest. She sighed in pleasure, keeping her hands tightly around his nape to keep him close. Closeness, that's what she wanted the most. His hands roamed up along her sides and arms before entwining their fingers. It felt all right again, for both of them. The same feeling they'd gotten the last time they were in London. Finally everything was okay. Deep down they had both known it would eventually be okay, at least they told themselves so. Now, they were back. They were together, and it was right.
That's when Chandler pulled back slightly to gaze into her glittering, blue eyes. "What do you say?" he asked softly.
"What?" Monica asked breathlessly, her lips already swollen from his kisses.
Chandler kissed her eyelids, cheeks.. "Monica.." ..jawline, nose, lips.. "..will you marry me?"
Monica gasped in happiness. The only time she'd felt that kind of feeling in her stomach was the last time he'd said those words. "Yes," she chuckled. "For the second time, yes."
Chandler grinned before kissing her again. He could feel the engagement ring on Monica's ring finger, and now he was glad she'd never took it off. Because somehow he knew, she never would.
Deep inside they both knew there was still a slight chance that Richard could be the father. But it was so small that they didn't care. It was time for them to forget about it, forget about him. It was their turn to celebrate. It dawned on them - London was the city of Monica and Chandler.
Monica woke up the next afternoon, beneath the white covers. Opening her eyes, she saw the sunlight coming behind the curtains of their huge windows. Instead of bothering to take a look at the clock, she turned her head to her right. As her surprise, she found her fiance already being awake, smiling at her with sincerity.
"Hi," Chandler said, his blue eyes showing happiness.
"Hi," Monica smiled back. They lay there, watching each other in bliss, both feeling so lucky. Monica had him, he had forgiven her. She couldn't believe he had forgiven her, it was unbelievable, and it had all happened so quickly. Chandler on the other hand, had her. That was all he needed, just her, and the baby.
There had been lies and pretending, cheating and fighting, but it was all gone for now. They were together and had a baby coming.
"Last night.. It was amazing," Monica whispered, breaking the comfortable silence.
Chandler slipped his arms around her, pulling her close. He placed a kiss on her forehead. "I know."
"Great example of how you can make me happy, just like that," Monica grinned and lay her head on his warm shoulder.
Chandler chuckled slightly, taking a breath of her hair before exhaling heavily. Monica sighed in content. "I'm so lucky to have you," she said.
"I'm so lucky to have you.. and you," Chandler murmured, placing his hand on her stomach.
Monica grinned. "And we'll make sure he's lucky to have us."
"I'm not so sure about that... Still thinking it's a he?" Chandler asked.
"Sure," Monica said. She had always felt like her first child would be a boy, she didn't know why. And then Chandler had said it, too. You would think women preferred having a girl so they could buy them the cutest dresses and do their hair and things like that. But in this case, Monica could only imagine having a boy, even though she wouldn't mind if it was a girl. "He's going to be so cute, and handsome," Monica smirked. "Just like his daddy."
"Aww," Chandler said and kept brushing his fingers against the bare skin of her stomach and shoulder. "Well, I hope that won't happen if it actually is a girl."
"Oh, well.." Monica turned her head to look at him. "She would still have your eyes, and.. your nose."
"No, she would have your nose. And your hair and lips."
"My lips?"
"Yeah, y'know, I've always loved your lips," Chandler revealed.
"That's only because you get to kiss them," Monica said.
"No. I mean, well yeah.. but also, I like the shape of them. And I like your smile."
Monica couldn't help but give him that smile of hers. "Well, you'll better keep me smiling then."
"Sure thing, babe," Chandler said and moved closer to give her a quick peck on the lips. They shared a brief eye contact before Monica closed the space between their lips again, giving him a lingering but deep kiss. She felt his tongue start sucking on hers lazily. With his left hand wrapped around her still slim waist, he pulled her closer by her thigh with his other hand. They both knew they probably wouldn't be leaving the bed many times during the day.
"What about Conan?" Chandler asked.
"Conan? Oh, that's great, I mean if you want your son to be a crazy late night TV host."
"Actually, I heard Conan means wise. Although, I'm not sure if you and I could actually bring something wise into this world."
"Yeah, that's right. But trust me when I tell you this; naming our baby Conan - pretty far from wise."
Chandler chuckled and kissed her head, hugging her in his arms. As predicted, they'd been lying there in their bed for the whole day, talking about everything. They didn't want to get up, they felt like they could stay like that forever. They were just like they used to be and even more. At the moment, the topic was baby names.
"If it's a boy, Charlie," Monica suggested.
"No," Chandler said. "It's too close to Charles."
"So? It'd be great, it's close to another family member."
"Yeah, I guess that's true. It's just that, I don't want to get the image of my dad doing a drag show everytime I call out for my son."
Monica laughed. "Fine. What do you say.. if it's a girl, Daisy."
"Oh no, not Daisy," Chandler groaned.
"It's a pretty name!" Monica protested.
"Okay, if you want flowers, I can get you some from the shop," Chandler said.
Monica rolled her eyes. "You do that, then."
"I will... in a minute," Chandler smiled, not liking the idea of leaving the bed yet. He continued thinking. "What about May?"
"May? Like the month? I don't know.."
"You're just saying that 'cause I don't want Daisy the flower or Charlie the drag queen!"
"May Bing!?"
Chandler cringed. "Ew, that's not good."
"Told you."
Chandler sighed. "We're gonna have a child without a name," he said with a yawn.
Monica considered it for a moment before deciding to tell him something, despite the fact that he might start thinking she's completely crazy.. although, it might be kinda late for that.
"See.. Actually I've had names picked out for my kids since I was like 14."
Chandler turned to look at her in surprise. "14?"
"Hey, I was lonely and fat and grounded! All I did was thinking and dreaming.. and eating the macaroni off my jewerly box."
Chandler frowned. "I'm not judging. I just, I never knew that," Chandler said. "So, are you gonna tell me what they are?"
"Okay.." Monica gave him a smile. "For a boy, it would be Daniel, and Emma for a girl."
Chandler thought about it for a second before a smile rose to his lips. "Emma and Daniel... I like them."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Daniel Bing, it's not that bad. Emma Bing.. well, you could live with that too."
"You really could," Monica said in surprise. "Are you serious? We're having a Daniel or an Emma?"
"I think so," Chandler grinned. "Hey, you know what sounds awesome? Daniel Conan Bing."
Monica rolled her eyes again. "You and your Conan," she said. "Believe it or not, I actually like it."
"Me too. I mean, as long if it's not Muriel, I'm okay with it."
"You're my Muriel," Monica said and leaned in to kiss his cheek. "What about Emma? What would her middle name be?"
"Hm.. I don't know."
Monica looked at his thoughtful expression. "What about Emma Janice Bing?"
Chandler's eyes widened as he stared at her serious face for a few seconds, before she burst out laughing. "That was so worth it," she managed to say between her laughs.
Chandler shook his head. "You are evil," he said, genuinely shocked of the thought of having a daughter named Janice.
"And serious," Monica joked, still laughing.
"I can see that," Chandler said. "Maybe Daniel's middle name should be Rich-..." he stopped his sentence as Monica's face fell. He wasn't supposed to say that. It was followed by an awkward silence, and Monica looked away. They couldn't help but recall everything that had happened, and him - Richard, again. Chandler looked at her.
"Okay, I-I'm sorry, I.. should've not said that," Chandler muttered, noticing just how uncomfortable and upset it made her, and without a doubt himself too.
"Yeah, you're right," Monica confirmed.
"Sorry."
"It's okay," Monica said, exhaling heavily. She'd been hoping they wouldn't have to talk or even think about Richard or anything that's related to him on this very day, but now Chandler had mentioned him. She didn't blame him though, it was clearly an accident and.. Well, the whole thing was still all her fault, after all.
Chandler watched her staring into space as she lay in his arms. Her gaze was simply blank. With one word - not even a whole word, with only four letters he had ruined the day.
"Don't.. Just don't think about it, okay? You don't have to worry about it. We're good. Everything's great now and that's all that matters," Chandler tried.
"I know."
"I mean.. We've wasted so much time. I suggest we should just focus on what's going on right now.. okay? I don't wanna see you miserable anymore, we're having a kid and we should be happy. And we're in London."
Monica looked at him for a second before giving him a smile. "You still know exactly what to say to make me feel better."
Chandler smiled weakly. "Well, I also seem to know what to say to upset you."
"It's been like three minutes, get over it," Monica grinned before kissing him softly.
After that, they didn't think about the past. After months of trying, praying and fighting it had all come to this. That really was all that mattered.
Now there's a plot twist!
I was so excited about this chapter, and I still am. Although, I know the last half of the chapter is not really, like, original stuff but I just felt like I wanted to write like that, so.. I'm not completely happy with it, but it is what it is. It's okay.
Anyway, I hope you liked it. What do you think? Are Monica and Chandler going to be okay, are all of their problems now solved? Please leave a review!
I'm not supposed to make promises, like ever, but I think I'm going to end this after a few chapters.. I'm not sure though, maybe I'll end up writing 50 chapters instead.. :D
Oh and guess what's happening on Tuesday..? MATTENEY REUNION!
