Waddup people? I'm back with chapter 8! This took me a bit longer than expected because life is a thing, but fortunately I have a lot of love for this story, so I'll always make time to write. As always, this is unedited because I'm lazy. Slight warning for some sexy times in this chapter, but nothing too graphic! Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has reviewed this story so far, especially those of you who have reviewed every chapter...I'm continually blown away by the fact that people actually like reading what I write. I've gotten DMs from multiple people on Instagram asking for updates, and it just makes me so happy every time! So here you go, and please continue to let me know what you think of this story!

"Okay, now do you believe me?"

They were all sitting in Central Perk, a relatively rare occurrence these days with all of them so busy. Chandler had Monica tucked under his arm with the other hand resting on her stomach, which now definitely had a visible bump.

"Okay, whatever," Monica rolled her eyes and pretended not to look, but anyone could see the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Chandler knew she was excited too—of course she was—she just didn't want to admit that he was right.

"Hey, kiddo," Chandler cooed, rubbing his hand softly over the bulge. "Everything okay in there? You comfortable? Mommy keeping you fed? It's a tough world out here, you're gonna need your strength."

"Chandler!" Monica scolded.

"Dude, are you kidding?" Ross scoffed.

"Oh come on, Ross. When Carol was pregnant you spent an hour talking to her stomach about dinosaurs, then sang the Monkees theme song!" Chandler reminded him, causing the girls to laugh out loud and Ross to glare at him. "At least I'm teaching my baby something!"

"Teaching them what a weirdo their father is, maybe," Monica huffed, running a hand through Chandler's hair. He pouted, and she kissed him in apology.

"I gotta say," Rachel began. "I never really saw you getting on board with all this, Chandler."

"Yeah," Phoebe agreed. "We thought that by now you would have freaked out and run for the hills or something."

"Oh, come on," Chandler argued. "What have I ever done that would make you guys think I wouldn't be cool with this?"

Monica raised her eyebrows. "Um, honey?"

"Okay, whatever," Chandler rolled his eyes. "But that was all before! I'm a totally different person now. I'm practically a grown-up."

"Chandler, you're thirty," Monica reminded him. "If that's not a grown-up, what is?"

"Don't argue with me, Geller," he warned, mock-glaring at her before allowing his expression to soften and kissing her on the forehead. Joey groaned in disgust in the background, but Chandler was too caught up in Monica's smile to care about what the other four were saying or doing. "I've been good though, right?" he asked quietly. "I've been mature and responsible and a good boyfriend, haven't I?"

Monica laughed. "Oh sweetie, you've been amazing," she responded, lightly brushing her hand across his cheek. He caught it and took it in his own, bringing it to his lips for a kiss before resting their joined hands on her still-mostly-flat-but-not-completely-flat stomach.

Chandler felt her breath hitch as he flattened their palms—his hand covering hers—over the small bump. He knew she could feel it too, and it just felt like such an incredible moment for the two of them, like the rest of the world ceased to exist and they were alone with their baby. Their family. Suddenly all Chandler wanted was to get away from everyone else, to take Monica upstairs and hold her and touch her and be with only her.

She must have read his mind, because she leaned in close so that the others couldn't hear and whispered, "wanna get out of here?" Chandler had never agreed with something so much in his life. He was tempted to pick her up and throw her over his shoulder just to get up there fasted, but he knew she wouldn't appreciate that in this situation, so he held his composure as best he could as she stood up, pulling him up with her by their joined hands. With a quick, "we're gonna take off," Monica led him quickly from the coffee house towards the staircase that would take them to their apartments.

"I hope Rachel knows not to come up here," Chandler commented as he closed the door to Monica's apartment behind them, pulling her close for a kiss.

"I don't even care right now," Monica mumbled against his lips. Chandler huffed out a laugh as he kissed her back, finally giving in to the urge to pick her up and lifting her by the thighs. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he did so, and without breaking the kiss he started walking them towards the bedroom.

He kicked the door closed behind them—at least they knew for sure that Rachel wouldn't come in there—before depositing her on the bed and climbing on top of her.

"Not gonna be able to do that for much longer," Monica commented. "Pretty soon I'll be too heavy to carry."

"I'll make it work," Chandler responded, running his hands under her sweater and lifting it up to her armpits. She sat up just enough for him to pull it off her all the way, and unhooked her bra while he was at it. "Want you all the time, Mon," he breathed. "So gorgeous." He started kissing down her body until he reached her stomach, where he stopped. "Okay, kiddo, you might wanna cover your ears for this next part."

"Chandler!" Monica laughed, pulling him back up to lie fully on top of her. "Don't make it weird."

"Not weird," he responded, kissing her again and again, until anything else she may have wanted to say was gone from her mind.

He held her close as their bodies moved together; they were in no rush, and honestly Chandler would have been just as happy to lie quietly next to her, as long as she was with him. When they had finished, he rolled over so that she was lying on top of him now.

"God bless the second trimester," she giggled, running her hand gently over his chest.

"Give me a minute to, like, live," he panted with a grin, pulling her closer with an arm around her waist. "God, if this is how it's gonna be for the next few months, you just might kill me."

"You'll be fine," Monica rolled her eyes. "Ready to go again?"

Chandler groaned loudly and Monica giggled. "I swear to god, Mon," he moaned and she started kissing his neck. "Seriously, babe, I'm gonna need like at least ten minutes."

"Fine," Monica huffed, flopping onto her back. "At least shower with me then? I'm gonna be hungry in like fifteen minutes."

"Let's go," Chandler caved with a tired chuckle, allowing his girlfriend to lead him to the bathroom. He had to admit, showering with his significant other had never been something he found particularly appealing; he needed his space sometimes, and the shower was one place he could be alone. With Monica, though, he couldn't get enough. When they had started out, they spent nearly the full 48 hours before Rachel returned from her impromptu trip to Greece in Monica's apartment, having sex on every surface they could think of. His brain had basically been mush when Monica had herded him into the shower one evening, too tired to remember why he should protest, and it ended up being the best shower he had ever had.

Rachel wasn't in the living room when they passed through—which was definitely for the best, as neither of them had bothered to put anything on—so within minutes they were standing together under the hot spray. There was nothing sexual about this shower; Chandler was still too tired for that (he must be getting old, he thought with a shudder). Gently and carefully, he lathered shampoo into her dark hair, taking great care not to tug on any tangles.

Monica was quiet as he helped her rinse the soap out of her hair, and he kissed her shoulder to get her attention.

"You okay, honey?" he asked quietly, wrapping his arms around her waist. With no clothes separating them, he could clearly feel the bump under his hand and he couldn't get enough. He could stand here like this forever, with the two most important things in the world wrapped in his arms, but for once, he felt no urgency. There were no thoughts of the future or marriage clouding him mind. He was sure it would come up again, but in that moment his entire world shrunk down to the three of them in that shower, and he knew that no matter how they got there, that was how it would always be.

"Hmmm? Yeah," she breathed, leaning back against him and covering his hands with her own. "Just…really good."

Chandler smiled against her shoulder and kissed it again, rocking the two of them back and forth as the steady stream of water pounded gently down his back. It was starting to go cold, but he hardly noticed. As cheesy as it sounded, he always felt warm with her; she was literally his sun.

"I'm hungry," she announced suddenly, and Chandler smiled.

"Whatever you want, baby," he responded. He quickly rinsed the rest of the soap off of her before moving her out of the way of the water so that he could wash himself quickly. Monica grabbed them each a towel and poked her head out the door to make sure no one had come in the apartment before they scurried back to her room. Chandler changed back into the clothes he had been wearing before, but when he turned around he saw Monica pulling on one of his sweatshirts that he'd left here and was overcome with fondness. It was entirely too big for her, but she looked so cozy and soft that all he could do was close the distance between them and wrap his arms tightly around her, face buried in her wet hair.

"Oh, hello," she laughed, returning the hug.

"I like when you wear my clothes," he mumbled, squeezing her tight.

"Well, good thing I like wearing them then," she responded, leaning back to smile up at him.

"Good thing," Chandler repeated, pecking her lips quickly. "Now I remember something about you being hungry?"

"Yes!" Monica exclaimed, pulling away from the embrace, and Chandler followed her into the kitchen.

"What'll it be today?" he asked, opening the fridge. Obviously she was more than capable of getting her own food—much more capable than he was, by any stretch—but she rarely craved anything more complicated than a sandwich so he could usually manage, and he liked taking care of her.

"Hmmm," she thought. "Just start grabbing stuff, I'm sure there's something that I like here."

"Yes ma'am," Chandler replied and began unloading the fridge: lunch meats, cheese, carrots, orange juice, leftover lasagna. Monica reached for the orange juice but put it back just as quickly.

"Not today," she shook her head. "What kind of ice cream do we have? Any of the good stuff?"

Chandler opened the freezer. "Cookie dough?" he asked.

"Gimme," Monica held out her hands and Chandler tossed the carton to her. He grabbed a spoon but didn't bother with a bowl; odds were good that she would finish it all anyways. After she had dug into her ice cream, he fixed himself a sandwich and sat down at the table next to her.

"Do you need anything else?" he asked. "I was gonna make a grocery run later; Joey and I are down to pop tarts and not much else. I can pick you up anything you need."

"Aww, that's so sweet," Monica cooed, rubbing his arm. "I can come with you, if you want."

Chandler raised an eyebrow skeptically. "You don't trust me doing your grocery shopping, do you?" he asked. She avoided eye contact. "Mon, I promise I'll buy exactly what you tell me to buy. You have to get used to me doing things for you! Once the baby comes you won't always have time to go out yourself, you have to let me handle some stuff, okay?" She shrugged, still looking away. "Do you want to come with me this time and train me on how to do it?" he smirked.

"Yes?" she asked shyly.

"Done," he responded, patting her hand and standing up. "I'm gonna go change clothes, you let me know when you're ready to go okay? You'll be okay on your own for a few minutes?"

"I'm not a child," she rolled her eyes with a huff, then stopped him with a gentle hand on his. "Thanks for…knowing me so well. And for being so understanding."

Chandler smiled and bent down to kiss the top of her head. "Love you," he said. "See you in a bit." He held his hand out for a high five, then strolled out of the apartment with one more glance over his shoulder.

Chandler panted loudly as he dropped their bags on Monica's kitchen table. Rachel and Joey were sitting on the couch watching TV and looked up when they entered.

"Got enough hands there?" Joey asked, but made no move to get up and help. Chandler glared at him and Monica rolled her eyes.

"He won't let me carry anything," she complained, starting to unload the bags that he had set down, and separating them into things that stayed at hers and ones that belonged across the hall.

"Of course I won't!" Chandler argued. "First off, I'm a gentleman," Rachel and Joey scoffed at that but Chandler chose to ignore them. "And no girlfriend of mine should have to lug crap around. And second of all, we've been over this! You're pregnant, you should be resting and letting me do stuff for you. If you won't let me do the shopping for you, at the very least I should be doing the manual labor."

Monica rolled her eyes. "Hey, I'm not that pregnant yet," she countered. "I still go into work, I can carry a few bags upstairs."

"Shhh," he responded with a smile. "As long as you're around me, you're not doing anything."

"Whatever makes you happy, big guy," she patted his cheek as she worked around him, putting all the food in its place. "Now, you wanna be helpful? Take your stuff across the hall and put it away. Not just on the counter!" she added when it looked like he was going to jump in.

"You're the boss," he responded sarcastically, and she made a face back at him as he grabbed the bags containing the (limited) food he had bought for himself and Joey.

When the door had closed behind him, Joey spoke up. "So, what'd you guys do today?" he asked with a knowing grin.

"Joey!" Rachel exclaimed. "So?"

"Seriously?" Monica protested, and the other two just shrugged and nodded. "I'm not answering that."

"So, sex," Joey responded.

"I said I'm not answering that."

"What aren't you answering?" Chandler inserted as he reentered the apartment.

"That you two spent the afternoon having sex," Rachel answered.

"It wasn't the whole afternoon," Monica mumbled. Chandler grinned and stood behind her so he could wrap his arms around her waist. It was addicting, being able to physically feel his baby inside her, and he found he couldn't go more than a few minutes without feeling for the bump.

"Only because I'm not as young as I used to be," he added, kissing her cheek when she tried to pull away in irritation. "Can hardly keep up with this one."

"Chandler!" she huffed, this time succeeding in pulling away from his embrace.

"What? It's the pregnancy! Be proud of it!"

She rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him, which he reciprocated. In general, they didn't talk about their sex life with their friends, it was true, but in the past it had been something they all did. Hell, on more than one occasion Chandler had gone to other members of their group—particularly Monica—for advice about sex. It was something they did, and while it being the two of them made it a little different, he didn't see why they couldn't still have a bit of fun. Besides, it's not like Ross was here; it was just Joey and Rachel.

"Real mature, guys," Rachel chastised, so naturally Chandler stuck his tongue out at her too. "Are you making dinner, Mon?"

"Yeah, are quesadillas good with everyone?" she responded absentmindedly as she moved around the kitchen, pulling out various meats and vegetables for anyone who might stop by.

"Need any help, baby?" Chandler asked migrating closer to her again.

"You can help by staying the hell out of my way is what you can do," Monica snapped and Chandler flinched at her tone. He smiled tightly and retreated to the living room, hoping the other two didn't notice his hurt at her dismissal. He was only trying to help, after all, but he tried to remind himself that she was under a lot of stress, certainly more so than she let on. She thrived on control, and he couldn't imagine how out of control she must have felt lately. She had had a relatively easy pregnancy so far, according to Doctor McKay, and he was so thankful for that, but that didn't mean everything was easy. Her mood swings had continued past the first trimester, and she was already preparing to take time off work starting in a few months, which he knew she hated to do. Couple all that with the anxiety that goes along with expecting a child, and Chandler thought she was handling everything incredibly well.

The one thing that bothered him was how reluctant she still seemed to confide in him. It was strange, she had never had a problem venting to him before they were together, but now that he should be the one person she confides in above anyone else, it seemed like she was holding back and Chandler couldn't for the life of him understand why. She had to know that he was there for her, that he wanted to be there for her, so why wasn't she allowing him to be? It hurt, if he was honest. It hurt a lot. But if this was what she needed, to be self-sufficient for as long as she could, then that's what he would give to her. She called the shots anyways; anyone who knew them knew who wore the pants in the relationship.

He refused to let her pull away, though. No matter how many times she snapped at him, no matter how much it may seem like she tried to push him away, whenever she needed him, he would be right there, because he loved her.

Dinner was just the four of them, and the other three drove most of the conversation. This was much more usual than it had been before, and Chandler really believed he had Monica to thank for that. Never before had he felt so comfortable with himself as he had since being with her, to the point where he no longer felt it necessary to interject with witty, inappropriate comments at random. He had been using humor as a defense mechanism for so long that just stepping back and observing felt unbelievably freeing.

Joey left right after dinner for a date, and Monica get started right away on cleanup. Chandler tried to help, and breathed a sigh of relief when she handed him a towel to dry the dishes. Rachel retreated to her room—probably to avoid being roped into helping—leaving just the two of them in the kitchen.

"Are you tired?" he asked as they worked.

"Why?" she responded instead of answering.

"Just didn't know what you wanted to do after we finish up here," he replied gently.

"Did you have something in mind?"

"No, no, I was honestly just wondering," he said defensively.

"How about you go get ready for bed?" she suggested. "I'm almost done here."

Chandler almost opened his mouth to protest, but conceded with a sigh and put down the towel.

"Want me to stay here tonight?" he asked carefully. She stopped at that.

"Honey, I always want you to stay over here. If you want to, that is."

Chandler nodded quickly and rushed across the hall to change into sweats and brush his teeth. Nothing's changed he reminded himself. It was just like any other night, of course she still wanted to be with him. He shook his head to clear it was he ran his washcloth over his face. He was only gone for a few minutes, but by the time he returned to Monica's, the kitchen and living room were empty and her bedroom door was closed. He flicked off the lights in the living area and knocked gently on the door before opening it and slipping in.

The only light in the room was the lamp on her nightstand. Monica was dressed in a t-shirt—another item of his clothing that had migrated over here—and her own sweatpants, already under the covers and half asleep. Chandler was awestruck by just how gorgeous she was.

"Hey beautiful," he whispered, crossing the floor and climbing into bed beside her. Immediately, she rolled to rest her head on his shoulder and drape an arm across his chest. Instinctively, Chandler wrapped his own arms around her.

"Hi," she whispered sleepily. "To answer your earlier question, I guess I am pretty tired."

Chandler smiled down at her fondly. "Yeah, I can see that. Good thing we're going to sleep then, isn't it?"

"Mhm," she mumbled. "Chandler?"

"Yeah honey?"

"I'm sorry, about earlier," she said quietly. Her eyes were still closed, and she seemed to be on the verge of sleep, but her words were clear. "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I know you're just trying to help, and you have been. You've been amazing. I'm just stressed, all the time, and it's not fair for me to take it out on you."

"Shhh, you can take it out on me as much as you need, Mon," he whispered. "Anything, anytime, okay? I can't imagine how hard this has been for you. Whatever you need."

"I love you so much," she nuzzled into his neck and Chandler felt so warm and peaceful from that one simple action.

"I love you too Monica," he responded, kissing the side of her head. He held her tightly until her breathing evened out to signal that she had fallen asleep. Gently, he trailed one of his hands down to her stomach to rest on the bump. "Good night, kiddo," he whispered. "Daddy loves you very much."

Chandler fell asleep with a smile on his face.

Soooo there it is! If you thought this story would be angst-free, you were sorely mistaken and lemme tell you, there will be more angst in the future (don't hate me). Like it? Hate it? Have a suggestion for the future of this story, or for potential future stories? Leave me a review! Also, if you don't already, hmu on Instagran supernatural_mondler and twitter spn_mondler...I like making friends so seriously, come be my friend!