"Are you sure you want to do this?" Chandler asks me as we walk up the stairs to Ross and Rachel's apartment. Chandler insisted on carrying both car seats and by extension both babies, leaving me with only the diaper bag. I would like to insist that I'm not weak and helpless, but considering the new baby is doing its best to drain every extra ounce of energy I have I let him do the heavy lifting.

"They're our best friends in the whole world—I think they should be the first people we actually tell about the baby. Four months seems like a pretty safe number to at least let them know." Truthfully, I'm still terrified to tell people that I'm pregnant, even though my doctor keeps assuring me that all is well. So far, only my parents know about the baby, as well as my manager, who has been amazingly supportive and very helpful with my recently specialized needs. But I also really want to be able to talk to Phoebe and Rachel about this. And if, knock on wood, something happens to the baby, we'll at least have a larger support group to help us out.

We get to the third floor landing and I stop, leaning against the wall. Chandler pauses and looks back at me, eyebrow raised.

"I'm sorry," I tell him. "I know you're the one doing the hard part right now. I just need a minute."

"You okay?"

"Yeah, just exhausted. I didn't expect all these stairs to be such a chore."

He smiles, leaning in to kiss me, somehow keeping the twins in their seats from hitting the wall. Superdad. "You're walking up stairs for two; you're allowed to get tired."

"You're walking up stairs for three," I remind him.

He just shakes his head. "Not even a little the same."

"All I can say is that I'm really glad we moved out of the apartment. I don't know that I could handle walking up and down five flights of stairs every day." I heave myself away from the wall, my hand running over my ever-so-slightly rounded stomach before I give my sweater a tug, trying to make sure I don't actually look pregnant. "Next time, I don't care whose idea it is, we have the gathering at our house."

Chandler nods in agreement as we start back up the stairs; the two of us have found that most things are better at our house. We have a huge kitchen that allows me to make really awesome meals, we have a fantastic dining room with an actual dining table that can comfortably seat ten, our living room has tons of space for everyone to spread out in, and, best of all, all of the twins' stuff is already there. It's much easier to drag them into the city now that they're almost nine months old, but it's always much simpler to have people come to us.

Plus, we both just really love our house.

We reach the apartment door and Chandler hands Erica to me, and I pass the diaper bag to him. We haven't completely worked out how we're going to tell everyone about the baby, but going in there with Chandler carrying both of the twins would probably raise questions right away.

"Can you imagine trying to make this trip with three carriers?" I ask in a whisper.

Chandler gives me a look. "Not until just now. They're definitely going to have to come to us for a while." He leans in and gives me another quick kiss. "I love you." He reaches out and runs a finger gently down my stomach. I smile at him then knock on the door, turning the knob a moment later. We're greeted by a chorus of hellos and our friends' smiling faces, and I feel a little bit of horror that we're late.

"We're the last ones here?" I exclaim. "I'm so sorry!"

"Don't worry about it, Mon," Ross tells me, coming over to kiss my cheek. "You have to come the farthest with the most stuff. You're only about two minutes behind Phoebe and Mike, anyway."

Phoebe comes up to hug me as Ross moves on to Chandler, whispering in my ear, "Totally saved your ass." I shake my head as I give my friend a squeeze, and an instant later she's taken Erica's carrier out of my hand, whisking the baby away.

"Okay. Good to see you, too." I look over at my husband and see that Jack, too, has been confiscated.

"We're superfluous, apparently. If the twins could get here on their own, I don't think they'd care if they saw us."

"That's not true, man," Joey says, pulling the two of us in for a hug. "We miss you guys, too. You're just not as cute as they are." He pauses, looking at me teasingly and winks. "Well, maybe you are, Mon."

I roll my eyes and pull him in for another hug; oddly, we've seen him the least since moving to Westchester. The "Joey Room" has gone mostly unused, though fortunately it's not because he's still upset about us buying the house. Days Of Our Lives has been keeping him busier than ever, he's been popping up in commercials and other TV shows left and right, and he's even been spending time out in LA. Chandler and I make sure to point him out to the twins whenever possible, and he calls a lot just to talk to them. They seem to like his voice and recognize him instantly whenever they do get to see him.

"Hey, you guys." I look up and see Rachel coming at us, Emma in tow. The little girl's face lights up when she sees Chandler and me and comes barreling at us. Before I can react, Chandler bends down and scoops her up, stopping her from tackling me without looking like he's trying to stop her from tackling me. Emma throws her arms around her uncle and squeezes; Chandler pretends she's squeezing too hard and dramatically drops to the couch while she giggles. I sit next to them on the arm of the couch and kiss the back of her head.

I hear Jack giggling and look up to see the twins surrounded by people; Ross and Rachel with Jack, and Mike, Phoebe, and Joey with Erica. Chandler wasn't completely wrong—they are much more interested in seeing the babies than they are in seeing us.

"Hey, where's Ben?" I finally ask, and Ross glances in my direction for only a moment.

"He's at a sleepover. I guess when you're almost ten, spending the evening with your family instead of your friends doesn't sound like a lot of fun, and I figured if I forced him to be here, he'd just complain the whole time about not being with his friends."

"Fair enough," Chandler answers and Emma squirms off his lap and starts tugging his hand.

"Come on," she demands.

"What's up, Emma?" he asks, letting himself be pulled to his feet.

"See my dolls." Chandler shrugs and allows himself to be led away, and I can't help but grin as I watch him go. Those two have had a strange, wonderful bond for some time now; she responds very well to him, and I think part of it is because he can be so childlike, but in the best way possible. Who knew that Chandler Bing would have such a knack with kids?

Well, I kind of knew. Between watching him interact with Ben all these years, Frank Junior's triplets, and just the general patience he has anytime he interacts with children no matter where he happens to run into them, it was pretty easy to see even years ago that he'd be a good father.

I'm just so incredibly glad that I get to reap the benefits.

Erica's crying startles me out of my reverie and my head turns to Phoebe, who looks horrified.

"Monica, I broke your baby!" I stand up, biting my lip as my vision swims for just a second, and take my daughter.

"It's okay. They're just going through the whole separation anxiety thing. Well, Erica more than Jack. She's teething and cranky and just needs a lot of Mommy and Daddy. Plus, you know, too many faces at one time in a place that's not home." I look over at my son, who is perfectly content to be held by his uncle. Erica's tears subside almost instantly, one of her tiny hands grabbing onto my shirt, little face breaking out into a smile.

"Ohhh. She's a wily one, isn't she?" Phoebe asks, tickling Erica's little foot, making her giggle.

"Eri, tell your aunt Pheebs how much you love her." Erica looks at me, wide-eyed. "Give her a kiss."

"Does she know how to do that?"

I shrug, bouncing Erica on my hip a little. "In a manner of speaking. Lean in."

Cautiously, Phoebe leans down to Erica's level and I shift her forward. Erica leans toward Phoebe with her mouth open, landing against Phoebe's cheek.

"Oh, that's interesting," she says as Erica slobbers on her cheek.

"She hasn't figured out how to pucker yet, but she does get the concept of kissing. Jack'll do it, too, if you ask him," I say to Ross and Rachel.

"Can I have a kiss, Jack?" Rachel asks immediately, and Jack leans into his aunt, drooling on her face.

"Me next, me next!" Joey exclaims, and Phoebe moves out of the way for him. Erica giggles as she "kisses" her uncle Joey.

I look over their heads at Mike. "Uncle Mike? While she's giving it away?"

Mike's eyes widen for a moment and he smiles. "Uncle Mike?"

He looks surprised at the endearment, and I guess maybe we haven't spent nearly enough time with Mike and Phoebe since the twins were born. "Well, yeah. What else would you be? Aunt Phoebe and her husband Mike? 'Uncle Mike' will be easier for them to say."

Phoebe rubs Mike's arm and he leans in to Erica. "Sure, I'll take one of those." The baby laughs as she slobbers on his face, too.

I hear Emma giggle and look up to see her walking out of her room wearing a tiara. Chandler follows a moment later, also wearing a tiara. I burst out laughing; Erica looks up at me and laughs, too. Chandler lifts an eyebrow at me. "Is there a problem?"

I bite my lip and shake my head. Once our kids realize their dad is cool with being dressed up like a doll, it's all over.

Ross looks up and starts laughing. "Dude, what are you wearing?"

Chandler casually struts over, making sure the tiara is still in place. "I'm a pretty princess," he answers, leaning down and kissing Jack's head. "Isn't that right, Emma?"

"Pretty," she answers, nodding. Rachel picks up her daughter and buries her face in Emma's hair, trying to hide her laughter.

"I don't see what the problem is," Chandler says, and Erica points at him.

"Ghee!"

He nods at her. "See? She likes it." He kisses her head; I kiss his forehead in the process.

"Our kids are so lucky," I whisper, meaning every word. He smiles and puts his arm around my waist. Jack nearly flings himself out of Ross's arms, aiming toward us. My eyes grow wide and my heart stops for a moment, even though I know my brother is more than capable of holding onto his nephew.

"Bah bah bah!"

"Okay, okay," Chandler tells him, pulling him into his arms. "We're going to pretend that 'bah bah bah' really means 'dada,' right, buddy? It's close enough for right now."

"Dah!" Jack exclaims, waving his arms.

"Halfway there," I tell Chandler, going over to the diaper bag. "Honey? They should probably eat now before we get all caught up in everything else." I pull out a couple of jars of food and hand them to my husband, knowing he'll do the honors. Of all things, the smell of their baby food has been making me queasy lately, which, logically, I know is insane because it's just regular food all puréed. My body doesn't seem to care, though. And if it's not their jarred food, it's their formula; they've started eating a larger variety of foods, but even when just traveling into Manhattan, it's easier to bring food in jars.

It's really fun not being able to feed your own children without vomiting, though.

Also, it's really fun to find out that not only can morning sickness hit you at any time of the day, but that for some lucky women, it can last past the first trimester. Still, I try to just grin and bear it; I thought I'd never get the chance to even have morning sickness, so I hate to complain about it.

Even so, more people should prepare women for this.

"Hey, now," Joey says, holding up a hand. "Don't be whipping out your breasts in the middle of the living room. I know it's a natural, beautiful thing, but I can't look at a woman's chest and not be expected to think things."

We all turn to stare at him. "First of all, you shouldn't be looking at a woman's chest when she's breastfeeding. Second of all, I didn't give birth to them, so I can't breastfeed them." I love the guy—I really do—but he's dumber than a box of hair sometimes.

"Oh," he answers, shuffling his feet. "Your boobs looked bigger, so..."

Chandler purses his lips, staring down his friend. "I'm so happy that you just can't seem to stop ogling my wife."

I look over and see Ross giving Joey the same exact look. "Yeah. It's awesome."

"Your boobs do look bigger, Mon," Phoebe throws in, and Rachel shrugs in agreement. "New bra?"

I look around the room; Mike and Ross look incredibly uncomfortable with the conversation. Rachel, Phoebe, and Joey all seem curious about the state of my underwear. "Actually, yes," I answer, which is technically the truth; I've already had to start buying maternity bras, though most of the rest of my clothing has stayed the same.

"Oooh! Can I see?"

"Uh," I take a step into Chandler, pulling Erica closer against me. "I don't think so." She picks that moment to start smacking her hand against my chest, and I fight as hard as I can not to cringe in pain as she hits my overly-sensitive flesh. I gently grab her fist and look down at her. "Erica no." She scrunches up her face at me; already, she's less than fond of the word "no." I keep my eyes trained on her, waiting to see her next move. Her eyes flit over to her father, her strongest supporter. Chandler carefully avoids her gaze, choosing instead to start swaying Jack back and forth, making zooming noises.

Her eyes return to me and she tells me, "Deedeedeedeedeeeee." I release her hand, and she reaches her hand out again, this time gently grabbing the collar of my shirt. I kiss the top of her head and realize all of our friends are staring at me.

"I don't think I've ever seen an adult win a staring contest with a nine-month-old," Ross says, looking impressed.

"That's because no one else has ever been Monica," Chandler answers, sounding proud. I think he's hoping I'll be able to stare the kids into submission forever, and, honestly, it would be much easier and much more effective than yelling at them.

I smile over at him and feel my stomach churn violently. My eyes go wide as I try to inhale deeply, hoping it'll pass without incident. Chandler looks alarmed, and I know that means my face has suddenly gone pale. I feel the familiar cold sweat break out across my body and I shove Erica into his arms and bolt for the bathroom. I vaguely hear my friends asking if I'm okay as I slam the door shut and kneel in front of the toilet.

Suddenly, how we're going to tell everyone about the baby seems a little less of a mystery, though it's possible that none of them will make the connection.

I flush and lean back cautiously, waiting to see what happens. My stomach churns again and I lean over the bowl once more, not even sure at this point what's coming out of me. I've been fine all day and the baby had to pick now to do this.

Definitely Chandler's child with this sort of timing.

I hear a tap at the door, then Chandler's voice. "You okay, Mon?"

"Yeah," I croak as I lean against the wall, sure I sound anything but. "I'll be out in a minute."

The door creaks open and his concerned face peaks in, his hands child-free. "Do you need anything?"

I reach out to flush the toilet again then extend my hands to him. He slowly pulls me to my feet, aware that sudden movements can set me off again, or make me dizzy. He wraps his arms around me and I moan against his chest. "I need to brush my teeth."

He digs his hand into his pocket, producing my travel brush a moment later. "You okay with using Ross and Rachel's toothpaste?"

I nod, giving him a gentle squeeze. "Remind me to kiss you when I don't have vomit breath."

"Will do," he answers, kissing the top of my head. "What do you want me to tell everyone?"

I shrug. "Tell them I'll be out in a minute. Looks like we have the perfect segue for our news, though."

He nods then backs out of my arms. "Give a yell if you need anything," he tells me as he closes the door behind him.

I pause, taking a few deep breaths to make sure I'm still okay, before brushing my teeth. As I'm rinsing out my mouth, I feel another wave start to hit me and I lean my hands against the edge of the sink, my head dropping to my chest.

"Oh, come on," I whisper to my stomach. "Cut me some slack, kid. You're about to get all kinds of attention so would you just take it easy?" I take a few more deep breaths, the nausea finally passing without incident. "Thank you." I take a look in the mirror, relieved to see that I'm not as deathly pale as I suspected I would be, put the toothbrush in my pocket, and go back into the living room. Phoebe and Mike are each in charge of feeding a twin, Emma standing in between them, observing. Rachel looks up at me and makes a face.

"You okay?" she asks and I nod reassuringly.

"I'm fine." And really, I am, even if I felt like crap just a couple of minutes ago.

"Mon," Ross says, wrapping his arm around me sympathetically for a moment before stepping away, afraid he might catch whatever bug he thinks I'm carrying. "You shouldn't have come out here if you're sick. We could always get together another night."

"No, really. I'm okay," I insist even as my friends look at in disbelief. "Seriously." I look over at Chandler, who nods slightly and moves to stand next to me, his hand sliding around my hip, his fingers playing with the belt loop of my jeans. I take a deep breath. "Pregnant women get queasy all the time."

The room falls completely silent. Mike and Phoebe pause midspoonful, and Jack reaches out, grabbing Mike's hand to bring the food closer. Rachel drops onto the couch, looking stunned. Ross's hand goes to his chest as his chin quivers. Joey looks back and forth between me and Chandler, looking terribly confused, though no more so than I would expect any of our friends to be.

"Say what now?" he finally asks, breaking the silence. Chandler's hand pulls me closer and I look up at him, the grin on his face already from ear to ear.

"You're…you're pregnant?" Rachel breathes and I nod, a grin finally splitting my face.

"Oh, my God," Ross says, bewildered .

"But I thought you couldn't…" Mike says, his voice drifting off as he looks a little uncomfortable, and I have to remind myself that he hasn't been a part of our group as long and probably still isn't completely comfortable with how much we share with each other.

"Not that we 'couldn't'," Chandler corrects. "Just that it'd be tough."

"You're pregnant?" Rachel asks again, her face lighting up.

Phoebe stands up, and Mike looks horrified for a moment as he's left alone with both babies, though Joey swoops in to help take over. "You're having a baby?" she asks, her eyes filling with tears.

"We're having a baby," I confirm, her tears all I need to get my own started, and a moment later, she and Rachel surround me in a hug.

"Hey, I helped," Chandler says and I laugh, sticking out my arm to pull him into the hug.

"You guys," Ross says, and I feel him join in.

"I wanna hug, too," I hear Joey exclaim, and we all break apart long enough to relocate the circle next to the highchairs, adding him and Mike to the group. Ross picks up Emma, who looks a little lost.

"You're gonna get another cousin, sweetie," he tries to explain.

"Another baby," Rachel adds, and Emma seems to understand that part.

"Okay, I love you guys, but—" Before I can finish my sentence, the huddle is broken and I'm being led to the couch, everyone asking at once if I need anything, if I'm all right.

"She's fine, guys," Chandler finally says, and I realize he's with the twins, taking over their dinner. "Our doctor says she's doing well, the baby is healthy, everything is as it should be."

Despite everyone's protests, I stand and move over to Chandler, taking one of the spoons out of his hand. "We're good," I say simply. "Everything's good."

"Well, how far along are you?" Phoebe asks.

"Oh. About four months." I hear a collective gasp and look up from feeding Jack; everyone's gaping at us.

Joey makes a face at us, expressing his displeasure. "You waited four months to tell us?"

I look over at Chandler and we shrug at each other—we figured they'd be miffed that we didn't tell them sooner.

"We wanted to get past the scary part before we told anyone," Chandler explains, which seems to do nothing to ease their minds.

"Have you told anyone else?" Ross asks, sounding offended.

"I've only told my manager at work," I assure them. "And that was because the doctor wanted me on light duty until the end of my first trimester, so I had to tell her. Oh, but…Mom and Dad know."

"What?" he exclaims, his voice pitched way too high, and Erica jumps, startled by the noise.

Chandler looks at him incredulously, but leaves the speaking to me. "They came over on Christmas and Mom just sort of…figured it out. We weren't going to lie to them. And they're so excited, Ross."

"Look, we wanted to tell all of you guys together," Chandler explains. "Look how hard it was just to plan this night. But now you all know and you can go back to just being excited. We're having a baby! This is huge!"

"Can I see your belly?" Phoebe asks suddenly, practically hopping over to my side.

"There's not much to see yet," I tell her, pulling up my sweater to reveal the thin t-shirt underneath. But from the look on her face, I guess the difference must be noticeable to her.

"Aww. Hi, baby," she says, putting her hand on my stomach.

"Where?" Emma demands, appearing at my side suddenly.

"In here, sweetie," I answer, gesturing to my stomach.

She looks at me doubtfully. "That tummy," she tells me sagely.

"You're right. But there's a baby inside my tummy," I try to explain, even though I know it's probably pointless.

Rachel comes over to us, putting on hand on Emma's shoulder and the other on my stomach, tears in her eyes again. "Look at you all pregnant," she whispers, and for a few moments, I'm overcome with love; this means just as much to our friends as it does to us. "How're you feeling?"

"Tired," I answer immediately. "Nauseated, dizzy, sore, emotional, and so unbelievably happy that I can't even express."

"How are you handling it?" Phoebe asks Chandler, wrapping an arm around his waist.

"It's the best thing to happen to us since the twins," he answers, his face lighting up. "We're a little nervous, but still…this is the greatest thing that could happen."

"If you need anything at all, you just let us know," Rachel adds, giving my stomach a little pat.

"I knew your boobs looked bigger," Joey exclaims suddenly and Chandler rolls his eyes.

"Boobs?" Emma asks, looking up at the adults around her.

"Thank you, Uncle Joey," Rachel says through clenched teeth.

"What'd I do?"

I look at the twins and see they've both lost interest in eating. We wipe off their mouths with their bibs and pull them out of the chairs. I rub Jack's back as he burps contentedly into my shoulder; Chandler holds Erica down to Emma's level, keeping the baby just out of arm's reach, mostly because Erica is just learning how to pinch things and her arm is already fully extended, straining to reach her cousin.

"Well, I think this calls for a celebration," Ross says, and seems to have, fortunately, moved past not being the first to know. He springs into action, filling wine glasses with water, and Mike helps pass them out. Once everyone has a glass in hand, Ross speaks up again. "I'm so happy for you guys. I don't know of anyone who deserves kids more than the two of you, and now you're going to have three of them. You are great parents, and this baby is so lucky to be part of your family. I love you guys." It's simple, but it's enough to bring the hormonal mess I've become to tears. I look at my husband and he's a little misty, too. "So, here's to Monica, Chandler, Jack, and Erica, and the new baby."

"To the Bings," Phoebe says, lifting her glass into the air, and everyone follows suit, a chorus of "the Bings" filling the air.

Chandler's arm goes around my shoulders, glass still in hand, taking care not to spill it on me or Jack. I wrap my own arm around his waist, being careful with my glass as well.

"The Bings," he whispers in my ear and I nod against his cheek.

"The Bings. Always."