One-Shot: Ben's Baptism
Chandler fidgeted in his suit coat. The movement was all the worse since there was such a draft in this synagogue. Behind him, he could hear Joey whispering to Rachel and Phoebe in a way that was neither soft nor tactful.
"… Why are we even here?"
"Joey, hush!"
"I'm just saying, Rache! - This little guy has three parents. If something ever happened to Carol and Susan, wouldn't the kid just go to his father?"
Chandler didn't have to turn around to sense Phoebe's scoffing scorn. "OK, genius, riddle me this: Ross and the lesbians are all dead. Then who gets Ben?"
Chandler now did turn around in time to see Joey turn ghastly pale at even the mention of such a hypothetically morbid scenario. He fought the urge to snicker inappropriately at how Ross and the Lesbians sounded like a band name. He and Ross would have never named their own band in such a way.
He turned back to face the front, steeling himself for this ceremony that apparently wasn't a baptism, yet still had all the trappings of one. Carol, Susan and Ross were huddled with the rabbi, speaking with him in low tones. Chandler focused in on the two women.
He didn't know Carol or Susan very well. Well, actually, he did know Carol, having been introduced to her through Ross back in college. Even now, nearly a decade later, he had always gotten the distinct impression that Carol tolerated him, at best.
Which had left Chandler all the more confused when Ross had passed along his ex-wife's address to him, saying Carol had something very important to discuss with him. When Chandler had arrived at Carol and Susan's apartment and learned what that something was, he was floored. To the point that he had blurted out:
"Why me? Not that I don't feel honored, Carol, but I didn't think you liked me."
"I like you in small doses," Carol had clarified. "Though, you're right, for the most part: I do find you to be kind of an idiot." Well, at least she was honest. "But Monica has never spoken anything but highly of you, and since she is to be godmother…." Carol had shrugged. "Su, Ross and I agreed that we would rather make it easier for her to have a parental partner who she is comfortable with."
Chandler stole a glance at Monica now.
His best friend looked breathtaking in her dress. Her beauty was only enhanced by how she was holding a baby in her arms. Ben was squirmy and wide awake, and at the moment seemed very fascinated by the pearl necklace his aunt now wore. He kept trying to stuff the pearls into his mouth.
Chandler couldn't help but stare at the way Monica's blue eyes sparkled as she threw back her head and laughed at her nephew's antics. She held him up to eye level and nuzzled her nose against his.
The rabbi, Ross, Carol and Susan now approached. "We are ready to perform the ritual of tivlah."
Chandler had no idea what a tivlah was, and he looked to Monica for help. She smiled at him patiently. "It's the Jewish version of baptism," she whispered to him.
"Will the godparents please step forward?" The rabbi now called.
Monica and Chandler glanced at each other. He let her take the lead, gliding up towards the baptismal basin with Ben in her arms.
For all his insensitivity, Joey did raise a fair question: why were they here? Carol and Susan's presence alone didn't make much sense - why induct their son into any organized religion when almost none of those same faiths would accept the marriage of the boy's mothers? Chandler didn't want to speculate, but he had a feeling that Ross, as the father, had insisted on this ceremony. Chandler had known his old roommate and best friend long enough to know that the man held great love for his faith. Unlike her brother, Monica was a bit more understated in her relationship with the Jewish tradition - she didn't flaunt it. Though in watching her bright face now, it was clear these customs held some importance for and appreciation from her. Chandler didn't know precisely what the Jews thought of the gays and lesbians, but he had to imagine they would be more accepting than those damn phony Catholics. His parents had taught him many important lessons, most of which he would have preferred not to learn, but a valued one was this: organized religion, in any form, was one of the most dangerous forces corrupting man. It made something which should have been simple - unconditional love of your neighbor - so unnecessarily complicated.
Chandler spotted Monica step closer to the basin, and he copied her, remaining right at her side. As she held the baby out, he moved to help support Ben from underneath, so that the infant was held between them. Meeting Monica's eyes, she smiled at Chandler brightly and encouragingly, and they lowered Ben towards the holy water together. Ben was starting to fuss, shying away from the water. When the rabbi poured the first splash of water over his head, the baby began to bawl. A short distance away, Carol was biting her lip, maternal instinct demanding she dash over, and only her wife held her back.
The rabbi was now intoning something in Yiddish. Her smile now slightly more strained, Monica was caught between consoling her squalling nephew and godson and echoing the old language on the edge of her breath. In the interest of being helpful, Chandler awkwardly patted Ben's doused head.
In truth, he didn't know how helpful he'd be, in the event that he and Monica would be left to raise this child together. Chandler had never been particularly at ease with children, whereas Monica…. She was a natural. A wonder. Chandler knew it was his best friend's dearest dream to be a mother herself. Have a family. He felt touched that Monica would have vouched for him with Carol and Susan. That she thought fondly enough of him that she would want him as a partner, even if only in the event of the worst.
The ceremony ended, and the family and witnesses retreated back to the vestibule. The rabbi took Jack, Judy, Ross, Carol and Susan into his private quarters to speak with the parents and grandparents alone. Chandler wondered if he and Monica, as the godparents, would be treated to a similar lecture. A bored Joey talked Rachel and Phoebe into accompanying him to admire the tapestries and stained-glass windows in the synagogue.
Left alone with Ben - their godson - Chandler watched as Monica played with him. The happiness on her face was blinding, like the light of the sun, the adoration in her eyes clear as she lifted Ben high before swooping him back down to her lap.
"Bouncy…. Bouncy baby…." Her voice was high and cooing. Maternal.
Chandler had to wonder if she felt any envy like she had the night this baby had been born. She had been despairing that night over a year ago, that she didn't yet have her happily ever after in the form of marriage and a child. It had to cut all the deeper, to be declared a mother but only in an In-Case-of-Emergency-Break-Glass scenario.
Any child would be so lucky to have this woman as a mother, a godmother, a foster mother, whatever. Gazing at her with Ben now…. She was so lovely.
Monica turned her head suddenly, and caught Chandler staring.
"…. What?…." She giggled, smiling weakly as her cheeks flushed.
Chandler swallowed, still enraptured by her. Immersed in the depths of the feelings he had for her. She had to still be recovering from her break-up with Richard. That alone should have behooved him to hold off from what he found himself saying next:
"… I love you…."
He tried to convey as clearly as he could through his tone alone that this was more than just some inherently understood platitude between merely close friends. He watched as her sapphire eyes expanded, comprehending his meaning.
Chandler nudged off of where he had been leaning against the wall, drifting over to her. Monica rose from her seat to meet him, gaping at him, her lips slightly parted.
Her sparkling eyes darted briefly to Chandler's lips. The baby was still being held between them.
Chandler dipped his head close, hesitant. His heart was nearly hammering out of his suit coat. "Can… can I kiss you?"
Monica gaped at him. Chandler was ready to accept her rejection, perhaps even outrage at how he was… coming on to her, and all because she looked so bewitchingly beautiful with a baby. But then she gasped breathlessly, as if in a trance:
"Yes, always…" At Chandler's eyes expanding, Monica cleared her throat. "I - I mean…. Yes, you may…"
Chandler leaned forward. Monica swayed into him, holding back for just a moment before surrendering. Their lips met.
They kissed tentatively. The caress of their lips was feather-light and yet it still made Monica's toes curl. Looping one hand behind Chandler's neck, Monica gasped, shocked with herself, as she pulled him closer and the kiss deepened.
Losing themselves in the embrace, Monica and Chandler only broke apart when they felt Ben whimpering and squirming, in danger of being smushed between his godfather and godmother.
Monica stepped back out of the kiss, looking thunderstruck. Chandler was equally stunned, elated. Then, Monica's rouged, very kiss-swollen lips curled into a soft, beaming smile, and she and Chandler both chuckled.
He swooped in to gently kiss her again and she returned it gladly. Monica kissed him back dreamily, marveling at how her best friend could be ever a surprise to her.
The sound of the door to the vestibule opening behind them made Chandler and Monica break apart.
It was not quick enough for Joey and the girls to not notice what they had walked in on. Joey's rapid blinking transitioned into a proud grin. Phoebe's lips quirked almost knowingly; Rachel appeared astonished and ready to inundate Monica with questions, demanding an explanation. Before she or any of them could, the rabbi returned with Carol, Susan and the other Gellers.
"Miss Geller, Mr. Bing: we're ready for you now."
Chandler and Monica smiled into each other's eyes, then down at the baby between them. Then the godparents followed the rabbi out of the vestibule.