May 9th, 1994 - Earlier in the day
Monica sat nervously on the exam table of her gynecologist's office, awaiting the positive test result that she knew was coming. She had taken multiple at-home pregnancy tests. All of which read positive. So, Monica knew this one would say the same.
"Well, Monica," Dr. Long said, entering the exam room.
"You are indeed pregnant." Dr. Long empathetically added.
"Okay," Monica sighed, unsure how to feel about the news. On one hand, this is what she had always wanted, but this is not how she wanted it to happen. She envisioned that she would be married when this happened to a man who actually wanted a baby.
"Do you have any questions before we begin the exam? I want to check everything out and confirm how far along you are," Dr. Long explained.
"Of course, but I know how far along I am," Monica said as she replayed that fateful night.
"According to my notes, I have almost a month to this day," Dr. Long said as she reviewed her chart notes.
"Yup," Monica nodded as she nervously wrung her hands.
"Well, let's check out you and baby. I can also do an ultrasound if you like?" Dr. Long suggested.
"Yeah, that's fine," Monica said, lying back on the exam table.
"And you know who the father is?" Dr. Long asked, getting prepped for the exam.
"Yup," Monica nodded, picturing her blue-eyed, sandy-haired friend with boyish charm, a mischievous grin, and tender thrusts and kisses.
"And he knows about this?" Dr. Long eyed Monica.
"Not yet," Monica said before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath to prepare for the uncomfortable procedure. She imagined how telling him would play out. A variety of catastrophic scenarios flashed through her mind. She could picture his terrified expression, and it twisted her stomach.
Monica winced as Dr. Long began the exam. At least, thinking about telling Chandler would help distract her from the uncomfortable procedure.
May 9th, 1994 - later in the day
Monica could not help but smile at the ultrasound image of her peanut-sized baby growing inside her. She was still nervous about telling Chandler and raising this child as a potentially single mother, but she could not help feeling a bit giddy, too. It was too soon to tell the sex of the baby. She still had six weeks before she would know that.
She wanted to find out as soon as possible because there was so much to plan for. She needed baby clothes and things to convert the second guest room into a nursery. She only had eight months left to prepare, and knowing the baby's sex would help her to plan more precisely. However, she did not know if Chandler would rather be surprised, and she wanted to consider his wishes. That's if he wants to or feels comfortable being involved.
She certainly did not want to pressure him. Having a baby was a huge life-altering event. However, he was welcome to be involved as much or as little as he wanted. She just hoped he wouldn't freak out and run off. She did not want to lose him as a friend over this.
"Hey," She heard him say as he entered her apartment, still dressed from work. He looked sexy in a suit and a tie, but he looked even sexier naked. Maybe it was the pregnancy hormones kicking in or the fact that she had enjoyed their night together, but she could not help but feel incredibly turned on and attracted to him. This attraction had made being around him the last four weeks torture.
"Hey," she said, hiding the sonogram picture under her coaster.
"How was work?" She tried to ask casually, hoping he did not see her attempting to conceal the image of their child.
"It was okay," Chandler shrugged. "I ran lots of boring financial reports and sat in lots of useless meetings that wasted the time I had to run said reports," Chandler quipped, joining her at the kitchen table.
"How enthralling," Monica joked, resting her head in her hand.
"What do you have there?" Chandler asked, noticing the sonogram image peeking out from underneath the coaster.
"Nothing," Monica lied, failing to snatch it away before Chandler could grab it. Damn, she was usually so much faster than him. It felt like an epic fail on her part.
"What's this?" Chandler asked, studying the picture before his eyes grew as big as saucers as he registered the contents of the image.
"Is this yours?" Chandler asked in shock.
"Yes," Monica gulped and nodded. Her pulse quickened, and her stomach dropped to the floor.
"You're...you're pregnant?" Chandler stuttered, and she had never seen him look so pale or flushed. She had seen him more flushed when he had taken her on that pool table weeks earlier, but he certainly was not pale. In fact, his face was red and hot.
"Yes," was all Monica could say. She wanted to say so much more, but she was having a hard time saying words.
"Who's...is it...is it mine?" Chandler questioned and did not want to reply, so she hesitated.
"Yes," she finally said, looking down at the table before closing her eyes. She could not bear to see the look of terror that would inevitably cross his handsome face.
"Oh," Chandler tried to say calmly.
"That's...news," Chandler added, and Monica looked up and opened her eyes to an unexpected expression. He appeared more stupefied than terrified. Maybe he was cycling through the stages of grief, and denial was usually the first stage.
"We didn't use any condoms, did we?" Chandler asked, appearing to think back to that night.
"Not that I can recall," Monica said.
"That's what I thought—five times and not a single condom. We are a walking Saturday morning special to teens about what not to do," Chandler said before running his hands through his hair.
"I know," Monica agreed before lifting her hands from her lap to the tap and fidgeting nervously. She didn't know how to take his reaction. It wasn't one that she had mentally prepared for.
"Hey," Chandler said, looking over at her and noticing how nervous and uncomfortable she looked.
"We're going to figure this out together," Chandler said, taking one of her hands into his own and intertwining their fingers.
"I want you to know that I have already decided not to give up or get rid of this baby," Monica said quietly.
"I didn't expect you would," Chandler softly replied before gently squeezing her hand.
"You can be as much or as little involved with you as you wish. There is no pressure from me. It is my choice to keep the baby," Monica said.
"I'm not leaving you to raise this baby alone, Mon." Chandler smiled reassuringly.
"We're in this together," Chandler added before leaning in to hug her tightly.
"Thank you," Monica said as a feeling of relief flooded through her. The hard part was over in her mind. They could do this together, and it felt good to know she wasn't alone.
"I can't promise you that I won't have a Chandler moment at some point during all of this," Chandler chuckled.
"Oh, I fully expect you to have many Chandler moments," Monica smiled, and Chandler just chuckled before kissing her hair.
May 14th, 1994
Monica and Chandler sat in the restaurant's dining room, waiting to tell their parents about their impending grandchild.
"Why do I feel this is going to be a disaster?" Chandler asked as he nervously shook his leg.
"Because it is," Monica said, placing a comforting hand on his knee. He looked over at her appreciatively.
"We're in this together, remember?" Monica said reassuringly, and he smiled appreciatively at her.
"Hello, darling," Nora, the first to arrive, greeted the nervous pair.
"Hello, Mother," Chandler said, getting up from the table to hug his mother.
"Monica, darling, you look positively radiant," Nora said, embracing Monica next.
"Thank you. It's so good to see you, Nora," Monica said cordially.
"So, what is this all about? You two aren't getting married, are you?" Nora asked, looking between Monica and Chandler.
"Um..." both Monica and Chandler began before Jack and Judy arrived.
"Hello, dear," Judy greeted her daughter.
"Mom, Dad," Monica said, greeting her parents with a hug.
"Hello, Chandler," Jack stiffy greeted Chandler, which made Chandler tense.
"Have you met my mother yet?" Chandler asked, pointing towards the sultry blonde.
"I don't believe we have," Judy said suspiciously, eyeing Chandler before smiling kindly at Nora.
"Jack, Judy, this is Nora Tyler-Bing. Nora, this is Jack and Judy Geller," Chandler stammered.
"We get the picture, dear," Nora said, patting her nervous son's arm before extending her hand graciously to Judy and Jack.
"So good to finally meet you. You have such lovely children," Nora said while grasping Judy's hand.
"Why, thank you," Judy replied as everyone sat at the table.
"So, what is this all about, princess?" Jack asked as he folded his napkin over his lap.
"Well..." Monica began before her mother interjected.
"You two aren't getting married, are you?" Judy asked in horror.
"No... not exactly..." Monica shook her head.
"Oh, God, you already got married, didn't you?" Judy asked, putting her head in her hands as Jack glared at Chandler.
"Oh, sweetheart, that is wonderful news," Nora clapped her hands together giddily.
"You certainly picked a good one, Chandler," Nora said, taking Monica's hand in hers, which made Monica blush.
"Monica, how could you do this?!" Judy hissed at her recoiling daughter.
"Sweetie, you can certainly do better than this druggie," Jack interjected, making both Monica and Chandler stare at Jack in shock.
"How dare you!" Nora pointed at Jack.
"My son is no drug addict," Nora added.
"I... don't do drugs. Where would you ever get an idea like that?" Chandler asked.
"One weekend, when we visited Ross in college his sophomore year, your boys' dorm room reeked of pot, and he told us that you had just gotten high and jumped out the window." Jack clarified as both Monica and Chandler rolled their eyes.
"Did it ever occur to you that Ross lied, Daddy? That maybe Ross was the one smoking pot," Monica said.
"No," Jack shook his head in disbelief as Monica rolled her eyes again.
"I can assure you that I not now or have I ever smoked pot. I am more than willing to take a drug test." Chandler said, looking between the seething Gellers.
"That's not a bad idea," Jack said, glancing over at his wife, who nodded in agreement.
"Not necessary!" Monica chimed in.
"Besides, Chandler and I aren't married or getting married. We are having a baby," Monica said.
"Oh my God!" Judy exclaimed.
"I can't believe this! This is worse than if you were marrying that pothead, princess," Jack said, getting up and throwing his napkin on the table.
"I think we already established that my son does not do drugs," Nora added.
"I need a cigarette," Jack said, storming out.
"Jack!" Judy said, following her husband out of the restaurant as Nora's pager went off.
"Oh, that's my agent. I better go get this. I will be right back, kids," Nora said as she made her exit.
"That didn't go any better or worse than I expected," Monica flatly said as she messaged her throbbing temples.
"Yeah, at least your father didn't try to punch me in the face like Ross did when he found out," Chandler added.
"Tried being the operative word. I'm going to kill Ross!" Monica seethed.
"Hey, go easy on him. It can't be easy being a divorced stoner," Chandler smirked and looked over to see Monica looking down at her hands in her lap.
"Now, now. Here's looking at you, kid," Chandler said as he gently lifted her chin in his hand to see tears pooling in her pretty, blue eyes.
"I'm not going anywhere," Chandler added.
"Thank you," Monica smiled appreciatively through her tears.
May 14th, 2001
"Hello, darlings," Nora greeted Monica and Chandler as she entered the rehearsal dinner.
"Monica, you look gorgeous," Nora said, taking her soon-to-be daughter-in-law's hands into her own.
"Thank you, Nora," Monica smiled, gently squeezing Nora's hands.
"Mother, you look so..." Chandler said, taking in the tight dress from which her cleavage popped out.
"At least you wore something," Chandler said, putting his free hand in his pocket. His other hand was caressing Monica's lower back. Too bad they had agreed to spend their last night apart because he wanted to take her home and have his way with her. She looked so stunning in that red dress.
"Don't be such a prude, dear," Nora said, rolling her eyes.
"I am so happy for you two. You have no idea how long I have waited for this day to come," Nora clapped her hands together as she beamed at Monica and Chandler, who smiled lovingly at one another.
Then, Helena/Charles entered the room.
"Hello all," Helena/Charles greeted regally.
"Hi...Dad," Chandler greeted uncomfortably.
"Hi, Mr. Bing," Monica said awkwardly.
"Nora," Helena/Charles said, turning towards their ex-wife.
"Charles," Nora said, eyeing her ex-husband up and down.
"It's so great to see you both here!" Monica said, trying to cut the tension which had sucked all of the air out of the room.
Charles just nodded and smiled. "Yes, although we may be seeing a little too much of some people."
"Don't you have a little too much penis to be wearing a dress like that?" Nora asked as she looked her ex-husband up and down with disdain.
"Aren't you too old to be wearing a dress like that?" Helena/Charles countered.
Chandler blanched. "Oh my God!" he said in horror in response to his parents' petty exchange. He was living a scene out of an 80s prime-time soap opera. This night was turning into a nightmare! Chandler felt his nerves from earlier returning.
He had been doing surprisingly well through the wedding planning until he had listened to his answering machine message earlier, in which he heard Monica exclaim at the end, you have reached the Bings!
She had updated their outgoing message recently. The thought of marrying Monica exhilarated him.
However, he killed him to think that Monica and he would ever turn out like that. Seeing his parents in action validated his insecurities, and he was starting to feel suffocated by his tie, which he desperately wanted to loosen.
He could sense Monica looking up at him, so he turned his head to look down to see her sympathetically staring up at him. She was skilled at reading his emotions. He did not know what he would do without her.
"Nona!" he heard a little voice behind him say, and he saw his little ball of light in pink zip past him and Monica into her grandmother's waiting arms.
"Hello, my little angel," Nora beamed, hugging Hannah tightly.
Monica and Chandler just smiled at each other and then at the sweet scene before them.
"I missed you so much!" Nora said.
"I missed you too, Nona," Hannah smiled sweetly at her grandmother.
"You look like such a pretty little princess," Nora added, taking her granddaughter's hands.
"Thank you," Hannah beamed before standing before her mother, who placed her hands on her shoulders.
"My, oh my, you have gotten so big," Helena/Charles said, greeting their granddaughter.
"I'm going to be seven soon," Hannah said holding up seven fingers which made all four adults laugh and Monica and Chandler exchange proud smiles.
"Indeed, you are. You are a smart little cookie, aren't you?" Helena/Charles gushed at their grandchild.
"Just like your father," Helena/Charles added, winking at their son.
"Thank you," Hannah smiled more bashfully this time as she buried herself in her mother's side as her mother smoothed her long, silky hair.
"You remember, Grandpa-Ma, Charles, don't you, sweetheart?" Chandler looked down at his shy Hannah.
"Yes," Hannah nodded up at her father as her mother gave her a gentle nudge towards her grandparent.
"Good to see you, Grandpa-Ma," Hannah said, going over to her grandparent to give them a big hug.
"Good to see you too, honeybee," Charles smiled affectionately at the child as they hugged her.
"Hello," Judy said as she and Jack approached the small group.
"Hi, Mom, hi, Dad," Monica said, greeting her parents with a hug.
"How you are you holding up, sailor?" Jack asked, patting Chandler's back, and Chandler just grunted.
"Hello, Jack, Judy," Nora more cordially greeted the couple than her ex-husband.
"You remember Chandler's father, Charles?" Nora said.
"Yes, good to see you again, sir. I mean, ma'am," Jack awkwardly said, extending his hand to Helena/Charles, who accepted it awkwardly.
Chandler put his head in his hands, and Monica responded by giving his back a reassuring rub.
"It is so good to see you both again," Judy said pleasantly after rolling her eyes at her husband.
"It's good to see you both," Nora smiled kindly at the couple before shooting her ex-husband a look of a million daggers, which did not go unnoticed by Monica and Chandler.
"Did I hear that somebody just lost another tooth?" Jack said, looking down at his precious granddaughter.
"I did, Pop-Pop," Hannah beamed excitedly, and Chandler's expression brightened as he looked down with love and gratitude at his daughter. She indeed added sunshine to cloudy and stormy situations.
"See," Hannah said, opening her mouth and pointing to the empty spot where the tooth used to be.
"Oh, wow," Judy and Jack said as the other four adults looked on affectionately.
"Well, the tooth fairy paid Pop-Pop and Grammy a visit on your behalf," Jack said, winking at a smiling Monica and Chandler.
"She did?" Hannah asked.
"She most certainly did," Judy affirmed as Jack pulled a folded bill from his jacket pocket.
Hannah unfolded it, and her eyes and mouth widened with excitement.
"One hundred dollars!" Hannah exclaimed, and both Jack and Judy went white as ghosts. Nora and Helena/Charles looked on with amusement, and Monica and Chandler's eyes widened.
"Look, Mommy and Daddy!" Hannah turned towards her horrified parents.
"Look how much money the tooth fairy gave me!" Hannah exclaimed.
"Um..." Chandler and Monica began at a loss for words before their daughter giddily skipped off to tell someone else about it.
"Jack," Judy hissed after Hannah was out of earshot.
"What?! I meant to give her a dollar bill, not a one-hundred-dollar bill," Jack defended.
"Daddy, please go take care of this," Monica said.
"Yes, we will," Judy said as she hurried her husband off, admonishing him along the way.
"Oh, look at the bar. I think I will get a drink," Helena/Charles said before sauntering towards it.
"Nora!" an approaching Rachel greeted.
"Rachel, darling," Nora said hugging the young women, and Monica used that as her cue to usher her flustered fiancé away as Nora and Rachel began chatting.
"How are you doing, sweetheart?" Monica asked once they were in a quieter space.
"I really wish we could avoid all of this and just get to the part where you and I are finally married," Chandler admitted.
"I know," Monica said, pulling him into a comforting hug.
"God, I hate that I have to be away from you tonight," Chandler whispered into her ear as he wrapped his arms around her petite frame and rested his head against her shoulder.
"Me too, Monica quietly whimpered as he held her close.
"Tomorrow night can't come fast enough," Chandler huskily whispered.
"I agree," Monica replied, gazing into his Caribbean blue eyes.
They both leaned into kiss, but halted when they heard Hannah cry from across the room, "But I was going to buy Barbie a summer wardrobe."
"I better go take care of this," Monica groaned, resting her forehead against his. Chandler just grunted and nodded.
TO BE CONTINUED