Author's Note: Okay...so I struggled with this chapter and I wanted to mention something here in the beginning. This chapter includes a scene where Joey, Chandler, and Ross are drunk and since Matthew Perry struggled with alcohol addiction for most of his adult life, I just wanted to say that I am not trying to make fun of his addiction or turn it into some kind of joke. Addiction is a really, really terrible disease. I thought about just deleting this scene but I think it shows an important moment between Monica and Chandler so I decided to keep it in the story. I just really wanted to make sure that I made that clear before anyone started reading this chapter.
October 2009
Monica checked the clock again. It was getting close to midnight and Chandler and Joey were still not back yet. Joey had made it back to New York as he would start filming his movie next week. And Monica decided that this would be the perfect time to announce that she was having a baby with all of her friends. It would be a great chance to reconnect with everyone again. Joey had only been back to New York and handful of time since moving to Los Angeles. He hadn't seen the twins since they were babies. And Monica wanted to tell everyone in person. She also knew how much Joey and Chandler missed each other. So Joey was going to stay with Monica and Chandler for a couple of weeks before heading to a hotel that would be closer to the filming location.
"Wait a second," Chandler said. "Once we tell everyone, someone is going to have to tell Joey that he's going to be losing 'Joey's room' to the baby."
"Not it!" Monica said quickly.
"Not it…Damnit, every time!"
Joey's plane came in earlier this evening and the plan was for Joey to meet up with Chandler and Ross after work to catch up after all these years. Monica spent the evening baking another cake and filling it again with bright pink frosting. She loved how the reveal went with Jack and Erica, so she decided that she would make a larger version for her friends. She even had Jack and Erica help in the kitchen, although they spent most of their time eating leftover cake batter. The cake had been finished hours ago and now she was sitting on the couch, waiting for Chandler and Joey to get back. Monica was about to grab her cell phone to call when a text message from Rachel appeared. The message just said, "You owe me" and Monica heard a thump from outside. She stood up to investigate, opened the front door and found Joey lying on the ground, trying to contain his laughter. Chandler wasn't doing much better, leaning heavily on the railing to stop himself from falling over. Monica saw Rachel waving from her car with Ross giggling in the passenger seat.
"We can't leave them alone for 5 seconds, can we?" Monica called out to Rachel.
"Nope," Rachel replied.
"Thank you for bringing these two clowns home."
Rachel smiled before rolling up the window and driving off, leaving her with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.
"Did you two have fun?" Monica asked and crossed her arms. She knew that they were heading to a bar after work but she hadn't expected them to get this drunk.
"It's Monica!" Joey said happily from the ground. "When did Monica get so tall?"
"Okay let's go," Monica said as Joey slowly stood up and stumbled in through the door with Chandler giggling behind him.
"Now how much did you two have to drink?" Monica asked as she closed the door.
"Only like one drink," Joey said.
"Really," Monica said and held up two fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Uhh," Joey squinted and looked at her hands, before looking at his own hands. "No, don't tell me! I can figure this out!"
"Okay, then." Monica turned to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. By the time she made it back to the living room Joey was already fast asleep on the couch. Monica sighed and placed the water bottle on the table next to him.
"Chandler," Monica said turning towards him. He was leaning onto the counter trying to keep his balance.
"Monica!" His eyes lit up, like he forgot that she had been in the room the entire time. "You're here!"
"I am," Monica replied.
"I missed you," Chandler said.
"I missed you too," Monica laughed.
"You're so pretty."
"Come on," Moncia said as she took Chandler's hand and walked up the stairs. "I'm not going to have to carry you up here, am I?" she asked as he tripped over the first few steps.
"You can't do that," Chandler's eyes widened. "You can't carry heavy loads with the…" he suddenly stopped and lowered his voice to a whisper. "With the B-A-B-Y."
They somehow made it up the stairs and into their bedroom. He slowly sat down on the bed and attempted to remove his tie, but his hands kept shaking.
"Ties are stupid," he said.
"Here let me do it," Monica said as she leaned down and moved his hands so she could start untying the knot.
"Did you have fun with Joey and Ross," she asked.
"Yeah…we talked about everything."
"Everything?" Monica stopped. "Chander, please tell me you didn't tell Joey or Ross about the baby!"
"I didn't tell Joey or Ross about the baby!"
"But you told someone else?"
"Like one person in the bathroom…"
"Chandler…"
"Okay, maybe like ten people in the bathroom."
"What am I going to do with you," she said as she removed the tie from his neck and started slowly unbuttoning the buttons of his shirt. She could feel Chandler's eyes on her.
"Marry me," Chandler said it so softly that Monica thought she misheard him at first.
"What?" she asked.
"M-marry me," he said a little louder.
"Chandler," she laughed. "I know we make fun of Ross for the three divorces, but I think this is proposal number four. We're already married."
"Then marry me again," he said and placed his hands around her waist. "I won't screw it up this time."
"Screw what up?"
"The wedding. I won't screw the wedding up this time."
"You didn't screw the wedding up," Monica said as she placed her hands on his cheeks.
"I took off," he said. "I was stupid. I was so stupid and scared and I just took off."
"And you came back," Monica said. "You came back and you stayed."
After the ceremony was over, and after the whirlwind of emotions that Monica went through in the past few hours, she took a deep breath and walked over to the band asking if they would play a couple more songs. She then marched over to Chandler and demanded that he take off those stupid shoes that made him slide all over the floor earlier.
"W-why?" Chandler asked.
"Because I want to have an actual first dance. You owe me that."
He nodded slowly and took off his shoes. Monica then grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the dance floor. She pulled him even closer as the music started playing.
"I'm sorry," Chandler whispered to her.
"Why didn't you come talk to me?" she asked.
"Because I'm an idiot," he said.
"Yeah, I know. But you're my idiot," Monica said. "So what made you come back?"
"Ross and Phoebe were able to talk some sense into me." Chandler said. "And then when I thought that you were pregnant…well…"
"Well, what?" Monica said.
"Having a kid with you…it just didn't seem scary to me anymore. And then I realized that none of it was actually scary. It was just these voices in my head telling me that I would make you miserable and we would end up like my parents."
"Chandler, you know that's not true."
"I know that now I…I just need to ignore those stupid voices in my head."
"Well the next time, you come and tell me and I will tell those voices to shut up."
"Yeah, they only listen to you, anyways," Chandler said quietly.
"That's because they're scared of me."
Chandler smiled softly at her and then leaned in so his forehead was resting against hers.
"So what are the voices saying right now?" Monica asked as they swayed slowly to the music.
"They're not saying anything right now."
"Good." She looked up at him. "Let's keep it that way."
"I love you."
"I love you, too." Monica whispered back to him.
"I'm sorry," he said again.
She leaned in and kissed him slowly, wrapping her arms around him and holding him close. There would be more to talk about tomorrow. But for now, she wanted to dance with her husband.
"I love you," he mumbled, snapping her out of the memory. He lifted her shirt and placed soft kisses against her stomach. There was a small bump starting to form, it was easy to hide with loose shirts at this point, but it was a little harder to fit into her jeans now. "You make me so happy. I don't know what I'd do without you."
"Shh," Monica said softly, running her hands through his hair. The sudden vulnerability shocked her. "Let's go to bed."
He nodded, finally removing his work clothes. He slipped underneath the covers and almost fell asleep instantly. She followed him into bed and wrapped her arms around him.
"Of course I'll marry you again." Monica whispered to him and kissed his forehead. "You make me happier than I ever thought I could be."
"Oh god," Monica heard Chandler groan as he shifted in the bed. "How much did I drink last night?"
"That's a very good question," Monica said as she climbed out of bed. "Here let me get you some water."
When she came back into the bedroom, she saw Chandler slowly trying to sit up in bed.
"Did I say or do anything stupid last night?" he asked.
"Well…" Monica said. "You did propose to me again."
"Oh god," Chandler rubbed his face. "Please tell me it wasn't as bad as the first time I proposed."
Monica laughed. "It was a very sweet proposal, even if you were drunk."
"Wait a second," Chandler panicked. "Where's Joey?"
"Calm down," Monica said. "He's asleep on the couch right now."
"We should probably go wake him up."
"Or…" Monica smiled. "We could have the twins wake him up."
"Oh that's mean," Chandler said. "Let's do it."
Everyone eventually made it to the Bing Household. Ross and Rachel were the first ones to show up with their kids. Emma practically burst through the door.
"Hi Aunt Monica! Hi Uncle Chandler!" She rushed quickly past them and headed towards Jack and Erica. "Bye Aunt Monica! Bye Uncle Chandler!"
"Wait for me! Wait for me!" Liam followed her, trying to keep up with his older sister. No one was that surprised when they found out that Ross and Rachel were having another baby. Although it was a bit of a shock when Ross planned to propose on the same day that Rachel told him that she was pregnant.
Once Liam finally caught up with Emma and the twins, the four of them took off to the backyard. Monica smiled as she watched the four of them play. Sometimes it looked like Emma, Jack, and Erica could be siblings as Emma's hair was only slightly darker than the twins. Liam looked almost exactly like Ross with his dark hair and dark eyes.
Phoebe and Mike were the next to join with their son Philip, a quiet boy who had Phoebe's bright eyes and Mike's hair.
"Why don't we all head outside," Monica said. "The weather's been so nice today."
They all head outside and sit on the patio in the backyard, catching up with each other and watching the kids play together.
Monica took Chandler's hand and they both stood up.
"So," Monica began. "We actually have a big announcement."
"Oh don't tell me you're moving again," Rachel said.
"Yeah, it's hard enough with you two being out the suburbs," Phoebe replied.
"No," Chandler said. "We're not moving. The announcement is that…"
"You're adopting again?" Rachel asked. "Please tell me you both double checked that it will only be one baby this time."
"Well not exactly," Monica said. "But.."
"Oh you got a new job!" Ross interrupted.
"I'm pregnant!" Monica shouted.
"Wait, what?"
"No way!"
"Oh my god!"
Everyone jumped to their feet. Rachel ran up and hugged Monica so tightly she couldn't breathe. Joey nearly tackled Chandler to the ground.
"I am so happy for you," Rachel said.
"Rach, please don't start crying." Monica said.
"I'm not crying," Rachel said as tears ran down her cheek. "This is just…allergies."
Monica pulled her into another hug.
"Oh finally!" Erica said. "We've been having to keep this secret for like ever."
"What!" Emma shrieked and Monica swore that she looked exactly like Rachel in that moment. "You two knew! And you didn't tell me!"
"Sorry, Em," Jack said. "Mommy and Daddy said we had to keep it a secret."
"It was so hard!" Erica said. "Like it was the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my entire life!"
"But I've told you both a bunch of secrets!" Emma said.
"You've done what?" Ross asked.
"Uh…nothing!" Emma said and then changed the subject. "Is the baby going to be a girl or a boy?"
"You'll find that out a little later today," Monica said. She took out the ultrasound photos to pass them around while all of the kids went back to playing.
"But I thought that the doctor said that you two weren't able to have kids." Ross said. "I mean how did this happen?"
"Ross, come on," Joey said. "I mean it's pretty obvious how it happened."
Ross looked like he was about to say something but decided that it wasn't worth the trouble.
"It was definitely a surprise for us both," Monica said as she placed her head on Chandler's shoulder. He turned his head so that he could kiss her forehead. "But so far everything has been going really well."
"So who else knows?" Phoebe asked.
"Right now it's just all of you guys," Monica said. "And whoever Chandler told last night at the bar."
"I thought you were spending a really long time in the bathroom," Ross said. "What about Mom and Dad?"
"We're planning on telling them and Chandler's parents next." Monica said. "But I wanted to tell all of you first."
"Really?"
Yeah, really." Monica said. "You guys mean the world to me and have been through so much with me. It just made sense that we would tell you first."
"Oh that's so sweet!" Rachel said as she hugged Monica tightly again. "But we need to know if we're having a little niece or nephew!"
"I was gonna save that to the end but…alright, we can do it now!" Monica said as she guided everyone into the kitchen to where she placed the cake last night. "I came up with this idea for Jack and Erica where I baked a cake and the frosting inside revealed the gender. I loved how it turned out so I just made a bigger version of that for today. So if there's blue frosting then it's a boy and if it's pink frosting then it's…JOEY!"
A large chunk of the cake was missing. And it was pretty obvious that only one person could have done the damage.
"What?" Joey asked defensively. "I got hungry last night! You can't just leave a cake out in the open and NOT expected me to eat it!"
"So does this mean the baby is a girl?" Emma asked.
"Yes," Monica sighed, frustrated that Joey ruined the surprise. "The baby is a girl."
"Finally!" Emma said. "I'm so sick of all of the boys!"
"What does that mean?" Jack asked.
"Well there's three of you and two of us. Now that there's another girl we'll be even again."
That's not true," Jack said. "You're forgetting about Leslie and Chandler, so then you have four and we have four if you include Frank."
"Yeah, but you're forgetting Ben so right now it's actually five to four."
"I'm confused," Liam said.
"Me too, buddy," Joey added. "Mon, can we eat cake now?"
"I think that's a great idea," Chandler said and started passing out plates. Everyone headed back outside, talking and laughing and it made Monica's heart swell. She was so grateful for the family that she found all those years ago. Even with all the chaos that they brought. She wouldn't trade their friendship for anything. She reached over and squeezed Chandler's hand before the two of them walked back outside and joined their friends.
