Chapter 2: Wrestling with Resentment
When Monica Geller-Bing had gotten the call from her husband, asking her if she could get away a little early from the restaurant, she had thought nothing of it at first. Chandler was a capable husband and father, which meant he would only ask her to step away from work if it was a real emergency with the twins. It had been her wonderful spouse who had convinced her to go back to work in the first place, soothing her anxieties about leaving Jack and Erica even for a moment.
From the noise in the background of the call, it would seem that her children weren't the problem. No, only the one overgrown child they had also somehow managed to adopt along the way. There was something frantic and tight in Joey's tone, even though Monica couldn't make out what he was babbling to her husband on the other end of the line. He must have had some pratfall accident. Monica drove home to Westchester County, prepared to arm herself with a bottle of Lysol and clean up whatever mess the boys had made.
As it would turn out, no amount of Lysol could wipe away this.
The sight of the little girl, about seven or eight years old, playing with her children, had left Monica bemused, but initially unconcerned. Perhaps the child had gotten lost on their street and had taken shelter while waiting for her parents to come pick her up.
That was what she surmised, until Chandler and Joey, both of them pale, had sat her down and told her that the little girl, whose name was Peyton, was the daughter of their mutual old fling Kathy Dutcher…
… and that, while Peyton seemed quite certain that Chandler had sired her, either one of them could be the father.
Upon hearing the news, Monica's mouth fell open in shock, a tiny gasp escaping. She stood stock-still for a moment, absorbing the bombshell.
"That's…. that's not possible…." She murmured, turning her gaze to her husband. "Your… your sperm count! You have low motility!"
"I do, Mon, but that doesn't mean…." And Chandler had proceeded to explain. Low sperm motility wasn't a permanent condition. On the contrary, it was quite treatable: getting more exercise. Quitting smoking, if you were a smoker. Chandler had finally quit the habit of a pack a day at his wife's insistence, and while he didn't exercise regularly, the twins naturally kept them both in decent shape. Despite the world-inverting news, Monica had to hide a smile as she recalled her attempt years ago to get Chandler into a consistent exercise regimen, back when they had merely been friends.
She returned her thoughts to Kathy Dutcher, that skank who had initially come into their lives by dating Joey, only to then cheat on him with Chandler, who had developed feelings for her. The scandal had nearly caused the friendship between Monica's future husband and her quasi-brother-in-law to fall apart. Forgiveness had been achieved when Joey had ceded the field to Chandler. Chandler and Kathy had dated briefly, only for the wench to turn right around and cheat on Chandler with a co-star in a play. She had moved away not long after.
That was the last that Monica or any of their friends had heard from or about her… until now.
The reminder of the co-star with whom Kathy had cheated on Chandler had ironically given them all cause for hope. "Your mom was seeing someone around the same time as me – Nolan. Nathan!"
"Nick," Peyton piped up.
"Yeah! What about him?"
Peyton cast her gaze downward. "He's…. dead….."
Monica snorted. "That's convenient."
"Doesn't mean he couldn't be the father, though," Joey pointed out.
Would that that were true, Monica thought now, up alone in her and Chandler's bedroom, frantically pacing.
… From her features alone, there was no way of telling if Peyton was Chandler's. She could be, though she could just as easily be Joey's or this Nick's. Chandler had told her quietly that his money was on Joey because apparently he and Peyton had the same smile.
Monica wasn't sure who she wanted the father to be. Personally, her preference, at this early stage, was that it was this Nick person, because then…
… because then….
The guilt of these thoughts was almost all encompassing: because then there would be no obligation or ties to her, her beloved husband or her dearest friend.
All her life, Monica had wanted to be a mother. She had finally achieved that dream – not the way she had envisioned, but she wouldn't give Jack or Erica up for anything. Now this other child who may or may not be her husband's, conceived with a brief girlfriend from years ago, shows up out of the blue…
As much as Monica knew none of this was Peyton's fault, it was hard not to feel a little resentful. She, Monica, was the one who had an inhospitable environment, but no, apparently, that slapper Kathy had a perfectly homey one in which to carry a baby. The possible baby of her, Monica's, husband!
Kathy had briefly been in all of their lives before Monica and Chandler had been together, true. Even so, her actions had left Monica feeling very resentful of her for the way the actress had used her friends. Two men whom she cared for deeply. With that kind of betrayal, Monica would have been fine to never see the other woman again.
Now, however…
Monica glanced up, worrying her bottom lip, at the sound of the door opening. Chandler slipped into their bedroom. Opening his arms, she didn't hesitate to walk into them, resting her head on his chest.
"We just got off the phone with Kathy…" he rumbled. "She's going to be on the first plane out…."
"Acting didn't pan out, huh?" Monica lifted her head, trying to rearrange her face to keep from looking smug.
"She's in telemarketing. She and Peyton have been based in Illinois, near Kathy's mom." Monica felt a tickle of memory where Kathy had mentioned her own mother living in Chicago – Chandler had been stuck in a damn box, and the recollection nearly made her giggle.
"When Kathy gets here, we were thinking of having me and Joey submit to a blood test. That would be the best way to determine paternity," Chandler continued, his voice soft, searching his wife's face.
"But what if it's this Nick's? The dead, actor guy?"
"Well, apparently Peyton had that wrong: he's alive. Just from the way Kathy has spoken about him to her, he might as well be dead to them."
Monica snorted. "Lovely." Satisfying revenge fantasies of this Nick dumping the whore after all the cheating had gone on percolated through Monica's mind. Still gnawing on her lip, Monica finally swayed onto her tiptoes and brushed her mouth gently along Chandler's.
"I might have an in for obtaining that blood test…" she murmured.
Chandler looked abjectly relieved. "Lead the way." He held Monica close against him. "I'm sorry about all this, Mon…."
"It's not your fault…." She crooned. And it wasn't. She buried her face into his shoulder.
"You're amazing, you know that? And I love you – only you."
She sniffled. "I know…." She peered up into his cobalt blue eyes. "I… I don't know how I'd feel about possibly being a…. a stepmother or…. God forbid, an auntie again…" (Chandler chuckled tightly. The thought of Joey being the father – at present, the best scenario, evidentiary-wise – was almost too much to fathom). "… but regardless of where we fit in this child's life…. I promise, I'll be there for her."
Chandler beamed and pecked his wife lightly on the lips. "I love you so much…" he gazed at her, as if he couldn't quite believe that she was real.
Monica's breath hitched. "I love you too…. so much!..."
They held each other for a moment in intimate silence. Chandler finally broke it.
"So…. how do you have this in with the blood-suckers?"
Paula's lip roiled as she listened to her old friend and former colleague finish her wild tale. Pursing the set of them together, the African-American woman shook her head, tssking.
"Mmm, mmm, mmm…. Girl, I'd ask you if I could have your life, but I'm pretty sure I'd end up losing my mind!"
Monica smiled indulgently, as she observed her old pal peruse the blood test paperwork. Since their days together at Iridium a good dozen years or so ago, Paula had eventually left the restaurant business to become a nurse practitioner. The two women had nonetheless managed to stay in touch; Paula had even been invited to Chandler and Monica's wedding, and though the former chef had needed to send her regrets, she had sent with them a wedding present that had left very little doubt as to what she expected Monica to do with both it and her new husband.
"Trust me – I love my life, but you wouldn't want it!" Monica laughed.
Paula smirked. "Hey, I wouldn't mind having that honey of yours, though…"
"Paula!" Monica's mouth fell open around a laugh.
"What? That man of yours… he fine! I'd ditch the twins, though."
"What, if you had my life?" Monica's lips quirked in amusement.
"Don't take this the wrong way, sugar, but one kid at a time is the only way to do it! If you're needing to change multiple sets of diapers at once, you're doing it wrong!" Monica laughed. Paula set up the blood pressure machine around Monica's arm. While none of this would be needed for the actual blood test – arranged as an at-home visit for the following weekend – Paula was giving Monica a check-up essentially free of charge. It allowed for some girl talk and gossip. "So, let me get this straight: your man, before he was your man, steals away this ho….."
"Can we please not use that word….?"
"OK. …. Harlot, from his best friend – the really hot one who's always acting like he's been hit in the head…."
"Joey was not hit in the head…."
"OK, but someone had to have dropped him as a baby."
Monica's lips twisted through a conceding grimace. "Eh…." A beat, and then: "And hold on, Chandler didn't steal anyone. He…. fell for her, but she moved in on him!..."
"Semantics," Paula dismissed with a wave of her hand. "Anyway, this Jezebel cheats on Hot Italian guy with your sugah…. Then she cheats on your hubby with some other dude… and now, since the timeline was apparently as tight as a tick, some little girl shows up, more than a decade later, looking for her baby daddy?"
Monica nodded. "That about covers it." She sighed and watched as Paula removed the blood pressure cuff from her arm. "I mean…. I don't know what I want the answer to be! There's a 2 out of 3 chance that I'm going to, in some capacity, be involved in this little girl's life! A little girl who my husband may have had with some other woman, but…." She felt tears coming on. "…. But apparently, thanks to a medical diagnosis, he couldn't have them with me…."
Paula studied Monica with sympathy. "It's OK to feel jealous, hon…."
"Of Kathy?" Monica wiped at her eyes. "Never. She is no one to emulate. And I'd certainly never envy her choices or behavior!" She sighed. "I just… why was Kathy so deserving of carrying her own baby to term and not me? I mean, if anyone should have an inhospitable environment, it's her! Sampling men like their flavors at the ice cream bar…."
"So you're a one-man kind of girl. I get it. But hey, when there's a whole buffet out there…. I'm just saying I'd partake in the feast too!"
Monica sent Paula a look. "P, you've been married for over fifteen years!"
"Yeah – to a guy named Jeremiah! Jeremiah!" Paula threw up her hands. "Do you know how hard it is to get good wood from someone with a Biblical name? You'd be surprised…."
"Hey: I've been getting the best sex I've ever had from a guy whose middle name is Muriel," Monica's sapphire eyes danced with mirth.
"Aaaaaand, you have me beat!" Paula shook her head with a smirk. The two women embraced farewell. "You can do this, honey. If anyone can roll with the punches, it's you and that handsome man you married!" At Monica's skeptical look, Paula amended, "OK, so only you can roll with the punches, but Chandler will follow you wherever this takes you! I'll be by on Saturday morning to conduct the blood tests." She grimaced. "Hope your men like needles."
Monica laughed. "The only thing Joey will like is the hot woman sticking the needle in him!"
"That reminds me:" And Paula held out her business card. "Here's my card. If you just wanna, you know, slip this to him…"
"Give it to Joey yourself!" Monica hooted, turning and flouncing out the door of the examination room.