November 2004

Monica was exhausted. The twins were 6 months old and still weren't sleeping through the night. She would be lucky if she got even four house of sleep. And as soon as one started crying, the other one would start. It was almost like a contest of who could be louder. One night when they were both screaming, Chandler had said, "Could they be any louder?" and Monica thought that she might strangle him on the spot. They had tried so hard to stick to a schedule for napping and feeding times, but neither one of them stuck to any schedule. At this point, she was running on fumes. And Chandler wasn't doing much better. Commuting to work all the way from Westchester was starting to take its toll on both of them. And the lack of sleep wasn't helping either. Monica opened the empty fridge one day and decided that they couldn't put it off anymore. They were going to have to go to the grocery store. She and Chandler somehow made it to the store with two very cranky babies. She was sick of eating take out and she wanted to cook something for dinner. But trying to juggle multiple bags of groceries and two screaming babies made her want to pull her hair out. Didn't they ever get tired? Chandler somehow found a way to get most of the groceries in the car and was in the process of trying to place Jack in his car seat, which was not going well.

"Do you need a hand?" a familiar voice asked.

Monica turned and was shocked to see a very tall, very familiar figure. Maybe she finally snapped and was starting to hallucinate in the parking lot. "Richard?"

"Richard," Chandler nearly seethed and Monica swore that she saw smoke coming out of his ears.

"What are you doing here?" Monica asked trying to calm down Erica who was very unhappy that her brother was in the car and she could not see him.

"Well, Michelle lives out here now so I was picking up some food for her." He replied. "And it seems like you two have your hands full, so I thought I would offer to help." Richard said as he tried to reach for one of the grocery bags.

"We don't need any help," Chandler said harshly as grabbed the remaining bags and placed them in the trunk.

"Well, you must be Erica." He looked down at the fussy baby in Monica's arms and smiled. "I've heard so much about you from your grandfather. It's nice to meet you."

Erica just screamed even louder. And Monica could see Chandler smirking out of the corner of her eye.

"Well, it's good to see you both again." Richard said before saying goodbye.

"You too," Monica said stiffly, glad that the conversation was over. She handed Erica to Chandler as he placed her in the car seat.

"I know," Chandler said to Erica when she screamed again. "The big, mustache man is very scary."

"Chandler, not now!" Monica started as she rubbed her eyes; she didn't need this right now. She was too tired to deal with Chandler getting jealous.

"What is he even doing here?" Chandler said as they both got into the car. He turned on the car and started driving out of the parking lot. "Stupid Richard with his stupid mustache!"

"Chandler it doesn't mean anything! He was just saying hello."

"Doesn't mean anything! He's the one who tried…"

"Tried what?"

"You know what, never mind just forget it."

"Chandler!" Monica gasped.

"What!"

"The twins are asleep!"

"What?"

She turned around and looked at the back seat. By some miracle, both of the twins had fallen asleep in the car and Monica thought that she might start crying. They shouldn't be sleeping right now because it means they'll be up all night. But Monica doesn't care at this point. Just the fact that they're sleeping at all is enough for now.

"What do we do now?" Chandler whispered.

"I don't know," Monica whispered back. "They've never fallen asleep in the car before. I guess just keep driving."

Somehow, they found a way to get back home and to get both Jack and Erica into the nursery without waking either of them. After Monica put the groceries away, she finally started cooking dinner. She was just making a simple pasta dish. She had missed cooking in the past few months, after she decided to leave Javu. She couldn't remember the last time she actually made a real meal. She and Chandler had been relying on a lot of freezer meals and takeout for the past few months. By the time dinner was ready, she realized that she hadn't seen Chandler since he took the twins to the nursery. She ended up finding him outside pacing in the backyard, holding the baby monitor. She walked outside quietly until she was standing behind him, before wrapping her arms around him, leaning her head onto the back of his shoulder.

"You should come inside," she said. "You'll get sick if you stay outside in the cold."

"I'm sorry," he said after a few minutes.

"For what?"

"For earlier." He answered. "He just…he just makes me so mad."

"You know I married you, right?" she asked him. She stood on her toes so that she could place her chin on his shoulder.

"I thought I lost you to him," he said quietly and placed his hand on top of hers.

"You don't need to be jealous of him."

"I know. It's just…he's Richard. He's tall and he's a doctor and he has a mustache. And I bet his sperm is super motile."

"Chandler," Moncia said.

"Well it's true," Chandler said. "He probably could have given you a baby."

"He didn't want a baby Chandler," Monica explained. "And I can tell you for a fact that Richard would have never looked for a sperm donor. And he would have never gone through the adoption process with me." She then hugged him even tighter. "And he would have never said all of those wonderful things to Erica, convincing her to let us adopt her babies."

When Erica came to New York all those years ago, Monica had taken her to lunch so that she could learn more about the biological father. And she had asked her what Chandler had said to her back in Ohio. And it made her heart swell when Erica told her.

"Gosh, he just really loves you," Erica said.

"I know," Monica said back. It felt like there was a lump in the back of her throat. "He's wrong about one thing, though."

"What?"

"He's already an amazing father. I mean you should see him with his niece and his nephew. He's so sweet and so caring."

"I can tell." Erica said sweetly.

"I just told her the truth," Chandler said quietly.

"You also told her that I was always right," Monica smiled. "So you should believe me when I say that you have nothing to worry about."

"Damnit," Chandler said. "I told her not to mention that part."

"Come inside," Monica said as she turned him around. "Let's eat some dinner. And then try to get some sleep."

"What about the twins?" Chandler asked. "It'll throw off the schedule."

"Neither one of them follow any schedule," Monica said. "God, it's so obvious they're not related to me."

Monica walked out of the cold air and back into the house with Chandler following close behind, still holding onto her hand.

November 2009

"Chandler, we're going to be late!" Monica exclaimed.

"I'm sure being a few minutes late isn't the end of the world," Chandler replied.

"Do you even know who you're talking to?" Monica asked. They were supposed to pick Erica up from her dance class about 10 minutes ago. But Monica's doctor's appointment ran late and they got stuck in traffic. "She's probably terrified and she's all alone right now."

"Do you know who you're talking about?" Chandler asked. "I don't think that girl is scared of anything. Why did we choose a dance studio that was so far into the city again?"

"Erica wanted to go to the same place Emma went to." Monica responded. "Oh god and we left Jack alone with Joey."

"I'm sure it will be fine," Chandler said. Monica didn't say anything, just turned towards him and raised her eyebrows. "Oh god, Joey's probably teaching him how to play fireball."

"Exactly," Monica said. "So hurry up before they burn the whole place down."

Chandler pulled into the parking lot. "Here, you go get her and I'll go look for a place to park."

Monica walked quickly into the dance studio and saw Erica talking to her dance teacher.

"Mommy!" Erica rushed towards her and hugged her tightly.

"I am so sorry that I'm late," Monica said to her and then turned to her teacher. "Thank you so much for waiting."

"Oh that's alright," the teacher said. "I have another class starting soon anyways, so it wasn't a problem."

"Oh really, what class is that?"

"It's an Intermediate to Advance Jazz class." She said. "We have people of all ages who take dance classes with us."

"Oh that's great," Monica said. "I did a tap class with my friends, way back in the day but I wasn't very good at it."

Monica grabbed Erica's bag and took her hand but as she turned around, she nearly ran into another woman.

"Oh I'm so sorry," the woman said. She looked to be in her late 30's with long brown hair tied in a bun. There was something strangely familiar about her. But Monica couldn't place it.

"Hey, Mon," Chandler said as he walked into the class. "Sorry it took me so long to find a parking spot. Are you two ready to head out?"

"Chandler?" the brunette asked.

"Kathy?" Chandler asked back.

Oh god. It was Kathy. Chandler's ex-girlfriend, Kathy. The girl that nearly ruined Joey and Chandler's friendship and the girl that broke Chandler's heart all those years ago. Monica felt nauseous all of a sudden and she knew it wasn't from the pregnancy.

"What are you doing here?" Kathy asked.

"My daughter started taking dance lessons here."

"Your daughter?" Kathy turned and saw Erica, before looking at Monica and seeing her pregnant belly. "Oh…oh Monica, hi!"

"Hi," Monica someone found her voice. "It's been a long time."

"Yeah…it has," Kathy said almost with a pained expression on her face. "W-when did…?"

"It's kind of a long story," Chandler said.

"They fell in love in London!" Erica said, completely oblivious to the tension in the room.

"London?" Kathy asked.

"And then they almost got married Las Vegas," Erica nodded. "But then they got married for real."

Kathy just looked more confused.

"Like I said, it's a long story." Chandler said.

"Well, I have to get to my class. But it was nice to see you both again." She then turned rather quickly and walked into one of the studios.

"Mommy, are you okay?" Erica asked.

"I'm gonna be sick," Monica said before running into the bathroom.

"Are you feeling better?" Chandler asked once they returned home. Monica had barely said a word after running into Kathy.

"Yeah, I just need to lie down for a bit," she said as she slowly sat down on the couch.

"Mon?"

"I mean what are the odds, right? Why would she be taking classes at the exact same place? I mean, she's an actor, not a dancer."

"I mean a lot of actors are also dancers."

"Well, couldn't she just lie about that stuff, like Joey?" Monica huffed.

"A-are you jealous?" Chandler asked.

"No!" Monica said far too quickly.

"Monica," Chandler sat down next to her on the couch. "We broke up over a decade ago."

"Well…I know that! But I just…I don't know…"

"Now you know how I feel whenever you see Richard."

"Oh shut up," Monica said and leaned her head on his shoulder. "I remember how happy she made you. And how heartbroken you were when the relationship ended."

"Yeah, I remember." Chandler said. "But then I fell in love with the most wonderful women, who put up with all my insecurities and showed what it really meant to be in a real relationship.

"Who's this woman?" Monica joked. "I'd like to meet her."

"I love you," Chandler said softly and smiled at her. "You're stuck with me until the end."

"Mommy? Daddy?" Monica heard Jack call out as he walked into the room.

"How's it going, Jacky?" Chandler asked.

"It's okay, I guess," Jack said. "How you doin?"

"Joey is no longer allowed to watch our children," Monica said as she turned to Chandler.

"Agreed."

Author's Note: No snarky comment this time, just thank you again for reading. Comments give me a lot of motivation to finish this stupid thing.