A/N This is quite a long chapter I'm afraid, but there might be a bit of a delay before I update again, so I didn't want to leave any cliffhangers and wanted to make sure that Monica and Chandler were left in a good place.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

Monica had dreamed of this moment so many times, but never once had she imagined it would play out like this.

She could not prevent her eyes from glancing wistfully towards a couple, who looked to be in their mid-thirties, who were sitting a few feet away from her down the hospital corridor. The woman was rubbing the swell of her baby bump absentmindedly with one hand, the other hand was relaxed on her husband's thigh, her fingers intimately interlaced with his, her head occasionally falling to his shoulder, or else tilted towards his as they chattered and laughed softly together.

Monica felt tears forming in her eyes. That was exactly what she had pictured this moment to be.

She had never thought she would be preparing to see her baby for the first time, single, alone, and not even wholly sure of who its father was. A bitter knot of self-loathing twisted in her gut.

The woman felt Monica's gaze upon her and turned to offer a small smile, which Monica attempted to return before looking quickly down at her feet. She could not bring herself to meet the eye of this perfect vision of expectant motherhood.

The only other person waiting in the corridor was a much younger woman, around 18 or 19 years old Monica would have guessed. Her cropped t-shirt revealed an entirely flat abdomen, indicating that this was most likely her first scan too, and she looked just about as nervous as Monica felt. She had an older woman sitting alongside her, her mother, Monica supposed, whose own stony-faced anxiety lent her a somewhat severe quality, but she still managed the occasional comforting pat of her daughter's knee or stroke of her hair.

The idea of inviting Judy along as support had not occurred to Monica, and the very thought of even having to tell her mother about the situation she found herself in made her feel physically sick. She had not actually told her that she had broken up with Dan yet.

Judy had been thrilled to find out that Monica was dating a nurse, soon to be doctor, and would no doubt have some crushing insults, barely disguised as advice, to deliver when she found out it was over.

The irony that the relationship with which she finally managed to gain her mother's immediate and enthusiastic approval, was the relationship that Monica probably regretted over any other, was not lost on her.

She trailed her fingers pensively across her belly as she silently vowed never to make her own son or daughter feel unable to turn to her for help.

Monica had been sternly informed by the receptionist that it was highly recommended that she had someone to accompany her to this sonogram appointment, somebody to offer support should the scan identify any problems with her pregnancy. Monica had felt forced to lie that her partner had been unable to leave work, but would be able to dash across town should she need him. The last thing she wanted to do was go through this experience alone, but she found herself with no real alternative: It would feel wrong to allow Rachel or Phoebe to take that first glimpse of what she prayed was Chandler's baby before he did, but there was no way she could announce her pregnancy to Chandler without being one hundred percent sure that he was the father.

The Receptionist's warning had caused her a fresh wave of anxiety. She had spent so much time agonizing over the paternity of her baby, that she had not really considered that this appointment might break her heart for an even worse reason. Monica was beyond sick with worry that this scan might reveal Dan to be the father of her child, but the idea that she might yet discover that her pregnancy was nonviable terrified her even more. The one thing she was entirely certain of was that the moment she had learned of its existence, she had fallen instantly in love with the little human growing inside of her. She wanted this baby with her whole heart.

"Okay Monica, this will feel a little cold" smiled the Sonographer as she applied a slick of gel to Monica's stomach before beginning to glide the ultrasound probe firmly across her abdomen until she found the correct position.

"And... there's your baby!" she grinned kindly, as the outline of a tiny human appeared on the screen, immediately taking Monica's breath away.

She had seen print-outs from early sonograms before, and had generally struggled to make out what was baby and what was not, but she had no such problem now. She see quite clearly the upturn of a tiny nose, a rounded little belly and four flailing limbs.

Her jaw dropped open in enchantment as she took in what was undoubtedly the most beautiful sight she had ever seen.

"Now, I read in your notes that we were a little unsure as to how far along you are, and I will take some measurements to work out a due date for you, but I can see right away that this is a baby heading into its second trimester" the sonographer told her confidently.

Monica's eyes filled with tears as she began to dare to feel relieved.

"Are you sure?" she gasped desperately, unable to tear her gaze from the the sweet profile of her baby. "It couldn't be around 5 or 6 weeks? "

"Definitely not" the sonographer assured her with a firm shake of her head.

"A fetus of that age would look far more like a little tadpole, and would only be around the size of a pea." she explained "This little one here, is more like the size of a peach. And look..."

She began to move the probe around, zooming the screen in and out, allowing Monica to view her precious cargo from various different angles "We can see the baby's legs and feet... I think I can even make out some little toes right there... Do you see?"

Monica nodded in wonder, her forehead crumpled with emotion as the sonographer guided her around arms and hands, that she could see jerking adorably as the baby shifted position; and pointing out a strong and steady heartbeat.

She felt a sudden lightness; as if the universe was starting to shift into a position that finally seemed to make sense. The baby she had always yearned for was here; it was healthy and strong; and its father was one of the people she cared most about in the whole world.

A rush of love, more intense than anything she had ever experienced before flooded every cell of her being.

The sonographer began taking various measurements, as Monica continued to marvel at the screen, knowing that she would be perfectly content if she could stay lying here forever on this hospital bed, watching this little miracle flipping around in her belly.

Eventually the sonographer told her kindly "All of the measurements are looking really good Monica, everything seems to be progressing normally and your baby appears really strong and healthy. Your baby's gestational age is 13 weeks and 2 days, which means that your due date is February 5th. I'll print a picture of for you now and you'll see this little one on screen again towards the end of your second trimester for your next scan, at around 20 weeks."

She allowed Monica one last glimpse before removing the probe and wiping the gel from her belly with some blue tissue.

"Could you please print an extra copy for me?" Monica asked her softly, her eyes still full of tears "So that I can give one to the father?"

Chandler was washing up a few plates and mugs that Joey had left discarded around the living room over the course of the morning, when he heard the door open behind him. He was a little startled to see Monica standing there; she had seemed to have been avoiding him for the past few weeks and had barely set foot in their apartment.

"Is Joey here?" she asked briskly, her eyes wide and grave.

Chandler felt his heart sink a little. It was too much to hope that she might actually be here to to see him.

"Yeah he's in his room" he responded, a little downcast and looked back towards his washing up bowl.

"Well could you come over to my place then? Do you have time to talk? It's important." She sounded nervous, and when he turned to observe her more closely there was a look in her eyes he could not quite define. He felt unsettled not to be able to read her as he usually could.

"Uh.. yeah, sure" he responded, reaching for a towel to dry his hands, "What's up? Sounds serious."

He began to follow her across the hall. As they entered her apartment, Monica clicked the door closed, and locked and chained it behind them.

Chandler raised an eyebrow, "Um... You're locking me in?"

"Locking the others out," she corrected, "I really need to speak with you Chandler."

Chandler took a deep breath, completely unable to predict what was coming next, as she walked edgily towards the couch, her arms wrapped protectively around her torso.

She gestured for him to take a seat.

He sat down and looked up at her expectantly, his stomach twisting apprehensively when he noted the anxiety in her sapphire eyes.

"Chandler, I'm pregnant" she blurted out, staring back at him intently, searching his face desperately for a reaction.

Chandler looked down at his lap, a sinking feeling dragging at his chest. Well that was it: "Moving On From London" was complete. For her at least. She was having Dan's baby.

As much as he appreciated her breaking the news to him behind closed doors, he almost wished she had not bothered. If she had announced this in front of the entire group, at least he might have been able to slope off unnoticed to lick his wounds. Sitting here in front of her now, he felt painfully exposed and he did not really know what to say.

"Oh. Congratulations" he finally managed to respond, unable to meet her eye.

Monica's brow knitted in confusion as she struggled to make sense of his reaction.

"Chandler, the baby's yours" she clarified hastily, when it dawned upon her that he had reached the understandable conclusion that she had fallen pregnant by the man she had supposedly been dating for the past two months.

At that moment, it felt to Chandler that all of the oxygen had been sucked from the room. His eyes rose to meet hers slowly, and he stared back into her face completely dumbstruck. He examined her disbelievingly, as though he was waiting for her to deliver a punchline to what must surely be some kind of unfathomable joke. But her blue eyes shone back at him with a kind of fearful anticipation that was entirely sincere.

He swallowed hard as she took a seat next to him on the couch, angling her body towards his.

"London" she said simply. It was the only word she could find.

He had been trying so hard to keep away from that night for so very long now, knowing that "moving on", would remain impossible if he allowed himself to dwell upon its perfection. But as he allowed his mind to scan rapidly through those tempestuous scenes, his memory confirmed what he had known to be true

"But we definitely used protection!"

"I know" she said gently, "I don't know what went wrong with that Chandler, but something obviously did. I went for a scan today... I saw our baby with my own eyes."

Chandler ran his hands over his face and pressed his eyes closed, tinnitus ringing nauseating loudly in his ears as his confused mind struggled to make sense of what she was telling him.

Eventually he looked back into her eyes, "Why do you think it's mine? Surely the guy you've been sleeping with ever since then is more likely to be the father?"

Chandler had not meant his words to sound harsh or accusatory, and he certainly had not intended to make her wince as she did, but he was struggling to fathom how she could have possibly concluded that this baby might be his, given the tragic brevity of their time together compared to relative longevity of her relationship with Dan.

She stood up and turned away from him for a moment, her shoulders hunched in anguish.

When she eventually turned back she told him stoically and definitively, "Chandler, Dan and I only slept together twice. And that was pretty recent. The baby is 13 weeks old. It's definitely yours."

Chandler felt his eyebrows raise almost to his hairline as she spoke. This was certainly no time for smugness but he could not help but derive a small pang of joy from the knowledge that he and Monica had enjoyed a more prolific affair in that one night in London than she had shared with Dan in weeks. The knowing, slightly warning look in Monica's eye told him that she had guessed exactly what he was thinking, and he neutralized his facial expression in order to avoid the eye-roll she looked seconds away from giving him.

"How can you be sure though?" Chandler asked gruffly.

"Well I realized that I hadn't gotten my period since before London. And when I saw the doctor, she said my hormone levels were too high for the baby to be only a few weeks old, and then the Sonographer confirmed it today at the scan: She said the baby was far too big and well-developed to be so young."

She sat back down and took his hand affectionately in her own, gazing desperately into his eyes, "Chandler, there is no way I would be telling you that this baby is yours if I wasn't 100% sure."

"Could it not just be an unusually big baby? I mean Dan's pretty tall.." Chandler rambled nervously.

Monica snatched her hand away from his and leaped to her feet again, "My God Chandler, you can drag me on to The Jerry Springer Show for a paternity test when it arrives if you like! I'm telling you - It's your baby!"

"I'm not suggesting that you're lying Monica, I'm just wondering how you can be so certain about this..It's a pretty big deal!" Chandler cried defensively, the slightly raised pitch of his voice a clear indication of his mounting distress.

Monica's eyes were teary now "Well you certainly seem very keen for it to be Dan's" she murmured bitterly.

Chandler shook his head, "That is not fair Monica. That's not what this is. I'm just trying to wrap my head around all of this. I mean, this is huge... "

Monica dropped back down to the couch and grasped his hand again, her face full of immediate contrition "You're right. I'm sorry, that was unfair and I shouldn't have said it. You're not asking any questions that I haven't asked a million times. And it's completely reasonable to ask them. But the Sonographer was certain, Chandler. She said that if the baby was Dan's it would be the size of a pea and it would look like a tadpole."

"Well I always thought he was a little amphibian around the eyes" Chandler muttered.

Monica threw him a look of pure exasperation, but Chandler felt a small thrill when he detected the tiniest, most fleeting twinkle of wry amusement in her eyes; the kind she reserved only for him. He had not realized how much he had been missing that look.

"Our baby," she continued, "It's already the size of a peach... I saw it today, and it's way beyond a tadpole. It's a real little person, Chandler. It has arms and legs and tiny little toes, and the sweetest little nose.. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen." She let out a sob as she recalled that perfect little form dancing across the sonographer's screen.

He squeezed her hand tight and she saw a sheen of tears appear in his eyes too. They stayed like that for a while, gripping each others' fingers desperately, staring straight ahead, unable to say a word.

"Do you want to see it?" Monica ventured after some time, her voice barely a whisper. "I got you a picture."

He turned to look at her and nodded silently, his eyes following her across the room as she collected her purse to retrieve the print.

Tears began to spill down her cheeks as she passed it to Chandler and saw his breath hitch and his brows knit together with emotion.

"I'm so sorry you weren't there to see it. I just didn't want to tell you until I was one hundred percent sure." she told him honestly, her voice quavering with regret.

"I'm sorry you had to do it all alone" he countered gruffly.

Monica swallowed resolutely, "Well that's on me."

She flopped back down next to him once more, looking dejected.

"And it's not like I've done anything much so far. I can't believe I didn't even work out I was pregnant this whole time. I always imagined I would do all of the right things you know? Take all of the vitamins, eat all the right stuff, read all the books. But I've missed my baby's whole first trimester. I've barely been eating, I've had alcohol, I couldn't even invite the father to the sonogram because I didn't know who..." she trailed off with a self-loathing shake of her head "I'm so sorry, Chandler. I'm already the crappiest mother in the world."

"You're going to be the most amazing mother." he assured her, throwing a comforting arm around her shoulder and drawing her close and managing to tear his eyes from the sonogram picture just long enough to plant a soft kiss on top of her head.

"Did you want it to be Dan's?" he suddenly asked in a hoarse whisper.

Monica let out a sob, not wanting to believe that her behavior had prompted him to consider for even a millisecond that could ever be the case.

"Never!" she told him sincerely.

She trailed a delicate finger down his cheek and nudged his face to look into hers, brushing away the hint of a tear she could see below his eye "I honestly wouldn't want to be doing this with anybody but you, Chandler".

Their eyes locked intensely for a moment before Chandler wrapped both arms around her and pulled her into the tight embrace she had not realized she needed so badly.

"I know I've sprung this on you" she told him, her voice muffled against his chest, "But you do have a choice, you know? I don't want you to feel forced into being a parent, I'm not expecting anything of you, if you don't want to be involved in this I will understand..."

"No" Chandler told her vehemently, "You're not going to be on your own".

He had extracted himself from her clinging embrace just before 4.00pm, telling her that he had an appointment he needed to cancel and an errand he needed to run, but assuring her that he would be back in a hour so they could continue to talk.

Monica suspected that Chandler's primary reason for leaving was a desire to be alone with his thoughts, so that he could attempt to process the world-shattering bombshell she had just dropped on his life.

Finally having somebody that she could talk to about her pregnancy, felt to Monica as though an iron jacket of secrecy had been lifted from about her shoulders, but she was trying hard not to overwhelm Chandler with the tsunami of thoughts, feelings and fears ready to spill from her lips, mindful that he was a couple of weeks and a couple of medical appointments behind her, and needed the time and space to catch up.

But it was just after 6.00pm now, and despite her attempts at patience, Monica was unable to prevent herself from worrying that Chandler's initial supportive response had wavered, and she was concerned that the gravity of their situation had provoked some kind of melt down.

She eventually garnered the courage to seek him out across the hall. As she entered Apartment 19 she found Joey relaxing, almost horizontally in front of the TV, but Chandler was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey Mon." Joey called, removing his gaze only fleetingly from the TV.

"Hey. Do you know where Chandler is?" she asked in a manner that she hoped sounded sufficiently casual.

"No, sorry" Joey responded, before a thought seemed to suddenly occur to him "Oh wait! Is it Wednesday? Because I think that was when he was supposed to be meeting that Caitlin girl for coffee. So he might be with her."

Monica looked up at the ceiling in an attempt to prevent the tears that pricked immediately at her eyes from falling to her cheeks.

"OK" she managed to mewl as she made her way back across the hall, grateful that Joey was so engrossed in whatever program he was watching, he had not noticed her distress.

Chandler was not doing anything wrong.

Her announcement did not make him her boyfriend by default.

But this really brought home to Monica just how difficult this journey was likely to be. Co-parenting a baby with a man with whom she was not in a relationship was going to be hard. And the complexity and devastating intensity of her feelings towards Chandler could only serve to confuse things further.

She curled up on the couch and smothered her tears, unsure of how many of them were borne of pregnancy hormones, exhaustion, or just her gut-wrenching inability to share Chandler with Caitlin, or anybody else.

As Chandler had wandered the streets of New York that afternoon he had been surprised at how calm he felt as the magnitude of Monica's news began to fully sink in.

Not completely calm, of course: Chandler possessed a pragmatic and sensible streak which enabled him to foresee how terrifyingly difficult their situation would be from a logistical point of view. The fact that he and Monica were not a couple, did not live together and were entirely separate financial entities, complicated their future as parents on a practical level. He had a well-paid job but there was no way he could afford to pay Monica's rent on top of his own if she had to take time off work to look after their child. And he had no idea about how parental leave worked, or daycare costs; The two of them had a mountain of learning and problem solving to climb, that was for sure.

But astonishingly, the idea of loving, nurturing and educating his new son or daughter did not seem to frighten him at all.

Chandler's own unstable childhood had often made him doubt that he would ever be able to rise to the challenges of being a Dad, worried that he might unwittingly emulate the chaotic and often selfish parenting style of his own mother and father. But he supposed that whenever he had dared to imagine himself in a parental role before, the woman there with him had been faceless and generic.

Not his best friend.

Having Monica at his side gave him confidence. She was born to be a mother; anybody could see that; and he knew that with her guidance and support he could be the father their baby deserved.

In fact, the idea of the two of them loving, nourishing and shaping this brand new human together, was starting to feel like the most exciting journey of his life.

If somebody had told him six months ago that a woman he was not even in a relationship with would fall pregnant with his child, he would have envisaged a sense of entrapment and panic, but when Monica had first told him that the baby she was carrying was his, there had been no real sense of impending dread. After the initial shock had eased, he actually began to feel like the universe was bestowing a great gift upon him.

In fact, everything was starting to make perfect sense.

Nights like the one he had shared with Monica in London did not just happen to Chandler Bing. In fact, he doubted that nights like that happened to anybody very much. So the very idea that it could ever be consigned to history; glossed over and ignored for all eternity; had felt less plausible with every passing day. He had no real idea how the two of them had ever imagined that it would be possible to completely put London behind them, and it should have come as no real surprise that their decision to attempt to simply forget about it would cause nothing but agony.

The significance of that night could never be called into question now. London had meant something, of that he had always been sure. And this baby was conclusive proof.

Chandler scampered hurriedly into his apartment, well aware that he had been gone for far longer than he had told Monica he would be.

"Hey Joe. Do we have any of those fancy gift bags? You know the pretty, girly kind with those bits of ribbon on them?" he asked breathlessly.

Joey cast him a strange and scathing look, "Umm.. no?"

Chandler nodded, knowing that it had always been unlikely that such an item would exist in apartment 19. That was definitely the kind of thing he would generally have pilfered from Monica's wrapping paper and ribbon drawer should the situation ever have required it.

"Well do you think this bag looks OK? For a gift?" He held up the white boutique bag he was holding for Joey's inspection "It's just the one from the store, but it doesn't look horrible right?"

Joey gave a baffled shrug "Looks alright to me. Who's the gift for? Caitlin?" he gave a vaguely leering smile.

"No. It's for Monica." Chandler replied evenly.

Joey's eyes widened in horror, "Is it her birthday?"

His eyes began to scan the counter top frantically, and Chandler smirked, feeling sure he was searching out a sharpie ready to craft her a last minute "Voucher for Joey Love"

"No, it's just a thank you gift. She helped me out with a cooking thing." he replied vaguely.

Joey nodded in relief, taking his roommate at unquestioning face value, as always.

"She was here looking for you a while ago actually" he mentioned "I told her you were probably out with Caitlin"

Great. He was sure Monica had been delighted to hear that he had dashed off for a date with another woman fresh from her pregnancy announcement.

Chandler rolled his eyes as he headed hastily for the door.

"OK thanks Joe" he replied with a grim sarcasm he knew would go completely unnoticed by his friend.

As he dashed into apartment 20, he discovered Monica curled up in a tight ball on the couch, so still and quiet that he thought at first she might be sleeping.

He crept towards her and whispered her name tentatively.

"Hey. How was your date?", she asked weakly without moving at all.

He regarded her gently, "I wasn't on a date, Mon" he told her, "I cancelled."

She shifted on the couch as she began to unfurl her body a little.

Chandler perched on the coffee table so he was facing her dead on.

"I was never really that into it anyway... And I can't very well go out on a date when all I can think about is you... and "The Peach"" he told her with a crooked smile.

Her lips curled too, and he could sense her relief.

"So where were you?" she asked "Are you OK?"

"Well. I went shopping. I wanted to get you something." he told her, looking a little embarrassed.

Her bottom lip dropped a little and her blue eyes widened as she regarded him with surprised interest.

He placed the bag he had been holding in between them on the floor and reached inside.

"So... I got you this.."

He held up a bottle of expensive looking bath salts "The woman in the store said it was good for pregnant women. It has magnesium in it to help you sleep apparently... I don't know.." he explained, blushing a little and giving an awkward shake of his head.

Her lips spread into a wide smile of gratitude, but then he reached back into the bag and pulled out another item "This one is really for the baby... "

He handed her a folded white sleepsuit, which she opened out to reveal an "I Love London" slogan, emblazoned with a red heart.

It was just about the sweetest, tiniest item of clothing she had ever seen and the sight of it made Monica cry immediately.

She brought her fingers to her lips "Oh my God Chandler, that is so adorable. Where did you find it?"

"There's a British store on Hudson Street" he told her with a shy smile.

"I love it" she whispered, "Thank you so much"

Chandler swallowed hard as he reached into the shopping bag once more, this time extracting a black jewellery box, which he handed over to her, watching her face nervously as she lifted the lid.

She inhaled sharply when her eyes came to rest on a silver bracelet, empty of charms, save one: A tiny regal crown.

"It's a charm bracelet" Chandler told her, "The little crown is to represent London... You know... Like the Queen of England? They had one that was supposed to be "Big Ben" but it looked a little... phallic. So I thought this one was nicer"

He paused to gulp as he examined her face to assess her reaction, but she was staring intently down at the bracelet, her delicate fingers toying with the crown thoughtfully.

"I thought you could add more charms to it... When the baby is born and then when it reaches different milestones..." he trailed off wondering if he had completely missed the mark as Monica remained completely silent.

She suddenly let out sob so loud it made him jump "My God Chandler, what are you doing to me?" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck.

"I don't deserve this. It's the sweetest thing I think anybody has ever done for me." she wept, pressing her face into the soft warmth of his neck "Thank you so, so much."

He hugged her back, and threaded his fingers through the silk of her hair to cradle her head tenderly, too choked to speak.

"This baby is the luckiest baby in the world to have you for a dad, do you know that? " she whispered.

"I love you."

She felt him flinch a little in her arms before tightening their embrace.

She had told him she loved him before. They had been the closest of friends for half of their lives, their love was a given. But she could accept that the burgeoning new life in her belly might lend her words a new cadence now. They actually felt different in her mouth when she spoke them.

Chandler did not speak but he pulled back from their embrace for just long enough to graze her lips gently and chastely with his own.

It might have been the briefest brush of a kiss, a kiss that neither sought to deepen, but the knowledge that nestled in amongst the warm tangle of their bodies was that precious little human, half him and half her, made it feel like the most intimate connection either had experienced in their lives.