A/N Thank you to all who commented on my last update. It was another little favorite of mine, so I was glad that others enjoyed it too.
I'm thinking there will probably just be a couple more updates after this one? Not entirely sure just yet, but thank you so much to everybody who has stuck with this story!
The concept of time had shifted strangely and unalterably for Monica and Chandler, since Jack's arrival in their lives half a year ago.
In those first few crazy weeks, when the busy colicky days bled into grueling, sleepless nights; there had been times that the couple had felt like their precious and demanding baby had been right there with them forever; hardly able to remember what life had been like before Jack had burst onto the scene, imparting great joy and stealing their sleep.
In many respects they felt like old hands when it came to parenting; everything from feeding, to diaper-changing, to running through Jack's bed time routine, felt so instinctive and well-practiced now. Gone were the days of tentatively feeling their way along as they approached the mundane tasks that had once felt so daunting; nowadays the two of them ploughed their way through the daily grind of family life like a slick and well-oiled machine.
And yet at other times, like now as they contemplated the fresh challenges presented by a six month old who would surely be mobile soon, parenthood still felt exhilaratingly brand new.
Like all new parents, both Monica and Chandler constantly found themselves willing their son towards his next milestone, excited and desperate as they had been to witness that first heart-bursting smile; to hear the incomparable melody of their baby's first giggle; or to watch the expression of wonder on his face when he tried his first taste of mashed sweet potato.
But all of these accomplishments were being checked off astonishingly fast; serving as a melancholy reminder of the devastating brevity of childhood, and prompting an occasional rush of panic that their son's infancy was slipping through their fingers like sand.
Monica felt absolutely sure that Jack's next big achievement would be learning how to crawl. She could feel the desperation in his tiny body, as he struggled and wrenched, attempting to propel himself about the room independently, so that his investigative little hands might discover a whole new world of objects and surfaces to analyse, make sense of, and most likely, inadvertently destroy.
His legs were constantly on the move now; his ever-flexing muscles readying themselves for that eventual liberating first crawl, by kicking, thrusting, and pushing himself up to standing, whenever he was being supported or held.
His body had lost almost all of its delicate newborn frailty; Jack was physically well-advanced, already able to sit unaided with hardly a topple, and he suddenly felt wonderfully robust and solid in his parents' arms.
As with every stage he had reached before this one, Monica resolved to enjoy every second, and only wished that she could bottle the very essence of him.
She had ached for motherhood her whole adult life, and had never once doubted the elation it would bring, but as she sat with her little boy on her lap now, she still could not quite believe the sheer magnitude of her devotion to him. In fact, she felt sure that loving Jack was the very reason she had been put on this Earth.
Their little family of three had taken residence, as they so often did, on the terracotta orange sofa in Central Perk, and they had just been joined by Rachel, who was fresh from a shopping excursion and laden with an array of boutique bags.
Monica's own arms were wrapped protectively around her baby, her nose and lips resting against the velvet skin at the nape of his neck, as she turned the pages of his favorite book, softly whispering explanations of the various colorful illustrations and enjoying his animated babbles of response.
When he grabbed enthusiastically at a picture of a collie dog, she captured his chubby hand in hers to prevent him from damaging the page, her reflexively fast fingers causing him to turn his head in surprise. As he gazed up adoringly into her face, she gave him a heartfelt squeeze and a kiss, feeling utterly convinced that she and Chandler had somehow managed to create the most beautiful child in the entire world.
Of course, every mother has these thoughts, but even beyond the realms of parental bias, it was irrefutable that Jack was a truly adorable little boy.
Rachel often referred to him as a "Disney Baby"; and his impossibly huge, inquisitive cornflower blue eyes; that Chandler insisted perfectly matched Monica's; certainly gave the impression of having been dreamed up by the great animator.
And then there was his hair.
The silky newborn wisps of mousy brown that Jack had been born with had eventually given way to an astonishing shock of sunshine blonde, which stood in such sharp contrast with his mother's brunette tresses it was often remarked upon, even by complete strangers.
Nora had armed Monica with albums full of photographs of Chandler as a baby, so they both knew that his own hair had been similarly fair in early childhood, but still, this had not stopped Chandler from humorously dubbing his son "Gunther Junior", in homage to the flaxen-haired manager of their favorite coffee house.
Much to Monica's chagrin, this nickname had become something of a hit amongst their friendship group, and the fact that she had once had the misfortune to blush bright red when Chandler had used the sobriquet in the coffee house, barely out of earshot of Gunther Senior, had been gleefully seized upon by all as an excuse to tease her mercilessly, with allusions to an illicit affair between Monica and the Central Perk manager swiftly becoming everyone's favorite running joke.
In reality though, there could be no doubting Jack's biology: Whenever the little boy smiled he instantly became the absolute double of his father; the addition of a heart-melting dimple, inherited from his mother, being the only real discernible difference between the two of them.
Seeing that miniature version of Chandler beaming up at her did something indescribable to Monica: The intensity of the love that throbbed almost painfully in her chest made her worry at times that this exquisite child might one day cause her heart to actually explode with happiness. And he was such a sunny-natured baby that these joy-inducing grins came thick and fast.
Jack Bing had a smile for everybody: The cashier at the grocery store; the elderly man they passed in the street; anybody who caught those big blue eyes would be almost immediately rewarded with an infectious gummy grin; and his affable and gregarious little soul captivated all who encountered him.
Including Gunther, apparently.
The coffee house manager approached their table to deliver a latte to Rachel, taking the opportunity to cast one of his ubiquitous and unnoticed glances of yearning in her direction, before collecting a handful of crumb-covered plates and almost-empty coffee mugs and beginning to stack them methodically onto his tray.
Little Jack sat straight-backed on his mother's lap, looking up from his book to observe Gunther as he worked; giving him the kind of uncompromisingly curious stare that only a young child can give; and his sweet face dissolved into a beaming smile just as soon as the barista caught his gaze.
Gunther was generally a rather solemn-faced man, but even he was not immune to Jack's charms, and he let out a chuckle of endearment as he returned the infant's exuberant grin, remarking fondly, "God, he really is the cutest baby, Monica."
Monica acknowledged his compliment with a bashful smile, knowing even before she turned around that Chandler would immediately find a way to incorporate this brief and innocuous interaction into his incessant campaign of teasing.
Just as she predicted, spurred on by Rachel's sniggers of encouragement, Chandler raised his eyebrows comically, and silently mouthed a "Wow!" at his already scowling fiancée, as Gunther made his way obliviously back towards the counter.
Chandler reached to tickle Jack's chin and addressed his son in babyish tones, "Did you see that Baby Jack? Did you see that flirting? They're just rubbing Daddy's nose in it now aren't they? I know! I know! Poor Daddy!"
Monica rolled her eyes in exasperation, but Jack was utterly delighted by Chandler's exaggerated facial expressions and let out a joyful squeal; his muscular little legs bouncing frantically against Monica's thighs, as he grabbed at his father with chubby fists in an attempt to get closer to him.
It brought Chandler untold levels of joy that in Jack he had found his most receptive audience yet: The little boy was unfailingly impressed and thrilled by his dad's clowning. Chandler happily plucked him from his mother's arms and placed a resounding kiss against his plump cheek. "Come here my little blonde bombshell."
Monica glanced surreptitiously over her shoulder to check that Gunther was nowhere nearby, before landing a light slap of rebuke against Chandler's knee.
"Would you stop?" she tried to sound stern and authoritative, but was ultimately frustrated by the amused smirk that tugged involuntarily at her lips.
"Seriously! I'm really worried that this whole "Gunther Junior" thing is going to stick! I heard Joey refer to Jack as "G-Dog" the other day..."
"He might just think that's how Jack is spelled..." Chandler suggested with a shrug, pretending to bite Jack's tiny fingers as they reached to tug at his lip.
Monica gave another eye-roll, but felt her heart flutter pleasantly as she continued to observe the interaction between Chandler and Jack, enraptured by the unfiltered joy on her little boy's face as he let out more bird-like squawks of glee, communicating his endless appreciation of his daddy's antics.
Rachel reached over to run an affectionate hand through Jack's silken hair as she leaned forward to retrieve her coffee, and asked "So Mon, how did the wedding fund chat go with your parents?"
She exchanged a conspiratorial glance of mischief with Chandler before adding quietly, "Assuming the wedding goes ahead... you know.. if you don't run away with Gunther... "
Chandler chortled as Monica threw her friend a sarcastic grimace.
"It doesn't matter who I decide to marry: It seems that Mom and Dad are going to struggle to help us out very much at all. Apparently the wedding fund is long gone."
Rachel's jaw dropped in horror, "Oh my God! What happened?"
Monica shrugged stoically "A new kitchen. And Ross and Emily's wedding ended up costing them a lot more than they thought it would."
Rachel looked completely heartbroken on her friend's behalf.
"And how do you feel about that?" she asked hesitantly, her eyes searching Monica's face sympathetically, struggling to believe that the woman who had been planning her perfect, highly extravagant wedding since childhood could genuinely be taking this crushing financial blow entirely in her stride.
"We'll make it work" Monica insisted, sharing a meaningful smile with Chandler, as Jack strained towards her with a whimper, suddenly panicked by their lack of physical proximity.
"I can't really get annoyed about London, can I?" she mused with a philosophical smile, her eyes moving indulgently between her fiancé and their son. "It might have been a disaster for Ross and Emily, but it all worked out pretty perfectly for me."
"We'll make it work. " Chandler agreed, pressing a tender kiss against Monica's temple, as he released their squirming son into her loving embrace.
Ross's face was etched with guilt as he sloped into his sister's apartment later that afternoon.
"Hey. I just spoke to Mom. I'm so sorry about the wedding money, Mon." Ross told her mournfully, convinced that his sister must be feeling abject devastation to have learned that their parents' expenditure on his ill-fated London nuptials had impacted so heavily upon her plans to marry Chandler.
He stood behind Monica and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, as Phoebe and Rachel eyed her with grave concern.
Monica raised her eyebrows and shot a look of mild amusement towards Chandler, as she gave her brother's forearm a pat of absolution.
"Why are you all looking at me like somebody died?" she chuckled and shook her head as she took in her friends' uniformly solemn and sympathetic faces, "I'm honestly fine about this. I don't need a huge, fancy wedding!"
Ross and Rachel exchanged doubtful glances, their eyes still full of woe.
"Good for you, Monica" Phoebe rewarded her friend's stoicism with an impressed nod, "It's ridiculous the amount of money people spend on weddings anyway: There's just no need. Do you remember my friend Patty? The one who married that hot Albanian juggler? She is totally against consumerism and they managed to keep their wedding budget to around $500. She made her own dress, they hired a room in a rec center, and her mom made a big vegetarian chili - "
"Oh my God! " Rachel took a sharp intake of breath, her eyebrows knitting together in distress and her hands shooting to her face as she cut Phoebe off, looking utterly stricken at the very idea of Monica having to endure such a modest and homely celebration.
Chandler rolled his eyes as he told them witheringly, "Look, I have savings, OK? Monica will have her beautiful wedding, so you can stop with the hand-wringing."
Monica observed him thoughtfully as he spoke.
"So, how much do you have saved?" Rachel asked with blunt intrigue, ready to match the available budget with the various luxurious wedding scenarios she and Monica had concocted together during childhood.
Chandler shook his head, unable to quite believe her discourtesy.
"Enough for a wedding!" he told her, his stern eyes letting her know that he would be refusing to elaborate any further.
But Rachel was fully absorbed in imaginings of Monica's perfect day, her sole concern was the realization of her best friend's girlhood dreams, and she remained entirely oblivious to Chandler's irritation.
She drew Monica into her arms, an expression of blissful relief lighting up her face "Oh thank God! I've been so worried all day!"
Monica smirked at Chandler as he regarded Rachel with scathing disbelief, and she rubbed the obscenely traumatized blonde's back soothingly as she returned her embrace.
She could not blame Rachel for her assumption that the idea of a down-scaled wedding would have proven devastating. In the past, Monica had made no secret of her longing to be a perfect princess of a bride, and to host the kind of elegant yet show-stopping wedding celebration that would rival all others.
In fact, she could well imagine that if they had been planning this wedding a year or two ago, she would have been eagerly digging out the bridal bible she had put together as a yearning, dreamy-eyed teen, in which she had scrap-booked all of her most lavish and luxuriant ideas, ready to get to work on the creation of a wedding fit for a queen.
But despite being just as excited to get married as she always been, things were different now, and so was she.
"Look, I don't think I'm up to making my own dress, and there will be no vegetarian chili involved, but we're not going to be spending all of Chandler's savings on the wedding either," Monica explained diplomatically to her two girlfriends as she drew back from Rachel "We just want something small and tasteful."
"What? Why?" demanded Rachel incredulously, her hands dropping immediately from her friend's waist.
"Because we have a baby!" Monica told her "I can't very well tell Jack that he won't be able to go to college because Mommy wanted a Vera Wang dress and a wedding venue big enough to hold 300 guests. And kids grow fast: We might want to move to a bigger place eventually, maybe someplace with a yard, and good schools nearby..."
"What?" Joey had been half-listening to the conversation with glazed-eyed, silent indifference until now, but the idea of losing Chandler to suburbia was enough to send him spiraling into a panic that was significant enough to rival Rachel's.
"Don't you be cheap, Chandler! Your fiancée deserves her dream wedding! If you love her, you'll buy her a Keira Wong dress!" he rounded on his best friend forcefully, in the hope that a costly and luxurious wedding might render a move from the city financially nonviable.
Monica smothered a laugh as she wrapped an arm around Chandler's neck and came to perch on his lap.
"Calm down Joey, we're not going anywhere just yet. I'm just saying, we have different priorities now, and a huge, extravagant wedding isn't one of them."
"But you always wanted a big, beautiful wedding. Ever since you were a little girl!"
Monica could only shrug in response to Rachel's final, sad protestation, before resting her head comfortably against Chandler's.
But Chandler immediately pulled back from her so that he could look up into her face.
"You know I want you to have the kind of wedding you always dreamed of, right?" he told her seriously as he trailed an affectionate finger across her cheek "I might not be able to stretch to a first dance with the Bay City Rollers, but you shouldn't just abandon all of your plans, Mon. Your wedding should be special."
Monica pressed her lips lovingly against his forehead.
"We'll get Jack to college" Chandler reassured, his face breaking into a teasing grin, "and if we have any more kids, we'll just have to hope they're a diamond in the rough type, with a tenacious streak, and a go get 'em attitude."
Rachel's eyes widened with resurgent glee "Great! That's settled then! Where's the wedding book, Mon? Let's get this show on the road!"
"I call Maid of Honor" Phoebe hastily interjected, determined not to be sidelined by Rachel's vociferous enthusiasm "And I'll carry Jack down the aisle too."
"Hey! You don't get to do both, Phoebe!" Rachel shot her down with an outraged scowl.
"Best man!" Joey declared through an uncouth mouthful of cookie, crumbs spilling onto his lap as he raised an insistent hand.
"Er... Hello? I'm Monica's brother and Chandler's oldest friend.." Ross began to protest.
"Right, I think that's enough wedding planning for today!" Monica interrupted loudly, if a little wearily, squeezing Chandler's shoulder as she pulled herself to her feet. "I'm going to go check on Jack."
She breathed a sigh of relief, shaking her head and chuckling quietly to herself, as she escaped her squabbling friends and entered the peaceful sanctuary of Jack's bedroom.
She gently closed the door behind her and approached his crib, carefully adjusting the baby's blanket as she immersed herself in his sweet slumber. His dimpled hands were balled up and resting next to his ears; his long lashes swept against his cheeks which were flushed with the rosy glow of sleep; his perfectly bowed lips resting in a heart-shaped pout.
She heard the door creak softly open and she turned to see Chandler making his way to her side, smiling gently as he joined her in gazing adoringly upon their peaceful son.
"Are you OK?" he murmured in hushed tones
"Yeah," she told him with grin, looping an arm around his waist "Those guys are driving me a little crazy with all of the wedding talk, that's all"
Chandler smirked "You know, I've gotta say, I'm a little surprised at you. I definitely thought you'd be right up there with Rachel in the wedding fever stakes."
"Well, I probably would have been at one time" Monica conceded with a soft laugh, "But things are different now" her eyes moved tenderly back to their little boy.
She turned towards Chandler and looked up at him through her lashes "What about you, anyway?" she asked quietly, "What do you think about it all?"
He stared back at her mutely, not entirely understanding what she wanted from him.
She hesitated for a moment before telling him "You know, when we were all talking back there, you kept referring to it as my wedding. It's your wedding too Chandler, and I want you to have your say in how it happens."
Chandler wrinkled his nose "I just want to marry you Mon, I'm honestly not too worried about the wedding itself, so you should probably just go ahead and plan it all out with Rachel - she seems to have plenty of ideas."
Monica examined him intently as he continued in earnest "As long as you're there, and Jack's there, that's all I really care about. You know, the idea of having to pretend to like all of those random guests, and having to dance in front of them all, just makes me sweat. Honestly? if it was left up to me, we'd probably just run away and elope. So I'm more than happy to take a backseat when it comes to wedding planning."
Monica's face broke into a surprised smile "Elope? What, like to Vegas?"
"No, not Vegas." Chandler's lips curled into a crooked smile, his eyes suddenly wistful as he told her "You can elope to other places, you know? A woman from work got married at this incredible venue in Connecticut: It was just the two of them, and they said their vows under an old oak tree, by a beautiful lake, and then they stayed over in a log cabin and spent the evening just drinking champagne and looking at the stars together.. I dunno... I thought that sounded pretty perfect."
Monica gazed back into his misty eyes with intrigue.
"Of course, her friends are probably less needy and bossy than ours" he remarked ruefully, "I'm not sure we'd get away with pulling a stunt like that. Rachel would scratch your eyes right out. And Joey would never forgive me."
Monica paused for a moment, examining his face thoughtfully.
"Let's do it" she suddenly declared, her wide cobalt eyes alive with determination and full of excitement .
Chandler let out a dubious chuckle, unable to quite believe that Monica would even consider such a thing.
"I mean it", she told him bringing her hands to cup his face, "You're right; that does sound perfect. I'm not interested in spending a heap of money just to keep everybody else happy. We have the future of our family to think about. We can celebrate with everyone else when we get back."
He discerned a sudden deliciously wicked glint in her eye as she told him "And you know, I love it when you and I have secrets..."
She leaned forward to tug at his lips with a brief but exhilarated and eager kiss.
"Are you serious about this?" he whispered incredulously, his eyes still shrouded in doubt, "You always wanted a big wedding. What about the fancy floral centerpieces, and blowing everyone away with how beautiful you are in your princess dress? Come on Mon, you've wanted all of that stuff forever..."
His harmless reference to her wanton need for adoration made Monica inwardly wince, for it was a characteristic that she both understood and loathed in herself.
It was after all, this insatiable need to be desired, to please and impress; born out of long held feelings of undesirability and unworthiness; that had led her to make many an unwise decision in the past.
The fact that Chandler knew this about her, but loved her anyway; and more than that; that he had been able to move beyond the way this flaw had manifested itself on more than one occasion, caused tears to prickle behind her eyes.
She knew right there and then that Chandler and Jack had fundamentally changed her: That perfectionist, people-pleasing streak might be so deeply ingrained that it would never fully abandon her; but the unconditional love she felt from her fiancé and their baby son had made her feel lighter, somehow; and theirs was the only approval she truly sought these days.
"Not anymore," she told him, her lips curving into a soft smile "I just want to be your wife, Chandler. The rest of it is just...stuff. And as long as my two boys are there with me, nothing else matters."
Chandler examined her face as he mulled over her words, a swell of eagerness intensifying in his eyes as he agreed "OK! Let's do it! If you're sure! I'll speak to my colleague and find out some more about it!"
"I love you so much, do you know that?" he told her huskily, pressing a languid kiss against her lips.
"Hey. I still get a beautiful dress though, right?" Monica checked with a wry smile.
Chandler could not keep the grin from his face as he jokingly reassured, "Maybe even a Keira Wong.."