Monica sighs and I glance over at her. I look back to the road in front of me before giving her a longer look. Instead of looking depressed that we're headed home after our anniversary weekend, she's turned sideways in her seat, watching me. Her eyes are dreamy and a soft smile is spread across her lips.

I turn back to the road, trying to peek at her out of the corner of my eye and she sighs again. "What?" I ask with a laugh, turning in time for her to grace me with her full-watt grin.

"Nothing," she answers with a laugh of her own. "I just…really, really love you. I know it seems ridiculous to say that all time, like it's some big surprise, but…I don't know. Maybe it is. Maybe it's surprising that I could still love you this way after all this time."

"Umm, ouch?"

She reaches out and strokes my arm, the smile never leaving her face. "That came out wrong. I suppose that when I was growing up, I never really thought about how love works. I had the vague notion of falling in love, and I saw the way marriages worked, but it never occurred to me how it would all play out. Then you grow up and you hear people say that love changes, that you probably won't always love someone as deeply as you did at the beginning, or that the relationship becomes more like best friends than anything romantic, and you assume that people know what they're talking about because they've been through it before you. If that's what everyone says, how could it be wrong?"

"And?" I ask, putting my hand on her thigh; she shivers a little as a result.

"Those people don't know dick."

I burst out laughing, immediately putting my hand back on the steering wheel to keep the car under control. "Oh, really?"

"Really," she answers with a laugh of her own. "Maybe we haven't been together long enough for it to happen, but I still love you like crazy. I mean, I'm in love with you. So deeply. I love you more now than I ever have, and I know that I'll love you more tomorrow."

"I sexed you up pretty good this weekend, didn't I?" I tease, and her fingers gently stroke the back of my neck.

"You did indeed," she answers, "and I haven't felt this relaxed or unwound in a long time, so than you for the orgasms."

"Happy to be of service."

"It's more than that, though I guess this could be partially residual endorphins from this morning. I mean, do you get how lucky we are? To have fallen in love with each other after all that time and to be making it work?"

I snort in disbelief, giving her a look before turning back to the road, familiar landmarks starting to come into view. "Do I know how lucky I am? Yeah, it's crossed my mind once or twice." Once or twice a day, to be honest. I don't if there's ever a moment when I don't marvel at just how fortunate I am to have found this woman. "Monica, you more than maybe anyone else know how down I was on myself before you, and you know just how pathetic my history with women is. You also know just how damn stupid I was about the whole commitment thing for a while. I'm an idiot, and I just as easily could have wound up as Mr. Heckles, so yeah…I get how lucky I am to have you."

She reaches over and puts her hand on my thigh, squeezing gently. "Honey, I didn't mean that you were lucky to have me."

"I know that, Mon, but that doesn't stop it from being true. We just celebrated our sixth year of marriage, and we've been together for almost a decade. That's huge, and it still feels like the beginning of it all. We're lucky to have each other—definitely, because who else would put up with me?—but I wake up so grateful every day to have you next to me. I mean, it's insane. I'm the idiot guy who didn't want to really share his space—even his bed—with a girlfriend, but now I can't imagine ever being alone again. This life we have together is ridiculous and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

She's silent for a while, her hand absently stroking my thigh until I look over at her. "I sexed you up pretty good, too, didn't I?"

I chuckle and put my hand over hers, squeezing gently. "You were very thorough." I glance over my shoulder and ease over to the side of the road, making sure the car is out of the way of any traffic.

As I put it into park and unbuckle, Monica asks, "What are you doing?" I ignore her and take her face in my hands, pulling her toward me. Her lips meet mine enthusiastically as she fumbles with her own seatbelt for a moment before freeing herself. We scoot together as closely as the center console will allow. Our arms tangle around each other as we enjoy our last little bit of freedom.

Truthfully, we had more sex over the last few days than either of us are used to. Something about the combination of ocean air and my incredibly hot wife had my libido up and running as if I were a kid again. I haven't been that consistently ready for action since Monica and I started dating. We just haven't had that kind of time since before Jack and Erica were born. Actually, we haven't made that kind of time, either. There's always an excuse, and sometimes a very valid reason, to not take time away together, but the last three days have proven that it's important that we're still us. We have to make sure that we remember that we're more than parents—we're two people who fell in love and that's important, too. Our kids are amazing and they're so much fun to be around, but…this matters, too. We may not be able to get away like this every year, but we can definitely let the kids stay with their grandparents for a few days at time once in a while.

"You ready to see our rugrats?" I finally ask, keeping my lips close to hers.

"Oh, my God, I miss our babies so much," she answers with a laugh, giving me another kiss before she sits back in her seat and buckles up once more. "I know the other day I said I wanted to stay in our hotel forever, but I feel a little lost without our kids."

I nod as I buckle up and pull back onto the road. "I know. I wonder what we missed while we were gone."

"Don't even mention that," Monica tells me. "They couldn't have done anything monumental while we were away, right?"

"Well, I think I heard Ross say he was going to teach them all how to drive."

She snorts and I give her a quick glance. "Yeah. Okay. Like I'd be worried about my brother teaching anyone to drive. Mr. Ten-And-Two, no distractions, don't drive faster than thirty-five no matter what you do? Hell, when it is time for our kids to learn, he'd probably be the one I'd take them to."

I chuckle a little in agreement. "I doubt anything major happened in the last few days. For the most part, they've all hit the major milestones for their ages."

Monica nods but remains silent; another glance at her shows me that she's on edge, looking as if she's trying to will the car to go faster. Now that we're so close to home, all fantasies of living child-free are long gone and my wife is eager to be a mother again.

We ride in relative quiet for the last leg our trip, and I feel myself start to get excited, too. I've really missed those little buggers. I miss tucking them in at night and I miss their hugs.

Monica perks up suddenly and pulls out her phone. "I'm texting Ross to let him know that we're almost there."

I grin as the outskirts of our neighborhood come into view, and it takes everything I have not to floor it to our street. Three days away didn't seem like enough time just this morning while I was lying in post-coital bliss with Monica, but now it feels much longer. I suddenly have images of my kids full-grown, as if they could have sprouted up overnight. I shudder at the thought. They need to stay little forever. They're so cute and innocent and perfect just as they are, and the thought of them growing up fills me with such sadness that I almost can't breathe. Even the little things we could have missed the last few days seem like too much, and it hits me—that's one of the biggest reasons we don't want leave our kids for any length of time. We don't want to miss a single moment with them. I know it's impossible, and I have to keep reminding myself that getting away from it all for a few day is actually essential.

I turn the car onto our street and force myself to keep it slow. Monica's nearly bouncing in her seat with anticipation. Finally—finally—our sweet little house comes into view, and I can't help but take a moment to soak it all in. Before Monica, owning a house seemed more like something grownups did, and I was nowhere near ready to be a grownup. After I started to seriously think about marrying Monica, I really started to think about all the implications of that, too. I knew she'd want a house and a family, and I knew that I wanted to give those things to her. I knew that having a place we could call "ours" that wasn't an apartment was something that no longer horrified me, but actually kind of excited me. Once I realized that I wanted those things, an entire life took shape in my mind, a future in which Monica and I had a bunch of kids and a lawn and somewhere to really put down roots. It took us a little longer than we thought, but we got there, and our house is perfect. It's the place we plan to grow old together in. It's an actual home.

Monica squeals with excitement as I pull into our driveway. The front door opens and Monica doesn't even wait for me to turn off the car before she rips off her seatbelt and dashes onto our front lawn. A moment later, the kids come spilling out of the house and I bite my lip as I watch the reunion from the driver's seat.

Monica drops to her knees and opens her arms, and our three little people barrel at her, their chorus of "Mommy!" audible even in a closed car. They throw themselves at her and she falls backward with the force of it, laughing the whole time. I see them shower her with kisses and she just wraps her arms around them tighter. The love they have for each other is unlike anything I've ever seen. It's love in its purest, basest form, and it makes me weak just to look at it.

Finally, I step out of the car and move around to the yard. The kids are too busy clambering for their mother's attention to notice me. I drop down onto the grass near them and wait, amused that they still don't know I'm there. "Hi, guys."

In tandem, three little faces pop up, grins spread from ear to ear. "Daddy!" They trample over Monica to reach me, their wiggly little bodies all trying to get the first hug in. Monica sits up and smiles at me, her eyes bright with tears, ecstatic to be home and in her element.

"I missed you little monkeys," I tell them, hugging them tight. My own eyes fill with tears and I kiss the top of their heads. I didn't realize just how much I missed them until I just this moment. I pull back and look at the three of them, and they do look different somehow. Maybe it's my imagination, but they seem older. "Did you get taller?"

"Daddy, I grew dis many," Jack tells me, holding his arms wide to show me.

"Daddy," Erica says, climbing off my lap. "I grew dis many an' dis many!" She holds out her arms and twirls around, laughing when she stumbles over her own feet and lands on the grass.

"I grew dis many an' dis many an' dis many!" Jack springs off my lap, jumping in the air.

"Daddy, I got big," William tells me quietly, his arms still wrapped around my neck. I look over his head to Monica, my heart clenching with the cuteness of it all.

"Since when do you use such big sentences?" I ask him, rubbing his back gently.

"Daddy, I a big kid."

"That you are," I say. "You definitely are." He is—our little William is much more grown up than I want him to be. It feels like overnight he's gone from this little peanut of a person who wouldn't stop crying to this sweet, sensitive little boy who nearly has full command of his faculties and can use big sentences even though he's not even two. "I love you, William," I whisper, and he burrows himself against me.

"You guys have fun?"

Monica and I look up to see Rachel next to us, Drew on her hip. Ross waves as he drags their kids' stuff out to the car they borrowed for the weekend. "It was great," Monica answers, standing to give our friend a hug and kiss. "It was just what we needed. Thank you so much for taking care of the kids for us."

"You've done the same for us," she answers, waving me away when I go to stand. "Spending time with five little kids was an adventure, I'll say that much. I definitely think Ross and I are now seriously considering that these two may be enough."

I grin, trying to shift William so that he can sit on my lap, but he's having none of it. "It's not for the faint of heart, I can promise you that."

Ross comes over, Emma in tow, and smiles sympathetically at William. "I don't think he cared much for the whole situation. He hasn't been fussy, but he was a lot quieter than normal."

"Did you miss Daddy, buddy?" He nods his head against my neck and I hug him tighter.

"Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!" the twins chorus simultaneously.

Monica reaches out and grabs their hands gently. "Hey. Did you say thank you to Uncle Ross and Aunt Rachel?"

Immediately, they turn to their family, beaming up at them happily. "Thank you, Unca Ross," Erica says. "Thank you, Aunt Rachel."

"Thank you," Jack exclaims, rushing forward to hug first Rachel's legs, then Ross's. Erica follows close behind.

"William, can you say thank you?"

He pops his head up, smiling brightly though still holding onto me fiercely. "Tank you."

"Emma," Rachel says, "give everyone hugs before we go."

"You guys don't have to rush off," I tell them as I give my niece a hug.

"We want to get back to town before it gets too late," Ross answers, stooping down to give Monica a hug before the twins scramble into her lap. "And I'm sure you want to spend some time with the kids. We'll see you guys later this week or early next."

"All right," she answers, giving Emma. "Seriously—thank you so much for this. We really, really appreciate it."

"You're completely welcome," Ross answers. "Just as long as I don't get any details, I'm good."

Rachel scoffs and rolls her eyes. "I totally want details, Mon."

Monica grins broadly, her face hiding nothing. "I'll call you tomorrow."

Ross and I groan simultaneously. "Monica!"

"She's my best friend, that's what happens. She gets details. You really shouldn't be so worried about it, honey. You always get a good report."

"You should definitely be proud of yourself, Chandler," Rachel adds with a wink, and Ross's face blanches.

"And on that note, we're off."

"We love you guys," Monica calls after them, and the twins lift their hands to wave goodbye.

"Love you," they call together, cuddling into their mother's lap.

"Love you," William says, finally dropping down to his knees to sit on my lap, and I wince when he hits my groin.

"It's a good thing we got it in over the weekend, honey, because I think the soldier might be out of commission." I pat William's chubby little leg and she nods in understanding.

"Well, we'll see. I might be able to…breathe some life back into him." My eyes go wide, but before I can respond, she smiles at the kids. "So what did you guys do?"

"Mama, we went to the park," Jack tells her.

"Oh, yeah? That sounds like fun. Did you have a good time?"

"Yeah," he answers, grabbing Monica's hand to play with her fingers.

"Me and Emma had a tea party," Erica says, beaming from ear to ear.

"Emma and I," Monica corrects. Erica blinks at her, baffled. "Don't give me that look; that's how you say it." She shrugs at me and kisses Erica's head.

"Emma and I had a tea party," Erica says suddenly. "With our dolls. Liam came, too."

I smile and rub William's belly. "Did you have fun, big guy?"

"Uh-huh," he answers, leaning forward to grab a handful of grass.

"And what was Jack doing during the tea party?" Monica asks.

"Me and Unca Ross played with rexi-saurs!" Monica opens her mouth to correct him, but he looks over at me. "Unca Ross and I?"

"You are a genius, little man," I tell him, holding out my hand for a high five. "What else happened?"

Monica smiles at me over the tops of their heads, and we both glance toward our house. The front door is wide open with only the screen door to protect it from the elements. We have luggage to bring in to the house, dinner to cook, laundry to wash, kids to bathe, but in this moment…none of it matters. The five of us sit on our front lawn, the spring sun low in the sky, for a long time.

And it's perfect.

*A/N…Just popping in to say hi. I haven't forgotten about this or you. I've been so wrapped up in writing a different story that I haven't let myself focus on much else, but I wanted to revisit their little life for a few moments. Again, not much happens, but it felt nice to write it anyway.

I had a big, long spiel about bullies and fake friends and people who make you think it's okay for them to be jerks because they're doing it under the guise of making you better equipped to handle the world, but sometimes…sometimes someone is just a jerk. Sometimes their compliments are backhanded, sometimes they feel threatened and want to bring you down to feel better about themselves, sometimes they're just sad little people who have nothing else in their lives. Most of the time, though, these people disguise themselves as your friends so they can be hard to recognize. But if someone says something to you that sticks with you and makes you feel horrible and question why you do what you do, then maybe that person isn't someone you need in your life. While it might kind of suck at first, a little bit of distance will help you to realize that they're actually quite toxic, and you're better without them, and those very things that they told you that made you doubt yourself are the very things they're jealous of. Don't let them bring you down, and don't let them get in your head.

That is all. Hope you enjoyed this little moment.