I gently stroke Jack's soft hair as Erica bangs a teething ring on the edge of her stroller, babbling happily. "She's chatty today," Chandler notes, sipping his coffee.
I shrug as I blow on my tea, trying to get it down to a decent temperature. "There's a lot going on around her right now. Obviously, she feels that we need a play-by-play."
"Hmm," is all he says, studying our daughter intently. "It's interesting that what she's saying right now makes more sense than the people reporting the actual news." Erica grins up at him, knowing that he's talking about her, the few teeth she has flashing brightly, and Chandler smiles back. "I know," he says to her. "My little girl is a genius."
She giggles at him and my heart feels like it could burst. Jack sighs, his head against my shoulder, his sweet baby smell intoxicating. I rub his back slowly, hoping he'll go down for a nap soon. All the people milling about interest him, but he usually likes to sleep better than almost anything.
I look across the table and smile at my husband, who just grins and winks at me, smug. He's always smug lately, most likely because I'm frequently lamenting about how much I love him and our life and that I'm over-the-moon happy. He seems pretty proud of himself about that one.
Overall, I can't blame him.
All of a sudden, the sweet baby smell is gone, replaced by a much fouler odor my son has proven more than capable of producing. My nose wrinkles inadvertently as I lift him away from me ever so slightly. "Your son has done something," I inform Chandler.
"It's fascinating how when they're all cute and cuddly, they're your kids, but as soon as gross bodily fluids are involved, they're mine."
"You're right—it is fascinating. Can't imagine why that would be," I tease. Jack giggles and I roll my eyes; like his father, he is endlessly amused by bodily functions. I go to stand up, ready to take Jack for his latest changing, when Chandler waves me away, already on his feet, taking the baby out of my arms.
"I've got him. Just hang out here and relax."
"You sure?"
He bends down and gives me a quick kiss. "Of course I'm sure." He tosses the diaper bag over one shoulder, then takes hold of the stroller with his free hand, placing his coffee cup in the holder attached to the handle. At my look, he says, "No sense taking one and not the other. They'll just make us run back and forth if we don't."
I smile as he walks off across the store, occasionally accosted by well-meaning people, usually women, fascinated by the twins. Part of me hates that I'm one of those people that's happy all the time, that there's always a smile on my face. But I can't help it—my life is absolutely wonderful.
I take in my surroundings for a moment and shake my head—Barnes & Noble. It's like Chandler and I have been domesticated by suburbia. Less than a year ago, we never would have thought about going to a big chain bookstore like this. Why would we, when New York has dozens of little bookstores everywhere you go? But after moving to Westchester and becoming parents, life inevitably changed. This is much closer than driving in to the city, and much more manageable with two babies.
I sigh and pull my book out of my purse, taking advantage of the temporary solitude. I don't get to do this as much as I used to. Though honestly, if given the choice between spending time with family or having time alone to read…I'll choose my family.
Doesn't mean I won't take a few minutes to myself when given the chance. And knowing the twins, Chandler could be gone for another fifteen, twenty minutes.
I sip my tea as I read, blissfully unaware of the world around me, the people chattering around me fading away.
"Monica?"
I blink slowly, still staring at my book, trying to get my brain to switch gears to the real world, when I hear my name again.
"Monica?"
I manage to lift my head this time, blinking my eyes rapidly to focus. "Richard?"
There he is before me, looking larger than life as he stands over me, smiling. "How are you?"
For a moment, I'm at a loss—of all the places he could be in the world, it's here. What are the odds?
Finally, I pull myself together. "I'm good. How are you?"
"Oh, not bad." He gestures to the chair across from me, asking for permission to sit. I give a little half shrug and suddenly he's right in front of me, still smiling.
"What brings you out here?" he asks.
"I live out here now."
"Really? In Westchester?"
"Is it really that hard to believe?"
"A little," he confesses. "I figured there was no way you'd ever leave Manhattan." I shrug a little, not really sure how to respond to that. I suppose there was a time in my life when I thought I'd live there forever, but that was a long time ago. Chandler and I talked about a place of our own for years before finally moving. "Your dad never mentioned it."
"I didn't know you two had spent any time together lately."
He looks thoughtful for a moment. "Yeah, I guess it's been a while. How long have you been out here?"
"A year in April." The conversation lulls for a moment before I take pity on him. "What're you up to now?"
"Well, I'm halfway retired; my son mostly runs things now. He finally got married, by the way, and has two little boys. I'm travelling a lot, going places and countries I've never been to before…"
I feel myself drift off as he talks, truly amazed at how little his life interests me. It's not that I despise him; he's just not a factor in my life. He really hasn't been for a long time; I'm so far removed from the person who was in love with this guy that it almost feels like it was a whole separate person.
"So what brought you out to the suburbs?" he asks, pulling me out of my reverie.
"Oh! Chandler and I—"
"Oh, you and Chandler, huh?" he interrupts.
"Yeah; you knew that we were dating."
"Sure, sure. I guess I didn't realize that you'd made it official."
I smile, my shoulders going up to my ears in a happy shrug. "Actually, we got engaged just after I last you."
"Has it been that long? When did you get married?"
"Four years in May."
He smiles at me softly. "Congratulations."
There's a look in his eyes that I can't quite identify—or rather, I'm not sure that I want to identify. I clear my throat and shift uncomfortably. "So, what about you? Are you seeing anyone? Have you gotten married again?"
He shrugs, leaning on the table between us. "Most people only get one great love in their life; I was lucky enough to have it twice. Asking for lightning to strike a third time would be a bit much, don't you think?"
I feel a tiny knot in my stomach form; it's not possible that he's still hung up on me, is it? Is that why he's looking at me that way?
I can't help but pity him a little; it's been almost a decade since we dated, and when it comes down to it, we weren't even together that long. I find it hard to believe that he would carry a torch for me for this long, but I suppose it's possible. After all, this is the man who decided, four years after we broke up and after I'd been with Chandler for two years, to come to me at work and tell me that he wanted a future with me.
My nose crinkles for a second—I'd almost forgotten about that. I guess it was meant to be some big, romantic gesture, but in hindsight, it was pretty arrogant to assume he could swoop in with a declaration of love and that I would fall in to his arms.
I just wish I wasn't getting the feeling that he's considering the same thing right now.
"Well, you never know," I say, fiddling with my cup of tea. "The right girl could be waiting for you around the corner."
Richard smiles fondly, leaning back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. "I think I might be too old to be looking for a girl."
"So maybe 'girl' isn't the right word; does 'dried-up spinster' sound better?" I mentally roll my eyes—I swear that comment went directly from Chandler's brain to my mouth.
He chuckles, his eyes taking me in. "You look good, Monica. Happy."
I can't help but grin, my thumb subconsciously going to rub my wedding bands, something I've noticed that I do when talking about my husband. "I am happy. Stupidly happy."
"Good for you. You deserve it," he tells me softly.
I swallow hard, trying to think of a way out of this awkward conversation when I see Chandler walking toward me, this time with Jack in the stroller and Erica on his hip. I can feel my entire being light up at the sight of them. He cocks an eyebrow at me and gestures to the back of Richard's head, curious as to who's with me.
"There are a couple of people I want you to meet," I say as I stand, moving over to my family. I place my hand near his on the stroller, a couple of my fingers resting on his, his own fingers playfully grabbing back and lean in to kiss Erica's head. I see Richard turn and, to Chandler's credit, there's only a slight muscle twitch in his cheek.
"Hey, Richard," he says, annoyance tingeing his voice. "What brings you here?"
"I was in the area, visiting family."
"And you wound up here." It's a statement more than a question; I slide my hand to his back, rubbing his shoulder blade gently.
"Small world, isn't it?" I swear I can hear just the slightest edge to Richard's voice.
I give the back of Chandler's shirt a little tug, hoping he'll keep still. Fortunately, Erica picks that moment to start chattering, making the two of us grin at her. "Richard, I want you to meet our twins—this is Erica, and that," I point down to my sleeping baby, pacifier and drool falling out of his mouth, "is Jack."
The smile Richard gives us is genuine as he extends a finger to my daughter, who grabs it enthusiastically. "Nice to meet you," he tells her as she grins.
"Careful," Chandler warns. "She's teething right now and will chew on anything. That finger is fair game."
Before he can respond, Erica has the finger stuffed in her mouth and I see her bite down hard. Richard winces, but manages to gently extract his hand. She lets out an indignant squawk, but Chandler deftly hands her a teething ring. "I've told you, sweet girl—people aren't food." She ignores him, chomping away happily.
"They're beautiful," Richard tells us, his hand reaching out again to stroke Erica's foot.
"I know," I answer, cocky because my children are completely beautiful.
"How old are they?"
"Nine months about a week ago. It's going by so fast."
"It really does." He looks at the twins carefully, and I can practically see the gears turning in his head. "I don't want to alarm you," he says slowly, "but they look nothing like either of you."
Chandler bursts out laughing. "That's probably because they're adopted."
"Oh! I just thought you wanted to…" his voice trails off, probably not sure where to go with that.
I just shrug. "We had a little trouble conceiving, so we adopted. They needed us, we needed them, so it worked out perfectly." I squat down next to Jack, fixing his pacifier, and realize Richard is shifting awkwardly from foot to foot, and I take pity on him, knowing that fertility issues can be a tricky subject. "It's okay. We're really very happy with the way things have turned out."
"I guess that would explain why you guys moved out here."
"Yeah," Chandler answers, smiling down at my happily. I stand up and lose my balance, grabbing on to his arm for support, instantly alarming him. "You okay?"
"Don't worry so much; I just stood up too fast. It happens."
"Excuse me for caring."
I give his arm a little nudge and notice Richard looking at us curiously. I look at Chandler expectantly, who rolls his eyes at me playfully. "Go ahead."
"What?" Richard asks. "Everything okay?"
"We haven't really told a whole lot of people yet," I tell him, unable to keep the grin off my face, "but I'm pregnant." I can feel Chandler bouncing with excitement next to me.
Richard looks pretty stunned. "I thought you just said you couldn't…"
"Not that we couldn't, just that we've had trouble with it. But we stopped thinking about it and here I am, all knocked up."
"Nice talk, honey," Chandler teases.
"Like you weren't the one to say it first."
"I guess congratulations are in order," Richard says, smiling at me, that odd look in his eye again. "That's terrific; I'm so happy for you. How far along are you?"
"About four and a half months," I answer, my hand immediately smoothing over my ever-so-slightly protruding stomach, a habit I've developed lately, probably to reassure myself that it's true. Chandler's taken to keeping his hand there, too, whenever possible.
Chandler shifts Erica from one hip to the other, putting his free arm around my shoulders, kissing my temple. "We're pretty excited."
That might be the biggest understatement ever uttered. Silence grows between the three of us for a few moments, Richard looking increasingly uncomfortable, until Erica flings her teething ring to the ground defiantly. Richard stoops to retrieve it, handing it to Chandler on the way up, who in turn wipes it off on his pants before handing it back to her.
"Well, I should get going," Richard says suddenly. "It was good to see you guys. And congratulations about everything." He gives Erica a little wave, then turns abruptly, walking away from us quickly.
"You okay?" I ask Chandler as Richard's head disappears into the crowd.
"Yeah," he scoffs. "But he's not. He's still totally in love with you."
"Yeah, I kinda got that vibe, too." I reach for Erica, who holds her arms out to me. She immediately lays her head on my shoulder and I rub her back. "Yeah, I thought you might be tired."
"So, he just showed up?"
I shrug, my body automatically swaying to help soothe my daughter. "I heard someone say my name and there he was. He sat down and chatted for a few minutes and it was mostly awkward and…weird."
"Gotta kind of feel bad for the guy, you know? All these years and he's still hung up on you; it's a little sad."
I look at Chandler suspiciously. "Where is this guy coming from? Where's the one who usually gets all crazy any time Richard's name is mentioned?"
"Considering we have two babies and one on the way, I don't feel the need to be jealous or insecure. I'm getting my happily ever after; life is pretty good."
I smile and crook my finger at him, grabbing his shirt when he gets close enough, capturing his lips in mine. "I love you."
"Easy there, Mon, or we'll wind up working on number four before number three has even hatched." I feel his hand gently, almost reverently, stroking my stomach and press my forehead against his. "Mind if I go grab another cup of over-priced coffee?"
"Not at all. Is she out?" I ask, releasing his shirt.
He peeks at our daughter and smiles. "Like a light. I don't know how you do that."
"It's a gift. I specialize in comfort food and comfort boobs."
"I'll second that." He gives me a quick kiss. "You want another tea or something?"
I wrinkle my nose in distaste. "I think I'm pretty much tea'd out. Coffee?" Caffeine deprivation has been the only downside to pregnancy, especially since I used to drink coffee all the time.
"Decaf?" he asks me, eyebrow raised.
"Fine."
"Be good," he tells me, walking over to the counter to get our drinks. I sit down carefully, trying not jostle Erica too much. I rest my foot against the stroller, pushing Jack back and forth gently, and watch Chandler say something to the kid at the counter, making him laugh.
Yeah. This life is pretty good.
*A/N….chalk this up to another experiment. This sort of came to me for no reason while at work but wouldn't leave me alone. So, presto. Also, I should note that I don't hate Richard; in a pre-Mondler world, I thought they were a cute couple. True; he shouldn't have basically offered Monica marriage and babies when he knew about Chandler, but still…don't hate the guy.
So…thoughts?