"So you're OK that she's still living at Joey's?" Chandler asked.

"I don't know," Ross said, sighing heavily. "I mean, what choice do I have, really?"

Chandler nodded. He and Ross were having a drink at a bar next to the "Days" studio waiting for Joey to finished shooting his last scene so they could have dinner together.

Ross really wasn't upset that Rachel was living with Joey, he was upset she was having his baby and not living with him.

Chandler shook his head and sipped his beer as Ross continued to complain about Rachel's living arrangement, his current girlfriend Mona, his life in general.

Monica had been completely right - the minute they stepped off the plane in New York it seemed their friends' dilemmas had become their own.

He was so happy, for a lot of reasons, that everything they went through on their honeymoon - the terrible and the terrific - had stayed between them.

They'd learned a long time ago that involving everyone else just made things a whole lot more complicated - case-in-point being the latest installment of the Ross and Rachel saga.

Chandler loved his friends, he really did, but he thought those two had lost a common sense gene somewhere along the line.

"You know what I mean?" Ross said.

Chandler feigned rapt attention, trying to recall anything, anything at all that Ross had just said.

"Yes, yes, of course," he said, emphatically. "I don't know how you'd…see it any other way!"

"Thank you," Ross said with a little nod.

Chandler looked at him wide-eyed, not having any idea what he had just agreed to as Joey walked up to them.

"Hey," Joey said, taking a seat next to Chandler at the bar and picking up a beer list, motioning for the bartender "A Stella, please."

Then he turned to the guys.

"So, Rachel, what is up with that?"

Ross and Chandler just looked at him, confusion written on their faces.

"Are you just…throwing out women's names now, or…?" Chandler asked.

"What about Rachel?" Ross asked in a tone clearly meant to be casual, though it wasn't.

"All the hormones," Joey said, gesturing with his hands. "Who knew pregnant women could be so horny?"

"What?!" Chandler exclaimed.

"See," Ross whined to Chandler, "this is what I'm missing."

Chandler crossed his arms over the bar and laid his head down, exasperated.

###

"You know what we haven't done in a long time?" Rachel said, clapping her hands excitedly. "Told our best sex stories!"

Monica rolled her eyes. They were sitting in her living room having a mini girls night, pizza and all, while the guys were out.

"Rachel, I finally gave up Evander Holyfield for you a couple days ago, wasn't that enough?" Phoebe said, with a giggle.

"No!" Rachel said, exasperated. "I've read all of Monica's mother-in-law's books, I've 'had' Evander. I'm going crazy here! I need more, please. Come on, help me!"

"OK, OK," Phoebe said. "But it's a lot of pressure on me, OK? I'm the only one that has new material. I mean we know Monica's best sex was London and we've heard that story already. Though … it is a pretty unbelievable story…"

"Ouuu, yeah, I could definitely hear that again," Rachel said with glee, expectantly looking at Monica. "Come on, Mon..."

"It's Chandler," Monica said, sighing, squirming a bit in her seat. "It doesn't make you a little uncomfortable that I can tell you a sex story and you see my husband every day?"

"Oh, I can substitute any face for a hot story," Rachel said, with a wave of her hand.

Phoebe nodded. "Besides, it was years ago - so tell us about your best sex with Chandler."

Monica hesitated, giving her friends a pensive look. Chandler was the best sex she'd ever had. Period. But the best they'd ever had wasn't in London, as mind-blowing and life-altering as that had been.

They'd had a lot of great sex, but every time she thought about the raw passion on the beach in the trees on their honeymoon she got hornier than hell.

Truthfully she was dying to talk about it, because it was, without a doubt, un-fucking-believable.

And it was Chandler, and he was hers, and, well, that would mean she won.

A smug expression came over her face.

They'd promised to keep their "Cocoon in Cancun," but she was pretty sure making him sound like a sex god to her girlfriends wouldn't hurt his ego one bit.

"Um…well," she started, not exactly sure where to begin.

"Mon, you've told this story before," Rachel said, becoming impatient.

"Or have you?" Phoebe said slowly, sensing that there was a new story to hear. "You have a better sex story, don't you?!"

"Ohhh…" Rachel said. "Tell, tell please!"

Monica smiled and started to blush furiously.

"Well…there was this band on the beach in Cancun, and a fire pit," she started. "They did an acoustic version of 'In Your Eyes'…"

"I love that song," Rachel said, her eyes bright.

"Chandler pulled me into the crowd and we started to…dance…very…slowly," Monica said softly, looking at Phoebe and Rachel. They were practically breathless with anticipation.

"And I…we kept…touching…" Monica felt herself turn beet red as she continued, her friends on the edge of their seats.

###

"That's what she said," Joey said as the guys made the last turn on the landing to Joey and Rachel's apartment, as the subject came back to his roommate's sex drive.

"One great night, huh?" Ross pondered as Joey opened the door and they walked in. "Like, maybe, a bonus night…"

Chandler let out a heavy sigh.

"Your last bonus night is gonna last you 18 years!" he said, throwing his hands in the air. "And besides, ya know, there's, oh, I don't know…Mona?"

"Dammit!" Ross exclaimed.

"Joey, what are you doing in Rachel's room?" Chandler asked.

God, they were driving him crazy tonight.

"Phoebe gave her this to borrow," he said, walking out with the life-sized cardboard cutout of Evander Holyfield.

"Oh dear Lord," Chandler gasped, cocking his head to one side.

Ross looked at Evander, dumbfounded.

"Yeah…" he said, slowly backing away. "Yeah, I think I'm good…"

Chandler and Joey bobbed their heads in agreement.

###

"…and then we walked back to the resort," Monica finished, completely worked up now. She checked her watch. He couldn't get home fast enough.

Phoebe's mouth was agape. She was staring at Monica in complete disbelief.

"Chandler?" she said. "Chandler? Ripping off your thong? Against…against a…tree…in the middle of the beach?!"

"Uh-huh," Monica nodded, smiling like a Cheshire cat.

Rachel was breathing heavy and her mind was spinning. She looked at her friend.

"I'm…I think I'm all set for the pregnancy now," she glanced at Monica, a look of complete awe on her face. "You are…damn…damn!…so damn lucky! Chandler…shit…"

"What?" he asked as he entered the apartment and closed the door behind him. "'Chandler…shit,' what?"

Monica's face broke into a wide smile. Phoebe had a smirk on hers as she stood up. Rachel raked her eyes over him, a look he didn't really recognize on her face.

"What did I do now?" he asked, confused, putting his hands on his hips.

"Nothing, nothing," Phoebe said, quickly walking over to him and winking at him. "We were just leaving. Rachel?"

Rachel stood slowly and smoothed down her maternity shirt. Chandler thought she looked a little upset.

"You OK, Rach?" he asked, moving toward her.

She backed away instantly.

"Yeah, fine, perfectly fine," she said quickly, as she cleared her throat, not meeting his eyes. Then she mumbled to herself, "I gotta have your picture somewhere…"

"What?" he asked.

"No, nothing! Hormones…" she grumbled as she brushed past him and Phoebe and walked into the hall, throwing a "bye, Mon" over her shoulder.

"OK…" Phoebe said slowly, moving out the door. "We'll see you two later."

She smirked at Chandler, "way to go, tiger…" she whispered and closed the door behind her.

"What the hell was that all about?"

Monica giggled and pulled him to her, locking him into a passionate kiss.

"I may have just told them a little story about sex on the beach," she said, when their kiss broke.

"Really?!" he grinned. "Which one?"

"Trees…"

"Hummm…" he said raising his eyebrows and pecking her lips. "And why?"

"Rachel's horny," she grinned.

"Ah, yes, so I've heard," he smiled. "Wait…so, let me get this straight. You told your best friend a sex story about your husband to get her all fired up?"

"Yep…"

He smirked at her and pulled her closer.

"That's kinda hot," he murmured. "And kinda mean…"

"I know!" she smiled triumphantly. "Backfired a little though. Now I'm all horny, too."

"Oh, yeah?" he whispered, pulling her toward their bedroom. "I can help you with that."

"Um humm," she moaned into his mouth as she backed them into their bedroom, kissing him all the way.

Chandler came up for air.

"Honeymoon's not over yet, huh?" he grinned, kissing her again.

"Oh no, no, no," she whispered, just before closing their bedroom door with her foot. "Not by a long shot…"

THE END.

NOTE: There's this scene in TOW Rachel is Late when Monica offers up Chandler to speed the labor process along. For a split second it looks like Rachel is contemplating taking Monica up on her offer and, in my mind, the "tree" story is the reason why. :) Many, many thanks for all your reviews.

On a personal note (and really, aren't these stories all rather personal?), I am going on hiatus for an undetermined amount of time. I hope to come back to writing Mondler, but it won't be for a while. My job & volunteer responsibilities have increased and that, along with my kids' more active schedules (I have a daughter, almost 10, and a son, 7), my own "Chandler" and a house & dog to keep going, will make it pretty hard to write these stories (esp. the multi-chapters) like I want to - and I wanted to keep this as pure pleasure for me and not pressure myself.

I wrote my first Mondler fanfic - TOW The Blue Shirt - in February of this year - a time in my life when I really, really needed to find my way back to writing again. I can't begin to describe how much joy I've gotten from being a part of this world and this fandom. And the women I've gotten to "know" on this site and via Twitter hold a very special place in my heart, as do the loyal reviewers of my stories. It means the absolute world to a writer when someone takes the time to appreciate the work.

I'll still be around on Twitter, and I will forever love our favorite couple and all the amazing stories about them on this site.

And, Lord help me, I may have to carve out an hour or two and throw a one-shot up once in a while ;)

But, truly, thank you from the very bottom of my heart - and God Bless…

Kel (OldMondlerLover)