She'd had an idea where to find Chandler, but when it turned out he was indeed standing before the window of the nursery station and looking at the babies she felt as if her world had turned upside down. Completely knocked for a loop. Flummoxed. Actually there didn't seem to be a word that would describe adequately enough what she was feeling.

Chandler looking at babies. Oh god, now he even crooked his finger, winking at them and smiling …

Chandler. Looking at babies.

Chandler, her husband, being okay with trying to get pregnant. With having a baby.

It was just too much to take.

He actually thought they were ready. Ready to have a baby, a family, to raise a kid. While she herself, all of a sudden, she didn't think so anymore. It was too much. Too huge. To realize so abruptly that the waiting was over, that they had actually arrived at what they'd set out for, and just like that too, without any fanfare and ado, like a ship quietly docking after a long, long voyage across the ocean – it just couldn't be.

Four years, it had taken them four years to get to this point. Four years of patience, of baby steps, gaining ground in inches, of ceaselessly working on their relationship, maintaining it, strengthening it, learning to accept and tolerate each other's weaknesses and peculiarities, drawing strength from each other and supporting each other in everything. She had gotten so used to it all, the endless adapting and adjusting as they prepared for their roles as parents and heads of a family that at some point she had somehow quite lost sight of the ultimate goal, simply carrying on blindly, completely lost in the routine of covering ground and just thinking about the path to the final destination instead of what lay beyond. So much actually that she'd been able to joke about suddenly wanting a baby, expecting outright shock and freak-out, and getting the shock of her life herself when Chandler had so calmly agreed instead.

It had to be a joke. Yeah, that was it, one of his endless stupid jokes. That was the only reasonable explanation. It was Chandler. How in the world could he be ready for something that she herself suddenly felt so unprepared for? So – not ready?

"Oh good God! If you want a baby so bad just go steal it!" That came out more scathing and aggressive than she'd wanted it to. And, oh god, she hadn't noticed that nurse who of course had heard her and now was staring at them in alarm …

Fortunately Chandler came to her rescue, as always.

"Oh, don't worry! These babies are far too ugly for us." And with that he drew her away to a safe distance. She dimly noticed that they were now standing right below that corny pictograph of the stork holding the bundle with a baby in his beak. It seemed eerily perfect, too good to be true actually.

"What is going on with you? Since when are you so crazy about babies?"

Aw, there was that slow wide smile of his that always made her feel as if her heart would twist out of her chest.

"I'm not crazy about babies. I'm crazy about us."

"What?"

"Look, we've always talked about having babies someday. I'm not saying it has to be right now, but I'm starting to think that we can handle it. We're good. We're really good."

It fairly took her breath away. Yes, they had talked about it, kept mentioning it, but always in a vague, noncommittal way that deferred it to an indefinite point in the future so it wouldn't get too real. Too imminent and thus too scary. And now they had arrived at that point? Now they were good and ready?

And yet, why on earth not?

"We are pretty good," she acceded cautiously and he grew serious again.

"But nothing has to happen until you're ready."

Monica took a deep breath, feeling more comfortable with the completely new prospect by the moment. Like a duckling trying the water for the first time and finding that it felt – quite nice. Actually more than nice. It felt right.

"Well, maybe I'm ready now. I mean, it's a little scary, but maybe it's right."

Suddenly Chandler's eyes bulged in terror. "What?! It's not right! We're not ready to have a kid now!"

"What?!"

And then he grinned again cheerfully. "I'm kidding. This is going to be fun."

It made her want to kick him, but long habit enabled her to take this in her stride and let it go. This was more important.

"So we're gonna try? I mean, are we trying?"

Again that sweet smile as he took her into his arms. "We're trying to get pregnant...!" When their lips met, her heartrate accelerated like crazy, letting her heart beat so loud she was sure he had to hear it. And she realized that it had been some time since their kissing had done this to her. Way too long a time and when Chandler broke the kiss off just as they got going, she wanted to kick him again.

"Y'know I'm not really comfortable doing this in front of the babies..." But his next words disarmed her completely again. "So, when do you want to start trying?"

"Okay, hold on a sec." She'd always hated counting and calculating, but sternly called that part of her brain that was starting to grumble to order. This was too important. This had to count. Even if it meant actual counting and that she had to use her fingers.

"Period math?" Chandler asked and nodded when she agreed absently, caught up in counting. Could it really be? She would have preferred to double check with her calendar, but actually … yes, actually she was quite sure. She remembered distinctly that she'd gone on her period on Friday two weeks ago and she'd planned to go off condoms on Monday. Today was Thursday which made it 14 days …

"Well, we could start trying ... Now." As if it was meant to be. Could it really be that easy? After all that time, so – fast and simple?

"Right here?" Chandler wrinkled his nose.

"No, not here!" The very idea. The days when they'd had sex at the drop of a hat, all the time and practically everywhere, were long past. But wait. This was a completely new situation. This wasn't about having sex just to have sex. The longer she thought about it the more sense did it make. "Maybe here…!"

Chandler got there even before her. "Wait a minute, it's perfect. We got a lot of time to kill and we're in a building that's full of beds!"

"And it's so clean!" she enthused, throwing her arm around his waist as they turned as one and rushed off to look for a room. Or just a bed. Or anything where they could do it. She wanted to concentrate, focus on that, but found that she couldn't. She still had to get used to the idea that in a few hours she might get pregnant.

Pregnant. With a child. A human being that would form and grow inside her body. A person. A boy or a girl. (Daniel or Emma her mind silently whispered.) Part Chandler, part her. The very idea made her skin crawl and break out in goosebumps. She even fancied feeling her uterus twitching in anticipation. How would it feel? She simply couldn't even begin to imagine it. But then there would be time enough to think about it once the deed was done. Right now they needed to focus on more practical matters. Like how to find an empty room when Rachel had already had been forced to settle for a semi private labor room earlier. Oh, right, Rachel, who was having her baby right now as they were going to try to give it a little cousin that maybe, if they were lucky, would arrive when she was nine months old. How wonderful was that?

.

But three hours and two failed attempts later they were back with the others as they all gathered around Rachel's bed to welcome the newest member of the group, still shy of arriving at their goal to have sex right there while they were still in the hospital. They had actually managed to find not one but two empty hospital rooms, but were interrupted both times before they'd even had a chance to get going, first when an indignant nurse had walked in on them and then when Janice's braying laughter from the next room had killed the mood with no chance of revival. On the whole it had been terribly frustrating and disheartening, but Monica was still as determined as ever. If anything, those failed attempts even served to spur her on. Somehow the idea to have their child conceived on the same day Rachel's baby was born and in the same place had become an obsession with her. And there was still time, it would be hours still before they could leave for home. Even if everything was conspiring against them to keep them from having sex, she would see to it that it would get done, and today too, and also as soon as possible. After all, as long as Chandler was game, there was nothing that could stop them, was there? Not even from doing it more than once.

Except right now, something actually had come up that was important enough to justify a brief time-out.

"Oh my God! She's amazing. Oh, I'm so glad you guys got drunk and had sex!"

Not until the very moment when she took the tiny little bundle that was her brand-new niece from Rachel and held it in her arms Monica felt the truth truly hit home. Rachel had her baby. After all that waiting and suffering, all those complaints and frustrations, the endless labor and the exhausting birth-giving (with breech presentation on top) the baby had finally deigned to come into the world and join them, and in one gorgeous, breath-taking piece too. She was so warm, and breathing tiny little baby breaths, her eyes tightly shut, her small lovely face quite still with only the tiny rosy mouth moving a bit now and then. Ross and Rachel's baby girl.

All at once she was wildly determined to have one exactly like this too if it was possible, although she would settle for anything really. Just as long as it was a baby.

And the most amazing thing about it all was that it was really, definitely, going to happen. She and Chandler had just now started trying to get pregnant. For real.

"It's incredible, I mean one minute she's inside you and then 47 hours later here she is …" Chandler mused from across Rachel's bed. After four years together she was able to hear the wonder and emotion under the gentle sarcasm.

Then she had to release the baby to Joey who handled her as if she was made of glass.
"She looks so real! You know what I mean! She's this whole tiny little person." Monica had to admit that this expressed it maybe best of all. "She already has eyelashes and knees and…uh-oh."

"What?" Rachel looked almost freaked.

"Oh no-no, no for I second there I counted six fingers, but one was from the other hand so we're good." Joey grinned sheepishly as he handed the baby to Phoebe.

"Okay, my turn. My turn. Oh! You're so cute! Oh, I could squeeze your little head!" When everyone glared at her she tried to smile reassuringly. "I won't!"

Then Rachel started to cry again, weeping in that soft gentle way that would take hours or even days to subside, and that made her own eyes mist over in sympathy.

"What's the matter?" Oh lord, please no postnatal depression. She didn't think Ross would be up for that. Or any of them for that matter. Cranky, angry and frustrated pre-birth Rachel had become almost impossible to bear. And she'd made her lose so much money too with all those bets.

"Oh nothing I… Sorry, I just can't stop crying."

"The doctor says it's completely normal with all the hormones. Plus, you-you're sleep deprived." Ross of course spoke with the vast experience of a father of two who had seen it all before.

"So? You guys are all sleep deprived." Rachel wailed. "I don't see you weeping because you put your slippers on the wrong feet. Oh God."

"What's the matter now?" Of course Joey was totally out of his depth. Putting slippers on the wrong feet was almost normal for him.

"I was reliving it!" It was so heartbreaking that Phoebe spontaneously handed the baby back to Rachel. Monica felt a slight pang that Chandler hadn't gotten a chance to hold her, but he seemed quite content to just look on. And she had definitely noticed that his smile had turned quite tender when he'd looked at the baby in Phoebe's arms. And it was him who now voiced the million dollar question.

"So, do you know what you're gonna call her yet?"

"Oh, wait a minute it's not gonna be Baby Girl?" Phoebe pouted. "I thought that was so original!"

Ross cleared his throat. "Uh actually, we've narrowed it down to two names."

"Yeah, and y'know what? I love them both, so why don't you just pick one and that'll be it." For a moment Monica was almost as stunned as her brother by this gesture, but then she realized that Rachel was probably just tired out. Ross though immediately swelled with pride and self-importance.

"Wow! Umm, okay uh, everyone: this…is Isabella."

As they all repeated the name in near awe, Rachel started to cry once more.

"That's not her name! I'm sorry, she just doesn't feel like an Isabella."

Monica couldn't but agree. Isabella Geller? A tongue twister at best. Isabella Green? Hardly better.

"So then I guess Ferdinand is out." Of course Chandler had to add his two cents, even if nobody seemed to even hear it.

"What was the other one Ross?"

"Umm, Delilah." Now even Ross sounded uncertain. Rachel just looked plain disgusted.

"Oh great! Suddenly she sounds like a biblical whore."

Ross sighed. "So I guess we're back to uh, Baby Girl."

"Yay!" At least Phoebe was happy.

"Well what are we going to do?" Typical. How many names had they tried? How had they not managed to think of a name in all that time? She'd always found it easy to think of names, even enjoyable. But maybe it was harder for some people.

"It's okay honey, you'll find a name."

Ross scoffed. "Ugh, easy for you to say, you already know what your kids' names are going to be."

"You do?" When Chandler seemed genuinely surprised she realized suddenly that she had indeed never really shared her dreams and plans of a future where she had a family and kids with him. Just the general idea, the concept that she'd kept vague and removed to an indefinite point in the future out of fear that anything more concrete would freak him out. Would evoke all those stupid anxieties that he wouldn't be able to deal with it, would fail to meet the challenge of it all.

Which was why her shock had been so great when a few hours ago it had turned out that he felt ready to have a baby. Actually she still couldn't quite believe it.

"Yeah, I've had them picked out since I was fourteen." She had started long before that really, but at fourteen she'd finally been able to decide on her all-time favorites. And stick to them too.

"Oh no, it's gonna be named after some snack or baked good isn't it?" She knew Chandler was only teasing, but it still stung. Especially since Candy had been one of her earliest choices.

"Well tell us! What are they?" As Rachel looked eagerly, she started to realize her dilemma, but there was no turning back.

"Umm, okay. If it's a boy it's Daniel."

"And if it's a girl?"

Monica almost squirmed. "I don't want to say."

"Oh, just tell us! We're not gonna want it!" If she tried to sound reassuring, Rachel failed miserably. As if anybody could not, would not want that name. For a long moment Monica hesitated, trying to stall and then relented when they all looked at her in silent appeal. Especially Rachel who even seemed to hold her breath. For a fleeting moment she remembered how she had tried to tell her about those names when they had both been fourteen, but given up when Rachel had not been interested at all. Was this actually the chance to get back at her?

"Okay. It's Emma."

"Emma!" Rachel gasped as she looked at her baby, her face screwing up in fresh misery. "See? I don't want it. Do you have any other totally perfect names you're not going to use?"

For a long moment Monica felt close to despair. What if her own baby girl would be conceived today – or sometime soon anyway – and not have the perfect name already waiting for her? How would she feel if it was already taken?

And how would she feel if she denied Rachel's baby – her niece! – that name and had to watch her grow up with a name that wasn't right for her? And it was right for her, that much she'd already realized, in the few moments when she'd uttered the name out loud and felt it immediately attach itself to the baby.

"Take it," she said softly. After all, her own baby could still be a boy …

"What?" Rachel stared at her unbelieving as the others held their breath.

"It's clearly an Emma." Monica explained. Already she couldn't imagine another name for her.

"Oh honey, but you love that name." Yes, she did. But she'd also realized that she hadn't really given it away. It belonged to her niece, her own flesh and blood, making the dream of her fourteen-year-old self at least partly true.

What was more, her fourteen-year-old self couldn't have foreseen that the baby marked for that name would be so long in coming, and that its father would by then no longer be a nameless faceless sperm donator, but a husband she loved and shared her life with, and who was going to have a say too in the choice of the name. It was a completely different life from the one she had so fondly imagined as a kid, a life where the old names and dreams no longer had a place in, and thus could be donated to someone who really needed them.

"Yeah, but I love you more." Now Ross gratefully hugged her to him, beaming with happiness. "Besides, you know, nothing goes with Bing, so I'm screwed." Chandler just grinned wryly at that. He had probably realized that she was just trying to gloss over her gesture to keep them all from bursting into tears.

But when Rachel handed her the baby and she was holding the soft warm tiny body in her arms again, she couldn't hold back her own tears any longer. Not that it mattered.

"Oh, hi Emma. Yeah, that's you. You're our little Emma." Now that it was official, it was hard to imagine her with another name. Suddenly she knew that once she had her own baby, the name would take care of itself. Even if it was a girl too. And it would be even more perfect. Speaking of which -

"Oh what's that honey? What? Oh, you want a little cousin?" She shot a challenging look at her husband who was watching her with an almost indulgent smile. "You want a cousin right now?!"

"Do I look like a giant sperm to all of you, or...?" Chandler protested good-naturedly.

Phoebe looked him up and down. "If you put it that way …"

Chandler just rolled his eyes and crossed over to Monica to stand beside her. When he smiled at her and then made faces at the baby, everybody involuntarily oohed.

"Aw, is it true? You two are going to try for a baby?" Ross now had about the silliest smile she had ever seen from him plastered on his face.

Chandler snorted. "Yeah, but we are actually going to mail-order it." As he grinned at the others, Monica felt his arm tightening around her, his hand cupping her hip. "What? It's so much less work!"

.

"Um, are you really sure you want to do it in there?" Chandler wrinkled his nose as he peeked into the janitorial closet.

She wasn't, not really, but she also wasn't going to forego what could be their last chance. "I am sure I don't want to waste any more time looking for a room. This is fine! Nobody'll think of looking for us in there!"

"It's full of cleaning supplies, of course they'll check here first when they look for you!" Nevertheless he opened the door and ushered her in after checking that nobody was looking their way. Then he squeezed in after her and promptly stumbled over a broom. "Ouch … of all the … I guess we'll have to do it standing up then."

"Were you actually hoping you could lie down in here?" As soon as the words were out Monica already regretted them. "Never mind. We'll manage. It'll be fun! Hey, remember when we did it in the closet in the Perk?"

"I just thought of that too. Of how it had so much more room –" the rest was cut off when she urgently threw her arms around him and pressed her mouth on his, well aware that it was about the only way to shut him up. It worked too, as she'd known it would. His arms tightened around her as he kissed her back, getting more passionate with each moment. She pressed hard against the length of him, digging her fingers into his red flannel shirt and tried to lose herself in the feel of him, his warmth, his scent – a bit more intense than usual since, like her, he'd hadn't had a chance to change in almost 40 hours, let alone take a shower. Somehow it even seemed to heighten her desire, and when she slid her hands under the shirt and pushed up his t-shirt at his waist to rub over the skin of his back, she felt as if her body was already molding itself against his, adapting itself to his shape, opening up and inviting him in …

But as soon as Chandler tried to press her against the wall they found there wasn't enough room, even after he'd kicked a couple of brooms out of the way. The shelves with all the bottles of soap and detergents were hanging just too low and were too tightly stacked. The other wall was mostly taken up by a big sink which she absolutely had no desire to test if it held her weight. Let alone his.

Then Chandler bent over to check out a cupboard. "Wait a sec – here! Got it!" Then he straightened again, dragging a large bucket out and setting it on end. "See? You sit on that and I'll do you like this – " his gestures left little to the imagination. Monica felt a little sceptic at first, but when he pushed down his pants and knelt on the floor before the bucket, her sense of adventure returned with a vengeance and she hurriedly tore out of her pants and underwear too, thankful that her jeans were rather wide and loose fitting and thus easy to get out of. After some shuffling and squirming about they found that it worked best if she braced herself with her back against the wall and wrapped her legs around him while he knelt before the bucket, her pants under her as makeshift cushion. And then at long last, finally, they set about doing it in earnest. Her heart beating wildly she held on to his shoulders while he held her to him with his arms around her waist and buttocks as they kept kissing and pressing against each other. They had both kept their shirts on, but now his hand slowly pushed up her back, his fingertips sliding under the straps of her bra, finding and teasing her nipples one after the other while his erection continued to build up under her crotch, teasing at her labia. She felt the muscles in his abdomen twitch under her belly and as she closed her eyes she sensed more than heard his heart beat and vibrate deep in his chest where it pressed against hers. When they kissed again their tongues met and twisted, caressing each other. All at once the familiar tingling sensation rolled through her, loosening her up and letting her spread out, inviting him in, all but sucking him up inside her. He gasped against her mouth when he felt himself sliding in so quickly and effortlessly, and bracing himself he slowly started to thrust into her, gently and experimentally at first, then getting faster and more urgent with each movement, working towards the climax, the release of the sperm. The sperm that would enter her uterus, searching and – hopefully – finding her egg, join with it … and that was actually happening now. Now. Now they were doing it. They were making a baby. It was happening, and it was happening now, right now … It made her want to scream, yell her exhilaration with each thrust for everyone to hear. As if he sensed this his mouth closed on hers just in time to stifle her scream when her orgasm rushed through her, letting her stiffen and tighten against him and getting the bucket to wobble under her until Chandler stopped it with his knees. Just as she started to relax again she felt him straightening slightly, pushing hard against and up into her and groaning deeply when his climax hit. It made her clamp her legs around him in wild abandon, for all the world as if she wanted to squeeze the last drop out of him, squeeze him dry, and she didn't let up even when he was done and slumped against her, trying to hold him inside her as long as possible. For some time they kept like that, panting almost in unison as they held each other tight, until their breath rates calmed down and she felt him slowly sliding out of her, limp and spent. Almost immediately a small part of her brain that was somehow still rational in spite of all the hormones wreaking havoc inside her started to worry that it would not be enough, that one time alone wasn't guaranteed to work, that it needed back-up. A lot of it. But for now it would have to do.

Still panting Chandler sat back and slowly got up, wincing when his knees cracked audibly. He helped her up and they got back into their clothes as quickly as possible, not wanting to spend any more time in the closet than necessary. When they were ready, Chandler shoved the bucket back under the sink and they left the closet, furtively checking if anybody was around to see them and then leaning back against the door after closing it behind them, sighing in unison.

"That was amazing." Chandler even had his eyes closed in post-coital content. While she herself felt quite refreshed and energized instead, she knew he would slide down further into full lethargy if she didn't manage to rouse him again soon.

"I know. Hey, do you realize we may have just changed our lives forever? We may have just started a family. Nine months from now we can be here, having our own baby!" The very idea was almost intoxicating. Nine months! The baby would be born in May, and how great was that?

"And if not, we got to do it on a bucket." Chandler commented dryly. Monica turned to hug him to her and get him to share in her joy.

"I love you so much."

That at least got him to perk up again and he grinned in delight as they kissed. "Oh, yeah?" The kiss deepened and she felt herself stirring again immediately. It would be so – satisfying too if they could go for another round, like they usually did to round things off. Of course, they usually did that at home in their bed, with all the time they wanted and in complete privacy, but still, how great would it be if they could maintain their standard here and now too, even with the added stress of doing it in a closet at a public place?

"Hey? You wanna do it again? This time just for us?" Suddenly she felt that it really needed to be just for them, if only to further establish that they were doing this as a couple. That they were together in this.

Chandler frowned as he considered, his face mirroring his internal conflict as his post-coital torpor was struggling against his ever present libido.

"Probably…" he conceded at last and almost jubilantly she drew him back into the closet.

.

When they emerged from the closet for the second time she felt as if she was almost floating with happiness. They had done it again, Chandler had left another batch of his precious sperm in her, sperm that just couldn't fail to fertilize her as it swam through her uterus and up her fallopian tubes, finding and burrowing into her egg. And yet she still felt as if she couldn't get enough, as if they'd just only got going. They couldn't leave the hospital anyway, since her father and Rachel's parents were due to arrive any minute, so they had plenty of time left. She really felt like she was on a ride now, just getting into her stride.

And the more time passed, the more excited – and hornier – she got. Everything that was happening to the others – her father managing to put his foot in at the rate of at least once per minute, Phoebe obsessing over her latest conquest, her mother avoiding her, even that whole confusion between Rachel, Ross and Joey couldn't distract her for long. Her thoughts kept returning to sex. Sex with Chandler, doing it with him, over and over again, like rabbits. The way they had kept doing it after their return from London, going for it wherever and whenever they had a chance. When she spied him on his own at last after Joey had finally left, she couldn't hold back any longer. He looked so cute in that lose red-checkered shirt, pleasantly disheveled without appearing too scruffy, just boyish enough to be sexy, but not overly so. Just right. She wondered if once they were in the closet again she could get him to do her from behind while she bent over the sink or the bucket if she had to. Or maybe he could lie on the floor half propped up against the wall and she could sit on him, ride him … All those fantasies almost made her swoon as she wrapped her arms around him from behind.

"I want a baby!"

For a split second she thought she'd startled or even scared him off, but he just sighed resignedly.

"Honey, we've been over this." And with that he turned around and smiled at her wryly. "I need to face the other way."

Now that they were so close again, his arms holding her, she just couldn't wait any longer. "Come on! Come on, if we have sex again it'll double our chances of getting pregnant. Do you think that closet's still available?"

Chandler of course had to put on a great show of feigning exhaustion, even wailing "I'm so tired..!", so she started to kiss him urgently, until he gave in. "Yeah okay, but no foreplay!"

"Deal!"

.

.

It had been almost two days since they'd slept last, more than a day and a half that had been spent at the hospital, and the waiting time filled with excitement and joy, with never a dull moment. The arrival of her niece in this world, all the confusion about who had or hadn't proposed to Rachel, Janice scaring the living daylights of them all with her infamous laugh and that unbelievable nose of her newborn son, her own father of all people catching them in the closet – it was enough, more than enough actually to let anybody drop into their bed in total exhaustion as soon as they'd finally made it back home. Fall into their bed like a felled ox and never move so much as a fingertip for the next 8, no 12 hours … That's what they had done earlier that night, when all the hue and cry at the hospital had finally been over and they finally got a chance to get some rest. At least that had been the plan. To finally get some rest. Wrap up that wonderful, unforgettable day and lay it to rest.

Except she couldn't. It was maddening and totally inexplicable, but as tired as she was, with utter exhaustion weighing down on her, she just couldn't go to sleep.

And neither could Chandler. She could tell by the way he kept shifting and then forcing himself to lie still again and breathe regularly that he was still awake, like her. She just knew.

Her poor husband, he who had actually initiated this new phase in their relationship and who had to be even more tired than her, was also denied the sleep he so richly deserved. If only she could help him out …

"Chandler? Are you asleep?"

He exhaled wearily and then rolled on his side facing her.

"Mmmh. Ugh, don't tell me, you want to try out the pamphlets your father gave us."

She scoffed. "No! Of course not! Um, maybe some other time. If it didn't take …"

He frowned at that. "Honey, we did it all day. In a closet surrounded by cleaning utensils. If that didn't work for you … Ross and Rachel did it once, and with a condom too, and she got pregnant."

"I know! Still, it's so … exciting, you know?" She got up on one elbow to lean over him. "I – I just wish we could talk about it a bit, you know, about the future and what it means to our relationship …"

"Mmmh. Oh yes. Talk." Chandler's head sank back on his pillow as he closed his eyes again. "Sure … what a great idea …"

She forced herself to wait and keep still until he had completely relaxed and his breath had evened out. Only when she was really sure that he had fallen asleep, just like she'd intended, she triumphantly punched the air with both fists, but taking care to do it silently and only thinking 'YES!' as intently as she could.