Broken Hearts (part 4)

"Oh my god! Its amazing. Its the most perfect little thing I've ever seen," Chandler said in an awed voice.

"I know," Monica agreed.

"You want to stop calling your baby 'it'?" the doctor asked, smiling at the happy couple.

"Sor-ry," Chandler said, slightly offended.

"No, no, I mean, do you want to know the sex of the baby?" the doctor asked. Chandler and Monica nodded in unison, not taking their eyes off the picture on the screen. "Well, you're having a baby boy. Congratulations!" Monica smiled fondly at the screen. Chandler beamed.

"I'm going to have a son," he said proudly.

"We're having a boy!" Chandler announced to the rest of the gang later on that evening.

"Yay!" Phoebe exclaimed. She jumped up and hugged Monica. Rachel joined them in the hug, tears in her eyes. Joey hugged Chandler.

"Congratulations, man," he said in a choked up voice.

"I'm gonna have a nephew," Ross said. When Rachel and Phoebe broke away from Monica, he hugged his little sister tightly.

The gang all went out to dinner to celebrate. Monica was now five months pregnant, and Chandler was very protective of her and worried about her safety and the baby's safety practically non-stop. Ross insisted on paying, because 'it was his new unborn nephew'. They sat on a circular table, in the order: Chandler, Monica, Ross, Rachel, Phoebe, Joey. While they waited for the menus, monica leaned closer to Chandler.

"You think they serve Jellybabies here?" she asked, jokingly. Chandler smiled lovingly at her.

"No, sorry. You still think you have no cravings?" he asked.

"I don't!" she insisted, but even she was laughing. The others looked curiously at them, wondering what the joke was.

"So wanting Jellybabies twenty four/seven is something that happens all the time?" he asked.

"It is now," she pointed out. Chandler grinned. Ever since he had found out Monica was pregnant, he had hardly stopped smiling. He was so happy at becoming a father, despite his old fears of commitment. Even Monica was slightly surprised at his eagerness. She had expected him to be worried, or upset, at least at first, but he wasn't at all. He was delighted. And so was she. now that her affair had been over for three months, she had managed to rid herself of most of the guilt, and the fear that Chandler would somehow find out about her infidelity had more or less gone. She hadn't forgotten about Mark, but she had pushed him to the back of her mind, and never thought of him. Not because she missed him too much, but because she was ashamed of the fact that she had cheated on Chandler and deeply regretted the mistake. Also, she knew Chandler could read her like a book, and nearly always knew exactly what she was thinking, so she was secretly afraid that if she thought about Mark, Chandler would know. Perhaps it was a silly idea, but she didn't care, because she was too terrified of Chandler finding out to care about whether her ideas were 'silly' or not.

When the menus arrived, Monica couldn't find anything she really wanted to eat, so she just ordered a mixed salad. The others all agreed they would swap food anyway.

Halfway through the meal, Monica suddenly sat up and dropped her fork. Chandler jumped to his feet immediately and put his arm around her shoulders.

"What's the matter? Is it the baby?" he asked, panicked. Monica didn't answer. A few seconds later her hand flew to her bump and she yelped. Chandler was practically dancing with nerves by now.

"I think he kicked," she said happily.

"Oh thank God!" Chandler said, calming down some. He leaned forward and hugged her, letting his hands trail down to her stomach. After a little while, he felt a strong movement. He smiled even wider.

"He kicked!" he exclaimed. He and Monica beamed at each other, looking like two stupid little kids, but not caring.

"Oh, I wanna feel!" Rachel said. she leaned across the table and placed her hand on her friend's stomach. the rest of them forgot their food and gave all their attention to Monica's bumbp. Chandler kept his arm around her through it all, smiling proudly.

That evening, the gang wanted to stay and hang out at Chandler and Monica's apartment for a while, to ooh and aah over the baby, but Chandler quietly asked Ross to go home. Ross had a word with the others as well, and made sure that Chandler and Monica were left alone. They sat on the couch in silence, just enjoying each other's company.

"Thank you," Chandler said softly after a while.

"For what?" Monica asked, surprised.

"For giving me a chance to become a father," he elaborated. Monica smiled and stroked his hair.

"I should be thanking you," she said. "I've wanted to be a mother my whole life."

"Yeah, but you get all the painfull stuff," Chandler argued.

"But I get Jellybabies to make up for it," she laughed. Chandler chuckled.

"But I steal your Jellybabies," he said.

"Yeah, you're right, you win," she agreed.

"Seriously Mon. I'm not just thanking you for getting pregnant, because you're right, I did kinda help you out with that. But if it wasn't for you, I never would have gotten to a place where I was ready for marriage and kids," Chandler said. Monica placed her finger on his lips.

"Shh, she said. "It doesn't matter."

Of course it didn't matter. She didnt' care what Chandler had once thought, she only cared about what he thought now. She was falttered that he thought she had changed him so he was ready to have kids and make a commitment, but she preferred to believe that he had changed himself.

Not long after that, Monica stopped working. Her stomach got in the way of the oven, or chopping board, or whatever else she was doing. She had taken maternity leave, but wasn't sure if she would ever go back once the baby was born. She got increadibly bored staying at home all day, but with the upcoming expense of a baby, they couldn't afford for Chandler to stay home as well. Rachel came over, but it was Joey who was always there. He rarely worked, and when he went to auditions, he nearly always came back with funny stories of actors who were even worse than him.

One day while Joey was at an audition for a movie, there was a knock on the door. Monica lumbered to her feet and waddled over to answer the door. She supposed it was probably just someone selling something, but she had nothing better to do than answer the door.

"Hi," her visitor greeted her.

"Oh my God!" she exclaimed. She grabbed hold of the door frame to stop herself from falling.

"Pregnancy suits you well," he said. monica forced a tesne smile.

"Thanks," she mumbled. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I'm sorry Mon, I had to come back," he said. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," she said. There was nothing else she could say. The two of them walked in and sat on the couch.

"Monica, I know we broke up but I've spent the last three months missing you more than I believed possible," he said.

"No, Mark, no. You can't do this to me. Chandler and I are engaged. I'm pregnant with his baby. I dont' miss you. I don't love you," she said forcefully. He blinked hard.

"I don't care Monica. Don't make me say goodbye to you. Dont' push me away. I've done a hell of a lot of thinking since you broke up with me. And I think there is a perfectly good chance that your baby is my baby. Remember that time in my kitchen?" he reminded her. She sighed. She did rememeber. The only time she'd had unprotected sex with Mark.

"So? One time compared to dozens of times without a condom with Chandler around the time the baby was concieved," she argued. She knew the baby was Chandler's. It had to be Chandler's. She hated Mark for putting doubts in her head.

"Its still a chance Mon. I think you should get a paternity test when the baby's born," he said. Monica sighed again.

"Mark, I can't. Don't you understand that? Chandler doesn't know about our affair. I don't want him ever to know. And if I suggest a paternity test, I think he might just guess that I haven't been totally faithful, don't you?" she said sarcastically.

"I know Mon, I know. I'm sorry. But I have to know if I'm going to have a kid," Mark persisted.

"Mark, please don't ask me to do this. I love Chandler. You and I, we have nothing. Please don't make me hurt Chandler," she begged.

"I'm not the one hurting him. I'm not the one he loves. I'm not engaged to anyone. When I started seeing you, I didn't know you were with anyone," Mark reminded her.

"You didn't notice my engagement ring, then?" she commented.

"If I remember correctly, you weren't wearing it when I asked you out. If you cared at all about Chandler, you should have mentioned him then."

"I was catering! I don't wear my ring when I'm cooking," Monica said.

"So what? You still didnt' say 'no, I can't go out with you, I'm engaged'," Mark pointed out.

"I know, I know. Okay, so its all my fauly, I know that. But for God's sake, I made a mistake! I'm going to spend the rest of my life regretting it. Dont' make me regret losing Chandler as well," Monica pleaded.

"You keep saying that I'm making you do things, but Mon, you are a competant adult. You didn't have to go our with me, you didn't have to keep on seeing me, you didn't have to lie to Chandler. That was all you Monica," he said angrily.

"So please, just go. I'm asking you to leave, because I dont' want to start this again, I don't want to risk Chandler finding out. You said I'm responsible for my own actions, so I'm asking you to leave right now," she instructed. She wanted to cry, but her eyes were dry. She wasn't going to waste any more tears on Mark Robertson.

He cut her off by kissing her. Monica was kissing him back evern before she knew what she was doing. She sank into the kiss and let him push her down on the couch. His fingers fumbled manically with her baggy maternity blouse. She pushed him off her and sat up to unfasten it. He fell on her exposed body, covering her with kisses. Her hands slid up the back of his shirt, while he undid a few of his own buttons to help her along. Once she pulled the shirt over his head, Monica's hands roamed freely over Mark's back. She kissed him hungrily. She had missed his kisses without even being aware of it. They were so different to Chandler's loving kisses, more demanding somehow. But with nowhere near as much love in them. She tried to forget about Chandler, but she couldn't. He was such a big part of her life, she couldn't just forget him, even for a moment.

When they finished, Monica couldn;'t look at him. She felt so unbelievably guilty. She knew she should have learned her lesson last time, but that hadn't stopped her doing it again. She reached for her clothes, crying. Unlike Chandler, Mark made no attempt to comfort her.

"What did we just do?" she asked quietly in a shocked voice.

"I think you already know," Mark todl her.

"Why? Why couldnt' you just leave me alone? Why did you have to do have to do this to me?" she demanded. She got up and wiped her eyes forcefully with the back of her hand. She stared at Mark.

"Mon, don't be mad at me," he begged. "I know you asked me to leave, and I completely ignored you, but don't tell me you weren't enjoying that, because from what I heard, you were loving it," he said.

"So what? Its a physical reaction Mark. It doesn't even compare to what I have with Chandler," she argued.

"Monica, I know you love Chandler. I know you don't love me. I thought I didn't love you you. But, like I said, I've done a lot of thinking since we broke up. And I realised that even though I don't love you, I do care about you a lot. And I think we have something worth holding onto," Mark said. Monica put her head in her hands.

"No, I don't want to do anything else to hurt Chandler," she said.

A week later, Monica and Mark were kissing on the couch. Mark had persuaded her not to stop seeing him, although she hated herself everytime Mark touched her. And when she Chandler Chandler were in bed together at night, she felt even worse. He would lie there for hours, just stroking her stomach in wonder at the little life inside. Mark said he tried to pretend the bump wasn't there.

"God Monica, even when you're pregnant, you're sexy," Mark whispered in her ear. Monica smiled but didn't answer. Mark pushed aside her shirt and kissed her breast where it swelled above her bra, making her moan softly.

"Fuck!" Chandler's voice said from the doorway.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Just to clear something up, Mark is the guy who helped break up R&R. I'm not sure about his last name, so dont' yell at me for that. I know this part is short, but the next is on the way soon. Please review and tell me if you like what I've done so far.