This takes place after Starting A New Life. Chandler and Monica have now been in Florida for two months. While Monica was eating
one day, she began to have labor pains. She told Chandler while he was on the phone with Joey, and he told the gang. They waited by
the phone for them to call back with news about the baby, only to find out that it was false labor. A week later while Chandler was in a
meeting, she went into labor. While in the delivery room, Chandler fainted for a few seconds. When he regained consciousness, Monica
was ready to deliver.
 

Chandler held onto Monica's hand tightly as she pushed. Any minute
now, they would both be parents. He was excited. He couldn't wait to
see his new daughter. He rubbed Monica's back with his left hand as
she sat up. He wanted to watch the baby come out, but at the same
time, he wanted to be right next to Monica, coaching her through
the birth of their first child.

"Okay Monica, you're doing good, now lay back." The doctor
ordered.

When she laid back, Chandler removed the hair that was plastered to
her forehead from her sweating. She looked at him and he leaned
in and softly kissed her. Watching her give birth to Jasmine,
brought forth so many emotions at once. He was excited, scared, and
apprehensive. He loved Monica with everything he had inside him. He
realized that he loved her even more at that very moment. She sat
back up and began pushing again. After five minutes, the doctor
told them that the baby was crowning.

"Crowning? What does that mean?" Chandler asked.

"It means that we can see the baby's head." The doctor answered.

Monica heard stories of how painful child birth was, but she didn't
imagine the pain to be so intense. Chandler continuously rubbed her
back. She remembered the day that she broke the news to him that
she was pregnant. The whole day, she imagined him reacting badly,
but when she told him, he was happy and relieved. Chandler had
been great throughout her pregnancy. He was really patient with
her when she was cranky, he massaged her, he got up in the middle
of the night to bring her food and water when she wanted it, and he
gave her lots of attention. He did everything for her, with no
questions asked. She was grateful for him. He was by her side
through it all, and she couldn't imagine her life without him.

While Monica pushed, Chandler's forehead was pressed against the
right side of her face. He was telling her how good she was doing,
and how much he loved her. At one point, she felt as if she couldn't
push anymore, but his words were encouraging, which gave her
strength. The doctor informed them that the baby's head was out and
that she could stop pushing for a few seconds. She was becoming tired
and just wanted to get it over with. When she sat up again, the
doctor told her that she only had more big push. While giving her
last big push, Chandler said something to her that she truly couldn't
believe.

"I wanna marry you Monica."

Soon, the pushing was over, and Jasmine arrived. Monica laid back
in relief that the birth was finally over. Chandler kissed Monica
and left her side for the first time during birth. The doctor asked
him if he wanted to cut the cord. Though a little nervous, and
unsure of what he was doing, he cut the cord, and soon his daughter
was handed to him wrapped in a pink blanket. Monica smiled at them
through tears, knowing that she would always remember this day for
the rest of her life. He walked back over to her and handed her
the baby.

"Oh my God. She has your eyes." Monica said looking up at
Chandler.

"And she has our dimples." Chandler said.

"She's so beautiful." Monica said crying.

"She is."

Monica looked at Jasmine fondly and kissed her on the cheek.
Jasmine had just entered the world, but already, Monica had fallen
in love with her. Chandler smiled at the two of them. She was a
mother now, and he was a father.

"Mon?"

"Yeah." She answered looking up at him.

"Did you hear what I said?"

"Huh?"

"I told you that...I wanna marry you." He said softly.

"I thought I was hearing you wrong."

"No."

"You're serious?" She asked with tears streaming down her face.

"I'm serious."

"You really wanna marry me?"

"Yeah, how many ways do I have to say it?" He joked.

"I wanna marry you too." She said smiling through her tears.

Chandler leaned in and kissed her softly. He was so happy that he
wanted to pick her up and swing her around. Instead, he touched
her face and smiled broadly. Jasmine had stopped crying, and was
now looking at her new mommy. Chandler was a little surprised that
she had some hair. It was dark like his and Monica's. He wanted to
hold her again, but he decided to let Monica hold her for a little
while longer.

Ross and Rachel walked into Phoebe and Rachel's apartment while Joey
and Phoebe were kissing.

"Don't you two ever come up for air?" Ross asked.

"Sometimes." Joey said.

"Oh hey, Chandler called hours ago and told us that Monica's having
the baby. He called from the hospital." Phoebe said.

"Oh My God!" Rachel said going over to Phoebe.

"They haven't called back?" Ross asked.

"No."

"Awwww, I wish we could be there." Rachel said.

"I'm an uncle." Ross said.

"I can't believe that Chandler and Monica are actually going to be
parents." Phoebe said.

When Ross stood up to go in the kitchen, the phone rang. He quickly
answered it figuring that it was Chandler calling, but it wasn't. It
was his dad.

"Hey dad." Ross said.

"Hey son. Have you heard from Chandler yet?"

"No, but he called earlier from the hospital."

"Yeah, he called here too, but I haven't heard from him since."

"I'm sure they'll call as soon as the baby's born."

"All right. I'll talk to you later."

"Okay dad."

A half hour later, they got a phone call from Chandler. Ross
answered.

"She's here." Chandler said happily.

"It's Chandler." Ross said to the gang.

"She weighs seven pounds, eight ounces."

"Congratulations. How's Mon doing?"

"She's a little tired, but she's fine."

"How are you doing?"

"I'm so happy right now."

"Does she look like Mon?"

"Yeah. She has dimples like her and everything."

"I can't wait to see her."

"Well, I'll call you guys later. I have to get back to my new
daughter and fiancee'."  Chandler said grinning.

"Okay. What?"

"Yeah, my fiancee'."

"Oh my God! You guys are engaged?"

"That's right."

The gang sat and watched Ross talk on the phone. They were shocked
at what he just said. Before Ross hung up with Chandler, they all
congratulated him on the baby and the engagement.

When Chandler walked into Monica's hospital room, she was asleep with
Jasmine in her arms. He stood there looking at them with a smile on
his face.

"Monica, honey?"

Monica slowly opened her eyes, and looked down at Jasmine.

"I didn't even realize that I was asleep."

"Let me take her." Chandler said.

Monica handed Jasmine to Chandler. He held her in his arms and
kissed her on the forehead.

"Did you call the gang?"

"Yeah, I told them about the engagement too." He said sitting in
the chair next to her bed.

"I miss them."

"Me too."

The next morning, when Chandler walked into Monica's room, she was
breast feeding the baby. He walked over to her and kissed her.

"How'd you sleep last night?" He asked sitting on the edge of the
bed.

"I slept all right. What about you?"

"No too well."

"Why not?"

"I was too wired to sleep."

"I see."

"How's she doing?"

"She's doing fine."

"So, when do you two get to come home?"

"Tomorrow."

"My parents called a few minutes ago."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, they're coming to see us next week. I told them about the
engagement."

"What did your Mom say?"

"She said that it was about time."

Chandler smiled and shook his head.

"Chandler, thank you." Monica said softly.

"For what?"

"For everything, especially Jasmine."

Chandler leaned in and kissed her passionately. He thought about his
life before Monica, and wondered how he ever got along without
her. After a few seconds, he pulled back and gazed at her. She
smiled when he gently touched her face. When the phone rang,
Chandler reached over to answer it.

"Hello."

"Hey Chandler." Rachel said.

"Wanna speak to Mon?"

"No, I called to talk to you." Rachel said sarcastically.

"Okay what about?" Chandler said grinning.

"I'm gonna kill you."

Chandler handed the phone to Monica. He played with the baby's
hand as Monica nursed her.

"Hey Rach."

"So, how does it feel to be a mommy?"

"So far so good."

"Are you holding her?"

"Yeah, I'm nursing her right now."

"Awww, I can't wait to see her."

"She has Chandler's eyes."

"I still can't believe you guys are parents."

"I know, me either."

"I'm so happy for you guys, and now you're about to married!"

"I know." Monica said gazing at Chandler.

"I'm really proud of you Mon. I just wanted to tell you that."

"Thanks Rach."

"No problem. You come home tomorrow right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, I'll call you tomorrow at home."

"All right."

Monica handed the phone to Chandler for him to hang it up. When
she was finished feeding Jasmine, she handed her to Chandler. He
kept kissing her cheeks. She had her eyes closed, but she smiled a
little. Monica gazed at Chandler while he was holding their
daughter. They had been through a lot together and somehow
managed to stay together. He was now unwrapping her blanket to look
at her fingers and toes. He looked so cute sitting there with Jasmine
in his arms. Sometimes Monica was in awe of him. He had everything
going for himself. He was really sweet and funny, generous, smart,
hardworking, ambitious, and so much more. She couldn't believe her
luck. She could tell by looking at the two of them bonding, that
Jasmine would have Chandler wrapped around her finger. She was
already smiling at him. Watching Chandler playing with the baby,
filled her with an enormous amount of love. The love that she felt
for Chandler overwhelmed her sometimes. It was an overpowering
feeling that she couldn't explain.

The next day, they were home. Monica had just put Jasmine to sleep
when Chandler quietly walked in carrying a small black box in his
hand. Monica was covering Jasmine up. Her back was to him so she
didn't notice the small box. She turned around and noticed that he
had his hands behind his back.

"Sweetie, what are you up to?" She asked suspiciously.

He took his hands from behind his back, and showed her the box. He
opened it to reveal the ring he'd bought her.

"Oh my God!" Monica said putting her hands over her mouth in
surprise.

"You like it? It's yours."

"I love you so much." She said bursting into tears.

She walked closer to him and hugged him tightly.

"I love you too Mon." He said caressing her back as they hugged.

When they pulled apart, he put the ring on her finger.

"I love it." She said wiping her tears.

He took her by the hand, and lead her from the Jasmine's room.
Once they were in the living room, they sat on the couch to talk.
Monica cuddled up next to Chandler and laced her fingers through
his. When she thought about how lucky she was to have him in her
life, she thought about Keith. He put her through hell, while
Chandler made her life a lot simpler and happier. She didn't think
that she would have gotten through that time in her life without
him. She was losing her self respect and self esteem while she was with
Keith, and Chandler came into her life like a guardian angel.

"What are you thinking about?"

"I was just thinking about how lucky I am to have you as my
fiancee' and father of our child."

"I'm the lucky one."

"We're both lucky." Monica said.

"You're right." He said smiling.

"Of course I am. At least I'll feel that way until my parents get
here."

"It might not be so bad."

"Yeah right."

"I won't let them stress you out."

"I talked to your Mom earlier."

"Yeah, I talked to her last night."

"When is she coming to see us?"

"You actually want her to?" Chandler asked.

"Of course I do. I miss her."

"I don't."

"You don't mean that."

"Oh yes I do."

Monica smiled and shook her head.

Later that night, Monica slowly rose from the bed. She noticed that
Chandler wasn't there. Before she looked in the baby's room she went
into the living room. Chandler was walking back and forth with
Jasmine in his arms talking to her. She stood there watching him
until he noticed her.

"Did we wake you?"

"No. Was she crying?"

"Yeah."

"Really? I didn't hear her."

"It's all right. She's in good hands." He said looking into Jasmine's
face.

"Was she crying loud?"

"Oh yeah. One thing's for sure, she has strong lungs."

"I can't believe I didn't hear her."

"Me either, but you were tired."

"You look cute holding her."

Chandler walked over to her and gave her a soft peck on the
mouth.

"We can handle this. You should get some sleep. Am I right
Jasmine?" He said kissing her on the cheek.

"Okay, I know you wanna get rid of me to spend some time together.
I can take a hint." Monica said to the baby.

Chandler kissed Monica once again on the mouth before she returned
to her room. Monica got back into the bed smiling. She did need
some rest. She was glad that he had gotten up to play with her.
She wanted Jasmine to have a strong bond with him, and not just with
her. She and Chandler knew how important it was for them to bond
with Jasmine right away. They were determined to be good parents
right from the start. They didn't want Jasmine to grow up in the
atmosphere that they had grown up in. She slept peacefully knowing
that Chandler had things under control.
 
 
 

NEXT............THE JOYS OF PARENTHOOD