“Oh God my back is killing me.”  Monica Bing rubbed her back as her best friend and sister-in-law, Rachel Geller, helped her sit on the couch.

“Well, you’ve been through this before, you know what it’s like.”  Rachel said unsympathetically.  She had never looked forward to having children, and the birth of her own three had been no picnic.

“I know, I know.  This pregnancy was an accident.  Remind me not to get drunk anywhere near Chandler every again.”

“Hey, if you two hadn’t gotten drunk in the first place, you wouldn’t have found love the way you did.”

“Yes we would have.  I’m sure of it.  There’s no way that a love as strong as ours just happened because of one mistake.  It would have happened eventually.”

“Yeah, but you loved him for ages before that.”

“I know.”  Monica thought fondly of the night when she and Chandler had first gotten together.  It was her brother Ross’ second wedding and she had been miserable and drunk.  Chandler had comforted her and then suddenly, they were in his bed, making love.  And now, sixteen years later, she was pregnant with another of Chandler’s children.

“Mommy!”  A shout from the back door broke Monica’s thoughts.

“Hey Mom.”

“Momma, Auntie Rachel!”

The kids poured into the living room where the two women were sitting.  Each kissed their respective mother and aunt on the cheek.

Monica quickly counted the heads.  “Six, seven, eight?  Who’s missing?”

“David has baseball practice today Mom, remember?”

Monica nodded, and smiled at her eldest daughter, Lisa, who was fourteen.  Monica had fallen pregnant with her just before her and Chandler’s wedding.

“Could you fix the little kids a snack please Lisa?”

“Sure Aunt Rachel.”  Lisa went into the kitchen, followed by five younger children.

Monica and Rachel looked at the two children standing in front of them.  Their likeness was incredible, and even though they were cousins, many thought them sisters, even twins.  They were both three years old, Jenny two months younger than Kate.

“Jenny, Kate?  Don’t you guys want a snack?”   Rachel asked.

“No Momma, we just want to stay here with you guys.”  Kate said, snuggling up to her mother.

Jenny did the same, sitting as close to Monica as she could manage without actually sitting on her.  Over their daughters’ heads, Rachel and Monica shared a look.  It was not uncommon for their two youngest to separate themselves from the pack, and share a quiet moment with their mothers.  Considering that they were the youngest out of the ten children, Jenny and Kate often got shut out or left behind.

“Oh Momma!  The baby kicked!”  Jenny jumped off the couch in excitement.

“I know.”  Monica replied, smiling.

“Lemme feel!  Lemme feel!”  Kate and Jenny both placed their hands gently on Monica’s bulging stomach and waited quietly until the baby kicked again.  Then they screamed and jumped up and down, clapping their hands.

“Why don’t you two go and play in the playroom.” Rachel suggested.  Kate and Jenny agreed, and walked off hand in hand.  They were best friends, and inseparable.

“You’re overdue aren’t you?”

“Yep.  Two days, the baby was due on 12th June.”

“You’re determined not to wear a bikini ever again aren’t you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, ever since your first pregnancy, you’ve almost always been near the end of your pregnancy during summer.  You’ve got three kids born in July, plus one in August.  And now this one.  Summer’ll be over before you get back to your old shape.”

“You know I don’t really have any control over when my kids are going to be born.”

Rachel ignored Monica, and continued in her tirade.  “And then your other two were born in Winter.  Is there something you and Chandler have against Fall and Spring?  Or is it that you’re more sexually active during those seasons?”

Monica glared at Rachel, and she looked sheepish.  “Rachel, you know very well that neither of those things have anything to do with when our children were born.  I don’t have any control over the pregnancies and you know that.  Remember, I was due in April that time I miscarried?”

“Yeah I remember.  Sorry Mon.”  Rachel added as an afterthought.

“Get lost!”

“You get lost!”

Shouting from the kitchen interrupted Rachel and Monica’s conversation.  They both sighed and glanced at each other.  They knew who was fighting.  Brad and Jason.  They had always hated each other, for reasons unknown to the adults in the family.

“Don’t touch me!”

“I’m not touching you!  You’re touching me!”

Hearing the fight escalate, Monica and Rachel quickly entered the kitchen where they found chaos.  Brad was on the floor, holding his eye.  Jason was standing over him with his foot raised, blood dripping from his nose.  There were corn chips all around them, crushed under their feet.  Lisa met her mother’s eyes and saw the unspoken command in them.  She picked up her five-year-old brother Matthew and ushered her sister and cousin out of the room.

“Stop it both of you!”  Rachel said, frowning at them both. She picked her son up off the floor and stood between him and his cousin.

“What do you think you’re doing, fighting in front of the little ones?” Monica yelled, looking from one boy to the other.  “And in the kitchen?  You two know better than that.  Now I want you to clean up yourselves and this kitchen.  Then go outside.”

“And I don’t want to hear a word from either of you until dinner-time.  No fighting, no tormenting, no nothing.  Do you understand?”

“Yes Mom” Brad said sullenly.

“Yes Aunt Rachel.”  Jason looked at the floor, where spatters of blood had turned some of the crumbs red.

When they returned to the living room, they found seven-year-old Nina and eight-year-old Melissa playing Nintendo.  Matthew ran to his mother and hugged her legs.

“Momma, why do they fight like that?”  she asked.

Sitting down again, Monica shook her head.  “I don’t know Matt. I don’t know.”

“They scare me when they fight.”  Matthew sat down next to his mother.

“I know they do honey, that’s why we went so mad on them for fighting with you guys in the room.  But enough about Brad and Jason, you are still in your school clothes.  You need to get changed.  You too Mel.”

Melissa and Matthew went upstairs to get changed, leaving Nina on her own.

“Nina honey, go and borrow something from Mel to change into.  We’re staying here for dinner tonight.” Rachel pried her daughter away from the Nintendo and sent her upstairs with the others.  Turning to Monica, she said, “I’ll just check on the boys.”

She went into the kitchen and found it spotless.  Looking out of the window, she saw the ten-year-olds playing football with twenty-year-old Ben and  twelve-year-old David.

“They’re out back playing with Ben & David.”  Rachel told Monica when she entered the living room.

Monica sighed in relief.  “Thank god.  I don’t think we could have coped if we didn’t have Ben & Dave.  They’re the peace-makers between Brad & Jason.”

Looking at her watch, Rachel said, “What time is Chandler getting home?”

Monica also looked at her watch.  “He’s usually home by now.  I wonder wha…”  She was interrupted by the slamming of the door.  Chandler walked into the living room.

“Hey honey.  Hi Rach.”  He said, kissing Monica on the lips and Rachel on the cheek.  “So how’s my little precious doing?”  He asked, referring to Monica’s stomach.

“Just fine,”  Monica replied, rubbing her stomach.  Chandler sat next to her and Rachel slipped discretely into the kitchen.  “Very active.  I don’t think we’ve got long to wait.”

“Well, we’d better not, or you’re going be induced anyway.”

“Yeah, when is it again?”

“If you don’t go into labour by the 20th, the doctor said he’ll induce you.”

“I hope I do go into labour before then. I hate being induced”  Their fourth child, Melissa, had been induced, and born on July 13th, 10 days after her due date.

“I know sweetie, but it’s best for the baby, and for you.  If you go much longer, you probably won’t be able to walk around properly.”

“I can’t now.”  Monica objected.  “I waddle.”

“Yeah, but I mean you might have to be in a wheelchair.”  They both shuddered at the thought.

“Enough of that, we have to start thinking about birthday presents.”

“Oh yeah, summer’s our big birthday onslaught isn’t it?  Let’s see, we’ve got Mel on the 13th, Jason on the 25th, Lisa on the 30th…”

“And Matt on the 19th August.”

“Soon we’re going to be adding another little one to the list.”

“Don’t you think it’s funny how almost all of our kids ended up being born during summer?  Rach accused me of conspiring never to wear a bikini again.”

“Nonsense!  You could wear a bikini even with this stomach!  You’d still look hot and sexy, at least to me.”

“Aww.”  Monica leaned in and kissed Chandler, then leaned her head on his chest.

“The other two are born during Winter aren’t they?  Jenny on 11th January and David on 12th November.”

“That’s right.”

“Chandler?”  Rachel stuck her head around the doorway.  “Could you light the barbeque please?  I thought we’d have dinner outside, since it’s so hot.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.”  Monica said as Chandler helped her to her feet.  “I’ll make a salad.”

“No, Mon it’s all done.  You just rest.”

“I’m sick of people telling me to rest!  I’m pregnant, not ill!”

“Whoa, sorry.”

‘Hormones’ Chandler mouthed to Rachel, and she nodded, then went back into the kitchen.
 

Two days later, Monica and Chandler were in bed reading, long after everyone else had gone to sleep.  Monica felt something familiar in her stomach.  She waited, and twenty minutes later it happened again.

“Chandler honey?”

“Yeah Mon?”  Chandler said, still engrossed in his book.

“I’m in labour.”

“Uh huh.”  Chandler continued reading.  Then, ten seconds later, it hit him.  “What!  You’re in labour?”  He said, holding her stomach.

“Yep.”

“OK, we have to go to the hospital.”

“Relax Chandler, my contractions are eighteen minutes apart.  I’m not having the baby any time soon.”

“OK, but let’s stop reading.  Let’s spend some quiet time together before all hell erupts.”

Monica and Chandler placed their books on the bedside tables and turned out the lights.  Then Chandler wrapped his arms around his wife and lay with her.
 

Three hours later, when the contractions were six minutes apart, they decided it was time to leave for the hospital.  Monica called Rachel.

“Hey Rach.”

“Mon, why are you up at this ungodly hour?”

“I’m in labour.”

“WHAT!”  Monica could just picture Rachel sitting up in bed, and waking up Ross.

“You heard me.  I need you to come over and watch the kids while Chandler & I go to the hospital.”

“OK, I’ll be over as soon as I can.  You go, Lisa can look after the kids if they wake up before I get there.  You’ve told her about this haven’t you?”

“Yep, but I’ll leave her a note just in case she forgot.”

“OK.  Bye Mon.”

“Bye Rach.”

“You ready to go?”  Chandler asked as Monica hung up the phone.  He had a bag in his hand, and his keys in the other.

“Yep.”

“Let’s go.” With that, they walked out the front door, leaving a note for Lisa on her door.
 

“Push Mon!”

“For god sakes Chandler!  I know what to do!  I’ve done it six times!”  Monica yelled, sweat dripping down her face.

“OK, and here she is.  Your daughter.”

“What?  What about the ‘we have a head’ and all that?”  Chandler and Monica were both startled that it was over so quickly.

“She just popped out.  It probably has something to do with you having had so many other kids.”

“So we have a daughter?”

“Yep.  I’ll leave you three alone.”

“Wow.” Monica said, stroking her daughter’s cheek.

“I know.”  Chandler said.  “No matter how many times we do this, it’s always a wonderful miracle when we see them like this.”

“Yeah, then they grow up to be like the ones back home.”  Chandler smiled and kissed her.

“So what are we going to name this one?”

“You pick the first name, I’ll choose the middle name.”

“OK, how about…” Chandler stroked his chin, mimicking a favoured thinking pose of Ross’.  “…Courteney.  After that hot actress, Courteney Cox Arquette.”

Monica giggled.  Typical Chandler.  “Courteney, I like it.  Now for a middle name…Gale, after my mother.”

“I thought you mother’s name was Judy.”

“It is.  But Gale is her middle name.”

“Courteney Gale Bing.  Welcome to Earth.”

“Don’t say that!  You make it sound like she’s a martian or something!”

“Sorry.”

“So, one more summer birthday.”

“Yep.”

It was now 6am, and both Monica & Chandler knew that as soon as visiting hours started, at 8, there would be loads of visitors.  Not only would Ross & Rachel bring the ten kids, but there were Monica’s parents, Chandler’s mom, as well as Joey & Phoebe with their spouses & kids.  But for now, Chandler & Monica just savoured the tranquillity of the early morning.  With their daughter.  Courteney Gale Bing.  Born at 5:38 am, on June 15, 2014.
 

THE END