Reconciliation

Monica says, “Holy shit guys. How are you two still together?”

“Even I have to admit that was pretty shitty,” Joey adds. “If Phoebe is going to fuck another man, he has to suck my dick first.”

“Shut up Joey,” says Phoebe. “You guys have to finish the story. You can’t leave us on a cliffhanger, where you are separated.”

Rachel starts, “I missed my period. I freaked. I took four pregnancy tests all showing positive. I couldn’t get pregnant during a year of trying, and then during one ovulation three different men came inside of me. I was stressed but I had to tell Ross.”

“She called me,” says Ross. “Before she could say anything, I told her to come home and we’ll tell each other everything. She came over that night, and we each told our stories about what happened, not leaving out any embarrassing detail. We were up so late. I actually called in sick to work that day. It was hard to tell Rachel about fucking the stranger. It was hard for Rachel to tell me about Nick and Zach coming in her.

“She waited until we had both finished our stories before showing me the pregnancy test. Seeing that test made something inside me click. I didn’t worry about if the baby was mine or theirs. I immediately thought that I couldn’t be a shitty dad, and that I needed to change some things. I had to make it work with Rachel.”

“Don’t tell me having a kid saved your marriage,” Phoebe says. She seemed skeptical, even though she knew they were still together.

Rachel responds, “It didn’t save our marriage but it motivated us to work on our marriage. If I wasn’t pregnant we probably would’ve gotten divorced. But we both wanted the kid to have two loving married parents. So we did some hard work: counseling, therapy, honest communication. Ross even went to AA for a little bit.”

Ross takes a sip of his whiskey, “That’s supposed to be anonymous dear.” He laughs. “We fought before the trip, and we both did some regrettable things during the trip, and we still occasionally fight even now, but we always seem to work through it. Marriage can still be rough, especially with kids adding more stress. But if we could get past that then all the rest is pretty easy. I love my life with my beautiful wife.”

I had to ask: “Is Ross the father?”

Monica hits me, “Are you serious Chandler?”

“Fuck you,” Ross laughs. “He looks just like me and his little brother that Rachel and I conceived without anyone else involved. But I told Nick and Zach if I ever see them again, I’m going to kill them. So that definitely ended our friendships. No more swinging for us.”

“Holy fuck. What a story. You definitely ended my sexual desire tonight,” Phoebe says. “I’m going to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Everyone cleans up around the fire, packs up and heads inside. While we’re walking Joey taps my shoulder and stops me.

“Hey Chandler, I have a question for you. I’m still friends with Zach and Nick. You want me to see if they are still doing their trips and if we can join?”

Wow. After that story, Joey was still horny for Katy and Courtney.