Forever You and Me, After All
Chapter 3
The Wedding
Ross and Rachel's wedding day is finally here! Ross and Rachel were both up at the crack of dawn so they could get an early start on getting the last minute wedding plans done. Rachel and her attendants have to go get their hair done. Ross and Monica's mother, Judy has to pick up the flowers and the cake. Ross has to pick up the rings from the jewelers and his tux from the rental shop. The other guys will be picking up their own tuxes from the rental shop. The caterer will be arriving at the church around 10:00 to get all the food prepared and ready for the reception. Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Jill and Amy are all getting dressed at the church before the wedding starts. Carol and Susan will be bringing Ben since he is the ring bearer.
Rachel's dress is white and sleeveless. The collar is low cut and is attached to the bodice, it wraps around the back of the neck and buttons. The dress ties in the back with a big bow and the skirt is long and trails out behind her. The bodice is embroidered with white flowers and sequins. The skirt has a pleat in the front. The veil clips onto the back of her head and hangs down behind her. She will be carrying a bouquet of blue lilies and baby's breath and tied with a ribbon. The attendants will be carrying white roses and Emma, the flower girl will be tossing red rose petals down the aisle.
The attendants will be wearing light blue spaghetti strap dresses. Emma's flower girl dress is white, ankle length and has sequins on the bodice. She will be wearing a white crown around her head with light blue ribbons hanging down.
The male attendants will be wearing regular tuxes with light blue corsages.
The wedding is at 1 pm so it gives people plenty of time to get to the church. They will be serving lots of delicious food. There will be finger sandwiches, chips and dip, veggies and dip, little smokies in barbecue sauce, barbecue meatballs, nachos, salad, punch, tea and water to drink. Of course there will be plenty of cake. The cake has white icing with light blue edging and of course the bride and groom are on top and look just like Ross and Rachel.
Meanwhile...
Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Amy and Jill are all at the beauty shop getting their hair and makeup done. Rachel is having a wash and set, her hair will fall around her shoulders in loose curls. The rest of them are having their hair curled and the sides will be pulled up with flowers hooked to bobby pins.
They all painted their nails to match their dresses. Since it's Rachel's wedding day, she's getting a special discount so it's not going to cost much for all of them.
The guys are all at the tux shop picking up their rented tuxes, and after that Ross has to go to the jewelry store to pick up their rings. Sandra is watching Emma while Jack and Judy watch the twins. Sandra is going to make sure Emma is dressed before coming to the church.
Rachel reads over her vows one more time while having her hair done, she wants to make sure they are just right. Phoebe happens to notice this and says something.
"Rachel, are you looking at your vows to Ross again? How many times do you need to read the same words? They haven't changed the last hundred times you've read them."
Rachel sighs.
"I know that Pheebs, I just want to make sure they are exactly right and that I say everything that I want to say. I'm marrying Ross today and I want everything to be perfect."
Monica gives a small chuckle.
"I know you want it to be perfect, Rachel. I remember all the things that happened at mine and Chandler's wedding, and we still managed to get married."
Rachel laughs.
"Yeah and one of the things that happened was I found out I was pregnant with Emma."
All the girls nod and laugh.
"I don't think that will happen at your wedding, Rachel. As far as we know, nobody is pregnant so we don't have to worry about that." Monica exclaims.
Rachel nods.
"That's true, I just can't believe I'm getting married today!" Rachel cries happily.
The other girls join her.
"I know! It's about time you marry that brother of mine!" Monica teases.
"Of course they're getting married, Monica. They're lobsters, remember?" Phoebe explains with a big grin on her face. Everyone just looks at her strangely.
Three hours later...
It's just about time for the wedding to start so everyone makes sure everything is ready to go. Rachel grabs her bouquet from out of the vase of water on the table. The attendants grab theirs from off the table and line up in front of Rachel.
They hear the music start and peek out the door as they see Sandra holding little Emma's hand. She looks so adorable all dressed up. Rachel gets tears in her eyes watching her daughter. Sandra explains to Emma what she is supposed to do and shows her by putting Emma's little hand in the basket to grab the petals. Emma does so and smiles up at her grandma. Everyone laughs at that as Sandra and Emma start to walk. Emma forgets to grab the petals at first and then she finally gets the hang of it and by the time they get to the front, she has emptied her basket. She's really proud of herself as she smiles and waves at her daddy. Ben, looking handsome in his little tux; follows not far behind. He walks very slowly as he carries the rings on the pillow. He smiles broadly at his father as he makes it to the front and joins the others.
It's now the girls' turn as they line up where they are supposed to. Amy goes first, then Jill, then Monica and last but not least Phoebe.
Now the music switches to the bridal march as Rachel gets into position. She takes a deep breath, makes sure there are no tears on her face, holds her bouquet in one hand and her dress in the other so she doesn't trip and begins to walk up the aisle.
She sees the smiling faces of her friends and family as she walks up the aisle, she nervously smiles back at them trying to keep her tears at bay. She doesn't want to smear her makeup; the last thing she needs at her wedding is to look a mess. She knows that Ross will love her anyway but she looks good and wants to stay that way for as long as she can.
She finally makes it to the front as she looks over at Ross. He has a huge smile on his face and tears in his eyes.
Ross please don't let me see you crying, if you cry, then I'll cry and it will just be one big mess. Rachel thinks to herself as she approaches Ross. He leans over to whisper in her ear.
"You look incredible, Rach."
Rachel smiles at Ross and whispers back.
"Thank you, and you don't look too bad yourself." she says as she gives him a sexy look.
He gives her an adorable but dorky smile.
As the music ends the clergyman joins Ross and Rachel as the attendants, friends and family look on.
"Dearly beloved we are gathered here today to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony." the clergyman says.
Ross takes Rachel's free hand in his and holds it up as he kisses her fingers.
"Ross and Rachel have informed me that they have written their own vows." he adds.
Ross and Rachel look at him and nod.
"Ross?" the clergyman says.
Ross continues to hold Rachel's hand as he looks her in the eyes.
"Rachel, I remember the exact day that I fell in love with you. We were in high school, you were a sophomore and I was a junior. You and Monica had been best friends for as long as I can remember despite the fact that you were popular and she wasn't. You didn't care about that, you just truly cared about my sister. You still thought of me as Monica's geeky older brother but never said a bad word about me. I still remember that day like it was yesterday. I was standing at my locker after school and I saw you walking down the hall towards me and you were wearing your cheer-leading uniform. You were by yourself at first and then the other girls from the squad joined you. You were all talking and laughing, then my sister came running towards you yelling your name. The other girls started making fun of her because of her weight. They were laughing, pointing and making faces at her. Monica stopped dead in her tracks and just watched the girls as they teased her relentlessly. She began to cry as the tears ran down her face. Something snapped in you as you turned to the girls, got up in their faces and screamed at them to leave her alone. Your hands were balled into fists at your sides, ready to reach up and hit them. The girls shut their mouths and just stared at you, your eyes were like fire. When you finally got done yelling at them, they started laughing at you. But you didn't care, you stood your ground and defended yourself and Monica and even threatened to quit the squad. You said you loved to cheer but didn't want to be around people like them. The girls said that they didn't want to be friends with someone like you, someone who was friends with someone like my sister. So they turned on their heels and walked away, still laughing. You stood there with your hands on your hips watching them as they walked away. Then you turned your attention back towards my sister who was still standing there, crying. You approached her and put your arms around her and hugged her. You just stood there holding her for the longest time and then you led her to the bathroom so she could wash her face. That right there was the exact moment I fell in love with you. You may have been popular, the head cheerleader, homecoming queen, and prom queen but that was just on the outside. On the inside you were beautiful, sweet, funny, sensitive, caring, and loving and I knew then why my sister became your best friend. I was glad I was the one to see who you truly were.
As the years passed, the love I felt for you only got stronger but I kept my feelings to myself. I was very good at keeping my feelings to myself.
After you and Monica drifted apart and we didn't see each other for years after that, I buried my feelings for you deep inside and was able to find love again. Then the day that you burst into Central Perk and I saw you again after all those years, all those feelings were reawakened in me. From that moment, and all the time after that, and everything we went through; including the birth of our daughter; I never stopped loving you. That's why I'm standing here today, to show you and everyone just how much I love you. I love you Rachel; I want to have more babies with you, I want to go to bed with you every night, wake up with you every morning, and just spend the rest of my life making you happy."
Rachel just looks at Ross as she tries to keep from crying. The words he said were so beautiful and moving and she knew he meant every word.
Rachel takes a deep breath and is finally able to speak. The clergyman looks over at her.
"Are you ready, Rachel?"
She smiles and nods and then turns her attention to Ross. She looks deep into his eyes as she begins to speak.
"Ross, when I first met you, you were just my best friend's geeky older brother. I never gave you a second thought. I thought you were incredibly caring and sweet because you were always so nice to me but that's as far as it went. I remember how much time you would spend reading all those books about dinosaurs and I would always think to myself how incredibly boring that was. I knew I could never be interested in someone like that. Monica would talk about you to me all the time and tell me that I should give you a chance because I was always complaining to her about the guys I would date. She would talk you up to me all the time and tell me what a great guy you were, but back in those days I was incredibly shallow and only looked at what was on the outside. I never took the time to get to know the real you and I thought the guys I dated were the guys I deserved even though I knew they were no good for me. I never knew what real love was and almost married someone I didn't love because I didn't think I could do any better. The day that I walked out of my wedding and into Central Perk, I knew I was doing the right thing. Our paths crossed that day for a reason, even if neither of us knew it then. But that day was just the beginning of an incredible journey for the two of us. We had love, laughter, heartache, pain, tears of joy and of sorrow, a beautiful daughter, and the one thing that got us through all that; friendship. I hated that it took me so long to see who you truly are, Ross Geller. Who you truly are is an incredibly loving, giving, sensitive, smart, funny, sweet, romantic, and sexy human being. For the first time in my life I know what it's like to be truly in love and to know that I do deserve someone like you. You've made me see that I deserve love and to be loved. I'm in love with you, Ross. I love you and you have made me happier than I ever thought I could be. I can't wait to have more babies with you and grow old with you. I want to fall asleep in your arms and wake up in your arms. I'm standing here in front of all these people today because I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
As she finishes her vows, Rachel sees the tears running down Ross' face. She reaches up and wipes the tears away with her thumb. It's becoming incredibly hard for her to keep her tears at bay. Ross grabs Rachel's hand and kisses it once again.
The clergyman then speaks up.
"May I please have the rings?" he says to Ben.
Ben steps forward as the clergyman takes the rings off the pillow and hands one to Ross and one to Rachel.
Rachel hands her bouquet to Monica.
"Ross place the ring on Rachel's right hand and repeat after me."
Ross slides the ring onto Rachel's finger and looks up into her eyes as he waits for the clergyman to speak.
"This ring is a symbol of my love and loyalty to you which is precious and never ending."
Ross repeats the clergyman's words to Rachel.
The clergyman then gives Rachel instruction.
"Rachel, place the ring on Ross' right hand and repeat after me."
Rachel slides the ring onto Ross' finger as she looks up at him and smiles.
"This ring is a symbol of my love and loyalty to you which is precious and never ending."
Rachel repeats the clergyman's words to Ross.
Ross then takes both of Rachel's hands in his as they look at each other lovingly.
"Now that you both have exchanged rings and have taken vows to love, honor and cherish each other through good times and bad times, in sickness and in health, until death do you part; I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss."
Ross grabs Rachel's face with both hands, pulls her towards him and kisses her. Rachel wraps her arms around Ross' neck and pulls him closer as they deepen the kiss. Ross leans Rachel back slightly as she lifts her foot into the air.
Everyone starts clapping as the music starts. Ross and Rachel pull out of the kiss and hold hands. Monica hands Rachel back her bouquet as they stand together for a moment as the clergyman speaks.
"I now introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Ross Geller!"
Once the clergyman says that, the claps turn into cheers as Ross and Rachel run down the aisle hand in hand, laughing.
To be continued...