Hot pink was a doubtful color, but Monica agreed it looked pretty neat on her. She stood in front of a full-length mirror in some swanky room looking at her simple, yet extravagant, pink dress. This was one of those moments she thanked God that she hadn't had her own children. She had a hot body. Monica laughed at that thought as it slipped through her head.
"Mommy, do I look pwetty?" Erica shouted in a question form as she opened the door, following Emma. The girls were wearing matching light pink dresses and flowers adorning their hair. Erica's bright flowers contrasted to the platinum blonde up-do she was so proud of.
"You look like a princess," Monica told her three-year-old daughter as she bent down to wipe a strand of hair from her bright blue eyes.
"Me too?" Emma asked.
"You too, darling," Monica answered. She stood straight and went to look at herself in the mirror again when Phoebe walked in. Monica smiled because again she remembered that she looked hot in her dress while Phoebe still hadn't achieved her skinny body back yet.
"Did you give him to my parents?" Monica asked. The Gellers had agreed to watch three-month-old Mason for the ceremony.
Phoebe laughed, "Yes and your mother looked like Queen Elizabeth accepting a bouquet of roses, standing there all pretty with her white gloves and gasping and pretending like she didn't even know I had a baby."
Monica laughed. Her mother just didn't know when to quit.
Rachel slowly opened the door and sang her own wedding music. She marched in, did a catwalk spin, and gracefully sat in front of a vanity mirror. Monica gawked in jealousy. She couldn't remember ever looking so gorgeous at her own wedding. Rachel's excited eyes complimented her shimmering make-up and the curly hair-do she had ordered the timid hair-dresser to perform. She wore a beautiful diamond necklace and her strapless dress was beaded with imitation diamonds. No train, she had demanded, but the hem subtly sat over her toes. Monica, of course, had argued that the shoes were completely pointless and that Rachel didn't need the grandest ones in the store, but Rachel insisted on buying $200 dollar bejeweled heels.
"You look amazing," Phoebe and Monica almost said in unison.
Rachel smiled, "Stop, I feel like I'm gonna cry and I don't want to ruin my make-up. I've never thought I'd get here… again. But I'm NOT running this time, even if rabid dogs are threatening to eat my perfect dress."
Monica giggled, "Rach…" she pointed at the man in a tuxedo peeking his head in the room motioning for the ceremony to start.
"That's you girls," Rachel practically fluttered out of her chair. Emma and Erica grabbed their white wicker baskets full of pink rose petals and quickly stepped through the door. Monica looked over at Rachel. No running now.
The man was back and now it was Monica and Phoebe's turn to step down that aisle. Monica opened the door first, and sunlight hit her eyes. She stepped with her short pink heel onto the soft grass and walked slowly just enough to link arms with Chandler. She'd been in a few weddings before, but this was the first time she got to walk down the aisle with Chandler. Spectators on both sides looked on with awe as the couple took turtle-speed steps to the altar. Monica looked to her right and saw Mike sitting with her parents and Mason in his car seat. She turned her head towards her destination and saw Emma and Erica joined hands with Jack and surprisingly not speaking or doing anything to ruin the moment.
They finally reached the center and Monica unhooked arms with Chandler so she could go stand on the left with her children and Chandler to the right, to stand by the groom. Ross. In her excitement for Rachel, she had completely forgotten about her emotions for her older brother being married for the fourth time. She'd been to two of the other weddings, (and honestly, she didn't feel like she missed much at the third) but this was the one she anticipated most. This was the one with the happy ending. Ross was finally in love for real, and Monica would do everything in her power to make sure this marriage didn't end in divorce. Ross looked amazing as well in his black tuxedo and pink vest. Yes of course, it wasn't his idea but Rachel insisted and he just joked that this wasn't his last wedding. Monica knew it was.
Phoebe joined Monica and Joey joined Ross and Chandler on the opposite side. Suddenly, the music changed, the people stood and a glimpse of white appeared from the house standing in the middle of the courtyard. Rachel. The diamonds of her dress reflected the sun and nearly blinded Monica from where she stood, about 50 yards away. In a frantic search for locations, Rachel picked this one because of the greenness of the grass. She didn't care about the shabby little building in the middle of the grass, or the perfect, distant view of New York City in the background, all Rachel cared about was the luscious green grass that she had to walk across to get to her husband.
Slowly, Rachel moved closer to the groom. The audience was now less surprised by her diamond-blazoned dress, especially since a small cloud had covered the sun. Monica glared at the shoes she barely saw. Rachel was right. They were wonderful and totally worth it. Rachel was at the altar now. For the following hours, Monica rejoiced over a few things. One: Rachel hadn't run away. Two: this was Ross's last wedding, so Monica could finally enjoy this one. Three: the weather was beautiful and the reception was graced by the presence of a slight wind. Four: Monica had not catered the reception… and people hated the food there. :)
The day was coming to a close and Monica looked over from the dance floor to see Joey sitting in a chair at the table. She excused herself from Chandler and walked over to him.
"What's wrong Joe?" Monica asked, hoping he had heard her.
He acted as if he hadn't and then finally looked up to say, "I'm the only one."
"What?" she asked.
"Out of all six of us, I'm the only one still single. What have I done wrong?"
"Joey, you know you haven't done anything wrong. Sure, you could blame it on your lack of commitment or your tendency to never be serious, but it's not actually your fault. You just haven't met the right woman."
"Monica, I've met plenty of women! How do I know which one is the right one?"
"Take a chance," Monica boldly stated. She didn't know exactly where the words came from but they sounded familiar and applicable.
"Excuse me," a soft voice said, "I hope I'm not interrupting. Um, I was just sitting over there, and I, uh, well the day's almost over and I've been dying to ask you to dance all night."
Monica looked up to see a petite woman smiling at Joey, nervously. Her dark brown hair fell softly on her pale face and her light blue dress made her green eyes glimmer.
"Oh no, not at all," Monica stood up from her chair. "By the way, he's single," she winked.
The girl giggled and as Monica was leaving she heard her say, "I'm Megan, I went to high school with Rachel and Ross…"
Monica turned on her bale heel (she had taken off her pretty shoes to go dancing of course). "Megan? Megan Cook?"
"Yeah… um that's me."
"Oh my goodness! It's me, Monica! I did not even recognize you," Monica introduced herself.
Megan's eyes brightened and she stared at Monica, "Wow, you look so… skinny!"
Monica laughed, "Well you're one to talk! I haven't seen you since you dropped out to have your baby."
Megan laughed shyly, "Yeah, my daughter Bridget. Can you believe she's already eighteen? Just graduated!"
"Oh my…" Monica glanced at Joey and noticed his unique interest in Megan. "Well I should probably let you two dance, we can catch up later Megan." She smiled to herself while walking away, because Monica knew that Megan was perfect for him.
Monica was about to go find Chandler again when she heard Joey say, "Well, mostly I'm an actor, but I've decided to take a break and start on my modeling career…"