"Gracias! Gracias Señora Bing!" Padre Juan beamed, then he handed her the papers he'd been holding.

"What's this?" Monica asked.

"The vows," Juan said.

Monica cast a confused glance at Padre Rocco.

"Si, um…" Rocco said, running his palm along the back of his neck. "They are…ah, special words for couple to be wed…ah, poems…"

"No," Chandler said, putting his hands up and backing away, already squirming. "Poems?! We could do the 'richer or poorer' thing, but I'm not gonna read someone else's vows. And…and they're in Spanish anyway…"

"No! The groom is American," Juan said, smiling brightly, clutching his Bible to his chest. "I know English well but…but I would be pleased to hear again to help when they wed - if they forget words."

Chandler shot a disgruntled look to Monica. Her eyes widened as if to say "just go with it" and she gave him a little smile as she began to scan the page.

And then she scanned it again.

And again.

Padre Juan gave Rocco a questioning look as the older priest observed the couple. Rocco watched as Chandler's face, which had been wearing a look of thinly-veiled annoyance, began to soften as he read the vows he was holding.

No one said a word for a couple minutes. Dust floated in the sun beams streaming in, hovering around the silence in the room. The only sound was the echo of Juan's shoes as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. His anxiety was growing by the second.

Finally, Monica glanced up from her piece of paper and looked at her husband.

Chandler's gaze met hers.

And both had tears in their eyes.

"You can read, si?" Padre Juan asked nervously, looking from one to the other.

Wisely reading their expressions, Padre Rocco put his hand on Chandler's shoulder.

"It is odd, yes, you already wed," he said softly. "It is a help to us, si. But, maybe…this time it can be for…you?"

Chandler looked at him and Rocco smiled softly.

Chandler turned back to Monica, a slow grin coming across his face, as he quickly swiped at a tear under his eye with his finger.

She smiled back at him, a tear slipping onto her cheek.

"For us…" she nodded with a whisper.

Rocco patted her arm lightly then brought the couple's left hands together in front of Padre Juan.

"We are gathering today…" Juan started.

And in that moment time seemed to slow down.

Monica's mind cleared and the only thing she could hear was the pounding of her heart.

The only thing she could see was her husband's beautiful blue eyes.

No, it wasn't a real ceremony. There were no friends, no family.

But there also was no chaos.

There was no run-away groom.

There was no pregnancy confusion.

There was nothing but clarity in her heart.

And nothing but unconditional love in his eyes.

"Señora Bing?" the young priest asked quietly, gesturing to the vows.

Monica glanced at Juan, giving him a quick smile before looking down at the paper in her shaking hand.

She looked up at Chandler, who was smiling softly at her.

She took a deep breath and began to read in a loud whisper someone else's chosen words that she felt could have literally come from her own soul.

"My love, the minute I heard my first love story I…I started looking for…you, not knowing how…blind that was.

She took a long, shaky breath.

"Lovers don't…don't finally meet somewhere. They're…they're in each other all along."

Monica paused.

She wasn't sure she could handle the emotions threatening to pour out of her to read the rest.

Chandler reached up to wipe a tear from her face.

Then he clasped two of his fingers around her wedding band and gently squeezed her hand.

She closed her eyes, cleared her throat, then started reading again, her voice stronger now.

"We are the mirror as well as the face in it.

We are tasting the taste this minute of eternity. We are…pain and…and what cures pain, both.

We are the sweet cold water and the jar that pours.

You would rather throw stones at the mirror?"

Monica's eyes left the paper. She grabbed his left hand in both of hers, thinking of all the pain they'd finally talked through. And how they made it through together.

She was crying, her heart shining through her eyes as she looked at him and concluded her vows.

"I am your mirror, and here are the stones. You are in me and I am in you."

Then she whispered with a smile.

"My prince, my soulmate, my friend."

Chandler's breath caught and he closed his eyes, tears brimming under his lashes. His heart was racing.

Juan looked at Padre Rocco with alarm, thrown that Monica had added her own words at the end of the vows.

Rocco briefly shook his head and grinned, then motioned for Juan to continue.

"Um," Juan began, flustered. "Señor Bing, now is your time."

Chandler gave Monica a worried look. He wasn't going to be able to get through this.

"Mon…"

She nodded, squeezing his hand just as he had hers, pressing his wedding band between both her palms.

Her eyes searched his face as he began to read…

"I love you. Not only for who you are but for what I am when I am with you."

His voice was shaking. He never took his eyes off the paper for fear he'd lose any trace of composure if he looked at his wife.

"I love you. Not only for what you have made of yourself but for what you are making of…me. I love you for the part of me that you…that you bring out."

Chandler took a deep breath as tears filled his eyes. He couldn't believe the next words that were on the paper.

Standing in a church he decided it was probably OK to say a little prayer - he needed all the help he could get to read the next verse.

He quickly lifted his eyes heavenward as a tear ran down his cheek.

Monica swallowed the lump that formed in her throat as she looked at him. She'd never seen him so affected.

She held her breath.

He stared back at the paper a moment before finally choking out…

"I love you for putting your h…hand into my h...heart and passing over all the…the foolish, weak…things that you can't help.

Dimly…seeing…there and…and drawing out, into the light, all the b…beautiful be…belongings that no…one…else had looked quite far enough to find."

He finished the end of the sentence in a hoarse whisper.

Chandler finally looked at Monica.

She was beaming through her tears.

He looked deep into her eyes.

"You have done it without a touch, without a word, without a sign.

You have done it (he dropped the paper and cupped her cheek)…my princess, my soulmate, my friend."

He leaned down and she met him half way, their tears mingling when their lips met.

Rocco smiled, tears in his eyes, too. Juan just looked at them, stunned, then back at his book.

"Ah…" he started.

It wasn't time to kiss the bride yet.

Monica broke their kiss, giggling a little as she wiped Chandler's cheeks and laced her hands behind his neck - their eyes locked.

Chandler hands were clasped behind her waist as his face broke into his lopsided grin.

"We kinda jumped the gun on that the last time, too," he said quietly, his eyes never leaving hers. Monica giggled again.

The priests looked at each other, Rocco gesturing to Juan that they could end the ceremony now.

"If you wish we can…" Rocco began.

"No," Chandler interrupted, clearing his throat and briefly shaking his head, still looking at his wife. "Juan has a wedding to finish."

Monica's face broke into a bright smile. Then she glanced at Juan and nodded.

Juan smiled back at Monica, then looked back down at the wedding notes in his Bible.

"Señora, will you promise to love, honor, cherish and defend your husband in good times or bad, sickness or health, for richer or poorer until death parts you?"

"I will," she whispered to Chandler, her forehead pressed to his.

"Señor, will you promise to love, honor, cherish and protect your wife in good times or bad, sickness or health, for richer or poorer until death parts you?"

"I will," he whispered back to her, as they both closed their eyes, savoring the moment.

Rocco and Juan exchanged a smile.

"Ah…here we do rings, but…you have rings," Juan said, furrowing his brow.

Padre Rocco stepped forward and placed one hand over Monica's shoulder and the other over Chandler's. He looked from one to the other.

And joy filled his heart as he smiled at them.

"What God hath joined may none on Earth put asunder," he said, indicating that the ceremony was over.

Monica and Chandler let out deep breaths, smiling at each other.

Then they backed away from one another and turned to the priests.

"Don't I get to kiss the bride?" Chandler asked Juan in feigned disappointment.

"Oh, yes, yes," he said, flustered again. Rocco just chuckled.

Chandler reached over and kissed Monica softly.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you."

Juan smiled as Rocco patted them both on the back.

"You will have much joy in future," Rocco said. "May your blessings be many, Monica and Chandler. And thank you."

Juan nodded.

Monica shook her head, tears again in her eyes as she hugged both Rocco and Juan.

"No," she said, her voice thick. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

Chandler nodded, suddenly unable to speak, and shook the priests' hands.

Rocco walked the couple to the church door, as Juan disappeared with a wave and smile behind the wall at the other end of the sanctuary.

"Hope it helped," Chandler said, gesturing toward where Juan had left.

Rocco glanced back a moment and then studied the faces of the couple in front of him.

An answer to prayer, indeed...

"Anytime love lives and spirit lifts, it helps," Rocco said with a smile. "God Bless you both."

And with that he turned and headed back into the church, leaving Monica and Chandler on the sidewalk - both overcome with a profound feeling of peace.

They remained in comfortable, thoughtful silence, as they walked back to the beach dock, fetched their bag and boarded the last ferry back to the resort.

They made their way to the bow of the boat as the sun started to fall into the crystal blue water and found no one else sitting there.

Monica tried to speak. She wanted to tell him what she was feeling, how much the church ceremony had meant to her - how magical it had all been.

She looked into his eyes.

"Chandler…" she said quietly, but her voice caught and her eyes filled with tears.

He put a finger to her lips and nodded, his own eyes bright.

"I know," he whispered.

He settled them on the bench lining the bow.

She leaned back on his chest.

He wrapped his arms around her and her head fell back on his shoulder.

She grasped his arms tight with one arm and reached up to wrap her other arm around his neck.

She pulled his head close to her and he buried his face in her hair.

And they both cried.

NOTE: The idea to renew their vows came to me a couple weeks ago, but I wasn't sure how I wanted to do it. Then I found these poems and it all came together. Monica's vows were from a poem called "When I Am With You" by Rumi and Chandler's are taken from "I Love You" by Roy Croft. Thanks, as always, for your reviews. There are at least a couple more chapters left before the honeymoon is over :)