Hello lovelys! I know, it's super late. I know, I'm horrible at updating. I'm at uni now with limited internet, so that's one reason it's so late. Just also thought I'd let you know, I decided this will be the last chapter. This is the epilogue. The chapter I had originally planned before this was rather… pointless, it just sort of makes the story drag on. So now it's ending.
I also realised I made a mistake with dates in the last chapter. It's not 2012, it was 2013 in the last chapter. My bad.
Thanks all of you for sticking with this Fic until the very end. All of your reviews, favourites, follows meant so much to me. I'm glad you liked it, and maybe I'll see you again in the FriendsFic section. Who knows. I had a lot of fun writing this, hope you had a lot of fun reading it.
Please review!
June 3rd, 2028
Today was possibly the most special day within all the Friends. Everyone had travelled down to Dobbs Ferry for this very special occasion. Phoebe and Mike, along with their two kids, Rachel and Phoebus, were right on time and happy for them. Joey and his wife (yes, wife) Alex came down with their only child Sandra were there too. Susan, Carol and Ben had also made it for the very special occasion. Cassy and her husband Richard Cassablanca were there as well, their five year old running around the place, unaware of how special the day was. Jack and Judy had sent their love, wishing they could make it as well, but these days they found it harder to make it to places too far away. They were almost 90, after all.
Chandler was in the front of the whole crowd, alone. After all these years, he never remarried. He simply couldn't.
Everyone was sitting outside. The rows and rows of seats were all covered in white and ahead of them was a beautifully decorated altar. The main man of the day was already standing in the front, his brother to his right patting him on the back for moral support. The main girl of the day was in the back room along with her best friends. Everyone else was sitting, waiting patiently for the music to start.
Chandler left his seat to go and check up on Emma. It was her special day and it seemed she was starting to be a little late. Chandler had to smile at that. Over the years, Emma proved to be one of the tardiest people he ever met. She was almost always late for school, she nearly missed her driving exam, she was late to meet up with her grandparents on almost every visit and she was late to every date and every dance she went to. Hell, she'd probably be late for her own funeral. She was born late, and she lived pretty much every day of her life late.
Chandler knocked on her door quickly and waited outside. The door opened but Chandler couldn't see inside. Three girls dressed identically in pink blocked his view. They all smiled at him and parted to let him in.
"It's just Bing" the girls said with a smile.
"Chandler!" Mary called out happily and ran to hug him. She was dressed in pink as well, but different from the other three girls. The bridesmaids dressed the same. The maid of honour got a slightly more extravagant dress. "Good, you're here. Emma's just… well… I think she's having last minute nerves…" she pointed towards the bathroom. Chandler stared at it and couldn't help but think of Rachel. She ran from her first wedding too.
"I'll talk to her" Chandler said and he walked towards the door and knocked.
"Go away, Mary!" Emma screamed at the door.
"Emma, it's Chandler. I'm going to come in, okay?" there was silence on the other side, so Chandler just pushed open the door and found his legal daughter sitting on the toilet with the lid down. Emma was in a beautiful white dress that flowed down just past her ankles. It was a sleeveless dress and fit perfectly on Emma's slim body. Her hair was down but done so beautifully. She had white flower braided into her hair, ones that matched perfectly with the bouquet that she was meant to carry as well. "Hey, Emma" Chandler said and he sat on the edge of the bathtub right next to Emma. She took one look at him and started to burst into tears.
"I don't know if I can do it!" She cried, and Chandler just instinctively held her. "Derek's such a wonderful person, and I love him… I just… I…"
"Emma, listen to me" Chandler said in a soothing voice. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. No one will force you to. It's okay, alright? Whatever you're thinking, whatever you're feeling, we can work through it, okay?"
"But I can't just leave him at the altar! I can't just abandon this wedding. It must have cost a fortune. I can't just waste it!"
"Yes you can" Chandler said. Emma just shook her head and continued to sob. Chandler rubbed her shoulder reassuringly before remembering Rachel. "Did I ever tell you about your mother's first wedding?" Emma looked up confused.
"No…"
"Oh, wow. Well, that's quite an important story, actually. It's how Rachel found us in New York. What made her move in with Monica, what gave your father the chance to ask her out."
"Why? What happened?"
"Your mother was engaged to this guy she dated, Berry. She thought she loved him, and only when it came to her wedding day did she realise… no. She didn't love him. She was marrying him for the wrong reasons. It was the pressure from her parents and the views of all her friends that made her say yes to his proposal. But anyways, when she realised that she didn't love him, she knew she couldn't get married to him. So, she snuck out a window and found your Aunt Monica. She returned the ring, apologized to Berry and started her new life in New York. With your father by her side and helping her throughout the whole ordeal. It just wasn't meant to be, her and Berry, and she knew that. That's why she left. And if she hadn't gone with what she felt in her heart… she might never have realised how in love she was with your father.
"So it's okay, Emma. If you feel it deep down that you don't love Derek, if you think it wasn't meant to be, then that's alright. He'll understand." Emma wiped her eyes and took in a deep breath.
"I do love him…" Emma said softly. "I really do. I just… I'm afraid." Chandler thought about what else he could tell Emma, what else would make her feel better. And finally, he remembered.
"I nearly walked out on your Aunt Monica" Chandler said. Now Emma was very focused on what Chandler was saying. He rarely spoke about Monica, even now, so many years after her death. Whenever he did, the story was usually very happy and very cute, and more often than not, helped Emma with whatever she was dealing with.
"You did?"
"Yeah. Your father tried to threaten me with Karate, or something like that, when he found me at last."
"But… you loved Monica…"
"Oh, I loved her very much. Still do. It was just… the thought of committing to a person like that. It terrified me. I mean, from the moment I proposed to the day before our wedding, I was so excited. I couldn't wait to spend the rest of my life with her. I couldn't wait to call her my wife. I simply couldn't wait anymore. And then the wedding day came. I freaked out. The terrifying part of getting married just built up and attacked me all at once. I was so terrified… I ran. I left. I hid in my office like a coward."
"But you went back to her. You got married."
"Yes. Your dad found me and dragged me back in the last minute. He helped me separate the fear of the day from the joy of it. The fear came from committing to a single person like that. The pressure of being a married couple. That's what terrified me. But… it just took the reminder of Monica to make me realise why I was doing this in the first place. All the marriage aspects terrified me to no end. All the commitment, and the pressure and all the things that were expected of me as a married man terrified me. But, I just had to think of Monica, thinking of going through all of the scary things with Monica… and it was worth it. It was all worth it.
"So all you need to ask yourself right now, Emma, is what is scaring you about this? Is it the pressures of marriage, like it was for me? Or is it the fear that you don't love Derek as much as you think you do, like it was for your mother? Once you realise where your fear is coming from… you'll know what to do. And no one will think any less of you because of it, okay?" Emma slowly nodded her head, but stayed quiet. She was deep in thought, wondering what to do. "I'll be just outside, take your time." And with that, Chandler stood up and walked out of the bathroom.
He smiled at all the girls in the dressing room and walked out to find someone to help him. He explained the situation to Cassy, and she started an excuse for Emma, claiming she was just feeling a bit ill and should be out shortly. Chandler, in the meantime, went back to Emma's dressing room and waited. Five minutes later, Emma walked out. Her makeup was running and her friends immediately sat her down, desperate to redo it all. Chandler managed to squeeze in through the crowd and reach Emma. She smiled at him, a very happy, genuine smile.
"I love him, Chandler. I really love him" Emma said. "I want to spend the rest of my life with him." Chandler smiled back at her.
"Okay. I'll go tell the others you'll be out in five minutes-"
"Five?!" Mary exclaimed. "You're joking! This will take at least twenty minutes!" Chandler just gave her a look. "Alright, alright. Five. We'll just have to be pretty basic." Chandler smiled and nodded and Emma couldn't help but laugh.
As Chandler was making his way through the hall back to the wedding, he heard his name called out from behind him. He turned around to see Emma with only half her make up on running after him (her three bridesmaids and her maid of honour furiously running after Emma, all their makeup still in hand).
"Emma, what are you doing? Go back, get ready for your wedding. People are getting-"
"Will you give me away?" Emma asked quickly. Chandler was speechless. He had to rerun the question over and over in his mind, make sure he heard her correctly.
"What?"
"I know it's last minute, I know I should have asked you sooner, quite frankly I'm not sure why I haven't asked you before, but I'm asking now. Will you give me away?" Chandler stared at her for a moment longer, still unable to believe she was asking this.
"Of course! Yes, of course I'll give you away!" Chandler said. Emma smiled at him and finally let her friends pull her away to get her makeup done. Chandler returned to the crowd and explained to Cassy that the wedding was still on.
They all waited another three minutes before at last, the first bridesmaid appeared. The music started instantly. Everyone in the crowd turned their head and quickly stood up. At the front, Derek was standing as well, a new, trouble free smile fixed on his face. He was finally getting married.
Emma appeared at the end of the hall, her arm wrapped in Chandler's. Together, they started to make their way down the aisle. It just seemed right. Chandler was giving Emma away, and this was how it should be.
"Your mother would be so proud of you" Chandler whispered to Emma. She had to force back the tears, knowing her friends would kill her if she ruined her makeup again. "Ross and Rachel would be so happy for you. Monica too. I mean, she's probably a bit annoyed that she didn't get to plan the wedding, but other than that…" Emma let out a little chuckle. Finally they reached the end of the aisle, and Chandler decided to say his last bit, "I love you so much, Emma. I'm so proud of you and I wish you and Derek all the happiness in the world."
"I love you too. Dad." Emma said. Chandler did a double take at Emma, thinking he misheard her. But the big smile on her face assure him that he didn't. The biggest smile bloomed on Chandler's face and he finally allowed Emma to stand next to her future husband. Standing off to the side, Chandler finally let the tears fall. His tiny ray of hope was all grown up. And she was exactly what he thought she would be. She truly was his tiny ray of hope. Through all the bad times, through all the good times. There was always Emma. And he was so entirely grateful for that.
Emma was smiling through the whole ceremony. This was the happiest day of her life, clearly. But not just because she was getting married to the man she loved with all her heart. There was that too, but she still had one more trick up her sleeveless dress. The marriage certificate. Unknown to Chandler, she had asked for only one thing from Derek for this day. The names on the certificate appeared as:
Derek Bing-Prince and Emma Geller-Bing Prince.
She happily signed it.
The End
