A/N - Thanks again for your reviews. I hope you like this chapter...

==========

The Gift

Chapter Seventeen - Mr. and Mrs. Chandler Bing

"Oh no." As soon as the ceremony had begun, it was interrupted by Phoebe's signature cry.

"Pheebs, what's wrong?" Rachel whispered, looking over at her friend, concerned.

"My water just broke," Phoebe whispered in reply. Although she had tried to keep it quiet, Joey had somehow managed to hear her.

"Her water broke! I'm gonna be a daddy!" he exclaimed, rushing over to her side. "Come on. We've gotta get you to the hospital."

By this time, the bride and groom - as well as everyone else in the room - had turned their attention to the woman in labor.

"I don't think so. I'm staying until these two are pronounced husband and wife," she said stubbornly. "Besides, this could take hours," she continued, referring to labor and delivery.

"Phoebe, you really need to go to the hospital," Monica insisted.

"Yeah. We can take care of this without you," Chandler agreed.

"No. Just get started. The sooner you do that, the sooner I can go and have this baby. Now get on with it!" she demanded.

"Okay, okay," Chandler said, backing away. He looked at the minister. "I think we're gonna get on with it," he said, taking Monica's hand again. He then leaned in to whisper to the minister. "Just make it quick."

The minister nodded in understanding, and continued with the ceremony. "As I was saying... We are gathered here today to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony. Uh, the bride and groom have written their own vows, and at this time, we will... Well, get on with it," he said nervously. In all his years as a minister, he had never conducted a wedding ceremony in which one of the bridesmaids had gone into labor. "Monica?" he said, turning to the bride.

Monica began by smiling at Chandler. Phoebe was in labor just a few feet away from her, but she wasn't going to let that stop her from telling Chandler exactly how she felt on one of the most important days of their lives. "Chandler, you've been a big part of my life for as long as I can remember. You've been one of the people I knew I could always count on, no matter what I needed, and you've proven how much you care about me in more ways than one," she smiled through tears. "We've been through a lot together, and I know in my heart that you and I have always been meant to spend our lives together. You're the man I've looked for all my life. I just didn't realize that you were right in front of me all along... I love you, Chandler. And I always will."

Chandler smiled at her, then lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it.

"Ch-"

"Ouch!" Phoebe yelped suddenly, interrupting the minister again. "Sorry," she smiled sweetly, looking at him, then at Monica and Chandler. "Continue."

The minister cleared his throat. "Chandler?"

"Monica, all of my life I've run away from commitment. I never thought that I would want to commit to anyone, until I fell in love with you. I'd do anything to be able to spend every second of every minute of every day of the rest of my life with you. We have been through a lot - especially over the last couple of years - but we made it through everything, and I think that means a lot. Everything we've faced has made us stronger, and I don't think there's anything that we can't handle together." He reached over to wipe a few tears from Monica's cheek. "I love you. I think I always have, in one way or another. And I know that I will always love you... Mrs. Bing," he grinned.

Monica wiped away her tears and smiled at Chandler. Then the minister continued. "Now we will exchange the rings," he said, indicating that Rachel and Ross should hand the rings to the bride and groom.

They each placed the ring on the other's finger, then looked into each other's eyes and locked in a tender kiss.

"I now present to you Mr. and Mrs. Chandler Bing," the minister announced.

Phoebe took this as her cue. "And I'm gonna present your baby right here, right now, if you don't get me to the hospital ASAP," she yelled at Joey as the happy couple broke their kiss.

"All right, Pheebs. Let's go," Joey said nervously, hurriedly leading her through the nearest exit. He was amazed at how quickly her mood had changed in the last few minutes, but he figured it had something to do with preparing to push another human being out of her body. He wasn't going to question it.

==========

"I'm really sorry that your perfect wedding got interrupted," Chandler apologized as he and Monica stood outside the nursery window, looking in at Joey and Phoebe's baby boy. Ross and Rachel were still with the new parents, while Chandler and Monica were on the way out of the hospital and home to their own babies.

"Chandler, there's nothing to be sorry about. Today was one of the most wonderful days of my life. We got married, and two of our best friends had a baby. That's pretty good for one day's work," she grinned.

"Yeah, I guess so," he smiled back at her and took her hand in his. "Now, why don't we go home and enjoy our wedding night?"

"And by 'enjoy our wedding night' you do mean 'wake up about three times to crying babies,' right?" she teased.

"Well, sure. If that's what we've gotta do, then that's what we've gotta do," he said as he led her down the hallway and toward the elevators. "We could still leave them with your parents, you know."

"I know... Do you think they'd be okay? I mean, they're only six months old, and they've never been away from us overnight."

"Mon, if you don't feel comfortable, then we don't have to do it. I'm just glad that I can finally call you my wife. Mrs. Monica Bing. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?" he grinned.

"Yes, I do," she laughed. "I think the girls will be okay with my parents tonight," she grinned mischievously, looking up at him.

"If you're sure," he replied, smiling back at her.

"Yeah. I'm sure," she answered and stepped into the elevator, holding tightly to her new husband's hand.

==========

"I love you," Chandler whispered, holding his new bride close to him while they danced to one of Monica's favorite love songs.

"I love you, too," she replied, her head resting on his shoulder.

They continued to dance even after the music stopped, neither of them even noticing that the singer's voice was no longer echoing through their apartment. After several minutes of holding onto each other, Monica lifted her head and looked into Chandler's eyes.

"I think the music stopped," she smiled slightly and reached up to kiss him tenderly.

"Really? I think I still hear something," he smiled back at her and kissed her again, this time more passionately.

"Think we can still hear it in the bedroom?" she asked breathlessly once the kiss had ended.

"I think so... And if we can't, we could always make our own music," he grinned before picking her up and whisking her away to their bedroom, shutting the door behind them.

==========

"I could spend the rest of my life wrapped in your arms," Monica sighed hours later, lying in bed with her husband.

"You know, we'd never get anything done," he teased and kissed the top of her head. "But I could probably handle that," he added.

"Yeah, I'm sure you could," she laughed lightly. She was quiet for a few minutes, obviously thinking about something. "You know," she began, "you and I really began over fifteen years ago. If you hadn't made that offer to father my baby..." She trailed off, wondering what might have happened if that conversation had never happened.

"If I hadn't made that offer to father your baby, we still would have ended up together," he insisted. "It had to happen sooner or later. I mean, this is what was supposed to happen all along. You know what I mean?" he asked.

"I think so," she answered, turning to face him. "But if we had realized sooner... Do you think we might have worked out then?"

He paused, then gave his answer. "No, I don't think so," he answered honestly. "We went through a lot to get where we are now. All of those things got us to this night, lying here, husband and wife, mother and father... If we had gotten together sooner, we might not have Abigail and Savannah."

"Yeah... You're right," she replied. "But..."

"But what?" he asked curiously.

"Maybe I wouldn't have lost the first baby," she said quietly.

"Hey," he said soothingly. "Remember what I told you right after we had the miscarriage?"

She nodded, taking note of the fact that he had said "we." She knew that, deep down, he still thought he was to blame for losing their first child. She, on the other hand, still thought that it was her own fault. "There's a reason for everything," she whispered.

"Yeah... And I think that we lost that baby because without going through that horribly difficult time together, we might not have lasted. That brought us together, Mon, in more ways than one."

"You're right," she agreed and snuggled closer to him. "Thank you for... Well, for you," she said, looking at him and smiling.

"Thank you for agreeing to spend the rest of your life with me," Chandler responded and kissed her tenderly before they both closed their eyes and fell asleep, content in each other's arms.

==========

A/N - It's a weak chapter, but I couldn't come up with any improvements for it and I'm trying to get this finished in the next couple of days. I'll have the epilogue up sometime this weekend. It's almost finished, and I think it's a lot better than this chapter... Anyway, let me know what you thought.