Fate Has A Way
Disclaimer: Do you really think that I own them? If you do, I have a very nice bridge that I could sell you… (Of course I don't own them. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this here…)
I know I haven't updated anything in a while, but my life has been pretty crazy over the past week and a half. And I'm currently working on five fanfics – no wait, six fanfics- and one (The Other Side of Night) is really depressing and difficult for me to write, so I thought I'd come back to this one and write something happy for a change. And when I finish this, I might actually get around to finishing the next chapter of Someone to Watch Over Me… That'll be the day… Okay, I'm gonna stop rambling now…
~*******~
Chapter Five: Live and Learn, Then Fall in Love
"Shall I go on?" The minister asks, in as much shock as everyone else, Ross and Emily included. Ross was at a loss for words. It was as if he had suddenly lost his ability to speak.
"This is worse than when he married the lesbian," Judy Geller muttered to her husband.
The seconds ticked by slowly. When Ross finally reacted to the situation, it seemed as though hours had passed. In actuality, it had only been minutes.
Ross sighed. "No, I don't think you should," he told the minister. He silently walked down the aisle and out the back door of the church. No one even tried to follow him.
The whispers that had been going back and forth between the wedding guests was slowly growing louder and louder.
"Monica?" Amanda had been asleep on Monica's lap for the majority of the service since Chandler was one of the best men. "What's going on? Why is everyone being so loud? And where is Uncle Ross?"
"Well, Uncle Ross got upset about something that Emily said during the ceremony so he left right before you woke up."
"Is he gonna come back?"
"I don't think so sweetheart."
"So they're not getting married?"
"No, they're not getting married."
That was all the explanation that Amanda needed. As her attention span was somewhat limited - she was only two years old after all - she immediately became interested in something else. "Aunt Phoebe, will you come outside and see the birds with me?"
"Sure Manda. We can go sing 'Feed the Birds' or whatever that song is called." Monica smiled inwardly at how much she, Rachel, and Phoebe had grown used to Amanda and Ben. Mary Poppins was one Amanda's favorite movies, and Phoebe had added a few of her own remarks into many of the songs in the movie, which was not an unusual thing for Phoebe to do, but it was amusing nonetheless.
"Mon," Rachel cut in after the other two had left. "Do you think someone should go look for Ross?"
"That's a good idea. Someone can go back to the hotel with Ben and Amanda, and everyone else should go try to find Ross."
"Maybe we can get the Gellers to stay with the kids."
"Do you think they'd do that?"
"They seem like nice enough people. I'm not sure how I'd deal with them as my own parents, but since they aren't…"
"Good point." Monica looks up from their conversation. "Here comes Chandler and Joey, let's see what they think."
"So I bet no one saw that coming," Chandler motioned to the front of the church as he and Joey approached the two girls. Ben was following close behind.
"Where's my dad?" He asked, still a little confused about the string of events that had just passed.
"That's what we were just about to talk to you about." Rachel started to say. "Do you think that Ross' parents will watch the kids while we go looking for him?"
"Probably not." But then Chandler looked over and saw Jack and Judy Geller having a heated argument with Emily's parents. "Actually, hold that thought…"
"Phoebes and I can stay with them." Joey suggested.
"Okay, you guys take them back to your hotel room, and we'll call you as soon as we hear anything." Monica stopped for a second. "Oh, and Phoebe and Manda are outside. You can't miss them. Trust me."
"Where do you guys think that all of the other guests have gone to?" Rachel motioned to the now almost completely empty church.
"Probably the reception… Some nerve if you ask me." The only other people who hadn't already left were the minister, who was still recovering from the half-ceremony, and the Gellers and the Walthams, who didn't look as though they would be going anywhere soon. It was just starting to get ugly.
"And I'm telling you no one takes advantage of the Gellers." Jack was saying.
"Ooh Jack. Sometimes I forget just how powerful you can be." For two people who were grandparents, Jack and Judy Geller certainly weren't shy about showing their affection for one another.
"Anyone else a little nauseous?"
"No, just you Mon. Maybe we should get out of here before… well… umm… let's go find Ross." Rachel stuttered, obviously as surprised at Ross' parents as her friends were.
As Chandler, Monica, and Rachel left the church, they saw Joey and Phoebe leaving with the kids.
"Who's hungry?" Joey asked. Ben and Amanda both replied enthusiastically. "If you promise not to tell, Cool Uncle Joey and Cool Aunt Phoebes will take you out for ice cream." Joey didn't need to tell them twice. They started anxiously towards the sidewalk. (A/N: So it's not the REAL Cool Aunt and Uncle, but what can I say… I'm improvising… Cool Aunt Courteney For Queen!!! And I bet almost everyone out there has NO idea what I'm talking about. You should feel special if you do *hugs to all of my crazy family and all the other Courteneyians*).
"Aunt Phoebe!!" Amanda said excitedly. "Ben and I are gonna teach you a new song!!"
Aside from Mary Poppins, Ben and Amanda had been watching Winnie the Pooh videos with Joey frequently. "Oh the wonderful thing about tiggers is that tiggers are made out of springs…" They started.
"Ooh!! I know that song!!" Phoebe said. "Their tops are made out of rubber; their bottoms are made out of springs."
"I know that song too!" Joey joined in the slightly off key variation.
Monica, Rachel, and Chandler laughed among themselves as the other four walked down the sidewalk in the direction of the nearest ice cream place. Only Joey and Phoebe would know the words to the Tigger Song.
"So where do you think Ross went?" Chandler's question brought them back to reality.
"Honestly, I have no idea. I mean, he's never been here before, has he?" Monica asked. Since Chandler had known Ross the longest, he would be the one to know this kind of information.
"If he did, it was a long time ago."
"Our best bet is to start at the hotel, I would think," Rachel decided. "I mean, where would you go if this happened to you? Personally I wouldn't be walking the streets aimlessly in a city I wasn't familiar with."
"Ahh, but you're forgetting one thing. I would never rush into a marriage again like I did with Amy. You'd think that Ross would have learned the same thing from Carol. I don't want to make a mistake like that again, not when Amanda could get hurt." Chandler reached out and wrapped his arm around Monica protectively as they walked, and Monica smiled at him. Even though they were worried about Ross, nothing could take away from their happiness. Chandler knew that Monica was the only person in the world that he would trust to be Amanda's mother.
The three of them walked the rest of the way back to the hotel in silence. Each lost in their own thoughts. They had no idea exactly where they would find Ross, or how they would deal with him when they did. This was one of those uncomfortable situations when all you can do is stand helplessly on the side, wishing that you knew what to say or do, or even think.
*******
Through some hotel mix-up, it took them almost three hours to find Ross' new room. (He had been updated to the honeymoon suite as of that afternoon, and the others had yet to learn of his new room number.) When they finally did find him, he was in his room as Rachel suspected; yet, he was surprisingly not as upset or angry as they had anticipated. Albeit, he was embarrassed about rushing into things with Emily and worried about Ben's reaction to the day's events, but he seemed to be coping very well in spite of everything.
While he was alone in the hotel room, Ross realized that it was probably for the best that Emily had said the wrong name. They obviously weren't ready to get married, and by doing this, she had prevented them from making a huge mistake. Who knows what would have happened in the future if she had said the correct name? He would never know the answer. No one would.
If they could just make it through the next few weeks, everything would go back to normal. It just had to.
*******
Two weeks later, it was Chandler and Monica's four month anniversary, and everyone had almost completely forgotten about Emily. Or at least they were moving on with their lives.
For their anniversary, Chandler took Monica to the same restaurant that they had gone to on their first date. It was hard to believe that four months ago, they were just two strangers who had met by chance. Now, Chandler couldn't imagine being with anybody but her.
No one is perfect until you fall in love with them, the saying goes.
He had never believed it until he met her.
They were silent the entire cab ride back to Monica's apartment, completely content just because they were together. Sometimes the silence is just as important. Then you know that you're comfortable when you don't have to make small talk.
They climbed the stairs to apartment 20, and Monica gasped as she opened the door. The entire apartment was lit by candles. It looked as though someone had Phoebe's entire collection on loan.
"Thank Rachel and Phoebe later," Chandler told her. "I had them set it up."
He led her to the sofa, and he pulled a wrapped box from his coat pocket. She unwrapped it carefully, and inside the box was a silver necklace. She studied it carefully. "It's so beautiful," she said. "And it goes with my bracelet perfectly." She held it next to the bracelet on her wrist. (A/N: I'm referring to the necklace that she was talking about in chapter 2).
"I know how much you love that bracelet that your dad gave you. I wanted you to have something that you could wear with it."
"I couldn't love anything more."
"I feel the same way about you," he said. "I'll help you put it on." She turned around, and he put the necklace around her neck and closed the clasp.
"Let me go get your present," she said, getting up off the sofa. "It's not nearly as nice as this is though." She went into the extra bedroom and came out about a minute later. "It was difficult for me to wrap," she explained.
"Oh Monica," he exclaimed as she turned the gift around so that he could see it. It was a portrait of Amanda, and it looked exactly like her. "Did you do this?"
"Yeah, about a month ago you mentioned that you wanted to get a portrait of Amanda done, so I took a picture of her and did this." She handed him the painting. "If you don't like it I can do another one or I'll get it done professionally."
"It's perfect, Mon. Nobody could have done a better job." He was completely amazed. He had never been more touched by anyone else. No one else would have done this for him. He couldn't even begin to imagine the time and energy that she had put into this painting. "Happy anniversary, Mon," he whispered into her ear.
"Happy anniversary Chandler," she said. He picked her up in his arms, and carried her into her bedroom.
~*******~
Okay, there's chapter 5. I had to completely change the title of this chapter because I felt like that was a good place to end it and I didn't even get into my original plan for this chapter. At least now I have a plan for the beginning of the next chapter… And I know I make references to a lot of weird stuff. Trust me, there actually ARE people who know what I'm talking about. I also seem to reference a whole bunch of kids' movies, but that's because I have a four year old sister. She's been the inspiration behind the character Amanda. I bet no one's still reading this…
Please review and/or email me at fiddlegal528@yahoo.com. It would mean a lot to me to know that people are still interested in this or whether I'm just wasting my time. Depending on the reviews I get, I may or may not continue posting this. (Not that the story is by any means over…)
Disclaimer: Do you really think that I own them? If you do, I have a very nice bridge that I could sell you… (Of course I don't own them. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this here…)
I know I haven't updated anything in a while, but my life has been pretty crazy over the past week and a half. And I'm currently working on five fanfics – no wait, six fanfics- and one (The Other Side of Night) is really depressing and difficult for me to write, so I thought I'd come back to this one and write something happy for a change. And when I finish this, I might actually get around to finishing the next chapter of Someone to Watch Over Me… That'll be the day… Okay, I'm gonna stop rambling now…
~*******~
Chapter Five: Live and Learn, Then Fall in Love
"Shall I go on?" The minister asks, in as much shock as everyone else, Ross and Emily included. Ross was at a loss for words. It was as if he had suddenly lost his ability to speak.
"This is worse than when he married the lesbian," Judy Geller muttered to her husband.
The seconds ticked by slowly. When Ross finally reacted to the situation, it seemed as though hours had passed. In actuality, it had only been minutes.
Ross sighed. "No, I don't think you should," he told the minister. He silently walked down the aisle and out the back door of the church. No one even tried to follow him.
The whispers that had been going back and forth between the wedding guests was slowly growing louder and louder.
"Monica?" Amanda had been asleep on Monica's lap for the majority of the service since Chandler was one of the best men. "What's going on? Why is everyone being so loud? And where is Uncle Ross?"
"Well, Uncle Ross got upset about something that Emily said during the ceremony so he left right before you woke up."
"Is he gonna come back?"
"I don't think so sweetheart."
"So they're not getting married?"
"No, they're not getting married."
That was all the explanation that Amanda needed. As her attention span was somewhat limited - she was only two years old after all - she immediately became interested in something else. "Aunt Phoebe, will you come outside and see the birds with me?"
"Sure Manda. We can go sing 'Feed the Birds' or whatever that song is called." Monica smiled inwardly at how much she, Rachel, and Phoebe had grown used to Amanda and Ben. Mary Poppins was one Amanda's favorite movies, and Phoebe had added a few of her own remarks into many of the songs in the movie, which was not an unusual thing for Phoebe to do, but it was amusing nonetheless.
"Mon," Rachel cut in after the other two had left. "Do you think someone should go look for Ross?"
"That's a good idea. Someone can go back to the hotel with Ben and Amanda, and everyone else should go try to find Ross."
"Maybe we can get the Gellers to stay with the kids."
"Do you think they'd do that?"
"They seem like nice enough people. I'm not sure how I'd deal with them as my own parents, but since they aren't…"
"Good point." Monica looks up from their conversation. "Here comes Chandler and Joey, let's see what they think."
"So I bet no one saw that coming," Chandler motioned to the front of the church as he and Joey approached the two girls. Ben was following close behind.
"Where's my dad?" He asked, still a little confused about the string of events that had just passed.
"That's what we were just about to talk to you about." Rachel started to say. "Do you think that Ross' parents will watch the kids while we go looking for him?"
"Probably not." But then Chandler looked over and saw Jack and Judy Geller having a heated argument with Emily's parents. "Actually, hold that thought…"
"Phoebes and I can stay with them." Joey suggested.
"Okay, you guys take them back to your hotel room, and we'll call you as soon as we hear anything." Monica stopped for a second. "Oh, and Phoebe and Manda are outside. You can't miss them. Trust me."
"Where do you guys think that all of the other guests have gone to?" Rachel motioned to the now almost completely empty church.
"Probably the reception… Some nerve if you ask me." The only other people who hadn't already left were the minister, who was still recovering from the half-ceremony, and the Gellers and the Walthams, who didn't look as though they would be going anywhere soon. It was just starting to get ugly.
"And I'm telling you no one takes advantage of the Gellers." Jack was saying.
"Ooh Jack. Sometimes I forget just how powerful you can be." For two people who were grandparents, Jack and Judy Geller certainly weren't shy about showing their affection for one another.
"Anyone else a little nauseous?"
"No, just you Mon. Maybe we should get out of here before… well… umm… let's go find Ross." Rachel stuttered, obviously as surprised at Ross' parents as her friends were.
As Chandler, Monica, and Rachel left the church, they saw Joey and Phoebe leaving with the kids.
"Who's hungry?" Joey asked. Ben and Amanda both replied enthusiastically. "If you promise not to tell, Cool Uncle Joey and Cool Aunt Phoebes will take you out for ice cream." Joey didn't need to tell them twice. They started anxiously towards the sidewalk. (A/N: So it's not the REAL Cool Aunt and Uncle, but what can I say… I'm improvising… Cool Aunt Courteney For Queen!!! And I bet almost everyone out there has NO idea what I'm talking about. You should feel special if you do *hugs to all of my crazy family and all the other Courteneyians*).
"Aunt Phoebe!!" Amanda said excitedly. "Ben and I are gonna teach you a new song!!"
Aside from Mary Poppins, Ben and Amanda had been watching Winnie the Pooh videos with Joey frequently. "Oh the wonderful thing about tiggers is that tiggers are made out of springs…" They started.
"Ooh!! I know that song!!" Phoebe said. "Their tops are made out of rubber; their bottoms are made out of springs."
"I know that song too!" Joey joined in the slightly off key variation.
Monica, Rachel, and Chandler laughed among themselves as the other four walked down the sidewalk in the direction of the nearest ice cream place. Only Joey and Phoebe would know the words to the Tigger Song.
"So where do you think Ross went?" Chandler's question brought them back to reality.
"Honestly, I have no idea. I mean, he's never been here before, has he?" Monica asked. Since Chandler had known Ross the longest, he would be the one to know this kind of information.
"If he did, it was a long time ago."
"Our best bet is to start at the hotel, I would think," Rachel decided. "I mean, where would you go if this happened to you? Personally I wouldn't be walking the streets aimlessly in a city I wasn't familiar with."
"Ahh, but you're forgetting one thing. I would never rush into a marriage again like I did with Amy. You'd think that Ross would have learned the same thing from Carol. I don't want to make a mistake like that again, not when Amanda could get hurt." Chandler reached out and wrapped his arm around Monica protectively as they walked, and Monica smiled at him. Even though they were worried about Ross, nothing could take away from their happiness. Chandler knew that Monica was the only person in the world that he would trust to be Amanda's mother.
The three of them walked the rest of the way back to the hotel in silence. Each lost in their own thoughts. They had no idea exactly where they would find Ross, or how they would deal with him when they did. This was one of those uncomfortable situations when all you can do is stand helplessly on the side, wishing that you knew what to say or do, or even think.
*******
Through some hotel mix-up, it took them almost three hours to find Ross' new room. (He had been updated to the honeymoon suite as of that afternoon, and the others had yet to learn of his new room number.) When they finally did find him, he was in his room as Rachel suspected; yet, he was surprisingly not as upset or angry as they had anticipated. Albeit, he was embarrassed about rushing into things with Emily and worried about Ben's reaction to the day's events, but he seemed to be coping very well in spite of everything.
While he was alone in the hotel room, Ross realized that it was probably for the best that Emily had said the wrong name. They obviously weren't ready to get married, and by doing this, she had prevented them from making a huge mistake. Who knows what would have happened in the future if she had said the correct name? He would never know the answer. No one would.
If they could just make it through the next few weeks, everything would go back to normal. It just had to.
*******
Two weeks later, it was Chandler and Monica's four month anniversary, and everyone had almost completely forgotten about Emily. Or at least they were moving on with their lives.
For their anniversary, Chandler took Monica to the same restaurant that they had gone to on their first date. It was hard to believe that four months ago, they were just two strangers who had met by chance. Now, Chandler couldn't imagine being with anybody but her.
No one is perfect until you fall in love with them, the saying goes.
He had never believed it until he met her.
They were silent the entire cab ride back to Monica's apartment, completely content just because they were together. Sometimes the silence is just as important. Then you know that you're comfortable when you don't have to make small talk.
They climbed the stairs to apartment 20, and Monica gasped as she opened the door. The entire apartment was lit by candles. It looked as though someone had Phoebe's entire collection on loan.
"Thank Rachel and Phoebe later," Chandler told her. "I had them set it up."
He led her to the sofa, and he pulled a wrapped box from his coat pocket. She unwrapped it carefully, and inside the box was a silver necklace. She studied it carefully. "It's so beautiful," she said. "And it goes with my bracelet perfectly." She held it next to the bracelet on her wrist. (A/N: I'm referring to the necklace that she was talking about in chapter 2).
"I know how much you love that bracelet that your dad gave you. I wanted you to have something that you could wear with it."
"I couldn't love anything more."
"I feel the same way about you," he said. "I'll help you put it on." She turned around, and he put the necklace around her neck and closed the clasp.
"Let me go get your present," she said, getting up off the sofa. "It's not nearly as nice as this is though." She went into the extra bedroom and came out about a minute later. "It was difficult for me to wrap," she explained.
"Oh Monica," he exclaimed as she turned the gift around so that he could see it. It was a portrait of Amanda, and it looked exactly like her. "Did you do this?"
"Yeah, about a month ago you mentioned that you wanted to get a portrait of Amanda done, so I took a picture of her and did this." She handed him the painting. "If you don't like it I can do another one or I'll get it done professionally."
"It's perfect, Mon. Nobody could have done a better job." He was completely amazed. He had never been more touched by anyone else. No one else would have done this for him. He couldn't even begin to imagine the time and energy that she had put into this painting. "Happy anniversary, Mon," he whispered into her ear.
"Happy anniversary Chandler," she said. He picked her up in his arms, and carried her into her bedroom.
~*******~
Okay, there's chapter 5. I had to completely change the title of this chapter because I felt like that was a good place to end it and I didn't even get into my original plan for this chapter. At least now I have a plan for the beginning of the next chapter… And I know I make references to a lot of weird stuff. Trust me, there actually ARE people who know what I'm talking about. I also seem to reference a whole bunch of kids' movies, but that's because I have a four year old sister. She's been the inspiration behind the character Amanda. I bet no one's still reading this…
Please review and/or email me at fiddlegal528@yahoo.com. It would mean a lot to me to know that people are still interested in this or whether I'm just wasting my time. Depending on the reviews I get, I may or may not continue posting this. (Not that the story is by any means over…)