Part 2:

Changes & Secrets

Takes place where we left off.

"Monica Geller…will you marry me?" Chandler looked up at Monica, whose eyes were filled with tears.

She couldn't believe the words that had just passed from his lips. She hadn't thought anyone would ever ask her to marry them. Especially not Chandler. And even if Chandler did propose, she didn't think it would be this soon. She was in a state of shock and her mind was racing.

"Sweetie, are you okay?" Chandler nervously asked her, when she had failed to answer him.

The tears were freely falling down her cheeks now. She smiled and placed her hand on his cheek softly.

"I just can't believe this is really happening." She finally said. "It's like a dream."

"And I want to make all your dreams come true, Mon." He kissed the palm of her hand sweetly, then sat next to her on the edge of the bed. "But you still haven't answered me. Will you be my wife?"

"God, I want nothing more than to marry you." She whispered.

"Why do I hear a 'but' in there?" He asked her.

"Chandler," she said as she turned to face him. "I just want to make sure you're asking me for the right reasons and not because you feel sorry for me. I wanna know this is because you love me and want to spend the rest of your life with me."

"Honey, of course that's the reason. I love you so much. I've never felt this way about anyone, and I doubt I ever could. You're the only person I can imagine a future with."

Monica smiled through the tears that were threatening to fall again. "Really?" She asked, needing the confirmation.

"Of course. I would never ask you to marry me because I felt sorry for you. You're the most amazing woman I know. How could I not want to marry you?"

"Oh, I love you so much!" Monica exclaimed as she threw her arms around his neck.

He laughed, surprised by her sudden burst of excitement, but happily wrapped his arms around her as well. "Can I take that as a yes?"

"Most definitely!" She replied, as she leaned in to kiss him on the lips. "I'm sorry I didn't answer you right away. I mean, of course I want to marry you. More than anything. I just had to be sure that its what you really want. I didn't want you to ask because you thought it was the only way to make me happy."

"I knew it would make you happy. But I knew it'd make me happy too." He kissed her again, then slowly slipped the beautiful emerald cut ring onto her finger. She looked down and smiled, noting to herself how it fit her perfectly. She had definitely found her prince.

*****

Monica was busy getting ready for the big Christmas dinner. Ross, Rachel, and Monica's parents were the only ones able to make it - aside from Chandler, of course. Monica and Chandler had kept the news of their engagement to themselves and had agreed they would make their big announcement at dinner. Monica had been about to burst wanting to tell Rachel her news, but managed to keep it to herself. She was so excited that she was finally going to be the one who would have the big news. And her parents could finally be happy over something she was doing, instead of Ross.

"Mmmmm……something smells terrific." Chandler told her, as he walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. He leaned in and kissed her cheek softly several times.

"That would be the pumpkin pie. Which was homemade especially for you." Monica replied, trying not to let Chandler's kisses take her attention away from all the different concoctions she had cooking.

"Noooo, that would be you." He smiled, then walked back over to the kitchen table and sat down.

"You are so cute." Monica grinned at him. "And I am literally about to bust! I cannot wait to tell everyone our big news."

"I know, I can't wait to see their reactions. I think it'll be quite a little shocker, don't you?"

"YES! My mom is seriously convinced I'll be an old maid. She might faint when we tell them. I think my dad will be really happy for us though."

"Well, you don't have to wait much longer." Chandler said, as he glanced at his watch. "Everyone will be here before you know it."

By 6:00, everyone had arrived and dinner was being served. Monica had clearly gone out of her way to make everyone's favorite dishes, but in reality it was just another attempt to try and impress her mother. She didn't know why she was always trying to get in her mother's good graces. After years of never succeeding, she figured it wasn't worth the trouble. But for some reason, she just kept trying.

After Monica had served the pumpkin pie for dessert, she looked at Chandler who gave her his nod of approval to make their announcement.

"Everyone, Chandler and I have some news."

"Ohhh, what is it darling? Are you pregnant?" Judy asked, in a somewhat demeaning tone.

"No, actually…" Monica started, but was interrupted by Ross.

"Actually Rachel and I have some news too."

"Are YOU pregnant?" Judy asked Rachel.

"Um, no." Rachel answered uncomfortably, then shifted her gaze toward Ross.

"Well, you go ahead first Ross. Monica's news can wait." Judy told him, smiling lovingly at her son.

Ross looked at Rachel and smiled as he took her hand in his. "Rachel and I are getting married."

"WHAT?" Monica exclaimed, not believing her ears.

"WHAT?" Chandler echoed, just as shocked and surprised.

"Oh, darling! This is wonderful news! Congratulations!" Judy rushed over to hug Ross and then Rachel, obviously excited by their announcement.

"Yes, congratulations son." Jack told him, patting him on the shoulder.

"Oh my God!" Monica exclaimed, still not comprehending what had just taken place. "Since when are you and Rachel even a couple? I cannot believe this."

"Oh, relax, Monica." Judy told her daughter. "There is no need to be jealous of Ross and Rachel."

"Who said I was jealous?" Monica spit back as she stood up from the table. "As a matter of fact, if you'd let me make MY announcement, then you would have known that Chandler and I are engaged too!"

"You are?" Judy squinted her eyes, and looked from Chandler then back at Monica, as though she thought Monica was making it up to get attention.

"Yeah, we are!" Monica replied lifting up her left hand to show the ring, and obviously highly annoyed at her mother's implication.

Chandler quickly stood up and walked over to put his arm around his fiancée, hoping to provide some form of comfort. He knew of her problems with her mother, but had no idea how deep the rift between the two ran.

"Oh, this is great news!" Rachel exclaimed. "We're all getting married!" She stood up and happily threw her arms around both Chandler and Monica.

Monica reluctantly hugged Rachel back, not sure who she was upset with - Ross, her mother, Rachel - or just about everyone except for Chandler. This day had certainly not gone as planned. But she tried to look at the bright side, she and Chandler WERE getting married and nothing was going to spoil that.

After everyone had finally left, Chandler and Monica sat on the couch together and she rested her head on his shoulder. She kept playing the events of the night over in her head. She just didn't understand why nothing ever seemed to go her way. Her mother wasn't even happy for her. She didn't know why it bugged her so much. She shouldn't even care - she had Chandler. And he was all she needed. But the fact remained that her mother had gone on and on about Ross and Rachel's wedding, Rachel's dress, the reception, everything. She hadn't asked Monica anything.

"Babe?" Chandler asked her after a few minutes.

"Yeah?"

"You okay?"

"Yeah. I will be."

Chandler kissed the top of her head and pulled her closer to him. "I'm sorry about your mom. I really had no idea she could be like that."

"You mean a complete and utter bitch? You get used to it." Monica told him, trying to convince herself.

"What is the deal with Ross and Rachel? I mean, when did they even get together? How did that happen?"

"I don't know. But I'm not upset with them. Did you see how happy they were for us? Ross told me how bad he felt about interrupting me to make his announcement. He said if he'd known about us he never would have said anything."

"No, we can't blame them. They're our best friends. But apparently we haven't been in the loop much lately as far as they're concerned. I still wanna know how they got together."

"Yeah, I guess they didn't want anyone to know they were seeing each other." Monica replied, hoping to change the subject. As much as she loved her brother, she was really tired of talking about Ross and Rachel.

Chandler sensed this in her voice, and hoped he could pick a topic she'd be interested in talking about. "What do you say we talk about the wedding?"

"I hope you mean our wedding." Monica snickered.

"Yes, our wedding. Because that's the only one that matters." He kissed the tip of her nose and smiled, hoping to lighten the mood a bit.

"Well, I don't need anything big or elaborate." Monica told him. "The only thing I care about being there is you."

Chandler smiled, but was a little surprised about the first part of her response. "Are you sure you don't want a big wedding?"

"I'm sure. And besides, I don't want to compete. I mean Rachel is definitely going to pull out all the stops. My mom will rave about that wedding for years. And Rachel will have a beautiful size 0 dress. While I will wear a pup tent - if they even make those in my size."

"Mon, you are going to be the most beautiful bride. How many times do I have to tell you this?"

"A few more times would help." Monica cracked a smile. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to sound so whiny. But I'm serious - I don't want a big wedding. Just something small and intimate…a few family and friends. I just want to be with you forever. That's really all I care about."

"Then that is what we'll do. Have a small ceremony. Maybe a little party afterwards. Then take a romantic honeymoon somewhere tropical."

"Ohhh, I like the sound of that." Monica smiled suggestively, which made Chandler laugh.

"What do you think about September?"

"I think that sounds perfect. A September wedding. I love it."

"I love it too." He kissed her again, then stood up, grabbed her hands and pulled her up as well. "What do you say we call it a night?"

"Sounds good. I am beat." Monica smiled, as he led her to what would officially be their room in just a few months.

******

Monica lit the final candle, then rushed to turn off all of the lights in the apartment. She was determined to make this Valentines day as romantic as possible. Besides, it would be her only Valentines day as an engaged woman so she wanted to make the most of it.

She had prepared Chandler's favorite meal, then after dinner she wanted to take a nice bubble bath together, and then head straight for the bedroom. She felt like they hadn't been spending enough time there lately. Not that she was complaining. They still had a great love life, but this was all still fairly new for her and she didn't want to start taking anything for granted.

After waiting a few minutes, Chandler finally arrived from work. She knew from the minute he walked in that something wasn't right. He just had a strange look on his face. She immediately felt her heart in her throat. What if he wanted to end the engagement? What if he'd fallen out of love with her? Maybe he'd met another woman? She tried to tell her brain to stop thinking so negatively but it wasn't working.

"Hi." He said solemnly as he leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the lips.

"Hey." She replied, not really sure what else to say. "I'm almost afraid to ask what's going on."

"Well I really hate to wreck Valentines day. But we need to talk." Chandler sighed, as he sat down at the kitchen table.

She sat down next to him, swallowing hard. She told herself not to cry. Not yet anyway. If he was breaking up with her maybe it wouldn't be for good. Maybe they could work things out. They'd never even had a serious fight.

"Mon, I don't even know where to start." He avoided eye contact with her and fumbled with the fringe of his scarf that was still around his neck.

"Oh, God…Chandler…what is it?"

"I got a promotion at work." He told her, sounding almost disappointed.

"That's good news….isn't it?" Monica was confused. Shouldn't a promotion be a good thing?

"Well ultimately it will be good." He told her, finally looking into her concerned eyes.

"Okay…but?"

"Well, I have to train for six months." Chandler sighed.

"That's not so bad." Monica said, as she placed her hand on his, hoping to relieve some of the tension.

"In Hong Kong."

"WHAT?"

"I know. I don't know what to do." He held onto her hand a little tighter.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't have to take the promotion. If you don't want me to, then I won't."

"Do you want it?"

"I don't want to be away from you for six months, Mon. I would miss you so much. And its not like I'd be somewhere nearby so we could at least visit each other. Its Hong Kong…I mean could it GET any further away from New York?" He sighed again, not wanting to have to make such a big decision.

"What kind of promotion is it? When you get back, would you be in charge of those pricks who were talking about me at the Christmas party?"

Chandler smiled, for the first time since he'd arrived at the apartment. "Not only would I be in charge of them, I would get a huge office, and a nice little raise." If he hadn't been sitting, he would have been doing his 'Chandler dance'.

"Well, then I think you should take it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm positive. I mean, I'm going to be so busy planning the wedding anyway. And I know how much all of that bores you. We can talk on the phone. And maybe we can visit once or twice, even if it is like a 2 day flight."

Chandler pulled her close to him and kissed her hair. "Oh, Mon. I don't know how I got so lucky. Thank you."

"I love you. And I know how long you've wanted to work in this business. I don't want to hold you back from anything."

Chandler smiled, and kissed her passionately. "You are SO gonna get lucky tonight."

"Shouldn't I be saying that to you?" She kissed him back with equal passion.

"There's just one more thing," he told her breaking away.

"What's that?" She asked him, a little disappointed he'd ended such a nice kiss.

"I have to leave first thing Monday morning."

Monica frowned, then leaned in to kiss him again. "Well then I think we need to skip dinner and head straight for dessert."

******

It'd been three months since Chandler had been training in Hong Kong. He and Monica missed each other terribly and hoped they could survive another three months without seeing each other. They talked on the phone as often as possible, but with the time difference and them both being so busy with work and Monica planning the wedding, it was hard getting in touch sometimes.

Monica was impatiently awaiting Chandler's phone call. She and Rachel had just finished having lunch, and she knew he'd be ringing at any moment. When the phone finally rang, she answered before the first ring was even finished.

"Hey hon!" He exclaimed.

"Hi sweetie." Monica replied. Every time she heard his voice it reminded her of how much she missed him. She was feeling so lonely without having him around but she tried not to let it show so much when she talked to him. However, she wasn't always so convincing.

"How are you doing?" Chandler asked her, trying not to sound as concerned as he was. For the past couple of months, Monica had sounded different when he talked to her on the phone. He'd even called Rachel to make sure that Monica was okay, and she had reassured him that everything was fine. She'd told him that Monica was just trying to adjust to being without him, and he'd accepted that - in the beginning. But he was still really worried that there was more to it.

"I'm good. You?"

"I'm good. But I miss you so much, Mon. I don't know how I'm going to last three more months without seeing you."

"I know. Same here. Maybe if we're lucky the next three will just fly by." She forced a smile and hoped it wasn't too obvious just how miserable she was without him.

"Are you okay babe?" Chandler asked, concern apparent in his voice.

"Yeah. I've just been really tired lately." She regretted saying it, hoping he wouldn't become even more concerned.

"Well you make sure you get enough sleep. I need my bride healthy when I get back."

"I'm fine, really."

"Okay, I'll take your word for it." Chandler told her, hoping he convinced her. He knew her too well. Something was definitely going on with her. But what? He hoped she wasn't having second thoughts about the wedding. But then quickly brushed that thought off. She was too excited about the wedding whenever he talked to her, so that couldn't be it. Maybe it had to do with her being so tired lately. He hoped she wasn't coming down with something - he hoped she was taking care of herself.

"Rachel and I have some things we need to do, so I'm going to let you go. I love you and I'll talk to you tomorrow." Monica told him.

"Okay. I love you too. Bye."

Monica hung up the phone and sighed. Rachel stopped reading her bridal magazine and looked up from the table.

"Mon…"

"Yeah?" Monica looked over at her.

"You really need to tell Chandler what's going on."

"I know, Rach. But I really think its better if I just wait to tell him in person."

Rachel held back a laugh. "As if he won't notice when he gets off the plane! Call him back and tell him right now! Monica you're being ridiculous!"

"I know, I know I am. But I'm just scared of how he's going to react, Rachel! I mean we've never even discussed….you know."

"I know you're scared, honey. This is huge - but I promise you, he is going to be happy."

"I hope so." Monica was reluctant in her reply, but she hoped that Rachel was right.

Rachel got up and walked over to sit down next to Monica on the couch. "Mon, this is something you've always wanted. And even though Chandler might not know he wants it, he just doesn't know it yet."

This made Monica feel a little better. Maybe Rachel had a point. "I just hope he understands why I didn't want to tell him over the phone and wanted to wait until he got home."

Rachel leaned in and hugged her friend. "He's definitely going to be surprised, that's for sure. And I just hope he doesn't pass out. But sweetie, he'll understand. I promise."

*****

"I can't believe I'm finally going to see you tomorrow and hold you in my arms." Chandler excitedly said to Monica over the phone.

"I know. These past six months - they've been so hard Chandler. I have missed you so much." Monica was on the verge of tears, overcome with emotion.

"Sweetie, don't cry. I'm going to see you tomorrow. And we have some serious catching up to do."

"You can say that again." Monica laughed through her tears. "So I'll pick you up at the gate, okay?"

"Yes, I'll see you then. I love you."

"I love you too. And have a safe trip, honey. See you tomorrow."

"Bye babe."

"Bye." Monica hung up the phone and found that she was shaking. She couldn't believe how nervous she was. Everything was going to be revealed tomorrow and there was nothing she could do to stop it from coming.

Okay, I think this is a good place to stop. Please let me know what you think. Do you like it - should I continue? Part three will be along shortly - if that is what everyone wants. Thanks for reading!