Rings

Chandler looked at Monica, who was standing on the other side of the entranceway to the ceremony room. He took a moment and allowed his eyes to travel up and down her body. He found himself doing this often. He didn't care. He couldn't help himself. She was gorgeous. She wore an off-the-shoulder, form-fitting dark purple dress that accentuated her neckline. She made sure to get a tan before the wedding and the result made her skin look like honey. It took all of his self-control not to charge across the room and place soft kisses along her jawline and down her neck. He followed a trail of freckles that led from her shoulder, down her toned arm, to her hands, which were gripped around a bouquet of flowers. They added an ethereal layer to the vision she struck before him. The curve of her hips was quite possibly his favorite part of her body. His hands seemed to fit them perfectly, as if she were made for him. He then glanced at her tan legs that led down to her adorable little feet, and he fantasized about later tonight, where he could pull off her heels and gently kiss his way up from the bridge of her foot, around her ankle, along her calf, and then pause at the sensitive part of her inner thigh. Enjoying her taste and the little moans that would escape her lips with each graze of his lips on her body.

"What are you staring at? Is there something on my dress?"

"What?" Chandler looked up and made eye contact with his wife, who looked concerned as she started to inspect herself.

"Is something wrong?"

"No." He chuckled. "No, I just…you look gorgeous."

Monica smiled as she blushed at his compliment. Her eyes sparkled and she took a moment to look back at her husband. He was strikingly good-looking in his tux. She loved to see him dressed up, a sight she appreciated even before they got together. He had the perfect shoulders for a suit, and it seemed almost any color he wore made his blue eyes pop just a little bit more than normal. She never understood why he had such insecurity about his looks. She had always thought that he was handsome with this understated sexiness that would go into overdrive when he would offer her one of his quiet smiles. Yes, he was sexy, even if it were despite himself. Especially lately, but she recognized that seeing him as a father these last two years has somehow made it more intense. The older he became, the more irresistible he was to her. These last few years he seemed to have found his perfect build. He was no longer so skinny that he would get lost in his clothes, but also not too bulky where everything was sloppy and untucked. Now, standing across form her in his tuxedo, he looked comfortable. Like he was born in it. Like he could wear it to bed. She also loved how he wore his hair now. It was short, but still long enough so that it wasn't too neat. It made him appear playful and was a visual reminder at how he has remained eternally youthful even as they both approach their late thirties. She liked him a little messy. She wanted him to remain imperfect, because it let her feel like he still needed her.

"You look very handsome."

Chandler smiled and looked down. "Can you believe we're doing this again. Another wedding?"

Monica laughed. "I know."

"I can't believe they made us travel for it. Haven't we done that enough?"

Monica shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Chandler. They wanted to do this right, and Boston was the only place they could do that."

"I guess."

"Anyway, look at you. You get to be a best man again."

"Well, you're the maid of honor. I bet you were surprised about that."

Monica nodded and looked at her flowers one more time, moving a petal as if it were out of place. "I was very surprised."

"I guess, since you helped out so much with planning this and you were so supportive, they wanted to show you how much they appreciated you."

"You think?"

"Or they just wanted to give me a chance to check you out in that dress."

Monica tried to flatten her lips and not give in to a smile which would only inflate her husband's ego. He knows how much she craves compliments, but she also knows, that he has always been sincere with his adoration of her. She could count on him to always be what she needed.

Suddenly, breaking the silence, and the mood, Chandler's phone rang. He looked up at her with slightly embarrassed eyes and covered his pocket with his hand in an attempt to muffle the sound. Monica shot him an admonishing glare.

"Chandler! You said you were going to turn that off! You've been on the phone all morning."

"I know. I forgot. We have this big presentation on Monday and they just want to make sure I sent them everything. Let me just see if something changed."

"Can't it wait until later. We're about to go in. You'll ruin the ceremony."

Chandler nodded in surrender and silenced his phone. "Okay. All right. But if I get in trouble for missing something important, I'm blaming you."

Monica shook her head and smiled as she gestured at him. "Will you please turn it off so it doesn't ring when they're saying their vows?"

Chandler reached into his pocket and powered off his phone. "Okay. It's off."

Monica heard the organ play and looked across. "Good, I think we're going in."

The doors opened and the two of them met each other halfway. Monica linked her arm inside his and he brought his hand up so that he could hold hers as they walked. He looked out at the guests sitting in their seats. He was always amazed at how many people show up at a wedding that you don't know. There were dozens of unfamiliar faces. It wasn't until he saw Jack and Judy Geller, sitting in a row close to the front, that he finally recognized someone. Monica was smiling, always aware that people were looking at her and when they were taking her picture. He marveled at how perfect she always looked in photographs. Her hair would fall just right and she was never caught blinking. Chandler on the other hand, would squirm and shift. He could never get comfortable.

Monica could feel Chandler becoming self-conscious and she lightly ran her fingers along the inside of his hand as she gave him a gentle squeeze. She knew she had to get him outside of his own head from time-to-time. He could fidget himself into a quivering mess if left unchecked. She knew how to calm him, how to help him refocus and let go of whatever was making the wheels in his head spin.

She looked up and saw the groom standing at the altar. He was shifting on his feet. It was amazing that after all this time, he was still nervous. These two had been together for a long time, but when she detected his nervous energy, she couldn't help but think that this must be love. That he was still concerned about everything being perfect for this moment. If anything, this should be the easy part of their relationship.

As Chandler and Monica reached the podium, he placed a soft kiss on her cheek and then stepped next to the groom. He gave him a slight bump on the arm and smiled, trying to instill some confidence, as Chandler felt like he suddenly had plenty to spare. The groom could only offer an anxious smile in return.

The organ music stopped for a moment, and the murmuring of the wedding guests quieted down. It became silent as all eyes turned up the aisle when the bridal chorus began to play. Chandler looked up as the bride-to-be came down the aisle and couldn't help but let a silent chuckle escape his lips. It didn't matter how many times he saw these two together, it was still a bit of a shock to him that this was actually happening.

He studied to bride's face for a moment, and his cynicism waned as he recognized the look of pure happiness on her face. It was infectious and he couldn't help but smile. He had no doubt in his mind that his face looked just like hers when he first saw Monica walk down the aisle at his own wedding. He remembered feeling confident and overcome by a sense of contented clarity that everything was going to be okay. He gave a glance at his wife, who he caught brushing her finger under her eye to stifle a tear, and he nodded. It didn't matter what the world threw at them. They were always going to be okay.

The bride sauntered a bit as she took her spot next to the groom. Monica couldn't help but smirk. If there was one thing you could say about this woman, it was that she was never shy about how she looked. She owned who she was and was unapologetic about it. She turned to look at Monica and leaned over to hand her the bouquet of flowers she was carrying. Monica smiled and leaned in to kiss her on the cheek.

"You look beautiful Helena."

Chandler stretched his legs out under the table as he watched his wife dance with his father and his father's new husband. He shook his head, lucid with the knowledge that there was no way he could have ever predicted this happening when he first moved across the hall from Monica Geller all those years ago. His life had taken some odd sharp turns along the way, but he had no regrets because it brought him here. He reached into his pocket and slipped out his phone to turn it on. He saw that he had three messages, but eschewed dialing up his voicemail, and instead called his home number to check on the kids and their babysitters.

"Hey! Ross? How is it going? Yeah, I know. Erica says the same word over and over a lot. I think she does it on purpose. What do you mean beat her at her own game? No, I wouldn't try to outsmart her. Ross, she's not even two. You're thirty-eight years old. Get some perspective! What did Rachel say about it? Well, I agree with her. What? I am not on her side, I'm on nobody's side. If you mean telling you not to get into a battle of wits against a child, then technically, I don't say it all the time. I only said that once before when you wanted to buy Ben that Harry Potter book and that kid took the last one. What? I don't always throw that in your face…you know what? I have to go. We'll call you later from the hotel. Okay, bye."

Monica looked over and saw Chandler hang up his phone and place it on the table. She narrowed her eyes, trying to send him scolding thoughts from across the room, but knew she failed as she watched him fix himself a cup of coffee, completely unaware that she caught him on the phone again. She wanted to walk over there, but she was having too much fun. Part of her thought about dragging him out of his seat and forcing him to join her, but he was fairly adamant about avoiding a dancefloor full of drag queens while a Madonna song was playing. Something about bad memories from his days subbing in for his father's dancers during rehearsals when he was a teenager. She shook her head, at least she got him to agree to dance with her during a few of the slow songs.

She turned her head back to her dancing partners. Helena Bing and Mitchel Garibaldi. She smiled at their exuberance as they worked themselves into a frenzy. Mitchel smiled at her and leaned over to talk to her over the loud music from the DJ.

"Thanks again for all your help."

"Oh, no problem."

"Really! You were so organized and you got everything to look so amazing on such short notice. You're a marvel at this kind of stuff."

"Oh, I wouldn't say marvel." Monica looked down and feigned modesty but then her eyes went wide. "Or you can say it if you want. You know, Helena actually said it was genius, but I guess marvel is good too."

"And thanks for being our maid of honor."

"Oh, no problem, I'm just sorry we couldn't get anyone from your family here in time. Maybe if we pushed the date back…"

"It wouldn't have mattered. My family didn't want to come."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, we haven't exactly been on good terms since, well, since I left for Vegas."

Monica noticed a flash of remorse fall across Mitchel's face and she reached her hand out to give him arm a reassuring squeeze. "Well, we're your family now."

"Hey son. Checking in with the kids?"

Chandler looked up at Jack Geller and nodded. "Yeah, everything seems to be going okay."

"Of course it is. You have two great kids there." Jack sat down next to Chandler and started to look over the empty plates. "You know, when Monica and Ross were that young, they fought all the time."

"Really?'

"Oh yes. I remember one time, we left them with Judy's cousin so we could go to the Poconos. Back then, everyone knew booking a weekend in the Poconos meant that you wanted to have sex again. Not the kind of sex you have when there are children in the house, if you know what I mean."

Chandler's lips wrinkled up into a frown. "I'm afraid I do."

"Anyway, Monica took a coffee can and threw it at Ross. They had to take him to the emergency room for stiches and we had to come back from our trip early, and I was just about to do this technique called the Piditaka position. That's where the woman puts her knees on your chest and…"

"You know, talking about sex doesn't have to be our thing. We could talk about the stock market, or sports, or nothing. Talking about nothing could be our thing. We should try that."

Jack looked across the table again and shook his head. "Did you get the chicken? I should have ordered the chicken. I think the prime rib is giving me heartburn."

Chandler shook his head. "Oh wonderous discomfort. How I missed you."

"Oh, who is she?" Jack gestured towards a woman dancing a few feet away from them.

"I don't know. I think she might work with my father."

"She looks like Rita Hayworth. I bet if I get Judy another Chardonnay, I can talk her into a threesome."

Chandler shuddered and mimed bringing a gun to his head as Jack got up from his chair.

"I'll see you later son."

"Sir, wait. That woman, uh, you probably should know…uh…" Jack looked back at Chandler inquisitively and then Chandler shrugged his shoulders. "You know what? You'll find out on your own. Good luck sir."

Jack smiled and nodded as he jogged across the room excitedly. Chandler looked down at his phone and picked it up to listen to his voicemail. He took a sip of his coffee as he waited for the message to play and he froze for a moment, but then let a smile form on his lips. He let loose with a relieved chuckle.

"I thought you weren't going to use your phone until after the wedding."

Chandler looked up and saw Monica standing over him. "Well, technically, this is the reception."

Monica folded her arms and tapped her foot. Chandler smiled and guided her to sit down next to him.

"Okay, but you have to listen to this."

"Chandler, can't this wait until we get back to the hotel."

"No, I just…"

"Not to mention it's rude."

"Monica."

"And whatever it is can't be as important as your father's wedding."

"Babe. Just listen to me for a minute."

"It's bad enough I can't get you to dance with us…"

"Woman. Will you listen to this message!" Monica shot her husband a shocked look of indignation. Chandler softened his tone and gestured apologetically as he handed her the phone. "Just listen to the message."

Monica shook her head and brought the phone to her ear as Chandler sat back. She gave him one more disapproving frown, but it did not last long as her eyes went wide and her lips curled up into a smile. She reached out and grabbed his hand as she nodded along before putting the phone down on the table.

"We're getting our baby?"

Chandler nodded and smiled. "We're getting our baby."

Monica sprung up and landed in his lap as she wrapped her arms around him. She hugged him close and buried her face in his shoulder as she let out a watery chuckle. Chandler held her tight and kissed her softly on the side of her head.

"We're getting our baby."

End of part 2

A/N – We kind of came full circle here as this started out with Monica's pregnancy being confirmed and ends with them finding out that they were picked by another birth mother. Part 2 took place over the course of a year and this chapter occurs at the end of April, 2006. I'm trying to keep the timeline in this story synced up with the real world so when I do another Thanksgiving, it'll actually be Thanksgiving.

I'm going to take a little break from this story while I do some maintenance to previous chapters and work on some other stuff while I come up with ideas to fill out the next chapter of their lives, but it will involve the twin's birthday, Ross and Rachel getting married, Monica and Chandler meeting the new birth mother, exploring what is going on with Jack, Phoebe giving birth to her second child, more holiday's, and hopefully everyone will come along for the ride.

As always, thanks for taking the time to read.