Chapter IV
"The One Before Hawaii"
A week after the proposal, Rachel and Ross visited all of their parents and decided to tell them about the good news. Jack and Judy were ecstatic about the news, because they knew Rachel and Ross are somehow going to end up together. They were happy that they finally saw it. As for Rachel's parents, Sandra was also handling it pretty well. She did question their seriousness, but after a few heartfelt speeches from Ross she finally convinced that Ross was indeed the perfect man for her daughter and more importantly he made her daughter happy.
Meanwhile, Dr. Green wasn't really pleased at the news, but after a lot of crying and explaining from Rachel and Ross he finally gave them his blessings. Not only that, he insisted to pay for most of the wedding expenses, after all it's his sweetpea's wedding we're talking about. He'd do anything to make her little girl's dream wedding came true. With that, the wedding preparation began. The Wedding Preparation was going smoothly despite the tight schedule. Rachel and Ross decided to get married at July 17th in Hawaii after her dad managed to book a luxurious resort, own by one of his patient, as the wedding venue.
So far, they had booked the venue, catering, decorations, flowers, hotels, flights tickets, and anything they needed for the wedding except the wedding dress. Today, Rachel, Phoebe, and Monica would go to the wedding dress shop. It wasn't Vera Wang's as Rachel would want it, but it will do.
Rachel, Monica, and Phoebe had spent more than two hours inside the store.
The curtain opened revealing Rachel in a white ball gown wedding dress.
"What do you think?" Rachel asked her two best friends as she turned around.
Monica pondered her answered before she replied, "I think it's too intricate for a simple ceremony."
Phoebe groaned in annoyance, she couldn't enjoy the champagne for some reason and it drove her nuts because Monica seemed to say no to almost all the dresses here, and Rachel had literally tried every single dress the store had.
"I think it look great." Phoebe lied and Monica gave her a dirty look.
"Really?" Rachel asked, doubtful.
"NO. Phoebe is lying so she can go home and have some with Mike!" Monica said.
"Uh-huh. I'm sorry for wanting to spend my day with my HUSBAND." Phoebe retorted.
"Phoebe!" Rachel yelled.
"Alright, fine. Monica is right. Try another one." Phoebe said.
Rachel then closed the curtain once again to try the last dress they had in store.
About ten minutes later, Rachel emerged as the curtain opened.
"What do you think?" Rachel asked and she turned around.
The two girls gasped in awe.
"This is perfect!" Monica squealed in joy as she stood up and gave Rachel a hug.
"Yeah, this dress definitely screams 'RACHEL'!" Phoebe screamed frantically as she waved her hands into the air to make a point.
Rachel smiled happily as she hugged her two friends, "Thank you so much you girls. I can't believe I'm going to marry Ross!"
"And I cannot believe we're going to be sister-in-law!" Monica squealed in joy.
"ME TOO! ME TOO!" Phoebe joined the girls in a hug.
"Uh, do you want me to explain to her?" Monica whispered to Rachel.
"Nah, let her have her moment. You know.. She's also my sister by heart." Rachel said to Monica.
"Yu huh, but see.. I'm your OFFICIAL sister. So, I won!" Monica yelled and jumped giddily.
Rachel rolled her eyes while Phoebe left confused.
"What did she win?" Phoebe asked Rachel as Monica continued to jumping around the room.
"Probably some Chandler lovin' ticket." Rachel replied casually.
"What? I cannot believe Chandler made her beg for sex." Phoebe said.
"Chandler made me what?" Monica asked.
"Nothing, Mon." Rachel quickly replied.
"Oh. You poor thing. Come here." Phoebe gave Monica a hug and Monica was left dumbfounded.
Rachel stifled a giggle.
...
Today is Wednesday, the day before their flight to Hawaii, three days before their marriage. Rachel got her job back at Ralph Lauren thanks to some guy named 'Ron' and they moved to the 3 bedroom and 2 bath apartment of their dream two weeks ago, but they still have boxes lying around the house. Ever since Ross proposed to Rachel, she has been very busy to plan their wedding with her maid of honor, Phoebe, that she never finishes unpacking their stuff. While she was packing her, Ross', and Emma's stuff for Hawaii, suddenly the phone rang.
"Hello? Yes, this is she." Rachel answered the phone and put it between her ear and shoulders as she continued to pack.
"I'm sorry to disturb you Rachel, It's me Mark."
"Oh hey Mark I was about to call you and I am so sorry about what happened with Paris. I mean, I'm sorry I got you into trouble. But I have to do this you know, I can't leave New York and move across the globe leaving him behind. "
"Look, it's okay. If I were you, I probably done the same thing. That is not the reason why I call you today. " He sighed, then continued, "I call you because I need your advice."
"Okay, I'm listening, what is it Mark?"
"It's about my wife, you know the one I told you before. "
"Yeah, your wife who just gave birth to your twins a few months ago." She replied
"Well, a few days ago we had this huge fight and I might have said something and the next thing I knew she's gone with the twins. I think she came home to her parent's house in Queens. To make it worse I have this huge project that I need to deal in Paris. I can't just leave it all behind. What do you think I should do? I really have no one to talk to about this. I could really use your advice. "
"Mark, if you really love your family you have to fight for it no matter what it cost. "
"Even when my job is on the line? " He asked
"If you asked me, yes, even your job is on the line. You can always find a new job, it may not as glamorous as the one you're leaving behind, but you can never replace your family. Go there and apologize to her. She must be having a hard time dealing with everything and the twins. "
"You know what, I think you're right. I'm going to take the first flight back to New York. Thank you so much Rach. And congratulations on the wedding by the way!"
"Well, thank you and good luck Mark! " Rachel then hangs up the phone and continued to pack.
...
Later that evening.
Ross came home from his work at NYU to an empty house. Rachel went out to buy some stuff and pick up Emma at her mom's. He then put down his coat, grabbed a glass of water then listened to the answering machine.
Beep
"Hey Rach, it is me, Mark. I really appreciate what you said to me earlier. In fact now I'm about to board my plane to New York. (An announcement could be heard faintly). Oh, that's my flight! I got to go! Once again, thanks a lot Rach! "
Beep
"What was that about? " Ross was puzzled.
The door suddenly opened. It was Rachel with their daughter, Emma. She carried a bunch of stuff while pushing Emma in her stroller. She then put sleeping Emma in her crib and then came toward Ross.
"Hey honey. What's wrong? You look weird. Are you sick or something?" She asked
"Well, you tell me about it. Why the hell Mark thanking you for something and why is he on his plane to New York? Isn't he already has a wife and babies? Is that not enough for him? Did he want you as well? " Ross started to yelled.
"Wow! Easy there Ross! It is not what you think. He did call me earlier today. But he is NOT going back to New York to see me. He and his wife had a huge fight and she flied back to New York. That is why he is coming here, to apologize to his wife. He just thanked me for the advice I gave him. That's it." Rachel said then rubbed her temple and sighed.
Ross sat in the couch in silence, he was both embarrassed by his jealousy and yet felt a sense of relieved at the same time.
Rachel sat down next to Ross and put her hands into his hands and then looked him in the eye.
"Ross.. We can't keep having the same conversation over and over again. You have to stop being jealous anytime I talk to other man you know. You do know I love you the most right?" Rachel said calmly. The least thing she wanted is to have a huge fight over a silly thing like this, so she decided not to yell at him and made things worse than it already did.
"I know.. It's just.." He left out a sigh.
"It's just what Ross?" She asked.
"I mean who am I kidding? I'm just this geek paleontologist with a huge obsession with dinosaurs and there's you.. I mean any straight men are drooling over you. You are incredibly kind, beautiful, and smart and funny. Sometimes I just can't believe you would choose me over those men." He sighed and put his head down, staring at the floor.
Rachel placed her hand into his chest, before she said, "As sweet as it sounds, you have to learn to trust me. Ross, let me assure you, out all the man I've been seeing, or even all the man that ever exist, if I have to choose one to become my forever husband I would choose you over and over again. I love you so much. In fact I'm going to proof you how much I love you.. Tonight.." She smirked.
"Well you better keep that promises. " He finally smiled and chuckled.