AN: Here's the latest chapter for all of you. I hope you all like it. PLZ R&R!

Disclaimer: See earlier chapters.

Chapter 8: TOW The Perfect Moment

Chandler was in his bedroom one afternoon trying to put away all the laundry that Monica had folded up the night before. Phoebe volunteered to take Daniel for the day since he was on holiday break from school. He finished putting the laundry away and went into their closet. He pulled down the lock box from the top shelf and sat on the bed with it on his lap. He typed in the code to open it and took out the velvet box that held Monica's engagement ring.

A couple nights ago he used Daniel as a distraction while he slipped the ring off the bathroom counter where she had left it while she took her shower. He felt bad that she had been searching the apartment from top to bottom in a crazy frenzy, but it was necessary for the surprise he had for her on Christmas Eve night.

"Chandler, were here!" he heard Phoebe call.

"Hey," he walked out and went to where Daniel was in the kitchen. "Did you have fun with Aunt Phoebe today kiddo?"

"Yep." He smiled. "I made a Christmas list."

"I helped him with it." Phoebe told him. "Look at number five on the list."

Chandler scanned down and his eyes widened. He looked at Phoebe and she shrugged her shoulders. He glanced at Daniel who was taking a juice box out of the refrigerator.

"So this is what all you want for Christmas?" he asked him.

"Yep." Daniel climbed up onto a chair at the table. "Do you think Santa will bring me all that?"

"Maybe if you're good." He glanced at Phoebe again. "At least most of your list."

Monica arrived home later that night after helping to close down the restaurant for the next two days. She walked in and saw all the boxes of decorations set out in the living room as Daniel and Chandler were attempting to put the tree up.

"You got one!" she smiled at them.

"I know you probably wanted to come with us, but Daniel said we had to give you a surprise when you got home." Chandler told her.

"Are you mad, mommy?" Daniel asked her.

"Of course not." She smiled at him. "Besides you left the best part for all of us to do together; after we untangle all the lights."

"I think I almost got them." Chandler told her. "I just need to test them to make sure they all work."

"I'll plug them in." Daniel went to the nearest outlet and plugged all the strands of lights in.

"So where is everyone?" Monica asked as Chandler started to string them on the tree.

"They promised to stay away while we did this." Chandler told her.

"Do I get a new ornament?" Daniel asked.

"I picked one up before I came home." Monica took a small paper bag out of her purse and handed it too Daniel.

He pulled out the ornament to see a blue hot rod car covered in fake snow in front of a Christmas tree. He ran to the tree and hung it near the bottom; he ran back to Monica and hugged her.

"Thank you, mommy."

"You're welcome." She smiled at him.

"Daniel why don't you start to decorate the tree with your ornaments while I talk to mommy in the kitchen for a little bit." Chandler told him.

"Ok." He went and opened up his box of ornaments and started hanging them on the tree.

"Ok. What's going on?" Monica asked him once they were in the kitchen.

"Phoebe took Daniel for a few hours today and they did his Christmas list." He handed it to her. "Take a look."

"Remote control car, train set, join karate, matchbox cars, and…a baby sister?"

"I did not have anything to do with it. He told Phoebe and she wrote it down."

"Daniel?" Monica went to him. "I just saw your Christmas list."

"Do you think Santa will bring it all?" he looked up at her.

"Maybe," she knelt down beside him. "So I see that you want a baby sister."

"Uh-huh."

"Well, I'm not sure if that can happen at this time."

"Why not?"

Because Daddy and I aren't ready for you to have a sister yet."

"When will you be ready?"

"When we are, we'll let you know." Chandler told him.

"Ok. So what about the rest of the list?" Daniel asked.

"I guess you'll just have to see on Christmas morning."

Chandler started to help Daniel put the rest of the ornaments on the tree as Monica set out some displays. Monica finished distributing the tinsel over the tree as Chandler got out the step ladder. The door opened and the other four slowly filed into the apartment.

"Hey. Can we come in yet?" Phoebe asked.

"Sure." Monica smiled at them. "You're just in time for the best part."

"Are you ready, kid?" Chandler picked up Daniel and started up the step ladder.

"Here you go." Monica handed the angel to Daniel. "Be careful, both of you."

"We're fine." Chandler told her as he stood on the top step and Daniel secured the angel on the top of the tree.

Daniel jumped down into Monica's arms as Chandler plugged everything in and Joey turned out the lights.

"It's pretty." Daniel said and Monica smiled at him.

"Yes it is. You guys did good."

"Thank you." Chandler kissed her and looked above them. "Mistletoe."

The others smiled at the scene before them as Daniel climbed down and they all continued their other holiday rituals. Monica got out the Christmas cut-out cookies that the three of them had made and baked the night before and Chandler got out the frosting and sprinkles to start decorating them.

A few nights later it was Christmas Eve. Chandler, Monica, and Daniel were going to the Christmas Eve service at a nearby church. Chandler walked out to the living room and saw Monica fussing with Daniel as she tried to adjust his tie.

"Stop," Daniel tried to pull away from her. "I don't want to wear a tie."

"Join the club," Chandler mumbled as he came in to them. "But you need to wear one for church, buddy."

"Fine." He let her finish adjusting it.

"I'll go let the guys know that we're leaving." Chandler told them.

"I think they're in the next room watching TV together." Monica told him.

Chandler opened the door to the adjoining room and saw them all crowded around some boxes of items that Chandler had placed in there earlier.

"Hey," he interrupted them. "We're going now. You guys know what to do right?"

"We got it covered." Joey told him. "Don't worry about it."

"All right. Thanks again." He walked out again and followed Monica and Daniel out of the apartment.

Joey and Phoebe peered out into the hall and watched the three of them descend the hallway stairs. They went back inside and took the items into the main room to start setting up.

Chandler and Monica slowly walked back towards their apartment after the service ended. Chandler carried Daniel when he said his legs were tired from walking so much.

"Why don't you go get us some cocoa," Chandler gestured to Central Perk. "And I'll take Daniel upstairs and get him ready for bed."

"Sounds good." She smiled at him. "I'll meet you up there."

Monica walked into the coffee shop and Chandler put Daniel down as they both rushed up the stairs towards their apartment. They burst through the door and saw everyone finishing everything up.

"She's in the coffee house getting cocoa." Chandler told them. "I have maybe five minutes before she's up here."

"We have almost everything done." Ross told him. "It just needs your special touch."

"Thanks again, guys." Chandler caught his breath. "Take Daniel in the next room and make sure he knows what to do."

"Got it." Joey took him next door and the others followed and closed the door behind them.

Chandler rushed into his bedroom and got the ring out of the lock box and rushed back out into the living room. He finished spreading the rose petals around the room, lit the candles, and made sure the stereo speakers were adjusted right. Once he finished everything, he turned out the lights so that the candles were the only things lighting up the room, and he faced the door waiting for Monica to come in.

Monica finished paying for their cocoas and walked out of the coffee house and started up to the apartment. Chandler and Daniel had been acting weird all day; both of them had been very antsy throughout the entire church service. When she asked them what was going on, Chandler brushed it off as it was getting late and he was just tired.

She reached the landing by their apartment and heard complete silence, which was strange since she knew that Chandler should've been arguing with Daniel about him sleeping by the tree tonight.

She slowly walked in and saw that it was dark inside except for the two rows of candles leading from the door to where Chandler was standing in front of Daniel's bedroom door.

"What's going on?" she set her things down on the table. "What are you doing?"

"Something that I should've done a long time ago." He got down on one knee before her as music started playing from the nearby speakers. "Monica-"

"Chandler-" They both spoke at the same time.

"Please let me get the final word." He looked at her. "I have been wanting to do this for years now."

"Oh my god," Monica gasped.

"When we got married, the odds were basically against us. We were young, both trying to go to school, and with a newborn baby. Neither one of us knew exactly what the next few years would hold. But in my case, I think it turned out a lot better than I thought it would. I had a new family that I wasn't prepared to provide for, but it was everything that I hoped for."

"We're already married, though." Monica told him.

"We always said that we'd have a ceremony for us later on, but real life kept us busy." Chandler took the ring out of his jacket pocket. "I'm sorry for making you so crazy when I took this the other night, but it was necessary for this. Monica, will you marry me for a second time?"
"Yes." She knelt down in front of him and they shared a deep kiss.

"Can we come in yet?" they heard a door open and they broke apart as they saw Daniel come from the next room.

"Come in," Monica smiled at him as they both stood up again as everyone else came into them.

"I can't believe that we actually pulled it off without her finding out." Phoebe said.

"How long have you been planning this?" Monica looked at Chandler.

"Since before Thanksgiving." He revealed. "I only told these guys just last week. I didn't want them to ruin it."

"Daddy had me distract you so he could take the ring." Daniel spoke up.

"Well I definitely had no idea." Monica hugged Chandler tightly.

"I thought it'd be good to do it now so that you could plan your dream wedding and we could get married on our anniversary." Chandler told her.

"That's a wonderful idea."

Chandler and Monica were laying in bed a little while later. They were waiting for the moment they knew that Daniel had fallen asleep so they could get all the presents out and under the tree. Monica rested her head on Chandler's chest as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"So were you surprised?" he broke the silence.

"Definitely," she smiled up at him. "So what made you decide to do this now?"

"Every time anyone talks about or mentions our wedding, I always saw the sadness in your eyes. No matter what you said, I know you were disappointed that we never had a big wedding."

"I wasn't disappointed-" Chandler gave her a knowing look. "Well, maybe a little."

"Well now we can have the wedding that we both want."

"That means that you're going to be involved in the planning, right?" she looked at him.

"Like you're not going to dismiss my ideas and do what you want anyway." He smiled at her. "Not that I would mind."

"Let's go see if Daniel's asleep yet." They both got up off the bed and Chandler started gathering all the wrapped presents from their closet.

Monica walked out and saw Daniel sound asleep across the couch in his new pajamas; the one present that he could open that night. Monica carefully pulled the blanket over him as Chandler came out with all the presents and positioned them under the tree. Monica hung up the stocking and helped Chandler finish setting everything up before they finally retired for the night.

The next afternoon, Chandler was cleaning up all the wrapping paper after everyone finished opening the presents. Daniel was racing his remote control car around the room as Monica finished making their lunch. Everyone came in and saw the parade playing on TV as Chandler sat on the floor as he helped Daniel work one of his new toys.

"Hey." Chandler smiled back at them. "Come on in."

"How's your morning been?" Ross asked them. "Have you called mom and dad yet to tell them about the proposal?"

"Not yet." Monica told him. "I'll call them tomorrow."

"Let it go, dude." Chandler told him as they all went to the table as Monica finished setting everything out on the table. "My parents are supposed to be coming to town tomorrow as well. We'll tell them all together."

"Sounds good." Monica smiled as she helped Daniel get settled at the table and they all started their Christmas dinner.

AN: So what'd you all think? Did you like how the proposal turned out? PLZ R&R!