CHAPTER EIGHT

Soon dawned the day before the wedding. It was time for the wedding rehearsals and to have a few more tears shed over the beauty of the dresses.

'Ok. Schedule for today. Listen up, everyone!' snapped Monica. The six were in Ross and Rachel's apartment. 'First, us girls spend half an hour crying over Rachel's dress. Then, at 9:30, we lay out our outfits for the rehearsal dinner. At 10am, we check over the amount of people who have said they can come. At 10:15, we call St Margaret's to make sure everything is in order. At 10:25, we -!'

'Mon, can't we just get this done later?' yawned Chandler.

'But I spent all night writing this!' said Monica disappointedly. She showed them a clipboard with an A4 sheet of paper filled right to the bottom with plans. There was a momentary silence.

'Go on, then,' said Ross finally.

'So at 10:25, Ross and Rachel check that Joey hasn't eaten the cake yet. At -!'

'We have the cake?' said Joey, looking up enthusiastically.

'Never mind, Joe. You'll get to have some tomorrow,' said Rachel soothingly. 'Carry on,' she said to Monica.

Joey still looked in a bad mood.

'At 10:30, we meet up again to check over plans and get ready for the rehearsal dinner. At 11am, we have a break until 12, when I start making lunch and Rachel picks up Emma. We eat at 1. Then we go to St Margaret's and start the rehearsal!' said Monica excitedly. 'How does it sound?'

'Great, Mon! Can't wait!' said Rachel.

The guys left for the first half an hour, which was spent usefully by crying over the wedding dress. As the three emerged from Rachel's room, Monica screamed, 'OUTFITS FOR REHEARSAL DINNER! CALL THE OTHERS! GET READY!'

Pheobe jumped before hurriedly muttering about her outfit being in her apartment and dashing from the room. Rachel was left with Monica, who was now completely hyper.

'Calm down! Don't worry, Mon, everything will be fine. We have everything prepared and sorted,' said Rachel. 'Anyway, I'm the bride. Leave me to worry -!'

'Rachel, this isn't just my best friend's wedding. It's my brother's wedding too. Of course I'm worrying! This is one of the most stressful moments of my life – third to my own wedding and Erica giving birth!'

'What about that time where-?'

'Let's not go into it,' snapped Monica.

Ten minutes later Ross arrived to lay out his suit and prepare it. When he arrived, Monica whispered, 'Ross, you didn't actually get a mini dinosaur for the cake, did you?' He glared at her, before mumbling that he had put up a good fight.

Monica was wearing a pink dress with jewels on the neckline, and Rachel was going to be in an elegant black dress with a gold clutch. The two girls compared dresses for a while. In the meantime, Ross made a snack. Then when they were finished, they checked the guest list, which had been ticked according to who was coming. 'Excellent,' said Monica. 'That's a round 200 in total. And me and Chandler are the Emily Guard, in case she shows up.'

'Put your marriage teamwork to the test,' muttered Ross.

St Margaret's had everything in order and were ready for the wedding the next day, much to their delight. They went to Joey's apartment to look over the wedding file and check over the plans, and everything was fine with nothing left out. They finally turned to the page with Rachel's dress.

'ROSS! DON'T LOOK!' she squealed.

'Is it naked pictures?' asked Joey interestedly, making his way over with a tub of ice cream.

'NO! IT'S THE DRESS!'

'Why are you so protective of it?'

The three girls suddenly went silent, before Pheobe quietly said, 'Bad luck.'

The guys burst out laughing.

'No, really. You can't see the dress because it's against marriage rules. It just doesn't happen!' protested Monica.

'It pisses off the spirits,' said Pheobe.

Rachel turned the page immediately, scowling.

At 11, Rachel went to pick up Emma. Mr and Mrs Geller were very excited.

'Soon, you'll have the same title as me!' said Mrs Geller. Rachel hadn't thought of it like that before. 'And Emma's getting very excited. Aren't you?' she said to Emma.

'Daddy and Mommy are getting married!' said Emma.

Rachel made a noise halfway between crying and laughing, before scooping up her daughter in her arms. 'Oh, aren't you beautiful?' she said, wiping away a tear from her eye and whispering something to her.

'Well, you'd better go and get preparing,' said Mr Geller. 'I bet my little Monica has all the plans made, doesn't she?'

'She does,' Rachel assured him. 'Oh, she really does.'

She drove off with Emma, who looked excited and interested in her surroundings and occasionally would start laughing at random things like lamp-posts. As they got out, Rachel kissed her on the forehead and carried her into her apartment, where Monica was busy making lunch. She had prepared the table for six already, and a small chair for Emma.

'My beautiful niece!' said Monica, taking a ten second break from cooking to hug Emma.

The lunch was extravagant and delicious. It was a very authentic pasta dish that Monica said she had learned from someone at her restaurant.

'I thought you were the head chef?' said Ross.

'Everyone can take advice sometimes,' said Monica hotly.

Chandler cracked a few jokes about Italians and their food, before moving swiftly on to other topics such as the view out of the window.

'Honey, why don't you just give up on the jokes and congratulate Ross and Rachel on their special day?' suggested Monica.

'Oh, yeah, sure,' said Chandler, half sarcastically. 'Congratulations, you're getting married to each other! Again.'

'CHANDLER!' Monica shrieked.

'Ok. No, really. I'm happy for you, man. It's great. You're my best friend, of course I am. And you're letting me be the joint best man, so it's all good,' said Chandler. 'And congratulations, Rachel, on calming down Monica by appointing her bridesmaid.'

Monica scowled.

After dinner they changed their clothes and headed out for St Margaret's. It was the first time any of the group apart from Ross and Rachel had seen it.

'It's very ... elaborate, isn't it?' said Pheobe.

'So this is where the chairs will be, yeah?' said Monica.

'Are you Rachel Green and Ross Geller?' said the assistant, suddenly appearing.

'Yes, we are,' said Rachel and Ross in unison.

'Ok, great. Could you come over here for a minute?' she said.

A look of pure terror clouded Monica's face as she edged closer so as to overhear what was happening.

'We had a call earlier from a woman named Emily Waltham,' said the assistant in a hushed voice. 'She said that there was no way the wedding could go on without her - something about being the bride's long lost twin sister?'

Ross swore.

'She's lying,' he said. 'Rachel has no twin sisters. Emily's just trying to ruin the wedding. Please let it go on.'

'I'll go to the office now and let them know,' said the assistant, nodding and smiling.

'What a bitch,' said Monica. 'Trying to ruin your wedding ...'

'Well, Chandler, you were wrong,' said Joey. 'She could BE more of a bitch.'