LOBSTER WEDDING II

Rachel smoothed out her dress, took a large calming breath, and opened the door. Emma's room was dark, the curtains were drawn. A portable cd player sat on the floor, with a single CD spinning in it. A lamenting sound filled the room.

The world was on fire and no one could save me but you... It's strange what desire will make foolish people do... I'd never dreamed that I'd meet somebody like you... I'd never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you...

The overhead projector Ross used for his university lectures sat in the middle of the room. It projected an image of a night sky. The entire room, the wall, the floor, the ceiling flooded with a beautiful starry night sky. The bright stars moved around in the dark room making it look like an intimate nightclub. The room was circled with lilies and lit candles, giving the place a romantic glow. Rachel's breath caught in her throat. Tears spilled down her cheeks. Ross had created the fantasy proposal he had described at his parents' wedding anniversary party, all those years ago. All of Rachel's friends and family sat in rows of plastic hospital chairs arranged on opposite sides of the room, leaving a pathway in the middle for an aisle.

Leonard nodded his head appreciatively, "It's really something, huh? I gotta tell you, that Wet-head of yours, he knows a thing or two." Rachel let out a snort of laughter, amidst her tears.

The projected night sky danced off everyone's warm smiling faces. At the very back of the room was Rachel's fiancé and daughter, standing side by side, hand in hand. Ross wore a classy tuxedo, and Emma, a frilly white princess dress, with a pastel blue ribbon around her waist. Joey stood by Ross's side, dressed in a hilariously tacky Priest's gown he rented from a fancy-dress shop.

Four bridesmaids stood in a row by Emma's side: Phoebe, Monica and Rachel's sisters. They were all dressed in beautiful black satin floor length gowns that matched the overhead projected night sky. They each held a bouquet of white lilies. Dr Greene escorted his daughter down the aisle, till she stood in front of her husband-to-be. Joey stepped forward, looking at Rachel pompously and regally. Rachel stifled a giggle.

"Please repeat after me. I, Rachel, take thee Ross, to be my lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, till death does us part."

"I, Rachel, take thee Ross to be my lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, till death does us part," Rachel repeated.

Joey turned to Ross, "Now Ross, repeat after me. I, Ross, take thee Rachel, to be my lawfully wedding wife, in sickness and in health, till death does us part."

"I, Ross, take thee Rachel…"

The crowd roared with laughter, as they remembered that the last time Ross said they exact same words, a marriage to a British lady crashed and burned. Ross rolled his eyes and continued.

"To be my lawfully wedding wife, in sickness and in health, till death does us part."

"I now announce you husband and wife!" Joey beamed at the crowd. Ross raised his eyebrows expectantly at Joey, whispering, "Dude, aren't you forgetting something?" Joey squinted at Ross blankly.

"… Oh! Right! The ring!" Joey exclaimed, hastily passing Ross his grandmother's ring. For a moment, Ross's heart ached, as a fleeting thought crossed his mind: If Chandler were here, he'd sarcastically quip sarcastically, "There it is!"

Shaking the sad thought out of his head, Ross turned his attention back to Rachel. Beautiful, wonderful, gorgeous Rachel. The girl he had loved ever since he was a boy; the mother of his child; the love of his life. Ross slipped his grandmother's ring onto Rachel's finger.

Phoebe squeezed Emma's hand, squealing with delight, "See, Em? They're lobsters!"

Rachel wrapped her arms around Ross's waist, whispering, "Y'know, Ross, there's been so many times I thought we'd never make it, and yet, here we are."

"I've always known we'd make it."

"How come?" Rachel asked with awe.

"It's always been you, Rach."

Rachel closed her eyes and leaned into Ross. The crowd watched on, mesmerised, as Ross and Rachel kissed under the starry sky of the hospital planetarium.