Wedding bells

Monica sighed with relief. She had almost spilled her freshly squeezed orange juice on the ground in front of her bedroom door. Rachel might not be the most talented waitress ever, but she was at least ten times better than Monica. Trying to fumble open the door all the while balancing a big tray with freshly baked bread, chocolate spread, fruits and all kinds of delicious breakfast, she finally managed with the help of her foot. She entered her room and saw her girlfriend lying across the bed in a starfish position. As soon as she got the space, she took it all. With an amused expression, Monica approached her bed and she carefully put the tray on the cabinet next to her.

"Happy three months, Rach", she said in a soft voice, sitting next to Rachel's head and running her fingers through her soft hair. Rachel's eyes fluttered open and a smile spread on her lips.

"Morning", she said, trying to stifle a yawn, "And happy three months to you too."

Monica leaned down and put a soft kiss on Rachel's forehead. "I made some breakfast, to celebrate", she said.

"Great! Let me just put on a top and I'll come to the kitchen", she said, having only her panties on.

"No need to come to the kitchen. I brought it here", Monica said, "You know, like a breakfast in bed."

"Really? But what about the crummies? They're not going to bother you?", Rachel asked while sitting up against the headboard.

Monica turned and lifted the tray with all the food. Underneath were two other, identical trays. She put the food tray down next to the empty trays and handed Rachel one. "Ta-da, the solution", she said with a proud face. Rachel shook her head amused and took the tray from Monica.

"Thanks, Mon. It looks delicious", Rachel said.

Monica put some of the food on Rachel's tray and when she had put some on the other tray for herself, she slid under the covers, next to Rachel. Rachel gave a soft kiss on Monica's shoulder and let her head rest on her shoulder while chewing some of the, still hot from the oven, bread.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

"Honey, I love you, I really do, but this is already your fourth reminder to take out the trash and I reaaaally hope it will be out by the time I'm home.

xxx Mon"

Rachel found the small note on the bedside table. Monica had left early that morning, way too early for her to wake up, to go to work. She went to her room to get dressed and took out the trash, before she forgot to do it, again.

"Yes! Carol and Susan's caterer had a mountain bike accident this weekend, and she's in a full body cast", Monica came to the living room.

The guys looked at each other and shouted together: "Yes!", looking questionably at Monica.

"They want me to do it, which is really cool, seeing as I've never catered before, and I really need the money, and this isn't a problem for you, is it?", she asked Ross.

"Would it matter?"

"Oh, you are so great! Thank you!"

"Are you really not going?", Joey asked Ross.

"I am really not going. I don't get it. They already live together, why do they need to get married?"

"They love each other, and they wanna celebrate that love with the people that are close to them", Monica answered.

"If you wanna call that a reason", Ross scoffed.

"Oh my god, there's an unattractive nude man playing the cello", Rachel's mom exclaimed, watching through the window.

"Yeah, well just be glad he's not playing a smaller instrument", Rachel said, making her mother laugh.

"You have some life here, sweetie", she said, her voice wistful.

"I know. And Mom, I realize you and Daddy were upset when I didn't marry Barry and get the big house in the suburbs with all the security and everything, but this is just so much better for me, you know?"

"I do. You didn't love Barry. And I've never seen you this happy. I look at you and I think, oh, this is what I want."

"For...me", Rachel said, looking at her mom funnily.

"Well, not just for you."

"What do you mean?", she was confused.

"Look at you. You have so much freedom. You have a life that's yours. You have a job. Responsibilities. Friends that are always there for you. You can have any man you want", her mom began to sum up. Rachel winced slightly at the last line. She hadn't told anybody yet that she was into women except for Monica. She had promised Monica not to tell anything about their relationship, which she was going to respect, but she just needed to get this out of her system.

"I'm gay", she blurted out. Surprised at her own bluntness, her eyes widened and looked everywhere but at her mom. Her mom, however, was looking straight at her. "What?"

Rachel sighed. There was no turning back now. "I'm gay, mom. I don't want 'any guy I want'. I'm into girls. Not boys."

Her mom's face went through a rollercoaster of expressions and emotions, all the while her mouth opened every now and then to say something, but never quite making a sound, until she finally settled on a smile. "I didn't know.", she said in a soft voice.

"Well, I never told you", Rachel shrugged.

"Are you happy?", her mom asked.

"Yes, I'm way happier than I was when I attempted to date boys. It just never felt right, but now it makes total sense", Rachel smiled shyly.

"Then I'm happy for you", her mom said, walking towards her and hugging her. Rachel hugged her back tightly. She knew this conversation could have gone in a million different directions, but this was by far the best one she could have hoped for.

"So, do you have a girlfriend?", her mom asked, pulling away a bit.

Rachel couldn't help but smile a ridiculously big smile. "Yeah, the greatest. I can't introduce you yet, though. She doesn't feel comfortable yet to meet my parents before she can tell her parents that she likes girls too."

"Well, I'm looking forward to meeting her when you both are ready for it, then", she concluded. As if suddenly remembering something, her smile fell away a bit.

"What's wrong?", Rachel asked.

"I- uh- I need to tell you something", her mom started, "As I was saying before, you have this amazing life and in the last couple of months I've started to see more clearly. I'm considering leaving your father."

Rachel's eyes widened and she took a step backwards, stepping away from her mom and putting her hand on her chest. "What do you mean 'leaving dad'?"

"Honey, I know this must seem like a shock, but I just haven't been happy for a long time. I think it will be really good for me to have some freedom. To be able to do whatever I want without having to worry about a person who I don't even love anymore. I mean he's the only man I've ever been with."

"But I don't understand. I mean- I- What do you want me to do with this information?", Rachel's mind was full with questions.

"I don't know, I guess, out of everyone, you would be able to understand", her mom shrugged.

"How?"

"You didn't marry your Barry. I did", Mrs Green said with a sad hint in her voice.

"Oh", Rachel's face began to soften when the meaning of that sentence got through to her.

"But, anyway, let's talk about you! How is your job? Was it hard? You know, to find one?"

Ignore it, ignore it, ignore it, igno- damn it! Why did I have to drink so much water yesterday evening. Rachel threw the covers off of her, frustrated with her bladder, and got up. At least Monica's room was a straight line to the bathroom, so she could keep her eyes closed and just walk with her arms outstretched and that way she could trick her body that she was still sleeping. Worth a shot.

She opened the door and her beautiful plan crumbled. Even with her eyes closed, the light in the living room was hurting her eyes. What the hell? Did we forget to shut down the lights yesterday? Fluttering her eyes open and close like a hundred times trying to get adjusted to the light, she was finally able to see Monica stirring in the kitchen.

"Monica, what are you doing?", she asked. Her head felt heavy with sleep.

Monica looked up, "Cooking", she said matter-of-factly. A yawn escaped her mouth, but being too tired she didn't even bother to hide it. Rachel had walked to the kitchen and stood on the side of the table now.

"Mon, it's", she looked up to the clock, "two thirty in the morning. I thought you were going to be done by midnight at the latest? What happened to your plan?"

"Oh, my plan was spectacularly wrong. Turns out everything took at least ten minutes longer than I had calculated, so that resulted in a delay of four hours and a half", Monica said, resuming her stirring which she had temporarily paused.

"You still have two hours to go? How much food do you need to make?", Rachel exclaimed.

'No, it's only this chocolate mousse that I need to pour in the tiny glasses and the cake that needs another ten minutes in the oven. According to my plan, however, I was supposed to take this cake out of the oven at ten in the evening."

Rachel shook her head in disbelief. "Okay, I'm going to help you with the chocolate mousse. That way you can go to sleep at least a little bit earlier. At what time do we need to be there tomorrow?"

"You, between one and two in the afternoon, me, at twelve to deliver all the food and to make sure everything is alright", Monica hit the whisker a couple of times against the side of the bowl to get the last bits of chocolate mousse off of the whisker.

"Okay, it's a thirty minutes' drive, so if you get up by ten thirty tomorrow, you have plenty of time to get ready and I will make sure to have everything packed and ready to be put in the car on time", Monica started to protest, but Rachel was quick to say: "Uh-uh, no way I'm letting you go to a wedding with three hours of sleep. I need my dance partner, you know", she said with a wink.

Monica couldn't resist. It did sound like a pretty solid plan. She started to pour out the chocolate mousse into the glasses that Rachel had been handing her. "Alright, thanks Rach."

By the time all the chocolate mousse was distributed over the various glasses, the cake had been out of the oven for a bit. Rachel had been able to convince Monica to let the dishes sit in the sink, but only because she promised she was going to wash them first thing in the morning. They turned off the lights and went to Monica's room. Monica put on her pyjamas and Rachel started to get under the covers when the reason to leave the bedroom in the first place, came back full force.

"Shit", she muttered, throwing the covers off of her yet again and she frustratedly trudged to the bathroom.

"I love you", Monica whispered in Rachel's hair.

"I love you too", she whispered back. Their bodies were gently swinging to the music. The live band that Carol and Susan had picked out was spectacular. They had the perfect mix of dance music and slow music. Monica and Rachel were slowing together on one of the songs they were bringing now that neither of them recognized. Since it was a lesbian wedding, it looked pretty normal to be dancing with a girl, so their friends didn't suspect a thing.

Rachel's mother, however, was watching their interactions intently. She was pretty sure that Monica was Rachel's special someone, but to respect their privacy, she decided not to mention anything.

"With getting everything ready in time this morning, I haven't found the time yet to tell you how devastatingly beautiful and handsome you look in this suit", Rachel said quietly. This got Monica to blush.

"Well, you don't look too bad on the eyes either", she said with a smirk.

"I can't wait to go back home and lock ourselves in our bedroom", Rachel said, lust evident in her voice. Monica wiggled her eyebrows and subtly pulled Rachel's body a bit tighter against hers. "Me neither", she breathed.

Switching the radio station again, like she had been doing every other song, and checking whether her hair still covers her ears in the little mirror for at least the twentieth time now, Monica let out a frustrated sigh. She can't believe how much her mother influences her. Even from afar. She and Ross had been on the road for half an hour now. Another fifteen minutes and they would arrive at their destination.

"Mon, you look fine. There's no need to be so nervous, you know. It's our parents. Not the president", Ross said, getting annoyed by her jitteriness.

She scoffed. "Yeah, well, easy for you to say", she muttered. Deciding not to have the same conversation for the hundredth time, Ross let it slide.

When they arrived, the front door almost immediately opened. "Ross! Come here!", her mom came practically running towards her son with open arms. Ross hugged her back. When they pulled back, her two hands grabbed Ross' face. "You got a haircut?"

"Yeah, a couple of weeks ago", Ross answered, gently touching his hair not to mess up his gel.

"It looks wonderful", she said with a smile. Monica had exited the car and had been waiting for her turn of the welcome-hug, but her mom's focus was still on her brother. Monica stepped a bit closer. "Hi, mom", she said, announcing herself.

"Oh, hi, Monica", she said, hugging her second child, but she could feel the stiffness of her mother's hug. "You got a haircut too?", she asked pulling back.

"Yeah", Monica said, happy her mother noticed.

"You shouldn't have. It was finally starting to get long enough to cover your ears", she said, disappointment obvious in her voice. Great. And I haven't yet brought up what I wanted to bring up. This is going to be torture.

After the coats were hung on the coat hangers and they hugged their father, they went to the dining room and sat down while Judy went to get the aperitive. The conversations were okay. Most of them were about either Ross or her parents, but she didn't mind really. At least she wasn't being picked on. That's something.

They were halfway through their main dish, when Judy asked: "How's your little boy, Ross?"

"He's doing great", his face lighting up like always when he talks about his son, "Actually, he went to his first wedding yesterday."

"He did?", Judy asked, "Of who?"

"Carol and Susan's wedding. Monica pushed him in his stroller to the front", Ross said, smiling at Monica.

"Aren't they gay?", their father asked, as bluntly as always.

"Yes", Ross said matter-of-factly.

"How is that possible? Isn't that, like, illegal or something?", Judy asked.

"Technically, yes. But they had a ceremony and they exchanged vows and rings and they had a priest and everything. They just can't get the legal document, because the state doesn't see same-sex marriages as actual marriages", Ross explained.

"Of course not. They aren't actual marriages. I still don't understand how Carol could get it in her head that she is gay", Judy said with an eye roll.

"What do you mean? She loves Susan, what's wrong with that?", Monica asked, not understanding her mom.

"What's right with it, you mean? Two women shouldn't be in a romantic relationship. It's illegal-", Judy started but got cut off by Monica.

"Marriage is illegal, but having a relationship isn't", she said.

"Same thing", Judy said, waving Monica's statement away with her hand, "Anyway, who would do that? And more importantly, what parents would let their children do that?"

"Actually, Carol's parents didn't come to the wedding. They have a bit of trouble with her being together with a woman", Ross said, beginning to regret bringing up the wedding.

"Ah, I always liked her parents. They're decent people, you know. They know what's right", Judy said. Monica couldn't believe it. She had planned to bring up her being in a relationship with a woman, but now, she hoped that by the end of the evening she could at least open her mom's mind a little.

"Mom, there is nothing 'wrong' with two people loving each other. Whether it's two men, two women or a man and a woman, they are still in love. I don't see the problem with that."

"Uhm, for starters, why would you choose to be gay? It's just dumb. People who do that are just looking for attention. And it's probably just a phase anyway, you know. They can also never be parents. You need a woman and a man for that. And, even if they would be able to get children through adoption, which, thankfully, is very difficult, they wouldn't deserve it. The poor kid would have two mothers or two fathers. That can't be healthy. A kid needs a father and a mother. God, I can't even imagine how troubled those kids would be. Thankfully Ben has you", she said, pointing to Ross, "I don't want to imagine how he would have turned out otherwise", she said while an actual shudder went through her body.

Monica sat at the table, her body numb from the shock. This was so not how tonight was supposed to go. Tonight, she was supposed to tell her parents that she's bisexual and that she is in a relationship with Rachel and then they would have hugged her. Just like Rachel's mom had hugged her girlfriend.

Right now, though, she wasn't so sure anymore. Obviously, her mom was exaggerating a lot and telling a lot of bullshit, but there was one thing she said that bothered her. That she couldn't stop thinking about since her mother had said it. I will never be able to have children if I stay with Rachel. Or with any woman whatsoever. And that thought, it made her feel sick. "Excuse me", she said, pushing her chair backwards and getting up.

She practically ran up the stairs and locked herself in her old bedroom. She curled herself up in a small ball on her bed and started rocking back and forth. Her mind was reeling and she needed to get both her heart rate and her breathing under control. She blinked a few times with her eyes, but couldn't seem to get rid of the blurriness.

I can't do this. I can't do this to Rachel. I can't do this to me. I can't do this. This isn't fair. Why can life never be easy? Why?

The tears were already rolling down and falling on her clothes. She would need to check in the mirror before going downstairs. She doesn't want to give her mom more ammunition than she already had. After getting her breathing more or less under control, the tears were still continuing to fall every now and then, she stood up and crossed her room to her wall with pictures. There weren't that many pictures, since she moved out after high school and high school not really her favourite time was. Still, she had some good moments and these pictures used to do the trick to make her remember the fun times. Maybe it will work now too.

Her eyes fell on the picture of her and Rachel. It was taken during one of the sleepovers they had had during their high school years. They were both lying in Rachel's double bed, the covers pulled to their chin. Rachel smiled to the camera, as charming as ever. Monica's eyes were closed, but her lips were forming a smile. One of the reasons she loved this photo so much, is because the covers hid her body. She doesn't even know why Rachel wanted to be friends with her throughout high school. She had so many beautiful friends, fellow cheerleaders, admirers, yet she was friends with her. The fat girl from high school. She had always wondered this question, but she was too afraid for the answer if she would ask it. Looking one last time at Rachel's innocent smile, she couldn't help but think: I'm going to break this sweet girl's heart. And I'm going to break mine too.

When she got back downstairs and rejoined the dinner table, she got a questioning look from Ross, but his mother had already shot another question at him, so he didn't manage to ask her why she was gone for so long. Her mother didn't even acknowledge her presence. Her father was in the kitchen, getting the dessert from the fridge. Something clattered to the ground, making a horrible sound. "Monica, could you help your father, please? I'm in an important conversation with Ross", her mom said. So she did see me come in then. She thought while she stood up.

After dessert, they got back to the car. It was Sunday and Ross had to get to work on time tomorrow morning, so they couldn't leave too late. She was incredibly glad to be leaving that place, but she wasn't looking forward to getting back to her apartment either. She knew she would have had to come clean because she's a horrible liar and Rachel sees right through her when something is bothering her. She doesn't want to have this conversation, but it is inevitable. This is going to be ugly.

S2E9 – tow the lesbian wedding