Chapter 2: Wedded Bliss in Secret

Joey might have been distressed in feeling like the past year was repeating itself, but Monica relished the reality of being married in secret. There was something so romantic and intimate about only her and Chandler knowing what they were to each other, like it had been when they first started dating.

Of course, she didn't miss the caution and sneaking about. The need to be guarded about not allowing a slip of the tongue. Making sure not to check the box labeled Mrs. instead of Miss on certain documents, lest they be left out for unwanted eyes to see. This, of course, was counterbalanced by the insatiable need to be with her husband. It had taken effort to maintain the faithful practice of sharing a bed every night since London. Chandler now solved the problem of wanting to act like husband and wife without alerting to everyone that they were husband and wife by offering that he move in with Monica. She, of course, happily accepted. Though disappointed at being asked to move out, Rachel was supportive of Monica and Chandler living together. She doesn't didn't know they would be doing so already in holy matrimony.

It was the most happiness Rachel could show, anyway. It had taken a bit after the hangover from Vegas had dissipated, but she and Ross had finally learned of their drunken escapade that had resulted in marriage. Rachel immediately started ordering Ross about to get an annulment, which left Monica secretly disappointed. She rather liked the thought of her best girl friend also being her sister-in-law, not to mention sharing a wedding anniversary with her. She didn't even mind so much that in sharing this, however briefly it would be, Ross was once again (unknowingly) upstaging her.

The biggest risk to someone other than Joey learning Chandler and Monica's secret was if someone noticed the red dice they each wore around their necks. Chandler had assured his wife that this wouldn't be an issue. After replacing the strings with chains and drilling holes through the die to loop the chains through, he suggested that they keep the pendants hanging under their clothes, at least until he could afford to buy proper wedding bands and they were ready to come out to their loved ones. Monica never took the token of her marriage off, not even to shower or sleep. She liked the feeling of having the dice rest so close to her heart.

Monica didn't even mind so much that she and Chandler had not had a proper honeymoon, and it was unclear when they would be able to. Chandler assured his wife, promising her that he would whisk her away on one as soon as their happy news had been shared and their respective schedules allowed it.

Before long, however, there was a development that would force Chandler and Monica to reveal their marital status sooner than they thought, and it wasn't the need to declare their union to the government on their tax documents (they had applied for and received a marriage license, which Monica kept in a secret place in her and Chandler's room).

The development that presented itself was when Monica became prone to bouts of morning sickness. Felt her breasts beginning to balloon with a mother's milk. Hardly daring to believe it, she took several pregnancy tests before she allowed herself to acknowledge the culmination of her dearest wish: she was carrying her husband's baby. She was going to be a mother!

Monica's overjoyed ecstasy was tempered only by what others would think of her once she started to show. It was this terror that had her in tears over the toilet bowl one day, following a bout of nausea. When her husband slipped into the bathroom and knelt beside her on the tiles, Monica tried to shy away like a skittish deer, squirming as Chandler held her, easing her into his lap.

"No! Get away! You shouldn't be here right now!"

Chandler just chuckled and stroked her hair, drumming his fingers along her back. Monica's heart had melted to see that, far from the panic she would have expected from Chandler, he had taken the news that she was pregnant with his child with mature stoicism and genuine happiness. "That's not going to work on me. Family sticks together, remember?"

"You're not family! Not yet! Not to all our loved ones!" Monica bemoaned.

The couple both jerked sharply in surprise at the door open, only to deflate in relief upon seeing Joey steal into the bathroom and close the door behind him.

"The others finally finished breakfast and left. What's going on?"

Monica pouted as her bottom lip quivered. "Not morning sickness. Not growing a baby. Not being held by my husband!" she wailed. "So what's today's lie going to be instead?"

"Oh, no!" Joey stood firm, putting his foot down. "No more lying! I've covered for you guys long enough! Just tell everyone the truth! They'll understand!"

"Will they? Will they, though?" Monica groused. She wouldn't put it past Ross and Rachel to be secretly resentful that she and Chandler had stolen their married-in-Vegas act, then rub it in their faces by, far from getting an annulment, getting pregnant instead while being secure in the knowledge that their wedding had not been a drunken mistake.

"Of course they will! They won't think less of you!" Joey insisted.

Monica snorted. "Any more than they already do. They think….."

"What they think doesn't matter!" Joey cut across her. "We already know you didn't conceive this child out of wedlock!"

"But no one else does…." Chandler blanched. He and Monica looked at each other. They spoke with no words – the kind of intimacy that takes some couples years to develop. "We have to tell your parents. And Ross and Rachel and Phoebe."

Monica swallowed back her tears and slowly nodded. "You'll go shopping for rings?"

Chandler stooped and kissed his wife on the lips. "On it."

"Mom. Dad," Monica announced at the next Geller family dinner, to which all of her friends were also invited. "Chandler and I have something to tell you." Lacing her fingers through those of her husband under the table, she took a deep breath. "We're going to have a baby."

The reaction from her parents was explosive and immediate.

"But Monica!" Judy cried, horrified. "You and Chandler are not even married!"

Monica glanced to her husband and bit her lip. "Actually….. yes, we are….." she admitted quietly. "We got married, in secret, in Vegas. We eloped."

"I thought Ross and Rachel got married in Vegas," Jack frowned. "Monica, were you copycatting your brother again?"

"Uh, no – that would have meant getting married while drunk off my ass!" Monica sniffed. "At least I am content in the knowledge that when I said 'I do,' I was stone-cold sober!"

"But did you have any witnesses?" Jack asked.

"Joey," Monica nodded.

Ross rounded on the struggling actor. "You knew about this?"

Joey looked one tick away from having a nervous breakdown. "I didn't want to keep it a secret! They cornered me!" He was too consumed with PTSD from keeping secrets to feel much relief at finally being unburdened of those secrets.

"Well, I, for one, am outraged!" Jack declared. "Do I not get a say in who is worthy enough to marry my daughter, or doesn't anyone ask her father anymore?!"

Chandler squared his shoulders. "Jack…. sir, I believe I am worthy enough for Monica. I still can scarcely believe she is with a guy like me, and I am grateful every day that she chose me. She wanted to get married, and so did I. We made this decision together, and gladly, because I would do anything to make her happy, just as she would do the same for me." He took a breath to compose himself. "However…. I also know how wanting to share her happiness with those we love is important to her, so in light of that….." Chandler now stood and dropped down to one knee, causing Monica to draw both hands to her mouth in astonishment. "Monica, you are the love of my life and the light of my love. I love and adore you with all that I am. Will you do me the honor of being my wife? Will you marry me….. again… for everyone to see?"

Monica had tears streaming down her cheeks. "Of course I will!" she wept, throwing her arms around Chandler and kissing him soundly on the lips.

It was one of the more expensive vow renewals that Chandler and Monica had ever known. The Bings recommitted themselves in marriage to each other in a spacious hotel ballroom, in the presence of their family and friends. It was all at once a big and yet intimate wedding.

"Do you take each other for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, to have and to hold, for as long as you both shall live, until death do you part?"

Chandler and Monica beamed into each other's eyes as they this time exchanged rings along with their vows. Chandler had purchased the golden bands and gotten them sized himself. He had even added a heartfelt inscription, engraved on the inside of each ring: FOREVER ON LONDON TIME. He felt overflowing happiness and relief as he slipped Monica's ring onto her finger.

"I do."

Monica beamed beatifically and echoed his promise. "I do."

Her stomach was nearly out to her feet, set to give birth to their baby any day, but that didn't stop Chandler from taking his bride in his arms and kissing her. He even managed to, in a remarkable feat of strength, sweep Monica into a dip as he prolonged the wedding kiss, to rapturous applause.

Breaking apart sensuously, Monica beamed with happiness into her husband's eyes. Nothing could diminish her joy as she and her husband danced at their wedding.

She wasn't even that disappointed when, no sooner had she tossed her bridal bouquet halfway through the reception, her water broke.

The new Mrs. Bing was rushed to the nearest hospital, where after more than a day of labor, she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. Monica and Chandler named their daughter Emma.

Canoodling and kissing on the hospital bed, holding their daughter between them, Monica reveled in achieving everything she ever wanted. She was a wife to her best friend who loved her unconditionally, and she was a mother to her very own child at last!

What had started in London and been sanctified in Las Vegas was now cemented in the city they both loved. Monica and Chandler were bound now, forever. The Bings would have a happy and healthy marriage that they – and all their friends – knew was going to last forever. They would be a family, with their daughter, forever.

And they were.