Chapter 4: A Marriage of Convenience

The nuptials took two years to plan. The pair of couples justified it by settling for a somewhat longer engagement.

If Monica had ever thought about her wedding, she would have imagined a simple, quiet ceremony in synagogue temple, with her friends and family as witnesses. She had never, in her wildest dreams, would have imagined sharing her wedding day (and thus her wedding anniversary for now into perpetuity) with her brother.

But also with her…. her….

Monica took a deep breath. A double wedding had its own special allure, and she was here. And she decided that there was no better place to marry Chandler than in this place that held so much meaning for her. She was beginning to discover a deep and abiding love for him, after everything he had done for her. She could love him. She could want him. Monica thought – no, she knew – if she could just take his hand in marriage, she might at last be free.

The only question now, as she approached the doors, ready to turn the corner from the vestibule and into the temple proper, was if she wanted to be free. For when the woman in the other white dress appeared opposite her, on her father Dr. Green's arm, Monica nearly lost her breath.

Monica suddenly had a very conscious wish that she and Rachel would walk into this temple, and there would be no grooms there to take them in holy matrimony. No brother of hers. No Chandler, though she felt her heart constrict with pain at the thought of a world where dear, sweet Chandler didn't exist.

You look beautiful, she wanted to say to Rachel. From the way Rachel's blue eyes sparkled, it was clear she wanted to say the same thing, but couldn't. Not with their fathers present. Though, really, what deeper meaning would their daddies take from two women – best girlfriends since elementary school – each complimenting the other on their beauty and on their joint wedding day?

Jack and Dr. Green escorted Monica and Rachel down the aisle, respectively. At the altar, Monica's eyes went to Chandler, who was gazing at her in awe, and she smiled at him weakly. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw how Ross was staring at Rachel, almost transfixed. Monica sent up a prayer that Rachel would love her brother as best she knew how, and not break his heart. She didn't intend to break Chandler's.

Passed off by her dad to her future, Monica lifted her head shyly to behold the man who was to be her husband. Her lashes fluttered around her sapphire eyes.

Her best friend looked so handsome. He was beaming at her as if the sun only rose and set on her command. Sucking in a deep breath, Monica solemnly took Chandler's hand. Joey, who had agreed to marry the two couples, blessed them as they gave their vows, and for a moment, Monica wondered if they were doing the right thing.

Then she tilted her head just slightly to the right, and sucked in another gasp: Rachel was across from her, such that the two grooms – almost brothers-in-law – were standing back to back. Monica held Rachel's gaze like it was an anchor, keeping the woman she loved in her peripheral vision even as she gave her marriage vows to a man she did care for deeply.

Besides…. almost unconsciously, Monica had written her vows in a vague enough way that she could almost trick herself into thinking she was giving them to the other bride, and not to her groom before her.

"For so long… I wondered if I would ever find my true love. My soulmate… and then, three years ago, at another wedding… I turned to a friend for comfort…." (which was true – Monica had sought and found comfort in both Chandler and Rachel that night. The future Mrs. Bing swallowed hard. But only Rachel….) "…. And instead found everything I've ever been looking for… my whole life. Now…. here we are… with our future before us… and I only want to spend it with you: my love… my soulmate…" She grinned weakly, her eyes teary. "…. My friend." She gestured to her groom, letting him have the floor.

"Monica, I thought this was going to be the most difficult thing I ever had to do…" Chandler began. (Monica nearly lifted a skeptical eyebrow from underneath her veil: he thought this was difficult? This was difficult for her!) "… but when I saw you walking down that aisle, I realized how simple it was… I love you." She beamed at him beatifically, even as moisture threatened her eyes and her heart twisted painfully. Monica fought to hold his eyes, even as she was tempted to shift her gaze to look upon Rachel, whose soft voice she could hear, giving her own promises of fidelity to Ross. "Any surprises that come our way, it's OK, because I will always love you. You are the person I was meant to spend the rest of my life with…." Chandler stepped into her amorously. "You wanna know if I'm sure….?" Monica braced herself for her wedding kiss, but Joey stopped them.

"Hold it!" He jerked his head towards where Ross and Rachel were still giving their vows.

"…. Thank you for waiting for me. I love you. I know it pales against what will undoubtedly be your wonderful words, but I love you." Rachel's lips pursed, and she lifted an emotional hand to her mouth. "I love my husband." The moment after she said this, though, her eyes found Monica's, who smiled at her encouragingly.

Ross was solemn as he slipped the ring onto Rachel's finger. "I, Ross, take thee…. Rachel…." (Both pairs of couples burst into giggles at this, as did many of the witnesses who had been present for Ross's disastrous wedding to Emily). "…. To be my wife." Ross's puppy-dog eyes were ecstatic and only for his beautiful bride across from him. "I've loved you for so long. We've had a long, hard road to get here. But thank you for being patient with me. Thank you for loving me. I promise you, you will only ever feel loved by me, until death do we part. You are the one I've been waiting for."

Joey glanced between the two couples, pleased.

"Monica, do you take Chandler to be your husband?"

Monica smiled gently, her gaze darting to Rachel out of the corner of her eye for just a fraction of a second before she bubbled, "I do…."

"Chandler, do you take Monica to be your wife?"

Chandler grinned smolderingly, utterly at peace. "Yeah, I do."

"Yeah, you do!" Joey almost squealed. He held up a finger for them to wait, as he turned to the second set of newlyweds.

"Ross, do you take Rachel to be your wife?"

"I do…." Ross sounded utterly helpless and lovesick, looking as though all his dreams had come true at once.

"Rachel, do you take Ross to be your husband?"

A brief silence. Reaching up a hand, Rachel ran her fingers through Ross's curly hair, sizing him up. Her gaze went to Monica across from her, who gave the most imperceptible nod. Giving her permission.

"Yes, I do….." Rachel whispered, willing herself to gaze deep into Ross's eyes.

"Darn right you do!" Joey crowed. He had no idea, the sacrifices that were being made by these people. "Go on, boys, kiss them!"

Chandler lifted Monica's veil and she exhaled deeply as he took her in his arms.

This is the right thing, the new Mrs. Bing told herself. We'll make it work. Somehow.

Then Monica's husband bent and kissed her, and in that moment of their wedding kiss, she had no more doubts. There was only Chandler, and the scent of the dying roses in her bridal bouquet.

As Ross tenderly cradled Rachel's face in his hands, tilting it up, he bent towards her. Monica. I'm doing this for Monica, Rachel told herself, in the last moment before she closed her eyes and permitted her…. her husband to kiss her deeply.

She sold the kiss that sealed her marriage to her best friend's brother by weaving her fingers into his curly locks, kissing him back passionately. Rachel softly caressed Ross's face. She whispered into his lips that she loved him, for she did, even if it couldn't be in the way she wanted him to. There was something almost apologetic in the way she hissed "I love you!", the sound of it swallowed by their wedding kiss so only he could hear.

Joey gave a million-watt grin and led the congregation as they burst into applause.

At the reception, Monica and Chandler and Ross and Rachel were introduced as Mr. and Mrs. Geller-Bing and Dr. and Mrs. Geller-Green, respectively. The brides had insisted on the hyphenated names, further tying the three families involved in these unions, making them one.

After the pairs of newlyweds danced at their wedding, the brothers-in-law headed to the edge of the dance floor, near the speakers. It would blow out their eardrums, but at least there was comfort that they wouldn't be overheard.

"I can't believe I'm married to a lesbian… again!" Ross shook his head, swilling his drink. "At least with Carol, I didn't know she played for both teams before I married her!"

Chandler gave his brother-in-law a hard look. "You love Rachel even more than you loved Carol."

Ross sighed. "Yeah… I know." He gave Chandler an intense look. "You love my sister."

Chandler nodded. "With everything in me."

Ross nodded, pleased by this answer. The two grooms turned and watched their respective brides laughing and dancing with each other. If anyone else had looked upon the two women, they would have seen two sisters-in-law, best friends, having a great time at their joint wedding. No one would have suspected that the brides were, in fact, in love with each other.

"Better for them to be in marriages that could be loving than in ones that definitely wouldn't be. Besides, this way…. we can make sure they aren't apart," Chandler pointed out. He held out a hand for Ross to shake. After a moment, Ross clasped it.

Later, alone in their honeymoon suite, Chandler grandly set down his bride from where he had swept Monica off her feet and carried her across the threshold. Turning to him, her bright and amused smile faded into something introspective, contemplative, as she drifted into him.

Framing his face, her eyelids grew heavy as she leaned in and kissed him with all the gratitude that she could muster. Chandler kissed her back, his hands slipping to her waist.

Monica shivered when she felt his palm dip lower to caress and cup her bum through her wedding dress, in his grip a question. She let how she now raised her leg to his waist, curling her thigh about his torso, be her answer.

Chandler lifted his wife (she was his wife!) into his arms and carried her towards the marriage bed. Depositing her on top, he kissed her lovingly again and again, hoping his best friend knew how much he loved her. How he would do anything to protect her.

Monica kissed this good and decent man back, feeling so grateful that Chandler had done this for her, that she had given herself to him. She would be safe.

…. and, in a way, she would still get to be with Rachel.

Tongues pushed through willing mouths as hands clasped and peeled away fabric. Fingers now scrabbled for purchase along sweat-slicked skin. Gasps and pleasured moans could be heard.

Monica and Chandler reverently made love, consummating their marriage.

The new Mrs. Bing almost cried when, at the end of their relations, she failed to cum.

Rachel seemed quiet and thoughtful as she glided over towards the bed that she was to share for the first time with her husband. Ross glanced up at her as he was taking off his shoes, losing his breath at the sight of her all over again.

"Rachel….?"

Deliberately, Rachel now took control. Pushing Ross back onto the bed, she hiked up her skirts as she climbed onto the mattress and moved to straddle him.

"Let's do this," she rumbled. Bending prone over Ross, she kissed him. Rachel lost herself in the kiss, letting Ross undress her as she moved to divest him off his suit coat.

They joined, came together almost without her noticing. Bouncing on him, rolling her hips into his with a grunt, Rachel slathered her husband's neck with kisses, even as she imagined it was a different Geller's neck that she was showering with such attention.

She felt Ross let out a squeak of wonder as he ejaculated up into her. Rachel kissed him fiercely and just rode him harder.

She was proud of herself that she managed to bring herself to orgasm, but only because she had the lovely face of a woman dancing in her head. She was even more proud of herself that, upon reaching completion, she had the self-control to refrain from groaning out her sister-in-law's name.

She still thought it, though. In her mind.

Monica….