Love You, Chapter Four

Disclaimer: I don’t own any of these characters.

The wedding was tomorrow, and all of the gang were very excited, especially Monica and Chandler. Monica was probably the most excited. She had always looked forward to the day that she would get married, and even though she wasn’t having a traditional wedding, and not even having a honeymoon, she was still marrying the man of her dreams. And, as Chandler pointed out, maybe her mother would stop being so nasty to her now.

“Are you having a hen night?” asked Rachel, at about ten o’clock in the morning. The gang were in Central Perk, and conversation was dull.

Joey looked blank. “A what?” he asked.

“A hen night, Joe,” Monica told him. “The night before a woman gets married, she goes out with some friends, and…”

“Oh, that,” Joey said, nodding in a way that told the others that he hadn’t got a clue what Monica was talking about. “Chandler, are we having a stripper?” he whined.

“No,” Chandler replied, crossly. “I don’t want to look at a naked woman – unless it’s Monica.” Monica inched closer to her husband-to-be, and smiled up at him.

“Aw, man!” Joey complained. “You might have found your woman, but why do you have to spoil our fun?”

“Who else is going to your stag do?” asked Phoebe.

“I’m not having one,” Chandler told her. “It’d only be Joey and me anyway. We’re just gonna have some beers, watch the Knicks game.”

“Yeah baby!” Joey cheered.

“So, are you having a hen night?” asked Rachel, again.

“No,” Monica announced. “I couldn’t drink anyway. But do you and Pheebs want to come round and watch some TV tonight or something? I’ll get some wine in.” She would have enjoyed a hen night. But she couldn’t hurt the unborn baby, and alcohol and smoky clubs would definitely harm it.

Phoebe and Rachel agreed, and they left the coffee house to go to work. Gunther stood behind the counter, thinking. He knew where Rachel was going to be tonight. Rachel and alcohol would be there, and that sounded good.

* * *

That night, as Chandler and Joey were watching the Knicks game in Joey’s apartment, the three girls were sitting in Monica and Chandler’s apartment, painting their toenails, and chatting about the wedding, the baby, Chandler, and life in general.

“I can’t believe that Chandler is the first to settle down,” said Rachel. “And you, Mon, but Chandler!”

Phoebe nodded. “Yeah, who’d have thought that Mr Commitment-Freak himself is getting married and has a baby on the way?”

“He’s not a commitment freak,” Monica defended him. “He’s changed a lot since we started dating. He’s really sweet, and I can see why Janice was so in love with him.”

Phoebe and Rachel made faces at the mention of Janice. “Ew, Janice!” cried Phoebe. “Although she was kinda sweet.”

“But she was really annoying,” Rachel pointed out.

Monica just let them chat. She felt so happy and comfortable. She was there, with two of her best friends, on the night before her wedding to the sweetest man alive, the man whom she had loved since the first moment she laid eyes on him. And inside her was her unborn child, still without a name, but her child, all the same. She thought that life couldn’t possibly get any better, unless Chandler was there. Every second that she was away from him, felt as though it was an hour. She couldn’t bear being parted from him, but after tomorrow, they would officially be together, and all those worries would be gone.

Over an hour later, when it was nearly midnight, Rachel was very drunk. Monica was sober, and Phoebe was just a little tipsy. There was a knock at the door, and Rachel got up to answer it.

“Who’s that?” she said, smiling. “I betcha it’s – it’s Joey. Joe-eyy!” She called this last bit, loudly, trying to get him to hear her. She opened the door, swaying slightly. “Hey, it’s Gun - Gun - coffee house guy! Hey, coffee house guy!” Gunther smiled widely, and Monica and Phoebe nudged each other, giggling.

“Hi, Rachel,” Gunther said, politely. “I just came by to do this—” and he grabbed Rachel, pulling her into a kiss. Phoebe and Monica laughed at the ecstatic expression on Gunther’s face when they pulled away.

“Wanna have sex?” asked Rachel, slurring her words. Gunther didn’t even seem to notice the drunkenness, and, nodding, they left the apartment, Rachel giggling.

Monica and Phoebe were stunned. “Wow,” said Phoebe, after a few seconds. “Well, I’m gonna go to sleep…” she paused, and laid her head back on the sofa. In a flash, she was snoring.

“Pheebs?” asked Monica, uncertainly. “Are you asleep?” There was another snore. “Okay, I’m going to go to bed, then,” she said, and left for her bedroom.

* * *

The following morning, Monica was up at six. She couldn’t sleep without Chandler by her side, not anymore. She jumped up and went to see if Phoebe was awake. She wasn’t. Still zoned out in yesterday’s clothes, with an empty glass in her hand, she looked like a cartoon – maybe a female Homer Simpson. Monica shook her head. Anyone that knew Phoebe knew that she was nowhere near a female Homer. But looking like that… Monica smiled to herself as she relived the events of the last night.

Phoebe moved on the sofa. “Oh, Joey,” she mumbled. Monica’s hand flew to her mouth to stop a giggle escaping. Joey?

“Joey,” Phoebe mumbled again, moving her lips as though she was kissing him. Monica fled into the bathroom, feeling as though she was listening in on a private conversation or something.

When she was in the bathroom, she suddenly wondered what had happened to Rachel and Gunther. Well, she’d find out at the wedding. She showered quickly, and brushed her teeth. When she walked out of the bathroom, in her robe, with her hair in a towel, Phoebe was awake, glaring at her.

“Monica!” she cried. “It’s six-fifteen, and you’ve woken me up!”

Monica stared, blankly at her.

“You ran a shower, and woke me up,” Phoebe elaborated. “And I don’t like mornings.”

“But I’m getting married in less than four hours,” Monica told her, smiling with joy.

Phoebe groaned. “Why didn’t you wake me up at eight, then?”

“Because I can’t sleep without Chandler,” Monica explained.

“Aw, how sweet,” Phoebe smiled. “Now let me sleep.”

Monica gave Phoebe two hours more sleep. At eight o’clock, she woke her up, and the two of them ate breakfast and dressed. They were finishing their makeup when Rachel came running through the door.

“I slept with Gunther!” she cried. “Why didn’t one of you stop me?”

“Because you wanted to,” Monica said.

“And he so wanted it,” Phoebe added.

Rachel hurriedly showered, dressed and did her makeup. Then, together with Joey and Chandler, they walked to the registry office, near to their apartment block.

* * *

The ceremony was short and very beautiful. Monica couldn’t stop crying, but they were tears of joy. The girls all looked beautiful in their dresses, and Joey and Chandler looked very smart. When the happy couple walked out of the building as Mr and Mrs Bing, even Joey was crying.

Monica looked at Chandler. She had never felt so happy in all her life. As the photographer told them to kiss for the camera, she felt as though she would burst with happiness.