Author's Note: Thanks to the sharp reader who found a typo mistake- here is the chapter, recorrected!

Princess Diaries doesn't belong to me!

"Joseph! Joseph, are you awake yet?" Clarisse Renaldi Bonnell, former Queen of Genovia, called as she entered her suite. It was a bright, sunny but cold December morning, and she had just taken Maurice for his morning walk.

In the past, while she had been Queen, she had delegated that task to one of her maids, but now that she had the time and the leisure, she got up and walked him- and loved it. Joseph usually accompanied her, but she hadn't wanted to disturb him this morning, so she had let him sleep in while she went outside. She loved being out in the fresh morning air, and today was no different, although it was considerably colder and snow was forecast for that very week.

"In here," she heard him call from the bedroom, and she walked in with a wide smile. She loved seeing him there, not outside as he had been for nearly thirty years, but in her suite as her…husband. He was sitting up in bed, reading, and his face lit up when he saw her.

"Good morning, darling!" she sang as she walked to his side of the bed, and sat down next to him.

"Good morning, my love…come here for a moment," he growled huskily as she giggled (a former Queen giggling' went through her mind, before she dismissed it) and leaned over as he wrapped both arms around her and pulled her further onto the bed, before giving her a long, sweet kiss.

"Why didn't you wake me up this morning? I would have been happy to come with you," he said when they finally broke apart, as Clarisse pulled herself up to lean against the bed head.

"Yes, I could have, but I decide to give you a treat this morning," she said wisely as he put an arm around her, and she snuggled in closer. "Besides, it was very cold out there!"

"Aren't you just the most generous woman I know?" he murmured as he kissed the top of her head. It would always delight him to hear her call him 'her husband'- it was all that he had ever wanted…and he still couldn't believe that she was his wife!

"Well, I was a Queen, you know."

"That's right, so you were!" Joseph pretended to think, but they both knew how big an obstacle that had been in their relationship. After so many years of denying their deep feelings, and stealing only a few kisses in recent years, it was relief to both of them that they were free to proclaim that they were in love, and were married.

He hadn't expected to marry her- when he had proposed, there had been a crisis with the Princess, and Clarisse had seriously thought that Viscount Mabrey would successfully steal the throne away. That was why she had to turn down Joe, although she had wanted to marry him desperately. But only after Mia was married and crowned…but even her supposed wedding didn't go smoothly, with Mia showing her spirit and declining to marry because of a law. Happily, she had been able to overturn the laws, and she was fully set on the path to be Queen. But, firstly, she had some wisdom….

"Grandma? Just because I didn't get my fairy tale ending, doesn't mean you shouldn't" were the wise words a granddaughter gave her grandmother, and Clarisse realised that it was time for her to ignore everyone and everything else, and concentrate on herself and the only man who knew her better than anyone.

He had been so wonderful to her, and she knew that she may have hurt him beyond repair, but she had to try….

"Dear Joseph," she emphasised the 'dear', smiling radiantly at him. "Am I too late to ask you to accept my hand in marriage?"


She was choking up, but she wanted this more than anything, especially now she knew that Mia was going to be alright. It seemed like an eternity before Joseph cleared his throat, and replied:
"I thought you'd never ask."

"What were you thinking about just now?" Joseph's voice brought her back from her daydream, and she smiled over at him- she could never keep any secrets from him, even when he had still been her bodyguard.

"I was just thinking about our wedding, and how I proposed to you in front of all those people."

Joseph leaned back, looking thoughtful, before bursting into laughter.

"That's right, how could I forget? I wasn't expecting my Queen to propose to me, in front of everyone!"

"I was so scared that I was going to lose you," she said honestly, opening up for the first time to how truly worried she had been that he might leave. "You knew I loved you, but I couldn't…"

He put a gentle finger on her lips and smiled lovingly at her.

"I knew what you were trying to do- you wanted Mia settled before you did anything else…And you weren't going to lose me…sure, I was tempted to resign that night, but then I realised that I would be making myself even unhappier when I couldn't see you…I comforted myself with the thought that, even if we weren't married, I would still be at your side…"

Clarisse looked at him in wonder when he finished, tears filling her eyes.

"I had no idea about…I was worried that I wouldn't have my Joseph around when I needed him…."

She blushed after that sentence, realising what she had said. She had unwittingly said 'my Joseph' but that was what she considered him to be. He smiled and pulled her closer.

"Well, all that matters is that we got married, and now I can call you 'my Clarisse'" he teased, before kissing her. "And then, a week later, our Princess got crowned, and you were no longer, officially, Queen of Genovia."

"I don't understand why Mia insisted that I am still given the same privileges and the title- I am no longer Queen." It still genuinely perplexed her, despite several explanations from Mia. Joseph pretended to look serious as he waved a finger at her.

"Because you are a Queen, and always will be to a lot of people. Mia was very sensible about that, and I was very proud of the way she included you in the entire day."

Clarisse smiled fondly at the memory.

"Yes, it's exactly what her father would have done…and that speech...I think I may have been tipsy when I did that!"

"No, you weren't. You spoke from your heart, to the granddaughter you loved, and everyone appreciated that…especially Mia."

There was a companionable silence as they sat and remembered every moment of that special day, before Joe broke the silence again.

"And now Mia is Queen, and we're living our happily ever after…so, what shall we do now?

Clarisse glanced at her watch.

"It's after eight, so we really should have our breakfast…and then the rest of the time is our own, until we meet Mia for lunch…"
"That sounds wonderfully exciting- aren't you bored doing nothing, yet?"

"No- I actually love not doing anything- with you… we're on our own adventure…Oh yes, we do have to go Christmas shopping today- it's only a week to Christmas, you know."

"Let's just have breakfast first," Joe said as he got of bed and reached for his bathrobe. "And then we'll decide what we'll do."

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Clarisse beamed as they walked, hand in hand, out to their waiting breakfast.

Meanwhile, Her Majesty Queen Amelia Mignonette Thermopolis Renaldi was still in bed, fast asleep, as her best friend and personal assistant, Lily, entered the room. She clicked her tongue in disgust when she saw that Mia was still in bed, and the curtains were still drawn.

"Mia?" she began gently as she walked on tip toes towards the bed.

There was a small grunt from the bed, but Mia didn't move, and Lily knew that drastic action had to be taken. She took a deep breath, put her clipboard and pen down, and then jumped onto the lump in the bed.

"It's time to be up, Your Majesty!" Lily practically shouted, as Mia groaned, rolled over and then sat up, hair in her eyes. Only Lily would and could get away with doing something like that….still, it felt like dawn to her…

"Lily?" she whined sleepily. "Did you really have to do that?"

"Yes, I did," Lily said unsympathetically, now standing at the side of the bed, and signalled to the maids to open the curtains. "It's after eight, and you do want to get your work done before you go shopping this afternoon, don't you?"

"I guess so," Mia muttered under her breath as she stretched her arms skyward, before getting out of bed and reaching for her bathrobe.

"Good girl," Lily said encouragingly, before she walked out the door. From behind her, she could tell that Mia had just thrown a pillow, but it fell on the floor, no where near Lily.

"How did she get to be so bossy?" Mia muttered, and then smiled- it wasn't since she had become her personal assistant…she had always been bossy!

"Breakfast is ready!" Lily called from the other room as Mia shuffled in the general direction of the doorway. That was one thing she disliked about being monarch- she always had to get up early.

When she had been Princess, she had felt free to lie in as long as she wanted…but, then again, Clarisse had usually sent Charlotte in to wake her up.

"A Queen can never lie in bed all day," Clarisse had reminded her on more than one occasion.

"So, what's on the schedule for today?" Mia said with a yawn, as she reached for her cup of coffee and sat down at the table. Lily sat in the opposite chair, and glanced at her ever present clipboard, which had the Queen's daily schedule on it.

"Well, you have a meeting with Prime Minister Motez at 9:30, a session of parliament at 10:30, which should run for an hour or so, and then lunch with Clarisse and Joe. After lunch, you have a couple of hours to go shopping, and then you're having dinner with the Ambassadors from Spain and Portugal. All in all, I'd say you have a pretty light day."

"Yes, thank goodness! It's only a week till Christmas, and I haven't even started my shopping? By the way, are my grandmother and Joe attending the dinner tonight?"

"Yes, as are Prime Minister Motez and his wife, and several members of parliament….and yes, Nicholas is included. After all, he is a member of parliament now."

Since Viscount Mabrey had been forced to leave parliament, Mia had asked Nicholas to step into the breach and, despite some mutterings from some of Mabrey's former cronies, it was working out well.

Lord Devereaux was giving each issue serious consideration, and he wasn't backwards in stating his opinion. Luckily, they had been able to leave their arguments in parliament, and not let it spread to the rest of their relationship.

"Great…so am I running late?"

"No. Thanks to me, you're actually a little early!" Lily laughed, before she disappeared out of the room, leaving Mia to look around the room thoughtfully.

It still seemed like a dream, to be Queen of Genovia, even though the coronation had occurred 5 months before. She looked and sounded the same, when she looked in the mirror, Mia suddenly felt more grown up and responsible.

It helped that she had steadfast and loyal supporters in her grandmother, Joe, Lily, Nicholas and her mother, as well as the Prime Minister and parliament. But she had been most worried about the people- she had been afraid that, after her 'non-marriage', they would turn against her.

However, she had failed to take into account that they were happy that Clarisse had remarried, and Mia was so much like Clarisse and Phillipe…and it was obvious to them that she loved Genovia. She had found out afterwards that her entire speech from the pulpit had been televised, to rapt audiences, and there had been hundreds of phone calls afterwards, stating their support for the future Queen.

The coronation had been wonderful, but what made it more important to Mia was that Clarisse was there to share it with her. She knew that Clarisse deserved to be recognised for all the loyalty and devotion she had shown to the country over the years. She had sacrificed years of personal happiness with Joe to prove that she loved her country, but now…with Joseph…she was enjoying her own personal 'happily ever after' and Mia was genuinely overjoyed for her.

As for Mia herself, she was blissfully happy with Nicholas, and pleased that Lily was with her….at that moment, everything was right in her world.

"Haven't you finished breakfast yet?" she heard Lily yell from the door, and Mia only turned and grinned at her. Lily, her crazy best friend, was the best part of the palace- she had finished her graduate course at Berkley, and then had decided to come to Genovia to be Mia's personal assistant. It had been a timely decision, as Charlotte was entering parliament as a member.

It had been one of Mia's first decisions- some of the men were due to retire, and it was only sensible to replace them with, instead of the same tired old men with the same narrow views, women. There had been instant outrage from most of the very traditional members of parliament, but both Clarisse and Sebastian had supported her 100 , so the members had no choice but to comply.

"It is a brand new day, ladies and gentleman," Mia had said on the first day of parliament, smiling around at all the new members of parliament. She had come a long way since high school, and no one was going to push Mia Thermopolis Renaldi anymore!

By lunchtime, however, Mia was starving- when Lily had caught her not finishing her breakfast, she had pretended she had and had gone to change, leaving a half full bowl of cereal on the table. She had thought longingly of that cereal as she sat through parliament- the last session before Christmas- and she hoped that her stomach wouldn't embarrass her during the session…luckily, it hadn't. She had eaten enough to stave off major hunger pangs.

When she got to her suite at lunchtime, Clarisse and Joe were already there. They had had their shopping expedition that morning, and had mutually agreed that it would be wise to stay near the fire for the rest of the day, as the temperature had dropped even further since Clarisse had walked Maurice.

"See, that's why I didn't invite you out this morning!" she teased as Joe chivvied her into their waiting limousine. They had been shopping for a couple of hours, and he was freezing.

"And you were mad to go out in this weather!" he retorted as the car moved away from the curb. "Still," he added, looking out the tinted windows. "I think it's going to snow this afternoon."

"Don't you two have anything better to do than wait around here?" Mia joked as she shrugged off her jacket and stepped out of her shoes.

As usual, lunch was already set up for them, but Clarisse and Joe were still sitting on the sofa, grinning at each other. They were so cute, Mia thought to herself as she looked at them, the way they were obviously so crazy about each other.

"We did go shopping this morning, Mia," Clarisse began, before Joseph interrupted her.

"Which I would not have agreed to if I'd known how cold it was going to be outside!"

"Is it getting cold outside?" Mia asked as she sat down in a comfortable chair, as they waited for her maids to announce lunch. "I was hoping for a nice afternoon of shopping!"

"You're going this afternoon? I thought you had several meetings," Clarisse said as she leaned forward in her seat.

"Cancelled till tomorrow," Mia said cheekily, and then saw her maids standing beside the table. "Great, it's lunchtime! I'm starving!"

"Yes, from what I heard you didn't eat this morning, I can imagine you would be," Joe said as he held Clarisse's chair out for her, and then sat down beside her.

He had tried, once before, to do the same for Mia, but she had only blushed…obviously a task for young Lord Devereaux..

Mia stopped pouring out three glasses of water, and looked over at Joseph.

"Where did you hear that? Did Lily…I'll…."

"Maids know everything," Joe said significantly, and she looked back at her disappearing maids, and had to laugh.

"Okay, you win. But I don't like getting out of bed so early…okay, it was after eight," she added when she saw Clarisse raise an eyebrow. "But….but……"

"I believe we've been hearing this same complaint for the last five months," Clarisse said gently, smiling at Joseph and then Mia. "But it still doesn't change the fact that, as Queen, you have to get up early, does it?"

"No," Mia said ruefully. "I'm getting used to it….but, don't forget Grandma, I was at college for four years, and students make a lifestyle of sleeping in!"

She smiled charmingly over at both of them, and Clarisse and Joseph couldn't help but laugh.

"She's got you there, my dear," Joe said as he patted Clarisse's hand, before changing the subject.

"So, when were you planning on going shopping this afternoon…not that I don't envy who ever is going with you….this morning was a nightmare…" before he stopped as Clarisse gave him a look, which didn't last very long.

"Actually," Mia said as she buttered a slice of bread. "I was thinking of downsizing my security for when I go out shopping. It's really a waste of time."

"WHAT?!" both Clarisse and Joseph sputtered as they choked over their juices.

"You cannot possibly be serious about that, Mia," Joe chided gently- he could see that Clarisse was trying to find the right words. But Clarisse was suddenly gripped with a feeling of dread, a feeling she had had before, but couldn't exactly remember when.

"Probably not today, but I have Nicholas and Lily with me…and no one is going to do anything to me in Pyrus."

"But it's not safe for you, my dear," Clarisse said softly. "You are Queen of Genovia and, according to protocol, you are to be heavily protected at all times."

Clarisse didn't want to show it, but if she ever lost Mia, she didn't know how she would be able to cope. She had already lost her beloved son and, although she had Joseph, Mia was her only granddaughter, her closest relative, and her last link with Phillipe. She loved Mia more than anything, but when she was risking her life with little security….

As if he could read her mind, Joseph took her hand from under the table, and was surprised to feel it shaking.

"Mia, please be reasonable. Your grandmother and I worry about you- you are still so young, and I know that young people think that they are infallible against tragedy, but we don't want to lose you…."

Mia looked at them for a moment, genuinely touched that they were that concerned about her safety, and decided that she wouldn't worry them in any way.

"Fine, you both win. It was only an idea…I'm going to have my usual security there…thank you for caring so much," she said as she leaned over and took one of each hand in hers. "Besides, neither Nicholas nor Lily thought it was a great idea either."

After she had said that, both of them visibly relaxed, although Clarisse still couldn't shake off the feeling of foreboding.

"So, will you two be joining me for dinner tonight?" Mia asked as she sipped her water.

The three of them, plus Lily and Nicholas, usually had dinner together most nights, except when Mia wasn't available or had a formal occasion- in which case, Clarisse was usually attending those functions too.

"Yes, we will. I'm looking forward to seeing the Spanish Ambassador again- it's been a long time," Clarisse said pensively, and Joe looked over at her with mock anger.

"Is this another fan of yours?" he asked as Clarisse chuckled and patted his arm reassuringly. "I don't know how many admirers you have- exactly- but I'm beginning to suspect that I'll have a lot to keep an eye on!"

"Not that there aren't any wives that don't love dancing with you," Clarisse retorted gently as Mia watched them with a smile.

They were obviously so happy together, and she was delighted to see how happy Joseph made her grandmother. She herself had had no idea that they had had a secret 'thing' for the other for years, but Charlotte had filled her in on the details after the wedding.

"What are you smiling at, Mia?" Clarisse, suddenly aware that they were flirting in front of Mia, asked as she turned back to Mia with a smile.

"Just to see how happy the two of you are…I'm so happy for you."

"Stop it, you're making your grandmother blush!" Joe mock cried, but the two of them smiled lovingly at each other for a moment, before turning their smile onto Mia.

"And we're so happy for you, Mia. You're doing a wonderful job as Queen…all I ever wanted was you to be happy," Clarisse said softly, and Mia and Clarisse shared a look before they were interrupted by the two maids bring in dessert.