The Wedding Day

By Rikki

It was the wedding day. Her wedding day. Clarisse stood in her bedroom and looked at herself in the mirror. She still couldn't believe that she had married today.

When Mia told her to follow her heart and allow herself a fairy tale ending of her love story she wasn't surprised. Mia had always suspected that there was more to her relationship with Joseph than just friendship. And obviously everyone else had known as well. So much for keeping a secret!

But Clarisse was happy. Even though her marriage with Rupert was a happy one it was never more than affection they felt for each other. It had been an arranged marriage after all. But Joseph had always been the man she loved in secret. Now she didn't have to make it a secret any longer. And it felt good.

Clarisse turned around and looked at the bed she'd be sharing with Joseph from now on. It was a strange feeling. Rupert was the only man she'd ever been with so she was a little anxious about what was to come.

Suddenly she felt Joseph's hands on her shoulders. She closed her eyes. It was good to feel his touch. Finally.

"Clarisse, my love!" Joseph caressed her back. Smiling she turned around to face him. In Joseph's eyes she could see the love he felt for her.

"I love you, Joseph." Carefully she touched his cheek with her fingertips.

Joe pulled her in a tight embrace and lowered his lips onto hers. Finally he was allowed to kiss her the way he had always wanted to.

When their lips met Clarisse moaned slightly. Even though they had shared their first kiss in the church this was... different. She felt a passion she hadn't felt in years. All she wanted was feeling Joseph close to her, feel his skin on hers.

The next morning came sooner than they both expected. Waking up in each other's arms they looked at each other and smiled.

"Good morning, my love." Clarisse yawned a little but in her eyes her love for Joseph shone clearly.

"Good morning, my queen." Teasingly Joseph pulled her closer and placed a kiss on the tip of her nose.

Suddenly the doors of their bedroom flung open and Mia stormed into the room.

"Oh my god, you're still in bed!" Closing her eyes Mia turned away from the bed, clearly a little shocked.

"Ah... Mia, darling, please wait outside, I'll be with you in a minute!" Clarisse's cheeks had turned a deep shade of red while Joseph was silently giggling under the covers. Mia's face had been too funny when she saw the two of them in bed.

Mia rushed out again and left her grandmother a little embarrassed.

"Clarisse, dear! She's not a child anymore. Anyway, she wasn't interrupting anything. So don't worry. She can handle it." Still laughing Joseph reached out to help Clarisse in her dressing gown.

"Yes, but still..." The colour of her cheeks had finally returned to normal when Clarisse turned around to her husband.

"Okay, we'll deal with that later. For now let's just find out what brought Mia here in the first place." Sighing Joseph grabbed his trousers and a shirt and followed Clarisse out of the room.

"I'm sorry, darling." Clarisse moved towards Mia who sat in the large armchair by the fire place.

"No, grandma, I'm sorry. I should have thought about it before I stormed into your room like that." Mia blushed slightly.

"No harm done, Mia." Joseph smiled at her reassuringly.

"So – what's the matter honey?" Clarisse cupped Mia's cheek with her hand. After all, there had to be a reason why her granddaughter had stormed into her bedroom like that.

"Well, I just wanted to check on you. It's my first day as queen – and I felt a little ... insecure." Blushing again Mia looked at her grandmother. She was incredibly sorry for spoiling her morning with her problems but at the time it had seemed to be of vital importance to tell Clarisse about her doubts.

"Honey, it's okay. We'll do this very slowly and together. And you'll be a fine queen. You said it yourself yesterday." Smiling Clarisse took Mia's hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

"Yes, thank you grandma. And please don't be angry with me for barging in on you like that." Mia rose from her seat and turned to leave.

"It's okay, Mia. You can come here whenever you need us." Joe still had a grin on his face but Mia could tell that he meant it.

With a sigh of relief she finally left her grandmother's suite.

"Well ... that certainly was unexpected." Clarisse looked at Joe.

"What, her barging in or her self doubts?" Joseph sat down next to Clarisse and took her hand into his. He perfectly knew that Clarisse was talking about Mia's sudden appearance in their bedroom but he just loved teasing her. And the look on her face when she tried to stare him down.

Chuckling he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it lightly.

"I know, sweetheart. But she didn't really see anything. And as I said before – she's not a child anymore. She knows what's going on in a bedroom between two adults." Joseph stated matter of factly.

"I know. Still..."

"Clarisse, you talked about it and she was fine. So calm yourself." Joseph rose and went towards the bedroom. Since they were already out of bed they could get dressed as well. And he didn't intend to spend his first day as Clarisse's husband talking about his granddaughter's shock of seeing them in bed. His granddaughter... It sounded good somehow. He just hoped Mia wouldn't try to call him granddad or something like that. Joseph gave an involuntary shudder when he thought of that.

"What do you want to do today?" he heard Clarisse calling from the living room.

"I don't know. How about breakfast for a start? I'm positively starving." Joseph called back. He grinned at the exasperation on Clarisse face when he looked at her. She had clearly expected something else but he decided that he would leave it up to her what they would do on their first day as husband and wife.

By the time Joseph was dressed Clarisse was still sitting in the living room where he had left her. She was deep in thought. She was so grateful for Mia pushing her literally in the right direction. And she knew the girl had been right. She had a right to have a fairy-tale ending. And she was sure Mia would find her prince charming as well eventually.

When Joseph brought her back to reality with a gentle kiss Clarisse decided that she would just enjoy her first day of marriage to her love. Just the way she would enjoy the rest of her life.