"Are you two still eating breakfast?"
Mia leaned back from the table and patted her rounded stomach. "If you mean me and this guy, then yes, we two are still eating. Although Grandma is nibbling."
"Hmm? Who's nibbling?" Clarisse asked absently as she pored over the papers spread out around the crumbly plates and cups of cooled tea.
"Even still, I left you two - sorry - you three here an hour ago." Joseph slid into the seat he had occupied earlier and pulled one of the papers toward him. "These are new. What's all this?"
"Research," Mia said. "Family tree stuff."
"Mia wanted some ideas for names," Clarisse explained, sitting back in her chair to look at her husband properly.
Mia rolled her eyes. "I only wanted to discuss them. Nicholas and I already have them picked out. But you know how Grandma likes a project."
Joseph chuckled and Clarisse made an elegant sound that would have been a harrumph from a normal person. Then she smiled. "Alright, so maybe I am a tiny bit excited."
"And what is the consensus?" Joseph asked. "Or is it a state secret?"
"Absolutely a state secret," Mia declared. "But you're kind of part of the state."
Joseph nodded. "I'm honored. I think."
"Anyway, since it's definitely a boy -"
"I don't think you should be so confident," Clarisse interjected. "Those ultrasounds are not always accurate."
"Oh, it's a boy," Mia assured her. "He kept - how can I put this delicately? - flashing the doctor."
"The images are so grainy. It could have been..."
"What?" Mia prompted as her grandmother trailed off.
"Part of the umbilical cord?" she offered.
Mia laughed. "Maybe. But I don't think so. We got a pretty clear view of the 'umbilical cord' several times."
"So what you're saying is, we already have incriminating photographs of the Prince?" Joseph asked.
"If what Mia says is true, we do. But perhaps we shouldn't be talking about my grandson like this."
Joseph glanced pointedly at his watch. "Are you going to divulge the Secret? You may have the luxury of reclining at table, but I have places I need to be," he teased.
"Yes, we don't want to hold up part of the State," Clarisse said drily. Joseph winked at her.
"Joe, stop sassing your girls. Okay." Mia straightened up and cleared her throat. "The next Crown Prince of Genovia is going to be: Clarence Gregory Edouard Renaldi."
Joseph was quiet for a moment while he considered the name. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed his beautiful wife was beaming. It was logical Mia would include a tribute to her father. He was proud that she had included a touch of her grandmother as well.
"Clarence. Gregory. Edouard. Renaldi," Joseph repeated carefully. "Quite a big name for such a little boy."
"We're thinking we'll call him Gregory," Mia replied.
"Gregory. I like it." Joseph stood up and started toward the door. He paused, turned back to his two favorite women, and said, "But I'm going to call him Joey."
Then he hastened out of the room just in time to avoid being hit with a grape missile launched by the Queen.
